Chapter 39: The Finals Continue 1/2

And here we are on the next Shinobi's Creed chapter. You all really loved the fight in last chapter, and I'm so happy to see that I redeemed myself for what I did to Hinata way back. Though things aren't done with Hinata and the Hyuuga yet. Hopefully you'll continue to like what I do.

Now, to anonymous reviewer Hell Fire, to better clarify, Naruto became a full Assassin in chapter 19, if you wish to go and re-read that chapter. That chapter also has the answer to your next question, as it describes Naruto's assassin robes in it. But to give you a general idea, navy blue long sleeved shirt and pants with leather greaves over his shins, dual hidden blade bracers over his forearms, a black version of Minato's haori except minus the kanji, flames, and collar. Instead, burnt orange trim along the edges and an Assassin hood. Then a burnt orange sash around his waist with an assassin supply belt, a leather pauldron over his left shoulder, and a back scabbard/sling hybrid for his ninjato and crossbow. Lastly, an orange scarf around his neck under his collar. Again, check chapter 19 for a more in-depth description.

Nothing else to say, except thanks to Nightmares Around Winter for his message about my situation. So let's get this chapter going!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Assassin's Creed. They are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Ubisoft respectively. This is a fan made work of fiction. Please support the official releases.

Chapter 39

The Finals Continue

Sarutobi could only smile with pride at the sight of Hinata Mitarashi leaving the field of battle, bloodied but victorious. He remembered the small girl, her spirit crushed as she meekly and lifelessly agreed to Anko taking guardianship of her, and had watched as she had grown from that to the fighter that had given all to win in the match before him. It filled him with pride to see what she had accomplished, and what the Assassins had done to help Hinata grow stronger.

Next to him, the Raikage was giving a nod of approval. "I'll admit, I thought that the Hyuuga boy was going to destroy her. But I suppose bloodline isn't everything," he said.

"I don't know about that. She too had the Byakugan," the Kazekage said, also watching the field as Neji was carried away. "I think that gave her the chance to emerge victorious here."

"I do not think that is the case, Kazekage-san. A kekkei genkai can only do so much to tip the balance of a fight in one's favor. It takes skill, intelligence, wisdom, experience, and of course, determination to truly determine the outcome of a fight. That genin, ever since the Hyuuga abandoned her, has pushed herself to become as strong as she can, and thanks to her tutors, I think she's shown that ability and determination can trump bloodlines and power," Sarutobi said with a smile to the leader of Suna, who merely bowed his head. "At the moment, I do not think I would judge her to be ready to be a chuunin, but it is only her first match."

"Agreement. We should wait to see more from her before making a judgment. The Hyuuga boy however, while skilled and powerful, does not have the proper mentality to be given the rank of chuunin," A stated, as Sarutobi nodded as well.

"Indeed. I shall be ensuring that he seeks professional counseling after the exams," Sarutobi said quietly, frowning at the actions of the Hyuuga boy. "For now though, I say we should prepare for the next match," he added, nodding to Genma who gave a slight nod before turning to the contestant area.

"Will Rock Lee and Shino Aburame please take the field for the second match!"

In the infirmary area, Hinata groaned softly as she sat on a bed while a medical ninja examined her injuries. She didn't bother looking as two more brought Neji in, taking him over to another bed where they could begin working on healing him. She instead focused on the medical ninja, who was running a glowing green hand over her mid-section, frowning slightly.

"Well, the good news is your injuries are not too serious. You have a slightly cracked rib, but I should be able to mend it here quickly. There is a superficial wound just below your hairline, which should also be easily healed. The greatest damage is to your chakra system, which has sustained temporary damage from your opponent's strikes. I cannot properly heal it now, but there is an elixir here which should begin healing the damage. I cannot guarantee you'll be fully healed by the time of your next match, but it is better than waiting for the damage to fade naturally," the medic reported to her, making her nod. "Other than that, I suggest resting and rehydration, but that's it."

"Thank you," Hinata said quietly, gently rubbing her left arm, letting out the tiniest of relieved sighs as the medic finished working on her rib, and moving to get the potion for her. She quickly downed it, gagging a bit, before accepting the water handed to her as the medic worked on her head wound. After a few moments, the medic pulled away from her head, nodding.

"All done. Remain here for a few minutes and then you can return to the contestant waiting area," he told her. He moved over to Neji, helping the medics there who were busy healing up his injuries. None of them were overly dangerous, but the cuts and slashes had led to substantial blood loss along with hampering to his mobility. The most damage done to him was exhaustion and chakra depletion brought on by the length of the fight and the injuries sustained.

When the medics finished patching him up they moved away, preparing more beds for the other contestants that were likely to require medical attention. This left Hinata and Neji alone, both of them refusing to look at each other, tension hanging in the air between them. Eventually Hinata, not wanting to deal with it anymore, stood up to go, only to be stopped as he spoke.

"How did you beat me?" He asked while staring at the ceiling. "It shouldn't have been possible. Fate favored me…"

Hinata let out a sigh, gently placing one hand on the edge of the doorway, staring out the hallway. "That's why I won, Neji. Because when push came to shove, you didn't have something driving you to give your all. You rely on fate and your hatred to drive you, only to find that when you need them most, they aren't there to push the final vestiges of strength and power out of your body. I have my friends who helped me when I was banished from the clan. They saved me, gave me purpose, gave me strength. I fight for them, to prove their confidence in me is worth it. I'm willing to fight to the death for them. What are you willing to fight for Neji?"

Neji slowly turned his head, looking in her direction as she left the room, leaving him with his thoughts. He stared at where she had stood before looking up again, slowly losing himself in his musings.

Back in the arena, the two genin now were facing each other, waiting for the match to start. Lee was smiling softly, nodding respectfully to Shino, who simply returned the nod. Both of them were going over their thoughts and strategies. Lee knew that he would have to strike fast and quickly, as even if he wasn't reliant on chakra, Shino's bugs could still deliver poisons if they got on him, and drain what chakra he did have. He would have to be fast and efficient in his strikes.

On the other side, Shino knew his opponent was likely far faster in speed and reflexes then himself. He would need to use deception to trap Lee with his insects, and deliver enough poison to render him unable to fight. It would be tricky but doable, he believed.

Genma, seeing them both ready, signaled the fight to start. Lee immediately shot forward, moving to attack Shino, only to stop and leap backwards rapidly as the insects flowed out of Shino's sleeves. Except instead of swarming on the ground, they were now flying, forming a barrier between Lee and their host. Lee's eyes widened, realizing that his opponent's insects had become more dangerous, now with an ability to move not just on the ground but in the air as well.

Shino directed his hive to form a loose shield between himself and Lee, thankful that during the month training period he had been able to integrate and upgrade his swarm with the flight ability. It gave him a great amount of tactical flexibility now. He released more insects, creating now a dome around him that was rotating around him as he began his strategy.

Lee frowned, examining the dome of insects carefully while keeping his distance. He knew he could easily break through the dome with his speed, but it would mean he would be surrounded on all sides by the insects. It would literally be walking into the lion's den. But he could not strike at Shino otherwise, as he had no ninjutsu and he didn't want to waste his explosive tags here. Seeing no other alternative he readied himself, lowering himself to get a good kickoff. He needed to try and grab Shino and pull him through the dome before his insects could react, giving him a chance to land blows on him. With a grunt he shot forward, pushing himself quickly.

Shino, in the dome, was caught off guard by the sudden emergence of Lee through the dome of insects, his right fist shooting toward Shino. Lee grinned triumphantly as his fist connected, only for his eyes to go wide as Shino exploded into a swarm of insects that he, caught off balance by his momentum not meeting real resistance, stumbled right into.

Outside, Shino watched as the dome collapsed around Lee, his bug clone the initial trap that now left his opponent in the middle of his insects. His satisfaction, however, quickly vanished as Lee erupted from the swarms of insects, flipping and spinning through the air. He quickly landed and hopped back several times while wiping himself clean of any of Shino's insects and wincing from several bites he had received already. He knew they most likely were delivering some type of poison into him, as he hadn't felt any drain on his chakra. Still, he couldn't let many more of those insects bite him or he might be paralyzed. He'd have to do this quickly.

Shino moved his insects between the two of them, watching Lee carefully. He knew that his best way to win against Lee was to play keep away. He'd not last long in a taijutsu match, and the month long period had been focused mostly on enhancing his hive, though he had worked on his taijutsu to a degree. He had also stocked up on smoke bombs and other supplies, though he wasn't sure how effective they would be against Lee. He was both highly skilled in hand to hand and was quite fast and agile, easily blowing through most of the traps or distractions. The young Aburame knew he needed to be highly creative if he was going to defeat Lee.

Lee began to quickly circle around Shino, trying to outpace the swarm of insects that were forming a barrier between the two. The swarm moved as he did, while Shino used them to hide his own actions in gathering a couple of items. His opponent was also starting to formulate his own plan, as he drew out a few smoke bombs and tossed them in a wide spread between them. All of them went off, creating a long arcing cloud of smoke to hide Lee.

Shino's eyes narrowed behind his glasses as he began to spread his insects out in a wider barrier, only for Lee to shoot out of the top of the cloud, vaulting over his insects. Shino quickly dropped a smoke bomb of his own, hiding himself in the cloud. Lee spun in the air, bringing his foot in a heel drop right where Shino had been.

Everyone blinked as they heard a loud cry of pain from inside the smoke cloud, as Shino's insects surged into it. Lee back flipped out of the smoke cloud, wincing as he landed as his right leg spasming and twitching a bit, causing him to stumble. He hobbled, keeping his weight off that leg as the smoke slowly cleared, revealing Shino had moved out of the way while a tag on the ground was sparking with electricity.

Shino let out a sigh of relief. The trap tag had worked, shocking Lee in the leg when his foot connected with it, but it hadn't been able to fully shock him and paralyze him. But so long as Lee was dealing with that leg, he'd be slower now. Shino sent his insects swarming towards Lee, who quickly did his best to get away from them. It wasn't easy considering his leg was numb and felt like it would collapse at any moment, his will being the only thing keeping him from just falling. But he needed time to work out the muscles. Grabbing a kunai and an explosive tag, he threw it at the swarm of insects, the tag igniting in the air. Shino wasn't able to see it until the explosion went off in the middle of his insect swarm, consuming a fair amount of them in flames as the rest were thrown away by the force of the explosive. Shino immediately withdrew the remainder to him, frowning heavily at the loss of his insects.

When the explosion cleared, he couldn't see Lee either, his eyes quickly moving to the small strip of trees and bushes as the most likely place where his opponent was hiding. He threw up his hands, his insects shooting in that direction to flush Lee out of hiding.

What he hadn't seen, but that the crowd did, was that Lee was actually sticking to the wall of the arena high above the ground. He was gritting his teeth, massaging his leg in a way his sensei had shown him to deal with muscle cramps to loosen the muscles back up. Feeling his leg was strong enough, he slowly readied himself before pushing off from the wall at high speed, diving straight at Shino.

The Aburame heir was barely able to see Lee and turn just in time for a powerful right to smash right across his jaw. He was thrown back by the blow, only for Lee to still be right there with him, spinning and driving a foot right into Shino's chest. The young genin was sent flying by the blow, smashing into the ground and rolling along. Lee landed, wincing as his leg did tremble a bit but he remained on his feet.

Shino gasped for air, lying on the ground, stunned and breathless from the two powerhouse blows. He could taste blood in his mouth, and his chest felt like it had almost collapsed from the blow. He tried to push himself up, only for his arms to collapse and for him to hit the ground again.

Lee heard the buzzing of the insect swarm as they shot towards Shino, intent on protecting their partner/hive. But he didn't advance, unsure if Shino was even able to fight anymore. Genma approached the downed genin, eyeing him. The insects allowed him to approach, and the jounin proctor crouched near Shino. "Can you fight?"

Shino took in a couple of shuddering gasps, before shaking his head. "N-No…it would…take me…too long to recover," he said in a gasping voice. "Even if I did…my opponent is too strong…and fast. I forfeit," he said.

Genma nodded, standing up. "Shino Aburame forfeits! The winner is Rock Lee!" He shouted, as the crowd began to clap and cheer, having obviously enjoyed the match.

Lee could only blink before smiling as he slowly raised a fist, enjoying the adoration of the crowd. This, this was what he wanted. He wanted to prove to people he could be a shinobi, even without being able to use ninjutsu or genjutsu. Having this victory in front of all these people, it was the start of truly fulfilling that dream. He turned to Shino who was slowly getting up, and approached him, holding out a hand. The Aburame studied his hand and then slowly took it, allowing Lee to help him up. Lee smiled as he raised Shino's hand as well, increasing the cheers at the sign of sportsmanship and camaraderie. The green clad shinobi just smiled as he looked to where his sensei sat, happily cheering him on, before his eyes landed on the smiling, enthusiastically clapping Yakumo. He felt his hear beat faster at that, even as gave her his trademark smile and thumbs up.

Yakumo, seeing that directed at her, blushed but kept clapping for him. Seeing Lee victorious, it made her believe more than ever that not only could he be a powerful shinobi with just taijutsu, but that she could be a great kunoichi with just genjutsu. She gave him a smile while next to her, Kurenai smiled as well, watching not the victorious genin in the ring but her charge. It warmed her heart to see this girl growing stronger each day, pushing forward thanks to encouragement from her family, her friends, and especially that young man. A flicker of guilt entered her heart as she remembered the time she wanted to give up on teaching the girl, thinking she wasn't good or experienced enough to tutor her. What might have happened to her if she had done that? She shook her head, banishing those thoughts. It was in the past. What mattered was she did right by this girl.

Gaining a grin, she leaned over to Yakumo. "Perhaps you should invite him out after the Finals are over to celebrate at least his victory here," she said with a wink, making Yakumo blush more at that.

"A-actually…I-I was planning to do that, s-sensei," she said shyly, making Kurenai raise an eyebrow at that. "I-Ino-san was planning to help me out."

"My my. Well I hope you'll have fun," Kurenai said with a smile at that, as Yakumo just blushed but nodded.

Near them, Anko whistled quietly. "I got to admit, Lee there has me a bit nervous now," she said. "He's pretty fast and that'll give him a huge advantage. You've trained him well Gai," she said, looking to the leader of Team Nine.

"Indeed. My youthful pupil has been driven by a need to prove himself a worthy and powerful shinobi, and as a sensei it is my duty to ensure he succeeds. Though I would say I am equally nervous at the prospects of him facing against Hinata-san or Naruto-san. Hinata-san has already proven herself to be better than Neji-san, and if she can bring that same fire and drive in her match against Lee, she will have an excellent chance of winning. And Naruto-san proved he is a skilled hand to hand fighter in his preliminary match," Gai commented, watching Lee and Shino leave the field to seek medical attention.

In the contestant area, Naruto grinned as he looked to Hinata, who had returned in time to see the final minutes of Shino and Lee's fight. "So, what do you think of your next opponent?" He asked her.

Hinata shook her head. "I'm wishing Shino could have done a bit more to slow him down or something. I don't envy going up against his speed, especially since I came out worse in my fight then he did in his. But he does seem a bit headstrong, throwing caution to the wind. I can maybe use that to my advantage," she said quietly, so the others couldn't hear.

"You know he'll be even more fired up to face you, right? You defeated his 'eternal rival', so now you're the bar he's going to be setting himself against," Naruto said with a chuckle, making Hinata groan at that.

"That's not what I needed to hear," she muttered, playfully punching Naruto in the arm.

Up above, the kage were discussing the match. "The Aburame was clearly outmatched by an opponent highly skilled in the field he was most weak in," A stated, feeling some respect for Lee. "He did show skill in attempting to overcome this deficiency, but clearly he still was relying too much on his clan's abilities. I do not believe he is ready to be a chuunin."

"I disagree. The Aburame clearly showed that he planned in ways to defeat his opponent, and when he realized he couldn't win, he forfeited. Given the option, I believe he would have retreated, allowing him to fight another day. He showed good judgment in a relatively hopeless situation. I would recommend him for chuunin," the Kazekage said.

Sarutobi nodded at that. "I will take that under advisement. As for Rock Lee, he showed great skill given his limitations, and also he showed strategic thinking. However he also showed a headstrong nature as well, that led him into two ambushes set up by his opponent. I believe he will need to show he can overcome that before he is made a chuunin."

Both of the other kage agreed with that, as Genma prepared for the next match, calling Shikamaru and Samui down to the arena floor.

In the contestant area, Shikamaru let out a groan as he slumped over the rail, watching Samui disappear. "This is too troublesome. Can't I just forfeit?" He muttered, only to find Naruto next to him.

"Shikamaru, I have to face off against two opponents, neither of which I trained immediately to deal with. I'm the one with the troublesome fight. You have only a single opponent you need to deal with, that you've been training all month to beat. So don't you go groaning about things being troublesome," he said, shoving his shoulders. "So go and fight now."

Shikamaru just groaned, looking at him. "Uugghh, damnit Naruto. Why did you have to say that?" He muttered, his posture slumped as he skulked out of the contestant area and started to head down to the arena.

As they arrived on the arena floor, he quietly studied his opponent again. She was standing there, a neutral blank look on her face, not giving anything away. She was calm, collected, so he knew it would be hard to exploit any weaknesses in her personality. Not like most of the others, like the blond girl from Suna. She was aggressive and arrogant, easy to manipulate into moving how he wanted. This fight would require more thought and planning, which he didn't want to have to do.

In the stands, Asuma grinned as he saw his student. "Glad he didn't skip out on the fight," he murmured, chewing on a toothpick to replace the normal cigarette he'd be smoking. "I'm guessing Naruto had some encouraging words for him."

"It might have been better if he did forfeit. I'm not sure how well he'll stack up against his opponent," Kurenai murmured, only for Asuma to grin more at her. "What?"

"You obviously haven't had much experience with Shikamaru or Shikaku. They're lazy, but I doubt you'd find more intelligent or strategic shinobi in this village. His IQ is over two hundred," he said, causing Kurenai to blink in surprise.

Genma, receiving the signal from the Hokage, started the match. Samui immediately drew her tanto and settled into a combat stance, while Shikamaru remained there, slouched with his hands in his pockets. Samui frowned, studying him carefully as she watched him. He was a Nara, and she knew their reputation as being strategic and dangerous. She wasn't expecting this rather lazy demeanor though, so it confused her. She knew he was capable, given his match against his own teammate in the preliminaries. So she had to be cautious.

Shikamaru glanced up, leaning his head back to study the clouds as he began to speak. "You know, I wonder what it'd be like, living in a shinobi village hidden in the clouds," he said. "Is your village that high up, that you're amongst the clouds? Maybe they're below you?" He asked, causing Samui to slowly shift closer.

"Why does that matter?" She asked him, as he shrugged.

"Because I want to be a cloud. Able to just drift lazily by, not a care in the world. I love watching them, as it's so relaxing and enjoyable. Getting to live amongst them would be a dream," he said.

Samui, seeing him still distracted, launched forward at him, only for him to dodge easily as he frowned. "Your focus should be here, on our match," she told him.

"If you insist, I suppose," Shikamaru muttered, before suddenly his shadow shot out towards her, causing her to dodge back. The shadow continued to follow for a distance, making Samui keep dodging and back stepping, until it finally stopped and left her in the clear as it retracted to Shikamaru.

"Your shadow has a limit I see. You can't extend it too far," Samui noted, studying him as he watched her back.

"Yep. But it does mean you'll never get close enough to use your sword," Shikamaru told her.

"True, but I am not a one trick pony," she said, as she began to channel chakra to her blade. The tanto became surrounded by lightning and she quickly swung the blade, launching a bolt of lightning towards Shikamaru.

The Nara genin had to quickly dodge out of the way, narrowing his eyes as he heard her rushing footsteps, knowing she had done this to get closer to him. He quickly launched his shadow towards her, forcing her back while he prepared to enact his strategy he had devised to defeat her.

Samui watched him draw out a kunai with some type of tag wrapped around the hilt and a parachute attached to the top of it. She frowned and slashed at him again, launching another bolt of lightning at him, which he dodged as he channeled chakra into the kunai and threw it into the air. Almost immediately he began to dodge backwards, as the kunai flew up, before gravity overcame it and the parachute deployed, causing it to hang in the air. At the same time, the seal on the kunai suddenly activated, unleashing a rain of long thin metal poles that drove into the ground in random places.

Samui was forced to dodge as several of those poles slammed into the general area she had been standing. She frowned, wondering what exactly he was doing. It was not entirely an effective attack; unless she had been pinned in the middle of the area those poles fell. Seeing the last of the poles fall into place, she quickly found him on the opposite side of them. Slashing the air in front of her, she launched another bolt of lightning, only to gape as she saw it immediately race to the nearest metal pole, striking it instead. Realization sank in that he had basically robbed her of her lightning jutsu, using these metal poles as lightning rods.

Shikamaru gave a tiny smile as he saw his plan was effective. He had commissioned a number of lightning rods that he could store into a seal tag, to negate her lightning jutsu. They also had a second purpose though, which now came into play. About five inches from the bottom of each pole, metal plates slid out, creating circular guards that cast shadows on the ground under each one.

In the stands, Asuma smirked as he looked at a surprise Kurenai. "See? In one single move he's not only robbed his opponent of her ranged abilities, but also has extended the range his shadow can reach," he said, nodding to the field as Shikamaru crouched down again.

"Kagemane no Jutsu! (Shadow Possession Jutsu)" Shikamaru stated, as his shadow shot to the closest pole, sliding into the shadow under it. His shadow darted to different poles in a path towards Samui. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the shadow dart out from the pole closest to her, heading for her. She hopped and danced back several steps, the shadow easily extending past its previous end point by almost four meters before it stopped again. Samui frowned as she analyzed the situation.

The mass of lightning rods, so long as Shikamaru kept them relatively between them, would attract her lightning jutsu, preventing her from engaging him from range except with kunai and shuriken. And those shadows each one now was casting apparently allowed him to extend the range of his jutsu, meaning she had less room to maneuver around the field. He could easily maneuver around the mass of poles, no matter how she approached him. Her only hope was to win by attrition, force him to use up his chakra before he captured her.

Samui eyed the arena, only for her eyes to widen slightly as she realized she did have one safe area. She quickly began running to her right, with Shikamaru watching her carefully. She had the barest of smirks as she entered the shadow cast by the wall, a thick band of darkness shrouding the area with the trees and bushes. Her shadow, as well as his own, would be lost inside the wall's shadow, protecting her from his jutsu. He would have to drive her out of the bushes and trees in order to capture her, and he couldn't do that without moving away from the protection of the lightning rods.

Shikamaru frowned as he had taken this into account, but had hoped Samui wouldn't notice. The fight would be more complicated now, as he had to flush her out without getting into melee range or where she could use her lighting jutsu. The problem was how to do that, as he thought over his equipment. He had several smoke bombs, some explosive tags, a few dozen each of kunai and shuriken, several yards of ninja wire, and a few flash bombs. Taking a glance at her, he studied the terrain, and then slowly crouched down, placing his fingertips together as he placed his hands in an odd pose.

Asuma chuckled as he saw the confused looks of those around him. "Shikamaru is primarily a long term strategist," he said. "Out in the field, he's the one who comes up with the strategies that see him and the others through each fight. When he really needs to focus on a problem, he adopts that pose, running over every strategy he can before he acts."

"That's not exactly a smart move right now. It could leave him open to attack," Yakumo said, watching Shikamaru.

"In most situations, without Shino and Chouji around to protect him, you'd be right. But right now, Samui can't do much against him. He's relatively safe now," Asuma said with a grin.

At that moment Shikamaru's eyes opened and he slowly stood, drawing out a flash bomb as well as shuriken and ninja wire. He began to set up, watching Samui as he did so.

Samui saw him setting to work, and quickly drew out some kunai of her own, throwing them at him to try and distract him. Shikamaru dodged to the side, finished setting up before tossing out the light bomb he had, looking away.

Samui's eyes widened as she saw the small object in the air, before it exploded, blinding her in a flash of light.

Shikamaru, seeing the flash of light go off, turned and chucked his shuriken, each one trailing ninja wire behind them. As they shot past the blinded Samui he yanked on them, causing them to spin and wrap around her. He yanked on them, tripping her over, before pulling on them to attempt to pull her out of the shadows as the light bomb now had fully dissipated.

Samui could only groan, blind and disoriented from the blinding flash of light. She could feel she was tied up, on the ground, and being dragged, though not by much as it seemed that her opponent did not have the strength to pull her very far with each bout of effort. As she became coherent enough to realize what was happening, and her vision started to return, she struggled against the wires, trying to wiggle free. Finding no success there, she let out the smallest growl of annoyance, before closing her eyes, focusing on her chakra. She began to channel it to create a brief pulse of lightning around her, that shot up the wires towards Shikamaru.