"These dango are the best in the Hidden Rain," Itachi tells Shisui as she hands him a stick of dango.
Shisui takes a bite of the dango while Itachi and Kisame watch him intently.
"What do you think?" asks Kisame. "They're good, right?"
Shisui finishes the stick of dango and says, "They are very good. May I have another?"
"Open your mouth," says Itachi. Shisui does so, and Itachi places a new stick of dango in it.
"You two are so cheesy," says Kisame, grinning. "I have to meet your baby."
"I'll be going back to the Leaf with Shisui," says Itachi. "I need to see my baby. I miss him so much."
"Kisame, your dog is trying to eat my chakra," says Shisui, pulling his hand away from Samehada, who Kisame has on a leash.
"Oh that's not a dog," says Kisame. "That's my sword. Sit, Samehada!" Samehada sits. "Good boy!"
Neji hopes this round will be over with quickly. Three days with only dry shampoo does not sound fun. Unless they find enough water for Neji to wash his hair in, that is. Neji cannot call himself a true Hyuuga unless he takes good care of his hair-
Oh that's the team from the Hidden Waterfall. Neji byakugan-scans them to see what scroll they have. "Guys, the Waterfall team is over there and they have the scroll we need," Neji tells his team. "Let's take them down, Team Gai Style."
"For Youth!" agrees Lee.
"I need to test my fuuinjutsu in battle," says Tenten. "Iruka Shishou has been training me hard while he makes Uncle Madara teach his class."
Team Gai heads over to the Waterfall team and lands in front of them, ready to introduce themselves and begin the fight.
"I am Neji Hyuuga!" says Neji. "My Hyuuga hair is far superior to yours. Fate has already decreed you shall lose to me because your hair is pathetic." He meant to say eyes, but he was thinking about his hair, said hair accidentally and decided to roll with it.
"I am Rock Lee!" says Lee. "My FLAMES OF YOUTH burn brighter than the sun! My fire alone shall OUTSHINE YOU!"
"I am Tenten!" says Tenten. "My weapons are sharp enough to pierce through all your defences!"
"Together we are," say all three together. "TEAM GAI OF THE HIDDEN LEAF!" They strike the pose they have been practicing for months.
The Waterfall Team stares at them.
Neji is sure he can hear crickets chirping. "This is the part where you introduce yourselves," says Neji.
"I am Fuu," says the kunoichi on the team. "You are all insane. Guys, let's kick their asses."
Neji's dramatic pose is also his eight trigrams stance. The moment Fuu steps into his range, he sights and attacks. He notices she is a jinchuuriki and hits her seal first to block her access to her bijuu. "Eight Trigrams, 64 Palms!" and just like that, Fuu is down.
Lee's pose was his 'ready' stance for one of his taijutsu moves. The moment the Waterfall ninja facing Lee steps into his range, Lee attacks and floors him.
Tenten's pose is also an attack stance. She also dispatches her opponent instantly and with great ease.
Neji retrieves Fuu's scroll. "Let's head for the tower," he says.
"Why did you say hair, Neji?" demands Tenten.
"I was thinking about how long it will be before I can give my hair a decent wash, said the wrong word and rolled with it," says Neji. "It had the desired effect."
"Our Youth burned bright this day!" declairs Lee, giving Neji a thumbs up and a grin that sparkles.
Hinata and Sasuke punch each other in the face, sending each other flying backwards.
"Come on, you two," says Madoka, feeling anxious. "Calm down a bit. Are you really going to fight over Naruto? We have more important things to worry about."
Sasuke and Hinata both throw a kunai at Madoka and start firing up some lightning ninjutsu to throw at each other.
Irritated, Madoka punches the ground. The ground splits underneath Sasuke and Hinata, making them wobble precariously.
"Hey, don't attack Hinata as well," says Kiba. "We can use this opportunity to defeat these guys so we don't have to fight them in the finals."
Madoka considers this point. If they defeat team Asuma in the Second round, then there are less strong people in the Finals, and maybe no preliminary round. Madoka nods firmly. "Let's get them, shannaroo!"
Kiba and Akamaru attack Choji with their man-beast clones, while Madoka and Ino circle each other cautiously. Sasuke starts throwing around fire balls and Hinata ducks underneath the flames to attack Sasuke's chakra points.
Then three Grass genin emerge from the rubble nearby. The group leader laughs and says, "We are here to get revenge on the two of you who knocked us out in the last exams! We are much stronger now than we were then, you should be afraid!"
Sasuke and Madoka pause in their fights to turn and look at the Grass team. Then they shrug and get back to their fighting. If it comes to it, the two Leaf teams will gang up on the Grass team.
Annoyed at being ignored, the Grass team enters the battle and tries to attack Madoka and Sasuke. Madoka swings a punch, hitting one of the Grass genin and suddenly their two-way fight is a three way battle.
Madoka becomes aware that the Stone team is hiding nearby. "We'll just wait until they are done," he hears one of the Stone genins whispering. "The winners will be tired and we'll be able to get the drop on them and take all three teams' scrolls."
Madoka punches them out of their hiding place so they can join in. The three-way battle becomes a four-way brawl. Sasuke and Hinata are off to one side, having devolved from ninjutsu to hair pulling.
Choji drops a packet of chips, and one of the Grass ninjas steps on it accidentally. Enraged, Choji screams, "HOW DARE YOU! HUMAN BOULDER!" Everyone dives out of the way frantically as Choji rolls through them paying no attention to who is on his side.
One of the stone ninjas erects a wall of earth to stop CHoji's rampage, but it only serves to make Choji angrier. He starts rolling around the battlefield trying to squish everything in sight. In the chaos that follows, someone sets off a small landmine which finally stops Choji.
Madoka starts charging up his chakra for another attack. The ground begins to rumble. Madoka feels something building and realizes that whatever it was, he set it off somehow. The next thing he knows, there is a massive explosion.
BOOOM.
Deidara is designing another bomb when she hears one of her chakra-ignited bombs go off. That is a beautiful explosion. Deidara sighs in appreciation of her art. When it is over, Deidara gets on her clay bird and flies over to where the bomb was to see if the genins survived.
They did. Nagato will be happy, but Deidara prefers it when her art kills people. It's more...more...well, more artistic somehow. The bomb hit four teams. The Grass team, the Stone team and two Leaf teams. They are all unconscious and very beat up. It looks like they won't be finishing this round. Deidara loads them onto her bird and carries them off to the medics who are on standby: Kabuto and Nono.
Two whole pairs of scrolls went out with those four teams.
Haku is enjoying herself. Testing her strength against others her age without any need to kill them is very enjoyable. She just wishes that Zabuza sensei was still alive to watch her. He would be proud.
Eventually, Team Akatsuki manages to track down the Hidden Rain Team.
"Team Akatsuki," says one of the Rain genin when they see Team Akaktsuki. "You honour us by choosing us as your opponents."
"The last team we defeated wasn't," says Suigetsu, grinning. "I hope you guys are harder to beat than they were."