The next match was:

Hinata Hyuuga vs. Neji Hyuuga

Hinata bowed to Neji. "Let's have a good match, Brother Neji!"

Neji scowled. "There is a burden on your shoulders, Lady Hinata. You'll be lucky if you can even keep up with me."

Naruto asked Tenten, "What's his deal?". Tenten replied, "The Hyuuga clan has what they refer to as a prophecy. The idea is that the firstborn of the firstborn will always be the most able leader of the clan; Hinata is her father's firstborn, and her father is older than Neji's father, so Hinata's gotten the spotlight in her family. It's why Neji's so full of angst; the clan never pays attention to his skill, but have their eyes glued to Hinata's skill, whom he believes is inferior to him."

The rest of the genin felt uncomfortable by this, and looked back to the match.

Neji's dark eyes suddenly became pearly white, and the veins in his face bulged.

Naruto knew what this meant - it was one of the few kekkei genkai that they taught in the academy, the Byakugan. The Byakugan allows the Hyuuga to see the flow of chakra in and around any person. This flow of chakra reveals the amount of chakra being used, where it's flowing, and even allows the Byakugan user to be able to pinpoint their target's chakra network points.

"Brother Neji, what are you doing?", Hinata asked. "You know it's unwise to activate the Byakugan so early in a fight."

Neji mocked her. "That's only a problem if you're afraid that the enemy can match your skill, and the fact of the matter is that you can't hold a candle to me!"

Now Hinata was confused - why did Neji call her his "enemy"? And did he really believe that she was so weak?

She shifted her attention to Naruto when he egged her on. "Don't let him talk to you like that, Hinata! Show him who's boss!"

Hinata gained a bit of a confidence boost from Naruto - he was always good at doing that for people - and looked back at Neji. With firm resolve, Hinata activated her own Byakugan, hoping to put her on equal terms with her cousin.

The Hyuuga children began a dance of Hyuuga-style fighting. The style was based on determining the enemy's chakra points by studying their flow, then targeting those assumed points and attacking them in such a manner that they get disabled - much harder to do than it sounds.

Unfortunately for Hinata, Neji really was better. He pinpointed her chakra points accurately and managed to knock the ones in her arms with surgical precision, striking some nerves along the way, too. As a result, Hinata's ability to use her arms was slowed, but she could still fight!

Hinata's attempt at disabling the chakra in Neji's elbow was denied when he grabbed her arm. "Give up before I kill you.", he warned.

Hinata strongly considered it for a second, but when she remembered Naruto's words - a verbal manifestation of why she used to have a crush in him -, her tenacity returned. "I won't give up, not as long as I can still fight!", she shouted.

Neji coldly remarked, "Then I'll make sure you can't fight."

He quickly channeled as much chakra as he could into his fingers and drove them into Hinata's chest, literally making her heart skip a beat.

Hinata immediately fell to the floor, Byakugan instantly deactivated, and unable to continue the fight.

Hayate checked her finals. He motioned for medical help and announced, "Winner - Neji Hyuuga."

Paramedics arrived and quickly hauled Hinata off.

Naruto, enraged, leapt into the ring and yelled at Nej, "What the Hell was that, Neji?!"

Neji stated at Naruto with hard, white pupils. "I proved that the Hyuuga believe in a ridiculous superstition."

For once, Naruto didn't know what to say, so he said the first thing that came to mind. "If we fight in the 3rd round, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

Neji scoffed as he deactivated his Byakugan, and the genin were told to return to the bleachers.

The board read:

Misumi Tsurugi vs. Kankuro of the Sand

As the match began, Kankuro stopped his bag on the ground.

Misumi immediately charged, and manipulated his bones to wrap around Kankuro, tightening his hold.

He tikd Kankuro to forfeit, but Kankuro refused, so he squeezed until Kankuro's bones snapped.

However, like something out of a horror film, Kankuro's head turned around to face Misumi, and there was a hole in it revealing another face!

Kankuro's bag unwrapped himself, revealing that the real Kankuro was hiding in it, using his chakra to control a puppet that masqueraded as him. Kankuro held a kunai to Misumi's neck and told him to give up. Misumi obliged.

Winner - Kankuro of the Sand

The next match:

Rock Lee vs. Gaara of the Sand

Rock Lee was eager to fight such a formidable opponent, but his screams about youth were met by Gaara's cold stare.

Rock Lee put up a good fight, coming close to hitting Gaara, but being stopped by his sand wall every time. When he figured it wouldn't work, he looked up at Guy with hope, receiving a nod from his sensei.

Lee undid his weights.

At first, only Guy's team and Naruto were impressed, but everyone's Jaws dropped when the weights made a thundering BOOM! as they hit the floor.

Now, Lee seemed as if he couldn't possibly stop moving! He ran circles around Gaara, and even managed to punch him right in the face!

As a bruise formed on his face, Gaara stared at the floor in shock. Then, he looked back at Lee, and used his open palm to guide his sand in chasing him. It caught Lee's left leg, and Gaara closed his palm, prompting the sand to close in on itself and crush Lee's leg, causing him to fall on the floor.

Gaara wasn't done, though. He had his sand form around Lee, who was rising, and covered his whole body. However, just before he could crush Lee's body, a kunai whizzed past him, and Naruto appeared, clasping his hand against Gaara's open palm.

Naruto growled. "I won't let you harm my precious people!"

Gaara stared blankly, then blinked in confusion. "Precious... People?"

Hayate came down to the ring and sighed.

"We really wanna finish this quickly, so, Winner by way of interference - Gaara of the Sand."

Paramedics rushed to carry Lee to the infirmary, as Kakashi arrived to take Naruto back to the bleachers.

Kakashi said, "You did a good thing, Naruto. But don't do it again.". Naruto nodded in obedience.

The board now read:

Shikamaru Nara vs. Kin Tsuchi

Shikamaru sighed. "I gotta fight a girl? What a drag...".

The genin stood in the arena, and Hayate began the match.

Immediately, Kin threw shuriken at Shikamaru, who quickly put her in his shadow possession jutsu when she jumped back, and figured out her trick.

He said, and she said with him (unable to do otherwise), "One of the shuriken has a bell on it, and the others don't. You've also thrown them in such a way that they'll return to hit me. I'm supposed to try to dodge by listening for sound," he then managed to dodge all the shuriken. "Clearly, that isn't happening."

Kim was pissed. "That little runt figured out my trick already? And he's got me stuck here, too!"

Shikamaru then told her about his shadow possession jutsu, and Kin unwillingly said every word at the same time. "This jutsu forces you to mirror every move I make. You must have guessed by now that there's plenty of fun ways to use this jutsu. For example, in here," he patted the pouch on his belt, "where most shinobi put their kunai, as you have, I have a foam kunai. I can take it out, mimic the act of stabbing myself, and you'll have actually stabbed yourself. But that's not as fun as this."

Shikamaru then turned around, forcing Kin to follow suit. Shikamaru widened his eyes, and Kin did the same thing, now horrified at her position - she was inches away from the wall, while Shikamaru was still in the center of the ring!

Shikamaru (and Kin) said, "This is your chance to forfeit. I'll let go of my control over your vocal chords and jaw so that you can do so."

Shikamaru then waited a few seconds, and when Kin didn't forfeit, he began to draw his head back, ready to have Kin's head slam into the wall.

When Kin still, hesitated, Shikamaru let out a sigh, then started to drive his head towards the wall. Right before making contact, though, Kin shouted, "I forfeit!".

Hayate announced, "Winner - Shikamaru Nara."

Next match:

Tenten Higurashi vs. Temari of the Sand

"You go, Tenten!", Naruto yelled. "Make Daddy proud!"

Everyone looked at Naruto in confusion. He frantically explained, "I meant her father! Because he makes weapons and she's good at using weapons!"

Tenten facepalmed and then faced Temari.

Hayate called for the match to begin, and Temari taunted Tenten. "Go ahead, make the first move. I'm still gonna win."

Tenten grumbled, then tossed a kunai at Temari, who quickly deflected it with her steel fan.

"That's one star that I've opened.", Temari said.

Tenten replied, "Then try this on for size!". She set a scroll on the floor, backed up, and ran into it. When she ran onto it, she focused chakra in her feet and she was sent flying 20 feet into the air! She then pulled out a scroll filled with storage seals and summoned as many weapons as she could, before throwing them at Temari.

Again, Temari blocked the weapons with her fan. "Two stars. Be careful, when I get to three, I'll have won the match!", she taunted.

Tenten then had another idea. She set down to scrolls and leapt into the air again. The scrolls erupted in dragon-shaoed smoke figures that followed Tenten into the air, then revealed themselves as weapon scrolls. Once again, Tenten summoned as many weapons as she could and threw them at Temari, who blocked them again, sending them flying in multiple directions.

Temari mocked Tenten, "The same trick twice? What a joke!"

Tenten smirked. "It's not the same trick.", she remarked.

Temari widened her eyes and looked behind her. Tenten was using chakra strings to pull the weapons back! Temari quickly unveiled the third star in her fan and just kept spinning, forcing Tenten to have to dodge the weapons. Then, a whirl of wind unleashed from Temari's fan, tossing Tenten and some weapons into the air, which she was unable to dodge this time. In the air, Tenten suffered some scratches - minor enough to be nonlethal, but major enough to put her out of commission.

As Tenten fell down, her spine landed directly on Temari's now-closed steel fan.

Seeing that Tenten was incapacitated, Hayate called out, "Winner - Temari of the Sand!"

Temari chuckled and tossed Tenten off the fan. She proudly proclaimed, "If I was just a second slower, you would've won."

The next match:

Kamakiri Fuma vs. Choji Akimichi

Kamakiri came into the ring with a giant pair of scissors. "I'm gonna cut you up, fatty!", he taunted.

Choji growled. "No one... Calls me... FAT!"

Choji immediately made hand signs and used his clan's jutsu - the body expansion, a technique which increased the size of the user along with the hardness of their body.

Choji swung his belly at Kamakiri, flinging the unprepared man's head into the entrance, giving him a concussion and quickly knocking him out.

Hayate inspected Kamakiri. "Winner - Choji Akimichi".

Naruto didn't show it, but he was actually bothered by something, and he'd been wondering about it every now ant then during the preliminary rounds. So, he excused himself and asked Sakura to relay the details of the next match to him, which she agreed to do. He thanked her, and made his way to the hokage.

Naruto quietly asked, "Hiruzen, can we talk about something?"

Hiruzen matched his tone and responded, "Now, Naruto? Can't this wait?"

Naruto replied, "It really can't, sorry."

Hiruzen sighed and said, "Go ahead, Naruto."

Naruto asked, "That whole 'balance of power between the villages' thing - am I a part of that balance?"

Hiruzen was bewildered by this question. "What makes you say that, Naruto?"

Naruto told him, "That Gaara kid from the Sand, he's also a jinchuriki, just like me."

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. "is that so?...". Then, he reluctantly answered Naruto's question. "Yes, jinchuriki are part of that balance."

Rather than give a response, Naruto said "Okay.", and left to go back to Sakura, keeping his rage within himself.

When Naruto went back, he saw that the match was already over. Sakura told him that two other genin from the Fuma clan had to fight, and they had a draw, so both of them lost.

The final match:

Naruto Uzumaki vs. Dosu Kinata

Sakura kissed Naruto on the cheek and said, "Good luck!", as he went to fight his second match.

Naruto faced Dosu in the ring - neither genin knew anything about the other.

Hayate began the match.

Immediately, Naruto slapped a hiraishin mark on his clothes and created a dozen shadow clones that distanced themselves from him and each other. Dosu, on the other hand, aimed his gauntlets at Naruto, and waves began assaulting Naruto!

Naruto soon found that they were sound waves, and tried covering his ears to alleviate the pain, but it wouldn't work. So, he teleported to one of his shadow clones. The kain didn't stop him from running up behind Dosu and slapping him with a hiraishin mark right before he turned around.

Naruto instantly showed up behind Dosu again, holding a kunai to his neck. "Give up.", Naruto commanded.

Dosu responded, "You should!", and grabbed the kunai, transferring sound waves into it that shattered the bones in Naruto's hand. As Naruto screamed in pain, Dosu pinched him, still emitting sound waves, causing Naruto's jaw to crack.

Naruto teleported to another one of his shadow clones, buying time for Kurama to heal him. Dosu wanted to end the match quickly, so he kept blasting the shadow clones.

In response, Naruto (whose hand had healed) summoned dozens more shadow clones to charge Dosu and cover him in hiraishin marks. Dosu managed to get rid of them all, but couldn't prevent being marked.

Finally, Naruto created another dozen shadow clones.

These clones distanced themselves from him and each other, then took turns teleporting to Dosu to quickly slash or stab him all over.

By the time Dosu got rid of all of Naruto's clones, he was bleeding from his chest, arms, legs, and even his face. Just before Naruto could repeat the process, Dosu raised his hand and forfeited, wanting to not bleed out.

Hayate announced, "Winner - Naruto Uzumaki!"

Hiruzen came down to the ring and congratulated Naruto. Then, he called the audience down as he stood in front of them and called the winning genin to the front.

Hayate gave each of the genin a card with a number on it, and said, "If you're an odd number, the first person you battle in the third exam is the person whose number comes right after yours."

And so, the initial matchups for the 3rd exam were set.

Naruto Uzumaki vs. Ino Yamanaka

Shikamaru Nara vs. Temari of the Sand

Choji Akimichi vs. Neji Hyuuga

Shino Aburame vs. Kankuro of the Sand

Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara of the Sand

What do you think of the matchups? Remember, the 3rd exam is seeded, so the winners will fight the winners.

Please leave a nice review! I read them for all my fics and they do help me write better.