Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Road to Chunin ❯ Chapter 13 ( Chapter 13 )

Chapter 13

 

Choji was lying in bed eating some hospital food. It wasn't half bad, actually. Lamb stew with rice mixed into it and mango pudding. Shikamaru had managed to sneak away to visit him.

 

“How are you feeling, Choji?” he asked.

 

“My chest still hurts and my chakra's depleted,” answered Choji. “Gees, I think they overdid it a little with all this stuff.” He was referring to the heart monitors that the doctors had attached to him.

 

“They want to make sure your heart's OK, son,” said Choza from across the room. “You keep eating and get your strength back.”

 

“Dad, I feel bad about you missing the rest of the tournament,” said Choji. “You paid a lot for your ticket. Don't feel obligated to hang around here all day. If you want to go back and see the rest of it, it's totally fine by me.”

 

“My place is here right now,” replied Choza. “Besides, with you and Ino out, there's no other matches I'm really that interested in. Of course tomorrow's matches will be televised so if you feel like watching on TV, go ahead.”

 

“Shikamaru, how's Ino doing?” asked Choji.

 

“She's in the room down the hall recovering from surgery,” he replied. “They had to manually re-open some chakra points with senbon or she wouldn't have healed.”

 

“Wow. Too bad I won't be able to avenge her loss. Fighting Hinata would have been interesting.”

 

---

 

At that exact moment, Hinata was eating tempura with Neji and Hanabi. She was picking at her food and not eating much.

 

“Not hungry, eh?” asked Neji.

 

“The medic was right,” replied Hinata. “I do have a funny taste in my mouth. The food tastes like rubbing alcohol.”

 

“Tastes like ayu to me,” replied Hanabi. She was quiet for a moment. “Neji, do you think I overreacted with that whole `I don't want to be a ninja' thing?”

 

“Not necessarily,” he replied. “First time out and you saw two teammates die.”

 

“I feel like I owe it to those two to try again,” she said.

 

“I think you also owe it to them to take things one day at a time,” said Neji. “No shame in being a Genin for a while.”

 

“I sure felt bad for Choji,” said Hinata. “Actually I'm relieved not to be fighting him. I'd feel bad no matter what the outcome was.”

 

“This line of work would be great if you didn't risk losing every single person you care about,” said Neji sarcastically. Hinata and Hanabi nodded in agreement.

 

---

 

“One hour, forty-seven minutes and three seconds… One hour, forty-seven minutes and two seconds… One hour, forty-seven minutes and one second… “

 

“Lee, stop that, you're making me nervous,” said Gai angrily.

 

“I cannot help it, Gai Sensei. I am so eager. I have not yet had a chance to fight and now I do. I cannot wait.”

 

Gai smiled. “Lee, I certainly appreciate your enthusiasm. But I paid good money for these lobster tails here and I want to be able to enjoy them without you staring at the clock the whole time and driving me nuts. Now sit down and eat. You'll enjoy it more if you're calm.”

 

“Understood, Gai Sensei,” replied Lee. He whipped out his notebook. “Never spoil an opportunity for calm while eating. Got it.”

 

Lee dug into his lobster and mushrooms eagerly.

 

---

 

Gaara sat alone in the stadium while the cleaning crews worked. Technically he wasn't supposed to be there but no one minded. Temari walked up to him.

 

“Aren't you going to take a meal break?” she asked.

 

“I already did,” he replied. “I had some sort of meat on a stick from one of the concession stands between fights. I'm not even sure what I ate but I think it was some sort of fowl. Something that had feathers when it was alive, anyway.”

 

“So are you just going to stand here all alone until the next round?”

 

Gaara sighed. “Temari, I have to fight another Waterfall kid. I don't like this. Something about this is weirder than we first thought.”

 

“Well I've never seen a fighter go all kamikaze before,” she replied.

 

“I have,” said Gaara sadly.

 

“Don't think about him. He's dead. He's dead to us. Lousy snake.”

 

“They're targeting me. The Waterfall. I don't know why, but they are.”

 

“Well at least then you know what to expect from the girl you're fighting,” replied Temari. “If these guys do have an agenda then they're fools for showing their hand in such an obvious manner. Just be ready for a dirty trick on her part and you should be fine.”

 

“I'm trying not to take this personally but I do grow tired of it,” said Gaara. “Not as though I can help what I am or do anything about it.”

 

“Well you're winning over people back home,” she said. “Nobody can make the whole world love them. But you're rising in the popularity poll relatively fast. Girls just can't resist a cute red-head, you know.”

 

Gaara chuckled a little. “Sorry you and Kankuro lost. But I'm glad I won't have to fight one of you.”

 

Just then Kankuro walked up.

 

“I'm sure my puppets are glad too,” he said with a smirk. “I'd never get the sand out of their joints. As it is, I'll have to put in some big repairs in when we get home.”

 

“Still in one piece after that little flight Choji gave you,” said Gaara. “How are you feeling?”

 

“Bruised ribs are easy to heal,” replied Kankuro. “Arm's in a cast. The concussion took about half an hour for them to fix. My head still hurts, though. I smacked it in two places.”

 

“Then you should avoid those two places,” said Gaara with a grin.

 

“Asshole,” said Kankuro with an even bigger grin.

 

---

 

Thirty minutes before the fights were to resume, the crowds were allowed back in. A couple of Leaf Jonin put on a demonstration of trick kunai throwing to keep the crowds entertained while they awaited the Quarterfinals. Shino and Shibi sat down in the best seats they could find. Kurenai joined them.

 

“Glad to see you here to cheer on your teammate,” she said. “Kiba's sure in for a rough match.”

 

“Actually we're here to see Gaara kick the crap out of Michiko,” replied Shino coldly.

 

“Oh.”

 

“Of course Lee's reaction to getting peed on will be worth seeing too.”

 

---

 

“Welcome back ladies and gentlemen to the Quarterfinals of this year's Chunin exams. First match is Gaara of the Sand vs. Michiko of the Waterfall.”

 

The applause for Gaara was overwhelming. Gaara never even shot Michiko so much as a glance as the two headed for the field. Frankly at this point he could care less whether or not she wanted to be giving him dirty looks.

 

“You aren't planning on going boom like your teammate are you?” asked Shikamaru. “I wouldn't like that. Part of my job is to keep the fighters alive.”

 

“Mind your own damn business!” replied Michiko.

 

“Watch it or I'll disqualify you,” said Shikamaru angrily. He waited a moment. She didn't say anything else. “OK, are we going to keep our mouths shut and be respectful now?” Still no answer. “Good. FIGHT!”

 

Gaara surrounded himself in an orb of sand right away and activated the third eye. Michiko began making hand seals again.

 

“Chidori!”

 

She rammed her hand into the sand orb as hard as she could. Sasuke had managed to injure Gaara this way last year. But now that Gaara had seen this before, he knew how to counter it. He pushed himself against the back wall of the orb. When her hand entered, he gripped it with the sand as hard as he possibly could. With the Chidori activated he couldn't crush her hand but she couldn't get it in far enough to reach him either. Chidori can only be sustained for about twenty seconds. As soon as it fizzled out she immediately yanked her hand out and jumped back.

 

The orb dissipated and Gaara stared her down.

 

“That's an attack with a severe drain on one's chakra,” he said calmly. “Sasuke Uchiha could only use it twice in one day. I wonder if you've reached your limit.”

 

“I have no limits,” she replied. “Taser!”

 

Gaara's shield immediately blocked the attack. Unfazed, Michiko tossed two kunai; one to Gaara's right, the other to his left. They both struck the wall and now Gaara could see that there were wires attached to them and that she was still holding the ends of the wires. He was standing between them. Immediately she pumped electrical energy into the wires. As soon as she did, some of the electricity shot from the wires and hit Gaara. He immediately ducked and rolled out of the way. He did not appear to be harmed. Michiko looked surprised.

 

“You forgot about this,” said Gaara. He shed his damaged Sand Armor and made more by turning the ground into sand. “I think it's my turn. Prison Sand Burial!”

 

With that, Gaara slapped the earth. Michiko slowly began to sink. But to everyone's amazement, she managed to jump back out after being submerged up to her neck. No one could tell how. But to Gaara it was obvious. He saw the veins in her head standing up and guessed that she'd opened at least two chakra gates. Michiko began to make a massive number of hand signs. Gaara looked up and saw the sky darken. But the amazing thing was that it only darkened above the field. The sun was still shining on the people in the stands.

 

“Sand will only offer so much protection from electricity,” she said. “Let's see how many of these you can sustain, shall we? ONE!”

 

With that an actual bolt of lightning shot down from the cloud. Gaara's shield barely had time to respond. Had he not realized what she was about to do, it likely would have hit him.

 

“TWO!”

 

A second bolt of lightning struck down right in front of Gaara, sending him flying backwards. He immediately formed a dome of sand around him.

 

“THREE!”

 

The dome had stood up to the bolt. It began to take the form of Shield of Shukaku.

 

“FOUR!”

 

The head was blasted off of the shield but re-formed. The shield was now complete.

 

“Won't work. FIVE!”

 

The head was blasted off once again and this time did not come back.

 

“SIX!”

 

The upper portion of the body was blown away.

 

“SEVEN!”

 

The rest of the shield was destroyed. But Gaara was nowhere to be seen.

 

“Hiding under ground are you?” called out Michiko. “That might protect you from lightning, but how long can you hold your breath?”

 

A hand made of sand shot out of the ground and grabbed her by the throat. Gaara re-emerged. “You reveal your own limitations by talking too much,” he said. “A true shinobi can find the most subtle ways to get ventilation from the surface when he's underground.”

 

“Chidori!”

 

Michiko's hands had been behind the arm of sand so Gaara hadn't seen her forming seals. She easily cut herself free. She was breathing hard. The storm cloud disappeared. Her gates had obviously closed.

 

“Oh, three chidori attempts in one day,” mocked Gaara. “Very impressive.”

 

“You're an ass, you know that?” said Michiko angrily.

 

“I'm not particularly interested in showing good manners to people who want me dead,” he replied. “Assassin after assassin has wound up dead trying to kill me. Lucky for you I've grown more patient over time.”

 

“Oh, you figured it out,” said Michiko. “Smart boy. And here I'd heard that all Jinchuriki were mentally retarded.” Here Gaara grew angry. “Oh you don't like that? As you can see I'm not particularly interested in showing you any manners either, jackass. If you knew what I knew you'd understand just how important it is for the future of the world that we eliminate as many…”

 

“Michiko, shut the hell up!” screamed Hashirama from the stands. She'd said too much.

 

Michiko consumed a food pill. “I really have to kill you now. It's the only way he'll forgive me for shooting off my mouth like that.”

 

---

 

At the gate of the Leaf Village, two foreigners were trying to gain entry. Izumo and Kotetsu didn't seem eager to let them in.

 

“We need to see authorization papers stating that you've been cleared by security to come in and watch the tournament.”

 

“I keep trying to tell you that we aren't here to see the tournament,” replied one of the foreigners. “We're agents of the Hidden Waterfall Village Secret Police.”

 

“I don't care if you're Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” replied Izumo. “We don't just let outside shinobi in here without a permit. If you're not here to watch the exams, that makes us even more suspicious.”

 

“We're here to serve an arrest warrant,” replied the police agent.

 

“And who might you be arresting?” asked Kotetsu. “If one of the spectators at the tournament is a criminal, you can imagine we want to know about it.”

 

“Not spectators. Participants. The members of the Waterfall team and their sensei. We've uncovered evidence that they were involved in a recent murder in our village.”

 

Kotetsu and Izumo looked stunned. Izumo pulled out a whistle and blew on it. Immediately an ANBU appeared.

 

“Summon the Hokage here at once!” he ordered.

 

“Yes sir!”

 

---

 

Michiko pulled out a scroll and summoned a trident. She sent her lightning chakra into the weapon and jammed it into the ground. Gaara was smart enough to jump up just before she did. The place where he'd just been standing was sizzling now.

 

“Desert Suspension!” Gaara floated up in the air on a cloud of sand. He fired a blast of sand at Michiko. It knocked her over and destroyed her weapon. “Three in one day. You really did overuse Chidori. And now the food pill hasn't restored enough chakra.” He began knocking her silly by firing sand at will. She was helpless to stop him.

 

---

 

“Are you certain all three were involved?” asked Tsunade. “I don't mean to sound suspicious but tactics like bogus arrests have been used by gamblers before.”

 

“My lady, I assure you, we found their fingerprints. Ninja hounds indentified their scent. Not only that, but their Jonin has on past occasions been caught with extremist literature in his possession and has been suspended from duty more than once.”

 

Tsunade sighed. “Extremists, eh? Well that explains it. One of the Genin blew himself up in an attempt to kill Gaara of the Sand.” She examined the warrant. “This is most definitely the genuine signature of the village leader. Alright, take some ANBU with you and do what you have to do. But be careful. There are several thousand spectators that we don't need injured.”

 

---

 

Michiko tried to rise after being hit with one last blast of sand but her legs wouldn't work. She collapsed to the ground. Gaara kept his distance just in case she too tried to blow herself up.

 

“Winner: Gaara!” declared Shikamaru. The crowd rose to its feet and applauded. Hashirama looked angry. But a moment later he looked up and noticed two cops from his village and collection of ANBU headed his way.

 

“Michiko! They found us! Flee!”

 

With that, all three remaining members of the Waterfall team disappeared in a puff of smoke.

 

“Find them!” hollered Tsunade. “I want them in custody today!”

 

Kurenai looked over at Shino. “We happy?”

 

“Oh very much so,” he replied.

 

End Chapter 13

 

© 2009 Joseph Kerner

 

Disclaimer: Naruto is the creation of Masashi Kishimoto. And obviously Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is someone else's creation though I neither know nor care whose. I'm a lazy, lazy man.