Hello, my lovely readers! I'm back with a new chapter! But before we get to that you all deserve to know why I've been MIA. You see a month after my last update, my aunt passed away, she was born with sickle cell and we all know how hard it is to live with. She fought hard but in the end, it won. After that I took time to mourn and before I knew it school starts up again and now this deadly virius.

I hope you all and your families are well and safe during this time. I'm going to continue writing not just because I love this story too much to give it up, but I also want to give you guys something to look forward too while your cope up at home and to take your mind off this scary virius.

So on a lighter note, I hope I am not rusty, so please enjoy this chapter and stay for an A/N at the bottom. Enjoy!

Hinata stood in front of the wooden pole, on the same training ground where she, Sasuke and Naruto first became genin.

It had been 2 weeks since her visit with Sasuke and Kakashi and for a while things had been going smoothly except for two mishaps. After a few days of training by herself, Hinata decided to get a training partner, so she asked Tenten and Tenten happily agreed and brought Neji along, who was happy to see she was doing well since the last time they saw each other. However while training, Hinata had a relapse causing Neji and Tenten to stop their training and rush her to the hospital, where she stayed for 2 days.

And the other was Sakura.

After her first attempt on following Hinata failed, the pink haired girl resorted to stalking her, waiting for her to go back to Sasuke. She kept herself well hidden in her surroundings but Hinata wondered if Sakura remembered that the Byakugan can see through everything. It went on for days before she realized that Hinata knew she was there and wasn't going to lead her to him. Sakura almost begged her for Sasuke's location but Hinata stayed strong and refused to say. Only telling her that he was alright and training hard to win.

Now here she was on the same grounds where she first became a ninja, on the day of the next chunin exam. As she stood there, she saw a transparent image of herself from before. That girl was scared, timid, shy and had no confidence in herself. She almost couldn't believe that was her just months ago.

"It's almost unreal, how far I've come." She whispered to herself.

"Hinata?"

She turned and to her surprise saw her blonde teammate "Oh Naruto, how are you? I haven't seen you in a while."

He rubbed his head sheepishly "Yeah, sorry about that, I was too busy training. But I did find those ramen bowl you left, thanks a lot!"

Hinata smiled "It's no problem."

"So what are doing here?"

She turned to the pole again "This place is where everything began, I wanted to come here and reflect on how far I've gotten."

"Yeah...it seem so long ago."

Hinata frowned in concern of her teammate, it wasn't like him to be this unenthusiastic before a match. She recalled how excited he was before the first exam, before they entered the Forest of Death and before the preliminaries. But now he seemed a bit gloomy and lacks his self confidence.

"Naruto, you seem discouraged. This isn't like you, is there something on your mind?"

"Oh, it's nothing! It doesn't matter anyway." Naruto said turning his back to her.

She sighed "I won't pry but I am your teammate, if you need someone to lend you an ear, you know I'm here for you."

There was a moment of silence between them.

"It's just the best of the best are going to be at the final exam, I guess I'm overwhelmed, you know?"

She nodded "It's normal to feel that way before a competition but I know you'll win, Naruto. After all you are pretty strong."

"You better believe I'm strong!"

Despite his words, his nervous laughing and the sigh that followed gave away that he was still unsure about himself.

"Do you know that I also gave Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei gifts?" She asked

"Well I kinda figured I wasn't the only one and like I said thanks a lot but why did you suddenly give us stuff?"

She smiled "It's because I wanted to thank you all for changing me into the person I am today."

"Huh?"

"Throughout our time together, you all have helped me through many obstacles whether they were physical, emotional or mental. It was your strength that put me here today and because of that, I like myself a lot more than I did before. So thank you for the new me, Naruto."

The hyperactive blonde stood there in shock. He couldn't believe that he had an effect on Hinata's change. Sure they hang out together and he help her with training but considering how much time she spent with Sasuke, he figured it was more of Sasuke's doing than his own. He was happy about being able to help...

Still...

His expression turned from shocked to discouraged once again "You really...Do you really believe that's true? I may look strong to you but all I ever do is mess things up. I act tough because I'm so frustrated. But underneath it all I just feel like I'm a huge failure."

She shook her head "Maybe you see yourself as that but to me, well you're a proud failure. It's actually why I admire you."

Naruto was dumbfounded "You admire me because of that?"

She nodded "Normal failures would just give up right away but you, Naruto, no matter how many times you fail, you come back more determined than before. I believe that your courage to keep going no matter what is what real strength truly is. You are strong, Naruto and I know you'll do great."

The blonde's expression of shock turned into a happy one as her words sank in "Thanks Hinata, I needed that. Even though I'm completely used to being the underdog, I guess this time I was just really feeling the strain. I was really down, which isn't like me at all."

"Yeah, it worried me. Normally you get really excited before things like this." She commented.

"Yeah I know, now thanks to you, I feel 100% better!" He exclaimed, pumping his arms in the air.

"I'm glad I could help. Now you should get going, they're about to start soon."

"Yeah, I'm off but aren't you coming?" He asked.

She nodded "Of course I'll be there to cheer you and Sasuke but I'm waiting for Neji and Tenten."

Naruto's cheerful mood disappeared when he heard Neji's name. The guy was a total jerk to Hinata and fought her like he was ready to kill but after hearing his story, he started wonder about the Hyuga clan's family relationship. In fact when he thought about it, he didn't know much about Hinata's clan. The only info he got on them was from Lee and Kakashi sensei.

I wonder if Hinata will tell me about it later...

"So...things are ok between you two now?"

She gave her friend a reassuring smile "Yeah, things have changed while you were training. Neji and I are on better terms now, we're becoming good friends."

Naruto looked skeptical "Well I'll take your word for it but I've got my eye on him and you know Sasuke will too."

At the mention of the young Uchiha's name, Hinata blushed "I-I figured as much."

From a distance, fireworks went off indicating the exam was about to begin.

"Uh-oh, I'm going to be late!" Naruto took off running in the direction of fireworks while calling out to Hinata "Thanks again, Hinata. You're the best and make sure you get there in time for my match! See ya later!"

The young Hyuga watched as her teammate ran to the arena and then looked at the sky "Sasuke, I'll be there to cheer you on too. I know both of you will win."

Neji and Tenten arrived a minute after Naruto left and thanks to the shortcut Neji found, they manage to get to the stadium before the event begun.

"Where's Lee?" Hinata asked "I was hoping he could come and see the matches."

Tenten smiled "Don't worry, Gai sensei is at the hospital as we speak getting him. But he has a lot of paperwork to fill out to get Lee to come here."

"Lee told us about your promise to him." Neji said while searching for good seats.

Hinata turned to Neji, pausing for a moment before she realized what he was talking about "When?"

"When you relapsed and the both of us took you to hospital, we decided to pay him a visit while the doctors were looking you over and he told us everything." Tenten expression was one of gratitude but also doubt "Hinata, while its great that you want to help Lee get back on his feet, it's just...well..."

"What Tenten is trying to say is while your heart is in the right place, you shouldn't be making promises that may prove difficult to keep." Neji explained.

Hinata looked at the both of them and said "I know it will be hard but I'm willing to try my best to keep my word."

"But Hinata-"

"You both, besides myself and Gai sensei, know how much it means to Lee to be a ninja. You didn't see how broken and hopeless he looked. To have everything he worked so hard for, everything he dreamed of taken away from him."

Her eyes started tearing a bit, she couldn't begin to understand the pain Lee was in now.

"Hinata..." Neji walked up to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder "Like you, Tenten and I want Lee to get back on his feet and carry on with his dream."

"It's just Lady Tsunade hasn't been in the Leaf Village in years." Tenten added "And she moves so much, nobody knows where she'll end up next."

"I know" Hinata wiped her eyes and opened them only to see her determination "But still, I owe it to Lee. After the chunin exams are over, I'll start asking around whether it be on a mission or in the village, someone has got to know something, right?"

Neji looked at the girl in front of him, even after their match, this new determination in her still made him think he was talking to some else.

Though this new attitude is not a bad thing...

He sighed but smiled a bit "Lee is our teammate, it would be disgraceful of us if we didn't participate in his recovery in someway."

Tenten smiled too, giving into the idea "If we get the others to help, our chances might be better, after all there are more strength in numbers, right?"

Hinata smiled, relief filled her as she was happy she wasn't going to do this alone "Yes, of course."

Her cousin removed his hand "But let's discuss more of this after the matches."

"Oh right." Tenten rubbed her head sheepishly "We still need to find seats."

From a different seating area, Lord Hiashi and Hanabi sat in their seats waiting for the matches to begin. Though the younger Hyuga was confused as to why they were here, from what she heard Hinata and Neji ended in a draw so neither one of them would be down there today. So it didn't make sense for her father to want to come when there was no one from the Hyuga clan participating. But nevertheless, she wanted to be here because it took her away from her training, so she can relax a bit, she could see different styles of fighting but more importantly, it gives her a chance to run into her sister here.

Hanabi missed her sister. She heard that Hinata and their father had an argument and soon after she decided to go stay with her sensei. No matter how times Hanabi asked, her father just said it was over something not worth mentioning. But she knew her sister wouldn't leave if it wasn't for something important. What she was hoping for is to see how her elder sister was doing and get some answers.

Lord Hiashi's reasons for being there were somewhat similar to his youngest daughter's. He too was there to see Hinata because he knew she would come to support her teammates, giving him the opportunity to talk things out with his daughter and hopefully convince her to come home. He still didn't know how he was going to answer her if she brought up her plans to remove the curse mark again. It was too risky, he knew how some of the branch members felt about the main members. There was just too much resentment, too much hate. He couldn't say he'll let her go through with it but he will promise her to be a better father.

But although seeing his daughter was his main reason for being here, he also came to see her teammates in action. They were the ones who caused this change in her, so he wanted to see what they were about.

From what I know, her team consist of Naruto Uzumaki, the problem child who carries the Nine Tail Fox within him, and Sasuke Uchiha, the only survivor of the Uchiha massacre six years ago. To think my daughter would be on a team with such unique characters.

"Father look! It's big sister and Brother Neji!" Hanabi exclaimed

"How much longer are you going to keep sulking?" Ino said as she glanced over a depressed Sakura "It's been weeks and now today's the day. Sasuke will be here soon."

Ever since Sasuke's disappearance, Ino had gone to the hospital at least once a week to see if he had come back. She was worried about him too but she had things to take her mind off of it, like her family's flower shop and helping with Shikamaru's training. Two weeks ago after Shikamaru's training session, she bumped into Sakura, who went into detail about her encounter with Hinata and how she followed and lost her in the forest. Ino didn't say it out loud but she agreed with what Hinata said and her refusing to tell them where he was. Although she thought it was a reckless, Sasuke was strong and capable, if he said he felt fine then that's that.

"But what if something happened to him?! It's stupid that she didn't bring him back with her. I know this exam is important to him but there's always next time, why can't they see that?!" Sakura exclaimed angrily.

Ino sighed, this conversation was going nowhere. It was irritating that Sakura wasn't taking Sasuke's feelings about this into consideration. From the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar bluenette.

"Hinata?" She turned for a better look and it really was Hinata, along with Neji and Tenten and it looked like they were trying to find seats. Ino looked in front of her and saw three empty seats in the row below hers.

"Maybe we should just find somewhere to stand. We haven't found any seats since we got here and it looks like the contestants are here." Tenten said in defeat.

"All except for Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha." Neji pointed out.

Hinata looked onto the field "Neither is that sound ninja, Dosu."

She started to worry about her teammates.

Naruto left before Neji and Tenten came. He should have reached here before us. Did he get lost? And Sasuke is still with Kakashi sensei, although given sensei's punctual record...but this is an important event surely sensei wouldn't choose now to make them late, right?

"Hey guys!"

They turned and saw Ino waving them over with a big smile on her face.

"Ino, it's good to see you" Hinata smiled as she and others came over "Hello Sakura."

Ino elbowed Sakura when she didn't reply back. Sakura glared at her before turning her eyes to Hinata "Hi, I guess."

Neji and Tenten could feel the tension between the two. It didn't surprise them much since Hinata explain to them why when they notice Sakura following them weeks ago.

"Anyway, it's your lucky day." Ino said, breaking the tension "There's empty seats in front of us and the view is great. We can see everything."

"Oh thank goodness! I so didn't want to stand for the entire time!" Tenten said before taking her seat.

Hinata giggled as she took her seat below Ino "Didn't you say we should find a place to stand?"

"That was then, this is now!"

Neji shook his head in amusement. As he lowered himself to sit, he felt as if someone was watching them. He carefully looked around them until he spotted his uncle and younger cousin.

"Hinata."

"Hmm?"

Neji simply pointed in their direction. Hinata looked to where he was pointing and her eyes widen a bit, surprised to see her father and sister.

"Why are they here?" She asked.

"Perhaps Lord Hiashi wanted to show Lady Hanabi what the chunin exams are like."

She saw her sister waving to her while her father stared at her with a look that said he wanted to talk. Hinata didn't know what to do when it came to her father. Ever since the argument, she hadn't thought much about him since she knew it would stress her out, which she didn't need at the time. But now, he wanted to talk but she didn't know if she wanted to talk to him. He was still her father and she loved him but their views of the clan were so different, she knew they would collide again.

Hinata shook her head, waving back at Hanabi, before facing forward. She wasn't going to worry about that now, she could deal with her family drama later. Now this was Naruto and Sasuke's moment and she is going to put all her attention on them.

As soon as Naruto came flying through the gates, they officially began the exam. However due to Dosu's absents, Naruto was declared by default which he wasn't happy about since he didn't get show everyone his new techniques but the proctor, Genma, assured him that he would get his chance to fight later. After that it was time for Kankuro and Shino's match however Kankuro for some reason forfeited the match and insisted that they go on with the next. But the next was Sasuke vs Gaara but the young Uchiha was still no where to be found, much to Hinata's dismay. But the Hokage had decided to push his match back and asked to proceed with the next match which was Shikamaru vs Temari. He was doing well for himself, dodging and keeping Temari on her toes. After a few failed attempts, he finally caught her with his shadow possession jutsu, but sadly he forfeit the match due to his low charka levels.

Now the crowd around the members of the 9 rookies plus Neji and Tenten were getting restless because Sasuke still hasn't arrived. Hinata was clutching her fist to her chest in worry, she had seen the Hokage's bodyguard whisper something to Genma, after that said person took out a watch. They must have given him a time extension but for how long?

Sasuke, please hurry!

"All right! The time limit has expired!" He announced.

Hinata felt her heart drop "N-No..."

"So I'm officially calling this match-"

Then suddenly a small tornado of leafs appeared before Naruto, Shikamaru and Genma and Hinata's heart leaped in joy and relief as she saw who emerged from it "Sasuke...!"

The proctor looked down at young genin "And you are?"

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha."

"So he made it in time?" A voice behind the rookies in the stands said.

Hinata and Tenten turned and smiled at who was here "Lee!"

Neji smirked at his teammate "It's about time you got here."

"It takes a while on crutches, I made a promise I wouldn't over do it." He said looking at Hinata.

She nodded "I'm glad you were able to make it. You didn't miss much."

"Yeah, as it turned out Naruto's opponent never showed up, so he won by default, Shikamaru fought well but in the end forfeited and that sand ninja with the face paint withdrew." Tenten explained.

Lee nodded understanding and looked on the field "Well I'm glad I made it. I'm looking forward to see how far Sasuke's come."

Hinata turned back to her teammates bickering below "I am too. I'm sure his training will pay off."

Ino leaned forward, excited "Hinata, what's it like to be part of such an amazing team?!"

"Amazing team?"

"A team I should've been apart of." Sakura angrily muttered.

While she was happy that Sasuke had finally arrived, being reminded that she wasn't on his team always left her bitter. Even more now due to his bond with Hinata.

Ino ignored her "You know, first you tied with Neji in the preliminaries, then Naruto made his way to finals, oh, and then you've got Sasuke whose like the superstar. Everyone wants to see his match. You're like the All-Star Team!"

Lee's hair covered his eyes as he heard Ino.

Sasuke is fighting that Sand ninja Gaara, whom I was powerless against, and Hinata was able to bring down Neji, whom I always wanted to defeat.

He clutches his crutch so tight that the wounded hand began to bleed again.

I know I promised not to push myself but just standing here and watching, it's so frustrating!

Unknown to him, his team and Hinata looked at him concerned as he visibly struggled with not being able to fight.

Moments after Naruto and Shikamaru left the field, Gaara appeared and now both opponents are standing face to face at last.

"Ok. Here we are at last." Gemna said "All right, the rules for this match are the same as in the preliminaries. The match continues until one of you dies, or admits defeat. However, I can stop the match, but that's solely my decision."

Gaara starts laughing, his expression menacing but Sasuke looked unimpressed and hmped at him.

Hinata and Gai heard foot steps approaching and turned to find it was Kakashi.

"Hello Gai, how are you feel, Lee? Are you all right?" He asked.

"Kakashi..."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Hinata called.

He approached her "I cut it pretty close there, didn't I? I'm sorry for worrying you."

"So everything's still alright, right? I mean..."

Before she left, Hinata had asked him about the mark on Sasuke's neck. And he said it was taken care of. She placed a hand on her own neck thinking about it.

Kakashi places his hand on her head "Like I said before, it's been taken care of. So that's that. Ok?"

Hinata turned back to Sasuke and used her byakugan. She could see a seal around the mark. While she would like it if it was removed, this was good too. She let out a sigh of relief and smiled, nodding at her sensei.

He patted her head, before looking around the area.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Eight of them. Eight members of the Anbu Black Ops in an arena this size. That's nowhere near enough. What could Lord Hokage be thinking?" He said low enough so only Gai could hear.

"Well, not knowing how the enemy's going to act, the Anbu Black Ops have probably been disbursed and stationed around the key parts of the village." Gai replied

The crowd began cheering.

"It's starting. We can't afford to let our guard down, but for now, at least, we need to watch this match." Then he smirked "Kakashi, I'll be carefully checking out your pupil to see if your training was any good. After all, I'm still your rival."

"Huh? Sorry, did you say something?"

The genin sweatdrops at their teachers' antics.

"Both of you to the middle."

Sasuke stretched his neck a bit before moving forward, he and Gaara were now standing in front of each other. His facial expression showed determination while Gaara still had a menacing smirk on his face.

Tension was in the air as everyone waited for the action to start.

Genma looked between the two before giving the signal "Begin!"

Sasuke made distance between them as sand was released from Gaara's gourd.

So this is the sand Kakashi talked about.

Gaara suddenly held his head groaning in pain.

"Huh?"

"Please, I beg you, don't get so mad at me...Mother."

The smile on the sand ninja's face started to creep Sasuke out.

What in the world is he talking about?

More sand emerged as he spoke "Early, early...I know I made you taste such awful blood. I'm so sorry, but this time I'm sure that it'll taste so very good."

The sand that was floating above fell to the ground as he seem to snap out of his own conversation. He gasped a bit before glaring at the Uchiha "Come on."

"Here goes." Sasuke threw a few shuriken at Gaara but his sand shield caught them and turned into a the young Uchiha started to charge, but gasped as the sand clone shot a blast of sand in his path. He dodged by jumping into the air. The clone threw the shuriken while he was in midair but he countered by throwing more which cause them to collide.

As he came down, Sasuke maneuvered himself and kicked clone Gaara's arms, destroying them. Then he did a quick hand stand and twist his body to give him more momentum as he quickly stood and delivered a strong backhanded fist to it's neck, damaging half of it. However the clone tries to trap him by encasing sand around his wrist. Before it went any farther, Sasuke punched the clone through it's head, destroying it completely.

Now that the clone was gone, he went straight for Gaara with his fist ready. The sand ninja put up a sand shield to block the attack but Sasuke smirked and vanished.

Lee gasped at what he was witnessing.

Gaara also gasped as Sasuke reappeared behind him.

He's fast! This guy...is just like that other one!

Sasuke punched him in the face, cracking his sand armor and sending him flying a couple feet away.

Incredible! Gai thought astounded. He's almost as fast as Lee's normal speed.

It is almost like a mirror image of my own taijutsu. Lee thought as he watched Sasuke's movements.

"So that's your sand armor, huh?" Sasuke smirked as Gaara gave a dirty look and gestured him to come at him "Come on."

But Gaara just sat there, glaring at him.

"If you won't do it, then I will!" Sasuke charge at him with incredible speed.

Gaara eyes widen at this and quickly puts up a wall. Sasuke sees this and moves behind him.

"He's so fast" Lee muttered

Gaara sees him and moves the sand to strike. Sasuke dodges and moves back to the front, he sees an opening and takes it, giving the sand ninja a kick that sent him flying again.

"What's the matter, Gaara? Is that all you've got?" Sasuke asked.

Ino looked down at the fight in awe.

Amazing...

Sasuke gets into his stance and smirked "I'm going to tear off all your armor!"

He once again charges, turning a trail of dust behind him. Gaara creates a ring of sand around himself to defend but Sasuke runs around it.

Gai followed his movements.

His speed is basically the same as Lee's with his weights removed.

Hinata couldn't help but smile.

His fight with Lee really inspired him. He's so much faster than he was before and his taijutsu is very similar to Lee's.

Sasuke quickly rushed under the sand ring and kicked Gaara's chest, throwing him off balance. Then he grab the front of his clothes and kneed him in his abdomen.

Remarkable, Sasuke. Really remarkable. You are truly a genius, a greater ninja than I ever imagined. I mean, how many years did it take me to attain that speed? And you achieved the same result in just a month.

The two were distant from each other again. Sasuke was on his feet, panting while Gaara was on his knees, in the middle of his broken sand ring, panting as well.

But it sure looks like it takes a lot of stamina for him to maintain that speed. Lee thought as he continue to focus on Sasuke.

"His training..." Gai spoke.

Kakashi turn his attention to him "Hmm?"

"What did you two do? To get to such a level, in a mere month."

"Sasuke has copied Lee's taijutsu with his sharingan. So during the taijutsu training I did with Sasuke, I simply had him imagine Lee's movement and copy it." He replied "Sasuke mastered that taijutsu only because he knew Lee. Of course, Sasuke had to work very hard to master it, even with his sharingan."

But that sand ninja, he is way too tough for that. He cannot be taken down with only that taijutsu.

Gai glances at his rival.

If Kakashi saw the battle between Gaara and Lee, then why did he...?

He recalled when Lee used the inner gates during his battle.

After all, that taijutsu Sasuke learned from Lee can't suddenly work against an opponent that even Lee himself couldn't defeat. But Kakashi must have known this. So why did he have Sasuke master only taijutsu?

Gaara got on his feet and made a hand sign. Sasuke gasped as as the sand slowly forming around his opponent. He quickly tries get to him and throws a punch, however the sand closed creating a cocoon. When his fist made contact with it, the cocoon formed spikes cutting his right fist, leg and cheek. He pants, backs away from the sand, his sharingan activated thinking of his next move.

So he's used all the sand as a shield. Because of the sand's density, I didn't think it could create something this hard.

His right hand twitched in pain "So he's absolutely protected."

From the stands, Lee said "The sand has covered his entire body."

What an effective and vexing defense. Gai thought. Will Sasuke be able to get around it?

"I don't get it, why couldn't he break through the sand like he did before with Gaara's sand clone?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, I've been wondering that myself." Ino added.

"Before..."

They looked at Hinata as she spoke "The objective of the sand was to slow him down and trap him or do damage from a distance. But this sand cocoon he created, it's for defense, protecting him from everything corner. The sand is riddled with charka causing a higher density, making it as hard as it is now."

Tenten looked back at the field "I wonder how he's going to break it?"

Before she answered, they heard a familiar voice shout "Kakashi sensei!"

They all turn to see Naruto and Shikamaru panting above them.

Lee smiled "Naruto."

Hinata looked at her teammate and grew concern at the panic in his look "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"What is it, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Sensei, please! You just have to stop this match, right away!"

His visible eye widens "What?"

Hinata eyes also widen as she gets up and moves to stand next to her teacher "Naruto, you can't do that."

"But the guy Sasuke is fighting is completely different than the rest of us. He's about as far from normal as you can get!"

"Naruto, slow down!" Ino said confused by the blonde's actions "What are you trying to say?"

"He thinks his point in life is to kill people. Don't you see?! If this continues, Sasuke will die!"

Sasuke gasped as an eye formed above the sand cocoon.

"You've gotta believe me!" Naruto said still trying to convince his sensei to stop the fight.

Kakashi looked at his blonde student for a moment before looking down at his student on the field "Relax, no need to panic."

"Huh?!"

"You know, Sasuke and I weren't just goofing around. There's a reason we were so late getting here."

Sasuke unleashed a fury of ruthless attacks but the sand cocoon kept creating spikes that forced him to retreat to a distance that was out of it's reach.

I don't know what the hell you're up to. You gonna stay in there forever? Well, that's fine with me. Stall all you want, I can use the time getting ready for what I've got in store for you.

The bluenette looks at her teacher "Sensei, has he gotten the hang of it? Is that why you were so late?"

"Yeah, he can still only use it a certain number of times, but he's got it." He smiled, patting her head "And it's thank to your advice."

Hinata's cheek colored as he praised her.

I'm so glad I was able to help.

"Oh, come on!" Naruto exclaimed "Will you please do something? This is no time for talking!"

"You're right, so shut up and watch." Kakashi ordered.

Everything excepted Hinata looked at Kakashi.

"Keep your eye on Sasuke. He's about to surprise you."

Sasuke took a moment, looking up at the audience, searching for someone.

"What's he doing?" Tenten asked

"It seems that he's looking for something." Neji replied.

Hinata jumped a little as Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder "Or someone?"

She glanced at her teacher and he smiled at her.

"Look." He whispered.

She turned back to the field and gasped softly as her eyes met with Sasuke's sharingan eyes.

They held eye contact for a moment before the young Uchiha gave her a smirk and held up his left arm, loosening the straps around it.

Her eyes widen as she realized what he was about to do and smiled, giving him an encouraging smile and mouthed 'You can do it.'

He nods, and backflips onto the walls of the arena, skidding to stop on top. He made a few hand signs, then grips his left arm and concentrates. Soon chakra begins to build up in his entire hand and then turns into lightning.

Gai eyes widen at the sight "But it can't be..."

"If you wondered why I always insisted on training Sasuke myself." Kakashi spoke as Naruto witnessed Sasuke's new justus "Now you know, it's because he's like me."

Sasuke smirked, using his left arm to hold his right and started charging at full speed.

He's really mastered that technique already? So this is what the Uchiha are capable of.

Gai thought.

"Whoa! I've never seen him do that before!" The blonde looked at his female teammate

"Hinata, did you know it?"

"Well I did see Kakashi sensei use it once and since there's a bit of similarity between them, I figured that this is what they were working on." She replied.

Tenten smiled at her "I overheard Kakashi sensei saying you helped him with this. It's pretty awesome!"

"What?!" Sakura stood glaring at the young Hyuga, outraged "So you did go see him again after that day!"

"No, that day was the only day I saw them during the whole month."

(Flashback)

"Y-You want me to stay?"

After accepting his gifts and finishing his lunch, Sasuke had ask Hinata to stick around for the rest of the day.

He rubbed the back of his head, looking the other way "Since I was the first to see your moves before the chunin exams, I figured I'd return the favor."

Hinata blushed a bit, feeling happy that he wanted her to be the first to see his brand new skills in action. However...

"Will Kakashi-sensei be ok with it? I-I wouldn't want to be a bother."

Sasuke opened his mouth to replied but a voice behind him answered.

"It's fine by me." Kakashi said.

The two looked up at him.

"I said that you couldn't keep coming back but since you're already here, you can stay until it's time for you to go."

"Are you sure, Sensei?"

He nodded "I think you and Sasuke may benefit from this."

The teen looked at each other, Sasuke shrugged his shoulders but gave Hinata a small smile. It didn't matter to him what was going though Kakashi's head, he was just happy Hinata got to stay.

The bluenette blushed but smiled back and turned to her teacher "Thank you for letting me stay, I'll help in anyway I can."

Believe me, I think you will. Kakashi thought as he instructed Sasuke to return to his target and Hinata to stand by him.

Sasuke stood a distance from the boulder ahead, he spread his feet out and forming hand signs.

Hinata watched in awe as his charka turn into lightening, she may have seen it once before but it was more amazing seeing it from a closer distance.

"Kakashi sensei, beside your battle with Zabuza, I've never seen this jutsu before. What it is actually?" She asked

The silver haired man kept his eye on Sasuke "It's a jutsu of my own creation."

"What's it called?"

"It's called Chidori, this technique channels a large amount of lightning chakra to the user's hand. The amount of chakra is so great that it becomes visible. The high concentration of electricity produces a sound reminiscent of many birds chirping, hence the name."

She tilted her head, confused "Lightning chakra?"

"I'll tell you about it later, anyway as you saw in the Land of Waves, it does a great deal of damage."

Hinata turned away from her sensei. How could she forget? Before running to Sasuke, she could see his hand in Haku's body, blood covering his hand and face.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered "Ive been working mostly on his speed and stamina just so he can perform this technique, but at this rate he might not be able to prefect this jutsu before the exam."

She looked over at Sasuke with concern in her eyes.

So he's been struggling, the marks on his hands show it.

"But you can help him."

"How?"

"Watch the flow of his charka when he hits the target. I think you'll know how he can fix this."

Hinata turn to Sasuke just as he got into his stance. She quickly actives her Byakugan and observed his charka flow.

Sasuke gathers a big amount of charka into his hand and charges at the boulder, striking it in the center. The force of impact caused a crater, which impressed Hinata.

"Wow..."

But Sasuke didn't share her sentiment.

He punched the boulder, frustrated "What am I doing wrong?"

"I thought you did fine."

He turned to Hinata, who came up behind him to look at the damage "It's really an impressive jutsu."

"It'd be more impressive if I could strike it the way Kakashi did when he showed me the Chidori."

"What was the overcome?"

"He created an even bigger crater than the one I just made and his boulder collapsed, while mine is still intact." He hit it again in frustration.

Hinata slowly took his hand away from the rock "I know it's frustrating but doing more harm than good to yourself, remember your hands are still injured."

The young Uchiha sighed deeply, taking a look at his hand, it had burns from the jutsu and scratches from him punching it.

He hissed at the pain of his injures "Yeah, you're right."

"Would you like my opinion?"

"Don't I always?."

She blushed "W-Well like most jutsu, it's all about charka control."

"So what's the problem with mine?"

"Just like your tree climbing, you're pouring too much charka in the beginning. And then as you charge, you're putting more of your focus on the target and less on the jutsu."

"So at first I started out too strong, but as I get closer to my target, the amount of charka I generate decreases." He nods, seeing what his problem was "So what do you suggest?"

"Well since you only have a few weeks left, I think you should start out by gathering a large amount in your hand, just not as much as you've been doing, then as you charge slowly increase the flow of your charka, that way when you strike, you'll cause more damage. The key is not to lose focus in your charka control as you move."

Sasuke thought about what she said, picturing the scenario and smiled "Lets test it."

Hinata smiled back before going back to her place next to Kakashi. Sasuke stood a distance from an another boulder and took his stance.

Ok, first gather a large amount of charka in my hand.

Sasuke performed the hand signs and an large amount of charka turned lightning appeared but this time not as strong as before.

Then he starts charging at the boulder.

Now keep my focus on my control and my target, pour more power while moving.

As he moved, the lightning increased a bit in his hand. Then when he got close, he attacked.

"Chidori!"

Sasuke struck the center and the impact caused a much larger crater with cracks forming around it. He stepped back, panting from exhaustion but smirked at his progress.

"Well..." Kakashi walked up to the boulder and tapped it lightly, the upper half collapsed "That is definitely an improvement."

"That was great, Sasuke!" Hinata jogged over to them "It was better than the last one."

"Yeah, with a bit more practice, I'll have it master."

"I wouldn't get ahead of myself just yet." Kakashi said

The students looked at him.

"Hinata's suggestion is effective since we're on limited time however it doesn't mean you've mastered it. Because of this method, you're using more charka than needed, which means you'll only be able to use this jutsu a number of times. From what I see, you'll be able to use it about two times." He explained "Once this exam is over, keep practicing on maintaining a steady flow while gathering, moving and attacking that way you won't waste chakra."

"Fine by me." Sasuke said before turning to Hinata, his eyes soften and gave her a small smile "I really owe you for this."

She smiled, blushing "W-Well you can pay back by winning ok?"

"Yeah, I'll definitely win."

Not just for me, but for you too.

(Flashback end)

Gaara's third eye showed Sasuke fast approaching and the cocoon formed spikes to defend but he dodged them quickly while maintaining his speed and focus and struck the cocoon. His attack went through the sand and into Gaara's shoulder.

"Now I've got you."

From inside the dome, Gaara sat there, puzzled at the feeling coming from his shoulder where Sasuke struck.

"What is this? It's so warm and wet. Mother, what is it?"

Then a drop of red liquid dripped onto his hand and he whimpered at the sight.

When he realized what it was, he screamed with terror in his voice "BLOOD! IT'S MY BLOOD!"

Hinata gasped at the scream.

The way he said that, it's as if he's never seen his own blood before. What's going on in that in there?

She used her byakugan and looked within the cocoon, what she saw made her blood cold.

"Sasuke, get away from him now!" She screamed.

The Uchiha heard her and felt something clawing at his arm. He struggled to get his arm out but Gaara wouldn't let go, he sends a wave of lightning, shocking him and causing him to scream more.

Sasuke tried pulling his arm out again and was successful but as he freed his arm, a monstrous one came out as well.

Kakashi gasped at the sight.

Gai was in shock as well "What is that?!"

"Hinata, what's going on?" Kakashi asked

But she didn't speak, she just watched as the arm retreated into the dome. From their point of view, she and Sasuke gasped at the eye they saw.

An inhuman roar ripped across the stadium. Then a few moments passed and the sand dome reverted back into plain sand, spilling on the ground, revealing an injured Gaara, holding his shoulder with no sight of what they'd saw.

The sand ninja was breathing heavily, giving the Uchiha a murderous look.

Something's different. That's not the same look in his eyes that I saw before.

Hinata looked at the sand ninja, her blood still going cold but couldn't help but notice something familiar.

That charka, it's almost like...

But her thoughts were interrupted as the entire stadium was suddenly surrounded by white feathers falling out of no where.

Hinata felt a familiar feeling in her head and knew what it was.

Genjutsu!

She formed the necessary hand signs "Release!"

But she wasn't the only one, Kakashi, Gai, Neji, Tenten and Sakura also noticed and performed a counter jutsu as well. All around them people were falling asleep, including their friends.

"What is going on?" Neji stood and scan the area "Who's doing this?"

Tenten saw Lee falling forward as he lost conscious "Lee!"

Hinata quickly caught him "I've got him!"

She placed him in her seat and was about to go to Sasuke when Kajashi pulled her back "Sensei, I-"

"Don't move, we don't know what the situation is yet." He ordered.

Then an explosion was heard and they all turned to where it came from: The Kage's seating area.

"Kakashi..."

"I know..." He replied looking at the smoke enveloping the area "The village...is under attack."

A/N: Hey guts I hoped you enjoyed the chapter and that it took your mind off things. Now here's the deal: I been reading my reviews and some of them caught my eye. For those of you who think there should be another level to the byakugan like there is for the sharingan, I say you are absolutely right! But the problem is I'm stuck on the name, what power it should include and how it looks, so I kindly ask you to give me your ideas on this and if I go with them, like before I'll dedicate that chapter to however came up with the idea. I can't wait to see your ideas! See you soon snd take care!