To Become A Chunin
Chapter 21
First Semi-Final
"And now, for your enjoyment, the first semi-final battle. Hanabi Hyuuga of the Village Hidden in the Leaves... against... Naruto Uzumaki of the Village Hidden in the Leaves." Anko's announcement received thunderous applause. Many in the audience remembered the fight between Neji and Naruto and wanted to see if it was a fluke. Rumor was that Hanabi was an even greater genius than her cousin, and her last battle had simply confirmed that opinion. Many remembered that recently Hyuuga won two tournaments in a row and seemed invincible. "Begin."
Two hundred clones appeared immediately and quickly encircled Hanabi. Half jumped high in the air. The rest charged from ground level. As one, they each threw two shuriken and and a kunei. Whirling arms and flashing hands deflected six hundred weapons, many of which exploded clones. When the smoke cleared, fewer than eighty were left. Hanabi was untouched.
As the clones charged they started a conversation. "Well, Hanabi, it appears that" (poof) "you are" (poof) "every bit as talented" (poof) "as Neji and Hinata." (poof)
She turned slightly, coincidently so that the only Hyuuga in the stands able to see her lips were Hiashi, Neji and Hinata. "Thank you, Naruto-senpai. You have been a great influence in my life. When I was young, I assumed my life was preordained. My sister was weak and I would be chosen to lead the main house, as was my right. Then you defeated Neji and my world collapsed. I knew there was no such thing as destiny."
Neji- "Your destiny is to lose to me. There's no doubt."
Naruto- "We won't know until it's over... Thinking that destiny is all decided because of
that is a huge mistake... There's no way I'll lose to a coward who's always
whining about destiny."
Neji- "People are born burdened under a destiny they cannot oppose..."
Naruto- "I don't know about this Hyuuga destiny or hatred or whatever, but if it's too
much for you, then... when I become Hokage, I'll CHANGE THE HYUUGA."
A clone stopped just outside Hanabi's reach. "Then you were wrong about more than one thing. Hinata is not weak. She is as strong as anyone I know."
Hinata bit her finger. Kiba jumped. "What? Did something happen? I didn't see anything."
The clones resumed the attack. Hanabi admitted, "I know now. That is half of the problem. I love my sister. I don't want anything to happen to her... or me."
"So what's" (poof) "the other half?" (poof)
"After your fight with Neji, I decided that you were the one... I'm going to marry." Hinata squealed, then choked. Neji pounded her on the back.
(poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof)
The clone screamed, "Now Just One Darn Minute! I may be as brave and pervy as the next guy, but if you think I'm going to have Hiashi and the whole Hyuuga Clan after me for messing around with the eleven year old daughter of the Main family, you are as crazy as all the rest of 'em."
Hanabi made a sour face. "Oh yuck. You are pervy. Not now silly. Besides Hinata is the one who is in love with you."
"Whaaaat??" (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof) (poof)
Hinata squealed and bit her finger until it bled. Kiba and Shino stared at her. "What??"
The clones were forgetting to even try to fight. "Stop that!!" (poof) "What are you talking about?" (poof) "When?" (poof) "What do you?" (poof) "OK, enough." (poof) "What's this about something happening to you two?" (poof)
"It's not that Father doesn't love Sister. I was always his favorite. Until you and Neji, he never even looked for strength in her. When she started completing difficult assignments, he was proud, but he did not acknowledge her. When she not only passed the chunin exam, but won the tournament, he did not even acknowledge her at the Hyuuga victory party." A tear ran down Hinata's cheek.
The clones were perplexed. "Why? To have a father" (poof) "and not be" (poof) "acknowledged." (poof) "Why would he not?" (poof)
"Because of me. If he acknowledges Hinata as a worthy shinobi and heir, I will be sealed." Hinata was openly crying. Kiba had an arm around her shoulder, without understanding. Akimaru whined.
The clones finally understood. "You mean that bird cage" (poof) "tattoo thingy." (poof)
"Yes, the Bird In A Cage Curse Seal. The reason I received permission to take the chunin exam at eleven was that if I am not a chunin before age twelve, the elders will force Father to acknowledge Hinata and I will be sealed. If I win he can continue to pretend he is not sure she is worthy and protect us both for a while longer." Hiashi dropped the byakugan and put his head in his hands.
"Geesh Hanabi." (poof) "I swear" (poof) "when I become Hokage," (poof) " I'll change the Hyuuga." (poof) "In case you haven't noticed, you defeated 199 clones in hand to hand combat. I think the crowd has had enough of a show. Prepare to defend yourself." (poof)
Hanabi scanned the arena for traps. Naruto stood alone, his chakra network charged full now that all the clones had returned, red chakra suppressed but still visible behind its seal. A clone appeared and started spinning chakra in his hand. Hanabi took a pose, arms spread front and back. Blue chakra became visible around both.
The clone stood still while Naruto yelled "Rasengan" and charged.
Hanabi began to turn and screamed, "Kaiten, Heavenly Spin," becoming a blur.
Ultimate weapon, unstoppable chakra, against ultimate defense, designed to knock away chakra. The explosion was immense, forcing Anko to retreat. Hanabi went bouncing backwards. Naruto was blasted past the clone and smashed a hole a meter deep in the arena wall. The clone puffed.
Hanabi staggered to her feet and ran to where the smoke from the clone still lingered. She spoke loud enough for the stunned audience to hear. "You are defeated, Naruto-kun. You cannot continue after sustaining that amount of damage. I do not wish to injure you further."
He coughed up blood. "You Hyuuga (cough) always want me to quit too soon." He exploded in smoke.
Hanabi spun around, byakugan straining. "Replacement, no. A shadow clone with 100 chakra. Impossible. Where?" Two hands grabbed her ankles and dragged her underground. Shocked, only her head showing she looked up at Naruto. "Earth jutsu. When? You are not even dirty. You were hidden the whole fight!"
He knelt down. "You see, as much as Yamato-sensei tried, he couldn't teach me much Earth jutsu. Never did make a real rock shuriken. There was one thing I was good at."
Yamato- "Konohamaru, where did Naruto go to?"
Konohamaru- "He said he was going to practice the Groundhog Technique inside the
cliff, but it has been awful long. I'm starting to get worried."
Yamato- "Maybe you better go find him. People new to going underground can become
disoriented and panic. He could be lost or in trouble. Come get me if you need
help."
Soon Konohamaru came walking out of the cliff carrying Naruto.
Yamato- "What happened? Is he hurt? Did something happen?"
Konohamaru (disgusted)- "He went in there and went to sleep."
Naruto didn't wake until Konohamaru dropped him onto the ground.
"Maybe it is all the holes I've been pounded into or something, but I was completely comfortable underground. So do you want to try wiggling out of there some more, or do you give up?"
Hanabi looked away, eyes moist. "I'm beat. Sensei, he beat me. I'm sorry Father. I'm sorry Hinata. I couldn't defeat Naruto-kun, and now it's over."
Naruto lifted her out of the ground and up into his arms. "Just put your face in my shoulder. 'A shinobi never shows his tears'."
Anko announced, "His opponent having surrendered, the winner of the first semi-final match is Naruto Uzumaki of the Village Hidden in the Leaves."
To thunderous applause, Naruto carried the exhausted child-shinobi off in his arms.
-- --
Kotetsu shook his head. "OK, when I'm wrong, I'm wrong. That kid had it all worked out ahead of time. All those clones were nothing but a distraction to lead her into an ambush."
Izumo agreed. "That was some type of super-clone to survive that explosion. And who taught him Earth Jutsu?"
-- --
He waved Sakura and Ino away and bent his head to where his mouth was hidden from almost the whole crowd. "This is only one setback. Don't give up hope yet. Think of what the crowd saw. You won the first fight easily. You knocked down 600 weapons in three or four seconds, including over 100 sent back to the opponents. You defeated an army of 202 clones in hand-to-hand combat. You overcame the Fourth Hokage's jutsu, which most of the crowd had only ever heard of. And you lost to an ambush most chunin would never expect. I think the lords will want you as a chunin. It doesn't hurt that being a Hyuuga, they already think you should be elite."
Hanabi lifted her head from his shoulder. "Thank you, Naruto-kun, I'm such a child. I will continue to have hope until the day I am sealed. If that is my fate, I will face it as a shinobi, without tears. It's just... sometimes I feel like a little girl who should be playing dolls and tea parties. Tomorrow I will be a warrior again."
Hinata raised her chin, tears still running from her eyes. "Thank you, Naruto-kun, for your wise words. I too shall never give up hope for myself and my little sister."
Kiba had enough. He jumped up. "Naruto! What do you mean? What is he saying? What IS going on, Hinata?!"
Next: Chapter 22
Second Semi-Final