Naruto pumped his fist in the air. Victory was his! The crowd applauded and his girlfriends were absolutely ecstatic about his victory. While Haku was carried out of the arena and tended for by medical ninja, Naruto enjoyed that he was finally beginning to be recognized for his skills.
He saw a few face sticking out. The Hokage himself smiled at him, as were his friends. But Gaara on the other hand had a very dangerous expression on his face. Naruto had to swallow... all he could do was hope that, until they met in the tournament, he would keep his promise and not hurt anyone.
Naruto saw his Tenten waving enthusiastically at him, motioning for him to join them on the seats. So of course, Naruto quickly made his way up there and was greeted by his friends. Tenten flung herself at him and was the first to congratulate him. The others chimed in of course.
A big grin was plastered on Narutos face. He had the feeling that his training had finally begun to pay off, and he hadn't even shown everything that Jiraiya had taught him... "Wow, Naruto, that was an awesome jutsu you used there!", Kiba commented, a wide grin on his face. He was proud of his buddy.
Naruto felt something he had rarely ever felt. He felt admired. All of his friends looked at him, their respect for him obviously having grown a lot. Only Sakura looked apprehensive somewhat. As Naruto turned to her, he heard her say something. "Why toads of all summons?", she asked in a whisper and shuddered a bit.
"Huh? What was that, Sakura-chan?", Naruto asked, curious as to what she had said... and why she had said it.
Sakura looked at him, a slight green tinge to her face. "Why did it have to be toads, Naruto? I hate toads... eww, they're so gross with their slimy skin and big eyes and... urgh, I don't wanna think about them!", she exclaimed and shuddered. Apparently, she disliked toads.
But before Naruto could humor Sakura, the crowd fell silent again. The Genin and their teachers looked on to the ground of the arena and saw that the next two opponents were facing each other there.
The proctor was ready to announce the following match as well. "Second match! Konohagakure-nin Aburame Shino versus Konohagakure-nin Hyuuga Neji! BEGIN!", he called out loudly.
But the two composed ninja did not start right away. First, as unlikely as it was, Shino wanted to share some of his thoughts with his opponents. "I am lucky to fight you already.", he said. "Hinata was also my teammate. It is natural for comrades to look out for each other. And in some cases, avenge them.", Shino explained.
But that proclamation didn't faze Neji whatsoever. He had his eyes closed, not even bothering to look at his enemy. "You are not the one I wish to fight, but no matter, this fight will be over quickly.", he simply said. Then, he raised his hand and opened his eyes. "Byakugan!", he exclaimed and activated his all-seeing eyes.
Then, the time for words was over. Neji assumed the stance of his Jyuuken style while Shino raised his arms and his insects began to creep out of his sleeves. Neji was the first to attack, proving that the year he had spent training had given him speed that his opponent had a hard time matching.
Shino was able to evade Neji for a few times using Kawarimi no Jutsu, but he himself was not able to land much hits. Neji was just too fast. It wasn't looking to good for him.
"Shino is a ranged fighter. That's why me and Chouji are on his team, he'll give us back up and we'll keep the enemy of his back in return. That's how we work together...", Hinata explained to the others.
"But now he's all by himself. He's in a lot of trouble if Neji comes close to him.", Chouji added while munching his chips down even faster.
But they were wrong if they thought their teammate would be conquered that easily. Instead, all the masses of insects Shino had attacked Neji with began to slowly creep up on him. Then, when Neji dodged another assault of the Destruction Bugs, he was close enough to deliver the final blow.
"It's over!", he said and dropped into a lower stance, his arms spread out.
"Yes, it is.", Shino agreed. In that moment, the insects all around Neji had just finished surrounding their victim and now rushed towards him from all sides. There was no way for Neji to escape.
But of course, Neji knew of the bugs. He had known from the beginning. So, the jutsu he was using was not intended to finish of Shino, but rather his weapon: The bugs. "Hakkeshou Kaiten (Eight Divination Palms of the Hand, Heavenly Spin)!", he announced and began spinning around, hands outstretched.
A blink of an eye later, Neji was gone and instead there was a lethal swirl of blue chakra in his place, forbidding everyone and everything entrance as he successfully held of the bugs with it.
But not only that, he slowly advanced towards Shino. Cornered, Shino was forced to act as well. "Mushi Kabe no Jutsu (Insect Wall Technique)!", he proclaimed and his bugs swarmed towards him.
Shino summed all of the insects in his body outwards as they swirled around him, protecting their host from the incoming attack. They swarmed around him at high speeds, creating a dark-grey mass that swirled around Shino, not unlike the chakra dome that was Nejis attack.
Then, the two jutsu connected! It appeared as two equally-matched forces were mashed together in a vicious struggle for supremacy. The one was Neji, the other Shino.
"Incredible! It's a real clash and only one of them can win here. Shinos bugs try to absorb the chakra that Neji pours into his Kaiten, but Neji kills a lot of them too. If Shino can absorb enough chakra to weaken Neji, he'll win for sure, but if Neji kills all of Shinos bugs, he's defenseless!", Asuma observed correctly as the struggle continued.
The two swirling domes grinded against each other, each one attempting to get the upper hand. And both seemed to weaken rapidly, as Neji lost a lot of chakra and Shino a lot of bugs in this struggle for power. The friction that the two jutsu created was enourmous and soon, two large craters were in the floor of the arena.
Even though this went on for a few minutes, the audience, Naruto and company included, was not able to avert their eyes. It seemed like this could go on for a while.
However, the loss on Shinos side was far bigger then Nejis. So Shino cancelled his technique and jumped a fair distance away from Nejis swirling chakra. The audience was eager to see the continuation of this battle, but instead, he raised his hand. "I surrender!", he loudly announced, shocking everyone.
But Hayate knew that if a Genin wanted to give up, he would honor their decision. "Winner of the match is Konohagakure-nin Hyuuga Neji!", he pronounced the Hyuuga the winner as the crowd applauded confusedly.
Neji was just as confused. "Why did you give up? You might've won!", he demanded to know.
Shino however remained emotionless. "Even if avenging Hinata is important to me... doing it by sacrificing my powers and my allies is not worth it. Besides, I know for sure there is someone who will do this in my stead.", he said cryptically.
The judges noted his reasoning and scribbled something on their boards. "He has foresight and doesn't let his emotions cloud his judgement. On the other hand, the Hyuuga has exhibited not special qualities so far, but his jutsu was impressive...", one voiced his thoughts.
Shino meanwhile simply turned around and walked towards the exit of the arena. He had lost, but it was not yet over for him. "Naruto... please, defeat Neji for me as well.", he mumbled as he looked up to Naruto in the ranks. Then, he left the arena and soon joined his comrades in the upper seats, where he remained silent. |