A Hero
Chapter 36
I don't own Naruto. Other than that, there isn't really much to say for this chapter. There's probably only going to be two or three more of the preliminary fights after this one, to be honest.
As the two combatants squared off, Kin quickly began the fight, intent on preventing Tenten from being able to read her actions. Her opening strike, a quick toss of one of her senbon to determine her opponent's reflexes, was quickly countered by a shuriken, which stopped the weapon by cutting its way through the bell on the end while knocking the tool back, surprising the Sound genin.
As Kin processed this happening, however, Tenten quickly threw a pair of kunai, which Kin had to roll to escape from, throwing two sets of senbon as she moved to get behind some form of cover. To her amazement, Tenten quickly rolled in the exact same manner, throwing a pair of senbon of her own, which did nothing to harm Kin, as she was already on the move again. Seeing that Tenten hadn't fully risen from her roll, yet, Kin moved to press the potential advantage, rapidly letting loose as many senbon as she could, using both the ones with the bells and those without, performing her Shadow Senbon technique to the best of her ability.
Tenten, for her part, leapt to her feet, throwing several senbon of her own at Kin as well as to intercept some of the senbon before leaping to the side to dodge Kin's volley, throwing five shuriken as she landed.
Kin, finally understanding that she was dealing with a fellow projectile user, one who was clearly not falling for the Shadow Senbon, threw herself to the side, intent on getting out of range of Tenten's weapons. As she carefully dodged the first four shuriken, she barely managed to pull herself out of the path of the last, costing her a small section of her hair. Nodding in acknowledgment of the first strike in their battle, Kin began attacking with more zeal, now more intent on besting her opponent. By now, the battle had become too taxing on her attention for her to even try to talk down to the Konoha genin.
Ducking underneath Kin's latest strike, Tenten quickly threw several senbon, kunai, and shuriken at the girl before rolling behind a bit of cover close to one of the walls. Kin artfully dodged the barrage, slowly circling to flank her opponent as continued throwing her senbon as a means to keep the Konoha genin down.
Once again surprising the Sound genin, however, Tenten followed her circle staying just ahead of her strikes, throwing nearly countless senbon and shuriken as she moved, some striking the bells, others needing to be dodged by Kin, who found her attention diverted as they continued their struggle.
After a few more moments of this, however, Tenten suddenly changed up her method, thowing multiple kunai in Kin's path before the girl could even register the attack. As they struck, however, rather than striking flesh, the weapons bound Kin's legs to the wall by the sides her pants while pinning her neck by clinging to her scarf close enough to her neck for her to feel her pulse lightly touching the edge of two of the blade. Her hands, however, were still free, so she tried to reach for her senbon, only to feel emptiness where her weapons pouch should have been. Darting her eyes downward, she was less shocked than she could have been to find the item in question on the ground.
With that avenue out, she attempted to pull out one of the kunai by her neck, only to feel a shuriken strike right next to her fingertips. Looking up towards her opponent, she saw the girl toying with a kunai.
"Do you give up?" she asked, running her fingers along the flat of the blade as kin dropped her hand. Kin, however, had a different plan. She still had one technique she could use. Moving her hands as subtly as she could, she attempted to ring a few of her nearby bells, only to be met with a strange rattling sound, instead of the chiming that should have bought her time while her enemy was disoriented. As if in response, Tenten threw her kunai next to Kin's head, the flat touching the Sound kunoichi's ear.
"Did you really think that I wouldn't expect you to have the bells there for more than one reason?" Tenten asked, pulling out a small scroll, "You're from a village named Sound. I threw a senbon into each of the bells that the shuriken didn't get. Now, do you surrender? I've got more weapons where this came from."
Despite her pride in her ability, Kin was able to understand that she was beaten, and that she had nothing to gain from continuing. Thankful that her continued in the Chuunin Exams was not a part of Orochimaru's plan, Kin let her arms fall limp at her side as she said, "I yield."
"Winner. . .!" shouted Hayate before his cry once again devolved into a coughing fit.
"Winner!" Genma began, only to realize that they hadn't asked the contestants their names. Leaping into the stadium and raising her hand, he whispered, "What's your name?"
"Tenten," she replied, trying to keep herself from laughing at the fact that they'd forgotten to ask earlier.
"Tenten!" Genma shouted before returning to the platform, planning on making sure that he asked the next contestants their names before the fight.
As they set to work in the Konoha Hospital as they'd been doing since their return to Konoha, Tsunade and Shizune were both surprised to find Kakashi Hatake and Anko Mitarashi approaching them, Anko's face grim, while Kakashi's eye seemed darker than usual.
"Lady Tsunade, Shizune-san," Kakashi greeted, "We need to speak with you privately."
"Follow me," Tsunade replied, heading towards her personal office, which had been returned to her the instant she set foot back in the building. Once they were all inside with the door closed, she turned towards the pair and asked, "What's wrong?"
"The Hokage sent us to tell you this directly before you go to speak to him," Anko said gravely, "My traitorous snake of a former sensei is hiding somewhere in the village. We suspect he's involved in a plot to use the Chuunin Exams as a cover for an invasion."