Preliminaries
"Congratulations to you all on passing the second exam." the Hokage told the group of genin gathered in the underground training arena. Five teams from Konoha and the team from Suna remained. "The third part of the chūnin exams is traditionally a tournament between candidates, to display your own strengths as well as to represent the honor and prestige of your respective villages to a number of foreign dignitaries. Before we begin that stage, however, Gekko Hayate will proctor the preliminaries."
The genin began muttering to each other as the Hokage stepped back, and a tokubetsu jōnin stepped forward. He coughed hard a few times, then addressed them in a quiet, raspy voice.
"There are too many of you to perform in the tournament, so we will hold the preliminaries now. You will no longer fight as a team, but alone. As I'm sure you've noticed, these exams can easily turn into fights to the death, so if any of you feel unprepared to continue feel free to leave now."
The muttering between teams got louder, but Team 7 stayed silent. Eventually, the talking died down. No one stepped forward to leave.
Hayate coughed again. "Fine. Six teams of three remain, so we will have nine matches. However, ten of you will advance to the tournament, including one participant who lost their match, so fight well and try not to die."
"The first match will be between Uchiha Sasuke and Adako Yoroi. The two of you, please come forward. The rest of you, please proceed to one of the viewing galleries."
Sasuke's neck and shoulder had hurt worse and worse as they traveled to the underground arena. Both Naruto and Sakura had thrown him worried looks, but he just shook his head at them.
It burned. But he could handle it. It wasn't anything Sakura hadn't already fought through, and Naruto probably too.
The stupid memories of Itachi wouldn't leave him alone. He barely heard the Hokage speak to congratulate the genin. Sasuke couldn't tear his eyes from the hat.
The hat that Itachi wanted.
In most of his memories, Itachi was smiling. Sasuke once drew him wearing the Hokage's hat, albeit badly, but it was his and Itachi's favorite picture for a long time. Their mother hung it up on the wall in their room.
Itachi, playing ninja with him. Teaching him how to fight, pretending to get hurt.
Sasuke, always running over to him to bandage up the imaginary wounds and bravely defend Itachi from imaginary monsters, getting revenge for what they'd done to his brother.
Sasuke, loudly announcing that he was going to be the best medic-nin in the world and protect the hokage (his brother) from everything.
Itachi, blood-red eyes, crying in the moonlight.
After that night, Sasuke had been prepared to kill him. He'd decided long ago that Itachi would be the only person he ever killed. But now…
If Naruto was right, then what? If Itachi did this because it was what a hokage would do, then why didn't the real hokage do it instead?
Naruto thought Sasuke could be stronger than Itachi, and so did Orochimaru.
Sakura thought he could be a medic, too.
Sasuke looked down at his hands, trying to imitate how Sakura had formed the chakra the night before, while healing his arm. His right hand shone blue with flashes of green. The green twinged where it flickered over his arm.
"The first match will be between Uchiha Sasuke and Adako Yoroi. The two of you, please come forward. The rest of you, please proceed to one of the viewing galleries."
Sasuke clenched his fists and looked up. Adako Yoroi was part of the Konoha medic corps team that had joined the chūnin exams, and his specialty was stealing chakra, forcing people into a chakra coma. Something he really needed to avoid right now, if he wanted to keep control over the seal and still use his Sharingan to fight.
"Kick ass, Sasuke," Naruto grinned, holding out a fist. Sakura held hers out hesitantly and smiled. Sasuke met theirs with his own and then walked to meet Yoroi at the front of the arena.
Yoroi cracked his knuckles threateningly.
Sasuke smirked.
Kakashi-sensei met Naruto and Sakura at the gallery. "Is Sasuke stable?" he asked in a low, serious voice. "We know enough to guess what happened in the forest."
Sakura nodded. Sasuke had started fighting Yoroi, and Naruto was cheering him on. "I can feel his chakra. I'll let you know if the seal breaks loose again."
Kakashi-sensei, however, raised his one visible eyebrow eyebrow comically high at Sakura. "And exactly how long have you been able to sense other peoples chakra from a distance?" he asked, keeping his voice quiet.
Sakura was confused. "Um. Since… I think since we got back from Wave?" Vaguely she remembered being able to sense Hinata before Sakura saw her…
Sakura's mouth fell open.
She was a chakra sensor?!
Kakashi stared at her, then dragged a hand mournfully across his face. "And you do know that is the opposite of normal, meaning something you should tell me right away, right?"
"U-um. I didn't think about it. I'm sorry…"
"It's probably just a side effect of your chakra sensitivity being ramped up with the new seal, but we'll make sure when the seal master gets here. Next time, just try to remember to tell me next time something odd happens."
Sakura suddenly let out a snort that sounded nearly identical to Sasuke's. "Sensei, you'd never get any sleep if we did that."
"You're probably right," he chuckled. "I'm also curious, is there some particular reason you're pretending to be me, now? I highly doubt something in the forest made you decide that my mask was suddenly 'cool'."
"Surface level injury to the skin," she avoided Kakashi's eyes. "It's healing up though." Suddenly, Sakura's eyes went wide. "A lot of Sasuke's chakra just got sucked up by his opponent."
She turned back around to stand next to Naruto so she could see the rest of Sasuke's fight. Kakashi observed from above them, ready to intervene if necessary. However, all they saw was Sasuke's opponent stumbling out of a smoke cloud, cursing and holding his head. The smoke cleared to show Sasuke wearing a very satisfied smirk.
"He's not supposed to use a lot of chakra, same as me, right?" Naruto asked, sounding worried.
"Excuse me." Kakashi pined the back of Naruto's head with the same look he'd given Sakura just a moment earlier. "Same as you?"
"Weird snake guy didn't bite me, but he did something to my seal," Naruto shrugged, not bothering to turn around. "Sometimes the other chakra comes out when I don't want it to, now."
Kakashi stared at his genin for a few long seconds, then sighed.
"Make sure Sasuke doesn't die," he told them.
Then, he disappeared.
He needed to get their seals looked at, now. And he had a few other questions, too.
Sasuke and Yoroi were evenly matched with taijutsu, but with every hit, Yoroi took more of his chakra. The pain from the seal was increasing at the same rate.
Sasuke threw down a smoke bomb, giving him just enough time to jump back and focus on forming a plan. Medical chakra, used incorrectly, was supposed to be extremely painful and dangerous, right?
Sasuke smirked.
If Yoroi wanted to take his chakra, then that was fine. But only on Sasuke's terms.
Sasuke focused the mix of elemental and medical chakra in his arm and hand and shoved it into Yoroi's head. Yoroi stumbled backwards, cursing. Sasuke threw a kunai, forcing Yoroi to dodge sideways, and tracked his movements with the Sharingan.
One more hit to the head with chakra, and Yoroi was unconscious.
"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke," the speakers droned. The medics carted Yoroi off the arena floor.
Sasuke jumped up to the gallery area where Naruto and Sakura stood.
"Nice," Naruto grinned at him.
Sasuke snorted. "Wasn't that hard."
Kakashi-sensei reappeared and nodded once at Sasuke. "Well done."
Sasuke felt a little tiny flash of pride. He'd even saved enough chakra to watch the rest of the fights with the Sharingan active without too much pain from the seal.
The next fight was Chōji against Kabuto, and it didn't last long. Kabuto fought silently and brutally, forcing Chōji to defend himself almost immediately. Less than a minute into the fight, Chōji yielded.
Then, Naruto won against Kiba, with nothing except ninja tricks and a well-timed fart. Sasuke and Sakura gave him a high five afterward.
Shino won against the female team member of the Konoha Medic Corps, rather arrogantly.
Temari won against Tenten in a fight that was almost over before it had started.
Kankurō forfeited against Shikamaru halfway through their fight at a stalemate.
And then it was Gaara of Suna vs Rock Lee.
Sakura felt like she couldn't breathe as the medical team rolled Lee out of the area. Guy was still standing in front of Gaara, whose sand twisted wildly around him. If Gaara decided to kill them all, he probably could.
Sakura narrowed her eyes and started to plan.
His sand was full of chakra, but it seemed as if without a specific jutsu, it had to stay connected to a large chakra source. If he could kill with just a few grains of sand in arteries, he wouldn't waste chakra on crushing people. And if he had that kind of chakra control, he seemed like the type of person who would probably be interested in exploding people from the inside out.
Lee had been faster than Gaara's sand – but just barely – and that speed training would take up a lot of time. Sakura was pretty sure that she was still slower than Lee with Kubikiribocho.
"Sensei," Sakura whispered. He glanced down at her. "You can teach us how to fight him, right?"
Sakura felt a hand ruffle her hair in answer and relaxed a little.
"You'll be ready," he said quietly.
The next fight was between Hinata and her cousin, Neji.
Sakura's hands were shaking on the railing. Every muscle in her body felt like it was on fire.
It was like watching Hinata go through every single fight Sakura had ever had with her uncle.
"Sakura," Sasuke warned.
Sakura ignored him.
"You've managed some impressive killing intent," Kakashi-sensei said. His hand rested on her shoulder. "Practice controlling your chakra."
Sakura took a few deep breaths. She slowly turned the chakra in her face into medical chakra, which required a lot of concentration.
It broke when she heard Hinata bite back a scream. Her eyes flew open to see Hinata stagger and fall to the ground.
"Winner of the match, Hyūga Neji," the speakers droned.
But then, Hinata mechanically pushed herself off the ground, stood back up, and unsteadily settled back into a fighting stance.
Her eyes were glazed over.
And then Sakura saw Neji pushing a glowing hand straight toward Hinata's heart.
Sakura flooded chakra through her entire body and launched herself onto the floor, shoving Hinata backward. Neji hit Sakura's right shoulder at full power instead. Sakura barely even felt the pain.
"That hit would've killed her," she snarled at him.
Neji laughed and straightened. "If she can't defend against the skills of her own branch member, she isn't worthy to live."
A blur of orange flew in front of her and Sakura saw Neji dodge Naruto's fist. Naruto skidded and then stood to glare at Neji as well. Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw the medics carry Hinata away on a stretcher.
"Come and just try to get revenge," Neji chuckled. His eyes were dark and satisfied. "You're all fated to lose against me anyway."
Sakura didn't bother answering. The chakra flooding her system felt like it was going to explode. Sasuke and Kakashi appeared next to her and Naruto.
"Who cares about fate?" Naruto spat. "I'll beat the crap out of you here and now, you bastard!"
Kakashi grabbed Naruto around the chest and hauled him back up to the stands, kicking and shouting insults. Neji just smirked at them and jumped back onto the viewing platform.
"Your fight is the last one," Sasuke said quietly to Sakura. She turned to look at him, then managed a nod. Sasuke paused for a moment, studying her.
"Be careful," he said, with a wry smile. "Naruto might be mad if you end up killing Ino." Sakura nodded again and slowly tried to reign in her chakra.
"Okay," she whispered.
Ino was her opponent.
Sakura's stomach lurched. All she wanted to do was make sure Hinata was okay, but she had to fight Ino now.
Sasuke left, and Ino jumped down to face Sakura.
"Hmph!" Ino said, flipping her hair back over her shoulder. "I'll show Sasuke once and for all that I am the best! I'll defeat you even faster than that weirdo beat Hinata." Ino smirked. "I'm surprised she lasted that long, but you're probably even weaker than she is so this'll be a piece of cake."
Sakura stilled.
Ino's smirk grew wider. "You know you can't beat me, so I'd suggest you give up now before you get hurt, like she did."
Sakura had endured insults far worse than that before, but it was very different when it came to Hinata. She glanced upward, to Neji. He had his arms crossed and looked smug.
Proud.
Proud of almost killing his cousin.
Sakura was angry.
She took off the sword, leaving it as a small knife lying on the ground. She'd be faster without it. Then Sakura flooded her entire body with even more chakra, until each muscle felt tense and too tight. The shoulder Neji had hit throbbed, but in a far-off way.
The onlookers in the gallery began murmuring to each other.
Ino was slow.
Everything she did was slow. She wasn't a front-line fighter. She didn't train for combat, either. Not like Team 7 did. And the faster Sakura got this over with, the faster she could go see Hinata.
"You may begin," the proctor said with a cough.
Sakura disappeared in a blur.
Ino dodged, but Sakura's leg still clipped her in the side and made her stumble. Sakura spun and slammed a fist upward into her jaw.
Ino flew backward and crumpled to the ground.
She didn't get back up.
"Winner, Haruno Sakura."
The stadium was completely silent.
Sakura looked up to meet Neji's eyes. They were fully trained on her, with the Byakugan active. He was frowning. She felt a flash of dark satisfaction at his expression. Then, she looked at Ino's body, and the anger and satisfaction drained away, replaced by dread.
Hinata had looked like that.
Sakura had probably looked like that a few times, after her uncle was particularly hard in training.
She swallowed the rising bile in her throat and walked toward her sword. She picked it up and locked it back in the harness, then headed towards Ino's body.
Sakura carefully picked Ino up and carried her across the silent arena, through the same doors where the medics had taken Hinata.
The only three who weren't surprised at the outcome of the last preliminary fight were Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto.
Naruto was frowning, hard. Sasuke had expected him to be angry, or shout, or something. But when Ino had said Hinata's name, Naruto just became very, very still and quiet.
The rest of the onlookers in the room didn't speak a word as Sakura picked up the tiny knife on the ground and walked toward Ino's body.
Gaara's sand, however, was spinning wildly around him. He never tore his eyes off Sakura, as she very gently picked up Ino's body and carried it out the training doors to the medical area like it weighed nothing.
Neji didn't look away either. His Byakugan was active.
Sasuke did a quick scan of the rest of the crowd with his Sharingan, committing all their reactions to memory.
Kiba and Shino had unreadable expressions. Their jōnin looked completely stunned.
Shikamaru looked unsurprised and bored, but one of his eyebrows was furrowed. Chōji had a forgotten chip halfway to his mouth, which was open as he stared. Their jōnin looked similar to Chōji, with his mouth hanging open.
The other girl and boy from Suna and their jōnin weren't looking at Sakura, instead watching Gaara warily. They had some sort of silent conversation and then the boy left.
Kabuto was glaring at Sakura. Then, he met Sasuke's eyes. His expression immediately went blank.
"Ahem, well," the proctor cleared his throat. "Since that concludes the preliminary matches, I will now announce the participants of the final tournament."
"The nine winners shall continue forward. Uchiha Sasuke, Yakushi Kabuto, Uzumaki Naruto, Aburame Shino, Temari of Suna, Nara Shikamaru, Gaara of Suna, Hyūga Neji, and Haruno Sakura. After deliberation, the tenth competitor will be Hyūga Hinata. The final tournament will be held in one month's time, and the details will be posted outside the Hokage Tower tomorrow morning. You are dismissed."
Together, Sasuke and Naruto jumped down and started heading toward the med bay where Sakura had disappeared.
As the genin dispersed, Guy pulled Kakashi aside.
"You didn't tell me about Sakura," he murmured, frowning.
Kakashi shrugged. "I don't tell anyone about my cute little almost-chūnin," he said, giving Guy a wide, meaningless smile.
"She has as much chakra as a jinchuriki." Guy snapped back. "She's fast as Lee without the gates, she'll likely develop a grudge against Neji, and Gaara and the others are interested in her now. Worse, she's becoming exactly like you."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him. "She's becoming like us. Or did you forget, you stepped in front of Gaara for Lee the same way she stepped in front of Neji for Hinata?"
A/N: Happy Easter! He is risen!