Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Cold Blood Remix ❯ Speed/Determination ( Chapter 2 )

Cold Blood Remix
Chapter 2:Speed/Determination

Disclaimer:Naruto and all related characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto, and are used here without permission. I’ll give them back eventually, but some of them might be in bad condition.

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After witnessing the first two fights, nobody really wanted to go next. The shinobi arts were killing arts, and restraining them was often the most difficult thing about these exams. Of course, there were some who just didn’t care, like Gaara. But nobody wanted to be the bloody masses of Sakura and Kin, or the shaky forms of Sasuke and Shikamaru.

vs.
ROCK LEE

“This is not going to end well,” said Choji.

“How so? Lee’s going to kick his ass!” Naruto exclaimed.

“I just don’t want any more violence... it makes me lose my appetite...” Choji complained.

Lee leaped down from the balcony, excited, and landed in a squat. “Master Gai! I shall prove my strength in these exams, and the strength of Goken! And this most foul nemesis is merely the first obstacle in my path!”“I didn’t think there were still people that talked like that,” said Temari snidely.

Zaku was laughing his ass off. “How lucky! I get that bowl-cut kid that I beat up in the Forest of Death for a first-round opponent? If there is a god, he’s sure smiling on me today!”

“You’re fighting with a broken arm, moron,” Dosu hissed. “Don’t get cocky.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he replied. “As long as I keep my skin on, I’ll have done better than Kin at least.”

Gai raised Lee’s arm. “Lee, if you win this match, you will get the opportunity to show the world your powers of youth! Do your best!”

“I promise you I will, Master Gai!” The two hugged with tears running down their cheeks. Neji scoffed and looked away, while Tenten smiled quietly.

Lee and Zaku walked down to the lower level, where Zaku eased his left arm out of the sling. “I think this one will work well enough to fight with. So how about it, bowl-cut? Give me your best shot.”

Rock Lee often took things too literally.

The next thing he knew, Zaku was flying straight into the statue on the arena wall, impacting into the stone knee and tumbling forward, pain rocking his body. Judging by the piercing pain in his ribcage, he could only assume that Lee had kicked him there. Dammit, that had *hurt*. Zaku got to his knees as Lee rushed him again, but this time there was more distance, giving him time to respond.

Zaku raised his working arm. “ZANKUHA!” Lee leaped out of the way of the sound waves, but the compressed air knocked him off balance and sent him tumbling forward. The taijutsu specialist landed in a somersault, but rolled right up to Zaku’s sound cannon. The sound-nin smirked before firing off another blast point-blank. “ZANKUHA!”

Lee stumbled back as the blast shrieked through his ears, which served to convert the noise into high-pitched agony. Equilibrium disrupted, his world became a blur, and he was only aware of several hits to the gut.

Naruto watched on, almost angry, as Zaku got to his feet and started kicking Lee in the stomach. “Come on Lee! Get up and show that guy what you’re made of!”

“It’s those sound waves,” Ino recalled grimly. “Zaku disrupted Lee’s equilibrium, and is just being opportunistic with these attacks. Believe me, that hurts.”

“Whatchamahoozit?” Naruto replied, confused.

Zaku raised his arm-cannon at Lee again, and this time the Leaf-nin managed some defense He grabbed the older boy’s wrist and pulled it to the ground, making the sound wave bounce against the floor instead of Lee’s eardrums. Zaku tried to pull away, but Lee grasped onto his arm with both hands and kept it pushed to the ground. The Sound-nin was forced to a kneeling position, where he met the determination in Lee’s eyes.

His own eyes replied with arrogance. With one swift motion, Zaku swung forward the presumed broken arm, useless bandages fluttering away as he brought the second cannon up to bear. “ZANKUHA!”

“It was a bluff!” gasped Tenten. “He could use that arm the whole time!”“Pointless showboating,” said Neji.

Lee reeled, releasing the arm he had been holding down. Zaku got to his feet and fired both cannons with glee. “ULTIMATE ZANKUHA!” The combined wave caused most of the observers to cover their ears. Lee screamed as he was propelled into the air by sheer forth, his senses shut out and replaced by a painful blur.

“That should be about it,” said Zaku confidently.

Hayate hovered over Lee. “Are you going to give up?” he asked, voice betraying no bias.

Lee paused for a moment, before slowly getting to his feet. “No... I must win this... for youthful justice!”

He rushed Zaku, slower but no less strong. The Sound-nin raised his arm, but was too slow as Lee hit him with a hay maker “Konoha Hurricane!” Fortunately, Zaku blocked the first high kick with a rising block. Unfortunately, he then recoiled, nursing his already wounded arm.

“Holy shit! What do you have, steel legs?”
“Oh yeah, my weights!” said Lee.

“...he forgot?” asked Tenten incredulously.

“Somehow, I’m not surprised,” said Neji.

Zaku protested to the referee. “Can he wear those?”
“Oh sure,” shrugged Hayate. “All weapons are legal.”

“You want me to take them off?” asked Lee, sounding almost eager.

Zaku wasn’t sure what the Leaf-nin was going on about, but he was sure that this idiot couldn’t put anything past him anyway, so it didn’t hurt to try. “Well, duh.”

“All right!” Lee exclaimed. Before he could react, Lee had pulled up his the leg cuffs of his green jumpsuit, removed the quite heavy weights that had been strapped onto his legs, and tossed them aside.

Zaku’s world was suddenly filled with green, and pain.

* * *

Though Zaku looked like a nearly amorphous bundle of flesh and blood by the time the medic-nin carried him out, in reality the injuries were simply numerous and not severe. He would be fine, save for a couple bones and his pride.
As Rock Lee re-assumed his spot on the balcony, he smiled pointedly at Neji. “Hey, Neji-san. Win your match.”The blank-eyed boy smirked. “You want to fight me? You really aren't the sharpest kunai in the belt, are you?”

“Why you...” Lee protested before throwing himself at Neji.

Tenten interposed herself between the two boys, grabbing their shirts and holding them apart, though Neji wasn't attacking and to be honest looked sort of bored. “No fighting, especially not here.”

The screen flickered again, and everyone focused on it eagerly.

VS.
TEMARI

“All right!” yelled Kiba, grabbing Hinata by the arm. “Go out there and show her what you've got!”

“Um... okay...” said Hinata meekly. She hated the feeling of having every eye on her, keeping track of her every move, waiting for the inevitable slip-up. Okay, maybe that wasn't true, but it felt like it sometime. Hinata liked her classmates – one in particular she liked a lot – and didn't want to lose their respect by losing in front of them. She resolved, silently, to show everyone what she was made of.

Unfortunately, what she was made of was bowled over right afterwards by a blast of wind.

“Wait until I say go,” Hayate told Temari, irate The fan-wielder simply shrugged, as if to say “what are you gonna do?”.

“I would be telling your brothers this, Temari, but I don't think I have to. Listen, when you fight in the exams – be absolutely merciless. Any weakness you show, any regret to harm, is something your opponent can exploit, and something that makes you look less impressive in front of the other ninja. We need to establish fear in the people of Konohagakure. Only a swift and powerful offense will do that.

Temari was more of a thinking ninja herself, but she wouldn't go against Baki's orders. If they wanted power, then she had more than enough of that.

Hayate swung his hand down, signaling the start of the fight, and Temari swung into action. “Kamaitachi no Jutsu [Cutting Whirlwind Technque]!” The wind blast hit Hinata dead on, staggering the younger girl, and a second knocked her off her feet.

“Come on Hinata!” Kiba cheered from the sidelines. “You can do it!”

Moron, thought Neji. Hinata is the runt of the litter. She was never cut out to be a ninja, and she certainly won't make it past an experienced kunoichi like this one. Greatness is not in her destiny.

Hinata slowly rose to her feet, only to be knocked down by another wind blast. “If you want to save yourself some more humiliation, you should quit right now.” Temari's tone of voice suggested that she was quite serious.

“I-I don't want to q-quit,” Hinata stuttered.

Temari shrugged. “Not my dignity. Kamaitachi no Jutsu!” Hinata swerved to the side, avoiding this attack, but a second blast of air sent her off balance and to her back.

“Hinata is a melee fighter,” Shino thought out loud. “If Temari keeps her at a distance like she's doing now, there's no way Hinata can win.”

“Fuck,” was all Kiba had to say.

* * *

Through the mask's cat eyes, Sasuke detected a glare of malice. “The medic-nin are currently operating on her, and no one is to be admitted. Go back to your exam. Don't you think you've done enough damage for one day?”

Another pang of guilt flared up inside Sasuke. He turned to the cat-masked ANBU and said “Can you at least tell me how she's doing?”“She'll live. The damage probably won't be permanent, but she could be out of action for several months.”

“Thank you,” Sasuke said with a bow, and walked away. His guilt felt like something festering inside of him, like the curse seal, but the opposite – this was painful, like a claw grasping his intestines tightly and scratching through his stomach. What spurned it on wasn't a delirious haze, but the cold reality. But unlike the curse seal, he knew that in the long term he would benefit from it.

“Hey, kid. You look like you've been through hell. Want a cigarette?”Sasuke looked up. It was the proctor from the second phase – that psycho chick. She seemed much less energetic at the moment, much more down to earth. “No thanks. I don't smoke.”“I didn't either,” she said, as she pulled out a cigarette and lit it with chakra-produced heat. “But things are getting stressful around here.”

The smoke drifted higher and lingered on the hospital ceiling. You weren't technically allowed to smoke here, but most of the time the medic-nin were too busy to care. “So, why aren't you back there watching the matches?”

“I've had my share of fighting for a lifetime,” said Anko bitterly. “Anyway, about your fight...”

“I know,” Sasuke said, hanging his head. “I'm sorry it ever happened.”

“Far as I understand, it wasn't really your fault,” she said, surprising Sasuke. She opened up the door to an empty room and went inside. “Come inside and we'll talk.”Cautiously, Sasuke entered and closed the door behind him. “What do you mean? I'm responsible for what I do.”“Look, I know about the curse, okay? And I know that bastard uses it to make you do things you don't want to do, so that he can make you into his living weapon, something inhuman. And what you showed today wasn't evil, but weakness. And weakness can be fixed.”Sasuke gasped. “How... how do you know so much.”Anko removed her jacket and pulled down her top, provoking a swell of unknown emotion in Sasuke. He could see the same black mark crawling up Anko's back as was crawling up his.

“I was one of his first attempts to make a living weapon. And I'm the only one to survive it.”

* * *

“A word, Hinata,” Hiashi said calmly. She turned away from the door to face her father, and once again withered under his gaze. Hinata shifted her view and just stared at the floor. Hiashi looked down on her with disdain. Hinata was surprised – her father barely talked to her at all anymore, leaving her to her duties as a shinobi and spending most of his time training Hanabi, whom he had designated his talented child.

“When you participate in these exams, you are representing the entire Hyuuga clan. I know that Neji is your superior, but it would not due to be shown up by someone from the cadet branch. Chuunin is beyond your skills now, and it may be for the rest of your life, but you must leave the clan's dignity in tact. Your failure would reflect on all of us. If you are going to lose, at least put up a good fight in doing so.”

“Yes Father,” Hinata said meekly.

“And hold your head up higher, child. You are a Hyuuga. Despite your best efforts, that still means something.”

Her father's words from five days ago – the day the exam had started – rang in Hinata's head as she was knocked to the ground once again. Small cuts had opened up on various places in her skin. She had shut off the Byakugan several minutes ago – the wind magnification jutsu was simple chakra manipulation, and there was no point in wasting chakra if she couldn't get near Temari.

“Jeez, this is getting boring,” said Temari casually. “It looks like the legendary clans of Konoha are no more than a name and a collection of party tricks.”
Despite everything her father had said, Hinata still felt an attachment to her clan, and felt anger bubbling to the surface as she rose to her feet again. Temari scoffed and sent another wave of wind at her. Hinata darted to the side and tossed three shuriken at her attacker, but another blast sent her and the shuriken tumbling to the ground.

Hinata got to a squat, before Temari waved her fan again. “Daikamaitachi no Jutsu [Great Cutting Whirlwind Technique]!” The blast, much larger and fiercer this time, caught her head-on, and cut open her shoulder. Hinata cried out and slumped to the ground, feeling ready to just give up as pain filled her body.

Feeling unconsciousness coming on, she heard a voice. “Come on! Don't give up now!” It couldn't be... Naruto? But... he didn't even know she existed, did he?

In truth, while Naruto had only thought of Hinata as that weird chick from his class, he had started to sympathize and then root for her during the battle. It might have something to do with her determination, even in the face of superior strength. Or it might have something to do with her being the underdog that Naruto had been all his life. Or it might just be Temari's cheap tactics. But whatever it was, he didn't want to see Hinata go down this way.

“It's over,” said Shikamaru gloomily. “Can we get on with our lives now?”

“Indeed,” said Hayate. “I declare that Hyuuga--”
But Hinata stood up.

“If you would,” she said, coughing up blood, “I'd prefer to keep fighting.”“Yeah!” Naruto cheered, causing Hinata to blush. Hayate shrugged, and Temari just raised her fan again.

But Hinata was quicker this time, zig-zagging forward. “Kamaitachi no Jutsu!” The attack missed, and Hinata swerved in closer. Her eyes were peeled back, revealing her activated Byakugan. Hurriedly, Temari calculated her pattern of movement and hit her with a wind blast dead on. However, with a puff of smoke, only a log was blown back. “A substitution jutsu?”

When you fight in the exams – be absolutely merciless.

When you participate in these exams, you are representing the entire Hyuuga clan.

Hinata came at her from behind, causing Temari to whirl around and fire another wave of wind at her, but the blue-haired girl slid out of the way and darted straight at her Sand-nin adversary. Panicked, Temari folded up her fan and held it forward like a sword. Accordingly, blades slid forward from the ends of it. Hinata gasped, but was too late to stop a shallow cut to the chest. She did, however, slide out of the way and immediately launch a barrage of palm thrusts at Temari. The orange-haired kunoichi parried the attacks with her fan. Both girls were a blur as they attacked.

Any weakness you show, any regret to harm, is a weakness your opponent can exploit.

Your failure would reflect on all of us.

Hinata dove past the fan and, with one swift kick, knocked it out of Temari's hands. Her palms hit her opponent dozens of times, each time sealing up a part of her chakra coils. Pain shot through her injured shoulder, but she pressed on. Hinata allowed a small smile to cross her face as she saw Temari's chakra disrupted and forced out, rupturing organs and causing the Sand-nin to cough up blood of her own... but she was feeling awfully faint.

Only a swift and powerful offense will do that.

If you are going to lose, at least put up a good fight in doing so.

Hinata drew her hand back to deliver the finishing blow, that would surely knock Temari unconscious.. and suddenly keeled over. Temari, shaken but still standing, managed to grin.

Naruto, slouching forward on the balcony, stood up and yelled “Hey, what was that? What just happened?”
Temari picked up her fan and turned towards Naruto with a smirk. She ran her hand along the extended blades and gathered a dark liquid between her fingers, which she showed off to Naruto theatrically. “Poison. Don't tell me you haven't heard of it.”“Why you... of all the dirty tricks...”“Relax, Naruto,” said Shikamaru. “This is anything goes. Just like an actual battle would be. Cheap tricks may not be impressive, but they keep you alive.”“The winner of the match is Temari!” Hayate proclaimed as medic-nin appeared again to cart Hinata away. Naruto was starting to wonder if these were the same ones or there were just a lot of medic-nin. With a couple of quick hops, Temari rejoined her teammates on the balcony.

Hinata's eyes opened briefly as she was loaded onto the stretcher, and as she stared up at the ceiling she whispered “Sorry” before lapsing into unconsciousness

* * *

Author's Notes:Sorry for the delay, and for the rather lacklustre chapter. Moving at two fighters per chapter means that sometimes you don't get the most exciting ones. Nevertheless, I hope that I did a decent job here.

With two-thirds of them having fought already, other than Naruto's rowdiness and Sasuke giving you your FDA-reccomended daily intake of angst, the core trio aren't doing too much in these opening chapters. Oh well. It's the minor characters that really make Naruto what it is.

Oh, and the smirking. Smirking is the very core of the series.

C&C would be much appreciated. 'Til next time, I'm out.