Hello all! Sorry I've posted an hour or so later than I wanted to! I had to look up a lot of information on these everyone's fighting styles so I can try to make these preliminary battles as realistic as possible.

Todays shout outs go out to Guest (who called me a fanfic god lol), and Guest who appreciated Sakura's use of her brain : ) And as always, thanks go out to Art of Harmony who is ridiculously supportive and helpful.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 21: Preliminary Matches 2

Edited: October 13th, 2015

Xxx Sakura xxX

Sakura leaned against the railing beside Naruto and Sasuke. Beside them stood Team Gai, and Lee hadn't stopped complimenting her since she had arrived on the balcony.

"Your taijutsu was much better than when we started training," Lee praised again as he helped her put her weights back on. "I saw some stuff we can still work on, but your youthful self has truly blossomed."

"Thanks Lee-senpai," Sakura said as she grinned. "I tried to put together a strategy that would work, and I'm glad it did… I had another idea I was going to use if the substitution jutsu didn't work, but Plan A is always the easiest one to go with."

"What were you going to do?" Sasuke asked curiously as they watched Kiba get carted off to the medical wing. She had made sure to give some of the antidote of the poison to the medics; she didn't want Kiba to suffer.

"Use his senses against him," Sakura said with a shrug. "Inuzuka's have very sensitive ears and noses, so I was going to do something that was going to attack both of those… Well that was before Kiba had attacked me with his fang over fang. That seriously hurt… I'm actually not sure my plan B would have worked actually… I'm sure I would have come up with something."

"I almost had to hold the boys back from jumping in to stop the first attack," Kakashi said with a small smirk.

"That's because Kiba's a bastard," Naruto said with a frown as he crossed his arms. "He hurt you Sakura-Chan."

"Yeah," Sakura said with an eyebrow raise. "And I hurt him. Do you think Shino and Hinata-Chan think I'm a 'bastard' too?"

"Well no, but-"

"It was a battle," Sakura said with a shrug. "We we're both trying to beat the other person. Because we were comrades, we both didn't use anything that was too harmful. I'm actually glad I went up against someone from the Leaf… Who knows what ninja from the other villages could have done?"

"Hn," Sasuke said with a nod. "I still want to fight Gaara… and Neji… and Lee… and you, Naruto."

Naruto looked surprised before he grinned. "I want to fight you too Sasuke-Teme," Naruto said with a grin. "And I wanted to fight Kiba, but since Sakura-Chan beat him, I want to fight her now."

"You want to fight me, Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked in question as she turned her eyes away from the arena and toward the blond. "Why?"

"Because you've gotten really strong, Sakura-Chan," Naruto said as the smile lit up his face. "And you're super smart. I want to see what kind of strategy you'd come up with against me."

"I don't think she'd need a strategy against you, Dobe," Sasuke said with a smug smile.

"Hey Teme!"

"Alright," Hayate's voice spoke as he looked to the balconies. "Now that we have the first match taken care of, we will continue on with the second match. Anko, please call the next match."

Anko nodded and then spoke into the microphone before the characters on the screen began to move again. Looking to the other genin, Sakura was hopeful that Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun wouldn't be put up against Gaara … she knew her teammates were strong, but she knew they needed to train more before they faced someone of his caliber.

The characters stopped, and the second battle was displayed:

Neji Hyuga vs. Yoroi Akado

"Another Leaf genin fighting a Leaf genin," Sakura muttered with a frown. "But then again there are four teams from the Leaf here."

"It was bound to happen," Kakashi said as the group watched Neji begin to descend the stairs. From across the balcony, Sakura watched Kabuto's teammate Yoroi begin to walk toward the center of the arena.

Yoroi's chakra was sterile with a leechy quality to it that Sakura didn't understand. He wore a long black mask that covered two-thirds of his face, and had black sunglasses that covered his eyes. His forehead protector was on top of a bandana that covered the top part of his head. The only things Sakura could see clearly on his face were his ears, the back of his neck, and the small area around his eyes.

Neji seemed very calm, and ready to fight. Even without having seen Neji fight before, Sakura had a feeling Neji was going to win. Lee-senpai's loud yell of encouragement only seemed to help her previous thought along.

"You guys have trained with him before," Sakura said while looking to her own teammates. "Is he really that good?"

"Hn," Sasuke said with a shrug. Naruto quickly shook his head.

"No way, Sakura-Chan!" Naruto said quickly. "Sasuke-teme and I could beat him for sure!"

"Neji is probably the strongest Leaf genin here," Lee said as he interrupted Naruto.

She wanted to ask more, but both Neji and Yoroi had walked to the center of the ring, and Sakura knew the match was about to start. Neji appeared calm, and Sakura couldn't read Yoroi at all.

"I had wished to battle Sasuke Uchiha," Yoroi's voice was deep and he cast a look toward Sasuke.

"How ironic," Neji said with a smirk. "That's who I was hoping to fight."

"I'll just have to beat you quickly then," Yoroi said in a determined voice. "So you won't be too disappointed."

"I'd like to see you try!" Tenten yelled from the balcony. Her brown eyes were focused on the match before them. Sakura knew that Tenten or Lee-senpai would be the ones to ask about Neji's strength.

"Hn," Neji said as he crossed his arms. "Let's get this over with."

"Alright," Hayate said while looking to both participants. "This is the second preliminary battle for the chuunin exams. Neji Hyuga, Yoroi Akado; are you ready?"

"Yes," Yoroi and Neji said at the same time.

"Then this battle will begin!"

As Hayate leapt away from the two, Neji easily moved into a crouch Sakura was not familiar with. It was an open stance; his right leg had shifted backward and his left arm was held open and upward.

"Is that how he usually fights?" Sakura asked as she watched Neji's eyes change. His white eyes grew veins around the outside, and Sakura could sense chakra was being focused there.

"It's the Hyuga taijutsu style," Lee commented from beside her. "It is probably the Leaf's strongest taijutsu style."

Yoroi didn't take long to run toward Neji, his hands glowing blue with chakra. Tilting to the left, Neji tried to strike Yoroi with his left palm. Yoroi dodged the palm and tried to follow up with his right arm; Neji's slid his body smoothly to the side and dodged the hit.

Sakura noticed the elegant and smooth movements of Neji and wondered if the stance Neji was in was effective in actually harming the other shinobi. Open palms weren't the strongest thing to be hit with, but then again Neji was a Hyuga. Was this the Hyuga taijutsu style Sakura had read about a few times? Sakura was curious to see what Neji's attacks could actually do to another person.

Moving forward, Neji put his pointer finger and middle finger together and slammed down on Yoroi's arm. Yoroi let out a yell of protest before jumping backward and shaking his arm.

"What just happened?" Sakura asked as she noticed the chakra in Yoroi's arm decrease; she had an idea, but she wanted to make sure she understood the full extent of Neji's attack.

"Yeah," Naruto said with a frown. "It looked like he just touched him."

"A touch is enough," Lee said as his eyes stayed on the match. "That's why the Hyuga taijutsu is so great."

"Lee and I use a taijutsu that causes damage to the body and breaks bones," Gai-sensei lectured easily. "It is called the Iron Fist style and aims to cause damage to your opponent's outer body. The Hyuga style causes damage by flooding their chakra into their opponent's inner coils. It destroys the inner organs or chakra points and is called the gentle fist."

Sakura was a little amazed as she watched Neji continue to hit Yoroi with his two fingers. As she concentrated more, Sakura could sense the chakra slowly decreasing in Yoroi's arm.

"He's shutting off the chakra pathways in his arms," Sakura said while watching Neji move. She always had faith in her teammates, but she wasn't sure Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, or herself would be able to know how to defend against that… she'd have to talk to Hinata-Chan about it later.

"You're so smart Sakura-Chan," Kakashi praised her by patting her head. "And the byakugan is the thing that helps them see the chakra points and know where to hit to effectively shut off their opponent's chakra."

"That would be hard to defend against," Sakura said out loud as Neji slammed a palm on Yoroi's stomach. Yoroi's body was sent flying back at the force of Neji's hand.

Slowly, Yoroi got up again and focused chakra into his working arm, his other arm dangled uselessly.

"It was fate that you lose here today," Neji said as he stalked forward.

"I'm sure it was," Yoroi's dripped with sarcasm as he grunted and took another step forward. In an instant, Yoroi had launched himself at Neji again, and the action had actually taken Neji by surprise. Neji dodged left, but couldn't stop Yoroi's good hand from grazing his left arm.

Neji shifted backwards to avoid getting touched by Yoroi's chakra arm. Sakura knew there was something leechy about Yoroi's chakra. Just by that simple touch, Yorori had somehow drained a small bit of Neji's chakra; Sakura could feel Neji's calm, breezy chakra flittering through Yoroi's pathways.

"You're trying to drain my chakra," Neji said with a frown. "Though that may help you in the long run, you cannot steal strength or imitate strength. Strength is something you either have or you don't. I have it, but you don't."

Neji shifted forward and quickly attacked Yoroi with his quick palms. Sakura turned to see Sasuke watching the battle with his sharingan activated.

"He really tried to steal Neji's chakra?" Sakura asked, just to make sure she understood what was happening. The idea of stealing someone else's chakra was amazing, and if he was trying to actually store it and use it for later? Sakura tried to think of the different possibilities having a jutsu like that could lead to.

"He tried to suck it from him," Sasuke nodded an affirmative. "I can see how it works. Yoroi was trying to add Neji's chakra to his chakra reserves… interesting."

Sakura turned to the battle once again, and Neji had Yoroi on the ground. From what she could tell, Neji had effectively shut off Yoroi's chakra points on both of his arms, and had connected another hit to his opponent's chest.

Yoroi kneeled on the ground, blood flowing from his mouth.

"You wouldn't have even beat Sasuke," Neji said as he deactivated his byakugan. "Call this match proctor, it is over."

"I cccc-an," Yoroi started to speak.

"I cut off your chakra points in your chest and arms," Neji said as he started to walk back to the balcony. "You can't even perform a jutsu… it is over."

"Winner… Neji Hyuga!" Hayate called as he motioned for more medics to enter. Sakura watched as Neji ascended the stairs. She hadn't thought that he would be as strong as he was, but he had been. Sakura's mind raced as she tried to come up with different ideas she would use to counter-act Neji's style.

Neji was semi quiet as he returned to his position a few feet away from her. "Great job Neji!" Lee said with a grin and a thumbs up. "I knew you could do it."

"Hn," Neji said as he crossed his arms. "He was weak, so it was his destiny to lose to me. When you are weak like him, there is no chance you will change or get better; disgusting."

"You don't think someone can get stronger?" Sakura found herself asking before she frowned. How could someone think that?

"No," Neji said emotionlessly. "Losers are losers. Their personality and strength will not change over time. People cannot change, differences are born and if you are weak now you are bound to be weak the rest of your life. It is your destiny."

"How the hell can you say that?" Naruto yelled sounding angry. Sakura felt rage flare through her veins as well, because it was her goal to become stronger.

"Looks, brains, ability, size and personality," Neji said. "All people judge and are judged on these basic values. Based on these unchangeable factors, people are not allowed to grow or evolve."

"You're an idiot," Sasuke said with a shake of his head as he looked to Neji.

"Sure," Sakura said after biting her lip, because even if she was angry she could understand Neji's view point; she just disagreed with it completely. "Some people have more potential than others, and jutsu and ability come naturally to people, but if you work hard enough, then you can gain strength."

"I disagree," Neji said as his eyes landed on Sakura. "If you were weak before the exams, the exams will not make you stronger. It is purely coincidental that you have made it this far."

"You're ridiculous!" Naruto yelled.

"We'll get onto the third preliminary battle," Hayate said after a cough. Team seven gave Hayate their attention, while Sakura's mind still reeled with the information Neji had given them.

How could he believe in something that sounded so foolish? Some people were born strong, others made themselves strong; that is what Sakura believed. Neji was obviously in the first category, and Sakura was slowly working herself into being in the second category.

The characters began to change on the board again, and Sakura was curious as to who would be fighting in the next battle.

Kin Tsuchi vs. Dosu Kinuta

Sakura was more than surprised to see two teammates being called down to battle. She looked across the room to see both Kin and Dosu descend the staircase.

The two hadn't even looked at each other, but to their sensei when their names had been posted. Their sensei had nodded, and that made it obvious to Sakura that he wanted them to fight.

After remembering their skills from the Forest of Death, Sakura was thinking that Dosu definitely had an upper hand in this battle.

The only thing Sakura had seen Kin use was senbon, and Sakura knew that Dosu could blow away the senbon with his metal arm.

Standing in the middle of the area, Hayate turned to both ninja. "Dosu Kinuta and Kin Tsuchi; are you ready?"

"I won't go easy on you with sensei watching," Kin said with a determined look in her eye. "I am ready."

"I am also ready," Dosu said as his arms lay lazily at his sides.

"Then the third battle in the preliminary matches can begin!"

Kin was the first one to react, and she quickly grabbed some senbon from her kunai pouch.

She fired the belled senbon needles at Dosu, and he was quick to dodge them.

"I don't even need to use my jutsu on you Kin," Dosu taunted as he jumped toward her. He raised his right arm to punch her, but she rolled out of the way quickly. Grabbing another senbon, Kin dodged Dosu's follow up attack, and then tried to stab him in the foot; her attack missed.

It was so weird seeing two teammates fight, Sakura thought to herself. Teammates knew your fighting style, your strengths and weaknesses. It would be difficult to fight your teammates in a battle like this.

Kin had somehow landed a few yards away from Dosu after dodging an attempted punch. Kin grabbed a few more senbon from her bag and launched them at Dosu. Instead of dodging them this time, Dosu used his metal arm to blow them away.

"Your bells won't be able to affect my hearing," Dosu said as he took a few steps forward. "But I know you can't say the same thing to me about my jutsu and your hearing."

In an instant, Dosu was in front of Kin. His metal arm was right next to Kin's right ear, and Sakura watched as Sasuke winced as Dosu used his sound wave attack again.

Sasuke knew how it felt to be attacked with that jutsu. Even after the medicine Sakura had made for him, his ears still weren't at a hundred percent.

Turning back to the match, Kin was now on her knees, and Dosu had moved his arm to the other ear. He wasn't going to-

The metal arm pushed out sound waves again and attacked her other ear this time. Sakura's eyes widened at the cruel gesture; surely, Dosu only needed to rupture one ear drum on his opponent to allow him to win?

But then again, Sound was a lot different than Leaf was. She was sure she could have done more damage to Kiba, or she bet even Neji could have done more damage to Yoroi, but that was not the way they learned to do things in the Leaf Village.

Sound ninja were much more cruel, and Sakura was hoping she wouldn't have to face one of them in the finals.

After Dosu's second attack, Kin had landed on the floor face first. Sakura had watched Kin's eyes roll into the back of her head, and now there was blood streaming down both of her ears…

At this point, Sakura knew the Sound genin could not be siblings. First of all, Dosu and Kin had different last names. They could have been siblings with different last names, but Dosu's final act told her that they were not related. No sibling would be so cruel as to completely deafen their other sibling.

"That's enough!" Hayate called as Dosu kicked the back of Kin's head for what Sakura assumed he thought as good measure. The girl was already unconscious on the ground; why the hell did he need to do that? "The winner of this match is Dosu Kinuta."

Dosu's eyes held no remorse as he walked back toward the balcony without a word, or without a second glance at Kin.

The medics were called into the room quickly, and Kin was being rapidly taken out of the room. Sakura frowned when she scanned the room. She wondered who the boys were going to have to face.

"We will now be getting on to the next battle," Hayate said as his eyes turned to Anko. Anko nodded and the characters appeared on the board once again.

Sakura sighed. Three matches had finished already, and there were still seven more to go. Gripping her ribs, Sakura knew she would need to go get her ribs checked out after the matches were over.

"Do you want to get them checked right now?" Kakashi asked as he sent her a questioning look. Sakura shook her head with a frown; could Kakashi-sensei read her mind or something?

"There's no way I can miss either of their matches," Sakura said with a small pout as she looked to her teammates. "They got to watch me."

"Promise me you'll head to the medic wing right after the preliminaries are over then," Kakashi said with a sigh.

"I promise," Sakura said with a grin as she watched the letters on the screen stop.

Rock Lee vs. Gaara Sabaku

"It's finally my turn!" Lee let out a woot as he leapt off of the balcony and landed on the floor.

Sakura frowned at Lee-senpai's enthusiasm… she had a bad feeling about this match.

So there is chapter 21! What do you think so far? Were you surprised by the pairings? Who do you think Naruto and Sasuke will be paired against?