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Sorry about the break, but I had many things happen during the past month.

I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

Chapter 17: Preliminaries Part I

The team watched everyone in front of them.

They saw the proctors of the last two exams with the addition of Genma. Team Yū was able to see three hidden ANBU before they arrived in front of the Kage.

Naruto was shocked when he saw Zabuza standing next to the senseis. He assumed that Zabuza was the sensei for the Kiri team.

"Congratulations to everyone who passed the second part of the Chunin Exams."

Minato went on and talked about the true meanings of the exam to everyone. Naruto just kept his focus on Yūgao. She looked on proudly.

"Thank you for listening, but now is the time I announce what will be happening in the final part of the exam."

Before the Hokage could continue, Gekko appeared bowing in front of the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, before we continue, I would like to speak."

Minato looked at Gekko with a seriousness.

"Since you are the proctor for the third exam, you may."

Hayate looked at the genin behind him.

"Before the third exam, you will all participate in a preliminary round."

Everyone couldn't believe Hayate.

"There are too many of you to continue. We need to narrow it down to the best. According to the rules of the exam, a preliminary round can happen at any stage."

Naruto and Tayaka can't believe they had to fight so soon, but they didn't complain. Since Zoro's presence scared the animals in the forest, the team had no real action.

"The preliminary round will start now. Is there anyone who doesn't want to continue the exams?"

A Konoha-nin and Yuma raised their hands. Shizuka didn't like the look in Konoha-nin's eye. The glasses-wearing genin walked away from the room. Yuma was not far behind.

'With the injury she suffered in the forest, it was the right choice for her to leave.'

"Now then, the screen will select two genin at random to fight."

They looked up on the screen to see the individuals that will fight the first round.

Uchiha Sasuke VS Akado Yoroi

'Sasuke is fighting sooner than I thought.'

Naruto and the rest of the genin squads went up the stairs to observe the match.

"Sasuke doesn't look so good. Will he even be able to win his match?"

Naruto looked at Takaya with a smirk.

"Who knows, maybe he'll surprise us."

They observed the match. Team Yū saw how Sasuke was barely able to move because of his charka being absorbed.

"Sasuke looks ready to pass out. He barely had any chakra at the beginning of the match. What is he going to do now?"

Naruto saw Sasuke us a that looked like something Gai would do. He looked a Lee and saw the shock written on his face. Did Gai teach him?

No.

The look on Gai's face said otherwise. He looked surprised too.

"He copied the move."

Everyone looked at Shizuka.

"That's the only logical explanation. That attack should have taken months to master. Sasuke must have seen Gai or Lee do that somewhere."

"Copy?"

"Yes, Lee. The only way he could have done it is with the sharingan. It can copy jutsu and movements," said Tayaka.

Lee gasped in realization.

When the match finished, Kakashi took Sasuke away.

'I'm still surprised Sasuke was able to win under his condition.'

Everyone looked up at the board to see who would fight next.

Inuzuka Kiba VS Omoi

"Yes! Let's show them what we can do, Akamaru!"

Kiba jumped down from the railing and waited patiently for his opponent to walk down to the arena.

Omoi walked down the steps to face his opponent.

"There is something about him."

Shizuka and Tayaka looked at Naruto expectantly.

"It's the sword on his back. He must have a talent in kenjutsu." clarified Naruto, " I can feel it."

Naruto glanced to his left to look at Omoi's sensei. He couldn't help but sweatdrop at the strange man.

"Whatcha look'en at, ya fool?" asked the sensei.

Naruto shook his head. The sensei was strange for better words. He was scribbling things down in a book and rhyming, or a least, trying to rhyme.

Once Omoi waked to the center of the stage, Hayate started the match. To Naruto's complete surprise, Kiba didn't make a move. He thought the boy would have tried something by now.

'Maybe Kiba isn't the idiot.'

Kiba looked at Omoi with curiosity.

He would've made the first move, but Omoi was from Kumo, which meant he knew nothing about his opponent. He planned to advance in the final round of the exams by being cautious. He thanked his sensei for talking with him before the exams.

'He's got a sword on his back, so maybe he's a kenjutsu user like Naruto and Ryu.'

Kiba started getting into position with Akamaru.

Omoi pulled out three kunai from his pocket and lanched them at Kiba.

Kiba only smirked at dodged them with ease.

"Your fast for a fresh genin, but how fast are you?"

Without further explanation, Omoi started to bombard Kiba with Kunai at a fast rate.

Kiba starts to dodge and defect all the kunai thrown at him.

Omoi ceased fire and started sucking on his lollipop in his mouth.

"You managed to block all of them."

"Giju Ninpo: Shikyaku no Jutsu! (Ninja Art of Beast Mimicry: All-Fours Jutsu)."

Kiba started to inherit a beast-like appearance with chakra surrounding his body.

Omoi frowned and started making hands signs. Once finished weaving them, Omoi sprayed a stream of water at Kiba's direction.

Kiba quickly dodged the attack and elbowed Omoi on his left ribs. Omoi coughed and stood up.

"Seems you can withstand that attack. The next one will break your lungs, so give it up."

Akamaru barked in agreement with Kiba.

"What do I do? If I don't win, Bee-sama will kick my ass. If he kicks my ass, the Raikage will follow too. Then, I'll be in the hospital for weeks. Kamui and Samui will go on missions without me and get hurt." rambled Omoi.

Deciding not to face the wrath of both his sensei and Kage, Omoi withdrew his sword and charged at Kiba.

Kiba only shook his head and charged at Omoi.

He tried to punch Omoi but was shocked when he blocked his attack with it.

"How is that possible, the sword should've broken from the strength of my jutsu. Not only does it enhance my speed, but it enhances my strength too. So, how can you black my attack?"

Smiling, Omoi decided to change at Kiba again. Kiba backed away from Omoi, which caused the boy to stop charging at Kiba.

"Akamaru, let's do it!"

Akamaru barked and jumped on top of Kiba's back.

"Too late."

Kiba at Omoi to see his sword covered in lightning. Omoi made his sword touch the ground. A line of lighting started to appear on the ground. The line od lightning quickly approached Kiba.

Kiba and Akamaru howled in pain as they became electrocuted.

"That guy is smart. He didn't throw kunai at Kiba to get a feel from him, but to spring a trap," said Tayaka.

Shizuka nodded in agreement.

"He attached wires to some kunai and used the suiton jutsu to be able to electrocute him. He only acted like he was about to charge a Kiba to make him back up into the water. Once Kiba's feet were in the water, Omoi used his lightning jutsu on his ninja wire, sending the electricity into the water.

"I get it!" exclaimed Nawaki.

The screen started to select the next competitors.

Uchiha Tayaka VS Haruno Sakura

Tayaka instantly became disappointed at who her opponent.

'Out of everybody I get to fight, I have to get fangirl?!'

"For once, I pity you," stated Naruto while patting her back.

Sakura walked down the steps with a smirk on her face. She knew that Tayaka would be one of the weakest opponents to face. She was lucky to get the opportunity to fight Tayaka, but she had a nagging feeling in the back of her neck.

Tayaka sighed and walked down the steps to battle Sakura.

"I'm warning you now, Sakura. Forfeit the match."

Sakura shook her head in disagreement.

"No. I won't forfeit after everything my teams done to be here. I'll take you down easy because you don't have the sharingan."

Sakura started to attack Tayaka using taijutsu.

Tayaka frowned when Sakura was displaying the academy taijutsu. She felt both insulted and disgusted to face Sakura.

Sakura went for a normal uppercut only for it to be blocked. She coughed when Tayaka mercilessly kicked her in the stomach. Spit flew from Sakura's mouth as she landed on the floor.

"I thought that you had improved since the academy. I guess I was wrong to think that."

"I didn't think Tayaka disliked Sakura so much," stated Kushina as she watched Sakura struggling to stand.

"She doesn't dislike her, but she despises fangirls," explained Yūgao, "See, Tayaka and Shizuka think that if a kunoichi is a fangirl, they are instantly weak. Sakura caused Tayaka to be angry because she is using the academy style taijutsu against her in the fight. To Tayaka, Sakura is nothing more than a kid playing ninja."

"Does she have to act so violently against my student, Yūgao ?"

"Tayaka intends to beat some reality into Sakura since you failed her in improving her taijutsu as a sensei should," answered Naruto coldly.

Sakura stood up and faced Tayaka.

She grabbed two kunai and charged at Tayaka.

Tayaka took out two kunais of her own and engaged with Sakura. She kicked the kunai Sakura had in her left hand with grace and blacked the right one with her kunai. She used her left hand and punched Sakura in the face with the kunai glazing her cheek.

Sakura stumbled back as blood started dripping from her cheek.

Tayaak dropped her kunai and used her speed to kicked Sakura on the chest while she was distracted by the sting of the cut.

The pink-haired girl was unconscious on the ground while labored breaths came out of her body.

"Keep in mind that if I am the enemy you encountered outside the village, you'd be dead at my feet by now."

"The winner is Uchiha Tayaka," stated Genma.

Ami VS Nara Shikamaru

"Troublesome, I have to fight a girl."

Ami and some of the girls glared at Shikamaru.

'Troublesome women.'

Naruto noticed a tick mark on Tayaka, but Shizuka just ignored Shikamaru's comment.

Ami composed herself and walked to the bottom of the stairs. She learned from team 11 to not let emotions rule their judgment. Ami is a different person now. She had to thank her friends for that. She is more than ready to show them that she has grown to become a chunin.

Ami waited patiently next to Hayate with her foot tapping the pavement.

Shikamaru kept complaining about how troublesome this was while Ino kept yelling at him.

Naruto became irritated and decided to take action.

"Shik, if you get down there right now, I'll give you a rematch at shoji."

Shikamaru looked dead into Naruto's eyes.

Naruto knew about Shikamaru's anger towards him.

In the past, Zoro had pointed out that Shikamaru and Ino would follow him places. Naruto would disappear after turning a corner and hid above them. He saw Shikamaru and Ino become frustrated. They didn't even know he was watching them. Once, he heard the boy say Naruto is too mysterious for his liking. It got to a point where the boy would try to join him when spotted.

Shikamaru started walking down the steps until he was in front of Ami.

"Let the match begin."

Before Shikamaru could make a move, Ami started fighting him in taijutsu.

'If I spar him, Shikamaru won't have time to make the necessary sign for his signature jutsu.'

Shikamaru cursed.

He thought that Ino said she was a weak bully, but Ami was kicking his butt. Shikamaru decided to be on the defense for now. He needs to gain his bearings.

Ami knew what Shikamaru was doing, and decided to put a twist.

When she made a move to kick him in the chest, a knife appeared on the tip of her shoe. She slashed Shikamaru on the chest.

Shikamaru kneeled but was punched in the face by Ami. He rolled back and panted. Ami made sure to observe both Shikamaru and her surroundings.

Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi couldn't believe what they saw. Ami, who had low marks in the Academy, had injured Shikamaru.

They turned to Tayaka when they heard her chuckle.

"You taught her that technique?" asked Naruto.

A smirking Shizuka nodded.

"She hasn't mastered my style and probably never will, but the kunai comes in handy. I just taught her how to kick with it. She manages to hurt Shikamaru, but she revealed it too soon. Now, Shikamaru knows to avoid taijutsu. That was her only advantage against Shikamaru. I wonder what she'll do now."

Ami saw that Shikamaru was holding one hand to his chest.

He was in pain, the cut looked deep, but it wasn't fatal.

"Looks like you have some tricks up your sleeve, but you can't beat me."

Ami remained calm and tried to make Shikamaru engage in taijutsu, but he wasn't having any of it.

He quickly used his jutsu and yelled, "Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession Jutsu)."

'Shit!'

Ami needed to avoid that jutsu. She decided to put chakra in her feet and run.

"There's no point in running."

Ami cursed, but remember something important. She needed to test it and see if she's correct.

She stopped running as the shadow came closer. Before it can even connect to her shadow, She poured chakra into her feet and jumped away. She saw how the slowed down and didn't keep stretching.

"You have a limit."

Shikamaru kept his lazy gaze on Ami. He couldn't believe she was this smart.

"I remembered that we studied the Nara clan. Iruka mentioned their shadow jutsus. I already knew about them, but Naruto also said something about shadow ranged weakness."

Shikamaru sighed and pulled out kunai his kunais. He started to furiously throw them towards Ami.

Seeing that Shikamaru tossing kunai at her, Ami decided to blocked them with her own kunai.

"I'm surprised she remembers our studies about clans in Konoha from the academy. Usually, Ami would say they we're boring and ignore the lectures. Looks like she was listening after all." sighed Naruto. He's been squatting on the railing since Haku's fight. Shizuka was sitting on the rail while kicking her feet.

"I told you Ami is smart," said Shizuka.

"What's she going to do now?" asked Tayaka with her arms crossed.

Shikamaru stopped throwing kunai at Ami and quickly used his Kagemane no Jutsu on Ami.

"It's no use, Shikamaru," Ami yelled. She backed away towards the wall and prepared to throw a kunai at Shikamaru. Before she had the opportunity to throw it, she felt her body stiffen.

'Impossible!'

"Shadow possession, complete."

Shikamaru stood up, causing Ami to mimic his movements.

"How? Your shadow shouldn't be able to touch me!"

Shikamaru looked at the kunais on the ground, knowing that Ami would follow his line of vision.

Shikamaru's shadow had connected to the shadow of one of the kunai he threw at her. The shadow then extended and connected to her own shadow.

'Damn it. I was overconfident.'

"Now, to end this match."

Shikamaru made Ami walk forward until she was a distance away from the wall, then made her hit her head against it.

"Winner, Nara Shikamaru."

As he was walking back up, the screen started randomly selecting the competitor for the next match.

Yamanaka Ino VS Sai

"Wow, Ino, you get to fight after Shikamaru."

Ino mentally cursed while looking at Sai.

Sai was someone with amazing talent.

During their years in the academy, Ino had noticed how Sai was exceptional in both taijutsu and ninjutsu. He was given many praises from the senseis and even had the chance to skip a year. She was confused when Sai had rejected the opportunity.

'I need to be careful.'

"Ino," said Shikamaru while walking towards her, "I don't need to tell you this, but you need to be careful."

Nodding at her friend, she quickly made her way towards the arena.

Shikamaru glance at Sai.

'That guy is something.'

"Begin," yelled Hayate.

Ino immediately backed away from Sai, hoping to gain some distance.

"Yamanaka-sama. I ask you to forfeit this match. I don't want to cause any unnecessary harm to you. Beautiful."

Quickly, a blush started to cover Ino's cheeks.

'Did he just call me beautiful?'

"Don't listen to him, Ino. He just trying to get into your head!" yelled Shikamaru. He knew Sai is trying to play Ino.

"I won't fall for any of your tricks, Sai. I'm going to be a chunin."

Sai's smile didn't flatter as he looked at Ino.

"Yamanaka-sama, I'm not joking when I called you beautiful, but since you refuse to surrender, I have no choice but to beat you."

Sai's smile vanished instantly.

He threw three smoke bombs on the ground, hiding from Ino. He knew that Ino wasn't too talented at taijutsu. She can use her family jutsu, but he needs to be moving to avoid it.

He has the advantage, but that didn't mean that Ino can outsmart him.

Ino took out two kunais and waited patiently for Sai to make the first move.

When the smoke cleared, Sai was charging at Ino.

Sai started to fight Ino in taijutsu.

Ino tried to punch him on the chest, but Sai countered her punch with a kick. Sai then did a back kick, causing Ino to stumble a bit. She knew Sai was good at taijutsu, but she never knew he could hit so hard.

Ino backed away from Sai, creating some distance between them.

"Ino!"

Ino felt a pain on the back of her head and fell to the floor. She then faded into darkness.

"When did Sai create a clone?" asked a confused Lee

"It was when he threw the smoke bombs," explained Shikamaru, "He created a clone to hide somewhere while Sai faced Ino in taijutsu. The clone appeared from the ground when Ino created some distance between them. From there, the clone used doton to appear behind Ino. That's how she got knocked out."

"So, Sai has doton jutsus. That's good to know," said a smirking Tayaka.

Naruto kept watching Sai as his clone turned into a black liquid. He wondered how Sai's clone was able to make a hole in the ground. A clone shouldn't be able to preform jutsu.

'What is that black liquid?'

Temari VS Karui

"Hmm. It's finally my turn," said Temari as she descended the stairs, "This will be an easy fight."

Karui walked down the steps without another word.

"Who do you think is gonna win?" asked Tayaka.

Naruto shrugged and watched intensely at Karui.

"Begin."

Karui inspected Temari.

'She has a fan. Is she a futon user?'

Karui knew she needs to be close range with Temari once she saw the fan. She needed to defeat her before she opens it.

Karui immediately grabbed her katana and rushed Temari.

Temari's eyes widened at the speed Karui possessed. The redhead was immediately in front of Temari. Temari used her fan to block Karui's slashes.

'She's fast, but I need her to be farther away.'

Temari saw an opening and kicked Karui on the ribs. She jumped back and made sure there was a distance between them.

She opened her fan and embedded it into the ground, hiding from Karui. She needed to distract her using a clone.

Forming hand signs, Temari made a clone. The clone jumped out of the fan and started making hand signs while running towards Karui. Karui used this opportunity to slash Temari only for it to fade like an illusion.

" Ninpo: Kamaitachi no Jutsu! (Ninja Art: Wind Scythe Jutsu!)."

Karui became engulfed in the jutsu. The jutsu lifted her into the air and gave her deep cuts. The pain was so much that she ended up passing out in the middle of the jutsu.

When the jutsu finished, Temari let Karui crash to the ground.

Before she landed on the ground, her sensei caught her in his arms.

"Her skills with the katana were incredible, but with the fan protecting Temari, she didn't have a chance in winning the match," said Naruto.

"Karui was fast, but she had some opening that Temari was able to use. If Karui was able to hide them, she could've won the match. She was smart in trying to fight Temari in a close-range battle since it's evident that Temari was a long-distance fighter," stated Shizuka.

The screen started selecting the next competitors at random.

"Hey, Naruto. Who do you think is gonna go against the team from Otogakure?"

Naruto glanced at the team that came from Otogakure. None of them had fought yet, but Naruto was curious about the abilities of the bandaged shinobi and his gauntlet.

"No idea."