I'm so happy that people enjoyed the last chapter! I spent a lot of time considering it because I wanted it to be so clear that Sasuke isn't just an asshole-he's a hurt twelve year old who was traumatized and has had zero help with his trauma. Of course he acts like an ass at times, that doesn't make him a bad person, and I wanted to show the effect Itachi's actions would have had-I mean if you're told to get that strong you need to kill your best friend wouldn't you want to avoid making friends.
And so the final exams begin! First up Naruto vs Neji! I hope you all enjoy.
The next day came and Naruto woke up bright and early, Sakura coming to walk with her to the exams and her mom kissing the top of her head and wishing her luck before the two girls headed out together-and Naruto was glad for the walk since it would give her a bit of time to go over the plan with the pink haired girl.
"So it's my match first, then Haku-san Vs Tenten-san."
"Then it's mine." Sakura grinned slightly, "And I plan on kicking Temari-san's ass. Then after that it's Shikamaru-kun vs Shino-kun."
"Then it's Gaara-kun's match." and Sakura's expression turned slightly more serious.
"Right. Did you get the chance to put a seal on the Hokage?"
"Yesterday he came to check in, I placed it on the back of his neck, he didn't have a clue." Naruto confirmed.
"Good. So when it happens you want me to help Temari-san, Kankuro-san and Gaara-san yeah?"
"And you make sure the other Genin are okay." Naruto ordered calmly, "You take control okay?"
"Yes." Sakura nodded, "What if Kakashi-sensei gives me orders."
"Give him a brief overview and tell him where I've gone and if he gives orders you follow them."
"Got it. And you'll-"
"I'll be going to help the Hokage." Naruto finished, "Which should be interesting. He's pretty old but he should still be a capable fighter so hopefully I won't
have to do too much-I'm pretty sure I'm not Kage level yet." she let out a laugh.
"Still if you're there he'll at least have some half decent back up." Sakura grabbed Naruto's hand, squeezing tightly. "Besides maybe the Mizukage will get involved and help."
"Hopefully." Naruto nodded, "Though she's still pretty new to the position, hopefully she's strong enough to help when things go wrong-"
"She owes you. Without you Zabuza wouldn't have returned to Kiri and they'd have been fighting for a lot longer if his return hadn't gained them so much support."
"Still we can't just assume that she'll help the Hokage."
"We know Haku-san will help if I ask him too-and of course Zabuza-san will do the same if Haku does."
"Right." Naruto nodded, "We have the basic plan we can totally do this."
"For now we deal with our fights first." Sakura grinned, "You looking forward to kicking Neji's ass?"
"Oh Kami yeah." Naruto laughed, "This is gonna be so much fun."
"You're gonna show off so much." Sakura smirked, "You looking forward to pissing off the Hyuga's?"
"Of course." Naruto laughed, "You gonna defend me when they try and kill me."
"Oh hell no, you deal with that yourself." Sakura elbowed her and laughed as together they headed into the building where the final exam would be held,
making their way through to the arena where most of the other Genin were gathered-though Naruto couldn't help but notice that Sasuke and Kakashi were both missing.
Naruto and Sakura exchanged worried glances but there wasn't much they could do, even as they joined the other candidates at the centre of the arena as the crowds filed in and filled the seats all around them-Naruto saw her mom and Karin sat together, and Jiraya was sat on the other side of Rin with an eager grin on his face.
Soon enough, despite the fact that Sasuke had yet to arrive, the Hokage's voice rang out from the Kage's box, where the three Kages in attendance plus their bodyguards were seated, and Hayate quietly told them to be ready. "Welcome all. And our deepest thanks for coming here to Konoha," there were cheers at that, "for this years Chunin exams. We have come to the final competition between the twelve candidates who made it through the preliminaries. Now we ask that no one leaves until all of the battles have been completed, now everyone enjoy." the old man was smiling warmly as he looked down at the gathered Genin.
With that said the old man sat back down, and Hayate spoke up again"Alright, listen up. The terrain is different but the rules are the same as before, which means there are no rules. The match continues until one candidate acknowledges defeat or dies. That being said I can step in and stop it at any time."
Naruto frowned.
"Proctor. Sasuke hasn't arrived yet... what happens if he doesn't make it on time?"
"If he doesn't arrive then he will be disqualified." the man stated firmly, "Those are the rules. If he's not here by the time his match starts then that's his own fault.
Naruto resisted the urge to curse. It had to be Sasuke's training that was keeping him so late.. this wasn't what she'd call good. Kakashi better get him there on time or he'd be beyond pissed off. She was fairly certain that even if he couldn't walk he'd physically drag himself there. She knew that even after their rather emotional conversation last night he wouldn't let anything stand in the way of him being at the exams.
Her attention was pulled from her thoughts when the man spoke again, "The first match is Hyuga Neji vs Nohara Naruto. The two named shinobi step forward, the rest of you up out of the way."
And Naruto and Neji both stepped forward, while the others all moved towards the stairs up to the participants balcony, where they'd safely be able to watch.
"Are there any issues with the match?" He waited for a moment, "No, in that case begin." the man leapt backwards as Naruto and Neji stood face to face, sizing each other up for several minutes before Naruto gave a sly little smirk.
"Hey, Neji-san. You still have glitter in your hair." and it was true he did-glitter was a pain to wash out and the glue had been strong stuff, honestly she was impressed that he'd gotten as much out as he had.
"You are a child." Neji's voice was low and angry, "An arrogant little girl who knows nothing of the real world-"
"Woah hold on there." Naruto pouted, "Now that's just totally rude Neji-san."
"It's the truth." Neji's voice was cold, "It is your fate to be beaten by me. It is nothing to be ashamed of-"
"So you're still upset about the glitter thing. Got it." Naruto winked at Neji, and she smirked as he rushed at her, and he was fast she'd give him that but... well a little showing off wouldn't hurt.
She flipped over his head, landing elegantly and turning, leg flying up and around as he twisted and tried to rush her again, the heel of her foot colliding with his chin, his head snapping to the side, and he leapt backwards, his face red with anger.
"You're fast-"
"And you're sloppy." Naruto shot back in a singsong voice-she could almost hear Sakura giggling up on the balcony, "Is it always this easy to anger you? Because if it is I dunno how you ever win a fight." she pressed a finger to a seal on the back of her hand-it was usually invisible but it flared and faded at her touch and she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.
"What did you just do?" Neji's eyes narrowed and Naruto grinned.
"Okay, okay Neji-san you'll like this-you know how Lee-san uses weights? Well as a seal mistress I decided to come up with my own version of that-a gravity seal, that one was four times gravity, and I just removed it." then she was moving-faster that Neji could even really see, kicking him in the back and sending him flying forwards. "See, you assume that because I may, at times, be somewhat immature, that I'm weak. But I'm not weak. When I need to I can take a fight very seriously indeed." she smirked as he rushed at her, clearly using the gentle fist form.
Now in a few years he might have been a real threat to her, but Naruto just dodged the blows, her movements fluid as she dodged his every attempt to hit her and block one of her Tenketsu-his eyes had veins bulging around them, clearly he'd activated his Byakugan. And he was good-he really was-he was just unlucky enough to be up against the daughter of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina who happened to be a prodigy herself. Who had also been raised by a Jinchuriki-yeah he was really unlucky.
And this was actually really fun.
She could see him getting more and more frustrated with each failed blow.
"How does it feel?" she caught his knee with her foot, "Being insanely outmatched? You're lucky I'm not like you, lucky I don't enjoy making people feel like dirt, cause believe me I'd be better at it. After the way you talked to Hinata-san."
"You know nothing." Neji spat out.
"Then do tell me." Naruto jumped back and away, raising an eyebrow at him, "I'm all ears, really Neji-san. Tell me why you think it's okay to act like that? Why are you so obsessed with fate and why do you hate Hinata-san. She's never done anything to you."
"She's never done anything to me? Neji scoffed, "She got my father killed."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, slowing down slightly as she eyed him almost curiously. "Okay, I'm gonna have to ask you to elaborate."
"On her third birthday some Kumo shinobi attempted to kidnap Hinata-sama." Neji's voice was cold as they both moved-mostly Neji attacking while Naruto simply moved out of the way with almost laughable ease. "Hiashi-sama killed the kidnappers, but Kumo denied the accusations and said it was an act of war to kill one of their shinobi. They demanded Hiashi-sama's head." Neji's eyes flicked towards the seats and Naruto followed his gaze, eyes focusing on a Hyuga man sat next to Hinata and a younger girl with long dark hair who must be Hinata's sister.
"I think I can guess where this is going." Naruto's voice was soft, "How alike did your father look to you uncle?"
"They were identical twins." Neji spat out, "So my father was killed and handed over instead-after all as a branch member he was disposable. The cursed seal destroyed his eyes so Kumo didn't get the Byakugan."
"Neji-san" Naruto sighed, "I really am sorry-that sucks it really does. But I mean... you can't use it to justify treating Hinata-san like crap and this obsession with fate is stupid."
"Our fates were decided for us on the day we're born." Neji shot back, "We cannot escape then Naruto-san. Not even how, however hard you try. I admit I may have underestimated you-"
"What's your fate?" Naruto interrupted, "C'mon then, if you know it then surely you can tell me."
"My fate is to be a member of the branch house." Neji's voice was angry, "I could have been more but I was sealed as a child-"
"For the record I think the Caged Bird seal is disgusting and should be banned." she glanced towards the Hyuga's, glaring at the adult a dark gleam in her eyes. "A seal to protect the eyes? Fine, one to force half your family into literal servitude? Yeah that isn't fine."
"There is nothing that can be done-"
"Oh I'd disagree actually." Naruto shrugged, "I could easily create a seal to protect the eyes-which would be applied to everyone or not at all by the way." she shrugged, "And yes that is an offer by the way Hyuga-sama." she winked in the man's direction before focusing on Neji once more.
"And what would you do then?"
"This." Naruto had a paralysis seal out and slapped onto his cheek before he could react, and when he started to fall Naruto caught him and lowered him to the ground, glaring in Hayate's direction, "Do not end the fight yet Proctor-san."
"But he can't fight with-"
"I said don't end the fight." the words were growled, and Naruto was getting to work, pulling out a slender brush and a small bottle of ink, and she could hear hushed confused murmurs as she started painting on Neji's forehead-she ignored the panicked look on the boys face as she worked, humming to herself, bobbing her head slightly-and she could have sworn she heard Sakura trying to stifle her giggles.
It did take a few minutes-the Caged Bird seal was a fragile thing-almost like glass, you could break it when trying to remove it and the fail safes if it was done wrong were lethal most of the time and debilitating the rest. She had to be precise and perfect with this.
And so she was, each stroke perfectly measured, not a single drop of ink out of place on Neji's forehead.
Once the seal was painted she let out a low gentle breath before looking down at Neji, who was clearly terrified-he probably remembered getting the seal originally she realized-and those were probably some really bad memories.
Naruto almost felt bad for the fact that she was bringing them up but the end results would be worth it.
Then she was pressing the palm of her hand over the centre of the seal to Neji's forehead and pushing her Chakra into the new seal, which flared to life-and Neji screamed as the Caged Bird seal beneath it glowed, and glowed and glowed-she was sure it must be burning but Naruto didn't let up until in one final flash of bright light the seal was gone and Neji went silent, his eyes drooping closed for a second as Naruto removed the paralysis seal and pulled back.
"You still awake?"
There was a very small nod.
"Then get up." Naruto's voice was sharp, "Get up Neji." She held out a hand, "Get up and choose your own path for once in your life. Never let everyone around you make your decisions for you. It's your life so it's your choice-if you tell yourself otherwise you're never going to stand on your own two feet and have a life worth living."
And Neji stared up at her for a long moment before he slowly raised his hand, grabbing Naruto's and letting her pull him to his feet.
"What did you do to me?"
"I removed the Caged Bird seal." there was a shocked ripple of gasps that spread through the watching crowds, and Naruto saw the Hyuga man stand quickly and she turned her gaze to him, glaring fiercely, her hands still on Neji's arm, helping him stand steadily. "Does anyone have a problem with that? Hyuga-sama?"
There was a long moment, and the flash of fury in the mans eyes faded and his brows furrowed for a moment as he stared at Naruto before they widened in shock, and then his expression softened and he looked heart wrenchingly sad for a long moment before the moment passed.
Then he was bowing his head, an unreadable expression on his face. "No. No Nohara-san. There's not a problem."
"Good." Naruto turned to look at Neji-who was staring at her with a look of barely concealed awe. "So, shall finish our fi-"
"I forfeit." Naruto's eyes widened in shock at Neji's words, and then Hayate was in the arena, a shocked look on his face as he called, "The winner of the match is Nohara Naruto! You go onto the next round Nohara-san."
