On the day of the finals.
Shishou was awakened early by Pakura, who was eager to drag him to watch the Chunin Exams.
A few days earlier, Pakura had bought two tickets for them to watch together.
Shishou, finding the idea of watching a match involving his own clone absurd, stubbornly refused to get out of bed.
After washing up, Pakura saw Shishou still lying in bed and frowned.
"Shishou, it's time to get up. Don't you want to watch the Chunin Exams?"
"Nope!" Shishou replied bluntly.
Pakura glared at him.
She then went to the bathroom and came back with a wet towel.
"Get up already. Stop acting like a child."
As Pakura washed his face, Shishou lay in her arms, chuckling.
"I'm just a kid at heart."
Pakura scolded him with a glance, "Shameless."
Shishou grinned, pulling Pakura down and starting to negotiate terms with her.
After agreeing to a series of unfair conditions, including wearing those embarrassing clothes at night as compensation, Pakura finally got Shishou out of bed.
After disguising themselves, they headed to the Chunin Exams venue.
There were ten participants in the finals.
The first match was between Tenten and Hinata.
The rest of the matches were as follows: Neji vs. Ringo Ameyuri, Gaara vs. Rock Lee, Shino vs. Shikamaru, and Shishou vs. Haku.
Tenten and Shikamaru had defeated Shino's two civilian teammates in the preliminaries and advanced.
As for Choji, he was lucky enough to have a bye in both the preliminaries and the finals draw.
Due to this peculiar situation, Choji chose to forfeit, leading to the final matchups.
After buying a bunch of breakfast items, Shishou and Pakura stood outside the arena, waiting for it to open.
While they ate breakfast and flirted, the doors to the arena finally opened.
Once the crowd had mostly entered, Shishou and Pakura went in and found their seats.
Meanwhile, Shishou's clone stood in the arena with the other contestants.
"Here, Shishou."
Pakura, sitting beside Shishou, handed him a skewer of dango from the breakfast bag.
Shishou took a bite, then fed the last piece to Pakura. He began observing his surroundings.
A few rows behind them, Ino nudged Sakura, pointing at Shishou.
"Hey, Sakura, he has the same name as Shishou."
Sakura looked surprised. "Really?"
Ino nodded. "I heard his girlfriend call him while feeding him."
"Maybe it's just a similar-sounding name?" Sakura suggested uncertainly.
"Maybe... but they do seem very close," Ino noted, admiring the happy look on Pakura's face.
Even Ino could feel the deep affection in Pakura's eyes when she looked at her partner.
"Yeah," Sakura agreed, turning her attention back to the arena.
Before long, a group of guards escorted the Fire Country's daimyo and a host of officials and nobles to their seats.
Among the crowd, Shishou spotted Tsunade, who looked particularly displeased.
As the future Fifth Hokage and the granddaughter of the First Hokage, Tsunade's status was second only to the daimyo and his wife, so she sat next to the daimyo's wife.
On Tsunade's shoulder was a small Katsuyu, ready to transmit Hinata's match to the Fire Source Castle for Mikoto, Kushina, and Hinata's mother, Hyuga Rimei, to watch.
Following this, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the Fourth Kazekage entered and took their seats.
With the Hokage and Kazekage present, the matches were about to begin.
Having learned from the preliminary rounds at the central tower, Konoha assigned two proctors for the finals: Genma Shiranui and Raido Namiashi.
Genma, chewing on a senbon, addressed the contestants.
"The rules for this match are similar to the preliminaries. Show your best. Even if you lose, you can still be promoted if your performance is recognized."
"Now, Tenten and Hinata, stay here. The rest of you, head to the waiting area."
Following Genma's instructions, only Tenten and Hinata remained in the arena.
"Hinata, don't hold back. Shishou is watching, and I won't hold back either," Tenten said, carrying a large scroll.
Due to Shishou and her teammate Neji, Tenten had a good relationship with Hinata.
Tenten knew Hinata was kind-hearted and might hesitate to go all out, so she wanted to make it clear.
"I understand," Hinata replied seriously.
Determined to show Shishou her progress, Hinata was ready to give it her all.
"Go, Hinata!"
From the stands, Hanabi cheered.
"Go, Tenten!"
On the other side, Might Guy and Lee also shouted encouragement.
This year, all of Might Guy's students had made it to the finals, making him very proud.
Genma glanced at Tenten and Hinata before raising his right hand. "The first match of the Chunin Exams finals: Tenten vs. Hinata, begin!"
"Byakugan, activate!"
As soon as Genma finished speaking, Hinata activated her Byakugan and charged at Tenten.
Knowing how the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist worked, Tenten quickly jumped back to keep her distance.
Seeing this, Hinata stepped forward with one foot, drawing her right hand back to her waist.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
Recognizing the move, Tenten jumped to the side.
As Tenten left her spot, an invisible force struck where she had been, narrowly missing her.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm..."
Seeing Hinata use the technique, Hiashi, watching beside Hanabi, was slightly surprised.
Hanabi glanced at her father, saying nothing.
Hyuga Rinmei had instructed Hinata and Hanabi not to reveal anything about her to others.
In the arena, Tenten rolled on the ground, quickly forming hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
With a puff of smoke, four Tenten clones appeared, each catching a pair of scrolls tossed by the original. They surrounded Hinata.
"Hinata, be careful."
"Bring it on, Tenten."
Hinata donned a pair of thin, cut-resistant gloves given to her by Shishou, assuming a fighting stance.
Tenten and her clones leaped into the air simultaneously.
"Ninja Art: Rising Twin Dragons!"
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POWER STONE!!!!
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This fanfiction is complete on my P@treon. If you want to read it, you can find it at p@treon.com/Betek.
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