Chapter 23: The Battles Begin!

Chapter Summary: The Battles... They begin. That's it. What else am I supposed to put here? Has meta commentary gone too far?? I'm losing my mind! I need reviews to live! More reviews, I say!

Words: 4,895

Published: 7/7/23

(chapter 15) midnightscar17: Cant u give naruto a better personality. I swear i feel like im looking at a 5 year old who doesn't know the sky is blue.

I see what you mean. I can see that I sort of went overboard on how retarded people can look when they're deeply insecure :P

khaeild02 Don't mind what some people say, I like your style, keep going man

I appreciate constructive criticism, honestly. I appreciate your compliments, too.

troutman30

All right, I get that it's an AU story but at least get the right character's with the right story arcs. It's like you're picking names out of a hat to decide who to use.

That's actually exactly what I'm doing, no joke, albeit with some respect and level of adherence to the original character lore. Basically they're not so much the same character as canon, but they're loosely based on them. I try to keep the stories somewhat familiar but I'm focusing more on the overarching points that they'll eventually reach.

scotty26 I hope fiotball78 didnr get yiu down with that review. Personally im of two minds about but i get it. Whos to say he DDIDNT know the rasenga ? I dont swe him as weak oer se As for sakura i like what you are doing to her character and now we know it was

It's cool lol, I love to read your comments as well.

Arena

The arena was a large open-roofed ring, 100 yards in diameter, surrounded by rows and rows of seats. Naruto and Dosu were both situated at opposite ends of the ring at the 25-yard marks, as Hayato stood in the center.

In the seats, thousands of people eagerly awaited the coming fights - most of them shinobi and other military personnel. The sensei of Teams nine, ten, and even eight - who had no skin in the game - were present with their genin who had lost. Along with them were Kankuro, Jiraiya, Hiruzen, and Ebisu. As with Sasuke, Kakashi and Anko were nowhere to be seen, and Asuma joked, "They're probably banging in the bathrooms.", to which Kurenai replied, "They weren't there when we left...", earning a curious look from Hiruzen.

The hokage - with Shizune and Tonton -, the otokage, and the kazekage - the only kage whose genin were present for this part of the exam - sat in a box high above the crowd, albeit similarly pressed against the walls of the stadium.

Tsunade made note of the odd behavior of her fellow kage - the kazekage was speaking much too softly for what she had been told to expect, and the otokage barely spoke, and when he did, his voice was raspy and cold. Tsunade chalked it up to nervousness and illness, respectively, but nonetheless whispered to Shizune, who followed her orders and discreetly set up hidden security parameters.

In the ring, Hayato introduced, "The first match is between Naruto Uzumaki of the Hidden Leaf...", and paused when the crowd gave a mixed reaction of cheers and jeers. "... And Dosu Kinuta of the Hidden Sound.". The crowd had no reaction.

He raised his hands, and brought them down as he announced, "Begin!", and leaped away.

Naruto made quick work of Dosu.

Maintaining the Flying Thunder as a well-kept secret had been working like a charm thus far, so Naruto opted to keep it that way. He lobbed two kunai at random, and then used a transformation jutsu to effectively camouflage himself by disguising himself as air itself - in order for the technique to work continuously, he would have to warp the transformation any time he moved even an inch, lest his disguise take a shape that didn't fit. No big deal, he figured, as he certainly had the capacity for that chakra, and his training over the past month had, in fact, tremendously increased his control.

Dosu had his own tactics. Although he wasn't expecting literal real-time camouflage, he was quick to think, and made his decision. He removed three steel balls charged with chakra, and threw them in just as many evenly-spaced directions in front of him. They landed along the 50-yard line. The chakra from the balls made pulsing vibrations in the air - Dosu reasoned that if every part of his radar vibrated, that Naruto was not that close yet and that any part of the ring that didn't vibrate must be Naruto.

Dosu analyzed the wall of vibrations in front of him, until he spotted the one space that remained still - he knew in his heart that Naruto was that space. He brought forth his gauntlets and fired at the spot.

Just then, he felt his chakra fade, and the cold steel of a kunai pressed against his jugular.

Naruto's voice commanded, "Forfeit, please."

Dosu groaned, and shouted, "I forfeit!", ending the match.

Hayato announced as such.

Though Naruto had used the Flying Thunder to teleport behind Dosu when the older boy tried to attack him, the audience had no idea what had happened - as far as they were concerned, Naruto somehow disguised himself as air, and snuck around the ring to defeat Dosu.

Their reaction was one of shock. No one had expected Naruto to win, certainly not so fast, not so easily, and not so impressively. Many people cussed, having lost bets due to the blonde's success.

.

Waiting Room

Both boys were walking through the halls, when Neji and Kin passed by. Remembering that their match was next, Naruto and Dosu quickly returned to the room they had come from before, where their match was seen by the other genin on a large TV set.

Sakura skipped over to Naruto and told him, "Great job, Naruto, I was rooting for you!"

Shikamaru dryly added, "And she nearly burst our eardrums in the process..."

Naruto blushed.

There's gotta be some way to get over my stupid crush on Sakura. She doesn't like me that way, so I'm just setting myself up for heartbreak.

In an attempt to do so, he yawned and coolly replied, "Didn't need it; that was all me."

Sakura pouted. "Whatever."

The genin watched the TV to witness Neji fighting Kin.

Naruto watched intently.

The way Neji's moving... He closed in on her real fast. She barely even had a chance to get ready. I think that's the Hyuuga fighting style Ebisu told me about. They utilize close quarters combat because their greatest tool, the byakugan eye, allows them to see the opponent's chakra network, and therefore enables the Hyuuga to pinpoint and attack the chakra coils directly, effectively cutting off their capacity for ninjutsu. But I don't think Kin uses a lot of ninjutsu, so what's the-- and she's down. Wow.

Neji had won the match.

Next were Temari and Shikamaru.

In the waiting room, Neji taunted Naruto. "That girl lost. The same destiny awaits you, Uzumaki."

Ignoring Kin's offense at the insult, Naruto rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Confucius. How do you even know what anyone's destiny is?"

Neji shrugged. "I have an eye for it. People like you, like Lady Hinata, are simply destined to suffer tremendous failures as the bulk of your lives."

Naruto scoffed. "What makes us different from you?"

The discussion began to get heated. "Your naivete. You believe that you are worthy of a destiny that lies above your station, which is exactly why you are fated to buckle under it."

"How do you know what destiny is on our level? Sounds like circular reasoning."

"A cretin like you wouldn't get it. You're arrogant."

"What makes you say that? I think it's more arrogant to assume you know what someone else's station in life is."

"Would you say that a predator and its prey are the same? Of course not. Some people are simply lower on the chain of destiny."

"Ugh, that's the point! How can you possibly tell?? You can't take an indescribable and abstract concept, and try to use it to make concrete, rational judgements!"

"Fate is not abstract - - it is complex. Yet, in spite of its complexity, its end result is simple."

Naruto began fuming. "You're messin' with me! You know you're talkin' crazy, you just wanna get in my head! It's not gonna work!"

"No, I--"

Naruto plugged his ears with his fingers. "LALALALALALALALALALALALA I'M NOT LISTENING...!"

Neji growled and stomped his foot, before walking away. He muttered, "Insolent fool..."

After Neji walked away, Naruto ceased his babbling. He then noticed that everyone had been staring at him. As he felt the embarrassment creep up, his cheeks turned red and he looked down. He whimpered, "What... What're you guys lookin' at? Just watch the fight."

On that note, he shyly stared at the TV, as well.

Oh, Shikamaru's about to hit her with his shadow! Hey, wait, why's he raising his hand? Did he just forfeit??

The blonde cried, "WHAT?? He was so close!"

Neji dryly responded, "He clearly couldn't get his shadow to reach his opponent, so he opted to take the loss instead of drowning himself in his own arrogance. You will not be so wise."

Naruto groaned. "Shut up!"

After that, Gaara and Sasuke were called out of the room, but Sasuke still hadn't arrived, so Gaara was sent out alone, and a time limit was allotted for Sasuke to arrive. If he failed to arrive, he would be switching places with Sakura in the exam for the time being - this announcement preceded loud boos from the audience.

Naruto felt his blood boiling.

Stupid lazy bastards... Are they really gonna throw Sakura under the bus like that?

Sakura complained, "I can't believe they're throwing me under the bus like this!"

Nonetheless, the entirety of the stadium waited for five minutes. It was one of those five-minute periods that felt more like an hour, as tension crept into their bones. Temari had arrived in that time, too, thankful that the attention of winning by forfeit was taken off of her.

However, with exactly five seconds left, Sasuke finally arrived. He smirked as he walked to his spot in the dirt, with Kakashi watching from behind the entrance before disappearing to join the crowd.

Naruto whined, "That-- those assholes! They just took this long so they could make Sasuke look cool! What gives??"

Neji mocked, "Even your own sensei knows that you're destined to play second fiddle."

As Naruto shot him a nasty look, Temari asked, "Gee, what's his problem?"

The match began.

Although Gaara had been training intensely, particularly due to fear of being sped up on like by Lee, he quickly found that Sasuke had trained even harder.

Gaara couldn't even dodge the punches properly, every single hit was a call so close that he felt the other boy's skin sliding over his face. He knew that it was only a matter of time before he would get hit again. Before his shell would crack once more...

Gaara encased himself in a sand dome, blocking Sasuke completely. The redhead sat down, and tried to calm himself down. He began rocking back and forth.

Don't do it... Don't do it... I'll be fine... Even if he hits me, I'll be fine. I'll be fine. I'll be okay. I'll be okay. I'll be okay.

Outside of the dome, Sasuke cracked his knuckles as he decided what to do now. He breathed in, then out, and his irises turned red, with black tomoe swimming inside, as the sharingan was activated. He then held his left arm with his right, and began to charge chakra in the dominant hand. He transferred the electric chakra from the sharingan into his hand, and lightning began to crackle.

Within half of a minute, a blue coil of electric chakra began to dance between his fingertips, and he knew the chidori was ready. He took his arm, and thrust it into the sand dome.

Before Sasuke could hit anything, the dome had dissolved, and he found himself stuck in place by thick sand. The chidori dissipated.

Sasuke saw Gaara right in front of him, so he promptly formed the hand signs for a fireball technique, and emitted a flame so immense that it spread five meters past his target.

Unfortunately for Sasuke, the target sunk and became sand.

A sand clone?...

He heard a voice from his left.

"That was the wrong target, Sasuke Uchiha."

The raven-haired boy began to struggle as he started forming handsigns.

Another voice from the right.

"That is also the wrong target."

Sasuke turned to the other voice.

He then felt a kunai on his neck. From behind, Gaara spoke, "Forfeit, please."

Sasuke groaned. "You--"

Gaara threatened his jugular with the knife. "I wasn't asking."

As Sasuke silently cursed at himself, Gaara taunted, "I'm the real thing, Sasuke. You don't want to test me."

Sasuke finally swallowed his pride. He raised his hand and said, "I forfeit!"

The crowd was silent as Hayato announced, "Sasuke Uchiha has forfeited. The winner is Gaara no Sabaku!"

They almost couldn't believe that the heir of one of their most prominent clans had lost, much less that he'd forfeit. Hushed murmurs overtook the crowd as the boys returned to the inside of the building.

In the waiting room, Neji smirked. "That's one of your teammates done, Uzumaki. As I've said, the same fate awaits you."

Naruto scowled. "Y'know what? When we're done, I'm gonna make you wish you were doing as bad as Bushy-Brows is right now."

The Hyuuga responded with scorn. "Don't make light of Lee's injuries."

Naruto replied, "Why not? Is he somehow exempt from being fated to lose? Dickhead."

Hayato peered his head into the room. "Naruto Uzumaki, Neji Hyuuga, your match is next. We're taking a fifteen-minute break, use it to make sure you're ready."

Both boys nodded.

With that, Gaara and Sasuke arrived in the waiting room.

Sakura spoke, "Don't worry, Sasuke, it happens to the best of us - - there's always next time!"

Sasuke glared at her. "If there's one thing that's more annoying to me than losing, it's being given pity after losing."

Neji spoke up, "Don't be too sore about it - - you were destined to lose your fight. You should have focused more on whittling your arrogance than fueling your ego."

Naruto smirked. "Yeah, what he said! Don't be a bitch about it!"

The Hyuuga grimaced. "I'd never say something as crass and lacking in class as that, you bumbling fool!"

Naruto blew a raspberry at Neji, before being pushed to the side into a wall by Sakura. The girl whispered, "Quit while you're ahead, Naruto; don't give him an opportunity to get in your head before the fight begins."

Neji, wanting to uphold the chivalrous values imparted by his clan, neglected to comment on Sakura's interference.

Thus, Naruto sat down in a chair and waited for the next fifteen minutes to pass.

Ever impatient, he couldn't help but blurt out, "How'd you end up so obsessed with fate, anyways?"

Though Naruto was quietly admonished by Sakura, Neji answered the question.

He took off his headband, revealing a swastika tattooed onto his forehead. "It all comes back to this curse mark, and the Hyuuga mafia, as you called it. This curse mark is forcibly applied to any member of a Hyuuga branch family or subsidiary. It allows members of the main branch to exercise control over us. My father, by virtue of being the younger, was branded this same way. His brother, Lady Hinata's father, was older - - although they were both twins, my father came out after my uncle. One day, when I was a toddler, Lady Hinata was kidnapped, and my uncle killed the kidnapper. However, he was framed with an assassination charge, and was set to be executed. But then... My father told him he would take the blame. They gave false testimony to protect the main family, and let my father be executed in my uncle's place. The next day was my birthday, on which I was branded with this curse mark. That is when I realized that destiny has a plan, and it is indiscriminate."

The room was silent.

Naruto winced. "That's messed up..."

.

Kages' Box

While waiting for the next battle, even the kage found themselves bored.

Tsunade took this opportunity to turn to the otokage - who had arrived with his entire body enshrouded, showing no skin, with his hat bearing a veil to cover his face. She joked, "My, my, I'm sorry my genin made short work of yours."

The otokage spoke with a raspy voice. "I'm not holding out for a promotion, either. Cough Perhaps next year, you will have... weaker genin."

The blonde giggled. "If you say so, Lord Genyumaru."

Genyumaru continued, "I'll make sure that my genin next year outdo yours, too, Rasa."

Rasa nodded weakly. "We'll see."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "I'm going to the bathroom."

As she sat on the toilet, she ruminated her position.

Maybe I should've let Sarutobi-sensei stay hokage until after these exams - - no, I'm ready for this job. Just because it's getting difficult early doesn't mean I'm not able to do it, or that it'll always be like this. I really hope neither Genyumaru nor Rasa are up to anything; our villages' relationships could be tarnished... Even if they're trying something, I can't let that happen. I won't. Minato's work will not go to waste.

She got up to wash up and return to her seat. Upon her exiting the bathroom, she had noticed Rasa and Genyumaru whispering to each other and nodding.

Each and every second, my hope fades...

She quietly sent for Shizune to send an inquiry to Hiruzen.

.

.

.

Arena

After the fifteen minutes had passed, Naruto and Neji were set up at their places in the ring. When the match began, Naruto had fully expected Neji to close in on him, like he had with Kin earlier.

However, Neji stood still. Seeing this, Naruto knew he had some other plan up his sleeve.

Why would he rush Kin, but not me? What separates me from her in a way that changes Neji's strategy? If only I'd seen her fight in the prelims... All I've got to go on is her fight today, in which she... Of course, she intended to stand still, and keep Neji back! Her strategy must have been to stay away from Neji. So, if I'd normally start running, then Neji wants me to do that. God, I hope I'm as clever as I think I am.

Naruto adopted a running stance, and surprised Neji by moving forward slowly. The blonde crept closer and closer, like a snake, without opening himself up too easily to Neji's plan. With his own anxiety rising, Neji decided to mimic this action, inching closer as well.

Some of the crowd jeered, with one man even yelling, "It's not a ballet dance, ya little shits!". This man was dogpiled by other audience members telling him to shut up.

Naruto and Neji slowly closed in on each other, until only three or so yards remained between them.

At this point, Neji activated his byakugan.

I'll close in now and strike his coils, there, there, and... There.

Just then, Naruto began to sprint towards the older boy. He managed to only grab ahold of his shirt before the startled Hyuuga pushed him off - stabbing to try and hit a chakra coil.

After the push, Naruto kicked at the ground to continue making distance from Neji, until he was at least five yards away. He then rose, and assumed a fighting stance, ready for Neji to attack.

Neji, however, remained still.

Damn it, only snubbed a single line.

Naruto took a deep breath, and summoned a shadow clone.

Your stupid fingering maneuvers are dead in the water, asshole!

Naruto began to charge chakra in his palm. As the clone helped him maintain stability, he let the sphere grow as it spun in all directions and retained its core.

Seeing this, Neji decided to use his own chakra-specialization technique. He adopted the Hyuuga fighting stance - knees bent, arms positioned as if he was holding a bow, with his index and middle fingers extended, and began charging his own chakra, starting with his fingertips.

As the chakra expanded, he started to use his hand sin entirety to spin the chakra, creating a translucent lavender rotating chakra dome around him, which extended into the ground and five feet in each direction.

Nonetheless, Naruto ran towards the dome with his rasengan, much to Neji's delight.

That arrogant fool, he's really going to try that? Just as I predicted - pride before the fall!

Then, Naruto disappeared from Neji's vision.

Just as soon, everything felt as if it was running in slow motion. Neji's rotation field collapsed, and he felt his chakra depleting. Following this, he felt like a large hammer was being driven into his back, as it exploded in pain, and he found himself face-down in the dirt.

Naruto stood tall. He had placed a Flying Thunder mark on Neji when he rushed him, and used the jutsu to hit Neji's back with the rasengan and knock him out.

As Neji was totally incapacitated, Hayato announced, "Winner - - Naruto Uzumaki!"

The crowd, yet again, was astonished at just how many upset victories were occurring today. Moreso, they were surprised that Naruto had once again achieved victory in a manner basically unseen by the audience - Neji's rotation technique covered Naruto's maneuver long enough that it dissipated by the time the rotation was taken down.

Naruto kneeled, and whispered to Neji, "When I'm hokage... I'm gonna make sure no one gets branded like that, ever again."

I can even talk to Granny Tsunade about it, but I don't wanna get Neji's hopes up too high...

After Naruto was returned the the waiting room - and Neji taken to the infirmary, the next match was set to begin.

Sakura and Temari glared at each other until the match began, at which point Temari attempted a flurry of attacks, knowing her disadvantage. She had only won her fight with Shikamaru because the boy had been too lazy to squeeze more effort into his maneuver, fueling insecurity, and Sakura had seen the earlier match, as well.

As such, Temari tried to knock Sakura off-balance with an onslaught, starting with a harsh crashing wind technique. However, Sakura managed to block it by sprouting a wall from the ground, concave enough that it captured the wind and sent it flying back towards the blonde.

Temari attempted to bring the wind back around for another run, but when she attempted to do so, a harsh jolt ran through her hand, disrupting the technique.

She stuck her fan in the ground as a shield and tried to inspect what had happened by inspecting the affected hand. She saw a dim black circle on the back of it, which quickly faded away.

Dazed and angered, she grabbed her fan and removed it from the ground, hoping to continue her attacks.

Unfortunately, she had no opportunity to do so, as she suddenly felt herself being physically pulled across the ring in Sakura's direction. Unable to fight against it, she succumbed to Sakura's punch at the end of the high-speed pull. Combined with the velocity, the punch was just stiff enough to stun the girl and cause her to fall to the ground.

Then, the tomoe-laden Sakura kneeled and quickly pressed a knife to Temari's neck. "Forfeit, now."

Temari cursed and relented, "I forfeit!"

After the girls were sent back to the waiting room, Hayato made an announcement to the audience.

.

Waiting Room

When the girls returned, the marks on Sakura's body were still present.

It was Naruto who asked, "Whoah, what was that, Sakura?? And what are all those... Commas?"

Sakura smirked. "Hmph. These are tomoe. Anko-sensei taught me to use Orochimaru's cursed chakra for my own purposes."

Naruto stammered, "Wh-- you can't use that guy's chakra! He's evil!"

The girl laughed. "Anko-sensei said it's okay, so it's fine with me. Don't you trust her?"

"Well, yeah, but..."

Hayato's voice was heard loudly on the TV.

"Since there are three competitors left in this part of the exam - - Sakura Haruno, Gaara no Sabaku, and Naruto Uzumaki - - we will be randomizing the next battle to determine who will be present for the final one. If you would turn your attention to the screen."

The TV cut to a camera showing the inside of the kages' box. Tsunade stood in front of a spinning wheel, with the three genins' names written evenly and spread randomly across (without any name paralleling itself) on a total of six cards, so that each name would parallel with another only once. An arrow taking up 3/4 of the diameter of the wheel would dictate which parallel pair would battle.

Tsunade pulled the wheel, and it blurred as it spun at great speeds.

Naruto gulped.

So it's either me and Gaara, me and Sakura, or Gaara and Sakura... Oh, man...

After nearly a minute, the wheel began to slow down. The names were becoming more and more visible as it ceased to blur.

After nearly another minute, the wheel stopped spinning, and landed on the next battle.

Naruto Uzumaki vs. Sakura Haruno.

Naruto gulped.

Shit.

He looked over to Sakura, who was smirking.

He nervously followed her and Hayato as the three returned to the ring, to start the match.

.

Arena

At the beginning, Sakura immediately raised her arm to use the chakra pulling technique, and successfully began to pull Naruto. Unlike Kin and Anko - or her other subjects - however, Naruto was significantly more difficult to pull, moving at less than a foot per second.

He must have a ton of chakra, or excellent chakra control. Either way, this isn't working.

She canceled the maneuver, forcing Naruto to try and find his balance.

Gotta move fast!

He used the flying thunder to reach Sakura, who still had his kunai in her pouch.

Naruto had intended to make her forfeit the way he had with Dosu and Neji, but couldn't bring himself to hold a knife to Sakura's neck.

The girl laughed. "I should've known..."

She turned around, and removed the marked kunai from her pouch. She toyed around with it, and pressed her face against Naruto. "This little thing here..."

Naruto leaned back in avoidance.

What am I doin'?...

Then, all of a sudden, Sakura kissed him right on the lips. At first, Naruto was too surprised to move. He hadn't been kissed so directly since his encounter with Fuuka those years ago, and she had only done that in an effort to steal some of his chakra and bond with it, to prime him for takeover. At this realization, he understood what was happening.

Sakura was physically draining his chakra bit by bit, if at a slow pace, to subsequently use it for her own cursed techniques.

In turn, Naruto tried to back away, but was stopped when Sakura suddenly stabbed him in the gut with the marked knife. He slumped against her.

Without completely breaking the kiss, Sakura whispered, "Don't worry, it'll heal pretty fast."

Naruto shuddered.

What the Hell is up with her...?

He struggled to even move his arms, and they shook as he did, but he managed to grab the knife and just barely pull himself off.

He fell on his back, and the wound quickly healed.

He looked up, and saw Sakura standing over him. The tomoe on her body had become a fiery color, and seemed to be pulsing. "Too little, too late, Naruto. I've already gotten all of your chakra."

Naruto replied, "I've still got... Enough..."

He rolled back, and quickly brought himself back up to his feet. He stumbled backwards and turned around to break into a run in the opposite direction. As he ran, he summoned a shadow clone and began forming the rasengan mid-run.

When he turned around, he saw that Sakura had been keeping up, following only a few feet behind. He gulped.

Since she's got nearly all my chakra, this move shouldn't hurt her so much as it depletes the reserves...

He thrust his open palm directly onto Sakura's stomach.

Her expression turned to one of shock. The tomoe on her body reverted to a black color, before collecting themselves back into the core mark she had been cursed with. By that time, the rasengan's power had all been used, and the sudden rush of chakra leaving was enough to make Sakura collapse from exhaustion.

Hayato made his judgement and announced, "Winner - - Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto kneeled next to Sakura. "Hey, are you alright?..."

The girl weakly replied, "Yeah... I don't know what came over me."

The blonde frowned. "I'm betting it was that curse mark. I don't care what Anko said, it's doing some funny things to you."

Sakura was taken to the infirmary, as Naruto was once again returned to the waiting room.

.

Kages' Box

Tsunade, now joined by Hiruzen, who sat in the back near Shizune, grinned. "Well, Rasa, looks like it's your son against my number one knuckleheaded ninja."

Rasa nodded.

Hiruzen watched with a cautious look.

.

Waiting Room

When Naruto returned to the room, the first person whose eyes he met was none other than his next and final opponent, Gaara.

The redhead grinned and stated, "It'll be a pleasure to face you in battle again, Naruto. Hopefully it isn't as horrific as the last one."

Naruto smiled, and responded, "Either way, it's gonna end the same - - with me standing over you in victory, scoldin' you like there's no tomorrow."

Gaara's brow rose. "You remember our battle? Truly, in totality, to its very end?"

Naruto smirked. "Yeah, you bet I do."

Fight scenes... My weakness...

Reviews... My lifeblood...

I normally have the next chapter of the fic ready when I publish a chapter, but I'm having writer's block right now. Nothing serious but it's making me move slow. So technically this chapter is early :P