A Possible Future by Jason Corley

Chapter Eighteen

Hinata woke up to her ear being gently nibbled. She rolled over enough so she could kiss Sasuke. When they parted Sasuke said "If you want breakfast before the finals you need to get up." Hinata nodded and rolled away from Sasuke. They both got out of bed. Hinata found it interesting that Sasuke slept in the clothes he was going to wear the next day. She followed Sasuke out into the hall but while he walked down the hall she walked into her room to change. Hinata pulled off her sleep shirt then put on her blue shirt and pants. She looked at her jacket trying to decide if she was going to wear it or the one she had customized.

Sasuke and Tora were sitting at the table when Raion came out carrying a tray that had their breakfast on it. Sasuke asked "Why aren't you wearing the kimono I got for you?"

Raion said "I didn't want to get it dirty. And you said I didn't have to wear anything else if I didn't want to."

Sasuke sighed and looked at Tora who was wearing a solid red-orange kimono with the Uchiha symbol on the back. Hinata walked in and sat down next to Sasuke. They all ate their breakfast and when they finished Raion collected the dishes then took them to the kitchen. Sasuke stood up and headed towards the hall when he said "We should be leaving." Hinata got up to follow him along with Tora. The three of them were putting on there footwear with Raion came up wearing a yellow-orange kimono with a blue obi that matched Tora's. Sasuke stood up and waited for Raion to put on her footwear. When she had he opened the door and they all left to head for the arena where the finals were going to take place.

Temari zipped up Shikamaru's Chuunin jacket then pulled him to her by the jacket to kiss him. When she broke the kiss she said "Let's get going. We don't want to be later than we already will be."

Shikamaru said as they walked out the door "Who dragged who back into bed?"

Temari blushed slightly and said "You liked it as much as I did."

Shikamaru didn't respond.

Upon seeing that the Kabuto's team was already there and Kiba arrived with Chouji, Sakura was starting to wonder where her team was. It didn't matter if they were there or not since it didn't effect her but she wondered where they were.

Naruto woke up and found that he was going to be late. He jumped up and put his orange outfit on in hurry. He ran out of his apartment and down the streets towards the arena.

Tora nearly dragged Raion along to their seats since they wouldn't be able to follow Sasuke into the waiting area. Hinata stood very close to Sasuke and Kiba wasn't too happy about it. He looked back and forth between the two trying to figure out what was between them. Chouji snacked on a bag of chips while he looked down at the arena. Sakura was somewhat annoyed that Hinata was standing so close to Sasuke. She still had not decided between Naruto and Sasuke. She was with Naruto but she just couldn't get over Sasuke. Kabuto was standing there watching all of them through his glasses with his two teammates beside him. They both had black and white camo pants along with purple shirts that had the camo collar.

The first fight was announced by Genma "Chouji versus Yamabiko. Would both contestants please come down." Chouji and Yamabiko both walked down the stairs out into the middle of the arena. They squared off and Genma said "Begin."

Chouji started by using his classic move. He turned into a large ball and started spinning. He rolled towards his opponent ready to crush him. Yamabiko dodged so the side and formed several seals before hitting the ground with the palms of his hands. Chouji came out of his roll lying on his back. As Chouji started to pick himself up off the ground, Yamabiko ran over and kneed him in the chin. Chouji fell over backwards face up with his eyes closed. Yamabiko stepped back and let Genma check on Chouji. Genma determined that Chouji lost due to knock out. He waved over two medic-nin, who took Chouji away on a stretcher. Yamabiko walked back up the stairs to wait for the next round.

Genma announced "The second match will be Sakura versus Hinata. Would the two contestants please come down."

Hanabi said to her father "Sister's next. Is this why we came?"

Hiashi answered "Hinata's not your sister anymore. And no, she is not why we came. She will not put up much of a fight."

As Hinata and Sakura walked out into the arena Neji watched his once cousin carrying herself more confidently than she usually did. Neji wondered what she could be so confidant about. She was fighting the fifth's apprentice.

The whole audience started talking when they saw on the back of Hinata's jacket was the Uchiha clan symbol. Those sitting around Hiashi, Hanabi, and Neji all looked at them. Hiashi appeared slightly annoyed that Hinata was wearing the Uchiha clan symbol. But what people didn't know was that he was angry that she was in the Chuunin exam finals after he had disowned her. He knew there was a chance to survive the move he performed on her but he also knew that it was unlikely considering that it caused the blood in your body to boil. He wondered how she could have survived or if she had been given help.

Sakura and Hinata squared off and Sakura said "Anything you want to say before we fight." Hinata shook her head.

Before anything else could be said Genma said "Begin."

Sakura charged in to end the fight quickly. She threw a punch but Hinata wasn't their anymore. She felt herself get hit from behind but it didn't phase her so she turned to attack with a back fist. Again Hinata wasn't there to get hit. Sakura felt two hits from behind and retaliated with a back kick. When she didn't feel anything she turned and a punch connected with her face. Sakura tilted her head to lessen the blow and swung at Hinata. Hinata was gone like she had been for the previous attacks. Hinata was moving faster than either Tsunade or Kakashi. She didn't actually think Hinata was faster than them just that she was moving faster than they did when training her. How was she going to connect if Hinata could move that fast. Sakura felt a hit to her ribs. It wasn't anywhere close to the kind of hits Tsunade would land on her. Sakura decided she didn't have to defend against the attacks if they didn't do any damage to her. She decided to concentrate fully on attack. She moved after Hinata with the speed she gained from training with Kakashi but she still didn't seem to be anywhere close to Hinata's speed. It was annoying her that Hinata was that much faster. It was also annoying her that Hinata kept landing hits. All of a sudden Hinata quit attacking. Sakura looked around trying to find Hinata. Sakura heard movement behind her and turned to see Hinata running at her. Sakura charged forward and swung. This time Hinata didn't move. Sakura made sure she committed herself to this attack. Her fist passed right through Hinata and the image of her disappeared. Sakura realized it was an after image. But it had sound to it. An after image can't have sound to it. But it wasn't solid like a shadow clone or replica. It was merely an image. Sakura felt a hit to her ribs once again and turned to see two Hinata's running away. She knew to listen but she didn't hear a difference between them. She did notice that one wasn't kicking up dirt so she pulled out a kunai and threw it at the other one. She was surprised when a kunai appeared next to her throat. She reached up and grabbed Hinata's arm knowing that Hinata wouldn't kill her. Sakura leaned forward to toss Hinata over her shoulder. At the same time she reached down and grabbed Hinata's weapon pouch. She slammed Hinata into the ground and followed with a punch that connected with the ground instead of Hinata. Hinata stood away from Sakura and stared at her. Sakura turned to face Hinata then drew back and threw the pouch up into one of the empty waiting areas.

Tsunade smiled at this along with many of the Chuunins and Jounins since they knew that depriving the enemy of their weapons was a good point. It was a basic strategy but most didn't think to do it.

Sakura then pulled out a kunai and threw it at Hinata followed by one to either side of her. She was surprised when Hinata charged forward and knocked the kunai out her way with her hand. Sakura jumped back as she pulled out another kunai. She swung at Hinata with it but missed because Hinata ducked. Hinata used her index and middle fingers to poke Sakura under the arm she used to swing followed by a poke to the shoulder of the other arm. Sakura felt a shooting pain from both locations and tried to clutch both injuries but couldn't move either arm. She looked down at her shoulder and saw blood coming out of a wound. She looked back to Hinata who looked ready to start another attack. Sakura knew she couldn't win this fight. She couldn't win without her arms against someone who was that much faster with a move like that that. Sakura turned to Genma and said "I give up."

Genma motioned to Hinata when he said "Winner, Hinata."

Hiashi, Neji, and Hanabi all noticed that she attacked the same way as if she was using her Byakugan. Hiashi and Neji both knew it wasn't possible for her to use her Byakugan. Hanabi asked "Father, why did her attacks cause that girl to bleed?"

Hiashi thought about it then said "Because somehow she learned to make a cutting edge with her chakra."

Sakura walked away with the medic-nins so they could tend to her wounds. She would have done it herself but she didn't know how to heal her own wounds without her hands. Hinata returned to the waiting area and stood next to Sasuke. Kiba said "Hey Hinata, that was a good fight."

Hinata turned to him and said "Thank you." She then turned to Sasuke and asked "How did I do."

Sasuke responded "You shouldn't have let yourself get tossed like that." Hinata looked down at Sasuke's disapproval of the fight. Kiba was about tell Sasuke off when Sasuke jumped over the railing down into the arena after hearing his name called.

Kiba turned to Hinata and said "You did great." Hinata didn't seem to pay any attention to Kiba and instead watched Sasuke.

Hibiki, the other sound ninja, squared off against Sasuke. Hibiki started flexing his fingers as he mumbled to himself. Sasuke closed his eyes and opened them with his Sharingan active. Genma looked at the two of them and said "Begin."

Hibiki shoved his hands out in front of him and opened his mouth but no sound came out. Instead his vision became black and he fell over. Everyone in the audience stared at Sasuke who was standing behind Hibiki.

Shikamaru asked shocked "Temari, did you see that?"

Temari shook her head "No. Did you?"

Shikamaru said "Uh uh. That was fast."

Gai said "Sasuke's gotten quite fast."

Kakashi responded "He's almost as fast as us."

Shikamaru and Temari both turned to look at Kakashi since they both knew how good Jounins were.

Sasuke jumped up to the waiting area having finished his fight. Kiba just stared at him speechless but leapt down to the ground when his name was called along with Naruto's name but Naruto wasn't there.

Kiba said "I guess this means that I win since Naruto isn't here."

Genma called out once more "Uzamaki Naruto."

Naruto came running into the arena from ground level. "I'm here. I'm here. Don't disqualify me." He stopped running and stood there trying to catch his breath.

Genma said "Ok. Get ready." He paused a moment then said "Begin."

Kiba let his nails grow into claws and charged at Naruto. Naruto assumed a fighting stance but was surprised when he was hit from behind. He turned to look at what had hit him and it look like Kiba. Naruto was hit from the direction he was originally facing and was sent towards Kiba. He swung at Kiba but missed. When Naruto landed he turned to face Kiba and saw two Kiba's. Naruto couldn't believe he didn't notice that Akamaru wasn't with Kiba. The two Kiba's charged at him. Naruto knew they were melee fighters but so was he. Naruto used his shadow clone technique to out number Kiba. The Naruto's swarmed Kiba but it didn't seem to be doing any good since all Kiba and Akamaru had to do was land one solid hit on them. And Naruto's clones weren't that good at defense but then again neither was Naruto. The clones continued to attack in mass but Kiba and Akamaru were making short work of them. Naruto told his clones to stop attacking. They moved back and then they all started forming seals. Kiba and Akamaru continued to pick off clones. All the Narutos turned into Kiba. Kiba started laughing then said "We've all seen these moves before. Don't you have anything new."

Naruto didn't answer because while he had learned new moves he was told never to use them against a friend. This meant that he had to rely on his old moves. And as it turned out Naruto's clones were now fighting each other since they couldn't tell themselves apart from Kiba and Akamaru. Eventually it came down to just 3 Kibas. Two of which were Akamaru and Naruto. Kiba said "That's not going to work this time Naruto." Two Kibas instantly attacked that Kiba. He turned back into Naruto.

"You might have had a chance if you had kept your mouth shut." Kiba said to Naruto. Naruto's eyes had slight slits when he looked up. Kiba was slightly worried by this and swung down at Naruto. Naruto blocked and connected with Kiba. He didn't stop with just one hit though. He continued to attack until he could tell that Kiba went limp. Once that happened Akamaru changed back into himself and ran over to Kiba. Naruto stepped back knowing he had not shown anything worthy of becoming a Chuunin. But at least he would have another chance in the next match. When he didn't have to hold back. Naruto was declared the winner but he wasn't as happy has he had been the other times. He walked up the stairs to join the others.

Genma announced Yamabiko and Hinata. Yamabiko quickly went down into the arena. Hinata was about to follow but stopped when a hand was placed on her shoulder from behind. She turned and saw it was Sasuke. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. She nodded understanding at what Sasuke was telling her. Hinata jumped down into the arena and approached the center where Genma and Yamabiko waited. When Genma said to begin Hinata immediately jumped up and back into the air. Simultaneously both she and Yamabiko started forming seals. Because Hinata had jumped so high it allowed them both a fair amount of time to form hand seals.

"This will be interesting" Kakashi said from beside Shikamaru and Temari

Shikamaru and Temari continued to watch the fight but Temari asked "Why?"

Gai decided to interrupt and try to look cool by explaining, "Each move that they are preparing for gets stronger with each set of seals. So whoever is quicker will win."

Shikamaru commented "I looks like Hinata is faster."

"She is living in the springtime of her life. She will not lose." Stated Gai out of nowhere.

Kakashi started talking which caused Gai's rambling to be ignored, "Even though Hinata is faster. She has only completed 4 sets while the sound ninja has completed 7."

"Then that means..." Temari trailed off as she could tell that both were about to make their moves.

Yamabiko slammed his palms to the ground and a path leading from him to where Hinata was going to land started to oscillate. When Hinata landed she landed with her palms down right as the location had become unstable. A small crater formed where Hinata landed but since Hinata had expected the ground to be higher she collapsed to the ground instead of landing properly. When she looked up she saw the result of her move and she could tell by the silence of the arena that everyone was surprised at what had happened.

"But I thought she was behind in performing her seals." Temari remarked

"She was. But the move she was performing was a counter to his. Being able to predict the move Yamabiko was going to perform and counter it shows great insight." Kakashi explained.

"But what happened?" Temari asked.

"Let me see if I can explain it. Because sound moves in waves, the attack is suppose to hit with the peak which will deal the most damaged to you. And because of the nature of the attack it will continue to hit you. But the counter that Hinata performed pushes down on the peak of the sound wave forcing it back the way it came. When that occurs the one who attacked first gets hit by their own wave. But the move that Hinata doesn't just reflect the attack. It also amplifies the wave and increases the frequency. In essence she doubled the strength of the attack and doubled number of times it would hit." Kakashi explained.

Shikamaru said "So if that is just from forming the set once then forming it multiple times would probably increase both the frequency and amplitude. And since the sound ninja performed his multiples times he just made it comeback at him that much stronger."

Kakashi nodded and looked down at the damaged that had been caused. A wide deep section of ground between Hinata and Yamabiko was in rubble with a larger amount around Yamabiko. Hinata heard Genma say "Winner, Hinata." Following this statement there was a cheer from the crowd. As Hinata walked towards the waiting area she saw two medic-nins coming out to get Yamabiko. She climbed the stairs and walked into the waiting area. When Hinata entered Naruto ran up to her and said "That was great. I didn't know you knew how to do something like that. That was amazing."

Hinata couldn't help but blush at this and replied shyly "Th..Thank you." She then approached Sasuke and stood next to him.

Naruto saw that Sasuke said something but couldn't hear what was said. All he could tell was that it made Hinata smile brighter and blush deeper. Naruto heard his name called and noticed before heading down into the arena that Hinata had moved right next to Sasuke and was now holding his arm. Naruto didn't know why but this made him angry. Naruto jumped down into the arena and when he looked up he saw that he was going to be fighting Kabuto.

Author's notes

I know I cut this one off a little short but I decided to go ahead and post this chapter. You might be able to tell where I stopped writing a couple months ago and what I typed tonight. I think my writing has a slightly different taste to it now than it did. I've just been busy with my classes. Because Calc 2 was kicking my butt before I wanted to make sure I got it this time. Its about mid-term and I have a B in the class. Last time I got an F. So, I feel much better about it. I also have a B in Circuits 2 so far this semester. I feel caught up instead of behind, so I may start writing more again. Sorry it took so long for me to get this chapter up. Hopefully it won't be too long before the next one is up. I do plan to continue this one. And if I do start to get tired of it, I will make sure to wrap it up and not leave it hanging.