4.6

4.6

I stood inside the arena by Naruto’s side. The rest of the competing genin spread in the same line. The Sunagakure trio was to my right: I was shoulder to shoulder with Temari. Konoha's other genin were on the opposite side to Naruto. We all faced forward.

The three viewing areas in front of us were packed. Ninjas and normal people alike, gathered to see children fight and hurt each other, and maybe some cool jutsu. In the central structure, on the second floor, sat the old man Hokage and the Kazekage. Each with their shinobi escort. From my place down in the arena, I glared at the disguised Orochimaru. Or who I thought was Orochimaru.

By my side, Naruto kept looking left and right. Tiptoeing. Often looking at the arena’s entrance.

Cool guy proctor, toothpick in his mouth, chastised Naruto. “Stop fidgeting, stand still and face forward, toward the guests. All of you are the stars of these finals.”

I scanned the rows of people here to watch the show-horses exhibition, in a particular section of the central structure, where a group of black haired, white eyed people sat. I saw a young girl by Hiashi’s side. She looked around seven years old. Face set in a serious mask. Black hair framing her young face. Was that Hanabi? A spark of something bloomed in my chest, almost like longing, dampened by Hanabi’s glare that I could feel even from here. What were those Hyuga telling their children about me to cause such a reaction?

Old man Hokage stood, it was speech time. I turned off my brain. I took deep breaths, thought happy thoughts. On the stand, Sakura, Ino and Kiba sat near each other. Cloaked ninjas spread among the spectators, animal masks hidden beneath the hood. If things went the same as before, Kabuto was disguised as one of the ANBU. I tried to push my perception, feel the chakra around. If I found Kabuto, I could report him, or maybe try taking him out in the confusion. Blinding pain greeted my attempts. There were too many shinobi inside the arena for me to use the chakra perception.

“Please sit back and enjoy!” Old man Hokage called out at the end of his speech. Returned to his seat.

Proctor-san turned to us after the old man sat down. “Listen up, all of you. This is the last exam. The landscape may be different, but as in the second exam preliminaries, there’s no rules. You fight until one of you dies or admits defeat.” He looked at each of us. “Unless I determine that a clear winner has already been decided, in which case I’ll stop the match before anyone is killed, understood?”

No one said anything. At least they didn’t want to blatantly kill us young shinobi.

“All right—”

Naruto looked around again, raised his hand. Interrupted Proctor-san. “Sasuke isn’t here yet. What happens if he doesn’t arrive until his match starts?”

“He loses by forfeit.” Proctor-san declared. He waited for a moment. No other question came his way. “First match Uzumaki Naruto versus Hinata. You two stay down here, the rest of you proceed to the waiting room outside the arena.”

A fist broke the earth under me. Naruto, coated in red glowing evil chakra, punched me like he had something against me. Like I just tried to explode him to bits. Sunshine brat had no doton jutsu, and just brute forced his way from under the earth. He had this degree of control over Kurama’s chakra already? What a cheat. Caught off guard, I couldn’t move with the impact this time. I saw stars, my feet left the ground. Damned Naruto took no pity on me, clones popped all around. Three of them were by my side. Kicked me higher. Ugh, no way. I braced for the pain. Four clones punched me down. Another Naruto was ready to plaster me when I swapped positions with one of Naruto’s own clones. I flickered away. Hid behind one fallen tree.

Shit, that was too close. My back hurt, I had trouble breathing. It hurt. Damn cool protag MC cheat. I wasn’t jelly of Naruto. No way. I wanted no part of whatever powerup Naruto got at the cost of hosting the ninetails. Even if it was still bullshit. Not even one tail mode yet and he was already almost physically stronger than me.

Instead of fighting with himself like he did with Kakashi-sensei, he unpopped the clones. A red eyed Naruto turned, scanned the arena for my presence.

Something burned inside my chest. I wanted to go all out, to give the brat a fight he wouldn’t forget, to carve my name, for the briefest of moments in the mind of those watching. I sighed. Squashed that feeling, threw it away. I left my hiding spot behind one of the fallen trees. Naruto’s eyes zeroed on me instantly. I walked toward him, he walked towards me. I could have tried to hide, but well, time to give the audience a show, right?

“Win or lose.” I murmured.

“Win or lose.” Red-eyed Naruto grinned.

I pumped my body full of chakra. Flickered to his side. I punched his head. Unfortunately, unlike Neji who didn’t react in time, Naruto was ready for me. His hand lashed out, grabbed onto my shirt. Damn brat held me there, punched me in the face. Again, and again. For each one punch Naruto threw, I hit him three or four times, but it was a losing battle. I didn’t have Naruto’s stamina. Each punch took a lot out of me. After the tenth hit, when I felt my ribs crack, my face swollen, and the pain in my stomach intensify, I decided it was enough. Instead of hitting Naruto, I caught his fist.

Naruto’s face was bruised and swelling. I was sure my own wasn’t better. Possibilities crawled inside my head: Turn my arm into wood, wrap wood around the brat, seal away the Kyuubi chakra. Summon wood clones, trap Naruto inside a barrier, trap Naruto inside an explosive barrier. Or explosions, always explosions.

It was, in the end, just a pipe dream. I knew only the theory about chakra sealing. Yamato explained and demonstrated it to me. I knew the hand seals. He never explicitly said it could be used to seal the jinchuriki, but what else would it be? Nature transformation wasn’t my forte, it creeped me out too much to use at a moment’s notice. Explosive barrier would work, but I didn’t want to kill, or cripple the brat.

“I surrender.” I gritted out, much to his confusion, and my own frustration.

“What?” Naruto asked. Released my shirt. His eyes that burned red turned baby blue.

Proctor guy appeared by our side. “Winner is Uzumaki Naruto,” he declared.