Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto franchise or any of its characters.
Chapter Twenty Four: The Storm Arrives (Part 1)
[Ding!]
[Special Quest: "A Forgotten Relic Of Time" Created]
[Quest Details: Uzushiogakure, led by the legendary Uzumaki clan, was once a glorious village testing the capabilities of mankind to its very limit. Discover the ruins of the forgotten village and the reason for their untimely destruction.]
[Quest Rewards: Exp. 25,000, [?], [?], [?]
Naruto continued to stare at the quest for another five minutes, questioning whether what he was seeing or not was real.
Uzushiogakure? Uzumaki? What the hell does this all mean? Does this mean…I'm from an actual clan?
He always wondered who exactly his parents were, but those questions were immediately met with stares. Even the Third seemed to avoid answering, looking to divert the topic as much as possible. As a kid Naruto simply went with the flow, slowly getting the feeling that he would never get the answer. Eventually, he stopped asking at all, sticking to the idea that his parents were just regular civilians.
Then came Karin Uzumaki.
At first, Naruto doubted that they were related. For one, they were in completely different villages. Secondly, Karin's blood-red hair didn't have much in common with Naruto. Even so, the name 'Uzumaki' wasn't a common one at all. He was tempted to go and find Karin after the revelation but waited for a bit as she had just lost her fight. He went a few hours later to go searching for her, but a nearby proctor had stated that they had already left.
This quest, however, seemed to confirm his suspicions. The Uzumaki were more than just a regular clan, being noted as 'legendary' and 'glorious' by the system itself; any praise from the system couldn't be taken lightly at all.
I have…I have a clan. Uzumaki. It means something more. Naruto thought joyously. Then how come I never heard of it before? How come a village so illustrious isn't recorded anywhere? Did I never pay attention? No…that's stupid. Someone else would have noticed the Uzumaki clan for me. The only possible outcome is that information regarding the Uzumaki clan has somehow been deleted from the records. For what reason? How were the Uzumaki destroyed?
The quest wanted him to find the reason for the destruction as well as find the ruins of the village. Meaning Naruto would have to go on a journey to find a place that isn't even mentioned in any maps he knew of.
He immediately put the quest in the backseat of his mind for now. It was clear that this quest was going to take more than a few years to accomplish, and rightfully so seeing the reward it was giving. That much experience would instantly elevate his level more than a few times.
"There's nothing I can do now," Naruto whispered to himself. "For now, I only need to get stronger." That was the only solution to the multitude of problems he found himself in.
He checked out his other reward, the Reputation meter. According to the system, it would appear whenever he casted an observe on someone. Naruto headed back to the arena, eager to test out the new mechanic as soon as possible.
Hopefully, my reputation isn't too bad. Naruto chuckled bashedly. Ah well, you reap what you sow.
Naruto rushed towards the arena, not wanting to miss any of the fights. Especially this one. Sasuke was going to fight against Hinata! He could finally see the Uchiha's progress over the last month that he and Kakashi had tried so desperately to hide. As he neared the arena, he noted with confusion the absolute silence that the crowd was in. Did something happen?
Ignoring the crowd, he took his usual spot near Kakashi and Sakura, albeit noting their eyes focusing towards a specific area. Naruto followed their gazes until his sight reached a fancy podium that overlooked the arena. Inside were a couple of old men including the Third Hokage.
Why are they inside there? Sitting next to the Third Hokage as if they have similar positions. Naruto thought for a brief second before slapping his hand on his forehead. Of course, the other men were clearly Kage of their respective villages.
That meant the other Kage had missed the earlier fights…Naruto wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Regardless, they would have to see him fight Neji later that day, so Naruto wasn't too bothered about the fact.
The Third smiled down at the stadium. "I wish to thank everyone in attendance. This exam is a tradition passed from our fathers and forefathers, a symbolic representation of the hopeful peace between our nations. But even more than that, it's a culmination of the hard work of hundreds of Genin across the globe, not limited by any border. I would like to thank our esteemed leaders from the participating villages who decided to visit…"
Naruto quickly felt a yawn approaching, but managed to shut it out. He looked towards Sakura, who was listening with keen interest. "Oi, Sakura, who are the geezers next to the Hokage?" He whispered casually.
He was too far away from the podium to cast observe, meaninghe simply had to rely on general knowledge for now. It wasn't like his observe would give him anything more than a name and a lofty title anyway. His level was too low to be compared to Kage, for now.
Sakura looked affronted at his language, and even more so that he was interrupting the Hokage's speech. "They're Kage! Show some respect, Naruto. Anyways, I don't recognize all of them. But some of them are obvious enough. They show clear similarities to the pictures in our books, anyway. The Kazekage is obvious enough…that's from Sunagakure if you didn't know. The Tsuchikage from Iwa is obvious enough—I don't know about the others. Must be minor villages."
Hmm…so that's Kurotsuchi's grandad. Eh, he's a lot shorter than I expected. As for the Kazekage, nothing much to note there.
Kakashi had to know a lot more about the other villages, but he didn't look like he was going to give any explanation.
"Heh, I might need to work on my general knowledge," Naruto admitted with a frown. Who knows…reading might increase my intelligence. It's so boring, though!
Hiruzen seemed to be finishing his speech. "Now, let the Chunin exams continue!"
Naruto let out a sigh of relief. "Ugh! Finally! Where's Sasuke?"
He looked to the left to see Shikamaru's team to the left. They looked too good, but still better than before. Shikamaru, at least, wasn't as pale-faced as he once was. It was good to see that he was feeling better after the horrific incident from earlier. Naruto assumed that they knew that Kurotsuchi was mostly fine now.
His teammates were fine as well, though they seemed to be staring at Naruto with a weird intensity.
Naruto waved a hand in greeting. "Hey, weirdos!"
"I don't know what's worse. The dead last being so strong or him of all people calling us weird," Ino murmured with a conflicted expression.
Choji laughed boisterously, eager to lift the mood. "What Ino means to say is congratulations on the win, Naruto! I didn't know you had it in you, to be honest. You defeated Kiba pretty easily but that's honestly a low-hanging bar—"
Kiba elbowed the Akimichi in the back, growling angrily. "Say that again and I'll find the hidden snacks in your room and feed them to my dog!"
Choji looked genuinely frightened. "H-how did you know about those? I made sure to hide them carefully!"
"Nothing hides from this!"
Kiba pointed at his nose with a smug grin, showing off his sharp teeth.
What makes the Inuzuka more dog-like? Is it some kind of Kekkai Genkai? Naruto thought curiously. I might ask Kiba later. Hmm…maybe Kakashi could know.
"Where's Kakashi?" Naruto asked his only teammate available right now. He waited for her answer as he smiled in greeting toward Shino.
Sakura answered without even glancing in his direction. "He's with the other Jonin sensei."
He quickly cast an observe at Sakura.
[Observing…]
[Observation successful!]
Name: Sakura Haruno
Title: N/A
Occupation: Academy Student
Level: LV8
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100
Chakra: 100/100
STR: 5
VIT: 4
DEX: 3
INT: 6
WIS: 3
LUK: 5
Reputation: 70
His eyes skimmed past her regular stats, noting with interest that they had definitely increased since the last time he had seen them. Reputation at a seventy? Is that good or bad? Naruto felt like it was pretty good considering how much she used to despise him. The main reason for the turnaround was due to the fact that he simply stopped asking her out, which seemed to be Sakura's main gripe with him back at the Academy.
He looked at Shikamaru next.
[Observing…]
[Observation successful!]
Name: Shikamaru Nara
Title: The Lazy Genius
Occupation: Academy Student
Level: LV15
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100
Chakra: 150/150
STR: 8
VIT: 7
DEX: 8
INT: 15
WIS: 8
LUK: 6
Reputation: 80
The Lazy Genius? Naruto harrumphed into his elbow. That matched Shikamaru perfectly. He was surprised with how much the Nara had improved, being only one level behind Naruto himself. Although that could be attributed to the fact that he had started at a much lower level compared to Shikamaru. The reputation wasn't too much of a shock—he had been friends with Shikamaru and Choji for a long time.
Naruto looked at the others, ready to cast observe on them as well, but stopped as he noticed the fight was commencing.
Sasuke versus Hinata.
Needless to say, the fight had garnered a lot of attention. The Uchiha versus a Hyūga. An age-old debate dating back to the origin of these clans. The crowd was as rambunctious as ever, betting at an all-time high as people weighed in on the fight with critical eyes. The fight had meaning politically as well, more so in the case of Hyuga, obviously.
Naruto couldn't care less. "Let's go Hinata! Kick his ass!" He cheered as loudly as possible.
He obviously didn't want Sasuke to lose, but that didn't mean he was going to cheer for the bastard.
Hinata, who stood patiently in the middle of the arena waiting for her tardy opponent, trembled slightly before facing his side of the arena. Her pale eyes looked to be searching for something before they finally settled on Naruto. The boy in focus let out another ear-piercing shout of support, before lifting a thumbs-up into the air. Hinata's face blushed a bright red, much to Naruto's confusion.
"Is there something on my face?" He cluelessly asked his teammate.
Sakura just shook her head and sighed. "Doesn't matter how strong they get. Boys will be boys…"
"Tell me about it," Ino said, nodding in agreement.
Naruto just looked at them, clearly bewildered.
[The system is once again astounded by your stupidity.]
The proctor in the middle began looking at the clock in annoyance. Was his name Genma or something? Naruto pondered. The preliminary exam had a different proctor, but Naruto heard that he had fallen sick somehow. Whatever, where the hell is this bastard? Don't tell me Sasuke dozed off before the fight!
"I'll begin counting down the final minute. If Sasuke Uchiha does not arrive at that time then he will be withdrawn from the tournament," the proctor said without an ounce of hesitation.
The crowd watched with trepidation as the time went down and down, and no sign of the infamous Uchiha was to be found. Even Naruto was beginning to get slightly worried—only a bit, however. Sakura, on the other hand, was clutching the rails tightly in anxiety. Kakashi just stared into his book.
"Five, four, three, two, and one—"
Sasuke Uchiha leaped across the arena, somehow making dust rise to hide his appearance immediately, leaving only his hazy silhouette. The dust settled, revealing the confident Uchiha in all his glory. The crowd burst into cheers as their prayers came to fruition, their fists in the air as they screamed with all their might.
Naruto scoffed, unimpressed. "Of course, the bastard copies my entry! I don't blame him, there's not much else he could do with that stupid eye of his!"
His complaints were hypocritical considering Naruto had been copying many types of Taijutsu styles with his system and even Bee's kenjutsu (however poorly he had done so) as well. Oh well. A bit of hypocrisy never hurt anybody, right?
Ino and Sakura, the leaders of the Sasuke fan club back in the Academy, led the charge of the incoming cheers, each of their shrills attempting to burst Naruto's ears without a shred of remorse.
Kiba shouted loudly in support of Hinata. "Destroy the Uchiha, Hinata! Make sure he never walks again!"
Wow. And I thought I held a grudge. Naruto began, somehow impressed by Kiba's brazenness. To be fair, Sasuke didn't make too many friends at the Academy. None, actually. Huh, I thought I was lonely. Even I hung out with Shikamaru and Choji. Before Sakura and I, Sasuke had zero friends…how come I never actually noticed that? Maybe cus' of all the fangirls surrounding him.
Sasuke's new attire seemed to be the center of attention. His regular navy blue shirt and white shorts were nowhere to be seen, replaced by a black onesie that high-collared and ended in shorts. His hands and legs were wrapped by bandages and black straps. He crossed his arms, a serious expression on his face as always.
Even Naruto had to admit he looked pretty cool for a moment, before shaking his head in denial. He casted an observe a second after.
[Observing… ]
[Observation successful!]
Name: Sasuke Uchiha
Title: "Last Uchiha"
Occupation: Genin of Konoha
Level: LV17
MP: 100/100
Chakra: 250/250
STR: 12
VIT: 9
DEX: 16
INT: 8
WIS: 5
LUK: 2
Reputation: 70
Only one level ahead. I'm almost caught up! Naruto thought with a grin. Even if he knew levels weren't too great of a comparison, it was still nice to see his numbers reaching his rival's. Furthermore, Naruto was confident that he could beat Sasuke in a fight if he went all out. He wasn't too sure about a direct fight with his teammate, but a confrontation where he could use his shadows would definitely go in his favor.
The reputation he had with Sasuke wasn't too much of a surprise either. He was, however, surprised by the Uchiha's rapid improvement in a month. What kind of training did Kakashi put him through? His dexterity is insane!
He checked out Hinata next out of curiosity.
[Observing… ]
[Observation successful!]
Name: Hinata Hyūga
Title: N/A
Occupation: Genin of Konoha
Level: LV14
MP: 100/100
Chakra: 250/250
STR: 8
VIT: 8
DEX: 10
INT: 5
WIS: 5
LUK: 4
Reputation: 90
Ninety reputation?! Naruto thought with a shocked expression. Why the hell is it so high? Wait a second…maybe—
"What are you staring at?" Choji asked through a mouthful of chips.
Naruto chuckled nervously. "Nothing, hehe…nothing at all."
Shikamaru just raised a skeptical eyebrow.
He was probably wrong in his assumption anyway. He had barely talked to the rather shy girl—and even when they did, their conversations tended to end in a string of meek words. Naruto couldn't think of any proper reason why the reputation was so high. Well, there was that one time I saved her from some bullies…
He ultimately shrugged, thinking that it was pointless to stress over it right now. Maybe he could ask her later. Right now he was eager to see how much Sasuke had improved. The two contestants stood a small distance away from each other. The audience waited in a hushed silence as the proctor began speaking.
"…begin!"
Hinata dashed backward, eager to place some distance between her and Sasuke.
Her opponent flashed towards her.
Naruto could only gape at Sasuke's speed. For a second it was almost like he blurred towards Hinata, whose eyes widened as she kept her hands up to defend. A flurry of attacks were heaved upon Hinata, who tried her best to intercept and block when required. Naruto had a creeping suspicion that Sasuke still wasn't going all out.
Naruto looked towards Kakashi. "How is he so fast?"
Kakashi winked. "A secret, of course. I'd like to tell you, but Sasuke might get angry in return. I can't afford to break the trust of my precious students, can I? Unless, of course, you tell me who exactly trained you for the past month."
"Forget it," Naruto groaned out.
Naruto knew Kakashi was eager to know who his 'secret sensei' as he liked to call it was. He was also sure that Kakashi had sent a few clones to follow Naruto during his training, but Bee had somehow taken care of that easily enough.
Naruto looked back at the fight. Not much had changed. Sasuke was simply stronger, faster, and better. The two Taijutsu styles met in a harsh battle. By technique alone, Hinata seemed to have an advantage. Her Taijutsu was more fluid and controlled compared to the acrobatic Uchiha style; nevertheless, Sasuke was leagues ahead of her in pure technical combat.
Sasuke hadn't used any of his other techniques either, likely hiding them for use in future battles. He had a grin on his face as he went hand to hand against Hinata, who was similarly enjoying the heat of the battle. The crowd more than enjoyed the scuffle, cheering at every punch and kick that managed to land.
"Interesting. She's more crafty than I thought," Kakashi said suddenly.
Naruto raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Her strikes aren't just for show, Naruto. The Hyūgas use their eyes to their advantage to hit chakra points, temporarily disrupting their flow entirely. Sasuke is forced to fight hand to hand, where Hinata is more comfortable. She took Sasuke's early confidence to her advantage to quickly get some shots in."
"So you didn't tell Sasuke that the Hyūga could do that?"
Kakashi nodded. "Must've slipped my mind."
Naruto didn't believe that one bit. Kakashi had a reason for doing so, but it didn't feel like it was worth the effort to explain to Naruto. Anyways, regardless of Hinata's strategy, Sasuke quickly began to overwhelm her. Her movements became sloppier and lacked the scary precision she once had.
Sasuke feinted left, an attack that Hinata desperately tried to evade. That action only put her right side into a completely vulnerable position, and thus she could do nothing as the Uchiha kept a kunai right to her neck with a burst of speed.
"Winner: Sasuke Uchiha!"
The crowd burst into applause at the performance, easily the loudest thus far. With names like Uchiha and Hyūga, he supposed it was to be expected.
"Great job Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted from the stands, her hands to the sides of her mouth. Ino echoed her with equal intensity.
Great. I didn't learn anything about his current ability other than that he's somehow radically faster. I know for a fact that Kakashi taught him something special. He should have expected that Sasuke wasn't going to be such an idiot.
"Looks like he's gotten stronger as well. This is going to be troublesome…" Shikamaru said, massaging his forehead.
Naruto grinned. "Don't worry too much about Sasuke. You aren't gonna get past me, dattebayo!"
"Shouldn't you be worrying about Neji?"
"Him? I got it handled."
Naruto could humbly say that he was one of the strongest going into the tournament. The only issue was that he simply couldn't use his shadows. He wasn't an idiot—even though he often made reckless decisions—he knew that revealing such a technique would only bring negative attention to him. My Necromancer abilities are too strange and not a type of regular jutsu. I would get questioned as to where I got the technique, and if I didn't answer, I would get sent to some interrogation team. He knew that the Yamanaka clan that Ino came from had some sort of way of viewing memories and such. Everything would go to hell.
That's why he made a rule for himself. Only use the shadows when his life was on the line. A situation which was getting more and more likelier as Naruto found out the hard truth of his current life.
Sasuke appeared next to them a second later. He was ushered with compliments by Ino, and Naruto noted with some amazement that Sakura managed to stop herself from fangirling. Sasuke seemed to notice as well if the tilt of his head he gave to Sakura was any sign.
The blond was originally going to just congratulate Sasuke but decided otherwise when he realized his friend had skipped his fight entirely.
Naruto dramatically sighed, walking towards his rival, his words were dripping with mock arrogance and haughtiness. "I won't say good job. That sort of performance won't work against me in the finals, Sasuke."
"I haven't revealed any of my tricks yet. Whereas you showcased everything you had against Lee," Sasuke sniped back, smirking.
Naruto shrugged, lazily placing his hands on his head. "I don't need to hide anything. Do your best…"
He walked past, whistling all the while. Let's go! That had to have sounded cool, right?
[…]
Damn it!
"Where are you going?" Kiba asked from behind him.
"How's that any of your business?" Naruto quipped as he continued walking forward.
Internally, Naruto was sweating. There was no way he was going to let them know that he had been so overcome by the act that he hadn't realized he was walking towards nowhere. What do I do? What do I do? His eyes darted left and right as he viewed every possible path. They stopped at the sight of a violet-haired girl talking to an older woman. Hinata! Perfect!
Naruto sped up his walk soon after.
Shikamaru sweatdropped. "He had no idea where he was going, did he?"
"Yep," Sakura confirmed with a grin.
Kiba barked with laughter, with Ino following soon after.
—
Naruto rushed forward, getting closer to Hinata who seemed absent of any injuries after a quick check-up with the medic. There was still a presence of fatigue in her eyes, however. Medic ninja were miraculous, but even they couldn't randomly increase energy levels.
"Yo! Hinata!" He greeted her enthusiastically.
The girl in question froze. Naruto then noticed the woman in front of her. That's probably their sensei. Uhm…Kure something, right?
He cast an observe so that he wouldn't make a fool of himself.
[Observing… ]
[Observation failed.]
[Target's level is too high.]
[Would Player like a partial observation?]
[Yes/No]
As expected from a Jonin.
Yes.
Name: Kurenai Yūhi
Title: "The Genjutsu Princess"
Occupation: Jonin Sensei
Level: ?
MP: 100/100
Chakra: ?
STR: ?
VIT: ?
DEX: ?
INT: ?
WIS: ?
LUK: ?
TheGenjutsu Princess? That was interesting—Naruto had never fought anyone that adept at Genjutsu before. After noting the name properly, he looked back at the teacher. He noted with a slight blush that she was incredibly beautiful, if not unfairly so. With dark hair and ruby eyes, she was almost like something out of a book. Get yourself together, Naruto!
Kurenai looked amused. "Who might you be?"
She clearly knew but wanted an answer anyway—there wasn't anyone—especially shinobi—in Konoha who didn't know who Naruto Uzumaki was. Naruto obliged regardless. "Naruto Uzumaki, dattebayo!"
She looked down at the red-faced Hinata with a smirk. "Ahh…. And why have you come here?"
Because there was no way I was going to return to my seat after embarrassing myself like that. "I wanted to congratulate Hinata for a hard-fought fight!"
"I see. You two go on then. I have some work to be taken care of."
With that, Kurenai disappeared into a gust of wind.
Damn, she's cool.
"N-Naruto-san…you really think that I fought well?" Hinata asked, her eyes betraying her nervousness if her words didn't already.
Naruto grinned toothily, raising a thumb in confirmation. "Of course! You were awesome! It doesn't matter if you won or not, you've clearly worked hard to get where you are now. You were amazing, Hinata!"
Her face somehow got even redder. "T-thank you!"
"Come back to where I'm sitting, Hinata. The others will want to talk to you as well."
She looked disappointed for a brief second before smiling widely. "Sure!"
"Lady Hinata, to be frank, your right with Sasuke Uchiha was a disappointment."
Both Naruto and Hinata swerved their heads to the left at the new entry.
Neji Hyūga stood still without any feelings of regret at the words that came out of his mouth. As for him, those words were nothing but the absolute truth. Besides him was Tenten, who was slightly uncomfortable but preferred not to say anything.
He continued after a brief pause. "You're not cut out to be a shinobi. I request that you do not try to advance to Chuunin anymore. In fact, you can comfortably stay in the Genin ranks and live the rest of your life peacefully in the main branch manor."
Naruto felt his anger spike as the pale-eyed boy in front of him continued to talk.
Hinata trembled beside him, taking the words to heart. "Nii-san, I tried m-my best—"
"Your best won't cut it," Neji cut her off, closing his eyes. "Fate is an unbreakable chain weighing all of us down. Some were born to be strong. Others were born to be weak. Some were born to be geniuses. Whereas others merely lack any talent. You lack self-confidence. You lack instinct. You don't have what it takes to be strong. Please, for the sake of our clan, give up."
Hinata froze again, her words stuck in her throat. She wanted to answer like how Naruto would have in her place, but couldn't get her mouth to move. Please…
Naruto gritted his teeth. "Hey, bastard, what kind of brother are you? Can't you tell that Hinata worked hard? If it's obvious to me, why isn't it obvious to you? Why are you such an asshole?"
"Do not involve yourself in Hyūga clan business," Neji said, frowning.
Naruto walked forward, noticing with displeasure that he was a few inches shorter than Neji. "And what if I do?"
The stands were mostly empty, with people leaving to get a few drinks or food as it was nearing lunchtime as they waited for the next match. A few stray audience members remained, however, and stared at the arguing pair. Naruto noted that Tenten had a worried look on her face, with her hand behind her back ready to pull out a weapon in case of any fight.
Neji's eyes narrowed, drawing veins all across his face. "I'm going to destroy you in our match."
Naruto backed up, grinning in anticipation. "And I'm going to embarrass you. To be honest, even if you hadn't tried bullying Hinata right now I'd still do the same. Everything about you pisses me off, Neji. Right down to your attitude and ideals. Fate? Destiny? Fuck all of that. Unless your so-called fate includes you getting an ass whooping from yours truly, then I don't believe a single word coming from your mouth."
Tenten scoffed. "As if Neji—"
"Did Neji go off on his fate tangent after you lost?" Naruto asked the girl with a slight bit of genuine curiosity.
Her silence spoke volumes.
Naruto sighed. He was too tired for this right now. He took Hinata's hand and directed her towards the others.
"T-thank you, Naruto-san…" Hinata mumbled out with a portion of her face hiding in her jacket.
"Don't worry about it. I didn't really do much other than rile him up, anyways," Naruto said, his other hand on his hair. "Probably not a smart thing considering he's my next opponent, though."
Hinata giggled softly. "Sorry, that—"
"Your brother is a bit of an asshole?" Naruto answered for her.
"He's not actually my brother. But we are related," Hinata said, her eyes unfocused and a frown marring her face.
They reached where everyone else was sitting quickly enough.
"Well, well, well…what do we have here?" Ino asked suddenly, her eyes ablaze with interest as a creepy smile adorned her smooth face. "Getting confident now are we, Hinata?"
Hinata let go of his hand, reaching the other to start twiddling. "I-I…"
Ino ushered her over to a corner where she and Sakura began jabbing her with questions, all of which left the girl a sputtering mess.
Naruto just looked at Choji confusedly, who shrugged in return before offering him a bag of chips, which Naruto graciously accepted. He was hungry, after all. Do I have time to get a quick bowl of ramen? I love you so much, ramen!
Sasuke stood next to Kakashi, discussing something rather heatedly. All I can hear is something starting with 'Chi'. What the hell is that? Whatever, I'll just sit next to Shikamaru and Choji.
"What's the next fight?" Naruto asked. He could probably remember if he tried but was too lazy.
Shikamaru answered gravely. "Shino versus Gaara."
Naruto felt his heart skip a beat. And not in a good way. Gaara was a horrible matchup for Shino. His bugs were useless against someone who could themselves with heaps of sand without a second thought—not even considering the mental sanity of someone like Gaara who had already mercilessly killed someone in the tournament. There was simply no reason for Shino to even attempt the fight unless he had a death wish.
The Nara happened to understand Naruto's thought process. "Don't worry. Shino is going to forfeit. He's smart enough to value his own life. Gaara isn't…normal, to say the least."
It was weird how Gaara seemed to be the only Jinchuuriki who was a total nut-case. A case could be made for Fuu, but that was simply because she was truly battle-hungry.
The fight went just as Shikamaru said. Both Gaara and Shino met in the middle of the stadium, where Shino announced his decision to forfeit the match. Needless to say, the boos that resounded were from people who hadn't seen the red-haired boy's previous fights. Gaara seemed to accept the forfeit, simply walking back to his seat without a semblance of emotion.
The proctor motioned towards the bracket. "With the first rounds of each side of the bracket dealt with. We move to the second round! And the first match will be…"
Everyone waited in apprehension for the announcement. The contestants to see whether they got to rest or fight. The audience members to see which powerhouses were going to fight next. The silence was louder than any scream and the tension in the air seemed almost tangible to the touch.
"Naruto Uzumaki versus Neji Hyūga!"
Naruto couldn't resist laughing out loud, drawing everyone's eyes towards him.
But he was only looking at one person.
I'm going to crush you, Neji.
—
End.
Yo!
Sorry to end on a cliffhanger, but I could fit the fight with Naruto and Neji into this much awaited Neji versus Naruto fight will be next week. I'd like to thank everyone for the kind messages last chapter—its a, amazing to back to writing.
Question of the Day:
What do you want the pairing of this fic to be? I don't have anything set in stone as of now, but it would be interesting to see the results after twenty four chapters. Review your answer!
This is part one of a major arc, which will span multiple parts until the end of Konoha crush.
Make sure to follow, review, and favorite this story if you want to keep up!
Next chapter is on July 16th, Tuesday!
Cya.