Dragon of Time: Hey Guys I'm back and ready to roll. I know that a lot of you have been asking for an update for Ryuukage and it is in the works, so I will try to get it out as soon as possible. Any ways, on with the show!

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Chapter 10: Within the fire, a heart still beats

Naruto could not help but smile as Hinata stood next to him, her hand entwined with his as the continued to watch the second round battles from the balcony. Only she was paying attention though, Naruto's thoughts literally in the gutter, never having seen such a powerful side of her had roused feelings he had thought exhausted over the last three days.

There were few fights that reached the level of excitement that was raised but Neji and Hinata; he had not even had a chance to fight his own opponent. He watched as many fought, the genin from Konoha defeating or being defeated by a mix of opponents. He watched as Kiba was defeated by Karui, Akamaru sitting to the side trembling at the look of rage that was clearly visible on the young woman's face. This was just a few fights after Hinata and Kiba decided that it was apparently a good idea to speak first before thinking.

"Finally, we can show this woman why she belongs in the kitchen…" was about as far as he got.

Naruto had never seen Hinata so pissed, her anger with her fight with Neji minor in comparison. Then there were the rest of the women piled around him. For whatever reason, the majority of women that were watching the preliminaries, at least from Konoha, were standing around him. As Kiba's words reached his ears, he slowly turned to look behind him at the sudden increase of pressure that exploded around him.

He met eyes with Kurenai Yuuhi, sensei for team 8, only she was not focused on him but on her student in the arena below. And he would swear to the day his breath left him forever that she stood in front of a furnace that was spewing fire with a steel spit hanging over it with a sign that read "Sexists go here" with an arrow pointing at the pointy end of the spit.

He vowed as of that moment to never be sexist.

As he refocused on Kiba, he saw the most painful event that made every man wince, enemy or not, for even from a distance they could hear the sound of impact as Karui's pointed toe fill combat boot impacted Kiba's crotch.

(A/N: As a side note I found that I did spell Karui's name wrong in the previous chapter and for that I apologize. I am sorry for that, as I do know that it annoyed one faithful reader)

Kiba went down and stayed down, his hands grasping his crotch with obvious pain as every male felt sorry for the young sexist.

After that the proctor did not hesitate to call the match in Karui's favor.

Without a word, Karui turned and moved up the staircase on the balcony opposite her team and stood behind Hinata, as there was no room behind Naruto.

This caught the eye of many though they did not question her move as they returned their focus to the arena below.

All he could do was watch, bored as he had yet to fight. All he could do was watch more pointless duels happened, such as the ones between Zaku, a genin from Oto, and Shino Aburame where Shino absolutely destroyed his opponent. Then there was the one between Kin Tsuchi, another participant form Oto, and Shikamaru. The latter though had Naruto worried. Shikamaru may have won the fight but he still seemed to go at it in a lazy way, not even truly focusing on the fight. It may have been nothing but, remembering the words that were sent his way by the very same individual less then a week ago, how he vowed to win his mother back, he could not help but scowl as apparently the same boy did not take his own words to heart.

Yet, Naruto's focus could not remain on the fights progressing slowly in the arena below, but on the balcony across from the one he stood on. One of the Kumo nin's, the blond that had her hair in two different pig tails stared in his general direction, not blinking. The other blond standing next to her, Samui he believed her name was, seemed to be looking at the unnamed blond with worry. She kept shifting her eyes between family himself and the one that appeared to be.

Naruto eyes instantly narrowed though when he felt Hinata squeeze his hand harder as she tried to shrink into his side. The girl was not focused on him, but his fiancé.

"Naruto-kun" Karui spoke into his ear, worry clearly present in her voice "you figured it out…"

He nodded and simply said "They are going to try again aren't they?"

He felt more then saw Karui nod as she continued "The Raikage thought that because of the chunin exams she would have been thought of as dead and none would know the truth…till it was too late."

"Why not tell us before this?" anger and disappointment weighing down Naruto's response.

"I did not know how you would react. That is not a reason but with everything else, that was the last thing on my mind" Karui replied.

Tension evident on his shoulders and neck as he nodded, he asked something that had been bothering him "How did Kumo get four genin into the exams instead of the standard 3?"

Karui answered "Kumo began experimenting, trying to find ways to improve their ninja's skill and survival rate. One of the things was to add a fourth member to an already existent team. The idea was that a fourth that could round out the team's skills would cover the weaknesses of the team. There have been a few things but that one is the most recent. It has worked though only in one case and it" she spoke, pointing to the Kumo team "Was us. The rest could not work together enough and the sensei often could not handle four students for various reasons. The condition for allowing the four man team was that only three members of the team at most could continue to the next round."

"The Hokage just allowed them to enter, even with just that one condition?"

"It surprised the Raikage as well but he did not complain."

"Neither would I. Jiji probably wanted to see if it would work in a real situation, probably as his own experiment without the risks that Kumo took."

The silence between Naruto and Karui seemed to stretch longer as Dosu, the last remaining member of the oto team was soundly defeated by the remaining member of team Gai, Ten-ten Mitsurugi. The poof fool had not lasted very long as the young kunoichi was a highly skilled and upcoming weapons mistress. As the unconscious genin was removed via a stretcher, the kunai sticking out of him from about a dozen different angles, the match was called in her favor.

With a sigh of clear regret, she moved back up the steps and towards her team, at least, what was left after Neji's defeat.

'Serves him right' was her main thought 'The asshole was asking for acting so high and might like he does.'

Ten-ten did not get along well with her other male teammate, against the thoughts of many that had observed the team in actual action. In truth, only Lee and she truly got along. The Hyuuga member of the team thought himself to high to associate with members of a lower caste. She had honestly tried to be his friend but no matter what she did, he rejected her in the coldest way possible along with a passing insult that suited his fancy. It got to the point that she gave up, being civil with the Hyuuga male at best, scathing enemy at worst.

As she set foot on the balcony where the remnants of the Konoha teams were standing, her eyes caught the sighting of a sword in its sheath. Being a fan of anything with a dangerous point added to it, she had studied extensively to be able to recognize many weapons, including those that were not sharp and pointy. Yet with all of her study, she could not recognize the sword. The blade was too wide for the conventional katana but neither wide nor long enough to be a zanbato. As she began to move forward to ask about his sword he began to move past her to the steps.

She blushed as she watched him walk down the stairs deep in some thought 'when did I get so close?'

Her eyes would not leave the owner of the sword. Something unfamiliar was raging, calling but she pushed it aside as her target stood in front of his own opponent.

{POV CHANGE}

Naruto Uzumaki vs. Yugito Nii

Both blonds stared at each other, even after the proctor stepped out of the way.

The silence was almost deafening, neither moving from the spot where they stood. The tension between the two combatants was almost visible, many leaning forward in expectance for the fight that may finally eliminate the boredom many had been feeling.

The silence was broken by Yugito, who slowly drew a pair of kunai, one placed in each hand as she spoke in a robotic voice that sounded neither male nor female.

"She told you then, what the Raikage desires this day?"

Naruto stood straight, his hands moving to his swords.

"Yeah, Karui told me everything. You plan to try and take the Byakugan again."

This caught many off guard, the boredom instantly gone from their postures, many tensing up to meet any possible challenge that may come through the doors of the arena.

A sinister laugh began to explode from Yugito's mouth, her eyes gaining a crazed look, her teeth forming an even more sinister grin that did not belong on her face. Naruto stood there, unmoving as he studied his opponent. Her cloths were a dark blue shade that seemed to compliment her tanned feature and blond hair. Her eyes, even with the crazed glint in their eyes were a light shade of blue that reminded him of the sky. The sandals covering Yugito's feet were basic editions but that was all he could tell. Naruto realized that there was a woman, at least physically standing before him, but the cloths were not form fitting so he could not clearly tell her shape.

"You think" the woman began with her mixed voice "That you can stand in my way."

Naruto tensed and slowly began to draw his swords. Yugito did not appear to notice as slowly, from underneath her loose clothing flames of a deep purple color began to flow, slowly surrounding her yet not burning the stone she walked upon. The flames soon began to make a solid shape around her, forming weird images and shapes before the flames seemed to settle. As that happened, the viewers began to step backwards unconsciously, deep fear evident on their faces, all but a select few.

Though fear paralyzed them, their wills remained strong. Hinata stood at the guard rail, holding on for dear life, fighting the urge to run and hide, Haku at her side.

'Naruto…please be safe…' was the thought running through the young Hyuuga's head.

The flames solidified into a recognizable shape. The distinct reminder of a cat had Naruto standing on edge. The look reminded him too much of Garra, but the insanity had always been a trait of the ichibi but the neko, at least according to most legends, was a gentle more caring being who only fought when it was necessary but this…this was anything but gentle.

"Come" spoke the mutated voice of Yugito "come meet your death."

The flames at this point had formed a cloak around Yugito, blocking out all of her appearance. The appearance of a cat, its small pointed ears and its large claw like hands, along with two distinct tails waving behind Yugito, made for a disturbing appearance. But Naruto had not time for idle thought, forced to dodge one of the tails that attempted to strike him, tearing a hole in the wall behind him. The second tail responded to his movements and lunged at him with intent to kill, Naruto barely managing to move out of the way, the tail catching one of his shoulder guards and destroying half of it, opening a small gash on his shoulder.

'Damn' Naruto thought unable to strike at Yugito as he was constantly dodging the strikes sent at him by her tails 'She is stronger and faster then Garra was, I can't keep up.'

"Stay still and die mortal" screeched Yugito, her attacks becoming quicker and much more effective, Naruto barley being able to dodge. The attacks became more accurate every passing second more and more of the strikes causing minor damage to his cloths.

"Die Damn You!" screeched Yugito once more, adding her clawed arms to her attack. With the two tails effectively pinning Naruto in a confined area he was unable to dodge the sudden addition and was sent into a nearby wall with a fearsome crash that sent dust and debris flying in many directions.

"NO!" screamed Hinata and Haku simultaneously in panic, tears starting to fall from their eyes, unable to see beyond the smoke, dust and debris.

Yugito began to gloat with madness clearly present in her voice "You foolish Mortal, you think you could stand against me, one of the greatest demons to walk this world. You are like this foolish girl, you thought you could control me, tame me but she failed." Her eyes moved and focused on the two women that had yet to leave the banister "Both of those two will look nice on their backs, worth more doing nothing else but pleasuring the men of kumo, good thing that you will watch on and be una-"

Her speech was interrupted "Grand Flare Shot!"

From within the cloud of dust and smoke flew a sphere of light and quicker then Yugito could react, slammed straight into her chest with tremendous power, forcing Yugito to slam into the wall that was present behind her with matching reactions after her own attack on the opposite blond.

"You talk too much…" spoke Naruto's voice from within his debris cloud. Suddenly, the cloud exploded outwards revealing Naruto in his dragoon armor, his outstretched as he walked forward from the destroyed wall.

The smoke and dust cloud surround Yugito cleared, revealing that the flames completely covered the woman's body, as if Yugito's body did not even exist, just existing as if a solid flame given life.

"HOW DARE YOU? HOW DARE YOU STRIKE AT ONE TO WHOM YOU SHOULD KNEAL?"

"Simple. Never really gotten along with cats, courtesy of one called Tora…who I still hate…"

Even in paralyzed fear, many of the Konoha ninja could not help but weakly chuckle at the point but Yugito ignored his spoken words and continued to screech.

"I'LL ENJOY TEARING YOU APART" she screeched, the power seeming to continue growing, the claws on her hands and feet becoming more pronounced "I WILL BATHE IN YOUR BLOOD AND FEED YOU INNARDS TO YOUR LOVERS BEFORE GIVING THEM TO MEN TO USE TO THEIR HEARTS DESIRE AND WHEN THEY ARE DONE…THEY WILL DIE, WATCHING Their BLOOD BATHE YOUR GRAVE!"

Naruto eyes were covered by bangs of his hair, and he replied with coldness that gave Yugito pause.

"You can threaten me all you want demon…you can claim whatever you desire when I am connected to it all you want…threaten those that I love…those that love me…" he raised his eyes, the former friendly blue eyes turning a color close to ice "Not even Kami can save you…not that she would."

The battle resumed with that. With a tremendous beat of his wings, Naruto took to the air space above the arena.

"FIGHT YOU MORTAL COWARD!"

All four of Yugito's appendages moved in sync towards their target, intending to force him to ground and finish him. Time seemed to slow as the appendages moved towards him, words that should have not been heard echoed through the room and allowed all to hear him "You judge every one to be below you…you think that because one said you could kill that all would follow his lead…you revel in the pain that you bring to others and those around them but that ends here…legend or not, today you fall. ETERNAL NEBULA DRILL!"

Naruto dived, forcing his wings to lie against his back as he allowed himself to fall spinning as he did so point both of his swords forward. Golden flames mixed with tendrils of shadow wrapped themselves around his form as he fell to the ground and his target. Yugito's limbs tried to interfere but were torn to shreds, causing the controlled woman to screech in pain. The attack fell and leveled itself with the ground, ramming itself against its target. Time resumed its full course as this happened, The drilling attack continued to spin quickly against its target, pushing Yugito back till with a tremendous tearing noise, the drill ripped straight through, leaving a gaping hole in its place.

The spin instantly came to halt and its flew to the skies and with a burst of sparks reveled Naruto in his dragoon armor calmly beating his wings looking only slightly winded as he said "For my loves…I would tear apart the world and any who stood in the way…"

He lowered himself till his feet hit the ground, standing in front of the frozen Yugito. Strangely, the limbs and head remained where they were when the torso was whole frozen still surround a small ball of black and purple flame. The sphere seemed to let out a small puling noise and reaction, something close to what a heart were doing if anyone were to listen to it. What surprised Naruto as he had expected there to be something like there was with Garra as a more solid object but…

"Nekometa" spoke a familiar ominous voice from all places at once "You Started on the wrong path, falling like your brothers and sisters but realized your mistakes when you saw the reactions to your actions. You tired to repent but you were still weak and once more feel, albeit not being the only at fault. You still caused needless suffering and torment and must face for that."

"No…I…am…I…better…then…mor-"

"Face your punishment and your penance as you cease to be. Your sentence is set and must be carried through to the end."

Naruto recognized his queue. He tossed his right blade up and declared as he caught the tip "Let the will of Kami, goddess over all, be done" he pulled his arm back and threw his blade "Judgment!"

The steel flew over the distance and penetrated the ball of flame floating in the center of the mangled body of Yugito. It stopped as half the steel was run through and with a tremendous howl, the remaining flames began to fluctuate with tremendous power, sending shockwaves all across the arena, the flames following behind them. Dust and debris form the short duel was roused and forced Naruto to lose contact with what was happening.

As quickly as it had started it ended, the shockwaves vanishing but the cloud of debris and dust remained. As Naruto straightened up, having been forced to crouch due to the force of the shockwaves, allowing his armor to slowly vanish from his form. The nin that had been stepping back stepped forward warily trying to peer into the cloud. All they could hear through, was the sound of falling debris and that of a flying object. From within the smoke, out flew Naruto's other sword. All the blond young man did, was lift his empty sheath, his other blade placed in its respective sheath, allowing the blade to sheath itself with a solid clicking noise as its hilt met the edge of the sheath.

At that same instant, a random breeze blew off the cloud of the dust and revealed what was to remain.

There on the ground, with tattered remains of her cloths, lay Yugito Nii, breathing a little. Next to her to the surprise of all, was a small dragon, the scales the color of purple silk breathing matching the young woman next to it.

The proctor spoke slowly as he gazed in shock.

"Winner…Naruto Uzumaki."

Cheers slowly erupted, both from the remaining Konoha Nin and those that were not, short of the part from Kumo. Naruto let out a breath he had not known that he was holding and allowed himself to fall onto his posterior, soon joined by Haku and Hinata, each grasping an arm as if the world were to end.

None noticed a small blue stone disintegrate from its place feet away from the unconscious Yugito.

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Dragon of Time: Hey guys. I know not many of you thought that I would ever write again but things have been happening at home that have prevented me from focusing on anything but that. Now I am back and working on chapters for all of my stories or seeing if anything needs to be fixed. Thank you all for your support and hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember Criticism is welcome only as long as it has evidence to back it up. Peace Peeps!