Alright, here's another chapter for you guys~ Thanks to all those who reviewed! Hope you guys like this one... though it seems a bit of a 'crammed-rush' to me... Aaand for some reason or other... my chapters seem to be getting shorter... T_T

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto... how could I?


Chapter 19: The Final Exams

"In a battle, all you need to make you fight is a little hot blood and the knowledge that it is more dangerous to lose than to win."

The match between Naruto and Neji started with the two of them surveying the other. Then Naruto did what I now deem as his signature move: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

Five Narutos and Neji faced off. Then they charged at began to attack Neji with kunais, kicks and punches. Neji, being the strong genin that he was, was able to evade most of their attacks with his agility, using his spinning defense to deflect other attacks, and counterattacking with his Gentle Fist. Then he gave a speech about fate, much to our annoyance, and of course, an argument started when he taunted Naruto about his Hokage dream. There was one interesting and true comment he made though: The only destiny everyone shares is Death.

Then Naruto, pissed off at Neji's insults and fixed-fate-mindset, made many many more shadow clones, easily twenty or more. All of the Narutos began to attack Neji at once, though try as they might, not many managed to land a hit. I noticed that one of them hung back when the others attacked. Neji noticed it too... But Naruto couldn't be that stupid... Could he?

Neji, who thought that the one who hung back was the real Naruto, attacked the boy who spat out blood when he got hit. For a moment, he fooled us all, and he later disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing himself as a mere shadow clone. Haha Neji, Naruto isn't as dumb as most people think he is.

Nevi's face was priceless, and I heard Kiba cheer very loudly for Naruto. So did Aki-chan who whooped and started calling Neji names in her usual childish and immature way. We watched eagerly as the Naruto continued to attack Neji with his one remaining clone. Unfortunately, Neji made this partial sphere of chakra with some Hyuuga spinning technique and sent Naruto and his shadow clone flying. The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke seconds later.

It's the heavily spin, Kaiten, Yami explained. White-kun released a great amount of chakra from his chakra points that blocked Kyuubi-kun's attacks, before spinning and creating that sphere which blasted Kyuubi-kun away. He must have learnt it himself since it's a technique that's only passed down through the main family. It's almost as good as the Tanuki brat's 'ultimate defense'.

Then Neji went into some Gentle Fist stance, saying, "Gentle Fist style, 64 hands of Hakke."

Following that, he attacked. His speed was quick and his attacks fast, lightning jabs hitting the chakra points of Naruto's body. When all '64 hands' were done, Naruto was left lying on the ground. Yami commented that this was another technique that he must have learnt by himself because once again, the powerful technique was supposed to be a main family technique.

As Neji went on and talked about how fate cannot be changed (again), Naruto struggled to stand even when he shouldn't be able to. And when he did, I bet everyone was shocked. I could feel Akirai and Hanaha radiate approval from behind me though.

"Heh, I told you I'm not good at giving up," said Naruto when he stood up shakily. I wasn't too worried about him, not like how it was with Hinata and Lee, because I knew Naruto wouldn't be dying anytime soon. His will and the Kyuubi wouldn't let him.

When Neji told Naruto to quit fighting because he didn't have a grudge against Naruto, little did he expect his words to be countered so violently. He should've known of course. But he must have forgotten how much his match with Hinata had affected Naruto. Well, he soon found out when Naruto started lecturing him and insulting him. I believe his words were, "I will never forgive pieces of shit like you who call other people losers!"

That led Neji to go into the history of the Hyuuga and the conflicts within the clan, the tension between the main family and the branch family, the caged bird cursed seal which only disappears in death, the kidnapping incident of Hinata and the murder of his father because his father replaced Hinata's father (they were twin brothers) in a ransom of sorts due to the Cloud's want for the Byakugan.

It was a tragic tale. No wonder Neji turned out like that. It was unfortunate that there weren't many with Naruto's spirit around. It wasn't like Naruto's life was a bed of daisies (roses have thorns, as I have been constantly reminded). Far from it in fact. And yet... His strength, spirit and will are definitely admirable. I wondered how many can really see that. All one had to do was to compare his life with any other tragic person around.

Now, our trio... That was a different matter altogether. Akirai's story was just plain crazy. Who continues to idolize the very person who kills her parents? I sometimes question what goes on in her head. And Hanaha. Well, her parent's murderers were dead, so there was nothing to say about that. No need for revenge and other crap. As for me? I'd count myself pretty lucky actually. I've got a home, a family (albeit not related by blood), plenty of friends... I barely knew my father when he died, so I wouldn't really count that as a loss. Iruka-sensei more than filled that role. I had no need for a 'mother' that never wanted me to exist. I was better off without her. And Yami has provided for me countless of times now. Hell, I think I'm one of the most fortunate jinchuriki around!

So, back to Naruto and Neji. I can only hope that Naruto manages to beat some sense into the Hyuuga. No matter how much Neji attacked him, he'd stand up again and again. He doesn't go back on his word after all... It's his nindo. And perhaps it was all well, for I'm sure everyone's watching him now and here was his chance to prove himself.

"You can never understand what it's like to be burdened with a symbol you can never rid yourself off!" Neji yelled at Naruto when Naruto scolded him once more for his fate and destiny crap. I heard a sound of indignation from Akirai, a snort from Hanaha and three more snorts from three demons. Seriously Neji? You don't know what talking about.

"I can... And... So what?" asked Naruto, still shaking from exhaustion. "Pfft... Stop acting cool... You're not the only one who's special."

"Damn straight yeah!" exclaimed Aki-chan, waving her fist at the Hyuuga who ignored her. We all did. Naruto went on to comment on Hinata's struggles, her fight with Neji and how he was trying to defy his 'destiny' as well. Hypocrite.

But then Naruto began to cough blood because his chakra points were all blocked and Neji mocked his uselessness to which Naruto said that he'd prove him wrong by defeating him. The only problem was that he wouldn't be able to use chakra... Not his own at least. And it was clear that Jiraiya had taught him how to somehow excess Kurama's power during the summoning training... Although judging from Kurama's grumbling, he didn't have free access to it yet.

Then chakra started to swirl and build up, whipping up a wind around Naruto's body. The chakra signature was obvious. I could see that Neji and some of the audience, including the Hokage, were shocked. The Kyuubi has made himself known.

With the Kyuubi's chakra wrapped around himself, Naruto darted towered Neji and began to attack again. Neji did his Kaiten again. Shrunken were thrown everywhere and somehow, Naruto managed to dodge them all as his speed increased thanks to Kurama's power. Finally, with a massive surge of chakra, Naruto charged towards Neji.

"I don't know about this Hyuuga destiny of hatred or whatever... But if it's too much for you, then you don't need to do anything anymore!" Naruto yelled as his chakra met with Neji's half-performed Kaiten. "When I become Hokage... I'LL CHANGE THE HYUUGA!"

There was a resolving explosion and for a moment, no one could see anything. Then two flashes shot out from the smoke and crashed into the floor on either side of the arena. When the smoke cleared, two holes in the floor could be seen, made by the descent of the two genins.

Neji crawled out of his hole first, coughing. There was silence as everyone stared at the other hole where Naruto could be seen lying there, seemingly unconscious. For a moment, it looked like Neji had won. I heard a low growl as Neji called Naruto a 'loser'... Then realized that the growl had come from me.

Before I could do anything to express my anger at the Hyuuga, there was a loud sound of something breaking as Naruto burst out of the ground below Neji and punched the Hyuuga in the jaw, sending him soaring upwards, spitting blood as he went. Neji landed on the ground not too far away and didn't seem to be able to get up after that. The body lying in the hole that Naruto made turned out to be a clone as it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Then Naruto went up to Neji who was still lying on the ground, and told him about how he failed the genin exams three times and that his weakest ninjutsu was actually the Bunshin. He told Neji not to crap about destiny and the like because Neji wasn't a 'loser' like him. Then Genma announced, "Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!" and the match ended.

There were a lot of clapping and cheering afterwards. Sakura shouted "Yay! Naruto won!", some others said stuff like "Great fight, shrimp." and "That was incredible!" Akirai and I were yelling at the same time so none of our words could really be heard. I think that was a momentous occasion for Naruto. He may not be Hokage yet, but there were many people already acknowledging him. The elated Uzumaki then displayed his stamina by running around the arena, blowing kisses and the like, basking in his momentary limelight.

Many of us were surprised that he won, including Shikamaru. The joining were probably quite surprised at Naruto's control over the Kyuubi's chakra too. Well, after Naruto won, my anger at the Hyuuga evaporated and I started feeling a little sorry for him... But I didn't have much time to think about Neji's plight as a branch family member. The system was kinda idiotic I think, but maybe I just don't understand how clans, precious bloodline limits and politics worked.

In any case, the next match soon started. Gaara and Sasuke were supposed to fight in this match but the Uchiha had yet to arrive, and since the audience wanted to watch the match so badly, they couldn't just give Gaara a walkover, so the match was postponed... The two Kages and the proctors took quite some time in deciding not to let the missing Sasuke forfeit his match. And my match with Kankuro was pushed forward.

...

The audience weren't very pleased about having to wait for Sasuke's match with Gaara, and they weren't very pleased that they had to watch Temari's match with Shikamaru either. Well, their match wasn't exactly bad. In fact, I think they gave us quite some entertainment, because of Temari's powerful wind techniques and Shikamaru's genius brain. They certainly gave us more to watch than an idiot who forfeited before the match even started. It was all fine for me, because that meant that I wouldn't have to use any of my origami skills nor my shadow demon skills. Shikamaru was quite envious since I basically won the match without having to fight, but despite feeling relieved at not having to fight, I felt a little uncomfortable too... Something wasn't right. Why would Kankuro forfeit his match so easily? Did it have anything to do with the modifications of his puppet... Or the plot that Shukaku mentioned but did not elaborate on?

As for Shikamaru's match, it started with Temari riding the wind on her fan (it was quite cool) and Shikamaru getting pushed over the railings of the balcony we were on by Naruto. Though Shikamaru was reluctant to fight, he did put up a good show because he didn't want to lose to a girl. So his match involved him hiding from Temari's great wind techniques, Temari avoiding Shikamaru's stretching shadow, Shilamaru going into his 'thinking pose', using a parachuting kunai to drive Temari towards the hole Naruto made during his match, using the setting sun's shadow to stretch his shadow further, and finally trapping Temari by letting his shadow to go into the other hole Naruto made when attacking Neji, making use of the darkness underground to stretch his shadow which came out from the hole behind Temari and attached itself to Temari's shadow. Complicated? This was the result of a lazy-ass using his IQ level of 200 (or maybe even higher).

I guess the 'best' part of his interesting match was the very last part, after he trapped Temari with his shadow. I don't think anyone expected him to forfeit that very moment, when he was so near victory. Naruto and Akirai made a lot of noise when they saw and heard what Shikamaru did. It seemed like quite a waste, until Hanaha explained to us that he probably ran out of chakra and the wisest choice was probably to forfeit. She also commented that since the Hokage did say that winning or losing in the match doesn't necessarily determine if one gets the Chuunin status, Shikamaru might actually become a Chuunin because of the intellect and strategy he displayed, for the leader of a squad must know when to quit depending on the situation, instead of stubbornly forging ahead and getting everyone killed.

Well, I suppose Shikamaru was actually quite smart in forfeiting... Since if he didn't, if he actually managed to Temari, he'd have to face Aki-chan in the next match. Troublesome much?Personally, I don't think it's a very good way of arranging the matches. Temari would be tired out from her match with Shikamaru, so it wouldn't be fair for her to go against an energy-filled Akirai who was itching for a fight. Of course, it'd be hardly fair for Aki-chan to win the match without fighting... Though we could just take it as a forfeit by Dosu or a walkover since Dosu had to go and get himself killed before the matches... Still, whatever the proctors say goes.

... Akirai's POV...

I was going to play with Tema-chan! How awesome is that?! It's a pity she's all tired from Shika-kun's match, so she won't be able to play as well as she should... Better than playing with Shika-kun though... He's always so boring! I want to win a match because I won a match, not because the other player quits!

Anyway... Genma-san gave Tema-chan a five minutes break, then he called us into the arena. Tema-chan was strong... She didn't show any sign of fatigue when she faced me... Maybe she's just acting, but even that must be quite a feat after that match with Shika-kun.

Then the match started. I charged my feet with lightning chakra and dashed towards Tema-chan. Then Tema-chan did her Ninpou Kamaitachi and knocked me off my feet. The wind storm sent me flying to the other end of the arena and I did a somersault and kicked off the wall to dart towards Tema-chan again. Meh... I should have seen that coming.. That was so embarrassing...

Tema-chan had a smirk on her face. She wasn't as good as the Emo Uchiha or Chii-kun with the smirking... And she probably thought I'm a lightning user, so she had the upper hand with wind? Ha! I will prove her wrong! I've got explosion and fire up my sleeves too, so don't underestimate me, Tema-chan!

I used lightning again to charge up the air around us until the white-blue electricity could be seen crackling in the air, sounding like whip-cracks. Tema-chan dispelled most of the electric charges with a sweep of her fan, but while she still has bright spots in her vision, caused by the bright light of the electricity (I know this because that's what Chii-kun complained to me when I tried this on her), I ran as fast as I could, avoiding the blasts of wind and going behind her.

Tema-chan was good. She recovered fast, spun and swept her fan to attack me as I tried to ambush her from behind. Being caught in a cyclone is not fun. The wind was strong and sharp. I made several clay birds and released them before making them explode around me. They were miniature explosions that did not harm me, but it disrupted the flow of air and the cyclone released me, sending me plummeting to the ground.

I charged myself with with electricity as I fell, and angled myself to descend faster. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I ran as fast as I could towards Tema-chan. Tema-chan is fast. I am faster. She tried to catch me in her Kamaitachi again, but I outran her wind. I had to dart about and run in irregular patterns to avoid her attacks which are so big-scaled that it used up a lot of my chakra to outrun it. Thank Kami for my stamina and my training, though I was nowhere as good as Lee-kun without lightning chakra to help me. Lee-kun without weights is like me with my lightning.

I ran along the edge of the arena, then decided that clones would be good. Since I was already using lightning to help myself go faster, it wasn't hard to make myself run so fast that I was momentarily near-invisible with lightning chakra at my feet, leaving behind a Raiton Kage Bunshin who was running at my original pace. This was so that Tema-chan would continue to focus on the lightning clone instead of me.

At last, I got behind her. I wasn't going to electrocute Tema-chan... Well, not really. After I watched Neji-san's match, I thought of the Gentle Fist and the raining needles incident in the Forest of Death, and finally thought of the first out-of-village mission we had with Team 7. By the time I was directly behind Tema-chan, her wind had caught up with my clone which dispersed in a burst of electricity. Tema-chan was so shocked, especially after I blew at her neck from behind her (I reeaally couldn't resist).

Tema-chan jumped a little, as if she had encountered a ghost. She was going to spin around and club me with her fan when I stuck a needle into her neck and sent a very small charge of electricity that streamed into her nervous system and paralysed her. She twitched a little then froze before collapsing.

"Alright! Genma-san! I've won right?" I yelled happily, waving a hand in the air to get his attention. Genma-san approached us and stared at Tema-chan for a moment. She did not move.

"Well then, I suppose you did," he said. "Winner: Akirai!"

Still no family name mentioned eh? Never mind~ It does not matter. I won the match and Tema-chan had been relatively fun to play with... Not as fun as Chii-kun and Hana-chan though.

I removed the needle from Tema-chan's neck just as the medics arrived, and she twitched a little before suddenly sitting up with a jerk. She looked very shocked.

"Temari-san, gomenasai but I won the match. Let's play again next time, okay?" I said to her and stuck out a hand. She stared at my hand for a while before accepting it and I pulled her up.

"See? She's alright," I told the medics. "So you guys can go back and wait for the next casualty."

Then I dragged a still-shocked Tema-chan up the steps to the balcony where the rest of my team and her team waited. I saw Chii-kun staring at me with a smirk that only she could manage, and Hana-chan who had an eyebrow raised.

"Hana-chan! Chii-kun! I won!" I yelled to them. "But Tema-ch-I mean, Temari-san was a very good player! Shika-kun, it's all your fault that Temari-san was tired from your match! We could have more fun playing if that had been her first match!"

"Maybe you should return poor Temari to her siblings," Hana-chan suggested, so I brought Tema-chan to Kankuro.

"Ne, Kankuro, please look after your sister, 'kay? Cuz I wanna play with her again and if you let her get so injured that she can never play with me again... I will destroy your doll, electrocute you, then blast you into a billion invisible pieces," I said to Kankuro with my nicest cheerful smile, then I walked back to my teammates.

"You're getting pretty good at threat-giving," Chii-kun said with her I'm-proud-of-you smile. Hana-chan just sighed. "Was all of that really necessary?"

But then she was smiling too. Then she asked me why didn't I use fire when fire is very effective with wind. I told her I wanted to keep it for my next match. Then we noticed a change in the atmosphere as everyone seemed to become very excited. When we looked down at the arena, we saw Kakashi-sensei and Emo Uchiha standing in the middle of swirling leaves.

Late as usual.


That's all for now! Please review~! Another update in one or two weeks time~!