Yo!
More chapters. Yey.
This one was easily the hardest chapter I've had to write. Not because of content or anything, but because I've been trying to write while watching League of Legends' Worlds, which usually turns into me watching Worlds with a word document just kind of sitting there in the background.
It's slow going, but it's here, so...
Anyways, Without further ado, blah blah blah...
Chapter 28: Let the Games Begin
Somewhere between he and Hinata arriving at the arena, and his encounter with Gaara, Naruto's cold had disappeared.
He wasn't exactly sure what the logistics of that were, but he chalked it up to a mixture of the adrenaline and shock of someone having just tried to kill him. Honestly, Naruto felt he should've been used to it at this point, given that someone was usually trying to kill him.
There was, however, another idea floating around in his head, that suggested that the Nine-Tails may've had a bit of say in that. After all, he'd heard tales of people having colds for days or weeks on end, whereas he'd never had one for any longer than a day, perhaps two at the worst.
Well, I suppose there have to be some positives in this for me. Naruto reasoned silently. Does that mean I'm like… immune to poison's or something?
Well… Food for thought, I suppose.
Naruto put those thoughts out of his head for the moment, however, because right now, it was time for him to get to the bottom of Hinata's struggles.
Not that he'd have to think very hard; he was fairly sure he knew what the problem was.
The solution, however, was proving a bit more difficult to track down.
Hinata was dealing with an issue of self-worth, that much he could reasonably figure out. He'd dealt with it himself until he'd met Sasuke, but that didn't mean it would be quite as easy to fix for her as it had been for him.
His case had been largely due to receiving the attention he'd so desperately desired, even if the root of the problem, the ninja's who abused and belittled him, or the rest of his classmates ignoring him, didn't really disappear, he'd still been able to largely recover his self-esteem through Sasuke's presence.
But Hinata had been shunned by her whole family, the people she'd grown to trust her entire life. That had to have hurt her just as much as not having a family in the first place had hurt him.
The Proctor off to their left called something out, signaling that the two of them would begin their fight soon, and immediately Naruto felt a small sense of helplessness overtake him.
Can I do this? He felt like asking aloud. The problem's she's facing… can I help solve them?
"Does it matter if you can?" Another part of him seemed to call back. "You still have to try."
Naruto nodded, content, at least, that he'd give his best effort.
"…And I'll interrupt the fight if I think it's been decided." The proctor finished, raising his hand in the air above him and giving the crowd a moment to notice and react, quieting them as the match was set to begin. "Let the first fight of the Chuunin Exams Third Round… BEGIN!"
Neither he nor Hinata moved, though they were both setting things up, so that made sense.
"Byakugan!" The girl shouted as she brought her hand in front of her face, causing the veins around her eyes to show through her skin, and her irises to change in a subtle, yet still identifiable way.
He'd seen the Byakugan before, when Neji had fought Lee, the boy had brought it out and used it to counter his opponents fierce blows, but even then, The bowl-cutted ninja had proven that the eye was not, in and of itself, something that could claim victory.
Adding to that, Naruto had a feeling that Hinata wouldn't be quite as proficient with it as Neji had been.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as he brought his fingers together in front of him, forming a makeshift cross as 5 bursts of white smoke exploded into existence beside him.
So… What's my game plan?
Naruto wasn't stupid; Or, at least, he wasn't stupid when it came to battles. He'd been told by Sasuke, and more recently, Kakashi and Jiraiya, that he was quick witted, and adept at thinking on his feet.
So he knew for a fact he could beat Hinata. He also knew it probably wouldn't even be that hard.
Hinata could seal his chakra points, sure, but that didn't mean she could connect her strikes in a close-range exchange. If they fought it out in the center of the ring, even with her gentle fist style, he'd be able to close the fight out rather quickly.
That didn't mean he wanted to.
At the same time, he wasn't going to throw Hinata's pride in the mud any further than it already had been by throwing the match. Neither of them would gain anything from that, and if she noticed, which she probably would with her Byakugan, she'd lose any respect for him that she had.
He was going to do his best to win, but that didn't mean he couldn't help Hinata out first.
He sent two shadow clones at Hinata, content to test the girl's strength with those alone. They rocketed forwards, brought themselves into combat stances, and, flanking the girl from both sides as her eyes widened in panic, struck quickly and concisely.
Hinata was able to block both attacks, but not easily. She struggled against the clones follow ups, and by the third attack she was actively retreating, forced backwards as the two attacking her relentlessly pushed inside her guard, landing a few blows into the girl's chest that seemed serious enough to leave an impact.
C-Crap, Naruto found himself commenting on the girl's actions inside his head. C'mon, Hinata, You can do it.
Hinata staggered, nearly falling backwards as she finally landed a strike to the midriff of one of Naruto's clones, dispelling it, and leaving her with only a single other to deal with at the moment. A few seconds later, she'd dealt with that one, too, popping it into smoke and looking back over towards him.
Already, Hinata looked worse for wear. The battle hadn't technically been decided, but with how their skill-sets matched up, it might as well have been. Hinata had no way of dealing with a large group of his shadow clones. If he wanted to, he could summon ten or twenty right now and end the fight without even having touched the girl himself.
He didn't want to, though, and so he held off, instead charging forwards with the three remaining clones at his back. He ducked inside the girl's guard, sliding on the earth below him and kicking up at her backside as she tried to deal with the clones coming from the front.
C'mon, Hinata, you can manage this, right?
She couldn't hold him, that was clear immediately. He landed two solid blows to the girl's body, knocking her backwards slightly as a clone charged in from behind. The other him dove deeply, kicking the girl's legs out from under her and forcing her to the ground.
Hinata landed hard on her right arm, and Naruto winced as the girl let out a small cry, holding the limb and curling into a ball on the floor.
"H-Hinata?" Naruto spoke without meaning to, his concern for the girl somehow outweighing the resolve he'd held within himself to not go easy on her.
"Step back, kid."
Naruto turned, looking over at the proctor before him and nodding. The man kneeled down, and briefly inspected his opponent.
She didn't move.
After a second or two, the proctor sighed, stood up, and, in a soft, yet somehow still commanding voice, spoke.
"Hinata Hyuga is unable to continue,"
…Really?
"Thusly, the winner…"
It can't be…
"Of this first battle…"
Hinata…!
"Is-"
"HINATA!?"
/-/
I lost.
Hinata was sprawled out across the ground, trying to bite back a scream as a shocking pain coursed through her entire right arm. She'd never felt pain quite that intense, so she suspected she must've at least fractured a bone.
I could barely fight against two clones…
She briefly inspected her surroundings. The Byakugan let her see in nearly 360 degrees around her, and so she observed everything she could in those moments on the ground.
She saw the proctor's disbelief, as if he couldn't quite see how someone could lose so quickly to so weak an assault. He gave a small sigh before beginning to walk towards her, presumably to call the match.
She gazed towards the stands, using her enhanced sight to see her father and sister, both of whom had now stood up from their seats and were walking away. Her father had likely been so disgusted with her that she would not even see him in the coming months.
Idly, Hinata wondered if he would ever forgive her for this.
What hurt her most of all, however, was Naruto's face. He, too, looked disbelieving. Even with his earlier attack, as brief and easy as his victory must've seemed to those in the arena behind them, Hinata was perhaps the only one who could tell he'd still held back. She'd watched the boy train for many years, had watched him practice with the Shadow Clones on multiple occasions.
She'd seen him bring out 30 and barely break a sweat.
Against her, he'd only summoned 5.
And I couldn't even repel that. She pondered solemnly. I really am so pathetic…
To Naruto, the fact that he'd barely had to try to defeat her seemed like such a shock. His eyes were wide, his mouth hung open slightly, and he seemed to be trying to find something to do with his hands, shifting them around, opening them and closing them, desperately seeking something more.
Something more from her, if she had to guess.
I'm sorry, Naruto…
"H-Hinata?" Naruto spoke quietly, concern for her evident in his voice, even though he was supposed to be her enemy.
She smiled to herself, content that she'd at least tried to face him.
I look forward to seeing the rest of your matches, Naruto. She thought to herself, smiling as the proctor finally reached the two of them, telling Naruto to step back, and inspecting her.
"Hinata Hyuga is unable to continue,"
Heh… Hinata mused. Naruto, I'm just…
"Thusly, the winner of this first battle is-"
I'm just not that strong. I'm so-
"HINATA!?"
There was something about the boy's voice, some tiny, minuscule part of it, that broke a part of her she'd never known existed. It wasn't that he was concerned for her, or that he was disappointed. It also wasn't anger, or joy for his victory.
His scream was a question.
"Is this all that your feelings amount to?" The boy's voice seemed to say.
It was an instantaneous action. One moment, she'd lost, accepted her fate, and decided to lie down and accept that declaration, and the next, she had reached her left hand out, grabbed the proctor's leg, and was trying, desperately, to stand.
It wasn't easy. Her right arm still ached horribly, as did her stomach and chest from where Naruto's clones had hit her. Her entire body was sore enough that the effort of making it to her feet had sweat running down her face. Even still, she was determined not to accept defeat. Not now, when she had so much to prove.
She faced Naruto, gave the boy as fierce a glare as she could muster, and raised her left hand into a battle position.
She tried to ignore the way his face lit up, a wide grin pulling at the corners of his mouth and his eyes closing, in what she could only assume was a reflexive show of trust towards her.
She refused to blush.
…
Well I never said it would work for sure!
"Well then…" The proctor, eyes sunken in and looking entirely too old to be dealing with this, spoke quietly, before sighing, waving his hands towards the both of them. "I suppose you may continue."
Hinata breathed a sigh of relief knowing that she'd be allowed to keep fighting, despite having technically been eliminated. She noticed idly with her Byakugan that her father and sister had stopped moving and were instead standing stationary near the back of the arena.
Perhaps her father could tell she was watching, for his eyes narrowed, but otherwise, he remained expressionless.
As if he was saying "I'm not impressed."
…I'll show you. Hinata promised him mentally. I… I will win!
…And just how am I going to do that?
That was a fair question, given that she didn't actually have any outs against what Naruto could bring to the table. If she was seriously going to try and win, she had to defeat him before his clones could overwhelm her with numbers like they had only a minute or two ago.
And that was with far less than he can summon, Hinata pondered as she circled around the arena, never dropping her stance as she just managed to get her right hand into a parrying position, even if it still ached whenever she moved it. He was going easy on me, and it was still enough to send me packing.
So how can I actually win?
Her idea was, to be perfectly honest, rather simple. She just had to rush at Naruto so fast that the boy wouldn't be able to counterattack. Luckily, the Hyuga clan's gentle fist was well suited to shutting strong opponents out of their Jutsu.
The problem, of course, was that she was not Neji. Nor was she her father, or even her sister. She was practically a novice in the gentle fist, even if she'd been using it for half her life. Naruto, however, was a fairly powerful close-ranged fighter. Against him, she'd be at a disadvantage from the start.
But she still had to try. It was, after all, her only potential way out of this.
If she could move fast enough, catch her opponent off guard, and overwhelm him all in short order, she might just have a chance.
She dashed inwards, anticipating that Naruto wouldn't expect her to move aggressively. As his eyes widened minutely, and he began to make the seal for the Shadow Clone Jutsu once more, Hinata knew she couldn't allow it.
She stabbed forwards with her fingers, catching them between the cross Naruto's hands had been trying to make, and cutting off his ability to form clones. In the boy's confusion, she barely managed to land a blow to his stomach, knocking him backwards as he recoiled.
She couldn't let up, though. She charged forwards once more, aiming this time to take out Naruto's legs the same way she'd been done in earlier. She swept with her legs, trying to kick them out, but Naruto was slightly faster, jumping over her attack and landing a foot or so away, bringing his hands together once more to form the Shadow Clone.
Can't let him!
She kicked off the earth, using the momentum to propel herself forward, and just barely managed to get in range of Naruto's hands before the boy could connect them. She readied herself for the strongest attack in her arsenal, preparing to use it to finish her opponent, even if it was incomplete in her hands.
"Eight Trigrams!" She shouted, fighting through the pain shooting up her right arm and bringing it up into the required stance. "Sixty-Four Palms!"
A second later, she fired her first two shots, which landed on Naruto's arms as he was blocked the both of them, bringing his hands together and, in the split second between her first and second rounds of strikes, managed to bring forth two clones.
That's not good.
Even still, she charged in, knowing that if she could take Naruto out of the fight, she might still be able to deal with the clones on their own.
"Two Palms!"
She sent both towards Naruto's main body, knowing that if she wasted any on his clones, he would simply use that time she gave him to summon more.
"Four Palms!"
She could physically feel the chakra being drained from her body as she fired those eight shots in quick succession. She'd never had a terribly large reserve, and it was more apparent than ever whenever she tried to use this Jutsu to its fullest.
Still, it was able to punch through Naruto's defenses, penetrating his guard for the first time that fight and landing a meaningful blow to the boy's chest, just above his heart. Hinata would've normally worried about such a hit, but she knew she couldn't hold back in any way.
Not now.
I'll apologize later, Naruto!
"Eight P-"
She felt an impact on the back of her neck and was instantly face down in the dirt below her. She pushed herself up as fast as she could, but a pain like lightning shot up her right arm as she did, nearly causing her to fall flat on her face once more.
Even so, she was able to stand. She turned around and parried a single blow from the Shadow Clone that had attacked her. Even if it went against her normal plan, she couldn't afford to leave her back totally exposed, even if her plan was a veritable suicide attack.
When she turned back towards Naruto, it was to find three more clones had joined him.
I was able to cut off some of his chakra points with my last attack. Hinata realized as she saw the strain on the boy's face. I'd be willing to bet that those three are his limit for the time being.
That didn't mean she could get complacent, of course. The gentle fist may have sealed chakra points, but that was more of an immediate effect. It wore off after a few hours from an experienced user, but from her, it may only last the next few minutes.
If she was going to win with her own power, it would have to be soon. She had, at best, the next minute or two. If Naruto could stall her out…
No. He didn't even need to do that. If he could successfully repel her next attack, then it was likely she would be completely overwhelmed, without even being able to respond.
I don't have a lot of options. Hinata knew. I just have to do all I can!
Once more, and for perhaps the final time, Hinata rushed to meet her opponent. This time, her Jutsu went uninterrupted.
"Eight Palms!"
She felt pain in both her arms as they shot forward at blinding speeds, each landing a handful of blows on Naruto's torso, and a few in each of his arms. They would be good for cutting down on his ability to make Shadow Clones, but they wouldn't do much against the boy's overall ability to fight.
Not unless she could keep the hits coming. She sucked in another breath of air, focused her chakra, and practically shouted as she unleashed the next set.
"Sixteen Palms!"
This was her limit. It had been for as long as she could remember. She'd practiced with the Jutsu for days on end, almost two whole months of training nonstop to master the ability, and even after all of that, she still found herself lacking when it came to being able to push it to its limit.
She'd been unable to handle the full might of the Sixty-Four Palms.
And as her Sixteen palms connected, yet failed to knock her opponent over, she realized she didn't have enough power to defeat him.
Not without using that next level.
I can't. Her mind argued. I've tried my whole life, and I've never been able to! Sixteen palms is my limit.
Incomplete. Flawed.
Worthless…
And then, suddenly, a voice of iron rang out in her head, one that sounded a suspicious amount like a blonde ball of sunshine that she knew.
"Who cares if you couldn't do it before!?" It seemed to scream. "Just do it now, and then you can forget all about that!"
I can't. She fought back. I can't! I'm not strong enough!
"Why not?"
What?
"Why aren't you strong enough? What makes you not strong?"
I…
"You think that because no one believes in you, that you can't be strong."
…
"Well, I believe in you!"
Hinata gave a small smile, and she couldn't help but keep the boy in her thoughts as she gritted her teeth together, focused her chakra to the highest degree, and prepared to try and surpass her limits.
Naruto could keep going, keep training, even when no one believed in him! Hinata mused. This is the least I should be able to do!
She used her Byakugan to observe her father and sister once more. Hanabi was pulling on Hiashi's sleeve, evidently asking him something. Unfortunately, the Byakugan didn't grant the ability to hear from long distances, and so she was stuck with nothing but conjecture.
That didn't change the way that her father gripped his arm so hard that his knuckles were white, or how he was, perhaps unconsciously, pressing his lips together.
They both look… concerned.
Maybe she was making it all up in her head. Maybe her father was only worried about how much she was tarnishing the clan's name, and maybe her sister's only concern was that she wanted to go home, that her sister's match was boring. But Hinata couldn't help thinking that maybe, just maybe, they really hoped she'd pull through.
I…
Chakra flooded into her hands, fueling her as she prepared to go for one final strike.
I can't…
She breathed deeply, stepping under the attack of one clone, and dodging out of the way of another, right into the guard of the real Naruto.
I won't disappoint them!
"Eight Trigrams…!"
"Thirty-Two Palms!"
And maybe she was mistaken, but she couldn't help seeing a tiny grin on Naruto's face.
The blows came hard and fast, more than she was really prepared for. It was like she was striking on instinct, rather than on any practice. She could feel her arms aching, no, blazing with pain. Finally, she could tell without doubt that her right arm must certainly have fractured somewhere.
But that couldn't stop her. Not now.
Even if she merely conceded the moment she reached the next round, she was determined to see it.
She noticed out of the corner of her vision that Naruto's clones had dissipated. Whether or not that was from the effects of having his chakra blocked, or if it was that he could not focus to keep them working any longer, she didn't know.
I can do this!
She was half-way through her barrage when she began to feel the aftereffects.
Her arms were sluggish, her fingers felt like jelly as they connected with Naruto's chakra points. The chakra flowing out of her seemed to dampen in effective strength, and even then, after all of that, her opponent was still standing.
I… I can't stop.
She could barely force Chakra into her hands anymore. Hell, she could barely feel her effective pool of chakra at all.
I won't lose…
I refuse to lose!
Think! What am I using Chakra for other than my attacks?
The only answer that came was her eyes.
Her father had told her, so very long ago, that it was technically possible to use the gentle fist without the Hyuga's eye.
She was going to bank on the man's words.
She took a tiny, almost nonexistent breath as she deactivated the Byakugan, the biggest draw of chakra she'd been working around, and focused, terribly hard, on remembering exactly where Naruto's chakra points had been.
She focused all of her remaining chakra that had, previously, been reserved for keeping the Byakugan running, into her hands, and let loose upon Naruto's presumed chakra points.
Twelve hits later and she had finished. Hinata staggered backwards, barely able to stand, and watched, silently, as Naruto fell backwards, landing on his behind and panting hard as he gasped for air.
There was a small subsection of the stands that erupted into cheering, and Hinata couldn't help but relish the feeling. They were cheering for her! Not for Naruto, not for Sasuke Uchiha or any other ninja here. Her, Hinata Hyuga.
They were cheering on a failure, and for once, they might have actually meant it.
There… See, everyone? Hinata smiled as she stood silently, feeling a bit of dizziness begin to overtake her as she swayed from side to side. I… I did it…
The cheering gradually died down as Naruto stood up in front of her. He wore on his face only a sad smile, like a sunny day hidden behind storm clouds. He seemed hurt, but not unable to continue fighting.
Do you all…
A second later, Hinata closed her eyes, a content smile upon her face as her legs gave out beneath her. She felt pain, but it was dulled behind the adrenaline still coursing through her.
Love me…
Distantly, she thought she could hear footsteps. She tried to activate her Byakugan to see who's they were, but she didn't have the energy to do anything other than lie there.
Faintly, she heard the proctor begin to speak, and again a faint cheering begin to echo around them.
It was strangely muted.
Now…?
And then she knew only darkness.
/-/
Naruto remained quiet as the proctor walked over to Hinata's still form. He watched the tired man inspect the girl below him, seeing if she would once more rise as she had before. After seemingly finding that she would not, Naruto watched him nod his head slightly, and then stand back up.
"Hinata Hyuga is unable to continue." The man shouted as he gestured towards him. "The winner is Naruto Uzumaki!"
A light smattering of cheers rained down from the Arena, though Naruto couldn't help but notice that they all mostly came from the foreigner's box. Those from the leaf seemed to be holding their applause.
Naruto tried to not let that get to him, but he found it rather difficult with his already somber mood.
Despite his victory, there was no cheer in his step as he made his way back up to the competitor's seating area. There was no wide smile as the others in the box congratulated him on his victory, or as Sasuke and Sakura gave him a pat on the back, along with their own sad smiles.
He was happy they understood.
"You did well out there, Naruto." Sasuke voiced simply. "I know that must've sucked, but you handled your opponent with care, never taking any risks you didn't need to."
"Didn't make it feel very good…" Naruto responded glumly, giving Sakura a small smile as the girl put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I'm fine, I just…"
"We get it." A voice called out from beyond his field of view, and when Naruto turned, it was to see Tenten walking over to the three of them. "Hinata's always really looked up to you, I wouldn't envy your position very much at all, trust me."
"…Thanks, you all." Naruto smiled, feeling just a bit better as they watched Hinata be carried off on a stretcher.
She'd suffered no serious injuries, besides a fracture to her right arm that could be healed with a few days of Jutsu, but her low chakra reserves were a more immediate problem that needed resolving. The girl had gone and burned through nearly her entire pool of chakra in order to hit him with the final stage of her attack.
Just thinking about it had Naruto feeling down once more, but another voice brought him out of it.
"Why did you shout her name?"
Naruto turned towards the boy who'd spoken. His eyes were wide with innocence, and yet he couldn't help but feel like that was the wrong way to describe them. A social innocence, perhaps, like this boy had never had the chance to develop as a normal child would. But in terms of what those eyes had seen, Gaara was perhaps the least innocent of all those standing in the competitor's box.
"I…" Naruto struggled to answer the red-headed boy's question. It was not a simple thing to explain to someone who didn't even understand what friendship was. "I guess I was worried about her." Was the answer he ended up settling upon.
Gaara tilted his head, and his eyebrows drew down. He seemed utterly unsatisfied with Naruto's answer.
"Hinata's my friend, so I didn't really like hurting her in the first place." Naruto tried to explain. "But when she fell the first time, when she'd given up without even really putting up a fight… I felt like she was betraying herself."
"So you were… angry at her?"
Gaara seemed to be trying to relate Naruto's own emotions to his, to try and understand what it was Naruto could feel, and why he would feel the way's he did. He would let the boy continue, if it led to him understanding his own feelings.
"I guess I was a little angry." Naruto admitted while he scratched the back of his neck. "I talked to her earlier today… that's why the two of us were late for the exam, and she told me that she was having… problems with her father."
At that, Naruto couldn't help noticing Gaara's eyes widen, as if he could relate to such a predicament.
"Was her father trying to kill her?" Gaara asked, leaning forward slightly, hoping so terribly for an answer that followed his experiences.
Naruto felt his own spirits drop as he guessed just what it was had effected Gaara so terribly in his life, but he couldn't focus on that now. He had a feeling asking the boy directly about his experiences would lead to another attempt on his life, and he'd already had a hell of a time explaining the last one to Sasuke and Sakura before they tried to tear the red-headed boy asunder right in front of a few hundred people.
"No, her father's just being an assho– Er, he's being very mean." Naruto corrected, trying to speak to Gaara like he'd speak to a child. "Hinata's just not as talented as he wants her to be, so he's kicked her out of their family."
Gaara paused for quite a while, waiting until the proctor called for the next two contestants, Sasuke and Kankuro, to head down into the arena.
"Man," Gaara's teammate, Kankuro, spoke under his breath. "They said I wouldn't have to fight last week…"
His words were a bit odd, but Naruto wasn't really focused on that. He was, instead, looking at Gaara, who seemed terribly torn about what it was he was going to say.
"Talent… seems arbitrary." The boy spoke after a little while longer. "But what does… 'kicked out of the family' mean?"
"It means they don't recognize her as a member of the Hyuga clan anymore." Naruto responded with the default answer, deciding not to complicate it anymore with talks of heirs and heiresses.
"I see…" Gaara's voice trailed off as he turned towards the arena, watching as his teammate Kankuro stood apart from Sasuke and took a battle stance. "I wonder… if I wouldn't have simply preferred my father kicking me out of my family."
The words wounded Naruto, but he didn't let that show on his face. As someone who'd grown up without anyone at all to call family, he couldn't quite understand just how terrible a parent would have to be for a child to not even want to see them again.
Then again, if he was going off of the hints Gaara had given him, then he could safely assume that Gaara's father had tried to kill the boy before him. That, at least, led to the boy's words making a sad amount of sense.
Neither of them said anything as the battle below them began, and Sasuke came to an immediate, commanding lead.
The match wasn't close. Sasuke's opponent didn't exactly seem to be trying his hardest to begin with, but Naruto's best friend looked to be at the top of his game, hitting almost every attack he went for, and managing to duck around and avoid every single strike Kankuro went for.
Even when the boy brought out a small trap, a poisoned kunai that fired out of his sleeve, Sasuke's Sharingan let him move his body in such a way as to let it pass right by him, and Sasuke ended the fight a moment later, straddling the boy and holding him by his collar, calling for his opponents surrender.
"I yield, sheesh." Kankuro called, rolling his eyes with a lackadaisical expression present upon his features. "Ever think you're trying too hard?"
Sasuke didn't say anything, but he did bow towards the audience as raucous cheers ushered forth. As he ascended the stairs towards their arena, Naruto ran down and gave him a fist bump, discussing the match with his friend as Sakura joined in on their festivities.
Even so, the girl seemed more nervous than she usually would've.
"I guess I'm up next, aren't I?" Sakura muttered quietly, breathing deeply to try and quell the nervous energy that seemed to be coursing through her.
"C'mon, you've been training for a whole month." Naruto patted the girl on her back, smiling over at her. "You'll be able to win, I know it!"
Sakura gave a small smile at that, closing her eyes and taking concentrated breaths as she did. Naruto decided not to disturb her, instead walking back towards Gaara, and trying to pick their conversation back up where they'd left off.
"Sorry, I was talking to my friends!" Naruto smiled, before remembering that Sasuke had just beaten the boy's teammate. "Ah, sorry, I forgot Kankuro lost… Uhm… Good fight!"
Gaara tilted his head to the side, the computations in his brain not quite working.
"You've no need to apologize. My brother was the loser of the fight. Nothing more needs to be said."
Brother?
"He's your brother?" Naruto asked, mildly confused.
"Yes. Kankuro and Temari are my older siblings." Gaara looked over towards him, the blank expression on his face never once changing. "You knocked my sister out in the second round."
At that, Naruto had to suppress a wince. He imagined that hadn't earned him any favor with the boy in front of him.
"Sorry about that."
"Why do you continue to apologize?"
Naruto looked the red-head in the eye, truly realizing for the first time that Gaara didn't understand at all what he was trying to do.
"Because I thought you would be angry about me defeating your siblings." Naruto tried to explain. "I think I'll be a bit upset if you beat Sakura, for example."
"But why?" The boy asked naively. "If I won, then I was stronger. This is a tournament to determine strength, is it not?"
Naruto scratched his head as he tried to unpack that particular statement and was left mostly coming up blank as he spoke again.
"Because she's my friend, and I care about her and how she feels." He outlined. "Basically, I know she wouldn't be happy if she lost, and so I'm not happy when she loses… Does that make sense?"
Gaara didn't seem to think so, judging by the way he looked down at his hands. A second later the proctor shouted out that the third match would be beginning shortly, and the red-head made for the railing, sand starting to billow around him.
Just as it coalesced around him, and he looked as if he would disappear, Gaara turned back around, gave Naruto an odd look, and spoke rather simply.
"I will not lose."
Naruto tilted his head slightly, but nodded.
"We won't either."
Gaara opened his mouth, as if to say something else, but kept quiet as her turned to sand, and arrived in the arena below. Naruto turned around towards Sakura, gave the girl a thumbs up, and watched as she stepped out of the room and down the stairs, choosing the normal route instead of any crazy Jutsu.
He couldn't quite hide his nerves as Sakura stood across from Gaara in the arena, and as the two took their battle stances, and the proctor looked ready to call the start of the match, a bead of sweat rolled down his face, and he swallowed air.
Gaara tried to kill me, tried to kill Ino…
If he tried to kill Sakura too, would anyone be able to stop him?
Can Sakura even win?
And as he sat paralyzed by his doubts for the upcoming match, the proctor's voice ushered forth.
"Let the 3rd match of the Chuunin Exams Third Stage…"
"BEGIN!"
End Chapter 28
Alright.
So there we go. Naruto defeats Hinata, but the girl gets to be proud of herself for, likely, one of the first times in her life.
Sasuke's match gets off-screened, mostly because it didn't matter at all to the plot, and likely would've only ate up 2000 or so words in this chapter or the next for me to have to write it all out.
Which I guess tells you something about Sakura's fight, doesn't it?
Anyways, tune in next week for more of Trip Down a Hill.
See you then!