Chapter 24

Fragile Soul

At noon on the fifth day, the test was over. Several ANBU swept through the Forest of Death to locate and escort out the surviving losers. Those who had made it into the Tower with the two boxes and all of their team members within the time limit were herded together to hear what would be expected of them next.

Naruto was practically bouncing with excitement as Team Seven followed the other early-finishing teams down a few flights of stairs. Getting out of the forest early had let him shower and get good food and sleep in a real bed. Thoroughly refreshed and energized, he was more than ready to face the next challenge.

Sasuke and Sakura were more subdued. The Uchiha hadn't said much after he'd been returned to them and had spent most of his time sleeping. Sakura spent most of her time fussing over Sasuke, annoying the heck out of Sasuke, and it seemed that she'd forgotten all about how Naruto had been possessed in the Forest of Death (much to Naruto's relief).

They were led into a large room made of concrete with a high ceiling and a pit sunk into the floor, leaving a few feet of walkway all the way around. It appeared to be an underground arena of sorts, hinting at some kind of combat test. At one end of the fighting field was a large statue of a pair of hands making the "ram" seal, and high up on the walls was a large, dark television screen. The chuunin overseeing them directed all of the teams down into the arena where they stood in lines according to their squads.

"Was this where they took you when we got here?" Naruto whispered to Sasuke.

"No," Sasuke growled in a tone that discouraged any further conversation.

Another set of doors opened and admitted the Hokage, a pair of ANBU bodyguards, and several other jounin. They took up spectator positions all around the rail, while two people descended the stairs to talk with them. The proctor, Anko, also appeared along with a sickly-looking man wearing a sword strapped to his back. Anko looked grim, or just cranky; Naruto really couldn't tell. She counted the teams and then really looked pissed.

"I was hoping the forest would thin you out a bit more," she snorted. "Oh well… Okay you brats, congratulations, you've survived! Now only one trial separates you from the big event, so listen up!"

She stepped back and the ill man with the sword shifted closer, muffling a cough.

"I am Gekko Hayate," the man wheezed, "and I will be the proctor for this section of the Trials. From this point forward, your squads are dissolved—it is every genin for themselves. The trial with be a tournament where the computer"—he gestured to the dark screen—"will select two names at random and those two genin will fight. The loser will be eliminated and the winner will proceed to the final trial. Any genin who feels that they cannot continue may withdraw now."

A single hand went up and Naruto blinked when he recognized the Kabuto guy that had been so free with information at the start of the first trial.

"Is it alright if I stay and watch the matches?" the genin with glasses asked politely.

"Sure," Hayate coughed and waved him back up to the observation level.

When no other genin forfeited, the sickly proctor continued.

"The matches will continue until one participant is unable to continue fighting, one forfeits, or I stop the match. Killing isn't forbidden, but it is not encouraged. Observers may cheer on a favorite, but they cannot help or give advice or they will be disqualified." He paused to cough for a bit and then looked over the collection of genin. "Any questions?"

No one spoke up and he gestured for them to go back up the stairs.

"The computer will pick the first names in five minutes," he told them. "Be ready."

When Naruto climbed the stairs, he spotted Kakashi among the adult spectators and rushed over to stand by him. Kiba's team and Shikamaru and Chouji's team had made it through, too, and clustered around their senseis—a woman with black hair and red eyes for Kiba, and a man with a beard and a cigarette for Shikamaru and Chouji. Bushy-browed Lee's team had also defeated the forest and joined up with their sensei…who could've been Lee's father for how creepily similar they looked. The Oto team that he'd terrorized with Kyuubi-powered skulked over to a creepy older teen (or perhaps a short adult) with white hair, red dots over his eyes, and red markings under his eyes. Kabuto's teammates stood by him, but no sensei stood with them. And the Taki team that Naruto had robbed was also sensei-less…and the kunoichi seemed to recognize him with the way that she was glaring at him from across the room.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto grinned, focusing on his masked teacher. "Come to watch us kick butt?"

"Sure," the jounin agreed, crinkling his eye a bit in amusement. He glanced over his three students. "So, you made it through with time to spare?"

"Mm-hm," Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, 'cause we're awesome!" Naruto cheered.

Sasuke said nothing.

"Good," Kakashi said, looking even more amused. "After the tournament I'd like to hear all about it."

Naruto felt a prickle along his spine. All about it?

If they shared all their stories all at once, Naruto would have to remember to lie about how he'd tricked the Taki-nin for their extra box and then tell Kakashi-sensei the truth later. Then there was that creepy not-Kusa-nin, Orochimaru, with the snakes and whatever he'd done to Sasuke. With how Anko had reacted to hearing about the evil hickey, it didn't seem like Kakashi-sensei would be much happier learning about it. And then there was the Kyuubi…

A digital ping distracted Naruto from his worries and he looked to see the screen flashing through a blur of names to determine the first match-up. The blond boy immediately shelved his earlier thoughts in favor of getting excited about whether or not he would be first up. When he was chosen, who would he fight?

After what felt like forever, the computer settled on: Uchiha Sasuke VS Akado Yoroi.

"Lucky bastard," Naruto pouted. "Hurry up and beat him so that I can get a turn!"

"Good luck, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said.

"Do your best," Kakashi advised. "And be careful. I heard about that little souvenir you picked up."

"Hn," was Sasuke's only response as he headed for the stairs to face off against one of Kabuto's mysterious teammates.

Naruto hung on to the railing and stared down into the arena, tense with anticipation.

Sasuke had better make this a cool fight!

Hinata stood at the railing with her teammates and sensei, her focus fading with each successive fight. With every match-up, her dread grew as she wasn't selected by the computer and her pool of possible opponents steadily shrank. And then there was Kiba…

Her canine-loving teammate hadn't seemed himself for days. When they reached the safety of the tower, she'd tried to suggest that he seek out a doctor, but he'd always brush her off. Shino had eventually joined her side, but too late as they were summoned for the preliminary tournament before either of them could persuade Kiba to do anything.

She'd peek at him out of the corner of her eye in the lulls between fights. His skin had a gray tinge to it and there were dark shadows under his bloodshot eyes. There was a foul smell on his breath—something that reminded her of rotten fish and road tar—that was strong enough for her to smell several feet away when he spoke. The Inuzuka sagged against the rail as if he was drunk and seemed quite oblivious to his small puppy that cowered anxiously by his feet.

Kiba-kun…

Commotion down in the arena stole Hinata's attention away from Kiba's profile to see that Shikamaru had somehow defeated his opponent, the kunoichi, Kin, from Oto. As she hadn't been paying much attention to the match, she had no idea how the Nara boy had managed it. But judging from the spectators' reactions, it had been impressive in some way.

The first battle between Sasuke and the older Konoha genin, Yoroi, had been moderately exciting, but brief. The young Uchiha had used his Sharingan to avoid Yoroi's chakra-draining technique and while dancing out of the way had employed wires to trip him up. With a few more blows, the fight was over and Sasuke was the winner.

The second battle had been even faster, and far more shocking. Shino had been pitted against the injured Oto-genin, Zaku. Hinata had wondered what had happened to the boy's arm for it to be so heavily wrapped in bandages, but mostly she'd been glad that Shino wouldn't be fighting her (if she was set against either of her teammates, she felt she'd have no choice but to forfeit). With a little misdirection and a bit of stalling, Shino had plugged up the tubes set into Zaku's arms with his bugs and when the other boy had tried to fire them his arms exploded. The hand of his injured arm was actually blown off due to being weakened from its earlier damage.

The third match had been between the older Konoha genin, Misumi, and a Taki genin, Shin. It had been rough, and rather bloody as the Taki-nin favored using long combat knives, one in each hand. Both combatants had looked evenly matched for a while, but Shin had come out on top, leaving Misumi to be carried off by medics.

After that, Sakura and Ino had been chosen by the computer to fight. Considering their rivalry from the Academy, their fight had been brutal. After Ino's attempt at ending the match quickly with her mind-control jutsu had failed, it had devolved into a seemingly endless taijutsu battle that had lasted for nearly an hour—far longer than any of the previous fights. In the end, both kunoichi managed to knock each other out with simultaneous punches…so neither proceeded on.

Another kunoichi-on-kunoichi match followed—Tenten against the Taki-nin, Hisa. Hinata had expected her cousin's teammate to easily win. The brunette had a real talent with sharp projectiles and astounding accuracy, and with several relatives in the weapons business she had access to a lot of exotic things at rock-bottom prices. But the Taki girl came out on top by using genjutsu to make Tenten aim for the wrong spot and keep her distracted just long enough for Hisa to take her out from behind.

And then Shikamaru had been chosen to fight Kin.

Now the computer screen was sifting through the names again. Hinata clutched the railing with a death grip as she watched. There weren't many names left to choose from. She could be picked along with the last Oto-nin, the last Taki-nin, Naruto of Team Seven, Kiba of her own team, Lee or—

Hyuuga Hinata VS Hyuuga Neji

A cold clammy feeling settled over Hinata as she stared, transfixed. She had dreaded being pitted against either of her teammates, Shino or Kiba. But this was much, much worse.

She was going to lose. Many times she'd been put up against her cousin during her training and every single time he'd defeated her with minimal effort. There was no chance at all of her winning this fight.

Yet somehow she found herself down in the arena facing him. She had no memory of leaving the rail or walking down the stairs. Perhaps Kurenai-sensei had given her a shove and she'd just done as she was told out of shock. If her teammates or sensei had said anything to her, she hadn't heard a word of it.

Neji regarded her with his usual disdain and even though she'd seen it countless times before she shivered.

"What are you doing here, Hinata-sama?" he asked coldly, his gray-white eyes flat and frigid. "Do you honestly believe that you can defeat me?"

"I-I…I…" she gasped in almost a whisper.

"We have sparred many times, and every time I have defeated you. This will not be a spar. I will fight with all my strength and hold nothing back. Do you believe you can win when I do not pull my punches?"

Hinata flinched at the truth of his words, but felt paralyzed by his white gaze.

"You are a failure, Hinata-sama. You cannot hope to overcome me. The only hope you have of victory is to use the power that the head family has over the branch family, and you cannot even bring yourself to do that, can you?" he asked contemptuously.

Tears started to prickle at the back of her eyes. No matter what the situation was, she could never bring herself to activate the seal on her cousin's forehead even though her father had taught her how to. She remembered seeing the agony that her uncle had suffered from a brief activation and she had no desire to ever see it again.

"Your weakness shames our clan," Neji said. "Forfeit now so that you do not shame the Hyuuga any more than you do merely by existing."

Neji was right. Her weakness harmed the Hyuuga clan's reputation of strength. Forfeiting now would be less disappointing to her father than—

"Shut up you damn bully!"

Hinata jumped and glanced up at the spectators in shock. Naruto was glaring down at Neji, his face twisted in rage. The orange-clad boy looked about ready to leap over the railing and attack her cousin.

"Hinata will kick your butt!" Naruto declared.

Her cousin was unmoved at Naruto's outburst. It was as if he didn't hear it at all. He just kept staring at Hinata, waiting.

"Forfeit or fight," Neji said. "Either way, the outcome will be the same. It is your fate as a failure."

The Hyuuga girl hesitated and then slowly raised a trembling hand.

"I…I w-withdraw."

"Alright," the proctor coughed. "Hyuuga Hinata forfeits. Hyuuga Neji is the winner."

Hinata hurried back to the stairs, her gaze fixed on the tile floor. When she reached her team she kept her eyes down. She couldn't bear to see the looks on their faces.

"That was a bad match-up," Kurenai-sensei said, resting a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "If only the computer had picked a different name…"

It doesn't matter, the girl thought, hugging herself. I'm a failure. No matter who I fought, I would lose.

She risked glancing over at Naruto, whose team happened to be on the same side of the arena, and cringed at the angry posture of his body.

It's my fate…

Naruto was pissed. He hated bullies. Watching Neji tear apart the already terrified Hinata was like relieving a dozen other episodes in a dozen other places, including when he'd been small and his cousins and other young relatives had gleefully tormented him by repeating the awful things that their parents said about him and his mother, and then some.

If Kakashi-sensei hadn't had a strong hand clamped on his shoulder, Naruto probably would've gone after Neji and ripped his head off.

"That jerk!" Naruto hissed, glaring daggers at the older boy who was walking calmly back up to his spot with his team. "That wasn't fair!"

"Unfortunately there are no rules against what he did," Kakashi-sensei told him quietly. "If she'd been facing a rogue hunter or an intelligent demon, her hesitation would've gotten her killed."

"But that jerk isn't a demon; he's supposed to be some kind of relative!" Naruto snarled.

"…Try not to let it get to you," his sensei sighed. "You could be up next."

"I wonder what happened for Neji to treat her that way," Sakura murmured.

"It's probably nothing," Sasuke muttered. "The Hyuuga are crazy."

"I'm gonna get that guy," Naruto growled, strangling the railing with his hands.

"You can't touch him right now, he's already had his fight," Sasuke told him.

"I'll get him later then," the blond amended. That bastard needs to get beat up bad!

"The Hyuuga aren't on the level of the Uchiha, but Neji is still way out of your league," Sasuke snorted.

"Doesn't matter, I'll pound 'im anyway," Naruto declared.

"Yeah, sure," Sasuke scoffed.

"Hey, Naruto," Sakura said, bumping his shoulder. "You're up next."

The whiskered boy blinked and looked up at the screen.

Naruto VS Inuzuka Kiba

"Oh," Naruto grunted and peeled himself away from the rail to take his turn.

After weaving his way through the other spectators and taking up his spot down in the arena, he looked back up for Neji's team. Neji himself looked almost bored in his spot at the rail. However, his teammates, Lee and Tenten, kept a pointed distance from him. And the crazy Lee-like Gai-sensei looked somber and disappointed.

I'll get you, jerk! he thought as his eyes passed over Neji's blank face again. Once I come up with something, I'm going to teach you a lesson you'll never forget!

That silent promise made, Naruto turned his attention to his opponent—

…Kiba?

The Inuzuka boy looked awful. He looked sick…or like he was drunk. Kiba stumbled and staggered a bit as he slowly approached. Akamaru slunk anxiously after him, little tail tucked between his legs.

"You look like crap," Naruto told him.

"You look like a cat," Kiba countered, narrowing his bloodshot eyes. "I don't like cats."

"I'm not a cat, dog-breath!" Naruto snapped.

It was a long-running insult. Kiba looked at the marks on Naruto's face and thought of cat whiskers, even though he freely admitted that Naruto didn't really smell like a feline at all. And no matter how often it got thrown at him, it still annoyed the heck out of Naruto.

"Okay," the proctor wheezed. "You know the rules. Start whenever you're ready."

"Good." Kiba's grin only heightened the impression that he was drunk. "I've been ready to kick some tail for days!"

"Whatever," Naruto snorted, folding his arms over his chest. "Send your puppy away so we can fight. I'd hate for the fluff ball to get mangled."

Kiba blinked sluggishly and then glanced down at Akamaru like he'd totally forgotten that he had a pet.

That made Naruto frown. Ever since Kiba had gotten his shaggy puppy, the pair had been inseparable. The two of them hung out with each other more than they ever did with Kiba's classmates, and somehow getting a puppy made the Inuzuka think that he was all that. Naruto had been rather annoyed at his pal's sudden jerkiness, but with Shikamaru and Chouji still willing to hang out with him he hadn't minded too much.

"…Beat it," Kiba told the little dog.

"(K-Kiba?)" Akamaru yelped. "(But…but we fight together! We're a team!)"

"I said 'beat it'!" Kiba snarled. "I don't need your help to trounce this loser!"

"(Kiba—)"

"I said go!"

The little white-furred canine whimpered pitifully and slunk off to sit near one of the arena walls, trembling and looking supremely sad and pathetic.

"Geeze, I said send him away, not traumatize him," Naruto said, eying Kiba with a hint of worry. "Are you okay? You look sick."

"I'm fine!" Kiba snapped, glaring at him. "Why does everybody think I'm sick?"

"Because you look wasted?" Naruto suggested.

"I'll kill you, cat-boy!" the Inuzuka roared, sliding into a sloppy taijutsu stance. "I'll disembowel you and eat your intestines!"

"For the millionth time, I'm not a cat!" Naruto snapped.

The longer he interacted with Kiba, the more certain he was that there was something wrong with the wild boy. He looked sick. He acted sort of sick. He didn't like his puppy anymore. And now he was making violent, gross threats that he didn't think Kiba would ever say.

"Get ready…" Kiba formed a few hand seals…and he seemed to change. His fingernails grew out into claws and his canines lengthened into fangs and he generally looked a bit more bestial than normal. The Inuzuka lowered himself into a four-legged stance and sneered. "…Here I come, kitty-boy!"

"I'm not—oof!"

Kiba slammed into his gut with freakish speed and didn't let up. He slashed at Naruto with his claws, darting in and out on all-fours like a freaky human-animal. Naruto tried to get a move in edgewise, but Kiba was fast, relentless, and vicious.

What the hell? Naruto stumbled backwards, nearly tripping as he dodged a blow that could've opened up his cheek. When did Kiba turn part werewolf?

Kakashi stared over the railing as he watched Naruto struggle with his opponent. He was puzzled and concerned with Kiba's behavior. The jounin had no personal experience with the boy, but he knew the general character of the Inuzuka clan very well, and this didn't fit at all.

"…It looks like Naruto's going to lose," Sakura frowned, rubbing at a sore spot on her shoulder. "Kiba's bigger, and he's so much faster…"

Sasuke said nothing, his dark gaze intent on the fight unfolding below.

"It doesn't look good for your student," Kurenai commented as she and her two other students moved closer to Kakashi's chosen spot. "Perhaps he should withdraw."

"Oh, I think Naruto will surprise you," Kakashi replied casually. "Or…were you hoping that Naruto would give up easily so that you could get Kiba looked at by the medics?"

"We encouraged Kiba to seek medical attention," Shino volunteered, adjusting his round shades. "He refused. Why? We do not know."

Kurenai pressed her lips together for a moment before responding.

"…Yes, I do wish for the fight to be over quickly so that Kiba can be looked at."

"Naruto won't quit easily," Kakashi shrugged as he watched the blond get smacked down to the tile floor. "And should Kiba really need a doctor, Hayate will stop the fight. So try and relax, and we'll see whose student is stronger."

Naruto can win, the silver-haired jounin mused as he leaned against the railing. The question is how will he do it… Will he improvise a winning strategy, or will he tap into his…unique abilities?