-Chapter 10 Final Mayhem-

"Winner; Yamanaka Inoria."

The youngest of the mind jumpers, held one of her fisted arms in the sky as the crown erupted into cheers for the hometown ninja. Inoria was sure that at least her semi-final bout would have been something of a challenge. Unfortunately, she found herself completely disappointed at the lack of good competition at this stage of the exams.

The first exam proved to be every bit as frustrating as her sister warned her, for the simple reason that she could have been perfect and still failed the exam. Shikaru wasn't an issue. She had absolutely no doubts about whether he could get past this part. Chogun was a different issue. She knew that without help, he would probably panic immediately. Silently thanking her sister for teaching her the mind tag, she was able to help Chogun through the written part of that exam.

Then came the infamous tenth question. Ino hadn't informed her on that, saying that if Ibiki-sensei decided to go that route, then she didn't want to spoil the surprise. And she was right. Half of the class sat in stunned silence after Ibiki explained how the tenth question would be performed. Inoria, visibly pissed off at how calm the man seemed to be about stopping all of their ninja dreams right then and there if they answered incorrectly, was about to jump right up in his face and tell him just what she thought about his stupid rules. Looking back on it, she guessed that it was a good thing that Shikaru used Kage Mane no Jutsu to keep her from doing just that, even if he risked exposing his secret weapon. Fortunately, no one noticed his shadow moving across the ground.

So she sat there and yelled at the man for making up stupid rules, all the way up until he threatened to fail her and her team if she didn't shut up. Inoria looked as if she were on the verge of exploding right there, but shut her mouth all the same. Though it would immediately fall open again when, after all of the ones that decided they couldn't hack it left, Ibiki announced that the ones that stayed all passed. He then went on with his explanation, which Inoria was surprised to learn, actually made a lot of sense.

The calm atmosphere of the classroom wouldn't last long though. Immediately after he was done, Mitarashi Anko made her appearance, the exact same way that Ino had described. She told them about where they would meet for the next exam and dismissed them for the day.

The Forest of Death. The way Ino had described it, this was quite possibly the worst place in the world to be stuck in for any amount of time, much less for five days. After this exam was over, Inoria began to wonder if her sister had simply over exaggerated a little. Within half an hour of entering, they had run into a team with an opposite scroll to theirs, and 10 minutes after that, were on their way to the center tower. After one and a half days of traveling and skillfully dodging other teams, they were at the tower getting debriefed.

With 3 and a half days until the exam was over, Inoria got together with her teammates and made one thing perfectly clear to both of them. "From this point on, we aren't competing as a team. It's every ninja for themselves. So if either of you end up facing me, I expect you to give it everything you got. I know how good you can be when you are motivated Shikaru. Don't hold back on me. Chogun, I know you'll do anything for food, so give it your all, and I promise that we will go out for all you can eat on me. Got it?"

Shikaru let out a bored sigh when she was done. "We already know this Inoria. And while I do think that it would be somewhat troublesome to have to face you, don't worry. Neither of us plans of holding back."

By the end of the preliminaries, Only Inoria and Shikaru made it to the final matches.

Which leads us to the present. Shikaru mimicked his older cousin's performance and skillfully lead his opponent into a series of well laid traps, all leading to his final trap. Unfortunately, as if history wished to repeat itself, Shikaru had used up most of his chakra just snaring his opponent, and gave up immediately after catching him. His opponent, a rain ninja that specialized in Suiton Ninjutsu, would go on to be defeated by a Rock ninja that looked to be as great a taijutsu specialist as Rock Lee.

Inoria defeated both of her opponents, wearing them down with some of the most advanced Taijutsu techniques ever seen in a Yamanaka, trapping them within her Shinranshin no Jutsu, and then torturing them until they had no choice but to give up.

Inoria looked up at the balcony where her final opponent stood. She had heard a lot about this ninja named Hojo Rokuro from his Jonin sensei. Like Lee, he was born with severely underdeveloped chakra coils, and therefore unable to use Genjutsu or Ninjutsu. So, taking after his role models, he completely dedicated himself to Taijutsu. Thankfully, he only inherited their fighting choices and not their fashion sense.

She watched his match against Chogun with extreme interest, especially after he was able to stop Chogun's Baika no Jutsu with kick during the prelims. Judging from the crowd's reaction to their fights, she had no doubts that they were going to be on the edge of their seats waiting for the final match. The thought brought a wide grin to her face.

"We shall now have a short intermission before the next match begins. Be back here in 15 minutes." Genma disappeared as soon as he was finished. Inoria made her way back to the balcony to attempt to patiently wait for her match to begin.

-Near the top of the stadium-

To say that Ino was proud of how her sister had done would be the same as saying Sakura liked Sasuke. Ino hadn't even made it past the preliminaries, and now here she was getting ready to watch her sister compete in the final match of the tournament.

Granted she was going to have to do it with her attention divided, considering that she was supposed to be pulling security for the exam. It did have its advantages, however, as she didn't have to sit with her parents while they drilled her on just how Inoria knew Shinranshin no Jutsu.

During her month long training break, Inoria had spent most of her time refining her Taijutsu with Naruto. She was not worried about most of the ninjas that she would possibly face, but after seeing Rokuro compete she knew that she needed to be as proficient as she could in Taijutsu in order to keep up. When she wasn't beating her body up until it couldn't take anymore, she was with her sister improving her control of her mental attacks, and learning how to take some of her basic moves to the next level, like learning how to use Shintenshin no Jutsu to not only control your opponents body, but to also look inside their mind and dig out any memories you need. It was almost as taxing as the Taijutsu training, but when it came time for her to chose which direction she wanted her ninja career to go, she would appreciate the extra training.

Glancing over to the other side of the stadium, she caught sight of Naruto, who thankfully looked a lot better than he had ever did this past month. Gaara had finally ended their "Training session" the day before so Naruto was actually able to get a decent night's sleep before the final tournament. The two of them, along with Kiba and Tenten, had finally started the whole team bonding process, though the serious stuff wouldn't come until they were out on a mission together, though they did make it a point to all go out to the Oasis every now and then for a group dinner, though that didn't start until after Naruto was allowed to enter the Oasis again.

The cheering of the crowd brought her attention back to the center of the field. Genma had reappeared, and was apparently calling the finalist back so they could begin the fight. Ino let a small smile reappear across her masked face. Whether she won or lost, there was no doubt in Ino's mind that Inoria was going to make Chuunin by the end of this fight. Continuing to keep a sharp eye out for anything suspicious, she looked down and prepared to watch her sister's match.

-Battle Ground-

"You both already know the rules. First person to get killed, knocked out, surrenders, or is deemed unable to continue loses. This is the last match, and you two have built up a lot of expectations in the crowd, so give it everything you got."

Inoria didn't hear a word that Genma said. Partially because she already knew most of it, but mostly because she was focused on her opponent. Coming at him with nothing less than her absolute best was out of the question. She just prayed that he would think the same of her.

"Before we begin, Yamanaka-san," She was immediately caught off guard, not necessarily by the disruption, but by the fact that it came from Rokuro. "I just want you to know that I shall not be holding back on you just because you are a female ninja. I expect you to do the same for me."

'Well, guess I don't have to worry about that anymore.' She gave a small nod and refocused herself.

Genma looked to both fighters. "Yamanaka Inoria vs. Hojo Rokuro. Let the match…….. begin!"

Inoria immediately jumped back and fell into a defensive stance. 'Attacking him right off the bat is suicide. Let's see if we can see just how good he is.'

Rokuro eased himself into an offensive stance and inched forward towards Inoria. Inoria did not allow herself to retreat an inch. For a good minute nothing happened. The wind stopped blowing, and the crowd grew extremely quiet. This was definitely the calm before the storm that Inoria had heard her sister talk about so many times. She began to feel her legs start to tremble, but not out of fear. She was getting anxious. She wanted this fight to get started already, but she was determined to stick with her strategy and waited for Rokuro to either make the first move, or provide her with an opening.

Rokuro, on the other hand, apparently wasn't as patient as she was. He got things started by lunging straight at her with a leg sweep. Inoria had seen this too many times when she watched Lee and Gai-sensei spar. Timing it just right, she chambered her leg and shot it diagonally, stopping his leg.

Rokuro looked up at her surprised. Inoria simply smiled down at him. "Trying to force me to jump over your sweep so that I would be unable to avoid your next kick. Sorry, but you're going to have to do better than that." Stepping on his still outstretched leg she brought her other leg around for a roundhouse kick to his head. Rokuro immediately reacted, laying flat on his back and allowing her leg to pass over him. Then, in the same motion, he brought his other leg around to sweep the leg she was using to pin his leg down. Inoria, barely catching this movement, used the momentum of her kick to back flip off of his leg before he could connect. She landed on the ground and he nipped up at the same time, and simultaneously returned to their fighting stances.

Rokuro automatically went back on the attack, unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks, which he was surprised to find, could not find their mark. Whether she dodged or blocked, Inoria made sure that none of his strikes connected where he wanted them to. 'She's good. Obviously been preparing for this. Looks like I'm going to have to step it up a notch.' Purposefully telegraphing his next kick, he unleashed a monstrous roundhouse kick to her head, which she obviously dodged.

Inoria didn't even think about how an expert Taijutsu user could possibly overshoot an attack this early in the fight. He had just given her a wide open door to burst through, and she was going to take it. She jumped into the air and brought a leg back, planning to shoot her heel directly into his spine, not even hearing the small laugh that escaped his lips.

Just half a second before her kick would have connected, Rokuro disappeared. Inoria, not expecting her target to simply not be there anymore, was caught a little off balance in the air and was completely unprepared for the kick that caught her right in her gut. Inoria dropped straight to the ground clutching her stomach. 'What the hell was that?'

"Wasn't expecting that, were you Yamanaka-san?" Inoria looked up to see Rokuro, assuming his stance, smiling down at her. "I shall only ask you once. Surrender now. If not then I shall not hold back on you."

Inoria stood right back up and glared at him. "I don't give up. And I will not lose here." She assumed her defensive stance once again. "Bring it."

Rokuro let out a sigh and disappeared again. Inoria immediately began looking around for him. 'OK so he can move like Lee can. He has to get tired sooner or later. All I have to do is endure it.'

That would prove to be a difficult task for Inoria, as no matter how much chakra she put into her blocks, Rokuro's blows still packed a decent wallop. For the better part of ten minutes, the fight trudged on just like this. Rokuro was apparently excellent at pacing himself, and was able to keep his high speeds up for a lot longer than anyone thought. Inoria, however, proved that defense could be just as good as offense. Right at the point of impact, Inoria was able to use her great flexibility and quick reflexes to move her body in the direction that it was being hit, significantly lowering the amount of damage she took, though she still took damage.

After a while though, her moves started to slow down, and she began to take more and more damage, while Rokuro only looked a little flushed from all of the moving around he had done. 'Damnit, He barely even looks tired at all. Ok, throw that plan out the window. What next? Come on Inoria, think. You have one of the greatest minds in the world. Use it!' It hit her so fast that she felt stupid for not thinking of it sooner.

Almost as soon as she was back on her feet, Rokuro was on the move, vanishing once again. He appeared behind her and kicked her straight in the back, sending her flying across the ground. Inoria just barely reoriented herself and landed on her feet away from Rokuro.

"Well, have you had enough now, Yamanaka-san?" Rokuro allowed his arms to drop to his side, partially because he didn't feel threatened by her anymore, and partially because he was starting to feel tired from all of the moving he had done. He did retain a confident smile on his face.

Though, that smile would disappear when he saw the one Inoria had on hers. "What do you have to smile about? You are about to lose this match to a far superior ninja."

Inoria stood straight and stared him in the eyes. "You haven't beaten me yet, so you don't know if you are superior to me."

Rokuro sighed. "Don't say I didn't warn you." And with that he was gone once again.

However when he would reappear behind Inoria to deliver another kick, he would be met with a fist to the face that sent him staggering back.

Rokuro retreated back a few paces and looked back up at her. "What the..? How did she….?" Inoria lunged at him once again, going on the offensive for the first time this battle. She began to drive a bewildered Rokuro back a little bit, but had to go back on the defensive when Rokuro finally got back into his rhythm. He then tried again, disappearing and reappearing behind her, and was met with a mule kick to the gut. This time he fought through the pain and relocated himself in front of her, hoping to catch her off guard, but was caught with an axe kick to the shoulder. He immediately felt the joint pop out of place, but was able to keep himself from collapsing from the pain. He jumped back, clutching his shoulder, while Inoria went back on the offensive. This time, Rokuro could not regain control, as he had to try to stop her with one good arm, and against someone who was as well versed in Taijutsu as she was, that wasn't easy even for him. She finally caught him good when she feigned a right hook, causing him to flinch backwards, and hit him with a back flip kick. Rokuro did a back flip of his own, but instead of landing on his feet as Inoria had done, he landed face first in the ground.

Inoria stood tall a few meters away from him, breathing as hard as she had ever done. In this sense, she was glad that her first two fights had been pushovers. She doubted she would have been able to pull this one off if she had to assert herself earlier.

One the other side of this coin, Rokuro looked like he had been hit by a car, but was still managing to slowly make it to his feet, though there was little doubt as to whether he would be able to continue to fight. "How? How were you suddenly able to keep up with me? I had you beat."

Inoria smiled and pointed to her head. "The hand may be quicker than the eye, but the mind is the fastest of them all. When you sent me sailing with that kick to the back, I mind tagged you. I had to get you when I knew you would stay still long enough for me to tag you, and seeing as you only did so after striking me, I kinda had to make a sacrifice to do so."

Rokuro simply laughed at that. "Well played Yamanaka-san. And now you may end it."

Inoria considered her options for a second. Considering the venue, she thought it would be wise to allow him to surrender before attempting to put him out of his misery. Something to help her look good in front of the higher ups. However, hanging around with a couple of Anbu members for as long as she had completely shot and feelings of mercy she had for her opponent. "Very well then. Good fight." She charged him, ready to put him out of his misery any way she believed she could. She didn't care what she did; she just wanted to look good doing it. She focused all of her attention on putting down Rokuro, shutting out every other thing around her.

So you can imagine how she wouldn't have noticed the kunai that landed right behind her until after the explosive tag that was attached to it exploded.

-Roof of the Stadium-

Ino was already halfway down to the field before the ninja that she killed, the ninja that threw the kunai, even hit the ground. If she had been paying more attention to his movements, she would have noticed the fact that said kunai had an explosive tag attached long before it ever left his hand. As it was, by the time she realized it, the explosion had already concealed her sister from her sight.

Naturally, she first felt an undying fear for her sister's safety, which quickly turned into rage towards the ninja that had decided to try to sneak up on her. Looking back on it, maybe she should have simply killed him then instead on letting him get as close as he could before surprising him. Maybe then he wouldn't have been able to throw that kunai.

Retrospect, however, was not one of Ino's best qualities when the situation was as such. Neither was perceptiveness, as she completely ignored the fact that every person present had started moving for the exits.

Working her way through the smoke and dust brought on by the explosion, she finally located her sister, and immediately assumed the worst when she saw that she was not moving. Immediately at her side, she was able to force herself to think rationally enough to check her pulse, and heaved a huge sigh of relief when she felt it. It was weak, but at least it was there.

It was then that she felt the presence of another standing behind her, and turned immediately to face them, ready to kill whoever it was. She relaxed, slightly when she found herself staring into the green eyes on Sakura.

For what seemed like an eternity, nothing happened. Neither of them moved nor spoke.

"I don't care what you think of me. I don't care about what has happened between us in the past. I'm not asking you to do me a favor. I'm just asking you to help her."

Sakura looked from the near lifeless body of Inoria to Ino and back to Inoria. "I'll take care of her. It's my job." Ino immediately transferred Inoria over to Sakura. "I'm not going to thank you."

"I know." Sakura turned and carried her off to the medical shelter.

It was then that Ino noticed the amount of activity that was going on. The stands had finally cleared of civilians, but the ninja's remained, currently engaging in battle with an army of foreign ninjas. Ino cracked her knuckles and jumped into the fray, determined to make as many of them suffer for what had happened to her sister.

(From this point on I shall bounce between P.O.V.s, so please read carefully)

"Has anyone ever told you that Konoha has very bad luck with Chuunin exams?"

Tsunade looked over to the Kazekage, surprised that he could make a joke at this point. Immediately after the explosion, and entire army of ninjas appeared at the stadium roof and the entrance way. Tsunade ordered all of the Jonin and Anbu units available to start the counterattack, while the rest of them evacuated the people through the secret exits within the stadium. That part had worked out just fine. The problem now was dealing with the invaders, who only seemed to be multiplying. "Looks like we are going to have to get involved as well." Tsunade turned to the fight and removed her jacket. "Are your siblings here as well?"

"No. Temari and Kankuro are taking care of my Kazekage business while I am here. It's just me."

"Figures. Well, you ready?" When Tsunade didn't get an answer she angrily turned back to him, only to find nothing more than a wisp of sand where he once stood. "I hate it when he does that." She jumped out of the booth and into the heart of the fight.

Outside of the stadium, Naruto had already begun his fight against the invaders, currently taking on a group of about 20 of them himself. He easily dodged and blocked their strikes as they came, and quickly finished them off with a kunai slash to the neck. By the time he was finished with the first wave, he was barely even breathing hard. "Come on, I know there are some better ones here."

As if on cue, a slew of about 75 more ninjas appeared and surrounded him. "Hmm, looks like I'm going to need some help." He smirked widely and created the necessary seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." 9 more Naruto popped into existence, each one holding a kunai in both hands. "Alright, let's go." They each picked a direction and lunged.

Tenten and Kiba stood back to back, facing their own group of ninjas. Tenten had reverted back to her Genin days, holding a few different scrolls instead of just one big one. Not to say that her big scroll wasn't as effective, but as a ninja in Konoha's Anbu, it kinda stood out.

Kiba stood without Akamaru, who was at the moment assisting in the evacuation of the civilians. He wasn't at all worried, however, as he had done some supplemental training with his sister on techniques that could be used without the aid of his partner. "Ready Tenten?"

Tenten removed a couple of scrolls from her pouch. "Been ready, I was just waiting for you."

Kiba smirked and popped a soldier pill into his mouth. "Then let's get started." Tenten unleashed a barrage of weapons upon her unsuspecting victims.

Kiba jumped into the air and said only one word. "Gatsuga!"

The fight continued on like this for an hour. Konoha, initially surprised by the sudden attack, rallied early and was able to push the invaders back. "Ok, that's enough. We've done what we came to do. Now it's time to retreat." The invaders began to hastily make their way back to where they came. Unfortunately, one of them would not make it, as he would be the victim of Shinranshin no Jutsu, courtesy of Yamanaka Ino.

The rest of them quickly made their way through the forest, hoping to escape the clutches of the rest of the Konoha ninjas. A few minutes later they came across a series of signs that read, "Caution," "Funeral ahead," "Take detour." Obviously not taking them seriously, the ninjas pressed onwards.

Several moments later, they emerged from the forest into a wide open grass field. With no trees in sight, they were forced to begin retreating on the ground. One of them quickly noted that they had not passed a grass field to get to Konoha, but did not speak up about it. It would be the last mistake he would ever make.

"Ryuusa Bakuryu!"Out of nowhere, a giant wave of sand appeared in front of them. They tried to avoid it, and would have succeeded if the sand didn't decide to suddenly reach out and grab each of them, pulling them into the wave. The entire field was suddenly covered with sand, with nary a sigh of any of the ninjas.

A small whirlwind of sand appeared and from it, Gaara stepped out, eyes close and shaking his head. "Once again, no one listens to me. I even went through the trouble of making those signs for them as well. I told them there was a funeral going on this way." He kneeled down and placed both hands on the sand to put the finishing touches on this little battle. "Sabaku Taisou! (Desert Imperial Funeral.)"

The same way he dramatically increases the pressure he has on the sand when he used Sabaku Sousou, he did the same with the massive amount of sand that the ninjas were buried under, killing them on the spot.

He stood up, brushed off his shirt, and headed back to Konoha. "Maybe they would have believed me if I told them it was their funeral."

-Anbu Torture and Interrogation HQ-

"I ain't saying anything to you. You might as well kill me." The ninja that Ino had captured was sitting defiantly in his cell, awaiting interrogation.

"And don't worry we will. After we get what we want from you. And don't worry; you won't have to say a thing." Morino Ibiki stood stock still in front of his next victim, waiting until his apprentice returned so they could begin.

"Ok, ready Ibiki-sensei?" Ino walked right in, apparently all business.

"How is your sister? She gonna live?" Ibiki wasn't trying to be insensitive. It just usually came out that way.

Fortunately, Ino had been around him enough to understand that. "She's ok. Because she was already moving forward, the blast didn't do as much damage as it would have." She mind tagged Ibiki and faced her target. "Ok, I'm going in." She raised her arms and made the window into another person's mind. "Shintenshin no Jutsu."

She was highly disappointed when she next came too. The inside of this person's mind was just as blank as Sakura's. "Ok, Ibiki-sensei, you can get started now."

Of all of the uses she had found for Shintenshin no Jutsu, this had to be one of the best that she had come up with. Normally, when she entered a person's mind she would have to go through door after door after door until she found the memory, or group of memories, that she wanted. However, with the help of Ibiki-sensei, this process was made many times easier. While she was inside of his mind, Ibiki-sensei would be on the outside going through his standard torture and interrogation procedures. What would end up happening was that whichever door the specific memory was stored in would begin to light up. If the memory was connected to another memory, that door would light up as well. However, if Ibiki-sensei could push far enough, one of the doors would light up more than the others. That would be the door she was looking for.

"Go harder, sensei. Nothing's happening yet." Another great use for this was that she didn't to bear witness to Ibiki-sensei's laundry list of torture techniques.

Slowly, a few or the doors began to light up. "That's good. Go a little more." After a while one of them started shining far more that the others. She walked straight to it and opened the door. Taking a deep breath, she walked in.

About 15 minutes later, Ino's body in the real world started to move. Ibiki kneeled down to help her, but before his knee even touched the floor, Ino was up and running. "I need to see Hokage-sama, now!" Ino began to run for the door, when Ibiki stopped her.

"Do we need him anymore?" He turned his head to the prisoner, who looked like he had seen much, much better days.

"No." She opened the door and bounded off."

"Almost 5 years under me and I have never seen her react so strongly to what she found in someone's mind. I've got a bad feeling about this." He turned to his assistants. "You heard the lady. You may go ahead and kill him now."

They all turned back to him, evil smiles on their faces, and sharp objects in their hands.

-End-

Not sure how this one will go over with everyone, but then again I was just using this chapter to set up for the next one. All the same, tell me how I did.

R&R&have a nice day.