Here's chapter 7 of Genin Wars. If you have been keeping up with this fanfiction, and haven't written a review, please do! Thanks!

"Italics surrounded by quotes indicate a character's thoughts."

Italics by themselves indicate titles, emphasis.

Genin Wars

Chapter 7: Prepare or Fail!

Naruto woke with a start the next morning. Outside he could hear voices yelling and a slight wind blowing. As far as he knew, today was going to be an interesting day.

'Sakura said to meet in the second training field. I hope we don't talk before we start train-'

Before finishing his thought, the yellow haired ninja found a small note on the side of his bed. He could see a few words scribbled down neatly, but it looked as though someone didn't care enough to put it into an envelope. His hand groped at it, trying to find the piece of paper between his fingers. But as he rustled his sheets, he ended up stomach first on the floor with a "Plump!"

The note gently fell from his bed, revealing itself as it landed on the floor:

Change sides.

Naruto grumbled and clutched his stomach. He let his head collapse with the rest of his body while he screamed into the filthy rug. The shinobi not only had stomach problems, but his mind couldn't quite sort the two words out.

'Damn it all…I need some ramen.'

And with that, he picked himself up and fled into the kitchen. In his excitement, however, he completely forgot about the note.

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Team Waterfall:

Captain: Neji Hyuuga

Co-Captain: Sakura Haruno

Pathetic Loser: Naruto Uzumaki

Team Revenge:

Captain: Shikamaru Nara

Co-Captain: Temari

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"Okay guys," Neji said, ""Now that we've all arrived, let's talk about this 'Task'. I'm not sure what's so hard about catching chickens, but they do make a pretty big deal about the Genin Wars. So, we'll probably start with some agility training." He gave instructions immediately, making sure everyone was following directions. Yes, Naruto would get his ass kicked if he tried anything.

'Naruto's not smart enough to bring up the chunin exams.' The Hyuuga thought, obviously referring to his disgraceful defeat during the Finals. So, he figured he didn't have much to worry about.

With the first task coming up in a few days, things were at a panic level. Some of the members of Team Waterfall found themselves pressured to find new and improved ways of tracking. Neji knew very well that they had the Byakugan at their advantage, but Sasuke could work his just as well on the other team. Plus, Kiba and Akamaru could easily track a chicken down.

Around noon they were dismissed from the training ground for the day. Neji had confidence that they would be fine with a few hours of practice until the first round. However, he didn't know how hard the other teams were working.

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Shikamaru sat awkwardly upon a small little hill. He watched as his team members slowly galloped around a large track. There was one individual, however, who wasn't quite satisfied with Shikamaru's drill…

"I've already finished twenty-five laps Shikamaru! Gai-sensei would never stand for this!" Lee stated, shaking his head back and forth. Shikamaru woke slowly, his head still rested on his knee.

'How troublesome…' He thought.

"Just do a few more laps, then." Shikamaru choked out. Lee's jaw dropped.

"NO!"

"Hm?"

"I challenge you!"

"Come again?"

"If I win, allow me to take you on a dat-" Lee stopped himself before he could finish speaking. Shikamaru attempted to look at Lee, but Lee was already off running more laps.

'I'm not even going to ask…' He thought, resting his head on his knee again.

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Two days later…

"You want me to do what?" Naruto asked, his head tilting slightly.

"Let me explain it again for you, "Neji said impatiently, "You have to crawl underneath or legs as we roll the ball on the ground to the back of the line. You've got to try and catch the ball before Ten Ten receives it at the end." It was at this point that TenTen winked at Naruto. He shuddered and took his place in front of Neji.

The team lined up and opened their legs.

"You ready Naruto?" Neji asked.

"Can I close my eyes?"

"Just don't look up." After Neji spoke he released the ball while Naruto scrambled on the ground. He had some "Deer in the headlights" look on his face as he approached Gaara. Unfortunately, the Sand ninja had decided to wear some long man-skirt thing that day. This meant that Naruto would have to lift up the bottom and crawl through.

When arriving at the end, Naruto collapsed onto the ground and watched as TenTen gave him a curious look and threatened to shove a kunai up his ass. Naruto got up and covered his backside, prepared for TenTen. Instead, she just pointed at him and laughed. Sakura and Neji just sighed along with the others, obviously annoyed at Naruto's stupidity.

They each practiced the awkward drill multiple times. In the end, one Kunoichi in particular was deep red. Hinata Hyuuga had almost failed one time, staring up at Naruto. Yes, she looked up. However, nobody seemed to notice. Well, nobody except for Sakura who happened to feel Hinata's head move on the back of her dress.

After practice, Sakura grabbed Hitana by the arm and dragged her over to the nearest the girl's restroom. Sakura closed and locked the door behind her.

"Hinata? Sorry if that was kind of sudden." The Haruno said, putting her hand on her arm.

"It's f-fine…" Hinata responded.

"I thought you and Gaara were together? Are you all of a sudden interested in Naruto again?"

"W-Well…Y-Yes…I mean, I j-just can't h-help it. You know w-what I m-mean?" Hinata was obviously hesitant. As usual…

"Hinata, I think I know why Naruto doesn't like you…"

"W-What do you mean?"

"Well, the stuttering can be frustrating at times. I know it's hard, but if you really like Naruto, you've got be more…Foreword. Naruto, being the loud obnoxious pain-in-the-ass he is, finds people who are quiet kind of weird." Sakura stated. She wasn't sure if Hinata would take the advice.

All of a sudden, however, Hinata had a realization. She thanked Sakura, gave her a soft high-five, and left without another word for home.

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The next day…

"Looks like Team Revenge are shaping up well." Asuma thought. He was currently residing in a large oak tree, watching the team guided by Shikamaru. He was concerned, of course. Being his Sensei for a while now, he knew that the team assigning Shikamaru leader could be a mixed bag. Basically, it boiled down to what he did. The boy could be a strong tactical leader or fall on his face from laziness.

"We'll see during the wars Shikamaru."

Just as Asuma prepared to head back to Konoha, he noticed Ino throw a fit of rage out of the corner of his eye.

Apparently, during a few of their drills, Choji had "accidentally" spilled grape juice into her hair. Honestly, Kiba viewed it as something a small child would do, but since Ino most likely had the brain of a small child, she screamed and yelled like no tomorrow. To the Team's surprise, she pulled a towel out of her rucksack. She must've packed it in case something happend...

At the sight of this, Kiba…Kind of…Let's just say he got interested in her with nothing on but the towel. So, as Ino screamed and the team laughed, Dog Boy galloped into the forest, his hand over his pants.

'Why at a time like this?" Kiba thought.

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For the Genin Wars, it was tradition to set up stands and invite commentators. They felt it added to the "experience" to have commentators. Also, they have killer Ramen stands.

Usually, the Hokage would supervise some of this, but today was a very special day. With only a few days left until the arrival of the other village's leaders, she was kept very busy with preparations.

She hollered the following at the maids:

"Get in here and fix my make-up."

"Maybe breast implants were a good idea…"

"Does this dress me look fat?"

"Someone get in here and massage my feet!"

And if that wasn't enough, her yelling soon caused Shizune to raise her voice. The assistants' voice, however, was much softer, even as she yelled. So, when the guests had arrived at the village gates, Shizune didn't sound like a complete maniac.

"TSUNADE-SAMA! THEY'RE HERE!" She said, almost getting knocked over by the rushed Tsunade. As she turned around she heard the Hokage curse to herself. She immediately caught up to her, trying to calm her down.

"I'm hiding the sake…"

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As more time elapsed, the town soon became anxious. All of the teams were busy with their last minute preparations.

The Genin Wars were about to begin. The genin from Konoha were pretty confident, though. But as all of the genin looked around the village those few days, they noticed just how many other teams there were. What would they be like? Would they be far superior? These questions were troubling, but it was the first step in this war.

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Thanks for reading this chapter! Yes, it was a little short, but I wanted to add in one more chapter before the Wars started.

Please review! All of your comments are HIGHLY appreciated!

Next Chapter: The First Round

In the next chapter, expect things to get a little bit for action-packed. Yes, there will be a LOT more Drama to come. I promise!