Contestants' names will be in bold.

Hiruzen explained to the genin, "The purpose of the chunin exams is to take the Allied Elemental Nations' best genin and test their abilities against one another. While most genin have to wait and go through years of rigorous conditioning just to be considered for the position of chunin, this exam allows exceptional genin to become chunin quicker, and the exam serves as a friendly competition for the Allied Nations. There needs to be a certain balance of power, and this exam helps to maintain that balance." That caught Naruto's ear.

Hiruzen continued, "The 3rd part of the chunin exams is a seeded tournament in which the genin face each other 1-on-1 combat. However, since there are more genin who passed the second part than usual, we will be holding preliminary rounds to determine who goes on to the next part. Anyone who wishes to quit may do so now. "

Kabuto raised his hand, shocking Naruto. "I'm sorry, but I just can't handle the pressure. Besides, I'm not much of a fighter, so I'll have to step out."

Naruto couldn't help but think, "Why is this guy so damn weird? He's at least 4 years older than most of the rest of us, he should have more combat experience..."

Hiruzen responded. "Very well then. Now, it seems that we have an odd number of contestants, so someone will have to fight twice. Once at the beginning of these rounds, and once at the end."

Naruto immediately shot his hand up. "ME ME ME ME PICK ME HIRUZEN PICK ME!", he yelled.

Hiruzen said, "I think Naruto wants to do it.", eliciting laughs from the audience. "Okay, you'll go first and last, Naruto."

Naruto shouted, "YATTAAAAA!".

Hiruzen then led the audience (except Naruto) to the bleachers, and took his own seat away from them.

The board already displayed Naruto's name, so now it just had to pick the next name.

After rapidly shuffling through several names, the board came up with 'Kiba Inuzuka'.

Kiba snorted, "Alright, it's payback time, you asshole!", and jumped down to join Kiba.

Sakura cheered on Naruto, "You better kick his ass, Naruto!". Ino joined in and supported her friend, and Sasuke just smiled.

Meanwhile, Kurenai taunted Kakashi. "Kiba's shown great improvement, Kakashi. I'm afraid he'll badly hurt Naruto."

Asuma added, "She's right. Kiba had progressed immensely since we first started."

Kakashi just looked back and smiled, then replied, "Naruto has shown that he's much stronger than we could imagine - in more ways than one. I'm sure that the match will shift in his favor soon enough. I'll even bet 100 ryo that Naruto wins!"

Asuma and Kurenai looked at each other, then nodded, "You've got a deal, Kakashi."

The proctor, a man Naruto recognized as Hayate (ANBU Cat's friend), called for the match to begin.

Naruto began by taunting Kiba. "Listen, Dog-breath, I don't like picking on mentally-challenged people, y'know, so I'll give you a chance to forfeit the match now, alright?"

Kiba just growled, and shouted, "That's it, I'm not gonna hold back!". He had Akamaru climb onto his shoulders and made some hand signs. Then, Akamaru turned into a clone of Kiba! Kiba threw smoke bombs at Naruto, blocking his vision.

"This is bad...", Naruto thought.

He was then swiped by Kiba (Akamaru?), and began to bleed a bit. He thought quickly, and when he was swiped by Kiba (Akamaru?) again, he managed to slap him on the back with a hiraishin mark, although he did stagger and fall to his knees from the force of the attack.

As the smoke cleared, Kiba mocked Naruto. "Ha! I've got you kneeling like a bitch! From where I'm standing, it looks more like I have a better chance of being hokage than you'll ever have!"

Naruto grunted, then formed a shadow clone and had it teleport to behind one of the Kibas and hold a kunai to his neck. "But who's the real one?..."

Naruto used his sexy jutsu to make himself look like a naked young woman, causing the real Kiba - the one with the kunai pressed against his neck - to pass out from a nosebleed.

Upon seeing this, Akamaru snatched a pill from Kiba's pocket and swallowed it, transforming from his Kiba-form into a massive red hound.

Naruto chuckled at this, having already figured out a way to beat Akamaru.

Naruto pinched his nose, and used his free hand to pull a stink bomb out of his pocket, which he tossed right onto Akamaru's face.

The smell was absolutely putrid, and Akamaru was knocked out, reverting to his puppy form.

Hayate checked on Akamaru and Kiba, then determined that they were unconscious. "Winner - Naruto Uzumaki!", he called.

Sakura yelled, "I knew you could do it!", Sasuke smiled, and Kakashi held his hand out to Kurenai and Asuma for the money they each now owed him.

Naruto walked back up to the bleachers and was met with a big hug from Sakura. "I'm so proud of you!", she exclaimed. "You'll win the next one, too, I'm sure of it!"

Sasuke shook Naruto's hand, and Kakashi ruffled his hair.

Naruto also received fist bumps from Choji, Shikamaru, Hinata, and Shino, while the others looked at him indignantly for hurting Akamaru.

The board showed the next two names.

Sasuke Uchiha vs. Yoroi Akado

Naruto slapped Sasuke on the back. "You got this, Sasuke, you'll surely win!"

Sasuke made his way down to the ring, and faced his opponent.

Kakashi looked towards the other jonin. "Wanna bet against my other student?". Neither of them took his offer.

It was a deceptively quick match - Sasuke showed off his fireball jutsu and Yoroi just gave up.

Sasuke won the match.

The board displayed the next contestants.

Shino Aburame vs Zaku Abumi

Naruto cheered Shino as he approached the ring.

Zaku showed up with his arm in a sling, indicating that he'd gotten into some sort of scuffle in the Forest.

Shino straight-up told him, "You are injured. Give up now and spare yourself some pain."

Zaku laughed. "Are you so afraid to fight me?"

Shino extended his arm, and a flurry of bugs came out of his hand. "These bugs will drain your chakra, as I command them to". Zaku released sound waves from a hole in his free hand and seemed to have gotten rid of the bugs.

Tenten asked, "How does he do that?", prompting Neji to use his Byakugan to inspect Shino. "He uses a summoning jutsu in his hand to make the bugs appear. How he gets them to obey his orders is beyond me."

Shino released more bugs that made their way to Zaku, who suddenly released his slinged arm! "Bet you didn't expect this; I've got an ace in the hole!"

Zaku then tried to use some sort of jutsu on the bugs, but it wasn't working!

Shino responded, "Bet you didn't expect this; I've got two aces in the hole."

Zaku's arms suddenly strained, and he collapsed on the floor from pain.

Hayate announced Shino as the winner, and bugs came out of Zaku's holes and went back into the summoning seal on Shino's glove.

Naruto almost gave Shino a high-five, but opted to fist-bump instead.

Sakura Haruno vs. Ino Yamanaka

Naruto egged Sakura on, "You've got this, Sakura! Just avoid her mind jutsu thingy!"

Sakura nodded and made her way down to the ring.

Kakashi made another bet with Kurenai and Asuma. "100 ryo says my other other student wins."

Kurenai and Asuma accepted the bet.

As soon as the match began, Sakura threw down a smoke bomb and created 5 illusionary clones, in an attempt to throw Ino off. Her plan was to overwhelm Ino, then attack her head-on to stop her from using her clan's jutsu.

Naruto thought, "She's so smart!"

Ino realized Sakura's plan, though, and was able to perfectly mimic it.

There was no water, so Sakura couldn't use any water jutsu. She also hadn't learned any lightning jutsu yet, as those were too advanced.

Sakura realized the predicament that she was in, as she would have to guess and find the real Ino before engaging in combat.

Sakura and Ino punched their way through each other's clones, and were backing up and making sure they were done, when their backs touched each other.

Both girls turned around and instinctively jumped back. Sakura made a break for Ino, but Ino was able to use her clan's jutsu on Sakura, narrowly avoiding getting decked.

Sakura felt that strange tingly feelin throughout her body and once again, became a prisoner in her own mind.

She heard Ino taunt her, "Guess that big forehead isn't hiding any extra brains, huh? It took me a second to figure out what you were trying".

Naruto kept yelling at Sakura to fight Ino, but it was just impossible!

Sakura felt her body straightening up, though she couldn't move it with her own will. Then, she felt her hand raising up and her mouth open.

Sakura's voice began to speak, but it wasn't her talking - it was Ino using her voice.

"I, Sakura Haruno," - Sakura still felt like it was she herself doing all this! - "forfeit this match!"

Naruto grumbled and rested his head in his hands.

Hayate caleld, "Winner - Ino Yamanaka!"

Sakura felt her heart sink - she'd been defeated so easily!

And to make things worse, as if to taunt Sakura, Ino did a celebratory dance in her body before canceling the jutsu.

Sakura felt absolutely dejected, but she congratulated her friend and walked back to the bleachers.

Naruto assured her, "You'll win this thing the next time, Sakura, believe it!"

Sakura thanked Naruto and hugged him.

Getting late so the rest of the matches are the next chapter. Leave a nice review!