Chapter Twenty Seven: First Round Whammies

Dawn came on the day of the Chunin Exam Finals. Early morning saw sunshine with no clouds in sight – but by the time the people began to filter into the Stadium, the clouds were gathering, and rain steadily began to fall. The rain tapered off about fifteen minutes prior to the start of the Third Exam, but by that point, everyone was seated in the stands, and the four Kage had taken their seats in the balcony reserved for them.

In the stands, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat with his family and Clan, minus Asuma. That's how most of the Clans were organized – they sat with each other and only a few others. The Jonin instructors that had Genin participating all sat together, with their other students who didn't make it sitting not too far away. And even though they weren't Jonin instructors per se, Obito, Rin, and Anko sat with Kakashi. Kabuto was a little ways away from them, leaning on the railing overlooking the arena.

Yahiko stood apart from the Hidden Leaf section of the crowd, but mostly because he was moving about, patrolling with the Anbu. Pakura had shown up at some point and joined him. It beat sitting around and twiddling her thumbs.

Down on the arena floor, the eleven participants were lined up with Yamato standing before them and pacing about. With fairly good reason – he had three Jinchuriki to referee, and two of them were duking it out in the first match. And these other Genin weren't exactly washouts either; it was going to take every ounce of authority and focus that he could muster to keep these eleven Genin in line.

Especially the Suigetsu brat…

"It is a relief to see you are still in power, Lord Yagura," Nagato smiled benignly at the stout Mizukage. "I have heard unsettling rumors of a civil war in your lands."

"'Civil war' is a generous term," Yagura smoothly replied, not even batting an eye. "I assure you, I have the situation well in hand. Your swordsman of a friend and teammate should know just how powerful the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist are; a small rebellion is nothing to them."

Nagato nodded in understanding, and dropped the issue. It was A who picked up the discussion from there.

"So, five of your Genin have made it to this point? And four of them having graduated from the Academy just a few months ago." The Raikage rumbled, unsure of what to think of that. On the one hand, it implied that the Exams were too soft this time around… or that the Hidden Leaf simply had an exceptional crop of Genin this year. A would bet on the latter, having battled Nagato and his predecessor in the past. At the same time.

"The latest batch is quite good at improvisation," Nagato echoed A's line of thought, and offered a closed-eyes smile. A harrumphed and offered no further comment.

After a little more talking amongst themselves, Nagato stood up and announced the beginning of the Third Exam. Yamato took it away from there, reminding the Genin of who they were fighting, and that if he declared a match to be over, it would be over. Any further action against a downed opponent would be grounds for disqualification.

With all of that said, all Genin save for Naruto and Fu were ordered to leave the arena. Yamato stood between the two Jinchuriki and steeled himself one more time.


Naruto was a nervous bundle of energy as he bounced on his heels to relieve himself of some of the tension. His thoughts were only slightly frantic.

'Fu isn't invincible, you can do this… BUT SHE CAN FRIGGIN' FLY!' Naruto shook his head wildly and banished that thought. 'Think POSITIVE. She can fly, hit like a boulder, and have some level of immunity to poisons and crap, but I'VE got the numbers. I'VE got a Seal that should make her think twice about channeling her Tailed Beast's Chakra… And I'VE got a scary mind. Uncle Nagato, Kaka-sensei, and Shikamaru all say so! … Explosions help, too. Thank you, Obito, for the Great Shadow Clone Explosion!'

Nodding decisively, Naruto only twitched a little when Fu giggled at him. She didn't know that he had a little pep talk in his head. Screw her, he was a winner. All he did was win all day long, believe it!

"Are you both ready?" Yamato broke the silence, and received affirmatives in reply. The brunet brought up an arm and signaled the start of the match. "Naruto Uzumaki VS Fu of the Hidden Waterfall! Begin!"

Yamato made successive leaps that landed him outside the arena, and the two competitors sprang into action. Fu sprouted her flapping wings, and Naruto made the hand sign for his trademark Jutsu.

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto declared, and the field was abruptly covered in smoke that vanished to reveal about thirty Shadow Clones, all brandishing some kind of tool.

Fu ignored them all, flying straight at the original who seemed to stay in place. Naruto yelped and ducked a punch that would've knocked his block off for sure. He then delivered a kick from underneath that at least forced Fu to realign herself before turning to look back down at the blond. The kick was strong, but Fu had become adept at flight, so forcing her higher into the air had probably been a bad move on Naruto's part. In fact, the mint-haired girl grinned at Naruto for 'helping' her…

… and then proceeded to swoop down on him with added momentum. Naruto made for a run for it, of course, going straight for the trees. His Shadow Clones performed the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu, giving Naruto a decent head start due to Fu having to fly higher and higher to avoid the waves and waves of projectiles. But it wasn't a total loss, because she came down all that much harder when the last shuriken had been thrown, and she plowed right through the contingent of Shadow Clones that burst on impact, and Fu was making a beeline straight for Naruto.

Naruto disappeared behind the third tree that he came across, and came straight out the other side. Fu didn't hesitate to swerve to the left to go after the bolting blond, who was running straight back into the clearing, where there were a few Shadow Clones that she had missed. She caught up to the blond before he could reach the Clones, but she was shocked when Naruto whipped around mid-sprint and tackle-hugged her out of the blue.

"Surprise!" The Naruto hugging her smirked, and before she could try to pry him off, the boy started to glow, and the next thing Fu knew was pain as she was enveloped in a point-blank explosion.

Needless to say, Fu collapsed to the ground ungracefully and skidded to a halt at the feet of the Shadow Clones, which were pulling out strange-looking tags. The only knowledge of Seals Fu had was the one holding back the Seven-Tails, and the typical Seal array for explosive notes. So naturally when these Clones pulled out Seals she didn't recognize, Fu painfully pushed herself off the ground and backflipped until she got some distance from the Clones. That explosion might have knocked a little of the wind out of her sails, but Fu was a Jinchuriki. One of the Hidden Waterfall's secret weapons. She wouldn't be going down from something so simple.

But then the Shadow Clones started running at her, and Fu began to panic just a little. She did not want to find out if those would blow her up even more spectacularly; the fact that these were Shadow Clones carrying the tags did not instill great confidence in Fu. Thinking fast, Fu ran through the hand signs, took a deep breath, and then exhaled a certain powder that had a certain brightness to it. Pretty soon, visibility was at an all-time low out in the arena, and Fu sprouted new wings to fly again and pummel the dumb Clones that scared the crap out of her.

They never saw her coming in the thick cloud of powder. Once she was sure she got all the Clones, Fu dissipated the cloud and looked about for the real Naruto. He hadn't been present at all, so he had slipped away at some point.

'It must've been behind that tree… A Clone musta snuck behind there at the start of the match, and I fell for it!' Mentally groaning, Fu went toward the trees again, She started to sweat when she saw more than one Naruto in there, and she wildly shook her head. 'Nope, nope, NOPE! Blondie's probably booby-trapped the area, and Kami knows how many of those Shadow Clones go boom. I'm gonna have to flush those idiots out somehow.'

She ended up going with the tactic she had used earlier, but this time with the intent of prompting as many Naruto's to come out as possible. Fu's control wasn't perfect, but most of the scale powder she exhaled flooded the forested area, and a number of the blonds did indeed come out, gunning straight for her. Before they could get too close, Fu ensnared them in a Net-Shaped Prison, made of Chakra threads. Underneath the dome, the blond's Clones were cackling and beginning to glow. Fu managed to escape the much larger blast radius, but there was still the issue of finding the real Naruto. The knucklehead was proving to be extremely evasive, and Fu wasn't sure what else she could do to flush out her opponent without going into the lion's den.

'Heeey, Lucky Seven! Could I let you take over so you could launch a Tailed Beast Bomb? That'd get him for sure!'

There was a brief moment of silence before the Seven-Tails answered Fu.

'That would be most unwise for several reasons. Besides which, you cannot pull off that transformation yet, Fu. You can't even handle Version Two yet.'

'Chomeiii!' Fu whined internally and crossed her arms in a pout in the real world. 'What do you suggest I do then, huh?!'

'I would highly recommend you move before the landmines start to go off. Your opponent has Shadow Clones working below ground.'

Yelping, Fu evaded the explosion that went off where she was previously hovering over, leaving a small crater behind. Several more explosions happened in succession, and before Fu realized it, she was at the edge of the trees she had been working so hard to avoid.

'That jerk! He led me on!' Fu thought testily before resolving to just find the blond before anything happened. It wasn't a dense forest, so he didn't have too many hidey holes.

The mint-haired girl gasped when she felt some kind of suction on her hand when it landed on a branch thoughtlessly. Upon closer inspection, there was a Seal there, about seven others in close proximity. Pretty soon Fu felt tugs from all directions; her wings regressed back into her body due to Chomei's Chakra being taken from her. It wasn't huge amounts, but collectively they did enough to at least make her lose her wings temporarily. 'Chomei! Help!'

'Hold on…' The rhinoceros beetle rumbled, and proceeded to lend Fu as much Chakra as it could through the Seal, allowing Fu to form a lot more Chakra threads that flashed and formed a tangled Cocoon that shielded Fu from the effects of the Absorption Seals. Not completely, as Fu could still feel a miniscule tug, but the rate was slowed down greatly.

Fu yelped again when there was an explosion to the side of the Cocoon, but relaxed relatively quickly after remembering how durable it was. Nothing short of a Chakra blade cutting through the weak point would break through the Cocoon. For now, she was safe enough to come up with a new strategy to get back at her opponent.

Or so she thought.

Outside the Cocoon, Naruto and his Shadow Clones were scowling as none of his explosions were doing any good. There were repeated attempts, but there was no progress to show whatsoever.

"That things indestructible! If I don't find some way to get through it, this is gonna be a draw, 'cause those Seals can't absorb that much Chakra to begin with! Plus, I think the Cocoon's slowing the absorption process down. Ugh…" Naruto crossed his arms and brainstormed like crazy. For several moments, the only sound was Naruto's Shadow Clones charging at the Cocoon and detonating themselves. He'd done up enough that he wouldn't have to make any more for a while, but the trees were… kinda suffering for it.

Finally, Naruto grinned as he was hit with a flash of inspiration. Who said Shikamaru was the only brains behind the team? Naruto could have plenty of ideas when he stopped to think!


Shikamaru twitched as he watched his idiot teammate repeatedly try to get through the Cocoon that was becoming increasingly visible. He leaned forward onto the railing and groaned.

"Damn it, Naruto… I know you're a persistent bastard, but that thing's not gonna give. And she's not gonna come out until she comes up with a counterattack. Just conserve your Chakra!"

"That's the scary part," Sasuke muttered beside him. "He's nowhere near depleted yet. He's lost a significant amount, yes, but he's got at least three quarters of it left, if not a little more. I'm more concerned with what he's doing to the trees…"

Sasuke was counting on using those in his match. Damn it, he needed some form of cover against Lee! Hinata did not do so well without it.

"He's thought of something." Gaara intoned flatly, drawing both Leaf-nin out of their ruminations.

Now everyone's eyes were on the blond, to see what he had come up with. They got their answer when one of the Clones started digging a hole a couple feet away from the Cocoon. Let it not be said that Naruto could not dig a hole if he was desperate enough; and from what Shikamaru could discern, they could build tunnels to a certain extent.

Yup. That would probably work.


"Kakashi…" Guy turned to face his rival, seeing Naruto set off multiple Great Shadow Clone Explosions. "Don't tell me you taught Naruto something so irresponsible. I don't think Naruto's quite mature enough to be given something like this."

Kakashi shot his rival a dry glare with his visible eye. He gestured to Obito, who only seemed slightly affronted at having the blame foisted off on him. He did teach Naruto that Jutsu, after all, so he had no room to object, really.

"Pot, meet kettle." Kakashi dryly commented. "Personally, I don't really see the big deal, Guy. You taught Lee the Eight Gates, and he's only Naruto's senior by a year. If Obito wants to hand Naruto a Jutsu that he will abuse the hell out of, that's entirely his prerogative. It honestly fits the hyperactive kid."

Guy spluttered at his rival's nonchalance.

"But… But… But… It is entirely Unyouthful! He could hurt Lee!"

"We're ninja, Guy. Hurting people is kind of in our job description." Obito deadpanned. He grinned at Guy's gobsmacked expression. "Not all of us can just Dynamic Entry and pass it off as a friendly greeting. We use what we're good at!"

Guy assumed a pouting position and began muttering to himself. Lee would just have to beat Naruto to a pulp before he could form a single Shadow Clone. Never mind the fact that his hardworking protégé would have to get through Sasuke first, and this was all assuming Naruto would find a way to win.

But that little factor soon became null as Fu's Cocoon lit up briefly, and fell apart to reveal a haggard Fu lying on the ground, sporting multiple burn marks and clearly rendered unconscious.


"That brat will be a real psychopath someday…" The Raikage rumbled as Naruto was announced as the winner and Fu was moved off the field. "Just like that one brat Onoki had until recently. You do realize that this match gives me grounds to doubt Uzumaki's readiness for promotion?"

Nagato was quiet at the Raikage's assessment, but Rasa spoke up.

"It wasn't entirely without merit. He might lose a few points for his brute approach to the Cocoon before he found a way to circumvent it, but otherwise the boy was tactically in control of the battle. Or at least he showed more promise than the Hidden Waterfall Jinchuriki."

Nagato allowed a ghost of a smile at that. Rasa had noted the same thing, too, then; it wasn't too obvious, but Naruto's tactics with his Shadow Clones were very interesting. Obito had done a fine job, even if the boy hadn't 'mastered' the art of insightfulness quite yet. He was definitely Minato and Kushina's son.

Seeing Yagura keep quiet made Nagato a little more tense, but in fairness, the man was keeping his eyes on the two Jinchuriki below.


'What are you doing?' The Nine-Tails rumbled in Naruto's mind as he collected his Seals and pocketed them. Yamato was currently announcing Naruto was the winner, and he didn't want to forget these Seals.

Naruto raised an eyebrow out of instinct.

'Waddaya mean? I'm just gonna return Fu's Chakra to her later.'

Naruto didn't need to be in his mindscape to tell the fox had done a massive face palm.

'Brat. At least keep one for yourself. You'd be surprised how helpful another Tailed Beast's Chakra will be to you, if you let it grow inside you.'

'I can do that?' Naruto was poleaxed. He frowned at the Nine-Tails' words. 'Wait… won't you be pissed if I keep and another Tailed Beast's Chakra? I thought you hated the other Tailed Beasts. You're the "most powerful" and all that, right?'

'I don't hate them. I would just rather not be around them.' The Nine-Tails grumbled. 'And I am the most powerful. But if you have other Chakra you can use, that means you won't rely on me that much, and that means I can take longer naps.'

Naruto sweatdropped, but didn't offer a comment to that. Instead, he posed another question as he walked up to the balcony after outwardly cheering at his victory. He was genuinely happy to be moving on.

'What do you mean if I let it grow inside me? Do ya mean I'll get a Seven-Tails inside of me?' For some reason, Naruto really, really liked that idea. Having two Tailed Beasts in his head would be awesome!

'Not quite. I won't go into the full details because it will go over your head at this point, but the more time you let Seven-Tails' Chakra manifest in you, the more you'll have available to you. It will never get to the point that you'll have another Tailed Beast inside you; that would take millennia to happen, if ever. But that doesn't mean the Chakra will be mindless. You will see the Seven-Tails eventually, but it won't be the actual Seven-Tails. It will be more like… an echo of its consciousness. A mere fragment of the whole Beast, even though it won't look like a fragment.'

'Huh.' Naruto thought as he got up to the other Genin. He wouldn't be able to reflect on this information right away, 'cause him being quiet might unsettle Shika, Lee, and Sasuke, who know him for his chattering. But the Nine-Tails' words definitely gave him something to think about. He posed one more question. 'I bet some of Fu's Chakra will be mixed in with the Seven-Tails' Chakra. Does that mean I'll get to see a fragment of Fu?'

A snort was his response.

'How the hell would I know? Human Chakra is different from Tailed Beast Chakra. It's less potent, and I honestly don't know if it could carry conscience like my Chakra could.'

Naruto hummed internally, and resolved to find out later. It was Ino's turn to fight, and he wanted to see that. Needless to say, he was shocked to see the Proctor replace the trees he'd blown to bits. Not perfect replacements, but now there were trees to use as cover again. He missed how Shikamaru and Sasuke in particular were relieved to know they would, in fact, have places to take cover in their matches. The others were mostly indifferent, save for how Yamato was using Wood Style.

Only one other person in the Hidden Leaf's history had used that type of Chakra.


"You can use Wood Style?" Ino asked as she walked up to Yamato alongside Ajisai. The brunet smiled down at her somewhat ruefully – but not for her, more for himself. This was the first time he was showing off his Kekki Genkai publicly; the Genin were by far the least of his worries. Nobles and the other Kage would be taking note of this – but both Nagato and Yamato were in agreement that by "showing off" a little, it was possible that other nations might back down from waging another war so soon.

Perhaps it was a pipe dream, but they at least had to try.

"Indeed. I will be able to repair any damage you do to the stadium, so don't feel you have to hold back. Give it all you've got. Now, are you both ready?" When Yamato received affirmative nods, he raised an arm and declared loudly, "Second Round! Ino Yamanaka VS Ajisai of the Hidden Rain! Begin!"

Once Yamato was clear, the two competitors started moving. Ino started to go for the water stored in her hip pouches, but Ajisai was quicker by holding up a single slip of paper. Ino paused in her movements, not recognizing the Seal on the paper, and that was her first mistake.

"Confetti Storm!" Ajisai called out as she released the Seal and sent a huge flurry of papers at Ino, obscuring her vision as well as everyone else's vision of what was going on inside the battlefield's center. Ino clenched her teeth and held her arms up in front of her face to stop any of the papers from slapping right into her face, but as a result, she failed to block the high speed kick that Ajisai dished out.

Ino skidded across the ground and barely hopped back onto her feet in time as Ajisai was right up close again – but this time, instead of a punch or kick, she was holding up a slip of paper again, and this time Ino knew that she had to duck and roll around Ajisai. Good thing, too, because the paper released shuriken this time.

'What's her game? She never used these against Kiba!' Ino thought to herself and used what little time she had to access her hip pouches. Blades formed around Ino's hands, and she used the reinforcements to block Ajisai's swinging next swinging kick and counter with a swing of her free hand.

Ajisai kicked herself away in time and performed a couple of backflips to avoid Ino's follow-up slashes. She frowned minutely and slipped two pieces of paper under her palms on the next backflip; the Yamanaka wasn't showing any new abilities yet, which meant she would have to try harder to get Ino to show her hand. Ajisai had held back in her match with Kiba for precisely this purpose; to hide her proficiency with Sealing and Unsealing. It clearly threw Ino off-balance.

She delighted in Ino's gasp when two strong currents of air burst from the Seals beneath her palms and propelled her upward and blew Ino backward unsteadily. Ajisai flipped in the air and came down with a foot extended. Ino collapsed to the ground and lost control of the water coating her hands. Ajisai didn't let up for a second, using Ino's moment of disorientation to Summon her Panda. Ino scooted back to avoid the bear's strikes, and eventually struggled to her feet to get some better distance. She was going to need more water than what she had lying out on the ground; hell, her pouches might not be enough in this case. There had been some rain earlier that morning, but Naruto's match had eaten up enough time to get most of the ground to dry up.

Naruto's antics certainly didn't help Ino's plight.

'C'mon! It's two-on-one here! I know that's how it is for most people who battle Kiba, and that you beat Kiba, but c'mooon!' Ino grumbled internally. Something had to give.

And then, it hit her. Not the Panda, but a way to possibly turn this around. Ajisai was nimble; it'd be reckless to try and hit a moving target like Ajisai. But the Panda? Much, much easier to hit, even if it was moving. It helped that the bigass bear was trying to swipe at her. Making the hand sign, Ino used her Clan's signature Jutsu.

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!" Ino hit the bear head-on and turned it against its master.

It was a risk leaving her body lying on the ground, but Ino was in control of a friggin' Summon! Her body wasn't defenseless.

But Ajisai was no fool. She was aware that Ino could use this ability, having seen her use it against the weapons specialist to win her way into the Finals here. As tempting as it might have been to dismiss the Summon, that would just set the pair of them back at square one. The key to winning this fight would be getting Ino to drop her Jutsu; but how to go about that?

"Confetti Storm!" Ajisai unleashed another flurry of paper. Another diversion. Ino tried to swipe them away from the Panda's face, but they just kept coming. She turned around, expecting Ajisai to somehow sneak around and go for her original body, but she did not expect Ajisai to slide under the Panda and plant what was most likely an explosive note.

Needless to say, Ino had a choice to make, except unlike Kiba, this time it was Ajisai's Summon that was at stake. Would Ajisai really wound her own Summon, possibly even making it return home? She could barely make out Ajisai moving toward her original body, and knew she had to act fast. Ino knew from Kiba's match that Ajisai wasn't heartless, but she could certainly bluff.

Deciding to go with an intermediate option, Ino made the Panda lunge after Ajisai and then she immediately released her Mind Transfer Jutsu. Ino returned to her body, and Ajisai's Summon confusedly tackled its Summoner from behind. The purple-haired girl gritted her teeth as Ino dug into her hip pouch and levitated some water up to her own mouth.

"I can shoot a Water Senbon pointblank, if you refuse to surrender here." Ino gave her opponent the option before putting the water in her mouth and preparing for just that eventuality.

Ajisai had heard of this technique. Water Style: Mouth Shot. Once formed, the 'Water Senbon' would fly at a high velocity and deal some damage… Nothing life-threatening, per se, but at this range it wouldn't be hard for Ino to hit her in the face – more specifically in the eye. From there, who knew what Ino would do while she struggled to see again? More importantly, Ajisai was pinned by her own confused Summon, and so had no immediate counterattack ready.

"… I surrender." Ajisai decided after mulling it over a little more. To be fair, it was probably best if she conserved her energy anyway. Lord Sakumo had sent her and her team to specifically help the Hidden Leaf in case of Invasion. And while they weren't the only ones sent by Lord Sakumo, every little bit of manpower helped.

Ino slumped back in surprise, spitting out her water harmlessly. Yamato had picked up everything, though, and announced Ino as the winner.

"You're really going to give up that easily?" Ino asked as the Panda dispelled; she helped Ajisai to her feet.

"Yes." Ajisai replied simply, causing Ino to sweatdrop. Hey, if the Hidden Leaf Genin weren't let in on the possibility of Invasion, why should she be the one to spill the beans? Ino was nowhere near exhausted yet; Ajisai was sure she'd be fine.

What's more, there might be a reason that the Hidden Leaf Genin didn't know yet. Ajisai did note that some of these Genin were prone to wearing emotion on their sleeves, so letting them in on the Invasion would possibly alert the enemy they were in on it. No need to hastily trigger something that might not even happen.


"Not exactly the most tactical of battles…" Asuma ran a hand through his hair and looked down at the Genin who were leaving the field. "Ino will have to work harder if she wants to move up in rank."

"Aw, she'll be fine!" Anko grinned toothily at the gruff Jonin. "She's no Second Hokage, so the kid has to rely on what water she has on hand, y'know. Ino-chan's only gonna grow in leaps and bounds after I'm done with her, regardless of how far she makes it here."

Asuma made a noncommittal grunt, and Guy turned to face Kakashi with one of his Nice Guy patented grins.

"Your strategist is next up, Kakashi! Let's just hope he's more than a speedbump for my protégé on his way to facing your demolitionist!"

Kakashi sweatdropped at the jab.

"Naruto's not…" The Copy Nin paused as he mulled over Naruto's skillset. Then he scratched his cheek a little in embarrassment. "Well… Let's just hope it doesn't get to the point that Naruto draws on the Nine-Tails' Chakra. Because by then Naruto feels backed into a corner, and by the time that happens… your protégé will be screwed. And not in the fun way."

Anko outright laughed at that. Guy chuckled and gave his rival a thumb's-up.

"By that point, Naruto-kun will not be in control, and Yamato will end the match!"

Kakashi seemed a little confused at Guy's claim, but then he made an 'Ah' sound once he realized where Guy's mistake was. Obito beat him to it, though.

"Oh, Kami no, Guy. Believe it or not, Naruto can control the Nine-Tails' power a bit. The less he uses, the better, but hey. If he's resorting to using it, that only means Naruto is pulling out all the stops. That's why Lee will be screwed if it gets to that point."

Guy still didn't appear to understand the gravity of the situation, but Kakashi and Obito were fine with that. They, eh… well… They pushed Naruto to the extreme in training. Obito in particular. Naruto never did something Obito couldn't handle in his Kamui Dimension, but the fact still stood that Naruto could do some pretty scary maneuvers when put under pressure. Guy would just have to find that out for himself.

"Hey, eyes forward. Shikamaru's match is starting!" Rin got all of their attention, and when they all looked down, Shikamaru and Samui were indeed standing across from each other.

"Well, let's see how you handle this, Shikamaru…" Kakashi hummed to himself. The boy was up against a Kenjutsu user, but that didn't necessarily mean an 'easy win'.


"You didn't get shoved off the balcony this time." Samui spoke up in that flat tone of hers with a hand on her hip.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Of course he wasn't going to let Naruto push him off this time – this balcony was considerably higher, and he had an audience watching. That normally wouldn't be a problem, but his mother was up there, too… He really didn't need an earful about his 'lack of motivation'.

"Troublesome. Let's just get this over with." The lazy boy drawled and stretched his back.

Technically, the match had begun. Shikamaru was just waiting for the blonde to make a move. Kami knew he wasn't going to make the first one. He didn't have to wait long – Samui had drawn her tanto and was rushing forward. Shikamaru raised his eyebrow at the 'suicidal' maneuver and prepared to ensnare her with Shadow Possession. Hey, if she wanted to make it easy for him…

And then the troublesome woman threw her damn tanto. Threw. It. Shikamaru dodged to the side, but then the blonde performed a Substitution with the blade and delivered a swinging kick that connected with Shikamaru's side. The young Nara went flying and eventually bounced along the dirt and grass until he came a stop a few feet away from the trees. The trees with their convenient shadows. Shikamaru was in pain, but he had to get the advantage while he could, so he scrambled to his feet and quickly moved into the trees proper, and not a moment too soon, because Samui was charging him again, having picked her tanto back up. Then the busty blonde came to an abrupt stop before coming into contact with the shadows.

Both Genin were aware of the 'stalemate'. Shikamaru got to where he wanted to go, but Samui was staying out in the open field, where she would be at an advantage. Shikamaru might have improved in stamina and physical conditioning, but Samui was still superior to him in that regard. What Samui did not know – or at least, what Shikamaru hoped she did not know – was that Naruto's tunnels were still on the field. Some connected to where the trees were, and some not. Shikamaru was definitely going to try to use those, either way.

But first, a waiting game of sorts. Shikamaru was trying to keep a keen eye on Samui's movements; if the blonde attempted something, he wanted to counter it. But at the same time, Shikamaru needed to think. Plan ahead. What were possible ways to get the blonde to gravitate toward one of those tunnels? She knew to stay away from the trees, so it would be pointless to actively try to get her closer to him. Samui definitely wasn't that dumb.

Shikamaru tensed when Samui brandished a kunai. He'd seen what she could do with those in the Prelims. What was she plotting? Shikamaru really began to sweat when Samui pulled the kunai out to its full length, revealing a wire attached to its handle – another kunai attached to the opposite end of the wire. A really bizarre way to throw two kunai – but the busty blonde began to twirl the makeshift weapon like a nunchaku. When she threw it, the two kunai balanced each other out and carried one another through the air in a spinning motion. The most eye-catching thing being that they were charged with Lightning Chakra.

The second most noticeable thing… they both had explosive notes attached. Oooh, that was so not good. Shikamaru rolled over to a tree near the edge of the bunch, and not a moment too soon; the makeshift weapon unleashed a dual explosion that would have engulfed him if he had stayed put. When he looked out at Samui again, the blonde was running straight for him. Time for some multitasking.

Shikamaru used his Shadow Possession Jutsu to make the shadows rush out at Samui, getting her to back up like he had hoped. A second shadow was moving below ground to a hole that was near Samui's new position, but that was where Shikamaru's troubles began. What he didn't anticipate was his underground shadow coming into contact with a kunai charged with Lightning Chakra; he had to drop his Jutsu when he received a jolt that was channeled through it. He winced badly.

'When the hell did she…?' Shikamaru groaned as he thought back to earlier, when Samui had thrown those kunai. He'd been so focused on moving, getting out of dodge… when really, he should've been keeping an eye on her.

Samui knew about the tunnels. This basically confirmed it.

"Damn it…" Shikamaru cursed and went over his seemingly limited options. It seemed much more like a stalemate now. His mind was whirling with possible ways to get the match to move back in his favor, but he was drawing up a blank. As advantageous as he thought this position would be, it really wasn't. Oh, it kept the blonde at bay, but at this rate Samui would draw him out.

But then again… would that be such a bad thing? Sure, Shikamaru preferred his Clan's style over Naruto's brute force approach, but Kakashi's words were ringing in his ears as he recalled his early days in training for these Exams.

"At some point, you're going to fight someone that has your number. That's when you have to stop fighting like a Nara. If you don't, you'll never overcome that opponent, and in the worst case scenario, your teammates will suffer for it."

Shikamaru had thought that was crap advice at the time, considering these were Genin he was up against, but now… Kakashi-sensei's words had never been truer.

"Guess there's no other way…" Shikamaru mumbled and prepared a smoke bomb. He briefly bounced it in one hand as he looked out at Samui, who was eyeing him warily. He snorted at the sheer stupidity of what he was about to attempt… but if it all worked out, would it be stupid? "Here I come… believe it."

Shikamaru involuntarily shivered at quoting his boisterous teammate. Well. He would never be saying that again…

Samui's eyes widened as the smoke bomb was lobbed at her. Pretty soon her vision was obscured, and she had to assume Shikamaru was attempting his little Shadow Possession trick again. With that in mind, Samui lunged forward through the smoke and kept her eyes on the ground for any suspicious shadows. Needless to say, she was not expecting her lackadaisical opponent springing toward her with a foot extended and aimed at her face. The impromptu attack smashed her backward and skidding across the arena floor. Shikamaru following up his surprise attack with Taijutsu was not what Samui was expecting either. Certainly, she was parrying most of his blows now and sluggishly getting back in the game, but this was so unlike what she had observed in the Prelims.

Thing is, though, Shikamaru has only had months to train his physical body. And as intense as the training was, it was still less time than Samui had. The blonde was older than her teammates; the only reason she'd been placed with Omoi and Karui had been because she'd been a Genin in rotation, left behind by her former teammates as they went on to become Chunin. Samui had about two years of experience as a Genin, meaning she had that much time to focus on her physical training – for both Kenjutsu and Taijutsu.

She wasn't Lee by any stretch of the imagination, but when Shikamaru began to lag in his offensive, Samui took the initiative and turned the tide of their fight once more. The next time Shikamaru threw a punch, Samui ducked and performed an unexpected twirl that allowed her to reclaim her blade once more. This, of course, forced Shikamaru to back off slightly, as the blonde was charging the blade with Lightning Chakra as she took swings at him.

'She's agile, I'll give her that…' Shikamaru grunted as the smoke they were fighting in cleared up enough to give a clear picture of their surroundings. He had to grin when her eyes widened at some circular shadow encompassing her, though – looks like his gambit had paid off. He was close enough, and his jacket – which she had yet to realize was acting like a parachute for a kunai he'd thrown after lobbing the smoke bomb earlier – was directly over her now.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu!" Shikamaru took advantage of his opponent's momentary shock and ensnared her. He grinned at her dumbfounded expression and began striding forward. Samui was forced into doing the same, much to her irritation. He held up a slip of paper that Samui obviously did not have; it didn't take a genius to figure out this was the endgame. He wouldn't even have to place it on her.

"I'll give you this chance to surrender. I'd really rather not blow up a girl, much less one from another village, but if it saves me the hassle…" He trailed off meaningfully. Both Genin knew that this match was over.

And Samui was furious at being caught off-guard so easily.

"Very well. I surrender." Samui said resignedly, loudly enough for Yamato to hear and declare Shikamaru the winner. Once the Nara heard that declaration, he released his Jutsu and moaned as he rolled his stiff shoulder.

"Man… I probably should have called that a Draw, but… what're you gonna do?" Shikamaru shrugged uncaringly. Naruto and Ino would be moving onto the next round, and so was that Gaara kid. There were two possible others after the next two matches, and depending on who he was pitted against next, he might just forfeit. He made it this far – Shikamaru didn't even want a promotion, not as badly as Naruto did.

What's more, he got the sense that Samui was holding back. Oh, she definitely put on a show, driving him into a stalemate once or twice, but something was nagging away at the back of Shikamaru's mind as he internally reviewed their match. He'd definitely used a style that he wasn't known for thanks to Kakashi-sensei's training, so maybe he just caught Samui off-guard.

Shikamaru really hoped that was the case, because that nagging feeling just wouldn't go away.

Samui, meanwhile, was walking out of the arena, carefully composed. No, she was not happy about how her match turned out… She was not happy that the Nara could fight with a style that was totally different from his traditional Clan's style. Still, no need to get worked up about it. These Exams meant nothing, in the end. This Nara would not get the upper hand again, especially if he drained himself further with the matches ahead…


"That makes three Hidden Leaf Genin…" Yagura remarked off-handedly as Suigetsu and Temari made their way out to the field. A snorted at the observation.

"Of course. Typical Chunin Exam favoritism – it happens more often than we care to admit."

Nagato frowned at his fellow Kage's feelings about the Chunin Exams, but could not deny the man his opinion. Just as Nagato believed that Genin earned the right to get this far, to earn a promotion, the Raikage believed the hand of politics was at work. And perhaps the man's opinion wasn't without merit; not even the Hidden Leaf could claim to be unbiased in every instance – they were only human, and who didn't want to see their village succeed?

It didn't make the Raikage right in this instance, but Nagato supposed he couldn't blame him. Not only was it three Hidden Leaf Genin that had won their matches thus far, it was three Hidden Leaf rookies. Even Nagato might have found this turn of events suspicious if he didn't know these Genin personally.

"I can assure you, Lord Raikage, that these Genin are talented. There is no favoritism involved here. Or… do you claim your Genin would purposely throw her match?"

A snorted contemptuously, but didn't offer a retort. Instead, he leaned his head on his fist and glanced down at the arena while smirking.

"So, Kazekage… Your daughter is up. Do you think she can take on that shrimp of a Hozuki?" Despite his seeming nonchalance, the Raikage was actually curious to know. Even if this kid paled in comparison to other Hozuki Clan members he had come across on the battlefield, he was still a Hozuki.

It didn't matter how careful you were in keeping that Clan away from the water. Hozuki Clan members had unique genetics that essentially boiled down to them being water – or rather, they developed a technique that allowed this to happen. Physical attacks are next to useless when fighting a Hozuki. One's best bet was to bombard them with Ninjutsu – especially with Lightning-based attacks, if one could perform such techniques – and keep them away from as much water as possible.

"This match will prove to be… illuminating." Rasa mused, keeping his eyes on the arena. He offered no other comment, but he did have to wonder how Temari would fare. In a tunnel-infested battleground… Temari would very likely have a treacherous battle on her hands.

It was small, but Yagura did allow himself to smirk a little as the battle was officially started. 'Illuminating contest' indeed.


"Alright, so how do you wanna play this?" Suigetsu asked with amusement clearly etched on his face. He hadn't bothered to draw his sword, because he knew exactly the type of combatant Temari was.

He would be relying on his Hydrification technique here… at least until he could get in close. Which wouldn't be all that hard, probably.

Temari narrowed her eyes and slammed her folded-up fan onto the ground. As much of a jokester as this guy seemed to be, he was no joke. Not from what she had seen from the Prelims, at any rate.

They stood there for several tense moments, neither one twitching a muscle. And then Suigetsu dashed forward. Temari didn't bother to play around with this one; she opened her fan all the way and swung it heftily, bringing forth a great wind that pushed Suigetsu back all the way into a wall and made several cuts into him. Of course, instead of drawing blood, all Temari's technique managed to do was reduce Suigetsu to a puddle of water.

Temari glared suspiciously at the puddle, and when it began to move even slightly, she made another wave with her fan, kicking up more dirt and tree branches and splashing more of the puddle onto the wall. After the second wave of wind died down, Suigetsu's face materialized on the wall and sneered at the sandy blonde.

"Blow all the hot air you want! I'm gonna get to you one way or another.

As if to prove his point, Suigetsu's puddle of a body was splitting off in several directions. And not in creeping motions, either. By the time Temari swung her fan for the third time, two blobs of water had slunk below ground. The rest of Suigetsu's body was splattered over the wall once again.

"… You're not good at listening, are you?" Suigetsu deadpanned, his face revealing itself once the wind died down once again. "Think of me like the one guy in the world with detachable body parts. Except I can control those parts even when they're detached, and they don't need to become solid to be a threat."

The white-haired boy laughed as Temari took to the air with her fan. Not very smart. Oh, it might've kept her safe from the stuff underground, but most of him was still above ground, and he had kept one arm to be on the safe side. Having that arm materialize, Suigetsu formed a 'hand gun' of sorts and pointed at Temari's fan.

"Water Bullets… Gotta love 'em." Suigetsu grinned as one formed on the tip of his index finger. Once he took in account the blonde's movement, Suigetsu fired the bullet.

Temari could not move the fan quickly enough – she barely managed to dodge at all. It grazed her knee, managing to draw blood at the high velocity it was travelling at, but Temari did lean back far enough to avoid the bullet hitting anything else. Yet as a result, she fell off of her fan, and the fan with a fresh hole fell harmlessly to the ground. There was no time for Temari to make a counterattack; Suigetsu's blobs of water were lying in wait for her on the ground, and both encompassed her head.

Soon, Temari was struggling to breathe, and Suigetsu was smugly stuck to the wall with half of his body sticking out. The other half was busy 'drowning' Temari. Yamato finally stepped in, and Suigetsu released his hold after some prompting. As tempting as it might have been to drown the Kazekage's daughter, it was not yet time.

Besides, Suigetsu wanted to see how he would fare against the likes of the Uchiha kid. If the boy managed to win his match.


"You're up, Sasuke!" Naruto clapped a hand on his rival's shoulder and grinned. The dark haired boy snorted but offered a small smirk and headed down the stairs while his opponent lunged over the railing and straight to the arena floor.

Naruto, Shikamaru, Ino, and Gaara were rejoined by Suigetsu after he exchanged a few taunts with Sasuke. all tuned in for the final match of the preliminary round…


"Fifth match! Sasuke Uchiha VS Rock Lee! Begin!" Yamato quickly departed, and Lee sprang into action.

It quickly became apparent that the bushy-browed boy was not wearing leg weights. The only thing that saved Sasuke from getting a Leaf Hurricane to the face was his already-activated Sharingan. The young Uchiha barely managed to brings his arms up into an 'X' in time to block Lee's attack; and even then, he was nearly plowed over anyway.

From there, the match devolved into a flurry of punches and kicks that Sasuke struggled to keep up with. Lee was cleverly avoiding eye contact and not giving Sasuke any room to breathe or weave signs for Ninjutsu. All too soon, Lee landed a sucker punch that sent Sasuke careening into the trees. Which was good initially, but Lee disappeared in a blur and reappeared right before Sasuke collided with anything. Sasuke grit his teeth as Lee punted him back out into the open field.

There wasn't even a moment to perform a Substitution with this crazed Taijutsu fanatic! Struggling to gain control of his impromptu 'flight', Sasuke positioned himself so his hands on the ground and eventually settled his feet on the ground once the dragging slowed his momentum enough. Lee was already on the move again, disappearing in a blur, but Sasuke now had a few seconds to weave hand signs. Finally.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke cupped a hand around his mouth and spewed out flames that formed a giant fireball. And not a moment too soon, because Lee just appeared a few feet in front of him.

The bushy-browed Genin's eyes widened, and he could do nothing but take the sudden attack head-on. He was carried all the way back into the trees, where the fireball exploded spectacularly. Knowing full well that wouldn't be enough to keep Lee down, Sasuke brought out a Fuma Shuriken and threw it at the downed boy before disappearing in a shunshin himself. As expected, Lee lunged over the huge shuriken and back out into the open field; but as he did so, Sasuke reappeared at Lee's right and decked the surprised boy in the face, sending him tumbling to the left.

Lee bounced back rather quickly and grinned at his 'prodigious' opponent.

"It seems like I will have to rely on the Gates after all. No matter!" Lee squatted low and prepared to go up to the Third Gate to get the job done. However, Sasuke's frantic Phoenix Flower Jutsu prevented him from concentrating, and so the eccentric boy disappeared in a blur to reappear at Sasuke's side.

Sasuke caught Lee's leg this time, and he whirled the boy in spandex around until he heftily slammed Lee onto the ground, and planted his heel into Lee's chest to keep him the hell down. Of course things didn't go as easy as Sasuke wanted – the moment Lee recovered enough of his senses, he tightly shut his eyes and with all of his strength latched onto Sasuke's ankle and threw him to the side.

The match went downhill from there, as Sasuke tumbled and Lee picked himself back up. With a few precious moments, Lee concentrated until he opened the Third Gate. The air around him seemed to shimmer and shake, and Lee's very skin went red from the intensity of opening the Gate. By the time Sasuke was getting up on his knees, Lee had grown accustomed to the Third Gate and surged forward to kick him up into the air.

It didn't stop there. Sasuke was soon bounced around like a pinball until the final maneuver, when Lee was primed to deliver a simultaneous open-handed strike and kick. Sasuke waited for that exact moment to get Lee once and for all. The pain was excruciating trying to keep an eye cracked open, but Sasuke managed it, and Lee was so focused on positioning himself that he dropped his guard just enough to lock his eyes with Sasuke's red one. In the next moment, Lee's grip slackened, and both boys fell to the arena floor simultaneously. Lee's final attack going unfulfilled.

Yamato hopped back down into the arena when it looked like both boys had had it, but he was surprised when Sasuke pushed himself up with great exertion. Lee remained unmoving, his eyes closed.

"Winner: Sasuke Uchiha!" Yamato announced, and thunderous applause greeted the end of the match.

Though he was battered and bruised, Sasuke smirked at the conclusion of the match. He knew he was going to be surviving this battle by the skin of his teeth; Lee was that intense of a fighter. If he hadn't had that intense training with his mother… he might have very well lost this match. But as it was, he was capable of passing subtle suggestions through his Sharingan even in the most dire of moments.

It kind of helped that Lee was one step away from fighting like a wild animal at the end there. At the same time… it really didn't. 'Shinobi are supposed to endure' his ass. Lee hit like a high-speed boulder when he used the Gates…


"Well, that's that…" Kakashi sighed when Guy burst into tears at his protégé losing to Asuma's student. It had been a close thing, in fairness.

But using the Eight Gates, when you wanted to go further in the tournament? Not such a smart maneuver, even if it would have allowed Lee to win his first match…

"A million ryo says that the final matchup's gonna be Sasuke against Naruto." Asuma challenged the scarecrow Jonin, who snorted at the notion.

"No bet."


"Anyone could tell the Uchiha was going to win that battle… Just what was that Genin thinking, using only Taijutsu?" The Raikage rumbled.

Nagato smiled wryly.

"Lee can only use Taijutsu, Lord Raikage. It is a deficiency that he has turned into a strength through the use of the Eight Gates."

A snorted, but then he smirked and nodded in agreement.

"Okay, okay. That was interesting. It's unheard of for a Genin to be able to use the Gates. The kid's not Chunin material, but he's earned my respect anyway."

The Kage box went quiet as Yamato proceeded to announce that there would be an intermission of fifteen minutes before the start of the Semifinals. The surviving Genin would be attended to in that time, and the matchups would be decided.

Nagato released a sigh of relief when nothing seemed to happen during this intermission. But he didn't dare to hope just yet. There could still be an Invasion on the horizon.


Author's Note: Life is simply unfair, don't you think? Zero Time Dilemma might not have been perfect, but I dug it, man. XD

But no. Seriously. Go Youtube "Virtue's Last Reward Pantry Theme" or "Zero Time Dilemma Library Theme". We're one step away from opening Pandora's Box. Just one more chapter of "idealism" before all of that goes away. Sometimes even a single snail can make a world go extinct. :D

You all probably have questions. I know of at least two you might have – but all in due time. I'm not forgetful or too lazy to write about some characters… If you're not seeing certain characters' reactions, there's doubtless a good reason for that. :P And I'm sure you're all very glad the Mizukage has graced us with his presence.

I'm not entirely happy with how this chapter came out, but we'll be getting into more in-depth reactions next time. So many characters to write for, and so much about to happen…

Review Replies:

Black' Victor Cachat: Ehhh. Suigetsu's kind of one of the few people 'in the know' about who's a Zetsu or not. At least when it concerns Hidden Mist people. Has to do with the fact that his big brother's position, really... :P The fight between Fu and Kankuro was tough to think up. It's not his fault that he was paired off against a Jinchuriki... XD I don't blame you for thinking that about Ino, but in fairness, she had some very different help when it came for training for these Exams... and that trainer of hers had three months to train Ino-chan into the ground. Of course she's gonna have a different style. XD TemaShika will still happen. Might not be obvious, 'cause canon sure wasn't about it, but it will. Shika's fun to play with. :D Well, most of 'em, anyway. There was that Suigetsu fellow, who's now managed to squeeze into the Semifinals... Don't tell me you couldn't imagine a Hokage doing something like that; you know darn well Tsunade or Hiruzen would've been the same. XD We won't be getting to Haku for a while.

Riku Uzumaki: Ehhh... A little bit of that, and a little bit of me trying to avoid a 'boring' fight, because it was Suigetsu against the other Waterfall Genin who was trying to come across as amateur. Suigetsu-chan doesn't have someone like Sasuke to pull him back from his bloodthirsty side... yet. ... And we'll have to see in the coming chapters, won't we? ^^

JohnPeaceKeeper: Well, frankly, Sasuke-kun doesn't really have much reason to awaken his 'Inner Indra' yet. I mean, he and his team had that nasty run-in, but the negative feelings are being channeled into something more positive - protecting his family, team, friends, and village. It also helps he doesn't have a Curse Mark. Like I mentioned in PM, Sand Coffin and its variants will still be around... he's just not as bloodthirsty and willing to use them. Believe me, he's gonna be pissed about Temari-chan. You think it's annoying to refer to the Wiki so often? Think of the torture I have to go through. lol Sometimes to double-check the Wiki stuff, I will rewatch certain parts of canon to make sure I'm interpreting techniques correctly... like with Lee. Ugh. Lee is just too darn hard to write fights for, because he looks so OP in the anime without those leg weights. He shoulda beaten Gaara, but he didn't, and then his appendages got crushed. Do you realize the struggle I had in imagining how Sasuke VS Lee would look if Sasuke actually had Sharingan training from his Clan, do you?! :P Lee would've been toast if Hinata-chan knew Twin Lion Fists. Even with, like, the Sixth Gate that he eventually gets up to. *shudder* That's exactly what I was thinking when it came to Project Flashbang. Byakugan can see through friggin' walls and opaque crap, so blinding them through normal flashes won't do anything. Now abrupt flashes of Chakra? Much more effective against the Byakugan. Personally, the idea was inspired from Kenchi618's ongoing fic, "Better Left Unsaid", in which Naruto has a 'Chakra Echolocation Jutsu that is pretty much the same thing of sending out waves of Chakra to detect stuff. ... His idea is so much better. *anime tears* And you must have forgotten some of our PMs, 'cause I swear I told you about this 'Madara's' power... Orochimaru sticking around really shouldn't be too surprising with that knowledge. :P I still get giggles at the assumptions you and others are making about the Invasion... This will be fun. And Utakata... mwahahaha. XD Yeah, with no reason for Sasuke-kun to go to Oro-chan, he won't be picking up the Snake Summoning Contract unless he goes to Anko-sama... beautiful, beautiful Anko-sama... XD

Israel Pena: Thanks for the Review! Hope to continue to provide entertainment! ^^