A/N: Wow. This is one of the longest chapters I have done. Only a bit shorter then one other chapter but here it is. Thanks to those who reviewed, liked/favd, and read it overall. Thanks for all the support because it is what keeps me going. If you are thinking that this is going fast, it is. I just want to get out of this era and to the finals. Then there will be some new twists (hint hint, wink wink). Well that is all my ramble so enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or Naruto Gaiden. I only own the jutsus or characters I create.

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Chapter 8: The Preliminary Round

The four days had passed rather quickly for Team 7. Sasuke was taken care of when Kakashi placed a suppressor seal on him and told him a seal master would look at it later. Naruto had also put a pain seal on it to relieve pain when he used chakra. Naruto and Sakura just rested the next 4 days and watched the slowly coming in genin that had made it. A few hours after they had made it there, the sand team came in. Team 7 had beaten the previous record set by the Sannin by about 40 minutes.

After the 4 days, the teams that were left were called to the center floor. The teams that were left were Team 7, Team 8, Team 9, and Team 10 all from Konoha, plus Kabuto's team. Then the sound team and the sand team had made it. This meant there were a total of 7 teams or 21 contestants for the final exam.

"Excuse me, (cough), I am (cough) the examiner for (cough) the third round. My name is Gekko Hayate." Announced a rather sickly looking jounin. He kept coughing every few sentences he made like he had a serious lung disease. (A/N: "-" will mean cough until said.) "So- are we- ready to star-t the last exam."

Just as he was about to explain, another jounin came up and whispered something in his ear. After the jounin left, the examiner said, "It seems- there has- been a change in- plans. Instead- of a final- exam, there will- be a preliminary- round. Anyone- that wishes- to quit, say- so."

At first no one did anything. Then, strangely, everyone on Kabuto's team quit. It seemed there sensei, that was in the stand, was motioning for them to quit. He also sent some hand signals to the sound team informing them of a new decision. After the team understood what he was saying, the orange haired boy and the boy with the hump on his back left as well, leaving the girl with red hair staying in.

"Is that- all? That means there- are 16 left." The examiner announced. "Your name- will be shown above - on the screens. When it comes up, you - will be fighting. Any questions-?"

After there were no questions, the examinees left to go up to the stands to sit until their match was called. About 5 minutes later, the monitor started flashing through all the names that were left until it landed on the first pair.

"The first match will be, Temari V.S. Ino." The examiner announced managing to avoid a coughing fit. The two kunoichi came down from the stands, of course Ino was bickering to her teammates along the way about who would win.

Once the two had gotten into the ring, the proctor began the first match. Ino started off with throwing kunai at the sand ninja but she easily dodged them.

"Is that all Leaf kunoichi have?" Temari mocked as she began pulling out the fan on her back.

"You wish!" Ino yelled as she began throwing more kunai towards Temari, who blocked them with her fan. 'It seems I will have to use my family's jutsu.'

As Ino began to weave hand signs, Temari sent a wind blast towards Ino who wasn't able to dodge in time because she was casting her jutsu signs and was blown back against the wall behind her.

"You think I am just going to let you weave your signs?" Temari asked as she further opened her fan to where it showed two circles.

"Guess not." Ino said as she stood to her feet and took shuriken from her pouch and threw them. Temari, of course, dodged but didn't realize that while she was dodging Ino casted her jutsu and sent it forward. However, instead of it hitting Temari, it was dodged and then hit the wall behind her. This made Ino's body fall to the floor as she missed her jutsu and was rendered unconscious.

"Winner of the first match: Temari!" The proctor said as a medic team came to get Ino and take her to the hospital wing.

After they had cleaned up the previous match, the monitor began flashing through the names again until it landed on two new names.

"The second match will be: Sasuke V.S. Kiba!" The proctor announced.

"You got this Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled while Naruto patted him on the back.

Once in the ring, Kiba decided to do some taunting before the match started, "So, the Last Uchiha. It is an 'honor'." Kiba said mockingly as he got into a battle stance with Akamaru. Sasuke didn't reply and instead got into a battle stance himself.

"Alright let the second match-, begin!" The examiner said before he jumped back as the two ran forward to fight. Kiba started off with basic academy taijutsu before going to his clan's stance and started giving Sasuke a run for his money. That was, until Sasuke activated the sharingan and was able to see what was coming. The two battled like this for about 4 minutes with neither gaining the upper hand, due to Sasuke's sharingan and Akamaru's continual interference.

"All right Akamaru! Let's finish this!" Kiba yelled as Akamaru jumped behind him with a 'yip'. "Man Beast Clone!" After Kiba said this, Akamaru turned into a copy of Kiba and jumped on top of Kiba. After they were in position, Kiba yelled, "Gatsuga!" And they two of them began violently rotating around each other and started heading towards Sasuke at an alarming rate.

"Look out!" Sakura yelled, afraid he would be torn apart by the attack however he was able to dodge just in time. The spot where he originally was was completely destroyed.

"Is that all you got dog-breath?" Sasuke asked mockingly as he continued to dodge Kiba's assault due to the sharingan.

After a few minutes of this, Kiba's endurance ran out before his stubbornness and both he and Akamaru fell to the ground dizzy. However, Kiba wasn't done and was getting up when he heard a yelp.

"Akamaru!" Kiba yelled as he saw his companion in Sasuke's arms.

"Quit or I won't give him back." Sasuke told his opponent. Kiba thought long and hard on this, but in the end, decided to give up to get his companion back. "Okay, I give up."

After he said that, Sasuke put Akamaru gently on the ground and began walking towards his spot. The proctor announced that he was the winner of the match and the monitor started buzzing again.

"You think that was a little harsh?" Naruto asked Sasuke as he came walking up the stairs.

"Nah." He answered nonchalantly. The names kept buzzing through until it landed on another two competitors.

"The third match will be, Shikamaru V.S. TenTen." Hayate said as the cleaners began cleaning up Kiba's destruction.

"Man, this is such a drag. I have to fight a girl." Shikamaru said as he sat in the ring.

"What did you say punk?!" Tenten yelled. She was not happy Shikamaru had made the comment and you could see the fire in her eyes. Hayate didn't even start the match as she began to pull out scrolls and poured chakra into them. The next minute, dozens of shuriken, kunai, and sharp objects came flying out towards Shikamaru who moved quickly to avoid the deadly weapons.

'So her ability is summoning the weapons.' Shikamaru thought as he kept dodging the weapons that were being fired at him. 'I have to get past that.'

"Is that all you got?" TenTen mocked as she pulled another scroll out and began sending more kunai towards Shikamaru who leapt out of the way to dodge the oncoming objects. Shikamaru then had an idea come through his head to use against her.

"I should be asking you this question. Shouldn't you be giving me more of a challenge?" Shikamaru asked mockingly. He then threw a few kunai which made TenTen move back to avoid getting punctured.

"You think that's all I have lazy-ass? I'll show you!" Tenten said as she pulled out a decent sized scroll. "Twin Rising Dra-" Tenten was interrupted as her hands were moved to her side, thus dropping the scroll.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu, success." Shikamaru said as he stood up and pulled out a kunai. Which Tenten mimicked except for she didn't have a kunai in that holster. "Give up or I throw it at you."

Tenten, with her brashness, thought awhile before finally resigning, "I give up." She announced.

"Winner of the third match, Shikamaru." Hayate said.

"Wait, before you leave, how did you get your shadow on me?" Tenten questioned Shikamaru.

"Well, I threw the kunai towards you, they each made a small enough shadow to increase my range when they were stuck in the ground. Plus, when you began talking to me and using your time to pull out your scroll, I moved close enough to attach my shadow." Shikamaru replied. Many people in the crowds watching were thinking of how much of a genius he was. Tenten was fuming a bit but she could accept her defeat and hope for better next year.

After the cleaners came out and picked up the multiple weapons scattered throughout the place, Hayate announced the fourth match, "The fourth match will be, Naruto V.S. Kankuro. Will the contestants please come down."

Once they were in the ring, Naruto pulled the sword from off his back. It was kind of awkward looking with the jumpsuit on but his clothing still hadn't come in. "Let's have a good match, eh?"

Kankuro said nothing as he just stood there. 'This is weird.' Naruto thought. 'I don't sense chakra in his body but their are threads attached to it, but on his back there is a lot of chakra. Well here goes nothing.' Naruto then charged 'Kankuro' and pulled his sword into a swinging position. Naruto then swung cutting Kankuro in half horizontally...or so he thought.

"Hah! You fell for my trap!" Kankuro yelled as the back on the puppet's body bursted into smoke revealing the real Kankuro. His puppet was the one that was cut in half while he was on the back waiting for the moment to strike. He then reattached chakra threads to the halves and brought them together which began to charge for Naruto who deflected one of the blades in the puppet with his sword then did back flips to escape the puppet's range of attack.

"Heh, that was a nice trick, but it's my turn." Naruto said as he pulled something from a pouch on his back. It was a small scroll with the kanji 'Lake' on it. He then pumped chakra into the seal and it began to glow. The next minute a huge amount of water came forward and began covering most of the floor in the arena. "Let's see you dodge these. Water Clones!" He yelled as more Narutos began coming up from the water, each with a copy of the sword he had.

The clones began charging Kankuro, who still had a shocked expression from the amount of water summoned, began to unseal the other two scrolls on his back. He summoned his other two puppets who took a defensive stance around him. He wasn't a puppetmaster, but he could wield three puppets pretty efficiently. The clones began attacking with the swords but most were being efficiently cut down by Kankuro's puppets. Once in a while, the would cut off an arm or two from the puppets but they reattached themselves.

After about 5 minutes of this onslaught, Kankuro began to sweat. 'This kid's good, I got to end this quick.' He was about to perform some handsigns but Naruto stopped him.

"Oh no you won't!" Naruto yelled. After he did, the clones fell into puddles but the water began combining together in a big area. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" The dragon first went up into the sky, then came crashing down towards Kankuro who quickly got inside one of his puppets with shields on it. After the mist had cleared from the amount of water used, which most had evaporated from the chakra in it, it showed 2 broken puppets in pieces and Kankuro panting really hard.

"Ok I give up. I'm out of chakra and you basically destroyed all of my puppets." As soon as he said that, he collapsed into a heap.

"Winner of the fourth match, Naruto!" Hayate said, excited by the match that just happened. 'Wow, a genin with that much chakra is incredible.' The medics then came out and picked up

Naruto then left the arena, just a bit tired from the chakra drain. He walked up the stairs when he was greeted by his teammates and sensei.

"Naruto, when did you learn those jutsus?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"I figured out my element was water and wind and I learned jutsus for each." Naruto responded as he leaned against the pole and prepared to watch the next match. Each of his teammates congratulated him and then turned their attention back towards the arena.

"The - fifth match will be, Neji V.S. Hinata." Hayate announced as the cleaning crew finished up. The two then walked down to the arena and stared off at each other.

"Let's have a good match, Hinata-sama." Neji said with a smile as he got into a fighting stance.

"Ye-ah Neji-niisan." Hinata stuttered out as she too got into their clan's stance. The proctor then began the match and the two went at it. Each strike was countered with another and they kept it up for a few minutes longer until Neji was able to hit her arm, thus deactivating her arm from chakra.

"Nic-e hit." Hinata said as she got into a one armed stance. She knew she wouldn't win at this point but she could always try.

"Hinata-sama, are you sure you wish to continue?" Neji asked worridely.

"I'm su-re."

The two then began exchanging blows. Of course Hinata only used one arm and Neji was holding back greatly but to people who had never seen two Hyuugas exchanging blows it was very interesting. In the end, Neji hit another critical chakra point in her other arm. After he was announced the winner, he helped Hinata to the medical wing of the building.

"The winner of the fifth match- is Neji! The - sixth match is, Shino V.S. Choji." The proctor announced.

The two competitors went down to the arena and squared off. Once the proctor began the match, they each activated their clan jutsus, Choji grew big and Shino secretly attached bugs on chakra which began to drain Choji's chakra. He then charged like a boulder towards Shino but it turned out to be a bug clone. Shino then reappeared in the opposite place of the arena and kept letting bugs come off his body and going over to Choji who didn't realize they had gotten on him.

Choji then used another jutsu that turned him into a boulder and launched himself towards Shino, crushing some of the bugs on him but not hitting Shino as he again turned himself into a bug clone.

After about 5 minutes of these actions being repeated, Choji fell to the ground and passed out. It was most likely due to chakra exhaustion and the fact that he was dizzy from repeating his clan jutsu over and over. After he was escorted out, the proctor decided to begin the next match.

"The winner of the sixth- match is- Shino. The seventh match's competitors are Gaara V.S. Rock Lee. Will the competitors please come forward?"

"Yosh! I will show my spirit of youth!" Lee screamed as he jumped into the arena and got into a fighting stance. However, Gaara appeared in a sand shunsin in the ring.

"Mother wants your blood." He said impassively. He had his arms crossed and just kept staring at Lee waiting for him to make the first move. As soon as Hayate started the match, Lee charged Gaara and started to strike when his hand was stopped by a thin wall of sand. Lee continued to use taijutsu to try and get past Gaara's sand shield but he wasn't able to. Lee then jumped onto the giant statue in the arena.

"Lee! You can take them off!" Guy yelled as he made his 'youthful pose'.

Lee then had a big, goofy smile and yelled back, "Thanks Guy-sensei!"

He then proceeded to take off his weights that he had around his legs and drop them to the ground. Usually weights were about 10 or 15 pounds but when his hit the ground, the made a huge dent in it and dust went over the whole arena.

Lee then charged Gaara but he was about 3 times as fast as before. He was able to get a few hits on Gaara and past his first shield before Gaara became mad and lashed back at him. He used sand waves to push back Lee but Lee kicked him into the air and used his Primary Lotus on him to do damage. It ended up not doing as much as he had hoped, so Guy sensei thought it was time for him to use, 'it'.

"Lee! You can use the Gates!" Guy yelled. Lee nodded his head and put his arms into a cross. He then had a blue chakra-like substance floating around him as he opened up the gates all the way up to the fourth.

He then charged Gaara and used a sequence of attacks on him that should have left any man incapacitated, yet Gaara just got back up and looked twice as mad as before. Lee, after using the gates, was too tired to move on so Guy came in before Gaara's sand wave could reach him.

"Winner by default, Gaara!" Hayate announced yet he was sweating a bit. Gaara was giving him and Guy the death stare. Anyway, he began to announce the next match. "The final match for the preliminary round will be, Tayuya V.S. Sakura!"

The two competitors walked down into the arena. What Naruto noticed, was, that the red head girl named Tayuya, had a mask covering her face. He just now noticed this and was curious as to why she had it around. Putting his curiousty behind him, he turned his attention to the match.

Once the proctor began the match, the two went forward into a basic taijutsu bout. It seemed Tayuya had the upper hand until Sakura lept back and casted a small genjutsu on the area and launched an earth spike towards Tayuya, who she thought was in the genjutsu, but just merely dodged. She then pulled out an instrument that Sakura thought was a weapon at first, but then it turned out to be a musical instrument. A flute to be specific.

Tayuya then began to play the flute that she had her hands. Of course, Sakura wouldn't just stand around and began to charge Tayuya and threw kunai at her.

Tayuya dodged and flipped back still playing her flute. Sakura didn't know what power was in the flute but she wouldn't just sit back and let her finish it. Just as she was about to launch more kunai, she felt a searing pain throughout her whole body. She closed her eyes real tight to try and help the pain.

When she opened her eyes, she noticed that she was in a different place, almost like a dream realm. It was a world that was swirling around and she was chained down. The chains kept tightening around her making her scream in pain. She knew this was a type of genjutsu activated by the flute but that did not help her in trying to break it.

A voice in her head then kept telling her to give up the match. She then looked around the area still in the world. She knew she couldn't break the genjutsu that she was in, so she made her decision.

"I give up." Sakura said as she fell to the ground from mental exhaustion. The medic team then came out and got her and took her away. Naruto and Sasuke were a bit worried about her but Kakashi reassured them it would be fun. Tayuya went back to her spot that she was standing at waiting for the next part.

"May I have- the winners- of each match come -down." Hayate coughed out. The winners came down and stood in a line. Hayate instructed them to take a number from the box he had and once they had each number, another T.V. screen came out with the match numbers and competitors.

Match 1: Shikamaru V.S. Shino

Match 2: Gaara V.S. Neji

Match 3: Naruto V.S. Tayuya

Match 4: Sasuke V.S. Temari

"These- are the lineups- for the tournament. You will have - 1 month to - train or do whatever. See you then, you are- dismissed." Hayate said as he shunsined away and the other competitors started going away.

"So Sasuke, how are you feeling about your match?" Naruto asked Sasuke

"It will be like every other match. Yours?" Sasuke asked.

Before Naruto could answer, he caught Tayuya staring at him. He could see only her eyes staring at him through her mask and it looked like her eyes were piercing his soul. He then turned back to Sasuke and answered, "Eh, like any old match?"


A/N: Okay that was chapter 8. Thanks to those who read it. I want to point out, this story focuses on Naruto and his adventures. Most other battles I won't go too much into detail. Why is Tayuya staring at Naruto like she is? Why is Neji nice? Why am I asking you all these questions that I already know the answers to? Found out next time when we go into Naruto's training before the final exam and thanks for reading!