This won't be a polyromance story, I'm not a big fan of such stories myself but don't care about them in real life as long as all parties are happy. So, it's just a two-person relationship for this story! Someone told me that I should do away with the poll and just write a Hayate/OC story since that's where it seems to be heading. I might give it some more time before fully deciding, I'm not the best at that and even my parents say I'm a bit flighty sometimes. In the future I might be open to writing another fic as a Kakashi/Oc story, but it's on the ropes.
20
"Remember to try and alert all the other genin taking the exam with you," Genma told Yuzuki as they finished breakfast.
"Right, I'll let them know that Oto and Suna are planning something and to not waste much chakra," She nodded, a soft yawn escaped her and he grinned at the gaping holes where her canines had been.
She had her teeth taken away by a summons who liked her. He wondered if that meant she was going to end up with fangs like the Inuzuka. He'd laugh his ass off if she did. She wasn't the biggest fan of the Inuzuka clan.
"Are you going to wear something that fits?" Hayate asked her upon noticing that her clothes were small on her once again.
"I...I don't have the time to make something that fights right," She mumbled, "I wasn't expecting to grow again, but I am going to change to whatever is the least smallest."
She got down from her chair and headed up the stairs to her room. Her foot fall completely silent. When she came back down, her tachi on her back with her tanto situated in the lower back, wearing a sleeveless shirt with a pair of dark pants. She was winding some bandages around her arms to protect them when he walked over and helped her finish wrapping them. She seemed ready for the chuunin exams, even if there was a nervous air about her.
"Let's get going then," He told her.
"Are you still the proctor?" She asked as the three of them headed to the stadium.
"No, Hokage-sama decided that I have an emotional attachment to you that would create bias," He replied, "Genma is similar as well, I think it's Haru, he was one of the jonin proctors of the first exam."
"Huh, was he the guy with the glasses?" She asked.
He nodded and she put her hands into her pockets. She felt guilty that she hadn't given Hinata flowers before she left, but there was such a rush for her to leave the village. She also doubted that Hiashi would've let her in. He truly was the best example of a Hyuuga.
"Good luck," Genma told her as he ruffled her hair.
"Yeah, don't hurt Ino too much," Hayate warned her, "Try to restrain yourself a bit."
"I was going to," She told him with a slightly worried smile.
She waved to them before heading into the stadium and standing next to Ino and Shikamaru. Naruto came in a bit late, but the Chuunin who was proctoring didn't seem to care that much as he sighed. He watched as the three genin looked around for the Oto-nin that was supposed to be fighting in the exams.
"You three look alive," Haru told them, "You guys are the main stars of this tournament so don't disappoint the customers."
Yuzuki would've loved to have informed him that he sounded like he was about to sell them, but that was exactly what they were doing. She had a feeling the black market would've loved this world. She scanned the stands for anyone she knew, Choji was sitting with Sakura with a bag of chips and she couldn't help but be amused by the boy. Him and Genma were both eating during the tournament. Speaking of Genma, she caught his eye and he gave her a serious look as Hayate opened a drink they had brought. It really was a spectacle and they were the main attraction.
Sakura stared down at the group of Genin in the arena and winced at the phantom feeling of a kick to her stomach as she looked at the dirty blonde. She narrowed her eyes and noted that the other girl's hair was lighter than it had been. How that had happened she didn't know, nor did she really care. Those pale eyes looked at her and she glared. She was slightly taken aback by the slightly apologetic expression the other girl had, but steeled herself. She got a rude look in response and, somewhere in her mind, she made the taller girl her rival in everything. She was going into torture and interrogation, fine so would she! She was going to show everyone that she could beat the other girl in whatever she did. She was going to show that she was just as good as a kunoichi! She was going to make Sasuke notice her!
Yuzuki couldn't help but wonder why she had the sudden feeling that she now had a rival, and said rival was thinking about Sasuke of all people. She made a face and Ino looked at her trying to figure out what the other girl was thinking. She felt her body freeze upon noticing the look that Gaara was giving the Kazekage. It held such malice that her body started to shake without her realizing it.
"Don't worry," Yuzuki quietly mumbled to her and she slowly looked towards her, "Just stay calm and think rationally."
"Easy for you to say," Ino hissed at her, "And what the hell are you wearing?"
"I grew during my month away, I don't have anything that fits correctly," She hissed back, "I spent everyday training."
"We need to go shopping after these exams, you need something with style."
"Remember, Dad said no to the little black dress."
"Did you just…"
"You heard nothing, Ino."
Ino stared at the embarrassed girl before letting out a soft sound of amusement. That was her dad, huh? No wonder he had said such things about dating till she was thirty. She smirked at the other girl and watched as different emotions passed before she became neutral. Pale eyes were looking at their leader and she joined them.
"Thank you all for coming to Konoha's chuunin selection exam!" The Sandaime announced, "We will now start the main tournament matches between the nine participants who made it through the preliminaries, so please stay and watch until the end!"
"Nine?" Ino asked, "What happened to Dosu?"
"He probably chickened out." Naruto grinned.
"Quiet, I want you all to look at something before the matches begin," Haru huffed, as he held up a piece of paper to them.
All the matches were the same except Shikamaru had to simply fight Temari. It made sense and everyone nodded before Naruto realized something. Sasuke was missing.
"Hey, what about Sasuke?" Naruto asked.
"If he shows up by the time of his match he'll still be able to participate," Haru replied, "If not, then he's automatically disqualified."
Naruto nodded in understanding and Haru sighed at the group. He studied them and noted that two of the suna nins seemed a bit nervous about something while the third seemed downright murderous. He looked at the Konoha nin and noticed that there was determination there, but one of them seemed just as nervous as the suna nins. She was keeping an eye out on the area around them.
"All right you lot, this is the final test," He informed them, "The arena is different by the rules are the same as they were in the preliminaries, you fight until one of you dies or acknowledges defeat, if I determine a fight is over I will step in and stop it, understand?"
"Yes, sir," Three of the genin replied.
Well, there was a group that was probably going to get promoted. A Nara and two Yamanakas. What a fun match up. He rubbed the back of his head and pointed towards the waiting room.
"Unless you are Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji, head up to the waiting room," He ordered.
Th group of genin broke up and Ino felt a hand on her shoulder as Yuzuki leaned forward to whisper in her ear. Ino slowed her walk a bit and frowned. Her cousin typically strayed away from human contact, which she was totally going to change.
"Suna and Oto are panning an attack, save as much chakra as you can," Yuzuki quickly murmured in her ear, "Don't say anything to anyone and don't react to them, I'm giving the same message to Shino and Shikamaru."
"And not Naruto?" Ino softly asked.
"As much as I adore him, no," Yuzuki answered, "He'd react to them and yell, not telling him has the best outcome."
"Right, who will win our fight?" Ino questioned.
"We'll see," Yuzuki told her, "I don't want to be treated any differently, and I want this to be a serious test for both of us."
"Ah you Ume," Ino huffed.
"If I'm an Ume you're a bellflower."
Ino blinked at that before cackling at the gap filled smile sent her way. Her cousin sent her a look with pink tinged cheeks. Honestly, the blonde was touched that her cousin thought she was a flower that signified endless love and honesty. It was sweet.
"I hope that others can see your sweet side more often." Ino honesty told her.
Yuzuki's smile turned small as they finally entered the waiting area. Shikamaru jumped when an arm was put on his shoulder. He turned to see Yuzuki standing next to him. He hadn't even heard her.
"Oto and Suna are planning something, save your chakra and don't react to them any differently than you originally planned to," She muttered to him, she noticed a small bug on his shoulder and looked to Shino.
She got a nod from the Aburame and she moved away from the Nara. She wondered why they made everything so far away, well a part of her knew it was because they wanted the spectators to be safe, but it did make things almost impossible to hear. Granted it didn't help that they had yet to speak.
"Looks like you have something to say," Neji said.
"I told you before," Naruto said with a glare, "You're going down."
"He's so lame," Ino huffed and Yuzuki shook her head in disbelief.
"Now the first fight will begin," Haru announced.
"That is what makes this worthwhile," Neji said with a smirk, "It'll be fun to watch you fall apart upon discovering reality."
"Stop all the blabbering and fight already!" Naruto yelled at him.
"I don't think Neji knows that Naruto defies the laws of reality," Yuzuki stated and all the genin in the area looked at her, "What, have you ever been submitted to one of his speeches? He's very charismatic when he wants to be."
"I don't think he realizes that he is charismatic," Shikamaru pointed out.
"Let's not tell him," All the Konoha genin agreed simultaneously.
"He might lose that, and it'll take him a long way," She added.
It went quiet after that as they waited for one of the two boys to make the first move. Neji had already activated his byakugan, and now they waited to see what Naruto did. He created clones, Yuzuki wondered if he had learned anything in the month that they got to train. Then again, those clones seemed to be made from more chakra than usual. It was like he learned how to correctly disperse his chakra.
"But in the end there is only one true body," Neji informed him, "A clone will not work."
"That may be true, but even so," Ino listened to Shikamaru and Yuzuki commentate, this came from the brunette.
"Naruto has an insane amount of chakra, even if the tenketsu points were to be blocked he could overpower them and reopen them," Yuzuki stated, "He's a formidable opponent to fight as a Hyuuga."
"And as a Yamanaka?"
"He'd be the best, but I wouldn't want to go into his mind."
"Afraid of what you'd see?"
"It'd be ramen, nothing but ramen."
Ino couldn't help but snort at that. Her eyes widened as Naruto charged with his clones, only to have each one destroyed by Neji. Carefully placed kicks and hits were the way to do so. Even if the blonde hadn't gone for a full-frontal attack, he would've been taken out. She couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to figure out Neji's attacks.
"Is he an idiot or a genius?" Ino quietly asked Yuzuki.
"I've been asking that myself for a while," She admitted, "He acts like an idiot, but I don't think that he is."
"It's impossible for someone like you to become hokage," Neji informed Naruto, "Talent is decoded at your birth, you could say that everything is decoded when a person is born."
"Who the hell are you decided things like that?" Naruto questioned.
"Then are you saying that anyone can become hokage through hard work?" Neji questioned, "Only a handful of shinobi are chosen as hokage. Why don't you take a close look at reality, those that become hokage are born into that destiny and people must live within the unchangeable flow the only destiny that everyone shares is death."
"What's wrong?" Ino asked upon seeing her cousin's face.
"He's such a hypocrite."
They didn't know what she meant by that. Yuzuki did, she knew that Neji was constantly trying to change. He was constantly working harder to strengthen his byakugan and increase his abilities, yet here he was trying to say that only those who were predestined to be amazing would be amazing. Did he forget about his incredible teammate Lee? Lee had been extraordinary during his fight with Gaara, but that had been from his hard work.
"I'm not good at giving up!" Naruto informed Neji as he created an army of clones.
"I'm not stupid, I've already seen through your attack pattern," Neji huffed.
"I told you to stop automatically deciding things!"
"How many clones can he create?" Ino questioned.
"Like I said, he defies the Kami." Yuzuki joked.
No one responded to that as the army of Naruto's sprinted towards Neji. It caused the Hyuuga some trouble, seeing as he couldn't dodge all of them. He quickly looked through the crowd of orange and tried to spot the real one. He smirked when he did and rushed towards it.
"Shit he blocked one of his tenketsu points," Yuzuki quietly cursed.
"Fearing having your points pressed, one body is doing the least amount of attacking," Neji informed the blonde, "The more you attack the clearer it becomes that you're the real one."
Naruto coughed up blood and all the genin watching, minus Gaara, winced at the sight. He was breathing so heavily that they could easily hear it from the waiting room. Neji backed up from the other boy with a blank expression.
"This is why I told you it was useless." Neji said.
"That's why, I told you to stop automatically deciding things," Naruto grinned before he turned into a puff of smoke.
Ino and Yuzuki cheered in unison. The entire crowd burst into applause at the sight. Shikamaru looked annoyed at the amount of sound.
"No way," Neji said as he turned to see two Naruto's nearing him.
"I'm coming at you with everything I have prepare to die!" Naruto yelled at the taller boy.
Only to be stopped by the eight trigrams palms revolving heaven. He had learned the rotation by himself? Yuzuki couldn't help but be a bit amazed at his genius, she thought that she had been clever enough to work through the main house holds jutsus, but here there was another. She couldn't blame him; it was wrong to keep jutsus to one branch of the family and stop others from being able to protect themselves. She looked towards the hurt blonde and frowned slightly.
"You thought you had won?" Neji questioned.
"What was that?" Ino questioned, "His punch should've connected."
"That was a main house jutsu, he figured them out as well," Yuzuki answered and Ino watched a bead of sweat go down her face.
"It's over, you are within the field of my hakke," Neji informed Naruto before he slid into the stance for the eight trigrams sixty-four palms.
"Oh."
"What do you mean oh?" Ino asked Yuzuki before she realized what she meant after the first hit, "Oh."
Naruto had been completely decimated by the sixty-four palms. He didn't get up after falling onto the ground. Well, it didn't take him long to slowly get to his knees. Neji didn't stop insulting Naruto, even as he stood close to victory. That was why Yuzuki couldn't see him being promoted. She couldn't see herself promoted either after her actions during the preliminaries.
"Come one, get up Naruto," Yuzuki quietly urged.
She was pleasantly surprised when Naruto stood to his feet, he was shaking and in obvious pain, but he was up. Ino couldn't help the grin on her face at such a feat. How was she supposed to know that he was amazing?
"I told you, I'm not good at giving up." Naruto said.
"Quit already continuing won't change anything, I don't have a grudge against you," Neji informed him.
"I do!" Naruto shouted at him.
"What do you mean?" Neji sounded genuinely confused.
"If you're this strong, and you have those eyes that can see everything, then why'd you attack Hinata who was trying so hard?" Naruto questioned him.
"That's none of your business." Neji hissed.
"Insulting Hinata and deciding she's a loser, I don't care what happened between the two families but pieces of shit like you who call other people losers," Naruto continued, "I will never forgive you."
"All right, if you're going to go that far, then I'll tell you," Neji sighed, "The Hyuuga's destiny of hatred."
Yuzuki didn't say anything as Shikamaru looked at her when the caged bird seal was shown and the history between the branch and main family was made public. She couldn't help but look down at her hands as a way to ignore things she already knew. She couldn't help but wonder how much the proctor was getting paid to listen to a bunch of twelve- and thirteen-year old's monologue. She hoped it was quite a bit, she'd feel bad if it wasn't.
"You explained that far faster than he did." Ino told Yuzuki in a quiet voice after Neji finished his story.
"I don't know how much it hurt that your dad was killed a long time ago, but thinking that destiny is all decided because of that is a huge mistake!" Naruto yelled at him.
"You're hopeless," Neji sighed.
He ran forward and hit Naruto one last time before turning towards Haru. Said man simply raised a brow at the brunette. He wasn't a mind reader. Those were in the waiting room.
"It's over, proctor." Neji said.
"Don't you dare run away," Naruto ground out, "I don't go back on my word."
"I've heard that before," Neji sneered.
"There's no way that I'd lose to a coward like you," Naruto informed him.
"An ignorant brat like you shouldn't be lecturing…people are born burdened with a destiny that they cannot oppose," Neji said before he angrily pointed at the blonde, "Someone like you could never understand what it's like to be burdened with a symbol you could never rid yourself of!"
Naruto stayed quiet at that and Yuzuki gave him a sad look. He could, oh could he understand. Neji could never understand what it was like to be so alone, to never have someone look at you without hatred. She felt bad for the blonde, he never asked for it.
"I can, and so what?" Naruto questioned with a tired grin, "Stop acting so cool, you're not the only special person in the world…Hinata's suffered as much as you, she may be a member of the main family but no one ever acknowledges that she's trying her best…The branch family is supposed to protect the main family, yet doing that to Hinata is one hell of an example of trying to disobey your destiny with all your might."
"Your sixty-four opening points are closed; you won't be able to use chakra for a while how can you fight?" Neji questioned, "In the end you and Hinata-sama are the same."
"Would you shut up!" Naruto shouted at him, "Stop acting like you know everyone's destiny, because I'm definitely going to defeat you and prove you wrong!"
Naruto closed his eyes as Neji turned towards Haru and informed him that he was going in for the kill and to stop him if he didn't want that. The jonin simply sighed in response and shrugged. They ignored the blonde who was trying to build chakra. Yuzuki felt a shiver go down her spine at the familiar feel of the chakra he was able to build.
"Why do you go against your destiny so much?" Neji finally asked.
"Because I was called a loser." Naruto informed him.
Yuzuki smirked at the Kyuubi chakra filled Naruto's system and helped to unblock the tenketsu points. Neji had no clue how he was able to do so and activated his byakugan he backed away in slight fear as he saw what she had during wave. The red chakra was dark and leaked killing intent, and this time she noticed the nine tendrils of it that create tails around Naruto.
"Here I come." Naruto said.
The blonde took off and attacked Neji with everything he had, even weapons. Ino was surprised when Yuzuki pulled her back from the viewing area when the two collided. Dust was kicked up and so did shrapnel from the ground.
"What the hell was that?" Ino questioned, "Which crater is Naruto?"
Neji climbed out of one and they got their answer. He was about to say something when the ground under him erupted and he got an uppercut to his jaw. He was out for the count due to such a hit. The arena was silent for a few seconds before a single clap rang out and others followed.
"Winner of the first match, Uzumaki Naruto," Haru announced, he turned to Neji and quietly said something.
"Holy shit, he won…" Ino said as she sighed.
"I had assumed he was a lameass-type like me," Shikamaru said as he let out a slight sigh.
"Lameass-type?" Shino questioned.
"Don't worry about it," Yuzuki informed him, "He just means lazy."
Naruto rejoined them as Neji was carted off to the hospital. Ino and Yuzuki shared a look as they realized that it was their fight next, they needed to put on a good show. Both looked a bit uncomfortable to fight one another. They weren't going to move until Haru called them down.
"Next match is between Yamanaka Ino and Yamanaka Yuzuki." Haru announced.
"Yikes," Shikamaru huffed, "I can't wish either of you luck without playing favorites."
"It's cool, don't worry about it," Yuzuki laughed, "Besides Ino's your teammate, it'd be weird if you didn't cheer her on."
The two Yamanaka's headed down to the arena below by jumping over the railing. Haru didn't even react to them as they took their stances on the broken ground. Ino and Yuzuki sized each other up and Ino felt as though she wasn't prepared as she stared at the muscular arms of her cousin. No wonder the other girl always wore long sleeves, she'd have to put her in a turtleneck to see how they'd look. She was getting off topic.
"You two have anything to say?" he asked them.
"Good luck, Ino," Yuzuki smiled at her cousin.
"Right, may the best Yamanaka win," Ino smiled back.
"We're ready." The two told Haru in unison.
"Oh, that's just scary," Genma said from his spot.
Hayate rolled his eyes in response and waited to see how Yuzuki would handle fighting her cousin. The crowd was still pumped from the last match, but some were whispering about the Hyuuga Half-breed. He shot a glare towards a man who had said it loudly, the killing intent the man felt was nothing compared to what he could do.
"Begin."
Ino felt her stomach drop when she lost sight of her cousin. She moved back from the starting area. The crowd was confused when they noticed the taller girl just standing there making hand signs. Yuzuki had perfected this little bit of mental torture, and all because of Anko teaching her the hell viewing technique. She removed the sound around Ino and began to weave whispers, making it sound as though the crowd was confused but she slowly sneaked in mutters that had no meaning behind them.
"Are you gonna move?" Haru quietly asked her.
She paid him no mind and he seemed surprised when Ino let out a scream and backed away from something only she could see while covering her ears. He then looked towards the other girl, a genjutsu type? She gave him a small smile before flickering out of his sight. He had trouble finding her, and he had to think back to who she had been around. Genma, that son of a bitch created one hell of a scary kid.
Ino broke free of the genjutsu and looked around from her cousin with her heart thumping in her chest. At first she thought the crowd had been confused at the fact that the other girl had completely disappeared, but then she heard voices talking about butter and soap. It had been nonsensical, and she was starting to worry about the sanity of Konoha, then she had seen figures rising from the ground. Each one was of Yuzuki and she was moving her body in ways that didn't look natural, she saw one of the faces and that was when she screamed. She saw her cousins dead face, though most of it was gone. It took her a while to figure out that it was a genjutsu.
She almost winced as she felt her cousin appear behind her, an apologetic expression on her face. She couldn't dodge the juken that hit her shoulder, but she could jump back to dodge the kick sent towards her midsection. They met each other in taijutsu. It wasn't her best idea, but Yuzuki wasn't letting up. The other girl was mechanical in her movements, but would send creative attacks towards her.
Was she jumping back too much, she'd grab her by the clothes and cause her to jump over her to dodge another attack. She was panting heavily but Yuzuki was barely breaking a sweat. A quick movement came towards her and a hit to her stomach caused her to double over and cough. A quick hit to the back of her neck, in a particular place where there was a nerve, caused her to fall to the ground. She couldn't move her body and Yuzuki turned towards Haru.
"Winner, Yamanaka Yuzuki!" He announced and the crowd went wild, one major voice being Genma.
"Here, I've got you." Yuzuki gently told her cousin as she fixed the nerve and she regained feeling in her body and could move, "Sorry, but that was the only way I could end the fight with minimal damage to you…but you've improved so much!"
Yuzuki wasn't just saying that to be nice, Ino had been able to keep up with her once it turned to taijutsu and fighting that she was used to. Ino wasn't used to genjutsu being used against her, and made a mental note to spar with her cousin more often.
"You can be scary when you want to be," Ino informed her, "But what the hell was that about butter and soap?"
"Just my special brand of crazy," Yuzuki grinned.
"Geez."
Hayate let out a soft breath of relief as the two girls talked to one another as they headed back to the waiting area. There were no hard feelings between them, and they seemed happy with how things had gone. He was happy how it had gone. He had been afraid that Yuzuki would go to far and hurt her cousin to the point where she'd be taken out of the impending fight. She seemed to feel his eyes and he watched as the dirty-blonde girl looked at him before smiling softly.
It was a sweet smile and she looked back towards her chatty cousin. He turned towards Genma, who had finished his chips during the fight, and he nodded. They both knew to keep their guard up, the boy with the puppet seemed like he didn't want to fight. That pushed Gaara's match closer to happening.
"She did an excellent job with that genjutsu," Hayate said, "She's creative with how she layers them."
"She's going to get promoted," Genma told him as he looked at the jonin around them and a few of the clan heads, "She impressed quite a few people doing that, annoyed the civilians though."
"Of course, she did," Hayate sighed.
"U-Um, Gekko san?" A small voice asked, and they turned to see a familiar pinkette.
"Yes, Sakura?" Hayate questioned.
"Just what genjutsu did she use?" She asked.
"An auditory genjutsu paired with the hell viewing technique," He answered, "I think she also used one to make herself disappear, but I'm not too sure."
"It would explain why her cousin jumped away from her and looked around like she couldn't see her." Genma said with a slight smirk.
Sakura made a mental note to not underestimate the taller girl. If she could do just that with genjutsu what would she be able to do with other areas? She'd have to start bettering herself if she wanted to try and catch up to the girl and then surpass her. She was going to do so. Her words should be marked!