Underlined speech is thought.

Italicized words signify emphasis put on the words or a change in tone. You should be able to figure it out from the choice of words and the character.

Sentences of thought that are completely italicized were spoken by another character at another time.

Italicized sections are songs/chants; whatever you what to call them. When a word is bolded, it is being spoken by only Naruto. If it is underlined, it is being spoken by only Hinata. A word with (parentheses) around it is echoed. The numbers of echoes are the same as the number of parentheses pairs. Also, if a parentheses pair is (underlined), it is only Hinata's voice that echoes it. Songs will not use quotation marks like normal speech.

CAPITALIZED SPEECH IS YELLING.

These are … interruptions in …speech caused … by things …like laughing,…crying, thought,.. and…others.

Words-with-dashes-between-them-consistently-signify-when-a-character-is-talking-too-fast-to-understand.

Words with tildes~ after them are spoken for longer~ periods of time.

Bold words are author notes.

(Previously on Edel Raid and Pleasure: The barrier of wind proved too much for either Tenten or Neji to break through. Anything that could have worked was spotted by Hinata and dealt with. Neji realized the second roll Hinata plays in after reacting, and practically gives up as a result. Tenten tries to attack from behind, but the pair turned around and unleashed Euro Lumens. With her out, the pair broke off their reaction. Neji sees this as a chance for victory and stands back up. After being blown away by a rotation, Hinata comes up with an idea to exhaust Neji's chakra. He forfeits as a result of this plan. As Naruto celebrates victory, Hinata has a one-on-one talk with her cousin. Neji calms down and accepts Hinata. As they make their way back up to the others, Hinata has a short fainting spell. When they arrived, they are faced by a curious Ino. Hinata is bombarded by questions until Naruto decides to call Ino annoying. Moments after she backs off, she, Choji, Sakura, and Lee are called down for their match.)

I've made a small mistake in chapter 33. It turns out that the two I have sitting next to Sagesumi are chunin, not jonin. I've already fixed this.

Writing has been pretty hard for me lately. For the first time in about 22 months, I actually am working a job. That's why this chapter is so late. We'll see if I can keep up this pace.

6-13-10

Sakura's Development

Ino's eyes narrowed slightly. "You know what to do Choji."

Choji nodded. "Hai." He ran forward, heading directly for Lee. Ino followed after him.

Lee smiled at them. "I've been waiting for this all month." Choji used a wide right hook. Lee easily ducked under the attack. He then used a leg sweep, causing Choji to land on his back. Before Lee could follow up, Ino jumped up and attack with kunai. Lee back flipped away from the attack.

"Plan A Choji."

He nodded as she ran forward. He formed a ram seal then a specialized seal. "Expansion Jutsu!" Choji's body expanded into a massive ball more than six times larger than he was before. As Ino did her best to hold off Lee's taijutsu, Choji tucked his limbs into his girth and began rolling forward.

Ino heard him coming and jumped high enough to land on top then bounced off. She landed behind the ball and gripped her arm. "That's guy's too strong. I blocked only three attacks and I'm numb. It took all I had just to keep up with him. We have to take him out first." She watched as Lee nimbly dodged around Choji's massive form. She then noticed something else coming in. "Sakura!" She tried to put up a guard, but a sudden burst of speed let Sakura push through. "So fast." The blow landed right on Ino's face, causing her to fly back.

Sakura smirked at her. "That's what you get for ignoring me Ino-pig."

Ino rubbed her cheek and stood. "Where did that come from!"

Sakura smirked at her. "Why don't you come here and find out."

Ino pointed at her. "YOU SHOULDN'T LET YOUR HEAD GET ANY BIGGER JUST BECAUSE YOU HIT ME ONCE BILLBOARD~BROW~~!"

"I'LL HIT YOU AS MANY TIMES AS IT TAKES THEN!"

Up in the stands, the pair of shinobi next to Sagesumi began their comments. "That girl's chakra control is impressive. She pushed chakra out of her feet at the perfect timing to increase her speed."

The one with the cloth over his face nodded. "We'd have trouble doing something like that in the midst of battle." Sagesumi laughed at them. They waited a second for her to quiet down. "You have something to say."

Sagesumi looked at them with a wide smirk. "You call that impressive. What Sakura just did was child's play compared to what she can really do."

Their eyes widened. "Child's play?"

Sakura smiled at Ino. "Let's see you try to block this." Sakura ran forward with her fist ready.

Ino's jaw dropped a bit. "How stupid does she think I am? I'd be a baka to try blocking." Her eyes widened a bit. "What if that's what she wants." She dodged Sakura's first attack. "No, I can't second guess myself. My best bet is to outmaneuver her."

Lee kept half his focus on Choji and the other half on Sakura. "Sakura-chan is doing very well. Ino-san is now worrying about whether or not Sakura-chan is bluffing. She is having trouble dodging without guarding."

Choji began to feel frustrated at being unable to hit the nimble Lee. "I can't get this guy. I have to help Ino out." He reversed his rolling direction.

Lee was confused for a bit before noticing where Choji was going. "Not so fast."

A number of seconds earlier, Sakura proved to Ino that she was much faster. "That's it. I have to guard."

Sakura saw this chance. "Now! Focus chakra at the ends of my fist; wait until the instant of impact, then release!" The resulting blow sent Ino flying further than the one that hit her face.

Up in the stands, the Hokage's eyes widened. "Could that be?"

The Kazekage chuckled. "That was an unusually powerful punch. If I'm not mistaken, one of your more famous kunoichi uses a similar jutsu."

Hiruzen nodded. "One of my own students. I never thought I'd see anything like it in these exams. There is a lot of talent here."

"I agree~."

Sagesumi smirked. "That's what Sakura can really do. I wouldn't be surprised if her arm was broken." The ones next to her were speechless.

Sakura looked at her fist. "That felt wrong. My timing was off."

Ino held up the middle of her right forearm. "Billboard brow wasn't kidding. I don't think even Choji hits that hard." She felt her arm a bit. "It has to be fractured." Choji attacking Sakura caught Ino's eye. "Great timing Choji." Her eyes widened when Lee ran in front and started holding off Choji with his bare hands. "What's with that guy?" Her expression turned surprised for an instant before she smirked. "This was the plan from the beginning."

Sakura watched as Ino worked to form familiar hand-seals. "That punch must have racked your brain Ino-pig. I know all about that jutsu. It's really slow and you're defenseless if it misses."

Ino smirked. "You're not my target Billboard brow."

Sakura was confused for an instant before noticing Ino changing her aim. Her eyes widened at the real target. "LEE!"

At Sakura's voice, the taijutsu specialist built up all his strength, lowered his stance, and then tossed the massive green ball that is Choji into the air. He turned to Sakura immediately. "WHAT IS IT SAKURA-CHAN?"

Ino formed a scope with her forefingers and thumbs aimed at Lee. "Too late Billboard-brow; … Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

"JUMP!"

"Hai." Before Lee could even bend his knees, he was pushed back by an unseen force.

Sakura's eyes widened in fear. "This can't be happening." She noticed Ino's prone form. "I have to take this chance."

She ran for the blond. She made only two steps when she heard a sudden crash. "Vroom-vroom-vroom~!" She looked to see Choji rolling right at her.

"I can't let him stop me." She began focusing a lot of chakra in her fist. "I have to time it perfectly this time." She twisted her body, throwing all the strength in her body into the attack. She hit Choji dead center. The moment of contact seemed to be an eternity for Sakura. She could feel the rotation of Choji's body on her fist. Finally, the hulk of living mass was sent flying away. The jutsu causing Choji to be that big ended. As he rolled across the ground, Choji's unconsciousness was proven by the lack of any controlled movement. Sakura immediately turned her attention to Lee. She noticed an expression of complete shock. "Ino possessed him. I have to hurry."

Within Lee's body, Ino could not believe what she saw. "She sent Choji flying. That's impossible." She noticed Sakura heading for her body. "NO!" Sakura reached Ino's body and stopped. The moment she did, Lee reached her and used a high kick. Sakura blocked it directly and was sent flying back. Ino looked at Lee's legs in surprise. "So fast." She looked up at Sakura with a smile. She began to attack.

Up in the stands, Tazuna and his family couldn't believe what there were seeing. "What in the world's going on here? Sakura-chan and Lee-san are doing fine. Their opponents are down so why haven't they one. Lee-san is even attacking Sakura-chan." The bridge builder turned to Haku. "What's happening?"

Haku thought about it for a second. "I believe one of them was Ino Yamanaka. I was told about the Yamanaka clan and a jutsu of theirs that lets them send their spirit into someone else and possess them. I believe Lee-san is possessed by Ino-san."

Tazuna looked at Haku with narrow eyes. "You shinobi have loads of weird jutsu. I wouldn't be surprised was one for building bridges out there."

Tsunami shook her head side to side. "Only Tou-san would say that."

Sagesumi clenched her fists in frustration. "After all the times Sakura warned that idiot, he still gets caught. How stupid can he be?"

The shinobi with cloth over his nose smirked. "Looks like you can't be so confident anymore." She glared at him while his friend chuckled nervously."

Faced with the possessed Lee's attacks, Sakura found herself being pushed further and further away from Ino's body. "I can't keep this up. Stopping Choji took nearly all the chakra I had. Now I have to deal with this alone."

After a few more kicks, Ino backed off; much to Sakura's relief. She looked down at the orange legwarmers around Lee's ankle. "Why do my legs feel so heavy?" She reached into the leg warmers and found something large. She quickly noticed some straps and removed them. What she found was a pair of leg weights. "These must be the reason. They are pretty heavy." She looked up at Sakura's expression. "Why does she look so scared?" Ino let go of the weights, letting them fall. The resulting sound shocked Ino. She looked down to see that the weights put a sizable crater on the ground. "That's insane." She looked up at Sakura, who was backing away. Ino smiled in realization. "If he was that fast before, then how fast is he now."

Sakura prepared herself for the worst as Ino prepared to attack her. She prepared herself to dodge in any direction possible. The moment the attack began, she dodged to the left. She watched as Lee's body shot past her, tripped, somersaulted countless times across the ground before the face slammed into the wall. Some spectators nearest the impact felt like they could feel it. Everyone else was developing sweat-drops of embarrassment.

The jaws of the chunin next to Sagesumi dropped. "What just happened?"

Sagesumi had a similar expression, but changed in quickly. "That baka is insane fast without his weights. I've only seen it twice, so he could be even faster. That Blondie was using his body to fight. I guarantee that she has no idea what it's like to have that kind of speed. She must have lost control."

The one with hair over his right eye palmed his face and shook his head. "I know that the Yamanaka feel whatever their target does as they possess them. That is quite a way to lose." Both agreed with him.

Genma walked up to Ino's body and took a good look at her face. It was pushed in and her nose was bleeding quite a bit. "This one's done for." He looked up at Choji. "And he still hasn't gotten up. THE WINNERS ARE ROCK LEE AND SAKURA HARUNO! AS A SPECIAL RULE MADE FOR THESE EXAMS, IF ROCK LEE IS NOT BATTLE READY BY THE NEXT ROUNDS, SAKURA HARUNO WILL FIGHT ALONE!"

Sakura's eyes widened. "Now they decide to tell us something like this. Naruto and Hinata are in the next round. I have no chance trying to fight something like them alone." Sakura ran right up to Lee and grabbed his shoulders. She turned his face towards her to see that he was in the same shape Ino was in. "Lee-kun! Are you okay?"

He groaned a bit in a goofy way. "How'd~ I do~~ Gai-sensei~?"

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "He's fine." She slapped him once across the face.

He started to rouse himself a bit before steadying himself with his hands. He looked at Sakura with a confused expression then looked side to side. "What … happened?"

Sakura paused for a second before glaring at him. "YOU BAKA! AFTER ALL THE TIMES I WARNED AND YOU STILL GOT CAUGHT IN INO-PIG'S JUTSU! WHEN I TELL YOU TO JUMP, DO IT! DON'T WASTE TIME TELLING ME YOU'RE GOING TO DO IT!"

Lee blinked at her twice before sticking a finger into his left ear. "Gomen Sakura-chan. I cannot hear you. My ears are ringing too much." Sakura looked at him for a second before letting her head drop in defeat. She stood up and walked towards the stairs. She then made a signal for Lee to follow her. He saluted despite the fact that Sakura couldn't see him. "HAI SAKURA-CHAN!"

She palmed her face and sighed. "I paired myself up with a strong baka." Sakura paused for a moment and pointed at where Lee's weights were.

Lee automatically looked in that direction and noticed what was there. "MY WEIGHTS!" He ran to them in a flash and quickly grabbed them. He put them back on with a confused expression. "When did I take off my weights?" He ignored the thought as he noticed Sakura walking up the stairs. He quickly followed after her while putting the weights back on. As he approached her, he noticed something flowing down his face. He wiped his face with his sleeve to find a fairly large amount of blood. "When did that happen?" He looked up. "Now that I think about it, I feel just like I did that one time I ran face first into that big rock half a year ago."

Sakura quickly reached the other genin. The first people she wanted to look at were Naruto and Hinata. Naruto was standing in one spot next to the window, ready to talk to her the first chance he got. What Hinata was doing right next to him shocked her completely. "Is she actually … sleeping?" Sakura took a closer look. "Where'd that pillow come from?" Sakura couldn't keep herself from looking only at the way Hinata's head was against Naruto's leg, with the pillow right in-between. "It's almost sickening how adorable she looks right now. At least she's covered that gem back up."

Lee arrived soon after, still rubbing the inside of his ear with his pinky. "I think my hearing is coming back." He noticed Naruto waving at him and walked right over. "Hello Naruto-kun."

"Hey bushy-brow. What happened out there?"

Lee scratched his chin. "I don't know."

Sakura walked right up to them. "You got possessed."

This shocked Lee. "Really! The last thing I remember is throwing Choji-san into the air."

Sakura glanced at him without turning her head. "That is when you got possessed. How~ many times did I warn you about that?"

He started bowing repeatedly. "Gomen-nasai. Gomen-nasai."

"IT'S TIME FOR THE NEXT MATCH TO BEGIN! FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN WHO THEY ARE, IT WILL BE SHINO ABURAME AND SHIKAMARU NARA VS TEMARI AND KANKURO OF THE SAND!"

Shikamaru let out a sigh. "Looks like I have to fight now. Troublesome." He headed for the stairs.

Shino made his way for the stairs himself. "I have anticipated this for some time. I am curious about the jutsu of the shinobi of the sand."

Temari and Kankuro followed them soon after. "What do we do Temari? I don't want to show all my Crow has before it is time."

"We can't both drop out of this fight. It will look suspicious."

"Hai."

"Don't worry. We won't have to give it everything we have. Just save up your energy."

After a few short moments, the genin pairs faced each other of. Like before, Genma looked between them and gave his signal. "BEGIN!"

And here we have the ending of yet another chapter. I was able to make the match last longer than expected. If it keeps going at this rate, the first round will take up to four more chapters.

For some bad news, I may not be able to do much writing for this week. I will be tuning in for E3 this week. I am interested to see what will be shown.

Next Chapter: Strategies.