AN: Note that I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or any of the characters from either Anime. This work is a fanfiction written out of my love for the series and not in any attempt to make a profit.
Proofread by: Me, as a result of writing this right before uploading, and both of my proofreaders unavailable.
Chapter 19: Random, one on one fights!
"And that is a preliminary to the third exam, with participation in the main battle on the line." Hayate continued from where he had left off. Much to the annoyance and confusion of the Genin.
"Preliminary?" Sakura asked under her breath, feeling rather irritated herself. With everything that had happened in the second stage of the exam, hadn't they already earned their spot in the third one? Shikamaru was the first one to voice the discontent they all felt at the declaration that there would be a preliminary before the third exam.
"What do you mean… preliminary?!" He demanded to know, hoping they had a decent explanation as to why some of them should suddenly get robbed of their opportunity, despite getting this far.
"Proctor, I don't understand the point of this preliminary. Why aren't we doing the next exam with the remaining test takers?" Sakura added, clarifying exactly what she thought needed to be explained.
Letting out a small sigh, Hayate began explaining. "This time around, perhaps because the first and the second exams were too easy, there are a few too many people left, you see. In accordance with the rules of the Chūnin Exams, a preliminary will be held in order to reduce the numbers advancing.
"N-No way!" Sakura complained, thinking that it was a really stupid rule. Why would they limit the amount of potential Chūnin passing each exam? It didn't make any sense, wasn't it a good thing if more Chūnin advanced to the third exam to prove themselves?
"As Lord Hokage said before, many guests will be coming to the third exam. So we can't have long, pointless matches and our time is limited as well. Therefore, those of you not in top physical condition..." Hayate continued, before being interrupted by another coughing fit.
"He's the one who doesn't seem to be in a top physical condition!" Inner protested, the sound of something else shattering echoing through Sakura's mind, much to her annoyance.
"What the heck are you breaking in there, that's my mind you know!" Sakura complained mentally, annoyed.
"Don't worry, I was redecorating, nothing important was lost… I don't think." Inner replied, sounding less sure of herself towards the end.
"What do you mean, you think?!" Sakura demanded, unable to comprehend how Inner could be so blatant about destroying things in their mindscape. She didn't know for sure if it would actually affect her, since the last time she had been there, it had been an empty black void anyways, but the fact that she could summon kunai in there proved that objects could exist in there. What worried Sakura was what the objects in her mind might represent and how it could affect her. Now she had to worry about Inner breaking things that might be important.
"Relax, I'm not breaking any of your stuff. Orochimaru won't miss this, so I'm disposing of it." Inner tried to calm Sakura down and assure her that everything was fine.
"What the heck? Orochimaru's stuff? You mean he left something in us? Get rid of it, immediately!" Sakura ordered her outraged that Inner hadn't told her about this earlier.
"That might not be the best course of action. I think it would be better to carefully check this stuff for something useful. I mean, some of these things contain memories, if we bring enough of them together, we might learn something!" Inner pointed out, making Sakura shudder at the thought. She did not want to become like the Orochimaru she had seen in her mindscape. While he was strong, he was also creepy as hell, and she much rather not take any risks. "Don't worry, I'm being careful, and there's nothing big enough in here to be a threat by itself. Trust me on this. Also, Hayate is still talking." Inner pointed out, making Sakura zone back in to hear the end of him telling them something about the battles.
"...individual battles from now on. It is your decision, so feel free to raise your hand and drop out." Hayate offered, making Sakura question if he really thought anyone would feel like quitting after all they had been through. They were shinobi, after all, everyone she knew, including Ino, wouldn't be satisfied with just quitting at this point all of a sudden.
While Hayate waited for someone to raise their hand and give up, Kakashi Hatake, the Jonin and Sensei of team seven was looking at his three students. Hearing that Sakura had been given a curse mark by Orochimaru had him worried. According to Anko, the survival odds were one in ten, but much to his relief, Sakura seemed fine. If it had anything to do with her awakened Kekkei Genkai, remained to be seen, but its surprising appearance could only be a boon. Although, having to argue against pulling Sakura out of the exam to go through with the process involved when a new Kekkei Genkai emerges had been a pain.
Normally, whenever a new Kekkei Genkai became known, the affected individual would be taken to a hospital where they would be inspected in excruciating detail. Any information known about the traits of the Kekkei Genkai would be written down, records would be written and altered depending on the lineage of the individual. A Kekkei Genkai was a precious thing, and the council had made sure there were plenty of laws surrounding the topic that would keep the bloodlines alive. The laws were far more lenient towards individuals from an established bloodline, like Sasuke, as the village already had the means to revive the clan, even if Sasuke were to die. That was why Sasuke was even allowed to continue his training as a Shinobi at all.
Of course, while these laws now threatened Sakura's future as a shinobi, purely for the sake of preserving her potentially really valuable bloodline, there was fortunately also a set of laws in place that prevented such a trap from entrapping an individual completely. While it wouldn't be a pleasant experience for Sakura once she was back in the village proper and the process began before the third exam, she could, if she cooperated, and showed dedication towards becoming a shinobi, keep her rights, using the very same laws that allowed Sasuke to endanger himself as he wished.
Sighing, Kakashi didn't envy his future self. Having to explain to Sakura what having a new Kekkei Genkai meant for her, as well as what she would have to do in order to avoid being forced into a civilian life, it would not be a pleasant experience. They would both have to read up on the laws and see what else could be done with her situation, but he was ready to bet on Sakura and, if nothing else, her dedication to Sasuke, to see her free from the troublesome peacetime/wartime laws that resulted in the incoming mess.
Hopefully, he would be able to not only help Sakura remain on the team but also motivate her into catching up with both Naruto and Sasuke. Wouldn't that be entertaining? If so, he'd be able to train them earnestly.
After a long pause, during which some of the teams whispered amongst themselves, but none of them raising their hand to give up, Hayate sighed again. "Seems you're all staying. Now then, we will begin the preliminaries. The preliminaries to come will be one on one individual battles. In other words, actual battle format. Unfortunately, there are still twenty-one people left, meaning we can't simply hold an even number of matches and be done with it. Let's do it like this. The first person to lose in their match will get another chance against someone else, provided they are in good enough condition to continue. Like this, we will hold eleven, one on one matches. The winners will advance to the next exam." Hayate informed them, pausing to cough once, before continuing, holding back the rest of his coughing as best he could. "There are no rules at all. You will fight until someone dies, collapses… or admits defeat. And… please, admit defeat right away if you don't want to die. However, in case I judge that a match is over, err… I don't want to needlessly increase the body count, so I will intervene and stop the match, or something to that effect. What holds the keys to your destinies is…" Hayate trailed off, glancing over his shoulder at Anko, who nodded and spoke into the microphone she wore.
"Open it." She ordered, resulting in part of the purple wall to retract into the ceiling, revealing a black, electronic signboard.
"This." Finished Hayate as soon as it was completely uncovered. "The names of two foes will randomly be selected and displayed on this electronic signboard," Hayate explained, looking at said signboard, before turning back to look at the Genin. "Now then, let's get right down to it and announce the two names for the first battle," Hayate suggested, before the signboard flashed to life, rapidly scrolling through a series of matchups before finally stopping on the first matchup.
Tenten vs Gaara.
Inevitably, Gaara received a lot of attention, as she had already managed to make an impression on most of the other Genin, one way or another. At the same time, Tenten was frowning as she was up against a practically unknown opponent who gave her the creeps. Of course, it wasn't enough for her to drop out, just because of that. She was determined to do her best. Besides, if she lost, or decided to give up, she'd end up getting a second try anyways.
"Now then, the two displayed on the signboard, come forward." Ordered Hayate, prompting Tenten and Gaara to step out of their spots and walk up towards Hayate.
Tenten, however, found Lee grabbing her shoulder, before smiling at her and giving her a thumbs up. "You've got a hard opponent in front of you Tenten, but I believe you can make it through!" He tried to encourage him.
"Thanks, Lee." Tenten thanked him, a small smile on her lips. Even if he was a dork who took after their Sensei in way too many ways, he was still her friend and teammate. She at least appreciated his support.
Gara gave Tenten a brief, evaluating glance, thinking little of her before stopping in front of Hayate. Tenten, having noticed his dismissal of her grit her teeth, but held her tongue, deciding to instead make him regret it during their fight, as she took full advantage of such a mistake. Turning to face each other, Tenten tried to evaluate Gaara, noting that he didn't seem to be carrying any weapons besides the gourd on his back. She pegged him as a ninjutsu specialist.
"For the first battle, Tenten and Gaara have been selected. No objections, right?" Hayate asked the two.
"No." Both of them responded, nearly at the same time.
"Now then, we will begin the first battle," Hayate told them, coughing once before continuing. "Everyone other than the two foes, please move to the upper area," Hayate asked them, gesturing towards the side of the room where the balconies were.
Free to move again after standing still for so long, everyone was relieved as they moved back towards the stairs, and up onto the balconies, waiting for the first fight to begin.
Surprisingly, as they did so, team seven found themselves with the sudden addition of their Sensei, Kakashi joining them. "Mind if I come with you three for a moment? I had something I would like to discuss." He told them before they reached the bottom of the stairs, where he signaled for them to stop.
"Kakashi, What's this about? Aren't you supposed to be back there with the rest of the Jonin?" Sasuke asked, not all that surprised that Kakashi decided to change up the rules when it suited him.
"I was getting there. But, but mainly, this is about Sakura's new Kekkei Genkai and the curse mark she got from Orochimaru." Kakashi explained, giving Sakura a look that made her feel like she wasn't going to like what he was about to tell her.
AN: Well then, I was pushing it with this chapter. Had the unfortunate luck that my internet cut out earlier in the day, and because I don't have the Naruto series downloaded, I couldn't watch it for details and as such couldn't write this chapter. I don't know how I managed to mess up my scheduling to the point that I had to write this the same day as it is meant to be uploaded, but here I am. I had to write this in less than 3 hours. Not all that fun, but we're finally getting to some of the bigger changes invoked by my meddling with canon. See here, the fights we're getting are completely randomized. After all, whatever randomizer they're using to decide the matchups would end up giving completely different results, even if there was only one more person in the mix. As such, here we go. Sadly, we're not getting to see anyone from team seven in the first fight, but I can spoil you guys with the fact that one of the team seven fights is coming up pretty soon.
Oh, and to those of you wondering as to why Kabuto stuck around? The conversation he has with his teammates in canon implies that his orders were to stick around until the end. Kabuto used Orochimaru's presence in the room as an observer as an excuse that he was obsolete there anyways. This time, he doesn't have the luxury, and he's still missing the information he needs on Sasuke, so, this time, he sticks around… Which kinda makes a mess of how I have to do the fights with an uneven number. Fortunately, I came up with a simple solution that I don't think is too out there to not be possible in canon.