Naruto: Shadow Legion

by Zeltic88

Naruto Uzumaki has a lineage that should grant him legend status alone, however the truth of his lineage must be kept secret from everyone, including himself. As the life of a shinobi is dangerous, actions will always have consequences. It is for this reason that Konoha decided that the heir to Tobirama Senju, Kushina Uchiha, and Minato Namikaze must be kept a secret from the world

15. Test Two Complete! Preliminaries Begin?

Naruto: Shadow Legion

Naruto: Shadow Legion – Chapter 15 [ Test Two Complete! Preliminaries Begin? ]

Disclaimer: I Do not own Naruto or its Characters

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

After camping out about halfway from the tower, it was time to make it to the end. Naruto ran through the forest, Satsuki on his back, while Sasuke, and the rest of Team 10 ran with him. After awakening from his injuries, Sasuke was able to move on his own, freeing Shikamaru from his chore, and letting the group move more quickly. At this point the tower was visible, on only about half a mile, the teams would not only pass the exam, but they would also be safe. "Alright stay on your toes, this is where the fun begins." Ino reminded with a smile as they made their way out of the forest.

"NOW!" a voice tried out as several shinobi began an ambush. By what Naruto could see, it appeared to be about three teams from Konoha, but none he had recognized.

"Sasuke! Shikamaru! Protect the others!" Ino ordered as she used a burst of speed to use a genin as a springboard, pushing her leg off his face, and kicking his teammate square across the jaw, incapacitating the duo.

Sasuke, without acknowledgement, activated his sharingan, and began supporting Ino and the rest of the group with covering fire, keeping the shinobi at bay while the rest escaped. "Ino, you should know that these guys don't stand a chance." Sasuke retorted as he effortlessly nailed a ninja in the shoulder with a kunai.

The rescue group was nearing the entrance of the tower. Naruto could spot Team 8, along with a medical team awaiting their arrival, however it wouldn't be that simple, as a familiar team appeared from the water below. "Lucky."

"Shit, Satsuki, I'm gonna have to set you down for a sec—"

"Shadow Possession Jutsu!" Shikamaru exclaimed as the three rain nin stood still, not moving a muscle. "Hurry up and get them to the tower!" Shikamaru ordered as he held the ambushers in place.

"Thanks Shikamaru!" Naruto shouted as he and Choji ran the final distance. "I knew he was reliable; I'll have to tease Ino about this later." Naruto thought as he, along with Choji, Satsuki, and Kin, crossed the line into the tower.

Immediately as the crossed the line the medical team went into action. Stationed there was Hana, Sakura, and various other medical professionals. As a team of doctors quickly wheeled Satsuki to an emergency room, Hana and Sakura confronted the remaining pair. "Do you have your scrolls?" Hana asked impatiently, as the rest of Team 8 surrounded the three.

"Sasuke has a Heaven scroll he should be throwing right about—" He turned to see Sasuke launching a Heaven scroll into a mosh pit of genin teams, sufficiently distracting them long enough for him and Ino to catch up with Shikamaru, and properly take down the rain shinobi again.

"I already had the two scrolls anyway so the extra didn't matter too much." Naruto admitted.

"And I had my teams scrolls." Choji responded, pulling out the scrolls from his pouch.

"Well I guess Satsuki was right." Naruto admitted. "I thought Ino would have had them for sure."

"Wait Shikamaru didn't have your scrolls?" Sasuke asked confused as the three walked into the tower.

"Well we thought that it would have been obvious for the brains or the skill to have the scrolls, so we decided that the muscle would be able to throw off most teams." Shikamaru explained.

"And how about her? She have her teams scrolls?" Hana asked, gesturing to Kin, who had immediately looked away in frustration, however Naruto could still detect a saddened aura surrounding the kunoichi.

"Unfortunately, she is the only survivor. Her team ambushed mine. I had taken out one, and Sasuke the other." Naruto admitted honestly.

Sasuke looked back at Naruto, remembering what had happened, only vaguely, however. "They threatened Satsuki, if it were up to me." Sasuke turned to Kin with an angry glare. "We would have left her with her team."

"Regardless of your opinion, we brought her back for medical attention. As she has no team, and no scrolls, we brought her into the tower for her safety." Naruto countered.

"Do you accept this disqualification?" Sakura asked, making sure that there was some form of consent. After all, she didn't want to force somebody out of their chance at becoming a chunin.

"Yeah…" She answered softly.

"I'll take her with me to a medical facility, but she'll be stuck in the tower until the exam has concluded." Hana explained as she turned to lead the sound nin to a hospital room.

"You killed somebody?" Kiba asked as the room grew quiet.

"I did, what of it?" Naruto asked coldly, shocking the likes of Kiba and Hinata.

"W-why would you d-do that?" Hinata asked innocently as the rest of the group's eyes fell onto her.

"As a shinobi, we a trained to kill. Not only that, but they had threatened my family." Naruto responded calmly, causing Hinata to flinch a bit, reacting to his words negatively. "However, it cannot be said that I didn't try to dissuade them. If that idiot hadn't shot me with a jutsu again, he would still be alive." Naruto explained as he looked down, seemingly disappointed with himself. "Not to mention the girl wouldn't be all alone…"

"Yeah speak for yourself." Sasuke retorted, remembering what he had done. Or what he had seen himself do. "I killed that guy because he deserved it."

"Sasuke, your fairly injured, let me take you to a medical room." Sakura interjected, motioning for him to follow, seemingly attempting to quell an argument before it happened.

"Whatever" He responded, walking a few meters behind the pink haired nurse.

"I'm sorry." Kiba blurted out, seconds after Sasuke had left. "I should have come to help you guys."

"It's alright, we managed. You did the right thing." Naruto reminded as he relaxed against a wall.

"What are you—"

"Like you said, your first priority was protecting your team. You made the best decision in that situation." Naruto explained.

"But what if Ino couldn't have come to help?" He asked confused by the answers he was receiving.

"If I couldn't have made it, I would have made the same choice." Ino agreed. "I mean in all honesty, I'm confident in Naruto's skills. If he would have received word we couldn't help, he would have made it regardless."

"How can you be so confident." Kiba asked. "And even with that confidence, wouldn't you feel the least bit bad about it?!"

"I mean…" Ino hesitated for a moment, allowing Naruto to butt in.

"Leadership is different for each of us, the fact of the matter is we all made the best decisions in the situation we had to face, and we all chose correctly." Naruto said with a smile. "Now let's stop being so down and start celebrating! We just passed the second exam!"

Following the announcement, smiles spread across the faces of most of the group, aside from Shino off course. "Whatever you say, just be sure that when you open your scrolls you take a step back." Kiba warned as he, Hinata, and Shino made their way to their designated room.

"Well you guys have your full team, I guess you guys should do it." Naruto said, gesturing towards Team 10 to move ahead of them.

"Fair enough I guess." Shikamaru agreed as he took a scroll from Choji, opening it in sync with his teammate.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

"Aside from some minor malnutrition and surface level battle damage, the biggest concern for you is that nasty arm wound Naruto mentioned." Hana explained as Kin sat in a medical room. "I would like to take a proper look at it myself so I can determine the best way to treat it."

"Yeah… That's fine." Kin replied softly as she looked away, awaiting the nurse to remove the bandages.

Slowly removing the bandages, Hana gradually revealed what appeared to be a major degree of damage on the right shoulder. "What happened Here?!" Hana asked astonished as she looked at the nasty mark.

"It was hit by extremely condensed air. The pressure that it was outputting could have easily separated my arm from by body if it were even a millimeter closer to me." Kin explained dispassionately, remembering how Zaku explained it to her before.

"Well I suppose your incredibly lucky then. It'll take a while, but that arm will heal. Normally surface level injuries would be no problem, but the shear area of destroyed tissue is frankly to delicate of a situation for us to attempt a supercharged healing, at least until this exam ends." Hana explained, applying a practical medical treatment in place of a ninjutsu method.

"Whatever…" Kin replied with the same level of emotionlessness.

Staring at the girl with concern, remembering how Naruto described the situation when they had arrived, Hana could put two and two together as to what happened. Especially considering that neither his nor Sasuke's move sets rely on that level of wind nature. "I'm going to re-wrap your injury now. Since we're not in the field it should work a lot better, especially since I was able to use a proper medicinal ointment that should hold you over for a few days."

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Just finishing up, come in." Hana replied as the door opened. Kin's heart stopped when she saw who entered the door. "Come to check on my patient?"

"Indeed, I heard what happened to my students from one of the genin that had recently arrived. It's a tragedy." The man replied in a somewhat unconvincing manner, this being noted by the keen Inuzuka. "A boy that was very apologetic came up to me, from the way he sounded, almost guilty."

"Must have been Naruto." Hana supplimented. "My condolences."

"Its quite alright, there wasn't anything you could have done." The man replied, "May I have a moment with my student?"

"Of course sir, I was just about to go check on my protégée, please take all the time you need." Hana replied as she walked out the door and down the hall, leaving the two alone in an enclosed room.

Kin was not frozen; she was shaking in pure terror. "L-Lord O-Orochimaru." She stammered as the man lurched forward. "So, it appears that you and your team have failed in your mission." Orochimaru began, as he looked out a small window, seeing that across the hallway was the room Satsuki was being held in.

"I'll fix this right away lord Orochi—"

"SILENCE!" The man hissed as Kin recoiled back in her bed, shaking even more viciously than before. "Your mission is over, it's not her that I want anymore anyways." Orochimaru admitted. "No, I have other plans for you now." He said with a menacing smile.

"P-Please lord Orochimaru, I can do this!" Kin replied, mustering as much courage as she could.

"No, you cannot, nor could you ever have." Orochimaru punctuated with an insane face, causing Kin to become confused in addition to her fear. "Had you succeeded; the same outcome would have befallen you."

"What do you—"

"You were always fodder for my ambition, now you can be a piece on my board." Orochimaru began, inching closer to the table. Kin could not move as the snake drew closer. "Doesn't that sound great. You've failed, and now you have a chance for redemption, just come with me and we'll—"

"If he's fine then let him see her!" Hana shouted from behind her as she entered her room once again, seeing the teacher standing next to the bed.

"Get better soon alright? We need to head back to the village as soon as we can." The sensei replied as he exited the room. "I'll not take anymore of your time, wish the others a swift recovery, would you?"

"I'll relay the message." Hana replied as the man left the room. "Now where were—" Hana stopped as she saw the purest look of terror on a person face, she had ever seen. "Are you?" She stopped as the girl looked back up at her, her eyes asking for help.

"N-no. I'll be fine." She responded, gripping the bed so hard it might burst. "I-I can't betray him, Not even now. Even if…" Kin hesitated as she thought on the idea.

"You were always fodder to my ambition…" The quote played through her head, as she glanced over to the Uchiha that had been left in the room across from her.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Satsuki was laying on her hospital bed as she had just finished being treated from the stab wound, she had received. "While crude, had you not been tended to, you would have bled out before you got here. Your very lucky." The doctor admitted as his assistants left the room. "After preforming that medical procedure, it will take time to heal, but since we could effectively use our jutsu on that injury, you should be able to properly function, just relax in this room for the night to be safe."

"Thank you." Satsuki affirmed as the doctor left the room. "If I had been paired with anybody else, I would have died." Satsuki thought as she recalled the story she had been told while they were camping out. Remembering how Sasuke quickly treated the injury, and how Naruto not only protected her from other shinobi, but also got another team to aid in her recovery. "On top of saving me, they even saved another shinobi." She thought as she watched the rightfully startled kunoichi in the room across from hers.

A figure burst through the doors without warning, startling the girl. "ARE YOU OKAY!?" The man exclaimed in a panic as he rushed to her side.

"Iruka sensei?" She questioned as Naruto and Sasuke filed in behind him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well he—"

"That doesn't matter right now, are you alright?!" Iruka interrupted as Naruto tried to explain.

"It's alright, I'm going to recover, you can calm down," Satsuki assured as Iruka

"How can I calm down when one of my students nearly died!" Iruka fussed as he continuously bowed apologetically. Iruka's attention was interrupted before he could continue. "I-I have to go, but I'll be right back!" he exclaimed before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"What was that all about?" Satsuki asked as the boys looked at each other.

"Well based on what happened, either another team reached the tower." Naruto began to explain, allowing Sasuke to continue.

"Or someone in the arena broke the rules." He said with a smile.

"Ummm…Okaaaay?" Satsuki responded cautiously. "Are you guys alright?" She asked.

"I didn't take any major damage, and Sasuke had most of his minor injuries fixed up by Sakura." Naruto explained, causing Sasuke to blush before he retaliated.

"WHAT DOES THAT MATTER?! DID YOU HAVE TO MENTION THAT PART?!" He cried, grabbing Naruto by his collar.

"No, no! I was just explaining what happened!" Naruto replied apologetically.

"Well I guess you two haven't changed." Satsuki replied with a chuckle.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Three days have past since Team 7 arrived at the central tower in the middle of the forest of death. Following the third day, only another three teams arrived at the tower. A little more than half of the expected teams arrived at the tower, effectively eliminating the remaining genin. Naruto stood in a block consisting of his team, Team 8, Team 10, The sand and cloud teams they had encountered in the alleyway, and two additional Konoha teams that they had not met, however he did recognize one group from the crowd fooled by the chunin in the beginning, as well as Kabuto, who had arrived with his own team.

"Congratulations. You seven teams have officially passed the second portion of these chunin exams." The Hokage announced, as he had the various sensei of these seven teams standing before him, as well as the Raikage sitting next to him.

"Looks like the Raikage managed to squeeze his way in here. That or the Kazekage just didn't want to come all this way." Naruto thought as he took inventory of the various Jonin standing before him, clearly recognizing the three sensei he and the other teams trained with.

"While this is a very impressive feat, however, there is a slight issue." The Hokage began, glancing over to the Raikage. "Too many of you have passed."

"What's that supposed to mean? The last proctor said she expected thirteen teams to pass!" Kiba asked angrily.

The very same proctor, standing behind the Hokage, answered. "I never said I expected all thirteen teams to make it, I said that was the maximum amount. In fact, as I recall, I warned you that it was very likely that less would arrive." Anko reminded, causing Kiba to wordlessly withdraw his comment.

"As this is the case." The Hokage continued. "We will be having a preliminary tournament to decide half of you to bring to the finals, and half of you to cut."

"I still see a problem lord Hokage." The Raikage interrupted with a smile.

"Indeed, there are seven teams, meaning we have 21 participants. I know this is going to be a tough question to ask any of you, but we would request that one of you step down." The Hokage announced, sending ripples throughout the group.

"Someone to step down? He can't be serious. I mean maybe Sasuke because of that episode he had in the forest, but that's not happening." Naruto thought as he then heard something contrary to that.

"And what if you can't control it!" Satsuki asked firmly, while still whispering. "Kakashi sensei may have been able to suppress it, but if you go overboard—"

"I'll be fine." Sasuke responded coldly.

"Whatever, but if you lose control again, you won't become a chunin." Satsuki warned as she turned to face the Hokage once more.

"Don't you worry, I know that all too well." Sasuke replied, confident and determined.

"I volunteer." A voice called from the back, causing all the genin to look in that direction.

"Kabuto?!" Naruto exclaimed in confusion. "Are you sure about that? You've taken these tests way too many times to just throw it away now!"

"Maybe so, but if I'm being honest, I just barely made it here this time, and frankly I'm at my limit. Plus, there's always next time!" He explained happily.

"Very well. Kabuto Yakushi has been eliminated. You may exit through the doors behind you." Hiruzen stated, followed by Kabuto following as instructed, leaving the arena. "All right, as of right now we will hold 10 matches decided by randomizer." He explained, gesturing to a screen rapidly moving through their names. "As most of you have had time to rest, we will begin the first selection process if there are no more questions. Lord Raikage, as it is custom, we shall not be witness to these preliminaries." Hiruzen concluded, followed by a solemn nod by the Raikage before their departure.

"Alright twerps, time to figure out the first match!" Anko exclaimed excitedly as she pulled a lever, stopping on two names. "Sasuke Uchiha VS Yoroi Akado!"

"Well looks like you get to go first Sasuke, you better not lose." Naruto teased, punching his teammates shoulder. "Like I'd lose to him." Sasuke said, eyeballing his opponent.

Making his way to the upper railings with the rest of the genin, Naruto stood with the normal teams he was associated with. "This should be an easy win. With Sasuke at 100%, I doubt he stands a chance." Naruto explained to a symphony of agreement.

"Wait he was on Kabuto's team, right?" Satsuki asked.

"Yeah? What about it?" Naruto answered intrigued.

"Wouldn't that mean he has access to all of those cards?" Satsuki asked in a minor panic.

"Oh definitely, but Kabuto doesn't have any info on Sasuke's new abilities." Naruto reminded in a sly tone.

A new proctor made his way into the center of the area, standing between the two shinobi. I am Hayate Gekko, in this section of- *Cough* *Cough*" The man continued on for a few moments, causing the genin to become silent.

"He seems pretty sickly, are we sure he's fit to be proctor?" Naruto thought as the coughing ceased.

"Excuse me, in this battle the goal is to either force your opponent into submission or render them unable to fight. We would request that you refrain from life altering, or ending injuries, however we also understand the risk that these matches contain. Thus, if this unfortunate circumstance were to occur, you will not be penalized, however we will stop the match before that outcome if we can. Does everyone understand the rules?" The proctor announced, seeing no objections in the crowd. "Very well, Fighters are you ready?" He asked, receiving two silent nods from the Uchiha, and the masked shinobi. "Begin!" He explained, jumping back as to not get in the way of the battle.

As Naruto Watched on, the battle that ensued was not particularly spectacular, nor was it interesting for him to watch as he had already predicted the outcome. Following the proctors go, both shinobi begun with launching a handful of shuriken, however Sasuke was more specialized to this than before, not only knocking his opponents out of the air, but also managing to land a few cuts.

Trying to recover from the blunder, seemingly understanding their skill gap, the man Yoroi tried to close the distance with Sasuke, beginning a barrage of kicks and punches, only missing by centimeters as Sasuke dodged, even without the need of his sharingan. Sasuke, capitalizing on a telegraphed kick, used his counter to leglock the shinobi, effectively trapping him in a submission hold.

"Its over." Naruto explained confidently as everyone's face was still glued to the match.

"I wouldn't say that." Kakashi interrupted, causing Naruto to look back. Naruto noticed a faint chakra signature emanating from the arm Sasuke was grappling, and then suddenly, Sasuke just let go, allowing Yoroi to break free. "What the hell was that?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"It looks like some sort direct chakra manipulation move but… I can't tell what." Ino began as she watched the man grip Sasuke's head, causing him to cry out.

"It's an absorption technique!" Hinata realized as all eyes fell onto her. Noticing the glares, she decided to explain. "He's manipulating his own chakra to transfer Sasuke's into him… or something like that." Hinata explained sheepishly as she once again began to blush.

"How can you tell?" Choji asked before Ino face palmed and explained. "She's a Hyuuga, her Byakugan can see chakra signatures, and if trained enough, distinguish what the chakra is doing."

"Ohhhh. I didn't know Hinata could do that!" Choji admitted.

"Hinata's been training harder than you think." Kiba explained with a big smile as the group returned to the match, witnessing Sasuke go onto the offensive, kicking the absorbing Shinobi off him.

"What's this? Had enough already?" Yoroi jabbed as he once again faced off against Sasuke.

"Not even close! You think that poultry amount of Chakra you stole can help you now!" Sasuke exclaimed with a smile as he activated his Sharingan.

"T-Two tomoe!?" Yoroi gasped as he took a step back.

"Oh, your little card didn't mention this did it? Let's just say I had a rough time in that forest, and I've been meaning to let off some steam." Sasuke exclaimed as he quickly blitzed the chakra thief.

Quickly closing the distance between the two Sasuke began his onslaught, rapidly punching and kicking the man with his sharingan enhanced pressure point style. Yoroi managed to counter with a few punches here and there, but even then Sasuke wouldn't relent, not slowing down for a moment. "How can you be this resistant to my absorption techniques!" Yoroi cried as he once again landed a blow on Sasuke, only to be met with swift punch to his jaw, forcing him to stumble backwards. As he tried to recover his posture he couldn't, so many points had been targeted, it was almost as if he couldn't move.

"Its simple, the attack is too weak to really affect my chakra pool." Sasuke explained as he began walking slowly towards the genin.

"You Bastard!" Yoroi exclaimed as he made one final charge in an attempt to knock out the Uchiha. This effort was in vain, as Sasuke simply dodged the blow, chopping the back of Yoroi's neck as he flew past him, causing him to collapse onto the floor.

Hayate quickly checked the status of the fighter before exclaimed. "Yoroi has been left unable to continue. The winner of the match is Sasuke Uchiha!"

The crowd supporting him erupted into cheers as the Uchiha made his way to the stands. As Sasuke made it up to the top he was met by Satsuki giving him a big hug, Naruto patting him on the shoulder, and the rest of the genin congratulating him on a good win

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Kin Stood with Hana and the rest of the medical team as the watched the exams from a safe location just in case they needed to be on the floor in an instant. Kin was startled of course, she had just witnessed the monster that had decimated her team disassemble another shinobi. The problem she was having was how the boy seemed to have changed.

"He… He isn't the same as back just a few days ago." Kin stated confused.

"Oh him? He's always been the quiet one. Efficiency may as well be written on his face the way he abuses an opponents pressure points." Hana exclaimed as she watched on proudly.

"That's what Naruto said too. But when we were fighting him… he wasn't like that at all." Kin stated, causing Hana too to look at her confused.

"What do you mean?" A voice asked from behind her.

"Oh Sakura, you just missed Sasuke's match." Hana informed as the kunoichi stood behind them.

"What did Sasuke do specifically?" She asked concerned, not knowing what to expect.

Kin, slightly annoyed, responded. "He essentially tortured my teammate by bleeding his non-essential areas, before slitting his throat. Not a very efficient style if you ask me." She hissed, returning her focus to the arena. "Not to mention that aura…"

"Aura?" Hana asked as the randomizer began spinning again.

"When he woke up it was like he was oozing an aura of pure malice, and his body was covered in these black markings, like a demon." Kin explained, shaking a little.

"Did you just say black markings?" Hana questioned. "Damn it Kakashi! That's what you were doing with Sasuke!"

"The only marks I saw on him was a tattoo on his neck, nothing like a full body thing." Sakura explained.

"Wait its on his neck? Why didn't you report this?" Hana asked, trying to contain her frustration.

"Well I didn't find it that important, it just looks like a tattoo." Sakura responded innocently.

"Alright, I need you to go bring me Kakashi and Anko, I have some questions. Stay with the others in the arena until Kakashi comes back." Hana began as Sakura started heading towards the entrance. "And Bring Kin with you, it'd be better if she were in the stands for this." Hana ordered, causing Kin to freeze again.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

"The second match will be between Shino Aburame and Satsuki Uchiha!" the proctor announced as the two shinobi looked at each other. Satsuki was nervous, but she saw no change in the emotions of her opponent. He instead walked directly past her, jumping down onto the arena. Following suit, Satsuki landed in the arena, drawing a basic bow from her back.

"I'm lucky they had an armory; let alone a bow I could use but…" Satsuki paused as she pictured the snapped bow that her mother had used. As a tear rolled down her face, she quickly wiped it away, returning her focus to the match.

"Are both combatants ready?" Hayate asked

"Yes!" Satsuki shouted, as Shino simply nodded.

"All right, Begin!"

Standing quietly before Satsuki, Shino remained Silent as Satsuki quickly made enough distance between the two to be properly effective. "He's just letting me get the advantage!? Shino should know better than to let me get the distance between us. This has to be a plan of sorts."

"Fighting me as you are now will only result in your defeat. You cannot hope to defeat me with just a simple bow and arrow." Shino explained as he kept his hand in his pockets

"That so? Well maybe I should just prove you wrong." Satsuki responded with a smile as she drew an arrow. "Who said this was just a mere bow an arrow anyways?" Satsuki asked as she quickly loosed an arrow into Shino's feet, causing a cloud of smoke to permeate through the arena.

"A smoke screen isn't going to work." Shino exclaimed before blocking an arrow that came flying through the smoke with a kunai. "I know how you operate; you don't think I can't tell where you are?" He responded, throwing a kunai in a completely random direction, nearly hit Satsuki, causing her to dodge. "You forget I'm apart of the tracking unit, surely you understand that."

"Shit, he has a bug on me somewhere, I guess I should be more direct them!" Satsuki thought as she loosed another arrow, this time not worrying about moving. As the arrow impacted near Shino it exploded, sending the genin flying away from the center, also dispersing the smoke. As Satsuki quickly grabbed her first two arrows, putting them back in her quiver, she already had another special arrow loaded and ready to go.

"You know that attack wouldn't put me down." Shino explained from the disappearing smoke, covering in damage, but still a contender in the match.

"Of course not, but it looks like I have the advantage now doesn't it? Even if you would have blocked you would have been damaged, it was the perfect play for me."

"Maybe, but you completely underestimated my ability to trap you." Shino replied calmly, causing Satsuki to look around her. Sure, enough she was surrounded by small black specks, along with Shino standing directly in front of her. "You only have one arrow, you cannot hope to defeat me now. The most intelligent move would be to forfeit." Shino calmly explained as he prepared a hand seal.

"This is trouble, but it's a good thing that he underestimates me." Satsuki thought as she hit Shino with a smile of her own. "Only one arrow? Who decided that!" Satsuki exclaimed as she quickly jumped into the air, dropping an arrow with a fireball seal, roasting a majority of the bugs alive, but she quickly drew another arrow, attempting to shoot it once again at Shino's feet, ending the bout.

As she released the arrow, she was shocked, the arrow made it halfway before splitting in two, and clamoring to the ground before Shino. "I decided that you only had one arrow. Do you think I didn't have a plan to deal with your speedy draw? You were finished the moment you recovered those arrows." Shino explained as he quickly closed the distance, knocking Satsuki to the ground.

"What the hell is going on!" Satsuki thought as she grabbed her quiver. Pulling out all of her arrows she was met with a pile of wood, feathers, and termites. "You sabotaged my ammo!" She exclaimed.

"Precisely, and now you don't stand a chance." Shino retorted, preparing to advance once more, the remaining parasitic chakra bugs behind him.

Instead of feeling panic, Satsuki smiled. "This is perfect." She exclaimed as she stood up.

"How is that? Your weapon has been nullified." Shino asked confidently.

"Because it means you really have been underestimating me!" She replied throwing her bow aside, beginning to form seals. "Katon: Fireball Jutsu!" She roared, sending a powerful torrent of fire at the parasites, disposing of the rest of them. Shino stepped out of the flames as his singed clothes began showing the true power of the attack.

"So you can use fire style, should I be surprised?" Shino asked.

"Oh no, that's not quite everything." She said enthusiastically as she looked up to Naruto, who was giving her a big grin. Drawing out a pair of Kunai, Satsuki blitzed Shino, catching him off guard.

"What the—" Was all Shino could get out before a Satsuki, now using her sharingan, along with her own taijutsu, was causing him to go onto the defensive. Satsuki wasn't as powerful or quick as Sasuke, however she was more flexible, demonstrating this by landing plenty of cuts of the Aburame, inevitably wearing down the boy.

As Shino began limping backwards, he was showing a genuine emotion of astonishment. "How are you…how…"

"It's because I don't rely on one form of attack, even if it is my favorite." Satsuki explained, throwing her kunai towards Shino. As the bug shinobi clumsily blocked the kunai, he was too distracted to notice Satsuki appear in front of him, allowing her to land a firm kick into his chest, sending him flying backwards. Shino landed hard as Hayate quickly ran over to the boy.

"Shino Aburame has been rendered unable to battle; the winner is Satsuki Uchiha!" Hayate Exclaimed, causing a mix of emotion in the graduate's camp, however what she could see, was Naruto and Sasuke with a smile on their faces.

"Good to see that they can still get along" She thought as she began making her way to the stairs.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Kin watched as the winded Uchiha began making her way back up towards the stands as she was standing with Sakura. They had already sent the two jonin towards Hana, so she was being required to wait in the stands. Sakura insisted on staying next to Team 7 so that she could "Hang out with Sasuke" forcing her to awkwardly stand at the outskirts of the group. When Kin looked at Naruto, she felt anger, but it usually faded after a few moments as she remembered what he had gone through to save her, however when she looked at Sasuke, all she could see was rage. The sentiment was shared by the Uchiha as whenever he noticed her glare, he matched it with his own, more intimidating form, ending the her own.

"I'm glad to see your doing okay at least." Naruto blurted out as both Sasuke and Kin looked at him with their glares, Kin's quickly softening.

"Thanks…" she replied, quickly turning her face away. Before Naruto could engage again, he was interrupted.

"Sasuke! Naruto! I told you I could fight up close!" Satsuki exclaimed as she returned to the group.

"Oh yeah! I never doubted that for a second!" Naruto replied, shifting his focus from Kin.

Sasuke soon followed suit. "Your form was off, and there were still a lot of unnecessary flips and such, but it was good."

"Would you look at that, even when you compliment me you have to get some jabs in!" Satsuki said with a smile.

"I mean he's not wrong—" Naruto was silenced as Satsuki's eyes locked with his "I'm joking!" Naruto replied in an intimidated fashion.

"Don't listen to those two, you and Shino both did great!" Ino commented as the other teams joined in on the conversation.

"I think Shino should have won, how was he supposed to know that you could go close quarters!" Kiba complained.

"Well to be fair, she's been training most her life with Ino, Naruto, and Sasuke. It's only natural she picks up some skill." Shikamaru explained.

"These guys are so… close. They should be more professional but… instead they're genuinely connected." Kin thought as her conflicting teachings. "Their chemistry is leagues ahead of what ours was." She thought as she looked across the arena to the other teams.

"Look! The next match is about to start!" Ino proclaimed as the group began peering over the railings. The proclamation shook Kin out of her thought as she glanced down at the two shinobi.

"Kankuro? I feel sorry for whoever's up against him." Kin thought as she watched a blonde Kunoichi she hadn't recognized standing across from him.

"We're gonna go check on Shino, tell me how the match goes!" Kiba announced as Hinata followed him down the stairs, and into the medical area.

"I feel bad for that sand guy, he doesn't stand a chance." Naruto confidently exclaimed as he comfortable leaned over the railings.

Not being able to stop herself, Kin spoke. "Why…?"

Naruto, hearing the question, glanced over to the Kunoichi. Walking over to her, Naruto took a spot standing next to her. "I'll explain a bit more when the match starts, it'll be easier that way." Naruto explained as he gestured towards the match area.

"Based on how our training went before the exams, I don't think anyone aside from Gaara, Temari, or maybe Dosu could have beaten him. How is this guy so confident?" Kin thought as her eyes were glued to the arena.

"Begin!"

As soon as the announcer spoke the blonde Kunoichi immediately blitzed Kankuro, not giving him any time to react. As she arrived at her target, she seemingly slashed at him, passing him by. As Kin observed her hands, she didn't see a weapon, but rather claw like fingernails. Kankuro stood in shock as he grabbed his stomach where the nin seemingly stuck him. "Who is she?" Kin asked in astonishment. "I've never seen that kind of attack…"

"Her name is Yugito Nii, she's a Kumo shinobi." Naruto explained.

"She may be fast, but I don't know if that's enough…" Kin tried to explain as to not leak any connection between the sound and sand. "Something seems… off."

As Yugito turned to analyze her opponent she was caught slightly off guard. The wrapped item that had been carried by the sand nin burst open as a foot connected with her stomach, followed up quickly by an uppercut, sending her flying.

"Woah! I didn't see that coming!" Choji blurted out as he munched on a bag of potato chips.

"Hey! Where'd you get those!" Ino cried as she snatched the bag from the boy, pocketing it for another time. "Focus on the fights, you need to be able to read what's going on!" She lectured, returning to the fight with a saddened Choji.

"Looks like its back to normal. What a drag." Shikamaru said under his breath as he watched the altercation.

Back down on the arena, Kankuro began to speak. "So, it looks like I can't stay hidden after all." The wrappings said as Kankuro emerged from the bandages, causing what was supposed to be Kankuro, to turn into what appeared to be a wooden man.

"I thought I sensed a strange presence." Yugito retorted as she prepared herself for another attack.

"Sensed?" Kankuro questioned as he began moving his fingers. Immediately after that, the wooden man maneuvered in front of him. "So, you're a sensor type huh? You could become obnoxious." He complained as he gently nudged a finger. Following the movement, the figures hand fell limp, unveiling an open tube as it began shooting senbon from its wrist.

Yugito quickly began dodging and blocking as much as she could with her speed, attempting to maneuver around the shinobi. "So that's what you are." Yugito stated calmly as she made a few slashes, seemingly at nothing. Following the attack the volley of senbon stopped, causing the wooden figure to also fall limp to the ground.

"What the—"

Yugito quickly followed this up with a jutsu that was unknown to most the genin. "Katon: Azure Fire Ball Jutsu!" She exclaimed as a blue flame engulfed both the shinobi, and his wooden figure. As the flames dissipated, Kankuro was left standing, barely, his figure not quite ash, but certainly out of commission.

"How did you—" Was all Kankuro could say before Yugito gave him a solid roundhouse to the side of the head, knocking him unconscious.

"Winner! Yugito Nii!" Said the announcer as he was checking Kankuro.

"Damnit Kankuro you idiot!" Temari yelled from the opposite side of the stands.

A medical team soon came out with two stretchers, one for the shinobi, and one for the figure.

Back up with Kin and Naruto, Kin was utterly shocked by the outcome. "So fast! How did she…" Kin stopped, not knowing what else to say.

"To put it in a simple way, she was able to notice that this guys puppeteering technique relied on his chakra strings. After she sensed that out she cloaked her nails in her own chakra, cutting the string." Naruto explained as he watched Yugito walk back up towards the opposing side of the arena. "I'm more surprised about that last attack! I've never seen a blue fire style attack!" Naruto proclaimed wide eyed, barely containing his excitement.

Noticing Naruto picked up on something that he shouldn't have knowledge on, Kin decided to try and gather some information. "Puppeteering?" She asked, trying to sound ignorant to the technique.

"Oh yeah, I'm also somewhat of a sensor, but nowhere near on that level." He explained pointing towards the victor. "It would have taken me a bit, but after seeing her dismantle his technique by cutting through what looked like nothing, it was pretty obvious." Naruto explained.

"Says you!" Satsuki yelled from a few feet away. "Not all of us can be sensors you know!"

Walking back to calm down Satsuki, Naruto left Kin alone in her thoughts. "I didn't realize that sensors were the answer to such a style, but come to think of it, I was the first person to figure it out. I was only able to manage that when I picked up on the corresponding movement with my own techniques. I wouldn't have stood a chance against these guys…" Kin admitted to herself as she looked around the arena. Kin stayed in silence for a moment as she processed everything that had just happened. After several moments of that silence, she remembered something. "I just had a casual conversation with the guy that killed Zaku… How did he…" Kin looked back to the boy, not being able to muster any anger as she saw him laughing along with his teammates and friends. "How did he…"

The announcer interrupted her thought as he announced the next match. "The next match shall be decided now." Hayate spoke calmly as he coughed into his arm. The randomizer spun until it landed onto an unorthodox matchup. "Ino Yamanaka VS Choji Akamichi!"

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Ino looked at her teammate with an expression similar to a deer in a headlight. As she stared into her teammate's eyes, he was looking the same way. "There has to be some mistake, we're on the same team!" Ino shouted back to the announcer, semi-confident there was a mix-up.

"That doesn't matter. From this point on it's a one-on-one tournament. There are no teams." Hayate responded, silencing the crowd.

"But—"

"It's okay Ino, lets just give it our best!" Choji responded, giving Ino a thumbs up.

Ino was astonished by Choji's sudden acceptance with the situation. "You know you can't beat me in a battle, why are you so calm?!" Ino thought before she was hit with a flash from before the tournament. Before the exams.

"I'll try my hardest so you can have a shot!"

Ino began to tear up before wiping them away, returning to her normal self. "Choji!" She roared, catching the boy off-guard. "You better not hold back down there!" She exclaimed, jumping down to the arena floor, walking to a position opposite of where she landed. "Come on!"

Choji, not wanting to keep Ino waiting, jumped down into the arena. She could tell that despite his calm acceptance, he was very nervous to be fighting against his teammate. "Fighters Ready?" following the comment both shinobi nodded. "Begin." Hayate announced calmly as the two began a paced sprint towards each other. Meeting, the two began an exchange of blows. The skill gap between the two was evident, anybody watching the match could see, as Ino landed blow after blow, effortlessly dodging most of Choji's strikes. Ino noticed this, saddening as it was, she already knew the outcome of the bout as she swiftly sweeped Choji's legs, knocking him down, then kicking him a fair distance back.

"Come on Choji, I thought you weren't going to hold back!" Ino accused as she walked towards him.

"I-Ino, I'm just not strong enough for this, you know that…" Choji responded, shakily recovering from his fall.

"Really? It seems like your pulling some of your punches." Ino replied, beginning to make hand seals.

"Ino? What are you—"

"I know your stronger than this, come on!" She roared as she landed on the tiger seal. "Katon: Fireball Jutsu!" She shouted, sending a fireball at the genin.

Up in the stands Shikamaru looked down on his teammates, beginning to show more emotion than he would like. "Ino! That's enough! Choji isn't able to keep up, you know that!" He began as Sasuke put an arm on his shoulder. Turning to face the Uchiha he became angry. "What do you—" Sasuke simply pointed back down towards Choji. Shikamaru looked back down at his friend as the fire blast was being absorbed by his expanded hands. "Choji…"

As the fire dispersed Ino looked at Choji with a smile. "Now that the gloves are off, show me what you got!" Ino roared as she launched herself at Choji, his hands still expanded. Receiving the initial attack, Choji was surprised when it did little damage to his palms.

"A kick from Ino did nothing?" He thought in genuine confusion as Ino trampolined back with a smile. "If it has that kind of power…" Choji's hands quickly returned to normal as he readied himself again for an attack, however it didn't come. He looked back at Ino, and she was no longer smiling.

"What's the big idea Choji?" Ino asked menacingly, causing the genin to pause.

"What do you mean?" He asked, already knowing what was wrong.

"Your jutsu. It has the power to nullify my attacks, yet you put them away. I've seen your jutsu in action during our missions, I know they pack a punch. Why not use them against me?" She asked coldly.

"I-I don't want to hurt you…" Choji admitted, showing his compassionate side. This was the wrong answer.

Ino's fists clenched tightly as they shook with frustration. "Is that so…" She said drawing her swords.

"What are you—"

"Then I guess I may as well end this." She replied as she once again launched herself towards Choji.

"Ino wait!" Choji cried, however it was too late. Choji was on the backfoot as Ino quickly began slicing towards Choji, only missing due to dodges at the very last moment. This didn't last as her wind style enhanced attacks began making scratches on the boy, leaving cuts all over him. Choji was now backed up against the wall, barely hanging in the fight. "Ino stop! Please!" He cried to no avail. As if in slow motion he saw a blade inching closer and closer to his face. Seeing Ino's face up close Choji noticed something. A single tear dropping from Ino's face. Before Ino could react, she was sent flying backwards, her swords bouncing of the ground next to her as she was now at the exact opposite end of the arena. Standing across from her was Choji, his fist extended, and expanded.

A smile once again returned to Ino's face as she stood up, collecting her blades. "There we go…" She mumbled proudly as she gave Choji a determined look, surprising the boy. Choji gave Ino a surprise herself.

"I forfeit." He stated surprising and silencing the entirety of the arena.

"WHAT!?" Ino roared as she once again charged Choji, stopping inches from his face as she saw a bright smile on his face.

"Winner by forfeit, Ino Yamanaka!"

"Why? She asked as her blade dropped to her side. "After all that, you forfeit? You were so close! You could have beaten me!" Ino asked utterly confused and frustrated as Choji fell to his knee.

"I couldn't have won. My chakra was nearly gone, not to mention all these cuts." He said with a laugh. "I get what you were trying to do… Thank you…" Choji responded as a medical team arrived next to him.

"Do you need a stretcher?" the nurse asked as they arrived at the two.

"No, I should be fine." Choji announced proudly as Ino helped him up. "I have a pillar of my own."

The two walked off with the medical team, Ino helping Choji the entire distance.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Authors Notes: So some obvious changes that need to be addressed are some of the matchups, and the status of a lot of the participants. As most of the teams arrived after only two days, a majority of them are either 100% or close to that, Team 7 included. Since they had more time, not only has Kakashi been able to seal Sasuke's Curse mark, but also inform the rest of the Jonin, especially Anko, Hana, etc. about the presence of Orochimaru, keeping them much more alert then in canon. Kin's role at the moment is to act as a vessel for the opposing force. I don't want to use the sand nin as a perspective just yet, as they could be classified as the main villains of this section of the chunin exams, however with Kin, I can explore their dynamics a bit more, while also possibly redeeming a character that was wasted in canon. The matches may seem random at first, however I kept Sasuke's first match the same, albeit much more one sided, and without his taijutsu with Lee. The other matches you saw today are not randomized, but planned. Starting with Satsuki VS Shino, I had to make a bunch of changes since the sound noon didn't make the preliminaries. Substituting them for the Kumo nin would have been easier, but since there are differing character dynamics, I thought I would highlight them here. Not to mention I wanted to have different characters that I believe to be stronger in this canon, make it the finals. The biggest ones being Satsuki and Yugito, defeating would be finalists. The last fight that was shown had a lot more character weight, showing Ino and Choji's relationship through a match. I hope to catch you in the next chapter where you'll be reading [ Preliminaries Part 2! Kenjutsu Showdown! ]