"Father, she won! Big Sis won!" A cute young girl that looked like a younger version of Hinata with longer hair exclaimed with joy as she clapped alongside the rest of the cheering crowd, but her father didn't move as he was frozen to his seat in shock.
Hiashi Hyuga was usually not one to be wrong when it comes to seeing the talent of others, but for the first time in his life, he may regret removing her from the position of heir as he watched her standing proudly while her foe was knocked out on the floor.
'Genjutsu? No, the Byakugan shows nothing. Did she pay her off? No, a kunoichi trying to prove herself would find something like that beneath her. Then…she…she actually won.' Hiashi could lie and say that he felt proud to see his daughter standing as the victor, but knowing that he and the rest of the clan saw her as a failure to their name only for her to prove them all wrong by winning here was like a javelin of guilt to the heart.
He wanted to clap politely along with the other people, but even that felt wrong in his mind as he was the one that was adamant she would never amount to nothing in life so to see her persevere and win in life when he had nothing to do with it…
'I suppose I reap what I sow. Hah, but as a Hyuga, I must be able to admit where I'm wrong.'
"Whooo! Good work, Hinata!" Hiashi frowned as he looked over at the viewing balcony where the other contestants were to see the blonde jinchuriki that was Naruto Uzumaki cheering the loudest with an ecstatic smile, looking over to the battle ground to see Hinata smiling back at him with a blush as she followed the medical shinobi to the medical room while they were carrying the unconscious Temari away as well.
He knew that she had a crush on him from what her bodyguard Ko told him, but it appears that the crush was not as one sided as he thought, a soft and subtle sigh escaping his lips as he shook his head and stood up to clap his hands.
Even if he felt he wasn't worthy of doing so, he still did it not to restore his honour, but to honour the memory of his deceased love.
'Ah, you would have loved to see her right now, Asami. You would have loved it indeed.'
"You know with all of that cheering, you still remember the little bet you two got on, right?" Shikamaru asked as I cheered for Hinata's victory and I froze as I remember what her motivation was, ignoring the lazy bastard chuckling at my pain as I sunk to my knees while clinging to the railing.
"Oh, god damn it~! Why did I forget?!" I didn't want her to have lost, but I also didn't want to be her servant for a day given how crazy she gets with everything that involves me.
"Urgh, now I have to win too to make sure I don't lose." I grumbled as Shikamaru and I looked over at Gaara before both of us winced at the way the guy's body was twitching while he gripped his upper arms with an iron grip.
"I would say good luck, but you're going to need a lot more than that from me if you want to survive this one." Shikamaru spoke with a shaky smile and I nodded before looking over to see Dosu looking towards the ground just as Genma began speaking.
"May the next contestants come down to the battlefield?!" He shouted and I sighed as Sasuke was still not here, watching as Genma waited for a few seconds before letting out a soft disappointed sigh as he went to raise his hand towards Dosu.
However, before he could, I was surprised as the other bodyguard from earlier, Raido, appeared next to him with a slight frown while subtly pushing the man's hand down.
Watching as Raido whispered something to Genma, which seemed to have slightly upset the man as he pinched the bridge of his nose, I watched as Raido vanished once more before shaking my head as Genma shook his head while muttering something under his breath.
"Ahem! Due to unforeseen circumstances, Sasuke Uchiha's match has been pushed back to the last match of the first round! Thus, Dosu Kinuta, please return to the viewing balcony!"
"Special treatment?" Shikamaru asked as we watched Dosu simply nodding while leaping back up, to which I snorted and nodded.
"Yeah, but unfortunately, that special treatment makes him look bad in the eyes of the other veteran shinobi. If he does become a Chunin after being late to his fight, there's going to be some pissed-off people later at the special treatment he got." I answered and smirked as I saw Shikamaru glancing at me with a raised eyebrow.
"You've changed a lot over the past month."
"I know, but I got more things to worry about now." I muttered as I looked towards Gaara, who turned to look at me as well and the two of us glared at each other before I leapt out towards the battlefield just as Gaara appeared with a Sand Shunshin a few meters in front of me
'Crap! That's another thing I wanted to learn along with mastering a few other stuff. Hah, all of that stressing really made me forget a crap ton of stuff that I wanted to show off.' I thought with a sigh as I rolled my wrists, waiting for Genma as he raised a hand to the air.
"Are both fighters ready?"
"Yep." I answered as I began to circulate my chakra throughout my body, Gaara's answer being a simple nod as the cork on the top of his gourd popped out and fell to the floor besides him.
"Then let the match…begin!"
"Shadow-Clone Jutsu!" I didn't waste any time as I leapt away while creating ten clones around me, one grabbing my arm and throwing me out of the path of a storm of sand bullets right as the other nine caught the scrolls I threw at them.
Instead of rushing towards Gaara, though, each clone raced out towards the walls as I instead charged towards the Sand genin, my hand flashing through hand seals as I took a deep breath.
"Water Style: Liquid Bullets!" Kneading chakra to my stomach while also coming to a sliding stop, I spat out a barrage of water bullets the size of my head that sliced through the air, watching as Gaara's eyes widened in shock before the sand below his feet rose up into the shape of a wall.
The genin then quickly tried to push another wave of sand from below to try and grab me, but I was not done as I gestured for the clones to begin, watching as each of them threw the scrolls they possessed in a wide arc through the sky and distracting Gaara as he looked just as I made another three clones with a large puff of smoke that obscured me from view.
With a shout from each of the clones on the walls, the storage marking in the middle of the scrolls lit up blue before I smirked at the gasps that echoed in the arena as torrents of water fell down from the heavens, looking over at Gaara to see him leaping back before nodding at the three clones with me.
Nodding back, the three of them rushed forward before the one at the front leapt over Gaara's head and landed behind him, the three of them making a triangle formation with Gaara in the middle right as each of them raised their left hands above their heads in a Tiger hand sign while making the same sign with their right hand as they held it at chest level.
"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu." The three clones chanted as the water turned into a thick layer of mist the moment it touched the ground and completely covered the entirety of the arena floor, nodding up at the other clones who nodded as they took the explosive tags from their pouches before leaping into the air.
Wrapping the tags around their kunai, each one aimed at a spot in the mist before throwing their kunai, but I stopped them activating it as I flashed through hand signs, the kunai sinking into the muddy ground below us before I smirked as they all landed around me.
"Formation Hurricane." I spoke as I leapt backwards and further away from Gaara, the clones all nodding as they took out kunai before rushing into the mist just as a storm of sand shuriken shot out in all directions.
The clones and I would have been blind to Gaara and his attacks if it was not thanks to Kurama sharing his Negative Emotion Sensing ability with us, making me smirk as I thought about how much the Nine Tails wanted to win and prove his superiority to Shukaku.
Not because he wants to impress me. Nope, not at all.
"You better stop thinking of that or I'm pulling my sensing back." Kurama's voice rumbled and I gave a sheepish smile as I heard the hints of irritation in his tone.
'Of course, buddy. Anyway, I'll talk to you later.' I spoke with a smile before rolling my eyes at his huff, feeling Gaara's anger growing as the clones moved to and fro in the mist while throwing and pushing each other out of the path of his attacks to make him even angrier.
"Now!" I shouted as I rushed forward, Gaara spinning around to face me right before I rapidly weaved through hand signs along with the other clones as a thin sheen of red chakra coated all thirteen of us.
"Water Style: Explosive Water Shockwave!" Each of us roared as we opened our mouths towards the ground, feeling the churning in my stomach before a literal wave of water exploded from my mouth and washed over the muddy floor, the torrent only dwindling after a full minute of doing so.
Spitting out the last drops while jumping back wards, I watched as half of the clones rushed Gaara while the other six raced through hand signs, the Sand Jinchuriki having sealed himself inside a dense Sand Sphere as numerous spikes shot out from the ball to try and impale the clones trying to get him.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Making another clone next to me, this one simply nodded as we both held a hand out, chakra flowing to our arms before the two different chakra began to rotate in opposite directions against each other.
"Wind Style: Gale Storm!" The clones that were flying through hand signs quickly pointed their palms at the sand dome while activating their jutsu, chakra gathering in the form of wind in front of them before numerous blades of air sliced through the air and carved chunks of the Sand Sphere off.
"Go." I spoke to the clone as the water had risen up to cover the entirety of the dome around Gaara, the clone nodding as it held a maelstrom of chakra in its hand before charging forward with the other clones covering it.
The mist helped keep its location hidden from Gaara as I watched an eye forming above the Sand Sphere, taking a deep breath as I reached into my pouch with my right hand while forming a half Tiger sign with my left.
Immediately, the kunai bombs from earlier activated and sent mud flying everywhere, most of it falling onto Gaara's Sand Sphere and weakening it just as the platoon of clones leapt through the air.
One of the clones grabbed onto the clone with the chakra maelstrom before throwing him forward through the air just as wet sand in the form of shuriken shot out from below them and sliced their necks open, each of the clones grabbing another as well and throwing them away just as the shurikens hit them too.
Three of the clones then grabbed the nearest clone to it and threw them towards Gaara, the clone with the chakra maelstrom quickly stepping off of a clone and leaping forward with a burst of chakra through the air right before the three clones that were thrown passed behind him and sent him rocketing down with a burst of wind chakra to his back just as another storm of shuriken curved through the air and tried to take them all out.
The clone spun and ducked through the air as wet sand shot up in spike-like shapes to try and impale it, but it was too late as it was impaled by the sand spikes on Gaara's Sand Sphere right as it activated the jutsu with a bloody grin.
"Wind Style: Rasenken." In the blink of an eye, the chakra maelstrom expanded rapidly, tearing off the top of the barrier right as I leapt through and into the dome where a shocked Gaara was waiting.
However, before he could react, I spat out a glob of water at his forehead to wash away the sand before slapping a paper tag onto his forehead, not even caring for the spikes stabbing through my heart as my clone popped while I walked out of the mist and activated the tag.
"Sealing Jutsu: Chakra Suppression Seal." With a smirk, I watched as Gaara's eyes widened before he fell over, with me taking a relieved deep breath as his sand simply fell to the ground before groaning as I felt the chakra soreness of having to use so many chakra-intensive jutsu back to back.
'Man, am I glad I asked Jiraiya for that sealing tag or else, this battle would have taken forever.'
"For beating Shukaku, I'll restore your chakra, but it is embarrassing for my Jinchuriki to struggle that much against him."
'If you helped me, it would have taken far quicker.'
"So that you can use my power as a crutch? Ha! Become strong enough to take it from me and I might just do that."
'Why can't you be like Isobu or Gyuki? Those two guys seemed so chill in the anime.'
"Because as the strongest of the Tailed Beasts, I need to set a better example."
'There you go again with the whole 'I'm stronger because I have more tails' thing. I mean, you are, but you can just rub it in your siblings' fac-!'
"Whooo! Go, Naruto!" I blinked as I was pulled from Kurama and I's argument by Sakura's voice echoing from above, looking up to see her cheering happily alone before the silence broke and a deafening roar echoed across the stadium as people clapped and leapt to their feet.
"Hahahahaha! That's our Naruto!"
"That's right! Keep kicking ass, kid!"
"That's our genin! Another win for the Leaf!"
'…These guys are shallow bastards, huh?'
"Would you rather suck up to a guy that can shift an entire arena into a wetland with just one jutsu or antagonize him further and risk having that power being turned onto you? 'Might makes right' as you would say in one of your games." Kurama spoke and I shook my head with a smile, but I couldn't help the sense of joy I felt in my chest as I saw the hundreds of people cheering loudly for me.
'That's one win for us, Naruto. The next one is going to be becoming the Hokage.'
"Oh, would you stop monologuing to yourself like an idiot? It's irritating to me."
'Oh go to hell, Kurama.'
"Oi, kid. Nice to see that you love the attention, but there's still a fight that needs to take place. Also, can you do something about the water?" I turned as I heard Genma speaking next to me before processing his words and shaking my head.
"Sorry, I don't usually think about the clean-up."
"No need, Genma. I'll take care of it." Pervy Sage spoke with a smile as he landed next to us, surprising the Special Jonin while I rolled my eyes as the man made one hand sign before stomping on the ground.
Immediately, the ground around us turned into a muddy marsh that swallowed up all the water, the Sannin making another hand sign andturning the mud back to dirt before rolling his eyes as I snickered.
"You just wanted to show off, didn't you Pervy Sage?"
"Firstly, stop with the nickname. Secondly…yes." He answered before leaping away and I rolled my eyes as I leapt up to the viewing balcony, not surprised to see everyone staring at me in shock as I hopped down from the railing before sitting down next it alongside a silent Shikamaru.
"…Naruto?"
"Yeah?"
"…Nevermind. It's too much work to think about." He muttered with a sigh and I chuckled as I patted him on the back, watching with a smirk as the crowd calmed down right as Genma began to speak.
"With that done, the final match is up! Will Dosu Kinuta and Sasuke Uchiha come do-!" I watched as the Special Jonin stopped talking the second a whirlwind of leaves appeared next to him, rolling my eyes as Kakashi & Sasuke in his new all-black outfit appeared in the middle of it while standing back to back.
"That looked corny as hell." I muttered out loud, catching Shikamaru's amused snort as Kakashi spoke to Genma before looking surprised and up at me right as I gave him a victorious smile and the middle finger.
"Still haven't forgiven you for leaving me with Ebisu." I mouthed to him, to which he gave a sheepish smile before vanishing up to the stands right as Dosu landed in front of Sasuke.
"The final match of the first round: Dosu Kinuta vs Sasuke Uchiha. Are both fighters ready?" I watched as Sasuke simply nodded while Dosu pulled up the sleeve of his bandaged arm.
"Then let the match…begin."
A/N: And another chapter done. Honestly, even with how much training he did, I don't think my Naruto would have gotten anything other than a draw from Gaara without actually trying to kill the guy in the process…
But~ There never was a rule that stopped them from getting someone to prepare them something ahead of time to use as support. Therefore, Jiraiya having made the tag for him is not a cheat.
Another thing, as you all saw in the beginning, I hate Hiashi for what he did to Hinata. By hate, I mean that I adore any fanfiction where he dies, but! I'm also trying to turn over a new leaf so I'll be forcing myself to like him a bit every day until I can tolerate or like him at best.
Just saying, if anyone does get mad at that first part, I do apologize for that, but it's going to take me a while before I can write a chapter without wanting to write his death.
Another another thing, as you have seen from my way of just abruptly switching the perspective whenever Naruto dies and it was just a clone, I like doing it like that so I'm going to continue doing it like that. If it disorients anyone...hehe~ then the plan is working good.
And a final final thing, I've noticed people getting mad at me for having Naruto and Kurama talk to each other and Kurama being able to see Naruto's memories, to which I just have one thing to say.
Did you think there would be no repercussions to the seal if another soul decided to fuse with that of Naruto's? Yeah, I didn't just do it randomly, but the reason won't come UNTIL he has to get the key.
Also, please note that this is FANFICTION, not the canon universe of the manga or anime. What happened in there is not going to be what happens in here and if this upsets you guys, whoo boy~ You guys are going to be livid when you see the drastic changes I make later on.
I'm not mad, let me just clarify that. I'm just asking that you guys read this with an open mind and just that, please, or else I feel you may not enjoy what's to come.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until next week...
Ba-Bye~!