NHRK Chapter 58

A/N: Here's another out of schedule release chapter. I've also updated the last chapter to include the scene that I removed due to thinking it may be a bit too gory and out of character for Naruto. I was at the hospital doing a medical checkup for my visa so sorry about the radio silence in that regard!

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“Due to the higher than expected number of people, we will have a preliminary round before the final exam taking place in a month’s time. Hopefully most of you are in fighting form but in the ninja world, one must be ready to go into combat at any time in any condition. Thus, we can only sympathise to a certain extent,” Naruto addressed the crowd of genin students.

He eyed the few that looked beat up and far from their one hundred percent but they were still doing far better than the alternatives. Death was a part of ninja life, and even to genin barely 18 years of age, some had fallen in this exam.

It was a bitter pill to swallow but Naruto had instructed their bodies to be preserved and held on to their souls for the moment. He would resurrect them, giving them a second chance at life before sending them back home. An excuse would need to be made on the jutsu required to make them think they were dead but it was better than letting the genins meet the shinigami.

Naruto sighed.

“I will be the proctor for this part as well as the final exam,” he said, “When I say a fight is over, the fight is over. Do not argue with me or continue against my instructions.”

He knew his words weren’t going to get through to some of them but it would the moment the first guy stepped out of line. They would show what it would be like to test Naruto Hagoromo.

He turned towards the screen as it randomised the names for combatants. “As you can see, the screen will display who your opponent is and the order the duels are going to take place. Be prepared.”

The screen eventually stopped shuffling the names and Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief as none of his girls were facing each other. If anything, it looked strangely similar to that of his old world. With the exception of Sakura not facing Ino.

The noticeable ones were:

Sabaku Gaara vs Rock Lee

Hinata Hyuga vs Neji Hyuuga

Sakura Haruno vs Sabaku no Kankuro

Sasuke Uchiha vs Dosu

Ino Yamanaka vs Kiba Inuzuka

Temari vs Tenten

Naruto was excited to say the least, especially with how the match with the much more sane Gaara would go against Lee. Hopefully it wouldn’t get to the point where Lee was injured like last time. He would prevent it.

He also worried about Hinata’s fight against her cousin but held no small amount of faith that she would pull through. This was her moment, after all, to show what she could truly do.

As the genin all made their way to the stands, only two remained to face each other. The list had ordered the fights randomly as well and it was Ino against Kiba up first.

“Sorry hot stuff,” Kiba said once everyone got settled and the fight was ready to start. “You’re gonna have to step aside for me today. Don’t worry though, I’ll make it up for you with a date.”

Ino’s eyebrows twitched.

Naruto winced. That didn’t bode well.

Ino didn’t say anything in return and instead, kept her eyes on Naruto.

Naruto cleared his throat. “Right, are you both ready to start?”

Ino made a seal of confrontation as her answer. Kiba, surprisingly, did so too, grinning.

Naruto smiled at the gesture. “Then begin.”

Kiba wasted no time. He rushed towards Ino along with Akamaru.

From the corner of his vision, Naruto noticed the horrified look on Shikamaru and Chouji’s face.

Ah, it seemed that they found out what their teammate could do during their time together in the forest of death…or perhaps it was even sooner during their missions together. Nonetheless, they both knew what came next.

Ino’s physical strength paled in comparison to Sakura’s and she was more deadly an opponent with her unique clan jutsus. Even still, she was well and above the average genin and some chuunin even when it came to taijutsu.

Kiba was good for a genin, especially when his team made it this far. Yet, Ino’s fist met him square in the jaw as he was barely midway towards her, the platinum blond moving fast enough to become a blur in his eyes.

The blow rattled him yet Ino did not take advantage of the state he was left in as she kicked Akamaru away, allowing him to jump back and create space.

Kiba gathered himself, reevaluating his opponent. From their time in the academy, he knew that she had gotten better by their last year but that blow to his jaw was something else. That speed too.

He growled. “Looks like playtime’s over boy, she’s dangerous.”

He got into his signature stance, ready to use his own clan jutsu. Akamaru began to transform into him as well.

Ino…looked unimpressed.

“Fang Passing Fang!” Kiba shouted, and both he and Akamaru turned into two cyclones of claws.

Yet Ino met his eyes.

And once again, when he was midway towards her, he stumbled, coming out of his jutsu whilst Akamaru continued forwards.

Ino’s hand blared as she formed hand signs.

“Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu.”

It was an impressive showcase of strength as she didn’t even have a water affinity, thus requiring far more chakra to activate such a jutsu. Yet she didn’t look strained at all.

The water prison trapped the Kiba-cloned dog in place and Kiba himself was already out cold from Ino shutting off his mind. Without further interventions, the dog would eventually drown.

“The match is over,” Naruto declared. “Winner: Ino Yamanaka.”

She hopped in place, happy and looked to come to him for a gesture of affection.

The stern glare he gave her made her stop such notions and she giggled, choosing instead to blow him a kiss.

Naruto sighed. “Alright…Next fight please.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The fight for most of his students went about the same way as Ino’s did: absolute domination on their side. Kakuzu’s puppets stood no chance against Sakura’s immense strength, moreover, her chakra scalpels could detach the chakra strings of the puppets, and Sarada made short work out of Dosu.

Now came the fight he was most nervous about.

“Hinata and Neji Hyuuga, make your way to the stage, please,” Naruto instructed.

It wasn’t a moment longer before the two Hyuugas stood face to face.

Hinata seemed confident, yet Naruto couldn’t help but be nervous for her. He remembered the sight of her downed form in his previous world, both by her cousin and once more by Pain. He hated seeing Hinata of all people hurt. She was such a kind-hearted soul.

“Go Hinata! Beat his ass!” Ino and Sakura called out from the rafters.

Naruto held in a smile.

Surprisingly, a shout of “You can do it!” came from Temari of all people, surprising both of her brothers and the girls who were cheering for her before.

Temari blushed and looked away a moment later but she did not miss Hinata’s appreciative smile.

Neji also received a few cheers from his teammates, though he didn’t acknowledge them.

“Are you two ready?” Naruto asked.

They both nodded.

“Begin!”

Neither moved from their spot.

“Neji-niisan,” Hinata addressed.

Neji scowled. “Hinata-sama.”

He got into a stance.

Hinata just smiled at him. “I will free you from your burdens.”

Neji growled. “You will do nothing.”

He rushed her, and Naruto could tell that he was surprised by Hinata’s response.

Her speed matched his. His every blow dodged or parried by the smallest of margins. Yet…she wasn’t using Juken, not traditionally at least. It was like he was watching a more fluid, bastardised version of their prized clan taijutsu.

Hinata did not strike back, however, which allowed him to separate from her.

“You bring shame to our family name,” he said.

Naruto could see both Hinata, and her twin sister tense up from the rafters.

Yet Hinata did not respond.

“You do not deserve to be the heir of the main house,” he continued, “You are weak, and soft. Now even daring to break the traditional style of the Hyuuga clan taijutsu. There is no worse offence.”

Hinata, to everyone’s surprise, just shrugged. “It works for me, Neji-niisan. Allow me to demonstrate.”

Then she closed her eyes and got into her own stance, one similar to Neji’s but different in subtle ways. Hanabi’s eyes widened when her sister opened her own and activated her byakugan.

The normally gentle gaze of her twin older sister turned steely as if she was a predator stalking her prey.

Neji activated his byakugan as well, no longer caring about testing the waters.

They reengaged, and this time, Hinata showed her true prowess at her own style of taijutsu.

Such prowess that had Hanabi off of her seat and leaning onto the railings, her own byakugan eyes activated and taking in every detail. Her mouth was open in surprise.

Because Hinata was destroying Neji, methodically and overwhelmingly.

Neji, himself, was wide-eyed at the development.

Hinata was faster, her strikes twisting and changing trajectory midway through her motions, making her intended target unpredictable, all while twisting and weaving her way out of his own juken strikes like it was a dance.

In a single clash, Neji found already a good portion of his meridians closed whilst none of Hinata’s had been affected.

He snarled, stepping back to ready a technique he wished he wouldn’t have to show.

“Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms!” He shouted…only to find Hinata doing the exact same thing.

He froze, and the single moment of hesitation allowed Hinata to get her technique off first.

Naruto called the match before his body even hit the floor.

Hanabi could hardly believe her eyes, as famed as her clan’s eyesight was. This…was absurd.

Neji was an opponent that even she struggled to defeat in their spars and the last time she saw him lose to those anywhere near his age was a long, long time ago. Even up until recently, Hinata had been losing her sparring match in their clan compounds most of the time she was called forth. Yet in those spars, she showed none of this…flexibility, this grace, this lack of rigidity in movement that was so unlike the taijutsu style taught by their clan.

“Hinata-nee…” Hanabi muttered as she watched Hinata make her way up to the stands once more.

As Neji’s unconscious body was carried away, Naruto called for the next fight.

“Sabaku no Gaara, Rock Lee, step forwards, please,” he instructed.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

As expected, Lee’s fight against Gaara was just as theatrical as in his previous world, with the leg weight explosions and Gaara’s sand shells and all. Yet this time, Gaara was more graceful in his assault, containing none of the bloodlust he held before. Even his own jonin sensei was surprised.

There was also something else. Naruto found it strange that it was as if Gaara knew all of Lee’s tricks and even with the opening of the first gates. Lee could do no more harm to Gaara than a fly.

It was a one-sided decimation, by a Gaara who only recently learned the pleasures of having a full night’s rest.

“Winner: Sabaku no Gaara,” Naruto announced, glad that the fight ended this time without any limbs being potentially lost.

The red haired definitely not genin nodded at him before making his way back to his team.

Naruto smiled. There was just something about the Gaara that he was seeing now that it felt like he was missing something. He would shelve it for later as there were more important things to focus on.

“That was the last fight of the preliminary exams,” Naruto announced, “You will have one month until the final exam, for those who passed. Those who didn’t, keep your head up, there is no shame in failing today. See it as a learning opportunity.”

Naruto looked up at the screen again, now shuffling the names of winners to put them in a bracket.

His heart stopped as the names were shown.

He’d hoped that his students would avoid facing each other once more but it was not to be.

Sakura Haruno vs Hinata Hyuga

Hanabi Hyuga vs Shino Aburame

Sabaku no Temari vs Shikamaru Nara

Ino Yamanaka vs Sabaku no Gaara

Sasuke Uchiha vs Chojuro of Kiri

The winners of the first and second fight would go on to fight in the quarter finals, and the same for the winners of the third and fourth. The winner of Sasuke against Chojuro, however, would have a free pass to the semifinals.

Naruto still didn’t know if the invasion was going to take place. He hoped it didn’t but Konoha was ready for it should it happen.

Whichever the case, they had a month’s time to train themselves up.

Naruto watched as everyone extricated themselves from the exam room, giving a contented smile at how things went. He couldn’t complain with the results thus far. Orochimaru was dead, Kabuto would likely be as well once they were done interrogating them, Gaara had come out of this healthier of mind, and his girls had all passed to the next round, whereupon the chances of them making chuunin would no doubt depend on their performance. Naruto had no illusions that they wouldn’t succeed.

He made his way home, to the corridors illuminated by the eerie lamps.

Then a hand grabbed him and yanked him into a nearby room. He’d sensed her already, and had made no move to resist, wanting to see what she was up to.

The lips of one Anko Mitarashi took his own, all but smothering him in her lust.

Her arms snaked around the back of his neck to pull him closer, to feel more of him.

But he would not give it to her.

Not just yet.

With a gentle hand, he separated himself from her, much to her confusion.

“Anko,” he breathily stated, “what are you doing?”

She only tilted her head in further confusion. “I’m trying to do you, clearly. Do you not remember our deal?”

Naruto shook his head. “I do…but I had never accepted it.”

Anko reared back as if stung. “You–you would deny me?”

“No!” Naruto immediately cleared up her misunderstanding, “It isn’t–you’re very desirable Anko. You know that, but you’re doing this out of a preconceived notion of owing me something for taking care of Orochimaru.”

He’s said it before, Anko was a catch to anyone who was lucky enough to have her, despite her eccentricities, but if her were to copulate with Anko, he’d do it for the right reasons, not because she thought she owed him something.

Anko scoffed and rolled her eyes. “I’m not just doing this because of our deal, you idiot, I’m doing this because I want to. We don’t even have to be lovers or even friends for that matter. It’s just sex.”

“It may be to you, but sex with me is different, I promise you,” Naruto responded back, “It’ll change you, it’ll also likely ruin everyone else for you.”

Anko laughed. “Arrogant much?”

Naruto blinked. “What? No! I mean–”

He sighed. “I have a bloodline ability, Anko. You will literally change should you lay with me. I mean look at Sakura.”

Anko stared at him for a moment, thinking back to what she remembered of the pink-haired shinobi. “So…she turned into a bombshell of a woman from getting into your bedsheets. You’re not making it any less convincing to fuck you, you know?”

Naruto shook his head in defeat. “I’m not going to boast about it, but sex with me is special. I want you to think about it first before you do anything rash and get stuck with something you don’t want.”

“The deal was that you had all of me for killing Orochimaru, what I want doesn’t matter,” Anko muttered.

“It matters to me,” Naruto firmly stated.

Anko looked taken aback, surprised at his words.

Naruto turned away from her, motioning to leave.

“Wait,” Anko called out right as he palmed the door handle.

He turned back to her and to his surprise, he saw…gratitude in her eyes.

“I will think about it,” Anko said, “but even if it were to change me for the worse, I would still want to do it with you. I think you’re a special man, Naruto Hagoromo, and it has been a while since my heart beat for another.”

Naruto blinked at her before nodding. “I…see.”

He left and continued his way home.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

When he arrived, he was still dazed by the interaction he had with the snake-flinging woman. She was excessively sexy, and despite his denial of her for now, he still felt pent up. Who could blame him, really, with what she wore, with how close she was, with how she felt and smelled and tasted–

Naruto shook his head, trying to get rid of the lustful thoughts.

It wasn’t even a friday yet he felt like his Uzumaki lust was already rearing its head at him.

He needed a cold shower.

“I’m home,” Naruto said.

“Welcome back!” Kushina called back. “Haku’s staying with Miyu tonight so she’s not here to welcome you.”

Naruto chuckled. Haku’s almost subservient devotion to him had scared him at first, as he did not want to become another Zabuza to her, yet after some time, he learnt to see the playfulness in her eyes. The fact that she did such things was because he was so reactive about it. Now they were in a phase where he tried his best to ignore Haku’s antics whilst the yuki-nin tried even harder to serve him as her ‘master’.

Honestly, aside from playful sex talk when he laid with Tsunami, he desired to be no one’s master.

“Oh, and there was a present for you, I left it in your room. Go and open it, and come down for dinner when you’re done,” Kushina instructed.

Naruto nodded. “Hai, Kushina.”

He noticed that he was calling her mother less and less nowadays, though still used it in times of familial bonding. It…was becoming harder and harder to see her that way. The way that she wanted him to see her, but that was a problem for another time.

For now, he was curious about this present that someone had apparently left for him.

He made his way to his room and opened the door.

His jaw dropped at the sight that lay before him.

Pale eyes. Long luscious indigo hair. Small hints of make up that would’ve been completely unnecessary for someone of her beauty but nonetheless enhanced all her features. The beautiful yukata that she wore, almost as if she was prepared to go somewhere special.

“Hinata-hime…” the words slipped out of his lips unintentionally.

The recipient of his compliment blushed, before looking playful in her response. “Naruto-ooji.”

Naruto almost chuckled at the title. He was no prince. Yet, no amount of amusement could knock him out of his stunned reverie.

Hinata was so…beautiful. For the first time since he arrived here, he regretted a fact about his previous world. Had he stayed, would he have had this breathtaking beauty in front of him as his partner? If so, he’d have been the happiest man alive.

Finally, word did come to him.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

Hinata gave him a gentle smile. “I think that defeating Neji was enough proof for my worthiness as your partner, was it not?”

Naruto’s throat dried up.

“Naruto-kun,” Hinata’s voice was as sultry and full of love as he’d ever heard from her. “I may not truly deserve you, but you’re the only thing I’ve ever truly desired in my life, other than the freedom of my clan. I want you. I love you. Will you accept my love?”

Naruto could not respond in words.

So he nodded.

Anko had already left him pent up today, and Hinata was about to make him explode.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-