Chapter 38: Chunin Exams (10): Fortune and Misfortune.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto.

SHAAAAA—

I narrowed my eyes as a blinding light engulfed me like a star from the sky had fallen on earth, and my ears were ringing from the shrill, screeching noise that was the result of the clash.

"GRRR," I let out a beastly growl. My brows are already furrowed to the fullest, and it was like I was wearing a medieval helmet with limited vision as a result. My gums were getting numb from gritting my teeth too much, but I can't help it.

Maintaining the Chidori feels like I'm holding a barbed wire, especially since I'm standing still instead of moving at high speeds, fighting for dominance against Hiroko's Rasengan. Unknowingly, my dojutsu was spinning like a windwheel, the two tomoes on each eye almost forming a circle, and I feel an itch originate from my eyes like ants were gnawing on my pupils.

'The jutsus are equal,' I grimace. This clash is too important, and I can't lose the tug of war. If Hiroko loses the battle, he can still fight the war, but if I lose the battle, I also lose the war as well.

'I don't have much chakra left,' I frown and roused my remaining chakra and channeled all of it into my left arm, where the Chidori was active. 'I have to gamble!'

CHAAAAA—CHIRP—CHIRP—CHIRP—

After overloading the Chidori, the sound of chirping birds intensified, and the shrill sound made the spectators feel like the world was spinning. After taking the gamble, my hands feel lighter, and it feels like my arm was freed from a heavy chain.

WHIIIIRL—

"UGH—?!"

Suddenly, the heavy feeling returned to my arms, and my hands feels hotter than ever before. My furrowed brows loosened and I turn to look at Hiroko in dismay. 'I forgot that he has more chakra than me!' After realizing this fact, I wanted to vomit blood. I'm sure my blood would be boiling if I spit it out.

"ARGHHH!"

My hands tensed, the veins around my eyes throbbed, and moments later my sclera turned red with blood. While looking like a demon from the underworld, I roared with reluctance and transferred all my strength to my hand, trying to push back Hiroko's Rasengan, but the latter wouldn't take a beating while lying down.

BANG!

My throat cramped up, trying to hold back the red liquid that tried to come out. Gritting my teeth, I resisted the urge to scream, and my eyes were red enough to drip actual blood. My nose was already dripping with hot blood, and my left arm feels hotter than the sun as if scalding magma was flowing inside my veins instead of warm blood, and my charka pathways were being destroyed by the second, making me feel as if my soul was being torn apart.

'MY ARM!'

I stared wide-eyed as the glowing blue orb came nearer and nearer to my hand. The spiraling blue chakra orb reminded me of a whirlpool. It looked so beautiful, but my sharingan was telling me otherwise.

'If that orb reaches me, my arm will melt!' I squirmed in mid-air, trying to turn my body urgently, but my opponent wasn't a piece of log. He followed my movements and aimed at my head. By this point, all I could see and hear was the vortex of chakra and the swirling sound it lets out.

FOOOOoooo—

Suddenly, the blue orb vanished and a fist landed on my face.

BAM!

I bite my tongue, nearly splitting it in half thanks to the boulder-like weight that slammed onto my face, turning my mind into a blank, white expanse.

BANG! CRACK—CRACK—

'Ugh, my head…'

Embedded on a wall, my body felt like it was buried underground with metal stakes piercing through my limbs, and a sword impaled in my brain. When I looked up, I saw Hiroko's leisurely standing body. I touch my nose, feeling a warm liquid, and blood was flowing down my forehead like cold sweat.

'Is this... how I'll lose?'

Having this thought, I can feel my sharingan eyes spin faster, and my vision became clearer despite having no more chakra left. Maybe it's my fighting spirit that's keeping my sharingan active, but I'm lucky they didn't deactivate at the moment.

I still want to fight.

'I want to win!'

Biting my lip, I take out a storage scroll with shaking hands. "Unseal."

POOF!

'Thankfully, this storage scroll is special,' I sigh and remembered Benjiro who gave this scroll to me. 'It can store chakra inside itself, so I don't need to use my chakra to unseal it.'

As the smoke clears, over a dozen kunai appear in front of me. "Genjutsu doesn't work, Ninjutsu is nullified, and I can't even try out Taijutsu," or else my chakra will be dried up in an instant by his special chakra.

"All I can do now is Shurikenjutsu," I pick up eight kunai and unsealed another dozen kunai for the scroll.

In the distance, I see Hiroko raise his eyebrow. When I see him coating his Chokuto with wind nature chakra, I tired smile crept on my face. "I guess I'm going to lose, but I won't go down without a fight!"

WOOSH—WOOSH—WOOSH—

Facing another rain of weapons, Hiroko helplessly shook his head. Sasuke threw sixteen kunai in one breath, but he didn't stop and was ceaselessly unsealing kunai from the scroll.

TANG! TANG! GLING—

With one swing, Hiroko sliced through six kunai at once, and with another swing, another six kunai were sliced in half. 'He's faster than before,' Hiroko mused after seeing several kunai fly past him. He knows those kunai didn't miss, they were aimed at his back. Sure enough, after cutting down a few dozen kunai, the kunai that missed him suddenly turned and aimed at his head.

TANG—TANG—CLANG—TING!

"Ha… Ha… Ha…"

Sasuke gasped, out of breath. Looking at his opponent, who wasn't even sweating, his hands formed a fist and his eyes slowly closed. 'I lost.'

THUD.

The proctor looked at his fallen body before yelling out the result.

"The WINNER is Hiroko Uchiyama of the Land of Hot Water!"

"WOOOOOOO—YEAAAAH!"

He was still conscious, but with countless wounds and no chakra, his body felt like a piece of waste metal. Hearing the thundering cheers of the crowd, the reality of losing settled in his mind, and somehow his mind felt clearer than ever before.

'I have a long way ahead until I can defeat you, brother,' his eyes became fiercer, but his mind was still clear, not at all fogged by hatred.

'The sharingan is just a tool, and it won't make me stronger just because I have them. I'll show you that even without those accursed eyes that you have, I will still defeat you!'

At last, he succumbed to the sweet unconscious, not knowing that before his Sharingan deactivated, another tomoe appeared in each eye, the sign of a fully matured Sharingan eye.

Seeing the crowd stand up to take a break, either going to the stalls to buy a snack or going to the toilet, Hiruzen closed his eyes and massaged his temples. 'Jiraiya, you really know how to give me a headache,' Hiruzen thought.

Inside the Kage box, six people were silently watching over the exams. Three were Hiruzen, Danzo, and the Kazekage, and the other three were their bodyguards. Hiruzen's bodyguard was Jiraiya, while the guards of the other two are unknown.

"Kazekage-dono," Hiruzen glanced at his fellow Kage. "What do you think of the match?"

The Kazekage rubbed his chin. "First of all, I wonder how you managed to get the infamous Copy Ninja to be punctual with his student," the Kazekage glanced at the young Uchiha who was being put on a stretcher. "And second, I'm wondering why a non-Kage is up here sitting with us," the Kazekage looked at Danzo, who remained glazed.

"Aside from those two doubts of mine," the Kazekage continued without giving Hiruzen the chance to reply. "I can see that both the Uchiha and the kid from Hot Waters are qualified to be a Chunin, what do you think?" The Kazekage raised his brow at Hiruzen.

"I think so too," Hiruzen nodded, but then Danzo interrupted them. "I object," he said and glared at Jiraiya. "How does the boy know the Fourth Hokage's ninjutsu?"

"With all due respect," Jiraiya spat, barely concealing the venom in each word, "lord Danzo, I have the freedom to teach whoever I want. And I believe that Minato would be more than willing to teach that boy his ninjutsu," Jiraiya finished, but Danzo only narrowed his eyes.

"This is not allowed! You can't just teach the village's ninjutsu to another village, outrageous!" Danzo growled. "Tsk," annoying old man, Jiraiya grumbled under his breath and no one heard him. "Danzo-sama, Minato, and his jutsu are not the property of the village. Please do not overstep your boundaries," Jiraiya warned.

Danzo gritted his teeth and was about to utter a rebuke when Hiruzen stepped in, "I say that both Sasuke Uchiha and Hiroko Uchiyama are promoted to Chunin."

"I agree," the Kazekage said after glancing at Danzo. "I object," naturally, Danzo objected, but neither Kage paid him any mind, and Danzo did the same. "The Uchiha needs more training, and I recommend him into ROOT. Meanwhile, the boy from Hot Waters needs to be detained and questioned. I suspect him of theft."

"Then it's settled," Hiruzen stated, treating the old war hawk like a ghost. "Sasuke Uchiha and Hiroko Uchiyama will be promoted to the Chunin rank after the Chunin Exam is over. The second match shall ensue," Hiruzen said after a light cough.

Danzo's face couldn't get any darker, and he was deliberating whether or not to launch an ambush.

Meanwhile, the Kazekage was looking at the Shadow Hokage with derision, and chuckling to himself inaudibly.

Genma ruffled his hair and walked to the center of the arena. "Hinata Hyuga and Gaara of the Sand, come down to the arena!" Genma yelled, rubbing his itchy throat and looking down while waiting. 'Damn, my throat will be destroyed by the end of this exam, ha…'

Genma tapped his foot exactly sixty times before he looked up. Seeing the two Genin arrive within a minute, Genma nodded and waited for the two Genin to get ready.

Hinata scrutinized Gaara's every move but soon found herself frowning. 'I have to be careful,' she thought to herself. During the preliminaries, she watched every match with her Byakugan active. Naturally, she saw through Hiroko's chakra reserves, but what shocked her more is the familiarity she felt upon seeing his chakra.

'Although there's an interference, I'm sure of it,' Hinata smiled. 'You're here.'

Getting rid of her smile, Hinata lightly recalled everything she knew about Gaara. 'Like Hiroko, he has another source of chakra inside of him. I need to lock it up quickly.'

Genma watched as Hinata observed her opponent, while Gaara stood still with crossed arms and closed eyes. 'So inattentive,' Genma frowned. "BEGIN!"

"Byakugan!"

After the proctor began the match, Gaara slowly opened his eyes, revealing his pale blue-green eyes. When he saw the bulging veins around Hinata's eyes, his eyes slightly narrowed. 'I feel like someone's spying on me… is it her?'

"Are you my opponent?"

Hearing the question, Hinata tilted her head. "Uh, yes?"

Gaara nodded. "Then, you will die. Sand Bullets!"

Hinata narrowed her eyes, watching the Sand Bullets come nearer and nearer to her body. "Ha!"

Hinata crouched and struck with her palm, using a surge of chakra to blow away the incoming Sand Bullets. The bullets stopped in mid-air and Hinata used the opportunity to rush Gaara. Gaara didn't even blink and only raised his hand. "Sand Waves."

Just before Hinata could reach Gaara, a sand wave tried to catch her by the waist. "Hmph." Hinata jumped, and the sand followed her into the air. "HA! Palm Strike!"

Hinata struck the air behind her, and her body shot like an arrow, instantly reaching Gaara. "Palm Bottom," Hinata whispered and sent a palm strike toward Gaara's chest. Gaara narrowed his eyes, and the sand behind Hinata sped up, reaching Hinata's back in a flash.

Hinata glanced behind her and frowned. "Palm Rotation!"

BANG! BASHHH—

Hinata successfully cast the Palm Rotation just in time before the sand could touch her body, and Gaara, who was within the technique's range, was sent flying back, but the sand caught him before he flew too far away. He eyed Hinata with indifferent eyes.

"You are good, Hyuga, but this is the end."

Gaara raised his hand and made a clawing motion at Hinata as if wanting to grab her from a distance. Like a loyal subject of a king, the sand gushed outward from the gourd on his back and rushed at Hinata. She saw this and circulated her chakra throughout her entire body.

"Palm Rotation!"

Despite Hinata's Palm Rotation, Gaara didn't cease his attack and used all of his sand to cover Hinata and her chakra dome. Then, his outstretched palm suddenly turned into a fist. "Sand Burial."

When Gaara condensed his sand Hinata felt the weight through the chakra dome. 'It's getting harder to spin, and I need to use more chakra to keep spinning,' Hinata frowned as she thought. 'If I want to win…' Hinata forced more chakra into her arms and legs.

'I need to fight like it's my last day on earth!'

"PALM STRIKE!"

Hinata yelled and sent a concentrated Palm Strike on the sand, piercing it in one go. 'Now!'

Hinata rushed out and charged toward Gaara who was caught off guard by her sudden escape. 'Impossible, no one was able to escape my Sand Burial before!' Despite his shock, Gaara remained level-headed.

"Sand Bullets," Gaara mumbled and the sand behind Hinata suddenly turned into bullets and shot toward her. Hinata knew this, but she didn't defend herself. She only used more chakra to reach Gaara like a streak of lightning.

"The faster one wins," Hinata shouted. "EIGHT TRIGRAMS: ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-EIGHT PALMS!" Hinata's eyes began to sting, and her body felt sore all over, yet her fighting spirit fueled her being with endless strength.

"First Step: Two Palms, Second Step: Four Palms, Third Step: Eight Palms, Fourth Step: Sixteen Palms, Fifth Step: Thirty-Two Palms!" After reaching the fifth step, Hinata felt a dull pain in her back. Barely a second had passed, but the bullets behind her had already reached behind her. 'I can't carelessly attack,' Hinata frowned and started using half of her Palm Strikes to swat away the bullets, giving Gaara some breathing room.

Right now, Gaara was in a sea of pain, his mind had long blanked, but when Hinata eased up her attacks, he regained his thoughts and started grinding his teeth.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Hinata ignored the enraged boy. "Sixth Step: Sixty-Four Palms!" Hinata gasped and focused all her chakra on her torso, legs, arms, and fingers. "SEVENTH STEP: ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-EIGHT PALMS!"

After three seconds, Hinata finished her attack. Her back was soaked in crimson blood, and it was like a broken faucet was attached to her back, constantly leaking fresh blood with no reserve. Meanwhile, Gaara was like a statue, but seeing that he could still move, Hinata steeled her spirit and redid her stance.

'If that isn't enough, then I'll do it again!' Hinata widened her eyes as much as possible, trying to be as accurate and swift as possible. Then…

"EIGHT TRIGRAMS: ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-EIGHT PALMS!"

She repeated her technique, much to Gaara's despair.

After another three seconds, Hinata jumped back, her breath ragged and her arms trembling, but a wide smirk was plastered on her porcelain face even as her Byakugan slowly deactivated. In front of her was her handiwork, a boy with auburn hair, slumped down with no strength whatsoever as if she had dug out all two hundred and six of his bones.

Hinata approached the fallen boy, and when she was one step away from Gaara, she took out a kunai. "Give up…"

SNAP!

Suddenly, Gaara raised his head with a massive toothy grin on his face, his mouth dripping thick blobs of saliva, and his eyes wide and bloodshot. "I WILL KILL YOU, HYUGA!"

Gaara swiped his hand as if to wipe away Hinata's body, his sand following his motion after forming a razor-sharp paper-thin sand blade. Hinata's body froze for a moment, her body burdened by fatigue and carelessness.

Suddenly, she felt a surge of chakra flood her body in this life-or-death moment, and she pushed chakra toward her legs as if wanting to self-detonate her legs.

BOOM! CRASH…

Hinata's body flew back like a rocket, and a trail of blood followed her body to the ground as she sprawled flat on the yellow earth. "COUGH! Ah…" Hinata's eyes shook, and she glanced down at her abdomen while maintaining a thick coating of chakra on her guts.

Looking down, she saw her blood-soaked intestines, as well as the abdomen that was sliced open, with unknown flesh scattered around her. 'I… feel so weak…' Her eyes were beginning to turn blurry, and her grasp over her chakra was starting to weaken.

'Am I… going to die?'

Just moments ago, she was feeling euphoric at the idea that she won. She never expected that just moments away from touching the clouds, she would fall to the deepest parts of the earth.

"HAHAHA! DIE, HYUGA! BE MY PROOF OF EXISTENCE!"
"RAINING SAND BULLETS!"

SHAAAAA—

Hinata faintly saw the yellow sand rain above her, but all she could do was watch. It was taking her everything just to keep breathing and stay conscious, how can she defend herself at the moment?

SWOOSH… THUD.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared above Hinata, and her eyes slowly closed, muttering one last sentence, "I'll... never give up." The last thing she saw was the sudden glowing of vibrant lavender on what seemed to be the shadow's head. The shadow raised his hand, and a scroll appeared on his hand.

"…seal."

The shadow whispered and no one heard him, but the scroll suddenly crumbled to dust. Everyone watched with tilted heads and upside-down brains as the raining sand bullets suddenly stop and fall without any strength.

Then, Hinata's abdomen started glowing green, and the wound on her abdomen began closing at a miraculous rate. Moments later, only a thick, blood splatter was left on Hinata's smooth skin, as if she just spilled some tomato sauce and did not have a gruesome cut on her abdomen, nearly splitting her body in half.

When everything was finished, the shadow vanished without a sound and Genma snapped out of his stupor. Baki also appeared in front of Gaara and slammed his palm on Gaara's forehead.

"…you…" Gaara slowly mellowed, and the sand around him began floating aimlessly as he stared at Baki with resentment. It happened twice now. He was one step away from killing his enemy, but in both cases, someone had to interfere and stop him.

"I'll kill you later," Gaara mumbled before turning to walk away.

"WINNER, Gaara of the Sand!"

". . ."

Unlike earlier with the climax of Hiroko VS Sasuke, no one cheered after Hinata and Gaara's match ceased. No one had the stomach to do so.

In the kage box, Hiruzen frowned when he saw the shadow appear and disappear like a ghost. Despite their confusion, none of them questioned the shadow's existence. The Kazekage wouldn't care about Konoha's problems, and both Hiruzen and Danzo didn't want to embarrass themselves.

"So, what do you say?" Hiruzen the second Kage.

"Hmm," the Kazekage rested his chin on his hand and pondered. "Gaara can be promoted, and so can the Hyuga, but I wonder," the Kazekage chuckled. "Can her wounds be healed?" The Kazekage gave Hiruzen a glance, but it was Danzo who answered.

"Of course. The village can heal her wounds at any time," as soon as Danzo finished speaking, he received the stares of both Kage, but neither said anything. Hiruzen simply nodded his head and went silent to ponder the results.

Meanwhile, the Kazekage was thinking to himself.

'I recognize that healing ability,' he mused. 'It's exceedingly similar to the Uzumaki's healing abilities.' Very few saw it, perhaps it was only him who saw it, but the "shadow" let a drop of blood fall on Hinata's wound, and then her wounds started glowing green, being healed at an extraordinary rate.

'There's an Uzumaki in here,' the Kazekage licked his lips. 'I wonder if I can capture him.'

"Temari and Tenten, please get into the arena!" On the arena, a shout suddenly echoed out, startling the crowd who thought that there would be another intermission.

'Oh well, let's think about it after the invasion,' the Kazekage chuckled inaudibly.

In the arena, two kunoichis eyed each other.

"BEGIN!" Genma jumped away before his word even fell.

"Unseal!" Tenten shouted and after dropping a large scroll on the ground, it rolled open and massive amounts of water gushed out. Temari watched as the water slowly soaked her feet. She looked up just in time to see Tenten taking out another scroll. She smirked. "Oh no, you don't." Then, she opened her fan and sent three wind blades toward Tenten before jumping up.

"Tsk, UNSEAL!" Seeing the wind blade, and Temari jumping away, Tenten was forced to give up her plan but she still unsealed the scroll she took out. It carried a massive amount of lightning chakra that she harvested from none other than the great Copy Ninja. Tenten also jumped, and when the wind blade was in front of her, she took out another scroll.

"Unseal," Tenten muttered and took out an oval-shaped shield, using it to block the wind blades. Seeing this, Temari frowned. 'Those wind blades are sharp enough to turn that shield into scrap,' she brooded over it before realizing that the shield was loaded with chakra.

When both kunoichis landed on the ground, their feet wet with water, Temari smirked and waved her fan, sending violent water waves and wind blades toward Tenten. Tenten smirked and used her shield to block the attack.

"You lose," suddenly, the hair on Tenten's neck straightened, and shivers ran down her spine. Her eyes moved to see a glimpse of Temari's blonde hair before she realized her predicament.

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