Third-Person POV

Daito woke up and was immediately met with a bright light.

As his eyes adjusted, he raised himself and found he was covered in plain white sheets and sat in a bed.

What happened...? His mind travelled back to the match. He remembered shouting up at Iroko who was perched on the wall of the arena. He couldn't quite make out what he was doing but he could tell he was forming hand seals.

By the time Daito had seen the fluttering electrical sparks escape from his hand, everything else that happened was a blur.

Before he blacked out the last he could clearly remember was a fist right in front of his face... only there were no flying sparks of electricity emanating from it at that moment. Still, the force of the punch was enough to put him to sleep.

Deep in his heart, Daito knew that that was not the same Iroko of old, the Iroko that was far worse off than him in that he could barely even do ninjutsu and at some point was shunned from all the groups.

He had undergone a massive change, and the fruits of that change were now apparent.

"Oh, you're awake!"

Daito looked up to see a woman with long platinum blonde hair that covered the right of her face and wore a crop top that emphasized her stomach region. The sharp-toothed boy found himself smiling subconsciously.

"How are you feeling?"

"Oh, ah, fine! Um, thank you for--?!"

She was suddenly in front of him and cupped his face in her hand, scanning him. Daito felt as though he was about to explode from her floral perfume and her face being so close to his. Eventually, she released him.

"Well, your jaw is certainly better now," she said, "but your body needs more rest so you should stay for another hour."

"Well, if you say so," Daito rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "So, this is the infirmary?"

"That's right! I receive anyone who gets serious injuries after their matches. You're the first."

"Oh, is that so..." Yeah, I lost..

Ino Yamanaka looked at the boy sympathetically. She could guess his mind well enough.

Then a soft knock on the door sounded. Ino answered and there was Fumino and Yohei were standing at the entrance.

"Oh, Fumino!" she smiled.

"Hi, Ino-san! Is Daito here?" she walked into the clinic, and upon seeing him she beamed.

"Hey, you guys came?" he asked.

"Of course," Fumino answered. "Did you think we wouldn't visit you?"

"Are you okay?" Yohei showed a face of worry.

"Yeah, she just says I need to rest for another hour."

"I'll leave the three of you to talk." Ino made her way out and shut the door.

Daito looked away from Fumino and Yohei. "I'm sorry.."

She looked at him confusedly. "What for?" But she already knew why.

"I let you guys down," he went on. "Yohei already wasn't participating and now it's just you to carry us on, Fumino." I can't believe I looked so pathetic in front of her! Don't even wanna imagine what Suigetsu and Boshi-sensei would say. "I screwed us up."

Fumino put a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and looked into her bright eyes. "You know, it's thanks to you that we've made it this far."

"It is?"

She nodded. "During the Forest of Death, it was you that lead the way through all the dangers and traps and defended us against all those other participants. We wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for you."

"You're exceptional," said Yohei.

Daito turned his face away again; he did not want them to see him blushing furiously. "Th-thanks. But what's the plan now? It's still just you that's left," he said to Fumino.

"Right," she exhaled. "Yohei got us through the Written Test, Daito the Forest of Death - I suppose it's my turn to prove myself to this Team!!"

🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃Meanwhile🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃

"Awesome job down there, Iroko!!" Tensho chirped to the blue-streaked kid when he came up to the reserved seating area.

"Hey, thanks!" Iroko put up a grin as he took his seat beside Asami. He sideglanced at Kazue who only just Tch'd and looked away.

I'm on my way..!

"Seriously, I've never seen anyone go so fast before," Tensho went on. "I feel bad for Daito, but what you did was insane!! You were like a bolt of lightning!!"

"A bolt of lightning?" he reiterated to himself.

"Ah, now I can't wait for my match!" she said excitedly. "Whoever my opponent is I'll wipe the floor with 'em!!"

"Go in all cocky like that and you're bound to lose," Kazue scoffed

"Yeah, whatever, Mr. Grumpy-All-The-Time!"

"HUHHH?!" Flames started to dance around Kazue. "Wanna say that to my face!?"

"Congratulations, Iroko," Yuura praised his friend. He was standing up and it seemed like, to Iroko at least, he was on his way somewhere.

"Thanks. Are you going to see Daito?" he guessed.

"Y-yeah, Fumino and Yohei are already with him but I thought I ought to say congrats to him too, you know?"

Iroko nodded in understanding. "Sorry about putting you through that. I know I would've been torn if I had to choose which friend to cheer for.."

"Hm? What do you mean?" Yuura asked.

Iroko became confused with his comment. "What do you mean what do I mean?"

"Oh, sorry, it's just that I was cheering for you both," he answered.

Iroko was surprised at first but shook his head as if saying it was expected. "Is that a fact? Well, say hi (and sorry) to Daito for me. I'd do it myself but I think he shouldn't see me right now."

"Will do!"

Before Yuura could leave though, Might Guy had begun announcing again.

"WHAT AN EXCITING FIRST MATCH!!! THOSE TWO WERE FILLED TO THE BRIM WITH YOOUUTH!!! NOW LET'S SEE WHO THE COMPETITORS FOR THE SECOND MATCH ARE!! RANDOMIZER, IF YOU PLEASE!!"

The large screen came on and started cycling through names again much like last time. Yuura was compelled to stay and see who it would be since it might be him up next.

Everyone stared eagerly at the screen, waiting for the names to drop. Then it happened.

畑 麥 VS 千手 朝美

BAKU HATAKE VS ASAMI SENJU

Iroko and Yuura screamed. "OOOOHHHH, CRAP!!!"

The crowds ran amok with gossip. Here and there the words "Senju", "Hatake", "Sixth", "Fifth" and "related" were all being tossed around. It seemed as though all of the Leaf was talking about it.

"Well, what do you know..." Kakashi mused at Tsunade. "Would you call this fate, by any chance?"

Tsunade did not answer. Her expression only tightened.

"Oh, man, you've got to be kidding me!" Iroko exasperated. "Out of everyone here?"

"These match-ups are really scary," Yuura quavered.

"Who's Baku?" Asami asked.

"That would be me," he answered from behind her. Iroko and Yuura jumped out of fear.

"Asami Senju, the new girl, right?" Baku stood tall over Asami and held a hand out to her. "It's nice to meet you. I'm looking forward to our match so let's do our best."

She did not respond in any way. Baku lowered his hand.

"Not one for introductions, huh? That's fine." He turned around and began walking away. "See you in the arena."

"Alright, the name's are announced!!" said Guy. "Can we have Baku and Asami come down to the arena?"

"Asami, listen, you can't pull any punches with Baku!" Yuura began. "He's the best in our class--"

"AHEM!!!" Kazue came.

"...He's one of the best in our class! You'll need to be at your best at all times!!"

"I'm sure the guy's got some sort of master strategy plan already figured out," Iroko mentioned, "no, in fact, he may have enacted it already!! Ahhh! Look, the point Yuura and I are trying to make is don't screw around with him!!"

"I'll be fine." She walked past the two boys without so much as a flinch. "Don't worry about me."

Iroko looked on ahead at her. Even as she walked away then without any fear or hesitation, he could still feel that there was something there, something she refused to show...

Or was it just the connection between them he was always feeling?

Regardless, he was then suddenly compelled by a driving desire.

"Wait." He halted her by placing his hand on her shoulder. She looked back at him--

--and he gave her a warm smile. "Good luck!"

Asami looked intently at him before shrugging his hand off and making her way to the arena.

"Well, I suppose all that's left to do now is to believe in her," said Yuura. Sorry, Daito, just a little longer.

Iroko agreed. "Yeah."

"Kakashi, I'm curious, what's the relationship between you and that boy?" A asked.

"Hm? Oh, he's not my son or anything if that's what you're wondering," the Sixth cleared. "We're distant cousins on my father's side. The Hatake clan is actually just one big family that lives on the outskirts of the Leaf."

"Not a Ninja clan, then?" Gaara inquired.

"No, we never were, in fact, only a handful of us have ever decided to become ninja. We mostly just end up becoming farmers that harvest the crops the Leaf uses for food."

"Not to speak outta turn or anything, but the two of you really do look like father and son," Kankuro added, looking down at Baku walking into the arena, "right down to even the lazy expression."

"You wouldn't be the first," said Kakashi. "Right now, Baku and I are the only known ninja from the same clan so it's perfectly natural that everyone would assume that about us. He knows the burden of being related to someone so famous and being lost in their shadow - that's why he's resolved to become the opposite of me: a Sloth Ninja."

"You probably already knew this, but there's no need to hold back against me," Baku spoke to Asami, stretching out his arms. "If you Anbu-nin are as elite as they say, then I'm expecting you to put up a good fight."

Even as Temari stepped in-between them, those yellow eyes did not move from their gaze nor did they blink.

"The fight goes on until one of you either gets knocked out or surrenders." Then she backed out of the way--

.

.

--and commenced the match. "START!!"

Asami made the first move by hurling a volley of shuriken at Baku. He skimmed through some hand seals and slammed his hand onto the ground, erecting a small but wide enough Mud Wall to stop the shuriken attack.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall...," he droned after having summoned the jutsu.

Then his ears pricked upon hearing the ground crumble in front of him and the sound getting louder. Immediately leapt up into the air in time to dodge Asami's Jagged Wave as it tore its way through his Mud Wall.

Clever of you not to shout your technique, he thought.

The crowd cried out in shock and enthusiasm when they saw Asami's Wood Style attack.

The white-haired girl did not let up on her offence. Next, she summoned a massive Fuma Shuriken and flung it at Baku while he was still airborne.

Before it could reach him he burst into smoke and the Fuma Shuriken struck a log of wood. Baku then reappeared before Asami with the Fuma Shuriken facing his back.

She bit her lip in a show of frustration. He's aware of the string attached. If I pull at the Shuriken now he's sure to dodge and I'll be aiming at myself, yet if I don't-

She leapt away from the incoming attack, releasing the string attached to the Fuma Shuriken. But Baku had been weaving hand seals as he fell, so as soon as landed back onto the ground and missed his first opportunity to strike Asami he spawned two giant Fireball Jutsu at her in point-blank range.

"Oh no!!" Yuura cried.

"Wind Style: Gale Palm!!" Asami thrusted her two palms forward and blew out the flames with a rousing rush of windpower-

-then proceeded to dodge a spinning hook kick to the face.

"I wonder, how good is your taijutsu?" Baku asked.

Iroko's eyes widened. "When did he...?"

"Tch! He's just screwing around right now, isn't he?" Kazue commented. Come on, hurry up and beat her already, you damn lazya$$!

Asami was now locked in close-combat with Baku. Every blow and kick that he delivered she felt the brisk wind that followed after it as she dodged and parried. In-between every strike, here and there, she landed blows of her own, forcing Baku to go on the defensive as well, and reduce his offence.

She may be small but there's a lot of strength behind those blows, Baku realized, not to mention she's got near-perfect form.

"Hey, not bad," Kankuro commented, "she managed to turn it to her advantage. Now they're neck and neck."

Just as Baku swung a straight jab, Asami ducked under it, equipped herself with a kunai and went for his abdomen.

Baku immediately jumped back. "Hey, hey," he called, "I thought we were playing fair.."

Asami still did not say a word. Suddenly she felt cold against her legs. She looked down and saw that her legs up to her knees were caked in...

Ice? Is that why he engaged me in taijutsu? To get close enough to do this?

Kakashi's eyes narrowed once again. "Here we go..."

"No way!" Iroko exclaimed. "Is that ice?!"

"All right, he's finally using it!" said Ken.

"Huh, don't think I've ever seen 'im use that before," Sayo pondered. "What jutsu is that?"

The crowd started jeering again and jonin in the corners of the stadium were once again writing down on their click boards.

Baku watched them closely for a moment, then returned his gaze to Asami.

"Yeah, sorry (not sorry) about that, but you did try to stab me in the middle of our hand-to-hand there so I guess you can see this as payback."

Then he performed the hand seals: Ram --> Boar --> Ram. He slowly exhaled and cold air trailed from his mouth.

"Let's see what you can do about this," he said under his breath. "Ice Style: Ground Breaking Technique."

The ground began to crack, and several massive staves of ice erupted from the ground and rushed towards Asami.

"Wood Style: Partial Cocoon!" She erected the giant wooden cocoon to tank halt the staves of ice in their tracks. By the time they had reached her they were towering over the Cocoon.

"Wood Style and Ice Style," said Gaara. "It's like a callback to the bygone clans: the Senju and Yuki to be precise."

He glanced at Kakashi and Tsunade but the two Hokage remained silent.

"You stopped it, nicely done," Baku complimented her, "I wonder what--"

Suddenly, unpredictably, Asami leapt out of the Partial Cocoon, already free from her icy hold, her hands forming the hand seal Horse. Both Baku and Kazue's eyes widened as they realized what jutsu she was about to use.

"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation."

"Oh, no, you don't: Ice Style: Piercing Blue."

Two powerful jutsu then collided with each other. A literal sea of flames that overwhelmed half of the arena met with a glacier of ice that stretched out of the bounds of the stadium, as if reaching for the sky.

The ice glacier stood fast against the flames as they raged on like a red torrent and were forced to spread out to the sides and bellowed all around the arena. Even if they were protected by the Barrier Jutsu, the spectators could still feel the immense heat the flames gave off and many of them cried out in dissatisfaction. This was the greatest showcase of ninjutsu prowess in any Chunin Exams for a long time.

Eventually the flames died down and all that was left was the ice glacier that was barely standing and a valley of smoke and steam in the arena.

"WHAT A WILD DISPLAY OF JUTSU POWER!!" Guy shouted. "I COULD ALMOST THE FEEL THE FLAMES THROUGH THE BARRIER!! BUT WHAT'S BECOME OF OUR CONTESTANTS?!"

Iroko grinded his teeth. "Asami...!"

"Oi, Jiko," Kazue called out to him, "where'd Nara say the new kid was from? Anbu?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah.."

Kazue made a deep-throated grumble. Iroko knew he had something on his mind. "Wait, why'd you a--"

"Shut up."

Okay, never mind. "Hey, Yuura, see any signs of them?"

"No, it's impossible to see anything through this smoke and steam," he said. "I never knew Asami had a jutsu that powerful, did you?"

Iroko was looking up at the enormous ice glacier, its top radiating from the sun's rays. "I never even knew Baku had a jutsu this powerful..."

How.. exactly.. do I beat that?

Meanwhile, Baku was observing his ice glacier slowly tilting as it melted from the bottom base. He had stood directly behind it to avoid the flames but his exposed arms were marked with first-degree burns. He was lucky that was all he was able to get away with.

Looks like I may have slightly underestimated her. I didn't think she had a jutsu of this high a calibre at her disposal.

So far she's gone out of her way to stay completely on offence. I would assume to prevent me from devising a sound strategy, but then she went and pulled something this extreme. Why? To force me to use Ice Style? If so, why?

He looked all around him at the smoke and steam and then it clicked. Oh.

As if on cue, he spotted a pair of yellow orbs dash straight towards him. He whipped out a kunai in the nick of time to block.

"I know what you've been planning," she said.

"Really? That's the first thing you say to me?"

"You're trying to stage a convincing defeat." She swung at him again.

Baku parried it. "And what if I was?"

"I'll help you."

His eyebrows slightly lifted to show surprise while he blocked and parried to fast-paced attacks from her. "Why?"

"I have my reasons. Wood Style: Jagged Wave!"

He dodged it the oncoming attack and responded with: "Wind Style: Gale Pscythe!"

She filled her kunai with wind-natured chakra and partially absorbed the attack, letting fierce gust wind blow past her.

"So that's why you intended all this smoke and steam," Baku caught on, "and us still fighting continues the ploy. I'm curious though..."

He ran up to her then leapt into the air. "Water Style: Waterfall!"

Asami formed another Partial Cocoon and as soon as the Waterfall landed, several outstretched wooden hands lunged at him. He nimbly dodged them all, blasting a Fire Ball Jutsu at any that got too close and spoke: "How'd you know I was staging?"

"Your first comment to not hold back was a giveaway. I knew upon seeing your disposition that you weren't an arrogant person so you couldn't have meant that as a way to preserve your pride (you wanted to come off as that to fool whoever would be listening), rather it was to stage a realistic enough fight. You were also repeatedly staring at the jonin in the corners of the stadium who have been monitoring us as we fight."

"You're an observant one," said Baku, "but do you know why I'm bothering to do this?"

She went silent.

"I'll take that as a no. To put it bluntly, I'm a lazy guy. I don't like to work more than I have to, so I was not looking forward to this Single Elimination Rounds. Fighting unnecessarily to pass the Exams just seemed like a pain and a waste of time- but then I discovered a loophole. Do you know about--

--the Point System*?" Kakashi asked the other Kage.

A's face winced in confusion. "Point System? The hell is that?"

Kakashi began to explain. "About six years ago, the LHOW (Leaf Honoured Opinion Watch) had decided that the way the previous Chunin Exams were held were too unfair and didn't give enough genin a chance. So during the two years the Leaf took to refurbish the economy, they devised a marking system that would award genin points based on certain actions they perform during the tests."

"I see," said Gaara, "and the more varied and diverse those certain actions expected to be taken are, the more equal a chance all genin get."

"Huh, that actually doesn't sound like a bad idea," A admitted, "but what are you getting at with this?"

"Naturally, not every ninja will do so well here, so out of all the three Tests in the Chunin Exams, the Single Elimination Rounds actually awards the least amount of points. With that as the case, most genin can achieve the total amount of points needed to pass the Chunin Exams from the other two tests which are the Written Test - which measures intelligence and espionage - and the Forest of Death - which overall measures teamwork - those of which are far more paramount than combat when it comes to being a capable ninja.

"Baku became aware of this. It's safe to assume he had snuck into my Office somehow and got ahold of the details of the Point System. I didn't realize at first because I still had the copy of the details in my Office so he might have just duplicated the file instead of stealing it. However, it's become clear to me now on account of realizing what he's trying to do: throw in the towel by masking it as a loss. Surrendering without giving a fight would be seen as dishonourable but if you lost to a genuinely strong opponent then no one could blame you, especially if you 'gave it your all'."

"But how do we know for sure he knows about the Point System?" Tsunade asked. "If he had duplicated one of your copies, then that would mean he has in-depth knowledge on how the points are distributed. Can you prove it?"

"Check Baku's record so far with the jonin supervising," Kakashi sighed. "That boy is too smart for his own good. If he has a chance to drop something that uninterests him he'll take it, ensuring he's done everything he's needed to do beforehand. So if there's one reason as to why Baku's throwing in the towel, it's because he knows he and his team have already passed the Chunin Exams."

"The Sixth Hokage up there probably already knows this, but it doesn't matter," Baku was finishing. "And now that I know how strong you are, I'm fairly confident you and Yuura have probably already ensured your team's success, too."

"I'm still going to go on ahead to the Final Rounds," Asami said.

Baku let out an exasperated sigh. "I'll never understand you go-getters. Well, the smoke and steam are starting to clear so if that's what you want then there's only one thing left to do." He spread out his arms, beckoning a final attack.

Asami ran towards him and dished out a flurry of blows. Baku blocked and parried clumsily in an attempt to portray a last-ditch effort. Then finally, Asami held out her hand and she generated the Atom Style jutsu.

It shone in her hand like a white dwarf star.

Baku Hatake, she thought, you're unusual..

She pretended to strike him with it - in fact only striking beside him - and the ground there erupted in a massive explosion, sending Baku flying across the arena. By the time enough smoke and steam had cleared for people to see what was going on Baku was on the ground while Asami was still standing.

"Iroko, there she is!" Yuura cried. "She's fine!!"

"Hold on, Baku's still conscious!" he pointed.

The blue-streaked boy was right. Slowly, Baku shakily got to his feet and put on the best expression of defeat he could possibly muster.

The crowd held their breath, wondering what was about to happen next.

Then he raised his hand towards Temari.

She nodded her head in understanding and said aloud to all the spectators: "Baku Hatake surrenders! The winner is Asami Senju!"

Just as the crowd began to cheer, the giant ice glacier had finally broken in two and its upper half crashed onto the ground of the arena, shocking everyone to the core.

But the crowd still applauded afterwards. Iroko and Yuura were cheering their hats off and Guy-sensei was mouthing something-

-but it all fell on deaf ears for Asami.

She was looking into the VIP room where the Kage were, looking straight at Tsunade. And the Slug Queen returned the gaze with an expression of sombre.

***

"Well, that's two of your students that are going to the Final Rounds now," said Kosetsu. "You must be proud."

"I am," Hisao replied, "but there is still one more remaining."

"Hm, my students haven't even had a chance to shine yet," she remarked. "Maybe that will change with this round.."

"I can't believe it!" Yuura gushed. "She really did it! She really beat Baku!"

Iroko nodded. "Asami is definitely in a league of her own!!"

"It was an exciting round, huh?" a cute voice said.

The boys turned around and saw Fumino walking into the seating area.

"Oh, Fumino!" Yuura exclaimed.

"Did Baku really lose?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's right," said Iroko.

"I see."

Yuura then decided to ask. "Um, how is he? Daito, I mean."

Fumino saw the concerned expressions on both boys' faces and she returned with a radiant smile. "He's just fine! All he needs is some rest and he'll be back on his feet."

Iroko and Yuura let out a giant sigh.

"Whew! That's good to hear! I was worried I had punched him too hard!" Iroko heaved. "Hm? Where's Yohei? Wasn't he with you?"

"Oh, he just went to go find the washroom!" she clarified. "(He might have gotten himself lost though so I may have to look for him later). Will you guys go visit Daito? I'm sure he'd really like to see you. Even you, Kazue!"

The orange-haired ninja did not respond and simply slumped in his chair.

"Ah, yeah," Yuura, "we just wanted to congratulate Asami and then we'll be on our way, right Iroko?"

"Yup, and speak of the devil herself!" He pointed past Fumino to Asami and Baku having arrived.

"You're something else, you know that?" Iroko said to Asami. "You and Baku seriously let loose there!"

Baku rubbed the back of his head. "Ehh, whatevs."

"BAAAKUUU!!!" Sayo beamed. "YOU WERE SO COOOOL!!!"

He dodged her as she leapt at him for a hug.

Ken was close behind her. He smiled at his friend. "Great match, du--

"You bastard!!"

Kazue shoved past Ken and stomped towards Baku. "Just what the hell was that, huh? You may have everyone else here fooled but don't think you can play me!! You really expect me to believe you would lose that easily to a Snowflake? I've always known you were a lazya$$, but this takes it to a whole 'nother level! Don't you dare think you can avoid a fight with me!!"

Baku then replied with: "Can you move? I need to get to my seat."

Kazue's eyes shrank with rage. His razor teeth flashed as he grimaced. There was a sinister aura about him

Iroko readied himself. Oh, crap, he's gonna blow!!

But just then, Guy came through with an announcement. "Well, folks, it took some time but the jonin were finally able to get rid of all the ice! So, the Preliminaries can now continue! Let's see who the participants for the next match are!!"

The screen came on, and after a moment landed on the two names:

犬塚 健 VS 勝見 一恵

KEN INUZUKA VS KAZUE KATSUMI

Ken's soul left his body. "Wha- wha- wha--"

"Ah, no fair!!" Sayo complained. "Now Ken gets his match? Why am I the last one?"

"I could say the same thing..." Yuura added.

Before Kazue could do anything else, Baku placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered to him:

"Instead of concerning yourself with me, why don't you worry about your own battles?"

He walked past him without further word, slapping Ken behind the back and said: "Good luck to you and Akira."

"Huh? Oh, yeah..." The Inuzuka looked at Kazue seething. "Am I.. gonna die?"

But Kazue was too caught up in Baku's words to even consider Ken. When Tensho and Jin had bidden him good luck (Jin's only the level a dog could hear) and he made his way down to the arena, his thoughts transitioned from those seemingly innocuous words to one man.

"Bastard...!" he growled. "Don't talk to me about my battles!!"