I know you're out there. I can hear you breathing...
Tension. It filled the air, soaking everyone as though it was thick humidity. It was almost hard to breath, there was so much. Everyone was at a slightly different level of tension, mostly due to the fight that had just ended.
A thin, young boy, no older than any of the other Genin, stood still in the middle of the massive arena. His sand continued flowing like a living entity, slowly returning to the gourd strapped to his back. His shock of red hair seemed a kind of afterimage of the gore that was just witnessed. As the sand flowed, it revealed the empty spot where once lay a person. A Genin by the name of Akadou Yoroi, in fact. The only traces that remained was a few drops of blood, nothing more. Once the sand had completely returned to his gourd, Gaara placed the cork into the opening, then used the sand to dematerialize and re-appear with his teammates, the 2 other Genin from the Hidden Village of Sand.
Across the room, Ino was on her knees, trying very hard to not throw up. Chouji was next to her, looking quite pale. In fact, most of the other examinees were in a simillar state, thanking whatever gods there were that they didn't have to fight Gaara. Whoever that Yoroi was, he was long gone.
"If he had any sense, he would've forfeited the match." Hayasa's cool, unsympathetic voice was the first sound to break the silence. "Any fool could tell when they're outmatched that badly."
Naruto stood next to her, his face a plastered look of shock mixed with some horror. Underneath, though, he was intrigued. Never had he seen such a method of fighting before. Never had he seen one element used with such deadly force. He wanted to know more about this boy.
The display screen blinked once again, obeying it's programming with emotionless precision. The names shuffled visibly, coming to rest on two that held a particular interest to Team 7.
ZAKU ABUMI vs. HARUNO SAKURA
Zaku, who had been itching for a good fight since before the written exam, eagerly hopped down to the main floor. For the entire length of the Second Exam, the only time he got to do anything was when they encountered that one team, who just happened to have the scroll they needed. Of course, they were all weak, and Zaku only managed to take out one by the time Dosu and Kin took out theirs. It wasn't fair! But now he had his chance.
Kakashi looked down at his student, slightly unsure about this matchup. One look into Sakura's eyes, however,wiped those doubts away. The silver-haired jounin knew that she had been training herself, and while he didn't know all the details, he had full confidence in her abilities. /Let's see how much you've grown, Sakura... /
"Go get 'em, Sakura-chan!" Naruto gave his perkiest cheer, signaling a good-luck thumbs-up. Sakura only looked at him and smiled, knowing full well the message that lay just under the surface.
/Don't worry, Naruto... I won't overdo it... / With this thought in mind, she lept down, landing lightly on the concrete below.
Above, the other two Sound-nin looked on with curiousity. Dosu could only wonder at his teammate's cockyness. It was obvious by the way he carried himself and by his stupid grin that he was underestimating his enemy. Where they came from, that was usually a fatal mistake.
The Ino-Shika-Chou team looked on with a different emotion. For the most part, they had known Sakura for their entire Genin career. Ino, more than anyone else, knew that Sakura was not a ninja with some special talent, or some natural power, nor did she have any speciality jutsus. She was more or less your average, no-talent ninja.
The only ones who weren't expecting the worst for the pink-haired shinobi were her own teammates. Hayasa and Kakashi looked on, wondering more about how Sakura would win than if she would win. They had seen her use some unusual jutsus during missions, but neither knew what she was really capable of. Naruto, on the other hand, knew all to well... but he wasn't about to spoil it for them.
Hayate wasted little time, declaring "Let the second match begin!"
Sakura, also, was done playing around. They had slacked off a little while in the forest and had a few close calls, so she felt as if she had to make up for it by getting through this preliminary fight. No sooner did the judge's voice echo back to the center of the room than Sakura's hands went to work. Horse. Tiger. All the seals she needed. She leaned back, putone hand to her lips, and shouted "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Fire shot in a wave from her mouth, roaring forth to consume her adversary.
Zaku was only momentarily suprised. Indeed he had underestimated Sakura, but he adjusted his view once she began her hand seals. He was just able to raise his hands when the fireball came at him. But he had more than enough time to let loose a massive impulse blast from the holes in his hands. Sonic and air pressure erupted forth, cancelling out the blast. Smoke poured forth like a tidal wave, smothering the battle area in a blanket of grey.
Kakashi, for his part, was not expecting this. It was enough of a shock when Sasuke used that jutsu on him for the first time, during their first training excersize. He had an exceptional amout of chakra to begin with... Sakura shouldn't have anywhere near that much, even now! The jounin caught a glance of his other, blonde student, realizing that there was more to their secret training than he had previously thought. Naruto was looking on, wearing a proud grin. The kind a teacher wears when his student does a good job.
Ino had just about seen enough. It was bad enough that Sakura had overcome Sasuke's death first, had cut her hair, and even that she was taking training more seriously, but this... Basically, Ino felt like she was being left in the dust. And if there was one thing that Yamanaka Ino hated, it was losing. Still, she gritted her teeth, gripped the handrails 'til they just about bent, and watched.
The sound-nin stood in the middle of a cloud of smoke that just wouldn't dissolve. He waited, listening for his prey. That pink-haired shinobi girl hadn't made a sound since the blast died out. Usually, a person will make some sound. Breathing. Clothes flapping with movement. Something. But there was nothing. He wasn't sure about this girl anymore...
She struck, landing a painful punch to his gut. What was odd, however, was that other than the impact of the punch and Zaku's grunt, there was no other noise. Nothing. Not even the flutter of Sakura's shirt as she ran. Zaku could only stand there, too stunned to move. No noise. No noise. How the hell...?
The young Haruno lept in, once again noiselessly, and used a simple but devastating technique. Naruto had taught this one to her personally. She jumped up, almost in slow motion, then bent her leg back. She gathered chakra into the contact point, constantly collecting, until the moment of truth. The instant her foot struck the sound-nin's head, she released all the pent-up chakra from that point, increasing the power of the blow by at least 20x. The impact created a boom that vibrated the entire building. Needless to say, Zaku was nothing more than a rag doll as his body flew straight into the far wall, which cracked with the impact, then he bouced off with a sickening thunk and lay silent on the cold concrete.
xxxxXxxxx
"You did it, Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheered.
"Yeah, I guess I did, didn't I?" Sakura smiled sheepishly.
Kakashi stared, his expression ever hidden beneath his thin mask. His visible eye in it's ususal state. "Very impressive. ...Tell me, what was that? How did you nullify the sound?" /And where the hell'd you get all that chakra!./
A dim blush appeared on the Haruno's face. "Well, I came up with it while training with Naruto. Basically, I found that by covering yourself with a thin layer of chakra, then getting it to stay at just the right frequency and level, you end up soundproofing yourself. The only problem is that sound can't go either direction." She put a hand next to her ear. "Which means that if I don't leave a hole or two, I'm deaf to the outside world." Her hand flopped back down to her side, her smile bigger than ever. "I call it Mugon no Jutsu."
"Impressive. To create a stealth jutsu on your own... Your chakra control has improved beyond what I had ever imagined." Kakashi's smile shone clear, like it was ignoring the mask entirely. It faded just as fast, and the jounin looked down at the medic team. They had Zaku on a stretcher and were trying to carry him to the infirmiry as gently as possible. /However... to control chakra that precisely... that has to take more out of you than you expect... / He looked back at his teammates, still celebrating. /Be carefull with this jutsu you've created, Sakura. It could well become a double-edged sword.../
Ino was ready to explode. Her grip on those poor handrails would have taken a tree from the ground, roots and all. She was also starting to see red. /How the hell... How the hell... HOW THE HELL..?./
Their celebration was cut short. The almighty display board kicked on again, scrambling through the 16 remaining names. Finally, the next two fighters were chosen:
TSUMETAI HAYASA vs. TENTEN
The latter had taken no more than two steps when a certain silver-eyed teammate stopped her. "Be careful."
"Why, Neji-kun. I didn't know you cared." Tenten giggled as the Hyuuga blushed, although he wasn't quite sure why. Indeed, an air of caution surrounded the team. After seeing what Sakura had to offer, they were going to take no chances.
"My turn already?" Hayasa's violet eyes sparkled with anticipation. /Maybe I'll get to cut loose a little.../
"Good luck, and be carefull!" Sakura gave her the thumbs-up.
"Always." Hayasa nimbly lept over the railing, landing softly on the concrete below with the grace of a cat. Tenten, however, took the stairs. She wanted to fight, but she wasn't in a big hurry. Might as well carry yourself with some dignity.
The two fighters stood face to face. Hayate stood somewhat between them. /This is good. None of the matches so far are taking too long.../ "When you're ready, ...begin the third match."
The first thing Tenten did was to put some distance between herself and her opponent,butHayasa wasn't concerned with distance. She slowly began looking over Tenten, sizing-up her opponent. Even though the only weapon worn was the standard kunai strap on her leg, Hayasa knew better. She stood in a ready position, waiting for Tenten to make the first move. Which she did. "Well if you're not going to move, ...I will!" Tenten sent four shuriken flying at her enemy, but Hayasa simply moved her head at the last minute, letting them all fly past. Each clattered to a stop against the back wall.
The only ones caught by suprise were Rock Lee and Gai-sensei. Both knew that it was impossible for Tenten to miss. She could hit her target 100 times in 100 tries. This was just ...unheard of. Neji spoke up right next to them, quiet as usual. "This might be more interesting than I first thought." He looked over at Gai-sensei. "Wasn't Tenten tied with another student at the academy for accuracy scores?"
The thick-browed jounin thought for a moment. Yes, there was one name... what was it... His mind brought up the score sheets for that year's students. Right next to Tenten's name... Gai-sensei's round eyes widened to twice their normal size as it dawned on him. His voice almost shook. "Her! ...It's her!"
Lee looked confused. "It's who, Gai-sensei?"
"Don't tell me you've forgotten about Tsumetai Hayasa? The one they compared with the Uchihas?"
Lee's look of confusion answered that question. No.
At that moment, Tenten lept. She unfurled a scroll, twisting and twirling it about as she spun like a small twister. Her speed increased, causing the scroll to blur around her. Then the rain began. Weapons, including shurikens, kamas, kunai, morning-stars, nunchaku, ...literally every weapon that could be summoned, was. They all came at Hayasa as if they were attracted to her, twisting through the air like living entities. Their target reached around behind her, slowly pulling one of her swords out of it's sheath.
Then, using the unique combination of speed and accuracy that only she possesed, Hayasa dodged, struck, dodged, struck, dodged, and struck again, and again, all in a kind of blur. The clang of metal against metal filled the air like a bad song. One by one, Tenten's weapons fell to the ground. Some were dinged, others were completely destroyed. All were hit. Hayasa's breathing had only increased a little (this was nothing more than a workout for her) as Tenten landed, a mere grin pasted onto her face.
"I guess that was about what I should expect from you, eh? Shiden?"
When that word reached Lee's ears, his eyes grew far wider than his sensei's. Indeed, he could recall watching as this same girl would preform the same excersizes as Tenten, and it was as if he were watching a mirror. Both did exactly thesame motions, hit their targets at the same time, ...hell, their two impacts sounded like one.
"I'd say your aim has improved, but when it's already perfect, there is no improvement, is there?" Hayasa half-grinned. "As much as I'd love to settle our score, I want to get through this exam." She made a single seal, followed by "Genjutsu, Kokuangyou no Jutsu."
Day turned to night. All light was suddenly swallowed up in absolute darkness. Almost every single onlooker of the fight was blinded. The only ones who could still follow the battle were those with specialized eyes, including Kakashi, Neji, and Hinata.
Tenten was caught by suprise. She had known that Hayasa was proficient with some Genjutsu, but this was one of the more uncommonly used techniques. In fact, she had never even heard of this one until her opponent spouted out the name only moments ago.
"Let's see if you can aim with your ears..." Hayasa's cool, calm voice seemed to come from everywhere.
Tenten relaxed, allowing her eyes to adjust. They were useless, but it wouldn't hurt. She focused, concentrating on two senses: sound and touch. The brown-haired shinobi had trained herself to recognize an approaching body by the way the air moved around it. With focus, she noticed footsteps. Two shuriken shrieked away towards them, only to clang against concrete a moment later. Wait, ...now there were footsteps on the other side! All around her!
By now, Tenten's pupils had fully expanded to accomodate the darkness, and that was just what Hayasa had been waiting on. Her shout echoed from the abyss, saying "Nikko no Jutsu!"
Tenten's eyes just about exploded. The sudden, absolute shift from pitch black to looking straight into the sun was almost too much for the poor girl, and she dropped to her knees, trying vainly to cover her eyes. /How could I be that stupid! Why else would she just leave me in the dark for so long?.../ Around her, she could hear the various shouts and groans from the other Genin, as well as Hayate. Damn. At this point, she was as good as done. It would take her more than a day to fully recover from such a blow. And without her eyes, ...she was ...useless.
Still sitting where she had fallen, Tenten raised her hand and almost shouted "I'm done. The match is over. I... I can't... I can't fight anymore." She was choking back tears at the end. To be beaten without having one finger laid on her...
The judge's voice quivered slightly, for he, too, was incapacitated. "Winner: Hayasa." A pause. "We will take an hour break, so that the examinees can recover enough to continue."
xxxxXxxxx
"Wasn't that ...a little much?" Sakura asked sheepishly.
Team 7 had already suffered through one of Hayasa's darkness-light combos, and had come prepared. Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi all took off their sunglasses as Hayasa came back up. "No, I don't think so..."
"I think you've caught someone's intrest..." Naruto spoke flatly, facing down the walkway. Hayasa followed his gaze, and met with a pair of pale, silver-white eyes framed by long waves of dark brown hair. These eyes were set in a glare.
"Hyuuga Neji." Kakashi said. "One of two Genin from the Hyuuga clan. Very serious-minded."
"Hmm..." Hayasa wondered aloud. Her own gaze locked with the Hyuuga's, not flinching even once. Those eyes were ...intriguing, in a way. Such a strange color. The young shinobi felt as though those eyes were looking right through her.
Oh, yes. There was something she found interestingabout this ...Neji. She had a strong feeling that she would be getting to know him betterbefore too long.
xxxxXxxxx
The next two fights went as would be expected. Another oneof the Sound-nin, Kin, fell prey to Shikamaru's Shadow-imitation jutsu. Afterwards, the remaining member of Kabuto's team, Tsurugi Misumi, was defeated by Kankurou's freaky puppet techniques. Nothing too different, so they won't be described in detail here.
The next two names to grace the display board received mixed responses from everyone in the room. Some grew bored, knowing the outcome before the fighters had even entered the arena. Others grew brash, hoping that the loss would be a bad one for one of the fighters. A few grew nervous, wondering if their teammate would even survive this fight. The opponent was well-known to be one of the strongest trainees in the room, if not the strongest. The only ones to become excited and positive about the fight were the two fighters, themselves. Both made their way down to the main floor.
One fighter stood in his usual brash, cocky manner, hands folded in front of his chest, huge grin pasted to his face, and his blonde hair spiked out as it always was. The other, more calm and collected, his stance that of one ready for the attack, and his black, bowl-cut hair and thick eyebrows seemed to sparkle in the mid-day sunlight.
Next Chapter:
ROCK LEE vs. UZUMAKI NARUTO.
So, what do you think? Good fights? Bad fights? Neji x Hayasa? ...Pelt me with blunt objects? ...Hello?
...please review! If you can't for some reason, track down my e-mail address and just send me a direct message! Please! Let me know that my story's being read!