Naruto
Wings of a Butterfly
Chapter XVI
XxXRecapXxX
"Winner by forfeit Uzumaki Karin." Hayate declared.
"But?" Karin staggered.
"Just accept your win." Shikamaru said walking back up to the viewing area.
Temari was watching the fight and Shikamaru in particular. 'He forfeited the match but he still showed a great analytical mind he saw a variable and instead of risking himself in a possibly hopeless situation he retreated. He could be a threat to father's plans.'
The screen lit back up and began to cycle through the names once more before stopping on two names.
Hyuga Neji vs Inuzuka Kiba
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Neji and Kiba were in the arena looking at one another. Kiba looked cocky while Neji was being a typical Hyuga stoic and unreadable.
"You ready to lose Hyuga?" Kiba asked Neji, showing just how cocky he was.
"The only one who is going to lose here is you Kiba." Neji said with the ever so slightest of a smirk that you could miss if you didn't know what to look for.
"Kiba is doomed." Naruto said from the viewing area.
"What do you mean Naruto?" Sakura asked.
"Sakura, Neji is the one who taught me the Juken and helped me create the Lingchi." Naruto explained to his former teammate. "Trust me Kiba doesn't stand a chance."
"Are both participants ready?" Hayate asked.
"Hai." both Kiba and Neji said.
"Begin." Hayate ordered.
Neji slid into the ready stance of the Juken while Kiba dropped to all fours, getting more feral than he had been a second ago.
Kiba rushed Neji at breaking speed only to have Neji jump and twist over him, tapping Kiba in two places on his spine making Kiba drop to the floor.
"What the? What did you do to me?" Kiba demanded.
"I temporarily paralyzed you, you won't be getting back up for a while. I suggest surrendering." Neji said calmly.
"Told you." Naruto said in the viewing area.
"Winner Hyuga Neji." Hayate called out firmly.
The screen lit up once again cycling through the names before stopping on two names.
Suigetsu vs Hyuga Hinata.
As Suigestu walked down to the arena Naruto saw his weapon of choice, Kubikiribōchō, Zabuza's sword.
Hinata knew she couldn't beat Suigetsu with taijutsu with him holding that sword but she had to try for Naruto she would win the Uzumaki's heart with the confidence that she had gained from watching him for countless years, always watching but never getting close.
As the Fight started Suigetsu made the first move, running through various hand seals in a flash before a large serpentine dragon made entirely of water crashed into Hinata. However when the water cleared only the broken pieces of a log.
"Heh not bad." Suigetsu said.
From behind Suigetsu Hinata tried to rush him with her Juken but she hadn't learned the Jūkenhō: Hakke Rokujūyon Shō and she wasn't exactly good with the Juken either. Honestly Hinata was better suited for the medical side of shinobi life than an active kunoichi.
As Hinata got close to Suigetsu the white haired teen spun around and brought Kubikiribōchō down on Hinata. This time however there was no remains of a log, no this time there was blood pooling around Hinata's body the blade did it's job it had cut deep into Hinata causing the girl to fall to the ground lifeless.
"Oops I think I overdid it." Suigetsu said tauntingly.
Neji watched as the medics took Hinata's body off the field and he was furious. Did he like Hinata? Yes he did, she was his cousin. Did he think Hinata lacked the drive to be a true kunoichi? Also yes. But dammit he wasn't about to let some Oto low-life get away with killing his cousin.
Neji appeared in the arena and scooped up some of Hinata's blood and pressed it over his heart.
"Before this gathering I hereby declare that before these exams are over I will avenge Hinata's death." Neji said firmly.
"Whatever Hyuga." Suigetsu said not feeling threatened.
Naruto was also angry that Suigetsu killed Hinata but he knew he couldn't do anything as he was no longer in the exams he would have to trust in Neji to avenge Hinata.
The screen lit up again cycling through the remaining names; there were only four contestants left: Temari, Tenten, Jugo, and Kankuro; the names stopped on Kankuro and Jugo.
"Kankuro, remember you can't let anyone know of Father's plans. Fight Jugo as if we are not allied with him." Temari said.
"I was just going to use Crow's knockout gas for an easy win. The guy is a total push over when he doesn't rage." Kankuro replied.
"Ugh, fine but don't let anyone know our mission." Temari reiterated.
Down in the arena Jugo looked at Kankuro and bowed to him as an equal. "Let's do our best Kankuro-san." Jugo said.
"Begin!" Hayate yelled.
Jugo rushed Kankuro in an attempt to level his opponent however just as he reached Kaukuro Jugo was wrapped up into the many limbs of a puppet.
"Good night sucker." Kankuro said.
Just then a cloud of green gas sprayed into Jugo's face and rendered the teen unconscious.
"Winner by knockout Kankuro." Hayate said calmly. "Will the last two contestants please come down this will be the last match of the preliminaries."
Temari and Tenten walked down to the arena and unlike the fight between Ino and Sakura this fight was going to be between true kunoichi not a couple of fangirls playing kunoichi.
"Are both participants ready?" Hayate asked.
"Hai." Temari said as she took a large metal object off her back.
"Hai." was all Tenten said as she pulled out twin tanto with crimson blades.
"Begin." Hayate called out.
Tenten rushed Temari but before Tenten could even reach Temari the blonde kunoichi opened her fan and literally blew Tenten into the far side of the arena with pure wind force.
"How?" Tenten asked aloud but out of ear shot from everyone.
"That's some chakra control." Kakashi said in mild amazement.
"Tenten can't win this one. Most of her Jutsu require weapons and range; if she can't reach her opponent then she's fighting a losing battle." Neji said.
Tenten not one to go down without a fight grabbed two scrolls and jumped up into the air while spinning with her arms outstretched.
"Soshoryu!" Tenten called out.
Suddenly countless weapons launched from the scrolls flying at Temari.
"Hopeless." Temari said.
Before the weapons reached her Temari once again used her giant fan to blow the weapons away.
Once Tenten landed on the ground with her scrolls depleted of their countless weapons she was staring at Temari.
"Impossible." Tenten said.
"No, you just drew the short end of the stick." Temari said before swinging her fan, sending Tenten into a wall and knocking her out.
"Winner by knockout Temari." Hayate said firmly. "This concludes the preliminary elimination round. Will the winners please come down to the arena to learn about the next phase of the exams."
A/N: Hey all Azrael here hope you enjoyed this chapter. The fights were a little shorter in this chapter but honestly I'm just trying to get to the finals and beyond so you can see what I have planned. Also epic cliffhanger what will Hayate say to the winners? Will we see how the third exam is set up? Who knows we'll just have to wait until the next chapter.
Ja~ne!