Nails dug into palms, eyes wide. I couldn't look away. The red chakra swirled around him, twisted from his core and body like fire. I was right. I felt this chakra before. In the forest when we fought Orochimaru. It was only a glimpse but I felt it and I didn't even know it.
If you blinked you missed him move. He came at Neji with everything. Blow for blow they fought. Clashing colliding. He wasn't hiding anymore; he was ready to prove everyone wrong. "It might be the Hyuga's way to cave into destiny but it's not mine!" My eyes burned, Neji's rotating chakra collided with Naruto's red in a bust of energy. "I'll change the way of the Hyuga clan, after I become Hokage!" The explosion was massive. Dust, rocks and debris blocked our view of the fight. We all held our breathes and waited for it to clear. To see who was standing.
There were two holes in the ground but I couldn't tell which Naruto was. I held my breath as a hand reached out of the dirt but it was Neji who pulled himself out. I heard Shikamaru sigh a bit beside me. Naruto laying in the other crater. There was a moment of silence from us all as Neji looked down at Naruto, he was claiming his victory.
I pushed my lips into a thin line, violet eyes scanning the ground. Was it really over, this was not the way this was supposed to end. I felt that firmly in my gut. In one moment, to everyone's surprise, especially Neji's, Naruto pushed through the ground landing an uppercut. A direct hit making Neji fly back. He landed on his back hard. "I can't move." Neji mumbled trying his best to continue to fight. The Naruto in the hole was a clone and poofed into smoke. The real Naruto's finger nails bleeding.
"I should have guessed you'd use that shadow clone jutsus. It's your specialty after all. I was careless." I snorted an anxious laugh passed my lips at Neji's words. "For the record, I failed the graduation exam three times. Cause there was this one justus that was always on the exam and it tripped me up every time. It was the one justus that I couldn't master. My clones were pathetic, that's right I failed the shadow clones justu every time. So don't come whining to me about that destiny stuff and stop trying to tell me you can't change what you are. You can do it too cause after all unlike me you're not a failure." I whipped away the small tears from my cheeks.
"The winner is Naruto Uzumaki!" The crowd cheered and I couldn't help but cheer too. "Yea Naruto!" I placed my fingers in my mouth and gave a loud whistle. Naruto looked around, almost confused for a moment at the praise. It made my heart soar. He gave the crowd a peace sign and started running around throwing kisses into the crowd. How that kid had any energy at all I'll never know. "Oh man Naruto defeated Neji, and here I thought he was like me one of the dorky uncool guys." I couldn't help but chuckle at the shadow boy, "Dorky and uncool?' Shino asked. "Now everyone is saying that he is going to make something big of himself. Just great. I doubt I could beat him now. This is really bad. I never felt so depressed, what a drag." Shikamaru and Shino joined in and clapped even after his confession of depression. We were all comrades after all and it was one hell of a fight.
I patted Shikamaru on the back, "You'll be fine. Didn't you learn anything from Naruto's match? Half the battle is believing you can." Glancing at me he let another troubling sigh pass his lips, "Well Naruto believes enough for the whole town." That was true. I cocked my brow a bit but smiled. I was proud of my knucklehead. "I did it Suiren. I did it!" I glanced down at Naruto and smiled. He gave me a classic thumbs up and blew a kiss. Leaning over the railing I shook my head as he made his way up the stairs to join us. I heard his feet patter when he was close.
He ran over and lifted me into a hug, feet off the floor, too tight to breath but it was just right. When I touched down on the floor I wavered a bit but grabbed his arms, "I knew you could do it." His is cheeks pink; he scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "You did great Naruto. Good job." Shikamaru patted him on the back.
It wasn't long before the crowd started to get rowdy, angry almost. Yelling for the next match to started. I shared an equally worried glance with Naruto. Where the hell was Sasuke? "That Sasuke, What in the world does he think he's doing. Forfeiting?" I shook my head at Shikamaru's words. "A wise man never courts danger. Leading to a wise decision." I made the mistake of glancing over at Gaara. Naruto's match was so enthralling I almost forgot he was even up here. "I promise you Sasuke isn't that wise." I answer Shino. This had nothing to do with making a smart decision. "Huh? What are you talking about? He is defiantly going to be here. Believe it."
My neck pricked and I notice Gaara looking at Naruto beside me. Instinctively I leaned forward to block his view of my team mate but ended up pointing myself in the line of fire. His sea green orbs burned through my own. But I wouldn't back down. Screw that. I looked down at our proctor, did they really not know what they were going to do. "Listen everyone. One of the competitors from the next battle hasn't arrived yet so we are going to postpone this battle and jump to the one that would have followed it." My heart lurched. Damn. Damn. Damn it
"Will Shikamaru and Temari please come down?" With Sasuke not here that meant that my match was going to be that much closer. I was next but where the hell was Sasuke? "Oh what a drag." I heard Shika mumble before he got a stern tap on the back from Naruto. I tried to grab him but it was too late and he went tumbling over the edge. "Opps."
"Oh Naruto." I mumbled giving Shika a small smile as he got up and dusted himself off. The crowd hustled and bustled, throwing things into the arena.
"What is it? You planning on giving up too?" I glanced at the sand ninja. She had a fan that was probably her main weapon. I didn't think she had a chance against Shika, if he actually put his mind on the match at hand. "Come on! Come on! Get up and fight. Get it together Shikamaru. You gonna get going sometimes this year?" I tried not to chuckle at the knuckle heads yelling.
"Well if you won't move I will." The proctor called out for her. He hadn't even officially started the match yet. I flinched when she slammed her fan down. A mushroom cloud of smoke covering the two ninja. When it cleared I couldn't help but smile. She missed, don't under estimate Shikamaru Nara. That was for sure. "It really doesn't make a whole lot of difference to me whether I become a Chunin or not but I guess maybe I shouldn't let myself get beaten by a female. So let's do it"
I wasn't even fighting him but his words were getting under my skin, I could only imagine how Temari was feeling. She opened her fan and blew another gust but he was gone when it settled. For a lazy guy Shika sure was quick. I let my elbow lean against the railing with my chin in my hand. He darted into the only area of the arena that had shadows and I knew that was to his advantage.
"Get your butt in gear! Let's go Shikamaru." Naruto was a regular cheerleader over here but he was right. What the heck was he waiting for? "Ninja art: Wind Scythe Jutsu!" Her fan was a crazy weapon. I felt the wind all the way up top with the others. I smirked when I saw his shadow race across the floor after Temari. A second sooner and he would've got her.
"Almost got me. Aren't you clever? With that shadow possession jutsus of yours you can manipulate any shadow you're in. The walls shadow for instance but there is a limit to how far it can stretch. Isn't that right?" My lips pressed into a thin line. He was more than just his shadow possession jutsu. His brain was probably more powerful than any genins, average or otherwise.
Naruto sighed, it wasn't as action packed as his match had been but it was entertaining none the less. "What the heck is that lazy bum waiting for anyways?" My nose twitched and I looked up at the sky with a small smile. "The more time that passed the large the shadow of that wall becomes, the stronger his jutsu will be." The knucklehead looked up and then back down at me before looking at the fight down below. "I guess that's one way to win. Just hope we aren't here all night." I chuckled and patted his head.
"What's that thing he's doing?" Naruto pointed across the way. "It that hand signs?" I chewed my bottom lip and shook my head. It wasn't any hand sign that I had ever seen before. "It looks like he's thinking but im not sure." I mumbled. We waited a little longer until finally he opened his eyes. "Looks like he's ready." I would be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued, it would be worth the wait.
She swiped her fan again, I wasn't sure how he planned on getting close enough to touch her alone win this fight. She swiped another time and I grabbed the rail when kunai went flying her way. He tried again and almost got her. "Temari look out!" My eyes darted over to my opponent then up into the sky. Shika had made a parachute out of his jacket and kunai, extending his shadows range. Genius.
Temari was able to move and dodge thanks to her stupid brother. I couldn't help but frown when the parachute landed and his shadow started to regress back. He was very close yet again but close wasn't going to win, he was going to have to think of another plan. She was ready to make her next move but she froze. I couldn't help but hold my breath and while I watch. It seemed he used the holes in the ground from Naruto's match.
Everything he had done was just a strategy to get her to move over toward the holes in the ground. Each moved planned out to get to here. Goosebumps littered my arms. This whole time I thought I was following his thought process and his movement but I would have fallen into the same trick that she did. I nibbled my bottom lip, was there a way I could ever beat that kid?
They walked closer together and I couldn't help but let my mouth go slack. "Yes! He did. He pulled off an upset!" I couldn't help but smile, Naruto was right but that also meant if I won my matches, I'd have to face him. "Okay that's it. I give up." I practically fell on my ass. Are you kidding me?! "What do you mean give up?" Naruto yelled right in my ear but he was just saying what we were all thinking.
"I've used up almost all my chakra with that last shadow possession. Im good for another 10 seconds and here I had the next 200 moves planned out. What a drag." I couldn't help but dead pan. Seemed everyone else felt that was as well. The proctor wasn't even sure what to say but true to his word his shadow lapsed and he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Well, the winner of this match is Temari." I could see how disappointed she was, it was written all over her face and even though and her siblings where not my cup of tea I felt bad for a moment.
"Can you believe that?" I glanced over at Naruto and shook my head, "Honestly I thought he was going to make it all the way." I was just as surprised if not more. "What do you mean? You're gonna make it all the way. Believe it." I chuckled slightly but then remembered that now that this match was over it was time.
I couldn't help pressing my lips into a thin line. Once the arena was cleared people started to get angry again. Another match done and Sasuke still weren't here. I wondered how long they were going to let this slide but more then that I wondered if he was alright. Kakashi-sensei wouldn't let anything bad happen to him but that did nothing to slow down my beating heart. "Alright the next match will be between Suiren Uchiha and Kankuro of the Suna." The crowd became quiet, probably the most they had been since it was announced that Sasuke's match was pushed back.
This was the moment I had been waiting for. The last four weeks came down to this one match. A fire grew in the pit of my stomach.
It was now or never.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto© . Only my oc