Ino's face was a storm of emotion. Rage, embarrassment, disappointment, and half a dozen others flashed across it. 'Neji would be able to read exactly what she is feeling from the smallest movements of her face, but for once I'm glad I can't.' Hinata thought. She'd heard what Sasuke had said to Ino and Sakura and she could only imagine the pain she must be feeling inside. 'Why, if Naruto had said something like that I'd probably want to die!'
"Today's been the worst day of my life, and it's not going to get any better. You're the worst possible opponent for me, so let's get the humiliation over and done with." Ino spat out with acidic disgust.
'Is she serious,' Hinata wondered in surprise. It was true that Ino's taijutsu was merely above average, while her own was the best of any kunoichi in class, but the Yamanaka clan supposedly knew many advanced and esoteric mental techniques. 'Maybe she hasn't learned them yet; after all, father hasn't taught me the Kaiten, but to tell me...is she really so unbalanced with anger?' She shook her head, 'It doesn't matter, I have to win or I'll never live the shame down,' she thought as she settled into a gentle fist stance and activated her byakugan. Her all seeing white eyes and the veins that lead to them bulging in an unsightly fashion.
Ino ran a hand through her long hair in frustration, and then started and looked at her pony tail as if she'd just seen it for the first time. "Growing this was a complete waste of time," she growled, grabbing it by the root and slicing it off, scattering blonde hair in disgust before her. They glowed with the soft light of chakra to Hinata's eyes, and she leaped backwards immediately, unwilling to let the strange technique come into contact with her.
She pulled a kunai from behind her back and deflected two shuriken that Ino had followed up her hair with. The ting of steel on steel rang sharp as they deflected off to the side. Then she infused the exploding tag wrapped around the hilt of her kunai with chakra and threw the knife at the stretch of floor blanketed with hair.
The two girls sprang apart as kunai exploded in a coruscating swirl of fire. Hinata closed her eyes to protect them from the glare. It wasn't as if the flap of skin that were her eyelids could in anyway impede her vision. Ino didn't seem to realize that and immediately dove through the smoke and dust and charged at her, obviously hoping to take advantage of a moment in which both of their vision was impaired.
Hinata stepped forward and slammed her left palm into the base of Ino's wrist. The girl's hand popped open, and she dropped her blade with a cry. Hinata's right hand swirled out in a circular motion, sweeping Ino's left arm aside and leaving her open for a devastating chakra enhanced blow to the chest. She dropped like a puppet with cut strings, gasping for air, unable to do much more than spasm in agony.
"I collapsed a lung, she needs to be treated by a medic." Hinata said urgently. She'd made sure to avoid the heart, so the girl's life wasn't in danger, but she was sure that Ino must be in a lot of pain. Seeing a girl she went to the academy with for all those years, lying on the floor and suffering because of her, it made Hinata feel sick. Sick with worry and regret and ashamed that she had such feelings. 'What would father say,' she wondered.
The proctor jumped over, and one look down at Ino convinced him the fight was over. "Winner of the Fifth Round, Hyūga Hinata!" he announced.
The medics rushed onto the arena floor and turned the Yamanaka girl over, running hands laden with medical chakra over her, and then loading her onto a stretcher. One of them glanced up at her, "Don't worry, she'll be fine," he said before focusing back on his treatment.
Hinata let herself smile at that, and then turned to walk back to the viewing area only to stop short when she realized people were cheering for her! She'd been so absorbed in the scene before her she hadn't noticed. Her teammates and several other Leaf genin were cheering her, even Na...Nartuo! Her cheeks warmed, and she felt a little faint, but she steadied herself and kept on walking. It wouldn't do to faint now. All she could think was, 'he noticed me! He finally noticed me!'
Once the floor was clear of the prior contestants Temari jumped down to the ground. Her face was blank, but her eyes couldn't hide her rage. She didn't care. 'I might not be able to do anything to that pretty boy until the finals, but I'm not going to let the Leaf get away without suffering,' she stewed, her heart awash with grief, anger and hatred. 'Killing Gaara and humiliating Kankurō...I'm not going to let them walk all over the Sand and my family without paying the price.'
Her opponent, Yoroi followed, head cocked at an angle that screamed arrogance, quite a feat given that he was wearing sunglasses and a veil. The later were common in Sauna however, and Temari had long learned to read body language despite it. Not that she needed to, he announced himself by taunting her, "Two up and two down, and one of them for good. Let's make it a clean sweep." The sneer in his voice was clear for anyone to hear.
"The only thing they'll be sweeping out of here are the pieces of your corpse." Temari growled.
"Sixth match begin!" Hayate ordered, and the words were barely out of his mouth before the two contestants began to move.
The Konoha nin charged straight at her like a fool, while Temari jumped back to maintain the distance between them, expertly unfurling her fan to its full breadth and infusing it with all the chakra she could muster. She swung it forward with all her might and unleashed the scything winds of her Kamaitachi technique. They tore into him without mercy, carving great crimson gashes into his body that fountain with blood. Yoroi folded up like a cheap lawn chair and crumpled to the floor with a pained gurgle, blood pooling around him as if he was a burst balloon full of paint.
"Medic!" Hayate shouted, flickering in front of Temari to prevent any more action. "Winner of the sixth match is Temari," he announced to her back as she turned around and started for the stairs.
The medics sprang immediately into action, but it was obviously too late. Yoroi had already lost far too much blood, suffered too many grievous injuries to be saved.
Temari flicked her eyes up to that pale, pretty boy prick who'd killed her brother and gave him a little grin.
Haku was overwhelmed with melancholy as he stared down at the bloodstained floor. The attendant chunin were scrubbing away, cleaning the arena up for the next match. A bucket full of soapy water and a mop wasn't enough to wash away the guilt he was feeling. 'That teen was cocky, but he isn't dead because he was brash. He's dead because I killed Gaara.' The sight of Temari's tear streaked face flashed through his mind, followed by the cold mask of controlled rage she wore at the beginning of her match. 'It was only natural that she'd hate the Leaf for what I did and would want some modicum of revenge. This is the cycle of hatred that Jiraiya speaks of. Can it ever really be broken?' he wondered bleakly.
The chunin walked off the floor seemingly finished, though some rust red stains remained. "The seventh match of the preliminaries will pit Rock Lee against Tsurugi Misumi," Hayate announced.
'I don't know anything about Misumi, but Lee must be the protégé of Maito Gai, and from what little I've seen of them it seems the stories are not exaggerated,' he thought with a shiver. The leotard clad buy was jumping up and down, thrusting his fists in the air and babbling on about the "powers of youth!" Haku tried not to listen too closely, after all, one look at the boy's jonin sensei indicated that it was a contagious condition.
"Let the seventh match begin," Hayate commanded, and the words were barely out of his mouth before Rock Lee was hurtling forward like a jade missile. 'Fast, really fast.' Haku thought, 'As fast as me, and if he's truly learned his sensei's techniques then that's just the minimum.' Lee delivered a whirling, off the floor roundhouse kick direct to Misumi's chest, lifting him a full half meter off the ground. Spitting blood, the overmatched teen tried to grab his garish tormenter, arms flowing unnaturally as if they hadn't any bones. It was as useful as trying to grab hold of the wind. Lee effortlessly danced around his victim's grasping tentacle like limbs, spinning into a bone crushing backfist that had Misumi staggering, following it up with a simple sweep that sent him crashing to the ground. As he struggled to leverage himself off the floor, Lee stomped on his head and he was out like a light. The fight had lasted ten seconds at best.
"Winner of the seventh match, Rock Lee," Hayate declared to the gleeful cries of the genin and his master, who jumped down to the arena and lifted him in his arms and twirled him around like a child.
Haku felt nausea start to well up as he watched the sickening, saccharine display. "I think I'm going to go visit Naruto," he announced. "Want to come with me Sakura?" he asked.
"That won't be necessary," Neji interrupted, vaulting over the rail and down to the floor below.
"It's time for the final match," the Hyūga said coldly, though it hardly seemed to phase his teammate or sensei.
The two began to give him a ludicrously over the top pep talk that Haku blocked out of his mind with the mental conditioning of a combat veteran; the kind of thought process that allowed a shinobi to focus in on the task at hand even as the world came apart around you and your closet comrades in arms were being torn to pieces. Instead he focused in on Neji's opponent. He was calmly descending the stairs, hands in his pockets.
'Excellent balance for a rookie,' Haku noted. 'And he has the cool collected attitude that Neji projects to the world, but that's really hiding anger coiled tight like a wire. With that and his kikaichū, he should win unless Neji's got something interesting up his sleeve.'
The Hyūga apparently disagreed. "A shame," he said. "You would have beaten most of the other contestants here, but fate has decreed me your opponent and ordained your defeat."
"Your eyes may be able to detect my kikaichū, but they aren't capable of destroying them." Shino said in a level, logical tone. "Nor will your attempts to psychologically manipulate me succeed."
A cruel little smirk tugged at the edge of Neji's mouth. "Judging my capabilities by those of Lady Hinata's! No wonder you never had a chance." And with that he burst into motion, racing towards his adversary at full speed.
Shino just brought up his arms, a veritable torrent of insects pouring out from his sleeves and crawling out from cracks in his skin. It made him look akin to a mobile corpse that had fallen deep into rot, yet somehow still moved. The parasitic horde crashed to the floor in a chittering wave, surging towards the Hyūga.
'I'd just wash them away with a water technique, or use a mirror to go straight for a knockout if I was in this fight, but I don't see how Neji can beat him, especially so directly', Haku thought with confusion.
Each bug was insignificant on its own, but as one they looked like a spreading pool of black blood set to engulf the boy as he ran forward. Then as the flood seemed poised to crash down upon him, Neji just exploded into action with a blaze of chakra; and that chitinous tide was scattered through the air across the arena, like water from a pond hit by a waterspout as he spun through the swarm with a ragged glowing spin, surrounded by an unstable swirl of energy. He jerked to a sudden and ungainly stop in front of the shocked Aburame, energy wave collapsing around him as he launched into a flurry of strikes, but off balance as he was, his style and speed was still formidable enough to land a dozen blows on his foe and send him crashing down to the concrete floor, and into the arms of Morpheus.
The subtle, yet surprised reactions of many of the jounin sensei, and Hinata's outright gasp, told Haku all he needed to know. This was indeed an unrefined execution of the Hyūga clan's ultimate technique, the Heavenly Spin. A technique the clan head would have never taught a branch member, not even a nephew of a beloved brother. 'Self-taught!' Haku thought in amazement. 'He really is as good as they say. His ability is already on par with a solid chunin.' he judged. 'I'll have to keep an eye on him in the finals and make sure I don't underestimate him. Too many great ninja have fallen to foes far below them simply because they didn't take them seriously.'
With their master down for the count, the reforming swarm lost their guidance and slowed. Some continuing to advance on the Hyūga, others returning to their master, while still others milled about on the floor in confusion.
With Shino down for the count, Hayate dropped down to the floor, "the winner of the eighth and final prelimnary match is Hyūga Neji."
"Hey! That means I got the bye!" shouted a startled girlish voice.
Haku looked over at Sakura in exasperation. Apparently she was so wrapped up in the "tragedy of Sasuke's betrayal" that she hadn't realized that Neji and Shino's selection had guaranteed her advancement.
"And with that the preliminaries of the third round of the Chunin Exam are completed." The Hokage announced, grinning teeth clenched around his pipe, his powerful voice silencing the crowd. "To all those who have earned the right to continue on, congratulations. The third round will take place one month from now in the public arena. This will allow you the time necessary to rest up and train, so that you will be able to represent the strength of your village to the best of your abilities." Sarutobi's face grew stern, "Be warned, feudal lords, wealthy merchants, religious leaders, organized crime kingpins and many other kinds of men with power will be watching. This tournament isn't just about you, the prestige and reputation of your village will rise or fall with your performance."
"We understand," Temari said coldly.
'No doubt, she's feeling the pressure of being the sole representative of her village on the big stage,' Haku thought.
"Now, before you go, let's set the seeding of the tournament." The Hokage said, nodding towards the proctor of the second exam. She hardly looked the worse for wear considering her adventure in the forest, still as maniacal and scantily clad as ever. "Anko here has nine pieces of paper in a box, take one and the number you see will be your turn."
The selection didn't long, Sasuke drew number 5, then Haku drew 8, and Shikamaru 6. 'Shikamaru vs. Sasuke, huh. That should be an interesting fight.' Haku thought.
The drawing continued with Hinata taking 9, Temari picking 4, Lee getting 2 and Neji 1.
"Yosh!" Lee cried in seeming ecstasy. "Neji, our glorious rivalry will be on display for the world to see and I will finally prove that a genius of hard work can defeat a prodigy born of natural talent!"
"Oh Lee!" Gai yelled, flickering in and embracing his student, swinging him around wildly. Tears of joy streaming down his face.
'There's no way this is real,' Haku thought numbly.
"Take it outside!" The Hokage ordered, and with that they were gone. Shouting about training, with Gai throwing out crazy ideas like climbing the Hokage monument with one finger, faded into the distance.
"I have number seven," Sakura said drawing the attention of the group back to Ibiki, who was drawing out the seeding of the tournament on poster board. She would be fighting Haku, and the winner of that match would face Hinata before the semifinals commenced.
Haku frowned, 'Even if she takes my advice seriously, she won't be able to compete with me in a month. Hinata's unlikely to develop a real killer instinct in that time either, but maybe there's a way to make this interesting. Thinking quickly, he spoke up "Lord Hokage, excuse me for my presumption, but it may be fairer to the competitors and more intriguing to the audience, if rather than I having to fight Sakura and then Hinata in back to back rounds, you simply make the fourth match a three way battle."
Jiraiya grinned widely, while the Hokage merely nodded in approval and cocked an eyebrow in interest. "You realize given your display in this preliminary that it will surely end up being a fight of two on one as the kunoichi team up to take you out before turning on each other."
"Of course, but chunin sometimes face such situations, do they not? If I can't deal with it then I don't deserve to be here."
"Alright then," the Hokage replied, cracking a grin. "Then that's settled. The fourth match of the opening round will be a three way contest. If anyone else wishes to make a comment or ask a question, do so now." He paused, looking out over his audience.
Temari surprisingly spoke up, "Naruto's number three by default then, and my opponent." She was wearing a cruel looking smile that looked like it wouldn't have been out of place on her late younger brother. Her intentions were clear to any who looked,
'That girl is disturbed,' Haku thought. 'After seeing Orochimaru in action though it's hard for me to get too worked up over her.'
"Ah yes, that would correct." The Hokage rejoined. "You two will compete in the second match." He looked over the crowd again, obviously eager to get going. "Now, if that's it, you are all dismissed. I wish you good luck."
The crowd started to drift away after that, and Haku started in Jiraiya's direction only to stop and wait when he saw Hinata approach with a shy wave.
"Why...why did you do that? Offer to fight me and Sakura?" She stuttered.
"I meant what I said," he smiled at the bashful introvert, "the audience will get a better show, I'll get a good work out and have a chance to truly show my worth to the judges, and it will give you a better chance to advance." 'Not much better,' he thought uncharitably, 'but some.' He didn't say it though, this poor girl needed all the confidence she could get.
"You're very strong." she said pensively, pushing her fingers together in worry. "It probably won't matter that you're fighting two of us."
"So are you Lady Hinata, if only you'd realize it." He told her, overriding her stuttering denials, "You're form is quite good, you need only develop the will to carry through your strikes."
"Thank you," she said, cheeks reddening with embarrassment, as if she did not really believe him.
'Perhaps, she thinks I'm just humoring her, but it's true. For a rookie genin, her style is quite refined, it just needs to be imbued with killer intent,' the boy thought.
"Now there's a chip off the old block! You're not truly a disciple of mine until you make the young ladies go red." Jiraiya interjected, seeming to slide in from nowhere to wrap an arm around Haku and give a lascivious wink at Lady Hinata.
If the girl was red before, her face was now a crimson bordering on vermilion as she gave a loud "Eep!" and spun around, taking off for the exit at pace just short of flight, but far too quick be called dignified.
Haku looked up at his master in tired disgust, "Was that really necessary?" he asked. His soul felt weary, as it always did after a mission in which he had blood on his hands, and this mission had been more strenuous and stressful than any before. Jiraiya's foibles could be tolerable or even amusing at times, but at times like these he just couldn't stand them.
"You know it kiddo," Jiraiya answered, taking the opportunity to ruffle Haku's hair.
'All in all a dispiriting end to a tragic day,' Haku thought as he and the rest of the contestants shuffled out of the arena.