Hey everyone. I am back.
So, I took a bit of a break to finish up one of my other stories, and have since then focussed on some other things, but now I am back here.
Upon re-reading the last chapter to refresh my memory, I noticed a small mistake. It isn't Makarov proctoring Arena 4, it's Mihawk.
So, quick recap: Neji hooked up with Karin and Tayuya joined in later after Naruto informed her in his usual manner, we saw the first few battles of the second round and we have seen that unlike other 'Naruto in the West' type stories, the western competitors are not all OPAF.
Anyway…
Betas: Anko4Life
Responses to Reviews:
Persues12: Thanks.
SPark681: Well, wait no longer.
: I hope you had fun.
TigrezzTail: I can relate. It has happened to me a few times as well.
Chapter 1 & 2 Reviews:
HyperA2019: Well, here it is.
Robert k: No offense, but you kinda lost me there buddy.
On with the Story…
Well, allow the old man to make an amendment to his beliefs…He'd prefer his brats to destroy the interior of the guildhall rather than the verbal battle going on between the Suna puppeteer and the Iwa Kunoichi right now. Kids these days. Where did all the profanity come from?
"I'm getting to fucking old for this shit!" the old guildmaster sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Seriously…where does the profanity come from.
Chapter 12, Round 2 cont.
Arena 1
Shizuka and Shiro were engaged in a flurry of Taijutsu, though to most watching, it looked like a well-practiced rehearsed dance rather than a full-on fight.
Some spectators who were focussed on this particular fight even began clapping in rhythm with the pace of the fight.
The two Kunoichi had sparred on a number of occasions back home, so they somewhat knew the fighting style of the other. Leading them to duke it out almost in a battle of attrition.
At least in theory.
They were both fully aware of the looks they were receiving, especially from a certain raven, duckbutt haired shinobi with a Red Eye Infection from Konoha who was leering at them, probably planning on, somehow, convincing them to marry him and produce strong children for his clan…not realizing that he would most likely (A/N: read 'definitely') die trying.
The mere thought sent shivers up their spines.
Besides, Shizuka still had to find and fight that Naruto fella. After all, if local tales speak true, then he has to be a powerful individual, worthy of her hand in marriage. Her Village would definitely welcome him with open arms.
Shiro flinched momentarily when she felt a pair of lavender eyes glare at them…no not them…at Shizuka, but she was close enough to be caught in the crossfire. In that moment, Shizuka grabbed her uniform and performed a classic over shoulder throw, sending Shiro out of bounds, seemingly oblivious to whatever Shiro felt.
"Winner, Shizuka of Nadeshiko." Makarov announced as the winning Kunoichi helped her comrade to her feet, the two holding a whispered conversation as to why Shiro flinched like that.
Apparently, Shizuka has quite a dangerous task ahead of her…or so Shiro explained.
Off to the sides
Hinata turned away, frowning as the feeling of territorial infringement she had just felt disappeared.
Naruto couldn't help but smirk as he looked at her.
Arena 2
Izumi heeded Gimli's words concerning his weapons.
No really, she never touched them or came close to them, other than deflecting their trajectories with the back of her hands.
All she did was transmute his armour into a solid piece of metal that made Gimli look like a rough but powerful warrior statue…albeit one with a moving and cursing head.
"Winner, Izumi Curtis." Riza sighed. She was glad that the Elric brothers didn't pick up her more troublesome tendencies, such as destroying anything they touch that vaguely irritates them.
In the crowd of spectators, two blond, yellow/gold eyes males shivered, the one clutching his metal prosthetic leg, reliving some dark memories.
Arena 3
Since his opponent was decided to forfeit, Gaara simply returned to his seat, though he wondered what said opponent was doing right now.
With Eleonora
"…and when told to rest and not strain your arm, we mean REST! AND! DO! NOT! DO! SHIT!" Titta was ending her tirade at Eleonora, who had a lopsided smile as Limalisha took centre stage with her lecture, with Ludomila and Sofia awaiting their turn patiently. Of to the side stood Tigre, the sword Arifar in his hands as he kept it away from Ellen.
Arena 4
Both contestants immediately sprang back, Kankuro summoning his puppets (5 of them), and Kurotsuchi going through some seals for a Yoton ninjutsu.
Mihawk didn't seem fazed when the match ended soon after, Kankuro failing to dodge the wide spread Lava wave Kurotsuchi sent his way, and said Kunoichi mot noticing one of Kankuso's puppets moving to her side, hidden by her arm and the lava she had spat out, and shooting several poisoned senbon into her leg…well, she felt those at least.
Whilst Kankuro was screaming in pain at having 2nd and 3rd degree burns on his side, Kurotsuchi began feeling woozy.
Both collapsed at roughly the same time.
"Whilst this is a draw, neither contestant appears to be in any state to continue." Mihawk said.
With Naruto
"What will you do about that Shizuka?" Hinata asked.
"Talk with her. If that doesn't work, she's yours." Naruto answered. "I don't know the rules in Nadeshiko concerning them challenging already married individuals or getting challenged by individuals of their own sex."
"Then we should ask Tiny-Sage about that when we see him next." Hinata said, her voice carrying a dangerous undertone.
Naruto nodded, then chuckled. "You know he doesn't like it when you call him that."
"Well, it's not my fault he is compensating for something with his more recent crappy writing…" Hinata said with a proud smile. "He should have continued the writing style of 'The Tales of the utterly Gutsy Ninja' instead of starting that 'Icha Icha' nonsense."
"This from someone who actually reads that stuff." Naruto teased, making Hinata blush vibrantly.
"Hey, it…it gives me ideas…for our bedtime activities." She stammered. "I never heard you complaining!"
"Never said I was." Naruto simply responded, turning his attention back to the stage where Najenda listed out the next battles.
Arena floor
Najenda drew 2 names from the bucket next to her, reading them out loud.
"The first contestants of the first battle for the last set of battles for the day are Bee of Kumogakure and Asumi from Iwagakure in Arena 1." She announced.
She was about to grab another pair when an Iwa shinobi ran up to her and whispered something into her ear.
"Correction. Asumi of Iwa has chosen to forfeit due to the injuries sustained from her battle with Ido of the West." Najenda announced.
She then grabbed 2 more slips.
"Shikamaru of Konohagakure and Temari of Sunagakure in Arena 2." She announced, making many shinobi from Suna and Konoha snort at the irony. Their second battle in as many tournaments in as many arenas…
"'Berserker' Naruka of the west and Hatake Kakashi of Konohagakure in Arena 3." Najenda continued.
Kakashi looked at the whiskered blond Shinobi(?), Warrior(?), Soldier(?) he wasn't sure what to think of her. He saw her fight with Chojuro. He decided that maybe it would be safe to keep his distance from her for the time being.
Najenda then spoke up. "And that leaves Kiba from Kirigakure and Aoi from Kirigakure in Arena 4."
The two Kiri Shinobi looked at each other and nodded in mutual agreement.
Arena 1
"Man, what a drool, this is not cool. There's a saying I'm gonna grab, what a drab." Bee said, drawing circles into the ground. Was he ever going to find a worthy fight?
"BEE! SHUT UP WITH THE LAME RAPS!" Ay shouted.
"And that is MY line, what a drab." Darui added his own 2 cents.
Arena 2
"You better not pull of that stunt like you did last time, lazy ass." Temari said.
"What will you do if I do?" Shikamaru asked boredly. "I doubt you can be more troublesome than Mom."
"Oh, I have my means and ways…I am sure I can be just as TROUBLESOME if not more so than your mom." Temari said with a smirk.
"What could be more troublesome than my mom?" Shikamaru asked, interested.
"Oh, I don't know…hook you up with a girlfriend, one that your mom will approve off." Temari said with an evil grin, twinkling eye included.
"Like you?" Shikamaru asked, turning the tables on her. "My Kaa-san kept on bitching to me about how I forfeited to you and nearly made my father invite you over for dinner, had you and Otogakure not invaded and killed her favourite deer." Shikamaru sighed. "It's troublesome, but she really still holds a grudge against you for that and has a heavy skillet ready to beat you into the ground with."
"Will you two stop flirting and kiss already?" Riza asked. "I swear, you are worse than Edward and Winry when the General and I come over for a cup of tea…" she muttered, making the two shinobi blink, look at each other, then pointedly find the ground more interesting as they fought to get their blushes under control.
Arena 3
Kakashi studies Naruka out from the corner of his eye whilst reading a certain little green book.
'judging by the muscles of her arms and her stomach, she is a strength type fighter.' He thought. 'And definitely strong enough to break a few bones if I allow her punches to connect…to quote the Nara clan…how troublesome…'
"Hey, old man." Naruka spoke up, making him gain a tick mark. "Stop checking me out. I don't have a thing for weak lazy old perverts."
'Raikiri it is…' Kakashi thought, the reasonable adult in him willingly stepping aside for the non-reasonable adult to take over. 'Or at the very least, Konoha Hidden Taijutsu Oogi: Raiton: Sennin Goroshi'
"Hey, Sparky, how far can I bury his ass in the ground?" Naruka asked Laxus.
"Deep enough that he survives, but not deep enough to we can't dig him back out." Laxus responded.
"Alright. I'll send him all the way to bedrock." Naruka said with a smirk, cracking her knuckles.
Laxus sighed. Naruka never really listened to anyone other than Naruto and their family…
Arena 4
"May the best Kiri Nin win, Aoi-dono." Kiba said, holding out a hand. Aoi nodded and shook it.
With Naruto and Hinata
"Who do you think will win these matches?" Hinata asked.
"Hmm…Between Shika and Temari, it will be difficult to say. Unlike during the Chunin exams, there are no trees or walls there to give the lazy ass any additional shadows to use for his technique, so Temari definitely has the advantage, but then again, if he is anything like back then, he has at least 6 plans ready and another 12 ready to pull out of his ass." Naruto answered.
Hinata giggled. "That definitely sounds like Shikamaru-san. And do you think we can do something about the tension between those two?"
"Sure, just send a message to Shika's mother and to Gaara, make things extra troublesome for Konoha and especially the Nara clan." Naruto smirked. "I am sure that Mrs. Nara will be happy that her son has a girl he likes and will want to meet her, origins notwithstanding."
Hinata just shook her head with a smile.
"As for Naruka and Kakashi…Naruka is going to win this, hands down. I guess that we should have had someone warn Kakashi that Narkua is the leader of the 'Western' Amazon Brigade…" he said with a smirk. "Those ladies are deadly, as you know."
"And short tempered…" Hinata commented, remembering the third-to-last nation to have peacefully joined the Empire…with some concessions mind you…
Sure, they have unrestricted travelling rights within the Empire, but at least they are forbidden from challenging married men for their hand in marriage…
They nearly went to war over that, until Naruto explained to them that he was happily married and did not want to constantly have women hounding him day and night, then asked them if they were happy sharing after Hinata glared them into submission.
Grudgingly, they conceded.
Down amongst the Arenas
"Match BEGIN!" Laxus, Mihawk and Riza called out…and Laxus had to turn into lightning to avoid the ensuing shrapnel…
Arena 2
Temari, remembering last time, immediately opened her fan all the way and bit her finger…
Shikamaru lazily threw a flashbang behind him, the strong light extending his shadow because he was too lazy to do it himself.
Temari growled, actually growled, and dogs and cats within several city blocks of the Colosseum ran for their lives as they heard the dangerous sound, the rats and mice running after them in fear, making several alcoholics witnessing the spectacle of Rodents seemingly chasing Cats which in turn are seemingly chasing Dogs who were running for their lives…many of those people took their bottles and poured them down the drain, thinking that they had had a bit too much to drink.
"You caught me…again, for FUCKS SAKE!" Temari shouted.
"Language. There are small kids amongst the spectators." Shikamaru said. "Anyway, I forfeit." He said.
"Huh?!" Temari and Riza asked.
"If I were to win this, I'd have to deal with the likes of the 3rd Raikage, the 5th Kazekage, Gai-sensei, and who knows what class of monsters the other winners thus far are. No thanks. Much too troublesome." Shikamaru said. "I just promised my mom that I'd make it to the second round."
Temari stomped over to him, grabbing his collar and holding him close. "Listen here, you lazy piece of shit, I warn…" she didn't finish the sentence as Riza had moments earlier sent a pleading look at Izumi Curtis, who understood the silent question, and alchemically raised the ground underneath Temari's back foot, sending her tumbling forwards and into Shikamaru…making them kiss.
"Welp, you heard the lazy guy. Winner is Temari of Sunagakure." Riza announced. "And though he may not get the first prize, he definitely got the girl."
This got many catcalls from the crowd as Temari began chasing Shikamaru around the arena. "And they already have couples' spats. They sure work fast."
To add to the fun, Shikaku in the stands was taking a video of the whole ordeal, chuckling as he remembered when he and his wife got together…swap out Riza for his own Father, the Suna girl for Nara Civilian and the arena for a meadow in the Nara Forest and the tournament for the first meeting between him and his wife after learning that their parents had signed them up to be married, and history might have repeated itself almost scene for scene.
Arena 3
Laxus had barely finished saying the words, when Naruka exploded in a dense mass of Chakra, screaming "BERSERKER!"
Kakashi was shocked enough that he shielded his face with his book, not the other way around as he was wont to do.
"Oh SH…" he began before dodging a punch from Naruka that shattered the entire arena, sending debris flying everywhere, only to be stopped by the barrier surrounding the arena itself. "Such strength."
Naruka turned towards him, mouth seemingly full of sharp teeth, her long spiky hair giving her an animalistic aura, her eyes glowing, yes GLOWING, red, and steam seemingly exiting her mouth as she gave a sharp exhale. With an animalistic roar, she threw herself at him again.
Grabbing her arm, expecting to throw her over his shoulder and out of bounds, Kakashi realized that a) she was far stronger than he anticipated; b) he had no chance in CQC against her sheer strength; c) she was sprouting those chains of hers from her back this time; d) he fucked up by not making a clone in that moment.
As Naruka sped past him, the chains wrapped around him and the ground, keeping her from flying out of bounds, whilst at the same time suppressing Kakashi's chakra and, with a helping tug from Naruka, sending him flying right at her, mailed fist cocked and ready for the punchline, should there be one.
"This is going to hurt!" Kakashi told himself, before being buried in a foot of concrete. "Aauu~" he groaned. 'She hits as hard as Guy with 3 gates open…' he thought, his head spinning as Naruka reared back another punch, sending him further into the ground and into a world of pain.
The third punch brought Kakashi blissful unconsciousness whilst the fourth was stopped when Naruto, still in disguise, caught her arm moments before she hit Kakashi again.
In the background, Laxus was naming her the victor whilst calling for the medics, saying there's a priority 1 here.
"Calm yourself, little sis." Naruto said, slowly embracing the still berserk, but motionless Naruka. Slowly, the chakra around her began to calm down and return to her body, the chains beginning to fade away, her eyes returning to the vibrant colour they usually were, as she slowly began to return the embrace, crying into his shoulder, happy that he was always there to bring her back.
With the Kages
"Is it wise to leave such an unstable weapon roaming freely?" Danzo asked the western attaché who was with them in to answer most of their questions.
"One, she is not a weapon." He answered, his voice remaining calm but his eyes burning with anger. "She is the adopted little sister of our Emperor, one of the few who can calm her down after entering the berserker stage." The attaché mellowed out. "I was there when the Emperor and his cousin rescued Naruka from some laboratory, where she was tested on, where someone tried turning her into an emotionless weapon and instead created the woman you see before you."
Many of the Kages flinched, hearing that. Most of them, bar Danzo, detested the idea of Human Experimentation after all.
"You keep on calling him the Emperor…does he not have a name to add to that? A family name or a title" Danzo asked, trying to eek some more information about the royal family that he could possibly use for leverage.
"You are awfully interested in information you don't need to know, Mr. Hokage." The attaché commented. "But to answer your question, the Emperor has many titles, but the one the population knows him by the best, is 'The Second Unifier of the West'."
"Second?" Onoki asked.
"Indeed. Our Emperor is the second Emperor, the first one passing away due to illness a few years ago with no heirs, but proclaiming him as his successor." The attaché said with a smile. "The current Emperor was the first person to agree on the First's dream of unification, and later on, became the second most well-known individual within the empire after the first, Emperor Kurokuma, himself."
Danzo activated his hidden sharingan.
"Surely there is more you could tell us about your emperor." He said, only to feel the point of a very sharp sword at his throat.
"Whatever power you were about to use to manipulate the attaché's mind, cease it immediately." Souei demanded. "Else you wish to spend your time here locked away in a cell."
Danzo mentally glared at the Oni/Kijin, but complied.
In arena 4
Upon hearing the start of the match, Kiba immediately rushed Aoi, knowing that he needed to gain an advantage over the more experienced Shinobi quickly.
Alas for the swordsman, Aoi knew this as well and engaged him wielding a tanto, both Kiri-nin enhancing their blades with lightning chakra.
They exchanged blows for a short while until Aoi turned the ground beneath their feet into an elastic substance through the use of his unique Lava release. The sudden uneasiness of the ground caused Kiba to miss Aoi and the elder shinobi to deliver a slash along Kiba's thigh, drawing blood.
Kiba jumped a distance away and assessed the situation.
Aoi had turned the field into an advantage to him, despite knowing that the technique he used ate a ton of chakra; Kiba was bleeding from his non-dominant thigh, but he was still relatively filled up.
Nodding to himself, he decided to turn the match into one of attrition.
Noticing that his opponent wouldn't attack again, and thus realizing what Kiba was planning, Aoi cancelled his AOE jutsu from earlier and rushed Kiba.
Sparks flew as their weapons clashed again.
Those who watched the match grew to respect these two Jonin as they both fought well. Neither allowed himself to be pushed into a corner and both fought with all they got.
Eventually, the match ended with Aoi managing to land a kick on Kiba's wounded thigh, making the leg buckle and then holding his tanto to the swordsman's throat.
"Winner. Aoi of Kirigakure." Mihawk announced. "And please send a medic over here. One of these guys is close to being anemic."
With Konohamaru and co.
"Well, guess that ends the fights for today." Konohamaru commented.
"And it looks like another speech is coming up." Moegi said, pointing to where the Emperor and the Empress sat.
"Oh joy, another speech…" Konohamaru muttered, shaking his head whilst Udon and Moegi smirked whilst Hanabi thought, 'You'd pay attention if you knew who that actually is…' with a smirk of her own.
As they approached the railing, the stadium became quiet.
"Many have fought today in celebration of the peace and union that the Unification war has brought us." The Emperor began. "Let us all take the rest of the day to recover from the excitement and reconvene tomorrow for the next set of battles."
The 4 of them joined the rest of the Konoha group as they left the colosseum, Moegi and Udon suspiciously 'allowing' Konohamaru and Hanabi to walk next to one another, much to the former's confusion and the latter's (not so) secret delight.
"So, do you guys want to try out that restaurant near the Hotel?" Konohamaru asked his friends.
"Sorry, I'd like to lay down for a bit. Didn't drink enough because of the excitement." Moegi answered, giving Hanabi a small smirk.
"I was invited to attend a math class in a nearby school later on." Udon added his own excuse. "Don't worry. If the two of you like the food there, next time, the bill will be on me and Moegi."
Konohamaru grumbled something about being ditched by his friends whilst Hanabi was feeling a substantial amount of heat in her cheeks.
"I guess it's just us then…" Konohamaru sighed. "So, you up for some grub?"
Hanabi didn't trust her voice to give a coherent answer and merely nodded, a small smile gracing her lips, leaving Konohamaru in a slight daze…
Though he quickly shook it off.
'Must be this western sun.' he thought.
…
AND DONE!
So, this chapter closes off the first day of the combat tournament.
Next chapter will be some filler stuff, and the one after that will start the next set of battles. The contestants going through are:
West: East:
Luffy Ay
Natsu Gai
That damn Housewife Shizuka
Naruka Gaara
Bee
Temari
Aoi
If you have any match requests, feel free to leave them in a Review or PM me with your request. Otherwise I'll continue using a randomizer.