Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor any of the characters, beside the main OC. All credit for creating this amazing series goes to Mr. Kishimoto

Author's note: Thanks to everyone for reading. Answers to the reviews are at the bottom.

CHAP 10: due to a mistake while I was updating the edited chapters, I posted two times chapter 11, leaving out chapter 10. I am very sorry for this, but now I fixed it.

POV: In this chapter I continuously switch point of view from one character to another, especially from fighters to spectators. I hope it isn't too much to keep up with me. Tell me if it's too heavy to read or difficult to understand!

Well now, enjoy the chapter:

THE FINALS BEGIN: NARUTO VS. NEJI

Or: "You need to get your ass kicked!"

The Great Stadium of Konoha was jam-packed with people. The building was a massive and impressive architectonic masterpiece. The battlefield was oval shaped, with some trees around its perimeter. It was delimitated by a wall several metres high, probably to avoid the crow getting hurt. The seats were covered by traditional looking golden roofs. The audience itself was already cheering, even though not all the contestants had arrived.

Sakura sat besides Ino and Chōji. They had gotten good seats, all considered, she believed. They weren't the farthest ones, nor the closest, but they had a good visual of the arena. She was happy she had somehow made peace with Ino, although the blond girl was constantly bickering with her about Sasuke.

"I wonder where he is..." Ino said in that moment.

Sakura didn't have to ask who she was talking about. "He'll be here." she reassured. "He has trained too hard during this month to miss this."

"I didn't see him around the village, munch." Chōji commented then. "He's always been reclusive, munch, munch but never like this month. I don't think he has even gone to do grocery shopping..."

Sakura nodded. "I've seen him either. I don't think he ever left his compound." She also knew the boy was being guarded by ANBU, because of what happened in the forest she wagered, and Kurenai-sensei said not to approach him.

"I just hope he is all right." Ino whispered, covering her mouth with worry.

"I am sure he is." Sakura said, although she wasn't sure whether she was reassuring Ino or herself.

The other girl nodded.

"Team 7 isn't here either, munch, munch." Chōji observed to change the topic. "It's strange."

When the trio had arrived, only the Sand Siblings had been there. They stood on the left side, behind the proctor, who curiously was not the same of the preliminaries. Then, Neji and Tenten had arrived and they had gone to stand in line beside them – even though there was a considerable space between them. Lastly, Shikamaru had lazily strolled inside, his hands in his pockets. He took position on the right, far from the others genins.

"You are right, it's curious. Akimi is a very precise person." Sakura said. "I hope nothing is wrong."

Ino looked at her, puzzled. "Since when are you two so close?"

"We aren't really. We sparred a couple of times... and I always meet her in the library." Sakura shrugged. "We just hang out sometimes."

"She was with you at the shop when we spoke, wasn't she?" Ino asked. "I thought that was a coincidence."

"It wasn't." Sakura smiled. "She helped me out. She is nice, you know."

"As long as you don't anger her..." Chōji intervened. "She can be vicious... munch, munch, but she cooks very well."

"I always wonder how she got along so well with Naruto! He such a loud, obvious fool, while she is even a greater bookworm than you, forehead!"

"Don't underestimate Naruto." Sakura replied quietly. "I saw him fighting in the Forest of Death... he only plays fool."

"True." Chōji said. "He almost defeated Shika at shoji once, munch, munch."

"What?" Ino shouted. "Are you serious?"

Chōji nodded. "Although usually he plays against Akimi. They have a match going on that started before the Exams..."

"Look!" Sakura exclaimed. "They are here."

Ino glanced down. "I admit that they do look intimidating." she said. "I'm almost happy I didn't pass the preliminaries... it's going to be tough!"

Three shadows were approaching the ground from the long, dark tunnel of entrance. It was Team 7. The three genins walked as one, Naruto in the middle, Akimi on his right and Shino on his left. They looked... different.

Naruto had switched his blue pants with black, ANBU styles cargo pants. His left knee was covered in bandages and he had a kunai/shuriken holster on his right leg. Two orange lines run along the length of his legs, matching the brilliant orange belt he wore. He had another holster on his waist, together with a ninja pouch where he kept his sealing equipment and explosive notes. He had an extra pouch near his back. He wore a long sleeved orange muscle shirt, covered by a black leather armour, that was sleeveless and was reinforced with chainmail and had several spots for holding scrolls on the chest. On his right shoulder the usual white swirl could be spotted, alongside the golden flames on the left one. On the back he had the Konoha red swirl and the Kanji for 7 in orange. His Hitai-ate was still on his forehead, but the band of cloth was also black and longer than he used to be. A pair of black fingerless gloves with protective metal plates completed the outfit.

Akimi's attire hadn't changed as much. Her combat boots were new, yes, but they looked a lot like the older ones, although she had incorporated more places for hiding scrolls on them. Their points were also reinforced with chakra conducting metal. She had on two brand new crimson knee protectors and wore an armour similar to Naruto's, in black leather and chainmail with red markings akin to flames all along. Over it she still had her black short coat, that now spotted a golden kanji for 7. Her Hitai-ate had a crimson brand of cloth and her sleeves were only long enough to cover up to her elbows.

Shino was the one who changed the least. He simply had put on the new jacket Akimi had given to him, which he discovered was reinforced with leather on the inside. It was of the same green of his older one, with a black kanji for 7 in the middle.

The three genins had the same confident smirk on their faces, as they casually walked towards Shikamaru. They looked up at the crowd and saluted. Naruto bowed as well, his expression becoming smug as well.

"You three are so troublesome." the lazy Nara greeted them. "You were almost late."

"Almost being the operative word. This way, we still get to make an entrance without being disrespectful." Akimi smiled. "Besides, the original plan was to Sunshin in the middle of the arena, but we thought against it in the end."

"I don't know why. That would have been cool." Naruto looked around. "Where is the teme?"

"Now, I would have expected him to be the first in the field." Akimi observed. "Uchiha-san is very eager to prove himself."

"Yeah, especially if he can get the attention of all these people!" Naruto looked around. "He is a seeking attention brat."

Akimi giggled a little and Naruto chuckled with her.

Shino looked a little annoyed. "What's going to happen if he doesn't get here?"

"He probably will be disqualified." Akimi quietly said, scouting her surroundings. "He doesn't have much time left." she was looking up, to the Kage booth, where a figure was approaching an empty throne.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was seated on the special throne reserved to the Kages, in an higher and privileged position to watch the matches. A tokubetsu jōnin, Raidō, was standing beside him, serving as a messenger and bodyguard.

The Sandaime sighed. He had a bad feeling deep inside his guts. 'What is Suna's Jinchūriki doing here? What are they panning?' Then, he heard steps.

"Ah!" he exclaimed happily. "You finally arrived... Kazekage-dono!"

The leader of Sunakagure no Sato slowly walked toward the elder Kage, flanked by two serious looking Sand jōnins. His robes were white and green and he had the kanji for wind on his hat. A veil covered his face, revealing only his eyes.

"I hope you are not tired from the long trip." Sarutobi said.

"Not at all." the other replied. "I'm happy this stage is in Konoha, although you are still young, visiting another village might have been a little too much for you, Hokage-sama."

'His voice sounds strange. A little too much complacent... mah, maybe my age is really doing a number on me! Or maybe...'

"Maybe you should choose a Godaime soon."

"Mmm?" Sarutobi replied, before breaking in a heartfelt laughter. "Don't treat me like an old man, now, I'm still considering doing this for another five years..." he slowly got up, getting closer to the railing. He turned to nod again at the Kazekage. "Let's begin, then."

The other man nodded as well.

"Mina-sama!" Sarutobi said, his voice echoing in the Arena. "Thank you for coming to the Konohagakure Chūnin Exam Selection today. We will now begin the matches between the ten genin that have passed the preliminaries. I hope you'll all have a good time."

"If they are supposed to be ten, it seems one is missing" the Kazekage softly observed.

Sarutobi looked pensive. "Mmm... I'm sure he'll get here in no time." he replied, crossing his arms.

"My name is Genma Shiranui." the proctor said. "Although the landscape has changed, the same rules apply as the preliminaries: there are no rules. The match will only end when someone dies or give up. But if I decide the match is over I will stop it. Do not argue with me over it. Got it?"

'I wonder what happen to Gekkō-san...' Akimi thought, looking at the tokubetsu jōnin with intensity. His dark brown hair was covered by a green bandana. He wore the standard uniform of Konoha and was holding a senbon between his teeth. He seemed a very collected person. 'This is another bad omen.'

"The first match will be between Uzumaki Naruto..." he bellowed, so to be heard in all the stadium. "...and Neji Hyūga. The rest of you need to go back to the waiting room."

The others genins nodded and slowly walked away. Akimi winked at Naruto. "Be safe." she whispered. The blonde nodded.

Once the arena was free, Naruto and Neji turned so they were facing each other.

"You look like you want to say something." the older genin said.

"Yes." Naruto nonchalantly shifted on his legs. He smirked. "You need to get your ass kicked."

'His eyes show me he is utterly confident...' Neji noted. "That's even better... I'll enjoy the look in your eyes when you'll realise you can't beat fate. A dobe will always be a dobe." and he dropped in the Jūken stance. "Only certain people are fated to be Hokage, dobe. And you are not one of them."

"This is useless. I want action." Naruto shifted again, so his position was more stable.

Genma complied immediately. "Now, the first match..." he shouted. "...begins!" and he jumped back.

The crowd cheered.

Naruto looked sharply at Neji. 'Close combat is very stupid with this kind of opponent.' he thought. 'So what to do? Mmm... As 'mi-chan always says, when in doubt use shurikens!' He jumped back and swiftly launched a dozens of shurikens at Neji.

The other genin simply deflected them with his kunai a bored look on his face. "You should give up."

"I always thought it was funny..." Naruto said, shrugging . "... how much people look at the results in Academy. They seem to define anything you later do, don't they? But after all is required in that exam is to be passable in taijutsu and able to make three basic techniques, isn't it?"

As he spoke four Narutos popped into existence. "By the way, you should know I don't give up." he smirked. "Ever."

"That was Kage Bunshin!" a random Konoha shinobi shouted. "That's jōnin level technique. Maybe Uzumaki stands a chance!"

'I see.' Neji thought. 'Chakra is distributed evenly among the clones, so even I can't say which one is the original... not bad.'

Kiba, who had joined Ino, Sakura and Chōji just at the match was about to start, smirked. "They shouldn't underestimate Naruto. They are in for a big surprise."

"I expected him to run head on to Neji!" Ino shouted. "Instead he is actually being smart... sort of."

The four clones ran towards Neji, dividing in group of twos to attack in tandem. The first one tried to punch his foes right in the gut, but Neji simply jumped, twisting gracefully in the air with the intention of hitting the Naruto behind him, which somehow managed to dodge the blow.

As Neji landed, another Naruto swept a kick at him, as the first one tried to elbow the genin in his blind spot... which wasn't blind. Neji quickly ducked and turned to stab the first Naruto in the middle of the chest, dispelling him. The fourth, who had observed anything, engaged him in a quick battle of fists, but Neji had no problems parrying each one of them. He then jumped back to avoid the punch of one Naruto and using the force of the movement tried to hit another. The three clones tried their best to hit him, but didn't manage and eventually were dispelled because Neji shut off their tenketsu.

'Impressive' thought the Third Hokage. 'He used Kage Bunshin without seals while he was speaking and he has obviously used them to test his opponent.'

"It's useless." Tenten said, from her spot in the combatants booth. She was between the Sand Nins and the rookies, to be more specif. "Your teammate is going to lose."

Shino didn't even consider her, while Akimi just smiled. "Did you just say something, Tenten-san?" she asked. "Did she say something, Shino?"

"Nothing important." the bug user replied, he was on her left, while Shikamaru was leaning on the railing on her right. "What do you think he will do?"

Akimi shrugged. "Do you really want me to spoil it for you?" 'So it looks like the fabled Byakugan is really amazing... 360° vision. No blind spots. But seeing an attack is only the first step to stop it, isn't it?'

The original Naruto had crossed his arms, an hardened look on his face. "You are very strong." he conceded. "But your attitude really needs improvement." this time he did cross his fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Twelve Narutos surrounded him. 'So, the most logical thing would be stay back while my clones attack, but Neji will eventually try to reach me. He is a taijutsu expert, after all...' "Let's go, boys!"

They all charged head on.

"He is wasting chakra." Tenten said. "It's useless."

"Mah, Naruto has more chakra than all of us combined... and then some more." Akimi smiled again. "It is more likely you are wasting breath, Tenten-san. Say what you want, my faith in my teammate will not falter."

Shino nodded with her. "Naruto is the strongest genin here." he simply said.

In that precise moment the Narutos had reached Neji... and they duplicated again, all sheathing their tantō in one swept.

Akimi nodded to herself. 'That makes 26 against 1. Naruto is using the confusion to distract him.'

The clones attacked their foes with much more fury this time. They were black and orange blur of movements. Even Neji looked a little taken aback. By using a weapon, the clones could parry without having their tenketsu closed.

'If he hadn't that eyes of his he wouldn't be able to keep up. And 'to-kun isn't using wind yet.' Akimi noticed that one was attacking less than others. 'Ah, that's it...'

"I can see you!" Neji destroyed two clones that had closed on him with a decisive stab of his hands, before starting to run towards that particular clone, dodging the other clones that were trying to stop him. "You think you are smart, don't you?" he taunted. "You have attacked less than the others, because you are afraid of being killed! This is the real one!" and he jabbed him in the heart.

"It's over." Tenten said. "But your teammate has put up a good fight."

Akimi shrugged, watching as Naruto grabbed his stomach in pain, spitting blood and stumbling. The clones started dispelling.

"You don't care?"

"Not particularly." she evenly replied, even as Naruto himself started chuckling.

"You think you can see everything, don't you?" the blonde mocked.

'He was thinking a step ahead of me.' Neji looked flabbergasted as the Naruto in front of him popped away, he turned just in time to see other three Narutos leaping on him. One aimed to his stomach, the other to his head, the third on his 'blind spot'... and the first one seemed to hit true.

Operative word seemed. Akimi frowned as Neji flared up with chakra, before starting to spinning around at a very high speed.

"Kaiten..." Hiashi Hyūga incredulously said from his seat. "That's amazing!"

As the rotations increased, Neji was surrounded by a bright blue dome, that promptly fend off the three Narutos, sending them flying back. Two dispelled after clashing on the ground, while the other simply manoeuvred in the air to land on his feet.

"This is an absolute defence even better than Gaara's." Tenten said. "There is no way Naruto is going to win."

"If you say so, Tenten-san." Akimi absently said, staring at Neji, who was now standing in the centre of a circular hole in the ground.

"You can't hit me." Neji said, as a matter of a fact. "Your fate was decided when I was chosen as your opponent. You are going to lose."

"Really? I could care less of what you think, Neji-chan!" Naruto replied. "I've already hit you."

Neji looked shocked, looking down to his right shoulder, where a small slash could be seen. The adrenaline and chakra running in his body had prevented him to feel the pain, before Naruto made him notice. The wound was small, a simply nuisance, but it was there still... "How...?"

"Do you expect him to explain my tricks to you?" Naruto shook his head. "Think again."

Tenten looked amazed as well.

"It doesn't matter if Hyūga-san has a 360° degree vision." Akimi said then. "His brain can only keep up with so much information: when he decided to use that spinning defence of his, he was too concentrated to see Naruto's true attack. An invisible one..."

"Wind." Temari said, from her distanced spot, obviously remembering the match in the preliminaries. "Chakra flow."

"It comes in handy, doesn't it?" Akimi nodded.

"This does not matter..." Neji regained his bearings. "You took me by surprise, but you are..."

"... tired of your chitchat." Naruto said. "If you keep it up you'll bore me to death!" Seven clones appeared around him. "You know what to do."

They all jumped in the hair, and the clones had their hands closed in the bird seal. "Fūton: Daitoppa!" they shouted.

One Naruto hadn't called upon wind. He had been going on a complicate and long series of signs. He finished with a strange hand seal, which looked like the dog one, but with his left hand facing up. The Hokage gaped, recognising it, and the Kazekage looked surprised as well.

Temari whistled. "Damn he is good."

"You haven't seen anything yet." Akimi replied, her eyes shining. 'You bring out the big guns already, uh?'

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!"

Neji's eyes widened comically as the colossal dragon of water raised up, his yellow eyes glowing in the arena, before descending on him.

"Kaiten!" the Hyūga shouted, just as the wind and water mixed together, creating a raging storm.

Genma was forced to jump out of the way and Naruto himself had his clones throw him aside, before they all dispelled after being hit by the deflected attacked. The rotating dome shield fended off the storm until it calmed down, but there was so much water that Neji became drenched to the bone anyway.

"How was he able to use water? There is no source around!" Temari exclaimed.

"So you completed the seal, Akimi" Shino blankly said. "I expected at much."

Tenten looked at girl with awe. "You made a seal that allows him to use water everywhere?"

Akimi shrugged. "No. There are limitations." she explained. "The source is Konoha's river. I doubt he could use it out of Hi no Kuni, even with his massive reserves."

Neji looked mildly impressed. "Why do you fight fate so much?"

"Because I don't stand arrogant shits like you, who mock hard work and dedication." Naruto smirked, landing a couple of metres far from him. "You are a little whining fate's bitch. Why are you so bended in believing in predetermined destiny?"

Neji growled, taking off his Hitai-ate. A green seal was on his forehead. It was an X flanked by two horizontal lines that finished in small hooks. "Do you see this? This is the mark of fate." he explained. "They Hyūga are divided in two..."

"The Main Family and Branch Family." Naruto interrupted him. "Right?"

Neji looked surprised.

"I know how to read." the blonde deadpanned. "I looked it up during this month."

"This seal allows the Main Family to fry our brain cells either to give us unbearable pain or to kill us. Only with death we, members of the branch house, will be free... and the secrets of the Byakugan will vanish with our lives" Neji took a deep breath. "My father was the twin of Hiashi-sama, our clan head. They had the same appearance, even the same abilities... but my father was born a second after and so was doomed to receive this, as I was."

"He died." Naruto softly said. "How?"

"Few years ago Konoha signed a treaty with Kumokagure." Neji started. "The delegate and ambassador of the Cloud exploited that occasion to try and kidnap Hinata-sama, the young heiress. He was stopped and killed... but Kumo demanded the body of Hiashi-sama in compensation. If not, a war would have been started."

"So they sent your father's instead?" Naruto asked. "Because his seal would prevent the secrets of the Byakugan to be revealed?"

Neji sharply nodded. "It's the Hyūga's fate of hatred. We are destined to die protecting a family that hates and lords over us. I am a caged bird." he stated, tying his forehead protector again. "Fate assured so. Nothing can change it. Likewise, you are doomed to lose to me: it was decided the moment I was declared your opponent."

"I'm sorry for what happened to your Tou-san." Naruto bowed. "But you shouldn't believe that one incident or one thing is enough to define all we are. You shouldn't give up, Neji."

"You are in the field of my divination." Neji simply said, smirking. He dropped down in a strange stance with his arms behind himself. "Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!"

Naruto calmly watched him coming.

"There is no genin that can be Neji." Tenten said. Naruto had put out an incredible fight, but not good enough... "It's over."

"So it is." Akimi agreed. "So it is."

Naruto tried to jump out of the way, landing behind Neji. The Hyūga was unfazed, simply turning before closing on him.

"Two!" Neji shouted, hitting Naruto two times in the guts. His movements doubled in speed. "Four." another barrage of hits were delivered. "Eight!" Naruto could only stand there like a ragdoll, his attempts to defend useless. "Sixteen!" the blonde was launched back of a meter. "Thirty-two!"

Naruto crashed down, spitting blood.

"Sixty four. It's over." Neji declared, mirroring his teammate. "You can call the match, examiner."

Genma was about to, when a voice shouted: "Activate!"

As the clone on the ground puffed away, the true Naruto shot out from under the ground, few meters behind Neji. "Sorry, but are in the range of my Jolting Seal." he said, mockingly.

The Hyūga screamed in surprise and pain as an electrical jolt bolted through his body, magnified by the water that still soaked him. It was enough to paralyse him for several second, all his nerves going numb. And few seconds were all Naruto needed.

With an amazing speed, the blonde leaped towards Neji. "I don't know much about the Hyūga's fate of hatred! You think it's impossible to change it? Then don't do anything...!" he shouted, before punching him in guts with all his might. And Naruto was stronger than he let on. "But when I'm Hokage, I'll change the Hyūga for you, Neji!"

The genin was sent flying to the other side of the arena, crashing a dozen of meters ahead. Naruto leaped after him, going faster than he had in the rest of the match. He sheathed his tantō and landed on top of Neji, pointing it at his throat.

"When I was at the Academy..." Naruto said slowly. "... I failed two times because I couldn't do one technique. I slowly started to hate it."

Neji looked at him, still shocked.

"It was the Bunshin no Jutsu." Naruto smiled, bitterly. "Stop complaining about fate and saying it can't be changed! Fight it!"

'He planned everything from the start. Amazing... he isn't even hurt a little.' Genma smiled a little, raising his left arm. "Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"

Uzumaki Naruto, the loudmouth dead-last of the Academy, the very same one most of the village thought was a joke of a ninja, had soundly beaten Hyūga Neji, the genial prodigy of Konoha's mightiest clan. Actually, better said, Naruto had thoroughly kicked Neji's ass without even breaking a sweat.

The crowd was cheering loudly, impressed by the short but spectacular match. Naruto was running around, shouting in joy and throwing his fist in the air, just as two medics arrived to take Neji away.

In the combatant booths, Tenten was speechless. She gaped a lot, before managing to say something. "How...? Impossible!" she stuttered. "When did he made the clone?"

"During the storm he created." Akimi answered. "Between the water, the wind and the concentration Neji needed to perform the Kaiten, Naruto was able to create a clone and hid him in the ground, escaping the detection of 'the all seeing eyes.' Then, when he jumped behind Neji before being it by that 64 four attacks, he used Kawarimi to substitute with the clone, while he actually lured Neji in the place where he had placed the seal."

"The clone who pretended to be him the first time." Shikamaru spoke. "He was really placing the seal on the ground, was he?"

"Yes, he simply let the tag fell." Akimi explained. "You see, certain seals need to be placed directly on an opponent to be effective, such as the Fudou no Fūin we used yesterday. It would have been impossible to actually use such as seal on an Hyūga."

Shikamaru nodded in understanding.

"But the Jolting Seal is effective in a small area, depending on how the seal is drawn, and once activated hits anyone who moves in said area. It was difficult to extend the area of effect beyond the actual size of the seal, but I connected it to a perimeter seal and..."

"Stop, it is troublesome, I'm not so good with seals to understand the inner mechanism of it." Shikamaru interrupted.

"Yeah, sorry, anyway the only drawback of this method is the excessive chakra cost, which is why Naruto used the Jolting Seal, that is very low cost, instead of a immobilising one."

"So this is why he used the water dragon." Shikamaru concluded. "Not only he created a distraction, but he also soaked Neji, magnifying the power of the jolting and actually paralysing Neji."

"I can't... wow." Tenten said. "Neji lost." she repeated, as if she couldn't grasp the concept.

Akimi smiled at her. "He is very skilled." she said. "But Naruto is a mean opponent to have, you know. He just... doesn't give up."

Tenten looked at her. 'Will she be as mean as him when we fight? I really need to be careful...'

"'to-kun!" Akimi exclaimed happily, as the blonde appeared in the threshold. "Over here."

Naruto immediately reached her. "Congratulations!" she hugged him tightly. "Amazing match."

He chuckled, holding her. "Thank you. I couldn't have done it without your seals."

"Both of them where your ideas. I simply created them." she smiled brightly at him. "I'm so proud of you!"

He released her, smiling, back before setting near Shikamaru and leaning over the railing as well. He looked around. "Sasuke isn't here yet?"

"An impressive strategy." the Kazekage commented. "The blonde one has talent."

"He is definitely chūnin material, is he not?" the Hokage replied, smiling with pride. "Kakashi Hatake did wonders with his team."

"The crowd is getting noisy." The other man observed. "They are all waiting for the next match... especially the Head Ninjas and the Daimyōs"

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "Mmm."

"Is the one who missed the opening ceremony arrived yet?" asked the Kazekage.

In that moment the Hokage's bodyguard bent down to whisper in his ear. "Sasuke isn't here yet... and with the Orochimaru thing going on maybe it's better to just disqualify him. It's causing an uproar, Hokage-same."

Sarutobi sighed. 'Let's see what happens, then...' "I have no choice." he gravely said. "Sasuke is disqualified."

"Uchiha Sasuke, disqualified?" the Kazekage replied, as if disbelieving.

The old Hokage sighed, hiding a smirk. "I must."

"It's not like the teme to be like this." Naruto observed. "He really wouldn't miss a chance to prove his strength..."

"Mmm." Akimi said. 'There is more to this delay that meet the eyes.'

Shino looked stiffer than usual. He had prepared long and hard for the match against the Uchiha and didn't want to win by default. It would have been insulting for him.

"Consider what Kakashi-sensei told us." Akimi suddenly murmured, looking around with narrowed eyes. "And remember the Second Exam." 'We know Orochimaru is behind whatever it is going to happen... it's logical ANBU is trying to protect Sasuke after what happened in the forest.'

Naruto and Shino looked pensive and then nodded.

"Perhaps you are right." Shino whispered. "But still..."

Akimi was subtly looking at the Sand genins: Gaara gritted his teeth and his two siblings looked very nervous. 'Kaera, get near them.' the girl ordered and the tiger leaped in position in a few seconds.

"What are we going to do?" Kankurō said then, fidgeting. "If he doesn't come, our plan cannot begin..."

"Is this bad?" asked Temari.

Gaara turned and silenced them with his gaze. The other two jumped in fear.

Akimi bit his lips. 'So something is really going on with them.' she considered. 'Is Suna really going to backstab us?' and she shot a worried glance to the Kage booth.

"Hokage-dono." the Kazekage suddenly started. "Can you hold on a little before disqualifying Sasuke?"

Sarutobi looked surprised.

"Excuse me." the bodyguard said. "But those who think lightly of their time as a ninja don't deserve to be chūnin, even if they are 'elite'. If there is no good reason, we shouldn't let the Daimyōs wait."

"Then there is a good reason. I can say that all the Daimyō and I have come to see him fight. He is the survivor of the Uchiha after all. Kaze no Kuni wishes to see if he will get to the second round, maybe to fight our Gaara eventually."

Sarutobi nodded. 'Interesting... very interesting.' "Very well, we shall wait for him." he said, signalling his guard to contact ANBU. "Look for Sasuke and put this match on hold."

"Are you sure, Hokage-sama?"

"Tell the examiner." the Hokage curly ordered and the bodyguard swiftly Sunshined away. "It was curious you said that, Kazekage-dono."

"It may be a chance for us, to show our qualities against an high level opponent such as Uchiha Sasuke."

'Is that so... Kazekage?' Sarutobi nodded. "I see."

Genma nodded at his colleague, watching him disappear again with a puff of smoke. "Mina-sama." he shouted. "A examinee for the next match hasn't come yet, so we will put it on hold for the time being. We shall now go on to the next match."

This caused some uproar in the crowd nevertheless.

"Damn, does this mean my match is coming up faster?" Shikamaru said. "Troublesome."

"Kankurō and Sabaku no Gaara." Genma exclaimed. "You are up next. Come down."

"Examiner." said Kankurō, somehow predictably. "I forfeit."

"I was wondering whether he would do this or not..." Naruto said. "His puppet was destroyed and possibly Gaara knew its secrets anyway. It was a battle lost at the start."

"Or he is simply too afraid to fight his own brother." Shikamaru replied. "Which is troublesome."

"Perhaps it is so." Akimi sighed. "Or perhaps there are other reasons."

Shino raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses. "What do you mean?"

"Kankurō has given up." the examiner said in that moment, frowning. "Sabaku no Gaara wins by default."

The crowd protested soundly.

"We need to talk." Akimi muttered darkly. Only Shino and Naruto heard her – and maybe Shikamaru, she wasn't sure – and she smiled forcefully. "After my match."

Naruto nodded. "I'll take care of things."

Akimi made her hands crack. "Looks like we need to give them something to be excited about." she exclaimed, crossing her right hand in half tiger seal. "Wish me luck."

"Kick ass." Naruto simply said.

Shino nodded at her as she vanished with a small puff to reappear at the side of Genma with high, swirling bursts of flames. She made the Sunshin as theatrical as possible and received a loud cheer in response.

Tenten looked a little worried, but then she got a look of the determination in her eyes. 'I've got to win this... or Gai-sensei will never let it go!'

"And you are...?" Genma lazily asked.

"I think my turn is up now, Shiranui-san." Akimi bowed. "And I didn't want to upset our honourable audience more by wasting time." she smiled innocently.

Genma raised an eyebrow. 'So you showed off?' "All right, the other one, get down here."

Tenten promptly jumped down, doing some acrobatic moves in the hair. She landed right in front of Akimi.

"Next match: Katora Akimi and Tenten!" he shouted.

JUTSU LIST

Jūken [Gentle fist]: this deadly Taijutsu style is unique to the Hyūga clan of Konoha. Thanks to the ability to see the internal chakra system their kekkai genkai, the Byakugan, grants them, any Hyūga can inflict internal damage to their opponent through their tenketsu

Kaiten [Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven]: the user releases an high amount of chakra from all their body, rotating to create a dome of chakra that repels ninjutsu attacks towards them. The rotation is essential to the effectiveness of the technique

Hakke Rokujūyon Shō [Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms]: the user imagines an Eight Trigrams circle, any enemy inside of its range can be hit with a series of violent Jūken blows. The techniques closes off 64 of the enemy's tenketsu, interrupting their chakra flow and making them unable to even stand.

REVIEW'S ANSWERS

iitrnr: thank you for reviewing. About that chapter being sentimental, well as much as story is an AU I didn't want to make a dark! Naruto fic, so... sentimental it is =). By the way, I messed up things with updating edited chapters so there were two chap 11. I'm just saying it in case you want to go and read the true chap 10. I am glad you enjoyed the story and hope you liked this chapter as well! =)

Skeleus: thanks for reviewing. Here is the new chapter, hope you liked it. =)

vaskeemi: thank you for reviewing. Hope you liked this chapter as well!

DexG23: thank you very much for reviewing. I'm glad you enjoyed Naruto's chat with Kurama. I hope you like the fight between Naruto and Neji as well =)

Unmei Ryu: thank you so much for reviewing! It's nice to hear from you again. I am very glad you enjoyed the two chapters and particularly the scene with Kurama. I had so fun writing it! With a smarter Naruto negotiating with Kyūbi instead of demanding there is so much potential. =) Hope you liked this chapter as well.

CHAPTER NOTES

So what did you think of the match? Was the fight nice and believable? I hope it wasn't much of a overkill, considering Naruto is basically unscratched, but then again he is a lot smarter than canon in this story.

I am going to ask you again about the constant switches in point of view during the fighting scenes... were they all right? It's important you tell me so I can change it if necessary for next chapters... and maybe edit this one as well.

Second thing, what did you think of the new outfits of Team 7? I'm always open to suggestions about his things!

Lastly, the poll about Shino's element is still opened and I've got parity between earth and lighting. So, since he won't start training until the invasion arc is finished, you still have time to vote. If not I will be the one to decide =) (although I am fairly happy with both of them)

Right, this is all. Next chapter is already ready, but I'll wait to post it because I'm struck waiting a certain future fight and I want to buy time.

Next up: Akimi's and Tenten's fight!