Guru versus Jin

Jin got up from his seat. "Good Luck," I said to him as he got up. He seemed a bit flustered as he retorted a "yeah, whatever" back at me. I stuck my tongue out at him just as he left. I turned around to find Orochimaru gone. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

"He's already learned what he needed to know," Hinako said looking off into space.

"Why do you get everything so quickly?"

"I don't. You're just slow."

I stuck my tongue out at her as well. But she didn't seem to notice. Her mind seemed to be focused on more important matters. I ignored her and looked to see who Jin was fighting. I gave a gasp as Shigmae announced, "Nakagawa Jin and Jojin Guru step forward."

"THE CANNIBAL!" I screamed in my shock. "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! THAT GUY'S A PSYCHO! IT'S NO FAIR TO PIT HIM AGAINST A CHILD!"

Shigame glared up at me. "What does your opinion matter?" She pointed up at me. "Besides, they were chosen randomly! If he didn't want to fight then he shouldn't have entered the Chuunin Exams in the first place!"

I stood there with my mouth hanging open. Well, she does have a point there. I think I'll sit down now. He slowly went down as all of the eyes in the valley were upon me. Some eyes I really didn't like. I blushed a little at all the attention.

"Baka," Hinako grumbled.

"If we have no more objections," Shigame looked up at me haughtily. "Then I will begin the next match. OK, let's have a fair and clean- what the hell am I saying? You guys are freaks, just go already."

She stepped out of the way as Guru licked his lips and looked Jin up and down. "Not much, but I guess you're good enough of an appetizer."

Jin stepped back a little at this statement made by the cannibal. But he still stood there, ready for anything. Since the cannibal wasn't making any intentions on moving, Jin decided to make the first move. "Concealing Mist jutsu."

A fog spread across the valley floor, and the rest of the battle was unseen to us. "Sharingan," Hinako said immeadiatly after this feat was accomplished.

"You can see, right Hinako?" I said as I scooted closer to her. "What's going on right now?"

"Jin is trying to locate Guru," she said blankly. "He's probably using the most obvious ninja technique: the silent kill."

"That just goes to show how scared of him he is," I thought aloud. "He really wants to get this over with. I don't blame him."

"Ah! He made a move! Idiot! That's not going to work!"

"What! What happened?"

"Jin just threw a whole bunch of shuriken at Guru. They obviously all missed, but now Jin's location has been exposed and Guru is running after him with a kunai."

"And?"

"Oh, it was an illusion. Jin really couldn't see where Guru was, so he made an illusion of himself throw obvious shurikens at Guru, so Guru would attack that spot. Then, Jin would know where he was. So Jin is now attacking Guru with fireballs."

"Did they hit?"

"One did, but most of them missed. Guru's left arm is burnt. What's this? He disappeared! How come my sharingan can't see him? It's supposed to see everything!"

"Not everything," came a voice behind us.

We turned around to see who the intruder was. "Gai-sensei, Lee! What are you guys doing here? And you too, Neji, TenTen. That was a good match by the way, TenTen."

She bowed her head slightly. "Thank you, Sarafu-san. I eagerly await your battle as well."

I smiled. I didn't.

"You aren't able to see him, because the sharingan can only see through jutsus," Neji said. "The Byakugan is the all-seeing eye. You can't see Guru because he is under the ground. He had dug a hole so quickly, even you're sharingan didn't see it."

"What are you talking about? That would have to be at the speed of light!" Hinako exclaimed.

"He has a similar power to you."

Hinako turned back to the mist. What did Neji mean? Does Hinako really have the power to dig holes very fast? She would make an excellent miner.

Suddenly, there was a scream coming from the mist. The scream was so high-pitched I couldn't tell whether it was Guru or Jin. Then, a fire blew the mist away. Jin was running around on fire. Guru was standing there laughing at him.

I sighed. Jin...what was that? I know you're better than that.

After Jin had rolled the fire out on the ground, he got back up formed some hand seals. "Infinite Hail jutsu!" There was a loud roll of thunder as dark clouds began to appear. It began to rain. Guru stood there, taking little notice.

"Is that it? Just a little shower? What a weak technique."

Jin smirked. I heard a chink and knew what was going on. It was hailing. I looked at Hinako who was smiling proudly.

"You taught him that technique, didn't you?"

She nodded. "He begged me for a new technique, so I taught him a simple ice jutsu."

I looked back at the fight to see what the technique produced. The hail had become the size of baseballs by now. Guru held up his arm defensivly. He had bruises on his head and body from when he was hit with the ice. The hail was getting bigger and bigger. I looked at Jin. He was safe. Not a single piece of ice hit him. Well, that was to be expected. Guru didn't want to stand there anymore so he formed some seals and said "Compressed Air Balls jutsu!" He spat out great balls of air towards Jin. The boy frowned, and a great stream of hail fell in the way of Guru's attacks. They collided and the ice shattered. Jin and Guru were both stabbed with shards of ice. Jin in the left shoulder, and Guru in the stomach. Jin stumbled back and his jutsu was undone. Guru ripped the ice shard out of his stomach and he licked the blood off of it. Jin pulled his shard out as well, but he didn't lick it. He grimaced from the pain. Guru chuckled.

"I'm getting kind of hungry. Well, itadakimasu!"

And he disappeared. Jin frantically looked around, but he was no where in sight. And suddenly, Jin cried out in pain as blood splashed out from his arm. Some of the blood was suspended in mid-air. "That's it! He's invisible!" Guru had bit Jin in the arm. Jin tried to pull away, but Guru held fast with his teeth.

"Jin!" I cried desperatly. I looked closely and saw that Jin was crying. He was so frightened, that he even screamed.

"He is a child, after all," Hinako said grimly. "He is too immature to take the terrors of the Chuunin Exam. It was bad luck for him to be paired up with Guru. Hopefully, he'll live."

"Hinako!" I gasped at her. "Try to have more faith in him! Why do you always see the bad side of things? Jin might need this to realize the dangers of reality. He will live through this, and he will become stronger!"

Hinako didn't reply, but frowned down at the battle. She was right about one thing, though. Jin wasn't ready for all of this. He's too over-confident.

Jin in his desperate fear kicked Guru, in what was believed to be the spot where he was hit with the ice shard. Guru gave out a cry from the pain, which made him let go of Jin. Jin ran a safe distance away and turned back to face Guru.

"I can't keep cowering in fear! I need to fight back! Water Element, Wave of Tears!" Water appeared out of the ground before Jin. It grew into a giant wave that was headed for Guru. Guru looked around, but there was no where for him to run. He formed some hand seals, but he was too slow. The water crashed on top of him and he was swept away. The water splashed all over the audience, but we were high enough to only be sprinkled. Guru waved his arms and desperatly gasped for air, but he was pulled down into the water. The water filled up the valley, and there was now a pond, which covered the first row of seats, and the people sitting there had to move. They were drenched wet. Jin stood on the surface of the water, perfectly dry. He had his hand on his hips and he was glaring down at the still water.

It had been ten minutes, and still no sign of Guru. Jin smirked and looked over at Shigame, but Shigame didn't make any movements. Jin stood there, confused, for a second, just before a wire strangled Jin. Guru appeared behind him and he was laughing evilly. Jin coughed.

"How did he survive!" I exclaimed. "He didn't come out of the water for a long time. There was no way he could have lived!"

"No," Hinako said coldly. "While he was under water, he molded his chakra, and made a bubble around his head, so he had air."

Jin's neck was being cut by the very fine wire. He was bleeding. After a struggle, he passed out and landed in Guru's arms. "Chow time!" He sang. Just before he sunk his teeth into Jin's arm, Shigame had a kunai to his neck.

"The match is over," she growled. "You take one bite and I'll cut your head clean off."

Guru froze, afraid, and then gave Jin to Shigame. She removed her kunai from his shivering neck and put it back in her pouch, while cradling Jin in her arms. "Fourth Match, Joujin Guru wins!" The crowd cheered as Jin was taken away by Shigame.

"Man, it sucks that Jin lost. Sorry, Hinako, but I'm gonna go check him out and see if he's ok."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Becuase, I'm gonna miss some of your fight."

Hinako looked at me with sudden realization. She was going up against Neji now. How would she fare?

...to be continued.