Inside the tower, Team Seven surveyed the results of the carnage that occurred over the previous five days. They'd barely made it in on time, so the cleanup efforts were in full swing not long after they arrived. Chuunin teams brought back carcasses in various states of decay. Some bodies no longer had meat on the bones. Gaara's kills were obvious, they would be sent back to their home villages in jars of sticky human remains.
Naruto was especially relieved when the teams congregated to proceed to the next phase. He could see Team Eight and Team Ten had survived the horrors of the forest. He was less enthused to find the Sand Team among the triumphant. In all, six teams passed the Forest of Death. In addition to the teams already catalogued in Naruto's mind, the senior Leaf team with the boisterous green-clad boy had also passed. In addition to them, another older Leaf team made it through, though they looked like they would have been better off dead. A bespectacled boy with silver hair gathered up into a short ponytail was hunched over and breathing heavily. His two teammates were covered nearly head to toe including loose-fitting bandit masks. Their clothing was caked in blood and they had enough holes and gashes on them to tell the story. It looked like they'd lost a fight with a wood chipper. Understandably the proctor for the next phase dismissed them from further participation.
The assembled throng loitered about for a while, awaiting instructions. A voiced called out to them. "All remaining chuunin candidates follow me." The voice belonged to a Leaf tokubetsu jounin. The plain looking ninja wore standard jounin garb of dark blue with a flak vest. His hitai-ite was worn as a cap, covering his head from which tufts of brown hair peeked out. He led the group a short distance to an underground chamber.
A large open space rested in the middle of the room which was completely ringed with expansive balconies. A slightly raised platform lay in one end like a stage. Upon it the jounin team leaders of the remaining teams as well as the exam proctors stood. In front of those jounin stood the Third Hokage in his dress regalia. The old man took his pipe from his mouth and looked up at the children.
"Congratulations on passing the second stage of the chuunin exams." His voiced projected well over the entirety of the room without his having to yell. "The third stage awaits, but first, I'd like a word." The Hokage let the room settle down before beginning his speech.
"Before you continue, I must explain the true purpose of the exam and the true stakes. This exam fosters peace among the Shinobi Nations by acting as a proxy for total war. Make no mistake; your lives are at risk in this exam… as you should know by now. When the finals of the third stage commence, you will be fighting for the honor and reputation of your village. Important lords, wealthy businessmen, and the leadership of ninja villages will see you fight. You will be the most poignant example of your village's strength that many of them will ever see. You're risking your lives, for real stakes that affect your entire village. This is your war."
The proctor that had conducted the chuunin to the room stood in its center as if to officiate over the proceedings. "My name is Hayate Gekko, and I'll be the proctor for this intermediary stage. It seems that the second stage has resulted in too many candidates. We're going to have some preliminary matches to thin the herd. Is there anyone who doesn't wish to fight?" He said through a minor coughing fit.
One hand in the crowd was raised. Naruto turned his head to look. It was the older Leaf genin who was missing his team. "I promised my team we'd pass together. I can't go back on my word now. So I'm out." The proctor accepted his resignation from the exams and forged ahead.
"Alright then, look up there." He pointed to an electronic scoreboards raised above the dais where the jounin stood earlier. "That scoreboard will announce the names of the participants chosen at random. The rules are as follows. This is a fight to death, unconsciousness, or forfeiture. My words are to be obeyed immediately and without question. Any and all techniques are allowed. Any questions?" The silence of the crowd signaled their understanding. "Let's begin."
The scoreboard flashed and two names appeared: Naruto Uzumaki and Rock Lee. The two contestants immediately squared off in the 'arena'-like ground floor. Like many of the boys, testing one's might was second nature to them. Moreover, their entire spirit, their raison d'etre, clashed as much as they themselves did. The boy sporting green, skintight clothes bonded with prominent eyebrows emanated a style all his own. "Begin."
Naruto began by making his signature army of shadow clones. It didn't take long for him to realize he would need every last one and maybe more. The older genin wasted no time, covering the distance between them as soon as the clones came into existence. The jinchuuriki was tested by the green-clad boy in no holds barred combat. Naruto was no slouch, but the speed and power of the other contestant was staggering. "What the fuck? This guy's got speed and power almost like a jounin. He knows which one is the real me because of the bow too." Naruto made more clones to try to defend him. They were only marginally successful, but one thing became quite apparent to Naruto. "He doesn't do anything but taijutsu. Let's see how he reacts when I start throwing the techniques around."
Being a ranged fighter, Naruto applied an intuitive lesson. "When you need to hit a fast moving target, you lead it. Don't shoot where he is, shoot where he's gonna be." He set a trap for the seeming juggernaut. With expert timing, Naruto substituted himself with a shadow clone just before the other boy could reach him. With smooth reactions borne of practice, he turned and fired at his previous position with fluid grace. The arrow caught the boy in the hand. He grunted in pain but didn't slow. He slammed into Naruto with his good hand, spinning the black-and-orange-garbed genin to the ground. Naruto was nothing if not durable however. The taste of blood on his lip was not even an annoyance.
Lee, having only straightforward attacks, continued trying to overwhelm his junior comrade. "Yosh! I cannot let up or Naruto-san will attrition me at range. I must end this as quickly as possible. He is the embodiment of youth to be able to withstand my Gouken so easily, however." Lee ran straight at Naruto again. At the last moment, he demonstrated some tactical sense and veered off just before hitting the other boy. Like before, an arrow whizzed through the clone. He had hit his own clone to try to intercept Lee. Lee's maneuver had the lucky side effect of bringing him closer to the archer. He was able to get a kick in, which Naruto could only partially block. "If that were most people, they would have broken their arms trying to block my kick."
Naruto knew the other boy was on to him. He'd need something a little more daring. Again, he let the boy come to him. He anticipated this. Naruto substituted with a shadow clone again. Lee responded with his last minute evasion towards Naruto. Again, this was anticipated. He let the blow come towards him. Then, he did something that surprised the other boy. He dropped his weapon, revealing the neko-te he wore on his right hand. Naruto dove at Lee and caught him in the shoulder with all four claws on the neko-te. The taijutsu specialist was still game however. He dragged Naruto along with his hard earned physical strength. "It's a good thing I don't have to take him down, just slow him down." Naruto hung on for dear life. Lee pummeled the younger boy, trying to shake him loose. Forgotten by Lee, the yumi and its arrows lay by the wayside – but not for long. A shadow clone picked up the weapon. With the same measure skill as its progenitor, it took aim and loosed the shaft at the hobbled enemy. This arrow struck the green genin through the meat of the thigh. He screamed, clutching at his leg. Now hobbled beyond hope of regaining any sort of alacritous movement, Naruto's clones revenged themselves upon the older genin.
A booming voice interrupted Naruto's assault. "Lee, take them off! You have my permission." Naruto looked up at the stands to find the source of those cryptic words. He cursed himself for his obtuseness. It was obviously the boy's sensei. He was the obvious progenitor for all the eccentricities of his acolyte. His lapse in concentration allowed his opponent to limp away for a short reprieve. When Naruto turned his attention back to the fight, the green-clad one was working at the bindings on some sort of device around his lower leg. There were dusty tan apparatuses underneath his orange leg warmers. He shook off the devices underneath the orange clothing. When he regained his feet, he seemed to have regained his former speed. He was perhaps a little faster even. Naruto would have been near panic if not for his own ace-in-the-hole. He threw his weapons to a clone and met the boy in hand-to-hand combat.
Surprising Lee, Naruto shot forth at speeds matching his own. They fought like this, with Naruto slowly gaining the upper hand. Lee, being experienced at fighting at great speeds, noticed what Naruto had done. Lee never made contact with Naruto's body. A pressurized film of air coated the younger boy. Also, the air around Naruto seemed to help rocket the boy around. It was like fighting a tornado. Even knowing the trick behind Naruto's speed and power, Lee couldn't find a counter no matter how he wracked his brain. Weariness crept up on him. "Maybe I should have tried opening the gates while my body could still withstand it." Steadily losing blood from his puncture wounds the whole fight, Lee felt his body give up and his vision go black.
"Winner: Naruto Uzumaki."
It was an eye-opening fight for some of the remaining contestants. The participants in the next match were two of those that were only mildly impressed. Sasuke Uchiha vs Tenten.
The two opponents started off rather conventionally. Sasuke took in his opponent's image. She was a girl, slightly older than him. Her appearance betrayed nothing about her fighting skills. Her sleeveless pink blouse revealed thin but well-toned arms, indicating she was no soft debutante. He'd have to test her first. Kunai and shuriken volleys were exchanged with little effect. It was merely a test of competence. Sasuke closed the distance to test her taijutsu. The cagey fighters looked for exploitable weaknesses. They circled each other in a standoff fashion. Approaching the girl was a chore in itself. His sharingan eye allowed him to avoid or deflect missiles as she threw them during his approach. As he reached her, she took out a concealed scroll, a weapon "poofed" into existence. His attack with a kunai in hand was turned away by her long, three-pronged dagger – or sai as Sasuke recalled. He pressed onward, trying to gain her measure in taijutsu. Disappointed, but not unexpected, Sasuke was deadlocked with the girl in this regards. "Her team seems to specialize in taijutsu."
Tenten found a new sense of respect for the rookies this year. Fighting the Uchiha was nearly as difficult as fighting her teammate, the Hyuuga genius Neji. His next attack came with ninja wires. He used hand-to-hand combat to slowly lay the wire around her before pulling taut. When he did, she was ready. With a calmness borne of experience – at least in her mind – she easily substituted out of the wires. The boy was relentless. As soon as she turned to face him again, her vision was filled by the sight of a ball of flame coming at her. She produced another scroll from whence came a kanabou. The giant club was like an oversized baseball bat with metal plates, studs, or spikes adorning the fat end. Its girth easily absorbed the fireball, turning it into a blazing mallet. With it, she charged the younger genin.
The monstrous weapon she wielded was at odds with her petite stature. That didn't stop her from wielding the weapon with deadly grace as Sasuke dodged and ducked for his life. The flaming weapon was an instant kill if it were to strike him. She hurled the massive weapon at him. It spun end over end like a caber. In concert with the weapon, she threw a kunai trailing an explosive tag at her own weapon. Sasuke could see this clearly, but was only fast enough to roll to the side. The kunai hit the kanabou and the explosive tag detonated. The weapon was destroyed entirely. As close as he was, Sasuke was bombarded by a hail of splinters and hot metal studs. It hurt, but wasn't crippling at all. What was crippling was the haze of smoke from the flaming hunks of wood around him. Some light throwing weapons pierced the veil of smoke and a shuriken hit him in the shoulder. The rest he avoided. He knew he had to get away, so he made a mad dash to an emptier sector of the 'arena' opposite where they'd been fighting.
"This is getting ridiculous." Tenten thought. "I never thought I'd have to use so many weapons on a rookie. I guess it's time for my final attack." The girl produced a couple of sizable scrolls, and looked at Sasuke with pity in her eyes.
Sasuke understood she was planning something big. His wounds were starting to wear on him, numerous as they were. Her attack came from the scrolls she held. She twirled them as weapons of every description rained down on him in a wall of steel. There was nowhere to run. In a gambit reminiscent of Naruto's durable style, Sasuke ran at the wall of steel. He picked the weakest point in the barrage – a section of shuriken and senbon – and ran through it. He deflected those projectiles heading for vital points, and let the rest of the projectiles score flesh wounds. The shock of seeing him run through her weapons shocked her for a split second. Sasuke was upon her as the shock wore off and simply stabbed her over where her liver was. It was a deep wound. Blackened blood pooled underneath her after she had lost consciousness from the sudden drop in blood pressure caused by the wound. Medics rushed to stabilize her as the proctor announced Sasuke's victory.
Sasuke caught the glare of Neji Hyuuga as he rejoined the crowd. "I only did that because she was good. Should take it as a compliment." Sasuke said with a slight smirk. Maito Gai, the jounin sensei for the two vanquished combatants plus Neji, looked like he was about to have an apoplexy. He turned an almost sickly shade of green to match his clothing while Kakashi gave his eye smile at full crinkle. The next match was announced: Shikamaru Nara vs Kankuro of the Desert.
The Sand ninja was furious by the time Shikamaru made it down to the 'arena' floor at his usual slugging pace. "Ready yet?" The proctor asked sardonically.
"What a drag, this guy looks like he wants to kill me." Though not particularly motivated, Shikamaru did want to win. Bowing out so close to the final stage by forfeit would have earned him a scolding from just about every woman he knew. "Alright, let's get on with this." He drawled.
Shikamaru was about the least intimidating ninja one could come across. He was scrawny, for a ninja, with a vacuous expression borne of inattentiveness. His ratty black hair was tied back in a wild ponytail. It was hard to take him seriously, so Kankuro didn't.
The Sand ninja immediately unpacked his weapon and went to work. The black-clad ninja's habit was to carry around a combat puppet, wrapped in bandages, on his back. In Konohagakure, he was among strangers who had no idea what it was, covered as it was. The wrappings were torn, revealing a gnarly looking mannequin with segmented limbs and a think body. Kankuro sent the puppet out to attack the wimpy looking kid.
For his part, Shikamaru used his intelligence to great effect. His evasive skills were top notch as he predicted the puppet's attack patterns and never let it get close to him. The machine was saturated with projectiles and blades. Acutely aware that the puppet's tricks could be anything, Shikamaru kept evading and watching with keen interest. He had plans for dealing with gas, poison, blades, elemental weapons, and so forth, but it would be of greater benefit to learn specifically what his opponent could do. Also, the Nara genius made a point of documenting the puppeteer's movements. The Sand ninja seemed to be doing little more than moving his fingers. "That's the control mechanism."
Shikamaru finally knew how he would defeat the older genin. First, however, he had to slow down the puppet and give himself some time and space. He ran away, putting as much distance as he could between him and the puppeteer. Then he turned and threw a brace of kunai at the controller. Shikamaru's opponent was quick to withdraw his puppet and intercept the projectiles before they could land. Now, with the benefit of time and space, Shikamaru used his family's Kagemane no jutsu. The 'arena' was lined by balconies on all sides, casting shadows as the room was lit by ceiling lights. The silhouettes of the other candidates added even more shadow all around. The Kagemane no jutsu easily captured the Sand ninja. With preternatural calm, as if he had planned this – which he had, Shikamaru deftly manipulated the older genin. The puppeteer was now the puppet as the Leaf ninja walked him over to where Tenten's weapons had landed from the previous match. He bent his knees, preparing to jump, and launched himself in the air. At the apex of the jump, Kankuro was suspended above the graveyard of weapons. Shikamaru cancelled his technique and let Kankuro fall on the weapons.
Kankuro recovered enough to avoid doing a belly flop onto the weapons, but there was no way to avoid getting hurt. He landed on his feet, atop a shuriken and a senbon. He howled in pain as he was agonizingly hobbled. Small weapons though they were, his entire weight pushed them clean through the soles of his feet. Having hobbled his foe greatly, Shikamaru casually walked up to him and put a kunai to his throat, forcing him to forfeit.
The scoreboard flashed the names of the next pair of fighters: Chouji Akimichi vs Temari of the Desert.
The match was hardly fair. She was a beautiful femme fatale, armed with her massive metal fan, against a boy barely acquainted with the realities of ninja life. Even their appearances betrayed the wide chasm in their skills. Temari's off-white tunic cinched by a red sash was clean and she well groomed. Her lustrous head of hair was controlled by four ponytails. She sported an immaculate appearance that could only be accompanied by a fastidious nature. In contrast, Chouji's mess of hair was capped by strange headgear, letting out two wild tufts of hair. He wore generic ninja shorts with a t-shirt and green vest. It was all loose and flowing, suggesting the boy put more thought into eating than showing an air of professionalism. This match pitted a predator against a boy who would only attack with the intent to kill if he were angered. Even then, attacking in anger meant little control. On the other hand, she was as savvy as they come. Her measured actions were effective and controlled. Chouji flailed about with his clan techniques, transforming his body into a meaty boulder to squash his enemy after she insulted his girth. She calmly dodged until Chouji had exhausted himself, then she blew him around like a rag doll with her wind release techniques. A blow to the back of the head with her metal implement ended it unquestionably.
The next match featured the last Sand genin against Kiba Inuzuka. After having witnessed the red head's prowess in the forest, Kiba was understandably intimidated. Marshalling his courage, he stepped into the ring to test his mettle. The dog trainer observed his opponent with a new eye for detail. He wore black pants and short-sleeved shirt with mesh peeking out underneath. His eyes were rimmed in black. Kiba looked down to see standard shinobi sandals. His enemy also wore the white feathery cloth of desert peoples. The strangest, and most relevant thing Kiba could detect, was that this deranged killer smelled like nothing but sand. It was like the boy was made of sand, no human scent accompanied the scent of silica.
When the match started, Kiba knew he had to bring every conceivable advantage he had to bear against the Sand ninja. He immediately fed his dog – Akamaru – a soldier pill. The soldier pill was, in reality, a performance enhancing drug full of stimulants and nutrients. The dog's fur grew red and its countenance changed to that of a more aggressive, feral animal. Not done, Kiba and his dog performed what they called Juujin bunshin – or man-beast clone – turning Akamaru into a feral version of himself. The pair then attacked.
As with the rest of his life, Gaara could think of little else than how he could rend his enemies and drain their lifeblood with his sand. Long ago, someone close to him betrayed him. He learned then that only he would love himself. By killing all others, he was assuring his continued existence against those that might think to take it away from him. It also served the function of sating some … thing… inside of him. This thing had never forsaken him the way his loved one did. It would not forsake him now either. The feral ninja came close to attack him. Gaara briefly took in the sight of the grey-coated and fur-line vermin attacking him. He internally sneered at his piteous attempts to weigh his existence against Gaara's. He'd let them think they could win for a while. "Mother always liked to play with her food…"
For Kiba, it had been a disheartening battle. Every strike he could muster was met by a shield of sand. "I don't think Akamaru or I even touched this guy." Indeed, his opponent was completely unperturbed in his own little world. God forbid he ever wake from it and actually fight back.
Unfortunately, for Kiba, he did just then. As Kiba and Akamaru ran another sortie on their desiccated target, the tables were turned on them. Instead of merely blocking his strikes, the sand gave. His clawed, curled fingers dug into the soft sand. When he had sunk his arm in up to the elbow, the sand compressed again, trapping him. Akamaru had similar difficulties. The rest of Gaara's sand crept in on the duo to envelop them. Fearful for his and his dog's life, Kiba surrendered. "I forfeit." The sand continued until Kiba could feel the fine grit all over him and his vision became completely covered.
Outside the quartz cocoon, there was much commotion as the watching jounin leapt into action to free their own. Up on the balcony, Naruto drew and nocked his bow. He knew that if the jounin could free Kiba, it would be unlikely he could, but it never hurt to be prepared.
After a word with the Hokage, the Sand team's jounin sensei came down to try to talk his student out of doing something foolish. The Sunagakure jounin looked intimidating enough in his uniform and mysterious head coverings, but it had become apparent Gaara regarded nearly everyone like ants. "Please Gaara, don't start an incident. You are embarrassing your father and your village." A long silence ensued. If someone had so much as sneezed then, there was likely to be a massacre one way or another. Whatever shred of good sense Gaara retained asserted itself just in time.
"Fine."
To return the situation to normalcy, Hayate quickly proceeded to the next match. The scoreboard turned up two names among a shortening list. Ino Yamanaka vs Sakura Haruno.
Naruto gave his teammate a reassuring smile as if to say you got this. That was as much as he could manage. He was surprised by his own subdued reaction towards his long-standing crush. He expected a much more enthusiastic send-off. The truth dawned on him that he wanted both contestants to do equally well. For an orphan who had far too few close relationships in his life, a little time spent together went a long way. The couple of times he had bumped into Ino Yamanaka, after they'd become genin, he'd spent a good portion of his day with her rather than go off on his own business. Comparatively, Sakura Haruno was on his team. They'd defied death together, even if she admittedly hadn't done much she still had been there. "Great. Desperation, thy name is Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto thought self depreciatingly. "Just a handful of heart to heart episodes and I'm under the sway of an unrequited love triangle. Whatever, at least they're friends of some sort. Better than what I usually do... Iruka, how did you put up with a knucklehead like me?"
While Naruto was lost within his thoughts, the match had started. Sakura had a look of grim determination and radiated a new attitude of steely determination. This wasn't lost on Ino Yamanaka. She'd been watching the matches just like everyone else and had come to some unique conclusions. "Sakura-chan looks like most of the contestants that have fought before… like they're ready to put their opponents in a blender and set it to liquefy. Also, Naruto and Sasuke looked amazing, there's no way she would be on their team and not learn a thing. I'm going to have to fight dirty." Luckily for her, a plan came to mind immediately. It was devious beyond all reckoning. "The only useful skill I have is my shintenshin, and there's no way she's going to sit still and let me get her. I have to use it on a stationary target… let's make this obvious for her."
Sakura saw her old friend smirk and suddenly felt a little less sure of herself. She was confident she was now determined enough to beat the blond "pig's namesake" to a pulp. However, experience had taught her that shit happens. Her friend made a familiar hand formation, signaling she was about to use one of her family's techniques. As an old friend, she recalled their time together as children. Ino was from a fairly prominent clan that used chakra to fuel mentally themed techniques. The obvious application being that they took over people's minds. Her blond friend had no qualms about sharing what she would be capable of one day… a young kunoichi's vanity.
"Shintenshin" Ino called out. Sakura, in a sudden panic, threw herself sideways to avoid having her mind controlled like a puppet. She rolled to her feet to see her old friend and current rival slumped against the wall, seemingly knocked out. Before she could celebrate, she felt a blow to the side of her head and blacked out.
The assembled throng looked down in confusion. One who was supposed to be a bystander in the match – one Naruto Uzumaki – had jumped down from the viewing balcony and knocked out his teammate. It made no sense for most of them, although the jounin spectators figured it out soon enough.
Naruto raised his hand. "I'm Ino Yamanaka." The wrong gendered blonde claimed. The proctor looked over towards where the Hokage stood viewing the match.
"Is that allowed sir?" The proctor asked, thoroughly confused.
"I suppose." The old man said. "Yamanaka mind techniques aren't limited to taking over enemies. They can benefit allies or conscript neutrals as well. I suppose, for the purpose of these exams, we can count spectators as 'part of the environment'. The use of which is quite legal."
Ino Yamanaka, out of both respect for her friend and expediency, chose not to delve into his memories. Instead, she went straight for motor control to use the whiskered boy as a weapon against her rival. As she released her hold over her blond bludgeon, she wondered with mild intensity at what secrets she'd left alone.
Ino reawakened to find herself gripped tightly by what had been her puppet a minute earlier. "We need to talk." He said, pointing upward. They both reached the viewing balcony again when he pushed her into a corner, worried look in his eyes. "What did you see while you were in there?" He asked, tapping his head.
The boy had a hand upon her shoulder, its tight grip held her in place. "That hurts, Naruto, let me go." She struggled.
"I have to know." He said more forcefully. "What did you learn?"
She looked and still saw the worry. He wasn't all that angry, but he was afraid. Coming from a family that could take jaunts inside of people's minds, she could tell how people felt by looking at them. Naruto made no effort to hide his emotions. "I don't know what you're afraid of. I didn't learn anything." He looked at her a while longer, until he was sure she was telling the truth. As he let go, she gave him a stinging slap on the cheek. "Do that again, though, and I'll be expecting dinner and a movie." She smirked, walking off. A flustered Naruto walked off towards his own team's place.
Once Naruto had regained his place, the next pair of chuunin candidates had already taken the ground floor. Hinata Hyuuga vs Neji Hyuuga.
The next two fighters looked eerily similar from the outside. They had light complexions contrasting with dark hair of differing hues. Their eyes were unnatural milky pools without pupils. She wore a cream colored jacket over dark blue pants. His color scheme was similar, a khaki jacket over dark brown shorts. Any thoughts of equality were shattered in a comparison of their demeanor.
To those who knew them, not much was expected of this fight. Naruto had never really delved into the current politics of Konohagakure's clans. He was informed of the basic principles by Ebisu, but hadn't taken this particular lesson to heart yet. "Kakashi-sensei, what's going on? They look pretty similar. And I've never asked Hinata about her family before." Naruto asked, making a leap of logic. He figured that two people of the same clan had to be related and have history. This period in his life saw him correct more often than ever.
"They're cousins." Kakashi told him simply. "This could be ugly. Hinata is part of the main family of the Hyuuga. They control the clan. Neji belongs to the branch family. They're subservient to the main family. I've heard from Gai that Neji is the resentful type."
"That sounds kinda off to me. Hinata never showed any signs of superiority when we were at the academy. She was probably the nicest person there. Why would he be pissed at her?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi shrugged. "He's just displacing his anger from the whole main family onto her. What makes it ugly is that, as you've said, Hinata is nice. Neji, on the other hand, is a stone cold genius with a year of experience on his cousin."
Below, Neji seemed to grow while Hinata shrank from his presence. "I'll spare you the shame of a piteous defeat, Hinata-sama. Just forfeit. We both know you don't have the resolve for a fight of any sort. You were too gentle to stand up to your little sister. You were too unsure of yourself to excel as a kunoichi. You try to avoid conflict and agree with everyone. Face it, this is who you are. And I am a genius, perfectly willing to fight and test myself. You can't change our fate, main and branch. You can't change what will happen; if you fight, you will lose." The elder Hyuuga smirked, knowing his words would have more impact on his cousin than mere words should have on anyone else.
Not once did Hinata interrupt the defamation of her fighting reputation. How could she? It was mostly true. Her internal disparaging of her own character was interrupted from the peanut gallery.
"Hey asshole," Naruto called out, "you're giving some good reasons why she should wipe the floor with you." Naruto gestured challengingly at the older genin. "It takes more balls to care for how other people feel than it does to cry about fate while stroking off. She should beat the shit out of you because she has a good reason to fight. She's got people to stand up for and make 'em proud. You're a bully beating up kids to make yourself and your little dick feel better. Do it, Hinata, fight him and prove that kind people are strong too."
"Shut up, loser, you know nothing about my pain!" Neji yelled as retort.
Naruto was still equally furious. "That's just it. It's your pain. The easiest fucking thing in the world is to pay attention to your own troubles. That's why Hinata is better than you. She doesn't let her troubles change the way she treats others." Naruto thought about his stance and knew he was being at least a little facetious. "She does let her pain guide her actions. It makes her meek. But at least she doesn't use it as an excuse to treat others like shit. I'll support her any day of the week before this bastard."
"That's enough." A small, stuttering voice broke through the argument. "Let's fight, Neji-niisan. Let me try to change how you look at the world. Let me try to change the way you look at me…"
The petite girl engaged her more adroit cousin in a deadly dance. Their movements were all fleet and practiced, especially the arms. The impacts were slight, but the well-informed knew they mattered. After minutes of graceful combat, Neji slipped past Hinata's guard and landed a touch on the valley between her developing breasts. She felt the pain of the contact and coughed a little blood. "That was lucky. It must have nicked a capillary in the lung and not a major blood vessel."
In the stands, Naruto instinctively knew he was watching something informative. The blows they delivered to each other seemed to slight to cause internal bleeding. Something about their style was more than meets the eye. Kakashi seemed to sense his confusion and supplied the answer. "The Hyuuga fight by expelling chakra and piercing into the enemy's internals. That's why it's called Gentle Fist. Their eyes can see chakra pathways and hit them to cause damage."
Hinata fought back, landing her own touch. Neji seemed unaffected to her shock. "I've disabled the tenketsu in your arms." He tauntingly revealed to her. Drawing up her sleeve, she could see chakra burn marks. He spoke the truth. Her chances of victory were small in the beginning, now they were nonexistent. Daring to hope, she fought on. In a moment that actually shocked her enemy, she gained an advantageous position for a moment. Instead of trying to land a Gentle Fist strike, she balled her fist and swung. It connected, leaving a welt on her cousin. He was tough, however. It merely enraged him.
The match degenerated into the scenario of Neji slowly beleaguering his younger cousin. He landed a few more touches to dangerous regions of her thoracic cavity. Bloodied and wearied, she eventually succumbed. But she fought spiritedly enough. No one could fault her for losing against the same style practiced by a boy with a year of experience on her. That didn't seem to impress her conqueror, however.
"That's what happens when a loser tries to be something they're not." He smirked up at Naruto.
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "She did more than you thought she would. You thought she wouldn't even fight. Look what happened, she slugged you across the face. She may not be stronger than you, but it wasn't you who deserved to win. I'll finish what she started. That's a promise."
The preliminaries were complete. The remaining contestant, besides the day's winners, was Shino Aburame – who received a bye due to Kabuto's forfeiture. Before leaving, the chuunin candidates were shown the bracket that would be used for the final stage. It was a perfectly even bracket with the fighters arranged in such order: Temari of the Desert, Ino Yamanaka, Neji Hyuuga, Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara, Sasuke Uchiha, Gaara of the Desert, and Shino Aburame.
They were then informed that they would have a month to prepare for possibly the most publicized event of their lives. Naruto reflected on how he had a lot he needed to accomplish.