AN: Okay, just fyi, I had to make some minor rewrites earlier to fix a slight error I made. You might want to re-read chapter 2 if you started reading before this chapter was published. It isn't a major thing, just some slight dialogue changes and the Hokage punching Danzo in the face. On with the fic? On with the fic.


Sasuke:

Hours passed, no one was quite sure what to do with most of the Jounin gone. With nothing else to do, the groups sat and waited, some chatting, some resting and some moving between groups so as to talk to those from other teams. At around two PM, a man Sasuke recognized as an academy instructor entered the building, followed by a pair of men carrying a number of plastic grocery bags.

"We apologize for the delay," The man said. "A small problem arose with some of the participants from the sound village. My name is Iruka. after lunch-" he gestured at the shopping bags the men were carrying. "We will resume the elimination round with me as your new proctor as I am afraid Anko Mitarashi is currently indisposed, and any Jonin still present have students in the exam and are therefore possibly biased." He paused briefly before continuing. "Everyone feel free to come on down and grab a bento box from one of the bags. There should be enough for everyone. Sorry, but they're store bought. We weren't expecting you to spend so long in the tower." He waved at the Genin gathered around the balconies. "Well then, come on down, don't be shy. We have crispy chicken and fried tofu, those are my personal favorites."

After a brief pause, the assembled Genin slowly made their way down to the food, some eating in a small circle on the ground floor, some returning with their food to where they sat with their groups. Sasuke grabbed two boxes, one for himself and one for Naruto, before returning to his spot on the balcony.

Eventually, everyone had eaten. Naruto still sat against the wall, sleeping.

Iruka retrieved from his pocket a device identical to the one Anko had been using and began to fiddle with it. After a few moments, he spoke.

"Next fight, Sasuke Uchiha versus Temari of the sand village."

Sasuke stood, relieved. Ever since the previous day, he had been itching to punch something. He launched himself down from the balcony to the lower level, the blonde girl made her way down and stood facing him.

"Begin." Called the new proctor.

Sasuke dashed forwards, the girl countering with surprising speed with a large paper fan. She swept it in front of her and Sasuke threw himself to the side. He felt the torrential gust of air just brush past his feet as he moved. This girl was good. Sasuke grinned.

The boy began making hand signs, but before he even made it halfway, another blast of wind sent him dashing to the side. This girl was fast, and a jutsu that needed no hand signs gave her too much of an advantage. Sasuke decided that now was the perfect time to give his supposedly upgraded sharingan a little field test. He infused his chakra, allowing the shift within himself.

Just like before, the world seemed to slow down, far more than it had before his encounter with Orochimaru. Sasuke saw, as he had before, the chakra moving within the bodies of everyone in the room. Sasuke began to move slowly forwards, feeling like he was running through thick honey.

Slowly, ever so slowly. Sasuke saw Temari raise her fan again; saw the chakra building within her body. He watched as she manipulated it, forcing it out into the fan, before bringing the weapon around in a wide arc.

Wind style attacks were invisible, operating as chakra infused air. But Sasuke didn't need to see the air, he could see the chakra itself as it flowed towards him. The boy took a few steps to the side, feeling like he had all the time in the world, before continuing forwards. The gust of wind brushed past him, missing by a hair's breadth. Temari tried again, and again, Sasuke dodged with consummate ease. He was close to her now, just a few feet away.

Temari leaped back, pulling her fan in another wide swing. Sasuke watched as she built up and released the chakra, the pattern becoming more and more discernible every time he saw it. They called Kakashi sensei 'the copy ninja;' Sasuke was beginning to understand why. With this degree of insight into how jutsu were being performed, he was fairly certain that emulating them would be easy with enough practice. The boy stepped to the side again and this time, Temari had nowhere left to run. Her back was against the wall now. The girl dropped her fan, moving to strike Sasuke with her fist. He dodged as easily as if she were standing still, moving in close to jab his own fist into the girl's stomach. To her credit, the girl hardly slowed, raising her leg in a sweeping kick. He caught it on his shoulder, moving to match her velocity and smiling slyly at her as he did so. Sasuke launched another strike at Temari's midsection, knocking the wind out of her. He let the fight drag on for a few more seconds, parrying and countering with almost indifferent ease. Eventually, the boy decided his field test had run its course. he punched Temari hard in the face, sending her sprawling. The girl did not get up.

"Winner, Sasuke Uchiha." Called Iruka.

The boy allowed his eyes to return to normal and returned to the balcony, marveling at the degree of his newfound power. So this was what Orochimaru had meant.

People were staring at Sasuke as he walked past them. When he finally reached where Sakura and Haku sat with the still sleeping Naruto, the two were gazing at him, wide eyed. Haku was the first to break the silence.

"Wow. I'm actually kinda glad we didn't end up fighting back in the land of waves. You're good."

"Yeah," Sakura agreed in slightly shocked tones. "He is, but I've never seen that before. What was that!?"

"I'm pretty quick, you know." Sasuke said with a shrug, smiling playfully.

Sakura's face fell. She seemed almost about to cry.

"Sasuke," she muttered quietly. "Please stop hiding things from me. You've been doing it all day."

The boy felt a pang of guilt.

"Sorry, Sakura," He said quietly, dropping down next to her. "For what it's worth, I'll tell you everything soon, I promise." The girl hesitated, then nodded, sniffling slightly.

Sasuke, for his part, decided to watch the remainder of the fights with his sharingan active, so as to learn as much as he could from the other fighters. He watched as Kankuro defeated Ino and as Kimimaro passed straight through to the next stage. nothing of particular interest occurred in either case. Kimimaro had been paired up with the third sound ninja, and had won by default, Lee having incapacitated the boy earlier. Kankuro's defeat of Ino on the other hand, was based purely on the blonde girl's main technique, the mind transfer jutsu, not working on Kankuro, the sand ninja utilizing a puppet as a disguised decoy while carrying his real self on its back. Upon attempting to transfer herself into the puppet, Ino had been left defenseless.

Haku and Kimimaro's teammate, Kosuke, was slated to fight a young man named Kabuto, who simply surrendered the moment the fight started. Shortly after, Hinata and Shikamaru faced the two ninja on Kabuto's team, both coming away with easy wins. Sasuke wondered how Kabuto's group had made it this far. Eventually, a fight came along that promised to at least be interesting.

"Next fight," Iruka called out. "Naruto Namikaze versus Choji Akimichi."

Sasuke reached out and shook the blonde boy awake.

"Hey, sleepyhead," He whispered. "It's your fight."


AN: So, I know I kinda skipped a few fights here, but that's mainly for pacing. They were pretty much just a bunch of straight and easy wins. The last three fights, I'll publish soon, and then we'll be done with the elimination round.

Out of curiosity, is anyone here able to tell me the name of the one non-cannon character I have used in this fic so far?

As always, thanks for reading, feel free to review and stuff, Bye! :P