Chapter 55 - Quarter Finals

"Welcome" the Raikage's deep and strong voice echoed through the arena. The arena, while much like the one on Konoha was significantly bigger. Almost a quarter mile in length with towering walls surrounding it and, of course, plenty of sitting places for the crowd.

"Welcome to the Jounin Exams" the Raikage continued, seeing that the noise had started dimming and everyone's attention was focused on him. The jounin exams, one of the biggest events possible in any of the great shinobi villages. This was so much bigger than the chunnin exams.

The village hosting the jounin exams received a large increase in their economics and politics. The jounin exams was, after all, a very important event. Only the best and brightest of each village were sent to these exams. Each village sent their best men and woman and displayed them to the world, much like the chunnin exams this one was a substitute for war.

The main reason as to why these exams were so much bigger than their counter part was for the spectacle. The competitors in the chunnin exams are only gennin, most charging straight forward without strategy, chucking kunais and shurikens wildly at their enemy, throwing wild punches and blind kicks until one finds their target.

No…these exams were so different. Every competitor was a chunnin, strong and qualified enough to pass the first two stages. Of the dozen of competitors only the cream of the crop were chosen, only the best of the best. Most of these chunnin had vast battle experience, and like the main point of this tournament, they had arrays of ninjutsu, perfect for entertaining the crowd, particularly one filled with leaders and daimyos who might fund Kumogakure.

"Today you are all in for a special treat" The Raikage shouted with a twinkle in his eyes, making the audience slightly chuckle. "We have two teams from Konoha, one from Iwa and another from our very own Kumo" the Raikage explained and noticing that the crowd understood he carried on. "They have proved themselves worthy of stepping into the arena and without further due I present you the contestants of the Jounin exams" the Raikage shouted and crowd started clapping as every single participant entered the arena.

"A strong introduction" the Raikage nodded in acknowledgement to the voice in his right as he sat down. The man sitting at the Raikage's right was none other than our very own ero-sennin as a certain blonde teen called him. Behind Jiraiya stood both Blue (Tobirama) and Green (Hashirama) posing as body guards.

"It's a shame that the Hokage couldn't attend" the Raikage said, testing the waters for the reasons behind Tsunade's absence.

"You know how it is. Being hokage is a full time job where even sleep sometimes is evasive" Jiraiya explained and the Raikage seemed to murmur something in agreement.

"Though you don't seem to miss the Tsuchikage" Jiraiya carefully threw out, interested in the Raikage's opinion. "I understand the Mizukage not being here since no Kiri team qualified but we have one from Iwa" Jiraiya explained.

"He's gotten old" the Raikage said offhandedly. "It's time for him to pass the torch into the next generation but you know him as well I do. He's a stubborn old man" the Raikage said and Jiraiya simply chuckled in agreement.

"It's starting"

## Arena ##

"Look sharp you fools" everyone competitor in the arena turned their attention towards the arriving kumo shinobi. The man had dark skin and a muscular build, as well as white hair and a goatee. On his right shoulder, he has a tattoo of the kanji for iron, and on his left cheek, he has a tattoo of a bull's horn.

He wore oval shaped sunglasses and a white-colored forehead protector. He also had his village's standard one-strap-over-one-shoulder flak jacket, and a long, red rope belt tied around his waist, the standard Kumo hand and shin guards, shinobi sandals, and a white scarf around his neck.

"B" Naruto exclaimed, surprised to see the last remaining jinchuuriki outside of Konoha.

"Long time no see nine-o" B replied lifting his right fist and Naruto hastily fist bumped him.

"This chakra…" Gyuuki thought when he felt a small sample of Naruto's chakra seep into his host. "Could he be?" Gyuuki wondered, taking a closer look at the nine tails host.

"So you are the examiner?" Naruto asked and B nodded.

"Gather up and look sharp everyone" B ordered and the contestants lined up perfectly facing the crowd who roared in applause.

"Welcome to the final stage of the jounin exams fools" B said and A's eyebrow twitched in the kage's seats. "The first match is Taiseki of Iwa against Nara Shikamaru of Konoha. The remaining contestants please empty the arena and wait your turn" B said and everyone vacated the arena, save for Taiseki and Shikamaru.

"Good luck Shika" Naruto said and Shikamaru nodded.

"YEAH…kick his ass" Tenten yelled from the balcony.

"Please" Kurotsuchi scoffed. "We have done our research about you. Nara Shikamaru of the Nara Clan, medium ninjutsu skills, subpar taijutsu and nonexistent genjutsu. Taiseki will tear him apart" Kurotsuchi explained.

"Perhaps" Naruto said half-heartedly. Kurotsuchi raised an eyebrow in surprise at his reply before shifting her attention to the arena.

"She's right you know" Hinata whispered, loud enough for only Naruto to hear. "Shika-kun doesn't stand much of a chance against a bulky nintaijutsu user like Taiseki"

"Have a little faith" Naruto smirked and Hinata raised an eyebrow in doubt but nodded nonetheless.

## Arena ##

"Taiseki of Iwa vs. Nara Shikamaru of Konoha" B said as both opponents stood facing each other, a few meters away from each other. Bee walked up to them, standing half way from both of them.

"Both contestants ready?" Bee asked as he raised his arm.

"Yes" Both Taiseki and Shikamaru replied, neither taking their eyes from their adversary.

"Begi-"

"Doton: Ishi no Yari (Earth Release: Stone Spear)"

Before B could even finish announcing the start of the match, Taiseki had decided that he had waited long enough. With three quick hand seals, he slammed his hands on the ground. The ground rumbled slightly as the earth was tore apart and from the opening, several razor sharp spear made of hard stone were hurled towards Shikamaru.

Shikamaru was momentarily stunned, not expecting Taiseki to start the match instantly. He stumbled backwards and jumped to the side to avoid the array of spears coming his away. He ducked beneath one spear and dropped to the ground, tumbling to the left to avoid the rest but not before getting grazed in his right cheek.

Shikamaru brought his hand to his face to clean the trail of blood from the small cut. Before he could properly raise himself, Taiseki was already on top of him with both hands clasped and raised into the air. Shikamaru quickly jumped backwards and watched as Taiseki missed him by a few inches, slamming his fists into the ground.

Shikamaru was still airborne when a piece of stone shot from the ground and hit him in his gut. Shikamaru coughed as he fell to the ground but managed to regain his balance. "Looks like Taiseki won't give me a chance to use my jutsu, what a drag" Shikamaru thought to himself as he continued to run away from Taiseki, who seemed relentless in his pursuit of the leaf chunnin.

Shikamaru looked backwards to see Taiseki slowly gaining terrain and he had to think of something quickly if he wanted to survive and possibly win against his opponent. Shikamaru took out a couple of smoke bombs and immediately dropped them into the ground.

Taiseki hasted his progress as his vision was clouded in pitch black smoke. He carefully looked around and instantly ducked just in time to see a few kunais zip past him. "Doton - Doryuuheki (Earth Wall)" Taiseki said as he kneeled to the ground and raised a stone wall around.

It was the right choice since several kunais embed themselves in the wall and promptly exploded, tearing the defensive wall apart but inflicting no damage on Taiseki. Taiseki took a deep breath and slammed a single hand on the ground, sending vibrations through the terrain, enough to cover the whole arena floor.

The vibrations spreading through the whole arena carried enough information to pinpoint Shikamaru's location in the midst of his smoke bomb that was already started to dissipate. Without waiting any more time, Taiseki shot himself forward, rushing towards his adversary's position.

Shikamaru's eyes widened when he saw Taiseki exiting the cloud of smoke, rushing at him like some enraged bull. Shikamaru kneeled on the ground and placed his hands together, forming the seal for his shadow manipulation. His shadow had just started twitching when Taiseki's fists connected to the ground. Shikamaru was repelled backwards from the blast wave but quickly regained his footing.

"None of that shadow stuff" Taiseki said as he rushed Shikamaru once again who braced himself for his opponent. Taiseki knew that he outclassed his opponent in taijutsu by far. Taiseki sent a straight punch and Shikamaru quickly brought both of his arms together to block it.

*SMACK*

Shikamaru was blow backwards from the force of the punch and hit the arena wall, leaving a small indentation as he fell to the ground. Shikamaru coughed and tried to regain his breath only to have a small shadow being cast over him. He quickly looked up to see Taiseki on the air and aiming his fist at him.

Taiseki's arm shot forward and went straight towards Shikamaru face. "Bunshin (Clone)?" Taiseki's eyes widened when his fist went right through Shikamaru's form as it dissipated into nothingness.

Taiseki's fist connected with the ground as he regained his balance from being tricked. The whole floor around Taiseki started glowing as several buried explosive tags started sizzling.

*BOOOM*

Shikamaru emerged from the ground on the other side of arena and watched as the cloud of dust slowly started settling down. Once the smoke was cleared enough, Taiseki's form was seen standing in the middle of the explosion, his arms crossed over his head. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes when he saw Taiseki's skin give a small shimmer of light, almost sparkling.

"Iwa no Yoroi (Rock Armor)" Taiseki smirked as he flexed his muscles, not even a small scratch or blemish on his skin.

## With Crowd ##

"Damn" Naruto muttered under his breath as he watched Shikamaru's match. Things weren't looking up for his fellow shinobi of the leaf.

"Told ya" Kurotsuchi grinned as she cheered for her teammate.

"He'll come up with something" Naruto replied not taking his eyes from the arena.

## Arena ##

Shikamaru's breathing was labored as his chakra reserves were going down fast. All the running around and setting up traps to slow down his opponents was finally catching up to him. Shikamaru crouched on the ground, since he gained distance from his opponent he once again tried to activate his jutsu to bind his opponent.

"Doton: Doryu Joheki (Earth Style Rampart)" Taiseki slammed his hands on the ground when he noticed Shikamaru's shadow blurring its way towards him. The ground between both shinobi erupted and broke apart. Chunks of rock stood from the surface, several holes were formed, everything to disrupt and make difficult for Shikamaru's shadow to travel towards him.

"Meisaigakure no Jutsu (Camouflage Jutsu)" Taiseki whispered as his form seemed to shimmer and he disappeared from view. With his scent and shadow gone, invisible to the naked eye, Taiseki started stalking Shikamaru like a hungry lion.

"That isn't good" Shikamaru thought to himself when he saw Taiseki making himself invisible and completely disappear from view. Shikamaru took a whiff of the air but his opponent's scent was nowhere to be found.

Shikamaru was concentrating on trying to find his opponent when he noticed a sudden shift on the air. He felt a very strong and hard fist connecting with his jaw as Shikamaru was sent flying through the air until he hit the ground with a resonating thud. Shikamaru shakily got up and braced himself for the next hit, he knew that he only needed a small window to win the match.

Without wasting much time he took a scroll from his pouches and immediately spread it on the ground. He slammed his foot on the kanji written on it and a fountain of water burst from it. Shikamaru concentrated chakra on the scroll as the water poured out of it and in an instant it had covered the whole arena floor.

Shikamaru waited from the water to calm down and started watching its surface for any ripples.

*BLOP*

Shikamaru immediately threw himself to the right as Taiseki's fist connected with the ground. Taking opportunity on Taiseki's slip Shikamaru brought his knee upwards and slammed into Taiseki. Shikamaru winced when he felt the hardness of Taiseki's rock armor and but that was sufficient to disrupt his invisibility and momentarily stun him.

Shikamaru quickly jumped backwards and started flashing through hand seals. Taiseki quickly recovered from the blow and started searching for Shikamaru but it was too late as Shikamaru had finished his jutsu. "Genjutsu" Shikamaru said as Taiseki focused on him. "Kokuangyou no Jutsu (Journey into Black Darkness)"

Taiseki's whole world started darkening until it was replaced by a black void. Deprived of all sight Taiseki started panicking and that gave Shikamaru enough time to complete his plan. "Kagemane no Jutsu" Shikamaru's shadow quickly shot from his position and in no time connected to Taiseki's still form, binding him to Shikamaru's moves.

"Concede" Shikamaru ordered as he disrupted his genjutsu and forced Taisei to bring a kunai to his own neck. Taiseki struggled against his opponent but Shikamaru managed to hold him in his place.

"Fine. I concede" Taiseki spat as the shadow hold loosened.

"Winner by surrender…Nara Shikamaru of Konoha" B said and the crowd erupted in cheers, especially the Konoha section of competitors.

## With Crowd ##

"YEAH" Both Tenten and Rock Lee yelled loudly as Shikamaru made his way towards the stands and dropped down to his seat.

"Unbelievable" Kurotsuchi muttered when he saw Taiseki getting defeated.

"I told you he would come up with something. He isn't one of Konoha's greatest minds for nothing" Naruto said, turning his head to look at Shikamaru who seemed to be dozing off.

"You are all good Shika-kun" Hinata said as he finished patching up Shikamaru. "Although you will be sore tomorrow"

"I intend on doing nothing tomorrow" Shikamaru replied as he dropped his head down and closed his eyes to sleep while he could. He had already figured out the winners of the next matches so why bother watching.

"Senju Naruto and Ren please come to the arena for the second match" B shouted from the arena floor and both contestants nodded. Naruto got on top of the metal railings and leaped downwards, landing gracefully on the middle of the arena with his armor rattling.

He brought his right leg up and slammed his foot on the ground. The whole arena shook from the impact as the water from the previous match dissipated and the whole arena was flattened.

"Show off" Hinata shook her head when she heard the shocked breaths from the crowd. "And he says he doesn't like the attention" Hinata muttered as she leaned on the railings to watch the next match.

## With Kages ##

"Now this I want to see" A said as he leaned forward, diverting all attention to the ensuing match between Naruto and Ren.

"Really?" Jiraiya asked with surprise in his tone.

"Of course" A replied never looking from the arena. "He was already very strong when we fought together three years ago" A reminisced of his battle. Being a Kage, stamping papers was the closest thing to action you did all day. "I wish to see how much he grew"

"Then I believe you will be in for a show" Jiraiya replied both grinned as they looked towards the arena.

## Arena ##

"Second Match of the tournament. Senju Naruto of Konoha against Ren of Iwa. Both contestants ready?" B asked and both Naruto and Ren nodded.

"Begin" B said and jumped backwards. Ren immediately jumped backwards to gain some distance from her opponent and began staring back at him.

"Interesting" Naruto thought to himself as he watched Ren standing in front of him with a determined face. His sharingan flared to life to further analyze his opponent.

"What's so interesting about her? She's the one that almost fainted when she felt your chakra" Kurama replied through his mind link.

"You forget that she most likely felt you as well. But…look closely at her" Naruto said and Kurama acknowledge him and looked intently at Ren.

"I don't get it" Kurama said and Naruto shook his head.

"Her clothes seem brand new and yet they have tears. Her eyes betray how tired she is, her skin looks pale, her knuckles show fresh wounds, her legs and arms show cuts that she didn't have last time. Do you see my point now?" Naruto asked but Kurama remained oblivious. "She may be the one who almost fainted from my chakra and yet here she is. She worked hard all month long it seems"

"I don't like to brag but I do have a reputation. She seems nothing special and yet she seems very determined to win" Naruto concluded. If there was one thing that Naruto valued was hard work and determination.

Having made up his plan for the match, Naruto slowly bent his knees and leaned forward, taking both a defensive and offensive stance. He was going to take this from the beginning, wanting to know what Ren could do in battle.

Naruto shot forward at moderate speed, slowly closing the distance between himself and Ren. Ren saw Naruto closing the distance between them rather fast and swiftly pulled a couple shurikens, hurling them towards the incoming threat with deadly accuracy.

Ren watched as the shurikens closed in on her target and just as they were about to make contact, Naruto's figure seem to blur and disappear from view. Ren blinked as Naruto disappeared from her field of vision and immediately her heart sped up from a mix of panic and adrenalin itself.

Ren threw herself to the right, rolling on the ground as Naruto appeared behind her, with this right leg lifted and poised to strike. Seeing that he missed, Naruto regained his balance and shot towards Ren who braced herself, no time for shurikens this time.

Ren gulped and got up, taking a defensive stance with both arms in front, shielding her face and upper chest. Naruto's fist collided with both her arms and she buckled from the power behind it, but held on. Naruto threw a right hook and Ren brought her left arm to block his strike.

Naruto caught her left arm and hoisted into the air, he spun around and flung her towards the arena walls. Ren twisted her body midair and prepared for impact. The wall made a sickening crunch as Ren's feet dung themselves into the stone from the power behind the throw. Ren dug herself of the wall and sighed in relief knowing she broke nothing.

Ren launched herself from the wall and started going through hand seals while still midair. Her eyes caught Naruto still on the ground, she looked him in the eyes and noticed that his sharingan was spinning rapidly. She finished her sequence as she landed on the ground and placed both hands on the floor.

"Doton: Dosekiryu (Earth Dragon)" Ren said as the rock and stone exploded from the ground and into the air. Like being pulled by some imaginary force, the rocks and stones merged together, taking the form of a long snake with big snout. The stone dragon coiled before shooting forward towards Naruto.

Ren lifted her head from the ground to see the progress and was shocked when she saw her earth dragon clashing with another one, exactly with the same size and rock composition. "His sharingan…he copied my jutsu" Ren thought, remembering his spinning eyes as she performed the seals.

Ren's eyes widened when Naruto unleashed a blast of fire that tore straight through both earth dragons and was coming towards her. "Doton - Doryuuheki (Earth Wall)" Ren said, raising a stone wall in front of her to shield her from the attack. The stone wall buckled and started cracking as the fireball impacted it, but managed to hold on.

Ren was working through hand seals with the coverage of smoke when she saw a small blue light in the midst of it. "Rasengan" The voice came but a split second before a small blue sphere appeared from the middle of the smoke and smashed against her shoulder, pinning her to the ground and making a crater from the impact.

Naruto's eyes narrowed when Ren's form started turning brown and crumbling into the ground. "Rock Clone" Naruto thought as Ren's disappeared into fine dust. Naruto stumbled when he felt his feet getting dragged down into the earth.

"Doton – Ryusa (Quicksand)" Ren changed the composition of the earth beneath Naruto's feet, trapping him into a quicksand trap. The more Naruto struggled the more he sank until he was neck deep.

"Pretty good trap" Naruto thought as his form vanished with a yellow flash, teleporting to the shiki seal he had left on her when they exchanged blows in the beginning of the match. Ren must have sensed him because she turned swiftly around, only to meet with a strong fist right to her jaw.

Ren was sent flying and crashed into the ground. She groaned as she got up and dusted her clothes off. She nursed her jaw that was already showing signs of swelling.

## With Crowd ##

"Figures he could use that blasted Hirashin" Taiseki spat.

"He's toying with her" Kurotsuchi grumbled when she noticed Ren fire attack after attack only for Naruto to shrug them off or lunch his own and overpower her.

"You're wrong" Hinata said softly.

"Enlighten me then" Kurotsuchi huffed.

"Naruto-kun is very strong" Hinata started. "And although he may deny it, he is proud of himself. He has yet to find someone to truly give him a challenge and even I admit it that I don't stand a chance against him" Hinata chuckled and Kurotsuchi raised an eyebrow at that.

"Naruto-kun likes to fight, there is no doubt in my mind about that. Because he's so strong there are very few battles he's ever taken seriously. When fighting a battle against weaker opponents, he tends to judge them before the battle. If he seems them as worth it, he gives them a chance to give all they got, to stand their own against him, otherwise he just knocks them out" Hinata said.

"That strikes me as arrogance at its finest" Kurotsuchi simply said.

"Perhaps" Hinata agreed. "But that is what he's doing right now. He must felt something special about Ren to make him give her a chance" Hinata explained. "You're right. He could have knocked her out the first time they crossed fists and yet he didn't. He's giving her a chance to show off. Besides, isn't that the whole point of this tournament? To show off enough skill to be promoted to jonnin?" Hinata rhetorically asked.

"She's right you know" Shikamaru said with his eyes still closed. Kurotsuchi didn't reply and just kept watching the match in silence.

"Why?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"One of the mysteries that makes Naruto-kun special" Hinata said, giving a small smile.

## Arena ##

Ren was jumping through the arena, running and dodging small fireballs that Naruto kept shooting. She landed on the ground and felt Naruto's chakra spike, she immediately jumped as far as she could from her position just in time to avoid a massive fire ball that he released.

"Close call" Ren thought to herself, wiping the sweat from her forehead. Ren took a deep breath to relax when she noticed that Naruto seemed to stop and just stare at her with his red eyes.

"That's it" Ren thought with glee. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Iwa Bunshin no Jutsu (Rock Clone)" Ren said as she spat multiple globs of dirt to the ground that took her form. "That should keep him busy while I work on it" Ren thought as she sent the clones to attack and distract Naruto long enough for her to start the plan.

Just as Naruto dispatched of the last clone, Ren had finished her plan. Her plan seemed to have taken the form of a small paper sphere in her hand. At first sight the paper ball looked similar to a smoke bomb but that wasn't it. Whatever it was, she hoped it would do the trick against her opponent.

Ren took the initiative and dove forward, intending to meet Naruto head on. Naruto smiled when he saw her approach and took a defensive stance. Naruto parried her punch and replied with a kick to her sternum that she simply side stepped. Naruto used her shift and backhanded Ren hard in the face.

"Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution Jutsu)" Ren muttered beneath her breath, swapping her body and letting that small paper ball take the damage.

"Flash bomb? Let's see then" Naruto chuckled in thought when he saw the paper ball appear in Ren's place. Just as his fist hit the paper sphere, it lit ablaze, releasing a bright flash of light that illuminated the whole arena and temporarily blinded Naruto.

"YES" Ren nearly shouted when she saw Naruto forcibly close his eyes and momentarily stumble.

Naruto shook his head and brought his hands to his forehead, lowering his forehead protector to the front of his eyes. It was a solid plan from Ren's part, disabling the eyes of an Uchiha. Naruto stayed still for what seemed to be mere moments until Ren noticed several red markings on his cheeks and two concentric circles on his forehead.

Ren gasped and took a step back when she felt his chakra spike. She gulped as she felt his aura, it radiated so much power that it seemed insane. "Focus Ren" Ren snapped from her shock when she heard Naruto's voice. "The battle has just began. Show me your worth" Naruto said and Ren renewed her efforts.

## With Crowd ##

"Really?" Hinata thought in disbelief. "Senjutsu? I wonder what she has to make you push her to this level." Hinata though with her curiosity sparkled as she watched the battle.

## Arena ##

"Don't waver" Naruto said as he parried another strike and punched her back. "Push forward" Naruto stressed.

Ren coughed as she crouched on the ground and took several deep breaths. Naruto allowed her to regain her breathing and motioned for her to come. Ren had a look of fierce determination as she got up and ran forward once again. Her chakra stores were wasted, taijutsu and weaponry were her last resort.

Her kunais clashed with metal sounds against Naruto's. Naruto saw Ren's breathing starting to get shallower and her heart rate slowing down. "She's spent" Naruto thought as he kicked her away and she stumbled but regained her balance.

Ren sensed Naruto appearing behind with his Hirashin and threw her elbow backwards. Naruto easily caught her elbow and placed a kunai at her throat, signaling the end of the match.

"I never stood a chance" Ren slid to the ground, taking deep breaths. Her chakra stores were depleted, she was tired, bruised and defeated.

"True" Naruto replied honestly. "But you did your best and there is no shame in it. Besides, you are a very good sensor. Better than me and with enough practice I think you will reach the same level as Senju Tobirama, the second hokage" Naruto replied and Ren's jaw dropped.

"Really? You think so?" Ren asked hopefully. Nobody in her village had given her hope to her talents. She didn't have raw power and her other skills besides sensing seemed nothing special.

"Sensors are severely underrated" Naruto started. "Having the ability to sense chakra is very useful. Feeling what the enemy is doing, feeling the opponent molding chakra before the technique is actually used, knowing what the enemy will do beforehand is extremely important"

"Chakra sensing is similar to the sharingan in that regard, in reference to predictive abilities. During this battle, you may not have noticed but I saw you reacting before I did my jutsus, even if you didn't notice yourself. That just means you are a natural sensor and that is very rare. So trust me, evolve your gift until you can do it without concentrating, and train it until it becomes second nature. Believe in yourself" Naruto finished.

"Winner of the match, Senju Naruto" B said and crowd erupted in cheers. It had been a great match between shinobi of two very conflicting villages.

Naruto approached her and extended his hand for her to take. Ren looked up to see Naruto offering his hand, his eyes had revolved back to the usual blue. She was spent and he didn't even seemed tired.

"Thanks" Ren muttered as she took her hand and stood up.

"Ren…of the Gushiken Clan" Ren said shaking his hand. (1)

"Naruto…of the Senju Clan" Naruto replied and the crowd cheered.

"What was this all about?" Kurama asked, narrowing his eyes in Naruto's mind.

"I've caught a glimpse of what she could be but I can only do so much" Naruto cryptically answered as he watched Ren being taken away by the medics. "Besides, I'm finding peace…one step at a time"

## With Crowd ##

"That was…kind of him" Kurotsuchi said with confusion mixed with interest. "Damn him" Kurotsuchi muttered in thought. Now she was conflicted, she came to Kumo determined to give leaf shinobi a hard time since they were from the leaf, and now this one gives Ren something she never had, incentive…hope.

"NARUTO-KUN IS KIND AND STRONG. YES! THIS IS WHAT YOUTH IS ALL ABOUT!" Lee yelled with fire in his eyes. "YOSHHH…I WILL STRIVE BECOME AS KIND AND STRONG AS NARUTO-KUN" Lee shouted to the heavens, pumping his fists in the air while Tenten just shook her head at Lee's antics.

"Who do you think he is?" Hinata asked with a raised eyebrow. "Some unemotional weapon for the leaf? And Lee-kun is right. I'll have you know that he is a very kind person" Hinata huffed.

"Hn" Taiseki huffed and crossed his arms.

"I guess" Kurotsuchi replied, bringing her hand to her chin. "Although the bingo book does portray him as rather ruthless and some kind of monster, and after what he did in Kiri I can't but doubt of his kindness"

"He is ruthless but only to enemies and those who bring harm to those he holds dear, just like anyone else really. Even someone of the purest of hearts feels anger when someone he loves is hurt or threatened. He did have a god-complex and just between you and me" Hinata started conspiratorially, whispering to Kurotsuchi's ear "I think he still does only toned it down a lot. But sometimes it gets the better of him and he starts rambling about how he's god almighty and how he will bring swift retribution from the above" Hinata chuckled.

"Really? I'd pay to see that" Kurotsuchi laughed, thinking of Naruto preaching to his enemies. "Then again can you really blame him?" Kurotsuchi asked and noticing the confused face on Hinata she continued "I mean…Konoha no Raijin (Konoha's Thunder God) and Shinobi no Kami (God of Shinobi)"

"Uhm, you do have a point" Hinata hummed. "But usually I'm there to cool his head" Hinata said.

"Which head?" Kurotsuchi smirked and Hinata blushed red at her comment. Tenten and Lee's jaw dropped and even Taiseki opened his eyes and blinked at her comment.

"Pervert" Hinata muttered.

"Hey guys" Naruto said as he arrived and noticed everyone looking at him with strange faces. "What happened?" Naruto asked when he noticed Hinata trying to hide her red face between her hair.

"Nothing" Hinata replied very quickly.

"Riiight" Naruto drawled but everything returned to normal quickly. "Anyways…B gave me a break before my next match even though I told him I didn't need one" Naruto said.

"Yes" Kurotsuchi began with a normal face. "I think your stamina does come in handy" Kurotsuchi said and Naruto looked at her strangely while Hinata just wanted to hide in a corner.

"Unbelievable" Taiseki said shaking his head. "Fraternizing with tree huggers"

"Give it a rest Taiseki" Kurotsuchi replied harshly and Taiseki simply huffed and closed his eyes again, ignoring the rest of chatter around him.

"We will now begin our next match" Everyone heard B's voice from the arena. "Akira and Naruto come to the arena"

"Well then, see you in a couple of minutes" Naruto pecked Hinata's cheek and went down to the arena.

"They say shy girls are the wildest" Kurotsuchi whispered, trying to hide her smile. Hinata just groaned and turned to the arena. She was already missing the times Kurotsuchi ignored her.

## Arena ##

"Akira of Kusa against Senju Naruto of Konoha" B said as both shinobi stood in front of each other.

"Both ready?" B asked and got nods from both Akira and Naruto. Naruto blinked when he saw Akira licking her lips and winking at him.

"OK" Naruto thought in confusion.

"She wants the D" Kurama said with his eyes bulging out.

"The what?" Naruto asked but was broken from his chat by B.

"Begin"

Just as the match began and before Naruto could even do anything Akira started untying her cloak and simply let it slid down to the ground.

"W-what the hell?" Naruto blurted out. Naruto was gawking openly at his opponent who had a smirk on her face.

Akira was a young woman, around twenty years old, with charcoal black eyes and long flaming red hair tied in a single ponytail with twin bangs framing her face. Although it wasn't her hair and eyes that caught Naruto's attention but rather her uniform.

Or lack their off…She was wearing nothing more than bandages around her chest that from the bulge it had, meant she was very well endowed. The only other item of her uniform was a rather short, even for its name, red with yellow flames short jeans, so tight that they left nothing for the imagination.

## With Crowd ##

"Oh my" Kurotsuchi laughed when she Akira strip herself of almost all clothing.

"That's a…peculiar tactic" Hinata muttered but continued watching the…match.

## Arena ##

"BEST JOUNNIN EXAMS EVER" Jiraiya shouted from the kage box making Naruto sweat drop. Naruto turned his attention towards B who was looking intently at Akira with a small trail of blood dripping from his nose.

"Oi" Naruto smacked B's head, snapping him from his dreams. "Aren't you supposed to be watching the match?" Naruto asked.

"My my" Akira began with a small smile tugging her lips. "Aren't you handsome?" Akira said, licking her lips and crossing her arms across her chest, lifting her breasts higher.

Having gotten over his initial shock Naruto just stared blankly at her. "Seduction won't get you very far" Naruto said.

"Why not?" Akira pouted, biting her lower lip.

"I'm married to someone I love very much. You will have try a lot harder if you want to win this match" Naruto said blankly, crossing his arms around his chest armor.

"Oh well" Akira sighed, before smirking again. "I guess I'll have to try a little harder" Akira smirked and Naruto prepared himself when he felt her molding chakra, possibly to some technique.

"Koibito no Kisu (Lover's Kiss)" Akira muttered, placing her hand on her lips and blowing a kiss towards Naruto.

Naruto just stared blankly at Akira as she sent him a kiss. "What a strange opponent. I'm half tempted to knock her out and be done with this" Naruto thought to himself as he waited for something to happen. Suddenly Naruto felt himself starting to heat up.

"What the hell?" Naruto said as his heart rate started going up and he himself felt drawn to her. Naruto gulped and started breathing harder as his blood started going places it shouldn't be during a battle.

"KAI" Naruto muttered, flaring his chakra slightly.

"It's not a genjutsu silly" Akira smiled sweetly. "Now, why don't you surrender and we will go have some fun" Akira said in a soft voice, it sounded almost like a whisper.

"Kurama, what the hell is happening?" Naruto asked to his partner. He felt so compelled to do as she said and he wanted nothing more than to just jump her right now.

"Oh this is golden. She's got you by a leash already" Kurama laughed, rolling on his cage.

"Kurama!" Naruto growled but Kurama didn't seem to bother.

"It's very simple brat, it's just…"

## With Crowd ##

"Pheromones" Hinata said when she noticed Naruto's struggle with himself. "And lots of them"

"How can you tell?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"I'm a medic. We have been trained to identify chemicals and other products by their smell alone. To everyone else and depending on the pheromone itself, it can smell good, horrendous or nothing at all." Hinata explained. "Since Naruto-kun is in that state it's obvious she picked the right one against him"

"You seem to be taking this very well considering Naruto is almost drooling over her" Tenten pointed towards Akira in the arena.

"It's a natural reaction from the human body when exposed to pheromones" Hinata shrugged her shoulders. "Besides, I can do the same thing she's doing without pheromones" Hinata grinned.

## Arena ##

"It's very simple brat, it's just pheromones" Kurama said, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Oh" Naruto replied stupidly. "I'm an idiot for not thinking of that" Naruto shook his head.

"No arguments there" Kurama said but Naruto decided to ignore his comment.

Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself and disabled his sense of smell, effectively nullifying the chemical. His breathing returned to normal as his heart rate slowed down. Naruto opened his eyes and noticed that Akira was wiggling her finger in a 'come to me' motion.

Naruto faked still being under the pheromone's effects and simply put on a goofy smile on his face and started walking towards Akira, one step at the time. Akira smiled as Naruto arrived in front of her and closed her eyes, leaning forward to kiss him until she felt something cold in her neck.

She opened her eyes in confusion until she saw a kunai pointed right at her throat. "It was a good plan. My sharingan can only see chakra normally, and since I wasn't looking for airborne chemicals I missed them" Naruto smirked. "And it would most likely worked if not for my partner"

"Partner?" Akira asked in shock. She had never lost against any male and even managed to get females to drool themselves into unconsciousness.

"Kyuubi explained your little plan and I simply stopped smelling" Naruto said and Akira's eyes widened until she dropped her head.

"My Feroton (Pheromone Release) failed" Akira hung her head. "That sucks"

"LET ME GO" Jiraiya yelled from the kage box, struggling against both Blue (Tobirama) and Green (Hashirama) who were holding him from jumping into the arena. "SHE IS IN DANGER"

"HANG ON MY LOVE, I SHALL COME FOR YOU" Jiraiya wailed from the balcony, making everyone sweat drop at the pervert's antics.

"Maybe you should tone your ability down now that you lost. My godfather is already crazy as it is" Naruto said, shaking his head in disbelief. Where is Tsunade to make him behave?

"I guess" Akira muttered as she stopped producing pheromones and Jiraiya blinked before coughing to hide his embarrassment. The Raikage was simply holding his stomach in laughter at Jiraiya's actions.

"Truly the greatest pervert of the elemental nations" A choked out.

"Winner: Senju Naruto of Konoha" B said.

## With Crowd ##

"Hey ag-" Naruto was cut off with Hinata jumping on him and smashing her lips against his with a fiery kiss that ended sooner than she wished. "What was that for?" Naruto asked.

"Just because" Hinata said with her arms around his neck.

"So it's not because of the match I just had?" Naruto asked chuckling.

"Nope" Hinata replied innocently.

"Were you jelly?" Naruto asked with a teasing tone making Hinata quickly shake her head in denial. "Oh…you were" Naruto teased.

"Say it" Naruto ordered playfully.

"No" Hinata stood her ground, barely restraining a smile. Naruto hands quickly went to her stomach and he began tickling her.

"Stop…S-stop it" Hinata giggled as she tried her best to stop Naruto.

"Say it" Naruto said.

"N-no" Hinata replied with tears welling up in the corner of her eyes.

"Get a room" Tenten coughed, breaking the couple from their actions. Hinata smiled and winked at Naruto before turning to face Tenten.

"You are welcome to join in" Hinata said and Tenten sputtered before going so red she nearly fainted.

"HINATA" Tenten shouted from embarrassment. "You're lucky. How come Neji doesn't do sweet stuff like that?" Tenten whined.

"Uhm" Naruto hummed and turned towards Tenten. "Did you remove his appendice?" Naruto asked.

"Appendice?"

"Let me rephrase that" Naruto begun with a grin. "Did you remove the stick up his ass?" Naruto asked and Tenten's jaw dropped.

"Naruto-kun" Hinata chided but Naruto just laughed. "You know how Neji-nii-san was raised. He will never do stuff like this. At least, not in public" Hinata explained.

"I-" Tenten replied but was interrupted.

"Kurotsuchi and Hinata to the arena please" B called from the arena.

"Let's give them a good match" Hinata said and Kurotsuchi nodded.

"I intend to" Kurotsuchi smirked as both walked to the arena for their battle.

## Arena ##

"Kurotsuchi of Iwa against Senju Hinata of Konoha" B said as both contestants arrived at the arena and faced each other.

"Ready?" B asked and got nods from both.

"Begin"

The moment B started the match Hinata blasted forward towards Kurotsuchi, wasting no time to engage her opponent. Kurotsuchi started running away, knowing very well the golden rule against fighting her opponent. "No matter how unskilled the opponent may seem, never engage in taijutsu against a Hyuuga" Kurotsuchi remembered the words of her sensei.

"Yoton - Sekkaigyo no Jutsu (Lava Release - Quicklime Jutsu)" Kurotsuchi said, expelling multiple globs of quicklime against the approaching enemy.

"Suiton - Teppoudama (Water Bullet)" Hinata fired multiple water bullets from her mouth, one bullet for each globe of quicklime that Kurotsuchi had thrown. The water collided with the quicklime and quickly hardened it, making it worthless, nothing more than simple flying chunks of rock.

Hinata dodged the hardened quicklime and jumped into the air, meeting with Kurotsuchi with a raised leg. "Tsutenkyaku (Heavenly Foot of Pain)" Hinata performed a falling axe kick. Kurotsuchi side stepped and jumped away as Hinata's foot crashed into the ground, making the whole arena shake from the impact and leaving a crater behind.

"Holy fu-cow" Kurotsuchi's eyes popped out of her skull. "The blast alone would have killed me" Kurotsuchi muttered in shock as she the dust cleared and Hinata stood in the middle of the crater, cracking her knuckles.

Hinata dashed forward and Kurotsuchi did the only think that came to mind when she noticed the crater…she ran…for her life and bones.

"Alright, alright…come on Kurotsuchi…think" Kurotsuchi raked her brains for some type of strategy against the incoming Hyuuga girl. Kurotsuchi knew that she couldn't engage in taijutsu against a Hyuuga, their taijutsu was deadly enough but now factoring in that monstrous strength and she had a ridiculous opponent to defeat.

It would be only a matter of time before she was tired and Hinata would catch up to her. "Any sneaky attack won't work as well. She will see me coming from a mile away with those blasted eyes" Kurotsuchi frowned as nothing came to mind. And here was she thinking she had done proper research on her opponent.

"Doton - Doryuso (Earth Spears)" Kurotsuchi placed both hands on the ground. Several spikes protruded from the earth and shot forward, intending to skewer Hinata.

Kurotsuchi muttered some profanities beneath her breath as she watched Hinata dodge the spikes with grace, no stumbling, no faltering and no lost momentum. She seemed like a juggernaut at this point. Kurotsuchi performed another earth jutsu and watched as an earth dragon rose behind Hinata and charged against her.

As the earth dragon reached Hinata, she recoiled her right fist and slammed it head on against the stone dragon. With a deafening bang that echoed through the walls, Hinata's fist drilled through the dragon as it was all but disintegrated in a matter of seconds.

Without wasting a step, Hinata's form seem to blur as she appeared right in front of a stunned Kurotsuchi who braced herself. Kurotsuchi was immediately on the defensive, dodging most of the attacks since blocking was a dangerous game against a Hyuuga.

"Suiton – Mizurappa (Wild Water Wave)" Kurotsuchi thought, launching a wave of water from her mouth and aiming straight at Hinata's eyes, in an attempt to momentarily stun her and take hold of the match.

Kurotsuchi's was shocked when Hinata closed her eyelids before she had even opened her mouth. The water splashed harmlessly in the Hinata's face and she continued her relentless assault with her eyes closed. Her byakugan allowed her to see everything around her, even with her eyes lids closed.

With a fast chest thrust, Kurotsuchi was flung back and tumbled through the ground. "What the hell?" Kurotsuchi snarled out loud as she shakily got up and took deep breaths, pushing the stinging feeling away.

"I can see chakra with my eyes. I saw you molding a water technique before you even opened your mouth to use it" Hinata explained and Kurotsuchi grumbled and began running through hand seals.

"Predict this" Kurotsuchi shouted as she finished with her sequence and took a deep breath. "Yoton - Yokai no Jutsu (Melting)" Kurotsuchi released a large amount of lava from her mouth that spread into a broad, thin sheet as it traveled through the air. She arced her technique upwards, making it come down from the above against Hinata, and thus making it impossible to Hinata to jump away.

Hinata watched the lava blanket blocked the sun from view, with her being beneath it. "Kaiten" Hinata started spinning as a blue dome of chakra appeared around her form. The lava simply dropped down on the blue dome of chakra and started sliding down the sides, into the ground.

Kurotsuchi's eyes widened and she was forced to take evasive actions as her own technique as used against her. Due to Hinata's rotating defense, the lava was being repelled all over the arena, across all directions. Kurotsuchi jumped backwards, keeping away from the range.

Hinata stopped spinning as Kurotsuchi noticed that she was completely unharmed. A perfect circle formed in the lava with Hinata being the center of it, without a single scratch or burn mark.

"Hakke Kuushou (Air Palm)"

Kurotsuchi bent down as a blast of air grazed her air. She looked backwards and saw the blast of air hit the arena walls, chunking it heavily. She didn't have much time to ponder on the power of the air palm as Hinata reached her.

Hinata threw a left hook and Kurotsuchi quickly brought her left arm to block it. Kurotsuchi gripped Hinata's attacking arm by the wrist and twisted it, trapping it tightly beneath her armpit in an arm lock. Kurotsuchi's other fist started gaining a red hue as she powered it up with fire chakra, getting ready to strike.

"What the hell" Kurotsuchi blinked as Hinata's trapped arm seemed to turn into a bluish, somewhat translucent color. (2)

Hinata's arm simply slid off of her arm lock like it was made of rubber. Kurotsuchi's eyes widened when Hinata's arms seemed to blur and before she could do anything she was already midair with several stinging sensations through her arms and chest. Kurotsuchi landed on the ground with most of her chakra points blocked. She didn't get to think much on what happened as unconsciousness took hold of her.

"Winner: Senju Hinata of Konoha" B said and the crowd cheered once again. Konoha was already three for three.

## With Crowd ##

"YOSHHH" Lee yelled, pumping his fists into the air. "I'M GETTING ALL PUMPED U-"

*SMACK*

"STOP IT" Tenten shouted back, smacking Lee on the head. "You keep yelling and I'm knocking you out before we have our match" Tenten warned and Lee got a terrorized face before cowering under Tenten's wrath.

"So that's her new technique" Naruto thought about Hinata's arm turning blue and jelly like. It almost seemed like a ticker version of water, some type of gel substance. He caught only a glimpse with his sharingan and couldn't study much of it. "I wonder if she can change the density" Naruto wondered but was broken from his musings when Hinata arrived.

"Nicely done" Naruto congratulated her and Hinata just nodded until she was distracted by the yelling pair of Tenten and Lee.

"TENTEN-CHAN" Lee began. "YOU MUST SEE THE FLAMES OF YOUTH! YOSHHHH"

"LEE-"

"Rock Lee and Tenten to the arena please" B called.

"YOSHHH I'm ge-"

"Just go" Tenten grumbled and watched as Lee nodded vigorously and jumped off from the stands. Tenten turned towards Naruto and Hinata. "I just wish I had a normal team" Tenten said with a sigh as she made her way to the arena.

"Alright" Naruto started, gathering the attention of his fellow contestants. "1000 Ryo that Lee wins this match" Naruto said and everyone sweat dropped.

"1000 Ryo that Tenten wins" Hinata countered with her eyes sparkling mischievously.

"You seem confident" Naruto said, narrowing his eyes.

"Perhaps" Hinata said. "There's nothing against helping other contestants" Hinata said and Naruto's eyes widened as she dangled a vial of poison from her hand. She threw it at Naruto and his eyes bulged out when he noticed the flask was empty.

"RUN LEE…RUNNN"

## Arena ##

"Rock Lee of Konoha against Tenten of Konoha. Both contestants ready?" B asked and both Tenten and Lee nodded.

"Begin"

"YOSHHH-"

"Soshoryu (Twin Rising Dragons)" Rock Lee was in the middle of his celebrations when Tenten jumped in the air with two scrolls twirling alongside her. Kunais, Shurikens, senbon, sickle. Almost every sort of weapon one could think that had sharp edges began raining down on him.

Lee was broken from his thoughts as he began evasive maneuvers. Lee jumped backwards to avoid several kunais embedding themselves on the ground. Lee smashed his foot on the ground, making several pieces of rock jump into the air. With a remarkable feet of dexterity, he managed to kick all the stones, sending them flying straight towards the still airborne Tenten.

Tenten saw the incoming stones and immediately intercepted them with weapons. Either destroying them to dust or simply diverting them from hitting her. Her attention turned from the stones and towards Lee who seemed to be gone, his stone attack successfully distracting Tenten.

Tenten noticed a shadow being cast above her and tilted her head backwards to see Lee arriving at her height. With a flick of her wrist she sent a single kunai flying towards Lee who didn't expect it. "Not good enough" Tenten frowned in thought when she noticed her kunai slash through his arm, tearing the green jumpsuit but not enough to graze his skin.

Tenten dropped her technique and fell to the ground and started running through the arena with Lee after her. "Konoha Senpu (Leaf Whirlwind)" Lee launched a flurry of low and high kicks that had Tenten in the ropes. Tenten sidestepped a straight kick and jumped backwards as Lee performed a rather round house kick.

Lee regained his footing and jumped forward once again. Tenten slapped both hands together as if clapping and started spreading them apart, showing a small metal glint between her palms. Lee ignored her actions and continued forward. He sent a straight kick and Tenten sidestepped it and wrapped her arms around his outstretched leg.

Tenten took out a kunai and slammed it on the ground, driving so deep it nearly buried the hilt. "What?" Lee asked bewildered when he stumbled to the ground and noticed his right leg hadn't moved. Around his leg were several wire strings, wrapped around his leg and the kunai buried on the ground.

He didn't dwell much on this as Tenten began unleashing another rain of weapons, this time against a stationary target. Even a taijutsu master like couldn't move dodge every single part of his body when this leg was trapped to the ground. Lee swiftly caught a kunai midair and started using it to deflect the incoming projectiles.

*CLANG*

*THUMP*

*CLANG* *CLANG*

Weapons clashed and fell to the ground with small thump sounds. Lee raised an eyebrow when Tenten's wave of weapons came to a halt. He was surprised to see her taking deep breaths but had a small smile on her lips. That was when he felt. Lee looked towards his right shoulder and noticed a small gash on his green suit, this one deep enough to graze his skin.

"All my weapons had poison. It's only a matter of time now" Tenten said and watched as Lee frowned but suddenly his mood changed completely.

"I'm sorry Gai-sensei…but I cannot lose here" Lee whispered as he began unwrapping the bandages around his arms. Tenten gulped and braced herself, knowing very well what was coming next.

"KAIMON, KYUUMON, SEIMON, SHOMON, TOMON KAI!" Lee yelled as his body exploded with power, breaking through the ninja wire and ripping the ground apart.

## With Crowd ##

"That was a very bad move" Naruto frowned when he noticed Lee open the gates.

"How come?" Ren asked from her seat. It seemed she had returned from the medics and chose to watch the remaining matches.

"Tenten-chan managed to hit him with one of her poisoned weapons. It only grazed him so it would take a few minutes to knock him out. Opening the gates sends your body into overdrive, the poison will spread much faster this way. I doubt he can even finish his attack" Hinata explained.

"How come?" Ren asked.

"My poisons are the good stuff"

## Arena ##

The wind was rustling and Tenten had to shield her face from the scorching heat. Lee's body had veins bulging out everywhere, his skins was blood red and even his pupils seemed to become a hollowed white. Suddenly Lee coughed and kneeled on the ground.

"I cannot lose here" Lee struggled to say and shot forward, his fists had an orange aura around them.

Tenten took out a simple looking scroll and spread it on the ground. Without wasting any time she channeled chakra through her hand and slammed it into the scroll. "Summoning: Iron Protection Wall" Tenten summoned a large segmented iron dome around her, much like the shell of an armadillo.

"Asa Kujaku (Morning Peacock)" Lee shouted as he arrived near the iron walls and unleashed the full might of his attack. Countless punches, so fast they set the air around his fists ablaze by sheer speed and friction.

Tenten's defense managed to hold on until Lee upped his attack and the iron armadillo started buckling under the pressure. Lee coiled his fist and slammed it as hard and fast as it could. The ground caved as the iron walls exploded outwards.

*BOOOM*

The arena was covered in a layer of dust and everyone held their breath in anticipation. As the clouds of dust started disappearing the first to be spotted was Rock Lee, who was on the ground, face down unconscious. His clothes were ripped apart and his hands and wrists showed burn marks.

B was about to say that Tenten had won the match until the spotted her. She was in the same state as her teammate. Clothes in bad shaped and burn marks spread through her whole body. She was sprawled on the ground, completely unmoving.

"Since both participants are unable to proceed I declare this match a draw" B said as the crowd cheered as both Lee and Tenten were carried away by the medics.

## With Crowd ##

"Uhm" Naruto hummed in thought. "How does that leave our bets?" Naruto asked, turning towards Hinata who shrugged her shoulders. "You know she would have lost if it weren't for your poisons or her luck in grazing him right?" Naruto asked.

"Perhaps" Hinata simply replied. "But luck is part of the battle".

"Masuyo and Sadao to the arena please" B called and both Kusa shinobi made their way down.

"How long will they be out?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know about Tenten but the poison I gave her should have Lee down for at least a couple of hours" Hinata explained and Naruto nodded.

"Since both participants are unable to proceed I declare this match a draw" B said from the arena and Naruto swiftly turned to him.

"Already?" Naruto asked shocked as he watched both Kusa shinobi being carried away in the stretchers.

"They used a jutsu a piece and neither one managed to dodge the other so they knocked each other out" Hinata explained. "It's quite my luck. Since the last two matches were draws I'm already in the finals" Hinata grinned.

"Lucky girl" Naruto muttered. "I still have the lazy ass to fight"

"I know" Shikamaru replied. "What a drag"