Ayuda's P.O.V
Hayate Gekkou walked towards the motionless figure once the smoke had reduced into thin air. Fearing the worst, I followed suit, moving closer to Yushin who was lying flat on his back. His arms and legs were spread widely on the floor. His eyes were closed while his mouth was slightly ajar. Bruises and dark spots that stained his skin and clothes could be seen as clear as a day. There were two arrows stuck in both of his thighs. The last arrow was nowhere to be seen. It was quite obvious that he had fallen unconscious.
I gulped down a lump in my throat. Why is he not moving? He's not dead, right? I didn't know that my last attack was that bad. I also didn't expect to see my ordinary arrow blast off like that.
When Hayate and I reached to his sides, the judge crouched down and inspected Yushin's condition carefully. I heaved a delighted sigh of relief when I detected the small movements of his chest. That means he is still breathing. He is still alive then...
Hayate stood up straight without haste or urgency. His fist flew to his mouth and he coughed twice; the fist partially blocking his cough – and possibly the bacteria – from spreading all over the air. He then directed his gaze to me. His other free hand gestured to me and announced, "The winner of the first match is Ayuda Makino."
"Yaaayy!!" Kaito was the first to scream in exhilaration. He was punching the air with his fists before he suddenly gripped Naruto's collar and shook him back and forth out of excitement, "I told you she can win this! I told you!"
"That was awesome, Ayuda-san!" Rock Lee's voice resonated across the big room. I shifted my attention to him in an instant because he was one of those people who I had never expected that would root for me.
I sent him a 'thank-you' smile to Rock Lee. I then threw some glances at his teammates. Tenten was giving me a smile of approval while Neji, who crossed his arms over his chest, stared at me with an unsmiling look on his face. I could faintly notice the interest that was gleaming in his eyes. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him.
Two medical ninjas came out of nowhere with a stretcher in their hands. They set the stretcher down on the floor, carefully picked the passed out Yushin and laid him down on the stretcher. They proceeded to take him out of the room without a word.
I jumped to the balcony and landed somewhere near my team. As soon as I got there, I was congratulated by my teammates and Shiori. I had to admit that I was proud, but I tried to stay as humble as I can. All I said was 'thank you' with a genuine smile curving my pale lips.
"Hey," a very familiar voice had caught my attention that instant. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about him... I turned to look at Sasuke, half-expecting that there was a smirk curving his lips. And yes, I was right. He was smirking. But the pain in his charcoal eyes didn't go unnoticed by me. His right hand was already holding onto his left shoulder. That mark...
To be frank, I was still concerned about him. I had the urge to convince him to change his mind before it's too late, but I was already aware that my words wouldn't affect him. This was one of those moments he has been waiting for. He would refuse to forfeit from the preliminary match no matter what. I bet that even if I stood on my knees before him and begged, he would undoubtedly ignore me and my request.
Despite these thoughts that have crossed my mind at the moment, I stretched my lips into a fake smirk. There is nothing I can do now to stop him. All I can give him is my support.
"Are you scared to fight me now, Sasuke?" I said cockily with a fruity voice.
"Hn, it's actually quite the opposite," the ravenette said in response; his smirk has gotten wider than before, "And remember, Ayuda. Yes, you won your match against Yushin, but that doesn't mean that you can defeat me."
I narrowed my eyes slowly, "We will see about that."
"Right..." we spun our bodies to look at Hayate Gekkou who was having a short coughing fit. Did he take his medicine...? And look at his skin. He's so pale!
I took that chance to look around, feeling like I have missed something. I cast my gaze across the room and that's when I finally took notice of a pair of green eyes boring into mine. My breath hitched in my throat and I felt heat rose to my cheeks. Gaara... I wonder what he's thinking when he watched my match...
The redhead, who stood in between Temari and Kankuro, had his arms crossed over his chest and, with an unreadable look on his face, stared straight at me. I don't know if I was imagining this or what... but I could see a small interest dancing in those captivating green eyes. I had an almost irresistible impulse to smile at him. I repeat, almost. And I surprisingly managed to suppress the urge. I knew that he wouldn't return the smile if I did.
"Now, we will begin the next match," the judge continued where he left off, causing me and Gaara to break our eye contact.
The black screen lit up and it commenced its job, choosing two names of all examinees randomly. Everyone was staring at it so intently without even blinking. I could easily feel most of them exuded the uneasy and restless vibes all over the place. The ambiance was so thick. Needless to say, nearly all of them were on edge. Except me, obviously. I had done my part and I had no reason to feel unsettled anymore.
The names finally halted. As soon as that happened, I traced my eyes over the two names that were displayed on the screen.
[Yoroi Akadou VS Sasuke Uchiha]
So it's his match now, huh? But who is this Yoroi Akadou guy? One of those Waterfall genins again?
I spun my head again to glance at Sasuke. His pale, slightly chapped lips curled upwards, smirking at the black screen which had his full name put on view. His expression told me that he has been waiting for his turn and also was confident to win this.
"Those two names, please come down here," ordered the judge.
I was wrong when I guessed that this Yoroi Akadou guy was one of the Waterfall genins. Sasuke was still not moving from his spot when one tall man jumped away from the balcony and landed before Hayate. It turned out that he was one of Kabuto's teammates. His face was concealed by a thin cloth he wore around his mouth that hung to his neck level. He also wore small sunglasses that obscured his eyes. He tilted his head up, gazing at Sasuke who now had his onyx eyes fixed on him.
"Sasuke," Kakashi called out with a low voice as he moved closer to Sasuke's side. And then nothing. I didn't hear anything that came out of their mouths afterward. However, I noticed that the gray-haired Jounin's lips – which were hidden beneath his mask – were moving almost indistinctly. It's like he was murmuring to Sasuke with such low voice so the boy would be the only one to hear him.
Kakashi took a step backward away from the ravenette and I took that as a sign of the end of their hush-hush conversation. Naruto and Sakura went to cheer for him. It took exactly ten seconds for them to finish, and the onyx-eyed boy inched closer to the railing when he directed his gaze to me.
His smirk lingered as he asked me, "Anything to say?"
One thought dawned on me the moment he uttered those words. I quickly looked back at a certain moment – that scene when he came to me before my match commenced.
This time, I turned to look at Sasuke who had been waiting for his turn. He had his hands in his pockets while staring at me with an unreadable expression. I smirked, speaking up first, "Well, what are you going to say to me?"
"Hn," the corners of his mouth lifted up into a smirk, "I want to fight you in the Third Exam. So don't lose to this guy, Ayuda."
Without any hesitation, I returned his smirk and said, "Don't lose to this guy, Sasuke."
As soon as he heard my words, the smirk on his lips was stretched wider even more. This is our ways of saying 'good luck' to each other. This could be because we still see one another as rivals. Saying good luck to my rival Sasuke is kind of embarrassing, and I bet Sasuke feels the same thing towards me too. It's weird, but I like it.
"Watch me," that was Sasuke's last words to me before he jumped down to the arena.
I must say, Sasuke had a bad start. It can't be helped, though. For some reasons, Sasuke didn't use his Sharingan and also ninjutsu and genjutsu. All he could do was taijutsu. And apparently, this Yoroi Akadou guy had the ability to absorb chakra. It was crystal clear that he was quite proficient with this technique, as he was able to drain Sasuke's chakra even by just slightly grazing his hair.
"Sasuke... is he gonna be alright...?" I heard Sakura mutter next to me when we witnessed Sasuke being held down and Yoroi was draining his chakra.
Without taking my eyes off of the match, I responded, "Don't worry. He will win this match."
I could see from the corner of my eye that Sakura took a glance at me and asked softly, "Really? Will he win? How do you know?"
The corners of my lips twitched into a smile, answering, "I don't. I only have my faith in him."
When Sasuke and Yoroi were hovering in the air, I could see bright orange, fiery marks started spreading to half of his body. That mark has begun!
The ravenette's face contorted into one of pain. His eyes were closed so tightly as if he wished for the stinging pain to vanish with that way. It was then that his eyes opened slightly, taking glances at his teammates. His charcoal eyes then landed on me. I took this chance to deepen my scowl, sending him a deadly warning look with a 'you-must-take-control-of-it' message.
I let out a sigh of relief when the marks receded back to his left shoulder that instant. It's like the mark has finally listened to Sasuke's order. Now that he was fully alright, he took that opportunity to finish his opponent off. He ended the match using his newly-created taijutsu skill called Lion Combo, which was also kind of a copy to one of Rock Lee's taijutsu skills.
Kakashi took him away, making me baffled and confused. Could it be... Kakashi knows about the mark? That was the only answer I could get in my mind. I was so perplexed when Sasuke did not use his Sharingan or even an ounce of his chakra. Hmmm... maybe Kakashi warned him about it... Hell, I don't even know anymore... I can just ask him later then...
We continued the preliminary match without Sasuke and Kakashi. The next match was Shino Aburame and Zaku Abumi who was actually one of those evil Sound ninjas. Shino won the match against Zaku through the deceptive use of his destructive bugs.
The fourth match was Kankuro and Misumi Tsurugi who was clearly the last person left in Kabuto's team. Kankuro easily won the battle against Misumi by using the puppet he had hidden inside that big bandaged thing he always attached to his back.
The next match was in between Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka, making Kaito and Kazuki go "oooooh". To be honest, this match had piqued my interest because I was curious of how they would fight each other. Ino had the Yamanaka Clan ability called Mind Transfering Jutsu while Sakura only had her cleverness.
After exchanging insults, the match commenced. They engaged in hand-to-hand combat and the match dragged on for a very long time since they seemed to be quite on par. After hitting each other at the exact same time and rendering each other unconscious, Hayate declared that neither of them would move on to the next round.
The next match was Tenten against Temari. While these two tall girls jumped down to face one another in front of Hayate, Neji – who was standing next to me – directed his gaze to Gaara who did the same thing. Their glares intensified in each passing second until Hayate declared the start of the sixth match.
The match was over surprisingly quick, as all the projectile weapons used by Tenten were completely countered by some techniques used by Temari, who clearly won without taking as much as a single scratch.
I couldn't help but quiver in anxiety after witnessing Temari's techniques. I guess I was lucky... If that electric bulletin board paired me up against Temari, I will lose without a doubt. She can easily neutralize my arrows, just like how she did to Tenten. I have to admit that I was lucky to go against Yushin.
The female Sand ninja flung the unconscious Tenten ruthlessly towards the heap of sharp weapons that were scattered on the floor. But Rock Lee was quick enough to catch her before she could reach and come in contact with the weapons. He slowly and gently placed his teammate on the floor while his gaze locked on to Temari, who smirked, "Nice catch."
Rock Lee raised his voice, "Why did you do that? Is that something you should do to someone who fought her hardest?"
Temari responded by hitting the ground with her fan and sassed, "Shut up. Take that piece of trash and leave."
Lee's eyes narrowed menacingly and Neji, who seemed to have predicted what would happen next, called out, "Stop, Lee!"
The tall boy in green jumpsuit ignored him as he charged at Temari and swung his leg at her, but his kick was blocked effortlessly by her giant fan. I could hear Temari mocked, "You're just like how you look; you're stupid."
Lee brought his leg down to the floor when his beloved teacher, Might Guy, appeared behind him, "That's enough, Lee."
"Temari," after what seemed like forever, Gaara, who had been in silence for quite a while, spoke up, "come back here. You won. Stop dealing with that ugly guy who's with his guardian."
I disregarded the heat that flowed to my cheeks the moment I heard his voice. It was clear as a day that Rock Lee was offended by what he said. They then engaged in a heated glaring contest; none of them blinked as this transpired.
"Just let it go, Lee," Guy said before he turned his attention back to Gaara, his lips curved into a smirk, "Gentlemen from the Sand, if I may warn you about one thing? He's strong. You better be prepared for it."
He was referring to Rock Lee, and I believed in his words. I knew that Lee was a strong ninja and there was no doubt that he had a few tricks up his sleeve.
The seventh match was Shikamaru against someone named Kin Tsuchi, the female Sound ninja with a very long black hair. Just as I predicted, Shikamaru emerged as the winner.
The next match was Naruto against Kiba. Those who were in the same academy with these two predicted that Naruto would unmistakably lose this match. Even I thought the same thing too. But we were stunned when the ball of sunshine had successfully fooled Kiba. In the end, Naruto won the battle with his 'new move' called Naruto Uzumaki Combo.
I sweatdropped. He obviously copied that move from Sasuke's Lion Combo... but I can't blame him, though. Sasuke also got his Lion Combo by copying Rock Lee's technique.
"I will now announce the next match," announced Hayate Gekkou.
Now there are ten people left – Kaito, Kazuki, Gaara, Neji, Rock Lee, Hinata, Chouji, the mummy from the Sound Village, and these two people from the Waterfall Village.
As usual, the electric bulletin board began choosing the names randomly. It took around seven seconds for the screen to halt, displaying the two names for the ninth match.
[Hinata Hyuuga VS Neji Hyuuga]
The two genins from the Hyuuga Clan... are going to fight now? I don't know why, but I have a feeling that Neji will win.
I took a glance at the boy beside me. Neji had a baleful look on his face, glowering silently at the screen. Judging from his expression, I could only discern that he had something against the shy, innocent girl.
Hinata began to move timidly to the arena and Neji did the same but with confidence and arrogance radiating off of him. Before he could leap away, I called him, "Neji."
The said boy halted and turned only his head to look at me over his shoulder. His bitter countenance lingered as he waited for me to speak, and so I did with a stern look, "Go easy on her."
"Hmph," that was his only response before he jumped down to face Hinata.