Author's Note – Nope, still don't own Naruto. Did you really think that would change?

Oh, there may be a delay before the next update, need to re-write several of the chapters.

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Chapter Twenty-One – Preliminary Knockouts Part One

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Naruto looked around as he stood in the large hall. Several other teams had made it, all of the Konoha 13 and another Konoha team, theSuna siblings and a a trio from Sound.

"Given how many teams entered, I expected more to make it through." He noted.

"We sent ANBU to tell the teams that Orochimaru was known to have been in the Forest." Anko said from just behind him. "Half of the remaining teams bailed at that point. You're looking at those brave enough and skilled enough to win. Pay attention, the Hokage's about to speak."

Naruto nodded and turned his attention to the raised dias at the front of the room where the Hokage was standing. An instant later, Anko appeared by his side and Naruto glanced back to see the Anko behind him vanish in a cloud of smoke.

'heh, Kage Bunshin.'

"Alright, now pay attention!" Anko said, her voice echoing through the hall. "Lord Hokage is about to explain the third exam to you, so you'd better pay attention, maggots! Lord Hokage, they're all yours."

Naruto his a smirk at how Anko had gone from commanding to respectful with that final sentence, then he hid his amusement as the Hokage stepped forwards.

"Ahem. First, before I tell you what the third exam entails, I want to explain something about the test itself. Listen closely now, it's something all of you need to understand."

The hall seemed to go absolutely silent as the Hokage spoke.

"I'm going to tell you the true purpose of these exams. Why do you suppose our country holds these exams in conjuction with our allies? To raise the ability levels of the shinobi and increase friendship between allied nations, to be sure. But it's important you understand it's true meaning. The exams are,so to speak… They're a representation of the battle between allied nations."

Everyone seemed to inhale in shock at that.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tenten asked before she could stop herself.

"Now, if we look at our history," the Hokage continued, "All the countries that we're currently allied with were once neighbouring nations that continuously fought with each other for power. In order to avoid destroying each other's military strength meaninglessly, those countries picked champions to do battle on behalf of their countries at a mutually selected location. That was how the Chunin selection exams originally began. These exams give ninja a chance to test themselves against each other, carrying the pride of their nation on their backs.

"Many leaders and people of prominence from various countries are invited to attend this exam as guests, and to possibly seek shinobi to work for them. This exam could determine the course of your ninja work from here on out. And more importantly, those rulers will watch your battles, and take note of the strengths that each ninja, and each nation is developing. The strong nations are inundated with job requests for their ninja while conversely, the requests for countries that are deemed weak, decline. Therefore, the stronger our nation is, the better it's position when it comes to negotiating with neighbouring countries, so it is important to show how much military strength our village has. In other words, these exams are nothing less that a replacement for war, giving each nation a chance to show the strength of its shinobi, and thus the strength of its military."

The hall remained silent as everyone considered the Hokage's speech, then a sickly-looking Jonin stepped forwards and Naruto smiled slightly as Hayate Gekkostarted speaking.

"We never expected so many of you to make it through, so we are holding a preliminary round of one-on-one duels to reduce your numbers. Before we do so, do any of you feel you cannot proceed any further? If you do, your team will not be penalised as the teamwork portion is over."

For a moment, no-one moved then Kabuto raised his hand. "My reserves are still depleted, I wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight."

Hayate nodded as Kabuto made his way to the exit. "There are twenty-one remaining, we wish to reduce the number to less than half of that. Does anyone volunteer to participate in more than one battle?"

"I do." Naruto said, causing everyone to look at him. "And to make it fairer, I'll allow my opponents to decide whether I use my sword, or if I fight alongside my Great Tiger partner, Kaze, instead."

For several more seconds, everyone stared at him, then the Hokage chuckled. "Confident, aren't you, Naruto. Well, with your Kekkei Genkai and training, how could you be otherwise. Very well. You fight twice. Gekko?"

"The screens behind me will display the names of the participants for each round." Gekko said, and everyone looked up at the screens to see two names already displayed. "Round one is Uchiha Sasuke against Akado Yoroi. Could everone else please go up to the balcony to wait your turn."

Naruto looked up and saw Kaze looking down at him from the balcony. Leaping up, he landed by Kaze and stroked his head.

"Looks like we get one heck of a view from up here."

"We do, Naruto-kun." Hinata said as she walked towards him, Kyouka by her side. "That was quite a challenge you gave, will you be alright?"

"I'll be fine." Naruto grinned. "Let's watch Sasuke fight. Should be fun."

In the battleground, Sasuke stood facing his opponant and Hayatestood between them. "As Proctor, I can call the fight for any reason. Should you not cease fighting when I command, I am allowed to use any means I deem necessary, even lethal force, to stop you. Do you understand?"

Both Sasuke and Akado nodded and Hayate took a step back.

"Begin!"

Akado advanced, hands ready to grab, but Sasuke leapt sideways and unsheathed his sword in a fluid motion, slicing into Akado's arm as he did so. As Akado jolted backwards, Sasuke stabbed him in the leg, sending him to the ground.

"I yield!"

"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke." Hayate proclaimed.

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Chouji gulped as Naruto vaulted down from the balcony, landing lightly in front of him. Before Hayate could say anything, Naruto spoke.

"Your choice, Chouji. Do I use my sword or my cat?"

Chouji swallowed. "Cat."

Kaze rose, yawned and trotted down the stairs, coming to a halt behind Naruto before lying down. Naruto glanced at him, then back at Chouji, who swallowed before taking his stance.

"Begin!"

Naruto backflipped onto Kaze's shoulders and performed what to team 8 was a a very familiar sequence of handseals.

"Combination Kagetora Clan Technique: Great Tiger Henge no Jutsu!"

"Holy shit!" Shikamaru gasped as Naruto, now in his tiger-shape, prowled towards a nervously-sweating Chouji while Kaze rose and padded off to the edge of the arena. Hinata smiled.

Chouji backed away, then paused, forming handseals of his own.

"Body Expansion Technique, Meat Tank!"

Naruto paused as Chouji swelled up, his arms, legs and head vanishing into his clothing, then the now-spherical Chouji rolled towards him, picking up speed rapidly.

"Flatten him!" Ino yelled as Chouji thundered towards Naruto, then her face froze as Naruto pounced, rolled and flung Chouji into the air, using his paws to bat him upwards like an oversized ball of yarn.

Hinata facepalmed.

After a few moments of playing with Chouji, Naruto pushed him up so he flew high into the air, then rolled out of the way as he crashed back down to earth. As Chouji pulled hiself out of the crater, Naruto pounced on him and fastened his jaws to the back of his neck.

"I yield." Chouji gasped and Naruto released him, backed away and returned to his human form.

"Good fight, Chouji." Naruto said, picking up the larger boy andeffortlessly slinging him onto his back. "Let's get you back to your team, hey?"

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Hinata stood firm, Kyouka a reassuring presence just behind her, as her opponant stopped opposite her.

"Hyuuga Hinata and Kinata Dosu, fight!"

Dosu started by striking his metal gauntlet, causing Kyouka to hiss, her ears folding back.

"You like that?" he mocked. "My melody arm is the perfect counter to that great big kitten of your…what the hell?"

Kyouka reared up and slammed her front paws down, causing the ground to ripple and throwing Dosu off his feet. As he pulled himself up, Hinata landed in front of him.

"You are in range of my divination. Eight trigrams, sixty-four palms!"

Her hands seemed to blur and Dosu jolted as the precise strikes shut off his tenketsu. As Hinata finished, Dosu slumped to the ground, unable to move.

"Go, Hinata! Go, Kyouka!" Naruto shouted with a wide grin as Kaze uttered a roar of victory. "Nice one!"

Hayate's "Winner, Hinata." seemed almost redundant at that point.

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"Prepare to lose." Ino declared and her opponant, Tsuchi Kin, laughed at her.

"I know how to avoid the Jutsu of the Yamanaka." She declared, throwing a pair of bell-tagged senbon at Ino, forcing her to abandon her hand-seals and dive sideways. "As long as I keep you from doing that mind-walk of yours, you are no match for me."

Ino dodged another pair of senbon, then a third pair before starting to stagger, unable to concentrate.

"What… what's going… going on…?"

"Who does the bell ring for, it rings for you." Kin mocked, twitching some thin threads attached to the bells, causing them to ring even louder. "I use the bells to cast my genjitsu, and you are caught. Surrender now before you lose."

"N..never…" Ino managed and Kin laughed, throwing another set of belled senbon. Ino staggered as she tried to fight the effects of the auditory genjitsu, then she fell sideways and vomited. Kin released the genjitsu and threw a single senbon at her, spearing her in the thigh.

"That one was covered in a paralytic agent." She noted. "It'll take a couple of days for it to wear off,but I have the antidote here. I think that I win."

"Winner, Kin." Hayate confirmed as he accepted the proffered vial. "Medic!"

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"Hyuuga Neji and Tsuragi Misumi, begin!"

Misumi lunged forwards, his arms and legs extending and twining around Neji's torso and limbs.

"Surrender now, or I'll break your neck." Misumi hissed.

"Kaiten!"

Misumi richoceted off the wall and collapsed in a motionless heap as Neji brushed some dirt from his shoulder. For a moment, everyone was silent.

"I think I won that one." Neji said with a smirk. "It was…"

"If you claim it was fate, you and I are going to have some extreme training afterwards! And that'll be after I get Lee and Gai to subject you to an extended Sunset Genjitsu!" Naruto shouted. Neji flinched and Hinata laughed. "Good move, though."

"Thank you, Naruto-san." Neji said, recovering his composure.

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Tenten smirked at her opponant, who responded by raising his arms to reveal holes in his palms.

"Temari no Sabuka and Abumi Zaki, begin!"

Abuma grinned and fired a blast of sound from his palm, only for it to bounce of Temari's quickly-deployed fan.

"Oh hell, a wind user."

Temari smirked and Abuma stepped backwards, launching another attack which Temari deflected just as effortlessly before swinging her fan in a complex pattern, fully opening it as she did so.

"Tornado!"

Abuma had just enough time to throw his hands up in a vain attempt to block the incoming attack before the wind blasted him into the air and against the wall. Temari's smirk grew as Abuma fell to the ground, both arms and one leg obviously broken by the impact.

"Winner, Temari."

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"Aburame Shino…"

"I forfeit."

Genma stared at Shino. "What?"

"I forfeit." Shino said. "I am no match for Gaara of the desert, his abilities are too much for me to deal with. I have seen him in action, and I have no wish to die like his previous adversaries. I acknowledge that I am no match for him, and therefore I forfeit."

Gaara glared at him as Hayate shrugged.

"Winner, Gaara."

Shino returned to the balcony, ignoring Gaara's glare, and Hayate called out two more names.

"Higurashi Tenten and Kagetora Naruto."