Alexei: Hello, my lovely followers, as many of you know, I have not kept up with this fic very well since it's inception almost three years ago. While I had great plans for it, and still think about it in my free time, I just don't have the attention span to finish it. So, this means that at this point, I am DISCONTINUING this fic.

As such, I will be marking this as complete because I won't be adding onto it anymore.

It is, however, OPEN FOR ADOPTION if someone is interested. Just PM me and let me know. Maybe we could even swap ideas, or I could beta for you. I don't want to see it end here just because I won't be writing it!

here, however is the partial chapter I had written up for your enjoyment.

IIIII

"First off, congratulations on passing the second test." Anko's voice echoed throughout the large arena where all of the passing teams had congregated. She stood atop a slightly raised platform with the Hokage, several test proctors, and the Jounin team leaders.

Hinata was surprised to recognize the majority of the passing teams. Every single Konoha rookie was lined up beside her. Neji's team. The trio from the Sand. The Sound genin who'd attacked them before. The only team that she didn't recognize straight off was the Konoha team that Kabuto wandered off to join.

She was tempted to subtly activate her Byakugan in order to get a better look at them but resisted, recalling Kabuto's warning about her depleted chakra and the side effects of using jutsus unnecessarily until it restored itself.

She kept a wandering eye out, examining the reactions of her fellow genin. It seemed that every other person was looking in her team's direction. There were several glares stationed specifically on Sasuke, including that of her cousin. Hinata looked forward at her dark haired teammate. He stood in front of her looking as casually bored as usual, and she couldn't help but wonder what all happened while she was unconscious.

"Before we begin the third tests there's something I'd like you all to do." She was broken out of her thoughts by the sound of weak voice. The man standing in front of the group looked tired and has speech was occasionally interrupted by a soft cough. Hinata recalled him being introduced earlier as Gekkou Hayate, the referee for the third exam. "We will be holding a preliminary for the third test in order to decide who gets to participate in the main event."

Outraged whispers immediately overtook the participants.

"What do you mean, preliminary?" Shikamaru was the first to speak over the hushed discussion.

Sakura followed suit soon after. "I don't understand this preliminary to begin with, but why aren't all the people here allowed to participate in the next test?"

Hayate replied as if he were reading from a script. "The first and second exams may have been too easy this year." E-easy?! "We have a bit too many people remaining. According to Chuunin exam rules we must have a preliminary and reduce the number of participants for the third test." More murmurs erupted from the genin, but he continued, ignoring them. "There will be many guests at the third test, and the fights would take too long, but we are limited in time." He paused, looking around at the group gathered in from of him. He seemed to be sizing everyone up before continuing his speech. "We will be starting the preliminary matches immediately, so those who are not feeling well - those who feel like quitting - please come forward now."

The matches are starting now? Hinata took a deep breath and steeled herself. She was injured and utterly exhausted but she would not let her teammates down by giving up so soon. Even if she lost the match, she would still try.

"Um." All eyes were drawn to a familiar head of silver hair. Kabuto pushed up his glasses then raised a hand. For a reason she couldn't quite pinpoint, Hinata shivered when she heard the next words out of his mouth.

"I'm going to quit."

IIIII

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm f-fine." Kakashi gave Hinata an analytical look, and she knew that he was aware she wasn't telling the whole truth. She wondered exactly how much Kakashi was aware of the events of the previous exam and amended her answer to appease him. "I feel like I spend h-half of the second exam asleep."

"You were unconscious. There's a difference."

I was dead weight either way.

She didn't respond, instead turning her gaze to the open arena. Only two genin were on the floor there now. Akado Yoroi, one of the genin from Kabuto's team, and Sasuke stood not quite three feet from each other with the referee between them. The match had yet to start but Hinata's anxiety was already flaring up. She knew Sasuke wasn't in the best shape already and it didn't help that her mind kept flashing back to the sight of him in the Forest of Death covered in those black marks.

She could see him flinching as he settled into a battle stance and clutched a hand to her own throbbing chest. She had yet to take a look for herself at what the damage was that caused her to be in a near constant state of pain, but she was willing to bet it was somehow related to Sasuke's own ailments. Something kept her from checking in the presence of others though. Maybe it was the casual eye Kakashi kept on her, or the cutting stare that the other higher ranks kept on Sasuke.

Either way, it would remain secret for now.

IIIII

I got a review after the last chapter and it made me want to clear up a couple things. At no point so far has Hinata taken the time to actually examine her chest yet, nor does she quite yet 100% realize that she was bitten. The only thing she remembers of her person encounter with Orochimaru is the pain. She essentially blacked out before seeing what caused said pain. This is super important and will be dealt with in a to-be-written future chapter. Logically, you can all safely assume Sasuke is more aware of the situation than Hinata is, because logically he would have checked her wounds after having found her unconscious.

I'd decided that for Hinata's curse seal she will have received the Earth alternative, vs. the Heaven version that Sasuke has. I wanted to change the pattern caused by it from canon though. Nothing too different, and nothing that would affect what is actually canon sans aesthetic effect.

Also, I already know that I wanted Hinata and Neji's match to go about the same as it had. She would of course struggle with the curse mark, and might've pushed it a little bit, but because the chuunin/jounin weren't necessarily looking out for her to have a mark and she has a jacket that covers so much it wouldn't be something that was immediately noticed before she could manage to suppress it. Neji, of course, would immediately notice and that would cause him to falter, but ultimately he'd still kick her ass and her storyline would progress similarly to what it did through the rest of the chuunin exams.

While I wasn't 100% sure about what I wanted for the arc after that, I know i still wanted Sasuke to end up leaving the village, but not before bestowing a farewell kiss upon Hinata's face. This would cause some pretty interesting kinks in the shippuden arcs, including a possible accidental rendezvous where Sasuke comments about the rumor from the academy about him liking long hair, and Hinata being all long haired now would be all flustered.

ANYWHO, just some thoughts for anyone considering adopting this.