The 3rd Jounin Exam

by Acorn 11

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura are competing in the Jounin Exams. They have passed the first two, and have now reached the final stage, the 3rd Jounin Exam. 12 ninjas are competing. Which of them will succeed?

The 3rd Jounin Exam

By Acorn_11

Note: *Sasuke Uchiha came back to Konoha in this story

*Gito is a made-up character in this story

Chapter 1: Meeting the contestants

Team 7 walks into the stadium, nervousness showing on their faces. It was after all, the 3rd Jounin Exam. There were twelve contestants in this exam. Very similar to the 3rd Chuunin Exam, the rules were simple. The 12 contestants had to compete in a tournament. There were 4 rounds. Round 1 had six matches, Round 2 had three and Round 3&4 had one match each. Unlike the Chuunin Exam, the winner of the tournament was guaranteed to become Jounin. Even if you lost a match, it didn't mean that you wouldn't become a Jounin. To become a Jounin, you should have good leadership qualities. The Hokage and the Kazekage would have to decide who would become Jounins. It is a possibility that no one would become a Jounin. Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura look at the huge crowd which was waiting in anticipation for the matches to start. Kakashi tells them, "Do your best. I want you to become Jounins." And then he walks up to the stands. The nervous trio goes up to the waiting room and they meet their competitors. 10 people, including Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto from Konohagakure, the leaf village were competing, while the other 2 were from Sunagakure, the sand village. Outside, they hear the proctor saying, "Welcome to Round 1 of the 3rd Jounin Exam!" Hinata, Lee, Tenten, Neji, Kiba, Shikamaru and Shino from Konoha and Temari from Suna greet them while Gito, from Suna just stares them down. Sasuke feels awkward and uncomfortable under Gito's gaze as if Gito wanted to rip every part of him. They sit on the armchairs available and wait. This time, no one knew who they would be matched up against. After a few minutes – it seemed like hours to everyone, the proctor calls the competitors for the first match. It's Naruto and Gito. Sakura whispers good luck to Naruto while the others nod in encouragement. They go out. Naruto's whole body shakes. He knows Gito is strong. Very strong. Outside, the competitors listen to the proctor, Genma introducing the fighters. And then they hear Genma saying, "Let the first match begin!"

Chapter 2: Naruto vs. Gito!

"Let the first match begin! Uzumaki Naruto versus Gito!" Loud cheers erupt from the crowd. Naruto shakes from fright as he stares into the eyes of the person who gives him the creeps. The first match had begun. Gito stands there, hands in his pocket, staring at Naruto just like he does at everyone. Naruto runs over his techniques in his mind. He specialized in 3 techniques. The Shadow Replication, the Rasengan and the Summoning Technique. He remembers training hard to learn the Rasengan and remembers trying to summon frogs but only being able to summon tadpoles. Naruto reminds himself that he could die in this. He does the first thing that comes into his mind. "Mass Shadow Replication Technique!" 999 clones suddenly appear by his side. The crowd gasps in shock at the clones Naruto was able to create. Now Gito won't be able to tell which one is the real me. And I won't really be short on Chakra because I can always harness the Chakra of the Nine-tailed Fox, thinks Naruto. Gito just looks at Naruto, a bored expression on his face. Angry, Naruto orders his clones to charge at Gito. Gito just stands there. Why is he just standing there? Naruto thinks. Why isn't he attacking me? The clones attack all at once, throwing their kunai, at him. The kunai touch Gito and then Gito disappears, leaving sand where he was standing. Naruto gasps in shock. Sand replication! Naruto thought. When did he do that? And then Naruto senses something behind him and punches. Another Gito disappears and sand falls to the ground where he was. It was just another sand replication.

Chapter 3: Gito's special technique!

Meanwhile, the others back in the waiting room puzzle over the things that were happening. Sasuke thinks, that guy is fast. Summoning so many sand clones! He glances quickly at Temari and sees she is smiling as if she knew how Gito did it. Back at the stadium, Naruto thinks, I need to find where he is hiding. Suddenly, Gito's sand clones surround him and hisclones. He shouts, "Charge!" Naruto's shadow clones defeat most of the sand clones. And then, the rest of the sand clones disappear and the real Gito steps forward. Naruto makes his clones disappear and steps forwards towards Gito. "You are fast," Naruto says to Gito. And then Gito says, "Now I will show you my true strength. A technique you cannot escape. You will die Uzumaki Naruto! You will die! Hahahahahahaha!" Angrier than ever, Naruto says, "Bring it on!" Gito steps back and shouts, "Sand Release: Sand Burn Technique!" And then Naruto sees clouds rolling in from the sky. The clouds were right above him and something starts falling. It's sand! Naruto thinks. Wherever the sand touched him, he felt as if he was getting burnt. Naruto tries to get away and finds that he cannot move. His arms and legs are covered in sand and they wouldn't budge. Naruto was trapped!

Chapter 4: Naruto's technique – Rasengan!

The more Naruto tries to escape, the tighter the sand gets. Now he could feel the pain. The sand stings him everywhere and he starts to see burns appear. I have to get away! Naruto thinks. And then, he gets a brainwave. I don't need to perform seals for this technique. I just need to get out my Chakra! Naruto thinks. "Rasengan!" he shouts and a blue ball of Chakra appears in his hand. He quickly cuts away at the sand and charges at Gito who is shocked, with the Rasengan, still burning away at his hands. Gito dodges with ease and performs the Sand Release: Sand Burn technique again. But this time, Naruto knew what he was doing. He runs away just in time from under the new set of clouds that was rolling in. Naruto runs at Gito with the Rasengan and this time, he hits Gito on the right arm. Gito screams in agony and falls to the ground in pain. And then Gito disappears and all there was left of him was sand. Another Sand Replication! Naruto thinks in anger. Naruto sees something coming at him from far. He realizes that it was Gito! But it was too late. Gito stabs him in the stomach with his kunai and Naruto falls to the ground, letting the darkness surrounding him. Naruto faints. Blood starts to come out of his wounds in great amounts. The kunai was so deep inside that you could barely see it. "Winner, Gito!" announces Genma. The crowd claps politely but the feudal lords from Suna cheer for him loudly. Medical ninjas appear and take away Naruto's unconscious body. Inside in the waiting room, everyone becomes worried about Naruto but they are still nervous about who would be competing in the next match.

Chapter 5: Byakugan vs. Taijutsu!

Everyone hears the proctor announcing the competitors for the next match. "Hyuuga Hinata versus Rock Lee!" Lee gets up from his armchair confidently and nods to Hinata who has fear in her eyes. "Good luck, Lee. Do your best, Hinata," says Neji. Hinata smiles slightly and goes out. Outside, Genma says to the crowd, "Let the second match begin!" Loud cheers erupt from the crowd. In the stands, people whisper, "There's no way Taijutsu can win against Byakugan!" Hinata's knees knock together. She activates her Byakugan. Veins start to protrude near her eyes and lines appear on her eyeballs. "I'm ready," she says and charges at Lee with full force. Somewhere above, Lee hears Gai shouting, "Go for it Lee!" Lee grins and stands there, waiting for Hinata's attack. Just as Hinata starts to punch, Lee jumps out the way and does somersaults in the air and lands on the ground behind Hinata gracefully. Hinata, with her Byakugan sees what Lee was doing, turns around and kicks with all her might. Lee goes flying and lands with a loud thump against the wall. Above her, the Hyuuga clan cheers for her. Lee thinks that she's improved. I have to be careful, he thinks. From the waiting room, Naruto shouts encouraging words to Lee and Hinata. Neji smiles and remembers training his cousin, Hinata, showing her how to use the Byakugan properly. He feels proud. Meanwhile, Hinata feels more confident.

Chapter 6: Inner Chakra Gates

Hinata starts to do the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms Technique and then remembers with a jolt that Lee can only do Taijutsu which doesn't require Chakra. She stops her attack. Lee runs at her with full speed. Hinata dodges easily. Lee fears that Hinata will damage his internal organs. Hinata starts punching and kicking fiercely and Lee is being able to deflect it but with great difficulty. But alas, his fears come true. Hinata hits one of his organs. He spits blood out from his bleeding mouth. He feels excruciating pain and does the first thing that comes to his mind. He starts to open the Inner Gates of Chakra. He is able to only open 5 of the 8 gates. His speed increases enormously and his skin colour turns red. Hinata fears that her Byakugan won't be of any use now. He performs Taijutsu techniques so fast that Hinata can barely make out anything, even with her Byakugan. Hinata gets caught in one of Lee's attack and goes flying. She lands against the wall with a loud thump just like Lee did. Hinata is not able to take the shock so she faints. Medical ninjas arrive and say that she would be alright. Genma announces, "Winner, Rock Lee!" Everyone congratulates Lee as he enters the waiting room. Outside, everyone says the same thing in shock, "I can't believe that the Byakugan lost!"

Chapter 7: The Scroll Mistress

Genma announces the competitors for the third match. "It's Tenten versus Hyuuga Neji!" The loud crowd cheers, thinking that another Hyuuga was in the exam. Tenten feels sad, thinking that she had to fight her team-mate. Neji shakes remembering something his father had once said, "Son, all the doujutsu has a weakness. The weakness is scrolls. The Byakugan cannot see scroll attacks." And now, Neji was facing the Scroll Mistress. "Neji," says Tenten. "I won't kill you." Genma shouts to the crowd, "Let the third match begin!" Neji didn't know what to do. He activates his Byakugan. Above, in the crowd, Neji's uncle, Hiashi thinks, Neji will surely lose. He is facing an opponent whose strength is scrolls. Tenten thinks, Neji's weakness is scrolls. I'll try to finish this off as soon as I can. Tenten places her two small scrolls on the ground and starts preparing for her attack, The Twin Rising Dragons Control Technique. Neji tries to see what she is doing but with no success. Tenten activates the scrolls and it releases heavy white smoke. In the attack, the person will rise in the smoke and will throw all types of weapons at his/hers opponent. But this time, Tenten didn't want to hurt Neji, so she just rose up in the smoke and with a wave of her hand, threw needles at Neji as to make it less painful. The needles hit Neji in full force, making him drop to the ground. Neji doesn't faint but isn't able to get up. Genma announces, "Winner, Tenten!" Everyone thinks the same thing, both the Hyuuga's lost. That is really surprising! The medical-ninjas arrive and take Neji away. Meanwhile, inside in the waiting room, Hinata worries about her cousin Neji, wondering if he would be alright.

Chapter 8: Kiba vs. Sakura!

Genma shouts, "The fourth match. It's Inuzuka Kiba versus Haruno Sakura!" Kiba and Sakura head down towards the arena. They wish each other good luck. "Let it begin!" The crowd claps politely. Above, the Hokage, Tsunade thinks, good luck Sakura. Use your strength. Kiba's dog, Akamaru turns into another Kiba and both of them get into a stance. Sakura smiles and thinks, this will be a piece of cake. Kiba says to Akamaru, "Akamaru, let's show everyone one what we can do!" And then they charge towards Sakura. Sakura molds Chakra onto her fist and punches the ground. The ground cracks open and Kiba and Akamaru fall back. Akamaru turns back into his normal form. He jumps onto Kiba's back and Kiba starts to do the Four Legs Technique. This technique gives the user the speed of a wild animal. Kiba and Akamaru charge again towards Sakura and Sakura starts to do the Chakra Scalpel Technique. This technique creates cuts within the body without actually opening a wound. Sakura tries to attack Kiba and Akamaru with it but they dodge quite easily. Sakura increases her strength with a special technique and she becomes equal with Kiba and Akamaru. Kiba tries to block her attacks, but with two hands and two feet on the ground, it's quite hard. Sakura gets in a hit and Kiba screams in agony. Akamaru whimpers but stays by his side. "Sorry Kiba," whispers Sakura. Though there is no blood visible, the cut inside Kiba's body is too much for him to take in. Kiba faints in shock, just like Hinata. "Winner, Haruno Sakura!" announces Genma. The crowd cheers wildly. Sakura goes back to the waiting room and everybody congratulates her.

Chapter 9: The most awaited match

In the next match, the competitors are Nara Shikamaru and Aburame Shino. Before the proctor announces their names, Shikamaru says to him, "Excuse me, but I don't want to compete. I simply cannot be bothered." Genma says to the crowd, "Aburame Shino wins by default because Nara Shikamaru is giving up." The crowd boos loudly and Shikamaru and Shino go back inside. Shino remembers something like this happening to him in the Chuunin Exams. Shikamaru sighs loudly, sits on one of the armchairs and goes to sleep. "And now for the final match of Round 1, it's Uchiha Sasuke versus Temari!" says Genma to the loud, cheering crowd. This will be interesting, thinks Genma. This was of course the most awaited match. Everyone says good luck to both of them and they enter the arena. "Let the match begin!" Sasuke nods to Temari and Temari nods back. "I'll have to get serious. He's one of the strongest ninja." Temari gets out her humongous fan and does the Dust Wind Technique with it. Howling winds pierce Sasuke. As fire defeats wind, Sasuke does the technique which his father once taught him.

Chapter 10: A series of amazing techniques

The technique was, Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique. A huge ball of fire escape Sasuke's mouth and rolls towards Temari. Temari gets frightened and is only able to dodge. But Sasuke had attached Chakra to it so it follows Temari everywhere. Above, Kakashi and Tsunade think the same thing, you can win Sasuke! But sometimes, even the strongest winds can defeat fire. Temari does the Wind Release: Great Task of the Dragon Technique. A typhoon surrounds the fireball and extinguishes it. Sasuke just remains calm. Then the typhoon surrounds Sasuke and he becomes enveloped in it. Everyone watches in great suspense, wondering what Sasuke would do next. Suddenly, Sasuke rises from the air, using wind to carry him. The crowd cheers loudly. Temari notices that there wasn't any sign of graze of cut on him. Sasuke starts to do, Water Release: Water Drowning Technique. Temari tries to run away but the water is too fast for her. It covers her completely. There is no sign of Temari under the water.

Chapter 11: Who will win?

Sasuke didn't want to kill any of his opponents so he takes away the water and sees Temari sitting there, gasping for breath. She stands up and everyone becomes amazed that she is still able to fight. Sasuke uses wind to rise up in the air and throws all types of weapons at Temari. Temari, with her fan, does the Sickle Weasel Technique. The huge gale stops the weapons from hurting her. Sasuke forms a staff with a chunk of rock. This technique is Earth Release: Rock Staff. It can pierce through the fiercest winds, but is as light as a feather. He throws the staff at Temari with great accuracy and Temari, with her colossal fan tries to block it. It flies through the wind with great eases, pierces through Temari's fan and lands itself in her stomach. Her eyes widen in pain and agony and she falls to the ground. Temari takes out the staff with great difficulty and throws it on to the ground. Sasuke uses the opportunity to do the Shadow Imitation Technique on her. The shadows circle her feet and Temari is unable to move. She remembers this happening to her in the Chuunin Exams. Sasuke gathers lightning in his right hand, otherwise known as the Chidori. He charges at Temari with great speed and thrusts the Chidori into her stomach. "I'm sorry Temari. This won't kill you but will only make you unconscious." The lightning dies out and Temari faints. Medical ninjas arrive and take Temari away for healing. "Winner, Uchiha Sasuke!" shouts Genma to the wild crowd. I knew Sasuke would win, Genma thinks. When Sasuke's inside, everyone congratulates him except for the cold and unforgiving, Gito.

Chapter 12: Round 2 starts!

Genma proclaims, "Round 2 will now begin! First match, Rock Lee versus Gito!" The crowd applauds. Gito goes down to the arena but Lee stays back. "I'm going to give up, guys. I am scared of sand due to the incident that happened in the Chuunin Exams. I fear that it will happen to me again." Everyone gets up and pats him. Rock Lee goes down and tells Genma that he is giving up. The crowd protests loudly but nothing more is said. "Gito wins this match!" says Genma. With a sneer on his face, Gito goes back up to the waiting room. Lee sits back down, nearly close to tears. "Alright, for the next match now. Tenten versus Haruno Sakura." Sakura and Tenten wish each other good luck and go down, to start their match. "Let it begin!" Sakura does the Chakra Scalpel Technique and runs towards Tenten. Tenten, with the help of her scrolls, rises up in the air and starts to throw all kinds of weapons at Sakura. Good at agility, Sakura dodges them. Tenten lands and before she can do anything, Sakura with her Chakra Enhanced Strength punches the ground and Tenten falls into the crack that appears. She gets up and staggers a little but she is alright otherwise. Tenten attaches a translucent string to a Fuuma Shuriken and throws it at Sakura at amazing speed. It hits her in the chest but she does the Replacement Technique and a log appears in her place. Tenten gasps. Sakura silently materializes behind Tenten and drives a kunai into her back. Tenten shrieks and falls to the crowd and blacks out. Genma declares, "Winner, Haruno Sakura!" Sakura silently goes back up to the waiting room. Everyone smiles at her politely and she sits back down, feeling a little guilty. Everyone looks at the two contestants left, knowing that they would be fighting each other.

Chapter 13: I quit!

"The competitors for the last match of Round 2 are Aburame Shino and Uchiha Sasuke!" declares Genma. The crowd gets ready to see the Uchiha kid fight again. Shino clears his throat and says to the crowd, "I will give up." The crowd groans loudly. "Not because I'm scared. My reason for giving up is that I do not wish to fight my friend and I do not wish to hurt him. Thank you." "Uchiha Sasuke wins by default," proclaims Genma. Sasuke silently admires Shino and shakes his hand. While they walk back to the waiting room, Sasuke thanks him. "That is the end of Round 2. Round 3 will now begin. This is a different sort of match. 3 people will fight together. Whichever 2 people left standing at the end, will be the winners of that match. The competitors for this 3-man match are, Gito, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke!" The crowd shouts and screams, their blood boiling for action for this match. Sasuke and Sakura look at each other but say nothing. They both think that they would give up, not wanting to fight each other. Genma says to them, "Only one person can give up, if any of you want to." Sasuke raises his hand and starts to say, 'I give up', but before he can do so, Sakura says it. Sasuke says, "Friends are the only family that I have left and I wish for their happiness. Therefore, I would like to give up." "Sasuke, you're the only one who can defeat Gito and I want to see him get beaten. Please." "Sakura," he whispers. "Are you sure?" "I am sure! I give up." "Thank you." Sakura goes back to the waiting room. "Uchiha Sasuke and Gito win this match. We will now proceed to Round 4. This is between the two contenders left. Good luck, guys." The crowd roars and the last match of the 3rd Jounin Exam starts.

Chapter 14: The Victor

Get ready Gito, Sasuke thinks, because I'm going to win this, no matter what. You have hurt my friends and now you must pay! Get ready. Sasuke observes Gito and thinks, by the looks of things; your Chakra Nature must be Earth and Wind because to create sand, you have to mix Earth and Wind. "Get ready for my first attack. Here it goes!" says Sasuke to Gito. "Chidori!" His hand covered in lightning, Sasuke dashes towards Gito and gets ready to strike. Before he can hurt Gito, a ball of sand encloses his fist and prepares to crush it. Sasuke feels the pressure building. To prevent his fist from being crushed, Sasuke gathers huge amounts of Chakra inside it and the sand explodes, leaving his hand, uninjured. Gito looks shocked and thinks, this guy is strong! Gito waves his hand at Sasuke and, gusts of sand blows towards him and he tries to dodge it. "Hahahahahaha! You've fallen into my trap," sneers Gito. Sasuke looks above him and just sees the sand clouds rolling in. Instead of being shocked, he just smiles. The clouds trap him, and sand covers him arms and legs. Before it can sting him, Sasuke does the Replacement Technique and all there is left is a tree log. Shocked again, Gito looks around him, not being able to see Sasuke. Suddenly, he sees a shadow looming over him and looks up just in time to see Sasuke, with a Wind Release: Rasengan, jumping on him. Gito jumps out of the Rasengan's way but is hurt by Sasuke's kicks. He falls to the ground but gets up quickly. Gito, still having not recovered from Sasuke's attacks, jumps out of his way. Sasuke activates his Sharingan thinking that he would have to be serious now. With his improved vision, he is now able to see Gito's every move. Sasuke starts to perform a technique, Wind Release: Twin Rasengan. A Rasengan appears in each of his palms and he runs towards Gito with it. Gito, a descendant from the Great Sand Family, has a sand devil inside him that will come to his aid, only when he is in great need. Gito gets up, and horns start to appear on his head. That was the first sign of the devil appearing. By just a flick of his hand, sand covers Sasuke's feet. Sasuke realizes that the sand was draining his Chakra. Most of his Chakra now gone, Sasuke, with his Sharingan, casts an illusion over Gito. In the illusion, Gito sees that the sand that was covering Sasuke was now covering him. Not wanting to drain his own Chakra, Gito removes the sand from his feet, therefore removing the sand from Sasuke's feet. Sasuke dispels the illusion and Gito realizes what he had done. He screams in frustration. "And now for my final technique. With this technique, I will finish you off!" says Sasuke. Before Sasuke does his special technique, he does the Shadow Bind Technique and holds Gito still. Gito realizes that he is not able to move. Sasuke raises his hands and makes his palms face Gito. Knowing that this would use up the last of his Chakra, he decided that it would be worth it. "Great Ball of Elements!" he says. Kakashi, who is sitting above thinks, this technique will surely finish that sand boy off. Two thin, golden strands erupt from Sasuke's hands and join to form a big, golden ball. This had all the elements combined in it and it was the most powerful technique that only Sasuke could use. He pushes his palms and the ball hurtles towards the frozen Gito. It hits him and he rises up from the ground and starts to spiral in the air. Golden strands envelope him like spider webs and when Gito falls back, his face is splattered with blood and it also leaks from a wound in his chest. Genma comes over and inspects Gito and declares, "The winner of this tournament is Uchiha Sasuke!" The crowd goes wild, including all the teachers and even the Hokage. They all knew Sasuke would win.

Chapter 15: The New Jounins

Genma had said to come back after a week so that the Hokage and Kazekage could announce who would be a Jounin. A week later, all the competitors stood in the stadium. The Hokage stood with the Kazekage on a golden pedestal with all the teachers surrounding them. The crowd was there again. "I will know announce the names of the new Jounins," says the Hokage. "Number 1 is Uzumaki Naruto, for his amazing persistence!" Gladness crosses Naruto's face. "Number 2, Aburame Shino, who was willing to sacrifice his chances of becoming Jounin so that he wouldn't have to fight his friend. Number 3, Haruno Sakura, who had also sacrificed her chances so that her friend could win. Number 4, Gito, for his display of sheer determination. And Number 5, Uchiha Sasuke, for his amazing techniques, his caring for his team mates and for winning the tournament, which itself is a hard feat to complete. These are the qualities we look for in Jounins. You people who haven't become Jounins, that was a great try and I'm sure you'll pass next time. Thank you." There's loud applause coming from the crowd. Team 7 is very happy because they had become Jounins. Kakashi comes towards them and says, "Congratulations, guys! You have now become my equal. Let's go and get started on some high level missions!" Team 7, grinning with joy, follows Kakashi out of the stadium.

The End