Everyone, except the contestants, walked up to the balcony. Turning back I saw that Kurenai-sensei was talking with Shino, then she shunshined up on the balcony, waiting for us. I walked beside Hinata and when we reached our sensei, we all stood near the railing, watching the battle unfold under our gazes.
That Dosu looked like a cow with those patches on his trousers and as a mummy with those bandages.
"Come on, Bug-boy! You surely can win a fight against Cow-mummy." I called from my spot on the balcony, earning an annoyed look from both of them.
I could bet I heard Dosu muttering that he was no cow. Shino cleared his throat and the match began. I sighed, watching as both boys observed the other one, trying to assess the enemy's power. The fight was going to take ages if they continued like that.
"Kurenai-sensei?" I asked and my sensei looked down at me. "When was the last time a complete squad made it to the final exam?" I didn't take my eyes off my teammate, waiting for him to make a move.
"It isn't unheard of, but it's rare. I don't think it happened for at least five years." I nodded and sank against the railing, feeling bored.
"Then it's time to do just that." I smiled as Dosu moved, only to stop and look confusedly down at his right arm, where suddenly of bugs appeared.
"What is going on?" he asked as he looked at his amplifier.
"I knew your arm hides your weapon, that is why I had my beetles infiltrate it, thus stopping you from using your arm and your only way of jutsu." Shino adjusted his fark glasses.
"Impossible, I should have heard them!" Dosu countered and Shino snorted, sporting a barely seeable smirk.
"My beetles are silent." he spoke. "Now you either forfeit or I'll make you."
"I will never forfeit!" Dosu began running towards Shino, only to stop and cry out in agony as blood began pouring down from his attacked arm.
Dosu kept thrashing like he wanted to rip his arm off, and he kept screaming, but then his eyes rolled back, the pain was too much for his body to handle. He fell unconscious in front of Shino's feet.
"Geez, what's with your sister's team, Shikamaru?" I heard Ino, her team standing on my right. "They're so brutal." Ino whispered with apprehension in her tone.
Dosu was taken away by medic-nins. Shino turned to us and nodded, and both Hinata and I nodded back to him, then he began walking towards our spot. He walked past Gai's team, then Team 7, earning glares from the genin and jonin, then stopped when he reached us.
"Good work, Shino." Hinata said and he nodded.
"Just see that you two do the same." He instructed us and we both smiled.
"Don't worry, we're going to win as well." I turned to the panel.
Uchiha Sasuke vs Akado Yoroi.
Yoroi quickly moved and placed his hand on Sasuke's head, draining his chakra. That was rather interesting, the boy was slowly fading, his arms falling, but then he escaped Yoroi's grip. I sighed and crouching down, I yawned then watched the rest of the match, knowing very well that Sasuke would win, Naruto would shout, Kakashi would guide the boy away and seal the curse mark.
My boredom got the best of me, dazing off when watching Shikamaru and Kin's fight. It went down just like in the anime. Then came Tenten and Temari's fight. It was just the same. I sighed, so boring. Kankuro and Zaku's fight came next. Kankuro basically destroyed the other boy's defenses with his puppets. Kankuro won. That was when Kakashi came back from his sealing session with Sasuke. He definitely took his time.
I watched the screen when it stopped moving.
Nara Shikanai vs Haruno Sakura.
I looked at Kakashi, but when he looked at me, I quickly turned away, not sure how he would react or if he would react. I didn't want to see any emotions coming from him, knowing that it would mess with my mind during the fight.
"Good luck, Troublesome-girl." Shino patted my shoulder.
"Good luck, Shikanai." Hinata gave me a brief hug.
"Good luck." Kurenai-sensei nodded at me.
"Thanks guys." I smiled and jumped down, putting enough chakra in my feet, that when I dropped and touched the ground it didn't hurt.
Sakura walked down slowly and stood in front of me.
"Begin!" Hayate announced and I jumped back, forming hand seals.
Then I stopped and looked up at Sakura. I smirked at her petrified gaze, she was struggling badly, but she didn't know that she was beaten.
"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique." I said calmly, while I kept layering my genjutsu.
The thing with Kurenai-sensei was simple. If you asked, she would teach you. That was why she made me a decent genjutsu user. She made sure Hinata could break through every genjutsu, made sure I could cast some powerful genjutsu that was hard to break if mastered, made sure Shino was good at both to a certain level. Even though Sakura was good at breaking them, she was not good at the layered genjutsu breaking, she was a genin after all. A weak, little genin.
I smirked as I began walking slowly towards her.
She was screaming and I heard Naruto shout at her, trying to get to her. She complied by realizing she was under a genjutsu and she struggled to get her hand seal. But I was faster. I put chakra in my feet and ran to her, there I punched her with my elbow and sent her flying into the wall.
She stands no chance against me.
She broke out of the genjutsu, only to realize she had a kunai at her throat and I was standing there, pinning her to the wall. She looked at me with wary eyes and I smiled darkly.
"Make this simple and give up." I told her and she shook her head, so I kicked her right shin, making her drop to the floor and cry out in agony. K...ll ...er. I crouched down and I held her face up, getting the kunai close to her mouth. "What's the point of resisting? You have no chance and you know it." she looked at me with a terrified look, then she nodded swiftly, tears forming in her eyes.
I got up and she announced her decision, she forfeited. Doctors rushed in, but for a moment I could see that everyone's gaze was fixed on me. I didn't look up; I just slouched a little and began walking back to my spot. Walking past Team Gai, Neji turned to me and I looked at him, he nodded.
"Congratulations." he spoke and I nodded and walked away, feeling empty and wanting to hide from everyone's gaze.
What was the big deal? She got away only with a broken shin and it didn't even pierce through the skin. They don't understand.
My head hurt and I blinked rapidly, then proceeded to go towards my team. What was going on with me? I had these... Weird wishes. But everything was so hollow... I couldn't understand why everyone was looking at me the way they looked. Fear. Apprehension. Hate. Curiosity. They all were watching.
I walked past Team 7, Naruto calling after me. When I turned, he held his right fist in front of him, looking me in the eyes with a determined look.
"I don't know why you did that to Sakura. She didn't deserve it." Somewhere deep inside I knew he was right, but I couldn't care less, my head was getting worse, like his entire presence was giving me a heaviness I didn't like. He was exhausting to feel. "But I promise you, that if we fight in the next round I'm going to fight for my teammate. I'm going to beat you, Shikanai! That's a promise and I never go back on my words! Because that's my nindo, my ninja way!" I kept watching him, not feeling fazed at all.
"Good luck then." I said with a monotone tone and turned towards my team.
When I got to them, they congratulated me but saw that I wasn't feeling okay. I went and sat down, leaning against the wall, Shikamaru came to me and sat on my right, Hinata sat on my left, both of them reaching to take one hand and squeezing it, making sure I knew I wasn't alone with my internal moral struggles.
Hyuuga Hinata vs Akimichi Choji.
Hinata got up and began walking away, and then to my surprise Shino came and sat down on her vacant spot, reaching for my hand and being there for me. We watched the fight, Hinata was amazing, Choji attacked over and over again, turning even into a giant ball and being so fast, but Hinata apparently saw him very well, dodged his every move and blocked his chakra pathways, then held a kunai to his throat winning the match. Choji was exhausted, but he didn't need medical attention, so they both walked up, to us.
"You really did it." Kurenai-sensei said in disbelief when Hinata reached us. "All three of you." I looked up to her. "I'm proud of you three, you deserve to earn the chunin rank." We nodded and Hinata sat down in front of us, Choji came and sat down next to Shikamaru, Ino sitting in front of them.
We were all there, Team 10 and Team 8, with a strong bond, I smiled at them, and leaned my head on my brother's shoulder, looking ahead and feeling safe and at peace, my emptiness fading.
I still have another exam left, but I just really wanted to put this chapter up. I'm planning that, after I'll have my last exam I'll get the following chapter up, which mostly covers the Lee vs Gaara match. So, most probably there will be another chapter coming in a few days.
I still don't own Naruto.
Shikanai's having some troubles with her thoughts... Or, well, are they even her thoughts?
Have a nice read!
