Last time:
The screen went through a bunch of names, too fast for Hanara to see. The screen then stopped with a beep, revealing the first match up.
Akado Yoroi vs Uchiha Sasuke
Now:
Hanara looked at the boy who stepped forward from Kabuto's team. He had black glasses that looked a lot like Shino's and wore a mask that covered most of the rest of his face. He carried himself with an air of arrogance, seeming quite confident in his abilities against Sasuke.
"Okay, those whose names have just been called, please go to the middle of this room. The rest of you may go to the viewing area," Hayate said, coughing right after.
'Is he sick? He should get that cough checked out...'
Asuma walked to his team and led them to the stairs on the side that every Leaf team, save Kabuto's, were standing. The Sand, Sound, and Kabuto's team were on the other side, wearing some unpleasant looks on their faces.
"So, how are you guys?" Asuma asked as they made their way in-between Kurenai's and Kakashi's teams, "Had some time to heal up?"
"Yeah, I think our chakra levels are back to normal. I don't think Ino got a concussion from her fall so we should be okay," Hanara responded.
"Look! The match is starting!" Ino exclaimed.
"Any objections?" Hayate asked.
"None here," Sasuke said.
"No."
Though Sasuke was smaller than his opponent by a lot, he didn't seem very worried. Hopefully, that meant whatever Orochimaru had done to him was no longer a problem.
"Uh, okay then, the match may begin," Hayate said, stepping back.
Yoroi wasted no time, lunging at Sasuke as his hands turned blue.
'Chakra,' Hanara thought, turning on her Byakugan, 'He steals chakra from his opponents... being bigger than Sasuke isn't as ideal for him as it would have been for someone else.'
He forced Sasuke to the ground and landed on top of him as Sasuke screamed. Yoroi laughed as Sasuke squirmed and attempted to pull his hand off him.
'I take it back, being larger gave him an advantage.' she thought, deactivating her Byakugan.
Sasuke went limp and his arms fell to his side, "What the- My chakra! What are you doing?"
Yoroi laughed, "You're just noticing it now? I'm taking away every drop of your chakra, and you seem to have quite a lot of it."
Sasuke screamed and started to thrash once more.
Suddenly, he forced his hands into fists and mustered up the strength to kick Yoroi off.
"Get. Off. ME!" Sasuke screamed.
"So, you've got some strength left, huh? Impressive. For a guinea pig," Yoroi snarled as he got up.
Sasuke's eyes widened.
"Don't worry, little man, I'll make it short and sweet," Yoroi said, moving to attack.
His hands lit up with chakra again and he tried to connect with Sasuke's shoulder. This time though, Sasuke was prepared and dodged. This was soon followed with fast swipes at Sasuke, all of which were dodged. A bit of the blue chakra hit Sasuke's hair, however, and Sasuke staggered under Yoroi's arms and tried to move closer to the wall under the right side of the room.
"What's the matter?" Yoroi taunted, "Is that all you can do?"
Sasuke turned around fast enough to dodge Yoroi's next attack and Yoroi backflipped to maintain enough distance for a running start towards him.
Hanara looked to Sakura and Naruto without turning her head (Byakugan perks!) and saw them both tense. 'I would be too, I suppose, if any of my teammates were the ones down there.'
"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, "Come on, man! What was that? And you call yourself an Uchiha?"
Sasuke turned to the sound of Naruto's voice.
"You're gonna let this goon walk all over you!" he continued, "Come on, stop messing around and get in gear!"
Sasuke's eyes moved to Lee, who was beside Naruto, and his eyes widened, evidently having some sort of idea inspired by him.
However, Yoroi was enraged by Sasuke's decision to turn his back on him and ran towards him, chakra coating his hands.
"I'll teach you to turn you back on me! Big mistake, and your last!"
He struck. Sasuke dodged. He struck again. Sasuke dodged, again. This went on for quite some time, but it would have to end soon, because, with every dodge, Sasuke was being forced closer and closer to the wall.
Sasuke realized this as well because he disappeared and reappeared right under Yoroi with one hand on the ground, kicking Yoroi with the force of his body's weight. 'Is that Lee's move? It was inspired by him? But... taijutsu of that level takes at least a year to perfect! Is this the power of the Sharingan?'
Yoroi was sent flying while Sasuke landed on all-fours before leaping straight into the air, taking position right behind him. Lee's eyes widened, as did Guy's and Kakashi's, 'Yep, definitely his move.'
"Okay, I admit, I kinda borrowed that move," Sasuke said.
'Yep, it's confirmed.'
"But, from here on out, it's all original," he continued.
"Huh? The Dancing Leaf Shadow?" Yoroi exclaimed.
"Now, take this!" Sasuke said, moving to attack.
And then, Hanara saw the same black marks from the forest, covering his body, causing Sasuke to scream. But, with sheer willpower alone, Sasuke seemed to be able to force it back before it covered the other half of his body.
"Here we go," Sasuke smirked.
Sasuke kicked him, but even though he was in the air, Yoroi managed to catch his foot, "You're no match for me!"
Sasuke moved out of his hold and kicked Yoroi on his stomach, forcing him to crash into the ground.
"LION'S BARRAGE!" Sasuke yelled.
The force of the kick landing made Sasuke skid back on the floor, however, and both opponents were lying down. It seemed like no one was going to move, and apparently, the proctor thought so too, because he made his way over to Yoroi.
"Well, this one's had it," he muttered after checking Yoroi.
Sasuke groaned and managed to force himself up.
"I'm declaring this match over," Hayate said, "As the winner of this preliminary round, Sasuke Uchiha will enter the finals."
"Way to go!" Naruto shouted.
"Great move, Sasuke," Sakura yelled.
"That's Sasuke all right!" Ino smiled.
"Ugh," Hanara groaned to her male teammates, "Now she'll expect us to do the same..."
"You said it," Shikamaru agreed.
There was a 'thump' as Sasuke fell onto his butt, his body giving out. The medics rushed towards him as well as his opponent, but Kakashi stopped the ones at Sasuke by body-flickering to them.
"You're going to be out of your league with him, I'll handle it," he said, carrying Sasuke towards the exit, "I'll bring him to the hospital later."
The medics put Yoroi on a stretcher and left the room. Not a moment too soon either, because a 'beep' came from the board, announcing the next match-up.
Shino Aburame vs Zaku Abumi
Shino moved towards the stairs but Hanara ran after him.
"Shino!"
He turned.
"Just a word of advice, he uses something on his arms to emit sound waves. If you want to win, stopping those should be enough," she said hurriedly before turning around and running back to her team, not bothering to see his reaction.
"Why did you tell him that?" Choji asked curiously.
"I really want to see him knocked down a peg and Shino, or any Aburame really, has the means to do it." she smiled before focusing on the makeshift fighting area, noticing that both Shino and Zaku, whose arms were in a sling, were there.
"If you fight here," Shino said, "You will never be able to fight again. Forfeit."
"Heh." Zaku responded taking his left arm out of the sling, "This arm still can move somehow. One arm is good enough for you!"
Zaku kneeled and stretched his arm out to Shino, palm open before running up to him. Shino blocked the attack.
"You won't be able to beat me with just one arm."
"Yeah, well I've got news for ya. Try this! Slicing Sound Wave!" he stopped the blast of wind and said, "Okay fool, you had enough?"
There was a cloud of dust that cleared, and it revealed Shino standing, clothes slightly ruffled but otherwise unharmed.
"Huh?" Zaku said, confused, "He's- There's no way! He's... what?"
Bugs were crawling all over Shino.
'I suppose, for someone out of the Leaf, this would seem a bit odd,' Hanara thought, looking at Zaku, Kin, and Dosu's expressions, 'But even Sakura and Naruto seem confused. The Aburame don't exactly hide their clan's specialties...'
"Great. Now that you've creeped us all out, what happens next?" Zaku asked, still keeping up his tough-guy act.
Zaku's eyes widened as he turned around and noticed the swarm of kikaichu behind him, "What are those?"
"They're a rare species of parasitic insects that attack their enemies in a swarm, eating their chakra," Shino responded, "An army of this size will suck you dry in less than a minute. Your only intelligent option is to forfeit the match. You can't fight two opponents with one arm. Attack me and the swarm will attack you. Attack the swarm and I will attack you. While in battle, one should always have an ace in the hole, and this is mine."
Hanara sighed, 'Don't give away your tricks to the entire room! If you make it to the next round, someone might come up with a strategy to counteract it!'
Something Zaku thought about must have enraged him because he let out a roar, "ARGH! Now you've done it!" he exclaimed, raising one arm to Shino while taking the other out of its sling, "Now you've made me mad!"
Zaku forced his fists open, "Like you said yourself, always have an ace in the hole, right?
"What the? I thought his right arm was shot," Kiba said from beside her.
"Appearances can be deceiving," Hanara and Shikamaru said in sync before blushing.
With a yell, Zaku attempted to use his Slicing Sound Wave, but something stopped him and forced him to drop his arms.
"Hanara, what's happening?" Shikamaru asked from her left.
"Byakugan," Hanara said, not using any hand signs in her haste, "No way!" she exclaimed, staring at Zaku, "That smart boy!"
"What did Shino do?" Kiba questioned.
"He used his kikaichu to block the holes in Zaku's hand, when Zaku ran up to him, most likely. Now, there's enough to stop the flow of chakra. It'll probably build up until one of the forces has to give," Hanara said, smiling, "Shino's got this in the bag!"
"Why do you want him to win so much?" Kiba asked.
"Zaku tried something against our team during the Second Exam and I still have something against him for it."
"Urgh! My arms! What's wrong with them?" Zaku yelled.
Zaku managed to move his arms enough to see the kikaichu in the holes," What?"
Shino body-flickered behind him, "Earlier when I was distracting you with my helpful advice? I was also dispatching my little friends to clog up those bothersome wind holes of yours, both hands, just to be sure. You see, while an ace in the hole is good, two are better."
Zaku grew enraged and moved to attack, but Shino countered and backhanded him, sending Zaku flying and forcing him to hit his head against the floor as he landed. Zaku stayed immobile for about 2 minutes before the proctor checked him.
"It seems like this match is over. Winner: Shino Aburame."