The Hikarinin Exams

Chapter Three: Naruto versus Hinata: All's Fair in Love and War!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

"Byakugan!" said Hinata, as the veins around her eyes began to bulge. She assumed a weak Hyuga stance.

"Take this!" Naruto yelled. The idiot was attempting a full head on charge. "HIYAH!" he shouted, attempting an overhand punch. Hinata quietly intercepted his arm with a great burst of chakra. Naruto screamed and flew backward, rolling across the ground. The crowd gasped.

"N-N-Naruto!" Hinata yelled, and rushed over to his side. Naruto looked up at her. "Gotcha!" he said, and then swung his leg around and tripped her, knocking her to the ground with a thud.

"Hinata…you said you'd fight me for real!" Naruto said, standing back up.

"I…I…"

Naruto interrupted her before she could finish. "Taiyjuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Mass Shadow Clone Technique)" he said, putting up the hand seal. A good twenty clones appeared before Hinata.

Three of them charged her blindly. She dropped to the ground, performing a sweep kick, and then tapping them all with a Jyuken as they sailed above her, causing them to dissipate.

Another Naruto threw a kunai at her. She easily sidestepped it. Sailing behind her, it stopped at the arena border…and turned into Naruto!

"…He really needs some new moves, doesn't he?" said Sakura from the sidelines.

The newly transformed Naruto whirled around and threw a kunai at her. She smiled and put her hand toward it. "Kunai Returning Technique!" she said, and with a burst of chakra, the kunai flew back toward the Naruto clone and they both disappeared in a burst of smoke.

Five more clones spread out in a line and began to rush at her, curving toward her. Spreading both arms out in a line, she used a beam of chakra from her fingertips to destroy them easily.

"Wow. Either Hinata's really good…" said Ino.

"Or Naruto's an idiot." finished Shikamaru. "…You know what? This is kind of troublesome. I'm going to take a nap." he said, and laid down in the grass.

The next five clones jumped at her one by one. The first one delivered a swift kick which connected with her forearm, leaving a bruised cut from the pressure. It disappeared having served its purpose. The next one slid toward her on all fours and jumped into the air, and the one after that jumped onto its back. She sidestepped them both causing them to crash into the fence. The final two stood at each other's side and jumped into the air, did a front flip, and extended one leg toward Hinata, somehow pausing in midair.

"Dynamic Entry! Naruto Style!" they said, and mysteriously sailed toward her, delivering two kicks to the chest. She whipped her arms up and delivered two punches to their legs, causing them to dissipate.

"That was a youthful technique." said Lee to Tenten, who sighed.

Hinata stopped on her knees, a tendril of blood hanging from the side of her mouth. "Five are left…" she thought as she gasped for air. "…which means I have a one in four chance of hitting the real one."

The Naruto clones spread out leaving distance between them. They began to surround her.

"He's going to use…that technique!" she thought, opening her eyes wide.

"Hinata…forgive me!" he said. Four of the clones charged in, each saying a syllable of his name as they delivered an upward kick to her.

"U!

ZU!

MA!

KI!"

She sailed upward into the air as the real Naruto loomed above her.

"NARUTO…" he said, preparing to deliver an axe kick to her head.

He swung his foot downward…and it stopped abruptly.

Hinata had grabbed his ankle.

"WHA?" cried Naruto as he was swung under Hinata. She did a forward flip, delivered a strong elbow to his chest, then whirled around again, placed one hand on his upper stomach, and with a blast of chakra sent him spiraling to the ground.

"Whoa! How did she do that?" asked Sakura to Kiba.

"Oh. Hinata's so obsessed with Naruto that she studied every one of his moves and came up with feasible counters." he responded.

"I'm getting…beat…" said Naruto, looking at his bruised and bloody hands. In one of them, a Rasengan began to form. He leapt to his feet and acting through what little stamina he had left, he leapt at the standing Hinata. At the last second she, without thinking, tapped the top of his hand, redirecting his Rasengan to the ground. The explosion caused them both to fall to the ground.

Naruto rolled away from her.

"That's it…then. I'm going to have to call on that…stupid fox!" he said, grunting. At that, Hinata stood and raised one hand into the air.

"What's this…? Some kind of new technique?" Naruto thought.

"I'm sorry…n-Naruto." she said, an unshed tear forming in her eye. "but I, Hyuga Hinata, b-b-being of sound mind and c-c-clear conscience hereby forfeit the Hikarinin Exams."

"Hyuga Hinata is unable to battle." said Kakashi, returning to the arena. "Naruto wins." Cheering came from everyone around the arena as the two ninjas leapt over the fence.

"The Hikarinin exams will resume in five minutes…hee…hee." said Kakashi, still reading Make-Out Violence.

As Hinata walked away from the Ninja Academy arena, Naruto stopped her, pulling her into an alley before she could get too far.

"Hinata..." he said. "Why did you stop? Why didn't you follow through?" he asked.

"I…I…" she said, blushing.

"Answer me, Hinata. Tell me why you always hide from me. Why you always faint when I come near you."

"…N-Naruto…It's…it's b-b-because I…"

An explosion was heard from near the Ninja Academy. Naruto turned around to see what happened.

"Exploding tags…? But it hasn't even been five minutes yet!" he said. "Hinata, we have to go see what's happening!" He grabbed her hand, and they both ran back toward the academy.

As they approached, Naruto saw two individuals standing behind a nearby bush. One of them had a mask, the other a bandaged head. A massive cloud of smoke emanated from a large hole in the ground close to them, where an exploding tag had gone off.

"Wait a minute!" he yelled. "You're Dosu and Haku! Why didn't I notice you hiding over there earlier?" He stopped to think. "…Hey, aren't you dead?"

"I told you he'd know! I TOLD YOU!" said Dosu.

"We've come," said Haku, "to put an end to the Hikarinin exams, and get revenge on the people that killed us."

CLIFFHANGER. That's all I have written. So, review please. I'm taking suggestions, so anything helps. I kind of have the next chapter planned but I'm still open for ideas.