Ch.6- Preliminaries part 2: All's well that ends well...sort of.
Seeing her name pop up on the screen excited Ten-Ten; it was her time to shine. Her chance to show a little bit of what it means to be a real kunoichi.
'And not a wannabe like those two poor excuses that ended their fight in a draw,' she thought harshly as the bun-haired girl made her way down the steps and onto the arena. Her opponent wasn't far behind either, and soon enough Ten-Ten found herself staring into the blank, sunglass stare of Shino Aburame.
She bowed in respect.
"I hope we can have a great match," the weapon mistress said as she came back up. Then Ten-Ten smirked. "After all, we wouldn't wanna bore everybody with a short match right?"
For a moment Shino didn't speak, and Ten-Ten thought the boy was either mute or arrogant. But then the lanky teen's voice reached the brunette's ears as he said: "It'll only be short if you can't keep up with my bugs."
The confidence in her opponent's voice put Ten-Ten on edge a little; what could the clan heir have planned?
'I can't be sure, but there's no way I'm gonna just sit back and wait for him to get it started, so I guess it's best I make the first move.' The brunette figured as she pulled out a scroll from her hip pouch. An explosion of smoke revealed that it stored a pair of kali sticks. Crouching low, Ten-Ten settled herself into a basic stance before pushing off with her lead foot and rushing at Shino.
Her time training under Konoha's fastest shinobi made it so Ten-Ten closed the gap between herself and her opponent quickly. This also meant the Aburame heir was forced to defend himself sooner than he'd expected.
Ten-Ten opened with a sweep at the taller boy's legs, but as Shino soon realized, this was a ploy. The brunette had done this as a feint; instead of continuing the move she spun around the lanky genin and landed a strong blow to the back of his left knee. This move caused Shino to buckle, which opened his defense up and allowed Ten-Ten the opportunity to swing back around and drive her elbow into his stomach.
The ever stoic Aburame let out only the most necessary of a grunt in pain from the follow-up as he staggered backwards in an attempt to put space between himself and the weapon mistress before him.
Ten-Ten saw right through this immediately and moved fast to close what little space had been created.
Unfortunately for her, those few precious seconds were all Shino needed to put up his defenses...or rather, for his defenses to find their way out into the arena. Because as Ten-Ten lashed out with her kali sticks she was surpised, and a little grossed out, to find that her attack was deflected by swarm of bugs.
It happened so fast, the brunette kunoichi almost couldn't believe it. In a matter of mere seconds her opponent's high-collard form was shrouded by a heavy fog of black; a wall of insects. And they had all come from the boy's pores. Ten-Ten was about to try another offensive move when a mass of bugs from the center of the wall converged to form a spear. Ten-Ten narrowly ducked her head to the side and avoided it before she leaped back out of the wall's reach.
This proved effect as Shino's little friends didn't try to follow her, giving the young girl a chance to think of what to do next.
'If I try for a rear assault there's pretty good chance more of his bugs will just show up and block that way off too, same thing goes for the sides. Which means I have to find a way around them before he wraps himself in a shield of those little weirdos. The question is how?'
These were the paths of Ten-Ten's thoughts, but as she'd never actually done battle with a member of the Aburame clan, the brunette didn't really have anything to go on.
Something her opponent took quick notice of and decided to take advantage of.
With the wave of his hand Shino motioned for a clump of his wall to detach itself and move its way over towards Ten-Ten. As it moved the mass of bugs then took an unspoken command and split into two. From there, the two halves torpedoed their way to Ten-Ten.
Thinking quickly Ten-Ten struck her sword into the ground and used it to push off and leap into the air. Once there she produced another scroll, and after unraveling this one, sent a hail of kunai and shuriken raining down on Shino. As predicted, an even larger swarm of bugs found its way out from under his long coat and helped to create a dense bubble around their host.
And that's when she saw it, her opponent's weakness.
While yes, the brunette's barrage had been deflected and Shino left unscathed, there was a litter of dead bugs now surrounding the Aburame's sandal-clad feet. Ten-Ten hadn't noticed this before because she hadn't done enough damage to the wall with her sword strikes, but now, it was clear to everyone that Shino avoided damage at the cost of his hive.
'And last I checked, no insect hive is infinite. If I can keep this up he'll be forced to either fight me or give up—what!?' The bun-haired girl's thoughts were interrupted by a painful impact against her back.
That's when she recalled the two insect torpedoes she'd been avoiding.
After the hit Ten-Ten found herself dropping from mid-air like a dead fly, but halfway to the ground she recovered, and was able to land on her feet. From there the weapon-wielding kunoichi back-flipped to avoid being on the receiving end of another bug bashing.
"With these things following my every move though there's no way I'll be able to pull off breaking down his defenses without taking too many hits myself," Ten-Ten muttered to herself. "Guess I'll have to use that technique."
Once she managed to avoid another hit from Shino's bug tornadoes Ten-Ten went about ending their match. She made a mad dash for her still-grounded sword and once again used it as a stepping stool to get her more air; this would need a higher altitude than last time if she wanted it to be effective though, so the bun-haired girl added chakra to her legs to help boost herself even higher.
After getting into the air, Ten-Ten pulled out two more scrolls, and with a twist she unraveled them and called out: "Weapon user's secret technique: Hardware Hailstorm!"
If the onlookers up in the stands thought Ten-Ten's last attack was a lot of steal, than what came next was beyond anything they had expected. Weapons, of all shapes and sizes, came pouring out of those two scrolls. Everything from swords to arrows hurtled towards the ground...towards Shino and his bugs.
The Aburame's form was lost in the glittering sea of metal and Ten-Ten's chocolate-brown eyes quickly lost sight of him. This lasted for a minute longer before the rainstorm of weapons stopped and revealed what was left behind...bugs.
There was nothing but dead insects scattered across the arena floor and Ten-Ten's weapons buried in the cement.
But there was no Shino.
Ten-Ten, who had finally touched back down to the ground had her head on a swivel, looking left and right for her opponent. "W-Where'd he go?"
"I'm right here."
That was the only warning the brunette got before hands reached out from the earth and grabbed her ankles. Quick thinking allowed Ten-Ten to substitute with one of her many weapons that littered the arena and escape, but from her new position she watched as Shino uprooted himself from the floor and stood before her. He was a little dirty, but other than that there was no evidence that any of Ten-Ten's weapons hit their mark.
Shino must have understood her curiosity because he went on to explain that, he had seen her attack coming, and used his earth element to escape by using theHead-Hunter jutsu.
"But I do have to give you credit for thinking up that plan; not many would think to attempt forcing an Aburame to use their entire colony for a defense maneuver. Unfortunately, your eyes gave you away, and now I'm sure you've used up all of your storm scrolls."
"Yeah, and so what, I can still beat you."
"Perhaps," Shino agreed, "but can you do it before my friends overpower you and drain every drop of chakra from your system?"
Ten-Ten followed the boy's finger and watched as a virtual army of insects crawled toward her from behind. She was caught in a pincer move. But them, before the bun-haired kunoichi could wonder where they came from, those same eyes Shino had mentioned giving her away earlier caught sight of something.
A hole, about the size of a bottle cap, was carved out of the ground.
And that's when she realized it: Shino was defenseless. He'd sent out the rest of his colony while underground, and now was trying to bluff his way to victory.
She could win...if she got to, and put down, the Aburame before his little friends got to her.
Chocolate-brown eyes looked back-and-forth as their owner debated on her next decision. Should she do it? Could she do it?
"I can," Ten-Ten whispered resolutely to herself. "I can do this!"
Grabbing the handle of a sword that was stuck beside her Ten-Ten pulled it from its earthy sheath and rushed her opponent with a mighty battle cry. As she grew closer and closer to the lanky Aburame though, the bun-haired girl could also hear the remainder of his colony moving in on her rear. This was going to be a close call for sure, but, nothing ventured nothing gained right?
With her developed speed it didn't take long for Ten-Ten to close the gap again and re-engage Shino in close-combat.
Opening her attack with a pommel strike aimed at Shino's head, Ten-Ten soon switched it up to using her left elbow in an attempt to strike the boy's collarbone when he ducked under her sword. The second attack hit its mark though and Shino crumbled down to one knee. Taking advantage, Ten-Ten quickly spun around slid the blade of her sword so that it was pressed gently to Shino's collared throat.
"Call off your bugs now Aburame; I know they're all you have left, so there's none in your body to stop me from pummeling you into the ground. You lose."
With his bluff called, and no other cards left to play, Shino had no choice but to forfeit his match. With Ten-Ten declared the winner a crew was brought in to clean up the arena, both weapons and dead bugs were cleaned up. Ten-Ten made sure to mention to them to keep her weapons all in one place so that she could seal them back up later. From there she and Shino returned to the risers with the rest of the genin that remained.
xXx
"Looks like you're down to one Kurenai," Asuma teased the red-eyed beauty. "Maybe you should have waited after all; it looks like your team's about to get swept."
The Jounin kunoichi in question glared at the bearded man. "Well look at who they were up against; an unstable Uchiha and a girl with a whole years worth of experience and training under one of the village's best instructors."
"Oh come on Kurenai, don't be like that. There's nobody to blame but yourself. You should have understood that your team just wasn't ready this year." Asuma went on to say.
"And what about yours," Kurenai rebuked. "Why'd you decide to enter your team in these exams Asuma?"
"Because I have experience with training others, and not just from the few genin teams I've had, but also during my time with the Guard. I was tasked with training the new recruits for the Daimyo's army, so sorry if I feel my students stood a chance here."
And then, to as insult to injury he said, "And lets not forget: one of my genin has already passed the preliminaries."
"At least I have Hinata; there's still a chance."
"You two are so sad," Kakashi's voice interrupted them. "You both forget that two of my students have passed already?"
Kurenai turned her glare on Kakashi at this point and told him that his student should have been disqualified for his brutality against a fellow Leaf shinobi. "I mean, how can you stand there and tell me that something shouldn't be done about this?"
"That's not what I was trying to come across as Kurenai, so I will apologize for that, but what you're asking for is a bit extreme. To disqualify someone for 'excessive force' during the chunin exams is ludicrous. It's like putting a shinobi on trial for murder after he kills an enemy; ridiculous."
"Well we'll see what the Hokage has to say about that, because once the preliminaries are over you and I are going to have a little chat with him about all of this."
"Alright then, we will, and once the Hokage dismisses your claim I'd like an apology."
While the grown ups argued over their students, the genin were busy having discussions of their own about what was going on.
"I still can't believe Sasuke killed Kiba's dog," Choji mumbled behind a mouthful of chips, "what's going on inside that head of his to think the Inuzuka clan isn't going to retaliate?"
"Well that's just it Cho, I don't think Sasuke was thinking out there. I think the guy was lost in his own emotions, about losing his eye, and didn't understand the meaning of 'stop and think'." Shikamaru answered his best friend. Both had been forced to choke down their sickness at the sight of Akamaru's mangled and broken body.
"What do you think will happen to him Shikamaru? Sasuke I mean; what do you think the Hokage and Kiba's clan are gonna do with him?"
"I don't know Choji, but whatever it is, I'm sure glad it's not happening to me."
"Actually, there's not much the Hokage can do about what happened," Naruto threw in his two cents. "These matches are actually outside any Kage's jurisdiction of power; it helps keep the other villages from feeling like the host could be cheating."
"But these are shinobi of Lord Sarutobi's own village; surely he can pass judgment in that case." Choji countered.
Naruto just shook his blonde head and told the over-weight boy that wasn't true. "At least, not until after the exams are over. Otherwise it breaks the agreement that was set up during the creation of these tests, and that's something the old man won't do. No matter what."
"And are you okay with that?"
This time it was Ten-Ten's voice that rang in everyone's ears. She had finished climbing the steps and made her way over towards Naruto to see what he'd thought of her victory, but when she heard what they were all talking about, the bun-haired girl couldn't help wonder about the blonde's personal opinion on the matter.
Blue eyes turned to stare into chocolate-brown as Naruto gave his answer. "Am I okay with someone having to watch their comrades die? No. But I also understand that death is an inevitable part of out profession, and to think that we're going to make it through our whole lives without seeing or causing it is just plain ignorant."
For those who knew the old Naruto Uzumaki, this response came as unexpected. Since when had the class clown become a philosopher?
But for Ten-Ten the answer was acceptable.
"So what'd you think of my match? Pretty impressive stuff out there huh?"
"You did well, I'll grant you that much, but it's revealed a major flaw in your abilities Ten-Ten."
With her brow crinkled in confusion, the weapon mistress asked what that could be.
"You rely too much on your weapons; you didn't use a single jutsu out there," Naruto pointed out. "It almost cost you the match."
"Yeah," Ten-Ten agreed, "but I did win didn't I? What does it matter about 'almost' if I get the victory?"
"Because just how many of those 'almosts' do you think you'll get away with? If you hadn't called Shino's bluff today it would have been him that was declared the winner and moving on to the finals. What about next time, during a mission? What if that next 'almost' comes at the cost of someone's life or a carrer-ending injury? What will you do then?"
"Do you not think you are being a bit harsh in your response Naruto Uzumaki?" Rock Lee stepped in. He heard the way the blonde was talking to his team-mate and didn't appreciate the younger boy's tone.
"As a matter-of-fact Lee, no, I don't." Naruto turned back to Ten-Ten, "And I'm not saying it's not great that you won, just that there was ways to make it easier, less risky. You told me your dream, but, what good will my part of that do you if you get killed before it happens?"
Ten-Ten listened to Naruto's words carefully. She realized that he was right.
"Then you'll teach me," she decided.
This threw the young Uzumaki for a loop. "What? Don't you already have a sensei though, why would you need to learn from me?"
"Because my Jounin instructor doesn't work with us on how to perform ninjutsu or genjutsu; he works only in taijutsu. Sure, he teaches us the fundamentals about both and how to counteract them, but not how to do any of them. And besides, you want me to teach you about sealing right? Doesn't this seem lie a fair trade to you?"
Naruto couldn't argue with the kunoichi's logic. And it was better practice for him to teach others what he knew. So, seeing nothing wrong with the arrangement, the blonde nodded in agreement and told Ten-Ten that he accepted the girl's offer.
"Great, but we'll have to work out the details later because the next match is starting." The brunette pointed to the board, and sure enough, two new names had been posted in bright yellow.
Hinata Hyuga vs Zaku Abumi
xXx
Hinata stared fearfully at her own name as it appeared on the selection screen. She had hoped to go last. Her attention was quickly drawn away from that though,and over to the other side of the room, when she heard someone laugh hysterically.
The culprit turned out to be a young genin from the Sound village. He had a mop of jet-black hair shaped like the end of a broom and was dressed in what looked like hand-me-downs. There was a cream-colored jersey over top a long-sleeved gray shirt. His lower-body was covered by a pair of black-and-white camo pants. Around his neck was more camo; this time in the form of a scarf.
"I believe that's your opponent Hinata," Shino pointed out beside her. After his defeat from Ten-Ten the Aburame had made his way back over to his team-mate. "His abilities are unknown, but if his fellow Oto shinobi are any indication, it will have something to do with sound waves. Be careful Hinata; there's a look in his eye that I find...troubling."
"I-I'll do my best Shino," Hinata muttered. She was nervous about facing a foe she knew nothing about, especially one who dealt with something as dangerous as sound waves.
But the heiress didn't let her fear stop her from making her way down the steps and onto the arena floor. After all, she had no chance of winning if she didn't at least try.
It wasn't long after she'd made her way onto the floor that Hinata was face to face with her opponent; and from the new closeness she could see just how sick and twisted the boy's grin was. It sent shivers through the heiress petite frame. Weren't smiles supposed to make you want to talk to someone, rather than turn and run?
And if his twisted visage wasn't bad enough, when Zaku spoke Hinata likened it to the chattering of a rabid monkey.
"Ha! Is this supposed to be some kind of joke? I thought this was a tournament for fighters, not a beauty pageant. Can I get a real opponent please, and not a pampered puppy?"
Through a series of coughs, Hayate explained that Zaku was stuck with Hinata unless she forfeited.
Hinata did not.
"Fine," Zaku spat, "if I can't get you to give up I'll just have to pound you into a pulp." The Sound genin crouched low in a threatening stance with his hands clawed. "I hope you're ready princess, because I won't be going easy on you."
Hinata said nothing, she simply swallowed the lump in her throat and bowed respectfully to her foe before settling into a basic Gentle Fist stance. Her lavender eyes were soft, and held a look of nervousness, but if one looked close they'd see a tinge of determination rimmed around the edges of those pale orbs.
She hadn't been forced to face her cousin, or that frighteningly sadistic Suna genin with the red hair, so in Hinata's mind she actually had a real shot at winning if she gave it her all.
Zaku was one of those few who saw Hinata's determined glint, and it made the Oto ninja annoyed. He'd hoped to scare the girl away, and now that she stood in front of him with that look it only flared his ire.
'Orochimaru-sama wanted us to keep our abilities a secret as long as possible, Kin and that loser Dosu already ruined the plan, and now I have to throw the plan out the window to—what!?'
While Zaku was deep in his mental rant Hinata had quickly noticed his lack of focus, and decided to take advantage of it. After all, it's not often your opponent makes such a mistake, and to not capitalize on it would be foolish.
So Hinata started the match off with a palm-strike aimed at Zaku's sternum; an attempt to end the match as soon as possible. But it seems the girl was too slow, because the Sound shinobi returned to the fight just soon enough that he managed to twist away from the deadly strike. Hoping to keep Zaku on the defensive though, Hinata didn't give up, and instead placed her weight on the ball of her foot before whipping around with a harsh kick. It found its mark, and Zaku was sent rolling back.
Not wanting to lose her edge Hinata charged her downed opponent...only to be sent rocketing back by a fierce blast of compressed air.
While Hinata slammed against the tiled floor Zaku stood tall, recovered from his small bought with misfortune.
"How'd ya like that princess?" Zaku sneered to his downed foe. "That's my Decapitating Sound Waves.' Packs quite a punch if I do say so myself."
If Hinata heard this she didn't show it. Instead, the rattled Hyuga heiress stumbled to her feet after pushing up off the floor. Wincing in pain, she patted the area of her hoodie that covered her stomach and found it was tender to the touch; there was definite bruising.
'I got lucky then,' Hinata thought as she kept a close eye on her opponent, 'because that type of attack could easily break bones or rip me apart if I'm not careful. But now I have a problem; how will I gt close again?'
Because there was no way Zaku would space out like he had in the beginning of the battle, and that neat little trick he knew would easily keep Hinata as far away as he wanted.
"I'll have to find a way around it if I want any chance of winning," the Hyuga kunoichi mumbled quietly to herself. "But that's easier said than done," she grunted while dodging a shot from Zaku's hands.
While she was in mid-air Hinata pulled a handful of shurikem from her hip pouch and sent them soaring in her opponent's direction. But it seems Zaku's technique didn't require any cool down, because the twisted teen just aimed his palms and deflected the projectiles with another blast.
That wasn't good; it meant there was virtually no time in-between attacks for Hinata to get closer.
She'd have to think of something else.
Unfortunately, Zaku didn't feel much like waiting around, and was soon sending another powerful blast of compressed air her way. Hinata barrel-rolled out of the way, but was hard pressed to avoid the next attack that came her way; all the whi8le listening as Zaku laughed with malicious delight.
"Is this the extent of the great Hyuga clan's strength? What good are those fancy eyes of yours if your opponent's too far for you to hit them? Pathetic!"
As she managed to escape another one of Zaku's destructive blasts Hinata couldn't help letting his words break through the fragile wall of confidence she'd built before the match. He sounded almost like her father, almost like her cousin, in his harsh words. Her opponent was voicing his displeasure in her performance the same way the heiress' own family would do back home and it stung terribly.
She was trying her best, but even that didn't seem to be enough.
It was this spiraling train of thought that caused Hinata to misstep during her next attempt at dodging, stumbling over herself after landing, and then being knocked off her feet by the next attack that came her way.
But this one was at least twice as powerful as the first she'd been hit with, and as she landed Hinata was sure she felt at least three of her ribs crack from the impact.
Hinata coughed up spatters of blood as she shakily made it to her hands and knees. Her entire body was wracked with tremors as it shook violently from the assault it had just taken. And yet, the Hyuga heiress still managed to find her way to her feet. On shaky knees she activated her Byakugan before falling back into her family's taijutsu stance.
Up on the platforms with the spectators, Kurenai was watching with rapt attention as her student signaled she was ready for round two.'
"Hinata please, be careful."
Asuma heard the new Jounin's whispered plea and turned a somber eye to her. "Kurenai I hate to say it, but I don't see much of a chance at victory here. Hinata has no sort of distance attacks other than weapons, and we've seen what happened there, which means her only hope is to get in close...but what what that Sound genin can do I don't see that happening."
"So what," the red-eyed beauty cut harshly as she turned her gaze on the man beside her, "should I just yell down for my student to give up?"
The Hokage's son frowned. "That's not what I'm saying here; but with what I can see of her opponent, that may have to happen soon. And I just want you to realize that, so Hinata doesn't get anymore hurt than she already is."
"We're ninja Asuma, getting hurt is one of those unavoidable clauses in out contract, and it's something I can see young Hinata needs to learn." Kakashi chimed in with his two cents. "Besides, if not for her own shyness, this match would still be in her favor."
"What do you mean Kakashi?" Kurenai wondered curiously. Sure, Hinata had a confidence problem, but the new Jounin hadn't seen it cause any problems other than that recent stumble. Before that her student had been doing fine.
Gai noticed the lost look in her eyes and chose to elaborate on what he knew his rival to mean. "Her jacket, it got in the way earlier in the match. If she hadn't been wearing it young Zaku wouldn't have fully escaped that first palm-strike. She would have grazed him just enough to damage his right lung, which would have caused him to stumble and leave him open to more than just that kick she'd thrown. A shame really when one thinks about it."
"B-But I've tried to get her top take it off!" Kurenai cried in frustration; if what was being said was true, than her failure to inspire Hinata was why the girl was losing now. "She just won't do it."
"Probably because she hasn't been shown how much better a shinobi she'd be without it," Kakashi threw in. "I'm sure, if you took her aside for some private practice, and had her try it she'd realize the benefits. And that would make her more okay with doing it in public; which I'm guessing is the real problem."
"And how can you be so sure?" Kurenai questioned sharply. What made Kakashi think he knew the woman's own student better than her?
"Because I read her file back when we were asked to pick what squad we wanted to lead, and I also spoke with Iruka about each student too. Both explained that Hinata had a desire to prove herself as 'strong', one that if approached correctly, would help propel the girl to chunin in no time with her natural skill and ability to learn quickly through understanding."
"I've tried, but she won't listen to me," Kurenai argued back. "No matter what I say she just keeps refusing; even when I offer to train her privately."
"Maybe because you aren't the one she needs to hear it from." Kakashi surmised, and no one noticed the way his lone eye found its way across the across the room to one particular blonde swordsman.
But that was only for a moment, because commotion down below caught everyone's attention again.
Hinata had thrown a smoke-bomb to the ground and encased herself in its shroud.
xXx
Back down in the arena Zaku laughed mockingly at the heiress' attempt at cover. "What do think that'll do for you? I'll just blow it away!"
But just as he set his hands in motion, the Sound ninja noticed that not one but four Hinata's exploded out from inside the cloud of smoke. One went airborne while two rushed out from the side, the last one came from dead center and raced straight for him.
The three others launched a mini barrage of weapons at Zaku in the hopes to either land a hit, or confuse him.
Quickly coming to the conclusion that three of them were clones, Zaku now just had to figure out which was the real one. Deciding to deal with the weapons first, the youth turned his hands outwards and blasted the two at his sides. When she shimmered out of existence he had his answer.
And so, turning his attention two the last two kunoichi he prepared another assault. One hand stretched on front while the other was aimed high. When the Hinata in the air twisted out of the way Zaku smirked...only to cry out in pain a moment later when the other Hinata began a furious Gentle Fistassault on his body.
Spectators watched as the Hinata from above exploded in a cloud of smoke; it had been a shadow-clone. One with just enough chakra to trick Zaku, but from the looks of a haggard Hinata 'just enough' seemed to mean the rest of her reserves.
'But it worked,' she thought triumphantly as she sent her fingers jabbing into Zaku's arms, before making a shot for his chest.
Unfortunately, the boy's time under Orochimaru increased his pain tolerance to tremendous heights, allowing him to grit through the pain he felt from those blows and catch Hinata's strike to his chest. From there he pulled her forward, swept her feet out from under her, and buried his other fist deep in her stomach.
The exhausted heiress went limp against her opponent, practically leaning on him to support her weight.
That clone had been her last chance, all she had left was the energy to survive.
Zaku easily took notice of this grinned sadistically. This meant he could have some fun before the match was over.
Changing his grip the Sound genin wrapped his hand around Hinata's throat before shoving her back. He watched with a disgustingly twisted grin as she stumbled over her own feet before landing on her back. While the heiress gasped for breath Zaku stalked forward, but refrained from letting loose the entirety of his cruel nature.
He didn't need the proctor calling the match after all.
"Here, let me help you," he taunted as he reached down for the scruff of Hinata's jacket. Lifting the light-weight heiress back to unsteady feet Zaku teasingly asked if she wished to give up now.
Her response was not what he expected.
"No...I-I won't quit...I can s-still win."
The girl's persistence had been amusing in the beginning, but now, it just set Zaku on fire with rage. A rage he felt Hinata need to take responsibility for. So, faster than the heiress' weary eyes could follow Zaku sent his knee slamming into her bruised stomach, and then he watched as the kunoichi dropped to her knees.
Coughing up blood Hinata didn't have much time to register the immense pain radiating from her abdomen, because it was soon replaced by a sharper agony coming from her skull. Zaku had taken hold of her hair, and was yanking it back so as to force her to look up at him. Look up at the air cannon aimed directly at her.
'F-From this range, h-he'll blow my head off!' Hinata thought in alarm.
"I'm getting real sick and tired of you princess, you've lost, why don't you just accept it!?"
Through trembling lips Hinata answered him. "B-Because, I never give up, not when there's a-always a way out."
'And not when the person I admire most is watching me,'
"Well there's only one way out here princess, and here it is!" Zaku raged. "Ninja art: Sonic disruption!"
The amount of blood that washed over the arena floor was staggering, much worse though for Hinata, who was forced to close her eyes so as to not run the risk of catching some disease.
Zaku's screams reverberated off the stone walls as he howled in pain, clutching his now useless, bloody stump where a right arm used to be. "Gah! W-What the hell happened!? Where's my arm!?"
"I-I may not have had the chakra to use my clan's dojutsu, b-but I've studied the human body and its secrets my w-whole life, so it was easy to find which c-chakra points connected to your devices. That's why you were able to move before, b-because I didn't waste time going for your muscles, but for your tenketsu."
Hearing Hinata's explanation only added fuel to the fire that was Zaku's rage. One that blinded him to reason, and would cost him his other arm after he attempted to blow the heiress away with his remaining cannon.
It was after this Zaku quickly went into shock, dropping face first top the arena floor, and babbling about how it wasn't possible for him to have lost to such a weakling.
"And the winner is: Hinata Hyuga." Hayate announced.
Hinata made an attempt to get to her feet, but she was simply too tired from the match and quickly found herself falling. She was thankfully caught by her sensei, who had seen her struggle and rushed to help. And while the tired heiress wished with all her heart that her savior had been the blonde boy up in the rafters, his nod of a job well done was more than enough to put a smile on her face and lift her spirits.
She'd done well in his eyes, and that was better than any victory on the battlefield.
There were two more matches after hers that involved both of Kabuto's team-mates...Choji losing, as the other genin had the ability to steal chakra, while the other was beaten by Temari. His ability to stretch like a snake doing nothing against her fierce fan attacks.
It was the next two names that interested many in the crowd, as it was between Neji Hyuga and Kankuro from Suna.
xXx
It didn't take either of the combatants to make their way down to the arena floor; both eager to get this over with.
"Feh, another Hyuga huh? If you're as lame as that last one this won't even take a minute." Kankuro boasted.
For his part Neji let loose his own scoff at being compared to Hinata before settling into a more advanced stance of his family's taijutsu, his blood line activating."I assure you, I'm nothing like that weakling. I am a true Hyuga; a warrior. My eyes are sharper than hers, more deadly in their ability to predict, and they show me that by the end of this match you'll have revealed to us all just how pathetically obsolete your puppetry is in today's age."
The Hyuga boy's remarks against his craft started a fire in Kankuro's chest, one that blazed to life behind his beady black eyes, and had him tensing in anticipation for the fight to come.
Once Hayate announced the start of the battle Kankuro was quick to start things off.
"I'll show you 'outdated' tough guy," he growled while reaching back and bringing forth his tool. "If anything, my craft will overcome the likes of you dojutsu types and usher in a new era of the shinobi world!"
Neji's response was just to smirk condescendingly in the Suna boy's direction.
'Good,' he thought, 'I was right in my assumption, and now that he's running on emotion the fool won't think to use his head in the fight. As fate predicted, my superior mind will win the day here.'
The Hyuga prodigy was more than ready for when Kankuro sent his puppet rushing in. He weaved around the serrated blades that posed as claws at the end of the wooden warriors hand and easily avoided the series of spikes that shot out from its back by ducking low.
Channeling his chakra into the tips of his fingers, Neji concentrated and turned it into sharp cones that flared over his digits. Using this trick the Hyuga boy easily cut the lines of chakra his eyes found connected to the puppets back. From there it was all about closing the gap between himself and the shocked Suna native.
Kankuro tried to avoid the furious fingers that speared into his chakra points, but Neji was just too fast, and in a few short seconds had left the warpaint-wearing older boy with no access to his chakra or muscle movement.
A clear difference in skill between himself and Hinata who had battled before.
When he was finished Neji just stood there, tall and proud, as his foe slunked down to the arena floor like a lifeless rag doll. Kankuro found he could still move his eyes and looked up at the one who had defeated him...only to shiver at what he saw.
Neji's Byakugan was nothing like what he'd seen on the other girl's face, no, his looked fierce and deadly. It was like being a mouse and staring into the hungry gaze of a falcon. It was mind-numbing, it was bone-chilling, it was...like Neji could see right through him. Could see everything about Kankuro; even his deepest, darkest secrets and fears.
And that frightened the older boy.
He'd never faced someone like Neji Hyuga before, and now, he prayed he never did again.
All but Kankuro heard Hayate call the match, and the Suna genin barely registered that medical ninja were taking him away. He was only really aware of the cold feeling of fear as it rushed through his veins. A fear he thought was reserved solely for Gaara.
"Alright, and now we've come to the conclusion of the preliminaries; there are only two challengers left, so would Gaara and Rock Lee please make their way down to the arena?" The sickly Jounin called out in a voice mired in coughs.
It was time, the final match was about to begin. All who remained in the stands held there breath as the two combatants made their way to the floor.
Rock Lee of Konoha against Suna's most dangerous shinobi, Gaara of the desert.
The question on everyone's mind wasn't really who would win, but how much torment would each fighter go through before one was crowned victorious.
xXx
Naruto stared at the small slip of paper in his hand and the address written on it.
After Lee's match with Gaara the Hokage explained that the remaining chunin candidates had exactly one month to prepare for the final matches; as that's how long it would take all of the attending dignitaries to arrive. He also had them draw lots, to see who would face who, and in what order.
Naruto was up first, against Ten-Ten, while Sasuke was somewhere in the middle set to battle against Gaara.
Once the positions were set both Naruto and Ten-Ten agreed they would put off any form of training together until after the finals; and it was this conversation that sparked the interest of the one who'd given Naruto the paper. They'd caught the blonde before he'd left the tower and explained that they wished to repay a debt through the offer of training him for the finals, so they handed him the slip before bidding the blonde goodbye.
And now here he was, standing at the persons door, contemplating if he should knock or not.
It was the weight of Kubikiribocho on his back, and the dream of honoring Zabuza's memory that convinced Naruto to reach out and let the person know he'd arrived.
'Besides, with Kakashi-sensei starting Sasuke's training I'll need someone else to step in and fill that gap. And I guess learning what she knows can't hurt; she's not a Jounin for nothing after all.'
When the door opened Naruto looked up and let his ocean-blue eyes meet with Anko's own pupil-less brown pair. She had a smirk on her face, like she knew he'd show up, before asking if he was ready to get started.
"Right now?" He questioned. "Don't you wanna kn ow what I've learned so far, so that you can see what to work with me on?"
"Nope" she answered carelessly with a wave of the hand. "Besides, if I'm gonna convince the old man to let me take you out of the village for training the sooner the better, you don't have time to waste on being asked silly questions."
Naruto eyed the older woman curiously as she made her way in the direction of the Hokage's office. "Training outside the village? What's out there that we can't do at a training ground?"
Her next words let Naruto know that the next month was going to be nothing like he'd expected.
"Well, for starters, you can't come with me on my latest mission if you stay here in the village kid."
xXx
