Re-posted again!
riku92 , thank you very much for pointing out the repeat.
I think there's something wrong with my computer. Everything's getting pasted twice and i only did it once. Did it save twice when i made changes? I dunno, but hopfully it's fixed now.
Last time...I forget...but here's the next chapter...
"I could tell you, but I don't know either."
"'Person'?" Sasuke read, sounding really disappointed.
Suddenly a white smoke started to come out of the scrolls.
"It's a summoning inscription." Sasuke said in alarm. "Naruto, Ryoko, let go of the scrolls!"
Naruto and Ryoko threw the scrolls forward. The smoke started to rise up and the familiar poof sound reached their ears. They could see a silhouette standing in the middle of the smoke.
"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto exclaimed.
The Chunin was staring at the ground with his arms crossed above his chest.
"Hello. Long time no see." He lifted his head and gave us a pleased smile. "Looks like the four of you went through a lot of trouble."
"Nani? Why did you appear through a Kuchiyose no Jutsu Iruka-sensei?" Naruto questioned.
"We Chunin are to welcome the examinees at the end of this second exam. I was given the duty to pass the four of you a message by chance."
"A message?" Ryoko repeated.
Iruka-sensei took a pocket watch out of his pocket and opened it. The Chunin smirked.
"You made it just in time." He closed it and turned to us again. "Everyone, congratulations on passing the second exam. I'd like to treat you to ramen at Ichikaru, but-"
"YATTA!" Naruto yelled, throwing himself at Iruka-sensei and pulling him into a crushing-bone hug.
"Naruto let me finish!" Iruka-sensei scolded. Naruto lets go of him still cheering inwardly about the ramen.
Sasuke sat on the floor and Ryoko dropped to her knees, both completely exhausted. They sighed at Naruto limited energy as he continued to jump happily.
"Geez, you're still restless like before." Iruka-sensei said in a nostalgic tone. Naruto grinned in agreement.
"I see." Sasuke said with a smirk. All the stares turned to him. "If we looked into the scrolls during the exam… Iruka-sensei, what were you planning to do?"
Iruka-sensei sent them a guilty smile as he picked up the scrolls on the floor.
"Sasuke, you're as sharp as ever. As you have guessed, this exam tests your mission completion abilities. So, if you break the rules and open a scroll, we were ordered to knock out the examinees until the second phase ended."
Sasuke's smirk widened as he turned to Naruto and Ryoko.
"Aren't you two glad you didn't open it?" Ryoko and Naruto stiffened, wide-eyed.
"Ryoko sighed in relief, and then looked up to the poster again.
"Oh, and sensei." Iruka-sensei turned to her. "What does that text on the wall mean?"
"Who cares? We passed!" Naruto said.
Iruka-sensei sweat dropped. "Actually, my other mission is to explain to you what this means."
"Uh? Really?"
"Yes. This is the principal Lord Hokage wrote that you should keep in mind as a Chunin. The 'Heaven' in this text points to the head of the person. And 'Earth' points to the body. If you do not possess Heaven, gain knowledge and be prepared. That means, for example, if Naruto's weak point is his brain, he should study and prepare for his missions."
Naruto scowled.
"And if you do not possess Earth, run through the fields and seek strength. For example, if Ryoko's weakness lies in the strength, she should train herself every day. That's what it means."
Ryoko pouted.
"And if you have both Earth and Heaven attributes, any dangerous mission will become safe. It can even become easy."
"What about that missing letter?" Sasuke asked.
"It's the letter that symbolizes a Chunin." Iruka-sensei opened the scroll and showed it to us. "The 'human' letter that was here goes in there. The survival mission you took part in the past five days tested the basic abilities of examinees as a Chunin. And you guys completed it. A Chunin is a commander-class. He has a duty to lead a team. Deeply inscribe into your heart the importance of knowledge and strength in missions. Never forget that Chunin principal, and go on to the next step. That's all I was ordered to tell you."
"Roger!" Naruto said.
"But don't push yourselves in the third exam." Iruka-sensei added, slightly worried.
"But we are supposed to do that." Ryoko said.
"Especially you, Naruto." Iruka-sensei said. "I'm worried about the-"
"Iruka-sensei." Naruto interrupted. "When I got this headband, I graduated from the Academy. There's no need to worry." He adjusted his headband. "And this is the proof you gave me to I'm not a child anymore, right, Iruka-sensei? I may still be reckless, but I'm not a kid anymore. Right now, I'm a ninja!"
Iruka-sensei remained in silent for some seconds, just staring at Naruto. "I see." The Chunin said. "I'm sorry, Naruto."
Naruto grinned happily. "Now how about that ramen?"
Iruka-sensei sweat dropped. Same old Naruto…
They headed towards large arena, where the others were waiting. The teams were lined up in front of their sensei, the Exam proctors and the Hokage himself. Behind them there were two big stone hands performing a seal.
"First off, congratulations on passing the second phase." Anko said. "We will now have an explanation of the third exam from Lord Hokage. Everyone listen well."
The Hokage stepped forward and started his speech. Team 8 was there. Team 10 apparently had managed to take someone's scroll, because Shikamaru, Choji and Ino were there as well. Rock Lee's team was lined up beside us and beside them, the Oto team. Then there were Kabuto's team and Gaara's team.
(In the time it took me to write out that unimportant paragraph the Hokage, who was finishing his speech.)
A brown-haired Konoha Chunin jumped out of nowhere in front of the Hokage and kneeled to him.
"Excuse me, Lord Hokage." He said. "I, Gekkou Hayate, will explain the third exam." The Hokage nodded.
"Please, do."
"Everyone, nice to meet you." Hayate said, turning to us and coughing a little. "Everyone, before the third exam, there's something I want you to do. Fight in some preliminary matches to see who gets to advance the third exams main battle."
"Nani?" Naruto yelled.
"Preliminary matches? What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked angrily.
Ryoko sighed in annoyance, not at him, but at the news "Exactly as he said. We will have to fight someone else and those who win will be able to advance the next phase. Why do we have to do this? Don't some of us get a break of something? Ya know to replenish our chakra?"
"Because the first and the second phases were too easy, I don't know." Hayate said.
Too easy, yeah, sure.
"But there are too many examinees left. According to Chunin regulations, we must decrease the number of participants for the third exam. As previously mentioned by Lord Hokage, there are many guests for the third exam. We cannot have a lot of matches. We're limited on time, as well. So, those who aren't feeling well-" He stopped the sentence to cough a little.
Talking about not feeling well…
"Excuse me. If anyone wants to quit after hearing the explanation, please let me know." Like anyone would want to quit after coming so far. "The preliminary matches will begin immediately."
"Immediately?" Kiba exclaimed crossly as some other people gasped.
"But we just got through the second exam!" Ino cried.
"Aw what a drag." Shikamaru creatively said.
Ryoko heard a small wince of pain from behind her and turned around to see Sasuke with a hand over his shoulder, where the mark was. "Is it activating?" She whispered.
He gritted his teeth and shook his head. Even if the mark wasn't activating, he still felt the pain from before. This could be a problem during his fight.
"I'm going to ask a stupid question. Should we withdraw?" She asked.
Sasuke's eyes widened and Naruto turned to hear their conversation.
Sasuke firmly shook his head, "No way."
"Good because I'm not backing out either."
(I know this is where Kabuto is supposed to raise his hand, but then I remembered that Gaara's team had an extra member and who is she going to fight? Even though Kabuto was absent everyone still had a chance to fight, that I don't get. But oh well. He's here.)
"Then, let's begin the preliminary matches." Hayate announced. "It'll be a one-on-one match. There are no rules. You fight until the other person dies, is knocked out, or admits defeat. However, if I judge that the match's over, I may stop you to prevent any unnecessary deaths. The thing that will hold your destiny-" He nodded at Anko, who said something through her mike. Some seconds later, part of the wall in front of us opened, revealing a huge black television screen. Everyone's eyes widened. "-will be this. This electric bulletin board will randomly display the names of two fighters for each match. Without further ado, I will now display the names for the first match."
The screen glowed yellow and turned black again. A lot of names scrolled through it so fast they couldn't read it. Finally, it stopped. Now there were only two names on the screen.
"Akadou Yoroi vs. Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke smirked.
"Those whose names were displayed, step up." Hayate said. Sasuke and one of Kabuto's strange teammates stepped forward. "The first match's fighters are Akadou Yoroi and Uchiha Sasuke. Are there any objections?"
"No." Both said.
"Everyone other than the two fighters, please move up there." Hayate gestured to the balconies. Some people started to move, but Ryoko stayed for a little longer.
"Sasuke..." Ryoko called. He turned to look at her. "Don't let that curse mark take over or I'll make sure this is the last thing you'll ever do in your life."
The Uchiha smirked. "Worried?"
"You wish. It's just it affects me too…" She sent him an angry glare. "Just one more thing: Don't even think about losing." (Because I will personally kick your ass!)
"I won't." He smirked.
She smirked as well and followed Naruto to the balconies. The sensei also joined them up there. Some people leaned over the railings. Everyone was curious to see the top rookie's fight.
"Begin." Hayate announced, stepping backwards to make more room for the fighters.
Sasuke assumed a fighting stance and Yoroi made a seal. His hand glowed with blue chakra and he threw three shuriken at Sasuke. The Uchiha deflected them with a kunai, but faltered when his mark throbbed causing him to cry out in pain. Losing his balance Sasuke fell on the floor. In an instant Yoroi was in front of him aiming a punch at Sasuke's face. Sasuke rolled to the left and kicked Yoroi legs causing him to fall. Sasuke immobilized Yoroi pretty well, holding his head with the leg and his arm positioned on Sasuke's chest, with his other leg and one hand.
"He did it!" Naruto cheered.
Kabuto's teammate's hand glowed with chakra again and clutched on Sasuke's shirt. The Uchiha's eyes widened and he started to shiver. Feeling the grip on his arm loosening Yoroi slammed it on Sasuke's chest. He took his head away from Sasuke's leg and jumped backwards, leaving the Uchiha shaking in pain on the floor.
Ryoko gritted my teeth as Yoroi charged towards Sasuke prepared to strike. His chakra wrapped around his hand one more time.
"MOVE UCHIHA!"
Sasuke quickly sat up but couldn't dodge it in time. Yoroi pressed his hand on Sasuke's head causing him to fall on the floor again. Sasuke grabbed Yoroi's arm but couldn't find the strength to shove it away. After his futile attempts Sasuke released Yoroi with an incredibly exhausted expression. Everyone's eyes widened. Naruto was holding the railings so tight they might break at any moment. Kakashi-sensei tried to keep his "cool" pose, but he was worried.
Surprising everyone, Sasuke managed to gather strength on his leg and kicked Yoroi's chest. "Get off!"
Kabuto's teammate was thrown a few meters away from Sasuke. He, too, was surprise, but masked it well as he got to his feet.
Sasuke sat up again, panting heavily.
Yoroi chuckled. "Relax. I'll end this quickly."
He darted towards Sasuke using the same technique again. This time the Uchiha managed to stand up and dodge it. He dodged a few times until Yoroi's hand touched one of his hair's bangs. Sasuke reeled forward, using all his effort not to fall.
"What's wrong? Are you done for already?" Yoroi teased.
Sasuke swung a kick at him, but Yoroi jumped backwards and avoided it.
"SASUKE!" Naruto yelled, frustrated. "You call yourself an Uchiha with that? Stop acting like an idiot! Get serious!"
Ryoko merely nodded. "Naruto's right! Get your butt in gear! You're just embarrassing yourself!"
Sasuke turned to look at Naruto and Ryoko saw his eyes widening slightly. 'He'd better have had a good idea, or else…'
"You don't have time to look the other way!" Yoroi said charging towards Sasuke. He was coming closer. And Sasuke wasn't going to move until he locked eyes with Lee. (Ew, okay I hope I didn't make that sound like a pairing. *shivers*)
Sasuke dodged all of Yoroi's punches. A smirk came to his face. With an amazing speed, the Uchiha ducked and kicked Yoroi's jaw, sending him flying upwards. Everyone gasps. That's Lee's move!
Lee's and Gai's mouths dropped as they also realized that.
Sasuke appeared below Yoroi while Yoroi hovered above Sasuke.
"I'll admit that I borrowed that one but from here on out its all original." Sasuke said pressing two fingers on Yoroi's back. "This is the end."
Sasuke was about to strike when the mark on his neck started to glow. Ryoko clenched her teeth when her shoulder began to hurt too. Kakashi-sensei peered at her and then at Sasuke making the connection of what's happening to both of them.
Sasuke gritted his teeth. The mark slowly started to retreat until there were only the three black commas on Sasuke's neck. The Uchiha smirked and kicked Yoroi's left side but Kabuto's teammate blocked it with his arm. Then surprising everyone Sasuke raised his right fist and punched Yoroi's jaw. The ninja started falling upside down but Sasuke's attack wasn't over yet. He kicked Yoroi's chest with full strength.
"Lion's Barrage!" Sasuke yelled as everyone's eyes widened.
(I wanna know where the hell he got the name. I don't see any lions.)
The force of the attack sent the Uchiha backwards, landing on his chest. Yoroi let out a wince of pain and stood on the floor defeated. Sasuke slowly sat up breathing heavily and wiped a fillet of blood from his mouth.
Hayate walked to Yoroi to check his conditions even though there was no need for that. It was obvious who the winner was.
"I will stop this match now." The proctor stated. "The first match winner is Uchiha Sasuke. He passes the preliminary round."
"YATTA!" Naruto cheered with a huge grin plastered on his face. Everyone smiled in relief. "Way to go, Uchiha!"
The boy was exhausted. Sasuke's eyelids started to close and he was about to fall backwards when a cloud of smoke appeared behind him. Sasuke ended up leaning against Kakashi-sensei's knee while the Jounin lazily pretended to read his perverted book.
"You did okay." Sensei complimented, causing Sasuke to smirk.
"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled laughing. "You won in such an uncool way! You're all worn out, you idiot!"
Ryoko sniggered. It was impossible not to laugh when Naruto made fun of Sasuke.
The Uchiha sent us a weak glare, but soon turned to smirk again.
A group of medic-ninjas walked into the arena and took Yoroi in a stretcher. One of them walked towards Sasuke with a serious expression.
"Uchiha Sasuke, we'll give you the best treatment we can."
"This isn't your field." Kakashi-sensei said calmly. The medic sent him a confused look. "I'll take him." Kakashi-sensei kneeled down and whispered something in Sasuke's ear. His eyes widened, but no one else seemed to notice. Ryoko frowned. Whatever it was, it was something important. 'Don't tell me…Kakashi knows…'
Sasuke reluctantly got up and walked to the exit with Kakashi-sensei, putting a hand over where the mark was. Naruto frowned at this and turned to Ryoko.
"Ryoko did you see some sort of weird wound on Sasuke's neck during the match?"
'Damn, I was afraid he would ask that.'
"Well…it's kinda hard to explain Naruto…" Ryoko hesitated, "But you shouldn't worry about it right now. You should be focused on the matches. This is a good time to learn everyone's weak points and make a strategy."
Naruto nodded in understanding.
Everyone's attention turned to the electric board, which started sorting the names again. Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei stopped walking for a moment to see who would be fighting next. Everyone held their breath as the two fighters' names were displayed.
Everyone's eye's widened.
