The fighting will be on hold for a while. I will be using quite a few chapters to just have fun with the characters, so enjoy and let me know which you prefer, preferably in a kind manner. I'm a timid guy at heart.

Chapter 11: The Preliminaries Conclude

Brackets Announced!

The victorious eight shinobi and two kunoichi gathered together before the Hokage and exam proctor. Hayate surveyed them all pleased.

"To those of you who won the right to compete in the "Third Round Test" of the Chūnin Exam, (cough) congratulations to you all! Now Lord Hokage will take it from here!"

"Thank you, Hayate," the Third Hokage said as he stepped forth. Pulling his pipe out of his mouth, he observed the genin before him. "Now I'd like to start explaining the main test. As I've told you before, in the main event, your matches will be seen by everyone. Each of you will fight to represent the strengths of your countries. I'd like you to show off all of your powers with no reserves, which is why the finals will be held one month from now." The change in the atmosphere was almost visible as feelings of surprise swept over the genin.

"We're not going to do it here, right now?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"This break, you can say, will be for preparations," the Hokage replied.

"What does that mean?" Neji interrupted.

The Hokage spoke thoughtfully and deliberately, choosing his words carefully so as not to undervalue the significance of this break. "In other words…in addition to informing all the various country lords and shinobi leaders, this is the time needed to arrange for the gathering of the event…and this is also the preparation time for you examination students."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kankurō asked irritably.

"Basically, it's the preparation to get to know your enemy and yourself," the Hokage continued. "It's the time period where you will calculate your chances of winning by analyzing the data you accumulated during the trial competition. The battles up to now had you fight as if you were in an actual combat situation with…the assumption of fighting an unknown opponent." More than a few of the finalists glanced towards Gaara at this.

"So…now that we know the enemy, we're going to be using that information in the next round?" Tenten questioned.

"Indeed. This month should be used by all of you to advance and improve yourselves…and rest your bodies as well."

"OOOOOOH!" Lee exclaimed enthusiastically. "Let's get started!"

The Hokage grinned. "Well, I'd like to dismiss you now but…there's something that has to be done for the finals before I can do that."

"Dammit! Hurry up!" Naruto rudely complained.

"Well now, don't get so excited," the Hokage chuckled as Anko Mitarashi stepped forward holding a box. "There are pieces of paper inside of the box that Anko's holding so each of you take one piece."

"I'll come around, so wait your turn," Anko said as Naruto eagerly stepped forward. He settled back into the line of genin, impatient as Anko began walking around. "Only one now," she said sharply as Naruto's fingers began exploring the contents of the box. He rolled his eyes and clenched his fist around a piece.

8? Naruto read off his paper. He faced forward as Anko cleared her throat.

"Now then, I'd like you to tell us the number on that paper in order, starting from the left," she said. Ibiki Morino was standing nearby with a clipboard and a pen, marking down the order as the genin began saying their numbers out loud. He observed them with an almost sarcastic disdain that really carried no malicious intent, although most of them probably wouldn't have appreciated the descriptions he associated with them.

"5." That was Sasuke.

"I got 8." That loudmouth Naruto.

"2." Temari. Her brother wears more makeup than she does…

"6." Kankurō, the foreigner that plays with dolls.

"1." That stoic brat Gaara.

"10." Shikamaru. Lazy bum, though wasn't he Shikaku's boy?

"4." The genius snob Neji.

"I drew a 7!" And there's Lee, the muscle head with more eyebrows than muscle.

"9." Tenten. To survive the Chūnin Exam takes more than a few accurate weapon attacks…

"3." Shino, the punk with bugs in his body. Strange bunch this year.

"All right," the Hokage said after Ibiki scrawled the final name and number down. "Now I will reveal to you the final tournament!"

"That's what we drew numbers for?" Shikamaru exclaimed outraged.

The Hokage ignored him and turned to Ibiki. "Ibiki, show them the match arrangements."

"Yes," Ibiki said as he turned his clipboard around, revealing the brackets.

Match 1: Gaara vs. Temari.

Match 2: Shino vs. Neji.

Match 3: Sasuke vs. Kankurō.

Match 4: Lee vs. Naruto.

Match 5: Tenten vs. Shikamaru.

There was a simultaneous explosion of mixed reactions.

"Yes…" Shino whispered triumphantly.

"I get Bushy Brows the first round?" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, prompting Lee to jump up and down in joy.

"Naruto! Let us do our best!" Lee exclaimed with a thumbs up.

"Mannnnn….ANOTHER girl?" Shikamaru complained. Tenten glared daggers at him.

"Don't underestimate girls," she said challengingly, but he merely rolled his eyes and yawned.

"No…no…no…no…" Temari began hyperventilating, her knees buckling as she stared at the bracket. Kankurō caught her and steadied her as he glanced towards his younger brother. For the first time in recent memory, Gaara looked extremely disappointed.

The Third Hokage watched the scene with amusement before he clapped his hands together. "Well then, you're free to start strategizing or resting as you like. With this, I'll dismiss you all, but are there any final questions?"

Shikamaru raised his hand. "Can I ask a question?"

"Yes!"

"Since it's a tournament, it would mean there is only one winner, right…? Which would mean that only one person can become a chūnin doesn't it?"

"No! That's not quite it," the Hokage answered. "There will be judges, including myself, the Kazekage, lords of various countries that will make mission requests and other ninja leaders who will be watching the final test. Throughout the tournament, these judges will be evaluating your abilities…those judged to have the necessary qualities of a chūnin will be able to become a chūnin even if they lose their first match."

"That means that…it's a possibility that everyone here will become a chūnin?" Temari asked hopefully.

"Yes," the Hokage replied, "but also there is a possibility that no one will become a chūnin! To advance in the tournament means that you will have more chances to appeal to the judges." The Hokage turned back to Shikamaru. "Does that answer your question?"

"Geez…" Shikamaru muttered. As the Hokage looked around and saw that no one else had any questions, he smiled.

"Well then, thanks for all the effort you exerted for these trials. You're all dismissed until a month from now!"

"Naruto, Sasuke, get over here," Kakashi's voice boomed as the other genin participants went their own separate ways. Naruto eagerly ran up to his sensei, Sasuke trailing behind with his hands in his pockets.

"We did it, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed. Kakashi placed his hand on Naruto's head.

"You guys performed splendidly, but now is not the time to lower your guard. As things stand now, neither of you stand much of a chance of becoming a chūnin. We have a month to change that."

"So what kind of super awesome training are we gonna do?" Naruto asked excited.

"Err…Naruto, I'm not sure how to say this, but I won't be the one training you."

Naruto's face dropped and Kakashi was unsure what to say. "You're going to train Sasuke, aren't you?" Naruto asked accusingly.

"Now, now! Don't say that…because I've found you a teacher that's much better than me!" Kakashi exclaimed.

"Who is it?" Naruto asked, his curiosity piqued.

"It's me!" A familiar voice grabbed Naruto's attention. Turning around, recognition slapped Naruto across the face as he pointed a shaky finger at the new arrival.

"Oh! You're…the closet pervert!"

Ebisu, the "closet pervert," pushed his sunglasses up on his face with his middle finger, greatly perturbed at this nickname, particularly in the presence of Kakashi and Sasuke. Sasuke fell to the ground overcome both physically and mentally with weariness as Kakashi stared at the duo cluelessly.

"Well," he said, "I had no idea that you two knew each other…but that makes things easier for me. Ebisu-sensei, I leave things to you!"

"So soon?" Naruto asked disappointed. Kakashi jammed a thumb towards Sasuke who was on the ground shivering.

"Sorry, Naruto, but I've got to take care of this…Sasuke needs my full attention, but since you already know Ebisu-sensei, you are free to begin training whenever you want."

"Grr…okay, let's go right now, closet perv!" Naruto exclaimed, marching away from Kakashi and Sasuke.

"Really…" Ebisu huffed. Kakashi looked at him grimly.

"Sorry to have to do this to you," he muttered, "but I need to seal Sasuke's curse seal right now…it may already be too late."

"I understand," Ebisu reassured him with a small smile. "Naruto will be in good hands; you take care of your subordinate."

"Thank you," Kakashi said graciously. "Now…let's go, Sasuke." And good luck…Naruto.

Advancing from the Preliminary Round:

Rock Lee, Temari, Neji, Naruto, Shino, Gaara, Shikamaru, Tenten, Kankurō, and Sasuke

Author's Note: Finalizing the brackets has been a pain, but I've finally got things figured out. Unfortunately, I cannot figure out how to paste a bracket in this…hopefully I'll find the time to scan a bracket and make it my cover page for this fanfiction. To provide closure to the prelims, I decided to release this chapter early. But I'm glad to be done with the preliminary round, even though this chapter wasn't a fight. Now I can focus on the fights that aren't infinitely one-sided. R&R!

Crow