Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and only use it for entertainment purposes.
The Second portion of the Chunin Exam was now complete. The last team to arrive was Team 7. Said team, from the various injuries they had, looked like they were put through a Jounin level obstacle course. It was clear that they were almost dead on their feet. Team 7 arrived had arrived literally with no time to spare and as such they were forced into the main chamber of the tower and took up positions with the other Gennin that arrived. Under a large statue displaying an ohitsuji (ram) seal was all the Jounin Sensei's of the Gennin teams as well as the Sandaime Hokage.
The Sandaime Hokage stepped forward and thought about the ones that made it so far. "Over half of the Gennin that made it are from Konoha, and out of them all the Rookie Nine managed to pass. Looks like this age group has more potential than we first realized." "On behalf of Konoha and your Jounin Sensei's I would like to offer my congratulations on passing the second part of the Chunin Exam," the Hokage said. "You have all done exceptionally well to make it this far and you should all feel proud of yourselves."
At this point a late arrival appeared in a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared a sickly looking Konoha Jounin was revealed kneeling before the Hokage. "Forgive my tardiness Hokage-sama," the Jounin said. The Hokage waved off the apology and the Jounin continued, "If you will allow I shall explain the rest."
"Yes please proceed," the Hokage replied.
The Jounin rose and turned to the Chunin hopefuls. "I am Gekkou Hayate and I'll be you're third Examiner." He coughed through his announcement drawing worried looks from some of the Gennin. "From here on you will be tested individually in one-on-one matches. Unfortunately there are too many that passed and we have to hold some preliminaries before hand."
"And why do we have to do that?" Kiba asked.
"There are important people that are Village clients that come for the Chunin Exam," Hayate answered. "They cannot be bothered with too many matches so we must lower the participants for the main matches." Once again his speech was clogged with coughs, "Now for what will decide your fates," the statue and the wall behind slid open and reviled a display board, "This will randomly select your names and pair you up for the preliminary matches. Now before we start I wish to ask if there is anyone who wishes to withdraw, your team will not be penalized."
"I give up," Kabuto said raising his hand. "I'm not feeling to well."
Hayate nodded and Kabuto was dismissed. He looked around and saw no one else wanted to give up he continued, "Now let us begin," the display board ran through the twenty or so names until it stopped on two, "Would Hyuuga Hinata and Akadou Yoroi please remain and the rest clear the floor."
The two Gennins remained as everyone began to leave the area. As they were leaving Sakura cast a worried glance at Sasuke, as he was hold the strange mark at the base of his neck. She was wanted to tell her sensei what happened but Sasuke ordered her not too. When she passed Shikamaru she noticed he still had not moved from where he was standing, "Shikamaru?" When she approached she noticed the lazy shadow manipulator had fallen asleep standing up, "No wonder he didn't try and give up." In her mind Inner Sakura yelled, "HOW LAZY DOES A PERSON HAVE TO BE TO FALL ASLEEP STANDING UP?" When she poked him awake she decided to add, "You missed you're chance to give up."
If Shikamaru showed more emotion than boredom his face would have displayed real annoyance. Instead he just sighed, "It was too troublesome to stay awake." He dragged his feet up the stairway but took noticed that Kakashi took Sasuke aside and started to talk to him.
"Sasuke when your name is called you will be allowed to fight," Kakashi whispered. "How ever if you use too much chakra it spread and if it does even once I will stop the fight." Sasuke looked surprised to see the Kakashi knew about the Curse Seal on his neck. "After your match I'll take you aside and we'll deal with it in private."
Back on the arena floor Hinata stepped into her Jyuuken (Gentle Fist) stance as her cloak covered opponent dropped into his own. When Hayate saw they were ready he announced, "Begin!"
Immediately Yoroi made several quick hand seals and his right hand started to glow with chakra. Most of the people from Konoha knew the prowess of the Hyuuga Clan in Taijutsu and at close range. So they were greatly surprised to see Yoroi, who was one of the Konoha Gennins, charge Hinata. Hinata easily avoided the swipe with the non-glowing hand and countered with a quick jab at the older Gennin's arm forcing it to fall limp.
What caught her by surprise was the speed of the Yoroi's right hand that was jammed into her stomach. She felt a slight burn and a sudden loss of strength before she jumped away to reassess her opponent. When was far enough away she focused her Byakugan on the hand that touched her and was surprised to see traces of her chakra in the hand. "Noticed it didn't you," Yoroi said. "Some of your chakra is now in me. Chakra Kyuuin no Jutsu (chakra absorption) drains away your chakra and gives it to me. Jyuuken is useless if you have no chakra."
Up on the balcony Kurenai's team was worried about Hinata. They did not think anyone could discover an effective strategy to counter Jyuuken but it appeared Yoroi did. Without the chakra aspects of the Hyuuga Clan Taijutsu the hits were nothing more than slaps and that would never be able to defeat anyone. "How's Hinata going to get out of this?" Noa asked.
"COME ON HINATA KICK HIS ASS!" Kiba yelled.
"Don't worry Hinata will do just fine," Kurenai assured.
Close by Neji smirked knowing that Hinata would win. Jyuuken made the entire Hyuuga Clan masters at manipulating chakra so getting around this obstacle was not a problem. She may not be as talented as he was but with her hard work Hinata proved very capable at their Taijutsu. Now it was only a matter of how she would defeat her opponent.
Hinata merely shifted her stance tightening up giving her a greater defensive position. She already had a play on how to defeat Yoroi so all she had to do was wait for him to come to her. Fortunately she did not have to wait long as Yoroi charged at her with his chakra absorbing hand thrust out. When it looked like the hand was about to make contact with Hinata, again she surprised many people by spinning on one foot completely avoiding the hand and having Yoroi sail right past her. When Hinata was behind him she immediately struck the base of his skull with her middle and forefinger with each hand causing the black clad Konoha shinobi to drop to the ground like a wet sack.
"Well that was rather anticlimactic," Kakashi said from behind his book.
"That being said it was a rather efficient maneuver," Asuma countered. "She disabled her opponent quite easily without revealing too much of her skill. She'll definitely be one to watch in the Finals."
"Wow I knew Hinata was good but I didn't think she was that good," Sakura said to Ino.
"Yeah, I'm glad I didn't have to face her," Ino agreed to her rival. "Good thing she's not interested in Sasuke-kun," Ino thought.
As Hinata made her way up the stairs and was congratulated by her team, "Good job Hinata," Noa said.
"Yeah you totally kicked his ass!" Kiba joined in with Akamaru barking his agreement.
"Very well done Hinata," Kurenai congratulated.
Around the room the teams from the other Villages were eyeing the Hyuuga Heiress with caution. They knew that the Hyuuga were among the most gifted Clan in Konoha, and the display of skill only reinforced their reputation. Hinata had used just enough of her abilities to put them on edge but not enough for anyone to get a real look at her true skill level. And the fact that some were told that the strongest Gennin in Konoha was another Hyuuga made them uneasy at the idea of facing him.
Back on the floor Hayate announced the next two names that came up, "Aburame Shino and Gin Noa please come down."
Shino gave no other response then nodding towards Asuma and Chouji and completely ignored Ino. His sensei and plump teammate knew why, Ino made a comment about hating bugs during the introduction and Shino took it personally. Noa on the other hand looked nervous as he descended the stairs. After the Uchiha Massacre the Aburame Clan became the second most feared Clan in Konoha after the Hyuuga Clan. The reassuring pat on his back from Kurenai did not really help much.
Once the Gennins were on the floor Hayate called for the match to begin. Neither boy did anything off at first. Shino just silently with his hands in his coat pockets while Noa reached for the kunai pouch on his leg. As soon as his hand touched the ring on the kunai Noa quickly flicked his other hand out and two shurikens came racing out of his palm.
Though he did not show it Shino was caught off guard because of the ruse. He was a bit delayed in avoiding the second shuriken and it grazed his left shoulder. Decided to retaliate by pulling out his hands and release some of his bugs out of his sleeves. The small swarm of bugs began to circle their human nest and he started to close in on Noa.
Noa ran through six hand seals saying, "Ninpo: Roku Joushi No Jutsu (Ninja Art: Six Arms)." His arms started to blur and suddenly there were triple the number of arms before. When Shino was close enough Noa struck out with his three right hands. Shino went to block the blow to his head but the hand passed right through and the lower hand landed in the gut sending Shino staggering back.
Up with the teams Kakashi looked up from his book, "That's an interesting Genjutsu. Making false arms to throw off your opponent."
"Noa's primary weakness is his Taijutsu," Kurenai replied. "So I gave him a way of having more to have more hands his opponent had to avoid."
"Not bad," Asuma said. "But not good enough, Shino just one this match."
Asuma's prediction appeared to be true as the Genjutsu that produced Noa's extra arms faded from view. "When you hit me with your punch, some of my bugs transferred to you. They are currently eating away at your chakra, you'll be unconscious soon unless you give up."
Noa knew he was beat with every passing second he could feel his body weaken. "O…okay you win…I give up," he panted.
"Winner Aburame Shino," Hayate said with a cough.
When the two Konoha Gennin reached their teams Chouji smiled to Shino and gave him some sugar for his bugs and Asuma nodded in satisfaction of a job well done, Ino took a step back not wanting the bugs to get on her. Noa received sympathy from Hinata and Kurenai and a promise from Kiba that he would get Shino back when he won his match.
Up on the electric board the next two names appeared, "Sabaku no Temari and Tsuchi Kin." The two kunoichi's looked at each other sizing them up both deciding the same thing. Their match was going to be very easy. When arrived on the ground floor Hayate began the match with a cough.
Kin made the first move by throwing several senbon needles at Temari. Her plan was to use the bells on the senbon needles to create a Genjutsu that attacked the ears. Unfortunately for her the last thing a person should do against a Suna shinobi that specialized using a battle fan was to use throwing weapons.
This fact was brought home when Temari pulled the fan off her back and unfurled it. With a mighty swing and a call, "Ninpo Fuusajin! (Dust Wind)." A large gust of wind blew the senbon needles away. "You that's a rather pathetic attack. Here try one of mine." She opened her fan even more and swung it towards Kin, "Ninpo: Fuusajin!" Kin was hit by a gale force winds and slamming her into the wall knocking her out.
"Winner Sabaku no Temari," Hayate said as medic-nins carried Kin out of the room. The next pair of names soon came up, "Nara Shikamaru and Yoshiki Tenten please come down."
"This is so troublesome," Shikamaru complained. "Why do I have to fight a woman? Maybe I should just give up, it'll be less troublesome."
"You might as well go down Shikamaru," Kakashi said from his behind his book. "You can't give up from up here."
Tenten overheard Shikamaru's comments made her angry. She hated when guys thought a girl could not be a good ninja. "I'm going kill him for that!" Tenten thought.
"TENTEN SHOW ALL THESE PEOPLE YOUR YOUTHFUL FIRE!" Gai yelled. He turned to Kakashi, "My student Tenten will defeat you student Shikamaru! If she doesn't I will run around Konoha thirty times on my hands with my eyes closed!"
"YES GAI-SENSEI IS THE BEST!" Lee yelled like his mentor. "TENTEN SHOW THAT GAI-SENSEI IS THE GREATES SENSEI IN KONOHA!"
"You say something Gai?" Kakashi asked. Causing the green clad Jounin to slump in sadness.
"Oh my hip rival is so cool with his nonchalant attitude," moaned Gai.
"Don't worry Gai-sensei he's just jealous of your stylish clothes," Lee assured his bigger counterpart.
"OH LEE!" Gai started to cry.
"GAI-SENSEI!" Lee mimicked Gai. The two continued to say each other's name several more times as they hugged each other.
As the Gai and his look-a-like cried and hugged one another the other members of Team Gai showed their embarrassment. Neji pinched the bridge of his nose trying to lessen the headache that was forming. Tenten stiffly walked down the stairs red in the face muttering, "I don't them, they are not with me. I don't know them, they are not with me," over and over again. It was too bad that everyone knew she was a part of the team.
When she finally reached the floor Shikamaru was standing in a slouched posture with looking completely bored. Hayate looked even sicker than normal but that could be attributed to the fact that he looked up at the disturbing display from Gai and Lee. "Nara Shikamaru vs. Yoshiki Tenten, Begin!"
Shikamaru was about to put up his hand and say that he quit except Tenten did not give him a chance. She was still angry about Shikamaru's attitude towards women and very embarrassed by her sensei and teammate. She had a lot of frustration to work through and Shikamaru was the target. From her kunai and shuriken holder on her leg and hip pouch from her back she took out a total of twelve throwing instruments and flung them at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru eyes widened in fear as the lethal projectiles sailed towards him. He was lucky that he had a form of training in avoiding thrown objects. The training consisted of him avoiding things his mother threw at him to get him off his rear end. So he was able to avoid every single shuriken and kunai Tenten threw. "This is so troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. He tried once again to give up but could not get the chance as more kunai and shuriken was thrown at him.
"This guys really starting to piss me off!" Tenten thought. It had been months since the last time she missed with a single weapon much less every one she threw. When Shikamaru started to run to the other side of the fighting area she became even more frustrated. "He's not even fighting back!" She reached into her pouch and instead of a weapon this time she with drew a small scroll, "Lets see how you like this?" She started to unroll the scroll and sliced her finger indicating it was some kind of summoning scroll. She was about to spread her bloodied thumb across the writing in the scroll when suddenly her entire body froze.
"Kage Mane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation)" Shikamaru said at the other end of the fighting area. "You're such a troublesome girl, almost as troublesome as Sakura."
"I'LL GET HIM FOR THAT!" Inner Sakura roared. Sakura herself asked, "Kakashi-sensei how did Shikamaru get his shadow all the way to Tenten?"
"He used the shadows of the on the wall to extend his shadow to her," Kakashi said with a smile behind his mask.
"TENTEN DON'T GIVE UP!" Lee shouted. "USE YOUR BURNING YOUTH TO ESCAPE!"
Needless to say Lee's advice did not help Tenten at all. Shikamaru started to walk toward the center of the fighting area and Tenten copied his actions. When they were back in their original places Shikamaru suddenly turned and started walking backwards. Everyone was confused by the action, no more so then Tenten. She wondered just what her lazy opponent was doing. Another turn had Tenten facing the stairs and more movement had her ascending the stairs back to the viewing area.
Down in the fighting area Shikamaru released his jutsu and sat down on the ground tired from the drain on his chakra. Hayate could not help but smirk at his actions, "Due to Yoshiki Tenten's leaving the combat area I declare the winner of this match Nara Shikamaru."
Most of the Gennins watching the match had their mouths on the floor after the announcement. Of all the ways to loose a match that had to be the most pathetic they had ever seen. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN HE WINS!" Tenten yelled. "LET AT THAT LAZY BUMB I'LL KILL HIM FOR THAT!"
"My decisions are final," Hayate said. "Now please leave the floor the next match is about to be called." Shikamaru sighed at the venom being directed at him as he ascended the stairs as far away from Tenten as possible, he did not want to be killed it would be too troublesome in his opinion.