13. Chunin Exams: Prelims
Author's Notes: First and Foremost, please forgive me for the long wait. My only excuse is that I've been a lazy ass sod preferring to read instead of writing. That said, I plan to have the next chapter up by the weekend after this has been posted.
Chapter Start
For some, five days in the forest felt like the longest torture imaginable. For others it passed by in a blur. Naruto was one of the ones who seemed to have plenty of time to analyze everything he could have done differently when he encountered Orochimaru. Yeah he had the upper hand the entire time, but did he actually do anything meaningful? The only thing he had killed in that forest were a couple of mud clones. The actual snake itself had gotten away and was doing who knows what right now.
Naruto shook his head from those thoughts as he looked 'up' from his position where he was standing upside down on the ceiling of the battle room in the tower of death. Below him were 10 teams standing in rows of three looking forward at the Hokage where he was speaking in front of Ibiki, Anko, a bunch of Chunin, and all of the team's Jounin instructors.
Well, all but the Sound's. They were pretty sure that Orochimaru had planned to try and slip in as their Jounin but with the Fourth Degree burns Naruto gave him five days ago, that clearly wasn't possible. No Genjutsu can cover up that much pain even if it was the numbing kind that Fourth Degrees brought about after the first hour.
Shaking his head from those thoughts, he instead looked back at the teams and thought 'Almost exactly half the teams passed. What are the odds of that happening?' Turning his head to look at Anko, he had to smirk at her face and thought 'Look at her, she's pissed. She probably thought Ibiki had been getting soft for letting so many teams through and is now probably wondering what the hell's wrong with her beloved forest.'
Said ten teams were the team his distant relatives and their teammate formed, one of the three teams the Hidden Rock Village sent, a team from the Village Hidden in the Rain, the team from Sound, a team from their ally the Sand, and from the Leaf village, the three rookie teams as well as Team 9 from last year and an older team that consisted of a white haired teen and his two teammates who wore veils to cover their faces and shades to cover their eyes.
He heard his brother Jinchuriki say something about enough with the talking and get on with the life and death stuff. Rolling his eyes, Naruto disappeared and reappeared leaning against him with his arm across his shoulders surprising everybody as he said "Impatient this one is, is he not Lord Hokage?"
The redhead's eyes widened even as sand rushed at Naruto, but the blond was gone the instant the last word was out of his mouth and was now standing beside said leader who was currently chuckling. Almost all of the Genin in front of them had wide eyes besides the Whirlpool nin and the rookies in Teams 7 and 8.
As he enjoyed all of their stunned expressions, Naruto took a second to look at the mark on Sasuke's neck. It seemed to be throbbing in pain every once in a while and Naruto frowned a little knowing that it would have to be sealed soon.
That small frown turned into a big one as Ino decided to open her big mouth and shouted "Naruto! You idiot, what the hell are you doing here?"
From her spot behind Ino, Rachel began frowning at the blond while Naruto lazily shifted his focus over to her and said "Lord Hokage asked me to be the proctor for the final exam. Now kindly be quiet so I can explain what the third exam will be."
Ino bristled and looked about ready to get into a one-sided shouting match with her former 'classmate,' but a stern look from her sensei stopped her cold. Nodding to them all, Naruto said "For those of you who do not know me, allow me to introduce myself. I am Naruto Uzumaki, and as I've just said, I'll be your third exam proctor. Now then, the third exam will consist of a group of one on one matches that will be held within a month's time in the Chunin's arena in the village. Why the month wait you ask? It's so the delegates who are coming to watch you compete have time to get here. Now normally, this is where we would offer any of you to drop out and then draw lots to see who goes against who. But with so many teams passing the second exam, we need to have preliminary rounds since no one wants to spend all day watching a tournament where thirty six brats are having slap fights with each other."
Most of said thirty six brats glared at Naruto who didn't care while the adults in the room all chuckled. Keeping his straight face, Naruto said "Now, as I said, the fights in a month will be one on ones and these preliminary rounds will be as well. That said, if any of you are here simply because your teammates wanted to become Chunin then feel free to walk right out that door because from here on out, it's all or nothing."
"No one is forfeiting. So can you stop with the useless talking and get on with it already?" Gaara asked with an annoyed voice as a small amount of killing intent began to fill the air making everyone nervous as they glanced at him.
Naruto's head rolled to the side a little as he sent a lazy look at the Jinchuriki before he seemed to flicker for the briefest of instants and the preteen's eyes widened as he folded over holding his stomach. As everyone stared in shock, Naruto said "Anyone else want to be a smartass about this? No? Good. Now, are there any one who wants to forfeit?"
When no one raised their hands to forfeit Naruto smiled at them and said "Good, now the rules for the preliminaries are as follows: You lose if you forfeit obviously, if you lose consciousness, if I believe you cannot continue, or if you just plain die. If I tell you to stop fighting then you will do so or else. And believe me, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry. Now, the matches will be chosen randomly by the computer screen behind me." As Naruto had been talking, said computer screen's cover had slid down revealing itself. "When your name is displayed come down for your fight. Otherwise you are to remain on the balconies on either wall and stay out of the way of the fight currently going on. If I catch any of you interfering in anyone else's fight, I will disqualify your entire team."
Naruto glared at them as he said the last sentence and everyone gulped before he suddenly did a one-eighty as he said "Right then! Enough talking! Let's see who's fighting first!"
The board lit up and began going through names for a few minutes before it stopped on the first two of a long series of matches. Naruto shot a quick look over his shoulder before he looked back at the Genin and said "Sasuke Uchiha, Daisuke Dangai, you two are up first. Everyone else get off the floor."
All of the Genin besides Sasuke and one of the Rock Genin, a heavy built guy who looked like he was part of a cliff face, turned and headed to the balcony. As their sensei passed them, Naruto saw Kakashi pause and whisper something to Sasuke. He didn't bother with it since he'd already been given his orders when it came to the Uchiha.
Once the three were alone on the floor Naruto asked "Do either of you have any problems being the first ones?" Seeing the two shake their heads, Naruto said "Very well then, First Round of the preliminaries: Sasuke Uchiha vs Daisuke Dangai begin!"
Naruto gave a quick but long jump away landing five feet away leaving Sasuke to study his massive opponent. Daisuke, a black haired boy with grey eyes studied him as well before he shifted into a heavy set Taijutsu stance and gave a noncommittal grunt as he said "So I get to face the so called "Last Uchiha" huh? Should be interesting."
"Hn." Sasuke grunted.
Daisuke frowned and said "Not much of a conversationalist are you?"
"Hn."
Naruto and everyone else sweat dropped at Sasuke's response before Daisuke was suddenly in Sasuke's face with said face full of a fist. As Daisuke's right hook connected with Sasuke's face, the Uchiha was sent flying and landed skidding halfway to the wall. Sakura and Ino's shouts of "Sasuke-kun!" permeated the air while everyone else was giving off soft whistles at the big guy's speed. Naruto meanwhile had a raised eyebrow at just how fast Sasuke had managed to recover from his skidding position. The one-of-the-duck-hair had barely hit the ground before he was moving his body from out of control skid into a crouch and thrusting his hand into his weapons pouch. Two seconds later Sasuke's hand was launching a brace of shuriken at his opponent before his right foot hit the wall stopping his backward progress and he rushed at his opponent.
Daisuke brought his own hand to his pouch and grabbed a kunai to deflect the shuriken before he blocked Sasuke's incoming kick with his other hand which he closed around Sasuke's leg and used to toss the Uchiha over his shoulder. Daisuke then followed up with a punch to Sasuke's stomach that sent him into the arena floor coughing up a little blood from the force of the blow.
As Sasuke tried to get his breath back, Daisuke took a step back and looked down at his opponent with his head cocked to the side curiously and said "You know, I would have expected a Uchiha to be doing better right now."
"Shut up." Sasuke growled as he got to his feet.
"Seriously though, the Sharingan hasn't even made an appearance yet, so I have to wonder, do you just not care, or are you really that weak?" Daisuke asked in that same curious tone of voice that continued to piss Sasuke off.
"I said shut up!" Sasuke roared as he activated his Sharingan and blurred as he rushed to Daisuke and kicked upwards in a move that anyone who spent anytime fighting with a user of the Iron Fist would recognize instantly as he kicked his opponent in the chin sending him flying in the air and kicked up off the floor after him.
Sasuke positioned himself under Daisuke and placed his finger against his back temporarily paralyzing is opponent. Daisuke somehow was able to turn his head to look back at Sasuke and said "Dancing Leaf Shadow huh?" Sasuke swore he was smirking at him right now like he knew it was copied.
"That's right. From here it's all original though." Sasuke said. Before he suddenly flinched as black marks began to make their way out of the curse mark out of their seal.
Meanwhile on the arena floor, Naruto saw the seal activate and thought 'Shit, the seals activating!' But before he could go through with his orders, he saw the black marks recede. Sighing with relief, he thought 'I guess Sasuke is made of stronger stuff than I thought.' Giving a quick look around faster than most human eyes could follow he thought 'But does this mean that Teme of a snake is nearby?'
Back in the air, Sasuke had just finished pushing the curse mark back into its sealed form. Taking a breath, he said "Sorry about that, now then, as I was saying, Lion's Barrage!" Sasuke launched a kick that Daisuke was able to block but Sasuke used the block to pivot around his bigger opponent and began to really lay into his opponent's other side especially his right arm to keep him from blocking anything else until they landed on the ground and he tumbled away until Kakashi stopped his progress with his foot.
Naruto meanwhile was looking at Daisuke who was slowly getting up from the floor while clutching his right arm that the blond could see was broken in at least three places. Feeling the blonde's gaze, Daisuke glanced up at Naruto and shook his head to the unasked question. Naruto nodded and said "Daisuke is unable to battle anymore. Therefore, the winner of the first match is Sasuke Uchiha." 'How anti-climatic.'
As a medic rushed over to look at Daisuke's arm, Ino and Sakura began yelling about how cool Sasuke was and how they knew he would win. They shut rather quickly though when Naruto and the other kunoichi Genin in the room shot them a glare. Said Uchiha was meanwhile being lead away by Kakashi out the double doors. Naruto studiously ignored that though as he looked back up at the board and sent a small pulse of chakra to a seal in his pocket to signal the board to start its second sequence.
The board stopped its shuffling and Naruto rose an eyebrow as he and all of the other Hidden Leaf Jounin each thought 'Oh, you have got to be kidding me.' The Old Man meanwhile was looking at the board like it had just placed two mountains of paperwork on his desk back at the Hokage Tower.
Sighing Naruto turned his head back forward and said "Will Shino Aburame and Suzumebachi Kamizuri please come down."
As his former 'classmate' and his opponent walked down the two balconies, Naruto took a moment to study the kunoichi from the Hidden Rock village. She had the brown hair that was typical of the population of their continent and grey eyes. She wore a battle kimono that stopped at her knees and was cut to leave her shoulders bare. Her eyes were currently narrowed in a glare at her opponent as they walked down the stairs.
Shino meanwhile walked down the stairs with his head bent in thought. Any clues to what he was thinking were hidden by the shades he wore although Naruto and the other Jounin in the room could hear his coat buzzing as the Destruction Beetles that were inside the Aburame's body prepared themselves for battle.
Once the two were in front of him, Naruto said "Round two, Shino Aburame vs. Suzumebachi Kamizuri, begin!" Chopping his hand down as he jumped away, Naruto was barely two feet away before Suzumebachi tossed out her arm and three shuriken flew towards Shino with five bees right on their tail. Shino retaliated by lifting his arms and sent a small group of bugs out in front of him which formed a wall stopping the shuriken before ten of the beetles broke off from the wall and rushed the bees tearing into them in pincer movements before continuing on towards his opponent.
Suzume in turn made four hand signs in quick selection calling a large swarm of bees with what looked like miniature paper bombs into existence. The swarm rushed towards the wall of insects in front of it slicing through the ten insects in front of it before they all slammed into the wall and exploded with enough force to slightly shake the room they were in. Suzume smirked as the smoke cleared and revealed Shino's body on the floor badly burnt and bleeding.
Her smirk quickly disappeared though as she felt a two kunai pressing up against her throat and a voice from the wall behind her said "Do you yield?" Suzume turned her head to see a third Shino step out of the shadows cast by the foreign side's balcony.
"How?" Suzume asked and the third Shino pointed back to where the 'body' was. When she looked back forward, the blood was gone and the body burst into insects.
"Insect clone and Genjutsu combination. I was never actually in front of you." Shino said. Suzume let out a curse before she sighed and said "Fine, I yield."
"Winner: Shino Aburame." Naruto called before pushing chakra into the board's seal again as the two insect clones holding their opponent hostage broke apart and went back inside Shino's coat as he walked away. The screen beeped and Naruto looked back before calling out "Ino Yamanaka, Rachel Aliston, you two are up."
Ino began walking towards the stairs while Rachel decided on the more direct approach and hopped over the railing, softening her landing with chakra. As she walked calmly towards Naruto he gave her a slight nod which was returned before he turned his attention to Ino as she made her way down. Once Ino had finally joined them and the two girls were standing across from each other, Naruto rose his hand and slashed it down as he called out "Third round: start!"
Naruto jumped away from the two. But even though the fight had started, Rachel was just staring at Ino with an intensity that made Ino, who found she couldn't look away nervous. After a minute of having an unwilling staring contest, Ino finally couldn't take it and shouted "What are you staring at?"
Rachel cocked her head an inch to the right as she said "Tell me something please, is it true you were once a classmate of Naruto-sama?"
Ino's brows furrowed as she said "Naruto-sama? Why the hell would you call that loser something like that?"
"I see. So you were. And it seems you've already answered the other question I had." Rachel said with a small frown on her face.
"Wh-" Ino started to ask before she got a fist in her chest and was sent flying by Rachel who had pumped chakra into her legs to close the four foot gap between them so fast it looked like a blur to most of the genin present.
"I would have thought that a clan heir such as yourself would have known not to insult another clan heir like you so obviously have a habit of doing." As she was speaking, Rachel reached over her shoulders and removed the two hook swords from her back. Ino gulped at the sight of the swords which had hooks at the end and the cloth wrapped steel handles set in a bladed dented rectangle. At the other end of the handle was a short spike of steel. (Think Shaolin Monk Hook sword used Deadliest Warrior.)
Rachel's storm grey eyes turned cold as she said "One should always show the proper respect to those around them. And in my eyes, Naruto-sama has earned that respect. He has given me and my team food and lodgings in his household for our stay here when he could have just simply left us in a hotel. And yet you seem to have no respect for him whatsoever. Even if he's not a member of your clan, he is still your superior officer. Anyone who doesn't respect their superiors does not deserve the rank of Chunin. I'll be glad to disqualify you."
Ino had finally gotten up during Rachel's speech and glared at Rachel as she drew two kunai and said "Will I'll be glad to beat down any one who worships that Dead Last like you obviously do!" The Yamanaka charged at Rachel swiping at her with two kunai only for Rachel to swiftly swipe both blades away with her own as she sidestepped and sent a roundhouse kick to her opponent's head sending her flying again.
"You know, if there's one thing I hate more than someone who doesn't show proper respect to those who are in charge of looking after you and showing you the ropes, I would have to say it's those who don't take this kind of thing seriously. I'm sure you know the types, those who think this is just a game or are expecting some knight in shining armor to appear when they screw up. After all, where I come from, if you enter this business then you need to be willing to go all the way." As Rachel spoke, she placed her swords back onto her back seeing no point in staining them with a fan girl's blood before she blazed through hand signs and shouted "Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!"
As the three bullets of water shot out of Rachel's mouth, Ino kicked the ground from her laying down position and back flipped away in time to avoid them. It was a good thing she did since the projectiles left craters two inches wide where they hit the floor. But before Ino could sigh in relief, she heard Rachel's voice whispering behind her.
"Pathetic. Lightning Style: Knockout Palm Jutsu."
Ino's body twitched once as Rachel's lightning covered palm hit her spine before her eyes rolled up to the back of her skull and she fell over. Rachel took a step back as Naruto appeared next to Ino's body and performed a quick diagnostic jutsu to make sure Ino's body was still functioning before he stood up and said "Winner: Rachel Aliston." Rachel gave a quick bow of respect to Naruto before she headed to the bleachers while the medics approached to revive her opponent.
'She doesn't seem to mess around.' Sarutobi thought as Naruto used the seal again and the board began its job. When it finished cycling through names, Naruto called out "Hinata Hyuga, Sai. You're next."
Hinata took a deep breath as she turned and began walking towards the stairs. Sai meanwhile kept a blank face as he walked beside her.
'Hm, a Root member that specializes in ink ninjutsu vs. a member of the Hyuga clan. Sai is going to have trouble on this one that's for sure. It should still be a good fight though.' Kakashi thought to himself as his 'student' turned to face his opponent in front of Naruto.
'Now everyone here will see how pathetic you are and that it is your fate to remain a failure.' Neji thought with grim satisfaction.
Naruto looked between the two as he thought 'Time to see what Hinata's been up to. I just hope this fight isn't as short as the last few.' Shaking his head from those thoughts, he gave both one last look as he said "Are you two ready?" Sai gave a small nod maintaining his blank look while Hinata gave him a small smile with hers. Naruto nodded before he rose his hand and said "Very well then, begin!" He quickly slashed his hand down and jumped back.
The instant the last letter was out of Naruto's mouth, Sai copied his actions and jumped back while pulling out a brush and scroll. As soon as his feet touched ground, Sai had a painted wolf on his scroll. Making a hand sign, Sai calmly said "Ninja Art: Beast Art Mimicry." The wolf shot off the paper and rushed at high speed towards Hinata, who had also jumped back while activating her Byakugan. However, as soon as it got in arm's reach of her, she blasted it apart with a palm strike filled with chakra.
The wolf exploded in a splatter of ink that Hinata avoided by jumping back as she didn't want to get any of the possibly reusable ink on her. Sai meanwhile cocked his head and gave a small false smile as he said "Hm, it seems that I was right. My drawings are ineffective against you. But what if there is more than one?" As he was speaking, Sai had been constantly drawing on his scroll. As soon as he finished speaking, he made his hand sign again and ten tigers rushed off the paper and moved with incredible speed to surround the Hyuga heiress.
Hinata shoved the small jolt of anxiousness that entered her body from being surrounded out the door before it had a chance to get a foothold in her body. Once she was surrounded and the tigers prepared to pounce she spun with her arms held out sending a pulse of chakra out that slashed through the ink constructs as she called out "Chakra Wave!"
Up in the stands, Neji looked on in shock as he thought 'What was that? It almost looked like an incomplete rotation. But a rotation isn't supposed to continue expanding like that.' Meanwhile, Sai was having slightly different thoughts.
'Well that's unusual. I did not know the Hyuga had a jutsu that had a larger range then the rotation. I will have to be on guard for that. But still, since none of my creations can get to her, I'll have to go in myself. My sword should help keep her at bay.' Sai put thought to action as he drew his tanto. When Hinata saw the short blade that was flat on the end, she tensed before sliding into a slightly different Gentle Fist stance.
Sai took notice of the new stance and slipped into one of his own before he ran towards Hinata and sent a fast slash from down low going up at an angle on Hinata's left side hoping to get past her arm and do enough damage to make the Hyuga heiress withdraw without too much damage done to her person. However, Hinata wasn't planning on making this easy for Sai as her left hand suddenly became coated in chakra that compacted to the point of looking solid. With the dense chakra covering her hand, Hinata slapped the sword away from her and sent her right hand towards Sai's chest. Sai countered by flicking his wrist and slapped Hinata's hand away with the flat side of his tanto. The attack by Hinata's hand was diverted, but Sai was caught off guard by her leg hooking his ankle and dropping him onto the floor.
Sai quickly rolled to the side when he saw Hinata's other foot surrounded in chakra and heading straight for his stomach. That action saved himself from contributing to the small crater that Hinata's foot made when it hit the arena tile. Sai retaliated by swinging his tanto at her feet only for the Hyuga to jump over the blade and do a front flip in the air before landing near Sai's head in a crouch already in motion to hit Sai with a palm strike. Sai rolled avoiding the strike and sent his sword towards Hinata's arm in retaliation. Only for it to slide off Hinata's chakra coated arm tearing a good chunk of the jacket's arm with it.
Hinata jumped back getting some distance allowing Sai to get to his feet as she looked at the torn sleeve. Looking at Sai with a steely gaze, she said "I normally don't care about my clothes like some stupid fan girl, but this was my favorite jacket." Sai's unemotional eyes stared at her before they widened slightly as Hinata's chakra peaked and the image of a transparent white tiger suddenly appeared beside her. The tiger roared and Hinata launched herself at Sai.
As Hinata began launching an assault that Sai was hard pressed to defend himself against, Naruto was chuckling to himself as he thought 'Looks like Hinata's discovered how to tap into her presence. Trust clothes to be a motivation for a girl. I guess I'll have to teach her how to use it properly.' Everyone else besides Team 8, the Whirlpool nin, and the Hokage were wondering just where the tiger had come from and why it had disappeared ten seconds after it appeared.
Sai meanwhile was beginning to sweat from defending himself from Hinata's attacks. Every time he thought he saw an opening and tried to take advantage of it, it turned out to only be a feint and he would barely get his blade into position in time to prevent the girl from getting a hit on his chest. He already had bruises on his arm from where he had been forced to block the girl's hits with flesh and he could feel his chakra fluctuating between acting like a faucet with a leak to a roaring river that was making his chakra circulation network strain with the rapid differences it was being forced to make. But then Hinata did something that made his fluctuating chakra take a back seat.
Sai had just tried to hit her with his tanto again when Hinata had grabbed the blade in a chakra coated hand and yanked Sai forward ruining his balance. Before Sai could stumble more than a step though, Hinata's right knee found residence in his stomach forcing him to exhale as his eyes widened at the loss of air. But before he could counter, Hinata spun on her left leg and slammed a glowing elbow into his back temporarily paralyzing him before she completed her spin and slammed an axe kick down onto his spine sending Sai into the floor harder than normal and leaving a small crater in the ground since she had put chakra into the kick.
As Sai tried to lift himself up with his arms, everyone watching began muttering as it became apparent that Sai couldn't use his lower body as he fell back down when his legs wouldn't listen to him. Hinata confirmed their suspicions as she said "Don't worry, I made sure not to permanently damage the spine, the paralysis will go away in a few minutes."
Naruto saw that there was no way Sai would be able to fight while partially paralyzed and said "Sai is unable to battle. Hinata is the winner."
"Yeah, you kick ass Hinata!"
Hinata blushed at Kiba's shout before she gave a slight wave and began walking toward the stairs while the medics came and began working on getting his temporary paralysis over as soon as possible. Up in the balconies, Neji frowned and thought 'It seems that fate was on her side this time. But it will leave her soon enough, and then I'll show her how weak she really is.' He saw Naruto's eyes flashed towards him as if the blond had heard his thoughts. The two kept locked gazes until Naruto broke it ten seconds later and sent chakra in the board's seal.
'Why do I feel like that particular Hyuga has a bigger stick up his ass than the others?' Naruto thought before he saw the board finish it's selection and said "Rico Uzumaki, Oboro, look alive genin." (Oboro is the member of Team Oboro with both eyes visible.)
Rico scowled at Naruto before he put a hand on the railing and jumped over while Oboro decided to take the stairs. As the redhead walked towards his blonde clan heir, Rico muttered under his breath "At least I didn't have to wait too long. But why did he have to be the proctor."
Everyone Jounin rank and above heard him and Naruto chuckled before he turned towards Oboro who was taking his time coming and was only half way down the stairs. Naruto frowned before he seemed to flicker. When he did, Oboro disappeared and reappeared a few inches off the ground with Naruto's hand holding his collar. Dropping the kid back to the ground, Naruto said "Lets go kid, there are a lot more matches after this, so stop keeping us waiting. Besides, it's rude to make your opponent wait longer than necessary."
Most of the other occupants of the room sweat dropped while Oboro seemed to send a dirty look at Naruto. They only had his two eyes to tell though since the rest of his face was completely covered. Naruto pointed to the spot in front of Rico and the teenager huffed before he stomped over to his spot. Naruto smirked before he got serious and said "Fifth round, begin!"
As soon as Naruto was clear, Rico's katars were out and Oboro was suddenly headless. Or at least his water clone was. As the clone broke apart leaving a puddle of water on the floor, Rico snorted and said "You know, we Uzumakis may be known as chakra monsters, but I can still tell when I've been put under a Genjutsu."
The Uzumaki's declaration was met with the sound of disembodied chuckling before copies of his opponent seemed to melt out of the floor with kunai in hand. Rico glanced around with a bored look on his face before he started sparking much to most of those who knew of the Uzumakis surprise.
"You know, back home I was called the Thunderstorm by my friends. Care to guess why?" Rico asked before the sparks surrounding his body suddenly turned into lightning bolts as they blasted the ten Oboros that surrounded him. As the clones once again turned into water, Rico said "It's because unlike my relatives who only have Water or Wind natures as their elements, I have Lightning as well. Now stop being a coward and get up here. Or would you rather I kill you underground?"
His answer was an arm coming up from underneath him with a kunai that tried to stab into his leg only for Rico to hook his leg around the blade and kick Oboro out of the ground, thus ending his opponent's Underwater Fish Projection jutsu and sending him crashing into the wall. (They really should have come up with a better name for that jutsu.) Rico took a moment to look at his slightly cut foot before he blurred through hand signs and said "Lightning style: Lightning Kunai Jutsu!"
Eight kunai of electricity formed in the air in front of Rico before he made a gesture with his hand and sent them flying at the stunned Oboro who was too slow to dodge the high speed projectiles and ended up pinned with two in each limb. Oboro screamed in pain as the electricity poured into his body before the kunai disappeared and he slumped forward unconscious. As Naruto appeared next to him, Rico scoffed and said "What a waste of time. Couldn't even handle a little static shock."
(AN: From this point forward, all matches were chosen randomly by my brother who knows nothing about Naruto. I really should have done this for the first few matches but I didn't think of it until now. So please don't criticize the list since this is as random as I can get.)
Naruto sighed at his distant relative before he pushed chakra into his seal again and the board began doing the only thing that gave meaning to its life. Naruto looked back when the board beeped and said "Sakura Haruno, Misumi Tsurugi, You two are next."
Walking over to the beginning spot, Naruto looked up at the Leaf balcony and noticed that Sakura seemed a little pale as she made her way down. Glancing to the other balcony showed her veiled opponent making his own way down in a somewhat cocky manner with an evil glint in his eyes. Once both were in front of him, Naruto said "Are both fighters ready." Misumi seemed to smirk behind his veil as he said "Of course." Sakura nervously swallowed before nodding. Naruto nodded as well as he raised his hand and said "Sixth round, Fight!"
Naruto jumped clear just as Sakura jumped back as well while sending a brace of shuriken towards Misumi. Misumi simply scoffed before he back handed the shuriken away with the metal plate sewn into his glove.
"Is that the best you've got?" Misumi asked.
Sakura bit her lip before throwing down a smoke bomb. The resulting smoke cloud blocked everyone's view of the kunoichi for a few seconds before four copies of the girl ran out trying to flank her opponent. Misumi though simply scoffed and said "Clones? Are you really so pathetic that you actually rely on those? Soft Physique Modification Jutsu!"
As Misumi finished calling out his jutsu's name, he threw his out in a horizontal swiping motion. The arm stretched before it went through the first three Sakuras on the left before slamming into the real Sakura and wrapped around her. Misumi yanked his arm back jerking Sakura towards him. As soon as she was close enough his other arm and legs wrapped around her body with the end result being one arm keeping her own arms pinned while his head was behind hers and his other arm around her neck with just enough pressure to make it hard to breath.
"I'm feeling merciful, so I'll give you one chance to yield before I snap your neck." Misumi said causing Sakura to shudder at the cold malice in her opponent's voice, cold malice which only further added to the cold fear that Sakura had in her due to the precarious position between life and death that she was in.
"I yield!" Sakura shouted. Misumi smirked and said "Smart girl." The next instant Sakura was free and had her hands at her neck while she took in deep breaths trying to calm her racing heart while Naruto declared Misumi the winner. As Sakura shakily made her way back to the Leaf balcony with Misumi walking smugly ahead of her, Naruto had the board start cycling through names again. Hearing the beep, he turned and announced the next fighters.
"Reina Uzumaki, Kin Tsuchi. Will you please come down."
The two kunoichi made their way down. Once they were facing each other, Reina looked at her opponent coolly while Kin had a smirk on her face that practically screamed I'm going to make you weep and enjoy every minute of it. Naruto looked between the two before he rose his hand and said "Are you two ready?" Getting nods from both, he slashed his hand down and said "Fight!"
As soon as Naruto was clear Kin launched senbon needles at Reina who crouched for a split second before she launched herself upwards in a chakra laced jump allowing the needles to pass harmlessly past her. Reina continued upwards before flipping and sticking herself to the ceiling. Kin looked up and shouted "What's wrong scaredy cat? Afraid to fight me?"
Reina cocked an eyebrow at her opponent as she said "Not really, I just don't want to be in range of those Genjutsu bells you have on your senbon."
Kin's jaw dropped before she shouted "How do you know about those?"
Reina smirked and said "Because you told me about them when you fought that leaf team to get your second scroll. For a group who claim to know everything about sound, you Sound nin really need to work on your awareness skills. Me and my team saw the whole fight. Which is how I know that your needles need to be at a certain range of the target to work properly. The worst you can do to me while I'm up here is have blurred vision, and that doesn't really matter since I have jutsu that don't need extreme accuracy to work."
Kin glared and said "Well all I'm hearing is a scared dog barking to cover up for its lack of bite!"
Reina smirked before her hands blurred as she went through a chain of hand signs. Ending on the common hand sign for water jutsu Reina said "Well all I'M hearing is a second rate kunoichi trying to talk big. Water Style: Condensation Jutsu!" The air shimmered as the humidity sky rocketed causing vapor like mists to form before the mists grew until they merged together to form a slightly dense fog. With her source of water secured, Reina ran through more hand signs before she called out "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" shocking most of the Jounin present with her ability to use such a high level jutsu and with fewer hand signs that was normally required no less. Tsunami however smirked and thought 'That's my girl. Show them why you're the best Water Style user of your generation.'
Meanwhile, as Tsunami was mentally complementing her niece, the fog in the air compressed before it formed a massive water dragon that sucked all of the moisture from the air as it formed. Once fully formed, yellow eyes seemed to snap open as they appeared before they glared at Kin and let out a roar that caused the room to vibrate and dust to fall from the ceiling. Kin paled before she threw two senbon with exploding notes attached at the dragon. Said dragon simply opened its mouth before swallowing the needles. The exploding notes detonated causing the dragon's form to briefly swell before it returned to it original slim shape. Kin paled even more as the dragon seemed to give an evil chuckle before Reina made a hand gesture and the dragon launched itself at Kin. The impact sent a large dust cloud into the air. When it cleared, it showed an unconscious Kin lying in a large puddle, badly bruised and with all four limbs at terribly unnatural angles. The girl was lucky to have not broken her neck.
Naruto took one look at the girl before he said "Reina Uzumaki is the winner. Medics!"
'These Whirlpool nin definitely don't mess around. I'm glad we're still allies with them.' Sarutobi thought as he pulled the brim of his hat down to cover his eyes for a moment as he began thinking about a new treaty for anymore returning Uzumakis.
Reina meanwhile dropped down to the floor and landed in a crouch as the white coated medics rushed past her to asses just how badly she had pummeled her opponent. Reina gave a respectful nod to her clan-heir before she turned and walked to the balcony and rejoined her team. As soon as the medics had carted Kin off the floor, Naruto once again began the process of choosing the next fighters. The board beeped and Naruto said "Zaku Abumi, Kagari. You two are next."
As the two foreigners made their way down, Naruto frowned at the Sound nin, or at his arms which were both in slings to be more specific. 'He's actually planning on fighting? I could understand him not forfeiting before the prelims just so he could watch the fights but to actually fight without both arms? This boy is either cocky or faking.' He shook those thoughts from his head as the two shinobi settled in front of him.
Kagari eyed his opponent's arms and sneered as he said 'You must be really confident in yourself. Do you actually expect to fight me with no arms?"
Zaku smirked before his left arm began to shift and he pulled it out enjoying the look of surprise most of the genin had on their faces. "Well what do you know? It seems I can use one of my arms. This should be more than enough to deal with you." Zaku said as his smirk turned evil.
Naruto mentally sighed before he said "If you two are done talking macho then, begin!" Naruto slashed his arm down and jumped back. The two fighters glared at him for a moment before they shifted focus on each other. Kagari gave an evil chuckle before he began sinking into the ground at a rapid pace. The moment his head disappeared it seemed to shoot right back up along with copies of him that surrounded Zaku in a ten man ring. Zaku scoffed at the ring of Kagaris and said "Looks like you're as cowardly as your team mate, not that it matters. Decapitating Wave!"
Zaku swung his body around a full three hundred and sixty degrees as air blasted out of the tube in his arm blasting apart all of the clones in one move. He smirked but the smirk quickly left his face as twice as many clones sprung out of the ground. Zaku tsked before he repeated his last maneuver blasting all of the clones as they tried to hit him again.
This cycle repeated itself for five minutes becoming redundant, with the only changes being the number of clones sent up and Zaku at some point having brought his right arm out of the sling. And as everybody knows, redundancy breeds boredom. Naruto sighed as another wave of clones was wiped out by a slightly panting Zaku and thought 'This match is nothing more than a battle of attrition to see who has the most chakra. I'm half tempted to just call it a draw and move to the next fight.' Two things stopped him from doing just that. One was a small hand gesture from his Kage that told him to let things run through. Why the old man wanted that was beyond him although he personally thought it was to stall the inevitable paperwork back on the old man's desk. Second was the fact that both shinobi's chakra was quickly nearing their limits, meaning that the fight would probably be over in another minute or two. True to his suspicions, that limit was reached by both a minute later. A panting Zaku dropped to his knees before his face met concrete as he fell forward. Two seconds later all of the clones around him burst as the real Kagari slowly emerged from the ground looking just as exhausted.
"Heh, I won. Take that you Sound idiot." Kagari said before he too fell flat on his face earning sweat drops from most of the genin at how pointless the entire fight seemed.
Naruto sighed and said "Since neither of the two combatants can battle, this is a draw. Neither will continue to the third exam. Now that we have that waste of six minutes done, lets see who's fighting next."
The medics hoisted the two shinobi off while the board went through its routine again before landing on two names. When the board beeped Naruto looked over his shoulder and said "Yoroi Akado, Temari of the Desert. You're up."
As the fighting kunoichi turned to walk down from her spot next to her team, her youngest brother said "Temari." When he knew he had her attention, he continued "Don't take too long beating him. I've already spent too long waiting." Temari swallowed before nodding as she turned and walked down the stairs.
The two fighters met in front of Naruto who looked between the two as he said "Fighters ready?" Two nods was his answer so he raised his hand as he said "Then ninth round Start!" Naruto's hand slashed down and he jumped clear just as Yoroi rushed his opponent with his hands glowing. Temari didn't give him a chance to make contact though as she whipped her war fan off her back and slammed the end of it into the side of Yoroi's head sending him flying. Yoroi rolled along the ground before he shakily got back up. But before he could fully orient himself, Temari flicked her fan open and blasted him with a wind jutsu as she called out "Great Sickle Weasel Technique!"
The burst of wind seemed to form sickles inside it before it slammed into Yoroi who screamed in pain before the wind died down and his eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell face down bleeding from over a hundred cuts. Naruto didn't have to check to know that the fight was over. Pointing to Temari he said "Winner, Temari. Medics."
'Another one who doesn't mess around.' The Jounin thought. Unknown to the blond, most of the other Jounin and the Hokage were thinking the same thing as medics rushed over and began checking Yoroi. Temari meanwhile smirked and walked back to the balcony. Naruto gave them a chance to get the poor sod out of the area before he pulsed chakra into his seal. Hearing the beep from the board, Naruto turned his head and his eyebrow rose as he thought 'Talk about coincidences.' Turning his head back forward, he said "Kankuro of the Desert, Neji Hyuga. Will you two please come down."
The two made their way down and Naruto had trouble figuring out which one seemed to be the more cocky of the two. When they were both in front of him, Kankuro took off the mummified figure from his back and slammed it into the ground next to him as he said "This shouldn't take too long." Neji smirked and said "I agree. Fate has decreed that I shall win." Kankuro gained a tick mark over his right eyebrow. But before the one-with-makeup could retort, Naruto sighed and said "Since you two seem ready to go, Tenth Round Start!"
As Naruto jumped away, Neji activated his Byakugan and smirked as he said "Do you really plan on fighting me while you can't see anything?" All of the genin wondered what he was talking about before the wrapped bundle came undone and everyone saw another Kankuro appear. Looking at Neji with a raised eyebrow, the second Kankuro said "Well I guess there's no need to keep up the charade. But you're going to wish you had." The first Kankuro shimmered before it turned into a battle puppet which rattled before it launched itself at Neji. Neji frowned before he began dodging the various blades that unfolded from the puppet's body. Catching sight of the poison on the blades only confirmed Neji's opinion that he didn't want to get cut by them. Kankuro smirked thinking he had his opponent completely on the defensive. Neji however was keeping half his attention on the puppet itself while focusing the other half on where Kankuro's chakra strings were connected to the puppet. He had to make sure he knew exactly where each one was when he made his move. Ten seconds later, Neji stopped dodging and began hitting the puppet whit hard palm strikes. Kankuro scoffed and was about to ask what good that did when the areas Neji hit exploded into wood chips as Neji applied one of the principles of tree climbing. Namely the fact that if you put too much chakra into what you try to stick to, that thing explodes from the chakra overload.
Kankuro stared in horror as his puppet fell to the ground in pieces. Neji's attack had blasted straight through the wood where Kankuro's chakra strings had been attached from the back. Without any wood for the strings to attach to the puppet had fallen like the puppet whose strings had been cut it was. There was barely anything left of the arms and legs for Kankuro to send chakra strings to, not that Neji would let him since the Hyuga was now standing between him and his beloved puppet smirking at him.
"I would forfeit if I were you. Fate has decreed that I shall win here and you are already at a disadvantage."
Kankuro scowled before he reached into the pouch on his waist and pulled out what looked like a custom made kunai that had a sheath on it that Kankuro pulled off and stuck back in his pouch. What made it look custom was the fact that the handle had no ring at its end and was slightly thicker than usual. The slight glistening of liquid on the now exposed blade gave everyone a clue as to why the handle was thicker, it was obviously to store a liquid of some kind that could soak the kunai's blade. Kankuro flipped the kunai in his hand so that it was in a reverse grip and took a ready stance.
Neji closed his eyes and shook his head as he said "Do you really think you stand a chance with that? What a fool." Neji's eyes snapped open before he rushed Kankuro's position ready to teach the Sand nin that you shouldn't use a knife when fighting a Hyuga, but a four and a half foot long claymore instead. As soon as he was in range Kankuro swung his blade hoping to at the very least nick his opponent and at the very most take his pound of flesh. In a move similar to what his cousin did during her fight, Neji coated his arm with condensed chakra deflected the attack by pushing on the flat of the blade before he smirked and said "You're in my range. Gentle Fist Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms!"
Neji let loose a fierce barrage of palm strikes causing Kankuro to yell in pain before he deactivated his Byakugan and took a step back. Kankuro groaned before he fell sideways and crashed onto the ground. Neji turned and started walking away as he said "Proctor call the match. He isn't getting back up on his own."
Naruto sent a quick pulse of chakra out and when he saw the puppeteer's chakra network had to agree. It was barely registering as resisting Naruto's pulse which was how Naruto registered how much chakra an opponent had when he formed his fields of chakra. Add to the fact that it felt like the human body's second circulatory system felt like it was broken into several pieces, Naruto had to acknowledge Neji's claim. Naruto quickly declared Neji the winner before gesturing to the medics who rushed over and quickly began working on restoring Kankuro's chakra network to what it should be even as they moved him off the floor. One of the medics thoughtfully sealed Kankuro's busted puppet before joining his comrades as they carried the puppeteer off in a stretcher. Once the floor was clear, Naruto set the board back to work and called out its next selection.
"Kiba Inuzuka, Rock Lee. Will you two please come down."
"Yosh! I finally get to show everyone my flames of youth!" Lee said as he hopped over the railing and practically jogged over to Naruto earning sweat drops from almost everyone but his sensei who seemed to be encouraging his student's behavior.
"I have to fight that guy?" Kiba asked before he sighed and took the stairs like a normal person. (The people who also had jumped the rail before his fight didn't count since they were at the end of the balcony and so were farther from the stair case than he was.) As Kiba made his way down at a reasonable pace, Lee began bouncing on his heels and then stretching and then switching back to bouncing on his heels numerous times earning even more sweat drops from the other 'normal' people. (Seriously, is there really a normal shinobi out there?)
When Kiba joined the other two on the floor, Naruto raised his hand and said "Fighters ready?" Getting a nod from Kiba as his partner Akamaru jumped off his head and an excited "Yosh!' from Lee, Naruto dropped his hand and jumped back as he said "Eleventh Round Start!"
As soon as the words were out of the proctor's mouth, Lee blurred straight at Kiba and hit him with a punch to the chest so strong it sent Kiba a foot into the wall behind the dog user. Akamaru barked and rushed to Kiba's form and whined as he tried to pull out his master by grabbing one of his pant legs in his teeth. Lee's eyes bugged out at the sight of the unconscious Inuzuka as he said "Ah, my flames of youth snuffed out my opponent's!' Everyone sweat dropped again before Naruto cleared his throat and said "Winner Lee. Medics."
The medics took a few minutes to get Kiba's body out of the wall before they carted him off. Everyone winced at the blood that was visible as it stained the back of his coat and wondered how in the world he survived such an impact. (What can I say, I like most of the Rookie 9 too much to kill them so heartlessly.) Once the wall was Kiba free and the medics had retreated, Naruto activated the seal and the board began going through names. Once it had its selection, Naruto said "Shikamaru Nara, Airon Rokku. You guys are up."
Naruto flickered before reappearing with Shikamaru beside him. Shikamaru shook his head before glaring at Naruto who simply rose an eyebrow before turning to the second fighter who got the message and walked just a little bit faster to the stairs. Said shinobi was a little taller than Shikamaru and like his team mate seemed to prefer Taijutsu. Once both were in front of him Naruto said "Fighters ready?' Airon nodded while Shikamaru gave a muttered Troublesome before nodding. Naruto slashed his hand down as he said "Fight!"
Airon didn't waste anytime getting clear of Shikamaru's expanding shadow as it rushed towards him. As he took a giant leap back and to his right he saw that Shikamaru's lazy look had been traded for one of determination. Landing and taking another jump back Airon said "You know, I hate Naras. Even though they're lazy asses off the battle field you can always expect them to come up with some plan and/or do something that will screw you over if you have to fight them."
Shikamaru gave a noncommittal grunt before his shadow shot past where his opponent had been after his first jump and connected with the shadow from the foreign side balcony. The combined shadow then surged towards Airon who cursed and jumped away saying "See, that's what I'm talking about!" Shikamaru's lips twitched before the shadow continued its path and connected with the balcony on the other side of the room. Airon looked at the two groups of shadows that began to quiver as they began stretching towards him encircling the Iwa shinobi.
A panting Shikamaru smirked at his opponent and said "I suggest you forfeit before I make you do something that would be terribly embarrassing."
Airon looked around him at the wide circle of shadows that surrounded him and considered his options, which sadly were few in number. He could either try and jump to the ceiling and hope that the shadows couldn't connect to his while he was up there. He could allow the shadows to connect to him and be seriously embarrassed. Or he could keep most of his dignity by forfeiting. Raising his hand, Airon said "I forfeit."
Naruto shrugged and said "Airon forfeits so Shikamaru wins." The shadows shot back to the balconies as Shikamaru tiredly walked back to the Leaf balcony. When he reached his team Chouji handed him a bag and he took a pill out of it while thanking him. Naruto meanwhile started the selection process for the next fight causing the board to start cycling through names. It gave its selection a lot faster now that it only had six more names to go through and Naruto called out "Will Kabuto Yakushi and Chouji Akimichi please come down."
"He doesn't look too bad. At least I won't be knocked into the wall." Chouji said, glad that he wouldn't have to fight someone like Lee or the last Sand nin who looked really scary. A hand clapping itself on his shoulder drew his attention to Asuma who smiled and said "Hey Chouji, if you win, I'll take you to that new bar-be-que restaurant for an all you can eat."
Chouji's eyes widened before they filled with determination as he turned and began marching toward the stairs while his team mates commented on how low it was to bribe Chouji with food like that. Kabuto meanwhile simply pushed his glasses further up his nose as he walked down the stairs. As the two met in front of Naruto, Chouji glared at Kabuto and said "I'm going to beat you, the meat demands it." As Kabuto gave his opponent an amused look, everyone else sweat dropped as Naruto thought 'Great, an Akimichi who actually believes his food is a deity.' Shaking that thought from his head he said "Combatants ready?" Getting two nods in response, Naruto raised his hand before he slashed it down and said "Start!"
As soon as Naruto was clear Chouji roared before his arm expanded and he launched a punch at Kabuto who simply smiled before he jumped over the punch and landed on Chouji's arm. Running up the arm, Kabuto reached Chouji's face in seconds and kicked Chouji forcing his head back as Chouji stumbled back. Kabuto landed on the floor before he crouched low and swept Chouji's feet from out under him. As soon as Chouji hit the floor he had a kunai at his neck. He followed the hand that held the blade to see Kabuto's smiling face looking down at him.
"I would yield if I were you. You are at a disadvantage fighting someone whose trained to be able to avoid any attacks." Kabuto said. Chouji swallowed before he rose his hand and said "I forfeit."
"Chouji has forfeited, Therefore Kabuto is the winner." Naruto said. Kabuto quickly put his kunai away before he held a hand out to Chouji who hesitated for a moment before he accepted the help and was hoisted to his feet. As Chouji walked back to the balcony with his head down and Kabuto walked away without making a scene, Naruto used the seal and started the board again. It took thirty seconds before it beeped out the second to last pair of fighters and Naruto called out "Dosu Kinuta, Gaara of the Desert. You two are next."
A whirlwind of sand appeared in front of Naruto. When it died down Gaara was in its place. The redhead glared at Dosu who seemed to be taking his time coming down. Once he joined the two Jinchuriki Naruto said "Fighters ready?"
"Yes. Get on with it." Gaara said as Killing Intent began to slowly but surely fill the room. Dosu nodded as well and Naruto began the match before disappearing and reappearing beside his leader. The two would most likely die before they told anyone, but both were glad that it was a Sound nin fighting the foreign Jinchuriki. The contact Jiraiya had talked to before coming back to the Leaf village with its own Jinchuriki had told him that Orochimaru had ties to the Sound village. In their minds, anyone who had connections to that scumbag was welcome to fight the Sand Jinchuriki since that meant none of their people had to.
As the two were mentally thanking the electronic board for not choosing an allied shinobi to fight the unstable Jinchuriki, Gaara had been busy. As soon as Naruto had disappeared, his sand blasted out of his gourd and rushed Dosu who had rapidly retreated. As soon as Dosu dodged the first stream of sand he flicked the melody gauntlet on his right arm sending sound waves out which he directed at Gaara. Gaara's left hand suddenly clapped against his ear. His eyes narrowed at his opponent before the cool gaze turned into a glare and the sand that was hovering around him all shot forward a second time.
Dosu tried to jump away a second time but the sand formed into the shape of a hand which back handed the mummified figure sending him rolling across the floor. As soon as Dosu's figure had stopped rolling the same hand of sand grabbed his right leg and lifted him into the air before it began swinging around in a circle. It did this for five cycles before the hand slammed Dosu's body back down onto the floor cracking the concrete.
As Dosu tried to get the cobwebs out of his head, more sand joined the hand and began covering him with it. As Dosu's body became fully covered by sand it lifted him up until his body was floating a few feet above the ground. Gaara meanwhile had a hand held out as he said "Pathetic. Desert Coffin."
The sand coffin imploded crushing everything in its grasp. Or it would have if there was anything in it. Gaara's eyes widened the smallest fraction as he saw the coffin do its job without spilling any blood. They widened further when the sand dispersed and Naruto was revealed with an unconscious Dosu being held by the collar of his shirt and wind swirling around the two in a small vortex that was spinning lazily.
"Dosu is unable to fight anymore. Therefore Gaara is the winner." Naruto said as he gestured to the medics to take the unconscious Sound nin from him. He may have preferred a Sound nin fighting the Jinchuriki but that didn't mean he would let one of the fighters die if he could help it.
Gaara's eyes narrowed before he growled out "You shall not interfere. I will prove my existence." Gaara's sand reared up before lashing out at the blond like a cobra. Naruto's own eyes narrowed before the lazy vortex turned fierce as the wind circled around Naruto one more time before it rushed the sand and blasted it apart into a thin cloud of floating silicone. Naruto then disappeared before he reappeared on Gaara's right side holding his right hand towards the redhead as he said "Wind Style: Wind Prison Jutsu."
As the calm words left the blonde's mouth, the air in the room turned into wind a second time and converged on Gaara's location. Within a second the redhead was trapped in a sphere of wind which lifted him up a foot in the air. As Gaara's sand rushed towards the blond in retaliation, Naruto brought his left hand up under his outstretched right arm and blasted the sand away with a seal less Gale Palm. The wind blasted the sand back while simply ruffling the approaching medics' coats. Turning his attention back to his prisoner, Naruto said "This fight is over Genin. Now stand down before I siphon all of the air out of your lungs." The blond was only planning on knocking out the redhead but he didn't need to know that.
Gaara glared at the blond and for a moment the blond thought he would have to carry out his threat. Then the sand dropped down on the floor. Naruto kept the prison up for a moment longer before he cut the chakra flow from the jutsu causing the wind to disperse and drop the redhead back to the floor. Naruto walked back to his starting position as the sand rushed back to the redhead who glared at the blond for a moment before he too turned and walked to the balcony ignoring the medics who had by that time grabbed Dosu and walked out of the doors. Naruto waited until Gaara was walking up the stairs before he said "Mubi, Tenten. Get down here you two."
As the last two contestants made their way down Naruto mentally thanked the Log that the prelims were almost over. It had been stressful enough worrying about what Orochimaru was doing. He didn't need the additional stress that came from these fifteen matches. Naruto shook his head free of thoughts of night patrols of the village and its surrounding areas to try and find the traitorous bastard when the last two fighters positioned themselves in front of him. Looking at the two he said "Are you two ready?" Getting two nods as a response, Naruto rose his hand and said "Then let the final preliminary round, Start!" Chopping down his hand and jumping back Naruto watched as Mubi tried to sink into the ground only for Tenten to rush forward and slam a foot into his face sending him flying as she shouted "Dynamic Entry!"
Tenten rushed to his fallen form and kicked him in the stomach sending him up into the air. As soon as he was high enough Tenten slammed a chakra coated fist into his ribs. Everyone winced as they heard at least one rib break and Mubi screamed in pain. As he fell back onto the floor again Tenten pushed chakra into a small seal on her right hand causing a ninjato to puff into existence. Tenten swung the ninjato at the downed Rain ninja and a large but superficial cut appeared across his stomach. Not letting up, Tenten unsealed a tanto from the seal on her left hand and slashed into a rising Mubi's right arm. Mubi gritted his teeth to keep from screaming again and tried to lash out with a kunai only for Tenten to slap the smaller blade out of her opponent's hands with the tanto before she stabbed her ninjato into his left shoulder. Before Mubi even had a chance to scream she twisted the blade so that it was horizontal and ripped it out of his shoulder in a horizontal swing making that arm useless. Mubi had no time to worry about that though as the tanto was moving to take off his head. A sharp clanging sound filled the air as the flat side of a kunai held in a reverse grip intercepted the blade. Tenten jumped slightly as Naruto appeared beside Mubi and blocked her swing a mere inch from taking off her opponent's head.
"I've seen enough. Winner: Tenten."
Mubi slumped as Tenten took a step back and Naruto lowered his kunai. To her it seemed ridiculous that the proctor had stepped in like he did. Saving someone from that scary Sand nin was one thing, but him stepping in like that for her fight just felt wrong. She wasn't going to actually decapitate her opponent. Just cut into the neck a little. She had her blade angled so it would avoid the main arteries and veins so he wouldn't have bled to death.
She was brought out of those thoughts as Naruto looked at the two balconies and said "Well everyone who has won their fights please come down. We are about to chose the fights for the final rounds next month."
Naruto walked over to where the Hokage and his entourage had retaken their spots in front of the Ram statue and was joined a minute later by all of the winners sans Sasuke. Turning around to face them, Naruto pointed the thumb of his right hand over his shoulder at Anko who held a box in her hands as he said "We'll now decide the Third Exam's lineup. Anko here is going to come to each of you. You will take one paper and only one paper from the box as she reaches you. Anko, if you'd please."
Anko quickly walked the line allowing everyone to get a slip of paper. When she was done, Naruto said "On your paper you will find a number. Starting on my right going to my left call out your numbers." The Genin did as told starting with the Sand team.
Gaara: 14
Temari: 9
Hinata: 1
Shino: 3
Neji: 2
Lee: 6
Tenten: 10
Rico: 4
Reina: 7
Rachel: 12
Misumi: 5
Kabuto: 11
Shikamaru: 8
As the genin called out their numbers Ibiki wrote them down on his clipboard. Once everyone was finished he said "That leaves the Uchiha kid with 13." Taking the paper off of the clipboard the head of I&T handed it to Naruto who flipped it in his hands so that the genin could see it and said "This will be the match up for the finals that are to be held in one month. Hinata Hyuga will fight Neji Hyuga in the first round. That fight will be followed by Shino Aburame vs. Rico Uzumaki. After that is Misumi Tsurugi vs. Rock Lee. Next round will be Reina Uzumaki against Shikamaru Nara. Then we have Temari of the Desert vs. Tenten. The second to last match will be Kabuto Yakushi against Rachel Aliston. And finally, the final match will be Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara of the Desert. Winners of these matches will fight the winner of the match after theirs until there is only one winner. Know that while the final exam will take place as a tournament that that does not mean only one of you can become Chunin. It just means that that person had more chances to show the judges why he or she deserves to be Chunin. You could all earn that rank or none of you could be promoted. This is a chance to show our judges and everyone else that you have what it takes to climb the ladder. You have one month to prepare. I suggest you do so and in a month's time make all of us proud to have you alongside us in the ranks of shinobi. Dismissed."