((Alright, week two of summer, chapter two of the story.

Disclaimer: I'm still in college. I don't have enough time to own Naruto or any of the characters. That would have to be a full time thing…

Enough of my blabbing. Onward!))

The Nara's Brain

Rokuden stared across at his opponent with a bored expression. "This is so troublesome," he muttered irritably. A flash of Taru's fight came to mind, both combatants showing remarkable speed and tenacity, and he sighed. "But I can't let myself be outdone." After all, he would look bad if he got defeated and Taru managed to tie in such a vicious fight.

His foe, Manriki Toukan of the Mist, grinned predatorily at him. The Nara rolled his eyes. Another arrogant bastard. They were always more effort than they were worth.

But there wasn't much he could do about it. It had already been decided that they would be fighting each other.

Beside him, the proctor shifted. "You both ready?"

Toukan continued grinning. "Ready and willing."

"Let's just get it over with…"

"Hajime!"

Rokuden's adversary hopped back, starting a jutsu. Resigned, the Nara pulled out a few shuriken and tossed them, intending to interrupt his foe. He just needed to observe the Mist nin for a minute or so, then, he could formulate a workable plan. As it was, he could only go from rough generalities.

Toucan twisted, avoiding the thrown weapons without even pausing in his hand signs. Rokuden tensed subtly, preparing to evade as his foe concluded his jutsu.

"Suiton: Supaiku Koori no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Ice Spike Jutsu)

The black haired genin heard the wall crack and spun, ready to dodge. To his surprise, the ice spike only protruded a few inches through the wall and was wider than it was long.

Doing some quick calculation, Rokuden realized what the Mist nin was trying to do and cursed. There must be a second water vein running around the room, going to the nearby guest rooms, which had been in use by the examinees. In this fight, it only provided more water for his foe to freeze.

And the pineapple haired genin knew it.

He saw water start to leak around the ice.

He groaned, realizing that it would be pointless to try to stop it because Toukan would simply create a new one. "So troublesome…"

In a burst, water flooded the room for the second time in less than four matches, throwing the broad ice spike across the room. Rokuden hopped to the side, evading it.

"You're dead now!" The Nara glanced at his foe, rolling his eyes at the maniacal grin he found there. This was going to be so troublesome.

He jumped back against the wall, planning to have his shadow travel along it to hide it. Both he and his adversary began hand seals at the same time.

Rokuden finished his jutsu first. He sent his shadow out, just above the quickly rising water line. As it approached Toukan, it jumped to the ground below the clear water, traveling at a reduced rate due to the light distortion caused by the liquid.

Unfortunately, it was at this point that the Kiri nin concluded his seals. "Suiton: Supaiku Gajidai no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Glacial Spike Jutsu)

"Troublesome," murmured Rokuden, cancelling his shadow possession. His eyes widened as a spike of ice shot up from beneath him.

Not good!

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Ino stared anxiously at her son as water flooded the floor. She glanced at her husband. He stood beside her, face impassive.

"Do you think he'll be okay?"

Shikamaru looked at her. "He's better trained than either of us were during our first exam."

Ino glared at him. "That's not what I meant, and you know it."

Shikamaru turned back to the arena, avoiding his wife's gaze. "His opponent is ruthless. I have no doubt he would kill Rokuden if he could. He won't be holding back. I don't know if Rokuden has that kind of mentality yet."

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Is that all your worried about?"

The pineapple haired jounin gave her a skeptical look. "If he's willing to kill, he should have no problem. I didn't think her was yet."

Ino grinned. "Then, he'll be just fine."

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Toukan grinned maniacally as he activated his Suiton: Supaiku Gajidai no Jutsu. (Water Release: Glacial Spike Jutsu) The Nara had finished his jutsu first, but apparently it hadn't worked because nothing had happened. Now, it was over. There was no way he could dodge this jutsu.

Focusing, Toukan created the first spike directly beneath his foe. His grin grew when he saw it pierce between the legs, right where it hurts.

It changed into a scowl when Rokuden turned into a shuriken. A substitution.

The Mist nin spun on the location of the two thrown weapons this match. He found his black haired adversary on the right and immediately focused the next spike there.

Before the ice even struck him, Rokuden had become a shuriken again. Scowling, Toukan forced more chakra into the jutsu so that the deadly spires formed faster, creating them at the two possible shuriken positions at the same time. Then, just to be sure, he created more stalagmites behind those everywhere that he couldn't see before moving on to the rest of the arena floor, filling it ten feet high with weaponry for him to use.

Toukan jumped to the top of one of his ice spikes. He started more hand signs, grinning once more. This jutsu would make sure his opponent was not only defeated but dead. He couldn't wait to see the anguish on the faces of those that cared about him.

Suddenly, his body stopped. He tried to force out the remaining seals, but his body refused. Instead, it brought his hands together into a foreign sign. He snarled angrily. "What's going on!?"

"Game over, Ice Faerie."

Toukan tried to turn around at his enemy's voice, but his body fought against him. It turned his head slowly, just enough to see the shadow running down the back of the ice spike, connecting him to Rokuden, who was in the same position as him.

The Nara smirked when the Kiri genin scowled at him. "You certainly made things easy enough to plan."

"You planned for all this to happen?! Impossible!" demanded the feminine looking Mist shinobi in disbelief.

The Leaf nin smirked. "This exact scenario? I agree, impossible. Circumstances where you used an ice jutsu with a high percent chance of hitting me that would obscure view of the arena? That I could foresee and plan for. Why else would I have thrown those shuriken at the beginning?"

As he spoke, he knelt down, dropping his hand so that his foe grasped the tip of the spire, and he had his hand fisted a few inches above the ground.

Toucan hissed. "Bastard! How did you dodge my glaciers?!"

The black haired teen chuckled. "That second substitution wasn't a Kawarimi. I transformed into a shuriken and used chakra to cling to the backside of the spike. But it doesn't matter now." He lowered his other hand to rest below his first one, his opponent grabbing the ice farther down. "I'm going to lift my legs off the ground. Then, when I spread my arms, I will fall a few inches, whereas you will drop onto the point of your own attack with just enough force for it to penetrate your heart."

The Mist nin struggled with renewed vigor at this.

Rokuden smirked, knowing that there was no way for him to get out of this. "You have until I count to five to surrender." He lifted his legs off the ground, focusing chakra into his arms to give him added strength, just to make sure. "One."

Toukan tried to move but still couldn't.

"Two."

He grunted in his effort.

"Three."

He forced his full will into breaking free. He did not want to die.

"Four."

"Graaaaah!"

"Fi-"

A hand fell on Rokuden's shoulder. "You can stop now. You've proven your victory." He looked up at the proctor, releasing his shadow possession. The jounin turned to the audience. "Winner of this match: Nara Rokudenashi."

Toukan stood up on his ice spike, fury welling up within him. That son of a bitch had beaten and humiliated him. He wouldn't get away with it. He would regret not finishing him off.

He leapt at the Leaf genin, kunai poised for a fatal blow. The boy was looking toward the Hokage and the other proctors, away from him. Toukan's face twisted into a sadistic smile. The bastard would get what he deserved.

Still feet from his target, he felt something grasp his wrist and twist it, shifting his momentum into a nearby ice spike. He rammed into the side of it, grunting. His arm was lifted behind him to the point on the edge of pain.

"The fight's over, runt," the proctor's voice sounded next to his ear. "You don't want to threaten the other contestants any farther."

"You can let my student go, Uchiha-san." Toukan turned his head to find Subaya-sensei with his arms crossed. Slowly, Sasuke lessened his grip until he released the feminine boy. The genin spun, jumping back to stand next to his teacher.

He glared at Rokuden's back as the two jounin stared tensely at each other. "My student won't attack any other examinees. You have my word."

The Uchiha glowered. "Make sure he doesn't. He won't get off so lightly next time."

Subaya-sensei nodded as the Hokage called all the winners to the front. Before the old man could turn him around to start walking off, he called out. "We'll fight again, Nara-san, and next time, it won't end the same!" He allowed himself to be led away with an evil grin on his face.

He missed his sensei's grimace in his amusement.

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Taru sat staring at the wall motionlessly. It would have been nice if she could have moved without feeling waves of pain or, better, if she had something a little more entertaining than a white wall to stare at.

Someone beside her moaned. Taru rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Rei. I'm in just as much pain as you."

She could feel the other cat-nin's glare on her. "I don't see how you can sit still for so long. It's so boring!"

Taru started to chuckled, only for it to come out as a cough.

"You alright over there?"

The blonde sighed in an effort to calm her hacking body. "Are you?" she responded with a slight smirk.

Rei brought up a hand, wincing at the pain. "Touché."

They were silent for a while before Taru decided to return to the original question. "I suppose staring at something, just thinking, helps me calm down, relieve stress."

She caught the disbelieving look Rei sent her way. "You're crazy." The brown haired kunoichi shook her head. "Thinking makes it worse for me. I need a nap or a ball of yarn or some catnip."

Taru smiled slightly at that. She replied as the doctor walked in. "Those are just distractions for me. Thinking allows me to understand the problem and come to the best conclusion."

Rei shook her head again, temporarily ignoring the medic changing out her bandages. "If you say so."

As soon as she noticed the silence, the female medic spoke. "How are we feeling?"

The brunette scowled. "In pain."

The medic frowned. "Right. Want me to up your morphine dose?"

The genin shook her head. "No, no. I'll be fine. Really."

The healer giggled, finishing up on the girl's bandages. Then, she looked across at Taru. "What about you?"

The blonde moved her eyes slightly to watch the woman approach. "I'm fine as long as I don't move."

The medic nin raised an eyebrow, already checking the girl's injuries. "Do you want more meds then?"

"If it's not too much of a pain."

The chuunin medic smiled at her. "You're lucky we stocked up specifically for the exams."

Taru smiled back. "Good thing."

Their attention was pulled back to Rei as she spoke. "You wouldn't happen to know about any of the other examinees, would you?"

The medic smiled again. "I know a little about each recent patient. Which would you like to know about?"

"Hah-kah Hitayio."

"Hitayio-san got out of surgery a few minutes ago. They managed to stop the bleeding and there doesn't seem to be any other major problems, so he should be alright. Perfectly so, given a few weeks of rest."

Rei let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, that's good."

That brought Taru's thoughts back to the fights. "What happened since we left?"

"As far as I know, the last fight was just finishing."

"So there's been two fights since we were brought in. do you know who Kizui-kun fought?"

The medic frowned. "I think he was the one that fought Nami-san, the older Mist kunoichi." This brought the younger girl's gaze away from the white wall, eyes worried.

"Crap. Is he going to be okay?"

The healer met Taru's eyes with an unsure look. "I don't know yet. I haven't checked since he was taken into the ER."

The genin groaned, in both pain and sorrow. "What a pain."

"You'll know how he is as soon as I do."

The blonde looked back at the white wall, trying to relax and failing. "Arigatou."

The medic nodded, adjusted a few buttons on the nearby medical machines, and then left to check on the boy.

There was an awkward silence when the two girls were left alone.

If Kizui had fought the young woman and she had strength anywhere near her teammate's, he wouldn't have stood a chance, even with his ability active. She knew that. Tounyo, no doubt, knew that. Kizui should've known that.

She sighed. Why did he always have to be such an idiot?

"I'm sure he'll be alright."

Taru half-smiled at Rei's voice. "Yeah…"

And if his opponent had been as skilled as she though the teen was, he probably would be. He just had such unusual luck.

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"Here's the first payment, up front," said Hason, handing a small bag of money to a brawny bald man.

The man grinned. "I'm surprised you actually have this much. This'll be the best paying job we've taken in months! And we even get to raid the village itself!" The man laughed deeply.

The ninja beside him smirked. "Indeed. I want you to attack in exactly one month when the sun is at its peak. We should be ready to assist by then."

The bald man continued his insane grin. "Good. Good. With your help, the village will be ripe for the picking."

Hason smiled. "I look forward to the day we fight side by side."

The man nodded. "One month. We'll be there."

The black haired shinobi smirked as he walked out of the tent. That should make things a lot more interesting.

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Tsunade shook her head in mild disgust as the victors gathered in front of her, only one of which was unable to make it back from the infirmary in time. "I can't believe there were so many injuries in these prelims…" she muttered.

Beside her, Naruto shrugged. "Tensions are high among the foreign nations, though no one seems willing to go to war yet."

The Hokage stared at him. "I didn't realize you had picked up on that."

The blond jounin chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, if I act nervous about it, everyone else in the meetings will be tense, so I goof off a bit."

"A bit?" the Godaime whispered, raising an eyebrow, turning to the gathered genin before he could respond. "Congratulations, all of you, on making it to the third test of the chuunin exams. This part will be seen by everybody, which means that we need some time to prepare and gather all of the representatives. Take this time to prepare yourselves to the best of your abilities. It is in the best interests of both yourselves and your home countries to fight with all you have, to show your strength to the world. Now, any questions?"

A few hands went up.

"Any questions that can't be handled by your jounin sensei?"

All of the hands went down.

"Okay then. I shall see you all in one month's time. Until then, good luck."

There was a small clamor as the group around her slowly dispersed. The Hokage turned toward Naruto, already opening her mouth to speak. He wasn't there.

She spun around, looking for him. How did he always know when to disappear to avoid work? Maybe she should put a bell around his neck to help keep track of him. When she heard his voice a few feet away, she realized that that was almost as good as one.

"Could you teach me that Creepy Echo no Jutsu you used? Please, please, please!?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes, striding over to where he was begging the youngest victorious Mist nin.

The boy was currently staring at the blonde in shock. "Wha-Bu-I can't-I wouldn't-No!"

Naruto pouted childishly. "But it was so cool and has so much potential! Do you even know where you could use that outside of battle?!"

The blue haired genin finally seemed to get a hold of himself. "Okay then, what would I get out of teaching it to you?"

The blonde shrugged. "I could teach you something back? Wanna learn how to throw a million shuriken by only throwing one?"

The Kiri nin looked confused now. "But how-?"

Just as Tsunade reached him, another voice interrupted. "That's quite alright, Naruto-san." The child's sensei stepped up beside the boy. "Despite your astounding reputation, I think it might be best if my grandson trained with me on the family jutsu. And I don't think we plan on letting one of those jutsu into another ninja's hands."

Naruto groaned, muttering something about "ruining all my fun." The Godaime put a hand on his shoulder consolingly. "That's probably for the best, Naruto. I have someone I'd like you to train anyway." She spoke to the Mist pair before leading the younger blonde off, saying, "You're welcome to any of Konoha's training grounds so long as no one is on it when you get there."

They muttered a brief "Arigatou," as they went on their way.

"So who was it that you wanted me to teach, Tsunade-baa-chan?"

Resisting the urge to pound his head into the ground at the persistent nickname, she explained. "A rookie that I think could benefit from your unique view of the world."

The jinchuuriki looked slightly lost. "Won't his teacher be a little annoyed that someone else is training them?" he asked, thinking of the sensei from a few minutes back.

Tsunade grinned. "After he hears my idea, I think he'll be more than willing to jump on board."

Naruto blinked at her before shrugging and just deciding to go with it.

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((So, now that I've finished the prelims and introduced everyone, I was wondering what some of you readers thought of as possible pairings. I've clearly already opened up a few, but I wanted to know what the audience thought about things before deciding who goes with who. I'm especially interested in the thoughts of those that reviewed with characters. Just leave a review or send me an email with your opinions. I promise to take into account as many as I can.))