Sasuke probably would have been more impressed by Iruka's appearance if he wasn't still somewhat numb, from his recent experience and from coming down from the high that came with being in the forest. He was still on high alert and certainly not at a point where he'd allow himself to completely relax, this was still a test, but the talking seemed to offer some form of respite.
Naruto tackled Iruka into a hug cheering about their success and he could see the softness in Iruka's face beyond what normally came being a teacher. Sasuke knew Naruto had a close relationship to their old teacher despite his constant disruptions in class. Still there had been enough merry-making he allowed himself to cut in asking, "What would have happened if we opened the scrolls during the exam, would you have shown up?" He had an idea of the results of opening the scrolls early, but he wanted to confirm it.
Iruka smiled slyly, "Anyone who opened the scroll would have been placed in a state of unconscious." What went unsaid was that he would probably have knocked them out and the meeting would have been far more severe.
Iruka explained a bit about the scrolls and the meaning behind them essentially stating a ninja needed a solid mind and body to be successful. One thing he focused on was when Iruka said, "Chunin are at the rank of a military captain, you will have the responsibility of guiding a team." Theoretically he knew that there were Chunin leading teams it just didn't really hit him that if he succeeded, he'd be at a point where he could be leading a team. It became far clearer why Kakashi didn't consider them ready to be promoted. They likely wouldn't be expected to do so right away, but if they were Chunin that meant they had the ability to run missions solo or as leaders. Kakashi's idea behind them leading shadow clones on simple missions suddenly made more sense.
Iruka eventually finished what he had to say and after Naruto making a few declarations about being a true ninja now, rather than a student, they were taken into a larger room where the rest of the successful teams had gathered. The Jonin leaders, test proctors, and Hokage were also present and apparently the Hokage was about to begin a speech. Initially they had been told the exams were to foster friendship between villages, but in reality, they were an opportunity to show off to potential clients and for gambling. Honestly, that explanation made more sense to him than being told the exams truly were just for the sake of improving relations between villages, who sent ninja that ended up killing each other as the exams progressed.
A man who looked halfway dead cut in claiming to be the proctor and began to explain the third exam, or rather he was going to explain the exam before revealing there were too many of them. He asked if anyone wanted to drop out, otherwise they would need to do preliminary exams to cut the numbers. The idea of anyone dropping out now seemed ludicrous but considering the odd numbers it would be helpful.
Kabuto chose to drop out before the battles began, he seemed healthy enough when he tagged along with them on the way to the tower with the claim that they would be safer together. He had both scrolls as well so there was no reason to fight and despite his suspicions Naruto had been accommodating enough. While Naruto spoke to Kabuto about his decision, he felt Sakura rest a hand on his shoulder and ask, "You're going to fight, aren't you?" Despite it being a question from her slightly despondent tone he knew she was aware he wouldn't give up.
"Is that really a question?" He asked in return. Of course, he wished he had a chance to let Kakashi examine the curse mark and try to help him, but even without that Naruto's seal should hold for at least a few minutes of fighting. He was just going to have to make sure he only needed a few minutes.
"Be careful, please." Her voice was far more solid than it had been when she spoke in the forest, but she didn't hide the worry in her voice.
"Always," he smirked glancing at Sakura trying to convey a sense of confidence. The first fight appeared on the board and it was his own name along with someone he didn't recognize. Getting this out of the way was probably for the best, he didn't want to wait. She nodded and moved to the viewing section with everyone else, she glanced back once, but Sasuke turned away not wanting to see the look in her eyes. He didn't need any distractions.
As Kakashi passed he paused just long enough to say, "You need to avoid using the Sharingan, if that mark becomes active I'll have no choice, but to stop the fight."
"I have a plan," Sasuke replied not bothering asking how Kakashi knew or how much he knew about the situation.
"Of course, you do," Kakashi chuckled and patted Sasuke. It came across more good-natured than patronizing so Sasuke chose not to get annoyed.
"Begin," the sickly man said and even without activating his Sharingan he could see Chakra gathering in Yoroi's hand which meant even without much information he knew he needed to avoid getting touched. Obviously this wasn't a time where a long distance battle utilizing jutsu was going to work in his favor so he would just have to figure something out. Unlike Naruto he couldn't send out a group of shadow clones to study him so a more direct method would be required.
He moved into a defensive stance allowing Yoroi to rush at him leading with his left hand where the chakra had gathered. He allowed Yoroi to attack and simply watched to get an idea of what was coming. To be honest the level of fear he felt was minimal after what he'd dealt with so he was remarkably calm at the moment. He realized quickly that Yoroi didn't have a particularly complex fighting style. He made his mind up and decided on his plan of action after dodging backwards a few more times he flared his sharingan on and ignored the sting as it fought with the seal. He easily moved around Yoroi's next strike and stepped forward placing him directly in front of the man. Before Yoroi could pull his extended arm back Sasuke grabbed his wrist and shoved a kunai through the center of his palm.
In his pain Yoroi dropped his guard and Sasuke punched him in the face as hard as he could. He deactivated his sharingan before the seal broke and ran forward to capitalize on Yoroi's loss of balance. He landed a chakra enhanced kick to the man's stomach sending him sprawling backwards onto the hard floor. At this point going for broke was his best option because the longer this went on the worse position he put himself in. He sent a fireball directly at his opponent and although it was certainly weaker than usual it still consumed Yoroi. By the time the smoke cleared Yoroi was down for the count, alive, but covered in newly formed burns.
His hand immediately flew to his neck as the seal broke, but thankfully most people had their attention focused on the medics collecting Yoroi. He could feel the eyes of his teammates and Kakashi on him, but thankfully the curse mark wasn't flaring enough to be visible. By the time he climbed the steps back to the viewing zone beside Kakashi the pain had largely subsided and he felt comfortable removing his hand, no longer needing to hide the possible spread. "I'm fine," he answered the unasked question that hung between them. Still he couldn't suppress a hiss of pain when the mark throbbed.
Kakashi watched the fight and was extremely impressed with how it progressed. The fight itself wasn't major, but Sasuke's ability to end it quickly without disturbing the mark severly was what he truly took notice of. The seal Naruto created was also something that Kakashi knew most genin wouldn't be able to do or come up with.
"I'm assuming the seal applied to you was created by Naruto?" Kakashi asked once Sasuke came to a stop by his side. Rather than wait for an answer he continued, "It was quite clever and well done, however I need to put a permanent seal in place." He gestured to Sasuke saying, "Come with me," turning to his other students he added, "I'll send a shadow clone to watch over your matches and study the other ninja so I can better help you prepare for the finals. Just trust yourselves and you'll be fine, you don't need to worry about Sasuke I have this under control."
Despite Sasuke's complaints about wanting to watch the matches Kakashi was not allowing him to wait around with the risk of the seal activating. As much as he was impressed with Naruto his seal wasn't something that could work long term. Forming a seal to stop the curse mark from activating was complex and one day Naruto could certainly learn to create it, but right now this was Kakashi's job as their teacher to handle.
Once they were out of sight he sent a shadow clone to take his place and watch the matches, he wasn't going to neglect his duties to the other two. His clone would watch the matches and he could analyze what he'd seen later. Sasuke was largely silent as Kakashi guided him to an empty room with space for him to draw the seal.
"Sasuke sit here and remove your shirt," Kakashi gestured to the center of the room, "try to stay still and keep your chakra completely under control. I'll be drawing seals onto your body and the surrounding area, it requires precision so you can't disturb it."
Sasuke simply got into position and gave an affirmative scoff as if the idea of him moving out place was beyond possibility. With everything that had been going on Kakashi was actually glad he was able to retain his attitude so he let it slide without comment. He carved out circles and marked specific points with his kunai. With a small slice to his finger the sealing process began. He tried to make the process as quick and efficient as possible and aside from a slight shiver as Kakashi wiped blood over his body Sasuke largely stayed still.
With a few hand signs he flared his chakra and the process began, the marks slid off the floor and slithered up his body all converging on the curse mark. Sasuke yelled out in pain but held himself in position. It took only a few seconds and by the end Sasuke was unconscious on the floor something Kakashi expected but neglected to mention to Sasuke lest he complain more about missing matches.
"To think you'd be able to cast such a complex seal, you always were quite impressive Kakashi," a smooth voice spoke and Kakashi froze for a moment before swinging around to face Orochimaru as he crept out of the shadows, "however I'm not here for you."
"Orochimaru," Kakashi said with his emotions flashing quickly between unmitigated fear, concern for his student, anger, and finally settling on a high level of wariness. He was standing face to face with one of the most dangerous ninja in the world, but he couldn't back down. "What do you want with Sasuke?" He asked not moving from his position in front of his student.
Rather than directly answer Orochimaru asked him a question, "What is it like, having a Sharingan? You obtained one and it certainly wasn't done naturally." Rather than actually letting Kakashi answer he continued, "I too want the power of the Uchiha. I have many ambitions some of which I believe you know and to achieve those ambitions I need the right pieces."
"That's all Sasuke is, a piece on your ridiculous board?" Kakashi asked trying to apply as much condescension as he could muster in the face of such an adversary.
"No, Sasuke is an exceptional piece. The other pieces involved right now in this exam are throwaway pieces, but Sasuke I plan to make very good use of," Orochimaru said allowing his dark desire to present itself more in his tone.
"And you think I'll just let you do that?" Kakashi got into position and sent chakra to his hand releasing his lightning cutter, Orochimaru's face shifted for a moment perhaps in surprise, but quickly morphed into a serpentine smile. Kakashi ignored the other ninja's apparent amusement, "I might not be able to beat you, but I'll make sure to take you with me if I die." Although Kakashi had been training extremely hard and learning new skills to help his young team improve he was not in a place where he could pose a legitimate threat to Orochimaru. Both of them knew this, but it didn't stop Kakashi from immediately deciding to protect Sasuke with his life.
Orochimaru laughed long and hard before sliding down into a mocking tone, "Poor Kakashi, do you truly believe that seal is enough to keep Sasuke? Deep down you know as well as I do, Sasuke is an avenger and no matter what you do you cannot change the fundamental truth that he hungers for revenge."
"You think that's enough to take advantage of him? Unlike you I know Sasuke and I have faith he'll follow the right path," Kakashi responded not wanting to confront the fact that Sasuke was heavily focused on achieving revenge. Dealing with that was something that would come up, but the immediate threat was standing in front of him.
"I know enough to tell you that one day he will tap into the power I gave him and come to me on his own. It's truly just a matter of time and then all your noble efforts will be in vain," with one last deliberate laugh he turned his back on Kakashi, leaving himself open and showing his complete lack of fear. Without turning back he spoke again, his quiet voice managing to reverberate through the room, "I'll let you live for today and watch over your little team. Unless you want to fight now, feel free to try."
Kakashi didn't move. Orochimaru was one of the very few people who got under his skin and could truly shake him, he'd fought for his life plenty of times without hesitation and here was an opportunity to take down one of the village's greatest foes. However, he stood by and let him stroll away. A piece of his conclusion was that Kakashi valued his students enough to protect them even when he likely couldn't win, but wouldn't take a needless risk of the same level purely for the sake of the village as a whole.
In reality it was far more nuanced than that, but standing still watching Orochimaru fade back into the shadows his relief for his team's safety outweighed his worry for what this meant for the village. As a Leaf ninja that was likely wrong, but as a teacher dedicated to his students on some level it felt right.
Kakashi's clone arrived just in time for Zaku's match with Shino. After watching Sasuke destroy him in the forest Sakura's desire to see him physically beaten wasn't really present. She was glad Shino won, but it was simple satisfaction at Zaku's loss and Shino's victory rather than any feeling of retribution. The third match ended fairly quickly with the sand ninja utilizing the puppet master jutsu.
The analytical side of her was impressed and wanted to study the technique, the rest of her wasn't pleased because she got a very bad feeling from the sand ninja and wanted them around as little as possible.
A small break was called as medics descended to the battle area. Sakura headed to the bathroom to splash some water on her face and fill up a small gourd to have some water on hand for her own match when it came.
The sound of water flowing allowed her to focus and calm herself. Her brief respite was broken by the sound of footsteps, when she glanced up she saw they belonged to Ino who seemed to be looking for a fight. With all the issues her team was currently facing and what they'd gone through, Ino was quite frankly the last of her worries.
When Ino began to berate her, likely trying to psyche her out Sakura barely acknowledged the other girl only saying, "Ino, you're not even on my radar." The halfhearted bullying attempt from a recently graduated schoolgirl didn't compare to the bloodlust she felt from Orochimaru or her concern for her team.
She walked by and didn't glance back, but she heard Ino's noise of surprise from behind her as she made her way back to the main area. She would've forced Ino out of her mind entirely if Ino's name hadn't appeared on the board. It was almost like fate that she'd be facing Ino, in the silliest way possible. Though Sakura wasn't complaining, she knew the majority of what Ino could do and was confident this was a fight she could win.
Sakura knew she'd grown, but among the ninja she was surrounded by there were some she didn't believe she could win against and that was simply out of acknowledgement of her shortcomings not fear of her enemies. It inspired her to become stronger and she certainly would, but at this moment with her current skills she was lucky. Maybe that would seem offensive to Ino if she said those thoughts out loud, but for now her satisfaction was well hidden.
She and Ino remained silent as they faced each other and Sakura knew she had to throw emotions to the side more than ever for this fight. Despite the arguing she and Ino had recently resorted to they still shared a history, but a ninja couldn't allow emotions to stop them from succeeding. That would be part of her progression to a Chuunin being able to function fully regardless of her foe or circumstance.
The moment the proctor allowed them to began Sakura leapt back giving herself some distance and released some mist to cover the fighting area. Rather than directly attack Ino she cast a simple genjutsu that would barely be noticeable. Unless someone was trained in genjutsu or had a way to identify chakra disturbances then genjutsu generally was only noticed when something out of place was encountered. Even beyond that if a genjutsu was powerful enough then understanding you were within a genjutsu didn't necessarily mean you could break out of it.
Sakura wasn't skilled enough to rely on brute force so she relied on creating genjutsu that were believable and therefore difficult to notice. The mist was simply so Ino wouldn't see what she was doing and because Sakura occasionally felt it was easier to create genjutsu if her chakra was already present in an area. She threw a few shuriken so it appeared the mist was used for a reason, but she heard metal connect with metal as Ino made her way out of the mist and charged towards Sakura.
"Really Sakura, you're going to have to come up with something a bit better than some mist and shuriken to beat me," Ino said moving in close to throw a few punches. Taijutsu was a reasonable option considering Ino had been better than her when they graduated and hadn't seen the extent of Sakura's improvements. Sakura allowed herself to be led backwards to the wall as she dodged and blocked all the attacks coming her way. Sakura's standard for combat was usually Naruto or Sasuke so Ino wasn't able to gain an upper hand. It was only when Sakura was a few steps away from the wall that her genjutsu made itself known. Dodging a kick Sakura leapt upwards and stood sideways on the wall using chakra. Ino however saw Sakura move sideways to dodge her attack leaving her completely open.
Sakura jumped and brought her foot down directly onto Ino's head with a chakra infused kick. Ino crumpled to the floor and skidded away, if it were a normal fight Sakura would immediately follow up by at least throwing some shuriken whether or not she thought her opponent was alive. However, this was not a normal fight and although these fights could be to the death that was a rare occurrence. Sakura wanted to do enough damage to win, anything beyond that was just needless.
It seemed her regard for safety was unnecessary because Ino was able to get back to her feet and she did not look happy, perhaps hoping one kick would be enough to deal with her was a bit of an unfair assessment. Underestimating Ino because her previous opponents were so dangerous would work against which fell in line with her idea of letting emotions play into her battle.
"A trick like that won't work twice Sakura and now you've gotten me angry," Ino said drawing a kunai and rushing towards Sakura likely in an attempt to stop her from using another genjutsu. A mix of weapons and taijutsu began the second phase of their fight and if Sakura was comparing the two of them she'd admit Ino was just as fast as her, but Sakura was more skilled in taijutsu and seemed physically stronger. The led to Sakura gaining the upper hand and pushing Ino back while they traded blows, rather than just let things continue she sent a powerful kick towards Ino who leapt back to dodge it.
That distance was enough for her to unleash the only skill she hadn't used largely because at her current ability level it was only useful in one on one fights. With Ino's back to the wall Sakura charged forward moving her hand through seals quickly letting the shuriken Ino threw at her graze her rather than slowing her approach. She spat a liquid directly at Ino who managed to dodge some of it, but her legs were still coated. At first glance it seemed similar to the highly flammable oil she had used in the forest, but this had a very different use.
Sakura slammed her hand down and sent chakra through the puddle and watched as it hardened, sealing Ino's legs in place and effectively stopping her from going anywhere. She heard Naruto and Lee cheering, but chose to ignore it and drew a kunai stepping towards Ino.
"Surrender now, there's nothing you can do and if you refuse I'll seal the rest of your body," Sakura said looking at Ino who was glaring at her. The proctor watched the scene carefully.
Rather than answer Ino began going through hand signs and Sakura recognized what she was going to use, the mind transfer jutsu. It wasn't like she had another option so it was simply her attempt to go for broke, unfortunately for her Sakura knew the jutsu and moved to a blind spot for Ino. She walked from behind and placed a kunai to the back of the other's girl neck, "Call the match if she won't surrender," she said looking to the proctor who finally ended the match after Ino tried to throw weapons backwards and was unable to hit Sakura.
The moment the match ended Sakura placed her hand on the hardened slime and allowed it to fall back into its liquid state.
Walking back up Sakura approached Naruto and the Kakashi clone, before she said a word Naruto erupted into congratulations and by this point she no longer found his overexuberant personality annoying especially since he tended to be more reserved. Apparently all the excitement threw that away, but he paused when Kakashi's clone spoke up, "Great job Sakura, it looks like it was a good idea to teach you the solid slime jutsu."
"Thanks, I guess you'll report that to the real Kakashi?" She asked feeling slightly awkward receiving a compliment and chatting with someone she knew wasn't an actual person.
"Oh," he paused for a moment as if he forgot to mention something, "I am the real Kakashi I switched places with my clone just in time for your fight," he said his eye crinkling in the way that signaled he was smiling, though it was likely at their shocked expressions.
"Wait, I didn't even notice why didn't you say anything?" Naruto asked clearly annoyed.
"You were too distracted once Sakura's name came up and it wasn't like I made a show of it," Kakashi replied easily.
Quickly moving past the initial surprise Sakura asked the question she felt was most important, "What happened to Sasuke, is he okay?" Naruto's expression morphed into something more reminiscent of concern rather than his previous annoyance. He might not have shown it, but he had clearly been just as worried about Sasuke as she had.
Kakashi rested a hand on her head and replied in a calming voice, "Yes, he's fine I completed the seal." She felt like a weight had been lifted off of her and she saw Naruto briefly slump in relief. Kakashi's voice hardened when he added, "he's being watched by a group of Anbu Black Ops agents as well as the clone who was originally here with you. There's no need to worry for now, he's being taken care of."
Sakura noticed, but chose not to question what, "for now" meant.
Naruto felt his full focus return once he heard about Sasuke's safety, although he'd been cheering Sakura on and watching the matches a piece of him couldn't fully focus. Watching the sand ninja girl brutally beat TenTen and seeing Shikamaru's victory were both interesting, but he felt desire dancing under his skin. Impatience had him almost mentally begging to be next to fight and someone somewhere seemed to hear his call because his match finally arrived. The moment his name appeared alongside Kiba's he leapt down to the fight area not bothering to hide his happiness at finally getting his shot. He'd slightly been hoping to get the last Sound ninja for some payback, but as long as he didn't end up against the creepy redhead he was fine.
Naruto knew he wasn't the smartest person in the world, he'd been studying to improve and in his opinion he did a good job, but what he did pride himself on was understanding people. From what he could tell there was something fundamentally wrong with Gaara, it wasn't in the same way as Orochimaru and that level of fear wasn't present, but he felt most comfortable keeping his distance.
He was glad Kakashi had seen fit to walk them through the basic skills of each of the major clans in Konoha, so when the match started and Kiba used the beast mimicry jutsu before Naruto had a chance to do anything he wasn't shocked. That lack of surprise gave him time to dodge out of the way when Kiba went for a highspeed strike directly at him.
This fight was probably the first time he thought he wouldn't mind having a sharingan just to have an easier time tracking Kiba, but thankfully he was able to keep up and prevent taking any direct hits. Thanks to the beast mimicry jutsu Kiba's movement speed outstripped Naruto's, but his actual strikes weren't particularly complex. It didn't take a sharingan for Naruto to recognize the pattern of jumping in for clawed slashes and jumping away in an assassination style. If this was going to end up being a battle of stamina Naruto would surely win simply because Kiba was expending far more chakra and physical energy than Naruto.
Naruto had a few ideas of how to take his fight into his hands, but he was holding back and letting Kiba waste chakra for two main reasons the first was because he knew his chakra was a bit thrown off by Orochimaru's seal and he didn't want to rush into something and risk having an issue at the last second. The other was that he wanted to find an opening to take down Akamaru. He knew the Inuzuka used their dogs in battle he just didn't know when that was going to happen, that question was answered when Kiba decided to use smoke bombs because trying to fight directly wasn't working.
The moment the smoke started to spread Naruto leapt out not waiting to be attacked with his vision obscured, but Akamaru jumped and knocked him back into the smoke. Unfortunately for Akamaru, it wasn't difficult for Naruto to grab him and sneak out of Kiba's range of vision and leave behind two clones. One a false version of himself and the other a fake Akamaru.
While Kiba was distracted by what seemed like his own dog attacking him Naruto threw Akamaru into the slime Sakura had left behind. What nobody aside from his team knew was that although Sakura had to produce the slime, anyone could use their chakra to harden it until Sakura released the technique. She'd been kind enough to leave the jutsu active and Naruto knew how to capitalize on it.
On the other side of the battlefield the fake Akamaru transformed back into Naruto and used Kiba's momentary surprise to slam a chakra suppression seal into him ending the beast mimicry jutsu. With a well placed kick Kiba was against the wall "Let's finish this," Naruto said to his clone approaching Kiba. At the last second Kiba flicked something into his mouth and threw something to Akamaru. A clone easily intercepted what appeared to be a military ration pill if Kakashi's teachings about ninja equipment was correct.
The quick influx of chakra broke Naruto's seal, but an increase in chakra didn't mean his wounds would heal so he was still worse for wear and Akamaru was still unavailable as an ally. "I'm done dragging this out," Naruto said, "if you have anything else to show me do it quickly because I'm getting bored." Naruto had already realized Kiba wasn't the type of person who responded well to being mocked.
"Try this on for size," after the beast mimicry was reactivated he quickly went through a few seals and used the passing fang jutsu without really planning. Naruto was sure it'd be painful if he was struck by the high speed rotating attacks of Kiba, but he moved in almost a straight line and after dropping a few explosive tags on the ground he dodged out of the way. Activating the explosive tags as Kiba went flying by him launched the other ninja directly into the solid wall putting him down once and for all.
The match was called and it took a moment for it to sink in, but it was over. All of team seven had passed on to the finals and now he could relax. He made sure to have a clone release Akamaru before making his way up to Sakura, who gave him a quick hug and congratulated him. Kakashi patted him on the shoulder and gave him a crinkled eye smile.
Kakashi was glad that the battles between his students were finally over he did a quick mental checklist of who was left and what he would be looking for. It would be interesting to see Gai's protégé in action and seeing the abilities of the remaining sound and sand ninja. He'd fought alongside enough Hyuga and Akimichi to know their skillset, but gauging their ability level and talent would still be important for the finals.
He rose an eyebrow at the next round Neji vs Hinata, it meant there would be one Hyuga in the finals unless there was a double knockout. Judging by their expressions this fight wasn't likely to be a light one.
Hinata looked downcast and Neji looked almost vengeful if he wanted to put a name to the boy's expression.
Very quickly Naruto became annoyed with Neji basically telling Hinata to drop out because she was too useless to face him. One way or another the girl was still a ninja which meant she was there to fight and prove herself. Nobody had a right to tell her she couldn't be or do anything she wanted and he told her as much, "Hinata, don't let him talk to you like that, you're standing on a battlefield this is your time to fight back and prove him wrong!"
Neji gave a disgusted scoff, but Hinata seemed to find her strength and got into position.
Like the Inuzuka Naruto knew the basics of their technique, but he'd never seen it in action. At first it looked like they were toe to toe with Hinata managing to take the offensive for a point, but as it progressed it tipped in Neji's favor.
Naruto wasn't going to tell her to give up and she didn't seem to want to either, but at a certain point it seemed like she was running purely on will. It impressed him, but hearing Neji continue to talk down to her as she gave it her all continued to anger him.
Eventually while she struggled to stand the match was called and despite losing Naruto wanted to congratulate Hinata, but she said something about their family line and Neji rushed at her clearly attempting to attack her again. Thankfully the proctor and some of the jonin easily stopped him. Naruto alongside Sakura and Lee jumped down to check on Hinata's condition as she collapsed.
Looking at the disregard and contempt Neji showed Hinata as she was taken away Naruto couldn't help, but swear with Hinata's blood dripping from his fingers, "Neji, I'll defeat you."
A/N
So it's been a while and my only excuse is that I had a lot of health issues going on so I wasn't really writing at all. Still I managed to get through all the battles despite not honestly just wanting to write a simple battle between Sakura and Ino and get the heck out of this portion. I didn't focus on the other battles at all because aside from who ends up in the next round they didn't matter, but I gave a short version of Neji vs Hinata from Naruto's perspective (just for future story purposes).
Honestly I'm not sure how I feel about any of this chapter, but I think this might have been my least favorite so far. However this does mean after a few more fights I'll be back into the parts of the story I want to be.
Let me know what you thought or ask some questions about the chapter or my changes. If I made any mistakes its because I wrote the majority of this in a rush and don't have a beta.