.
.
The Chuunin Exams - Part 4
.
.
Naho and Sasuke sat down opposite of the Hokage in some small office in the tower. Naho stared down at her hands folded in her lap.
"Have you talked to the shinobi yet who acted as our hostage?" Sasuke asked.
"I'm afraid he's dead."
The Hokage's answer barely surprised them. Somehow, they could tell that the battle had favoured the Suna shinobi. And they could feel that the Suna shinobi was no ordinary Genin.
"That shinobi who attacked you and killed Rei, I need to know their identity. These two deaths clearly violate the rules set for the Chuunin exams and we've thus started an investigation. Could you look through these pictures and identify them for me?"
The Hokage gave them a pile of application forms. There was a picture of every shinobi that participated in the exams in the upper-right corner of their application. Sasuke and Naho looked through the ones from Suna first and it didn't take long until they found the woman.
"Shiore Yamaguchi," her name read.
"But… I don't think this is her real face," Naho noted. "When we fought her, it seemed her face melted in the heat of our fire jutsu. She was…"
"A man," Sasuke said. "Orochimaru. You know that guy?"
The Hokage's face didn't flinch once. "We are going to look into it. Thank you for your information."
There was more. Sasuke and Naho both recognised the pictures of her two teammates as well. It was Kabuto and Karin, the two Genin that gifted them their hostage. Sasuke felt that it could not have been a coincidence.
The Hokage gave the application form of Shiore Yamaguchi as well as those of her two teammates to Genma, who seemed to immediately know what to do and vanished with them.
"Sasuke, Naho. It is important that you keep this a secret for now. The fact that this shinobi is from Sunagakure threatens our peace with them. I don't want this information leaked. Do you understand me?"
They nodded.
Naho slightly bowed as the Hokage opened the door for them again. Sasuke quietly walked past him.
Before they left, Sasuke asked, "Are we disqualified?"
He smiled. "I'll inform you shortly."
There was silence between Sasuke and Naho as the Hokage closed the door behind them again. The hallway was empty. It was the first time they were alone since Orochimaru's attack in the Forest of Death.
None of them spoke, but none of them wanted to go back to the others just yet.
"How is your shoulder?" Sasuke eventually asked. He tried to sound casual and rather disinterested, yet he did want to know.
"It's better," she said, but the wound still hurt. None of the proctors had asked her about it yet and she wasn't the only one who reached the tower with an injury. She'd heard that many Genin had already been carried to the hospital. Most of them had crushed limbs, because of Gaara. "What about that seal on your neck? Shouldn't we tell the Hokage?"
Sasuke shook his head. "It doesn't really bother me." He could see she wasn't convinced, so he added, "We can tell them after the exams are over."
Naho quietly agreed. They both started walking back towards the tower hall.
.
.
.
Naruto soaked his face with cool water and looked at his image in the mirror. He looked normal, like he always did, maybe a bit tired. On the inside he felt different. It was not a strange feeling to him, yet he wasn't completely sure how to get rid of it again.
Today, the feeling was stronger, like there was a fire burning inside of him. The fox was excited. He could feel it, because he was excited as well. Naruto wanted to go and speak to Gaara. Why, he didn't know. A higher force coming from inside of him drew him towards the Kazekage's son.
He heard a scream coming from the room next to him. It was Sakura.
Naruto stormed out of the men's bathroom into the women's bathroom.
Sakura was looking at herself in the mirror, almost crying. "I look awful. I can't believe Sasuke-kun saw me like this. I can't believe anyone saw me like this!"
Naruto's muscles relaxed a bit again. "Don't scare me like that. I thought it was something serious."
"Something serious? I look like, like… I don't know, I just look awful! Like a scarecrow! How is that not serious," she yelled at him.
"Your hair will grow back. Soon it'll be nice and long again, just wait."
The door opened again, and two other girls entered. It was Ino and Hinata.
"Sheesh, what's going on? We could hear you all the way down the hallway. Also Naruto, are you a girl now or what are you doing in here?" Ino asked. Hinata almost looked like she was hiding behind her, a faint blush on her face as she glanced in Naruto's direction.
Sakura had tears in her eyes as she continued to rant about her hair and face. "This is so stupid. I didn't even get to participate in the exams, yet I'm looking worse than any of you. Kakashi-sensei shouldn't have let us participate, none of us. Not Naho, and also not Sasuke."
"Come on, Sakura-chan. We are all fine, aren't we?" Naruto couldn't understand why, yet again, one of his teammates was crying.
"No, we are not! Rei is dead and my hair looks like shit! Rei is dead and it could have happened to any of us. Naho could be dead now. Sasuke could be dead. Even you and me, we could be dead as well. Just look at my face! It's all blue and black!"
Hinata averted her eyes from Naruto, but she couldn't bring herself to look at Sakura. She felt the need to leave, but feared it would be inappropriate. Sakura and her had spent many years in the Academy together, yet they barely ever talked. They weren't close.
Ino quietly put an arm around Sakura. "We could all die at any minute, you know that, right? I'm not exactly sure what happened in the Forest of Death to you and your team, but I'm glad that you are alive and well. So, how about we get some scissors and I fix that wild haircut of yours? It'll be fine, don't worry."
Sakura sniffed, but nodded. She held onto Ino as they left the bathrooms to find a pair of scissors.
Naruto felt a bit like he was being left behind, invisible. He wanted to be the one to cheer Sakura up, but he didn't know how. He followed Ino and Sakura, and barely noticed Hinata walking next to him. She held her breath a few times like she was going to speak to him, but never quite managed to produce any words.
Not long after, Sakura had a new haircut, all thanks to Ino. It was much shorter than before, barely reached Sakura's shoulder. But she no longer looked like a scarecrow.
Naruto thought it looked cute, but he didn't tell her. He wasn't sure whether she wanted to hear it from him.
"This is the same haircut you had back in the days." Ino giggled. "I always thought it fitted you very well."
Sakura ran a hand through her hair. It felt weird when she reached the tips much sooner than expected.
.
.
.
Back in the massive hallway of the tower, the first person Naruto's eyes found was Gaara. He stood in a corner, far away from most other students and higher shinobi, together with his team and a mentor from Sunagakure. None of them was talking, just stared around the hall with a grim look on their faces.
Ino and Hinata said goodbye to them, but Naruto barely realized. The strange feeling inside him grew stronger whenever he looked at the Kazekage's son. Sakura next to him was still fiddling her hair. Her eyes searched for someone else.
"Sasuke and Naho aren't back yet. Do you think they are in trouble because of us?"
Naruto forced himself to look away from Gaara and put on a bright smile. Sakura was still worrying, and he was set on making her feel better. "What are you talking about? We saved them! Sasuke would have been toast if we didn't go after them."
He expected Sakura to get mad at him for nagging Sasuke. He liked that Sakura better. But she didn't.
She bit her lips, her glance dropped. "Do you think they are fine? I mean, obviously what happened in the forest had to be awful. Naho seemed very down, she barely talked. But Sasuke…"
"What about him? He didn't seem too upset."
Sakura looked at him somewhat disappointedly. He wondered if he'd said anything wrong.
"That's not what I meant, but… nevermind. It's like Ino said, we all made it here in one piece, that's the important part!" The last part she spoke to herself.
Naruto felt both relieved and disappointed in himself when he saw Naho and Sasuke approach. They were reunited again, but something had changed. And none of them wanted to talk about it.
Sakura let go of her hair and stepped closer to them, to Sasuke. "What did the Hokage say?"
Naho only shrugged. She quickly explained that the higher-ups would take care of the matter and that they were not supposed to talk about the Forest of Death any longer.
"The second part of the exams are over now, right? Maybe we should go and find Kakashi-sensei. Naho and Sakura need treatment." Naruto made sure they understood he was worried about them. But they didn't quite seem thankful.
"We shouldn't just run off," Sasuke said. "They might announce the next stage soon." He wanted to know whether he was disqualified or not. He wanted to continue.
.
.
.
Kakashi scribbled a few words on the evaluation sheet and handed it in. It was used to rank the Genin he had observed during the second stage of the exam. Though he could hardly be honest, so he put down a few generic words of praise for Gaara and his team. The Kazekage's son was not a person who ought to be discussed on a piece of paper directed at the Chuunin teachers.
He threw the coat he'd worn into a corner of the room and left to go back to the hallway, wondering how Naruto and the rest of his team were doing. He'd seen Naruto's Shadow Clones when they attacked Gaara, so he knew they had to be close by.
On his way back, he saw Komachi. She was standing on the balcony that overlooked the ground floor and the tower halls. She was looking down, and Kakashi could only guess that she was observing Naruto. Though this time, she wasn't wearing her Anbu attire. Kakashi knew she was the Anbu he had met before, even though he'd never seen her without a mask. It was the same long, blond hair, the same height, the same posture.
He walked over to her.
"You let Naruto go into the Forest of Death," Kakashi noted as he casually leaned against a pillar close to Komachi. She was wearing the Konoha vest and trousers, looking just like one of the many teachers and examiners present. But Kakashi knew she wasn't there for the Chuunin exams.
"I'm responsible for his life and seal, not his decision-making." She looked over to Gaara. "Kakashi, you were assigned to his team. What's your assessment of the Jinchuuriki?"
"You are interested?"
"Anything regarding Jinchuurikis and their tailed beasts is of interest to me. It is my duty."
Kakashi followed her gaze. It was hard to imagine that Gaara and Naruto were both Jinchuuriki. Gaara had not shown a single emotion once during the 24 hours Kakashi spent with them. That and the readiness to injure other people were worrying characteristics.
"My report will go straight to the Hokage. You should ask him."
Komachi refrained from pushing the matter any further.
"Kakashi-sensei!" They heard Naruto's excited voice call up to him. He was waving at them from the tower halls.
A few moments later, his whole team was standing in front of him. Komachi had vanished.
"Haven't you just talked to someone?" Naruto asked.
"Just a fellow Jounin because of the exams." His eyes rested on Sasuke and Naho a bit longer than on the others, assessing whether they were fine, physically and mentally. "I did not expect to find all four of my students here," he said, unimpressed. "But I'm also not really surprised. Naruto, Sakura, what is your explanation?"
Naruto only laughed. It was a rather helpless and embarrassed laugh. He didn't know a good reason yet.
"I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei, but…" Sakura's gaze dropped, before she turned towards Naruto a few seconds later, pointing a finger at him. "It was all Naruto's idea, really! I only tagged along because I wanted to make sure he didn't get into too much trouble!"
"What?!" Naruto immediately yelled back at her.
"It's fine, it's fine." He waved the topic away. The look on Naho's face told him everything he had to know. The girl was awful at hiding her emotions, contrary to Sasuke, who looked like it was just any other day. "I know what happened in the Forest of Death. I'm glad to see all four of you here, alive. Is any of you hurt?"
His students exchanged looks, but no one said anything. Naruto eventually told him of Naho's wounded shoulder. When Kakashi asked if she required medical attention, she glanced at Sasuke and then shook her head.
"When will the last part of the exams take place?" Sasuke asked.
Kakashi hummed, pretending to think, before telling them it would get announced soon enough.
.
.
.
The Hokage and Genma approached team 7. They brought news. Good news in the eyes of Sasuke, worrisome news in the eyes of Naho.
The Hokage eyed the two black-haired Genin before announcing, "We decided you two may proceed with the exams and participate in the third stage. Your team fought an enemy who shouldn't have been in the forest to begin with. What happened is not your fault, and it would be wrong to disqualify you for it." His eyes switched to Naruto and Sakura. "You two, however, entered the Fourty-Fourth Training Ground without a permit. It is strictly prohibited to enter the area without one. I'm afraid I cannot let this go unpunished or there is nothing keeping outsiders from entering the area in the future, especially not during exams to help their acquaintances."
All members of team 7 had a surprised look on their face, except for Sasuke, who couldn't hold back a smirk.
"Hey, that is not fair," Naruto immediately complained. "Why are we the ones to get punished? We only helped."
The Hokage ignored his comment. "Genma will give information on the third stage shortly. Please go back down to the tower halls."
Naho and Sakura slightly bowed as the Hokage turned away again to leave.
Sasuke was content at the outcome; Naruto was sulking.
Kakashi went downstairs with his students. He was glad to see Gai, Kurenai and Asuma as well, all standing with their own team. Gai, Tenten and Lee were busy serving themselves at the small buffet the Hokage had provided, eating more than all other Genin present combined. Neji did his best to stand in a corner and act like those weren't his teammates.
Genma walked into the middle of the halls, checking a few small papers with scribbled notes.
"My congratulations to every team who managed to make it to the next round," he started his speech, sounding just as tired and bored as the last time. "The last stage of the Chuunin exams is about to commence. It will take place right here in these halls."
"Now?" Sakura glanced at Sasuke and Naho.
"In this last stage, you are supposed to show us your fighting skills in 1v1 battles. Opponents will be drawn randomly. For this battle, just like for the rest of the Chuunin exams, you will receive points from us. Obviously, a win will give you the most points. But note that you are also given points for impressive jutsu and tactics. Winning should be your first priority, but showing us why we should promote you won't hurt as well."
Kakashi noticed how both his girls stared at Sasuke. It hadn't slipped his attention that there was a seal on Sasuke's neck.
"If, for some reason, you do not feel capable of continuing the exams at this point, you may come to us in the next 15 minutes and resign. This is no longer an exam that requires teamwork, so you may resign individually. Note that during this stage, you will fight until either one person surrenders or falls unconscious. Injuries of all kinds are expected, even severe ones cannot be ruled out. In very unlucky cases, you might even die." He waited for a moment to let the information sick in. "Again, death is to be avoided, but sometimes it just happens, so maybe think twice about this if you feel you aren't ready to give your life as shinobi yet. Cause once you are a Chuunin, you will have to put your life on the line quite regularly.
"However, I was told to not encourage you to kill each other since you are of no use to anyone dead. So if we, the proctors, feel like a fight is decided, we will end it. Holding a kunai to your enemies throat is enough, you don't actually need to slice right into it." He had another look at his notes. "Whatever, the Chuunin exams will end after this last stage. There's an additional tourney though next weekend. The eight students who perform best today will be chosen to participate and show off their skills in front of the Hokage, the Kazekage, and our daimyo. Good luck and all."
"You two are not going to participate, are you?" Sakura immediately said. "Naho is hurt and Sasuke, you are…"
"What am I? I'm fine." He turned away from her, hoping to end the conversation.
"Naho, how is your shoulder?" Naruto asked. "Do you think you can participate?"
Kakashi quietly observed the dynamic between his team.
"But Sasuke…" Sakura tried again.
"Shut up," he snapped at her. "This is my decision, and I'm participating."
Tension rose between his students. Naho was unsure, Sakura against it, Sasuke didn't care about their opinions. Naruto tried his best to lighten the mood.
"Does it really matter so much if you become Chuunin or not? We are a team; we should all participate next year together. There is plenty of time," Sakura pleaded.
Kakashi could tell she was worried about the strange seal on Sasuke's neck. She kept staring at it. Though he wasn't sure how much she knew of its origin and function. He himself could only guess at this point.
"It does matter," Sasuke said angrily. "You might not care about becoming strong any time soon, but I do. So stop trying to drag me down!"
An awkward silence ensued, until Naruto decided to break it. "Dude, we saved you in that forest! How about some appreciation?"
"You didn't save me."
"Oh, I didn't? Well, when we found you, you were all passed out and all. It kind of looked like you needed some help."
"I didn't," Sasuke snapped back. "You didn't do anything. I would have managed on my own!"
Naho looked tired. She was tired. After all that had happened in the last 24 hours, she couldn't stand her teammates fighting. She wanted some quiet and peace. "Let's just proceed with the exam for now," she said, looking at both Sasuke and Naruto. Then she turned to Sakura. "We can always give up if our opponent is too strong, right? And our teachers are here too. I'm sure Kakashi-sensei wouldn't watch us get killed." She looked at him with big eyes, like she needed him to affirm this.
Kakashi chose to stay quiet.
Genma stepped forward again, announcing that the matches were about to start.
This time Sakura turned to Naho, Sasuke was already gone. "Your shoulder looked pretty bad. Are you sure about this?"
Kakashi had spotted the bandage, but didn't know the extent of the injury. "She's right, Naho," he eventually said. "If you are injured, sometimes the right choice is to not continue and tend to your wounds first. You cannot finish a mission if you are dead."
The girl carefully studied him, like she was expecting him to test her. "That's right. We learned at the Academy that the mission's success always comes first as long as our life is not endangered. And that's not the case here, right?" She waited for affirmation again. "So I shouldn't just quit." She didn't speak with much conviction, but at least she seemed to somewhat mean it.
No one ended up resigning. At least no one from team 7. And when the first two opponents were drawn, it was Gaara and Lee.
Both Lee and his teacher were excited about the fight, and Lee couldn't wait to prove himself against the son of the Kazekage. After all, he had already beaten the Hokage's son in a spar. Naruto loudly claimed he hadn't even been trying back then when Lee told everyone about it.
Kakashi spoke words of caution. He'd seen enough of Gaara to be relieved that none of his students were matched against him.
But Gai believed in Lee. "Lee has trained all his life for this moment. He will show everyone the power of youth!"
Kakashi followed Gai up to the second floor together with their Genin. The entrance hall was used as the arena, and everyone who wanted to watch had to do so from the gallery upstairs.
"He's a Jinchuuriki," Kakashi whispered to Gai once he was sure that none of the Genin would be able to hear. Hidden villages always aimed to keep the identity of their Jinchuuriki hidden. It was not a topic Kakashi was even allowed to address in public. "He is dangerous."
But Gai only threw a toothy grin back at him. "So is Naruto. Lee can beat both of them. And don't worry, even if it should prove to be a hard fight, then Lee still has a special ability in his arsenal that I taught him."
Kakashi could only guess which special ability he was talking about. "That's not something he should use in the Chuunin exams. It's too dangerous."
"It's his dream to become a renowned shinobi. This is a challenge he will have to overcome in order to achieve that. I'd say this is exactly the right moment to use it."
They stopped talking when they found a good spot on the gallery and the rest of their students gathered around them to watch the fight together. Asuma and Kurenai too joined them with their teams.
The fight between Gaara and Lee started out in Lee's favour. His speed was so impressive that Naruto yelled a loud "Wow, bushy-brows can do that?" across the hall. Naruto was excited to see them fight. His own muscles twitched at the thought of being a part of this himself. He wanted to participate, and he wanted to prove himself.
Gai was wearing a proud smile.
The tides turned soon though, as with every hit Lee managed to land on Gaara, the Suna Jinchuuriki's anger rose. Lee had to realise that all his hits so far had merely scratched Gaara's sand armour. The sand would shield him automatically, and whenever Lee's fist or foot connected with Gaara's skin, the sand was already there, protecting the boy.
Lee opened the first and second gate.
Kakashi glanced at Gai.
"What's going on?" Naruto asked as he suddenly had problems following Lee's movements. "He's so fast. How's that even possible?"
No one knew an answer, at least none of his former classmates. The technique Gai had taught Lee was anything but ordinary. It was a highly advanced ability, and most Jounin never bothered learning it. While it greatly increased strength and speed, eventually using the full capacity of the human body, it also put a great strain on it.
"Lee is special," Tenten told the others. "Not even Neji could learn how to open gates."
Neji scowled at her.
Lee opened even more gates. His speed impressed everyone. The proctors took notes.
But it wasn't enough to beat Gaara.
Naho and Sakura both couldn't watch as Gaara's sand managed to catch Lee after all when he came too close to attack. It wrapped around his left leg and arm, and crashed whatever flesh and bone it found.
Lee screamed. Then the pain became too much and his body went into shock. He fainted.
The sand went for Lee again, who was lying unconsciously on the ground.
"Gaara!" the Suna teacher yelled across the hall as he realised Gaara was going for the kill on an unconscious opponent. But his shout didn't stop him.
Gai had to appear on the battlefield to save his student.
For a moment, there was a spark in Gaara's eyes, and Gai wondered whether he would continue the attack.
But as soon as the proctor announced Gaara the winner, his teacher too joined the arena, throwing muffled words Gaara's way. He took the red haired boy away.
Tenten ran down the stairs as well to meet her teacher and teammate. Neji followed. Lee was still unconscious. Blood dripped down his arm and leg.
Gai stared down at his student in disbelief. He couldn't meet Tenten's eyes, though the girl was looking for words that would reassure her.
Medics came running. They took Lee away.
Gai apologised to his students. Told them he had to stay with Lee. Then they left.
Tenten too wanted to follow, but Neji grabbed her hand to stop her.
"Where are you going? It could be your turn next."
"I have to stay with Lee too." She tried to free herself but Neji wouldn't let go just yet.
"There's nothing you can do for him. You'd just be in the way."
Tenten still didn't care. She wanted to be with Lee.
"Lee will be disappointed once he's better and hears that you quit because of him." He let go of her. She didn't run, just stared at the ground. "The best you can do for him right now is to continue the exams and win for him."
Tenten didn't say another word, but followed Neji back up the stairs to the others. Naho wanted to comfort her, but couldn't find the right words. She was too shaken as well.
The air around the Konoha Genin was heavy now.
"Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto's eyes were still on Gaara, who was standing with his team and teacher again. There was no sign of happiness on the boy's face, no appreciation that he won. On the contrary, he looked dissatisfied, angry. "Who's that guy?"
Kakashi didn't understand. "Gaara? The Kazekage's son. You should know that."
"No, I mean… who is that guy?" His teacher still didn't understand the question. And Naruto didn't understand either. But the strange feeling in him remained that Gaara was not ordinary. He wasn't simply the Kazekage's son. He was more.
.
.
.
The next fight was between two Konoha shinobi. Team 7 knew neither of them. They were a few years older than Naruto and his classmates, and looked determined to win.
Everyone carefully observed the fight. Proctors again took notes.
The fight was fairly balanced. Until eventually, one of them used a fire jutsu the other failed to dodge. It hit. The shinobi caught fire, burned.
Immediately the halls filled with pained screams. The smell of burned flesh and hair soon followed.
Most of the Genin turned away from the sight.
The shinobi was still burning and screaming, trying his best to somehow extinguish the flames, when the proctor announced that the match was over and Chuunin used water jutsu on him.
"There are a lot of hospital cases this year," Kurenai said.
Kakashi's eyes fell on Gaara, who was the cause for most of the wounded. There were always one or two serious injuries each year. And it was a good thing, reminded everyone what it meant to be a Chuunin. But several crushed limbs, severe burn damage, and the death of both a Genin and Jounin were not the norm. Especially Hayate's death. There would be consequences.
"I hope for the guy he'll get promoted to Chuunin," Asuma said while lighting another cigarette. "Otherwise it was all for nothing. His peers won't like what they saw today."
"What do you mean?" Ino asked her teacher
"They were classmates. You don't just throw a fire jutsu at your former classmate. Leaves nasty scars."
"But this is the Chuunin exam. Aren't they supposed to do just that?" Naruto joined the conversation.
"Officially, yes. Officially, he didn't break any rules. Just like Gaara did not break any rules either. But there are unwritten agreements that you do not critically wound your opponents, especially not when they are your comrades."
"I've never heard of that agreement," Sakura said.
Kakashi glared down at his student. "It doesn't need to be spoken out loud, does it? Just imagine you participated and were to fight one of your teammates, or former classmates. You'd naturally hold back, wouldn't you?"
"He really wanted to win," Sasuke said. "I don't see a problem with that."
"Right, I wouldn't hold back fighting Sasuke either!" Naruto immediately threw in.
Kakashi slightly sighed, but other than that, the Jounin teachers ignored the two Genin.
"Remember when you broke Kurenai's nose during an Academy training session, Kakashi?" Asuma smiled, the cigarette still between his lips. "Genma didn't talk to you for a week."
Kakashi only shrugged, acting like he didn't remember at all. But he remembered perfectly fine. It had been a week after his father's death. When the teacher told them to get together in pairs of two and fight like the success of their mission depended on it, he did just as told.
Hinata's name was drawn. The next match was her against a Suna kunoichi.
Naruto and Kiba cheered her on while Shino only quietly patted her shoulder. The girl didn't move, at least not forward to the arena. Hinata stumbled backwards instead, her eyes filled with worry and horror.
"That was to be expected," Neji snarled. "The princess is too scared to even enter the arena."
"What's your problem?" Naruto immediately confronted him. He had received more than enough contemptuous behaviour in his life. He didn't like the attitude. "You can do it, Hinata! Go show them!"
"You have trained hard for this. Haven't you, Hinata?" Kurenai tried to encourage her.
The girl quietly nodded, then slowly walked down into the arena. She could barely look at the girl from Sunagakure, her opponent.
They stood in front of each other, waiting for Genma to announce the start of the match. Hinata was visibly tense.
"She looks like she's going to run away any second," Sakura noted.
Kiba immediately opened his mouth to defend his teammate, but didn't. Sakura did have a point.
The two girls still stood in front of each other. None moved, not even after the match long started. They just stared at each other.
Eventually, Hinata finally took on her fighting stance.
Before even one blow could be exchanged, the Suna shinobi yelled, "I give up!"
It was quiet for a moment as the girl repeated that she would withdraw, and then ran off, crying.
"What just happened?" Ino asked, still somewhat flabbergasted.
"Looks like they were both too nervous," Shikamaru said.
"That's not really fair though, is it?" Sakura said before Hinata could make her way back upstairs to the viewing platform. "Hinata didn't even have to do anything for this win. And Lee he…"
"Life is never fair." Her teacher leaned back against the wall again now that the fight was over. "This time, it was unfair for Hinata."
His Genin didn't understand.
"This is an exam in which you get points for showing off your jutsu and skills. If your opponent gives up right at the start, you were never given the chance to prove anything."
"You still get points for winning though, right? I'd take them if I wouldn't have to fight," Choji said. His hand vanished in a bag of potato chips again. He was nervous as well, which made him eat even faster and more.
Their conversation died down once Hinata was back. Her team congratulated her on the win, but no one felt that this truly was a win. Especially not Hinata herself. Or Neji.
The next name was drawn. This time, it was Naho's turn. The second name announced scared her. It was one of the Sand shinobi.
"I know her," Sakura suddenly said. "Kakashi-sensei, that kunoichi attacked Sasuke and me in the Forest of Death. I'm pretty sure that…" she stopped.
Naho's eyes widened as her own mind completed her sentence.
"… I think she wanted to kill us. We had no hostage, yet she attacked. Isn't that against the rules? She should be disqualified."
Kakashi stared across the hall at the Suna Genin with the red hair. He'd never seen her before. But then again, that was nothing unusual. He didn't know much about Suna's Genin.
"You can always forfeit, Naho," Sakura now said to her teammate, realizing that she was scared. They were both scared.
Naho slowly shook her head, telling them and herself that she would be fine. Sasuke glanced at her. For a moment, he looked like he was about to speak up, but then he stayed quiet after all.
Naho entered the arena. Her heart was beating fast. Tayuya was almost a head taller than her and was oozing confidence.
"So you are Sasuke's teammate, not pinkie," she said with a sly grin on her lips.
"You attacked them in the forest. Why?"
"I don't know what you are talking about." She smirked. Both girls knew well enough that it had been her.
Tayuya was the first to go for an attack. She repeatedly cut at Naho with a kunai in her hand. It seemed she had never heard of that unwritten agreement either that Asuma had talked about. Because Tayuya was going straight for Naho's vital points with every attack.
All Naho could do was dodge as her mind was occupied with the fact that one wrong move could mean she got stabbed, sliced. Failing to dodge could kill her. So she kept dodging.
"Come on, Naho! Fight her, beat her up!" Naruto yelled down at her.
Naho glanced at him, distracted for just a second by the sudden cheering. The blade hit her shoulder, leaving a clean cut.
Sakura pulled Naruto back from the railing. "Are you serious? Stop distracting her!"
But his voice and the pain of a new flesh wound snapped their teammate out of the mindset of continuous dodging. The next time Tayuya swung her kunai at her, Naho stepped forward instead of backwards. Her opponent didn't expect the change in movement, and Naho managed to disarm her.
She grabbed the kunai, turned it, and the blade now found Tayuya's shoulder.
Anger spread in Tayuya. She started to form signs. Her teacher coughed. He was observing the fight from the gallery with her two teammates. Tayuya glanced at him, and stopped whatever jutsu she'd been about to use. Instead, she charged at Naho and continued the fight with taijutsu.
Naruto kept cheering for his teammate as she exchanged blows with Tayuya. Both girls continually dodged the other's attack. Sakura first frowned at him, but when Naho managed to land a hit and pushed Tayuya back, she decided to join in.
"You two are embarrassing," Sasuke said, turning away from them. His eyes stayed on his teammate down in the arena.
Kakashi's eyes kept switching from the fight to the Suna shinobi's team. One of them had both arms wrapped in bandages. It looked like a severe injury, yet he hadn't stepped back from the next stage of the exams. He wondered whether they had really tried to kill his Genin. And why.
Naho jumped back and formed the signs for a fire jutsu. She was about to throw it in Tayuya's direction when she froze. Pictures of earlier appeared in her head, of a burning person.
She hesitated, and Tayuya tackled her down. Her hand reached for a kunai lying close, but before she could take it, Tayuya dug her fingers into her wounded shoulder. Naho screamed as pain numbed her whole body.
Once Tayuya found the exact spot of the wound, she pressed even harder, wearing a satisfied smile on her lips. Naho's pained moans and screams were music to her ears. Slowly, she leaned down to her.
"I could kill you if I wanted to," she whispered in her ear. "I could kill your right here and now."
The heart in Naho's chest beat faster and faster. The pain sent more adrenaline rushing through her veins. Her hand grabbed the kunai, and almost instinctively, drove it into Tayuya's back.
Tayuya was now the one screaming, and Naho took the opportunity to push her off and roll away.
The Suna shinobi threw insults at her, followed by needles. Naho quickly protected her vital points by blocking, but then realised the needles had gone straight past her. They stuck in the wall behind her.
She pressed her hands to her ears, remembering that Sakura had warned her of this. The needles had bells attached to them. Tayuya attacked again. She dodged, but without her hands, she was on the backfoot. It didn't take long until her arms instinctively moved in front of her body again to block an incoming attack.
She heard the bells chime, and the world around her went black.
"A sound based genjutsu..." Kakashi was thinking out loud. "Incredibly hard to master. Not exactly a technique a Genin would be able to use."
The other two Jounin nodded.
Naho repeatedly covered her ears and let go of them again to block an incoming attack. Her surroundings went black whenever she heard the bells chime. But she couldn't fight without her hands. And neither could she fight without her eyes.
Tayuya was laughing at her struggles. She enjoyed toying with her. So she snipped needle after needle at Naho.
Naho eventually removed the hands from her ears. She could continue dodging like that, but she couldn't win. It would only delay her defeat, exhaust her. So she tried using her ears instead of eyes. The chiming of the bells she blanked out, concentrating only on Tayuya and her movements.
She heard needles fly. They hit her arm.
"Maybe you should give up," Tayuya called to her. "I might start aiming at your vital points once I get bored."
Her comment unsettled Naho. She'd sait it like it was a joke, yet Naho didn't think she was truly joking. She knew she had to think of something. Quickly.
So Naho formed signs again. This time, she turned away from her opponent and used the fire jutsu, spitting fire at the wall behind her.
Tayuya laughed. "Did you completely lose your sense of direction now?"
Naho whirled around to her again, and threw a kunai. It hit Tayuya, who had not expected the girl to actually be able to aim at her. Naho jumped to her, started fighting her again, as the Suna shinobi was still wondering what had just happened, why Naho could see all of a sudden.
Then she realised that her bells did not chime anymore, no matter how hard she pulled the strings. The fire jutsu had burned them.
During all this, Naho somehow managed to make her lose balance. She was now on top of Tayuya, another kunai in her hand. All she had to do was move it to her throat. That would be considered a win.
Her hand didn't move though. Instead, she was breathing heavily. Exhaustion overcame her. It felt like every single bit of adrenaline had left her body, every single bit of energy. She gasped for air. Her chest hurt. Her body hurt.
The Suna shinobi realised that Naho was in pain, and pushed her off.
Kakashi and his team watched as Naho struggled to stand up again.
"Come on, Naho! You already had her!" Naruto yelled down at her.
Naho stumbled. Then she collapsed.
"What happened?" Sakura asked, a worried frown on her forehead.
The proctor was equally irritated and waited for the girl to get up again.
"Stupid bitch," Tayuya cursed as she touched the fresh wound on her own shoulder. She grabbed Naho's kunai and stepped up to her. Naho didn't move. Tayuya lunged out.
Before the blade reached Naho, someone grabbed her wrist.
"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked. His eyes narrowed at her. He was standing behind the Suna shinobi. His grip around her wrist was so tight she let the kunai drop to the ground.
Naho moaned as she slowly regained consciousness and sat up.
The proctor announced Tayuya as the winner.
Kakashi let go of her and helped his student get up. "Are you alright?" he asked Naho, not paying any attention to Tayuya anymore.
Tayuya clenched her fists. She was still angry. This ending to the fight did not feel satisfying to her. Her teacher called her, signalled her to come back up. Tayuya pressed her lips together, but then whirled around and jumped up to the gallery. Jirobo inspected her wounds, though she only spit more insults at him.
"What happened?" Naho asked her teacher as he made her sit down on the staircase.
"You collapsed," he said. "Show me your shoulder."
The rest of team 7 came running at them. Naruto and Sakura instantly asked her what happened, whether she was alright, if her shoulder hurt, if she had any other wounds.
The girl pulled her top down over her shoulder and Kakashi carefully removed part of the bandage, just enough to see the wound. "How did this happen?" he asked for the first time.
Naho looked away. "I fell on a tree branch," she quietly said, as if she'd done something wrong. "It pierced through."
"This is a big injury, and it is inflamed. A medic-nin has to take a look at this." He called one of the medics over who stood alongside the arena.
"Now? The exams aren't over yet. Sasuke still has to fight."
"The exam is over for you," Kakashi said. Then his eyes fell on Sakura and Naruto. "I want you to go with her to the hospital, make sure she is fine. As soon as the medics are done treating her, I want you to come back here and give me an update."
"What? But Kakashi-sensei, I want to watch the battles!" Naruto instantly complained.
Sakura too looked at Sasuke, and Naho knew she wouldn't want to miss his fight. So she said that they didn't have to accompany her.
"See?" Naruto yelled. "She's fine!"
"I'd take her myself, but I have to stay with Sasuke for now."
"I don't need you to watch my fight," Sasuke said.
His teacher glanced at the seal on his neck. "I do."
Sakura's eyes switched between her teacher, Sasuke and Naho. "You'll stay here with Sasuke?" He nodded. Sakura nodded too, and smiled. "Then I'll go with Naho."
Sakura offered her teammate a hand to help her stand up, asking whether she could walk.
Kakashi thanked her, then his eyes fell on Naruto. "You'll go with them."
Naruto didn't understand. "Why? Sakura's already going. Come on, Kakashi-sensei. I really wanted to see these battles."
"You weren't supposed to be here in the first place," Kakashi reminded him. "Your teammate is injured, and I am asking you to stay with her and make sure she is alright. Is that too much to ask?" Something told him that it was safer for Naruto if he stayed away from Gaara and the Forest of Death. He wanted to know him safe in the hospital. Too many things were going on around them, things he did not yet understand. And right now, Kakashi had to watch Sasuke and the seal.
Naho's gaze dropped. She didn't want to be the reason they argued. She kept quiet. Her body still felt heavy, her eyes small from exhaustion.
"Fine," Naruto sulked and walked ahead towards the exit. Then he realised he didn't know the way back to Konoha and stopped to wait for the others.
The medic-nin told them there was a tunnel downstairs that connected the tower with Konoha. Sakura supported Naho as they walked down the stairs. Their teammate had refused to be carried off on a stretcher. After all, she could still walk.
"How stupid," Naruto complained on their way back through the tunnels. "We go through all the trouble to save Sasuke and Naho and then we aren't even allowed to watch the third stage."
It wasn't that Naruto didn't care for Naho. He certainly did. But he'd been with her in the forest, he saw her now. She was fine in his eyes. His teacher was overreacting. They'd give Naho a new bandage and rest, and he'd sit in the waiting room, bored.
"Stop sulking, Naruto," Sakura called him out. "As you said, we came here to help, so taking Naho to the hospital is the least we can do."
"Right, right. Maybe we can see how bushy-brow is doing too," he suggested, finally accepting his fate. "Naho-chan, your fight was pretty good by the way. You almost beat her up!" He gave her a good clap on the shoulder.
Despite it being her healthy shoulder, Naho winced.
Sakura immediately yelled at him, accusing him of being an insensitive brick.
The medic-nin rolled his eyes at the two Genin fooling around. Naho smiled at them.
"Thank you," she said. "Both of you, thank you for coming for Sasuke and me. And thank you for coming with me here."
Sakura and Naruto both returned the smile. Sakura carefully linked arms with her, and Naruto decided to do the same. Together, the three walked back to Konoha.