A/N: Double chapter bonus! As of 28FEB17 I've completely rewritten the first chapter; go check it out if you haven't.

Sinister Chakra

Book 2: The Chunin Exams

Chapter 7: Preliminary Rounds, Part 1

Hinata Hyuga

"Fight!"

Wasting not a single moment, Hinata sprang forward with a chakra enhanced leap and immediately closed the distance between her and Neji. Without a doubt, she knew that Neji was superior at close range combat, but if there was a chance she could catch him off guard and end the battle, then she would take it. With an open palm full of chakra, she struck forward at his unguarded chest with more than enough force to kill.

Smack!

Perhaps not shockingly, Neji was able to smack her palm away with his own chakra infused hands at the last moment, not before his own hair flew back from the sheer strength of her chakra. Already planning her next move, she worked with the momentum that Neji gave her and continued to spin with her arm, dropping to the ground and performing an effortless sweep kick.

Perhaps one of the only advantages she had over Neji was that during her time with the Hyuga, she never had the Byakugan to help her train with Jyuuken, or the Hyuga's Gentle Fist style taijutsu. She had only been able to memorize where the larger chakra points were in the body, as most everyone's chakra points where slightly different and it took actually being able to see them with the Byakugan in order to close them off precisely. So rather than train with pure Jyuuken, Hinata was forced to mix in regular taijutsu, coming up with her own style of the Gentle Fist. Her version required getting her opponent off balance so she could have a better chance of striking a major chakra point. Luckily for her, Neji and the other Hyuga never trained against a fighting style quite like hers.

Forcing him to break his traditional stance, Neji had to quickly jump back in order to avoid getting swept off his feet. Not even given him a chance to fully land, Hinata leapt forward again with two fingers extended, preparing to hit his shoulder joint.

With impressive speed, Neji managed to actually grab her hand by the wrist before her blow landed, something that never happened in a Jyuuken fight. Her eyes widened in surprise as he smiled at her, his face not far from her own.

"I see your eager to fight," he snarled, straining with the force of her attack. "What happened to you, Hinata? Last time I checked, you weren't a Hyuga, and you didn't have a Byakugan! Although, I can't say I'm completely taken by surprise; you've always been nothing but trash, exactly like every other one of my clansmen!"

Before she could react, he let go of her wrist and began to spin, faster than her eyes could track. With her Byakugan activated, she saw his body erupt with chakra, all of his chakra points igniting, and before she knew it, she was blasted off of her feet and sent flying across the room.

"Rotation!"

Gritting her teeth, Hinata managed to flip herself so that she landed feet first before connecting with the ground. Somewhat graceful in landing, her feet continued to skid across the ground until she came to a stop, watching in awe as Neji continued to spin, a giant blue ball of visible chakra encircling him, preforming one of the most advanced techniques known to the Hyuga.

She couldn't help herself; she quickly glanced up at the balconies around her, trying to look for her team, trying to look for Naruto-kun. Eventually she found them, with Kakashi-sensei looking onward with his Sharingan activated, Sasuke doing the same, and finally Naruto, leaning forward over the rail with his knuckles white with force, gripping onto the edge.

"Come on, Hinata-chan!" Naruto actually shouted out when their eyes met. "Kick his ass, you can do it!"

Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, but her eyes fell on her opponent once more as she fell into her fighting stance. She still felt the embers in her chest glowing at the thought of Naruto, ignited now from the sound of his voice, cheering her on. She could do this. She would do this!

Neji excelled at close combat. So did she, but he just happened to be even better and more dangerous than herself at it. Now that the element of surprise and initiative was out of control, she just needed to keep her distance and think. What water jutsu did she know? If she could just keep her distance and attack from afar, then-

"Air Palm!"

To her great surprise, Neji unveiled yet another high level Hyuga technique as he whipped his hand forward and a shimmering wave of wind and chakra pushed forward. It was all she could to bring her arms in front of her and push chakra into them before she was pounded by the force wave, being thrown off her feet yet again. With an involuntary yelp, she was cast even farther back, colliding with the far fall, the breath knocked out of her.

By the time she inhaled again, Neji had appeared in front of her, her eyes seeing his hands aglow with chakra, ready to strike.

"This is what you deserve," he hissed before striking out directly at her face, clearly intending to end the fight right then and there.

She managed to move her head just in time, involuntarily flinching as the Neji's fist broke through the wall behind. Not giving her time to think, Neji struck again out of anger with his other hand, though just like last time, she was able to twist in just the way that allowed his hand to miss her and break through the wall yet again.

Neji continued to barrage her against the wall with unrelenting abandon. She was able to knock aside most blows and dodge the rest, and every time Neji missed her, his fists broke through the wall behind her causing it to crumble down around them. Finally, Neji struck at her with an open palm so fiercely, that even though she was able to push it aside, the resulting force of chakra actually punched a hole completely through the tower wall.

"Enough dancing," Neji spat out at her, taking a step back and forming a familiar stance.

"Revolving Heaven; Rotation," Hinata thought to herself even as she tried to catch her breath. At a distance this close, Hinata would be grinded against his chakra and the wall behind her before she could manage to jump out of the way. No dodging this time. What could she do? What could she do?!

Suddenly, in her stillness, the world began to slow around her as a beam of morning sunlight struck her back through the hole Neji had made in the wall behind her. She could instantly feel the forest behind her, the energy of nature flowing into her like it had during her fight with Orochimaru. She had no idea how to summon this energy; no idea how she could control it completely, but somehow, instinctively, she knew that she could do something with it. And something was better than nothing, right before she was about to be grounded to dust.

She folded her hands together in the Earth hand-seal, feeling her chakra and blood boiling with energy inside of her, combining in mysterious ways as adrenaline pumped through her veins.

"Rotation-"

"No you don't!"

Raising her own voice, Hinata unleased her chakra as wooden branches shot from the wall behind her before Neji could fully complete his circle. Not prepared to defend against anything like this, Neji was launched off of the ground himself and sent tumbling back to the center of the room, managing to roll into a kneeling position and slide to a stop. His eyes were widened in surprise, able to see the complexity of her merging chakras inside of her.

Not relenting, Hinata continued to push chakra through her seal, her hair blowing like crazy as more thick branches continued to emerge out of the forest and through the wall behind her, extending with her will and reaching out to pulverize her opponent.

This time, Neji was quicker, and he was able to complete his circle before the branches could reach him a second time. "Rotation!"

Neji spun, emitting a massive amount of chakra from his body which formed a dense and visible shield of chakra all around him, digging into the ground and destroying any branch that tried to reach him. Realizing that her attack wasn't working, Hinata stopped pushing chakra into her seal, and the rest of the branches stopped growing out of the wall. While Neji was still spinning, Hinata took a moment to look around with her own Byakugan, amazed at what she was seeing in herself and in the world around her.

She could both see and feel a different sort of chakra flowing into her from forest behind her; a chakra she had never even known existed. This wasn't her own chakra! It was actually coming from the forest, coming from nature itself, filling her with such powerful energy that made her feel better and stronger than she ever had before. Not only that, but Hinata was suddenly able to see that chakra flowing around the room itself, even through the stones that made up the tower itself. By the time Neji had stopped spinning, she could see the shattered stones and earth beneath him, and the energy that flowed within, and she knew she could manipulate it.

Taking a knee, Hinata released her seal after gathering more of her own mixed chakra and slammed her hands into the ground, willing her desires to come true. Perhaps no one else in the room would be able to see it besides Neji, but she watched as his eyes tracked her chakra flowing into the ground toward him.

But even though he could see it, he wasn't able to react in time, and before he could move vines shot out of the very ground beneath him, enwrapping his legs and climbing up his body, twisting and constricting him in an instant. The vines continued to grow with her chakra, strong enough to lift Neji up off the ground and into the air, covering his entire body beneath his head.

As he was held in the air, immobilized, Hinata felt triumph surge through her at last. She was almost tempted to gloat, to ask him how he felt now, but she thought better of it. Naruto-kun was watching her after all. Instead, she brought her hands together in the earth seal, the snake seal, once again and pushed her chakra and will into the vines, forcing them to constrict even more. Within seconds, Neji's bones would begin to crack, and he would have no choice but to surrender and-

Her eyes saw it before she could do anything about it. Just like with his Rotation, Neji's chakra points lit up underneath her vines and shot out, cutting through her chakra and releasing the grip around him. Not wasting any time, he began to spin in air, the chakra expanding into a circle once more, destroying her vines in an instant.

Somehow, despite being in mid-air, Neji stopped spinning and used his own chakra to propel himself forward toward her, his face now contorted in anger. So she had broken through his calm façade after all!

This fight had only just started; she was full of a new strange energy, and she was ready to use it! The last thing that she wanted was for Neji to get close to her; summoning her chakra once again, she slammed her palms into the ground and willed for a wall to appear between her and Neji. Sure enough, as soon as she pushed her chakra and will into the ground, and thick wall of wood shot up out of the ground, directly in Neji's path. It was amazing; if she wasn't full of adrenaline and in the middle of a fight, she would stop to appreciate that she could even create such a thing.

Using her Byakugan to track Neji through her wooden obstruction, her eyes widened in amazement when she saw him begin to push chakra out of his body once again and spin in mid-air, performing an aerial Rotation. Incredible!

As soon as his spinning chakra connected with her wall, wood exploded in every direction, the chakra composing it broke apart by Neji's spinning drill. Though his momentum was slowed, Neji continued toward her in the air, landing some yards in front of her once he had stopped spinning. Trying to catch her off guard, he dashed forward with chakra in his feet and hands, rearing to strike.

Hinata didn't bother trying to form another jutsu; there wasn't enough time. Rather, she let the natural energy from outside flow through her and strengthen her chakra, covering her arms and fists. Neji's first strike at her was quick but easy to push aside, almost like there had been no strength behind it. Discovering that she had enough time to counter, she snapped her own arm forward at him, not expecting it to land but hoping that it might create an opening for a follow up attack.

However, when Neji tried to push her attack away, she met with almost no resistance. Her hand reached all the way to his shoulder, and when it connected, he was sent flying backwards across the room like he had been hit by a charging bull, spinning and connecting with one of the walls with a small explosion of broken stone.

Hinata looked down at her own hand in amazement. Had she really just done that? Did this new chakra make her that strong? Her body felt light and quick, but she had knocked away Neji's attack like nothing and pushed through his defenses! She spared another glance up at Naruto, and although she didn't meet his eyes, she allowed herself to nod and be filled with confidence. She could do this!

Naruto

Naruto's mouth was agape as he watched his teammate unleash hell in the fight below. He could hardly believe what he was seeing; Nature Style techniques?! With his Sharingan activated, he could see the miracle of the Senju bloodline at work within Hinata. Water natured chakra was merging with Earth natured chakra to create Nature style. Not only that, but somehow or the other Hinata was managing to suck in some sort of incredible chakra from the forest outside, filling her own system with a golden glow.

"Are you guys seeing this?" he asked Sasuke and Kakashi, without bothering to turn his head and look at them. He could see them nod out of the corner of his eye. "I can't believe she's merging her chakra! She's only just done it for the first time in forest!"

"Naruto-san, your teammate is incredible!" Rock Lee said to his left, alongside Guy-sensei and his other teammate, Tenten. Lee had been his occasional early morning training partner for some time now, so they had ended up standing next to each other by the rails. "I cannot believe what I am seeing! Neji just got hit like never before! Let's go Hinata!"

SMACK!

With a painfully audible sound, Guy-sensei smacked Lee over the head with enough force that the green-clad Genin nearly fell over into the ring himself.

"Lee!" the taller green-clad man bellowed, his eyes determined and looking down to the fight below. "I know that Neji is your long-term rival, and you wish to see him beat, but he is also your teammate, and it is your duty of youth to cheer him on!"

With incredible agility, Lee swung his body back over the rail into a position of attention, saluting his sensei with teary-eyes. "Yes sir, Guy-sensei!" he said, lowering his hand once Guy returned the salute. "I cannot believe I have been so foolish!"

On Naruto's other side, past Sasuke who was right next to him, Kimimaro's team was standing close enough to be earshot. Kimimaro walked up next to them, shaking his head amazement when Neji managed to walk clear of the rubble, seemingly unharmed but breathing heavily.

"What's up, Naruto, long time no see," the young Akatsuki greeted him, leaning on the rails next to Sasuke. "Did you say that she was actually combining her chakra? That's pretty impressive, but it looks like that other guy isn't out yet either. He probably covered his shoulder in chakra before she hit him, otherwise it would've shattered completely."

Naruto greeted back with a brief smile and nod, not wanting to take his eyes off of the battle for too long. He noticed the blue haired girl Guren staring murderous intent at Sasuke, and the other dark haired teammate casually blowing bubbles out of a strange pipe, seemingly oblivious to the fight. Their 'Jonin' sensei, who Naruto had no doubt was not even close to being a Jonin, was leaning against the wall, looking out across the room with strange intensity. This was that same strange white-haired man who had stopped Guren from attacking Naruto and Sasuke at the ramen bar. Back then he was carrying a giant three-bladed scythe. When Naruto followed the man's gaze, he found himself looking over to the other balcony, where the other Akatsuki team was observing the fight. Apart from locking eyes with the other Akatsuki 'Jonin' and getting a strange feeling that made him want to shiver, Naruto shrugged it off and looked back down to the battle below.

Neji had indeed managed to use chakra to shield himself from Hinata's blow, but he still looked pretty beat up nonetheless. If the battle continued to advance like this, Hinata actually had a solid chance of beating him! However, when his crimson eyes turned back to Hinata, he noticed that the golden energy she was absorbing from before seemed to diminish as soon as she began to walk away from the hole in the wall. Neji seemed to notice it as well, because as soon as Naruto turned to look back at him, he had launched forward yet again, aiming his palms at Hinata.

Naruto gripped the rail ferociously as Neji and Hinata continued to trade blows. Neji was no longer easily repelled like he had been the last time; it seemed like that golden energy had filled Hinata with massive strength, but it had vanished as soon as she moved away from the wall. What had happened?

Perhaps sensing herself that she was now fighting was losing battle, Naruto watched Hinata jump back and away from Neji, who sprinted forward in an attempt to keep the battle within close combat. Throwing her hands together in the earth-seal as soon as she had the time, Naruto's Sharingan could just barely see her chakra merging once again. Throwing her arms forward, dozens of sharp spinning leaves shot out right in front of her, flying towards Neji with the intent to shred him into ribbons.

Just like before, Neji didn't have enough time to land and dodge the attack, so instead he shouted out his signature move and spun in the air, a shield of chakra appearing around him not a second too late. The spinning leaves all bounced off of his chakra while he continued to advance. Hinata saw this herself and continued to jump back, still trying to create more distance while simultaneously thinking of a new strategy.

Naruto continued to tightly grip the railing in nervous fashion. What had happened to that golden chakra swirling inside of her? Regardless, as long as she could continue shooting those leaves at Neji, she didn't give her Hyuga opponent a chance to close the distance and attack her with his superior Gentle Fist. Neji would have to continue to use his Rotation; even Naruto could tell from up on the balcony that Hinata was able shoot out those leaves fast enough to catch him if he tried to dodge her.

He resisted the urge to close his eyes in prayer as Neji nearly reached her with his last advance. Come on Hinata-chan, you can do it! Keep it up, Neji is going to slip up eventually!

The battle laid out beneath them was intense to say the least. Neji continued to relentlessly approach Hinata, spinning and deflecting any leaves and vines that shot out to intercept him. Hinata would manage to jump away before he reached her just in time. If either of them slipped up, either Neji would get torn to pieces from the leaves, or Hinata would get her chakra points closed up after being pummeled by Neji. Both of them were beginning to tire; they couldn't keep this up for long. Come on, Hinata, get him, get him, get him, get-

"Water Style: Water Whip!"

With a good distance still between them, Neji threw his hand forward and a thin rope made of water shot out of his palm, reaching the surprised Hinata in an instant. Before she could react, the whip cracked through the air and enwrapped one of her ankles. With a yell, Neji threw his arm up, causing the water whip to rapidly mirror his motion in a wave before reaching Hinata and causing her leg to fly up into the air in front of her. She slammed painfully into the ground before ascending into the air herself, feet first, disoriented and unable to spot Neji and cast another jutsu at him before they finally met once again, in midair.

"No…" Naruto mumbled, his crimson eyes following every movement with detail.

Neji had leapt in the air to close the distance, and when he finally reached Hinata, it was with his hands. Covered in chakra, his slammed in fingers into various points on her upper body before spinning in the air and slamming her into the ground with a kick.

Boom!

Hinata connected with the ground with a terrible sounding crash, using what chakra she could to help shield herself. Water style?! Since when in the hell did Neji actually use elemental ninjutsu? With his eyes tracking his teammate, Naruto knew that Hinata hadn't managed to form a substitution in time; she had actually been slammed into the ground, and Neji had just landed in front of her. This was bad…this was really bad!

Hinata

Hinata's vision was still spinning as she struggled to her knees. Neji had done something that she had never expected him to do; he used ninjutsu, and a water-style elemental release nonetheless. Her strategy had been to keep at a distance from him, where she might avoid his Gentle Fist entirely. As soon as she found out that he had mastered the Air Palm, she knew that she would have to be able to dodge that attack. Lucky for her, the Hyuga's Air Palm wasn't the fastest technique, and she would likely have time to avoid it if she knew it was coming, but then Neji had casted a water jutsu faster than any she had ever seen.

When her eyes were finally able to focus, they narrowed in on the malicious grin on Neji's face who was now standing over her. Just like before, none of the joy in his grin reached his Byakugan; his eyes were empty of anything but hate. Hate for her, no doubt about it.

"How…when did you learn Water Release?" she managed to ask him, her breath ragged as she desperately tried to buy time while she stood up. "The Hyuga Clan would never teach you anything like that."

Neji responded with a kick to her chest, sending her several feet backwards and skidding across the ground. "Of course they wouldn't," he then answered, walking toward her and brushing some of the dirt off of his shirt. "But I stopped believing in the Hyuga Clan's many stupid traditions a long time ago. On a specific night, to be precise. You were actually there; perhaps you can remember what night I'm talking about?"

When he reached her, she had managed to struggle to her feet once again. She tried to push chakra throughout her body, to form ninjutsu, to shield her from attacks, to perform the Gentle First, anything…but nothing came. She could feel the chakra inside of her blocked; Neji's Gentle Fist had hit enough of her major points that she couldn't keep a steady stream of chakra flowing to anywhere that she needed it.

Faster than she could even track, Neji struck her right thigh with a powerful chakra attack, causing her to fall back down to one knee. She couldn't help but shout out in pain. He hadn't even hit a chakra point, he had just struck at her muscle to bring her down.

"Enough games, Hinata," Neji coldly stated. He brought his hands to the back of his head and began to slowly undue the knot on his ninja headband. With care, he removed the headband completely and revealed the dreaded cross that branded his forehead; the infamous Juinjutsu of the Hyuga Clan. The Curse Seal.

Neji held up a finger to the curse mark, perhaps to publicly display it. "You're weak, Hinata. Weaker than I am. You cannot best me in battle, so why don't you show the Hokage firsthand the cruelty of the Hyuga Clan? You could've ended this battle before it even began, so why don't you end it now that you're powerless before me? Show everyone here how disgusting you and the Hyuga really are! Activate it!"

Hinata's couldn't suppress a shiver as she saw the crazy look in Neji's eyes. It was true; she had indeed been taught the Hyuga Clan's Curse Seal jutsu, she knew that she could activate it and cause Neji the most intense pain possible and win this battle in an instant. But…she couldn't possibly do it, could she? What would Naruto say?

Enraged at her lack of response, Neji quickly spun and kicked her in the face, causing her to fall over to side. This was it for her. She was done. She was beaten. She had embarrassed herself before Naruto, and-

"Stand up and activate the seal, Hinata! Stand!"

Her eyes shot open in fear and surprise, that word sending a pulse of fear so strongly through her, stronger than anything she had felt in years. When she looked up at Neji, her vision spinning again, her mind brought her back to all those years ago, to that dreadful night when she had stood before the entire Hyuga Clan. The image of Neji began to flicker, and suddenly, it was him standing over her once again.

"H-Hiashi?" she mumbled out, her voice weak and full of fear.

The look of pure anger that appeared on Neji's face after being called that was one that she would never forget. He grabbed her by the neck and threw her backwards, shouting at her all the while, though she couldn't quite make out the words.

When she connected with the ground, she found herself on the wooden floors of the main Hyuga Hall once again, surrounded by the Clan as Hiashi publicly punished her for directly disobeying his orders and spending time with Naruto Uchiha, and enemy of the Clan.

"Stand," Hiashi commanded at her, having been the one to send her to the ground. Hinata somehow found the strength, aware that she was still in the Chunin Exams, but all she could see was this terrible memory with Hiashi now walking toward her. Though her body was weak, she charged at him, but before she was able to land a single blow Hiashi smacked her wrist away again, this time kicking her in the chest and causing her to fly backwards. She understood what he was doing. Using Jyuuken would end the fight to quickly. He wanted to beat her until she physically couldn't stand, and he wanted to do it the normal way.

"Stand."

Her vision flickered once again and though it was Hiashi who commanded it, it was Neji who was approaching her, perhaps even more enraged than Hiashi had been. But when she blinked away the blood that had dripped into her eyes, she saw her adoptive father once again.

Hinata allowed herself to smile as she stood up again, her legs shaking and her arms heavy. Naruto wouldn't give up now, and neither would she. Naruto believed in her. Naruto had saved her life the day the assassins tried to kill her. He had the option of handing her over and leaving safely, but he ignored what they offered and fought for her life. He had protected her in the Land of Waves. He had pushed her through the first part of the Chunin Exams, as well as the second. And she would do the same for him. She would definitely not forsake his name in front of the Hyuga when he didn't do it in front of Kumo, or Zabuza, or anyone else.

It was a pointless battle, but it was important for Hinata. Because she would finally be able to show Hiashi, and all of the Clan, that it didn't matter that her last name was Senju, or Hyuga, and that Naruto's was Uchiha, but that she would fight for Naruto until the very end.

"I know…" Hinata spoke out loudly, for all the clan to hear. "I know that you are trying to make me beg for forgiveness…you're trying to make me forsake Naruto in front of everyone…but it won't happen. I won't ever beg for forgiveness! Not when I know that being friends with Naruto is the right thing to do!"

When the words left her lips, she saw that Neji understood and was there in her memory with her. He had been there that night, after all. He had been watching and listening to her that night along with everyone else.

"You bitch," Neji snarled at her, grinding his teeth in rage. "So you do remember that night, after all! Naruto was more important to you then, wasn't he? He was more important than my father, who died that night because of you, and because of Hiashi! How dare you call me by that man's name!"

Hiashi ran forward at her and he punched her in the face, causing her to fall to the ground again.

"Stay down, Hinata. Learn when to give up. This fight is over."

"Stand!" Hiashi commanded.

Hinata tried once more to stand, only to be kicked on the ground before she could even straighten herself.

"If you had just accepted defeat, if you had just apologized, if you had just forsaken Naruto, my father would still be alive! Have you learned nothing?! Stay down!"

"Stand!"

This time, Hiashi didn't wait for her, and instead, he pulled her up by her shirt, forcing her on her feet. However, all of this didn't stop Hinata from smiling. Not even the blood which came out of her mouth and trailed down from her forehead. She had made her decision and she was going to stick with it until death.

"Do you even care?" Neji demanded, tears of anger building up in his eyes, years of pent up anger pouring out of him. "Do you even care that your friendship with Naruto and pure immaturity ended up killing my father? Or are we that far beneath you?"

Hinata looked up at him, already on the brink of unconsciousness. Her Byakugan had faded away, not nearly enough chakra left in her to sustain it. "I'm sorry about your father," she managed to mumble to him through cracked and bloody lips, only loud enough for him to hear. "But I will always stand by my decision to defend Naruto. He means more to me than anyone, and I would sooner die than give up in front of him, or forsake him in front of the Hyuga Clan."

Neji threw her down with a look of disgust and turned to look at the proctor. "She's done," she managed to hear him say. "She's hallucinating. This is an exam battle, not a drama show. Call the fight now or I'm going to kill this village's last precious Senju."

Hiashi shook his head as he neared her. "It's truly a shame that you have finally discovered your inner courage tonight."

Hinata made it to her knees by the time Hiashi made it over to her. He brought his hand to the air, and she didn't need a Byakugan to tell that it was covered in powerful chakra. She smiled to herself. She had really done it. She had really defended Naruto until the end, in front of the entire Hyuga Clan. He would be so proud of her…She closed her eyes as she waited for the final blow to knock her out. With this blow, she would prove to the entire Hyuga that it didn't matter how hard they tried to make her hate Naruto, she would never give in.

Because she loved him, and she wanted to make him proud. He had believed in her, and there was no way that she could let him down. She had to prove that she was worthy to stand by his side as a ninja, that they could become Chunin together, and then Jonin…wherever he would go, she had to be strong enough to follow him, and to protect him. She couldn't be left behind, like she had seen so many times. She had to be strong.

Naruto

Tears of anger and confusion fell down Naruto's face as he watched Hinata get beat down in front of everyone. Why didn't the proctor call the fight? And why in the hell didn't Hinata stay down?

"You heard the rules," the proctor stated to Neji loud enough for everyone to hear. "This is a fight to submission, or to the death. We can't make exceptions for a Senju, or we'll lose credibility as a nation. If she's not going to submit, then the fight goes on."

Naruto gripped the rails tighter than ever before as Neji spun around and approached Hinata, who had managed to make it to a standing position once again. She was clearly out of it; after Neji had kicked her out of the air and into the ground, Hinata hadn't been able to stand up without wavering. He just didn't understand why she didn't give up! What was going on inside her head?

Naruto continued to fill with worry as he saw chakra swarm to Neji's hand as he approached the teetering Hinata. He couldn't help but remember years ago, when he had finally gotten Hinata to tell him what had happened to her at the Hyuga Clan. She had decided to defend him, no matter that Hiashi cruelly beat her down. In the end, Neji had actually intervened before Hiashi landed the final blow, and as punishment, Hiashi had used the Hyuga's Curse Seal on Neji. Before long, Neji's father had intervened as well, and Hiashi had ended up killing him in anger.

Thinking back now, Naruto couldn't help but be filled with awe that Hinata would stand up for him. What was she trying to prove? Why would she do this? Why was she continuously looking up at him during this fight?

"Naruto-kun, there's something I just realized about myself," he recalled Hinata saying to him before the fight with Neji. "Naruto-kun, I think that I'm in love with-"

He hadn't had much time to think about it since the fight had started immediately after, but he didn't think he had misheard her. She had said 'love'. She thought that she was in love with…with who? He had barely managed to catch what she had shouted in the middle of the fight, something about not forsaking him. Was she doing this for him? Because he said that he believed in her? Because she loved him?

~ "Naruto! Neji's stance…if you don't intervene now, he's going to kill her. Save the Senju!" ~

Madara's voice interrupted his thoughts, and the urgency behind it left no room for Naruto to think that it was a joke. Madara had never lied to him before. Without any hesitation, he vaulted over the rail and propelled himself off of the wall, landing on the arena ground. Neji's hand was raised and glowing with chakra, his face contorted with anger. Madara was right! But damn it, would he make it in time?

As his Sharingan watched Neji's hand move, he knew where it was headed, and he knew that he wouldn't make it before the blow landed, even as he sprinted forward. Several voices had been raised since he landed, but he didn't care, he only had one thing in mind. He had to save Hinata.

Naruto didn't waste time with hand-seals as he quickly performed his signature jutsu; the kawarimi. Connecting his chakra with Hinata, he activated the jutsu in a heartbeat and substituted himself with her, appearing in front of Neji with a shimmer a wind. With his own hand already raised, he grabbed Neji's striking arm by the wrist, immediately stopping its motion toward his chest.

His eyes connected with Neji's, who was currently shocked but still obviously enraged. Naruto looked down at Neji's hand in front of his heart, and when he looked back up, Neji's anger paled in comparison of his own.

"You were going to kill her," he simply stated, his grip tightening. Rage and power began to flood through him as he understood how close he had just been to losing his friend. Neji's response died in his throat as his Byakugan caught sight of the chakra swirling inside of Naruto. Flaming red chakra began to spread throughout the chakra veins of his body, while a sinister black chakra began to flow up toward his eyes.

~ "Stop, Naruto! If you kill him now, the Leaf will imprison you!" ~

Naruto was unconvinced, and the shock and growing worry on Neji's face did nothing but fuel his anger.

~ "Think clearly, you fool! If you want to fight him so badly, just make it to the final round and you may have your chance. Forget about him; go make sure that the Senju is still alive!" ~

Naruto was finally able to come to his senses and he threw Neji's arm to the side. He took a moment to close his eyes and suppress the rage and power threatening to erupt from inside of him, no doubt coming directly from the Nine Tailed Fox. When he deactivated his Sharingan and opened his eyes again, he found Guy-sensei standing between him and Neji, as well as the proctor close behind. He ignored them and turned, running over to where Hinata was lying on the ground from their substitution.

Kakashi and Sasuke were already on the ground beside her, with the white-robed medics running into the room with a stretcher between them. By the time Naruto reached them, Hinata was already unconscious, still as a stone. A spear of fear shot through his heart.

"She's still breathing, but it's faint," Kakashi explained to the medics who arrived a moment later. Naruto let out the breath that he was holding and could do nothing but stare as Hinata was gently placed on the stretcher and rushed out of the arena. As soon as he could move, he made a move to sprint after her, but Kakashi's hand grabbed his shoulder, holding him in place.

"Naruto," he sharply stated, causing him to turn and look at his sensei, rage building up inside once again. "Your place is here. You haven't fought yet. Let the medic ninja do what they do best. There's nothing you can do right now."

Kakashi turned to look over at Sasuke as well. "You too, Sasuke," he stated, walking them over to the stairs that led up to the balcony again. "Remember that we are ninja. If a comrade falls in battle, it is still up to us to complete the mission. Naruto, I'm incredibly happy that you managed to step in and save Hinata before I could, but the mission must go on now. And that mission is for you to fight in the prelims."

Once they reached their previous spot on the balcony, Kakashi leapt away to the Hokage, who had motioned for him to come. Realizing that Rock Lee was next to him, Naruto turned to look and see if Neji had come up as well, but perhaps unsurprisingly, Neji had been escorted to medics as well to treat his minor injuries.

"Naruto-san…" he heard Rock Lee say, probably trying to comfort him. "I am truly sorry that Neji fought like that. Hinata showed incredible bravery, though. She has truly become a splendid shinobi."

Naruto accepted Lee's words with a forced smile as he slumped against the wall behind him. Sasuke joined him on the ground soon after. Naruto realized that it had been a long time since he had talked with his other best friend, since Sasuke had been unconscious and in medical care for much of the last week.

"You did well, Naruto," Sasuke eventually said, running a worrisome hand through his black hair. "That was a close call. I can't believe Hinata didn't just give up though…and now that you interrupted the fight, I bet you the Hokage is discussing with the other Jonin as to whether you're going to be disqualified."

Naruto scoffed uncaringly. "Good, I rather get disqualified now," he spat out, still full of emotion. "I should've ripped Neji's arm off for that. I would've beat his face in, gotten out of this stupid exam and be able to go see Hinata-chan."

"I don't think that's what she would've wanted," Sasuke eventually responded after giving him a worrying look. "If she put that much effort into winning her fight, probably to impress you, it would have been all for nothing if you disqualified yourself."

Naruto turned to look over at him, concern now on his face. "You really think…you think she did all that to impress me?" he asked, thinking back to his earlier thoughts on her. Damn it, he wished he just had time to sit down and think about all of this!

"Probably," Sasuke shrugged, looking away from him. "I've become great friends with Hinata, Naruto, you know that. But she's felt differently about you since before I even met you. I know you're an idiot when it comes to this type of thing since all the girls hated you in the Academy, but hell…you need to talk sit down and talk with her about this yourself, not with me. Ask her how she really feels, Naruto. She deserves it, especially after this."

How she really feels? "Naruto-kun, I think that I'm in love…"

As Kakashi jumped back to them moments later with a tired but happy look in his visible eye. Several other Jonin dispersed from meeting with the Hokage as well, now helping clear out all of the rubble from the previous fight. "Yo," he casually greeted them, with a small wave.

"Medic-nin have radioed in and reported that Hinata's heartbeat is stable. And it looks like you're still in, Naruto!" he calmly announced. Naruto sighed in a strange mixture of elation, disappointment and relief. Kakashi reached his hands down to both of them and helped them stand up. "They obviously declared Neji the winner, but since it appeared that you only stepped in at the last moment when Hinata was clearly at risk of dying, and because you didn't attack Neji, they've decided to let you stay in and compete."

Naruto nodded, rose and walked over to the rail once again, looking down to the Hokage who seemed to be casually smoking his pipe. He still wanted to go and rush over to Hinata's side, but at the same time, he wanted to advance to the finals. He wanted to advance and crush Neji, and release all of the anger he's had for Neji over these years. He had little doubt that if he did end up facing that bastard Hyuga in the finals, he would probably kill him.

It didn't take long for the ground to be cleared and for the Jonin proctor to announce that the next fight was soon to begin. Naruto's heart beat no longer began to race as the names began to flash across the screen on the wall. He wasn't nervous anymore; he wanted to fight. He was going to destroy whoever he faced, even if it was Kimimaro. He would have his revenge.

"Tenten vs. Masahiro of the Red Sand"

"Alright, Tenten!" Lee cheered out next to him, turning to his friend and slapping her on the back. "Although I wish it was I who was chosen, I am happy that you get to show of your splendid talents!"

Tenten rolled her eyes at her eccentric teammate and vaulted over the rails and into the arena, taking a large scroll with her. Across the room, Masahiro, dressed in his modified Akatsuki robes, decided to take the stairs instead, calmly walking down to the arena floor. Naruto, after feeling deflated that he wasn't chosen next, couldn't help but begin to feel excited at the prospect of finally seeing the strength of this Akatsuki ninja. He turned his head to look at the Akatsuki team with Kimimaro on his right. Surprisingly enough, the bubble blowing ninja had stood up from against the wall and actually walked up to the rail to watch the fight. The blue-haired girl likewise stopped glaring at Sasuke and seemed intent on watching the fight as well.

"Masahiro is really strong," Kimimaro stated, walking up next to Naruto by the rails. Kimimaro had clearly been observing him, which caused him to flush with embarrassment. "Utakata and Guren also want to watch him fight so that they can stand a better chance against him in the finals! If I recall correctly, neither of them outperformed Masahiro in their own school."

Their own school? Either way, Naruto made a note to try and remember their names. Guren, who had been the first girl Naruto had even seen who actually hated Sasuke, scoffed and turned her head toward him and Kimimaro.

"Kimimaro-sama, have more faith in me," she stated, clearly annoyed by the tone of her voice. "Ever since training with you, I've become much stronger. For all I know, I might be stronger than Masahiro now!"

Utakata chuckled at this. "Yeah right!" he mocked with a carefree smile, twirling the stick he used to make bubbles in one of his hands. "Just cross your fingers and hope you don't have to fight against me anytime soon. I'll whoop your butt faster than Sasuke did in the forest."

Guren surprisingly ignored the provocation, turning her attention back to the arena. "You're not the one I'm longing to fight, and I won't make that same mistake twice," she said, Naruto barely able to hear her.

Sasuke audible sighed on the other side of Naruto, knowing that Guren was probably referring to him. "What's wrong, Sasuke-kun?" Naruto jabbed him in the side, a grin on his face. "Not sure how to handle a girl that doesn't fawn over you?"

"You're an idiot," Sasuke replied, an air of confidence in his voice. "I've already beaten that crazy chick in the forest once, so it won't be hard to do it again. And she's not the first girl to not fawn over my incredible looks. If you can recall, our very own Hinata is too busy fawning over someone else for her to even notice me."

Naruto knew it was a lighthearted joke, but his mood visibly darkened at the mention of their currently injured teammate. Sasuke most have remembered too, as he quickly apologized and patted him on the back. At this very moment, Hinata was likely in a lot of pain, being healed by the medic-nin higher up in the tower.

"My bet is on Tenten!" Lee chimed in on his left, pumping his fist into the air. "This Akatsuki ninja will have a hard time dealing with her incredible weapons technique, that is for sure!"

Naruto noticed Kimimaro's eyebrow quirk up at Rock Lee's comment, but any further discussion was halted when the proctor below raised his hand as the two opponents squared across from each other. Tenten had tied the giant scroll she carried with her to her back, and Masahiro had pulled back his hood to reveal his spiky dark crimson hair, which jetted backwards not unlike Sasuke's, though it grew a little longer.

"Begin!"

Tenten jumped backwards to distance herself from her Akatsuki opponent, though Masahiro simply crossed his arms and waited. After a moment of both of them eyeing each other down, Tenten decided to attack first by quickly pulling out a kunai from her back pocket and hurling it forward toward Masahiro with deadly speed.

Rather than move, Masahiro remained still while the kunai sailed harmlessly by his face, albeit closer than Naruto would have personally been comfortable with, eventually hitting the back wall behind him and clattering to the ground.

A warning shot? Was she trying to figure out what his abilities were by throwing a kunai at him? Well if that was the plan, Masahiro had clearly called her bluff. Not wasting anymore time, Tenten pulled out another kunai and threw it forward again.

Anticlimactically, the kunai went wide yet again, passing by Masahiro harmlessly while he remained standing still with his arms crossed. This time, he turned his head to look backwards at kunai as it bounced off the wall and landed on the ground, then back to Tenten with an eyebrow raised in mocking confusion.

"Were you aiming for me?" he called out to her, his voice dark but somewhat humorous. "Here, let me make it easier for you."

Having said that, he walked forward several paces, shortening the distance between them but not yet appearing like he was going to strike. He held out his hand when he stopped, motioning to her with a grin to throw again.

Those weren't warning shots? Had Tenten really missed at that distance? He supposed such a slip could happen to anybody if they were nervous…but seriously? Naruto turned to look at Lee, who was now leaning over the rail and pumping a fist up.

"Come on, Tenten! Do not lose hope!" Lee shouted out at his teammate, being her loudest cheerleader. "You may have missed the first two but I am sure you will succeed!"

Tenten's face flushed with embarrassment and she actually turned to look backwards at Lee. "Shut-up, idiot!" she yelled back to him, already pulling out more kunai. When she turned back to face Masahiro, rather than taking his offer and throwing another kunai, she leapt sideways into the air and threw forward multiple kunai at Masahiro, who remained standing straight, not even bothering to turn and look. Just like last time, each and every kunai missed him, bouncing harmlessly off of the ground around him.

Not relenting, Tenten continued to jump and circle Masahiro, throwing shuriken and kunai at him from every angle, some behind him, some above him, some straight forward throws, others arcing curves. Each and every projectile thrown somehow missed the stationary Akatsuki, whose hair was now casually blowing with the speed of all the projectiles that managed to fly right by him.

This was beyond the point of dreadful embarrassment that Naruto had felt for Tenten at first. There was no way she could be missing so much as a Genin.

"I do not understand!" Rock Lee voiced out on his left, apparently sharing his same realization. "Tenten is normally incredibly accurate. She never misses her targets! Something strange is going on!"

Perhaps seeing the fruitless efforts of her attacks, Tenten landed some distance behind Masahiro and pulled out a small scroll from her side pouch. She unraveled it as she now ran towards him and grabbed a summoned katana that appeared in a small cloud of smoke. Closing the remaining distance with a leap, Tenten landed directly behind Masahiro and slammed her katana downwards, directly at him…

And it stopped inches above his shoulder. It stopped? Masahiro calmly turned his head to look at her down the length of the blade. The blade itself was shaking and Tenten appeared to be struggling to push down on it, to no avail. It was like there was some sort of invisible shield around him…Shaking his head and cursing himself for being stupid, Naruto activated his Sharingan to get a better idea of what was going on. Able to detect chakra, he saw that there wasn't any sort of shield currently around Masahiro, but strangely enough, the same gray color of chakra that was swirling inside of him was also now covering the blade hovering above his shoulder. Did that mean…he was stopping the blade with just his chakra? How was that even possible?

Suddenly, the katana she was holding was violently thrown out of her hands by this invisible force, throwing Tenten off balance before she let go of it. No longer staying still, Masahiro turned sideways and kicked Tenten backwards, causing her to fly back though she was able to land on her feet.

"Please tell me your friend down there has other techniques besides weapon skills," Kimimaro voiced out from his right, speaking to Rock Lee across Naruto and Sasuke. "Because if she doesn't, this is probably the worst match-up possible for her."

Rock Lee turned to look at Kimimaro with worry written on his face. "Tenten excels in weapon combat and kenjutsu!" he stated, his voice no longer as confident as it was before. "How is it that this guy is repelling all of her attacks? Please tell me!"

Kimimaro sighed as he looked back down to the battle below. "Masahiro has one of the most famous jutsu from Suna, the land he originally hailed from. He possesses the power of Magnetism, a kekkei genkai combining Earth and Lightning chakra. He uses his chakra to bend metal to his will…I'm sure Utakata and Guren know more about him than I do, since they all trained together in the past."

His two teammates didn't respond, both fully focusing on the fight below. All of the kunai and shuriken that lay on the ground around Masahiro suddenly began to shake. After a moment, they also slowly rose into the air, levitating at about eye level all around Masahiro.

"Do you want these back?" he asked, in what Naruto was beginning to think was his usual amused but angry tone.

Not waiting for an answer, Masahiro lazily pointed a finger at her, causing all of the levitating weapons to fly toward Tenten at deadly speed. Naruto wondered if Tenten would have time to dodge, but instead, she surprisingly pulled out a scroll from her pouch, quickly laying it on the ground in front of her.

"Enclosing Technique!"

All of the weapons that neared her veered downward toward her scroll, vanishing in puff of smoke as the scroll somehow sealed them away. Naruto knew what that technique was; most ninja used the very useful Enclosing Technique one way or another throughout their lives, but Naruto had never seen it used for defense like this in battle! He himself had just recently used the technique to prepare items to bring into the Chunin Exams…he had sealed away a tent, bedrolls, campfire materials, and so on. It required precise chakra, timing and proximity in order to seal what you wanted away. He was extremely impressed that Tenten could manage to use it on so many objects that were moving so quickly…she must have practiced an incredible amount with this technique.

Tenten was hidden from view for a moment in a cloud of smoke, but she quickly leapt out of it into the air, finally taking the scrolls she carried off of her back and hurling it across the room. It managed to spread out in the air, high but directly above Masahiro, and at the flash of hand-seal, hundreds of weapons suddenly fired downward out of it, all aiming directly at the still-stationary Masahiro.

Naruto was impressed again at the ferocity of this attack…but it didn't seem to be doing any good for her. They all stopped directly above him, held in place by the invisible force of his chakra. Even after she landed, more weapons continued to fly downwards at him, stopping in the air before they could do any damage.

Still undeterred, Tenten hurled another weapon at him. Didn't she learn? It obviously wasn't going to-

Incredibly, Masahiro actually dodged for the first time as a wooden practice kunai sailed past his head. Tenten smiled, having figured it out. All of the weapons held by Masahiro's chakra vanished in a cloud of smoke, along with the giant scroll above, and Tenten continued to hurl wooden kunai at Masahiro, who now had to jump out of the way in order to dodge them.

"So you can stop the metal ones, but not the wooden ones!" she proclaimed aloud, clearly happy to have discovered some weakness in her opponent.

A blade suddenly shot out of Masahiro's robe near his underside of his wrist and instead of dodging, he smacked away the next wooden kunai that flew his way.

"Very clever of you," he replied, a small grin still on his face. "And here I was thinking you just had really bad aim."

Tenten ignored the quip and instead charged at him once again. This time, instead of pulling out a katana, she summoned a wooden staff from a scroll, snatching it out of the air in front of her and twirling it with expert ease.

"Alright Tenten!" Lee cheered on again. "Show him what you got!"

When Tenten brought her staff down, Masahiro used the bladed arm from before to block the blow. Surprisingly, the staff split in two at a twist of Tenten's wrist, breaking off into what appeared to be two tonfas. She grabbed the second half of the staff with her free hand and attempted to gut Masahiro at this close range, but to no avail. An identical looking blade from his other hand shot out of his other wrist and blocked the attack, bringing the two to a lock.

This was good, Naruto thought, deciding that he was officially rooting for his fellow Konoha ninja. Tenten appeared to be excellent at close range, and she continued to barrage Masahiro with her two tonfa at close range. Considering that her training partners were Lee and Neji, both who had some of the best taijutsu Naruto had ever even seen, he knew that Tenten would eventually come out on top like this. However, he couldn't help but feel concerned at the lack of worry on Masahiro's face; he still appeared to be enjoying himself.

Eventually, they locked blade and tonfa again, Tenten struggling to overpower him and knock him out. "You're pretty good at close range combat," Masahiro complimented her, arms shaking but voice surprisingly steady. "You're incredibly skilled up close, and deadly accurate at long range. Very impressive. However, let's stop playing games now, shall we?"

Naruto's eyes widened as something started spilling out of Masahiro's robe. It looked like it was sand, but it was dark, dark enough to look black from up here. Tenten made the wise move and jumped backward to create distance between them, not knowing what was about to happen. With his Sharingan still activated, Naruto could see that Masahiro's chakra was swirling out of his back and into the black sand on the ground, just like it had been doing in the metal objects Tenten threw at him.

"There it is…" Utakata commented on his right with a sigh, not offering any more insight.

Something about that sand…Kimimaro had said that Masahiro's kekkei genkai was the most famous of Suna, the combination of Lightning and Earth; Magnetism. That brought Naruto back to his studious days at the Academy, researching all he could about foreign lands in the libraries he could actually get into. He remembered reading about this particular bloodline limit made infamous by the Third Kazekage. Although the Third Kazekage had ended up disappearing, his famous use of Magnetism came in the form of Iron Sand…was this the very same thing?

The blades coming out of his robes receded and Masahiro slowly broke out of his top, tossing the Akatsuki jacket to the side. Naruto eyes immediately noticed Masahiro's metallic leg once again, but he also saw something new, something on Masahiro's back strapped tightly to his shirt. It was like the weirdest scabbard he had ever seen; it was really thin and went straight up and down the length of his back, but broke out into three separate holes at the top, like a trident. The openings on the left and right, directly beneath his respective shoulders, had the same tips of the blades he had used before jutting out of them. The center hole was the one that was spilling out the iron sand, which now had formed a nice pile of it all around Masahiro. There was no way that thin scabbard could hold all of that sand…he concluded that Masahiro must only keep a little of it inside, and created the rest with his chakra.

Masahiro held out his right hand immediately causing a chain to emerge out of the black sand beneath him. He grabbed it while it was still growing tall in front of him, and without any more delay, he snapped his arm and caused the chain to whip forward at Tenten, who like Naruto, had been busy staring in awe at iron sand.

Crack!

Like a whip of lightning, the chain flew past Tenten who dove to the side at the last second, cracking into the wall with an explosion of rock and stone. Masahiro didn't relent, he waved his arm again and snapped the whip sideways in a long arc, the metal chain now swinging horizontally at Tenten who had just barely managed to land. Barely having any time to think of what to do, she leapt high into the air and let chain pass rapidly beneath her.

His eyes snapped back to Masahiro, who was now smiling at his airborne opponent. Without any discernable movements, the two blades on his trident scabbard shot out on their own accord into the air, flying towards Tenten. The bladed tips were connected to long bladed chains, much like the one Masahiro had just been swinging around, erupting out of that strange container with a rapid metallic clicking sound. Tenten was still airborne as they reached her; there was no way she would be able to avoid those now or block them with the simple wooden staff she was holding.

Naruto resisted the urge to flinch or close his eyes as the blades flew toward her. Just as he thought she was about to be skewered in the air, the bladed chains spun around her instead, enwrapping her tightly in a second, causing her to scream out in pain as the sharp edges cut into her body.

In the same moment, the chain whip that he was holding dissolved back into the black sand and fell to the ground, just before transforming into a long thin blade and flying up into the air. Dozens more of these blades flew up toward Tenten, causing Naruto to flinch once more in fear. Mercifully, just like before, they stopped in the air before actually impaling her, floating all around her as she continued to struggle.

"I don't want to shower the Hokage in blood," Masahiro called out to her, the humor in his voice nowhere to be found anymore. "So I'm giving you the option. Do you surrender?"

The blood that dripped down over the chains that enwrapped her was very real; Tenten had not performed any sort of substitution jutsu in time. She appeared to struggle for a second longer before looking around at the blades all hovering around her, directly pointed at her. She seemed to realize that there wasn't anything she could do, so after another long, tense, moment, she went limp in the air, sagging her head.

"I…I give up!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, the chains and spears around her dissolved back into the iron sand, flying back toward Masahiro's scabbard. No longer supported by the chains, Tenten began to fall to the ground head first, heading to the ground at a terrifying speed without moving at all…

"Tenten!"

Rock Lee shouted out and vaulted over the rails, flying downward to the arena to intercept the fall. Luckily, right before she hit the ground, he managed to catch her, skidding across the ground himself with her in his arms. Naruto let out a breath of relief and turned back toward Masahiro, who looked on at the scene without any mercy in his eyes. The iron sand returned to the three open holes of the scabbard before they somehow sealed themselves closed.

"The winner of the fight…Masahiro of the Red Sand."

With a nod, Masahiro turned to pick up his Akatsuki robe and threw it on over himself, covering up his strange scabbard once more. He casually walked to the stairs leading back up to the balcony, ignoring the medic that approached him. Naruto noticed that he hadn't actually been hit that entire fight…incredible. Other medics rushed over to Tenten to place her on a stretcher. She had numerous lacerations all across her body, and her clothes were shredded up pretty badly, but she was still conscious as they rushed her out of the room. Naruto couldn't help but feel bad for Lee as he walked back up the stairs himself, smeared in blood that wasn't his own. He didn't doubt that Rock Lee would have preferred to fight Masahiro in place of Tenten…after all, Lee didn't use any metal weapons, so he could use his outstanding taijutsu very effectively against someone like Masahiro.

What would Naruto have done in that fight? Would he have been able to win? He shook his head and ran a hand through his blonde hair to calm his nerves. All of his adrenaline from watching Hinata fight Neji might have made him try something stupid. He needed to focus now; pretty soon the next fight would begin, and it might be him out there. He was definitely glad he hadn't fought Masahiro first. That was one powerful fighter out of the mix now, and better yet, Naruto would be able to analyze what he had seen today and come up with a strategy to fight him if they ended up facing each other in the finals.

"Alright, prepare the generator and get ready for the next fight!" the proctor eventually announced when the floor had been cleared of the minor debris. Within moments, the giant black screen on the wall began to flash yet again, Naruto able to just barely pick out all of their names flashing on the screen in random order. Who would it be…he needed to check on Hinata as soon as possible!

"Kankuro vs. Gaara of the Desert"

Naruto let out a breath of relief when he saw his name wasn't on the screen. Kankuro vs Gaara? Who was Kankuro again? Naruto looked across to the other balcony to where Gaara was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, making no sign that he had even heard his name announced. Naruto was excited again; he would finally be able to see the strengths and weaknesses of another powerful shinobi! Gaara was a Jinchuuriki, just like himself, so he had no doubt that he was strong enough to-

"I forfeit!"

The strangely dressed ninja standing next to Gaara waved his hand and shouted out to the proctor below, not even walking down to the arena floor. "I can do that before the fight, right? There's no way in hell I'm fighting Gaara."

Naruto made an effort to keep his jaw from dropping in surprise and instead turned to look at the proctor, who was now scratching his head in confusion. The proctor turned to the Hokage, who nodded solemnly, before turning back to address the room.

"Very well. By way of forfeit, Gaara of the Desert is the winner and will advance to the finals. Ahem…please start the generator again and prepare for the next round."

Damnit, so he wouldn't get to learn anything about Gaara after all. Was he really so strong that his own teammate didn't even want to try and face him? And speaking of teammates…this random generator really was random after all; he might end up having to fight Sasuke. Damn, this was becoming complicated now…

The screen became alive once again as names began to flash across the screen. Without any chance of a breather after having to watch his name flash by just a minute ago, Naruto looked on with adrenaline pumping through him, waiting for the flashing to come to a stop.

"Rock Lee vs. Kimimaro"

"Woohoo!" Lee cheered next to him, pumping his fist in the air with pure excitement. This guy had nerves of steel…

"Guy-sensei, it is my time to shine at last!" he proclaimed, turning happily to his larger equivalent, who was smiling back at him.

Guy-sensei patted him on the back and gave him a 'thumbs up'. "And shine you will, Lee. Go get 'em, killer! Show everyone the power of your YOUTH."

With perhaps more of a forceful push than intended, Guy shoved Lee forward and over the rail, his pupil flipping over the rail with a flourish in the air and landing on the ground. Lee continued to the center of the room via a series of impressive hand-springs, ending the display with a triple backflip landing perfectly still.

Naruto turned his attention to his right, where Kimimaro had just let his robe fall off of him and onto the floor. His shirtless body was perfectly trimmed and looked like he was carved out of marble…knowing from before that Kimimaro actually had a layer of bone underneath his skin, that analogy wasn't too far off from the truth.

"Don't do anything crazy, Kimimaro. Just make it to the finals. If you go overboard I'll fucking kill you myself."

For the first time since Naruto walked up to the balcony, Kimimaro's scary-looking sensei issued out this ominous command. Kimimaro, for that matter, responded with a simple "yeah, yeah" before he followed Lee by leaping into the air and landing in the center of the room with a single flip. The proctor walked up between the two and said a few words to them. Naruto leaned over the rail yet again to observe the battle with Sasuke, still able to see the blood stains on Lee's green outfit from here.

"He's probably really fired up after watching Tenten get beaten by the Akatsuki," Naruto mentioned, eyes narrowing in concern. Sasuke nodded in agreement. "But I think we both know how this is going to end…we've seen what type of monster Kimimaro is."

Guy-sensei walked up next to them, leaving Kakashi alone against the wall, beaming as ever with confidence. "I'm not so sure about that yet," he stated, his words oddly crisp from the odd manner in which spoke. "Lee has a few tricks up his sleeve that even you have seen yet, Naruto my boy."

Both Lee and Kimimaro excelled in taijutsu; close hand-to-hand combat. He wondered if Lee would have what it took to even hurt Kimimaro, after remembering that Kimimaro described himself as a punching bag for the other Akatsuki Commanders, since he was so hard to hurt. He crossed his fingers, praying for his training friend. If Lee could take Kimimaro out, then Naruto would have one less person to worry about in the finals. He knew from personal experience that no one worked harder than Rock Lee…Lee deserved to be Chunin just from his work ethic alone. Alright…let's go Bushy-Brows!

"Begin!"

End

A/N:

Thanks for the reviews and support on my last chapter, after I came back out of a long break. Hope you enjoyed these two fights, and I'll get started on the next one!

Please leave a review of this chapter to let me know if I need to edit anything, or help me better shape the story for future chapters. I'll get back to answering reviews in the A/N soon!

Also, I'm in need of another Beta, someone who I can send new chapters to ahead of time for spell checking and plot holes. Please send me a PM if you're interested.

Another reminder that I've completely rewritten chapter 1 as of posting this chapter; please go reread and tell me what you think about it!

-williams5505