HAPPY THANKSGIVING GUYS! ^_^

May you all have a VERY happy turkey day with all your friends and loved ones! ^_^ And what's a better Thanksgiving gift to you guys than with an update of Saiyan Shinobi!?

Before I start off this chapter I should point out I'm SO SORRY for being a week late with this story! I could make a LONG DRAWN OUT reason on why I was late but I'll sum it up with this:

College is a bitch. XD

But hey at least the good old Kami above gave us Thanksgiving Break! XP

Also I'm VERY happy to announce that it's nearly been ONE YEAR since I've started this story! =D

Yeah that's right! Next month will be the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of this story! Huh…hard to believe it's been so long….It feels like it was only yesterday when I first published this story…..XP

Okay well before I get too sentimental, let the chapter begin! ^_^


The various genin from all the different ninja villages gathered together in an auditorium like room that was designed as a fighting arena.

"Huh….so twenty five people actually were able to make it in time. A lot more than I honestly thought." Anko thought.

The groups then scanned around the remaining genin left.

"Huh, so looks like Kiba's team made it. Although no surprise about Gohan's team." Shikamaru mentally noted.

Hinata noticed Gohan as she beamed.

"Yes! I knew Gohan would make it." Hinata smiled.

"I see Hinata's, Shikamaru's and Lee's team made it. Along with that Gaara guy and even those Sound Village guys as well." Gohan thought as the sound nin all sent a glare to the son of Goku.

"That little twerp! I bet those were nothing but cheap tricks he used….Yeah that's right! I'll definitely make sure he'll shove those abilities up his ass…." Zaku growled to himself.

"I wonder just how strong Gohan truly is…." Dosu thought as Hiruzen cleared his throat, disrupting any further thoughts in the room.

"Before we start the third exam allow me to begin by saying, congratulations to all of you for making it this far. Now is the time for the second part of the exam." Hiruzen began much to the surprise of the genin present.

"Wait so we're gonna finish the exams now?" Ino asked incredulously as her team along with several others only just now completed the second exam and didn't get a chance to properly rest.

"Don't worry. This is only the preliminaries of the exam. Only a select few shinobi will be allowed to participate in the final exam." Hiruzen chuckled as everyone took in this information.

"Although with a few exceptions, all of you will fight in order to weed out the one who will and will not be in the final exams. Although I should ask, is there anyone not up for continuing the exam? In these preliminaries, it will be an all-out brawl with no restrictions. So if anyone wants to give up, now would be the perfect time." Hiruzen said as everyone was silent.

Now Kabuto may've folded out of the exams but he felt as if participating would be able to give him the chance of getting intelligence on everyone competing in this year's exams.

"I should also point out that due to there being twenty five of you, one of you will have to fight an extra round so like I suggested if you want to withdraw, now is the time." Hiruzen said.

Although the idea of fighting an extra round made some people feel squeamish, they didn't want to give up so once again everyone was quiet.

"No one? Okay then. Now then, Hayate, if you'll take over from here?" Hiruzen gestured as a sickly sounding man appeared in front of Hiruzen.

"Yes Lord Hokage." Hayate replied before turning to everyone present.

"We will now start the second exams. I, Hayate Gekkou, will be the referee of these matches. Hayate said before pointing to a large screen that was built into the wall near a statue of a shinobi's hand signs built into the wall.

"Your names will be chosen at random and like Lord Hokage says, fight with all you have but if I feel a match needs to stop, I will follow through as such." Hayate said as the screen began scrolling through the names of everyone before…..


Naruto Uzumaki vs Zaku Abumi

Naruto couldn't stop the wide grin from adorning his face.

"YES! YES! I'm first!" Naruto excitedly jumped up and down. To think that in a parallel universe, he would've had to wait for a super long time?

"You two stay down here. The rest of you, please go up to the balconies." Hayate instructed.

Zaku however didn't share Naruto enthusiasm. Rather Zaku was irritated at the sight of the orange ninja.

"What!? I have to fight that pipsqueak!? I wanna fight that Gohan bastard!" Zaku growled as Kin smirked.

"Heh, you can take that shorty, Zaku. Then when you get to the finals, you can battle Gohan all you want." Kin laughed as Zaku grinned.

"Yeah…I'll look forward to seeing his ass on a platter. A platter I'll serve to him!" Zaku darkly grinned as Naruto received similar words from his friends.

"Don't lose, dead last." Sasuke smirked.

Sasuke couldn't remember the last time he had been so playful and full of jokes. It turns out this team was really getting to him…

"Heh you know it, bastard!" Naruto grinned back as Sakura smiled at the energetic blonde.

"Good luck Naruto. I'm sure you'll win against that weird looking dude!" Sakura smiled as Naruto blushed at Sakura's comment before regaining his composure.

"Y-yeah! Thanks, Sakura!" Naruto grinned as Gohan walked to his friend.

"Before you fight Zaku, you should know he manipulates sound." Gohan explained as his teammates stared at Gohan like he grew a second head.

"Sound?" Sakura asked as Gohan nodded.

"Yeah with tubes he has through his hands. He can repel and send everything flying so just be careful." Gohan told his friend who gave a confident smile.

"Don't worry! After all, I'm gonna be the future hokage after all! I can't reach that goal if I lose here!" Naruto grinned as Gohan returned the happy expression. He knew Naruto was be alright.

"Good luck, Naruto. You'll definitely win this." Gohan fist-bumped his brother who returned the gesture.

"Totally!" Naruto exclaimed before only Naruto and Zaku were left down below.

Everyone above looked at the match with expressions of either interest or complete apathy.

"So, Naruto's first, huh?" Choji asked as he opened a bag of chips and began hungrily chewing on them.

"Naruto may've gotten stronger with Gohan but how strong is that other guy?" Ino asked.

"We're definitely going to find out." Shikamaru yawned before laying on the back wall for a much needed nap.

"I wonder how Naruto will fare against that Sound dude." Kiba asked as he pat Akamaru who lay resting on his head.

"I'm sure Naruto will be just fine." Hinata smiled. While she may not have romantic feelings for Naruto anymore, she was still fond of the knucklehead.

Shino however just watched with utter silence.

"Okay, when you may now begin!" Hayate commanded.

"Heh, once I get done with you I'll get that Son Gohan prick!" Zaku smirked as Naruto returned his arrogant look.

"Sorry but I'm gonna win! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto said as he summoned five shadow clones as they all charged Zaku before throwing various Shuriken and Kunai at the Sound Nin who rolled his eyes at the incoming weapons.

"No thanks. But why don't I send those back?" Zaku mockingly suggested before sending the ninja weapons back to the orange clad ninja who dodged with ease.

"Well whaddya know, he really can repel anything." Sasuke muttered.

"Well sure but I wouldn't say Naruto's out of the fight just yet." Kakashi smiled as his three students nodded with earnest.

"Okay then!" Naruto said before throwing down a smoke bomb.

"A smoke bomb? Seriously?" Zaku sneered before blowing away the smoke with his amplifier before looking to see Naruto charge straight at him with a kunai in hand.

"I won't lose even against sound!" Naruto roared as Zaku smirked before taking Naruto by his wrist and slamming his fist deep into Naruto gut before two shadow clones tried taking him by his backside.

"How pathetic!" Zaku threw two kunais at the chests of the Naruto clones causing them to poof into smoke before throwing Naruto into the wall ahead of him.

Tired of this farce, Zaku raised his hands all the way to where Naruto was.

"Enough of this crap! STRIKING SOUND WAVE!" Zaku yelled before a mountain of sound was blasted towards Naruto's way, causing a huge ripple in the wall behind him.

"NARUTO!" The Rookie Ten, sans Team Seven, yelled. Some of them may not have cared much for Naruto but that was just extreme in their opinion.

Gohan, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi were silent, meanwhile. Almost as if they were expecting something.

When the explosion died down, Naruto was lying nearly sizzled and unconscious.

"Heh proctor, I think you should call this match!" Zaku smirked.

As Hayate was about to call the match….

"Naruto" poofed away.

"What!?" Zaku stammered before coming in contact with over ten different shadow clones!

"Heh!" Gohan laughed.

"Nice going, moron." Sasuke smirked.

"I blasted you! What the!?" Zaku gasped as Naruto happily laughed.

"Ha, you fell for it! While I was sent flying into the wall, I disguised myself while you were distracted by my clones! And with that, that gave me the perfect opportunity to reveal my new jutsu!" Naruto smiled as Zaku could only look on in silent horror at what was about to happen to him.

"To think he'd come up with a plan so smart." Kiba said in utter disbelief.

Hinata smiled in satisfaction. After all, Naruto was unpredictable.

"Do it, Naruto!" Sakura cheered.

"Take this! My brand new jutsu!" Naruto yelled before Zaku was overwhelmed with hits from the ten different shadow clones as well as Naruto himself.

"Naruto! Uzumaki! 2K BARRAGE!" Naruto yelled as Zaku yelled out in pain before he hit the ground with a hard thud, his face bloodied and unconscious.

"Heh! Told you I'd win!" Naruto smirked as Hayate couldn't help but smile under his cough.

"The winner of the first match, Naruto Uzumaki!" Hayate announced as his team happily cheered for him.

"YES! I KNEW YOU'D DO IT!" Sakura cheered as Gohan and Sasuke smiled their approval.

"I knew he'd win." Gohan smiled as Sasuke said nothing but chuckled.

"Well I'll be damned. That knucklehead really has gotten better since training with Gohan!" Ino remarked, not even bothering to hide how much she was impressed with Naruto's growth.

"Maybe I should train under Gohan!" Choji thought before moaning in sadness as he realized he ate all of his chips.

"Damn….that orange runt really isn't as weak as he looks…." Kin muttered as she and her teammates watched as Dosu was carted away by the medics.

"No matter….we'll still reach our goal eventually…." Dosu muttered as Naruto ran up the balconies up to his teammates.

"Nicely done, Naruto." Gohan congratulated with a handy fist bump.

"Thanks!" Naruto happily reciprocated the fist bump.

"You're getting closer to your dream, Naruto." Kakashi smiled as Naruto nearly jumped at the jonin's words.

"Right!?" Naruto smiled before everyone turned to the screen as it began scrolling through the next selection of names.


Rock Lee vs Choji Akimichi

"Alright, it's my turn! And if I win I get all the barbecue I want, right!?" Choji asked his sensei who chuckled at Choji's newfound motivation.

"Totally. Go for it, kiddo." Asuma chuckled under his cigarette as Choji roared to the heavens with fire in his eyes.

"OKAY! FOR THE MEAT!" Choji yelled as he jumped to the floor below as Shikamaru and Ino deadpanned.

"Always for the meat." Ino sighed in irritation.

"The world could be ending and he'd be thinking about meat." Shikamaru rolled his eyes with a lazy sigh.

"Now Lee! Make sure to fight with all the youth you have!" Guy reminded his favorite pupil as they huddled together.

"Yes sir! I will make sure my flames of youth will NEVER go out!" Lee roared before jumping down as Tenten and Neji sighed.

"Morons." Neji deadpanned.

"God, what did I do to deserve being put on a team with such freaks?" Tenten mentally groaned.

"Sorry but I'm gonna win! I have meat waiting for me." Choji drooled as Lee chuckled.

"And I'm sorry but I must win. After all I am the Leaf's most handsome devil." Lee replied as Gohan, Naruto and Sakura deadpanned at Lee's description of himself.

"Is….this…guy serious?" Sakura asked.

"Yep." Naruto sighed.

"This guy ight be even more egotistical than Hercule…." Gohan deadpanned.

"When you're ready, begin!" Hayate said as Choji charged right at Lee before making his hand large.

"Expansion Jutsu!" Choji said before he grew and spun into a ball.

"Human Boulder!" Choji yelled before he formed himself into a spinning ball, aimed right for Lee.

"That's right! I heard people from Choji's clan can expand themselves and use the muscle mass in their body…." Gohan said as Kakashi nodded.

"Right. It's a specialty of the Akimichi Clan." Kakashi confirmed as Lee remained unfazed by the huge ball spinning right towards him.

"Is he insane! Doesn't he see the huge ball heading right for him!?" Ino yelled before Lee simply jumped away.

"What!?" Choji yelled.

"It is no matter. I am simply more faster than you." Lee acknowledged Choji as the Akimichi seemed unwilling to give up.

"No way! Again!" Choji yelled as he tried mowing through Lee again and again with no avail.

"If that won't work then!" Choji yelled before jumping sky high before trying to land on Lee as he remained unfazed as Lee kept on jumping and evading with relative ease.

"Wow….Lee sure is fast…." Sakura observed.

"I would know since he challenged me." Gohan said.

"What!? Lee did!?" Kakashi asked in shock as Sasuke was just as astounded.

"Yeah, on my second day here." Gohan laughed at Sasuke and Kakashi's dumbfounded expressions as Choji panted as his exhaustion was starting to get here.

"This definitely has to work!" Choji said before he threw a line of kunai and shuriken on him in one last attempt to try to overpower Lee as he ran at Lee with full force as Lee decided to end the game.

"It is no use. Now to finish it, Leaf Hurricane!" Lee yelled before kicking Choji away in his side, making him deflate and slim down like a balloon.

"And….there it is…." Shikamaru sighed, although he internally wanted his best friend to win.

Choji was left dazed with swirls in his eyes. Hayate looked over the unconscious Akimichi before clearing his throat.

"With his opponent unable to battle, I hereby declare Rock Lee the winner of round two!" Hayate announced as Tenten and Guy cheered for Lee while Gohan also cheered in order to be polite.

As Choji came too, he looked up to see Lee offering him a kind smile and an open hand.

"Do not be discouraged Choji! Use this failure as a positive to better yourself and let us one day battle again!" Lee smiled as he helped up Choji.

"Y-yeah!" Choji smiled as the two teens ran up the balconies to their respective teams.

With that said and done everyone waited as the next pair of combatants were chosen.


Shikamaru Nara vs Shigeru

"Well guess I'm up." Shikamaru sighed as he walked down the stairs of the balcony as Shigeru stretched his limbs.

"Time to win! But before I do…" Shigeru snatched Karin roughly by her arm and bit into her flesh, healing whatever injury he may have had.

"G-Good luck Shigeru…" Karin muttered although she didn't actually mean it.

Shigeru scoffed at Karin before making his way down below.

"And you may now begin." Hayate said as both teenagers readied themselves.

The fight between Shikamaru and Shigeru was one sided as Shigeru had tried to overwhelm the Nara with various different Shuriken and other ninja weapons which he easily evaded.

It turned out Shigeru was actually a one shot pony who only had Karin's healing abilities going for him.

Eventually Shikamaru got bored before deciding to end the match with his Shadow Possession Jutsu.

"And that's check mate." Shikamaru mused as Shigeru was knocked unconscious, thanks to Shikamaru luring the unsuspecting ground nin to the wall behind him which he hit.

"And with that I hereby declare Shikamaru Nara as the winner of the third round!" Hayate said as Team Asuma cheered and applauded Shikamaru as did Gohan.

Although if one could notice, Karin didn't really seem to care about Shigeru's loss.

"Nice work, Shikamaru!" Choji smiled in much better shape.

"Yeah thanks." Shikamaru yawned before the next set of names were being selected.


Sasuke Uchiha vs Kabuto Yakushi

"Well looks like it's my turn." Sasuke mused.

"Good luck Sasuke." Gohan smiled at his friend.

"Kick ass you bastard!" Naruto grinned.

"Yeah you'll win! After all this guy has been here for like a hundred years!" Sakura joked.

"Thanks guys." Sasuke grinned at his friends before turning to Kakashi.

"Oh don't lose." Kakashi lazily said as Sasuke sighed in amusement.

"Thanks Kakashi." Sasuke rolled his eyes before making his way downstairs before meeting with Kabuto.

"Begin!" Hayate leapt back.

Before Sasuke could react Kabuto leapt at the Uchiha with such speed, catching everyone off guard at Kabuto's swiftness as his hands began glowing blue as Sasuke barely was able to dodge Kabuto's attacks before being able to get some distance.

"Well that was…pleasant…." Sasuke thought as sweat rolled own his head.

"Whoa, that Kabuto's guy faster than I thought." Gohan observed.

"Yeah…too fast…" Kakashi replied with a raised eyebrow as every other jonin in the room looked at Kabuto with an expression of skepticism.

"That Kabuto Yakushi….he's way too fast for just a regular genin….I should definitely find out more information about him." Hiruzen darkly mused as Sasuke made a couple of hand signs.

"Fire style! Fire ball jutsu!" Sasuke yelled as he spat a flurry of fireballs at Kabuto. Kabuto was lucky to get away albeit with some minor burns to his clothing.

"Had Kabuto gotten any closer to Sasuke, he would've paralyzed him." Kakashi muttered as his students looked at Sasuke in shock.

"Paralyzed!?" Gohan, Naruto and Sakura exclaimed.

"This might get a little dicey…if I don't end this soon!" Sasuke thought as Kabuto came charging at Sasuke again as Sasuke dodged hit after hit before Sasuke suddenly grinned.

"Heh! Here we go!" Sasuke thought.

Before Kabuto knew anything he was suddenly kicked into the air.

"Alright, time to use the same attack I used on Haku!" Sasuke said as he appeared behind him before slamming his fist dead into Kabuto's face.

Kabuto winced at the hit as Sasuke almost broke Kabuto's nose before he slammed his other fist into Kabuto's abdomen.

"Alright here we go! LIONS BARRAGE!" Sasuke yelled before slamming his foot into Kabuto's chest making him spit blood upon impact on the ground as Sasuke lept off Kabuto.

"And that's the round." Sasuke sighed in relief as that was a little too close to comfort.

"Winner of the Fourth War, Sasuke Uchiha!" Hayate announced as Team Seven along with Ino cheered for the Avenger.

Much to everyone's astonishment, Kabuto suddenly arose from the ground as an aquamarine colored chakra covered his hands which he put onto his ribs as he smiled.

"Good match Sasuke. I hope we fight again." Kabuto smiled before flickering away.

"Just….who is that guy?" Sasuke thought as Gohan had similar feelings of distrust.

"Get me all the background info on Kabuto Yakushi as soon as you can." Hiruzen instructed to a jonin next to him.

"Sir!" The jonin said before flickering away.

"Well that's Sasuke for ya." Kiba snickered.

"I knew he'd win!" Ino beamed as Shikamaru sighed, in no mood for Ino's fangirling.

"Sasuke you won!" Naruto congratulated his teammate as he made it back to his friends.

"Hmph well thanks for stating the obvious, moron." Sasuke rolled his eyes with a smirk as Naruto glared at him.

"Asshole!" Naruto growled.

"C'mon, let's get ready for the next match." Gohan said as the next pair of names flickered on the screen.


Suzaku Tanaka vs Yoroi Akado

"Looks like it's my turn!" The other of Karin's teammate went down to the stage.

But not before using Karin as a rejuvenation chamber of sorts.

The battle much like Suzaku's teammate was pretty one sided as thanks to Yoroi's chakra draining abilities, Suzaku didn't last any more than three minutes.

"The winner of the fifth round, Yoroi Akado!" Hayate announced though there was barely any cheering if any.

Not like Yoroi really cared all that much.

The names flickered at random until the sixth match was selected….


Hinata Hyuga vs Tenten

"Well it's my turn." Hinata said with confidence, thanks to Gohan's influence.

"Good luck Hinata!" Kiba grinned at his teammate as Shino nodded his head in approval.

"Yes with your hardwork over these last few months in addition to your training with Gohan, I have no doubt you'll be find." Kurenai smiled at her apprentice.

"Right. Thank you everyone." Hinata smiled as she made her way downstairs but not before running into Gohan.

"Good Luck, Hinata. I know you'll win! Just believe in yourself!" Gohan grinned his father's grin as Hinata fought the blush coming onto her face as the last thing she wanted to do was crawl under a rock in front of her crush.

"Y-yes, thank you, Gohan." Hinata said before going down below.

"Well I get to fight your cousin. Wish me luck, Neji." Tenten joked as Neji was quiet as he gave his cousin a very cold glare, one that unnerved Lee and Guy.

"Okay, then." Tenten shrugged before jumping downstairs.

"When you're ready, begin!" Hayate said before leaping back as Tenten threw several ninja weapons at Hinata who dodged with ease before applying Ki to her fists.

"Remember Gohan's training!" Hinata thought as she deflected the oncoming projectiles before activating her Dojutsu.

"BYAKUGAN!" Hinata yelled, revealing her Byakugan.

"Hey Sasuke, isn't that like your Sharingan?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah." Sasuke confirmed

"I wonder which one is stronger though…." Sakura thought to herself as the match continued.

"Hmph nice defenses. I can see why you're Neji's cousin. Although I'm sorry to say I'll be winning this match!" Tenten smirked before charging at Hinata with an axe as Hinata channeled the Ki into her hands before applying it to a Kunai.

"Come!" Hinata said as the two went at it as they clashed blades against blades with each other.

"Whoa! Look at Hinata go!" Sakura exclaimed.

"You really did good work with Hinata, Gohan!" Naruto said in utter amazement as Gohan grinned broadly.

"Heh, she's just showing the fruits of her training!" Gohan grinned as Lee was just as amazed as Naruto and Sakura.

"Look at her Neji!" Lee said before Neji cut him off with a harsh glare.

The two continued their weapon clash before Hinata was actually able to knock the axe right out of Tenten's hands.

"Amazing! She really is!" Kiba couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"I know Hinata had been training with Gohna but to get so strong only in a couple of months…." Kurenai thought.

Tenten smiled at Hinata, "Well done." Tenten praised.

She then pulled out a scroll full of weapons before jumping high into the sky before two blue dragons appared.

"Let's see how you deal with this! Twin Rising Dragons!" Tenten yelled as several weapons lunged at Hinata.

"Gentle Fist!" Hinata said as she gathered Ki into her palms before deflecting the blades and sending them flying back at Tenten who was grazed several times before she grit her teeth.

"Not yet! I'll win with this!" Tenten said as she pulled out several pieces of wire before leveling them at Hinata.

"Let's see you deal with this!" Tenten said as Hinata was bombarded with dozens of Shuriken, Kunai and various other ninja accessories.

"WATCH OUT HINATA!" Naruto, Sakura and Kiba all yelled as Hinata closed her eyes.

Gohan was silent as he contemplated Hinata's next course of action before…..

"RELEASE!" Hinata yelled as she was surrounded by a barrier of Ki, shattering and breaking Tenten's tools upon impact.

"What!? No way!?" Tenten exclaimed before landing on the ground as it seemed like she was definitely out of options before sighing in defeat.

"Are you able to continue?" Hayate asked as Tenten sighed.

"No….I can't." Tenten sighed dismally as Hayate cleared his throat.

"Then with that being said, Hinata Hyuga is the winner of the sixth round." Hayate announced as Naruto, Sakura, and Kiba all cheered for Hinata as Kurenai looked upon her student with pride.

"Hinata…you…." Kurenai smiled.

Although no one was more proud of Hinata than Son Gohan.

"Hinata's really come a long way." Gohan smiled as Hinata helped up Tenten.

"Good fight Hinata. Let's fight again though next time I'll be the one to win." Tenten winked.

"Yes!" Hinata smiled as she felt herself becoming much more confident everyday.

As Hinata walked up the stairs feeling proud of herself she soon came across Gohan.

"Hinata, you were amazing out there. I'm really proud of you!" Gohan grinned as Hinata tried her hardest to keep even the tiniest of red from coming to her cheeks.

"It's all thanks to you, Gohan!" Hinata said before walking, albeit nearly running away.

"Man you should open your own Academy and train kids.' Sasuke joked as Gohan laughed.

"Haha that'll be the day!" Gohan chortled as the next pair of names flickered across the screen.


Shino Aburame vs Misumi Tsurugi

"Good luck Shino!" Kiba grinned smacking his shoulder.

"Yes, best of luck to you, Shino." Hinata beamed as Shino merely tapped his glasses before making his way down to the fighting floor.

"When you're ready, begin!" Hayate instructed.

"Sorry kid but I won't lose here." Misumi said as Shino remained unmoving as Misumi found himself getting annoyed at Shino's lackadaisical attitude.

"If you won't attack, I will!" Misumi yelled as she attempted to assault Shino with various different punches and kicks as Shino blocked all of them with relative ease before Misumi smirked under his mask.

"Fool, you left yourself wide open!" Misumi smirked before he was able to wrap his limbs all around Shino's body.

"What the!? He can stretch himself!?" Naruto asked in dismay.

"It looks like he may've modified himself and his limbs…" Kakashi thought as Gohan was silent.

"It kind of reminds me of Mr. Piccolo's stretching abilities." Gohan thought as Shino found himself wrapped all around his body.

"Shino!" Kiba yelled as Kurenai surprisingly remained unconcerned.

"Give up now or I'll break your neck." Misumi said as Shino remained silent.

"Alright then, your loss!" Misumi said before a sickening crunch echoed throughout the room as the Rookie Nine couldn't believe what they saw.

"I-is he?" Hinata barely gasped out as Sasuke and the others were unnerved at Shino's end. Sure some of them may not have been close to Shino but he was still a classmate…

Before Hayate could call the match however….

"Where're you looking?" The voice of Shino called before smacking Misumi down.

"What the!? You were dead! I killed you!" Misumi yelled as Shino merely brought one finger up.

"That was simply a clone of mine. As you can see I'm still here and better than ever. As for you though?" Shino replied before a swarm of bugs soon found themselves swarming at the unsuspecting Misumi who turned around only when it was too late.

"It can't be!" Misumi yelled before he was practically covered head to toe in bugs before he was bitten repeatedly as his screams of anguish filled the room.

When the deed was said and done, Misumi was out cold covered in bumps.

Knowing that Misumi was done with Hayate wasted no time in deciding the victor.

"The winner of the seventh match is Shino Aburame!" Hayate declared as his team cheered for him along with Gohan as the other leaf genin were left unnerved at the display.

"Bugs….Ew…." Sakura wrinkled her nose.

"Makes me glad I didn't have to fight him." Naruto recoiled in relief.

"That would've been a big pain in the ass if it wasn't for Gohan's training." Sasuke said as everyone turned their attention to the screen for the next pair of names to be selected.


Kiba Inuzuka vs Dosu Kinuta

"Alright looks like it's our turn Akamaru!" Kiba grinned excitedly as he pat Akamaru's head.

"Ruff, ruff!" Akamaru barked.

Dosu meanwhile couldn't stop the disappointed look from forming from underneath his bandages as he seriously wanted to fight Gohan after what happened in the forest of death.

"Oh well this won't be any sweat off my bones." Dosu said.

"Good luck Kiba." Hinata smiled as Shino nodded his head in good luck.

"Thanks guys!" Kiba grinned before going down below as Dosu followed suit.

"You may now begin!" Hayate instructed before leaping back.

"Alright let's go Akamaru!" Kiba said making hand signs as Akamaru jumped up before a pair of smoke covered the two.

"Man beast clone!" Both Kiba and the transformed Akamaru yelled as they bared their fangs at Dosu who remained unmoving.

"Whoa, so cool!" Naruto exclaimed.

"It's a part of the Inuzuka clan." Sasuke reminded Naruto.

"C'mon Kiba, let's see what you can do." Gohan said as the ninja duo tried rail-roading the sound nin who merely took his amplifier out.

"Fang over fang!" The two yelled as Dosu hit the two with his amplified arm, seemingly doing nothing at first before Kiba yelled out as he recoiled, dropping the jutsu as he held his ear. If one could look closely, one could see blood dripping from his ear.

"W-what was that!?" Kiba groaned in pain as he held his sore ear as Dosu looked down on him menacingly.

"I control the power of sound itself dog boy. I can cause you all sorts of pain including discomfort and nausea." Dosu smirked under his bandages as the Rookie Leaf Genin were taken aback by this information.

"Sound?" Ino asked.

"Kiba, please be safe!" Hinata clasped her hands together.

"Wow, just like Gohan said…" Sasuke said as his eyes darted to the hybrid Saiyan.

"Damn it…." Kiba yelled before getting back up, seemingly unwilling to give up.

"I won't give up! Transform!" Kiba yelled before he and Akamaru transformed yet again into their man beast clone forms.

"Fang over Fang! Again! Again!" Kiba yelled as he attempted to drill Dosu who was able to dodge before deciding to end the "game".

"Enough of this." Dosu said before being able to catch Kiba off guard as he was able to catch Kiba off guard as he shoved his amplifier deep into Kiba's face.

"What!?" Kiba asked.

Before the Inuzuka knew anything, he was assaulted with a literal face full of sound before he was knocked unconscious.

Hayate went up to Kiba's unconscious form before declaring the winner.

"The winner of the eighth round, Dosu Kinuta." Hayate announced although there were no cheers, even from Dosu's own team.

"Man…that was kinda brutal…." Naruto remarked as Kiba was loaded away on a stretcher.

Gohan noticed Hinata's worried expression and thought how he would talk to her once this was over and done with.

The names flickered on the screen before the names for the ninth match were eventually selected.


Neji Hyuga vs Karin

"Looks like it's your turn Neji! Win with the power of youth!" Guy winked at his pupil who rolled his eyes at his and Lee's antics.

"Good luck, Neji." Tenten smiled.

"Of course." Neji coolly said as Karin meekly made her way down to the fighting floor.

"That's who I saved back in the forest…" Gohan thought as he watched Karin get close to where Neji was.

"When you're ready, begin." Hayate said before leaping back.

As Karin readied herself by getting in a fighting stance, Neji decided to speak up.

"You would do well to give up now. You will not win. After all, that's what your fate is." Neji said, not even bothering to activate his Byakugan.

"What's up with that guy?" Naruto asked, not caring for Neji's attitude.

"It's a bit of a complicated story." Kakashi said as Neji continued staring down Karin.

"I don't wanna give up but I have nothing to lose…." Karin said before charging at Neji with just basic strikes although it was a merely one-sided effort as Neji easily sidestepped her maneuvers and even defleced her oncoming ninja weapons with relative ease.

"You're such a failure. And you really want to become a Chunin?" Neji scoffed as Gohan found himself suddenly angry. How dare Neji treats a person like this?

Eventually Neji got tired of the game before shoving his fingers into her arms, disabling the chakra network in her arms.

"MY arms…." Karin groaned as they dangled.

"You can no longer lose your arms. Proctor, drop the match. I will not be responsible for what happens to her if she goes on from this forward here." Neji said as Hayate stepped up.

"Miss Karin, will you continue?" Hayate asked as Karin sighed as frustrated tears built up in her eyes.

"No…" Karin sighed.

"Then with that the winner of the ninth match is Neji Hyuga!" Hayate announced as Karin was led away by medics.

Gohan however didn't miss the tears built in Karin's eyes. Those were the same tears he had in his eyes back when the Saiyans and Frieza invaded.

Maybe…he could work with Karin if he ever saw her again.

The names on the screen flickered before the tenth match was decided.


Shino Aburame vs Kankuro

"Wow, sure sucks to be Shino, having to fight two matches in a row!" Naruto said as Sakura nodded.

"Yeah…" Sakura agreed.

"Good luck Shino." Hinata wished her teammate as he nodded before silently making his way down the stage.

"I wanted to fight that Son Gohan bastard again! Oh well, I'll beat this schmuck and face him in the finals." Kankuro thought as he met Kankuro down below.

"When you're ready, you may begin!" Hayate said before leaping back as Kankuro pulled out his new and improved Crow Puppet which was repaired after Gohan punched a hole in the center of it.

"Huh, it doesn't have a hole in it anymore." Gohan mused.

Wait, when the hell did he get so morbid in his humor? Yeah he definitely had Vegeta to thank for that.

"Alright kid, I wanna end this quickly because there's someone I wanna fight." Kankuro said.

"As I also wish to end this fight. Let's begin…." Shino said as his arms became covered with bugs.

With that Kankuro sent his crow straight at Shino who struggled at first to keep up with it before managing to get some of the bugs on Kankuro's puppet.

Kankuro then donned a serious expression as he realized that if he didn't end this soon, he would meet the same fate as Misumi.

"Gotta end this fast! Though I would've loved to use this on that Gohan asshole!" Kankuro said before pulling out a puppet that was somewhat similar to Karasu.

"Looks like he's pulling out the big guns now." Temari thought as the puppet knocked Shino some distance away.

"What the?" Shino thought before he was suddenly slammed into what was the stomach of the Black Ant before it closed.

"Now then, let's end this! SECRET BLACK TECHNIQUE IRON MAIDEN!" Kankuro yelled the blades were shoved dead into the puppet where Shino was.

"SHINO!" The Rookie Nine, sans Sasuke, yelled.

Although surprisingly the jonin as well as Gohan were shocked.

"I would've loved to use this on Gohan but oh well, beggars can't be choosers." Kankuro shrugged.

"N-no way….." Choji muttered as Shikamaru was shaken by what he just saw.

"S-shino…." Sasuke stammered.

Hinata nearly fainted before she was caught by Kurenai, though the jonin was surprisingly calm.

Gohan was calm as he noticed something.

"I can still sense Shino. He's not dead yet." Gohan said as his teammates stared at him in shock.

"What!?" Naruto and Sakura yelled.

"But he was just impaled!" Sasuke said.

"Yeah but that wasn't the real Shino." Gohan explained as Hayate opened the stomach of the black ant before it was revealed to be none other than….

"Insects?" The rookie nine thought as Shino was revealed to be just fine as he came up from a swarm of insects.

"Proctor, I would advise you to step back…" Shino said before Kankuro could only gape in horror before he met the same fate that Misumi experienced…..

Kankuro screamed in pain as he was consumed before laying on the ground, covering in various different bug bites.

"I have my substitution jutsu to thank for that. And with my bugs, it was a guaranteed victory for me." Shino said as Kankuro could only lay on the ground with his mouth open in an expression of shock and pain.

Hayate then looked over Kankuro before clearing his throat.

"The winner of the tenth round, Shino Aburame!" Hayate announced as the rookies cheered their comrade on, although a good number of them were disturbed with Shino's bug abilities.

"Now I know why mom hates bugs…." Gohan muttered.

"Yeah no kidding." Sakura sighed in disgust.

"No way….he beat Kankuro?" Temari asked as she turned to Baki who had a neutral expression.

"No matter, this changes nothing in our plan." Baki said.

Gaara meanwhile stared down at his brother in complete apathy as he was hoisted away on a stretcher by the medics.

With everyone said and done, the names on the screen flickered again before the eleventh match was decided.


Ino Yamanaka vs Temari

"Wow, just my luck. I have to fight the big scary looking blonde chick." Ino sighed as Shikamaru snorted.

"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?" Shikamaru smirked.

"Asshole." Ino muttered.

"Good luck Ino." Choji smiled.

"Yeah thanks…" Ino sighed before she made her way down below.

"Oh look it's Ino's turn." Gohan said as Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Whatever." Sakura rolled her eyes at the thought of watching her former best friend fight.

"When you're both ready, begin." Hayate instructed.

"Clone Jutsu!" Ino yelled as she charged at Temari with a shuriken and kunai in hand as she threw the ninja projectiles at Temari before sending her flying away with a gust of wind thanks to her fan.

"Whoa!" Choji exclaimed.

"She can use wind?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Talk about overkill…" Naruto muttered as Sakura was silent. Though the pinkette wouldn't admit it, she was now actually worried for Ino's safety.

As Sakura thought this, Temari opened her fan revealing one moon on it.

"There's one moon right now. The time I reveal all three this match is set and done so you better come at me with everything you got." Temari said as Ino growled as she wouldn't lose here.

"Okay so if my normal attacks won't work, I'll have to use this!" Ino thought before cutting some of her hair, much to the confusion of everyone present.

"What is this, Legally Blonde?" Gohan asked.

"Alright then! I refuse to lose here!" Ino yelled before sending another set of three clones at Temari who blew them away with little to no effort.

"Second Fan. I hope what you're doing is worth it!" Temari chided Ino before she suddenly found her feet frozen.

"What the?" Temari asked as Ino turned her head up smiling.

"Heh! You fell right into my trap!" Ino thought before raising her hands up.

"That reckless kid!" Asuma thought as he knew right away what she was about to do.

"The Mind Control Jutsu?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Wait Mind Control?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah….it's a part of Ino's clan abilities. With it, they can take control of whomever they're fighting if they manage to get the person they want to control." Sakura explained.

"Reminds me of Ginyu's body switching abilities…" Gohan thought as he remembered how his father lost his body to the mutant alien back on Namek.

Temari then blew the hair from her ankles, revealing the second moon on her fan, not that Ino noticed.

"This better work!" Ino thought.

"Mind Control Jutsu!" Ino yelled as Temari was able to think fast, using her fan to send Ino crashing into the sky, before Ino knew what was happening.

"What the?" Ino thought as she felt weak before looking down to see all three moons on Temari's fan were displayed.

"Oh no…." Ino thought as Temari smirked.

"Oh yes. Now…time to end this!" Temari said as Ino was suddenly assaulted with powerful gusts of wind, sending her flying to the wall behind her.

Dazed from the hit, the beach blonde fell before her back hit the back on Temari's fan.

"Ugh!" Ino spat blood before she was thrown to the ground hard.

"INO!" Shikamaru, Choji and Asuma yelled.

"Whoa! That was brutal!" Naruto exclaimed as even Sasuke was unnerved by what he saw.

Before anyone knew anything, Sakura jumped down before going to Ino's side.

"Ino! Please! Speak to me!" Sakura pleaded as Ino managed to open her eyes as she managed a painful smile.

"Forehead…Hey…looks like I lost…." Ino managed to joke despite the pain she was in.

"Ino-Pig…" Sakura sighed as tears built in her eyes. Despite not currently being friends with the blonde, they were still friends as children.

"I'm…sorry…..for everything…." Ino apologized before closing her eyes.

Sakura couldn't stop the tears from falling as she acknowledged and accepted Ino's apology. Maybe…just like after her near death experience with Haku and Ino's beat down from Temari…maybe….the two could reconcile and salvage their damaged relationship.

As Sakura watched as Ino was carried away, Temari scoffed.

"What a piece of trash." Temari scoffed before going back upstairs as Sakura glared at Temari's back.

How dare she!?

"When I get to the finals, I hope I get to fight that bitch!" Sakura internally vowed before making her way back to her team.

"Sakura…" Gohan acknowledged his teammate with a look of concern.

"You okay?" Naruto asked as Sasuke gave his friend a similar look of concern.

"Yeah…I am….Though after that last match, I'm more fired up than ever to fight!" Sakura said.

"Well you'll get your wish." Kakashi said as he pointed to the screen which stopped flickering through names as Sakura didn't pay attention at first.


Sakura Haruno vs Kin Tsuchi

"Heh, looks like I get Gohan's little teammate!" Kin thought before making herself down below.

"Good luck, Sakura. I know you'll win!" Naruto grinned as Sasuke smiled with a nod.

"Best of luck, Sakura." Kakashi eye smiled.

"Thanks guys." Sakura smiled before turning to Gohan.

"Anything about her I should know?" Sakura asked the half saiyan.

"I never really got a chance to fight her in the forest but if I were to go by her teammates' abilities, she may be able to use sound herself." Gohan said as Sakura nodded.

"Okay." Sakura said before Gohan gave her a confident smile.

"You can win Sakura. Remember our training!" Gohan reminded the pinkette who returned the confident facial expression.

"Yeah, thanks!" Sakura smiled before making her way downstairs.

"When you're ready, begin!" Hayate said as Sakura charged at Kin with a fist in hand before knocking the black haired female back.

"Whoa, since when did Sakura get so fast?" Choji asked.

"Do you really need to ask?" Shikamaru deadpanned as she pointed his thumb at Gohan.

"Nice one!" Naruto cheered.

As Sakura ran at Kin she rubbed her sore jaw before taking out senbon needed before throwing a couple at Sakura who dodged before throwing a smoke bomb.

"A smoke bomb? How original." Kin rolled her eyes as Sakura tried to come at her backside with two clones as Sakura kicked Kin in the stomach, making the other girl's eyes nearly bulge out from her head as the smoke died down.

Before Sakura could move in for a third strike.

"Gotcha!" Kin said before nailing Sakura in the shoulder with two senbon needles.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled in concern.

"Why do I think this isn't as simple as regular senbon needles?" Sasuke asked.

"Come on Sakura…" Gohan said as Sakura ignored the pain before she suddenly stopped.

"What the!?" Sakura thought in shock.

"She stopped!" Naruto exclaimed.

"How?" Sasuke asked.

"Heh, thanks to my abilities I can control stop your vitals and make you as useless as a vegetable." Kin smirked as Sakura grunted.

"So….a genjutsu?" Sakura asked.

"That's right. Now if you don't want to lose, I highly suggest you quit." Kin smirked as Sakura closed her eyes.

"Okay…hopefully this works…." Sakura thought as she managed to put her hands together.

Kin rolled her eyes, thinking she had this fight in the bag.

"What're you doing n-"Kin asked before she suddenly found herself bounded to a tree.

"What!?" Kin thought as she tried to get free to no avail.

"Thanks to your senbon I can't manage this for long but…." The voice of Sakura came from behind her before rising beneath her.

"I hope this works! CHA!" Sakura yelled before overwhelming the sound nin with a furry of hits as she screamed in agony before she suddenly fell in the real world.

"Thankfully…..I was able to use a bit of genjutsu on her….She's…totally…out…." Sakura sighed in relief that her planned worked as she held her arm before carefully removing the senbon needles from her shoulder.

"With that, the victor of the twelth match is Sakura Haruno!" Hayate announced.

Team Seven happily cheered for their female teammate.

"ALRIGHT SAKURA!" Naruto happily jumped up and down.

"Good job Sakura." Gohan congratulated his teammate as she happily made her way upstage to her friends.

"Good work, Sakura." Sasuke praised with a smile.

"You have definitely come a long way." Kakashi grinned under his mask.

"Thanks guys!" Sakura blushed at the praise she received as everyone soon waited for the final round.

"Wait a second…who's left?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah…if I'm not mistaken Gohan hasn't gone?" Choji asked.

Before anyone could say anything the matchup for the final round was displayed on the screen above.

Son Gohan vs Gaara


Now….who saw that ending for the final matchup with Gohan coming!? XD

Okay if that was kinda predictable I'm sorry but in my defense I think that would've been better than watching Gohan vs Kabuto or Gohan vs Dosu or Gohan vs Lee and etc. =P

But hey at least this chapter was a long one! I HOPE this chapter was worth the wait! ^_^

Either way, I hope I made the preliminary matches very enjoyable for you all and I hope you all liked the matchups I selected since I wanted to stray away from canon since because if I just rewrote the canon battles, it would've been kinda boring XP

Oh well next chapter is Gohan vs Gaara and I hope you all eagerly look forward to it coming December 6th! ^_^

Now until that time, enjoy this chapter and have a VERY happy Thankgiving! ^_^

P.S: For those of you all wondering about Sakura's jutsu, it was an ultimate jutsu she uses in Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2 and 3!