Opening theme: Ai Believe (Opening theme for Baki the Grappler)

Chapter 24: He Who Overcomes

A stunned silence reigned throughout the stadium. Even Ari was shocked speechless. Fuji had taken a Rasengan without flinching, but that wasn't the biggest surprise…

"What… What is he?" Lee gasped.

"It's finally out…" Wan murmured.

"What?" Sakura glanced at Wan suspiciously.

"That explains why his fighting style is so familiar." Jiraiya commented.

"I wondered what happened to him…" Kushina remarked.

"Are you kidding me?" Ken asked.

Naruto kept staring at Fuji. Then he looked down at where his hair had fallen. It was a wig. The mustache that had once rested on Fuji's upper lip had been knocked off as well. Naruto looked back at Fuji, even though he didn't look like Fuji anymore. But he wasn't a complete stranger. Naruto had seen that face before.

"This… This is unheard of! Finalist Fuji the Iron Hammer is actually Testumura Jinmaru! Winner of the previous Championship!!"

That must be why Itachi was glaring at him, Kakashi thought, He lost to Jinmaru during that tournament, and knew from his chakra who he was from the very start!

"The secret's out, huh?" Jinmaru shrugged. He tapped the spot where the Rasengan connected and winced. "Oooh!"

Naruto didn't say a thing. So many thoughts were running through his head. Well, one was. And he wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement.

"You were wearing a wig!?" He exclaimed, pointing at the displaced hairpiece. "What the hell is going on!?"

Jinmaru smirked. It was an ugly expression on him. "You wanna know? Well…" He pointed at Itachi. "It's all his fault."

As one, everyone else in the stadium went "Huh?"

Itachi blinked, confused, then his eyes narrowed. "Oh, I remember." He muttered.

"That's right, Mr. Big-Shot-Slayer-of-the-Uchihas," Jinmaru growled, his tone getting darker. "I thought it would be a great finale, but you couldn't keep up with your inflated reputation! What a joke!"

"What's he talking about?" Sakura asked.

Wan sighed. "He's referring to the less-then-stellar performance of the last tournament's finalists. Back then, Fuji, or should I say, Jinmaru, entered on behalf of his spiritual order, hoping to bring them honor by winning the Belt. Unfortunately, the rest of the world was currently at the peak of the 'peaceful era' set when the 4th Hokage sealed the Ninetaild Fox away. That meant the competition wasn't at its best. And none of them could stand against Jinmaru's overwhelming strength! His relentless enthusiasm, when set against his less battle-ready opponents, brought about one of the most one-sided and brutal tournaments in history!"

Sakura gaped. "Even against Itachi…?"

Jinmaru spat. "Puh. That weasel? It was an insult for that Genjutsu-lover to enter! Weakling tricksters should stay out of men's battles!"

Itachi groaned slightly. Back then, he hadn't had full control of his Mangekyo Sharingan, and entered the tournament to bring it out. Maybe he had gotten a bit cocky, having such an easy time in the quarterfinals and semifinals, but he was unprepared for the simmering pot of pent-up frustration that awaited him in the final round…

Three years ago, Itachi formed a handseal. "Genjut…!"

"Teryaa!" Jinmaru screamed, charging forward and slugging him. As Itachi flew back, Jinmaruo grabbed his foot…

Itachi felt a slight twinge of pain in his ankle. It was fortunate that no one from the Leaf Village had been there to see that match. He wasn't sure if he could have survived afterwards, what with his extensive injuries.

And he wasn't the only one unhappy with the last tournament's outcome. Jinmaru seemed to have slipped into a rant.

"They called me a monster, and I was expelled from the order for over-extensive brutality," He roared, "And why? Because I was playing the game the way it was meant to be played! It wasn't my fault! Everyone else was too weak!!"

Jinmaru, having just been banned from the temple, wandered into a dark alley, before falling on his face.

"You're too strong…" A voice said.

"Huh?" Jinmaru looked up and around. All he could see in the direction the voice had spoken from was a single, glowing red eye…

"In this peacefully era, people with your strength are shunned and buried…" The eye continued, "Weaklings rule the world, now…"

The eye vanished, leaving Jinmaru alone…

"That's why I became a bounty hunter!" Jinmaru yelled, "To remove weaklings from the world!"

"That is so stupid!" Sakura yelled.

"You wanna tell him that?" Wan asked sarcastically.

"And it worked!" Jinmaru continued, "This Dragon Belt is much better, now! I can win with dignity!"

Naruto felt a tremor of rage in his gut. This adrenaline-thirsty monster attacked his friends, and he was talking about dignity!?

"So why the wig?" Sakura demanded, "Why do this in fake identity?"

"I can tell you that," Kushina said, walking towards the ring. She pointed a finger of truth at Jinmaru. "Without that costume, you'd have never been allowed to enter!"

This new development staved off Naruto's outrage for just a moment. What was mama talking about?

"One of the oldest rules in the Dragon Belt is that champions are not allowed to reenter," Kushina explained, "That's why I didn't enter myself."

"What kind of rule is that?" Lee asked.

"It goes back to when the championship was originally an initiation test for the Dragon Monks," Ken put in, "You can't be initiated twice, right? You're only allowed to win once."

"So…" Sakura's mind ignited as a brainstorm's lightning struck, "So, Fuji- I mean, Jinmaru- he shouldn't even be here! He already won! He has to be disqualified! Naruto wins by default!" Naruto wouldn't have to fight this brute!

Everyone in the audience began to murmur at this. Ken rubbed his chin in thought. Up in the cheap seats, Iruka closed his eyes and groaned.

"What's wrong?" Tayuya asked.

"It won't work," Iruka said softly, "Even if it is legal…"

"Huh?"

"No!" Naruto's voice rang out. "Don't disqualify him!"

Huh!? Everyone in the audience thought.

"Naruto, do have any idea what you're saying!?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Yeah, I do!" Naruto yelled, "I don't care if Itachi didn't fight hard enough six years ago! I don't care what his so-called order did to him! I don't care about any rules! If you throw him out before I beat him, I'll never forgive any of you! I still have to make him pay for what he did to Lee and Kakashi-sensei! And besides," Naruto directed his sharp, clear eyes onto Jinmaru. "I don't want anyone to think I need a technicality to win!!"

"I'll be the judge of that," Ken said, stepping forward. After a moment's consideration, he pointed at the wig Jinmaru wore as Fuji.

Naruto got it. He grabbed the Fuji wig from where it lay and tossed it to Jinmaru.

"Put that ugly piece on so I can beat you up!" Naruto yelled.

Jinmaru stared at the wig, then grinned nastily. Within seconds, Fuji had his hair, mustache, and sunglasses again.

Ken shrugged. "Works for me, dude."

Everyone in the audience, and Sakura, facefaulted. The sound of their collective crashes was interpreted as a signal to resume the fight by Naruto and Fuji, and the two launched at each other, trading blows.

"There they go! Naruto and Fu…Jin… Whoever he is are in each other's faces once more! How much longer than they keep it up!? Between Naruto's excessive use of ultimate techniques, and, uh, Fuji's taking one of them head-on, they must have both used up considerable amounts of power! Where are they getting that stamina!?"

Crap… I'm starting to run down…! Naruto thought, as he frantically parried and blocked blows. With all those shadow clones, the Rasenhou and Rasengan, his chakra was beginning to tap out.

Crap…I think I pushed it a little too hard by taking that Rasengan…! Fuji thought as his stomach gave a twinge of pain. While his defensive technique used early had indeed heightened his resistance enough to absorb the full power of the spinning chakra sphere, the rotation effect managed to cause a subtle amount of damage to seep in.

Outside the ring, Sakura recovered from the facefault.

"I can't believe that idiot…" She grumbled, "He had a chance to get an easy win, but turned it down! He hasn't changed a bit… He's always making things harder than they have to be!"

"I think he feels a win he didn't earn would be harder to accept," Wan told her, "Naruto strikes me as a man who would prefer to die with his morals than live by abandoning them. Without those morals, that sense of honor…he would be no better than Kakashi."

Sakura thought about this. "What…what kind of man was Kakashi like?" She had never heard her former teacher's name spoken with such cold disgust. What did Kakashi do?

Wan had a far off look in his eye. "He…was the perfect ninja. And that's the worst kind there is. I've seen what this world ruled by perfect ninja is, for what it truly is, and I am not impressed. Rather, I am disgusted. What the world needs is an imperfect ninja, a ninja with obvious inabilities, an honest ninja...I lost hope that such a heartfelt being could be."

In the ring, Naruto coughed up blood as Fuji landed a kick in his gut. Stumbling back, he wiped his mouth and went back at it.

Dattebayo

"N-Naruto!" Hinata cried in alarm.

"C'mon, Naruto," Tsunade yelled, waving her sake cup. "Beat that guy!"

"You can do it!" Konohamaru cheered.

Dattebayo

Mt. Oinari

"Hey, Kawazaki!"

Kawazaki, froggy seal master, looked up from his crossword.

A tanuki pointed at the screen of a somewhat low-tech television. "Isn't that the fox kid you mentioned? You know, Minato's boy?"

Kawazaki peered at the screen. "Why, so it is! Good show, Naruto!"

Dattebayo

Location Unknown

"Are you all right, Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto asked, as he handed his master another pill.

Orochimaru, currently bed-ridden with some body-related illness, ignored his right-hand man to glare at the TV across from him. As he watched Naruto fight against someone whom even Itachi couldn't beat, he felt a certain regret that he didn't kill that little fox boy three years ago. As sweat ran down his temple, he consoled himself with the knowledge that while he was immortal, Naruto wasn't.

"Where is Sasuke?" The Snake Master hissed questioningly.

"In his room, sleeping."

"Does he have any cable access?"

"No, sir."

"Make sure it stays that way."

Dattebayo

Row 6, Section B, Seats 24-25

"You can do it, Naruto!" Shion and Amaru yelled, just before glaring at each other.

Dattebayo

A Bar

"Hey, he's going to win, right?" asked Michiru, looking up at the bar's TV anxiously.

"Of course he is!" Snapped Koyuki.

Hikaru clenched his fist, keeping silent. You can do it, Naruto…!

Dattebayo

I have to do something… Naruto thought, jumping away from Fuji. Everyone's watching! I can't blow this! And, like with all idiots savant, an idea struck. That's it!

Gathering chakra to his feet, Naruto blasted upwards.

"Naruto leaps high into the air!"

"Here comes the Rasenhou, jerk!" Naruto screamed, and began to form a chakra ball.

"What's he doing?!" Jiraiya exclaimed, "He can't maneuver in the air like that!"

At least he'll learn not to shout out his moves before attacking… Kakashi thought glumly. This was going to go south and how.

Meanwhile, Fuji leapt into the air and put his leg around Naruto's neck…just as he did with Lee.

"Iron Inquisition!"

"Naruto!" Lee cried in alarm.

"That's it, he's done." Anko sighed.

"Hahahaha! Good try, kid!" Fuji gloated, beginning to squeeze. "If I got hit by that beam again, you would win! Too bad I can't wait for you to charge it up! But at least you up a decent fight! I feel good about winning now!"

"If you liked that, you'll love this…" Naruto grunted, and with effort, swung his entire body weight around so that Fuji was underneath him. "Futon: Rasenhou!"

The force of the erupting tornado blasted Naruto and Fuji down so fast and hard that the two of them not only crashed into the ring, but under the ring- Six feet under.

All was silent.

Then, Itachi began to count. "1…2…3…"

"Um…Naruto and Fuji appear to have buried themselves underneath the ring…and, ah… Boy, they must be sore. I don't think anyone can get up after that."

"...10." Itachi finished. Neither of the two finalists had gotten up. He gave Ken a 'Now what?' expression.

Ken shrugged. "First one on his feet wins. We just wait."

And they waited. A minute had passed, and still no movement from Naruto or Fuji.

"C'mon, Naruto!" Iruka yelled, "Get up! You're so close!"

That started it. Pretty soon, the entire stadium was filled with cries of "Naruto!" "Fuji!" and sometimes, "Whoever the muscle guy is!"

The cheers halted as a hand popped out. It gripped the ring's surface. Then, slowly, a figure pulled himself out of the crater.

Heaving, Naruto threw his head back and screamed. "AAAAARRRRRGGGHHH!!"

"T-total Knock Out! The winner of the 17th Dragon Belt Championship is…Land of Whirlpool's Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto stopped screaming when he realized someone was holding up his hand. He looked at Itachi…who turned into a flock of crows and flew off. It was a clone.

But Naruto had no time to dwell on this as he was suddenly assaulted by his friends and family as they crowded around, offering their congratulations.

Off to the side, Wan looked down the crater. Jinmaru's entire costume, not just the wig and glasses, had been torn off, save his unmentionables. The brute was unmoving. Smiling, Wan clapped his hands and the disgraced monk floated up out of the hole and onto a stretcher. As Jinmaru was carted away, Naruto couldn't help but notice his hand seemed to be stuck as fist…with the thumb sticking out.

Then, the crowd parted, and Naruto saw Ken marching towards him with some kind of white sash in his hands. He held it out to Naruto.

On the front of sash was the kanji for 'dragon'.

Naruto took it. He then realized that the headband Kushina gave him had fallen off. Grinning, he took the sash from Ken and tied it around his forehead.

As cameras flashed and fans cheered, Naruto held up his fists.

"Yeah!"

17th Dragon Belt Championship

Winner: Uzumaki Naruto

1st Runner Up: Fuji (Tetsumura Jinmaru)

2nd Runner Up: Rock Lee

Dattebayo

A/N: And that's it, it's over! I really don't know what to say…but, woo! That's a load off my mind! This is probably the last Naruto fanfic I'll write…maybe. I'm not sure. But for now, I'm out of ideas. And I'm taking a break. Thank you for being so supportive. If you would like to read any other non-Naruto stories I have, just click on my profile.

PEACE OUT, Y'ALL!!