Venatori

Summary: Kankuro was a few minutes too late, and Kiba died. Now, Shino and Hinata work to ensure that no more traitors get away alive. Divergence from chapter 212.

The Laughing Phoenix does not own Naruto and makes no profit from this work, other than her sense of accomplishment.

WARNING: Massive spoilers in future chapters. Character death. Blood, gore, and questionable use of medical knowledge and techniques. Some OOC-ness.


Tourney

The two weeks between the second and third parts of the Exams passed quickly, and soon it was the day of the tournament, the last part of the Chuunin Exam.

The morning of the Exam tournament was cloudy, but the clouds weren't heavy enough for rain, drifting silently above the village. In their separate homes Shino and Hinata both got up early, armed themselves silently, and left with a couple of hours to spare before the tournament.

Hinata visited Kiba's grave in the cemetery, lighting incense and gently dusting off his stone. "The tournament's today, Kiba-kun," she told him as she worked. "I face a Kumo-nin in the second match, and Shino-kun faces an Iwa-nin in the first. There's a chance we'll be facing each other in the second round." She ran her fingers over his name, holding enough chakra in her hand to attract the dirt out of the corners.

"I really hope we get promoted."

Shino, meanwhile, was making tracks for the Memorial Stone. This was, he realized as he landed in the clearing, becoming a habit. Setting that though aside for later consideration, he approached the Stone and took his favorite spot in front of Kiba's name. This is it, he told his teammate. It all comes down to today. Based on information I've collected about our opponents, I will most likely be facing Hinata in the second round. A slight smile crossed his face. You'd be proud of her. I'm not sure I can beat her. Shino allowed himself twenty minutes of light meditation before he stood up, bowed to the Stone, and left. He had an appointment to make.

Shino and Hinata met up with each other as they crossed the village. Exchanging a quiet good morning, the pair walked together to Inuzuka Tsume's house. The Inuzuka clan lived in a group of houses not far from the village wall, where there was a large amount of open space for the dogs to run around in. Hana met them at the door.

"Come on in, you two," she told them, waving the Haimaru triplets away from the door. Obediently, the pair took off their shoes and followed Hana into the kitchen, dodging the energetic triplets as they all clamored to say hello. "You hungry?" she called over her shoulder. "I've got some breakfast left."

Shino and Hinata shook their heads and refused politely. Their attention was on the woman sitting at the table, her great black and white dog resting at her feet. Inuzuka Tsume had raised her children alone, their father having gone MIA shortly after Kiba's birth. She was a strong, proud, hot-tempered woman who loved a good fight and was fiercely loyal, but since the death of her youngest child and only son she'd retreated into herself, taking more and more missions and leaving the day-to-day running of the clan to Hana. Among the clans and jounin corps, it was an open question if one day she'd request an A-rank and not come back.

"It's a pleasure to see you, Inuzuka-san," Hinata said softly.

Tsume graced her son's teammates with a tired smirk, looking every one of her thirty-six years. "Hey kids, what're you doin' here? Don't you have an exam today?"

"Actually, that's why we came," Shino said. "We would consider it a great honor were you to come to the tournament." He turned to include Hana in the invitation.

"I have most of today off," Hana said, watching her mother. "I'm on call, but unless one of the tracking hounds comes in injured they shouldn't need me."

A minute later, Tsume gave an expressive shrug. "Eh, why not. It's not like I've got a mission today anyways." She stood, stretching. "Tsunade-sama's been keepin' a lot of us close to home, what with all the foreign nin in the village. Wouldn't surprise me if she was stackin' the deck just in case we get invaded again."

Shino smiled slightly. "My father made much the same comment, Inuzuka-san."

"An' while we're on the subject, will you two knock it off? I've told you before, stop callin' me 'Inuzuka-san', it's too formal for my taste."

Hinata bowed, hiding a smile. "As Inuzuka-san wishes." She ducked the good-natured slobber attack from Kuromaru, only for the Haimaru triplets to join the game, all trying to lick her face.

Tsume chuckled, watching as the tiny kunoichi ducked and dodged around the dogs and her teammate jumped quickly to stand next to the kitchen wall, out of the way. "Go on, get out of here," she said good-naturedly. "We'll come an' watch you two. Just make it good."

Shino bowed. "We will, Inuzuka-san."

Hinata managed to escape the dogs long enough to say a quick goodbye, and then the two left the Inuzuka holdings, heading for the great arena and the last part of the Exam.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The ten contestants stood in a row in the arena, listening to the murmur of the crowd. Finally, the Kage appeared in their box, Tsunade, for once dressed in the formal robes and hat, flanked by the Tsuchikage and the Raikage. The two male Kage took their seats as she stepped to the railing. "Welcome to Konoha's Chuunin Selection Exam," she called, projecting her voice so she could be heard by the entire arena. "This is the main tournament, pitting the participants who made it through the earlier rounds against each other. These ten are the best of the candidates, and today they compete for promotion. Let the final exam begin!"

The crowd roared, and Genma turned to the row of genin. "Right, you know the drill. This is a no-holds-barred one-on-one battle. You fight until dead or incapacitated, but if I think the fight's over, I'll step in and stop you. The first match, between Aburame Shino of Konoha and Yoshida Ken of Iwa, will begin momentarily. The rest of you, take the stairs up to the competitor's box."

Eight of the genin turned quietly and headed for the stairs. As she passed Shino, Hinata smiled softly and nodded to him, silently wishing her teammate good luck. Once in the competitor's box, she moved to the railing so as to get the best possible view of the match. Shino looked almost small next to the Iwa-nin, who stood at least a head taller than him and carried a katana-like blade strapped to his back.

Down in the arena proper, Shino turned to face his opponent, keeping his hands in his pockets. As he waited for Genma to start the match, he quickly reviewed what he knew about his opponent's fighting styles. Yoshida Ken, aged about sixteen. Uses primarily doton jutsu, but can probably use that blade of his effectively, or he would not carry it. He's bigger and stronger, but I believe that I am faster.

Genma glanced between the two. "You two ready?" Upon receiving an affirmative, he raised a hand. "Hajime!" Dropping it, he dodged backwards. Proctoring was all well and good, but he'd rather not get caught in the crossfire.

The two genin stood silently for a moment, facing off. Before long, Ken lost patience and launched into a doton jutsu, sending claws of stone scything up from the ground at Shino's feet. The claws connected….and passed right through as the Aburame dissolved into a swarm of kikai.

Snarling a curse under his breath, the Iwa-nin drew his blade and took on a guard stance, searching for his opponent. He didn't have long to wait, as a flight of kunai came sailing out of the trees at the rim of the arena. Ken managed to knock most of them away, but one came in a little too close and he was forced to dodge…straight into the path of a second kunai in the first's shadow. He escaped serious injury, but it caught him right above his right eye, opening up a shallow cut. Blood dripped down his face and into his eye, forcing him to blink.

Shino observed this with satisfaction. He had been admittedly hoping for the eye itself, but leaving his opponent half-blinded by his own blood wasn't too bad either. Readying a couple of smoke bombs Anko had helped him design over the two week break, he launched them at the Iwa-nin still standing in the open.

The bombs exploded in midair, releasing copious amounts of irritant-laced smoke. He could hear Ken coughing from inside the smoke. Taking a moment to ensure his goggles firmly covered his eyes and pulling his collar up over his nose and mouth, Shino substituted to a spot inside the smoke. Through the haze, he could see his opponent coughing, blinded by the tears streaming from his eyes and the blood from the cut on his temple. Ducking in behind him, he sent a punishing strike to the base of the skull, knocking him down. Moving fast, Shino stuck again, this time at the arm, forcing the Iwa-nin to release his blade on pain of broken bones. Kicking it away, he sent a mental command to his kikai, a group of which quickly absconded with it.

As the smoke slowly dissipated, Shino kept beating down on his opponent with brutal strikes to the joints and back of his head, keeping him distracted while more of the kikai crawled out of his coat and onto the downed nin. Before long, Ken stropped struggling, disoriented from a combination of the blows and chakra loss.

Quickly yanking the older boy's hands behind his back, Shino bound them together with a roll of wire before placing a knee on his wrists. Drawing a kunai from his pocket, he leaned forward, yanking Ken's head up by the hair and laying the blade against his throat. "Yield."

By this time, most of the smoke was gone, and the spectator's could clearly see Shino kneeling with a knee on his older, larger opponent's back and a blade at his throat. Ken struggled, but Shino pressed down with his knee and the kunai, half-consciously summoning more of his hive to land on his opponent. "The blade is poisoned. You are incapacitated and out of chakra. Yield."

Growling, Ken stilled. "I yield."

Genma, who had cautiously landed on the field when the smoke cloud dissipated, raised his hand. "Match one, winner Aburame Shino!"

Ignoring the applause, Shino removed his kunai from Ken's throat, moving to undo the wire. Once he'd pulled it free, he stood quickly and took a few steps backward, calling his hive to him. Ken shuddered as the bugs poured from under his shirt, returning to their commander's body. The group that had taken the Iwa-nin's blade returned, and Shino laid the sword down at its owner's side.

The defeated nin slowly pushed himself upright and sheathed his blade. "You're good," he rasped. "I've fought insect-users before, but only the best can get their hives into a gas bomb."

Shino shrugged. "I spent some of the time during the break developing an airborne irritant that would not affect my kikai."

Genma, who'd been listening with interest, suddenly picked up on the drop in the noise coming from the crowd. "Let's move it along, guys. The crowd wants the next match."

Shino nodded, then turned and bowed briefly to the Kage's box before walking to the stairs to the competitor's box. Ken sketched a salute before turning towards the group of medics waiting at another door.

Clearing his throat, Genma called out the next match. "Second match, Hyuuga Hinata of Konoha versus Gouman of Kumo!"

Hinata turned to take the stairs. As she passed her teammate on her way down, he cocked his head to one side and smirked slightly, an Aburame gesture that she'd learned meant 'good luck'. She entered the arena to find Gouman standing in the center near Genma – he'd apparently eschewed the stairs in favor of jumping from the box.

Many of the shinobi in the crowd looked on interestedly. Gouman was probably about sixteen or seventeen, and he was not only tall, towering at least a foot over his petite opponent, but heavily muscled and heavily armed. Next to him, Hinata looked positively doll-like.

"Ready?" Genma asked.

Gouman grinned. "Absolutely."

"Hai," Hinata nodded.

"Hajime!"

Gouman lazily drew a blade from one of the sheaths on his back. "Alright, little white-eyes, give up now and I'll go easy on you."

As a reply, he got a handful of senbon. In the time it took for him to block them, the caster had vanished.

Taking to the trees, Hinata activated her Byakugan, frowning slightly. Gouman was bigger, stronger, and heavier, with a longer reach. Getting in close would be stupid, even if she was faster. She'd have to keep this at a distance. Fortunately for her, the position she'd spent the past four and a half months grooming herself for involved a lot of distance attacks

Taking a deep breath, Hinata pushed herself into the open, drawing a couple of kunai with attached explosives from her pouch. Launching them at her opponent, she gave a gratified sigh when he did no more than the bare minimum to evade them.

"You'll have to do better than that, white-eyes!" Gouman called. His posturing looked less impressive when the bombs went off, causing him to stumble. As he regained his feet, he heard the soft puff of air that meant a kawarimi, but was unable to dodge before something struck the back of his right shoulder hard, and he felt the prickle of breaking skin. By the time he'd regained enough of his balance and turned, he was faced with a chunk of rock and dirt.

Hinata landed back at the edge of the tree line, having substituted herself with the debris kicked up by her bombs. Drawing another pair of poisoned senbon from her pouch, she watched for an opening. Both Kurenai and Anko had been working with her on developing a style that would allow her to wear down larger, stronger opponents without too much damage to herself. While thus far incomplete, the three of them had figured that, for the purpose of the exams, she could use kawarimi to stay out of her opponent's reach while dealing damage.

Snarling angrily, Gouman placed the hilt of his blade between his teeth, freeing up his hands. Reaching up to his shoulder, he yanked out the senbon and tossed them away, before beginning a string of hand seals. His right arm was slow to respond, sluggish. When he finished the string of seals and tried to unleash his technique, the charge of electricity he'd been building blew up in his face, some of the energy channeling through the metal of his blade and shocking him.

While Gouman was still reeling from his failed technique, Hinata substituted again, appearing behind his left shoulder. One hand plunged the senbon deep into the muscle over a pressure point, the other lashed out to damage his chakra network, blue flickering between her fingers. No sooner had she made contact than she performed another kawarimi, landing safely beyond his range. Drawing a poisoned kunai, she substituted again.

This time, she went for the backs of his legs, aiming to cut the tendons and hamstring him. She wasn't quite fast enough, as he kicked her in the shoulder, but she did manage to score a long cut down the calf muscle. Darting backward, she baited him into coming after her. Gouman was slowing down, his arms largely useless and the cut she'd given his leg pulling painfully, but he was still clenching his blade in his hand and swinging whenever he thought she was in range.

Finally, Hinata managed to trick him into overextending and managed to leave a set of cuts along his leg muscle. He stumbled as he turned, roaring in pain and anger. She threw the kunai at him, distracting him while she summoned chakra to her hands and lashed out, further crippling his arms. As he started to overbalance and fall forward, she spun behind him and struck hard in the center of his back, level with his heart.

Gouman went down like a ton of bricks, and though he struggled, couldn't manage to force himself upright. Hinata stayed out of his reach, all the same.

"Surrender," she told him softly.

"White-eyed bitch!" he snarled.

"I held back on the amount of chakra I put into my strikes, but you will still require medical treatment. Furthermore, the more you struggle, the more the poison will spread throughout your body. Surrender."

Genma landed near the pair, deciding it was safe enough to get in close. Gouman was still struggling to push himself upright, spitting curses at Hinata, making references to her sexual history, her parentage, her clan, and her village.

Hinata's eyes turned steely. "As you wish." Drawing another pair of senbon, she leapt forward and plunged them into his shoulders at the base of his neck. Gouman gave another hiss of pain and managed to get out a few more insults before going limp.

Genma tried not to shiver. When Hinata spoke like that, it was impossible to forget that she was descended from a long line of very scary people.

Said descendant turned to him. "It's just a fast-acting sedative, he should survive without any problems." Her voice was still cold.

Raising his hand, Genma shouted "Winner of match two, Hyuuga Hinata!" Gesturing briefly to the medics on standby at the edge of the arena, he turned to the petite victor. "So, out of curiosity, was all of that poisoned?"

Hinata gave him a slight little smile. "Everything I used today, yes." She turned her gaze on the medics transferring Gouman's limp body to a stretcher. "If you'll excuse me Shiruani-san, I want to tell the medics what I used so that they can treat Gouman-san properly."

Genma shook his head slightly as he watched the little Hyuuga girl speak quietly to one of the medics before leaving the arena, making a mental note to avoid getting on her bad side. "Third match, Hyuuga Neji versus Kawaguchi Akai, both of Konoha!" he shouted, pushing thoughts of all-seeing poisoners from his mind. A moment later, the Hyuuga prodigy landed in a graceful crouch at the base of the wall, before standing up and walking to the middle of the arena. Akai, meanwhile, decided to follow his temporary teammate's example and use the stairs.

Neji watched his opponent carefully as he crossed the arena. Kawaguchi Akai was somewhere between one and two years older than him, and therefore a few inches taller, although a little skinny for his age. He was a first-generation shinobi, and as far as Neji knew any shinobi blood in his family had been so watered down as to be negligible. He carried an extra pouch next to his kunai, and Neji had picked up traces of chakra from it – tags, perhaps?

There had been a time when Neji would have dismissed Akai as a threat, believing that as he was from a civilian family he would be incapable of facing the power of the Hyuuga clan and the Byakugan. That, however, was before Uzumaki Naruto, a clanless, kinless, dead-last loudmouth had beaten him to the ground.

When the pair met in the middle of the field, Neji was surprised to see that the older boy was smirking. He cheerfully acknowledged Genma's 'Ready?', then to Neji's great surprise simply settled into a taijutsu stance at the cry of 'Hajime'. That made no sense, but not wanting to waste the opening the Hyuuga darted forward and struck.

It wasn't until he made contact that he'd realized he'd been played. Rather than impacting on flesh and internal organs, he'd hit a log. He just had time to notice the tag sparkling on the ground behind it before it exploded.

Akai watched the strike from where he crouched by the trees. Right. He's not quite as fast as Hinata, but he's putting a hell of a lot more power into his strikes. He'd managed to get a look at the log before the tag went off, and had gulped to see the scorched dents Neji's strike had left. He did not want to think about what that might do to his insides.

A moment was all he had before he smelled smoke from behind him. He jumped into the center of the arena again, milliseconds ahead of Neji's strike. The Hyuuga had managed to substitute himself out of the blast range, but his clothes were singed and the smell of smoke clung to him.

As he landed, Akai spun, throwing two kunai after himself. Neji deflected them upwards and kept following him. Grimacing, Akai reached back into his pouch, quickly reviewing everything he'd ever learned about the Hyuuga, most of it from Hinata. Neji operated off of two strengths – the Byakugan and the Jyuuken. However, if he wanted to use the latter on Akai, he'd have to get in close. That meant that if Akai wanted a chance, he'd have to keep Neji at a distance.

Easier said than done, unfortunately. Neji was fast, and Akai had no desire to keep bounding around like a frightened rabbit. Leading Neji back into the open, he drew some modified shuriken from his bag and threw them. As he'd expected, Neji dodged, but the shuriken landed in a rough circle around him. Twisting away, Akai made a handseal and closed his eyes. "Kai."

Even through his closed eyes and with his back turned, Akai saw the flash of bright white light that lit up the arena behind him. Moments later, he winced at the thundering crack as the wave of sound washed over him. Turning back as quickly as he could, he pulled kunai trailing explosive tags and hurled them at his opponent.

While Akai generally used exploding tags and kunai, the shuriken he'd just used on Neji were his pride. He'd gone to a smith to have them specially modified to carry tags, and loaded them with flash-bangs. They'd never failed him.

Neji had had the Byakugan activated when the flash-bangs went off, and currently was in more pain than he'd suffered in a very long time. The bright light coming from all directions had rendered him temporarily blind, even though he'd unconsciously deactivated the Byakugan out of shock. The chorus of concussive explosions that followed a millisecond later had shaken him and made balancing difficult.

It was only Neji's talent for sensing shifts in the chakra around him that saved him from the tags. Still blinking spots out of his watering eyes and incapable of turning on the Byakugan just yet, he dropped into the Kaiten. It was sloppy, especially since he was still unbalanced, but he felt the tags detonate as they hit the edge of the sphere and kept going.

Akai, meanwhile, kept raining explosives on his opponent. It was decimating his supplies, but the more chakra he could force the Hyuuga to expend, the better. Finally, he had to pause for a moment to reach for more tags, and Neji made his move, ending the Kaiten and darting after him.

Finally shaking off the results of the flash-bangs, Neji took off after his opponent. He'd expended more chakra than he would have liked with that Kaiten, and he could only hope he didn't have to do it again anytime soon. Akai led him a merry chase across the field, zigzagging back and forth. Another rain of explosives forced Neji into a second, briefer Kaiten, which gave the older shinobi time to catch his breath. Akai cursed under his breath when he realized that he was running out of tags. That meant it was time to go to ninjutsu.

Neji, meanwhile, was growing frustrated. He was singed, had expended more chakra than was wise, considering that if he won he'd still have at least one more match, and had yet to land a real hit on his Akai. He needed to get in closer if he wanted to win.

Get in closer… he blinked, then fought the urge to kick himself. Hyuuga Neji, you idiot, you've forgotten the basics. Changing tactics, he began to herd Akai back toward the trees. Once the older boy was at the tree line, Neji took advantage of the smoke of an exploding tag to perform a kawarimi with a branch just behind his opponent.

Akai heard the 'pop' of the kawarimi just a little too late. Turning, he brought up a kunai only to have the Hyuuga dodge. He managed to open up a small cut along his jaw, but it wasn't big or deep enough to be anything more than an annoyance. He was quickly forced on the defensive by a quick series of Jyuuken strikes, Neji cutting him off every time he tried to summon his chakra to help him get away.

It was over in a matter of moments. A sudden flurry of strikes knocked Akai off balance, and the follow-up palm strike to his stomach brought him down. The older genin found himself lying on his back, staring up at the sky and breathing hard, while Neji crouched next to him, a hand held above his heart, deadly blue chakra shimmering between his fingers.

After a moment of silence, Akai slapped the ground. "I give." Genma reappeared to call the match, and Neji moved back, letting the chakra dissipate and Akai sit up. Akai stayed on the ground for a moment, catching his breath and his balance. As he pushed himself up, he grinned at Neji. "Good match."

Neji's face was largely blank, but the furrow between his eyebrows informed the older genin that the boy was confused, wary, or both. After a moment, he spoke. "You…as well. Good match."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Standing side by side at the railing of the competitor's box, Shino and Hinata watched quietly as Tenten took on a shinobi from Iwa, one Akiyama Shun. It was a long, messy fight, with lots of steel and earth flying, punctuated by explosions and the crashing of stone. In the end, Tenten pinned her opponent to the wall of the arena, covered in cuts and bruises, only to be smashed out of the air by the stone dragon he'd summoned just before she hit him. With Tenten woozy from the hit and her opponent about to faint from blood loss and chakra expenditure, Genma declared it a double-knockout, and the pair were shipped off to the infirmary.

Lee's bout was messy as well, but for a very different reason. The energetic shinobi was battling a kunoichi from Kumo, and was reluctant to go all-out on a girl. It wasn't until the girl in question insulted his haircut and the spandex, and snidely wondered "what kind of idiot would think that an appropriate appearance for a shinobi" that Lee got serious. After that, it was all over. Lee dropped his weights, kicked up his speed, and knocked her out in ten seconds flat. He was very apologetic and offered to escort his opponent to the infirmary, but Genma cut him off and told him to get back into the competitor's box because he had a match up next.

"The second round of the Chuunin Exam Tournament," Genma declared. "Match one, Aburame Shino vs. Hyuuga Hinata. Both competitors report to the arena."

Shino and Hinata moved out of the room in step, walking down the stairs together. Shino broke the silence. "As this is a promotion bout, it would be illogical to use our full strength."

Hinata nodded. "No killing strikes, no permanent damage?"

"Agreed. Flashy techniques?"

"There are civilians in the audience, and the daimyos bet on this event. Agreed. To knockout?"

Shino considered that a moment before responding. "Surrender or chakra depletion would be preferable, I think."

Hinata nodded. By this point they had reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped out into the arena, hearing the roar of the crowd.

Up in the Kage's box, Tsunade sat forward. "This'll be interesting," she murmured.

The Tsuchikage glanced sideways at her. "How so, Hokage?"

Tsunade's face took on an unreadable expression. "Those two are teammates."

The Raikage snorted. "So? If they can't face their teammate, then they're no good."

Lacing her fingers under her chin, Tsunade shook her head. "That's not the point. Their third teammate was KIA four…maybe four and a half months ago. Neither of them was on the mission. Since then, they've operated as a pair."

That got some raised eyebrows. Konoha was notorious for its emphasis on teamwork, a method that had served the village incredibly well through the Great Wars. However, it almost never broke the three man cell plus commander mold. That a pair this young was operating as a functional cell meant that the genin were something special for the rules to be bent for them.

"This isn't quite in the rules, Hokage, but how's their mission record?" The Raikage asked cautiously. Despite the image of the loud, impetuous, hot-tempered brawler he'd cultivated, the Raikage was not a stupid man. Tsunade had every right to refuse him the information. If she took offense, it could damage Kumo's already shaky relations with Konoha.

A smirk curled up the side of Tsunade's mouth. "Excellent."

"Hmmm." The Tsuchikage regarded his fellow Kage out of the corner of his eye. "A wager, then?"

"Stakes?" The Raikage countered.

"A small sum, nothing more."

"Be specific, man."

The Tsuchikage named off a sum large enough to purchase a high-quality kimono.

"Done!" the Raikage declared. "Who's your pick?"

"The Hyuuga girl." An evil smirk crossed the Tsuchikage's lined face. "She did so well in her last match, and those eyes…"

The Raikage scowled, clearly communicating I-know-you're-trying-to-bait-me-and-I'm-not-going-to-respond-but-it's-not-funny-so-knock-it-off with his glare. "Then I'll back the Aburame boy. He's a quick fighter, vicious too."

The Tsuchikage was not amused by his fellow Kage's support for the boy who'd defeated one of the two genin he had in the tournament, but nodded. "Hokage? Any wager?" He asked.

Both men unconsciously held their breath. Tsunade's bad luck was legendary for a reason, and if she backed one of the genin it was as good as a death knell to their chances. The fact that she had never been known to turn down a bet wasn't comforting either.

But Tsunade's face had gone unreadable again, and she waved a hand idly in dismissal. "I'm not going to wager on this one. I really have no idea how it might go…"

When the pair reached the center of the arena, they stopped, and moving in unison, bowed first to the Kage, and then to the daimyo's boxes. That done, they turned to face the stands, specifically the section where Inuzuka Tsume sat with her daughter and a number of cousins. This bow they held longer, before finally straightening up and turning to face Genma.

The Tsuchikage frowned. "Who were they bowing to?"

Tsunade scanned the stands briefly, almost immediately identifying the gesture's recipient. "The Inuzuka clan head," she said softly. "Their teammate was her son."

Genma eyed the pair in front of him. Word had gotten around the shinobi elite, and he would have had to have been on a long-term deep-cover mission not to know that these two were people to watch. They'd broken mission room record after record, and their own records were better than some shinobi with twice their experience. Hell, Anko treated them with an almost proprietary fondness, happily referring to them as 'her kohai' in conversation, and Anko never got attached to her trainees.

"Alright, you two know the rules, so I'm not going to bore anyone by explaining them again. You ready?"

The pair nodded, then turned to face each other and backed away, leaving a two meter gap between them. Genma slowly raised a hand, letting the tension build, before finally dropping it with a shout of 'Hajime' and jumping out of the way. After their performances in the first round, he had no desire to get caught between these combatants.

Shino opened up the match with a pair of senbon, distracting Hinata while releasing his kikai. Hinata, having no desire to get caught by his swarm, returned fire and jumped backward, putting more space between herself and her teammate. She pulled a small poison-carrying bomb out of her pocket and tossed it at Shino, blowing it up just before it hit the ground and darting back to the tree line.

When the smoke cleared, it was to reveal a log sitting where Shino had stood. Hinata activated her Byakugan and immediately leapt forward, dodging the blow headed for her back from behind. Rolling to her feet and spinning as she straightened, she launched a pair of kunai at her teammate. From this close range, she could hardly miss. The kunai sliced through Shino's coat sleeves, but the thick material and sewn-in armoring meant that they didn't do more than leave shallow cuts. At a gesture from Shino, a swarm of kikai soared towards Hinata from behind, only for the Hyuuga girl to go into a back-bend that had most of the audience wincing as she lashed out with one hand, generating a whip-like 'rope' of chakra that tore through the swarm. Getting the hint, the insects dispersed, and Hinata launched into a back handspring, kicking at Shino as she brought her feet around.

Forced to dodge back or take a kick to the face, Shino began a string of handseals, unleashing a doton technique that forced his now upright teammate to leap upwards to avoid being swallowed by the earth. Once Hinata was in the air, he threw a pair of kunai at her, following it quickly up with a handful of senbon. It was nigh-impossible to dodge in mid-air, so he should surely hit her.

Hinata quickly tucked herself into a ball and began a somersault, projecting chakra from her body. The audience gasped as Hinata's chakra became visible in a tight shield around her body in an airborne echo of her family's kaiten. The Hyuuga in the audience muttered among themselves – the last person in the clan to do anything like what Hinata was somehow pulling off had been Hyuuga Daichi, Hiashi's great-grandfather and the man who had led the Hyuuga clan out of the lands controlled by what would become Kumo.

Hinata's new technique knocked away Shino's projectiles, and the speed of her spin repelled the kikai he summoned to eat away at her chakra. The Aburame hopped back as Hinata landed, continuing her somersaulting until she rolled upright just within his guard and engaging him in taijutsu.

At this point, civilians in the audience became unable to keep track of what was going on, and even the shinobi began having trouble following the individual strikes. The pair were trading off some of their favorite taijutsu techniques, Shino using his greater reach and strength to misdirect Hinata's strikes and distract her while he summoned his kikai to drain off her chakra, Hinata using her superior speed and flexibility to do her best to close up Shino's tenketsu through his armored coat.

In the end, the pair landed strikes that knocked each other back and stood, breathing heavily for a moment, before launching more weaponry at each other. Two of Shino's kunai clipped Hinata, despite her ability to dodge, while she managed to puncture his coat with two of her senbon, although only one actually broke the skin underneath. Weapons not getting the desired result, they moved on to other techniques. Hinata launched into a quick suiton jutsu while Shino recalled the parts of his colony scattered around the arena before launching himself at Hinata. The girl finished up the suiton jutsu, clipping her opponent and slowing him down enough to summon chakra to her hands. When Shino got closer, she launched herself forward again before closing off tenketsu point after tenketsu point. She was so focused on her strikes and evading Shino's heavier blows that she never noticed the kikai slipping onto her body.

Before long, two particularly strong blows connected and the pair were once more knocked back. A moment later, and the crowd gasped as both of them slumped, collapsing to the ground. Hinata landed on her side, bracing herself up with her arm, while Shino fell to his knees, catching himself with his hands.

"You are out of chakra," Shino informed his teammate between gasps for air. "My kikai have drained your reserves. I am sure that you are still carrying poisons, but I am less convinced as to your ability to deliver them."

"And your chakra has been sealed," Hinata panted. "And I'm pretty sure at least two of my poisons have made it into your body. Your kikai can fix one or the other quickly, but not both, and not while draining my chakra."

Genma landed a good few yards away from the pair before approaching cautiously. The last thing he wanted was to get injured because these two decided to throw one last attack. He watched in silence as the two watched each other for a moment longer before falling over, both apparently unconscious.

Taken rather aback by the anticlimactic end to the match, Genma called it. "Neither fighter is able to continue, so this bout is a draw. Neither will advance to the next round." He waved a team of medic-nin over, ignoring the audience as they punctuated their applause with muttering.

Up in the Kage's box, the Raikage and Tsuchikage grumbled slightly, their wager made moot by the double defeat. Tsunade ignored her fellow Kage, more interested in the details of the match she'd just seen. Unless she was very much mistaken, she'd just seen a truly tantalizing hint of what that pair would be capable of, once they'd matured a bit.

From her place in the stands, Inuzuka Tsume watched the pair be lifted onto stretchers and taken away. "They did well," she muttered under her breath. "They made it good. Hana," she turned to her daughter. "What d'you say to gettin' a pair of cousins?" The younger Inuzuka woman took a moment to process that before her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open in a silent 'oh'. Recovering her composure, she nodded enthusiastically. "Good," Tsume growled gleefully. "We can bring it up when they get promoted. Don't let me forget."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Although the pair spent the last match of the tournament in the infirmary, that did not prevent them hearing about it in detail later. Lee had gone into it feeling excited at the chance to face his "eternal rival" in the exams, while Neji had refused to show any reaction. It had apparently been a close match. Both were brutal taijutsu-dependant fighters, capable of shutting down an opponent within moments. Neji had the advantage of superior sight and reaction time, not to mention an almost frightening grasp of the Jyuuken and its applications, but Lee was slightly faster, and, unlike Neji, had not been injured during his first round match.

The match shook the stadium. Both of the boys gave as good as they got, but eventually Neji's better reaction time won out, if barely. At the end, there were craters pockmarking the arena, Lee was unconscious in a crater on the ground, and Neji was swaying as he stood, breathing hard, heavily bruised, and possibly sporting cracked ribs. No sooner had Genma called the match in his favor than did Neji sit down heavily and place a hand to his side. It took medics to get the pair off the field.

While the contenders recuperated, debate raged within the judges' rooms. There was no question that the shinobi who had made it to the tournament were talented, and that many of them were probably ready for a promotion. On the other hand, there was a certain amount of reluctance to promote too many at once, especially from a single village.

In the end, five of the participants were chosen for promotion to chuunin. Akiyama Shun, of Iwa, was the only non-Konoha nin promoted. The rest were Kawaguchi Akai, Hyuuga Neji, Hyuuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino.


[A/N] Hello again! Here we have part two of the Chuunin Exams, specifically the tournament. I hope you enjoyed this one, I put a lot of thought into the tournament and may have had a little too much fun with the Kage. Once again my goal is to have the next chapter out within the fortnight. We'll see how that goes.

For those of you who were hoping for a Hinata/Neji fight: It's coming, I promise. However, it won't be for another few chapters, possibly several, since I think that they both need to grow some before their rematch. This is largely because I want Hinata to have a chance to advance to a level sufficient for her to wipe the ground with her cousin, and it'd do Neji some good to mature emotionally before she does. In fact, it'll most likely be set a few months before Shippuden begins. Should you have the patience with your poor author to wait that long, you will get to see Hinata, in Shino's words, "drug Neji stupid".

As usual, thanks to my patient if slightly eccentric baby sister, Pyrozia, for taking a look at this and stopping me from making any serious errors.

Next Chapter: First Gamble.