CHAPTER 8

ONE MONTH LATER

The genins stood in a row in the middle of the large arena in Konoha a month later. Raidou turned to the spectators.

'Welcome to the final test of the Chunin exam. Three teams have made it this far. Soni, Haru and Shadow of the Sand, Kira, Kenpachi and Rukia of the Mist and Kyo, Rina and Ralfe of the Leaf. The first fight is between Rina and Soni. Would these fighters step forward, and the others make their way up to the balcony?'

'Good luck' said Kyo and Ralfe to Rina, and smiled at her.

'Thanks,' she said.

Soni stepped foreward nervously.

"Good luck Soni." Haru said to her.

"Th-thanks." Soni said to Haru.

"Don't blow it, Soni." Shadow said utterly cold.

Soni smiled, it was the first time he had ever said her name. "I won't Shadow, I will win." She said with confidence then walked into the arena battle field and watched as Shadow and Haru went to the participants' balcony.

Rina looked at Soni and noticed that the look in her eyes was similar to her own.

Raidou lifted his arm in the air, then dropped it quickly.

'Begin!'

Soni buried herself in the sand and created dopple-gangers, silently and unnoticeably. Soni's dopple ganger popped out of the ground, landing in front of Rina, who was quickly surrounded while Soni hid under ground.

'Art of Konoha!' Rina declared. The leaves from the trees around the edge of the arena start spiralling inwards towards her and the doppelgangers.

All the Sonis smirked. "Going to hurt yourself to get at me?" She stepped forward, ready to dodge the leaves and attack.

'I can control these leaves as I want. They could cut you to pieces and I would be left unharmed. Bring it on.' She stood still as the leaves came towards them.

'She seems really confident,' commented Kyo.

'Yeh, its really unlike her,' replied Ralfe.

The dopple-gangers used Soni's ability to become solid and sand. They attacked Rina, relentlessly punching her. "So control your leaves through me!" The Sonis yelled as they attacked.

'I don't think punching a log will do much good,' said Rina from behind them. 'I used Art of Substitution. The leaves were merely a decoy. But now I really do plan on attacking you with them!' The leaves shot towards the Soni clones at an incredible speed.

Soni jumped up into the air, and only three of the ten shadow clones were hit, while shuriken flew from the Sonis' hands into Rina's arms.

Rina formed a thick wall of the leaves in front of her. One shuriken still got through and was enbedded in her arm. Surprised, she lost control of the leaves which fell to the ground. She pulled out the shuriken, crying out in pain as she did so.

'Crap,' she said.

The Sonis smirked as another, Soni burst out of the ground and grabbed Rina, flying higher into the air.

"You ready to die?" Soni whispered in her ear as they started falling head-first towards the ground.

'Bring it,' replied Rina as they fell.

Soni smirked and burst into sand as her face, along with Rina's slams into the ground.

"I hope you liked my dopple-ganger, Rina." Another dopple-ganger said, acting like the original.

Rina got up. She was battered, but not yet beaten. Leaves surrounded the earth around her. At the last moment she had created a thick wall of leaves to cushion her fall. This had not been without a price however. Not only had it used up a fair portion of chakra, but the impact was still fairly great, and as such she had still been hurt.

'I'm not ...beaten yet,' she said determinedly.

The rest of the dopple-gangers start making hand seals encasing Rina in sand.

"Now...surrender..." The sand slowly starts crushing her as the dopple-gangers start closing there fists.

'Go to hell. Art of Substitution!' Rina once more avoided Soni's attack.

'Guess its time to use my new jutsu,' she thought.

'Art of Leaf-Storm!' she declared. Every leaf from every one of the trees in the arena ripped from their branches. The flew into the air then shot towards Soni and her clones from every angle at far greater speeds than previously.

'This has to work,' she thought, almost in desperation.

'C'mon Rina,' said Kyo quietly.

All the Sonis burst into sand as the leaves stopped.

For a moment there was dead silence.

'Did I do it?' though Rina.

Suddenly Soni burst from the ground, cutting all the way up Rina with a knife.

"You are easily fooled."

Rina tried to block the attack with her left arm, but it was cut and blood flew from it. She stabbed at Soni with the kunai in her right hand that she had been hiding behind her back. The Soni burst into sand.

"Like I said, easily fooled." Soni said from behind Rena, sending a dozen amount of shuriken and kunai.

Rina tried to use the leaves as a shield again, but her chakra was spent. The kunai and weapons struck in the back, knocking her to the ground. She felt an overwhelming pain before passing out.

Raidou stepped forward. 'The winner of this fight is Soni!'

The crowd began cheering and clapping immediately.

Kyo and Ralfe leapt from the balcony and ran to her, whilst Genma did the same from his place in the stands. The medic nins arrived and extracted the weapons, and then carried her off on a stretcher.

'Will she be alright?' asked Ralfe.

'Yeh. She just needs a few days in bed.' replied Genma.

'That sand nin is strong,' commented Kyo.

'Would Ralfe and Kenpachi please ready themselves?' Raidou said after the crowd had died down.

'Good luck buddy,' said Kyo.

'You'll be fine,' said Genma.

'Thanks. I'll do my best,' answered Ralfe as the others returned to their seats.