Choji and Asuma both insisted on giving Shikamaru high fives even as he just wanted to lie down.
"Do I have to watch the rest of this?" He groaned. "I'm tired, and hungry, and honestly, this whole thing…"
"If you say it's been a drag, Choji doesn't get dinner tonight, and it will be your fault."
Even knowing that he couldn't actually enforce that, the two looked in horror at their Guide and Shikamaru shut up.
"You'll stay until Choji's match is decided," Asuma continued, which prompted the boy to shrug and lean on the railing.
"Don't you want to cheer your bandmate on?" Hinata, standing near him, asked.
"Of course I do," Shikamaru responded, "but I also want to take a nap!"
Hinata decided that she wanted nothing to do with his whining and looked forward to the next match. She had already provided what emotional support she could to Shino and Sakura, so she was really hoping that she could do so for Kiba and Naruto. Whomever those two faced, she hoped to be there, overcoming her anxiety to cheer one of them on against whomever their opponent turned out to be. She knew she could crush her anxiety, because if it was one of them against anyone else in this room, then she would know exactly what to do and say…the green letters settled on 'Kiba "Lugh" Vs. Naruto "Izanami."'
Had she done something to offend the Gods recently?
--
Kiba was less horrified than Hinata at his result. In fact, he was somewhat giddy. Naruto had been among the worst in their class, even if he was pretty good at Social Knacks, below average at combat and utterly worthless with Purviews. Apparently he had learned the Darkness Purview since then, and might even be good at it from what Hinata had gathered from her talks with Sakura, but that only made him happier. Darkness was all about taking away the enemy's sight, and Kiba didn't need to see to be good.
Bringing Fionnadh Dearg off from his resting place atop Kiba's head, the two walked into the arena confidently.
--
Naruto vaguely remembered Kiba. He was actually one of the few people who had been nice to him as a small kid, or, more accurately, cruel in a different way than the others.
Both of them were too energetic for a classroom setting, and thus frequently got into trouble at the same time for the same reasons, and while many children wouldn't let him play games with them at all, Kiba had no problem as long as it was a competitive match with something on the line and Kiba held an advantage.
As he used to tell the others, 'anyone who puts up candy or toys or money is free to join in,' which was a farce looking back on it as the boy had received his Visitation earlier than most and was already at so large an advantage that this merely meant Kiba added to his own collection in all of these games, but Naruto wasn't an exception, and as a kid that made him happy.
Then they grew up, school became more important, and ultimately Naruto became the only thing that stopped Kiba from being dead last in written work. Rather than appreciate this, the boy's competitive streak meant that he latched on to the one person he was 'better than' and turned to belittle Naruto.
Funnily enough, Naruto still appreciated it. Kiba actually had a reason for mocking him that the boy could understand before he learned about the Titan Lord in his stomach.
Still, the mockery hurt, and Naruto was looking forward to showing this bastard that he was no longer the 'dead last.'
--
Kiba held a wooden club weighted with lead, Fionnadh Dearg barking beside him in an aggressive stance. Naruto held knives in both hands, face filled with determination. When the proctor shouted for them to begin, the former shouted "Animal (Dog) Purview: Animal Aspect" while the latter shouted "Darkness Purview: Shadow Bodies," and then the ferocious man with a dog's strength and ferocity added on top of his Strength Knacks charged forward into the small swarm of pitch-black Narutos.
Kiba did not know that Shadow Bodies were largely resistant to blunt force trauma, and so was frustrated by how little damage his club was actually doing. He even got a little jealous of how Fionnadh Dearg, having the intellect to charge in and bite at the black things without his master's orders, was clearly doing more damage than he was.
Remembering the various lessons that had been pounded into him about thinking rather than simply acting, he realized that his dog had the right idea; these things were more vulnerable to slashing and piercing than bludgeoning, so he struck out with the claws that had grown on his fingers when activating Animal Aspect.
When he was younger and first learning the technique, he thought they were cool and intimidating, and even if later he largely found them to be useless compared to his other weaponry, today he was glad to have kept them. They were inefficient weapons, and as one of the Shadow Bodies managed to stab a knife into his back, and then another into his shoulder just as he slashed into it and forced it back, fighting back the pain from the earlier back-stab, he realized that he couldn't go on like this.
The real one shouldn't be immune, he realized, and barely holding out against the onslaught of knives surrounding him, he recast Animal Aspect to focus on his sense of smell…there!
Pushing the Bodies to the side to swing his club straight into the real one's head, said real one barely managed to get his skull out of the way before it struck into his torso and sent him flying.
The other Shadow Bodies, for some odd reason, also all laid down in the same position that he landed in.
They imitate him, Kiba realized, then thought back on the fact that their attacks weren't coordinated in a way one would expect from imitation, and then further realized that they imitated him when he was not concentrating.
In the time he spent pondering this, Naruto managed to regain his concentration and send the five or so remaining Bodies back on the attack.
As long as I can keep the real one pressed, they won't be much of a threat, he thought. "Animal (Dog) Purview: Animal Communication."
"Fionnadh Dearg, ignore me and go after the separate one, the one that smells like the real Naruto. I'll deal with these things."
His dog was reluctant, but agreed.
--
Naruto had just regained enough of his senses to get Kiba back on the defensive when he started…speaking dog? Then that puppy of his ran for Naruto, trying to get a good bite in.
Not really wanting to hurt the dog, but wanting to get bitten even less, Naruto started an awkward dance, putting all of his focus into dodging the creature. With his Dexterity Knacks training, dodging each individual attack was simple, but the thing was relentless, causing him to focus all of his concentration…dammit!
Sure enough, all of his Shadow Bodies had begun the exact same dance, and sure enough Kiba took full advantage of that to slash and slice into them before Naruto noticed.
Well, you're cute, puppy, but I've got to win.
And so, brandishing his knives, he stabbed into the dogs mouth when it went for its next bite.
--
"Fionnadh Dearg!" Kiba shouted, abandoning his quest to get rid of Naruto's pesky helpers to save the Hound.
The dog was being harmed following his orders, which might affect his Geas, and more importantly he was one of Kiba's most important and oldest friends.
Swinging at the silhouette of Naruto that he knew to be the real one, satisfyingly letting him use his club again, the boy was forced away from the Hound and on the defensive against a crazy Tuatha da Danaan Scion with a lot of strength, an animal's temper, and a really heavy cudgel.
While it, disturbingly enough, was not the worst situation Naruto had found himself in, it was certainly up there.
--
He could barely concentrate long enough to get his Bodies over here, so he needed a new plan. Calling upon his Appearance Knacks to make himself look like a girl, Kiba was disappointingly only distracted for half a second and it turned out to be a waste of Ichor.
Not only that, but it gave Kiba's club the opportunity to smack into his side, sending him crumbling to the ground in pain as Fionnadh Dearg bit into him. He likes dogs, Naruto noted, the pain making him delirious and letting him consider a truly stupid and desperate idea.
"I was born a dog!" Naruto shouted, channeling all of his Ichor into his Charisma Knacks so that the absurdity couldn't be immediately dismissed. "All my failures, all my difficulties, it was because I wasn't actually human at first. I expected humans to beat on me, but you of all people, how could you do this to a dog?"
--
Had Naruto not had Charisma Knacks, the only effect such words might have had would be to leave Kiba dumbfounded by their stupidity. Even with the boy's supernaturally enhanced charisma forcing his opponent to listen to him, he would have quickly snapped out of it after a second's thought if it were simply a normal, healthy fondness for dogs that motivated him.
However, the brief second where he found Naruto believable, he felt the tear of his Geas. He had sworn an oath to never harm a dog, and if Naruto's words were true then he had violated the terms. His Ichor drained from him, his strength reduced to lower than that of a mortal of his physique. I have lost Enech. I must seek atonement.
"You idiot! He not dog! He human!" Fionnadh Dearg shouted at him. Unfortunately, Kiba had already accepted that his Geas was broken, so even as he had the presence of mind to think through the utter absurdity of what Naruto had said and realize that his oath was intact, his body still demanded atonement of Enech and thus he had lost his upper hand in this fight.
Naruto, even with the nasty injury Kiba had left him, was more than ready to take advantage.
Kiba still tried. He really did, but with his body unnaturally weakened and Naruto's unnatural speed, even with Fionnadh Dearg's support he found knife wound after knife wound marking his body while he couldn't a get a solid hit in. It was an embarrassingly short time before he crumbled over, saying "I sur-" but being unable to finish it.
Naruto stayed his hand, unfortunately clever enough to not let his guard down until the proctor officially announced the winner.
"I need a more clear declaration," the proctor shouted.
"I…surrender." It pained him to say it, more than any of Naruto's knife jabs, but it was the only way forward. After being dumb enough to fall for his trick for even the tiny amount of time needed to think he broke his Geas, there was nothing he could do anymore. Dammit.
--
Kiba went with the medics to get healed while Naruto insisted on watching the fights. There was a brief confrontation, as the medics really wanted to see to that club hit, but Naruto insisted that his body could handle it if he was just sitting back and watching.
Hinata was secretly glad to see them separated; that meant she could congratulate Naruto for his victory without offending Kiba. It was a win for both of them. A loss for her bandmate, but oh well, he could handle it. Kiba always got back up after a scrap; it was one of the things she admired about him. It was so unlike her.
A part of her wondered if she would have the courage to go through with a fight; maybe she should just surrender when it started, maybe if it turned out to be her against that Gaara kid…they had survived him in the Forest by running away, and she didn't want to see what would have happened had they actually faced him.
On the other hand, what if they put her up against Neji? Her cruel Romane cousin, that constant reminder of how she had failed to live up to her Clan's standards, of how she was the weak one, the meek one, the insufficient one. Maybe…she would have to give up then too. Yeah, that might be the right way to go…Naruto slumped over the side of nearby railing right in front of her, clearly exhausted.
"You did a great job," she blurted out before she could think about it and thus stop herself.
"Thanks, though I guess I did a number on your bandmate, huh? Sorry about that."
Hinata's face turned red. Was he…talking to her? Was she having a conversation with this boy? Her nerves were frayed. It was like the electricity she could summon onto her weapons was coursing through her nerves and shutting off their normal pathways. So focused was she on getting through this sudden nervousness that it wasn't until Naruto pointed out, "hey, Hinata, you're up," that she even remembered that the randomized matches were a thing.
Glancing at the screen, she realized that yes, it did in fact say 'Hinata "Zeus" Dodekatheon vs. Neji "Quirinus" Dodekatheon.' That did not relieve her panic at all.
--
Neji knew full well that Fate had not left him the best hand. He could very well be an heir to the position of Clan head, if not for a decision by his grandmother repeated by his mother that neither fully realized they were making.
Still, Fate had compensated him more than most. He might be a destined slave, but he was a brilliant destined slave; strong, fierce, skilled, more than ready to show himself as among the greater Heroes of the Village. Such a fact might have satisfied him had Fate chosen a different opponent today.
Instead, it gave him the girl who was destined to have everything he would be denied, the respect of their Clan, the freedom from the Romane bindings, the chance for greatness and political power in the Middle World, and entirely through a quirk of birth. It definitely wasn't because she earned it.
That sniveling coward could barley bring herself to look at him as they took their positions in the arena, Remus Bane growling and baring his fangs, Neji poised and professional with his pilum prepared in an attack position.
Hinata, however, seemed to be using her xiphos as a make-shift shield. Her body posture was defensive, which wouldn't be a bad thing if it were the strategy she was going for, but he sensed it was unintentional, the frozen stance of a scared little girl who really didn't want to be here.
This was what my mortal caretaker died to save, he thought bitterly.
It was his fate to do so, but, when staring at this worthless little thing that was his supposed better within the Clan, he couldn't help but be mad about it.
"Hinata, surrender." The girl was taken aback. The fight hadn't even started yet. "You're too weak for this, and you know it. Go back to your pampered life in the Clan, and don't waste both of our times."
--
While she would object to the idea that her life, as rich in material comforts as it was, could be called 'pampered,' she couldn't help but feel that he was right. She was weak. She was a coward. What was she doing here? Some successful fight with a random Fae, and she thought she stood a chance against someone like Neji? That Fae hadn't done anything like what the two Fae here had, and they were clearly of low rank, so what did that victory prove?
Her hand, without her even realizing it, had slowly started to raise itself to acquiesce to Neji's demands, when…
"What's that bastard doing?" Naruto shouted loud enough for the entire arena to hear him.
Neji's words reminded him of what people used to say about him. Just give up. Accept that you're a failure. Stop wasting my time, failure. "What makes you think you can look down on her? She got here just like you did, going through the same Forest and facing the same challenges. She has the same right to be here as any of us! Believe it!"
--
Hinata's face turned red when she realized the boy she had a thing for was talking about her. Moreover, her blood started pumping, not in embarrassment but in combat readiness. She could do this; he believed in her.
Neji looked surprised when she shifted her stance so that her sword was ready to strike, but recomposed himself and merely uttered, "very well."
The proctor called for them to start.
"War Purview: Warrior Ideal. Marksmanship Arete."
Even though Hinata had only the vaguest understanding of what a 'perfect Roman legionnaire' was, she immediately realized that Neji held the appearance of one and let her initial fears creep back in.
Luckily, she had no time to worry about it as Neji's pilum went flying straight at her at an angle that a mortal couldn't dodge. "Athletics Arete," she shouted and arched her back downwards at the last possible second, letting it barely nick the top of her nose.
The angle she was now at would have turned out to be a mistake and kept her from getting up, but then she kicked up her feet and let the wind push her back up just as his wolf leapt at her. It missed, but quickly got a grip on the floor (now thankfully cleared of all ice), and turned to chomp at her back.
Hinata didn't have Dexterity Knacks, but between her Athletics Arete and the wind pushing her forward, she was able to barely dodge and weave around Remus Bane (she thought that was its name)'s teeth with ease. Of course, that meant taking her eyes off of Neji, who intoned "Melee Arete" before drawing a gladium from his belt and getting a fair strike across her shoulder.
Once they were in melee, it became clear just how much better he was than this at her; when considering that his training was more with spears while hers was more with swords, that was just embarrassing to her, but her more generalized Athletics Arete couldn't give her the skills to match his Melee Arete, especially with Remus Bane biting at her whenever she did manage to press an advantage. Neji could see it too.
"Stop wasting our time. Yield."
He got another cut into her. She coughed up a bit of blood. Remus Bane bit her leg. This distracted her enough for him to get third cut into her.
"Yield."
When she didn't, trying to counterattack and getting riposte'd for her efforts, with not only a fourth cut but a blow to her head with the pommel for her efforts, she realized that he was going for pain rather than incapacitation. He wanted her to hurt as much as possible.
"Yield. You shouldn't have even been here in the first place."
That set a fire in Hinata's stomach, prompting her to weave out of both of their attacks, not attempting to counter-attack and thus managing to get away.
"Running away? You do realize that you can accomplish the same thing with a quick word to the proctor. Words that you should have said a long time ago."
Rather than come after her, he took the opportunity to go grab his pilum, his wolf standing between the two. Hinata was in too much pain to focus properly, so let Zeus's blessing carry her forward.
"Sky Purview: Storm Augmentation," she intoned, letting the electricity coarse around her xiphos and the wind blow violently behind her, sending her charging straight toward Neji at blinding speeds, getting the courage to strike into him, to electrocute him, to take him down…
"War Purview: Mortal Stroke," Neji responded at the last possible second.
Powered by his own Boon, his spear rammed straight into her stomach, her own momentum pushing it further, while her sword struck into him at high speeds, lightning leaping from it into his body.
Hinata wasn't familiar with the technique Neji used, but it didn't just hurt her; it sent force out from the spear, ripping into her organs even where it didn't touch, shredding her from the inside. Whether she was going to survive this was an open question.
Still, abandoning all reason, she thought that maybe she could force a draw, as the lightning coursing through Neji…had left him in a terrible state, but had not taken him down. He had Stamina Knacks, of course. It wasn't easy for him, but he held out.
As Hinata crumpled to the floor, losing consciousness, Neji only gave her a contemptuous sneer as the proctor called his surrender on her behalf.
--
"What in the cold depths of the Underworld was that?" Naruto shouted from the side.
Neji looked up to the boy, deigning to answer. "That was the result of someone insisting on prolonging their Fate longer than necessary. She knew full well that the battle was determined before it began, but thanks to interlopers like yourself giving her false hope she insisted on seeing it through to the end."
He shrugged. "You may very well have killed her. I hope your silly delusions of hope were worth it."
Naruto stared at this man in aghast horror. How could he…dismiss everything that she had done like this? Even if she lost in the end, couldn't he respect how hard she worked? It was hardly a one-sided battle, seeing the state that Neji was in, so how could he claim…
"I am going to take you down, one way or another," Naruto informed the boy.
"I've seen what you can do. Fate does not seem to have ordained your victory," was Neji's response.
Naruto almost jumped off the railing and ran after the boy, but Lee put a hand on his shoulder.
"Naruto, I have been trying to defeat Neji in a one-on-one match for a long time now. One day, I will win. One day, I will show him that hard work can defeat natural talent. But for now, don't get disqualified so you can have that chance in the finals."
Naruto didn't like it, but he could accept it for now.
--
Kakashi was very annoyed with Gai's students, because they kept ending their matches in ways that meant he couldn't make jokes about their ongoing bet. Tenten was too badly hurt to gloat over her loss, and now Neji had annoyed Gai. Kakashi was very familiar with Gai's philosophies on life and proper heroism, and that wherever Neji had come to his ideology, it definitely was not from him.
Keeping note of the two parents that had offered their children the wonderful gift of fighting and getting maimed for the Village, he guessed that the stories about the animosity between the Greek and the Roman Gods were true. Too bad.
Well, hopefully Lee would lose in an embarrassing way, even if Kakashi was kind of rooting for the kid. Still, a rivalry was a rivalry.
Pushing such thoughts to the side for now, Kakashi decided to deal with his student, as Naruto was not happy about the results of this particular fight.
"What in the Underworld was that guy's problem?" Naruto shouted at him.
"That Neji kid was trained by the same guy who trained Lee, right, and he seems well-adjusted. How did that bastard end up like that?"
There were a lot of positive things Kakashi had to say about Lee, but 'well-adjusted' was not one of them. It was, in fact, quite low on the list.
Realizing that that was not what his student was asking about, Kakashi instead decided to educate the boy on the intricacies of internal Clan politics. Every young man's favorite subject, of course.
"Did you notice that they were both Dodekatheons?"
"Well, yeah, but shouldn't that mean they'd get along? I mean, Shino and Kiba like each other. Aren't they family, and actually recognize it unlike Sasuke and me?"
"Did you notice their parents?"
"Well, I already knew that Hinata was Zeus's daughter, and he's the big guy for the Dodekatheon, right? Old strong guy with the lightning bolts?"
Kakashi internally laughed at the idea of Hiashi or any of the Dodekatheon elders hearing how Naruto described one of their most revered figures. It was disappointing that the boy was too young to comment on Zeus's sexual habits. Utterly oblivious to his Guide's internal mirth, Naruto's face scrunched up.
"But I have no idea who Neji's parent was. Did we talk about him in the Academy?"
Naruto being Naruto, he genuinely couldn't remember, so Kakashi informed him, "possibly not. He's one of the few surviving Roman Gods. Back in the World-That-Was, the culture that worshipped Neji's Divine Father replaced its Gods with those of Greece's, the culture where the Dodekatheon were worshipped. Within the Overworld, their Pantheon was absorbed into the Dodekatheon, to the point that their children can even use Arete, although we don't know if that's a result of the change or if they just had a coincidentally similar ability. While I hardly have the fine details down, I know that it's led to not only a lot of resentment, but internal strife among their Clan. There are a lot of policies that benefit the Greek children over the Roman children, or at least that's what I've heard, and though he does seem to have some odd philosophy about Fate, I think it's entirely possible that he used her as a stand-in for everything he hates about those policies."
Kakashi thought on it a little more, then continued before Naruto could respond. "When he looks at Hinata, he sees someone that, in his eyes, is weak. If everything about their personalities and positions were the same, except that he were born to a Greek God, he probably imagines that he would rightfully be recognized as above her; instead, he's been made her servant by something entirely out of his control, and it eats at him."
Naruto probably could understand, if not agree, with the concept if he allowed himself to think about it for a little longer, but rather than do so he latched on to something specific in Kakashi's words.
"Hinata isn't weak."
"You know that, and I suspect that from what I've seen of her even if I don't know her well, but Neji…"
"If Neji can't see it, then he's an idiot."
Kakashi shrugged. "Maybe that's the answer to why he acts like this, summarized in four words."
Naruto seemed to find that a much more satisfactory answer.
--
The next match was embarrassingly short. While Kabuto had apparently been too horrified by his bandmate's wounds to continue, that very bandmate still went into the arena, against the reddish-skinned Cowboy, and with his wounds it really wasn't much of a contest.
The man spent far too long boasting about the terrible things he was going to do to his opponent while said opponent squatted on the ground, legs crisscrossed, and chanted to something in the bit of open sky Temari had left in the roof. Finally, Kabuto's bandmate got sick of boasting while his opponent did nothing, and charged at him, sword raised, ready to strike and finish off the silly chanting bastard…only to get a lightning bolt straight into his already heavily damaged stomach for his efforts.
When he barely croaked out a surrender through his questionably conscious body, the Posse from Tall-Tales let out the most embarrassing set of whoops and hollers in celebration the rest had ever heard. It was somewhat awkward for the man in question, but he ultimately accepted their praise as he returned to the stands.
--
In a Village where Mystery and Prophecy were studied concepts, and that was on top of the ability to have animals act as spies, inanimate objects to act as spies if the Amatsukami got to making more children, and the moon itself could also be called on to act as a spy, one would think finding a place to make covert communications would be borderline impossible.
Kabuto had found such beliefs misguided; no one actually trusted Mystery or Prophecy here, and the other methods were only useful if the Scions who could use them thought to look. To his knowledge, he had managed to keep them from looking.
So, while he did double-check the surrounding area to make sure any animals were behaving naturally and gave a random compliment to the Kami in the nearby wall in hopes that it would be less deleterious to him later (he couldn't actually speak to Kami, but maybe it heard him anyways?), he was pretty confident in the fact that no one was actually listening in when he pulled aside a bit of his skin to reveal his own Itzli Mark.
"You know, if you want me doing such dangerous work for you over here, you really should clue me in on all the information that might get in my way. Such as, I don't know, an entire team of your lackeys, one of them from a group of people we really don't want the Mummies knowing that we've been taking in?"
He got a strange chuckle sounding from his shoulder in response.
"My, my, Kabuto, I work with you because you really don't need me to hold your hand. If that team managed to get in your way, then were you really prepared to handle this?"
Kabuto snorted. "It sounds like you don't trust me."
"That's the thing…I don't. Kin is a fun little girl, a chance to grow into a real talent, even if she's only an Enhanced Human. Unfortunately, she lacks the subtlety someone of her chosen lifestyle needs. I'm curious to see how you smooth things over with our allies."
Kabuto flinched. "Did you risk the entire operation to give me a silly test?"
"Oh, Kabuto, I have ways to settle things if you turn out to be a failure. Can you survive no longer being useful to me, however?"
Nahua bastard, a part of him was compelled to think, even if he would never consider saying it out loud.
The Aztlanti Clan had never had, say, the Dodekatheon's internal struggles, but tension between the Nahua and the Mexica Gods had existed. Even an outborn like him, barely tolerated on the periphery, had seen it, and he wondered if his master weren't letting old prejudices cloud his judgment.
Oh well, Kabuto ultimately sighed, he's not wrong about my survival relying on my usefulness to him.
Trying to think through what diplomatic tactics he had to call on and whether they might have to kill Kin to keep this temporary alliance going, he cut off communication with his master and went back to learn what was going on with the rest of the hopeful Lower Ranks. Did my idiot bandmates make it past, or did they waste all their time boasting again?
--
Techniques:
War Purview: Mortal Stroke-energizes the next melee attack successfully delivered by the user so that it can cause irreparable or potentially fatal damage no matter where it hits.