Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ TWIST OF FATE ❯ JOUNIN EXAM- Kosunaga Vs Akimichi ( Chapter 8 )

CHAPTER 8: JOUNIN EXAM- Kosunaga Vs Akimichi

 

 

- Konoha Village-

 

“ Hey, Naruto. Are you ready yet?” yelled Sakura to the ramen loving boy.

 

A muffled came from behind the door of Naruto's bedroom. “Just a minute more, my pants won't zip…nghh.”

 

Sakura groaned into her hands as Sasuke simply leaned on the nearby windowsill looking outside. It was a sunny morning in Konoha and most of the people living a life. It definitely was good to be back in Konoha among his friends and the people he knew. Sasuke saw many people already walking in the direction towards the stadium. Probably heading towards the same destination as their's he mussed. His silent thoughts were interrupted by a loud exclamation by none other but his loud mouth friend.

 

“I'm ready! Let's go, guys.” grinned an extra exuberant Naruto. “Don't wanna miss Ryo kicking some ass today.”

 

“Hey, Chouji and Lee are taking part in the tournament too. Don't you forget.” warned Sakura.

 

“Yeah, yeah. I know that.” grumbled Naruto with both his pants up behind his head.

 

“Plus, I heard that Kankurou is also taking part this time.” Sakura informed her teammates as they waited for Naruto to lock the door to his dingy apartment.

 

Naruto who had just finished locking the door, immediately spun around to face Sakura as he heard the last information. “What Kankurou is here?! That…that means that Gaara will be here too!”

 

Sakura nodded and added, “ And Temari too. I heard from Tsunade- sama that they have just arrived from Sunagakure yesterday and are now staying at the hotel.”

 

Naruto had a grin plastered on his face upon hearing Gaara and his siblings already in town. Things were just getting better for him as he, Sakura and Sasuke walked silently towards the stadium.

 

 

- The Waiting Room-

 

“ So, how you are feeling?”

 

“ I'm not quite sure if I have an answer to that, sensei.” Ryo admonished. Truthfully he had butterflies fluttering in his stomach but being the proud Ryo, he would never fess up to that. He would rather end up in the hospital before admitting that he was indeed nervous of the match. By the sound going outside the waiting room that held the other contestants as well, it seemed that there was going to be a really big crowd watching the match and man, he just couldn't afford to screw things up, being a Royal and all.

 

But no lie could escape their sensei. Sasaki being an experienced ninja could well detect the hint of nervousness that surrounded her subordinates.

 

“Hey, just relax okay. It's just an exam. If you fail, you can always take it next time.” Sasaki tried to comfort her students. From her eyes, she could see that they doubted their own abilities. “ Remember all the things I taught you, and you'll be okay.” Sasaki smiled.

 

“ I don't know, sensei. Something tells me that it won't be easy.” Himeko muffled from under a towel over her head. She was sitting on a bench in the waiting room also waiting for her turn.

 

Today was the day that Ryo, Hinata and Himeko were to join the battle for the jounin title. Its formation was pretty much like the chuunin exam except that they were no written test, survival test and the preliminaries. Contestants were chosen from their applications that were beforehand had to be approved by the Hokage. Due to this reason, only the best of all applications would be allowed to participate in the exam and the number of them was usually small. There were some ninjas who never qualified no matter how frequent they applied to participate.

 

“Of course it wouldn't be easy. Keep in mind that everyone here is just as good as you all are if not better. The key to success is to never underestimate you opponent. Everyone here in this room is vying for the very jounin title as much as you three are. ”

 

Hinata was sitting cross- legged on the far end of the bench. Her thoughts were far from were her current surroundings. Apparently, a hand of hers was clasping tightly onto the necklace around her neck. It was her mother's only thing that was left for her. Memories of the last chuunin exam entered her head and the humiliation and defeatedness felt fresh in her mind. She inwardly cringed at the possibility of being beaten again this time around. Now not only was she a branch member, but to be defeated for the second time was probably too much for any strong willed ninja. Hinata simply sat clutching the necklace in her hands tightly and prayed silently that luck would be on her side today.

 

For the remaining hour, everyone was silent. Waiting patiently yet nervously, Ryo, Himeko and Hinata kept alert for announcements for the exam to start.

 

 

 

- The Battlegrounds-

 

 

“ Ahem. Ladies and gentlemen,”

 

The whole podium was immediately silent as spectators present for the match sat anxiously on their seats. There was an extremely big crowd that it seemed as if nearly everyone in Konoha had come to watch the match. At a spectator stall on the other side of the podium, were the Kages of the ninja countries. Among them Konoha's Hokage, Tsunade- sama and Sunagakure's Kazekage, Gaara. The very minute the front entrance of the stadium was open for audiences to enter, it had all been chatterings and waves of excitement around non- stop. Even Tsunade had to smile at the sight of the huge crowd. A certain loud blonde had caught her attention. He seemed to be arguing with another person over the front row seat while his other teammates looked on. Yeah, she thought to herself that would definitely be Naruto to want the best view. She chuckled slightly, careful that the other Kages did not notice. After all, she had a reputation to maintain.

 

After a stretch of nearly 10 minutes, only did the crowd quiten. Genma smirked at having caught everyone's attention.

 

“ Ladies and gentleman. Konoha would firstly like to welcome you all to Konoha's jounin exam. As before, the contestants today would do a one to one battle for the jounin and top spot.”

 

A huge roar of applauds erupted from all over the stadium. The podium immediately drowned in cheers and shouts of excited spectators who were mostly ninjas themselves.

 

“Without further due, we will now start the first match. Kosunaga Ryosuke vs. Akamichi Chouji.”

 

That very moment, the two contestants stepped into the ring (or more like battle grounds) from two different doorways on two opposite site. Walking until they reached the center of the battlegrounds, faces inches away. Ryo stood watching Chouji without a single expression on his face to tell off his thoughts. Ryo was clad in his battling attire of a simple brown Japanese upper kimono that was tied at the waist with a white sash. He wore a comfortable pair of trousers, like the wushu types of pants and he had kung fu sandals instead of the accustomed zori (ninja sandals). His long blonde locks was tied in a simple ponytail and on his forehead was the Konoha ninja hitae ite (forehead protector).

 

Chouji on the other hand was dressed in the Akimichi family attire (look it up in the manga) and his hair had grown longer over the years. He too was watching Ryo intently as if as if sizing him up altogether.

 

Genma then stepped between the two men, “ Ready?”

 

Chouji and Ryo nodded.

 

Raising his left hand, Genma shouted, “Begin!” and immediately jumped out of the way of the two ninjas.

 

Ryo got into his stance. Left feet in front, body slightly drawn back, right feet supporting the body's weight and his arms in a lower guard block. His eyes had a different look in them then but nothing too telling.

 

Chouji too got into his stance. Feet apart, he had his hands into the usual ninja hand seal and cited a few seals.

 

An entirely different aura surrounded the battlegrounds. The spectators sat so still, speculating on who would start attacking.

 

Ryo watched his opponent wearily, debating with himself as to should he attack first or not. Being the new guy in town. Ryo was not at all familiar with any of his current opponent's jutsus. And that could certainly pose as a problem.

 

Luck was on side as it turned that Chouji had decided to start the assault.

“ NIKUDAN SENSHA!”(Meat Tank) shouted Chouji as he immediately rolled his body into a human canon ball and aimed for Ryo at an astounding speed.

 

Ryo was rather unprepared for the sudden onslaught and automatically leapt into the air, away from the rolling ninja. All his life, Ryo had never seen such an attack and quickly thought of a way to defeat the jutsu. A close combat was definitely out since at the rate that Chouji was spinning, a close range attack would spell total suicidal. There has to be a way to counteract Akimichi. As he was up in the air, avoiding Chouji's attacks, Ryo saw a loophole in Chouji's technique.

 

“For the sake of kami- sama. Why didn't I see that! Man, I must really be getting rusty after all this lack of training.” Ryo muttered quietly, more to himself than to others.

 

“What are you doing up there, Kosunaga? Come down here and fight me.” came the challenge from the non- stop rolling Chouji.

 

So, you want a fight, eh. Then I'll give you a fight. Ryo smirked before landing at a safely distant spot. Getting into a fighting position, Ryo slightly crouched and had his right hand palm facing the opponent and the other hand backwards facing the air. Ryo closed his eyes as he gathered just the right amount of chakra into his extended palm. A blue wave of chakra slowly became visible as Ryo tried to concentrate on maintaining the chakra flow. From a distance, Chouji who had noticed Ryo from afar, came rolling a lot faster than before.

 

 

- The Waiting Room-

 

From somewhere in the waiting room, where the other contestants were waiting for their match, Hinata and Himeko were watching the screen provided for them. A few other contestants were betting among themselves on who would win the current match and most of them seemed to favour Chouji. Ryo was still practically unknown to them and from the appearance of things, it seems that Chouji has the match in his grasp.

 

“ He better not use that jutsu.” said Himeko silently from one corner of the room. She and Hinata had been following their teammates match right from the beginning and they were quite surprised to see Ryo being cornered as much as that.

 

“Well, he does have a strong opponent. Chouji has definitely gotten stronger over the years, it seems.” voiced out Hinata, just loud enough for the two of them too hear.

 

“Yeah, it would seem so. But you know as well as I do, the limitations of using that jutsu. I'm afraid that things would get out of hand.” Himeko said, glancing a worried look at Hinata.

 

Hinata simply remained silent knowing what Himeko meant.

 

As the waiting room got a lot more heated, for apparently a result was near, the two kunoichis simply remained silent in the corner of the room as the watched the match from the large screen.

 

 

- The Battle Grounds-

 

“I just hope that my calculations are right.” Ryo mentally thought at the sight of the nearing meatball. Crouching deeper, head lower and eyes on the opponent, Ryo got ready to strike. Well, here goes nothing.

 

“ RYU NO JUTSU!” (Dragon jutsu) and in a split second, Ryo had vanished from everyone's eyesight including Chouji.

 

Most of the audiences gasped and some stood up from their very seats at the sight of Ryo vanishing. Chouji too was momentarily baffled but quickly regained his composure.

Doubling his speed and intensity of his attack, Chouji rolled in random directions, hoping to somehow strike Ryo. He couldn't have just vanished like that. He should be somewhere here.

 

“Missed me?” came the sudden question from somewhere above Chouji. Chouji's eyes widened at the voice that he recognized as belonging to his opponent, Ryo.

 

Ryo on the other hand wasted no time on further pleasantries and immediately sent a full force attack using his palm that was filled with chakra earlier. Right on the spot, the chakra expanded to Chouji's whole body and to the ninjas with the eye jutsu, the flow of blue chakra inside Chouji's body was visibly expanding at an alarming rate.

 

“Hahaha…sorry, but chakra attacks don't work on me.” laughed Chouji. He had definitely learnt his lesson from his previous match with a Sound nin during his chunnin

Preliminaries. Before his match with Ryo had started, Chouji had beforehand closed up all his chakra holes that might enable internal destruction to his attacks. So, obviously, the chakra that Ryo had infused into his body had definitely no affect whatsoever on him.

 

Ryo on the other hand simply smirked his signature smirk. “ I forgot to mention that I had a double present for you actually, Akimichi.” Using left hand, he brought it forward with two fingers pointed like a needle. Ryo wasted no time in aiming for Chouji's body and stabbed him in the ribs. Chouji who had immediately stopped moving due to the sudden stab, stood paralyzed for a moment and before he even had the opportunity to regain mobility, Ryo came attacking him furiously. Ryo fell into a series of close range attacks, mainly consisting of finger stabbing Chouji in numerous places on his body. Chouji was unable to attack back or even defend himself from the furious attacks. Blood started to spurt from his mouth and his body started to feel pain. Real pain. Ryo seeing his opponent weakening, forced his last attack on Chouji, aiming straight for the heart. The moment he fingers hit the very spot, everything stopped. The air stopped moving, Ryo stood in the very stance he was when he attacked, Chouji remained in his place and the whole stadium was speechless.

 

Chouji then smiled and started to cough out blood before falling to the ground with a heavy thud. “I give up.” came the reply from the defeated Akimichi before closing his eyes and slipping into unconsciousness.

 

Ryo simply straightened from his stance and looked at his opponent. He had won the battle and all was left was for the referee to announce the result.

 

Genma neared Chouji and checked the battered ninja before standing up and face the audiences. “The winner is… Kosunaga Ryosuke.”

 

The stadium erupted in applaud from various audiences as Ryo simply stood in the same place. Slowly, he walked towards Chouji and crouched beside the unconscious body. Sorry about that, Chouji. I guess I was a bit too harsh on you. Clapping his hand together, Ryo concentrated chakra into his two palms and gently put it onto Chouji's body just above the heart, the very same place where his last attack had landed. Several medic nins who had arrived to take Chouji to the medical room for treatment, stood aside watching Ryo heal his opponent.

 

The same blue chakra could be seen flowing from Ryo's palm and straight into Chouji's body as Ryo gradually increased the amount of chakra to quicken the healing. Slowly, Chouji opened his eyes and saw Ryo treating his injury.

 

“Heh, I guess I lost, eh Kosunaga.” smiled Chouji weakly.

 

“Yeah, I guess you lost.” Ryo returned the friendly smile.

 

“Once we get of here, maybe we get together for barbeque or something.”

 

“Thanks but no thanks. I still prefer women.” Ryo joked as he finished his healing.

 

“Heheh…nice sense of humour, pal. See you around.” Chouji said as the medic nins came to take him to the medical room.

 

Ryo simply nodded before facing the crowd for all of them to see his face. The face of a winner. The only Kosunaga remaining.

 

The crowd having seen Ryo heal Chouji, applauded some more with most of the female crowd practically swooning over Ryo's actions. From one side of side, Ino could be heard cheering for Ryo even though it was her teammate who was just defeated. Shikamaru who was sitting on her left side muttered how troublesome women are, since Ino had practically shouted at the top of her lungs. In fact, Shikamaru ran out of luck since it seemed that all around him were girls and they were all shouting on top of their lungs at the time.

 

“Oh kami, anymore shouting and I'll be deaf,” muttered Shikamaru covering his ears and sighing.

 

Back down on the battlegrounds, amidst all the cheering and applaud, Ryo simply stood still glancing at the clear blue sky.

 

“Mama, papa. I wish you could see me here today.” came the silent wish of the young man.

 

 

TBC