Ok...this is gonna bite and I know it but my mind is loseing it. Everything is starting to bum me out right now and I'm having problems with my creativity. If it weren't for my friend I would have completly bombed whatever I have left of this Story. Worry not I'll get back on track soon...it'll just be a little hard for a while. Anyway, let's get going right?

"Speech"

'Thought'

"Kyuubi"

(Standard Disclaimer)

Chapter 29: 3 Seconds

The light of day was swiftly fading, the world becoming darker and darker with time. He had to be coming, he just had to be there. Hinata stood at the entrance to the village, the moonless night shrouding the entire village in darkness. She had been waiting, since dawn to noon. Then from several hours after to night and he had yet to appear. She sighed, well he still had time he would be here tomorrow.

Hinata walked the lonely way home, a cold chill running with the wind. Around noon she went to train for a few hours then came back to find Naruto's team mates waiting for him like she had been. The girl was talkative while the young man kept to himself only entering the conversation when addressed or to make a remark at the girl.

After they had left claiming they had dinners to eat Hinata turned back to the entrance of the village, waiting for that oh so familiar streak of gold. No matter how hard she wished, no matter what she hoped to see, no streak of gold ever appeared. No smiling foxish face came into view and no loud shout was heard.

Hinata sighed, the darkness had set in a long time ago and the temperature began to swiftly drop. It was odd, Konoha was getting colder something that rarely ever happens. Hinata walked home, the chilling wind at her back as she trudged the streets to the infamous Hyuga mansion. Her pale lavender eyes were set straight ahead, her mind lost in thought causing the pale violet orbs to turn glassy and unfocused.

Hinata made her way into the Mansion then to her own room, all the while thinking thoughts that filled her with dread. What if he was killed? What if he got hurt and died? What if...those were the words that haunted her thoughts far to much for her liking. Hinata sighed and prepared for her fitful night of rest. She lay down in the surprisingly cold blankets and put her head down on the rock like pillows. She really missed her fox blanket and pillow.

Hinata woke up in the morning and did the usual routines. She found herself training early in the morning so she could go to the Chuunin Exams without the threat of her training looming over her head. She swiftly got her morning training done and yawned, it was getting to be around that time. She sighed, Naruto would be here she trusted him to keep his promises.

Zaiaku sat at the entrance to the stadium, the smirk he wore open to the world due to his open collar. Today was the day, it was the day for him to show why he deserved to be a Chuunin. He knew he was strong enough, he knew he was smart enough, he just needed to be granted the title. With a cracking snap and a puff of smoke his Jounin sensei by the name of Taishou appeared with a wild grin on his face.

"Good morning Zaiaku!" Taishou said excitedly with a laugh. Zaiaku chuckled a bit and said, "you seem happy even for your constant level of mirth Taishou-sensei. What's the occasion?" "Occasion? The Chuunin Exams of course! To see my students rise through the ranks from Genin to Chuunin!" Taishou said as he wiped a tear from his face, "brings a tear to your eye!"

"Where's Itami?" Taishou asked swiftly changing subject but not losing his happy attitude. Zaiaku shrugged and said, "no idea, she told me to meet her out here this morning." Little did Zaiaku know that at that moment Itami was approaching the stadium, her hand nervously fumbling with her Tokkuri.

"Ok, I just gotta say it straight. Give him no time to respond then act like it never happened," she muttered to herself as she drew closer to the building. "Damn it when did it come to this..." she added as she played with the Tokkuri in her hands, acting like it was some sort of comfort blanket.

She raised her head expecting to see only Zaiaku waiting for her. It was a surprise and yet completely expected that standing right next to Zaiaku was their Jounin-sensei, Taishou. Itami sighed and took a deeper then normal drink from her Tokkuri, flake out time.

Zaiaku turned his eyes to the road and saw, among the many people that were entering the stadium for the Chuunin Exams, Itami was slowly approaching them. As Itami drew closer she looked down in a very out of character fit of nervousness. She rolled the thoughts and words over in her head, worried about the reaction they would spur on. Wait, she was Itami damn it! It didn't matter now did it! If she wanted it to be it could be a dunk delusion! Itami took a swig of her Tokkuri for courage then cleared her throat, here goes...

"Itami have you seen Naruto?" Zaiaku asked which COMPLETELY blew whatever Itami was going to say out of the water. Itami's right eye twitched as Taishou added in, "I'd like to know where he is. He said he was going to be back in time for his match right?" Everything she worked up this morning, boom right into another country. It didn't help that he had abandoned his scarf and let his tall collar open showing his face rather then letting it hide in his 'sinful' shame. When did he grow a goatee? This was new...

"No I haven't and Zaiaku I swear you are in love with the guy or something," Itami said with a smirking glare. Zaiaku grimaced but said nothing, he would have his revenge later. Taishou sighed and said, "we have to get going soon. If I remember correctly Itami has the second match." Zaiaku and Itami nodded, besides he still had a few matches until his own right?

Hinata took her seat along side her two team mates Kiba and Shino. The Chuunin Exams were like a sporting event and this year it seemed to be even more packed then in previous years. Maybe it had something to do with the rumors of all the promising and powerful Genin in this years tournament. Whatever it was it made the stadium incredibly crowded.

Hinata sighed as she saw the board that announced the matches on the far end of the Stadium. Third match, Uzumaki Naruto versus Ayameru Kireru. His challengers name was enough to make Hinata shift in her seat. She sighed, she had to get a control over this. She couldn't keep worrying about Naruto, he could manage almost anything by himself. He wouldn't want her worrying about him more then herself. For a brief moment she wondered if he had gotten back yet but stopped when the first to competitors appeared ready to fight.

The pink haired girl smiled as she stretched slightly in her seat, it had been a while since she had been a spectator. The last time she watched the Chuunin exams Naruto and Sasuke were still gone. Seated next to her was the said Uchiha but the wild blond had yet to appear. Sakura shrugged, it didn't matter because she knew he would be showing up soon. His match wasn't that far away, he had to be here! When he was she'd beat the hell out of him for taking off like that. He didn't even say goodbye!

Sasuke looked down on the battle field feeling almost nostalgic. Last time he were here the Snake Sannin formed an attack and destroyed half of Konoha. He was so close to fighting here too, if he hadn't let his Curse Seal loose he would have been fine. Damn the blood lust Orochimaru added in his specific seal. It didn't matter now though, the Dobe was in this contest and from what he gathered no one except the dog, bug, and Hyuga's knew about Naruto's...changes. This was going to be interesting...

The fist match, the first two Genin on the edge to attack. Two competitors in the coliseum of life and death. It almost had Taishou drooling in anticipation and excitement. "Oh I can't wait!" he shouted excitedly as the two Genin entered the center ring. The first to enter was that odd dark spectacled Genin from the Suna team. He had a smug grin on his face as he cracked his knuckles. Unknown to everyone in the stadium his pure black glasses hid something, something very important.

Under those black glasses were blind eyes, he was completely without a sense of sight. That didn't matter in the least to him though, all of his other senses had been trained to perfection. He could track anyone and anything then beat it straight to hell with his unique brand of blind Taijutsu.

The next contestant to enter made Zaiaku grip the guard rail with enough force to warp his palm prints into it. It was that demon from the Snow team, Katsu. The mere thought of what that ninja could do to a person made his skin crawl and his namesake begin to show in his dark thoughts. Zaiaku had fought him and found his movements to be fluid, strong, and flexible like he was made of rubber rather then bone.

No matter what the case Zaiaku knew who was the winner of the battle the second the names had been announced...

Katsu entered the arena, his face hidden by his sunglasses and scarf. The blind ninja took his time, his blinded status not harboring his confident steps in the least. He knew where he was going he didn't need eyes to tell him that. He could feel his opponent was strong but what other joy can a ninja take out of life than facing one at or above your skill level.

The blind ninja took a battle ready stance, his suburb training under the Kazekage teaching him to willfully force adrenaline into his veins. His heart was racing, his mind was flying with plans, he was MORE then ready to take down this wanna be.

The crowd was on the edge of their seat as the Jounin judge held up his hand ready to begin the match. "BEGIN!" he called and in that instant the blind Suna ninja disappeared in a blur. Katsu simply stood where he was, his head facing the ground as if his eyes were closed. His head snapped up and he raised his right hand blocking the kick aimed for his head with little difficulty at all. With a surge of chakra to his high tech gloves the blind ninja's right Fibula and Tibia were little more then dust, Katsu had won in three seconds flat.

The whole crowd stared in amazement, they had barely seen the spectacled ninja move and his opponent not only saw it but he defeated it with minimal effort. Taishou's anticipation was nowhere near what the match produced. His excitement was all for nothing and personally he was pissed. Then again, he had noticed something about this Genin that was VERY interesting...

Zaiaku began to sweat, that was one of the Kazekage's prized students and in an instant he was dealt with. Zaiaku looked to the time and found it to read, 3:00:01. Just over three seconds and it made a chill run through his blood. If not from amazement then from sheer anticipation, he was getting interested in fighting this individual again, no holds barred this time too.

Itami raised and eyebrow, 'well that was dumb.' She could have seen that attack from a distance too, it was an elementary strike to anyone who spent some time with Taijutsu. She realized that she probably knew more about Taijutsu then most, after all one of her prized jutsu relied on it heavily. What confused her was why Zaiaku looked so...well out of his character.

She was sure he knew enough about Taijutsu seeing as Koumansa and Ikari required it. In that stage of transformation he held such a gross amount of chakra that it was dangerous to preform any other type of jutsu so he executed Taijutsu in it's stead. Itami yawned, whatever state he was in he still looked hot.

...Itami blinked then screwed her eyes shut repeatedly smacking her forehead with her Tokkuri. 'Must...not...have...those...thoughts...now!' she screamed in her head as she punctuated each word with a knock on her skull. Once again the situation was not helped by the fact that he had discarded his scarf and left his collar open revealing more of his face then normal. Zaiaku blinked as he watched Itami hit her own head with her Tokkuri, it looked...odd to say the least.

"Uh...Itami," Zaiaku said which caused Itami to stop hitting her head and look him in the eye. "Yes?" she questioned with a 'blush drunk' face and a soft glare. Zaiaku raised his eyebrow but then closed his eyes and shook his head. He had to dispel these foreign thoughts about Itami entering his mind, particularly the one about her looking...cute. He shouldn't have those thoughts about his best friend. "I'll save us both the awkwardness. Your match has been called, good luck," Zaiaku said as he gave Itami a true smile with gleaming gold eyes.

Itami returned his smile with one of her own remembering how often he would smile now compared to the past. From the time that they met to right to the last Chuunin Exams she could only remember a few times he gave out true smiles. Once was when he came into class that one day like a grinning idiot. Then another time was when their new Jounin sensei took them out for food since Itami and himself didn't have anything to eat.

The third time was her favorite though. On one mission they had to be a guard crew for a VERY important businessman. It was no mystery when they were attacked but it was the fact that the attackers were Jounin class ninja that threw them for a loop. Taishou was able to handle a lot of them but it still left Zaiaku and Itami on their own to body guard the businessman.

Somewhere during the skirmish she remembered getting a deep slash in her side but it was all a blur after that. When she woke up there was a slightly beaten Zaiaku sitting next to her, a true smile on his grubby face as he looked down at her waking form. She looked at his completely bandaged torso then realized he was missing something. His shirt was either now invisible or had disappeared.

She wondered where his shirt had gone but she looked down and found it had become her own torso bandages plus a small blanket. She looked up and noticed something odd, the ends of his hair had turned a jet black but she didn't question why. Right now she felt pretty damn good except for the stinging pain in her stomach which was cleared up by a swift sip of sake from her Tokkuri that was given to her by Zaiaku.

Itami sighed at the memory, it was the only time she remembered something like that happening. Every other time in her life people were repulsed by her or Zaiaku treated her as his best friend and team mate. She was beginning to want more and Zaiaku was at the top of her list right now.

"Thanks coin boy," Itami said with a smile as she started her way down to the arena after a brief glance at the tournament board. Itami entered the center ring to see her opponent, the Kunoichi from the Suna team. She wore Suna armor and a mask, her hair was also covering her right eye. "Ready to lose Itami?" the girl asked with crossed arms. Apparently she too had looked up her opponents name on the board. Itami calmly took a drink from her Tokkuri then grinned wide, "let's see you try and beat me Kinsha."

In the Kage seats far above the center circle the Hokage, Tsunade, and the Kazekage, Gaara, sat watching the matches with captive interest. "Our bet still stands?" Tsunade asked with a slight grin on her face. "Of course, I never go back on my word. A valuable lesson taught to me by Uzumaki Naruto," Gaara said with a nod. Besides, he was confident in his ability to win this little bet between Kages.

The Judge readied his hand, the crowd was once again excited. Many were just waiting for something better then the last match, it was a cheap fight in their eyes. Hinata was excited and readied herself to cheer the girl on. This was Naruto-kun's team mate in the Chuunin Exam tournament!

"And...BEGIN!" the judge screamed as he dropped his hand and the second match of the Chuunin Exams began.

End Chapter

Ok...I have no excuse for that...I wish I did but I don't. Let's go to Q and A...if I had any. I have a preview then I'm gone. Later all,

Gaara's mouth turned up in a wicked smirk, he knew what was to become of this match. He could just feel it. The blind fighter was their weakest link in the team but he would get his job done as a pure solider. The leader, Gaara observed, wished more then anything to continue in Gaara's stead as the Kazekage of Suna. The girl though...she was something different. She was a wild card and a wonderful silent assassin. It was only a matter of time until the Konoha girl was going to fall...