Naruto:A New Path

The Finals Begin

Naruto ran at Neji with his confident smirk never leaving his face. The blond threw a punch that was easily blocked by the Hyuuga, who countered with a punch of his own. Naruto blocked the punch and threw another. The two engaged in a fury of punches and kicks. The two were even with each blocking every single strike. Most of the crowd was impressed with the blond since he was trading blows with a Hyuuga on equal level.
Neji frowned. 'How is he able to match me in taijutsu? It is my fate to win, not his!' The Hyuuga thought as he and Naruto threw punches. The blond threw a clumsy kick and Neji smirked. This was the opening he was waiting for. Neji threw an open palm at Naruto but his eyes widened when he saw a smirk on Naruto's face. The blond crouched under the kick before jumping slightly and delivering a head butt to Neji's jaw.
The Hyuuga was knocked away and Naruto followed his attack with a punch that made contact with Neji's stomach. Neji was pushed away but managed to strike Naruto's left shoulder. The Hyuuga jumped away from the blond and glared. He couldn't believe that a no-name was able to match him in taijutsu. Naruto's style wasn't better, it was just too random to counter. The blond would move around with a slight hop on his step and would use random attacks, like the head butt.
Naruto smirked. "I thought you were stronger than that." He declared, "Beating you will be a walk on the park."
"Fool," Neji said with a glare, "I was the victor on our exchange of taijutsu. Just look at your hands."
The blond looked at his hands in confusion and saw small cuts all around them. "W-what the hell?"
"We Hyuugas are able to use chakra with each strike," Neji said, "We can also strike chakra points with the help of our Byakuugan."
"So what?" Naruto exclaimed with a frown, "That doesn't mean that you'll win!"
"We shall see about that," Neji said with a frown, "Byakuugan!" Veins appeared around Neji's eye and his pupil became barely visible.
Naruto ran at Neji again and threw a punch that was easily blocked. The blond hopped to his right and threw another punch but it was knocked away. Neji smirked and struck Naruto on the chest with great force. Naruto sailed through the air before falling on the ground with a hard thud.
"Now you see that it is impossible for you to win," Neji said, "Fate has declared me the winner and no amount of determination will change that."
Naruto spit out blood and slowly stood up while clutching his chest. "You got one lucky punch on me," he said with a growl, "I'll beat some sense into you and show you that fate can be changed!"
"You're a fool Uzumaki," Neji said with a frown.
"And damned proud of it!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran at Neji. The blond threw a punch but it was easily blocked. Naruto didn't let up and threw punch after punch. Neji gritted his teeth, the blond was awfully close to breaking through his defenses. He had to do something.
"Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation!" Neji yelled. Naruto's eyes widened as Neji started to spin and release chakra. Before Naruto knew what happened, he was struck almost everywhere on his body and was knocked away from Neji. The blond landed on the ground and gritted his teeth in pain.
"D-damn," Naruto gasped out as he tried to stand.
"You are finished," Neji said, "Give up now."
Naruto smirked and stood up. "I still have a lot under my sleeve." The blond spit out some blood before glaring at Neji, "This match just started. There's no way I'm giving up!"
Neji deactivated his Byakuugan and smirked, "I'll show you that fate is on my side. I won't use my Byakuugan to fight you and I'll still be victorious."
"I'll prove you wrong," Naruto said with a frown.
Ino watched Naruto's match from the stands. She was sitting next to Sakura and Choji. In front of her sat Tenten, who had said that Naruto wouldn't be able to beat Neji. Ino had defended her friend, much to the surprise of Sakura, and had told them that Naruto would win. Choji had agreed with her while Sakura thought that Naruto didn't stand a chance. Ino was dressed on her ninja outfit since she told Naruto that she would show him how much she had imrpoved after his matches were over.
Ino had a worried look on her face. Naruto was getting pretty hurt while Neji had only been hit twice. She still thought that Naruto could win but made a mental note to scold him for getting hurt. The kunoichi didn't like to see people hurt, which is why she mostly uses her mind attacks to restrict people. For some reason seeing Naruto hurt made her heart wrench. She wanted to keep him safe and hated to see him bloodied and bruised. Ino guessed that she felt this way since he was her friend and hoped that the match would end soon.
"I told you that he was no match for Neji," Tenten started, "He's a Hyuuga prodigy and is fighting a nobody. It's no surprise that the blond is getting beaten."
Ino fumed. "Naruto is going to win!" She exclaimed, "He said that he would and he never goes back on his word."
"Ino's right," Choji said with a grin, "Naruto's been training hard with our team. There's no way he'll lose."
"Naruto's been training with you?" Sakura asked in confusion.
Choji nodded. "He trained like crazy," he said, "I don't see him losing after everything he did."
Ino nodded with a smile. "There's no way he's losing." Ino looked at Naruto and grinned, "I know it."
"Wind Style!" Naruto yelled as he ran through hand signs, "Devastation." Naruto put his left hand on his mouth and blew into it, creating a powerful gust of wind, blowing away dirt and rubble from the ground.
The attack hit Neji with full force and knocked him against the wall. The Hyuuga spit out blood and fell on the floor, gasping for air. He stood up slowly only to see two clones running at him. Neji dodged their attacks and hit them on the chest, immediately dispelling them, before catching his breath.
Naruto stood in front of Neji with a small smirk. "How was that?" He taunted, "Did your precious bloodline see that coming?"
"That attack hit me because of my own mistakes, do not think that it will happen again," Neji said as he got into his fighting stance.
"We'll see about that," Naruto said with a smirk before throwing a few kunai at Neji.
The Hyuuga used his own kunai to block Naruto's before charging at him. Neji felt heavier as he ran but dismissed it for the moment. He threw a palm at Naruto but the blond jumped away and threw a horde of shurinken. Neji blocked them with a single kunai and jumped after Naruto.
Neji felt as if he was running slower but focused on his fight. He jumped at Naruto with an open palm that made contact with his chest. Neji smirked when he saw Naruto land painfully on the ground. He had hit a major chakra point and he didn't think that the blond would be getting up from it. He had been right, the Byakuugan wasn't needed on this fight.
Neji's eyes widened when he saw 'Naruto' poof into a cloud of smoke. 'It was a clone?' He activated his byakuugan and gasped. The ground was filled with hundreds of different chakra signatures, all belonging to Naruto.
"Surprise!" Naruto yelled as he and hundreds of clones shot off of the ground, "Let's go!"
Neji gritted his teeth when he saw all of the clones charging at him. "Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation!" The clones were dispelled but their sheer number pushed against Neji's dome. The Hyuuga feared that they would get past his ultimate defense when he saw more and more clones charging at him.
The Hokage smiled. Naruto had improved a lot. The blond had formulated a great plan and executed it perfectly. Naruto was learning how to be a great ninja and the Third had no doubt that the blond would get far.
"Impressive boy," the Kazekage commented, "He's full of surprises."
"Indeed he is," the Hokage said, "He'll grow into a powerful ninja."
"Way to go Naruto!" Ino cheered with a smile, "Kick Neji's ass!" She got a few odd looks from the people around her and blushed in embarrassment.
"Calm down Ino," Sakura said with an odd look.
Neji panted as he kept performing his attack. The Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation took a considerable amount of chakra to perform. His reserves were going down and the dome would come down any second. He was sure that the blond's reserves were going down also since nobody should be able to keep using shadow clones like he was doing.
Naruto watched his clones attack the dome and summoned another ten, ordering them to attack. His chakra was going down but it was to be expected since it was part of his plan. All he had to do was wait for Neji's attack to go down and perform the last part of his plan. Naruto grinned when he saw the dome waver slightly, 'It's almost time.'
Neji's attack was finally stopped and a swarm of clones jumped at him. "Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms!" Neji began to attack all the clones with strikes that were barely visible. The Hyuuga defeated all of the clones and glared at Naruto, "I am done with this, I will finish you right now."
"Let's see you try," Naruto said with a smirk.
The two ninja ran at each other. Naruto threw a punch but it was easily blocked by Neji. The Hyuuga countered with an open palm but Naruto leapt away. The blond threw a couple of kunai at Neji, who simply jumped away, before running through hand signs.
"Wind Style: Devastation," a powerful gust of wind came out of Naruto's mouth. The wind knocked Neji against a tree before Naruto grinned, "I got you!"
Neji looked up to see a swarm of kunai coming his way. He quickly blocked them with his own before running at the Naruto clones. He stroke one of the chest before dodging a punch. Neji hit another clone on the face and another on the stomach. The Hyuuga dodged a kick and countered with an open palm.
Ino bit her lip as she witnessed the fight. Naruto's clones weren't hurting Neji, they were pretty much useless against him. She had no idea why Naruto would keep wasting chakra with clones but knew that he must have a plan, 'You can do this Naruto!'
Tenten smirked as she watched clone after clone disappear at the hand of Neji. There was no way that her teammate would lose. He was a prodigy and the strongest genin. She felt sorry for the blond, he was putting a lot into the match but his attacks only stalled Neji instead of hurting him.
Neji panted once he finished the last clone. They were way too annoying and no match for him, no matter how many were used. He ran at the real Naruto, "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" Naruto could do nothing as each strike hit home. Neji smirked, losing his Hyuuga coolness, as the attacks hit the helpless blond. His attack finally ended and the blond fell on the ground with a thud.
"This match is over," Neji said with his cool and collected attitude back, "Fate can never be changed."
The ground started to shake and 'Naruto' disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Neji's eyes widened when two Naruto's shot off the ground. Naruto blew into his hand and formed a ball while the other clone took hold of Naruto's free arm. The clone flung Naruto at Neji, "This is it!" The blond yelled as he approached Neji and extended his arm, "Wind Style: Spiraling Wind Ball!"
The attack hit Neji on the chest and the Hyuuga was thrown away from Naruto. Neji hit the wall with a cry and lost consciousness. Naruto panted as he watched Neji's unconscious figure. The blond broke into a grin and threw an arm on the air with a laugh.
"Winner, Naruto Uzumaki," Genma declared as a couple of medic ninja took Neji away.
"Alright!" Naruto cheered as he left the fight area. The crowd cheered for the good fight and Naruto waved at the crowd.
"He did it!" Ino cheered with a smile.
"Way to go Naruto!" Choji cheered.
"I can't believe it," Tenten said with a look of disbelief, "How did Neji lose?"
"That was a good plan Naruto," Shikamaru said with a smirk.
Naruto grinned while Shino raised a brown. "What plan are you talking about?" The bug user asked.
"Naruto hid some clones around the fight area that would throw weaker versions of Wind Style: Devastation," Shikamaru explained, "Since the attacks were weak Neji didn't notice them but they were hitting him constantly. That's why Neji was slower than Naruto whenever they ran."
"I see," Shino said with a nod, "That really was a good plan."
"Attention," Genma started, "Because Sasuke Uchiha hasn't shown up we will continue with the other matches."
Shikamaru groaned, 'Man, that means that my match will be moved up. My match hasn't even started but it's already a pain in the ass.'
"I need Shino and Kankuro to come down," Genma said. Shino prepared to go down while Kankuro stayed still.
"I forfeit!" Kankuro declared. The crowd booed the sand ninja.
Temari smirked and jumped down to the fight area. She held out her fan and looked at the proctor.
"What's up with you?" Genma asked.
"It's my turn now isn't it?" Temari said while looking at Shikamaru.
Genma shook his head, genin were always full of themselves. "Shikamaru come on down."
' This is complete crap,' Shikamaru thought as he leaned on the railing, 'Why do I have to fight? Maybe I should just forfeit like that Kankuro guy?'
Naruto saw the lazy look on Shikamaru's face and grinned. He went behind the lazy genius and pushed him off the railing, "Get out there Shikamaru!"
Shikamaru landed on his back and groaned, 'Why does Naruto have to be so damn troublesome? I'd rather stare at the clouds than fight some girl.'
Temari glared at Shikamaru. The lazy idiot was just lying there and didn't appear to be interested in fighting her. The crowed started to boo Shikamaru while he just ignored everyone. Genma just sighed and shook his head, he couldn't believe Shikamaru's laziness.
"That's it!" Temari exclaimed with a frown, "If you're not attacking then I am!" With that, Temari held up her fan and ran at Shikamaru.
' Man,' Shikamaru thought, 'I knew blonds were troublesome the minute I met Naruto and Ino. I don't feel like doing anything but I also don't feel like losing to a girl.'
Temari brought her fan down on Shikamaru but gasped when she saw that he wasn't there anymore. She looked around and found him leaning against a tree with his hands on his pockets.
"If you're so hyped about fighting me then let's get to it." Shikamaru said. He took out some kunai and threw them at the girl.
Temari used her fan to blow the kunai away but frowned when she saw that Shikamaru had disappeared again. "Where the hell is he?" She muttered to herself.
Asuma watched his student with a smirk. Kurenai was sitting next to him and she had a look of worry on her face. While Asuma trusted in his student's abilities, Kurenai didn't know what to think of the lazy genius. She had heard that Shikamaru was lazy but she never expected him to act like that in the middle of a match.
"Don't worry Kurenai," Asuma said, "Shikamaru might not look it but he's a genius."
Kurenai gave a confused look. "But I saw his test scores and they were almost as bad as Naruto's."
Asuma shook his head. "Don't let those two fool you," he stared at his student with a smirk, "Shikamaru and Naruto are a lot smarter than they let on. Shikamaru didn't do well on his tests because he thought it was too troublesome to pick up his pencil to write; while Naruto cared more about being the center of attention than some test."
"Naruto just started to take his training seriously," Asuma continued, "He's been training with my team and his motivation made my students take their training seriously also. Choji was there from time to time but he had to return to the hospital after a few hours."
Kurenai looked at Shikamaru in a new light. "I see."
"Shikamaru treats his matches like a shogi game," Asuma explained, "He uses many different strategies to put his opponent in a possession where giving up is the only way out. I've never been able to beat him in a game of shogi and I know that he will win this using only his mind."
Shikamaru was resting against a tree that was near the wall of the fight area. The place was shadowed so he would be able to have some peace. He thought of ways of defeating the blonde but groaned when he heard her swinging her fan around. That girl was way too troublesome.
"I might as well get this over with," Shikamaru said to himself.
"Damn him," Temari muttered as she swung her fan. She had been using wind jutsu around the fight area in order to get Shikamaru out of his hiding place. The kunoichi was about to swing her fan again but stopped when she saw a shadow approaching her. She jumped away and found Shikamaru standing on the shadows.
"So you finally decided to come out?" Temari said while noticing that the shadow could not reach her past ten meters.
Shikamaru sighed. "It's a real pain in the ass but I'll fight seriously." The teen threw two kunai at the girl who easily blew them away.
Temari watched Shikamaru in confusion. Surely his plan wasn't throwing kunai around, even someone like him should have a kind of plan. She swung her fan, creating a huge gust of wind that knocked Shikamaru back a couple of feet. Temari prepared to attack again but jumped away when she saw a shadow coming towards her. The shadow passed its ten meter limit and chased after her.
She looked up and saw that Shikamaru had used a kunai as a parachute in order to create more shadows for him to use. She leapt away until the shadow finally stopped. Temari sighed in relief and prepared to use her fan but noticed that she couldn't move.
"What's going on?" She asked herself in panic.
Shikamaru chuckled. "Just look at where you are."
Temari looked around and noticed that she was in between two trees. Her eyes widened when she remembered that Shikamaru had been at the same place when he started the match. She looked at her arms and saw that they were wrapped in a strong wire, "H-how did you?"
"I wasn't just looking at clouds when I was lying there," Shikamaru explained, "I was thinking of a way to beat you without too much trouble. When you ran at me and I leapt away, I threw a couple of kunai with ninja wire at those two trees."
"But there's more than two wires," Temari argued.
"Yes but as the match progressed I put more wire," Shikamaru said as he pointed at the wire that were wrapped around her legs, "All those kunai that I threw and my shadow possession jutsu were just decoys while I set up the real trap."
"Why… you?" Temari said through gritted teeth as Shikamaru walked towards her with a kunai on hand.
"Now," the teen said with a smirk as he put the kunai on Temari's throat, "Check mate."
Genma grinned in approval. "Winner is Shikamaru Nara."
The crowd cheered while Shikamaru calmly made his way back to the small balcony where the participants waited their turn. He had thought of giving up but decided against it when he remembered all the training his team and Naruto went through. Naruto had made him take his training a little more seriously but it was still too troublesome and not to mention that since Ino started to train harder she had forced him to put more effort into it. Those annoying blonds would be the death of him.
"Way to go Shikamaru!" Ino cheered with a smile.
Choji couldn't believe his eyes. His teammate had actually done a considerable amount of work and didn't give up. Choji honestly thought that Shikamaru would end up giving up or just pretending to be unconscious but he had won.
"That was a great match," Sakura said with a smile.
Choji nodded, "I didn't think that Shikamaru would actually win. I thought that he would've ended up giving up or something."
Ino smiled, "Yeah but I think he's starting to be more serious about being a ninja."
"Anyway," Sakura interrupted, "Sasuke's match is up next!"
"Everyone is waiting for that match," Choji said, "I hope it's as good as everyone is making it out to be."
"Yeah," Ino agreed with a thoughtful look, "I wonder if it'll be as good as Naruto's."
Sakura frowned. "Of course it'll be better than stupid Naruto's," she said, "Sasuke is a lot stronger than Naruto and he'll wipe the floor with that Gaara guy."
"Watch it Forehead," Ino said with scowl, "Just because Naruto isn't here doesn't mean that you can talk down on him."
"What did you call me Ino-pig?" Sakura said with a glare.
The air grew tense and Choji was stuck in the middle. He knew how close Ino and Naruto had gotten and knew that it was a bad move to talk bad about him in front of her. For some reason, Ino had grown protective of Naruto and she was downright scary when someone talked badly of him.
' I really wish I wasn't here right now,'
Choji thought as the two girls continued to glare at each other.
"That was great Shikamaru," Naruto said with a grin once Shikamaru went back to the balcony.
Shikamaru sighed and leaned on the railing. "I should've forfeited the match, it would've been less troublesome that way."
Naruto chuckled. "But if you forfeited then you would've been chewed out by Ino."
"You're right," Shikamaru said with a nod, "Nothing is more troublesome than dealing with an angry female."
"Attention," Genma announced, "We will give Sasuke Uchiha a total of five minutes to arrive. If he doesn't then he will be disqualified."
"Do you think he'll show up?" Shikamaru asked.
"Perhaps it was wise of him to not have shown up," Shino said in an emotionless voice.
Naruto shook his head. "He'll be here," He said, "He's not the kind of person to run away from a challenge."
"What is Sasuke doing? Why is he taking so long?" Choji asked with a frown.
"He'll get here," Sakura said with a sad expression, "He has to."
"You idiot," Ino whispered to Choji, "Can't you see she's all gloomy? You don't have to make her even sadder by stating the obvious!"
"Where is Sasuke?" Asked Lee who had just arrived, along with Gai, on a pair of crutches.
"Lee!" Sakura and Ino greeted with smiles.
"Sasuke hasn't arrived yet," Choji said.
"I see," Lee said with a serious look, "I was hoping to see how much he has improved."
"Don't worry Lee," Sakura said with a smile, "Sasuke will come."
"Did you see Naruto's match?" Ino asked with an exited smile. Lee shook his head, "You should've seen it! He completely wiped the floor with that guy!"
Choji sweat dropped. 'It was actually a close match but I shouldn't say anything. I don't want Ino mad at me,' Choji thought as he dug into his last bag of chips.
"The five minutes have passed," Genma announced, "Sasuke Uchiha is disqual-"
Genma was interrupted by a whirlwind next to him. When the whirlwind died down Kakashi and Sasuke could be seen. Sasuke wore a black version of his normal clothes while Kakashi had a hand on his book and the other on his pocket.
"Hey there," Kakashi said, "I hope we're not too late."
"You're just in time," Genma said.
"Hey Sasuke!" Naruto yelled from the balcony. The blond grinned, "Nice to see you made it."
Sasuke smirked. "I wouldn't have missed this for the world," he said back, "Did you win your match?"
"Of course!" Naruto said with a smile, "You better win yours so I can kick your ass later."
Sasuke smirked and turned to Gaara. The sand ninja looked at Sasuke with no emotion on his eyes before jumping down to the fight area.
"This will be a hard fight," Naruto said to Shikamaru.
Shikamaru frowned. "You want to tell me what's going on." Naruto looked surprised and Shikamaru continued, "You're always wary of that guy ever since the hospital incident. I know I'll regret this later but tell me what's up with that guy."
Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Gaara wasn't lying." Naruto said. Shikamaru gave him an odd look and Naruto turned his gaze towards Gaara, "He really does have a demon sealed inside of him."
"W-what?" Shikamaru asked in shock, "How do you even know he wasn't just bluffing?"
Naruto turned his gaze to the ground and frowned. He couldn't just tell people that he knew Gaara had a demon inside of him because he had one also. The blond contemplated the idea of telling Shikamaru the truth. But, could he do it? Would Naruto be able to share his deepest secret and risk losing a friend?