A/N: Well, it has been about a week since I updated. I only got like three reviews though. Kinda disappointed about that. Review please guys. I probably would have updated quicker if I had more reviews. Anyway, I'm out of rehab and I'm living with my new family in New Mexico. Got my girlfriend, ex-boyfriend (formerly my boyfriend), and her mom (now also my unofficial mom). Good times, anyway, got a good line up for you today. The next few matches will be rather short, and I wanna get the preliminaries over with, so I'm going to try to get like three matches into this chapter, so it will be longer than usual (for those of you who are complaining about chapter length. Anyway, I just realized I never mentioned who replaced Ino on Asuma's team. You'll find out in this chapter. Anyway, ON WITH THE CHAPTER!
Chouji looked downright terrified that he had gotten one of the "freaks" from Kiri as his opponent and looked about ready to forfeit right then and there. He looked to his sensei for comfort and, after a sigh; Asuma looked at him and told him that he'd take him out for barbeque if he won this match. A fire of determination jumped into Chouji's eyes as he saw an opportunity to get his precious barbeque and he immediately leapt down to the arena shouting about how he would get his precious if he had to kill for it. Haku, who was already down in the arena, sweat dropped at the strange display of food worship she was witnessing. Her display of levity soon subsided and she slipped into a defensive stance, knowing that trying to go completely offensive against an Akimichi was suicide.
Hayate looked between the two of them and raised his hand, ready to start the match. He looked between them and dropped his hand.
"Hajime!"
Chouji made a few hand signs and activated his signature jutsu.
"Baika no Jutsu!"
He instantly grew out to the size of a boulder, and just as round.
"Nikudan Sensha!" He shouted as he tucked his arms, legs, and head into his body and started to roll at breakneck speeds towards Haku. Haku made a few hand signs, and a ramp of ice formed in front of her. Chouji hit the ramp at full speed and, unable to stop, flew through the air before colliding with the wall with enough force to knock him out.
Everyone watching sweat dropped at the sight and many marveled that they might have just witnessed the record of the shortest Chunin exam match in history.
"Winner: Momochi Haku!"
Haku walked back up to her spot with her team on the balcony as the board was already cycling through names again.
Asuma was across the room, his sweat drop still in place as he sighed. "Well, he tried his best, so I suppose I could still take him out for barbeque."
The names slowed down and the next match was revealed.
Hyuuga Neji vs. Subaku no Kankurou
The both of them calmly made their way to the arena, Kankurou with an arrogant smirk, and Neji with a stoic air to his actions.
They got to their spots and Kankurou proceeded to talk trash.
"Heh, you're going down pretty boy. You don't stand a chance against me." He said.
"Hmph, fate has chosen me to win this match. You are no match for the might of the Hyuuga clan."
"Hehe, don't get to confident now, you don't know a thing about me after all. I'm an unknown opponent. You know the biggest downside of having clan jutsu is that everyone knows how you fight!"
Neji simply stared him down and waited for the match to start.
Hayate raised his hand and quickly lowered it.
"Hajime."
Neji activated his Byakugan as soon as the match started and dashed forward, trying to get in close so he could end the match quickly. Kankurou dodged the attacks as best he could, dodging the majority of them. One clipped his side, but he seemed unaffected by it and just kept dodging. Seconds later, Kankurou's mouth opened and he shot a couple dozen senbon out of his mouth towards Neji. Neji quickly jumped back and dodged them, a few narrowly missing him. He stared Kankurou down, trying to figure out how he did that.
'Impossible, I see nothing wrong with him. How did he do that?' He stopped thinking about it for now and focused on trying to take him out, he shot forward again, this time not even being able to get close before the senbon shot out at him at a rapid pace. He jumped back once more and stared him down again. He examined him minutely. There still seemed to be nothing wrong with him. There was nothing wrong with his chakra system at all. It wasn't any kind of jutsu he could detect, or he'd be able to sense it. But wait! He examined the bundle on Kankurou's back and realized he couldn't detect anything inside it at all. He looked at it and saw strange symbols all over it. Seals! Those seals are stopping him from seeing anything inside that bundle. There has to be a reason for it, and so Neji deduced that whatever is in that bundle is secret to his techniques. With a new plan in mind, he shot forward and, as Kankurou's mouth opened to shoot senbon at him, he dashed to the left and shot around Kankurou, aiming a Jyuken strike right at the bundle on his back. He was inches away from it when a hand clothed in black shot out from the bundle and grabbed Neji's wrist, stopping his strike before it could connect. Kankurou then turned around and backhanded Neji across the room. Neji landed on his back and quickly got back onto his feet, the bundle on Kankurou's back burst open, revealing the real Kankurou inside and the skin on the now revealed fake Kankurou burst off and revealed a human sized puppet with four arms, three eyes, bushy brown hair, and a spindly body.
"Well," Kankurou said "It looks like you discovered my technique." But it won't be so easy now that you're fighting me along with Kurasu! This is where things get hard,"
Kankurou started moving his fingers and Kurasu shot forward, making strange clicking sounds as he went. Neji started dodging the puppets attacks and he dodged every one with apparent ease. He jumped back a couple of yards as the puppets attacks let up.
Neji took a brief second to wonder how the puppet had a chakra system when they weren't supposed to before he realized that now only did this give him a strategy to use against it, but he realized that there was only one thing he had in his arsenal that would stop this thing. He dropped into a stance as he said his next words.
"You're in the field of my divination. Owari da."
He shot forward at speeds too fast for Kankurou to follow as he jabbed Kurasu a few times with Jyuken strikes.
"Eight Trigrams Two Palms!"
He attacked with a few more strikes.
"Four palms."
"Eight palms."
"Sixteen palms."
"Thirty-two palms!"
"Sixty-four Palms!"
He used his ultimate attack, taking out every chakra point in the puppets body and making it collapse. He deactivated his Byakugan, not believing he'd need it with his opponents main form of attack gone.
"It's over Kankurou. Surrender."
It was as soon as he said these words that he felt a small prick in his neck. His hand flew up and pulled out a single senbon from his neck. He reactivated his Byakugan and had just enough time to see the chakra string going from Kankurou's right pointer finger to Kurasu's head, and the eye socket open, a hinge holding it onto the head and a small senbon launcher hidden in the eye socket before his eyes erupted in unbelievable pain, forcing him to deactivate his Byakugan. The pain subsided quickly and he looked right up at a laughing Kankurou.
"I was worried for a second there Hyuuga. But your arrogance has been your downfall. The poison on that senbon is an optic nerve poison. If you don't get an antidote into you soon, your eyes will be destroyed from the inside out, and you'll be blind."
Neji's eyes widened as he realized how badly he messed up and he glared at Kankurou.
"I can give you the antidote, but you'll have to surrender first."
Neji continued to glare at Kankurou before deciding on his course of action.
He raised his hand above his head.
"Proctor I forfeit. The pride of my clan and my vision is not worth a Chunin Exams match."
Hayate nodded. "Winner: Subaku no Kankurou! Now, Kankurou, if you would please give Neji-san the antidote."
Kankurou nodded and unzipped his pocket and reaching in. A few seconds later, he pulled out a small vial of blue liquid and tossed it to Neji.
"Drink that. You'll be better in no time."
Neji nodded and quickly downed the contents. He walked back to his spot on the balcony as Kankurou did the same. The board started cycling through names once more before it landed on the next two competitors.
Tsurugi Misumi vs. Hyuuga Hanabi
The two ninja walked down to the arena calmly. Once there, Hanabi jumped into her Jyuken stance as Misumi slipped into a posture so relaxed it could hardly be called a taijutsu stance.
Misumi scoffed at his younger opponent as he started trying to intimidate her.
"You sure you want to do this little girl? It'd be a shame for such an innocent little flower to be destroyed so early in her ninja career." He scoffed.
Hanabi simply responded by activating her Byakugan.
The battle soon started with a simple 'Hajime' and Hanabi dashed forward and aimed a shot for his heart, trying to end the match as quickly as she could. But it was in vain, as the man's torso simply stretched out of her way as if it were made of rubber, causing her to miss her target entirely.
Misumi retaliated with a punch to her face, sending her back a couple of feet as her feet slid her to a stop.
"Hehehe, there's no point in trying to beat me little one. You'll never even make contact."
Hanabi simply dashed forward once more and started throwing a series of punches at him, trying her absolute hardest to hit him and at least impede his movement, but to no avail, no matter how hard or fast she hit, he simply stretched out of the way of every hit. She jumped back after about a minute, breathing a little faster and slightly more frustrated for her efforts. She saw him stretch back to normal and her eyes widened as she thought up her next plan. She jumped back a couple more feet and start pulling kunai out of her weapons pouch, which had a modified storage seal which allowed her to actually reach in and grab what she needed from the expanded space. A gift from her cousin's teammate, Tenten. She started throwing them at her opponent, forcing him to stretch out farther with every kunai aimed at him, eventually, he was stretched out all across the room, and only then did Hanabi cease her assault.
Misumi grinned at her, certain his victory was close at hand, until he tried to stretch back. As he tried to stretch back to his original form, he shouted out in pain as something nicked his side, and there was a lot of it to hit. He looked around and saw that there was a piece of razor wire connected to every kunai she had thrown, and the other ends of the wires were in Hanabi's right hand.
Hanabi smirked at him. "It's over Misumi. You're trapped, and it was a fatal mistake for you to underestimate me." She raised her left hand into a half-ram seal, and channeled her chakra.
It was only in his final moments that Misumi also noticed all of the explosive notes attached to the razor wire.
The explosive notes fulfilled their purpose and exploded. Misumi disappeared in a flash and the room was covered with blood and gore of all kinds. Hanabi sighed at her victory, then fell to her knees and vomited after she saw the viscera that surrounded her.
"Winner: Hyuuga Hanabi!"
Hanabi was carried out of the arena and to the infirmary as a few ninja stepped in to clean up the mess. He would be buried as a Konoha ninja….or what was left of him would.
Many of the remaining ninja in the room were a little shaken up by what just happened, but the Exam continued as the board started to cycle through the remaining names. It only took a few second as the next match was displayed on the board.
Aburame Shino vs. Subaku no Temari
Shino and Temari glanced at each other from across the room for a moment before they both nodded as if in acceptance. Shino disappeared in a swirl of bugs and reappeared in his spot and Temari simply jumped down to her spot. The two stared down at each other, Shino with his hands in his pockets, and Temari with her hand ready on the giant fan on her back.
Hayate wasted no time in starting the match and, within seconds, called a start to the match.
"Hajime."
Temari slipped her fan off her back and opened it as she started swinging her fan, sending blades of wind at him with a shout of "Fuuton: Kamaitachi!"
Shino dodged to the side as each one flew towards him, soon dodging all around her, he attacks kicking up dust wherever they landed. After a full rotation, Temari realized his plan and stopped swinging, waiting for the dust to clear before trying to attack again. She didn't get a chance as a swarm of Kikaichu bugs flew at her from all sides out of the dust. She jumped up and away from the swarm of insects, only for a separate swarm to catch her in mid-air, where she couldn't dodge, and engulf her. The swarm sucked her dry in seconds, and they dropped her before they killed her as a result of chakra exhaustion. She attempted to get up once more, before she passed out on the ground.
"Winner: Aburame Shino!" Hayate announced as a squad of Medic-nin came and carried the now unconscious Temari to the infirmary.
Shino walked calmly back up to his spot as the board cycled through the last remaining names. Several watched in apprehension as they wondered who would be unlucky enough to get the "creepy sand kid" as an opponent.
Their questions were answered as the next match was displayed on the board.
Subaku no Gaara vs. Akado Yoroi
A/N: That's right! Hanabi is Ino's replacement. I figured, she was only a few years behind the gang, and she's supposed to be some kind of genius, so I made her skip a few years. Anyway, I'm rather proud of this chapter as it is my longest chapter yet. Almost 2600 words. So proud! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review if you want more chapters quicker! Encouragement makes the world go round! Sen Ningyu no Sasori OUT!