Just a warning, everyone, the fights in this chapter are short for a couple of reasons and I just can't think up of a fight more than a thousand words with these characters. Thank you all for reading though and enjoy.

Chapter Twenty

After everyone (except for Lee-senpai who has been taken away by the medics) returned to their places, they once again awaited for the next match. In the meantime, Shinju was talking with Shuhei-senpai. ''Other than you and me, the only people left are Akimichi Chouji and Dosu from the Sound. Akimichi will be easy to beat, but Dosu is able to send sonic waves from the apparel on his arms. You better block your ears with that one.''

''Are you going to give me any tips on how to defeat you then?''

''You can dream on, Shuhei-senpai, just watch the screen closely since it'll be your turn soon.''

''Hai,hai.'' The noises stopped. ''It seems that you were right, Hyuuga-san. I'll be fighting that Dosu guy. See ya later.'' He jumped down to face his opponent.

''Now, let the tenth match, begin.'' Shuhei-senpai made a bit more distance between his opponent and himself before starting to concentrate his chakra at fast speed. Next thing everyone knew, he was behind his opponent and ready to attack. ''Katon: Haisekishou no jutsu!''

An explosion was heard, startling many among the audience. Shuhei-senpai wasn't finished yet though. He immediately proceeded to use another fire-based jutsu. ''Katon: Hoenka no Jutsu!'' Three spheres of chakra left his body and went towards the Oto nin. The closer they got to Dosu, the nearer they got to each other until the three chakra fireballs became one and collided with their target. Shuhei senpai also threw kunai with papers attached, most likely the paper-explosives Shinju heard about before.

When the noise finally died down, it was too late for Shuhei-senpai. Shinju had noticed that as the Hoenka no Jutsu wa about to hit, Dosu used the Kawarimi which replaced oneself with a log. What remained inside the crater were flames and ashes said log. The remaining Sound ninja had gone behind Shuhei-senpai and attacked with his forearm, resulting in a painful scream. By then, Shuhei-senpai could only hear from one ear or not at all. He puked shortly afterwards, but before he could act again, Dosu knocked him out. It was a short fight and the winner was decided. The medic-nin immediately took Shuhei-senpai away to heal the damage.

''He shouldn't have acted so rashly. It was his downfall,'' Shinju declared. ''He should have concentrated at completely cornering hs=is opponent first and if possible, disable whatever was on his opponent's forearm.''

''Shuhei never was one for strategy. He is more suited to fight someone like that Lee boy or the two knuckleheads that brawled with the ninken,'' Kasumi-sensei explained. ''He is the offense and has only been training to charge his way through the Exam. If he were given instructions though, he would execute them without fail. That's how he is.''

''Is Sakomizu-senpai the leader of the team?'' Shinju wanted to know.

''He is. A very intellectual leader with a couple of skills to back him up, but it's mostly Arisu doing the protecting. Our team is made to be able to adapt to any given situation and any kind of mission, but compared to the specialists, they won't stand a chance.'' Kasumi-sensei paused, as though reminiscing a past event. ''It's your turn now, Hyuuga. Don't lose.''

''I won't, Kasumi-sensei.'' Shinju bowed slightly before disappearing and reappearing near the crater Lee-senpai had made in his battle. ''Now,'' the judge announced. ''The 11th and final match. Fighters, please step up.'' Akimichi also came down and stood in front of her with determination. Even though she didn't want to win at first, she promised both Gaara-sama and Sasuke to fight them in the impending matches of the Third Exam. It was the least she could do for them after everything that happened… Losing in the preliminaries is no longer an option.

''Now. 11th match, begin.'' Neither made a move for a moment and it was so silent that Shinju could hear the bugs crawling inside of Aburame's body without too much straining. Although…

''Do your best, Fatty!" Yamanaka cheered her teammate on. Akimichi immediately noticed the presence of the forbidden word and got angry. "Damn it, they're going to get it !" He angrily declared. "I'm going to finish this match quickly, then beat them to a pulp!"

''If so, then we should stop playing around, Akimichi-san,'' Shinju replied in an almost bored voice. ''Shall we begin to actually fight?''

''Ninpou, Baika no Jutsu!'' His body turned big again, just like in the clearing. ''And Konoha's special taijutsu moves…'' His arms, legs and his head shrank back towards his body, replaced by chakra flow. He then began turning over himself in mid-air, giving the impression that he became a ball. ''Meat Tank!''

Remembering the fight from before that opposed him to the Oto-nin Zaku, Shinju made no moves to attack, knowing that if she tried taijutsu, it would harm her instead and kunai and shuriken are of no use against him… for now. What she needed was a crater and a couple of paper bombs…

''Hurray for big-boned people!'' He began rolling her way, but she made no move to, well, move.

''That's right! Crush her, Chouji!'' Yamanaka cheered again. Now, seven meters, five meters, three meters… NOW! Shinju evaded and got behind him. Akimichi continued rolling faster and faster, especially when he reached the crater. Shinju concentrated to make sure that her plan will work and when Akimichi reached the center of the crater, she threw several kunai with paper-bombs attached. That would, momentarily, halt his progression, and it was within tht very span of time that she must strike.

Checking his aura readings, she saw that he began to slow down progressively. Shinju threw another couple of kunai and this time, he halted completely. As soon as he began to stop, Shinju charged in the cloud of dust. Just as she thought, Akimichi turned around in the crater without coming out, making said hole deeper and deeper, making himself dizzy in the process as well. By the time she reached him, he was disoriented and had fallen to the ground. She pulled out her katana and held it at his throat. ''Do you give up?''

''Winner, Hyuuga.'' Hayate-sensei announced, noting that Akimichi was unable to fight any longer. ''That concludes the preliminary matches. All those who have passed, please come down. We will be giving more information on the main matches.''

Once again, they stood side by side, this time, with a lot less people. Only the Sandaime Hokage and the proctors as well as the judge were in front of the Genin. Shinju was now stuck between Sasuke and Gaara-sama, alone. ''To those that have passed to the main matches of the Third Exam, congratulations.''

''Your main match fights will be shown in front of everyone. We wish for all of you to show off your abilities as your country's representative's power. Therefore, the main matches will begin in one month,'' Sandaime-dono announced.

I knew it. I always found it a bit weird that the Chunin Exams were over a period of a month…

''We're not going to fight, right here, right now?'' Uzumaki wondered since it was what they have done for the preliminaries.

''The one month is a time to conduct appropriate preparations. In other words, we are going to announce to the feudal lords and head ninja of individual countries that the preliminary matches have ended. And time is needed to gather those people for the main matches. This is also preparation time for you candidates.''

''I still don't understand,'' Kankuro-san said. ''Explain.''

''This time is used so you can know yourself and your enemy better. It is a time to analyze the information you have gathered during the preliminary matches. The battles we had were just like real combat situations. It has been done where both parties knew nothing of each other. But the main matches will not be like that. There are those who have revealed everything to their rivals. To make things fair, work hard and improve yourselves on your own in the next month.''

It seems that I won't be able to make it far in my current state… I'm lucky that I got this far in the first place.

''So, I want to let you guys go, but… There is something important we have to do before the main matches. Take a piece from the box Anko is holding.''

''I'll walk, so take it in turns.'' Anko said before starting from one end. ''Take just one.''

When it got to Shinju, she was sweating inside. She took a piece of paper and unfolded it, but… ''It's number ten,'' Gaara-sama mumbled. ''Huh?''

''Okay, everyone got one? Now, give me your number, starting from the left.''

''Nine.'' Dosu.

''One.'' Uzumaki.

''Seven.'' Temari-sama.

''Five.'' Kankuro-san.

''Four.'' Sasuke.

''Ten.'' Shinju.

''Three.'' Gaara-sama.

''Eight.'' Nara.

''Two.'' Neji-sama.

''Six.'' Aburame.

''We will now tell you the match-ups for the tournament. Ibiki, show the match-ups.''

''I have a question,'' Nara said after some thought. ''If it's a tournament, then there's only one winner, right? Does that mean that only one person can become Chunin?''

''No, that's not how it is. There will be judges including me, Kazekage, and the other feudal lords and head ninja from other countries who will be potential clients. These judges will grade you by watching you in the tournament. And those who are qualified will become Chunin even if they lost their match.''

''So there's a possibility that everyone here will become Chunin?'' Temari-sama asked.

''But that also means that everyone might stay Genin, right?'' Shinju added.

''Yes, winning the matches means that you will be able to show off your skills more. Understood, Shikamaru-kun? That is all, we will be adjourned until next month.''

So... that's it. Well, Shinju's going to talk with the Hokage in the next chapter... I hope that everything goes well. Sasuke is very curious though, but he won't be around until the chapter after the next and we'll see Gaara again after that.

Pairings...

Gaara/Shinju 3

Sasuke/Shinju 1

Ino/Sai 1

Ino/Chouji 1

Naruto/Hinata 2

Threesome 4

Please review!