Chapter 8: The Jounin Exams
The day of the fated exam had arrived. Both Naruto and Hinata walked nervously as they entered the arena that once held the Chuunin exams three years prior.
"Ready Hinata?" Naruto questioned with a very nervous look on his face.
With a shy response, Hinata responded, "Yes… because of all that training, I'm ready than I'll ever be."
Tsunade entered her viewing platform along with Garra who was wearing his Kazekage robes. (Which he wore only did on special occasions.)
"Welcome to the Jounin exams!" Tsunade started, "Today, our fellow chuunin standing in the arena will prove their skill to become a Jounin. Now this will play out like the final exams of the Chuuin exams. Everyone can win or everyone can fail. For this special occasion, there are no rules. In battle, there will be no rules for you to follow. Now, let us begin the much awaited exams!"
The crowd went wild, everyone was ecstatic about the exams. The rules have never been bent to an extent were there were none.
"Well since there are no rules, I guess I can go into Sage mode without any worry." Naruto said as he sat down a mediated, until he entered his Toad Sage mode. "Now, let's actually begin the exams!"
The first round of the exams begun with Naruto facing a Sand Nin. From what Naruto observed, it seemed as if he was a weapon expert, and a very prepared one at that. Naruto shrugged it off, knowing that with his Sage mode activated, it wouldn't take long before he feel.
"Round one… BEGIN!" The referee Jounin shouted.
In an instant, the Sand Nin threw 20 kunais directly aiming for Naruto's head. Luckily, he was able to dodge the ferocious attack using the Toad Senses he had. Naruto then formed a plus sign using his fingers, yelling out, "Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
The arena filled with the infinite amount of Narutos, charging out a rasengan. Before he could attack, the sand ninja called surrender, ending the match before he could be severely damaged by the ferocious attack.
"Naruto Uzumaki wins the first round!" The referee announced as the crowd when wild over the match.
"Simple as pie!" Naruto whispered to himself as he left the arena, making way for the next fight.
Round two was Hinata's turn. She up against another Sand Nin. He opened his scroll, summoning four gigantic puppets, each carrying either a swords or an axe. Hinata was quite surprised as well as scared, but she was determined to attain the Jounin rank along with Naruto.
"Round two… BEGIN"
Hinata stepped back, predicting a quick sweeping attack from his opponents. She knew well enough that Puppet users where known to fight in far or mid range. Quickly, she dashed towards the Nin trying to take him out with one Juuken to the stomach. Before she reached her target, one of the puppets blocked her path in near ungodly speed and swung his sword for a counter attack. Hinata quickly reacted and escaped the attack range, but a slight pain shot up from her left leg. Bleeding, she kneeled down and tried catching her breath, but the Sand Nin didn't waste any time for another attack. Hinata was hit on her right shoulder, she yelled out in pain but able keep her balance. On the viewing platform, Naruto nervously as Hinata fought desperately on the arena.
The deadly combo of attacks continued, each and every hit became more unbearable for Hinata to handle. The Sand Nin's Puppets finally trapped Hinata, and with a grin; the Sand Nin commanded the Puppets to raise their weapons for the final blow. But Hinata wasn't done, and with the last of her energy, she charged up something on her right hand, a familiar glow began to appear, and in no time, a spiral sphere appeared with the palm of her hand. Everyone's eyes widened, especially Naruto's. Hinata then used her other hand and put two fingers next to her face, and she called out, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Instantly, she made four shadow clones, each holding the spiraling sphere. Hinata looked up and gave a wink at Naruto, and the four clones attacked the Puppets, all yelling out in a unison,
"RASENGAN!"
The Puppets shattered into millions of pieces, leaving the Sand Nin speechless. Finally, the real Hinata rushed towards the Sand Nin, giving the final attack, which ended the match. The Sand Nin laid on the ground KO'ed due to the damage.
"The winner of the second match is Hinata Hyuuga! " The referee stated.
Everyone in the crowd roared due to the wonderful performance that Hinata gave. The once, shy and weak Hinata that everyone assumed was no more and the match proved just that. Hinata finally met up with Naruto. He was still shocked to see that Hinata was able to perform the Rasengan AND Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, both of which were his signature jutsus.
"Was I good out there…?" Hinata asked silently to Naruto.
"What are you saying? You were AMAZING! I'm sure you'll get Jounin!" Naruto responded.
The next few matched what involved Naruto or Hinata ended with the pathetic loss of the opponent either losing in a mere second or quit because they were too afraid to fight against them. The final matchup came quickly due to that event.
"Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuuga, please enter the arena for the final fight"
The two entered, greeted with the massive crowd of cheering people. The two faced each other in the middle of the arena to begin the final fight.
"Don't hold back, Hinata!" Naruto told her silently.
"Same goes to you, Naruto!" Hinata responded.
"Let us begin the final fight of the exams." The referee prompted, "Final match… BEGIN!"
Both of them charged up a Rasengan and rammed it against the other, causing smoke to engulf the arena. Once the smoke cleared, Naruto and Hinata ran parallel, with the constant throw of Kunais. As they ran up the wall of the arena, the two constantly clashed with the one remaining kunai they had. Naruto then performed the Kage Bunshin no Justu in order to trap Hinata and in hopes take the match. Hinata was persistent, she also performed the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, equaling the number of clone as Naruto. The clones began an all out war and smoke was seen everywhere due to the disappearing of the clones. The Original Naruto and Hinata had complete focus on each other, Hinata then attacked Naruto's right with her Juuken, crippling it, Naruto with the same intention damaged Hinata's left arm so she unable to use it for the remainder of the match. By then, all the clones disappeared leave only them to brawl it out.
A good 15 minutes of attacking later, both were on their limit. By then, both were damaged everywhere due to the constant attacks that the two gave each other. Hinata and Naruto panting limped towards each other, each of them determined to win they threw one last punch, hitting nothing but the air. Naruto and Hinata feeling light headed and dizzy both collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
Naruto woke up, feeling almost every part of his body aching. He was in the hospital with Hinata on the same room. Around a few seconds later, Hinata woke up as well, searching around in confusion.
"Wow, so we both fainted huh?" Naruto said.
"I guess so… But wait, who becomes Jounin?" Hinata asked.
Right at that moment, the rest of Konoha 11 entered Naruto and Hinata's room, all yelling in excitement.
"Wow, awesome fight back there!" Kiba spoke up.
"Great fight! Both of you did well!" Lee said with a thumb up.
Most of the girls were bombarding Hinata, hugging her as well as complimenting her for being able to rival with Naruto's strength.
Tsunade and Garra walked in a few minutes later, holding something behind their backs.
"Good job both of you! Now the judges have spoken and it seems like they enjoyed every bit of the fight." Tsunade said to Naruto and Hinata.
"Now to congratulate on your efforts, they judges as well as Tsunade and I agreed that you two will become Jounins." Garra continued as he gave each of them the Jounin Flak vest.
"For now, I suggest you rest, those wounds are not going to heal for another two weeks. Therefore, I deeply suggest you try not to do many things. If you need anything, the Nurses will help you." Tsunade pointed out.
"Gotcha Grandma!" Naruto responded with a smile.
Now to all my readers, I am very very sorry for leaving my facfics on hold. I've been busy with things and I really haven't got the time to write chapters. But now I'm back and I hope you enjoy this one! Now to bluntly put this here... the story is about half way through... I'm guessing 5 or so chapters and it'll will be done. I'm getting ideas for different stories which may or may not be NaruHina but other ships as well. I'll be getting around to writing Konoha High, because I find it a bit too cliche for my taste, I might just discontinue it... Well, I guess time will tell :)