"May the contestants for the next battle please come down. Sakura Haruno! Dosu Kinuta!" Genma called out for said contestants to hear.

"Man...Sakura's up against that Dosu guy? This isn't good…" Kiba murmured under his breath.

While she hated to admit, Ino agreed with Kiba. Although Sakura had managed to beat her, Dosu seemed to be a force to be reckoned with. The fact that only one of his Jutsu had the power to knock Choji in their match was impressive.

As far as Ino was considered, Sakura wasn't anything special in the durability department, as opposed to her Akimichi teammate.

In the stands for the competitors, both fighters took a glance at each other. They studied their respective appearance and tried to remember what they know of each other from their previous matches.

This girl...Dosu analyzed with a smirk hidden under his bandages. Her Genjutsu is troublesome, but that's all she has going for her. Her little tricks won't work against me now! I won't even need to use this little thing...The Sound Shinobi placed a hand on his neck…

On the newly placed Curse Mark.

After waking from unconsciousness caused by Orochimaru's bite, Dosu and his teammates tested out the mark. To say that they were pleased with the results wouldn't suffice to describe how they felt.

They (at least Kin and Zaku) felt that no one could beat them. Yes, while that certainly was not the case at all, the power boost they received made them feel that way.

And not only that, if Orochimaru deemed their progress acceptable, he would grant them access to the second, more powerful stage of the Curse Mark…

The possibilities for power were endless in the Sound Trio's eyes.

"The fifth match: Sakura Haruno and Dosu Kinuta! Now, seeing that both of you are ready…" Genma trailed off as he dropped down his hand in between the two.

"Begin!"

"Hmph!" Dosu smirked. "I'll end this right here!" He took a step to the left and practically disappeared.

"What?! How's he so fast?!" Sakura widened her eyes. "He was nothing like this in the Forest of Death!"

Rock Lee, who had arrived with Guy to watch, looked at the field with wide eyes.

"Man! I can barely see him move!" Ino exclaimed. "The last time I saw someone as fast as this was you, Lee." A wave of concern for Sakura began to enter the Yamanaka's head. "Forehead...you better not lose!"

Ino's statement about Dosu's speed hit Lee harder than one of Might Guy's Dynamic Entries. He had worked so hard over the course of a year to get the level of speed he had...and now Dosu, a guy whom he already lost to with relative ease before, has attained speed that can be compared to his own without the weights.

And all within a month no less.

Sure, Lee could still easily beat him a footrace. The gap between their speed was still that big, but still…

"Sakura-san…" He mumbled as he saw said girl pull out a kunai with trails of wind being left behind by the blurry Dosu blowing throughout the area.

Sakura's eyes scanned the field, trying to pick up on any sign of movement from Dosu. But to no avail, she couldn't see anything. And unfortunately for her, she had no way of reading movements like the Sharingan does. She doesn't have the Byakugan or any other sort of kekkei genkai.

All she had was a kunai, some Genjutsu, and her physical capabilities.

But you would be damn wrong if you thought Sakura Haruno was going to give up.

The more she focused, she could slightly see Dosu's body moving despite the speeds he was running around her at.

"AHH!" Sakura screamed as a fist connected with her face, followed by a slash with a kunai aimed at her midsection.

The pink-haired kunoichi whimpered, pressing where the kunai had hit her. She looked down to some of her bare stomach, as part of her qipao had been torn from the kunai.

She got too caught up in looking at herself, however, and as a result she received another punch to the face. This time however, she planned a step ahead.

She threw her kunai towards the direction where the fist came from.

CLANG!

Sakura's ears perked as she shot forward. She regraded the reflected kunai and thrusted it forward. Dosu turned his head to the right slightly, letting the weapon whiz by. Under the bandages covering his mouth, he smirked.

"Let's do this!" He murmured under his breath as he threw his metal gauntlet to the side of Sakura's head, a blow that she managed to block. She gasped out of shock, completely forgetting about Dosu's mechanism. "Take this!"

Sound waves flew out of the holes in Dosu's device, curing upwards and into Sakura's right ear. The girl let out a cry of pain as blood began to stream out of her ear. She glared at Dosu and endured the throbbing in her ear. Throwing up her leg, Sakura kicked Dosu in the chest, knocking him away.

Sakura placed her right hand on her ear, trying to ease the pain. Fortunately, she had reacted just on time. She still had a little bit of hearing left in her right ear. It would be back to normal soon, but she didn't expect it to come back until after the match.

Dosu easily recovered from the kick, still wearing a smirk on his face. He reached into his pouch, pulling out some shuriken before chucking them at the civilian born girl.

Sakura formed multiple hand signs, dodging the shuriken and rushing towards Dosu. The girl pulled out a kunai with a paper attached to it. She threw in Dosu's direction.

"Shit!" The Sound ninja cursed once he moved his head, dodging the kunai yet noticing the paper at the same time.

"Explode!"

Dosu braced himself by throwing out his arms out of defense and closing his eye.

BOOM!

To Dosu's surprise, the burning pain never came. Also, despite the sound ringing in his ears of the bomb exploding, the sound of the kunai hitting the stadium wall lightly played in Dosu's ears.

The man widened his eyes as he looked back at the kunai…

To see a blank paper attached to it.

Dosu looked back just in time to see Sakura's fist ramming right into his face. He let out a grunt as his vision blurred temporarily from the shock. He felt a kick from the Haruno connect with his arm, causing a quick, sharp pain in the limb as Dosu grit his teeth.

Sakura threw two more punches to Dosu's face, which the latter returned by parrying the first punch and catching Sakura's hand on the second attempt.

"Impressive." Dosu spoke with an agitated tone. "I let my guard down with you. I'd never think you'd be competent enough to cast Genjutsu on me like that. To make me think the blank paper attached to the kunai was a Paper Bomb by tricking my ears into hearing an explosion…"

Sakura heard a low growling sound come from Dosu, but she chose to ignore it for now. She could hear the tightening of Dosu's free hand into a fist as his eyebrow began to twitch out of annoyance.

"The fact that I got fooled by the likes of you angers me deeply! However…" Dosu trailed off, throwing Sakura's hand away and punching her in the stomach with his free hand, causing the girl's body to crumple around his fist. "I must commend you for pulling off such a trick, as much as I hate to admit that I got tricked. I will not be outsmarted by you again."

Using his other hand, Dosu grabbed Sakura by the hair, continuing to punch her in the stomach multiple times with his other hand.

Each time a bit of air returned to Sakura's lungs, it was immediately blown out again by the next punch to her abdomen. And Dosu's metal gauntlets were only making the pain she was experiencing even more unbearable.

Meanwhile, back in the audience stands, Kiba and the others watched in horror (and anger for Ino and the dog user) as Sakura received yet another punch to the gut, causing her to cough out blood.

Unbeknownst to them, Sasuke and Kakashi had just entered the stadium, and were now silently watching the match.

With the other contestants, Gaara's eyes had widened significantly. Having been closed out of boredom before, he was now paying attention again because he had just seen Sasuke enter the stadium. The killing intent and bloodlust lurking around him increased, sending shivers down Naruto and Shikamaru's spines.

Shino Aburame, kept his eyes fixated on the match. His eyebrows would twitch with each punch connecting with Sakura's body.

Naruto, despite having grown out of his crush for Sakura, was still horrified by what was happening to her, and as a result was concerned for the jade-eyes girl's wellbeing.

Back to the match, Sakura was knocked to the ground after being on the receiving end of a strong punch to the face.

Damn it! She thought to herself as she struggled to get up. All of that training and I still don't stand a chance?! I know I am better than this! I know I can do this! So get a grip Sakura! Focus! Focus!

"I would advise giving up before you lose hearing completely." Dosu stated, offering a chance for Sakura to surrender.

The pink-haired ninja merely glared at him, "Like Hell I'm going to give up! You'll have to beat me down even more to make even think twice about withdrawing! And even then, I still won't give up! Not until one of us is on the ground unconscious!"

"Grr!" Dosu growled, "Now you're just being an annoyance!"

Sakura pulled out a kunai as her opponent rushed forward, leading with his gauntlet. The two had a bladelock of sorts as the two weapons collided, grinding against each other's metal.

Dosu grinned as he noticed Sakura lightly panting. This girl's chakra capacity is pitiful. At this rate, I would estimate that she can only keep fighting for a couple more minutes, and that's only if she doesn't use any Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. It's over…

Sakura grabbed yet another kunai from her pouch, grasping it in her free hand and thrusting it forward towards Dosu's shoulder. However, the kunai didn't go far as the Sound Shinobi moved his other arm, clashing his gauntlet with the kunai.

Dosu let out a malicious grin, one that Sakura could see just by the movements under the bandages. And that grin chilled her to the bone.

Sliding his gauntlet across Sakura's kunai, Dosu's hand slipped away from the weapon, before turning slightly and grabbing Sakura's wrist.

The member of the Sound Trio activated his device. However, this time, instead of sound waves flying into Sakura's ear, she felt a series of vibrations running into her arm. She let out a cry of pain, losing all feeling in her right arm as her hand forcefully let go of the kunai.

One kick to the chest later, and Sakura was sent flying backwards, tumbling across the ground. Using her good hand, she dug her fingers into the dirt, slowing her down enough to regain her footing.

She tried to flex the fingers on her right hand, but to no avail.

"I've lost all feeling in my hand...but how?!"

Dosu chuckled as he saw the predicament Sakura found herself in. "It's easy. This thing on my wrist can also emit special vibrations throughout your body. Using it on arms and legs will cause the victim to temporarily lose all feeling in the affected limb."

"No way!" Sakura exclaimed as she looked down at her arm.

Dosu closed his eye, "Unfortunately, the cooldown for this technique is large. And the window of time that your hand remains fatigued is two to three minutes at best. However…" Dosu held up his right hand, "I just so happened to have a second one of these things on my other hand. Once I get your other arm, you can kiss this match goodbye! Not that you ever had a chance anyway…"

At that moment, Dosu rushed forward, grabbing a kunai on the ground as he went by, heading right for Sakura.

Said girl readied herself, holding her kunai out at front. She was ready to defend herself against anything that her enemy threw at her.

And quite literally too, as she sidestepped the kunai Dosu had just thrown at her, followed by having to fight through a volley of shuriken coming from his pouch.

She stumbled quite a bit, as her dominant hand was currently out of commission. All she was left with was her non dominant hand. And as much as she hated to admit it, Sakura Haruno was not ambidextrous.

That didn't mean she couldn't fight. It was just a large hindrance that she could manage to squeeze through, at least until her right arm came back.

Mimicking Dosu's movements, Sakura ran forward as well. However, unlike him, she added a little surprise.

A burst of chakra molded down at my feet will lead to…

Sakura leaped forward, bursting towards Dosu in an impressive sudden increase in speed with her good hand leading.

Enclosing a fist around her kunai, Sakura hit Dosu's face dead center with a single punch. The man stumbled backward, letting out a groan as he lost sense of where he was momentarily.

She pushed chakra to her legs in order to increase how far and fast she jumped! Dosu thought to himself, readjusting his view so he could analyze the approaching kunoichi. I must end the match quickly, this has gone on long enough!

Ducking under a swing from Sakura's left hand, Dosu clenched formed a fist and gave his opponent a nasty uppercut to the chin reminiscent of what Naruto did to Neji in order to defeat him in the first match.

In order to make sure Sakura would be out for the count, Dosu pumped a bit of chakra from the Curse Mark in order to enhance his strike.

Like Neji, Sakura was launched into the air, blood spewing out of her mouth as her head shot upwards.

"Sakura!" Ino found herself yelling out of concern as the body of her friend hit the ground.

After many moments of silence and no movement from Sakura, the proctor walked forward and spoke.

"Seeing that Sakura Haruno is no longer able to continue: Dosu Kinuta is the victor of this match!"

A sea of applause erupted from almost everyone in the crowd, satisfied by how the match went. The people in particular who weren't clapping consisted of Ino, Naruto, Shikamaru, Hinata, Sasuke, Kiba, Rock Lee, and a few others who either didn't like Dosu, preferred Sakura more, or just didn't care about the fight at all.

Dosu glanced up at where the Kage watched. He locked eyes (or eye in Dosu's case) with the Kazekage for a brief moment, before directing his attention to the unconscious Sakura.

He merely shrugged his shoulders and walked away, acting as if Sakura didn't fight him at all.

Immediately after he left the field, the medics came out to put Sakura's body on a stretcher. They then carried her away to get her the help she needed. She didn't suffer any lethal damage. In fact, one could say there was no need for the medics. But it was standard procedure for medics to treat the loser of a match in the Chunin Exams.

In the finals at least…

Once the medics had left the grounds, Genma cleared his throat as loud as he could, attracting the attention of the audience. Once it was mostly silent, the proctor closed his eyes.

"Well, after many delays thanks to the tardiness of Sasuke Uchiha, who is now here, what was originally the second match can now begin."

Kakashi sweatdropped, scratching the back of his head clumsily. Looks like he failed to get Sasuke into the stadium without getting a lot of attention.

You are as sharp as ever, Genma…The copy ninja thought to himself.

"Now, may contestants Sabaku no Gaara and Sasuke Uchiha please come to the field."

At that moment, Hinata turned looked behind her and up the stairs, she let out a relieved smile when she saw Kakashi and Sauske standing there.

"You made it!" She said as Sasuke walked down the stairs.

He gave her a nod of acknowledgment. Once he came to Rock Lee and Might Guy, he stopped. He looked at his senior with a serious expression on his face.

He looked down at his leg. "Don't worry, Lee. I'll make sure to get some payback for what he did to you."

Lee looked at the Uchiha and gave him a simple nod. "May the power of youth be with you, Sasuke-kun."

And with, Sasuke continued forward, jumping onto the railing before leaping onto the arena. Unlike him, Gaara used the Shunshin no Jutsu (Teleportation Jutsu) using his sand to practically teleport to the field.

"SASUKEEEEE! YOU BASTARD! YOU BETTER NOT LOSE TO THIS ASSHOLE! I WANT TO FIGHT YOU IN THIS PLACE NO MATTER WHAT, Y'KNOW!" The loud voice of Naruto Uzumaki ran through Sasuke's ears. He scoffed, turning his head up to the stands where his teammate was looking at him with a smirk.

He's so damn loud! Such a drag...Shikamaru thought to himself with an annoyed look in his eyes, covering his ears from Naruto's loud voice.

Sasuke on the other hand, let out a small smile. He raised his voice so Naruto could hear, "Shut up, you good for nothing loser! I heard you beat the Hyuga! Hmph! It looks like miracles for blockheads like you really can happen. I have no intention of losing this match!"

Naruto's lips shifted into a grin, looking at his rival with a challenging expression on his face.

"Oh. And one more thing, Naruto."

"Huh?"

"Right here, in this place...I want to fight you as well!"

Naruto's entire world slowed down as he heard the guy he hated in the Academy actually acknowledge him. He actually wanted to fight him…

He…

He finally was showing him some respect!

After fading for a brief moment, Naruto's smile returned even brighter than before, "You bet!"

The son of Fugaku Uchiha directed his gaze from Naruto to his opponent, staring him straight in the eyes. Gaara returned this with a wide eyed, psychotic stare of his own.

Sasuke flinched as he could see Gaara's hand trembling from what seemed to be excitement. Red veins appearing at the edges of his eyes as his deathly stare peered into the deep corners of his soul.

Genma looked at the two Genin with a blank expression on his face. However, he made sure to keep a note on Gaara. He knew that there was always something off about the boy. But now…

Something was completely wrong. Not right at all.

Gaara didn't even acknowledge the fact that his eyes were always on him.

Genma lifted his hand, keeping an eye on the ninja from Suna the entire time. "Now that you both are ready...the final match of the first round! Sasuke Uchiha vs Sabaku no Gaara…"

Sasuke bent his knees, getting ready to bolt at the first sign of movement from his maniacal enemy.

Gaara crossed his arms, unable to contain the creepy cackles escaping his lips.

Now, time for a good dosage of blood...Mother.

"Begin!"

Meanwhile-Somewhere Outside the Arena

The loud, drawn out sound of a male yawning could be heard throughout the forest, not too far from the Chunin Exams arena. If one listened closely, they could hear the cheers of the excited audience.

However, those nearby would not be able to hear those cheers due to the frequent cursing and complaining of Zaku Abumi, one of the three members of Team Dosu.

"Fuck! Why is this taking soooooo looooooong?! I can't wait to get in that damn place and get some revenge!"

"Ugh! Can you shut up already, Zaku! It's annoying enough being on the same team as you. Don't make it even worse!" Kin Tsuchi, the female member of the Sound Trio complained with disdain evident in her voice.

"Bitch, I am the greatest teammate someone like you could ever get! Now, chill your tits and deal with it!" Zaku barked, immaturely sticking out his tongue as a way to mock his teammate.

Kin let out a grunt of anger, placing her hand on her weapons pouch as if to threaten Zaku. "Annoying piece of shit!"

"What did you just say to me you little bit-"

"Enough! Both of you, quiet!" A female voice interjected, causing silence to surge between Zaku and Kin as a result.

Both opened their mouths and said, "Yes mam!"

The women they responded to had fair skin, red lipstick, dark eyes, and light blue hair with long strands framing her face and a spiky ponytail to boot. She was draped in a green dress with a long left sleeve and short right sleeve along with wearing a red one piece suit underneath, topping it all off with calf-length open-toed boots.

"Captain Guren…" Kin spoke, a drop of sweat rolling down her face.

"Believe me, I hate this as much as you do." Guren stated, "I prefer to work alone. I'm only here on orders from Orochimaru-sama." The women turned to the rest of the Sound and Suna Shinobi behind her. "Alright, all of you! We will send the signal soon, so get ready!"

She smiled as she received a 'yes mam'. She turned to the stadium, looking up at the sky as a cold wind began to blow through the area.

"For Orochimaru-sama, we will not fail!"

I'M ALIVE!

Sorry for the late update guys, I got preoccupied with some stuff this time around.

So, I decided to add Guren to this fanfic. Yes, I know Guren is filler, I don't care. I liked her so I'm adding. However, I am kind of hesitant with this decision. I literally spent two days debating whether or not if I should add Guren or not.

I don't think Guren will play a big role in this fic honestly. Her role will probably be as big as the Sound Four except not dying in the arc they appear in. Mostly because this addition is going to be a gamble. And plus, Guren's Crystal Release thing is fucking awesome! I really wish that was a canon Nature Transformation.

Anyways, nothing much to say here. I'll be skipping over the Sasuke and Gaara fight. It will literally be the same except the fact that it was the fifth match instead of the four due to the presence of Sakura and Dosu.

And, for the record, no, I did not have Sakura lose because I hate her or anything. If anything, I like her just as much as Hinata (don't know where they stand in the list of my favorite and least favorite characters though, maybe I should make a list of my favorite and least favorite on my profile page).

First off, there is no way Sakura at this point, even with her slight buff in strength, would beat Dosu. The same guy who managed to beat Rock Lee albeit with a little help from Zaku and the former wearing some weights to restrict his speed.

And last thing. Yes, the Sound Trio has Curse Marks now. Not the Stage 2 versions since they didn't take the stupid pill. So obviously, they have a major power boost now considering they had a month's worth of training and a boost from the seal.

Anyways, that's all for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it.

Take care, goodbye!