A Lethal Weapon (Naruto) [ALW Series Book One]

CHAPTER TWELVE: Match in the Training Grounds

In the training grounds, Takeshi sat under the shadow of a tree while Kazuki and Hanako stood face to face and performed the Seal of Confrontation that was taught to them in the Academy. Kazuki pulled out a kunai from his pouch and threw it towards the brunette while jumping back. Hanako pulled out her own kunai and used it to stop the coming knife and catch it in mid-air, having both weapons on her hands. Kazuki hid in the trees while trying to think of a plan. Hanako only smirked when she noticed his intentions; she knew that he didn’t know the full extent of her abilities. She let the two kunais fall to the ground and made the seals for a fire technique. A fire barrage came out of her mouth towards the tree where her teammate was hiding. He was surprised by the upcoming attack and tried to evade it by jumping far away, although the fire was faster and got him. Hanako smirked, but it was erased immediately when she noticed something strange. The boy lying on the ground had disappeared and in his place was a burnt log.

“Tsk! Not bad...” Hanako concentrated on her surroundings but she almost didn’t notice the shuriken moving fast towards her. She jumped to a high branch looking for the raven haired boy. “I know you’re around here!” she shouted. “Why don’t you come out, Kazuki? Are you afraid?” She chuckled softly until she noticed the boy jumping through the trees and suddenly landing in the middle of the river, managing to maintain his balance. ‘He can also walk on water?!’ Her surprise immediately fumed away when she noticed he was making hand seals.

“Suiton: Mizurappa.” Water came out of his mouth with a great force towards Hanako. ‘What?! Water Style? I can’t counter that with fire...’ She crossed her arms in front of her in defense of the upcoming attack. She was dragged by the water until she collided against a trunk. She coughed the bit of water that got into her lungs while she got up, all soaked by the water. When she looked up, she was met by Kazuki’s amused expression.

“Water is your weakness, huh?” Hanako frowned. “It’s over. My water will kill your fire, Uchiha.”

“No.” She smirked. “Not if my fire evaporates your water first, Kazuki.” She threatened. Hanako didn’t expect him to be able to use water, but now that she knew that, she wouldn’t let her guard down.

“Why don’t you use your Sharingan?” Kazuki inquired. “So much pride you have to show it?”

“No. If you want that much to see it...” She closed her eyes. “Then I shall accomplish your wish.” She opened her eyes, they turned as red as blood and her black pupil was surrounded by three black tomoes. Maybe Kazuki was better than her in Taijutsu and probably also Ninjutsu, but he couldn’t compare to her in Genjutsu. The moment the black haired boy looked at her in the eyes, he was already in it. She smirked evilly. Kazuki noticed amazed that the tomoes started to spin around her pupil, slowly then faster.

The boy woke up from his trance when he heard the crunch of a twig behind him. He turned around but there was nothing. Confused, he turned to look back at the girl to find that she was gone.

“Hanako?” he asked loudly. “Are you there?”

“What’s the matter, Kazuki?” He heard her voice as an echo through the woods. “Don’t you see I’m right here?” This time it was a murmur in his ear. She immediately turned around to find her standing right behind him with a smirk. He could notice that her eyes were back to the accustomed black.

“You deactivated your Sharingan.” He pulled out a kunai and got into a defensive stance. Hanako chuckled.

“Maybe...” Her body started to vanish. “Or maybe not.” Her voice sounded again as an echo as she disappeared into thin air.

“What the hell?!” Kazuki started looking desperately for her teammate.

“Look out,” Hanako warned him, still hidden in the shadows. A group of kunai attacked Kazuki from his back. He managed to dodge some, but one got stuck in his leg making him fall to his knees in pain.

“Ah...” He pulled the knife from his thigh, letting a bit of blood drip from the wound.

“Careful, Kazuki.” Hanako’s calm voice spoke again. The sky got dark and started to thunder.

“A storm?” Kazuki looked up. Around him started to fall raindrops that nailed on the ground. He suddenly widened his eyes. ‘That’s not water,’ he thought. ‘Needles?!’

From the sky started to rain hundreds of fine silver needles with the same force of the raindrops. Kazuki covered himself trying not to think of what was coming, but his mind couldn’t stop thinking about the upcoming needles. A second later, his agonizing screams could be heard throughout the woods.

“Kazuki.” He heard Hanako’s voice again, this time more demanding. “Wake up.” He opened his eyes to find Hanako’s black orbs looking intently at him. He was on the ground on a fetal position as if covering himself from something. The girl was kneeling beside him with a regretful look; Takeshi was standing beside her, looking down at him worriedly.

“Your screams really scared the s**t out of me, bro.” He sighed. “I thought that something had really happened to you.”

“What?” The black haired boy looked at himself and noticed that he didn’t have a single scratch on him. “What happened?” he asked totally confused.

“I caught you in a Genjutsu,” Hanako said. “I’m sorry, I think I overdid it a bit.” She looked away.

“When...?”

“From the moment you looked into my Sharingan.” She stood up, helping him up as well. He looked at her surprised.

“I had no idea that you could cast an illusion like that. So...real.” He shivered. “But the needle rain was really cruel!” he claimed making Hanako chuckle.

She suddenly felt a presence and her muscles tensed. Her grin was wiped off her face.

“What’s wrong, Hanako?” Takeshi asked when he noticed her strange behavior.

“We’re being watched,” she said in a whisper while she turned to look back at the trees behind them. “Come out,” she called to the air. “Stop hiding, I know you’re there.”

Three people, all near their age, came out walking confidently. All of their headbands identified them as Konoha shinobi.

“Look who we’ve got here.” A boy with blond hair spoke. “Hanako Uchiha and her minions,” he said now looking at Hanako, who narrowed her eyes glaring at the three.

“Kaichi Kazeyama?” Kazuki inquired suspiciously. “What are you doing here?”

This time, a boy with blue hair replied. “We were just training close by when we heard screaming. We ran here to see what had happened, but found out that it was just you guys playing ninja.” It was Ren Sonoda, Kaichi’s teammate.

“Excuse me, who are you?” Hanako raised an eyebrow, looking at them. “What makes you think you can talk to us so casually?”

“Wow, just because you were from class 1-1 you believe yourselves better than us?” Kaichi interjected, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Hanako rolled her eyes. “We graduated three years ago, how am I supposed to remember that? I ask you because I honestly don’t know who you are.”

“You hurt my feelings Hanako,” Kaichi shook his head. “We played ball together on our first day in the Academy, remember? Izumi brought you to the group; you were in my team!”

Hanako only stared at him. “Number two?” she suddenly asked.

Kaichi grew serious. “That’s what you remember?” Hanako smirked and shrugged.

The girl that was also with them turned to look at Kaichi. “Number two, what’s that?” she asked. Her name was Hyori, a transfer genin from Kumogakure.

Kaichi sighed. “Izumi and her girlfriends had a list of the cutest boys in the generation. I was number two.” Hyori raised her eyebrows.

“Wow, pretty cute, huh?” she smirked at him. Kaichi scoffed, looking away. “Who was number one?”

“Let me guess,” Takeshi spoke, adding to the conversation. “Itachi f*****g Uchiha…” he rolled his eyes. Kaichi did too.

“What isn’t he number one in?”

Hyori looked at Kaichi once again and laughed. “You don’t seem to like him very much…” she commented.

“Because I don’t,” he shrugged. “Ren doesn’t either, but he doesn’t brag about it.” The boy next to him scoffed. “By the way, where are your headbands?” Kaichi suddenly asked, looking at all of them. “Aren’t we supposed to wear them always?”

“Not if we’re off duty,” Kazuki shrugged.

“And why are you dressed like that?” Kaichi looked at Hanako.

Hanako rolled her eyes. “Funeral,” she replied curtly. Kaichi understood that she wouldn’t answer any more questions on the subject.

“Tsk,” Kaichi scoffed. “Moody.”

Hanako glared at him. “Do you have a problem?”

Kaichi laughed. “What? Snappy too? How about you are a little bit nicer?”

“To you?” Hanako raised her eyebrow. “f**k off, loser.”

“What did you just say?!” Kaichi was about to run at her, but Ren wrapped his arms around him.

“Hey, Kaichi! Shrug it off, she’s not worth it!”

“And who are you to say that?!” Hanako clenched her fists, glaring daggers at the boy.

Hyori suddenly stood between Hanako and the boys. “And who are you to say that?” she smirked at her. Hanako widened her eyes and tensed. This girl was standing up to her? No one ever did that.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Hanako hissed dangerously.

“I’m sorry, am I speaking to the queen of this realm?” Hyori tilted her head sideways, her smile never faltering. “Have I crossed dangerous boundaries?” Hanako narrowed her eyes. “Hyori Senju,” she introduced herself. “At your service, queen.”

Hanako frowned at the name. She couldn’t explain the sudden hate that surged through her at the mention of her family name. Why? She didn’t even know the girl in front of her. She hadn’t even heard her family name before, then why did she hate it so much?

“You must be Hanako Uchiha, right?” Hyori continued, noticing that the Uchiha was at a loss of words. “Everyone talks so much about you, you must be very proud of yourself.” She started to walk around the Uchiha, her short brown hair moving slightly every time she took a step. Hanako followed her with her eyes.

“Senju, you said?” Hyori smiled, looking at Hanako with a wide grin.

“Yeah, like the previous Hokages. The clan that founded this village.”

“Looks like someone has a reputation to keep,” Hanako commented. Hyori stopped walking and looked at Hanako with interest. “It would be a shame if someone suddenly messed with it.” Hyori smiled.

“Wanna give it a go, Uchiha?” Hanako smirked.

“After you, milady.” Hyori’s smile disappeared, she walked to stand in front of Hanako.

“You, as an Uchiha, must be a Sharingan user,” said Hyori. “I’ve never seen those eyes in action, this might be a great chance.”

Hanako closed her eyes and reopened them with their red color. Hyori stared at them for a second, then avoided her glance. She had heard about not staring at the Sharingan during a fight, or the Uchiha would win. She wasn’t very good in Genjutsu, so she could definitely not look at them.

“Oh...this is going to be interesting,” Kaichi said amused. The four boys that were left out, got together to watch the fight. “Do we make a bet, Ren?” he asked.

Ren looked at him and shrugged.

“I take Hyori,” Kaichi smirked.

“I’ll stick with Uchiha, then.” Ren smirked back. “1000 ryo.”

“Deal.”

Takeshi and Kazuki looked at each other. Then, they looked at the boys. “Hanako is going to win,” Kazuki said. “She has never lost a match.”

“But she hasn’t fought, Hyori.” Kaichi smiled. “You’d be surprised.”

Hyori launched a kunai in the direction of the Uchiha’s head. Hanako, seeing this, swiftly moved to the side dodging it while making hand seals.

“Katon: Housenka no Jutsu,” from her mouth came out small fireballs that moved quickly towards the Senju. Hyori quickly made some hand seals herself and created a wood shield, stopping the fire directed towards her. Hanako smirked and positioned herself behind the girl with exceptional speed, placing a kunai on her throat. “Mokuton? Wow, you definitely have a reputation to keep. But…is that all you’ve got?” she asked with a hint of disappointment in her voice. “I was hoping to have a little bit more of fun.”

“I’m not done yet!” Hyori disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving in her place a piece of wood that fell to the ground.

“Tsk!” Hanako looked around her for the blue eyed brunette, but couldn’t find her anywhere.

“Mokuton: Moku Bunshin no Jutsu,” from the ground around her, clones of Hyori surged surrounding the Uchiha.

“It’s not fun if the real one hides like a coward,” Hanako said while eyeing all of the clones cautiously with her Sharingan.

Hyori watched her opponent intently while she hid behind some bushes. She chuckled when she heard Hanako and made some hand seals. ‘In that case...how about this?’ She jumped out of her hiding place and landed a few steps behind the Uchiha placing both her hands on the ground.

“Doton: Chikyu Jishin.” The ground started to move as if affected by an earthquake in a radius of five meters. The clones all disappeared and Hanako jumped out of the way while making other hand seals.

“Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu.” She created a great fireball that quickly moved towards the Senju girl.

“Hm...” Hyori smirked and made hand seals once again before placing her hands on the ground. ”Mokuton: Moryuuheki,” a wooden pillar appeared just in front of her, protecting her from the fire. The jutsu required a lot of chakra on her part, and Hyori was having a hard time trying to maintain it as sweat rolled down her temples.

Hanako fell on the ground —seconds after the earthquake had ceased— and watched curiously the pillar the girl had built. “So this is how you protected yourself from that fireball, huh?” Hanako smirked. “Not bad...” she started walking towards the pillar. “Now what?” she asked herself as she looked for her kunai on her clothes. “I wonder, how much time can you keep that up?”

Hyori suddenly widened her eyes when she realized Hanako’s intentions. She momentarily lost her focus for a second making the pillar lose part of its stability and making it tremble. “Dammit!” Hanako noticed this and smirked even wider. Without losing any second she threw her kunai to the tree right next to the Senju making her flinch. Hyori lost her focus completely and the pillar fell apart revealing her figure to the Uchiha. “What?” She widened her eyes but immediately returned to her seriousness. “This isn’t over yet!” she made more hand seals as she gathered air in her lungs. ”Suiton: Yuudachi no Jutsu,” water came out of her mouth in a powerful stream. Hanako widened her eyes when she saw the water coming with her Sharingan. ‘Water as well?!’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘I won’t fall for it again.’ She jumped away from the water and landed on a high branch. The jutsu hit the trunk beside her and, surprised, she noticed that the water had pierced through it. ‘That was a close one.’ She sighed and turned to look back at were the Senju was but found that she was gone.

“This one likes to play hide and seek...” she mumbled tiredly as she crossed her arms and rested for a minute against the trunk. “I’m not looking forward for a second round so...I’ll just wait here for her next attack.”

* * *

After Hyori performed the water jutsu, she quickly hid again behind a tree trunk as she tried to regulate her breathing. She was using too much chakra and she still hadn’t landed a single hit on her. She bit her lip as she tightened her fists. She wouldn’t let an Uchiha make fun of her like that. She made a seal and made a bunch of clones that ran towards her opponent, while she just observed them intently. Losing was not in her to-do list.

Hanako noticed the clones that sprinted in her direction and got in her stance once again. She jumped back and started to run deeper into the woods as she looked in her clothes for some shuriken. When she found some, she quickly turned around and threw them hitting one of the clones. The shuriken nailed on its forehead making it turn into a wooden doll before it fell limply to ground.

“Two can play the same game.” She eyed the fallen clone with her Sharingan before making a hand seal. ”Kage Bunshin no Jutsu,” two shadow clones appeared on her sides that went to attack the two remaining clones. One of the wood clones was defeated but the remaining one managed to make the shadow clones disappear. Hanako smirked as she landed on a clearing and waited for the clone to catch up to her. “For a clone, you’re not that bad as a fighter…” she said when it finally landed in front of her. “But still...” She pulled out a kunai from her clothes and swiftly nailed it on the clone’s forehead. “It’s not enough.” She narrowed her eyes as she watched the clone fall to the ground transformed to a wooden doll.

Hyori had been following the Uchiha cautiously as she watched her battle against her clones until all of them were defeated. “That Uchiha...” she mumbled threateningly as she narrowed her eyes. “She really is something.” She smirked. “But not even close to my level.” She grabbed a bunch of kunai from her pouch and tied to them some explosive tags. She then threw them all around Hanako and made them explode, forming a big cloud of smoke. She took a soldier pill and got into a fighting stance preparing to jump into the smoke. “Time to use some Taijutsu.” She concentrated all her chakra left on the soles of her feet to increase her speed and strength.

Hanako could notice all the smoke that was quickly growing around her and hindering her vision. In those conditions her Sharingan was totally useless since she couldn’t see a thing. She closed her eyes and concentrated on sensing the Senju. She could feel her running to her at a great speed and opened her eyes just in time to see her launch a high kick to her side. She grabbed her ankle in midair while smirking. “Too slow.” She quickly let her go and did a back flip, backing away. Hyori glared at her as she got ready to launch herself at her again. “Isn’t Taijutsu the first thing you rely on during fights? I almost thought you sucked at it since you skipped it.”

“Don’t talk too much.” She sprinted towards her again aiming again for another high kick. She managed to make another clone thanks to the smoke and hid it to wait for a signal. She wouldn’t let that Uchiha get away. She had perfectly clear in her mind that she couldn’t even glance at her Sharingan or everything would be over.

Hanako defended herself from the attacks that the Senju threw at her; however, she left an opening —that the Senju noticed almost immediately— and received a clean kick to her stomach. Hanako went flying back and hit against a tree trunk, crushing all the wood with her back. She fell down to the ground and lifted a hand to clean the blood that trailed from the side of her mouth to her jaw. A kunai had fallen from her clothes at the moment the Senju hit her, and got nailed on the ground.

Hyori smirked and lifted her hand for the hidden clone to come out. “Guess I didn’t need to use this.” She walked to where the girl sat defeated, the clone walking beside her. “I hope I didn’t hurt you too badly...” Hanako chuckled.

“I think you’ve forgotten something.” She stood up and looked at her as a smirk formed on her lips.

“What do you mean?” Hyori raised an eyebrow. Hanako looked at the kunai nailed on the ground.

“Look around.” The Senju looked at the kunai and her eyes widened. “Don’t you find something out of place?” The image reflected on the knife made Hyori back away. It showed herself in a fighting stance in front of Hanako that looked at her, smirking, with the same kunai in her hand. Her teammates were looking at them both exasperatedly.

“What’s going on?” She clearly heard Kaichi’s voice as an echo. “Do something, Hyori! I’m betting on you!”

“What is this?” She turned back at the Uchiha but found that she had vanished. She looked back at the kunai and found Hanako picking it up and inspecting it cautiously.

“I think it’s time to go back to reality.” Hanako smirked and looked at back at Hyori with the Sharingan. Their eyes met. Hyori for a second felt that her body froze. She had looked into her eyes. She could feel as her mind wandered into her pupil and was slowly being absorbed by it. “Hyori.” She heard her name being called and immediately she came back into her senses. She was still in front of Hanako but something was strange. Her chakra was completely replenished, and her clothes were clean of dirt. But she felt tired, too exhausted. Hyori trembled slightly before falling to her knees. She stopped herself from falling completely by placing her hands in front of her, and she panted heavily. She felt like she had just ran a marathon.

Hanako deactivated her Sharingan and put away the kunai she was holding. “That was all, huh?” she mumbled. “I expected some more...” Hyori was confused. She didn’t know what the hell had happened. But then it hit her, a Genjutsu.

“Hyori, are you okay?” Kaichi asked concerned as he ran to her side. Hyori still couldn’t believe what had happened. When she looked up, she could see Hanako still staring at her. She trembled…in anger.

“When did you...?” Hyori inquired.

“You observed my Sharingan the moment I activated it. It was for less than a second but for me it was enough.” Hanako smirked. “You were so curious to know what the Sharingan looked like that you couldn’t help but looking at it for once, thinking that if you were fast enough I wouldn’t notice. Too bad I did.”

“I can’t believe this... I thought I was being careful.” Hyori closed her eyes tightly, clenching her fists.

“You’re strong,” Hanako said making Hyori widen her eyes. “I have to admit.” Hanako smiled. “Your strong point is Taijutsu. You use chakra to improve your movements and it’s easier for you to control it than when you perform Ninjutsu. But, you lose your focus too easily.” Hyori looked at her incredulously when she mentioned all her weaknesses to her face. “I’m pretty good myself in Genjutsu,” Hanako continued. “I can play with my opponent’s mind to my liking, that’s why I won today. You didn’t think I could, you underestimated me.” Hanako scoffed and shook her head and turned to walk away. “Let’s go, Kazuki, Takeshi.” The two boys followed as she made her way back to the village. “We have better things to do.”

Hyori only stayed on the ground, watching them leave. “Hey, Hyori…” She heard Ren’s voice. “What happened?” She turned to look at him with her eyes narrowed and her hands tightened into fists.

“That fight did happen. But everything was just a Genjutsu from that Uchiha.” Hyori seemed upset. “I can’t believe I got fooled like that.”

“I guess Hanako really hasn’t lost a match, huh?” Kaichi chuckled, scratching the back of his neck.

“You do know that means you owe me 1000 ryo, right?” Ren raised eyebrow at him. Kaichi clicked his tongue.

“Really, can’t you cut it a little? 200?”

“No.” Ren smirked. “You owe me Kaichi.”

“Shut up…” Hyori stood slowly, feeling better. “Next time...” she said, calling the attention of her companions. “I will certainly defeat her.”