Chapter 3: Prelims
-Forest of Death's Tower-
The next few days saw the Otogakure Team, Team Asuma, Team Gai, a Kumogakure Team and the team that had a certain silver haired traitor on it arrive at the tower. Team Kurenai and the Sunagakure Team having already arrived.
There were no other interactions between Naruto and his emo, egotistical teammate, but everyone who had been in the clearing and Rin could feel the growing tension between the two genin.
The end of the five day limit for the exam came quickly and the remaining teams were lined up in front of their Jounin Senseis, the Sandaime Hokage, and various other exam proctors.
Naruto was annoyed that he had to stay with his own team, though he was glad that Kakashi actually come to get his and Team's Nine and Ten's side of what happened in the clearing in the forest after hearing about it, instead of just taking the word of the Uchiha as the truth. The man was earning his respect quickly, especially seeing as Naruto, and the two teams had more witnesses. 'Maybe I should ask him to join my army.' The redhead thought.
The Hokage, and then a sickly man named Gekko Hayate, the Third Exam proctor, were both explaining the purpose of the Chuunin Selection Exams as Naruto looked around the room to see who all had survived the second exam. Rin was standing next to the Hokage as he explained everything, though her eyes were scanning the crowd this time instead of just Naruto, though her eyes did linger on the red haired boy every once in a while, they would narrow considerably when they saw the Uchiha.
"Is there anyone who would like to leave due to injuries at this time?" asked Hayate as he went into a slight coughing fit.
"I would procter-san," said Kabuto as he raised his hand. Seeing everyone turn to stare at him, the silver haired boy explained. "While I was able to make it here, I'm afraid I can't carry on at this point. My body has taken too much abuse from the attack in the First exam and later on in the forest."
As he left, Naruto curiously watched the brief argument between Kabuto and his teammates. They obviously weren't very happy with his choice to drop out of the running. However, Kabuto then did something unexpected. As he turned to leave he met Naruto's gaze and smirked. Naruto's eyes narrowed in suspicion; however, before he could think more on it, the first match was called.
However, those that had noticed the smile, mainly Naruto, the proctors and several of the Jounin, they all had the same thought going through their heads. 'They are traitors...'
"Alright, now if you'd all look up *cough* on the wall over there you will see a large screen," stated Hayate as he hacked a bit from his sickness. "It will cycle through two names *cough cough* at a random interval and the names of the chosen two will have to fight for their right to advance to the *cough* Third and Final Round of the *cough* Chuunin Exams."
They all watched in anticipation as the electronic board showed two names.
Sakura Haruno
Vs.
Samui of Kumo
"Yes!" Sakura cheered excitedly, pumping her fist as she sneered at her opponent, "At last, Sasuke-kun will see my love for him!"
"This is so not cool," said a busty blonde from the Kumogakure team, "Why do I have to fight a fangirl?" Her two teammates, a short white haired boy with dark skin and a red haired girl with similar dark skin both patted her on the back. "It's ok Samui-chan, I'm sure Yugito and I can make you feel better with some Dango after this." the girl said in reassurance.
"I need all, but the named competitors *cough* to move themselves to the observation deck so we can begin the preliminary matches for the Third Exam of the Chuunin Selection Exams," Hayate said motioning towards the balcony. Immediately, all but the pinkette and Samui had moved to the upper level to observe the fight that was about to begin.
Hayate looked to both Sakura and Samui and got nods from each that they were ready.
"Sakura Haruno vs. Samui of Kumo… FIGHT!" shouted Hayate jumping away from the fray.
Suddenly Sakura pulled out a kunai and summoned some bushins as she charged the Kumo kunoichi. She threw a punch at the girl who ducked under the blow, grabbed the pinkette's wrist, pulling down on it as Samui then drove her knee into the Haruno's stomach, causing the girl to lose what little sustenance she had in her stomach. Samui then spun around and drove the heel of her right foot into the hunched girl's stomach, sending her crashing into the large stone hands.
Sakura's back arched with the impact on the stone, blood flew from her mouth and she fell back to the ground unconscious, her team and everyone on the balcony wondering how she got this far.
"Proctor-san… I believe that she is unable to continue," Samui said catching the sickly man's attention as he came over to check on the downed girl. Hayate placed his fingers on Sakura's jugular vein feeling for a pulse. He then stood up, motioning for the medics to come in.
"Winner… Samui of Kumo!" Hayate shouted.
"I'd say that was incredible," Kiba said as he checked out Samui's large breasts as she climbed the stairs. "But I kind of expected Sakura to be pathetic against someone who actually trains."
"True," Ino replied as she shook her head. Everyone had seen Kakashi cover his face in embarrassment when she taunted the enemy, even more when the pinkette was launched into the statue. "It was a really bad match up. If Sakura hadn't been so stupid or if she actually decided to train, that Samui girl might have actually have had to break a sweat."
Sakura, when she came to on the balcony, left in an angry huff, glaring at her opponent in hatred as Samui joined her team on the observation deck with a level of bored excitement. As she did so the board pulled up two more names.
Sasuke Uchiha
Vs.
Kiba Inuzuka
Of course once the names had been announced, Kiba smirked thinking that he already had this as a win. The Inuzuka smirked at the Uchiha, he was going to pay that duckass boy back for embarrassing him all the time in the Academy.
"This will be an interesting fight..." Naruto said grinning. Shikamaru nodded in agreement as he stared down intently at the fight, seeing if the Uchiha would act impulsively again. Sasuke jumped over the railing with his usual arrogant smirk covering his face, Rin and Naruto both felt disgusted just from seeing it, the blonde moving over to the redhead to talk about the fights.
'As expected from the Uchiha...' Dosu observed, he looked over at the redhead that had decimated them. 'Though I am more interested in seeing what that one has up his sleeve besides that sword and chariot.'
Kiba and Akamaru jumped from the side balcony and landed next to the sickly proctor. "Can he use the dog in the fight?" Rin asked while looking down at the arena from the Side balcony.
"Yep, Akamaru is a ninja tool, something to use in a fight like a kunai or shuriken." Asuma said from next to the two while watching the two genin.
"I'm going to enjoy watching this," said Naruto grinning, eager to see if Kiba could hand Sasuke his own ass.
'Kiba... Be careful...' Kurenai pleaded mentally.
"Uchiha Sasuke Vs Kiba Inuzuka... Fight!" Hayate shouted, bringing his arm down and jumping back.
"Ready to lose Uchiha." said Kiba as he smile with confidence. "As if a mutt such as yourself can touch an Uchiha." Sasuke smirked as he activated his Sharingan, which started spinning wildly. Kiba and Akamaru jumped forward and started attacking Sasuke with all they could muster. Sasuke just dodged all of the Inuzuka's wild attacks.
"What are you doing, you damn rich brat… attack!" Kiba was getting angry that Sasuke was just dodging his blows. "Attack already you ass…" Sasuke quickly ran forward under a wide haymaker and struck Kiba in the stomach with a vicious kick that sent the Inuzuka heir flying backwards into the wall.
"I was just biding my time, waiting for you to screw up… Just like you always do mutt." Sasuke said with a smirk, getting a loud cheer from Sakura that had the others on the balcony cover their ears and glared at the girl. 'I'm thinking that the Haruno family has a Kekkei Genkai that weaponizes their lungs?' Hiruzen thought as he cleaned out his aged, ringing ears. Sasuke ran forward and punched Kiba in the stomach then slammed his knees into the dogboy's face, then he finished with a spin kick to the back at Kiba's legs.
"Ha just a stupid mutt like the rest of your clan, you're still weak… You are nowhere near the level of an Uchiha, the Elite." Sasuke jumped back and landed next to the wall as Akamaru tried to take a bite out of the raven haired boy's calf.
Akamaru quickly ran towards his injured master and jumped onto the boy's head. Kiba took out a small red pill while spitting out some blood and popped it into Akamaru's mouth, the moment the puppy swallowed the pill, his white fur turned a scarlet red and his eyes became sharper.
"So a soldier pill, that a bit desperate trying to beat me with borrowed power, don't you think Inuzuka." Sasuke said with a smirk, getting eyerolls from Shikamaru and Naruto where they stood on the balcony. Kiba became furious and took out two more soldier pills, they were a deep red and a little bigger than the first one.
"You want a piece of us, I was saving this for the finals, when I got to have a real fight, but I'll make an exception for your cocky ass, fucking Uchiha." Kiba threw the pill and Akamaru jumped from his partner's head and ate the red pill, when he touched the ground he started growing, he was beginning to look like a large wolf, his red hair darkened and his eyes slitted, then Kiba ate the remaining pill, after he swallowed the small orb his muscles became large, like he had been taking steroids, his hair became longer and wilder, his nails became longer shaped like claws, and his eyes turned bright yellow with feral slits in them.
"This is one of the Inuzuka secret Techniques, it gives us and our canine partners a large boost in our chakra reserves and physical power, it will make us dead tired later on, but now we get to kick you ass." Kiba roared in fury as he and Akamaru sprinted forward and started striking the Uchiha over and over again, then after a few minutes of punching and kicking the unresponsive, bleeding Uchiha; Kiba grabbed Sasuke by the shoulders and hurled him into the air above them with all his strength.
"Now Akamaru!" Kiba snarled ferally as he and Akamaru crouched on the ground.
"Inuzuka Technique: Fang Over Fang." Kiba and Akamaru jumped to the air and started spinning making little tornados, they jumped towards Sasuke and started hitting him.
After the attack stopped Sasuke fell to the ground motionless and bloody. Kiba and Akamaru gave smirks at their apparent victory and reverted back to their usual selves, they were both showing signs of exhaustion, but they both gave smirks at the defeat of their year's Rookie. Kiba motioned to the sickly jounin, who shook his head at the boy. "So proctor are you going to call the match or do I have to keep whipping his ass." asked the exhausted Kiba with Akamaru stretching next to him.
"Sorry mongrel, but the match isn't done until I say so." Sasuke voice said from behind the Inuzuka heir, when Kiba looked back in shock he saw Sasuke drop down from the ceiling as the 'Sasuke' on the ground went up in a poof of smoke.
"Wait what th-?" Kiba began surprised that he had been tricked, he was interrupted however as Sasuke began several hand signs for a Katon jutsu. Kiba's eyes widened and he quickly launched a few of his kunai at the Uchiha to stop his jutsu.
Sasuke smirked as he dodged the kunai from the tired Inuzuka by leaping back and he finished his hand signs, "Fire Release: Grand Fireball!" Sasuke yelled as a large ball of fire streamed from his hands and lips, burning the area in between him and his opponent. Kiba gave an animalistic scream that had everyone on the balcony concerned.
When the flames cleared, everyone was shocked to see the severely burned Inuzuka trembling on the ground holding Akamaru, who was also covered in third degree burns. So far the Uchiha's popularity with the shinobi from Konoha in the room was dropping, except for Sakura who cheered him in defeating the 'bastard mutt that thought he could take on Sasuke-kun!', Even Dosu was sickened by how the Uchiha treated his comrade. Hayate quickly ushered in the medics who loaded the boy carefully and ran out to the hospital, then the sickly proctor turned a disgusted glare towards Sasuke.
"The winner of the match is… Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke gave a smirk to the disgusted proctor and ran up the stairs. 'Let this be a warning to you Uzumaki, everything in this world belongs to the Uchiha!' Sasuke sneered in thought as he leered at Rin, making the blonde shiver and move closer to her crush.
Everyone looked up as the board showed two more names.
Akimichi Choji
vs
Tsuchi Kin
"Looks like you're up Choji," Asuma said, pulling out a pack of his favorite cigarettes as he began to wish his big boned student luck.
"I don't wanna," Choji mumbled. "What do you mean you don't wanna! We just spent the last six days going through hell to get to this point and you're just going to quit!" Ino raged.
"I don't wanna," Choji repeated stubbornly. "Damnnit, how 'bout this," Asuma sighed, already mourning the horrendous loss his bank account would take from what he was about to offer, he had so wanted to take Kurenai to that fancy sushi restaurant. "Just go out there and do your best and when this is all over I'll-" Whatever Asuma was about to say to bribe his student would have to wait as he was interrupted by Choji's impatient black haired opponent, though it wouldn't take a Nara to guess what he had planned to use to bribe the young Akimichi heir.
"You coming or what fat ass?" Kin yelled from in front of Hayate. Choji immediately froze in place, The entirety of Team Ten backed off as they felt his bloodlust. "What did she just say?"
"I said, are you going to get your fucking oversized ass down here and fight me or are you just going to sit up there and stuff your face like a fucking fat waste of space?" the young Oto kunoichi sneered. 'Damn I sound a lot like Tayuya-sempai there.'
"Shit, that girl is screwed." Asuma muttered as Choji spun on his heel and marched purposefully down the stairs, his two remaining students nodding in agreement.
"Yes, yes she is," Tenten said in agreement, having seeing an Akimichi's rage once before.
"Poor girl..." Asuma muttered as he lit up a cigarette, snuffing out his previous one. "Must you do that here?" Kurenai complained as she tried to take the man's cigarette. "And what makes you so sure that the girl, Kin, is going to lose?" she asked as Hayate got the two combatants into position.
"She called Choji fat," Naruto said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, Rin and Kurenai looking at the redhead in confusion. "Why would that be-"
"EXPANSION STYLE: SPIKED HUMAN MEAT TANK!"
"Oh my…" Kurenai said as she watched the Akimichi heir turn into a giant spiked wrecking ball that began chasing after the now terrified Kin.
SLAM!
"I don't know whether I should be amazed or terrified," Tenten muttered as she clutched her scrolls protectively to her chest.
CRASH!
"… I think I'm gonna go with terrified." Ino whispered as Shikamaru nodded, lazily dodging a flying piece of the wall on the other side of the stadium.
BANG! BOOM!
"I will never call Choji fat ever again..." Shino said with an uncharacteristic whimper as Kin dodged Choji yet again, just barely avoiding becoming a bloody smear on the wall he had just completely demolished, showing some very startled medics.
"PARTIAL MULTI-SIZE TECHNIQUE!"
Kin narrowly dodged a massive fist that destroyed the ground she had been standing on before. "Who knew Choji could be so scary," said a slightly terrified Hinata as she hid behind Shino.
WHAM! SMASH! THUD!
"I know, right?" Ino said, smiling as Choji destroyed the statue as he tried to swat the sound girl. Kin was still struck by a falling piece of stone as she dodged the fist, causing her to tumble along the ground and grab her arm in pain.
"I think I should take the boy's mother's advice and sign him up for some anger management classes," Asuma muttered as the enraged Akimichi slammed his fist into the side of the sound girl.
SNAP!
"I don't think that would be very effective, I'm positive that this reaction is hardwired into all of the members that are born into the Akimichi clan," Kakashi said, getting nods from Shikamaru and Gai, Gai having experienced Choza's wrath when the bowl cut man had been a genin.
CRACKLE! POP!
"Meh, I guess you're right, and it's not exactly a bad thing," Asuma admitted as Kin's luck finally ran out.
"RRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
SLAM! SMASH! BOOOOM!
"Winner Akimichi Choji… can *cough* someone please peel that girl off of the floor?" the proctor called as the board started flashing names.
"Nice work Choji!" Ino cheered as she highfived the fuming Choji. "Did you get your frustration out Choji?" Asuma asked looking at the big boned boy. "I'm hungry," Choji grunted with a childish pout, causing everyone on the balcony besides Sasuke and Sakura to faceplant as the board started flashing through the names of the remaining genin.
Abumi Zaku
Vs.
Sabaku no Temari
"Goddammit, why can't I get a damn challenge!?" Zaku exclaimed as he saw the names currently displayed on the electronic board. "Don't be a fool, Zaku," Dosu snapped, "If she can still be alive around an unstable jinchuuriki for years, then she is stronger than she looks."
"Well I think the bitch is overrated," Zaku replied smugly, completely sure that he was better than any woman could be. Somewhere in the Land of Water an Auburn haired well endowed woman felt the need to kill someone very soon, her aide Ao backing up very slowly.
Temari merely grunted in disgust towards the sexist shinobi, holding her fan in front of her closed as she waited for her opponent to come down to the arena. "The next *cough* match... Zaku Abumi vs. *cough* Sabaku no Temari!" shouted Hayate, as the two contestants stood in the center, "FIGHT!"
"You seem rather docile for a 'strong' woman. I guess I really did get the short end of the stick!" Zaku said as he leered at the Suna Kunoichi. "Why don't you do your job and get back in the bedroom where you belong." Temari gave no outward reaction to the Oto boy's insult, but inside she wanted to completely bludgeon him.
"Well, since you're too scared to make the first move slut, I guess I'll have to!" shouted Zaku with unrepressed glee. He went through a few hand seals before he thrust his arms forwards and called out, "Wind Release: Cutting Airwaves!"
Everyone watched as the airwaves got closer and closer to the Suna Kunoichi, who didn't even move a muscle. Then Zaku blinked owlishly as the air just washed over her gently. Not even ruffling her battle kimono.
"Wow… Those blasts were weak... You're not even worth killing," Temari said in an even tone, while she cocked an eyebrow at the gaping boy.
Zaku went from nervous to enraged instantly, "I'll show you weak! Wind Release: Ultimate Cutting Airwaves!" Temari just sighed and opened her fan a quarter of the way. "You'd actually use those weak attacks against a Wind user that has a high level wind affinity like me?" Temari snapped in anger as she swung the fan, "Wind Release: Wind Scythe!" blasting the airwaves away and slamming Zaku three feet into the wall. Where he promptly threw up blood and collapsed to the floor unconscious. The whites of his eyes showing and his mouth open in a grimace of pain.
Hayate shook his head at the sight, he didn't even need to get close to the boy to tell that he wasn't going to make it.
"Winner..." Hayate said, "Sabaku no Temari!"
The assembled group on the observation deck cheered for the good (pathetic) fight as Temari casually strolled back to her team as if she hadn't just brutally crushed someone into a concrete wall.
"That was embarrassing..." Rin said as she quirked an eyebrow at a grinning Naruto. "What is it?"
"I definitely want her for my army," Naruto said happily, a large smile threatening to engulf his face. Making Kakashi and the others from Konoha look at him warily, scared that he was in the pranking mood.
Everyone turned their heads from the slightly insane redhead and noted the screen had begun cycling through the next set of opponents.
Nara Shikamaru
Vs.
Kinuta Dosu
Shikamaru sighed as he noticed the names on the board and raised his hand to catch Hayate's attention, "Proctor-san I forfeit..."
Everyone just stared at the Nara in silence, Dosu having frozen in mid step on his way down the stairs as he turned to look at the boy that should have been his opponent. Hayate sighed as Ino began going ballistic on the Nara Clan heir about not even trying. 'Typical Naras,' Hayate thought as he raised his hand. 'I guess I'll get Yugao-chan to inform Shikaku-sama and Yoshino-sama.'
"Winner Kinuta Dosu!"
Naruto chuckled as he watched his old friend get chewed out by his blonde teammate and Asuma. Rin was beside him suppressing a giggle behind her hand. 'The shinobi from Konoha are funny and weird.' The noble thought with another giggle.
Everyone looked back to the board to see who was next.
Tsurugi Misumi
Vs.
Sabaku No Gaara
"So little boy, ya ready to get your sandy little ass handed to you!" Tsurugi shouted cockily to the impassive Gaara. Predictably, Gaara just stared tiredly at the Oto spy.
"I don't care, you are weak." The Suna jinchuuriki said in a monotone voice. Tsurugi's brow twitch in obvious anger, before he launched himself at the Suna genin.
Tsurugi used his stretching ability to wrap himself around Gaara's body, only to find himself wrapped around a barrier of sand. "Pathetically weak," Gaara said as he launched spikes of sand out of the outside of the barrier, piercing his opponent many times, blood spraying everywhere, until he clenched his hand to stop the barrage. "I should put you out of your misery." The racoon boy said, looking down at the slashed up boy. Tsurugi just moaned from his spot on the floor in pain.
"Sand Coffin no Jutsu." Gaara said as he surrounded Tsurugi with sand. He clenched his fist after raising the boy from the ground, the coffin of sand imploded, spraying chunks of flesh and blood everywhere. Hayate sighed at the sight, he didn't even have to check on Tsurugi's condition.
"Winner, Sabaku no Gaara!" The sickly Jounin called out, before succumbing to a coughing fit.
Everyone was quiet as Gaara returned to his team, Naruto the only one not doing it because of the gory death; he was thinking of ways to get the two very competent Sand siblings into his army. Kankuro felt ready to stab someone at the redhead's thoughts and the next two names were displayed on the screen.
Omoi of Kumo
Vs.
Kankuro of Suna
"Ahh..." The white haired boy from the Kumo team moaned. "Why do I have to fight? I should just be like the Nara and forfeit." Karui snapped her head around and grabbed the front of her teammate's shirt. "Oh no you don't!" she yelled, before she launched him down into the ring.
Hayate raised an eyebrow at the boy from Kumo that just slid to a stop in front of him. "You're *cough* pretty eager huh?" The sickly Jounin said, all he got was a moan from Omoi.
"Let's get this over with!" Kankuro barked as he arrived in the arena. "I've got babes to hit on back at the village!" All of the girl's in the balcony started shaking their fists in anger, especially Temari, getting Kakashi to fearfully put away his Icha Icha lest they turn their attention to him.
"Match Omoi of Kumo vs *cough* Sabaku no Kankuro, Start!" Hayate yelled and the proctor and Kankuro immediately found themselves having to dodge out of the way as Omoi appeared before them, his nodachi striking the ground where Kankuro had been standing. The Suna genin stared in shock as he saw a few scraps of his clothes falling in the air. Omoi smirked as he heard a hollow sound where his blade had struck Kankuro's leg.
"So you are a puppeteer?" Omoi asked, startling Kankuro and the others from Suna on the Balcony. 'How did he figure out from one attack?!' Baki thought in alarm.
'Kankuro' smirked before sand began to fall down 'his' body to reveal a grotesque puppet wearing what seemed to be a tattered black cloak and had three eyes. "Say hello to Karasu!" Kankuro said as he popped out of the bandages on the puppets back.
Kankuro smirked as he stared at his dark skinned opponent, before with a flick of his wrist sent Karasu soaring towards Omoi. His opponent on the other hand was ready for him and he flipped over the puppet, swinging his blade as he fell.
The puppeteer's smirk turned to a look of confusion, then terror as Karasu immediately fell to the ground, unsupported by his chakra threads anymore. Omoi landed on the ground with a sigh and he brought his nodachi up to his shoulder lazily, everyone in the balcony but the Kumo team wondering what he did. Suddenly Naruto's face split into a grin prompting everyone to looks at him. "He coated his blade with lightning chakra!" The powerful redhead proclaimed, causing Kakashi and Rin's eyes to widen, or in Kakashi's case 'eye'. 'When the hell did Naruto get so observant?' Kakashi thought as he stared at his genin student. 'Not even Sasuke and Sakura caught onto that, perhaps I have been concentrating too much on the wrong student.'
Omoi edged towards the slightly intimidated Kankuro, who slid slightly backwards. The two charged at one another once more. The two combatant's nodachi met with kunai again and again, until, Omoi slightly twisted his wrist, adding lightning chakra to his sword, and Kankuro's kunai was sliced clean through, his weight pressed against the empty air caused him to over extend. Omoi then swiftly turned and gripped Kankuro's wrist and pulled, bringing the Sabaku to his knees. He then placed his sword to the young puppeteer's throat.
"It's over," said Omoi confidently, as the edge of his sword pressed against Kankuro's jugular.
"Winner... Omoi of Kumo!" Hayate announced, calling the match to an end, which left a very sour Kankuro to retreat back up the stairs. Omoi rejoined the others on the balcony and sat next to a lazy Nara, complaining about abusive teammates, which prompt Samui to hold Karui back by the collar of her shirt, so that the dark skinned redhead wouldn't kill her teammate before the finals.
In the background, the sound of the electronic board showing the new names.
Lee Rock
Vs.
Higurashi Tenten
"Well then, this should be interesting," Naruto said as he read the names.
"Why would you say that Naruto?" asked Kakashi casually. Gai also seemed very interested in the answer. "They are both teammates, so this will make it harder for them to win," replied the new King. "Both know the other's style and have trained against each other. While Tenten has the advantage of far greater accuracy and is an expert with Bukijutsu, it's nullified by the fact that Lee knows how to counter her fighting styles due to all of their sparing. And while he is a Taijutsu virtuoso, she can nullify those with her long range and mid-range weapons."
He got a nod of approval from Kakashi, who was now holding more respect for his student. 'So you were actually listening to what I taught you!' Kakashi thought with crocodile tears running from his free eye and under his headband.
"Yosh, Tenten! Let us show them the power of our Youth!" Rock Lee shouted, taking a nice guy pose. Tenten merely groaned in response, but wordlessly left the balcony to confront her teammate/opponent.
Hayate then gave the signal for the fight to commence as he tried to stop coughing.
"Let's give this all we've got!" exclaimed Tenten with an encouraging smile. This only caused Lee to become even more hyper in the ways of the Youth.
Lee then leapt forward with forward flying kick and the battle began with earnest, causing everyone to watch it in amazement. Especially after Gai let Lee remove his weights, the rest was chaos as Lee dodged weapon after weapon, but couldn't get any closer despite his now impressive speed.
Finally the match ended with Rock Lee being struck in the head by a large warhammer that flew towards him from Tenten's scroll while dodging two spears and a wrench. Hayate bent down towards the mini clone of Gai, almost afraid that if he touched him that he would be infected by the Youth.
"Winner... Higurashi Tenten!" Hayate shouted as Lee didn't get up, Tenten sighed as she picked her teammate up to take him back to the balcony, Gai having come down to pick up the weights that left two craters in the ground. Everyone was distracted for the next two competitors being announced.
Hyuuga Hinata
Vs.
Hyuuga Neji
(Sorry But I have Been Writing this chapter for a couple weeks now, so I am just gonna say Canon.)
Uzumaki Naruto
Vs.
Akadō Yoroi
Naruto gave a victorious smirk as he leapt down to the arena below them, shocking everyone as he left small craters where his feet struck the floor. Now he could finally fight an opponent, he looked over to see Yoroi walking down the stairs. 'I hope he puts up a better fight than the other two on his team.' The redhead thought.
Yoroi met the proctor and his armored opponent in the middle of the arena and smirked under his mask. 'The kid looks even more stupid than he did with that horrendous jumpsuit, I can't believe that Kabuto was actually interested in this brat.' Yoroi thought as Hayate called the match start. He quickly rushed the tall redhead, a dark purple chakra sheath forming over his left hand as he went to grab the boy.
Naruto quickly pivoted under the older genin's arm and struck Yoroi in the side with a vicious punch that removed the air from his lungs. Naruto then leapt back and took a stance he had seen in his past life memories.
Yoroi sneered as he threw a kick out towards Naruto's head, trying to knock him off balance. Naruto ducked under the attack and was caught by the older boy's glowing hand, instantly feeling a drain on his chakra supply. He turned his piercing gaze to his opponent, who was smirking as his energy returned. "Oh yes, now this is what I call a buffet!" Yoroi exclaimed as he pulled more energy from his opponent. He was startled when the energy kept coming and Naruto just stood up, not shaken at all.
"How the fuck are you standing!?" Yoroi demanded as he stared in terror at the chakra monster in front of him, the damn kid didn't even look remotely tired. "Meh," Naruto said in a bored tone as he swatted Yoroi's hand from his face. "You shouldn't really grab another person's face, unless you are maybe going to kill them."
He stunned them all with his words, especially Asuma who recognised the blood-line that Yoroi was using. "How the hell does he have this much damn chakra?" Kurenai asked as her 'secret' boyfriend filled her in on the mechanics of Yoroi's Kekkei Genkai.
"He is an Uzumaki," Kakashi said from next to them, Rin and the Kumo team looking at them in interest. "How else do you think a mere genin would have so much stamina and power?" Kurenai and Asuma nodded before the smoker went to fill in Shikamaru and Choji on their question. Kurenai looked over at the cyclopean. "If he has this much chakra, I can understand why he failed the Academy exam, there's no way someone with that much natural chakra can do the mandatory bunshin."
Kakashi shook his head at his junior. "That's not the only reason, he was sabotaged by many of his teachers so that he wouldn't become a shinobi. He was given outdated books and I heard that Mizuki would place genjutsu on his tests." Kakashi paused as he watched Naruto slam his foot into Yoroi's stomach. "From the way he absorbs the things I teach, I'd say he'd have been the Rookie of the Year instead of Sasuke if he hadn't been sabotaged."
Those words of course made an eavesdropping Uchiha even angrier at his teammate and more determined to take everything away from him.
Back down in the arena, Naruto had just slapped Yoroi away from him with a vicious backhand. The older boy was thoroughly confused, he had been absorbing a lot of his opponent's chakra and yet Naruto hadn't even stumbled in exhaustion. 'This kid easily has the chakra of a High Jounin and yet he's only a genin, what the hell!?' Yoroi exclaimed in his head.
He slipped and lost his concentration, letting Naruto slam his fist into Yoroi's stomach and throwing him into the air.
Naruto startled everyone when he jumped into the air to follow his opponent, and he performed a spinning back kick that threw Yoroi into the wall where he threw up blood and fell to the ground. As the older genin was about to rise up from the ground, Naruto appeared in front of him slamming his fist even harder into the boy's chest, burying him in the wall. Kakashi and everyone was startled by how fast the deadlast had moved.
Yoroi collapsed to the floor from the indent in the wall, Hayate coming over to check the boy's pulse before he stood back up.
"Winner… Uzumaki Naruto!" The sickly proctor yelled. They all looked to the board, Ino wondering who she was going to fight, when Hayate called for everyone to come down to the arena. "Wait!" Ino yelled to get everyone's attention. "What about me? I didn't get to fight?"
Hayate shrugged and looked at Hiruzen, the older man sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess you pass since there was no one else to fight, you get to go to the Third Exam."
Ino looked slightly put out as she joined the others, slightly put out that she didn't get to face off against anyone and prove her worth.
The winners of the Preliminary Round all assembled in the arena to be addressed by the Hokage for what to expect in the finals.
"Each of you have done extremely well to make it through the grueling exams this far," Hiruzen said as he walked back and forth in front of the victors, "It's been an impressive effort by all of you. Now, you will all have to draw your numbers from the box that Anko is carrying, for your position in the Final Exam that will be in the form of a tournament."
Anko then stepped forward with a box that had a small hole that could fit a normal sized hand into it. Tenten was the first to draw for her position in the Chuunin Exam Tournament for the third round. "Ten!"
A nervous, mouth filling Choji was the next to go. "Five."
"Four," said Temari, closely followed by her brother Gaara, Kankuro sulking next to Baki.
"Nine."
"Three," came Karui's voice as she drew her number.
Uchiha Sasuke was the next to step up. "Six."
Ino went next, followed by Samui.
"Nine."
"Eight."
"Two," was drawn by Neji.
"Seven," said Omoi.
"I guess that just leaves me as number One," said Naruto, however, he drew his number anyway, only to confirm what he'd said.
"The Final Exam will be held in one month at the *cough* Konohagakure Stadium," said Hayate, "That will give each of you time to both recover and recuperate *cough* from the last couple of days in the Forest of Death and give you time to *cough* train yourselves in some new techniques *cough* while further refining the techniques and jutsu you already know."
"I look forward to seeing what each of you youngsters can do when your matches come about," Hiruzen said happily as he waved a hand for the Jounin sensei to come forward. "You are all dismissed!"
So how did you guys like the chapter, I am sorry it took forever, but I wanted to write the prelims in one chapter to get it out of the way. Though I may have made Sasuke look like too much of an ass for what he did to Kiba. If you are interested about Akamaru's look when he ate the pill, think of a red furred version of the Shippuden Akamaru.
Also If ya'll were looking for more Iskander-ish stuff in Naruto's match, I am afraid that I couldn't really pull off the Gordius Wheel without destroying the entire building. And I want to save his Reality Marble for when the council tries to kill him and the Valley of the End part, let's see Sasuke fight against one of the biggest armies in history, curse mark or not, he doesn't stand much of a chance against the power of Iskander's invincible armies!
