The Prisoner of the Leaf

Chapter 14: The finals

The preliminaries ended with all finalists being called to the stage, the ones remaining and the official battles were as followed; Shikamaru Nara vs Temari of the Sand, Gaara of the sand vs Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki vs Neji Hyuga and Ino Yamanaka vs Konan Kurama. The couple looked at eachother shocked, not expecting to have to fight eachother but this would determine who got to compete in the true finals and become the winner, the contestants were told that they had a month to recouperate and prepare for the final matches after the break.

Leaving the exam hall, he looked over at Ino who was worried but nodded at him for reassurance when he looked over- worried for her;

Konan; " hey you ok? "

Ino; " Yeah just nervous, I know I beat Sakura so I should feel happy but now I have to face you in our finals- we'll have to avoid seeing eachother for a month huh? "

Konan; " As if I could survive that long without you, I'll be staying in the village so I don't mind hanging around with you when I can since we should be able to act normally if we just don't talk about the exams- we shouldn't have any missions as finalists since we have to be in good health "

Ino; " Yeah you're right, come by my place whenever your free since it'll be my dad who will be training me so I'll stay there waiting for you "

Konan; " Right then, let's make a deal- the winner of the exam will have to be the one who plans our first date got it? "

He smirked at her, fully intending to win so he could spoil her but it seemed she didn't intend to lose as she shook his hand firmly- he walked her back home before rushing to the Hokage's office, he'd be learning directly from him.

Once reaching the hokage's office, Konan headed inside and were greated by a guard who had grown use to him, he called up tot the hokage that Konan had arrived and he was accepted and allowed to go through. Konan cracked open the door slowly, walking in before closing it behind him; he stood before the man he considered the strongest, the 3rd Hokage of the leaf village, Hiruzen Sabutobi. He smiled at him and bowed before he spoke to him in a stern tone;

Hiruzen; " I take it you won then since you've come here? "

Konan; " Ofcourse Gramps! "

Hiruzen; " Well done my boy! "

Hiruzen lightened his expression and opened his arms, Konan rushed into them and hugged him tightly before being gently seperated from him, the Hokage put a scroll on the table and opened it- keeping his promise to teach Konan as they agreed.

A Month passed, the Chunin exam finals came around and everyone was excited, Konan walked in with his opponent- the beautiful Ino Yamanaka. They headed into the viewing deck together at the large circular arena where all participating village's kage watched the grounds eagerly, the crowd gathered quickly and a roar of excitement burst forth as the same jonin from last time stepped out to make his speech;

Jonin; " Welcome back to the final round of the Chunin exams, the competitors have had a month to train and heal so everyone participating will be at full strength or even stronger than before- I will go over the fights now; First up is the Hyuga Prodigy; Neji Hyuga vs Naruto Uzumaki. The second round will be the Genius child; Shikamaru Nara vs the Fan bearer; Temari of the sand. The third round will consist of the InoShikaCho's very own; Ino Yamanaka vs the Growing Beast of the Leaf; Konan Kurama. And finally, the last battle will be the last uchiha; Sasuke Uchiha vs the demon; Gaara of the sand!! CAN WE HAVE THE FIRST COMPETITORS UP TO THE STAGE?! "

The spectators went wild as Neji and Naruto descended to the grounds, Naruto jumped down to make a flashy enterance as the two faced eachother in the open arena- the crowd roaring with excitement, the two Genins facing off and waiting for the fight to start. Konan watched with excitement;