Hot 'N' Dangerous

Chapter 39: The Hyuuga's Destiny of Hatred

I took a deep breath and tackled the wooden dummy. Within five seconds, I was able to dispatch it with a few well-aimed and powerful kicks. I leaned against the stump tiredly.

Am I ready?, I asked myself, Can I really bring myself to hurt Liz?

"Ugh!" I grunted angrily and ripped my broadsword from its sheath and slashed furiously at the stump.

The shredded wood lay in a pile at my feet, fluttering away in the light breeze.

I looked up at the sun, The third exam should be starting in a few minutes, I should get a move on, I picked up my stuff and made sure to strap my whip to my waist strap as well.

I took off through the trees, racing towards the battle stadium, I hope Sasuke makes it in time.

We lined up and walked out into the middle of the battle arena. I looked up and down the line and saw all of the third exam participants. Temari, Kankuro, Gaara, Neji, Naruto, Shikamaru, Shino and Liz were all lined up, staring straight forward at the mass of bodies in the raised stadium seats around us. Naruto was beginning to get fidgety and Shikamaru along with him. I knew that Dosu was long dead and Sasuke had left early in the morning saying that he was going to do some last minute training.

"Stop fidgeting, face the customers," the man in front of us hissed.

I recognized him to be one of the special Jounin, a higher ranked one and I turned my attention on him.

"In this tournament, you guys are the stars," he clasped his hands behind his back and looked up at the crowd above us.

Suddenly the Hokage's voice boomed out among the loud chatter, "Thank you everyone, for coming to the Hidden Leaf Chuunin Selection Exam! We will now begin the main tournament matches between the ten participants who made it through the preliminaries. Please stay and watch until the end!" he shouted jovially.

The Jounin in front of us turned around to face us, "Before we start the matches, I would like to show you something," he held out a piece of paper for us to see.

The match-ups were slightly altered, Naruto was still going up against Neji, Gaara and Sasuke, Kankuro and Shino, Temari and Shikamaru and lastly, Liz and I. Dosu was no where to be seen on the sheet.

"There were a few minor changes, check again to see who you're going against," he said through the narrow stick clamped between his lips.

"Hey, hey!" Naruto shot his hand into the air.

"What?" the Jounin asked not unkindly.

"Sasuke isn't here yet, what are you gonna do?" he asked fretfully.

"If he doesn't appear by the time his match is scheduled, he will receive a default loss," he answered smugly.

Naruto looked a bit worried, Will Sasuke make it in time?, I fretted.

"Alright guys, this is the final test. The arena is different but the rules are the same, there are none. The battle doesn't stop until one of you dies, admits defeat or I step in and stop it, got it?" he looked at each of us in turn.

We all nodded our understanding.

"Alright then, the first match-up is Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji. Everyone else must go to the waiting room," I obeyed his instructions.

"Pumped?" came a perplexed voice.

I recognized it as Liz, "Why not?" I smiled at her.

She hugged my arm, "No hard feelings right? 'Cause I've got this amazing new technique that I just learned, you won't know what hit ya!" she laughed.