(Hokage Tower...)
Ino...? Isn't that the same girl that Naruto-kun was talking about last night...? Tsunade thought with narrowed eyes to see the girl who caught her son's attention.
Shizune who caught the look on her master's face as soon as the name Ino was mentioned, can't help but think with a small smile, You can't blame a mother for being protective over her child, right?
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(Back At The Training Grounds...)
As soon as the names were called, Eevee turned her head so fast to look at the girls that she could have suffered a whiplash. All those present there suddenly felt a tense atmosphere. Both girls were abnormally silent, which was odd even for Shikamaru and Choji. As far as both Shikamaru and Choji know, Ino as certainly not a silent person as she is always talkative.
"Go Ino-Chan...! Go Hinata-Chan...! Show them what you both have got..." Naruto started cheering for both, not really sensing the tenseness between the two girls. Eevee just glanced at Naruto and then at the girls, and just shook her head at the obvious dumbness of the blond boy.
Both girls stepped into the ring without even making eye contact with each other and stood facing each other. As soon as they made eye contact, the tension in the air became even thicker. Hinata went into her Gentle Fist stance, while Ino got ready in a basic academy stance.
Something is definitely wrong between these two girls... Iruka couldn't stop himself from thinking.
"Begin..." Mizuki announced and jumped back 2 feet to give them enough room.
Neither Hinata nor Ino made any move for the next few seconds and kept on trying to intimidate each other.
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(Hokage Tower...)
Oh no...! Thought Shizune as she understood the look the girls were having on their faces a she is not dumb like her brother. "Hokage-sama... You need to stop this duel...!" She almost shouted which made both Jiraiya and Hiruzen to get surprised.
"Huh...?" was the same intelligent reply from both the males present in the room.
"Yes, Sensei... This duel needs to be stopped, before it can escalate..." Tsunade said who is also not dumb like her son. "They will hurt each other seriously, if my guess is right..." Tsunade pointed out the exact same thing that Shizune wanted to say.
"What..!?" Both Jiraiya and Hiruzen asked at the same time with dumbfounded looks.
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(Back At The Training Grounds...)
Almost a minute had passed since they started intimidating each other, but still none of them tried to make the first move.
"Do you like Naruto-kun...?" Hinata asked in a low voice that only Ino could hear, and she asked without stuttering this time.
Even though the tone was low, Ino can identify the hostility in the voice coming from the Hyuga Heiress. Ino also replied in a low tone so that only Hinata could hear her words, "May be or may be not... But I guess in a way I do like him as a friend... for now..." Ino muttered the last words to herself so that even Hinata can't hear.
Eevee with her sensitive hearing, heard what the girls were talking about and poked Naruto with her tail to get his attention. Naruto turned his gaze away from Ino and Hinata to Eevee. "What...?" the blond boy asked his companion still being oblivious to the actual situation between the two girls.
Eevee just slapped her front leg on her forehead in resignation and sat down again on her hind legs, deciding to just see what's gonna happen next. Naruto just tilted his head in confusion at his companion's weird behaviour, but he turned his head immediately back to the ring when he heard....
"Gentle Fist / Mind Transfer Jutsu" Was all Naruto heard as he just turned his head and saw both Hinata and Ino about to hit each other with their techniques, and he also saw both Iruka and Mizuki rushing in to stop the girls from using the techniques as this was a pure Taijutsu test only. It all happened so fast that the others were not able to completely observe what's going on. But for Naruto's eyes it was crystal clear. His eyes, mind and body are well trained to keep up with the extensive speeds thanks to his mom who trained him in physical strength, stamina and speed.
Before Iruka and Mizuki could make it to stop the girls, the techniques were fired, and both girls were hit by each other's techniques. Ino's Mind transfer technique hit Hinata, just as Hinata's Right palm connected with the left cheek of Ino. Because Ino's body was slagging a little due to her Mind being absent from the body, the force behind Hinata's slap literally threw her out of the ring. While Ino's body is still in mid-air, Ino who is now in the mind of Hinata, forced the Hyuga heiress's body to dive into the ground outside the ring with as much force as Hinata's body can produce with the dive.
Both girls hit the ground at the same time with Ino's back and Hinata's face hitting the ground rather harshly.
There was absolute silence in the training grounds for a few seconds, which was broken when Ino returned to her own body and sat up nursing her back with a painful expression and started rubbing her cheek gently, which is already bruising due to the Gentle Fist slap. Hinata also sat up nursing her bruising forehead with a painful expression, due to the dive Ino forced her body to make.
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Rise of The Phoenix Sage
FanfictionWhat if Naruto was taken away from Leaf village and was raised by Tsunade as her own son..? What will happen when he meets another blonde in Sand..? What will happen to the Shinobi world when The Child of Prophecy, finds something that was not even...
