I woke up the morning of the final exam in a weird sense of serenity. It creeped me out a lot that I was so serene when the exams were about to turn into a clusterfuck, Konoha a shit storm. Maybe it was because I got to sleep in or that I've been so worried my brain finally shut down, leaving me a blissfully happy idiot. Probably the latter.

 I slid out of my bed and danced my way to the bathroom humming the tune to a song I've long forgotten the words to. I took a shower, enjoying the feeling of the warm water trailing down my slender body. I washed my hair quickly and got out of the warm steamy cocoon of the shower. I stared myself in my eyes as I did my hair in a long french braid down my back. 

My thoughts were running wild, that blissful ignorance I was feeling earlier seemed to flow down the drain during my shower. Now I was left in a state of confusion. I'm not scared of whats to come, I know that my people will be able to protect themselves, but I can't help but wonder what is actually going to go down. So many things are different here, so many situations are the same but oh so different. 

I mean Kabuto is in the battle rounds this time, and he hasn't been found out yet. What of my interference with Gaara this early changed everything, I'm going in partially blind and I think that's whats going to be happening from here on out. There are no set situations anymore and all I can do is roll with the punches. This is a divergence, and now it makes it even more real, I no longer know everything that will happen, this is my life now and I'm going to have to live it to the best of my abilities.

I finished my hair and lined my eyes in a sharp black wing, making my large doe eyes look more fierce and deadly. I got dressed and packed my weapon's pack, putting in a few extra smoke and paper bombs for later use. Father was with Neji and Hizashi in the kitchen, they were eating breakfast in silence. I stormed into the kitchen, breaking the silence which earned me a blank look from dad, an exasperated spy from Neji, and a smile form Hizashi. I grabbed a bowl, putting in some rice with poached egg on top. 

After breakfast, lunch for Neji and his earl rising tendencies, Neji and I headed to the participation entrance of the arena. I was vibrating in excitement, I cant wait to try out my new skills against somebody that isn't Zabuza; and everyone has been training so hard it's going to be interesting to watch. Neji was just as excited as I was but he was playing impassive to not break Hyuuga character. I made it to the contestant area and few people were there already. The sand siblings, Shino, and Shikamaru were sitting (or sleeping) in silence.

Gaara was standing off to the side alone so made my way over to him. His eyes were trained directly on me, but instead of the usual hatred and loneliness they show through his glares, they were a bit wider and looked happier. I greeted him with a grin and stood next to him but not close enough to make him uncomfortable. Gaara looked at me in annoyance, dissatisfied between me being so far away. 

He hesitantly shuffled closer, taking the hint, I closed the gap and had our shoulders brushing against one another. Gaara's body stayed as stiff as a board, but I could see the usually tense muscles in his shoulders and jaw relax slightly. Yet again, a bit of his sand made a small trail along the ground and wrapped around my ankle this time, holding on firm but not tight.

Temari and Kankuro shuffled a bit farther away, talking in hushed voices and glancing at Gaara with worried looks. Something was off; they were most likely fretting about the Invasion and Gaara's involvement in it. I took a glance at Shikamaru, he was finally awake and watching the whole scene with his highly analytical eyes, putting his genius to work. 

To everyone else it looked like he was just bored or annoyed, but I knew better, I knew him. Even when he seems to be paying no attention, he's assessing every detail of a situation in overdrive. He probably knows more gossip and facts about the people around us then any one else in the hidden villages; yet, nobody ever would know because he is just another lazy ass.

I talked with Gaara while we were waiting for everyone else, he talked about how he was going to kill 'them' to keep 'ourselves in existence.' The maniacal look in his eyes was gleaming, but it wasn't directed towards me, he was looking right at Baki as he spoke. Something big is going down with them and I don't have a fucking clue, all I know is Gaara is not going to let me die. 

I wish I'd feel relieved by that, but it only made my stomach churn at the thought of who he was so determined to kill. Kabuto walked in and Gaara's eyes widened practically glowing in blood lust. Kabuto just sent a small smirk Gaara's way, then turned his head down and walked away.

More contenders made there way here, and the stands around us were steadily filling up. Civilians and ninja from all of the great nations were here, chatting loudly to one another and placing bets on the winners. Most of the money was going towards Sasuke and Neji, some going towards myself and Gaara. 

Eyes were watching over all of us in extreme interest, I felt naked with all the eyes on me. I wonder if this is what gladiators felt like when they were sent to fight in the colosseum, just things for people to watch to entertain themselves. Of course this is much more; we fight to showcase the strength of our village, but we are still partially for entertainment. Oh hell, if they want a show, a show is what they'll get. 

It felt like someone's stare was looking into the very depths of my soul. I looked around trying to see whether or not I'm being paranoid, when my eyes locked with eerily familiar doll-like glassy brown ones. I couldn't see the rest of the persons face, they were wearing a silky black cloak that covered everything except for the eyes. The persons stair was unwavering and extremely unnerving. Whoever they are, something is up with them. 

We broke our stare down when the person turned their head to the person beside them, wearing the same plain black silky cloak. This person had piercing blue eyes that could rival Naruto's. Their sharp eyes were watching me too, less intensely, but still watching. I know those eyes from somewhere, I just don't know who would be here that I would know about, especially people who made my stomach flip flop.

A faint sound of wild yelling brought me back to reality and that faint yelling became loud as hell. I looked down and Naruto burst through the arena doors, screaming his head off about being chased by bulls. I couldn't hold it in anymore and I busted out laughing. Not only did Naruto look hilarious all panicky like that, instead of the evil glares he normally receives, people were looking at him like he was some kind of idiotic yet amusing alien. Naruto whined at me for 'not believing him' but I didn't respond.

Shikamaru went down there to end the troublesome situation and brought Naruto up to the waiting area. I was hit with a massive blunt force, knocking me to the ground. Naruto was hugging on to me tightly interchangeably saying how mean I am and how much he missed me. Once we gathered out wits, he went on joking about how Sasuke was late because he was too scared to fight.

I took a closer look at Naruto and my jaw fell open. He looked different. I guess I never noticed his changes spending so much time together, but a month apart, he looked a bit more mature, growing more and more to look like the hottie his dad was. The biggest shock of all was Naruto finally got rid of the terrible orange and blue track suit. Now he was wearing the same orange and black jacket he wears in Shippuden, but instead of the baggy orange pants, he had black ninja pants with orange lines down the sides. He looked so badass, no longer like the little orange ball of weird clothing choices.

"Oh my Kami Naru, your clothes are so cool, this is so much better than the orange tracksuit. You're going to have all the ladies falling at your feet now." Naruto grinned and blushed slightly before yelling a thanks as he put his arm around my shoulder.

Lord Third stood up, dressed in his Hokage garb. He gathering everyone's attention, but mine was on the 'Kazekage' behind him. We locked eyes and he sent a smirk my way, eyes flashing dangerously and he licked his lips. Lord Third's deep gruff voice echoed through the area.

"Welcome all of you, our deepest thanks for coming to Konohagakure for this years Chunin Exams. We have come to the final competition between the remaining candidates. Enjoy the impressive show of strength each and every one of these potential Chunin have." He tipped his hat slightly and sat back down, receiving wild applause from the civilians, and ninja from our village. 

Genma, a special Jonin crouched on the railing. He had a black bandanna type headband on and held a long, shiny senbon between his lips. His demeanor was slightly uncaring and harsh, but from what I've heard, he's the life of the party. He told everyone the rules, and order of the matches. He also revealed that is Sasuke is not here for his match, he will be forced to concede. Naruto wasn't happy about that, but he had faith that his rival would show up. Sasuke's ego is too big to not show up and fight.

"Naruto Uzumaki and Kankuro no Sabaku make your way down to the arena, your match is first." Naruto cracked his knuckles eager to fight; Kankuro just had a mischievous and cocky grin on his painted face.

"I've been waiting to teach this midget a lesson for trying to mess with the Sand. Whose ready to watch me take down this little brat he's all bark and no bite." Kankuro stated to the crowd, riling them up. They cheered for Kankuro, some of our people the loudest, cheering for him to take care of the 'demon'. My blood was boiling but a reassuring hand from Shika helped me mellow out a tiny bit.

 Gaara was looking at Naruto in more interest now, the familiarity of the situation came to him and I know he understands what I was talking about now, the person like him. I could see the slight longing, he wanted to talk to Naruto, but as soon as it came, it left. Oh well, it's progress to making one of Naruto's greatest bromances in the show.

"I've been waiting to fight a make-up wearing puppet freak like you dattebayo. You just think you're all that and can get away with picking on people whenever you like. People who pick on defenseless children are scum and I'm about to beat some sense into you. I won't get taken down like I was last time dattebayo." Naruto took his thumb and pointed it into his chest, his foxy grin donning his features. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to take you down. A bully like you doesn't deserve to become Chunin." He shouted.

 Kankuro just laughed with a hint annoyance in his tone. He removed Crow from his back and unravelled it, standing in front of Naruto. Naruto pulled out a kunai and activated his brass knuckles. Genma moved back a safe distance and started the fight. Kankuro was taunting Naruto, talking like a complete dick. He was pissing off everyone with his unashamed asshole-ness. I mean I know his dad was a bad person, but hot damn, Kankuro is way more fucked up and rude than I thought. While fighting, Naruto was countering Kankuro's comments with some of his Therapy Jutsu: a special mix of words and fists to magically make people better.

Kankuro kept his distance at first, using Crows long distance attacks. He sent a wide spread barrage of poison coated senbon needles towards Naruto; however, Naruto dodged them effortlessly, using a mix of his dodging abilities and Shadow Clones to take the hits for him. The attack ended and Naruto didn't have a scratch on him. Kankuro upped his attacks, having one arm of Crow spewing out flames and the other sending out poisonous Kunai. Naruto prepared a strong wind ninjutsu and sent it towards the attacks. 

The wind made the Kunai fly uselessly to the ground, but instead of putting out the fire like he was hoping, it made the fire so big it basically exploded, charring most of the arena grounds. Naruto had a few burns on him, but they were minimal and Kuruma would heal them soon enough. Kankuro was fine, using his puppet to shield himself from the fire.

Kankuro growled in annoyance and decided to engage in closer combat. He took apart crow and each limb was now a different type of sword. They spun in a sort of rhythmic dance around Naruto, jabbing and slicing at him. Naruto dodged most of them, but ended up getting a scratch across his cheek. Kankuro smirked, knowing it wouldn't be too long for the poison to take affect. Naruto made the ever familiar hand signs and about 200 of himself filled up the arena, some were sitting in the trees, others standing on the walls.

 It was an orange overload. The crowd went wild with how many clones he could produce. It was unlike anything they've ever seen. The real Naruto disappeared among the clones as the massive wave of them began to fight the puppet swords and take them out. All of the clones except for 1 were taken out.

There was a loud shaking under the ground and another puppet popped out of the ground. This one looked more like an ant, it was a battering ram type puppet. It lashed out and hit Naruto, thinking it was the real one but like all the others, when it hit the ground it poofed away. There was no sign of Naruto and Kankuro was looking around, losing his cool. Crow came back together and a third puppet emerged. It was the trio Sasori made and Kankuro wields them well. Naruto needs to end this soon, I don't know how much longer he can fight with that poison in his system.

The puppets were hovering above ground and looking for Naruto when a large fireball came shooting at them, singing some of the wood. I was shocked, I didn't know Naruto could use fire style. The puppets shot towards where the fireball came from. Naruto emerged from his hiding, his unrivaled un-detection skills were put into good use. 

He was smirking and had a paper tag in his hand. Naruto got close to the battering ram puppet, ignoring the few cuts he was receiving, and placed the tag on the puppet. It stopped moving and Kankuro's eyes widened giving Naruto the chance to place the same seals on the other two puppets. They too stopped moving and fell uselessly to the ground.

"What the hell did you do to my puppets you stupid midget, why can't I connect chakra thread's to them anymore!" Kankuro yelled infuriated. Of course, even though it's a battle, men have to stroke their ego and brag exactly about what they did, taking over fighting seems to happen a lot.

"I made my own seals with the help of Kakashi-sensei and Pervy Sage. They seal off the use of the puppet by making a barrier of my Chatora around the puppets so it severs your connection every time you try to connect your stupid string stuff to make them move. I told you, don't mess with Naruto Uzumaki dattebayo. I'm going to be future Hokage and won't lose to some ugly bully like you." 

Naruto's speech was impressive, but we all deadpanned at how such a genius fighter still doesn't know how to pronounce Chakra. Everyone was dead silent, waiting for the next move. Naruto pulled out another seal and threw it on the ground near Kankuro. I recognized the seal and Kankuro dropped to the floor, not being able to move from the weight of the Gravity Seal. 

Naruto gave Kankuro some more therapy jutsu and then knocked him out with a strong punch to the jaw. Everyone stared in awe at the budding seals and ninjutsu master. He really kicked some ass and a happy smile graced my face. Naruto looked happy especially as the crowd (well a lot of them) cheered for him, the underdog. Naruto then dropped to the floor and I was worried but not too much, he'd be fine and I knew it. 

The poison took effect, it wouldn't be fatal, but should keep him down until he is given an antidote or its burned out of his system by the angry fox. The seals deactivated and Baki took Kankuro away, waking him up. Naruto was taken away to be treated, but I knew he would be back soon to watch more fights.

The next fight was with Shika and Temari. Shikamaru's training and genius paid off and he kicked Temari's ass, she's smart but he's smarter. The battle was intense and Shika showcased some new skills, his shadows moving faster and lasting longer than they ever have. The most shocking was he didn't forfeit this time, he looked determined to keep competing. Neji and Shino also fought a good battle. 

Neji and Shino were a wild matchup, one being a prodigy in the gentle fist and another being a bug user who can suck chakra. I stand by what I said in that Shino is a freaking beast and if I need a teammate that isn't my own, he's one of the ones at the top of the list. In full out battles, I don't think he's ever lost to anyone, not even in the manga. 

I love Neji, but he was being his usual dick-ish self and underestimated Shino ending up in his loss. Neji attempted to attack shino with the gentle fist, managing to get some strikes in, but his bugs protected him. Shino also had his bugs slowly eating Neji's chakra so by the end of the battle, Neji didn't have enough Chakra to continue. He had a perfect strategy and perfect execution against Neji. The crowd once again went wild, another person pitted to lose beat a prodigy like Neji. I was super proud of Shino, I hope people start giving him the recognition he deserves.

There was a 20 minute intermission of sorts, first because Sasuke hasn't shown up for his fight and second because people needed to go place more bets and get food and stuff. During this, I congratulated Shika and Shino, and went to find Zabuza. Zabuza was talking with Anko and she was freaking blushing, BLUSHING. 

Zabuza was flirting with Anko, I couldn't believe my eyes. They would be a perfect couple, a scary and sadistic couple, but I think they'd be perfect for one another. Sometimes she would tag along on my training over the month, or have dinner with us, but I thought nothing of it. How could I have been so blind. 

I walked up to them with a smug smirk and before I could even say anything other than a hello, they both threw me out of the room. With the last 5 minutes, I went to find Naruto, when I found him, he was already up and running, he just had a high fever. Despite his fever, he gave me a piggy back ride, his hands holding firmly on my thighs. We walked back to the waiting area and he was still so hyped about winning. He also explained how he wanted to beat some sense into Kankuro because he was ganging up on a little kid being a dick, it was noble and a good reason for him to therapy jutsu him. Hopefully now he'll be like-able like he is in Shippuden.

"Naru how'd you do the fireball, tell me!!!!" I shook him, my eyes wide like a puppy so he'd have to tell me. His cheeks tinged pink and he pulled out a seal for me to see. He had Jiraiya perform the fireball, then with a seal, he sealed it into the tag so he could release the fireball later. It was genius, I didn't know that seals could do that, Jiraiya taught him well. It was fucking genius, and with a few fireballs sealed away, Naruto has more than just a wind attack now, he can combine them to make one extra strong. 

We made it back to the waiting area and Sasuke's match was going to be called. The arena was in an uproar, they came to see the last Uchiha and wanted to see him. Genma spoke up to announce Gaara as the winner, when in the most Kakashi fashion possible, Kakashi and Sasuke appeared in a swirl of leaves, back to back. It was so theatrical and fit Sasuke's overdramatic personality so well.

Sasuke was wearing an all black jumpsuit that was cut off at the knees, short sleeved, and a high wide necked collar. He changed out his blue and white leg/arm warmers for white bandages with black rubber wrappings. His hair grew out a bit and he looked older because of it. All in all, it looked so freaking cool! The girls young and old squealed at how hot their Sasuke-kun looked. Some even fainted. 

Sasuke looked up to Naruto and I as Kakashi apologized for their lateness. He sent me a smirk and I rolled my eyes, putting my hands on my cheeks and mocking the fangirls around him. Naruto busted out laughing and it was Sasuke's turn to roll his eye's and mouthed 'I knew you loved me... freak'. He and Naruto exchanged glares while Gaara was called down. I stopped Gaara and gave him a kiss on the cheek for good luck, not realizing what that meant to him and how it made some other people feel.

Kakashi appeared right next to me, scaring me enough to throw a punch. Not surprisingly, he caught my hand and smiled at me.

"Maa, after a month of missing me the first thing you do is try to hit me. You wound me my cute little minion." He drawled in his teasing sarcastic tone.

"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto and I chorused, glomping him. Naruto was on his back and had my legs wrapped around his waist. He chuckled and patted out heads, then unceremoniously knocked both of us off and to the floor. I stood next to him and watched the incoming battle intensely as Naruto retold Kakashi of his epic battle. 

Sasuke and Gaara's battle went as I expected for the first part, I prepared myself for the genjutsu and incoming invasion. Sasuke's Chidori chirped loudly and the condensed lightning chakra in his hand was blindingly bright. I could feel the power of it from here and it made the scar in my shoulder tingle. Kakashi noticed and placed his hand where the scar is and lightly rubbed it.

Sasuke held his Chidori with a hand for stabilizing the heavy chakra, and with his even greater speed, ran at Gaara's sand dome, thrusting his Chidori as hard as he could into it. It penetrated and everything was silent until Gaara let out a strangled cry. The sound of his pain made me hurt. I know firsthand how terrible a Chidori feels. His sand thrashed and sent wild waves of spikes at Sasuke, who gracefully weaved through all of them with the help of his Sharingan.

"Blood, my blood! Sasuke Uchiha you are a worthy opponent!" The sand around Gaara moved away and there was a small pool of blood forming at the top of his shoulder. The Chidori didn't hit him enough for any terrible damage, but enough to make him hurt. Gaara's face was smiling, yet instead of the insane grin I was expecting, he had the same smile Naruto wears when he and Sasuke get to spar, it was just a bit more scary. 

I could see him fighting with himself on trying to not let the beast out and kill Sasuke. Half of Gaara's sand spilled out behind him, pounding into the ground and merging with his ultimate defense to make more sand. The rest of his sand was throwing attack after attack at Sasuke, some landing others being dodged completely. Sasuke showcased his impressive speed and ran circles around Gaara sending lightning shocks to Gaara. 

They were fast and timed well, most of them got blocked by his sand, but a few hit and made Gaara grunt in pain. Sasuke went in and landed a heavy punch on Gaara, cracking his sand skin and sending him crashing to the ground. Not letting up on his attack, Sasuke sent a barrage of kicks and punches, breaking off more and more of Gaara's sand covering his body. Sasuke's attacks became more and more ferocious, everyone was in awe at his skill, Lee was most impressed on how quickly Sasuke was able to improve to such a level.

 Sasuke kicked Gaara up in the air, preparing for a Lion's Barrage, but when Gaara was thrown up into the air, his sand formed a cloud type thing, allowing Gaara to move out of the way and was basically flying on the sand. There were a ton of Ohh's and Ahh's from his control over the sand.

"My turn, I've seen what you have Uchiha, lets fight!" Gaara called out. (Sasuke looked a bit shocked at how Gaara, other than the Chidori wound seemed totally fine, not like he was just getting a beat down. Sasuke began attacking again, sending off fireballs and lightning as well as attacking with his speedy Taijutsu. This time, Gaara spent time dodging and blocking the attacks while countering with his own sand based attacks. 

Without the Sharingan, Sasuke would have been done for. It was a battle of skills, prodigy versus 'demon' boy and it was amazing. The fight was so intriguing that I almost completely forgot about the supposed invasion that should be happening. The tide of the battle turned when a massive, and I mean massive wave of sand raised up behind Gaara.

 All the sand he was creating was enough to crush this entire arena. Sasuke, along with everyone else looked wide eyed at the crazy amounts of sand Gaara could manipulate. He raised both of his hands in front of hum, palms facing Skyward.

"Sand Tsunami" The massive wall of sand went crashing down from every direction, heading straight for Sasuke. He had no chance of dodging this attack and he knew it. My chest constricted painfully, I was nervous, was Gaara really going to try to kill Sasuke. 

I pushed off Kakashi's hand and got ready to go stop the attack, Naruto was looking ready to change into 9-tails mode, and there were lots of people screaming for Sasuke to run. I took a step forward when my eyes met the sea foam eyes of Gaara. He gave me a small smile, a real one and I relaxed. His look said everything, he wasn't going to kill Sasuke and I just had to trust that. 

The sand wrapped all around Sasuke's body, leaving only his head peaking out the top. It was like the headhunter jutsu and if the room wasn't so tense, I'd laugh at how ridiculous his duckbutt head looked sticking out like that. "Give up Sasuke Uchiha, any effort to get out of this attack is futile." Kankuro and Temari gasped, they knew his bloodlust first hand and never thought he would give somebody the option to concede instead of just killing them. Sasuke's head looked down in slight shame, he winced as the sand kept tightening around him.

"I. Give." Sasuke grit out the words like they were killing him to say. There goes his Uchiha pride. The crowd went silent, everyone was shocked at the Uchiha, the person who was thought to win the entire exam, lost in his first round. Gaara was the first one back up here, I gave him a hug and thanked him for not killing Sasuke. His tense body finally relaxed into my hug, and he returned it, mumbling something under his breath. 

Sasuke looked so defeated, yet he held an aura of pride, I think he realized that Gaara is in a league of his own with his sand defense, and with a beast inside of him like Naruto, there was no hope of him winning at this skill level. I was a little on edge because the invasion hasn't happened and I have no fucking clue what is going on, but I just pushed it aside.

"Duckbutt!" I called out happily, he turned to me, a small smirk making its way onto his pale face, then a frown when he saw I was just with Gaara. I jumped on Sasuke's back, purposely making him grunt and stumble from my force.

"I knew you couldn't keep your hands off of me, fangirl." He smirked at me yet let me stay on his back.

"dude that was awesome, I mean you lasted way longer against Gaara than anyone else. And the Chidori, that was so cool! You had all of your fangirls swooning when you did it. What's up with the outfit though, I mean, the arm bands are super dope, but why change it up?"I pestered him with questions while the proctors were doing something. Sasuke chuckled.

"You're just as annoying as the dobe." Naruto shouted an indignant 'Teme!' "The Chidori ruined my other clothes." I nodded in understanding but stopped myself from talking as my and Kabuto's names were called. Kakashi pat my shoulder in assurance and I could just feel Zabuza glaring at me to not lose.

"Kick four-eyes' ass Hina-chan!" Naruto said as we fist bumped.

"Hn. You better not lose freak, can't let the dobe be the only one who passes."

"Maximum Effort!" I embraced my inner Deadpool and hopped into the arena, doing a superhero landing. Kabuto slowly made his way over to Genma and I, his glasses reflecting the light as he put a suspicious smirk on his face. Kabuto and I shook hands and Genma retreated to safety. Kabuto held onto my hand and pulled me to him so he could whisper in my ear.

"I can't make you bleed. Maybe I'll even let you enjoy my chakra again, I know I'm going to enjoy feeling yours." He purred creepily. "Lets give my master the show he wants." I pushed myself away from him, heavily weirded out.

"The only thing you'll feel from me is my fist in your face." It was kind of lame, but I was too flustered to say anything else. Why the fuck is he talking like that about my chakra, like its some kind of addictive opium. Genma called out for us to start and I moved away from Kabuto. I really don't want a chakra scalpel to the thigh again, that hurt like a bitch.Pushing all my thought's aside, I focused on the battle in front of me. He is at the caliber of Kakashi, so I have to fight my hardest for any chance of winning. I activated my Byakugan and watched as Kabuto sent his chakra into his hands, thinning out his chakra into blades around each of his hands. 

He charged at me with blinding speed, his hand aiming for my thigh, but I jumped up, grabbed onto his wrist adding chakra into my hand to crush it, and threw him over my shoulder, spinning my body away from his to avoid the slice of his opposite hand. He landed with cat like reflexes, skidding back slightly. 

I landed across from him, a good distance away yet again. He flexed his wrist and I could hear the bones cracking together, but almost right away, the cracking stopped. I knew his healing factor was unbelievable but to be able to counter my attack as I gave it, and heal the rest so quickly, that should be impossible.

I stared Kabuto down as I made the hand signs I've been going over for the past month. I felt the air around me, pushing my chakra out into it. I grasped at the moisture all around me with my chakra, pulling it from peoples water bottles and from the moisture hanging in the air. Pouring more chakra out of my body and into the water around me, I concentrated as my chakra fused the water together while adding in heat to it, turning it into a grey cloud of mist. Half of the arena around us was covered in dense, chakra laced mist from the Hidden Mist jutsu. I watched through the mist, locating Kabuto. 

I connected a small stream of chakra from my ears into the mist, searching around until I connected with his, latching onto his chakra, I pushed it to his heard until I heard the familiar 'thump' of a heart beat. His was beating excitingly, not nervous or erratic, just like someone who is really happy. I tuned out all of the noise around me, the crowd disappeared, the arena disappeared, all that was left was Kabuto and I, all I could see and hear was him.

I padded my feet with Chakra to silence my footsteps and ran at him, my hands ready for a chakra infused punch. I swing my hand at him, but he sensed I was there and dodged to the left, right into the path of the roundhouse I had altered my movements to allow. The kick connected with his chakra protected gut and he rammed into the wall, the cement around him cracking like a spiderweb, large chunks falling to the ground. He coughed up blood, but wiped it off, standing back up like I did nothing wrong. 

The mist was still surrounding us so I wont in for another attack, doing my best to switch between Hyuuga and olympic style fighting so he can't predict my moves. The problem was most of my hits missed, he knew where I was and was ready to dodge everything. I knew his chakra was going to give out on healing him soon, but it still felt like he was playing with me.

"How do you know where I am? I don't get it." I asked annoyed as I dispersed the mist, it wasn't helping me enough right now to keep using my chakra for it. Kabuto plastered a creepy smile on his face and pushed up his glasses.

"Your chakra is so wonderful, addicting even, and I can just feel it when you're near me. When I healed you that day, I was also connecting out chakras. That calming you felt was from me forcing your chakra to mix with mine, I never knew anyone's chakra other than Orochimaru-sama could feel so tantalizing. So now, because I know your chakra, what it feels like within me, I can sense your presence." His grin became like a madman. He's like a vampire but for my chakra. What the hell, why'd he have to make it sound so intimate. 

I shivered a bit and with the distraction he caused, I was slow enough in my reaction that he landed an attack to my right hip, making it so if I put any weight down it's hurt like a bitch, and either way, my leg was useless, with my hip disconnected, I couldn't run or fight. I fell to the ground and I heard a loud scream, only registering it was me when the pain flooded my system. 

"Ahh, so defenseless now, like a little bunny. Maybe I should get another fix of your chakra." My anger began to surface, at myself and at Kabuto.

"How cute, the only way you can have a girl is when they can't fucking walk. I bet your mom is so proud" I grit out attempting not to cry in pain. Being the asshole I'll admit I am sometimes, the mom thing was a low blow. I knew it when his eyes seemed to flash red. "I only need you living to feel your chakra."

He lunged and I basically channeled Rock Lee as I did a handstand and jumped backwards from his attack. I let myself down and pulled the water I previously dispersed back together with my chakra, making a water snake. I allowed the top of the head of the snake to cover my lower half, up to my waist, expelling chakra to keep me steady in the snake.

My chakra flowed throughout my jutsu and I forced it to move, the snake following my directions. If I cant walk, I'll have to ride. I took a glance to Zabuza, he was smirking in pride. I raised myself higher into the air to hover over Kabuto in a hopefully intimidating manner. 

He started making unfamiliar hand signs so I activated my Byakugan to hopefully figure out what he was going to do. His chakra burst into the ground, he was going to do an earth ninjutsu. Earth can overpower water, but is weak to lightning. If I have a water jutsu stronger than his Earth one, or use lightning hopefully I can win. 

He finished his hand signs and a bunch of rocks came shooting out of the ground. I did my best to get my snake to dodge, but it was futile and a few managed to hit, sending me tumbling back to the ground. My head made contact with the earth and I felt the blood dripping down my face. There were scratches and bruises littering my body now but I wasn't ready to give up.

I re-made the snake, getting back to riding it, I can't be a sitting duck. My chakra was depleting bit by bit. Kabuto prepared another Earth Jutsu, his whole body was exerting a massive blood lust. Instead of being fearful like any sane person, I let myself enjoy the fight, the adrenaline, the insanity. I began to wrap my water snake around Kabuto, curling like a python around his prey. He was going to finish his hand seals to get out of it, but I did my 6 seals just as fast.

"Earth Style: Boulder rain"

"Water Dragon Jutsu" We shouted at the same time. Miniature boulders began to raise up from the ground, then started falling, crashing and destroying what they hit. A giant water dragon emerged from the base of my snake and I aimed the dragon right at Kabuto, hitting him dead on. A boulder hit my side and I released the jutsu's, but I knew I had the upper hand, I was positioned in my fall right over the barely conscious Kabuto. Blood was dripping down his mouth from the dragon's impact. I put more chakra into my fist aiming it at his chest.

"Falcon Punch!"  I heard the sickening cracking his sternum and knocked him out. The ground beneath him was demolished and we were laying in a small crater.

"Winner Hinata Hyuuga." The crowd went wild in awe at both Kabuto's and my skills. Zabuza popped up, right by my side. He picked me up as gentle as he could and was carrying me in his arms. I raised my fist and plastered a pained grin on my face. Naruto's cheering was the loudest of them all, but some of my other friends were giving me worried glances. I probably looked like shit.

"You did good kid." Zabuza said as he looked over my visible wounds. There was a burst of KI and Gaara was by my side, his eyes glaring dangerously at Kabuto. He raised his hand and sand began to wrap around Kabuto.

"You hurt her, I'll kill you." He yelled out. I tried to talk to him, but he wasn't listening. Before Gaara could kill Kabuto, Gai came and forced the sand away but not before Gaara completely took off one of Kabuto's legs from the knee down. I turned away, burying my head in Zabuza's chest, determined not to puke at the horrific sight.

That was the trigger to the shit show of the invasion.

(Sasori POV) The start of the final stage of the exams (A/N this is to introduce the Akatsuki and Sasori, of course they'd be interested in a girl who knew his secrets. Sorry his personality isn't perfectly crafted yet, I wont do his pov anymore probably cuz its hard to get Sasori's attitude down like that)

I was sitting with the idiot bomber teammate of mine. My subordinate told me of a leaf Genin who knew of my identity and that he was my and the snake's spy. She knows too much and I need to know how some rookie leaf village brat knows so much. Leader found this out and we were sent to gather intel on this girl, as well as the 1-tails that will be there. I was in the stands surrounded by rowdy people. 

I'm annoyed, the girl hasn't even shown up yet and I'm sick of waiting around for her with Deidara who won't shut his mouth about his failure that he claims as art. My eyes were trained on the red-head from my home village. The jinchuriki for Shukaku. I heard he was a bloodthirsty monster who everyone is afraid of, but he just looks like a brat to me. I need to see how his sand defense works. He was standing there glaring harshly at his teammates, but his body language shifted to be happier when the door opened. My eyes narrowed at the girl who walked through the door.

Hinata Hyuuga, she had long blue hair and a doll like face and body. She looked weak, a little doll that is meant for dressing up and being married off. That was until I saw her eyes. They were large and doll-like, but held a ferocity I would love to see drain from them. Her eyes traveled the room, they were calculating and held intelligence behind them. She looks so harmless, if not for her eyes I would not believe she could be the girl Kabuto told me about. 

Her gaze stopped at the jinchuriki and instead of fearing him like everyone else, she smiled and stood next to him, their shoulders brushing. Interesting, she befriended a murdering demon child. She smiled a kind and goofy smile at the boy and he melted like the brat he is. The demon is in love with her, that is useful to know. She tensed up and her eyes caught mine. We stared at one another and slight recognition flashed in her eyes. Her emotions were right on her face, she is not a real ninja, she is too emotional, imperfect; yet, something is intriguing about her.

"Danna, thats the girl yeah? She's cute but looks weak un." I broke contact and turned to the idiot beside me, and we discussed the analysis about her and the jinchuriki.

After the brat Gaara's fight, it was finally time for the Hyuuga. Her battle was brutal and she seemed to mess around a lot, she has a big mouth that is very foul. I was impressed with her skill, she looks like a perfect little doll but fights unforgivingly. 

She is no where near a Genin level. She moves quick and agile in ways I've never seen, her chakra control is flawless like mine, her strength is that of the bimbo Sanin Tsunade, and her water mastery is unlike anyone I've ever seen. She is worthy of being my puppet, she will continue to be as beautiful as she is for all eternity and she will not be able to open her annoying mouth. I stood up and began to leave.

"Lets go brat, I don't like to be kept waiting."

A/N: Hinata got wrecked a bit there, maybe she should learn to not get distracted by creepy chakra whores like Kabuto. It's finally time for the invasion. I'm so excited about what I'm writing for it! It's going to play a big role in deepening Hinata and her character development emotionally. I also forgot to mention this will be a divergence story which will be especially obvious in the Invasion arc. Also the first peak at the Akatsuki and their interest in Hinata.