Darkest Before Dawn

Finally: The Chuunin Exams: Part 4

Naruto Namikaze vs Neji Hyuuga. Winner: Naruto.

Shino Aburame vs Kankurou Sabaku. Winner: Shino.

Temari Sabaku vs Dosu Kinuta. Now fighting.

Sakura Haruno vs Shikamaru Nara. Thirty minutes until fight.

Sasuke Uchiha  vs Gaara Sabaku. To be announced.

   Up where the special guests were seated, the Fourth Kazekage watched the fight with interest. His daughter was doing exceptionally well against this sound ninja. His wife, Karura, was standing next to him, sending bouts of encouragement to her eldest child. The Kage of Sound was there as well, quiet and watching with a small, happy smile on his face. The last of the Kages, Minato, sat the farthest to the right, him and his wife watching the fight with enjoyment.

   Behind them sat the Daimyou of Fire Country and the Daimyou of Wind Country. They had attended to be the council to help decide who in these fights had the aptitude to become chuunin. So far, the four who had already fought had the aptitude of becoming chuunin. The fights were good and the genin were exceptional. But Minato was curious.

   The next fight surely would be a good show.

~

   Shikamaru and Sakura sat in the waiting room of the arena. Neither had said a word, and neither were anxious about the upcoming fight. Shikamaru found it bothersome as usual and leaned against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. Sakura was reading the most recent Bingo Book. How interesting. Tsunade managed to go up about 60,000 ryo* since last year.

   "You know, I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose against you."

   Sakura looked up from her reading and cocked her head to the side.

   "Why's that?"

   He sighed and crossed his arms.

   "My tou-san oh-so lovingly decided to give me advice on my fight. I told him that it was you, he told me I was screwed, so I'll take his word for it. Don't get me wrong, I'll fight against you. But if you're as troublesome as I think, I'll give up half way." he said. Sakura sweat dropped and gave an awkward chuckle, but she didn't think he was lying. It was typical of him to do things like this.

   The door on the east wall suddenly opened and Hayate Gekko stepped in. Shikamaru and Sakura exchanged glances and stood up from their seats. They were led out to the a large, open arena. They were positioned on opposite sides of the stadium with Hayate standing between them.

   "Alright, the rules. You may do whatever you deem necessary to win, but I reserve the right to stop the fight at any given time. Any questions? No? Alright."

   He took a few steps back.

   "Begin!"

~

   In the stands, Kisame leaned forward and paid attention to this oncoming fight. The Mizukage sent him to see how their allies were going with their chuunin exams only because the chuunin exams were being held in Kirigakure next year. He was genuinely excited for this portion of the exam because Sakura promised him that she'd make it in the finals. And here she was. Against a Nara.

   The two were still at first, assessing what the other would do. Suddenly, Sakura bolted forward while making five other clones that attack him head on. They were easily taken care of with a barage of kunai. In the midst of the smoke, Kisame saw something. There were three shadows in the smoke before it suddenly became just two.

   Sakura and the kid engaged in close combat for a few minutes. The boy was smart- he knew what was coming for him and he acted accordingly and precisely. Before Kisame knew it, the boy meshed his hands into the rat symbol, extended his shadow, and trapped Sakura in his jutsu. A smirk crossed her face.

   All of a sudden, a Sakura clone burst from the ground behind the boy.

   "Bunshin Bakuha!" 

   An explosion rocketed the arena.

   Kisame stared, his mouth agape. Sakura... Sakura made her own freakin' clone explode! It was utterly ridiculous but was still one of the best things he had ever seen. Once the dust settled, a crater was at the edge of the arena with the boy smack dab in the middle of it. He sat up shakily with Sakura peering at him from the edge.

   "I give up." he said.

   And that was that. Kisame clapped with the rest of the audience. The boy might have surrendered, but that was his best decision against someone like Sakura. He stood up from his seat and made his way out of the stadium. He met up with her in the infirmary.

   "You weren't too shabby out there brat." he grinned. Sakura's eyes brightened at the sight of her good friend.

   "Kisame-san!" she exclaimed, "What are you doing here at the chuunin exams?"

   "Well you know, Mizukage-sama sent me to see how smoothly everything went with the final stage of the exams. That and I just wanted to see my favorite brat kick some ass."

   She chuckled.

   "Hope I made for a good show then. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, they aren't doing that whole bracket tournament system this year. It's just these fights and its done." she supplied, "If you want to see the last fight you better hurry up and get out there."

   "Then come on. We can watch the last fight and we'll get lunch after. My treat."

   "Maa, how'd you know that I couldn't resist free food?"

~

   The last fight was certainly the best and the longest. Sasuke and Gaara were on equal grounds with eachother. Same power in abilities and same level of intelligence. It was exciting to watch, and after forty-five minutes of nothing but blood and brutal attacks, Sasuke pulled through at the end. Both were heavily injured and needed immediate medical attention. Everyone was content with the exams and Sakura got her free food in the end.

   A week later, everyone who made it to the finals made it to chuunin.

   And that week would be last time Sakura saw Konoha for a long, long time.

*Ryo: the currency in the Naruto world.

1 Ryo = 10 Yen = 0.10 US Dollars