A/N I seriously want to get the Chunin Exams over with so I'm skipping the preliminary since I believe it's just going to drag the story. Nothing important happens in that part anyways…Let's just go to the Third Round! More essential things happen there! And I'm making Naruto a bit older than 16. Sorry for the confusion!

Also, a little note, since Sakura is intelligent on her own, she will sooner or later adjust to her blindness and use it to her advantage. I found Sakura extremely annoying in both the manga and anime in both Naruto and Naruto Shippuden, so I made her more bearable in this fic. She actually had good potential but…this is just my opinion so, yeah.

I've actually thought of killing her off in the previous chapter but, meh, she'll be important for later. REPEAT: IT'S NOT A NARUSAKU OR NARUHINA FIC!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but OC's.

WARNING: Major angst, a little fluff, OC's, OOC, gore, sci-fi elements, etc.

It was finally the day for the third test of the Chunin Exams, which the whole village waited for. There was a long line at the stadium, teeming with villagers of all ages.

"Sakura!" Ino shouted, waving her hand in the air. "Wait up!"

Sakura turned around with a small smile. "Ino."

After the preliminaries, they started to hang out more and Ino even cut her hair short like Sakura out of guilt, but refused to turn blind, which made Sakura laugh. Ino surrendered when she found out that she would be fighting Chouji. She stated that she would lose either way to her big-boned friend.

"Are you excited to see Sasuke-kun in action?" Ino asked with a grin.

"I can't see, Ino," Sakura replied dryly.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Ino said sheepishly. "Well, I'll tell you the events, you know, like a reporter."

"I'd rather go with the crowd's excitement, thank you very much."

"Aw, fine. So, what happened with, uh, Naruto? He seemed pretty serious."

Sakura thought back to their private conversation, their words echoing faintly in her head. Could she do what Naruto asked of her?

" –kura! Sakura!"

Sakura blinked under her bandages. "What?"

"You were quiet for a long time," Ino pointed out. "Come on. We need to get good seats!"

Sakura nodded as her friend took a hold of her hand, dragging her into the crowd. Her other hand clenched the device tightly in her pocket.

(With Jin)

Jin slid the metal wristbands onto his wrists, clenching and unclenching his fists. He smiled to himself when he felt his chakra supply increase dramatically.

"Enjoying it, I suppose?" Naruto spoke from the doorway, his hood covering his face from view.

"Keep whatever crap you have to say to me to yourself," Jin said with a glare.

"You're hopeless."

"And I hate you."

"Touché, my friend; so did you make him fall head over heels for you again? Or did you fail again, shippai?"

Jin flinched at the word. "Stop calling me that."

"Old habits die hard."

"I'm not the bad guy."

"I didn't say anything about you being the bad guy. How long have you been in this form?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"True. So, has he been breaking through? You know that you can't stay sane for long."

Jin visibly tensed. "You know what, I don't even know if we're enemies or not."

"Oh, why do you say that?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Are you trying to get to me?" Jin hissed, standing up.

"Why would I?"

"…This is getting nowhere."

"Your everis levels (1) are weaker than before," Naruto pointed out. "How long have you been like this?"

Jin sighed, sitting back down with his hands covering his face. "I don't know. A couple of weeks, I guess. I see him in my sleep, Uzumaki. It's just getting worse." His voice cracked and sounded broken, so much like the broken machine he was.

A flash of pity and concern crossed Naruto's eyes. "Did you bring – "

"No. I was in a rush. The damn ANBU was faster than what I've expected."

"Well, get your act together," Naruto said. "Who knows when you'll break?"

"Shut up, Uzumaki. Since when did you care?"

"I always did. We were friends before; who says we can't stay friends again."

"We're not friends anymore," Jin said through clenched teeth. "Not after what you did."

Naruto glared. "He was leaking information to them, Jin."

"He was forced to!"

"It still marks him as a traitor. Who knows what would've happened if he kept going on? Trash is supposed to be thrown away; he was useless." He was mocking him, daring him to attack.

Jin cried out in rage and charged at Naruto with his fist pulled back to throw a punch however, due to their different heights, Naruto had the advantage. The blonde gripped Jin's approaching fist, grunting from the smaller boy's amazing strength, and threw him against the wall. But Jin didn't give up there. He charged again, jumping up and lifting his leg high to strike Naruto's face with an axe kick until the door opened.

"Jin, it's – what the hell?"

Naruto took that moment to block Jin's kick and reach for his shirt to slam him against the ground. There was a long tense silence until Naruto stood up, dusting himself off. In the process of the fight, his hood slipped.

"Keep a leash on your pet, Hatake," Naruto said coldly. "He's still untamed."

Kakashi widened his eyes. "N-Naruto?"

"Traitor," Naruto hissed under his breath, loud enough for Kakashi to hear.

Kakashi flinched at the cold, darker tone the blonde held. He wished that this was the Naruto he knew before but he knew it was impossible. This Naruto was on a whole different level; although, he did hope. He can hope, right?

"Wait, Na – "

"Don't," Jin interrupted, smacking his hand away. "Words are useless against the idiot. What were you going to say?"

Kakashi blinked and tried to process what happened. "Your match is going to start in a few minutes."

Jin walked out the door, his hands stuffed in his pockets until he felt a warm hand on his arm, causing him to flinch. Sweet, longing memories flooded in his head, causing him to slightly tremble at the overwhelming warmth in his chest.

"Tell me what's going on, Jin," Kakashi said quietly.

Of course, in this world, only the blonde bastard would be in his past lover's head.

"If I tell you, you're just going to get more confused," Jin said in response. "Let me do what I need to do and no one will get hurt."

(Chunin Exams Arena)

"The first match: Endo Jin vs. Hyuga Neji!" Genma announced.

Whispers and murmurs erupted in the crowd. Sakura gripped Ino's hand in nervousness and anticipation, smiling when her friend squeezed back.

Jin and Neji walked into the arena, immersed in each other, their looks steely.

None of the words from the proctor was heard in the boys' ears yet one snapped them out of their intense trance.

"Begin!"

Jin watched as Neji jumped back a bit to gain a good distance between them. No words were exchanged and the silence was shared with the crowd who only watched with wide eyes, not wanting to miss any action. Somehow they knew that this fight was something they didn't want to miss – or forget.

"So," Neji smirked, "you're the one I've heard that killed the Kiri team. You don't look much."

"Talking with a stick up your ass isn't much either," Jin replied indifferently, his hands in his pockets and body relaxed.

Neji glared. "Accept your fate, Endo. This is where you'll fall."

Jin tensed but regained his composure quickly. "Enough talk, let's get on with it."

He suddenly appeared in front of Neji in a surprising burst of speed, his fist pulled back to strike the prodigy's face. If it wasn't for the Hyuga's quick reflexes, he could've sported a bruise on his pretty face – a very ugly bruise.

Neji quickly struck with his palm at Jin's shoulder to block his chakra points however all he hit was air. A sudden pain exploded in his back as he was thrown forward, his face falling on the dirt. Shame, fury, and hurt pride burned ragingly in his guts. How dares this – this fool hit him, the Hyuga prodigy?

"Aw, look," Jin grinned cockingly. "Do you need something to get rid of that wound, little boy?"

"Shut your mouth, you imbecile!" Neji screamed in rage. "Your fate is to be defeated and I am the one who will make it happen for you!"

Up in the stands, Hiashi widened his eyes slightly at the rage his nephew was feeling. Heck, all the spectators were feeling the rage as well and shivered at the intensity level, but their eyes were open and wide, not wanting to miss the details. Sakura started to tremble and tightly squeezed Ino's hand who squeezed back in reassurance and nervousness.

"Don't worry, Sakura," Ino whispered, her voice slightly cracked. "Jin's fine. Neji's the one who got hurt."

"I'm not worried about that," Sakura mumbled under her breath, eyes wide under the bandages. "N-Naruto…Naruto is…"

She could feel it even among the large crowd. Naruto's chakra was going haywire and she felt sweat dripping down the side of her face, curving on her cheek and falling down onto the cold floor. In her ears, she could hear the loud sound of her sweat drop plopping on the floor, echoing loudly in her ears. Terror gripped her heart and she found it hard to breathe. It was too much…

" – kura! Sakura!"

Sakura flinched. "Um, what happened, Ino?"

"Are you sure you're alright? This is the second time you've spaced out. Do you want to take a step out?"

"N-no. I'm fine."

"Oh, they're starting again!"

Jin dodged the angry palm strikes with smooth sidesteps and bending backwards a few times.

"Come on, release it!" Jin shouted with a crazy grin. "Show me your anger! Show me everything!"

Neji gave out a cry of anger, almost like a war cry, increasing the chakra bursts and speed of his palm strikes. No matter how much anger fueled inside of him, he was smart enough to keep his stronger techniques on hold. In other words, he was still sane – somewhat.

"Is that all you've got?" Jin said, disappointment in his voice. "I was expecting more from the all mighty Hyuga prodigy."

"You talk big," Neji panted out.

"Thank you. You don't talk much as well."

Jin took out a few shurikens from his pouch and threw them at Neji who only deflected them all with his own kunai. Jin took that chance to jump above Neji, his leg raised high, preparing an axe kick. Neji jumped back and was surprised to feel pieces of debris knick at his face.

'He's extremely strong,' Neji thought to himself, dust obscuring his vision. 'He has brawns and brains, which is a deadly combination. But he hasn't showed signs of other techniques so maybe he's simply just a taijutsu-user? No, it can't be. Mere kicks and punches are standard for Academy use but I've never seen him around the Academy. I can tell…he's hiding something?'

"Looking for someone?" a voice spoke behind him.

Neji whipped around to only see wires all around him, faint and shimmering under the sun. They all immediately tightened around him, binding him from moving. He activated his Byakugan yet saw nothing but dust.

'How can there still be dust?' Neji thought. 'Wait…no!'

"Revicks (2): Shidare Sharedo,"Jin whispered, creating a one-hand ram seal. (Revicks: Weeping Charade)

Neji watched as darkness started to bleed in his vision. His Byakugan couldn't see anything much to his frustration. He saw darkness, the spectators saw Jin standing over an unconscious Neji; the thing was that his Byakugan was still on and his eyes were still open.

Genma walked in to call off the match and announce the winner but an invisible chakra rope refrained him from moving his body and his lips, which caught the visiting Hokages and the Sandaime's attention. The Kazekage followed the invisible rope but it somehow vanished under his sight as if it was never there in the first place, leaving him a bit frustrated and a bit surprised.

It felt like hours had passed until Neji gasped, finding himself back in reality.

Jin's face was covered in sweat and he was trying to regain his breath. 'Shit. I used too much chakra.'

"Do you see?" Jin said. "Fate is inevitable but you still have the power to change it; at least, if you try to."

Neji shook, pushing himself up from the ground with clammy hands. "W-what did you just show me? Why…?"

"I am not from your world," Jin answered. "In fact, I shouldn't even be here however I came knowing the risks. I came here to change my fate. And if you don't cut the crap about your and everyone else's fate, at least, keep it to yourself; it might be too bothersome."

Neji stayed silent for a moment. "We are still in a battle, aren't we?"

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Jin took out a kunai and charged with the same burst of speed but a bit slower this time.

Neji activated his Byakugan and went into an all-too familiar stance in Hiashi's eyes.

'What? How could the boy…?' Hiashi thought incredulously.

"Otou-san," Hanabi asked with wide eyes. "Isn't that – "

She was cut off when Neji shouted the technique she was about to say.

"Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!" (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)

Neji waited for Jin to get within the circle. As soon as he was in arm's reach, he struck.

"Two palms!" Neji struck two consecutive strikes.

"Four palms!" Another two strikes. He never noticed Jin's smirk.

"Eight palms!" Four more strikes.

"Sixteen palms!" Eight more strikes.

"Thirty two palms!" Sixteen more strikes. Blood flowed freely from Jin's mouth.

"Sixty four palms!" Thirty two more strikes and done.

Neji panted from the drainage of energy, trying hard not to fall over despite his trembling legs. Jin lied down on the floor, unmoving. Somehow, it felt good to Neji, releasing his pent up anger inside, but it made him feel sorry for hurting the poor boy.

Genma, who somehow got untangled from the chakra ropes, raised his hand to call off the match and announce the winner until his hair blew slightly from the unexpected wind. He widened his eyes along with the spectators when Jin appeared, his kunai over Neji's neck and his hand pulling back Neji's long hair. Neji was face-down on the ground with shimmering strings binded around him.

Jin smirked. "I win."

Genma shook out of his shock. "The winner of this match is Endo Jin!"

A stunned silence covered the audience until they all started to cheer slowly at the amazing, unexpected fight.

Sakura smiled and clapped as well when suddenly she froze. This chakra…

She widened her eyes under her bandages in horror. "Jin!"

Ino looked at her, confused, when she gasped in horror at what Jin was about to do. He raised the kunai slowly in a stabbing position, directed at Neji's jugular vein and they saw it plunge into Neji's neck.

But what they heard wasn't Neji's scream, but Jin's. It sounded inhumane, hollow, and metallic in a way. It sent shivers up everyone's spine including the watching Hokages and the disguised Orochimaru.

Jin's kunai was lying on the ground, untainted with blood, and Neji was trying to stand but the strings were wrapped tightly around his body.

Genma watched as a cloaked figure slung Jin's unconscious body over his shoulder.

"I'll take him," a familiar, husky voice said from under the hood. "Carry on with the other matches."

He disappeared, leaving no trace of him behind.

'Naruto,' Sakura thought. 'Please help Jin – and yourself.'

(Hospital Room)

"Stay down!"

Jin screamed and thrashed uncontrollably under his tight grasp as Naruto stuck a needle in Jin's arm, successfully pushing in the liquid. Jin's flashing sapphire blue eyes started to slowly fade and his body started to relax until it went limp, making the boy succumb to a troublesome sleep.

Naruto gripped the sheets in tight fists until he turned around, releasing the lock seal he put around the room beforehand yet left the soundproof seal on.

He sat down at the side of Jin's bed and brought his hand up to his face, tracing a strange black marking that curved over his left eye, stopping at the center of his cheek. It had appeared today after he left Jin's room before the match had begun.

"It already started," he mumbled to himself. "Jin…it started."

He turned to see his old friend's face, which sported a black mark of his own.

A/N Yay! I'm done. Sorry. I know…so many questions, right? Hope you liked it. And, no, there was no NarutoXJin but they were old friends. Think of Jin as a Sasuke in the other dimension.

Kekeke…Well, wait for the next chapter and it'll possibly answer some of the questions you're having!

I know Neji's little dilemma with fate and such isn't what you've expected but…don't worry! Naruto will have more action in the next chapter!

I suck at fighting scenes…I'm sorry. TT^TT

Translation:

Everis levels – It's a term from the other dimension to refer to an - mentality and emotional levels. You'll find out more and yes…Jin's not human.

Revicks – It's like Ninja Art: (insert jutsu name) but more for people like Jin. It has its own unique qualities and is different from ninjutsu in the Naruto world we know.

Review please~~~