37 Finals

And just like that, the Preliminaries were over. The next three days were given as preparation time for the finals but the brackets were already decided. Naruto vs Hinata, Shiki vs Temari, Shino vs Kankuro and Sasuke vs Gaara.

Sasuke was kidnapped by Kakashi for extra training while Naruto received some from Jiraiya, honestly, Shiki thought Naruto and Jiraiya wouldn't interact much for now since the blond had no reason to pester him but, as it turned out, the toad sage himself approached him and when he asked Shiki for advice on what he should do he said to go ahead and receive some training.

He on the other hand, started preparing Hinata for her match against Naruto. He advised her to go seriously from the get go since the jinchuriki could take pretty much anything she could dish out and taught her how to incorporate the change in chakra nature he had been teaching her along with Kurenai into her Chakra Burst for good measure.

Other than that though, Shiki had his own problems. The issue of his soul continued to plague him and he was unable to make any significant process which made his future look rather bleak. In the end, after the exams were over, he decided to go for the nuclear option, the Reaper Possession Seal, a rather dangerous thing to do.

Initially while he was pretty sure his understanding of soul's nature and mysteries would improved after performing this seal, since it had requirements on the user's soul, Shiki didn't want to do it before resolving the issue with his own.

However, since he was already pretty desperate, he ultimately decided to risk it and hope that the seal gave him much needed insight without actually killing him. Still, the entire matter made him quite nervous and he decided to leave it for when he wasn't pressed for time like now, during the chunin exams.

The three day preparation period passed quickly. This time, Sasuke who already had experience in change in chakra nature as well as the necessary physical ability, managed to learn the Chidori far more easily than his canon counterpart and thus arrived at the arena before the matches started. Naruto also didn't face any issues of lateness which actually surprised Shiki making him think.

'Wow! My influence on this idiot is greater than I imagined.'

The order of the matches was slightly different than in the original series. Sasuke's match was supposed to be first but got delayed in canon however, it was actually set for last this time around. Shino vs Kankuro was actually the first, followed by Shiki vs Temari and Hinata vs Naruto.

After the proper ceremonies, under the watch of several villagers, shinobi and VIPs, the matches finally started.

Since it was a different situation from canon, Kankuro didn't forfeit the match instantly and it actually turned into a fierce battle but Kankuro was at a disadvantage. He had no place to hide from Shino and since he only had one puppet, it was easier for his opponent to pay attention to all the hidden weapons and mechanisms.

Surprisingly, the match ended in a draw with Kankuro being caught by Shino's insects and being drained of chakra until he was knocked out and Shino being paralyzed by the poison coating all of the puppet Karasu's hidden weapons.

It was Shiki's turn next and he immediately called out ot Temari.

"Hey desert fairy! Sure you want to go through with this?"

Temari blushed at the appellation but responded with great fighting spirit.

"I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I just gave up! Besides, I-I want to prove to you I'm more than j-just my looks!" She said blushing and stuttering at the last part, surprising Shiki.

'My flirting sure did a number on you my dear . . .' He thought before answering.

"Then I'll look forward to it!" Shiki responded honestly, pleasing Temari due to how he didn't look down on her despite being so powerful.

The match started and not wasting any time Temari fully opened her giant fan and used her full powered Cyclone Scythe Jutsu on Shiki. Alas, simply by activating his Wind Style: Whirlwind Cloak, he was protected against most wind jutsu so long as they're so of a similar rank to something like the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken.

Shiki merely maintained jis confident smile as Temari's jutsu did nothing but since he knew the girl would not give up due to her personality, using a body flicker so fast that even most jonin couldn't track, he instantly appeared on her back and held a kunai to her throat while whispering in her ear.

"Playtime is over m beautiful desert fairy~ Say the magic words~" He said teasingly while blowing softly in her ear for her great embarrassment until she squealed out.

"I-I g-give up."

The referee then announced Shiki as the winner who said.

"Nice moves but the opponent was too bad for you! See you around~" He commented as he winked at her and blew her a kiss further embarrassing her to the point she was completely red.

'Haaa . . . Teasing beauties never gets old!' He though as he moved to the stands to watch the next match with his friends.

Once Temari returned to her teammates, Kankuro immediately commented on her interactions with Shiki.

"You're getting a bit too close with that Shiki guy don't you think?" He asked her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" She vehemently denied despite a blush creeping back onto her cheeks.

"You haven't forgotten what we came here to, do have you?" Kankuro reminded her.

This immediately made Temari look down and bite her lip, her growing crush on Shiki making her feel guilty about her village and her actions so she chose to remain quite while Kankuro wisely didn't press her further.

Hinata vs Naruto was next and Shiki was a bit excited to see two shinobi who learned from him clash on such a big stage, the match was all but boring for the audience.

Naruto used his Nine Tails chakra from the get go. While he had never trained with Hinata, he knew she frequently trained with Shiki so she definitely wasn't someone to underestimate. Her fight with Neji also left an impression on the jinchuriki's mind, specially her last move which he recognised as Shiki's own Chakra Burst.

To match Naruto, Hinata made masterful use of Chakra Burst, picking only the right spots to use it through her superior field of vision and dynamic vision. At first they were only sounding eachother out with Naruto's coat of red chakra protecting him from the couple of times Hinata's Burst grazed him despite her not touching him.

During the battle, he got more used to her movements and started consistently avoiding her attacks and preparing to start his own counterattack. But, just as he covered his body in a weak version of Wind Style: Whirlwind Cloak, he saw a light smile in Hinata's face he didn't like. It was eerily similar to Shiki's smile when he successfully baited someone into doing what he wanted.

The intense exchange of high level taijutsu assisted by powerful techniques and body flicker left the audience amazed since it was far different then what they had seen from other genin before but, despite this, the battle continued to further amaze them with its end.

Despite knowing the effects of the Whirlwind Cloak, instead of backing up and using ranged attacks like the Eight Trigrams: Air Palm, she charged in anyways. And use the technique Shiki had taught her during the last three days, The Elemental Chakra Burst.

Just as Hinata was about to clash with Naruto, the chakra around her arms burst into flame. It was at this moment Naruto knew . . .

'I fucked up tebayo!'

The moment the Hyuga's Fire Chakra Burst collided with the blonde's Whirlwind Cloak, it suddenly increased in power, blasting Naruto away with great force against the wall. Naruto could still go on and try to avoid melee and use some of his ranged wind jutsu but after a couple of unsuccessful attempt and nearly being hit full on by a Fire Chakra Burst enhanced Air Palm, he made the call.

'Like Shiki said . . . "If you know you can't win, Run."' Naruto remembered Shiki's advice.

"I forfeit the match!" The blonde said with his hand raised in the air and thanked Hinata for the Match which she thanked back.

Shiki transmitted to their minds he was very happy as to how the match went and the accurate judgements made by both parties, making them both proud and happy although Naruto was still a bit peeved about having lost his first match in the finals.

Now, it was time for the last bout, Sasuke vs Gaara. And as the match started, Shiki could see with his White Eye of the Kagura, various Suna and Oto shinobi making preparations to attack. The Reaper had also gotten into position and his soul clones were ready to hit all of Orochimaru's facilities the moment the attack on Konoha started.