"Blah": Talking
'Blah': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura
'Blah': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts
'Blah': Harry talking to Naruto
It's great to be back once again and I'm glad I'm starting to get ahead on the rest of this Book now that I found some time between classes and work. Azeroth44 couldn't be here this time since he's been a bit distracted. But I think it would be safe to assume he's causing mass destruction somewhere out there while riding on the back of a dragon, raising a flaming sword of doom over his head, while he recites a presumably demonic line from a work of dark fiction. But that's just an assumption. He could be watching American Horror Story right now for all I know.
Now, before I start this new chapter… I have to admit that the first part of this chapter was kind of a bore for me to write, or rather re-write. I don't mean to offend anyone out there who are fans of these two, but Sakura and Ino are my least favorite female characters of the Rookie 11. The fact that Sakura and Ino's friendship ended all because of a crush over someone like Sasuke Uchiha is one of the reasons I don't find them to be strong characters (at least not at this point of their lives) when compared with everyone else in their generation at the time, such as Naruto, Lee, Hinata, Neji and so on so forth, who are much more sympathetic. The fact that Ino and Sakura's fight is meant to be as serious and dramatic as those mentioned earlier seems a little out of place to me. I understand that all of them are individuals and have their own stories, but I still feel that Sakura and Ino are the weakest of the Rookie 11. Sure the two of them show promise as kunoichi because of their heritage or because of their impressive chakra control, but their rivalry all over an old school crush is what I think is holding them back and preventing them from being strong kunoichi characters. But I'll be fair and admit that the two of them do at least show some more character at the end of their match and finally start acting like normal people and not just crazy angry fangirls. They get better when they get older.
Excuse me for the rant, but other than that, I feel the chapter here is at least solid. It's not the best work I've done, other than Temari and Tenten's match and the scene where Naruto takes his chakra medication and his true strength returns. I won't dare give it away here, so go ahead and read it, you fuzzy little man-peaches! XD Enjoy and be sure to leave a review after!
Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto
Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling
Chapter 9: Bitter Rivalries Part 1
After a few short minutes, Sakura and Ino were both in the arena and stood across from each other. The tired instructor between them cleared his throat and watched the girls from a short distance as both of them stared each other down with an identical look on their faces: sheer determination. Ino tilted her head forward a little bit as she stared at her rival, as if she were a little bit shorter than her and much closer.
Ino then stated, "So Sakura… You and me… head to head… I didn't think we would face each other so soon…"
Sakura then removed her headband that held her hair out of her face in a rather smooth and dramatic movement. Ino stared at the vibrant-haired kunoichi but she did flinch a little bit as she noticed how smooth Sakura's movement was, as she used to associate her with clumsiness and a lack of self-confidence.
Asuma Sarutobi from the stands, stared down at his one kunoichi student and wondered, 'Ino looks fierce. But out of all of the kunoichi from Konoha, she stands tall above the others… I heard that Haruno doesn't even train… Let's see if Ino can give Sakura some much-needed lessons about the benefits of exercise…'
Shikamaru leaned onto the rail and watched his officious female teammate with his bloated best friend at his side.
"Out of all the idiots she had to fight, it had to be that shallow idiot. How troublesome." breathed Shikamaru.
Choji asked out of concern for his teammate, "You don't think that Ino could lose this match, huh?"
Shikamaru tried his best to not snort out loud at his friend's concern, as he was sure that Ino would never lose to someone as weak and useless as Sakura.
Asuma looked down at Ino once more and wondered what was the deal between those two kunoichi. Unlike several others in the room, Asuma was not well aware that Sakura and Ino used to be the best of friends. Some of the other female cadets used to tease Sakura about her wide forehead and ridiculed her for it, but Ino was the one girl that ended it all and told Sakura to embrace her wide forehead and show it to the world. The two became close friends until Sakura revealed to Ino that she had a crush on Sasuke. The two close friends bickered at each for weeks about who loved Sasuke more and whom he should be married to. And so, the two of them severed their close bonds and became bitter rivals. Sakura even returned her red ribbon back to Ino, which hurt Ino a little bit more than it did Sakura. The cold and heartless act was a testament for Sakura to move on all on her own and drove the two kunoichi to chase after Sasuke's affections, determined to defeat the other no matter the cost.
Sakura stared down but then she smirked at Ino and said, "Listen to me, Ino. You can't have Sasuke-kun. He's mine."
"What?" the blonde-haired kunoichi blinked and then half-shouted.
Several members of the audience in the balconies moaned in mental exhaustion. Whatever seriousness was meant to be in this match was sucked out, when the niche that drove the two kunoichi to fight each other was based on a crush.
The florescent-haired kunoichi told her rival while she continued to smirk, which infuriated Ino, "You're not the kind of kunoichi he would be interested in. You're too audacious and blonde for his taste. You're too loud. Hell! You don't even have the stamina to walk on the same level as him! And remember this, Ino: I'm not that same weak little Barbie doll I once was. Look at me now. You're not even on the same radar as me!"
Ino looked furious at her rival and shouted at her, "HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHO YOU'RE EVEN TALKING TO? DON'T COP AN ATTITUDE TO THE VERY PERSON WHO GOT YOU TO STOP CRYING EVERYDAY IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
Most of the audience was not that interested in the loud fangirl-debate down below them. But within the crowd there was a certain master-sorcerer that watched the two kunoichi shout at one another and he looked miserable. His face looked somewhat melted from utter boredom mixed with irritation. Harry never liked these two kunoichi to start with, and now he had to stick around and listen to them until the referee started the match.
'I would wish for someone to kill me right about now, but since I've died a total of three times already, I think it would feel a little redundant if I said it.'
His little brother Naruto channeled out his commentaries and said; "I don't think I've seen them look so heated, Kakashi-sensei…"
"It's clear that there's a lot more about this than what we can see on the surface. It looks like Sakura wants to ruffle Ino's feathers… so that she won't hold back…" his silver-haired teacher told him.
Sakura looked at Ino and the two of them continued to bicker. Sakura reminded Ino that the two of them used to be best friends and that she used to call her a bud. She then went into a little bit too much detail when she stated that Ino told her (back in their childhood) that she would blossom and become a flower that would match her birth name. Naruto's invisible older brother almost couldn't handle the overdramatic vista, as he slammed his head on his desk and looked to the Grindylow tank in his office; he wondered if he should dunk his head in it all in an effort to drown out the two kunoichi.
The audience in the real world watched and listened with little to some interest as the two kunoichi insulted each other and the tension between them increased. Others in the audience, such as Kankuro, Temari, and most of the older shinobi instructors in the chamber scratched their heads at the scene. Even Naruto started to feel bored and he waited for someone smack someone. He listened in on them one more time, and both of them were still at each other's throats all because of their crush on Sasuke Uchiha.
Naruto looked down at Sakura and wondered out loud, "Those two have been at each others throats ever since we were in school. But I don't see how the two of them can be so… intense… All because of some idiot both of them had a crush on…"
'He's clueless to the fact that he's more or less the same with Sasuke…' his masked sensei sighed inside his head.
'You know, I can see this kind of match in the future. You and Sasuke are more or less the same as Sakura and Ino… Except I don't think of ritualistic suicide when it comes to mind.'
Naruto channeled out his brother once more while Kakashi decided to tell his student, "Rivals are… difficult to talk about or describe, Naruto… Not that I would know much about it…"
Gai stared at Kakashi when he made that statement about rivals, as if he wasn't worth an honorable mention.
But soon the audience looked down and watched as Sakura tied her headband over her forehead and Ino did the same. When the two of them nodded to each other, Hayate thrust his arm down and commenced the match Almost at once, the two kunoichi ran after each another, but then Sakura focused a little bit of chakra and created two normal clones. Ino smirked as she focused her attention on the middle of the florescent-haired trio.
"This isn't a rookie exam, Sakura! You can't beat me with textbook moves!"
Sakura then focused her chakra into her feet and she seemed to vanish out of thin air. When she was seen again, she materialized in front of Ino and socked her in the cheek with a closed fist. Ino flew back several feet and landed hard on her back. She then rolled on the concrete as her delicate white skin was bruised from the sudden fall. Ino recovered, and rubbed her now swollen cheek as she cleaned the blood that drooled out of the corner of her mouth. Sakura had used a lot of chakra in that blow and almost knocked out one of Ino's teeth. The librarian heiress smirked at her rival and would have loved to cross her arms at her, but Ino ran after her to counterattack.
"You better not hold back, Ino! Remember what I said earlier, I'm not the same as I was when we were little!" shouted Sakura.
Ino withdrew a kunai as she ran and she screamed in retaliation to the first blow she took, "IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT, THEN THAT'S WHAT YOU GET!"
The blonde-haired kunoichi sliced the air and tried to cut and stab her rival. But Sakura used her chakra to move around Ino's kunai; she ducked down, slid to the sides, and launched backwards when she tried to stab her in the shoulder. With her chakra control, Sakura was able to move faster than Ino and waited for her former best friend to tire out before she went in for another nice hit. She had memorized and remembered the instructions on close combat in one of her old textbooks and she followed them in her head. The first blow Sakura made was luck, so this time she had to make sure she would be able to hit Ino a second time once she noticed that first bead of sweat that ran down her bruised face. All the while, Naruto stared and watched his friend duck and swerve to the side. Ino stumbled forward, and then Sakura punched the kunoichi in the face which caused Ino to screech a little bit as she stumbled backwards to calm down.
"Whoa…" the blonde-haired wizard marveled at his teammate, "Sakura-chan's chakra control is awesome…"
Kakashi also was a little bit shocked at his female student too, "Yes… In truth, Sakura can be a difficult match to beat if she's calculated and focused. Because she mastered the basic skill set to such a level, she has the best control over her chakra. So much, that it outshines almost all the other students that entered."
"Erm… even me?" the small wizard turned around and asked.
"Uh… Yeah," answered Kakashi in a dull tone, "But that doesn't mean that Sakura could beat all of the students here. That would be ridiculous to even think about at her current level. She doesn't train and focuses more on other activities in her free time, so she doesn't have a lot of chakra to use. While her skills with chakra control exceed other rookies in the room, she doesn't have the reserves to hold her own in a real, more serious battle."
Ino ducked down and then she attacked Sakura with a blow to her stomach and forced her to haunch over. But Sakura recovered from the blow when she would have otherwise been knocked out. She smacked Ino in the face where it hurt and she launched backward to calm down and recover. Sakura then moved in after Ino and knocked the kunai blade out of her hand and tried to kick her. Ino reached back for some shuriken and threw them at Sakura. The kunoichi almost reacted on time; one of the blades tore her dress but the second wave of shuriken Ino threw were all avoided when Sakura used her chakra to move around them. Ino seemed frustrated but continued to throw more shuriken at Sakura and slow her down.
Kakashi then said as he watched his kunoichi continue to use her chakra and threw her own shuriken at Ino while she moved around, "Still, that level of control she has is admirable. To be able to control chakra to such an advanced level is difficult. Not even someone like Sasuke could focus his chakra like Sakura can… You and Sasuke seem to focus chakra for one action at a time, while Sakura can use it to move faster, distract Ino, as well as hit her harder than she would with what few muscles she has, all at the same time. If she were to train more in the future, she could arise to the same level as one of the Sannin."
Lee clenched his fist as he watched Sakura and seemed to look determined or excited and admired his new crush, 'To watch Sakura-chan battle is an honor all on its own!'
The battle between the two former best friends continued for ten minutes, and it seemed that neither Ino nor Sakura was closer to the win. Hayate looked tired but continued to watch the match while most of the audience seemed more interested the other matches to come. Ino and Sakura's teammate's and teachers continued to watch with interest when Sakura formed bruises on her face and Ino received a cut on her cheek from one of Sakura's kunai. Naruto seemed to be the most interested as she stared at his teammate; he smiled and cheered whenever she landed a hit on Ino, but looked worried or concerned whenever Sakura was hit or received another bruise on her face.
The two kunoichi were exhausted and tried to breath even breaths as the two of them tried to attack one another at the same time. Both of them lowered their defenses in order to attack but both of them hit each other in the face and flew backwards. Ino hit the floor, but Sakura was about to maintain her stance after she stumbled once or twice. Naruto held his breath and smiled for his teammate while Ino looked frustrated as she rubbed her cheek and felt the tooth Sakura had loosened in that last hook.
Ino mustered her breath and shouted, "You can't be on the same level as me! You can't!"
"Heh! Well, if a certain blonde-haired bimbo were less concerned about her hair, then she would have been able to win this match about now! I have to honest here, I feel a little bit bored now, swine-breath!" smirked Sakura and tasted blood in her mouth.
Naruto heard that last insult and snorted out loud. He and Sakura had talked about nicknames to tease their foes with back in their shared room earlier in the week. Out of all the countless insults and names the two of them discussed, swine-breath for Ino Yamanaka was Sakura's favorite and she claimed it there and then.
The blonde haired kunoichi looked revolted while Naruto chuckled, elbowed Lee in the side, and he said, "Hehahahahaha! I told her to use that one!"
Ino looked furious and didn't know who to throw her kunai at: her former best friend or the blonde-haired idiot she knew invented the name when she heard him behind her. But she focused her attention on the kunoichi in front of her and tossed several kunai at her, but Sakura moved fast and avoided almost all the blades that were thrown at her. Ino then realized she had one kunai left and thrust her arms down to her sides.
"ARGH!" she screamed.
The blonde-haired kunoichi then took her kunai and fastened her hand around it. She started to twitch and shiver with hatred, which made her sensei and teammates feel a little unnerved at her behavior. All of them had seen her when she was mad, but never had the three of them ever seen her in such a ferocious state.
"What's the matter with Ino? Sakura wants her to be furious! She should know that!" commented Shikamaru.
Choji looked a bit more worried than his best friend and even tried to hide behind the rail, "I don't think I like to see her act like that!"
Ino then took the kunai and held it behind her head, some of the audience was afraid she was about to hurt herself. But she took the blade in her hand, sliced off her beautiful hair and clenched it in her hands. Sakura gasped, shocked that her oldest friend would ever trim her own hair when she worked so hard on it in order to impress Sasuke.
Ino then screamed at her rival and roared, "THIS IS NOTHING!"
She then tossed her severed hair into the air and let it rain down on the floor, the concrete now scattered with strands of silver-blonde hair. Shikamaru, Choji, and even their sensei Asuma looked terrified. The more slothful one of the trio looked like he was about to run out of the room as he stared at his teammate and never seen her look and act so ballistic.
"She's lost it!" he shouted.
Sakura was shocked at her rival and watched her run her hands into a familiar formation.
Ino then shouted and screamed, "This ends now! I'M GONNA FORCE YOU TO GIVE UP INSTEAD!"
The blonde-haired wizard above watched Ino and wondered what she was about to do. He was not too familiar with the Yamanaka clan's abilities, but based on what she said, he feared that she was about to unleash one of her clan's ultimate secrets. Naruto looked to the side and noticed Shikamaru and the rest of his team looked unnerved.
Shikamaru stammered, "She isn't gonna use that jutsu, is she?"
"It sure does look like it …" their tall and bearded sensei said as he rubbed his hand over his hair.
Ino then set her hands into an unusual formation that must have been difficult to maintain. Sakura flinched when she remembered the formation, which also confirmed Ino's teammates and sensei that she was about to use what all of them feared. Shikamaru looked worried, Asuma looked frustrated, and Choji continued to hide behind the rail and waited for the match to be over with.
Shikamaru said out loud, "The Mind-Transfer Jutsu! She's about to use it to take control over Sakura!"
"Oh, that idiot!" said Asuma as he smacked his forehead and let out a bad breath.
Naruto heard all the commotion from the other team and looked to his sensei for answers once more, "What's all this about?"
"The Yamanaka clan uses that technique Ino is about to use, in order to take over Sakura's subconscious," the silver-haired masked shinobi told him, "The user is able to send out their psychic and spiritual energies into a selected victim; their soul. Once that is done, the user will have taken over the opponent's body and mind. The user is then free to manipulate that individual until the user loses control. But it has flaws; whatever happens to the victim while the user is still in control that too will happen to the user. Not to mention that it leaves the user in a defenseless state that requires protection from her teammates."
The blonde shinobi then asked, "What would happen if she were to miss?"
"Then the user's soul would have to return to the source and that can take several minutes to use it a second time in a row," answered Kakashi, "The Mind-Transfer Jutsu can be essential for missions to do with espionage or infiltration, but to use it in a match like this is reckless. If Ino misses and loses consciousness, then Sakura will win the match. In a real battle and if she were to miss, Ino will have left herself vulnerable to attack."
Naruto looked back at Sakura and Ino as the two of them babbled at each other. Without Kakashi's notice, Naruto contacted his older brother and asked him if he had heard all that. The older wizard confirmed this and started a little bit of research on the Yamanaka clan as far as soul transfer was concerned. The sorcerer smiled at the information he received and embraced his little brother, now that he was one step closer to removing his soul from Naruto and obtain his own mortal form. Naruto returned to the real world and focused his attention back to the match. He soon looked a little bit concerned as Sakura stood there in front of Ino, frozen.
Kakashi noticed his student's concern and told him, "Sakura should not be in trouble, Naruto. All she has to do is continue to move or find cover in time and she'll be fine."
Shikamaru looked as intense as his blonde-haired friend as his hands swathed around the rail. Sweat ran down his forehead and his skin lost a little bit of color while his rotund best friend continued to hide and watch at the same time.
'This is bad! Ino shouldn't use that unless we're in our teamwork formation! I hold down the victim and she takes them over!'
Asuma continued to smoke and stared at his student in a more intense manner than usual, 'She's not even on the same mark! What's the matter with her?'
Ino almost smirked as she showed her teeth and aimed at her rival. The moment Sakura saw the blonde-haired kunoichi breath, she moved to the left and heard her former friend shout out the name of her clan's secret technique.
"MIND-TRANSFER JUTSU!"
Sakura froze where she stood after she slid on the concrete and lowered her head as if she were about to faint or fall over. The audience stared and waited for the kunoichi to raise her head and reveal who was in control if Ino had succeeded. After a few seconds, Sakura raised her head and Ino seemed to lose consciousness. The kunoichi smiled and raised her head so that her team and Ino's team could see and she decided to boast.
"You lose… Ino!" she shouted.
Shikamaru hit his head on the cold rail and moaned in a sarcastic tone, "I should have figured… Looks like I have to look forward to hear her whine about this for weeks… Months, if we're so fortunate…"
"Well, the match is over now, at least…" their bearded sensei moaned.
But then Sakura realized she couldn't move her feet. She tried to lift her feet from the floor but it felt like her shoes were made with lead.
"What?" she cried as she looked down at the floor and saw silver-blonde hair scattered around her feet that lead to a trail back to Ino on the floor. Sakura couldn't see it, but she felt an incredible amount of chakra radiate from the stands of hair and the chakra that bound her to her current location. That was the reason she was unable to move. Sakura tried all she could to run and then she saw Ino come back to life, her slender hands on the floor at the start of the hair trail.
"HA! I TRICKED YOU, SAKURA! I faked it! You moved out to the side when I used that last move and walked into the trail of hair I left on the floor!" cried out Ino.
'Well, look at that… She's clever…'
Ino boasted and then asked, "Looks like the match is mine now! You think so now, Sakura?"
"Looks like it," commented Kakashi.
Sakura tried her hardest to move her feet, but to no avail, she held her breath, and about to scream as her rival cried out, "Mind-Transfer Jutsu!"
The frozen kunoichi looked as if she were shot in the head as she reeled back and then her head fell forward, like it did before. But this time, she didn't recover and looked lifeless for a moment until she raised her head and her face look different, as she smiled and said with an Ino-like tone, "Heh…Too bad, Sakura! You lose!"
"No…" the blonde-haired wizard moaned as he hit his head on the rail.
Shikamaru and Asuma both smirked as the two of them realized Ino had sliced her hair and acted like a madwoman all in an effort to trick Sakura, and to hold her down without her notice. Now it looked like Sakura wasn't the best rookie in the chamber that had excellent chakra control. Ino decided to end the match now, so she raised Sakura's hand and looked to the referee and tried to make Sakura's voice sound like it was laced with poisoned sugar.
"Excuse me, sir," she announced, "I, Sakura Haruno, wish to withdraw from this ma-"
"SAKURA-CHAN! LISTEN TO ME! DON'T LET HER DO IT!" shouted the small wizard from above the combatants.
Ino turned around and stared at Naruto with irritance, 'Oh, please! Give me a break!'
"Don't let her do it, Sakura-chan! Don't let swine-breath win the match like this!" he shouted down in an effort to reach out to his teammate and force Ino's soul out of her subconscious, "YOU'LL BE A DISGRACE TO KUNOICHI EVERYWHERE AND TO SASUKE AS WELL!"
Ino smirked at Naruto's efforts and mocked his words, 'Shut your damn mouth, dobe! You can't save her now.'
But when Ino was about to force Sakura to talk to the referee, the alien kunoichi felt Sakura's arms start to shiver and she was unable to talk. She started to feel cold, like she was dunked into a tub of ice water. Ino fell to Sakura's knees and clenched her former friend's hair as she felt her insides churn and darkness blinded her. She couldn't see the real world and was forced into realm of utter darkness. She was cold and all alone as she tried to maintain control over Sakura, but somehow the kunoichi was able to resist.
Inner-Sakura cried out, 'Naruto's voice! I can hear him!'
Ino was astounded and to hear her rival's voice come out from the darkness when she should have been locked out until her soul was done and left. She started to feel another force rise within Sakura's subconscious and then she heard her voice a second time, but this time it was louder and full of fire.
'He's RIGHT! I won't lose this witch! I CAN'T LOSE!' shouted the Inner-Sakura.
Ino couldn't believe it, 'Sakura? How can I even hear her voice?'
"Miss? You wish to withdraw from the match or not?" the stoned referee asked, as he looked somewhat dumbfounded, "I have to admit I'm a little confused here now…"
Sakura thrashed around like a madwoman, as the two minds and souls battle each other for dominance. The kunoichi thrashed one last time and then she roared at Hayate with a smile on her face as she clenched her fists and revealed who was in control now,"LIKE HELL I'M WITHDRAWING! I'M STAYING IN, DAMMIT!"
Kakashi was astounded and he said out loud, "What the hell?"
"What the bitch?" cried out Choji and Shikamaru in shock.
And then Naruto stared at his teammate and said; "Look at that… It worked!"
Back inside Sakura's subconscious, Ino watched in horror as the darkness filled with fire and within the flames a massive chalk-white cartoon version of Sakura arose from the flames and towered over Ino. The tall cartoon version of her rival shoved Ino backwards in a violent manner and soon became so vast in size that she could have towered over trees and the Shard in London.
Ino stammered as she stumbled, 'This can't be… No one can block me out! NO ONE!'
The Yamanaka heiress almost fainted when the Inner-Sakura took her and clenched her in her massive white hands and started to crush her. Ino tried to scream but Inner-Sakura crushed her chest and almost cast her out. But before she turned the soul of her rival into smoke, Inner-Sakura roared at the small and defenseless little kunoichi that had tried to take her over and kick her out of the tournament.
Inner Sakura bellowed as she shook and squeezed Ino in her hands, 'IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF MY BODY RIGHT NOW, SO HELP ME YOU'RE GONNA REGRET IT, YOU BITCH!'
Ino had no other choice but to release her soul before she was crushed and she was returned to the real world. The blonde-haired kunoichi tried with all her will to remain conscious but she was exhausted and most of her chakra was drained. She was able to stand, but the effort to do so almost killed her. At the same time, Sakura tried her best to maintain consciousness but it was much easier said than done. It took so much out of her to do what she did and now she had little chakra left. Back in the balconies, Shikamaru, Choji, and Asuma were surprised that Sakura was able to break free from Ino's hold and force her to return her soul. Kakashi and the other senior shinobi from Konoha were shocked as well, because no one had ever been able to break free from a Yamanaka clan member until now.
Ino asked as she tried to stand, "How, Sakura? No one… has ever… broken free from me…"
"A kunoichi… has to have… a hard center, Ino…" the other kunoichi answered with a small smile.
Kakashi couldn't believe this and felt so contented, 'Incredible…aside from Ino's weak chakra reserves, Naruto was able to call out to his teammate and Sakura drove out Ino's soul and re-obtain her will… With that said, it seems like Naruto and Sakura are closer now as teammates than ever before… she's started to mature…'
Ino and Sakura stared each other down, and their faces seemed to share the exact same determined look both of them had at the start of the match. Both of them were exhausted and had little chakra left in them to enhance their skills, so it all came down to that last ounce of brutal force left in them. Sakura and Ino didn't waste time and dashed after each other, reeled their arms back with closed fists, and at the last moment, the two of them slammed each other in the face and an audible crack was heard and one of Ino's teeth flew out of her mouth. Ino and Sakura flew off their feet, backwards, and slammed into the floor, both of them rendered the other unconscious. Hayate blinked and ran after the two kunoichi. After he checked them over, he checked his watch and waited for one minute for one of them to stir. But both of them were knocked out cold, so the referee declared the match a tie and neither kunoichi was allowed to advance to the finals.
"WHAT?"
Asuma and Kakashi both came down to rescue their students and carried the kunoichi to the balconies. Ino and Sakura were seated behind their teammates as their mentors checked them over to make sure both of them were ok. Naruto, Lee, Choji, and Shikamaru rushed over the two unconscious females, concerned about them as their teammates and admirers.
Lee shouted out loud, "SAKURA-CHAN!"
"Sakura-chan! You ok? Sakura-chan!" asked the worried blonde-haired shinobi.
Kakashi hushed them both and the others to stood aside to allow them some time to rest, Asuma then stood from Ino and breathed in some smoke from his cigarette, "Neither one of them is hurt that bad. I don't think these two will need medical assistance. Both of them should be awake in a few minutes…"
Naruto, Lee, Choji, and Shikamaru all breathed and smiled now that all four of them were assured that the kunoichi would be fine.
"I'm a little bit shocked… Not that the two of them both lost, but that Ino and Sakura of them were able to hold out like that," said Asuma.
"Yeah…" nodded his masked comrade, "Naruto and Sasuke have both done so well so far… And now it looks like even little Sakura has started to walk down the same road as her teammates…"
The masked shinobi hesitated for a few moments, as he tried to emote how he felt and broke down a few barriers he had erected over the course of his dark childhood and later his teens. It must have been difficult to break down those barriers, as several of his comrades noticed the subtle strain in his voice.
The silver-haired man said, "I know that it's been worth a lot of stress, sweat, and blood so far, but I'm so glad that I enrolled you three into the Chunin Exams… I mean that from the bottom of my heart…"
Kakashi then flashed back to earlier in the week and remembered Iruka's wise reluctance to let him enroll the students so soon, and he commented inside his head, 'Iruka was an absolute fool to think this was a bad idea…'
TENTEN SUZUKI VS TEMARI
After the newest names were chosen, Tenten and Temari walked down from the balconies and stood to face each other. Tenten stared down at Temari with a hardened look, while Temari seemed to emote a sense of overconfidence as she smiled at the Chinese kunoichi and rested her elbow down on her massive fan. Tenten's sensei, Gai, stood between his other two male students with a wide smile on his face, the muscular man crossed his arms and couldn't wait to see his favorite kunoichi battle and win the match. The man was certain that she would be the victor. Neji watched Tenten with his arms crossed too, but he seemed to care much less than his sensei and seemed more observant than supportive. Meanwhile, Tenten's last and most enthusiastic teammate, Lee, clenched his fists and cheered on his teammate as well as his close friend.
"Yeah! YEAH! Tenten, GO!" the rookie shouted as loud as he could and raised his arms high above his head.
Gai shouted as well, but was even louder than his student, "TENTEN! SHOW HER THE POWER OF YOUR YOUTH!"
"You two can be loud…" commented Naruto, as he covered his ears.
The match soon started and Tenten moved first when she flipped backwards and threw several shuriken at Temari while she was in midair. The kunoichi from Suna smirked and moved to the left a little bit and she moved so fast that no one, not even Tenten noticed. The kunoichi recovered and flinched when she saw her shuriken missed and were embedded in the concrete wall. Tenten was an excellent markswoman and she never once missed her mark until now. She stood and observed Temari from head to toe to make sure she wasn't mistaken and still couldn't believe it.
"I missed? But how can that be?"
Temari continued that wide smirk and said, "Well you see, my movements are way too fast for your little brown eyes to anticipate. I'll give you a small demonstration to show you just how I do things in the heat of combat. Take it from a real kunoichi."
Back in the balconies, Gai, Lee, and even the stoic Neji were a little bit shocked at this news. The four of them had been on the same team for more than thirteen months, and none of them ever recalled another time when Tenten missed, not ever.
"Tenten missed a shot? But that's not possible!" shouted Lee.
Gai nodded, "That cannot be. Tenten can hit a mark a hundred times in one hundred tries."
"She can't miss…" said the more stoic member of the team and then he said, "But this time, fate have chose her to lose this time…"
Shikamaru looked bored as he watched the start of the match and looked even more bored as his face seemed to melt, "Suna wins a second time…"
"You think so, so soon?" the blonde-haired wizard beside the sloth looked to him and he asked.
Shikamaru answered in a flat tone, "I know it."
"Wanna tell me how Temari wins hands down before the match has even ended?" he asked, tired of how secretive Shikamaru acted.
Shikamaru then insisted, "Idiot. I'm don't wanna waste time with stories now, dude. I'm exhausted…"
"If Shikamaru says it's gonna happen, it will, Naruto…" the Akimichi rookie next to him answered as he watched the match continue.
Naruto watched the match in silence and waited to see if Shikamaru was correct to assume that. Tenten remained levelheaded and ran around Temari with a little boost from his chakra. While she ran around the desert-themed kunoichi, Tenten threw kunai at her, so fast and with such force that the air whistled with the sound of cold steel blades. All of the kunai missed as the noise made that evident. Tenten continued to throw more and more kunai and watched as she wasted all her blades and somehow she was unable to hit, cut, or slice Temari. But somehow, Temari didn't even seem to move and she continued to smile as she waited for Tenten to tire out. Tenten ceased her encircles around Temari when she noticed the massive fan she leaned on had been revealed a little bit. Tenten remained cautious and observed the fan; all that she could see was that it had a bland base and a sizable lavender-colored circle.
Temari said, "You see this here? Here is one circle here. Once you see three of these circles, the match will be mine."
Tenten retreated backwards and removed a hidden scroll. It was a Genetic Sealing Scroll. These unusual scrolls were designed to contain an assortment of items and tools for shinobi to summon and use. Whenever the user desired a kunai, shuriken, or even a sword, he or she would have to focus a little bit of chakra into the scroll once it was unraveled and the desired blade or tool would come into existence. In the heat of combat, a shinobi or a kunoichi could use these as ammunition holsters in case the user ran out of shuriken or kunai.
The markswoman unraveled the scroll in her hand and used her chakra to soar into the air. Once she was airborne for a short while, she swirled in the air and summoned a kunai that was double the size of the standard issue. When she missed Temari, she continued to summon more and more various blades and weapons and tossed them at her target. But each time, she missed and Temari didn't even seem to move. Tenten refused to hold back and summoned all the blades she had stored in that one scroll. She was determined to decimate the desert-kunoichi and re-obtain the honor she felt she lost when Temari made her miss for the first time in her life. When Tenten's feet touched the floor, she faced Temari to see what was left of her but she frowned; she remained where she stood and all of the contents of Tenten's valuable scroll were scattered all around Temari. And not one of the various blades so much as scratched her clothes. Tenten held her breath and looked all around her; to make sure she had not aimed at a clone and searched for the real Temari. But the kunoichi was not mistaken in mind and she indeed had aimed at the real Temari. When Tenten stared at Temari, now in frustration, she notice she had unraveled her fan a little bit more and now there was another lavender circle.
"Now there are two circles," said Temari, "One more, and the match will be mine."
Lee roared down to his teammate to cheer her on, "Tenten! Remain calm! Don't listen to her!"
Tenten tried to remain calm; she felt frustrated but also a little bit nervous. She had no idea what Temari had in mind once she unveiled that third circle. For all she knew, the desert-kunoichi could use ninjutsu she was not familiar with, and she would be unable to combat her. But no matter what Temari had in store for Tenten, it was clear that she was playing around with her. Tenten debated whether or not she should use the secret she had wanted to save for the finals. But if this continued and Temari continued to outsmart her aim and tease her before that third circle, Tenten had no choice but to use it and end the match as fast as she could. The markswoman focused her chakra and reached back for the last two scrolls she had saved for the exams.
Temari smirked and mocked her, "It's useless. You'll never beat me no matter what."
But then Tenten crossed her arms and she cried, "Twin Rising Dragons!"
From below the Chinese-themed kunoichi, a sizable white cloud of smoke blasted from her feet and filled the area with smoke. When it cleared out a bit, the audience raised their heads and saw Tenten swirl into the air while the two scrolls she had unraveled around her in a circular motion, like identical twin dragons. Tenten seemed to turn into a blur as she swirled and twisted in the air. But while she moved in a fast circular motion, more white smoke blasted out from her area between the scrolls and a black and silver storm cloud of blades and shuriken shot out from the twister she had created. The audience stared in awe at Tenten unbelievable skill and watched as the blades rained down on Temari. The room was filled with the sound of loud whistles and metal mixed with the tones and loud clanks of steel, aluminum, titanium, concrete, and wood. A massive assortment of blades, shuriken, and countless other metals and weapons crashed into the concrete floor and walls that almost deafened the audience. Within the whirl of chaos that she created, Tenten was able to look down and see what was left of Temari, and for the third time, she remained untouched and unharmed.
Tenten, now furious, unleashed the second wave of blades she had left in her two scrolls and threw them all down towards Temari.
But the female from the desert smiled and said, "No matter how many weapons you throw at me, the result will stay the same."
The kunoichi from Suna raised her fan and waved it without much effort. The motion caused an unbelievable blast of wind to fill the chamber and all of Tenten's second wave of blades and shuriken avoided Temari and landed around her. Tenten soon landed back on the concrete with her two scrolls in hand and she shouted, "I'M NOT DONE HERE!"
Tenten crossed her arms and launched herself back into the air, this time she almost looked like a rocket while she did so. She waved her arms across one more time and revealed that the second wave of blades she unleashed all had metal wires attached to them. The wires shined as Tenten raised her hands above her head and the wires constricted. In a flash, all of the blades she had thrown in the second wave were back in the air with Tenten. With one swift movement, the kunoichi held all the wires in her hands and unleashed a cold metallic hell down on Temari's head. But the kunoichi from Suna smirked at Tenten and she raised her fan and released another blast of wind that filled the chamber, like a small hurricane. The blast caused all of Tenten's airborne blades to scatter and also tossed Tenten herself back and she fell hard on the concrete.
Tenten carried herself back on her feet and stared down at Temari. Her face soon became fixated on the fan as she noticed there were now three circles revealed and Temari looked like she was about to have a lot of fun. Tenten's face drained to chalk-white as Temari smirked and raised her massive fan.
Temari smiled as she mocked the markswoman, "That's three strikes. You're out."
Temari waved her fan and she seemed to vanish out of thin air. Tenten flinched. She looked around to see where the Suna kunoichi had vanished to, but then she sensed her location as she felt her foreign breath on her neck. Tenten whirled around in time to see Temari reel her arm back and the last sound she heard was when Temari announced the name of her favorite move.
"Wind Scythe no Jutsu!"
Tenten was hit with an almost visible blast of violent wind. The wind forced Tenten into the air and encased her within a balanced vortex. She stretched out her arms as if she were about to fly as her hair buns were undone and the wind whirled her hair into a fluttered mess. Her eyes were closed shut as she let out a terrible scream. Whatever Tenten felt, there was no doubt that the wind caused her terrible anguish. The concentrated winds that surrounded her sliced the skin on her arms, face, and neck as her blood ran down all over her and still, she continued to scream. The audience stared at the kunoichi in the air, terrified for her as all of them watched as Temari continued the horror and violence. Harry witnessed Tenten's defeat with a horrible sense of nostalgia, as he remembered the cursed necklace incident with his former Quidditch teammate Katie Bell. The scene above him and his little brother was almost identical.
Temari decided to release Tenten as soon as her blood dribbled close to her feet. Temari close her fan and rested it down and the winds she created to torture Tenten vanished. The bloodstained kunoichi started to fall towards the concrete, but then Temari moved her fan a little bit and Tenten landed on it and almost broke her back on it. Tenten lost consciousness as soon as she landed and blood from her insides drooled out from her mouth.
The rookies from Konoha were horrified at how cruel Temari had been to Tenten. But her brother Kankuro smirked at the Konoha rookies and he claimed that his sister was courteous. Naruto and several of the others in the room were infuriated at how the Suna Siblings behaved and he would have loved to beat some sense into them for such disrespect. Beside the blonde-haired wizard, Lee was shaken at what Temari had done to his closest teammate.
"Called it…" said Shikamaru.
He was then infuriated when Temari commented on Tenten's efforts, "Heh! That was such a dull match…"
The Sandaime stared at Temari with a sense of unease. As did several other older shinobi in the room, as it would seem that Suna were more cruel and dark when it came to their current ninjutsu. Hayate declared Temari as the winner of the fifth match, and once he had announced that, Temari looked bored and tossed Tenten into the field of blades and shuriken that were scattered all around the arena. Lee reacted fast and came to Tenten's rescue in a flash. Out of instinct to aid others in need, Naruto followed Lee before he realized that Lee had beaten him to Tenten.
Temari smirked at Lee and commented, "Nice catch!"
"WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?" the Konoha rookie shouted as he lowered Tenten down on the floor for the medics that arrived, "THAT'S NOT THE WAY TO TREAT SUCH A WORTHY OPPONENT! ESSPECIALLY ONE YOU'VE JUST DEFEATED! IT'S DISRESPECTFUL AND UNYOUTHFUL!"
Temari looked irritated now, "Oh, shove it, retard! That little bitch was no more than an ant beneath me that needed to be crushed. The match was mine from the moment our names were chosen on that scoreboard!"
Lee became furious at Temari's insult. So much, that he started to run after her and strike her with his foot. But Naruto came to his aid and restrained the older rookie as well as he could, so that he wouldn't start a riot or land himself into trouble.
Naruto shouted, "No! Cut it out, Lee! Don't!"
The blonde-haired rookie was able to at least calm down his comrade and he stared at Temari with a frown evident on his face. Naruto decided he should use his words and listened for his older brother to instruct him and chose the best words in order to leave Temari insulted and unable to make a comeback.
"Besides, no one shows more weakness and shame than she does… So this is how the warriors from Suna treat other shinobi from other lands? How wretched… Even in defeat, Tenten is still the more honorable kunoichi of this match… Sure, she lost, but at least she didn't act like an arrogant twat."
Temari had never been so insulted before in her life. She would have loved to make a retort, but she was left without a comeback. Temari was about to march after Naruto and smack him in the face, but then she heard her little brother call out.
"Temari, come back here," the small redhead rookie crossed his arms and said, "You've won. So don't waste time with the blonde and his dumb friend."
Lee stared at Gaara and the redheaded rookie looked back down at him with almost no visible emotion. The older rookie wanted to launch after all the rookies from Suna for how all of them insulted them and teach them a lesson, but then he felt Naruto hold him back and land his firm hand on his shoulder.
The blonde-haired shinobi advised the older rookie and said, "Just leave it alone, Lee… Remember what I said back there. Now be the better man and turn the other cheek. You'll be able to return the favor back to them later."
Gai then arrived and convince Lee to return with him back to the balconies as the medics removed Tenten from the chamber to recover. Naruto stood to the side of the student-teacher duo and waited to listen when it looked like Gai was about to tell off the Suna Siblings, which he did.
The loud and muscular instructor then told the rookies from the desert in an audacious volume, "Dear friends from Suna, I offer this advise: never underestimate us. You have no idea how strong Konoha shinobi can be. Like this handsome devil over here! There's more to him than can be seen on the surface!"
Team 8 watched as Gai told off the rookies from Suna from across the chamber. Kiba looked nervous as Gaara shot a look towards Lee and Naruto and was relieved that the redhead from the desert never once looked at him. The Inuzuka heir watched as Gai, Lee, and Naruto all returned to the balconies and to their teams before he looked over at Hinata and Shino, as he was sure one of both of his teammates would have a comment. It should be known that before the three of them even arrived at the tower, Kiba and his teammates almost ran into the Suna Siblings and witnessed another, much darker taste of their cruel nature. All three of them had witnessed Gaara kill one of the other rookie teams from Ame all on his own while his brother and sister watched. It was a mess, and all three of them were shaken at such a dramatic and hideous scene.
He said, "I can't believe that weirdo-sensei can talk to those folks from Suna over there and not break a sweat. If I were him, I would have run!"
"Those three sure do scare me too…" nodded a nervous Hinata, "But I-I sure hope that N-Naruto-kun won't have to f-face one of them later…"
Kiba then said, oblivious to her obvious affections towards the wizard, "Heh! Better him than me!"
Naruto and Lee returned to the balconies with their instructors and both of them leaned over the rail with identical frustrated looks on their faces. The two of them could have been mistaken twins based on their faces alone as both of them wished each of the rookies from Suna received a nice hard smack on their sunburned backsides.
The blonde-haired shinobi wondered out loud, "How can those three be so cruel? First Kankuro threatens to beat down on Konohamaru Sarutobi, Gaara threatens to kill someone that so much as irritates him, and now that bimbo tosses Tenten like she was common trash. What's the matter with them?"
"I have no idea, Naruto-kun…" answered the older rookie, "Who knows how different Suna is from Konoha. Chances are that it all comes down to cultural differences. Those three must have been trained in the cruelest and most hazardous environments to turn out like that."
Naruto was then forced to admit as he started to talk to Lee like he would with one of his brothers, "If I lived in the middle of a desert with siblings like them, I don't think I would turned out that well either…"
While the match between Temari and Tenten commenced, Sakura and Ino started to come to but neither one of them seemed to want to stand. Sakura looked around, her face and muscles were sore and raw from her brawl with her rival. She noticed her sensei and teammate were too distracted with the latest match to notice her. Before she could call out to one of them to notice she was awake, she heard Ino next to her.
She said, "Looks like someone decided to come to as well…"
Sakura turned to see Ino smile as she stared down at the iron floor the two of them sat on. She looked like she was defeated; it was a look that Sakura had never seen on her face before.
"Looks like our match is done and over with…" she said.
Sakura would have broken down in tears when she realized that she lost the match but then her former best friend cracked a sad smile.
Ino admitted as she noticed her rival was about to break down like she used to when the two of them were little, "Oh, don't start now. I should be the one crying… It's such a embarrassment to our kind, both of us, to lose at a tie!"
"Huh," the fuchsia-haired kunoichi blinked as she held back her tears, "Both of us?"
Ino smiled and nodded. But then she flinched and it looked like she was about to swallow a mouthful of water. Cautious, she reached into her mouth, and felt one of her teeth was missing. She looked over at Sakura, but then she smiled at her pink-haired rival and showed her the little black hole in the corner of her mouth.
She said as she chuckled and then ended with a humorous flat tone, "Look at that… Sakura Haruno made a stand and knocked someone's teeth out… and it had to be one of mine…"
Ino then reached behind her and offered Sakura the headband that had fallen off in their final moves. The blonde-haired kunoichi then smiled at her rival in the friendliest manner since when the two of them used to be best mates. Ino's smile widened and she showed off her teeth, as well as the one she lost.
"With that said and done… Sakura… I hate to admit it… but…" she hesitated and then she said, "You've done it… You blossomed into a beautiful flower…"
Sakura could have cried. But she resisted the tears that tried to fall down her face and took back her headband. She tied it around to hold back her hair and took a mental note to shorten her extensive fuchsia hair. But as Sakura held her hair back and tied her headband, Ino decided to break the tender moment a little bit to serve as a reminder.
"But for the record: The next time we ever face off in combat, I won't lose! You'll be the one that looses a tooth! And no matter what, I'll be the one to claim Sasuke-kun's heart! You still have no chance to beat me on that matter," she smirked and then boasted to her rival.
Sakura flinched and then she hissed at her former best friend, "OH REALLY? RIGHT BACK AT YOU, SWINE-BREATH!"
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"
After Tenten and Temari's match, a recess was needed so that the arena could be cleaned of the excessive amount of blades and swords scattered across the area. So the other contestants were allowed fifteen minutes to rest or relax until the next match was to be announced. At the start of the break, Naruto and Lee talked to each other more while their sensei's watched them in amusement. The two rookies started to relate to each other after a conversation about their individual graduation circumstances. And as it turned out, both Naruto and Rock Lee had several similarities: both of them had some the worst scores in their classes and both of them were able to become shinobi from a teacher recommendation. Naruto also learned that Lee had no talent in ninjutsu or genjutsu and had to concentrate all his efforts on his martial arts.
"You were at the bottom of the class, Lee?" the blonde-haired shinobi asked, "How could that be true? You kicked Sasuke's arse when we first met."
Lee nodded, "Yosh! It is true, Naruto-kun! But it wasn't until Gai-sensei started to teach me advanced taijutsu was I able to show the world what I was able to do! I wish to show the citizens of Konoha and then the whole world that I can become an incredible shinobi, even if I can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu!"
Neji overheard the entire conversation and said under his breath, "Dream on, loser…"
"DON'T YOU STIFLE THE SHEER POWER OF MY YOUTHFUL EXCELLENCE, NEJI!" shouted the older rookie as he faced his teammate.
Naruto frowned at Neji and told him with his arms crossed, "Well, I think it's admirable. I think he could do it. You're sure to become a famous shinobi even without ninjutsu or genjutsu, Lee."
Lee looked at Naruto for a moment and he smiled at the blonde shinobi. No one other than his sensei had ever admired him or offered him words of encouragement. Naruto smiled back at the older shinobi while Neji turned around and called them both fools. Lee was about to shout at his teammate for his rudeness, while Naruto felt a horrid churn in his stomach. He started to feel sicker and weaker, like he did when he first awoke in the medical clinic, but it was now so much worse.
It was his chakra.
Naruto's connection to it felt weaker than he did before and now he felt his forehead start to burn, as he felt the blood in his head start to drain down into his feet.
He looked across the chamber for medical assistance and noticed the Sandaime stare at him. The old man made several subtle motions with his hands and tried to remind Naruto to take the medication he had ordered for him. The blonde-haired shinobi reached down into his trousers and found the bottle. His heart beat a little bit faster, as he felt little bit anxious to take the medicine. Naruto looked over at Kiba, Neji, Lee, Kakashi, Kankuro, and noticed all the other rookies in the room around him. So he decided to take the medication in secret in the restroom.
Naruto held his stomach and then said out loud as he left, "Gomen, I have to use the toilet. Excuse me!"
Kakashi nodded and smacked his student's shoulder in an affectionate manner as he left, unaware of his medical condition. Naruto then dashed from the balconies, out of the chamber, and to the closest restroom he could find. While he left the chamber, Kankuro watched Naruto and had been staring at him ever since he insulted his older sister. Kankuro clenched the railing and his arms shivered and shook with rage. Ever since the two of them had first met, the smaller rookie had either insulted him or humiliated him in front of others when he should have looked like a badass. But as the older rookie watched Naruto leave the chamber all on his own, he decided to make his move.
Kankuro ranted and then he said as he shook the cold rail in his hands, "That Naruto Uzumaki… I've had it with him… He tosses me into a fence, humiliates me, he insults Temari, and then the rest of Suna while he's at it. I've had it. That little brat is dead. I'll kill him…"
The older rookie started to storm towards the exit as well, but then his older sister held him back.
"Kankuro," she started.
The Suna rookie retorted with, "Back off, Temari. All I wanna do is knock him around a little bit."
"No," she said, but then she hesitated and told him with a dark look on her face, "Give him a nice bruise for me, Kankuro. And kick him in the nuts."
Kankuro almost smiled at his sister before she released him and let him storm out of the chamber and follow Naruto to the restroom.
Naruto remained seated on one of the covered toilets in the bathroom, as he stared at the small bottle in his hands. He seemed nervous, since he had never taken medicine like this in his life. He almost felt like a criminal or a drug addict to hold the bottle and take the medication in secret: in the middle of a bathroom, no less. But he couldn't take it outside, since he was afraid someone like Kiba would see him and rat him out if he took it out there with the others around. So the blonde-haired rookie bit the bullet and shook out some of the medicine. He stared at the meds in his hand, but then he checked the scribbles on the side of the bottle. There were no serious side effects mentioned, other than a sudden shortness in temper and a few muscle constraints. Naruto then swallowed it without water, and braced himself for the results. He waited and remained seated on the toilet as he waited for his muscles to constrict or feel a sudden fire start inside him and throw him into a roid-rage. But all he felt was his chakra coils and tubes feel a lot less restricted. He then felt his chakra flow almost like he was back normal.
"Ahhhh…"
The blonde-haired rookie relaxed on his seat and felt a little bit underwhelmed. Naruto relaxed, unable to feel the side effects that were mentioned on the bottle and exited the toilet, unaware that someone had entered the restroom and stood behind him. Kankuro had snuck in with a kunai in his hand. The older rookie rushed after Naruto when he reached the sink and attacked him.
"What the-" the blonde shinobi almost shouted until he was muffled, "MRPH! MRF!"
Kankuro struck the smaller rookie in the back, twisted his arm, and then swathed his arms over his neck and mouth. He then held the kunai to Naruto's cheek and cut him, drawing a little bit of blood. Kankuro smiled as he held Naruto still and listened to his muffled voice.
"You miserable little brat," he said as he constricted his hold over him, "No one insults the brothers and sisters of our motherland and walks home without a few broken bones. No one."
Naruto thrashed and tried to shout out, "You… Let… Me… Go… You… Mother… F-"
Kankuro thrashed Naruto around and revealed that he wasn't as weak as he led on to be. The blonde-haired shinobi tried to bite Kankuro's arms but the older rookie hit Naruto on the head with the ring of his kunai and tossed him into the wall next to the sinks. Naruto hit his back against the wall hard and tended to the blow on his head. He was about to shout for someone to help him, but Kankuro clenched Naruto's front and swathed his arm around him to cover his mouth before he could make a sound.
"Now, now don't shout and don't move… and I'll see if I can make this brief…" he said in an intense but smooth voice, "I'll make sure not to hit the face too much. We wouldn't want to take this too far and have me thrown out of the tournament, now would we? But for now… Hold it… You're still in for a world of hurt for the next five minutes, Naruto Uzumaki…"
Naruto tried to break out of Kankuro's hold and attack him back, but Kankuro was much taller than him and was able to hold him down and toss him around some more. Kankuro smirked and almost seemed to have fun as he tossed Naruto around and even started to chuckle at his efforts to break free and fight back. Kankuro thrashed him around one more time and then mocked and insulted him, before he carried out Temari's wish and then beat him senseless once he was down on the floor.
Kankuro smirked and said, "Whoa! Tenacious little one, aren't we? You know, I didn't think that Konoha rookies were such damn shorties…"
That did it.
All it took was that one insult to make Naruto crack and succumb to the side effects of his medication. It made Naruto furious whenever someone mocked him for his short stature, like with Tazuna. But now with that medicine he took, an uncontrollable wrath had been unleashed. A massive red vein was visible on his forehead, as his eyes became shadowed with darkness. Kankuro didn't know what hit him when chakra flooded Naruto's insides like water and he found the strength to clench Kankuro's front. The furious blonde-haired shinobi raised the older rookie above his head, threw him in the air, clenched Kankuro at the ankles, and then swirled him around the bathroom.
"SHORTY? COULD A SHORTY DO THIS? WHAT ELSE YOU WANNA CALL ME?! A HALF-PINT BEANSPROUT MIDGET? I'M STILL GROWING YOU BACKWATER DESERT IDIOTS! TAKE THIS, YOU DAMN GIANT PIG-HOODIE FREAK OF NATURE!"
Kankuro would have screamed like a damsel in distress, but as soon as Naruto's rant ended, the smaller rookie released him and Kankuro crashed into the stall for the disabled toilet, and took the door down with him. Naruto seethed and tried his best to calm down. It took him a while, but once he was calm, he smiled down in satisfaction and watched Kankuro twitched but remained fixated on the floor, moaning. The blonde-haired rookie dusted his clothes and cleaned some blood from his face before he marched on out. But then he returned to the disabled toilet. Naruto looked down at the unconscious Kankuro, and to add further insult to him, he decided to lower down his rear close to the teen's head and farted in his face.
Naruto returned to the chamber now in a much better mood. He was confident that Kankuro wouldn't tattle on him for the bathroom incident, otherwise both of them would be kicked out of the tournament. Not to mention that the older rookie would have to admit that he had his butt kicked, and he wouldn't be able to handle the embarrassment and defeat. Back to Naruto, he was about to walk over and talk to Lee, when Naruto noticed Sakura was awake, awake and well. The blonde-haired rookie rushed over to his teammate, concerned and a little bit worried.
"Sakura-chan," he exclaimed and then he asked in a loud and nervous voice, "You're awake! Are you ok?!"
The kunoichi smiled at her teammate and rested her hands on her waist, "I'm fine, Naruto, but don't be so worried about me! Be more worried about the next match! Yours could be next for all we know, Naruto. You better not lose now or else Sasuke-kun won't let us hear the end of it!"
"Oh…" he realized and then he stood as if he were a soldier, "Yes!"
Sakura turned to her teammate, chuckled a little bit and smiled at him. She then let out a breath she tried to hold in but stared down at the arena, unable to look at his face while she admit what she was about to tell him.
"Thanks a lot… Naruto…" she said as she smiled and stared out.
The blonde-haired rookie turned to her and tilted his head a bit, "Eh?"
"When Ino had me under her control, it was so dark and I was almost sure that she had me…" she said as she flashed back to when her rival almost forced her to surrender, "But then I heard you shouting at me and tried to knock some sense into me… If I hadn't listened, I wouldn't have had the strength to force Ino out… You're the best, Naruto…"
Naruto was taken aback at what his teammate said. He held his breath and felt the blush rush to his face and flood him with color in his hot cheeks. The blonde-haired sorcerer felt his cheeks start to turn red and he tried his best to hold it back while smiled and he tried to act cool, but came across as a bit loud and nervous.
"Heh! It sure does make me sound heroic, doesn't it? If it weren't for me, who knows how the match could have turned out!"
Sakura looked a little bit uncomfortable/irritated at her teammate as she noticed him blush and tried to hide his obvious affections towards her.
'Oh, what a bother,' she thought, 'Naruto still thinks he has a chance with me… And here I thought he was about to move on and find someone else to crush on…'
Naruto looked from his teammate and back at the scoreboard. He shook his fists in excitement as it flickered and started to choose the next set of names. The blonde-haired rookie wanted to start his match soon and show off to his teammate while her attention was still centered on him.
He chanted as he shook his fists, "How about it, then?! It's time for me to shine! Who do I have?"
"MY TURN! MY TURN! Who am I to face?!" the enthusiastic bowl-cut teen shouted next to him.
The scoreboard ceased and chose two random names out of the bunch of rookies that was left in bold letters:
SHIKAMARU NARA VS KIN TSUCHI
Both Lee and Naruto let their heads fall and leaned over the rails, defeated and their swelled heads deflated.
Choji cheered on his best friend as he left the team, "Go Shikamaru! You can win this one!"
Shikamaru looked detached as usual and walked down over to the arena to face the kunoichi she was stuck with. He had his hands in his trousers as he stood in front of Kin and said, "This is so troublesome. Not to mention it's an embarrassment to have to be forced to fight a girl…"
The older and much darker toned kunoichi did not look amused at Shikamaru's reluctance, sexist comment, and lack of enthusiasm.
"If that's how we feel about an official match such as this, then allow me to deliver a swift and fast defeat," she said back at him with an attitude.
Back in the balconies, Ino stood from her seat on the floor and leaned over the rail in enthusiasm. Her wide-bottomed teammate looked like he had seen the Banshee when Ino stood beside him all the sudden and started to cheer on the slothful shinobi rookie below them. He noted that she had recovered from her match in a heartbeat. She smiled as she leaned forward before she breathed in and unleashed her support for thin and tired rookie.
"BE A MAN, SHIKAMARU! DON'T LET THAT WENCH GET THE LAST WORD AND WIN THIS MATCH!" she cheered while she waved her arms and kicked the air like a cheerleader.
Naruto cracked a smile at Shikamaru and wished him the best of luck, since he was an old friend. But to be honest, he didn't think the Nara clan heir even wanted to battle or stood a chance to win. He never saw him fight someone else or even break a sweat in all the time he had known him. But with that said, Naruto was interested and he wanted to see what skills his laziest comrade had hidden within his shadowed exterior.
Once the two rookies were station and all was in order, Hayate thrust his arm down and shouted, "Go!"
The match started, and Shikamaru did not know much about Kin or the land where she came from. But Kin knew a lot about Shikamaru, based on his clan name alone. The kunoichi was aware that he heralded from the Nara clan, a skilled shinobi clan that invented a form of ninjutsu that allowed them to control and bend their shadows to their will and attack their desired victims, which made them a dangerous bunch.
Shikamaru stared down at Kin and held his hands together while he thought, 'Well… This is all I have, so here it goes! Shadow Possession Jutsu!'
At once, Shikamaru's shadow had turned as black as ink on the floor. His shadow then moved around and bubbled like the inside of a lava lamp. The dark shadow then stretched and shot out across the floor towards Kin. The kunoichi dashed to the side and threw four senbon needles at Shikamaru. The rookie soared into the air over the needles and landed on the floor, crouched down low. The needles were driven into the concrete wall behind him. The teen looked back at the needles that missed him, but then he noticed there were small bells attached to the ends of him.
The shadow-user smirked and said, "You want to throw a few more noise-makers for the rest of this match, Kin? Please, I could win this match if I were blind. Not that I would want to win if that were true."
Kin smirked with him, "You should be more observant!"
Kin threw her arm into the air and clenched her hand. Shikamaru heard the toll of the bells behind him on the needles. He feared that the kunoichi had somehow caused them to reverse in direction and attack him when he heard the chime. Shikamaru was foolish to have fallen for the trick when he turned around to look at the bells. None of the thrown needles had moved. Instead, it turned out that there were invisible wires attached to the bells, the ends of which were clenched in Kin's left hand. Shikamaru turned back to face the kunoichi when he realized it was a feeble distraction. But Kin's had attacked and threw two more needles that struck Shikamaru in the arm and shoulder. The needles were laced with chakra and sent Shikamaru off his feet as the small blades sank into his tender flesh.
Both Ino and Choji shouted out and held their breath out of concern for their teammate. The kunoichi smirked at the smaller and lankier rookie shinobi and felt it was now safe to be closer to him as she reached back for another black to attack Shikamaru.
She smiled and said out loud, "Now all I have to do is finish-"
But then the kunoichi froze and she was unable to finish her sentence. She shivered and shook without control while Shikamaru started to recover from the needles in his chest and he too shivered and shook.
Once he stood, Shikamaru said, "It's time to use the Shadow Possession Jutsu…"
The rookie removed the needles inside him, and Kin mirrored his exact same movements. The other rookies in the chamber stared at the scene below them, while the older senior shinobi in the room looked more amused or impressed. Kin's teammate Dosu stared at the match, shocked and confused for Kin's behavior as he watched her continue to shiver and mirror Shikamaru's movements down to the last detail, other than facial expressions.
Kin tried to break free and run, but was still frozen and scared, "How could this be? I know all about the Nara clan's secrets with the shadows… Your shadow is nowhere in to be seen! You couldn't have been able to take control over me!"
Shikamaru smirked a little bit more now and asked, "You haven't guessed it?"
Kin couldn't move her head and observe how Shikamaru was able to use his shadow and control her. But then the rookie tilted his head forward a little bit so that she could look down. She looked down and saw the several wires she attached to her bells had cast an unnoticeable shadow that allowed Shikamaru to outstretch his shadow and attach it to the shadow cast under the wires in order to attach his shadow to Kin's and take control over her now.
He then told her, "It's doubtful that such thin threads could even cast a shadow at all. But I can control my shadow and make it as thick and thin as I want it. All I had to do was make mine as small and thin as I could and reach out to the minuscule shadows of those wires."
Kin witnessed as her own shadow became as dark as ink as it increased in size. Shikamaru's shadow had also become dark as ink and the shadows of the wires between the rookies became thick and connected them to each other. The two shadows formed into one solid shadow that stretched across the arena. Shikamaru tucked his left hand into his trousers while his other arm relaxed at his side. He sauntered closer to Kin and smirked at her while she looked more disturbed as she was forced to move like a reflection.
"You're finished," stated Shikamaru.
He then withdrew a shuriken and aimed at her with a cold and focused look. Kin mirrored his movements; she drew out a shuriken, aimed at Shikamaru, and aimed at his head at the same time he aimed at her head. Kin turned white as chalk. She shivered and she sweat as she tried to break free. The kunoichi knew what he was about to do and couldn't believe he was about to take them both down.
She screamed at the other rookie and tried to talk him out of it, "ARE YOU INSANE? WHEN YOU USE THIS JUTSU, YOUR OPPONENT IS FORCED TO MIMIC YOUR EVERY MOVE! You throw that shuriken, and I throw mine as well! YOU'LL KILL US BOTH!"
Shikamaru said as he whirled his arm back and then he tossed the shuriken, "And that's what I intend to do! Now let's do it!"
Kin screamed as she released her own shuriken and watch in fright as the two blades zoomed across the arena. Shikamaru continued to hold onto Kin with his shadow but had started to stumble backwards. Kin and Shikamaru had sweat run down their faces as the shuriken flew towards their faces and whistled in their ears. It took a second for the shuriken to close in on them both. Shikamaru and Kin leaned back. The blades were no more than a few inches close to their faces. And then Shikamaru was forced to release his shadow after he arched his back. The shuriken missed his chin and he leaned back so far that he had to use his hands for additional support. Kin would have done the same, but instead, she had slammed her head into the concrete wall behind her the whole time. She never knew what hit her after the relief she felt after Shikamaru had released her from his shadow.
The slothful Nara heir smiled and chuckled after he heard her hit her head on the wall and fall over, unconscious. He had won the match and he didn't have to resort brute force or violence. It turned out that Shikamaru wasn't a rookie to be underestimated, such as several other rookies that were in the room.
Shikamaru chuckled and said, "Heh! One more down!"
The rookie recovered in time and stood with his hands stuffed back into his trousers.
"A shinobi must use everything to his advantage, including the terrain, or in this case, the architecture. She was locked into the same movements as me, but I wasn't as close to the wall as she was. Kin should have noticed that," he said, as he showed off his intellect a little bit.
Hayate raised his hand to the conscious rookie and announced, "The winner is Shikamaru Nara!"
Both Ino and Choji threw their arms into the air and roared for their teammate while their more silent teacher smiled and watched Shikamaru return to the team.
Ino kicked the air and cheered, "NICE ONE SHIKAMARU!"
"Awesome!" shouted her fat teammate.
Naruto smiled at his old friend as he returned to the balconies with the rest of the rookies. But the blonde-haired shinobi took a mental note to make sure he did a little bit more research into the Nara clan as soon as he returned home, in case he would ever have to face him in the finals.
Further down the balconies, Kiba Inuzuka counted the number of rookies that were left to battle and tried his best to deduce his chances. He did not want to have to fight Gaara from Suna. But since none of the rookies from Oto had won, he would be content if he had to face Dosu. But if someone forced him to choose whom he had to battle, he would be more comfortable with most of the Konoha rookies that were left in the room.
Soon, the roulette started at once and all the rookies waited and stared until the names for the seventh match were selected. When the two names were chosen the scoreboard revealed in bold letters:
NARUTO UZUMAKI VS KIBA INUZUKA
Naruto felt a cold chill in his stomach when he read the name next to his own. But then he looked more determined and serious, while Kiba smiled a twisted smile and his canine friend barked in excitement.
To Be Continued…
And there we have it! We have now reached Naruto vs. Kiba and then we can move onto the last few matches.
There weren't a lot of differences this time around from the original version of this book, but here are the finer details I gathered: Sakura and Ino's match was more or less the same as it was in canon, but this time around I had Sakura kick Ino around more and I had Kakashi acknowledge Sakura's obvious fault in addition to acknowledging that she has good chakra control. It had to be addressed. Tenten's match was the same, but the main difference was when Kankuro assaulted Naruto in the bathroom. That was my favorite scene to write. In the original, I had Naruto use the famous S.I.N.G. technique demonstrated in the movie Miss Congeniality after Naruto stated that he and Iruka saw the actual movie a million times. I decided to change it and make the comedy feel more natural instead of resorting to obvious pop culture references. And other than that, it's pretty much the same, only it's much better written and structured a lot better than the original fanfic I wrote back in 2010.
Well now, since Azeroth44 isn't around this time, I think this is where I'll leave it until the next chapter. Again be sure to leave a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter. Thanks for reading and see you next time, guys!