Forgotten

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto (Shippuden). This is a story inspired by the original made up for entertainment purposes only. - Krystal

Chapter 18: The Blind and The Broken

She kept her promise. She brought back an Earth scroll to her team and they headed for the tower. Her teammates were unharmed. They did not have a single wound. They were well rested. Yuki was hurt from the fight against the Sound and the Snake. Although she healed herself as best as she could, there was still some lingering pain. She kept it to herself though. There was no need to worry anybody else. It was, however, hard for her to stand straight for too long. She kept on holding to her side.

The teams that passed the Second Exam gathered in the arena of the tower. Among those teams, Yuki was most interested by the Sound and the Sand. Those two teams were bound to surprise her. She fought against the Sound ninjas, but there was still so many unknown facts about them. She had no doubt that they were related to Orochimaru somehow. That snake she fought against was, certainly, one of the Sannin.

"Well done for making it this far. From here on, it will be an individual battle. There's surprisingly more of you who passed the exam than expected. Therefore, we will have some preliminaries before the final exam." said the Hokage. "Hayate, I will let you the rest of the explanation."

"Yes. Ahem. As the Hokage said, from here on, it will be individual battles. If anybody wants to withdraw now, it will no longer affect their team."

Everyone remained silent. Yuki could notice some movement from Naruto's team, but it quickly settled.

"I see. Ahem. Preliminaries will just be like the final exam. One on one fights. Ahem. You will be randomly paired. The winner moves on to the next round. You fight until one falls or forfeits or until I stop the match. You are encouraged to observe the battle even when you've finished yours. It will be beneficial for the final round. Ahem. If any sensei interrupts or decide to stop the match, their students are considered the loser of the battle. Is it clear?"

Everyone nodded silently.

"Well then... Ahem. You can all move to the second floor. We will start the pairing soon."

Everyone headed to the second floor with their senseis. Yuki's team was not lead by any jounins. They just went to the second floor by themselves. They took place next to Gai's team. Kenji and Kunio were excited to have made it this far. They were both hoping to move on. Lee was also excited and was stretching himself already. Neji remained calm. Tenten was checking on her weapons. Yuki wasn't too thrilled about these one on one match. She was actually about to withdraw, but it would mean that she would miss the battles. She couldn't help but stay and observe.

"Ahem. We will get started with the first match." said the proctor named Hayate.

He looked to the board where all their names were flashing on and off. It finally stopped: Kunio vs Kenji. The two of them looked at each other. Yuki took a step back. As much as she now cared for the both of them, she wasn't too excited about their battle. If she wasn't wrong with her intuition, they would end on a draw. Their skills were about the same.

They headed down to the first floor and began their battle. As Yuki thought, it was rather uninteresting. They both used their strongest jutsus at the same time: knocked out both at the same time. The medics came and took them away.

"Ahem. We will end it here. Both are knocked out. No winner for this round. Next match up: Sasuke and Yoroi."

Sasuke wasn't standing too far away from Yuki. She could see him smirk. He was confident he would win. He headed to the first floor with that attitude. Yoroi was another Leaf ninja who was in that Kabuto's team. He was much older than them. He seemed experienced. His expressions couldn't be read as he was covered by a mask.

The battle started. Sasuke was struggling. Yoroi kept absorbing his chakra. It was an interesting skill. Eventually, Sasuke, somehow, gathered more chakra to fight on. He managed to slide himself behind Yoroi. Lee's front lotus. Yuki recognized this move as one of Lee's. She looked over to Lee. He too was stunned that Sasuke was imitating his own skill. Although ended differently, it was definitely inspired by Lee's technique. Sasuke won the battle with that. Kakashi quickly went to his side and took him away. Yuki was more than curious as to why, but it was no time for her to question it. It would reveal her identity. Her eyes followed them until they left the arena. She looked away and up to the screen once again to see who was next. As she did so, she caught the Sound's sensei looking at her. He smiled and then left as well, following Kakashi and Sasuke. Something definitely didn't feel right.

"Shino! Go kick some butt! Show those Sound who the boss is!" yelled out a voice followed by some barking.

There was no answer from the one named Shino. Yuki looked over. It was that boy that she remembered from her childhood. So his name was Shino. Yuki was actually very curious about him. He wasn't one to express himself much. He was very mysterious. Yuki couldn't read his character. However, she could tell that he was actually very warm. There was something special about him.

He was about to fight against one of the Sound. His name was Zaku. He was the one that Sasuke broke the arm of. He intended to fight with just one arm. He was as confident as ever. He jumped into the battle right away. He was on the offensive right off the bat. Shino didn't seem to do much. However, the battle ended quickly with Shino coming out as the victor. He was a bug user from the Aburame clan. He used them to infest Zaku's arm that was modified with holes to allow him to control air pressure. It was unfortunately his weakness as well. Shino showed how observant and level headed he was. Although he showed nothing fancy in terms of visuals, he was definitely someone to watch. He managed to fight without revealing too much about himself for the later final round.

"You seem more interested than when we started out." said a calm voice next to Yuki.

Yuki looked to her side. Neji was surprisingly talking to her.

"There are things to look forward to now." she replied as the next battle was announced.

It was the Sand ninja who grabbed Konohamru by the collar versus another of Kabuto's teammate.

"I'm looking forward to seeing you fight." Neji continued as the two of them kept their eyes on the battle.

"I'm nothing special." she replied.

"I don't talk to just anybody." he said jokingly.

Yuki smiled. It was rare for Neji to make such comments. Somehow, it showed his almost non existent warmth. As they were talking, Kankuro, the Sand ninja, revealed himself to be a puppet master. His work with chakra threads was high standard. Although Yuki was no expert puppeteer, she could tell how skilled he was. He still hasn't shown much of what he could do. He didn't reveal any of his puppets' weapons. He was definitely not to be underestimated.

It was now Sakura's turn. She was pitched against another kunoichi: Ino. She was in Shikamaru's team. They seemed to be friends seeing how Ino helped Sakura in the Forest of Death, but they were also sending each other deadly glares. The battle was not very interesting for Yuki. She quickly got bored. It ended as a tie just like what happened between Kunio and Kenji.

"TENTEN! It's your turn!" yelled Gai and Lee in unison.

Yuki looked over and smiled at Tenten who acknowledged her while gulping down her saliva. She was obviously very nervous. She was pitched against the female kunoichi from the Sand: Temari. Yuki knew how hard Tenten trained to try to keep up with both Lee and Neji. She was a skilled kunoichi. There was no one who could hit a target with a kunai as precisely as she could.

Tenten headed downstairs. The fight was, unfortunately, easily won by Temari. Had it been another opponent, Tenten could've won. Tenten landed on Temari's fan. Temari flashed a smirk and flung Tenten towards the ground. The ground was filled with sharp weapons. Yuki bit her lip and flashed onto the arena and caught Tenten before she hit the ground and got hurt even worse.

Lee and Gai also arrived to the ground floor. They glared at Temari who ignored them completely. She was cold and remorseless about what she could have caused. Yuki handed Tenten over to Lee and Gai to take care off before the medics came and took her to the hospital. Yuki angrily glared at Temari.

"What are you glaring at?" she asked Yuki with a grin on her face.

"A heartless monster."

Temari laughed and kept on walking. She then joined her team. They were congratulating her. Gaara was looking at Yuki, still emotionless. The more Yuki knew about the Sand, the less she liked them. So far, they've been nothing but merciless. However, she somehow felt a connection with Gaara and believed that he wasn't what he seemed to be like. She witnessed his murderous behavior first hand, but a small voice kept telling her there was more to him.

"Maybe I should have withdrawn back when I had the chance." said a familiarly lazy voice.

He was yawning as he reached the battlefield. His hand was in his pocket. He was everything but ready to fight.

"Shouldn't you guys head back upstairs?" he asked Yuki, Lee and Gai.

They nodded and did as told. They could hear him yawn again as they headed back up. Yuki was actually very interested in seeing Shikamaru fight. He never seemed like someone who would become a ninja, but he still did. She couldn't help but wonder who he really was.

"SHIKAMARU! Show her your crazy moves!" yelled Naruto.

Shikamaru was fighting one of the Sound ninja. Her name was Kin. She wasn't very skilled in taijutsu from what Yuki remembered when fighting her. Shikamaru wasn't the type to like combat either. The battle was going to be more interesting that Shikamaru made it seem. He remained calm throughout the whole fight. She attacked him multiple times with senbons. He did not fight back. He instead trapped her with his shadow and made it so she injured herself. It was almost an easy win for him. Yuki was, however, right. He didn't like to fight, nor did he seem to be one to be good in hand to hand combat. He was all about the brain.

"Naruto vs Kiba!" said Hayate as he invited the next two to come down.

Kiba was a dog trainer. He seemed confident that he would defeat Naruto. Naruto was confident in his skills. Their fight lasted for a long time... until Naruto let out some gas and affected Kiba's and his dog's nose and, therefore, his skills. Naruto's willpower was admirable. The fight was entertaining enough. Naruto came out as the winner to everyone's surprise. Yuki couldn't be more pleased with the outcome.

"Neji vs Hinata." announced Hayate.

"This should be fairly quick." said Neji.

He seemed unexcited. His face was awfully serious and dark. Hinata was his cousin. She was from the main family while Neji was from a branch family. The Hyuuga showed much importance to the hierarchy. With all of Neji's potential and talent, he was never to lead nor to learn certain skills. He resented the main family for more than just that. He resented them for the loss of his father. He resented them for sacrificing his father's life for the sake of the main family. He resented them because he forgot what happiness and family meant. All his resentment showed clearly on his face. He looked scary. Hinata couldn't look at him in the eye. The fight was also terrifying. Neji was merciless. He kept on striking Hinata's chakra point. Yuki was upset seeing such abuse. He also degraded Hinata to a complete loser. He belittled her. Yuki just couldn't believe it. It was a facet she had never seen before. She knew of his resentment, but she never imagined it to run so deep. He didn't stop even when he clearly won. Hinata wasn't weak minded like many thought. She refused to surrender. Naruto was encouraging her, so did her teammates. She kept pushing. Kurenai wanted to intervene, but if she did, it meant Hinata lost the battle. There was no way for her to win, but she wasn't out of it yet. Neji kept on striking. His hits were stronger and stronger. Hinata was now coughing out blood. She was standing. She was panting. Neji went in for another strike. It would hit Hinata's heart. It would kill her. Only one who knew about the body as a medical ninja could tell. Yuki couldn't watch any longer. She jumped down, grabbed Neji's arm and moved it away from the direction of Hinata's heart. There was great chakra that was released. At moment, Hinata's knees hit the ground. Kurenai caught Hinata before her head hit the ground.

"What were you trying to do?" Yuki asked Neji angrily. "You could have killed her."

"Just got caught up in the fight." replied Neji as he shook Yuki's hand off of him.

"Neji wins." announced Hayate.

Naruto ran over and grabbed Neji by his collar.

"Oi! How could you do that to her!?" he yelled.

Neji pushed Naruto away and ignored his question.

"OI! I asked you something!"

Neji did not reply and kept on walking.

"I will defeat you at the final rounds! Believe it!" declared Naruto loudly. "To prove to you that hard work is much more than talent, to prove to you that Hinata is the better person, I will defeat you."

Yuki no longer was looking at Neji. She was kneeling down by Hinata's immobile body giving her first aid while waiting for the medics to come over. She was in a precarious state. Her chakra was no longer flowing. It was blocked in too many areas. Yuki was trying to send her chakra into those different areas, but without the mastery of the byakugan that would allow her to see each chakra point clearly, it was merely to keep Hinata alive.

"At least her heart is unaffected." said Yuki to Kurenai.

The medics finally arrived and came to the same conclusion to Yuki. Hinata was quickly taken away to the hospital for intensive care. Everyone went back to the second floor.

"I don't know why you intervened. You always do such unnecessary actions. Can't you see that she was stuck in some kind of alternative reality? She actually believed she had a chance..." said Neji as Yuki regained her spot.

"Can't I see? I clearly saw that she wanted to prove her worth and hard work more than anything. Alternative reality? You are the one who is too blind to see her reality. Who are you to tell her what reality is?" Yuki interrupted him angrily.

He walked away from her, obviously upset at her comment.

"Don't be too upset. Neji... Neji has his own issues he needs to walk out. It's a lot for him to take in now." said Gai to Yuki as he watched Lee take the stage. "Let's focus on Lee's battle now."

Lee was pitched against Gaara. At that moment, Yuki could no longer think about Neji. She was worrying for Lee. She knew he was highly skilled, but Gaara had skills and the intent to kill. When that intent is present, it makes one ten times stronger.

Lee was holding his own quite well. The battle was highly interesting. Lee, however, couldn't get passed Gaara's defense easily. He finally resorted to his Reverse Lotus. It was technique that Yuki only heard about, but never saw Lee perform it. From the looks of it, it would take a toll on Lee's body. It was all or nothing at this point. And when all thought it had succeeded, Gaara came out of it unharmed thanks to his amazing defense. He turned the battle around and tried to crush Lee with his Sand. He managed to get his leg. Lee barely got away.

"Somebody has to stop him! He's going to kill Lee!" yelled Kiba remembering what he witnessed in the Forest of Death.

For some reason, Yuki couldn't help but jump into the battle area to stop the battle from continuing. Lee, at this point, was no longer conscious. Gaara's sand kept creeping up his body. Gaara summoned more sand to finish him off despite Hayate announcing his victory. Yuki stood in front of Lee, confronting Gaara who now, tried to attack Yuki. Before he could do so, Lee stood up. His eyes were closed. Yuki had witnessed this before. His body simply remembered his fighting stance. It was a proof of how hard he had worked. His body was unconsciously ready to fight again. Stunned to see Lee standing up, Gaara stopped his attack and murmured:

"Why..."

The medics came and quickly took Lee away who had now truly collapsed. Gai went along with them.

"Why are there..." kept repeating Gaara seemingly confused as he headed back to his teammates.

Yuki was heading back to her place, but Hayate said:

"Stay here, your battle is next."

She looked to the board. She was paired against Kabuto. She knew very little about him. Looking at his physics, he didn't look like someone who would be highly proficient in taijutsu. She could only assume that he will have some kind of special technique. Her head wasn't fully in the game. She was very worried for Lee. She feared for his recovery. It certainly did not very promising.

"Yuki-san, right? I'm looking forward to fight you."

"Oh. Same." she replied as she stopped daydreaming.

The fight began. Kabuto rushed towards her. She was wrong: he was an adept of hand to hand combat. He was also very good at controlling chakra. His attacks were sharp and fast. Yuki did a good job at dodging everyone of his attack despite the growing pain around her ribs, but hadn't struck back yet.

"GO YUKI!" she heard Naruto yelling.

She kept on avoiding Kabuto's attacks. She managed to increase the distance between them. She used a simple water jutsu, similar to the water dragon Zabuza used. He avoided it easily. From the information she managed to gather so far about Kabuto, he was quite good in taijutsu. He even added a special touch to it. By focusing chakra around his hand, he could extend the area of damage and the strength of his attack. He was also very good at dodging.

"You are a medical ninja, aren't you? Quite a good one as well."

He seemed at little surprise at her statement.

"You definitely are quite skilled at medical ninjutsu if you recognized my skills from these few attacks."

She finally launched a true attack. Ninjutsus were Yuki's strength. She combined her water and wind nature to create ice spikes and sent them flying towards Kabuto, aiming right beside his vital points. It would only paralyze temporally. Before the attack could be completed and raised his arm up and said:

"I forfeit."

Yuki released the spikes. They melted to the ground. She bit her lip. It wasn't right for him to just surrender like that. He could have avoided most of the spikes and continued to fight. Something wasn't right about this battle. Nonetheless, Yuki was declared the winner and was moving on the finals.

She headed back to the second floor where Naruto greeted and kept going on and on about her ice technique. She couldn't focus on what he was saying. She was still confused about Kabuto's sudden surrender. Yuki caught Neji glancing over to her side but he didn't say anything and quickly looked away as their eyes met.

"Final battle, Chouji vs Dosu."

The last battle didn't last for too long. Dosu, the Sound ninja, won the battle easily. He was going to be her opponent for the final round. As uninterested as Yuki was coming into the preliminaries, she was now very invested. She went through a whirlwind of emotions during the preliminaries and, she believed, the finals would be no different.

End of Chapter 18

Some small, yet important changes were brought to the original story line in this chapter. Hopefully, it was enjoyable.

Thank you for reading!

xoxox

Krystal