Chunin Exams Arc: Prelims

The days went by quickly though no one seemed to ease up. The Sunagakure shinobi gave Kiba and Akamaru a bad vibe, and the Otogakure shinobi had shown up. Sakura cursed under her breath she had hoped after stealing their scroll they wouldn't have been able to recover. She was surprised by the lack of hostility; if anything, they seemed to avoid being in the same room with them. That didn't stop them though from giving her death glares that made her feel uneasy.

Sasuke's strange bruise was hurting more often. She had looked at it and applied some healing salves and a bandage to cover it, but they didn't seem to do much of anything as the pain would come in waves at random times during the day and night.

The rookie nine slept in the same area in shifts, especially after Kiba told the others what his team saw Gaara do. Sakura spent most of her time with Ino and Hinata, who was opening up to them the more they hung around. Hinata had told them of her less than stellar relationship with her cousin after the trio ran into him, Lee and Tenten, who had gotten to the tower around the same time as Sakura's team.

On the fifth day, Kabuto's team came in, and the second exam was declared finished, and all those in the tower were called to a large indoor training room with an upper walkway for observation. Seven teams had passed, leading to twenty-one total genin left.

The Hokage stepped forward and gave a speech on the purpose of the Chunin Exams and how they were the alternative to war between nations. Sakura hid her disgust at the idea of that, but she understood that the alternative was a higher body count than any village would be able to live through.

He announced a preliminary exam before the third exam since many influential people were coming to see the shinobi and their skills, they didn't want to waste their time with less than the best up and coming shinobi.

The proctor for the preliminaries Hayate Gekkō stepped forward "before we start if anyone thinks they are unable to fight to their fullest due to injuries you may forfeit now." He coughed as the genin made their decisions.

Sakura reached up gently touching Sasuke's arm. He simply shook his head, and Sakura knew he was too stubborn to be convinced to drop out. They had gone through too much to get here even with the bruise causing increased pain every day.

Kabuto was the only one to raise his hand and forfeit, sighting that his team's last fight they got into left him battered and unable to perform at his best. With no other forfeits, a screen was revealed on the wall, and Hayate spoke, "This will randomly select two names from the remaining twenty of you. The two combatants will stay down here and fight until one is dead, unconscious, or gives up. I will stop the match if I believe that a clear winner is shown." the screen flicked on and selected Sasuke and Yoroi, one of Kabuto's teammates.

Sakura looked worried while Sasuke looked excited to be getting to fight so soon. Hayate coughed and pointed to the walkways "if you're not fighting, go up to the observation walkways. Combatants get ready to fight."

While everyone went up to the walkway, Kakashi tapped Sasuke's shoulder "Don't let that mark on your neck get out of hand. If you do, we'll stop the fight you'll be forfeited. Once you're done, I'll put a seal on it. No objections or complaints, it's dangerous."

Sasuke nodded, "I know Sensei. I'll do my best."

Kakashi smiled. "Good also no Sharingan, or you'll lose control. Good luck."

As they leaned on the railing to watch their teammate fight, Kakashi appeared behind Naruto and Sakura, "Hello, my genin good to see you made it out alive."

Naruto was too focused on Sasuke's fight to say anything to Kakashi, but Sakura pulled her attention away as their sensei leaned on the railing next to her. "Sensei... in the woods Sasuke-"

"I know. The Hokage and those who need to all know about the mark on his neck. I'll take care of it as best I can once his fight is done. In the meantime, just watch the fight and see what you can learn from it."

Sakura nodded and observed her teammates fight. His opponent could siphon chakra from his enemies and sap their strength in the process. It seemed to be going in Yoroi's favor until Sasuke busted out taijutsu moves that looked like variations on what Lee had used against him during their impromptu sparring match. Kakashi appeared behind Sasuke, propping the genin up with his knee after the match was over. "Good job. Let's go seal that mark."

Kakashi took Sasuke off, and Sakura felt some relief wash over her. "Hey, Sakura, did it look like something was on Sasuke while he was fighting like some kind of black marks?"

Sakura smiled "I'm sure it was nothing, Naruto probably just shadows and besides if it was something you know Sasuke would tell us. He trusts us; we're his teammates and friends after all."

Naruto nodded, "Hm yeah, you're right, I guess I was just seeing things."

Sakura sighed, hatting how she had to keep secrets, but Sasuke said he would tell Naruto after the exams were over so he wouldn't waste time worrying about Sasuke instead of focusing on the exams.

Hayata coughed, "alright, let's move on to the next match." the screen lit up Shino vs. Zaku.

"Kick his ass, Shino!" Kiba screamed as his teammate took his place in the arena.

Sakura noticed his right arm was in a sling and his left hand was heavily bandaged thanks to her kunai during their fight. He looked up at her with murder in his eyes as she stuck her tongue out at him.

Shino suggested Zaku quit before the match started and that any fighting would only end in worse injuries for him. Zaku didn't take that well, and right as the match began, he was on the offensive using taijutsu to get in close on Shino then revealed that his arm in the sling isn't as injured as it seemed. He twisted his palm to face Shino and blasted him into the wall.

Shino got up as bugs scurried across his clothes and skin. "You won't win." he pointed, and Zaku turned to see a black mass of insects coming to a stop a few feet from the sound shinobi. "Either way, you attack the other side will get you. Surrender."

Zaku tore the bandages off his hand. "Fuck you, fuck that, and fuck pinkie up there. I'm gonna win this and teach her a lesson!"

He pointed his hands in either direction, "Zankūkyokuha!"

His arms surged with chakra, but nothing happened for a moment, then his arms started to burst along the chakra paths, and he screamed. Zaku stopped channeling chakra and looked at his palms as Shino's insects crawled along his hands.

Sakura cringed as the match was called, and Zaku was taken to the infirmary. Shino simply walked back up to his team as he passed Sakura smiled, "Goodwin Shino."

He simply nodded and joined Kiba and Hinata, who were congratulating him. The next match was brought up on the screen Misumi vs. Kankuro. Sakura paid attention to the fight it looked like it was going to be over quickly with Kankuro losing it would have served him right for being so rude to them when they first met. He turned the match around when it turned out he was in the puppet container, and the him currently bound by the enemy was a ninja puppet.

Kakashi startled his genin by suddenly speaking behind them, "Oh a puppet, you don't see many shinobi who can use those effectively."

"Sensei, you're back! How's Sasuke?!" Naruto asked as the match came to an end.

"Oh, he's sleeping and perfectly fine."

"That's good; he looked like he'd been dealing with some pain since before the match."

Sakura blinked "wait, you noticed he was having issues and didn't bring it up?"

Naruto nodded "yeah, because I know he's an idiot who would be in a sour mood if I pestered him. Since he was managing, I just let him manage."

Kakashi and Sakura both looked impressed but turned their attention to the screen as it blinked on again. Sakura sighed, she knew she would have to fight one of the other kunoichis, but why did it have to be her friend.

Ino smiled as she walked by, "come on, Sakura time to see if your training has paid off or if I'll embarrass you like in the academy."

Sakura smiled and cracked her knuckles "oh, you want to smack talk Ino? I was thinking about going easy on you, but now. This is gonna be fun."

The two made their way down and took their places. Right at the match start, both threw braces of shuriken that intercepted each other. Sakura closed the distance first and started with her taijutsu, and thanks to all the sparring Kakashi had her doing, Ino was struggling to keep up, but she was Sakura's best friend, the two of them had done plenty of sparring together.

Ino was quick to put distance between them before making several basic clones to run around Sakura. The Inos jumped at her from all sides, and Sakura dropped channeling chakra to her hair, making it stab out in all directions. The real Ino dodged nearly getting stabbed in the stomach. "Wow, are you really trying to kill me? Is it because I ate the last of the cake at your house before the exams?"

Sakura jumped back, "wait, what? I was going to eat that after the exams were over."

Ino shrugged, "Whoops, I'll treat you as an apology, ok?"

Sakura sighed and pulled a kunai out "fine." she ran forward, and Ino blocked her swing with her own kunai.

The two were locked in combat for a time, but Ino was quickly running out of stamina and made one mistake, which is all Sakura needed to land a solid series of punches putting Ino on the ground. Ino raised her hand while she laid on the ground and groaned, "I forfeit."

The match was called, and Sakura helped Ino up who denied medical treatment and simply walked back up to her teammates. Choji offered her chips that Ino took, and Shikamaru just muttered troublesome while Asume detailed what aspects she would need to work on when they got back to training.

Naruto and Kakashi congratulated her on the win, and Kakashi told her what they would change in her training. The next match was put on the screen Temari vs. Tenten. Sakura had no idea what either of their abilities was, so she kept a close eye on them because she was sure that whoever won here would be her opponent in the third exam.

The fight ended up being somewhat one-sided when it turned out the giant fan on Temari's back was for futon jutsu, which countered Tenten's weapons entirely. As the match was over and Shikimarus was starting, Naruto asked Sakura, "Hey, what was that stuff with the scrolls?"

"What? Naruto, have you never used a storage scroll? We covered them at the academy."

"Oh, I probably skipped that day, so what's the deal with them?"

"It's Fūinjutsu, the ninja art of sealing. It's like a jutsu, but you draw certain patterns and kanji to make the jutsu, then you use chakra to trigger it. You can store things or make barriers with them. Explosive tags are the same." She covered her mouth and tried not to laugh when Shikimaru made Kin smash her head against the wall and knock herself out.

Naruto scratched his face like he was thinking hard about something. "I'll get some things to help introduce you to it later, Naruto, for now, it looks like it's your time to shine," Kakashi said, pointing to the board that just popped his name against Kiba. Naruto cheered that he'd finally get to fight as he made his way down to the floor.

"Oi, what's with the dog?" Naruto asked as Kiba took his spot across from him.

Hayata cleared his throat before coughing "Ninken are allowed, they are seen as a ninja tool in the rules of the exams."

"Pft fine, then I'll just have to beat Kiba-Kun and his dog."

Kiba grinned like a wild animal "Oh really? I doubt I'll even need Akamaru's help." he put Akamaru down and patted his head "You just sit here, boy. I'll take care of him with a single hit."

The match started, and Kiba immediately dropped to all fours and charged, delivering a full-force punch to Naruto's stomach that laid him out flat against the ground. Kiba smirked, "Wow, that really was all it took?" He turned to collect Akamaru.

Naruto was back on his feet after a few steps grinning as blood trickled from his mouth "that all you got, Kiba-Kun? Pretty weak guess you're all bark and no bite."

Kiba growled. "Alright, Akamaru, you help me out we're gonna teach this guy a lesson."

Akamaru barked as Kiba threw smoke bombs at Naruto and dived into the cloud as it formed. Naruto cursed, not being able to see as Kiba took swipes and ran before he could get hit. "That's it, Fūton: Reppūshō!" Naruto spread his hands, and the wind blew away the smoke exposing Kiba.

He made half a dozen clones, four of which ran with him to fight Kiba while the other two grabbed Akamaru before he could do anything. Kiba cursed and gave ground as the five Naruto's advanced trying to surround him. Still, Kiba was faster and dropped to all fours before pouncing on the first one to try and attack dispelling him immediately, but the other four were already on the attack, and Kiba was back to dodging. He threw smoke bombs to try and blind them, and it worked for a moment. He took two out, but the others used futon and dispersed the smoke again.

Kiba smoked the area and instead made a b-line and rescued Akamaru. They turned to see Naruto had made more shadow clones who rushed the two. Kiba popped a food pill into Akamaru's mouth, "you ready, boy?"

Akamaru barked as he grew larger, and his fur turned red. In a puff of smoke that temporarily blinded Naruto to what happened, he felt his clones disperse, and when the smoke cleared there were two Kibas the left one spoke "alright idiot let's see if you can handle this attack." they both dropped to all fours "Gatsūga!"

The two took off rotating at high speed as they tore through the Naruto clones and hit the real one sending him flying and hitting the ground hard. Kiba laughed, "and down he goes again. The biggest loser of our year just hasn't learned yet. You can't win Naruto-Kun give up."

Naruto stumbled to his feet and wiped the blood from his face "Hell no! I'm not going to give up! I'll beat you and then work my way to Hokage. I won't let a mutt like you stop me!"

Kiba growled and retook his stance with Akamaru. He threw smoke bombs even if Naruto got rid of them; it would burn some of his chakra and make him that much weaker. He was surprised when the smoke didn't clear immediately but choked it up to Naruto being an idiot. The two dove into the cloud, ready to tear Naruto apart.

While Kiba and Akamaru were in the smoke trying to hit the Naruto they could smell was in there, he made clones and had them run out of the smoke, not all of them made it. However, Kiba seemed to be betting on just taking out the creator and ending it before Naruto's plan could come together.

"Alright, let's end this!" Naruto shouted as his clones ran through the hand signs in unison and said, "Fūton: Reppūshō!"

Twelve clones all cast the jutsu causing a cyclone of mismatched wind directions trapping Kiba and Akamaru as Naruto jumped above it and threw all his kunai and shuriken. They came from all sides, and neither was able to dodge them all. As it came to an end, four Naruto's attacked from different sides, knocking Akamru out of his transformation. Naruto delivered a solid punch that rattled Kiba and left him open for the new combo he was going to try out.

Four clones sprinted in and delivered simultaneous kicks sending Kiba into the sky. At the same time, Naruto used one of his clones as a springboard to get above Kiba and deliver an ax kick to Kiba's head, sending him to the ground and knocking him out. Naruto landed and dispelled his clones. "Remember this, everyone, you underestimate me, and you lose!" Naruto grinned at his proclamation while those in the stands looked stunned by his victory.

As Naruto came up and pulled the salve out of his pouch and applied it to various cuts and scrapes, "wow Hinata, this stuff works great! Thanks again for making it for me!"

Hinata mumbled and blushed "I-its um I'm glad it works well."

Kakashi sighed, watching them, and Kurinia looked surprised by her students' actions. The next round was brought up quickly, and Hinata looked devastated to see her name up there against Neji. The two walked down and took their positions across from each other. Before the match even started, Neji started to talk to Hinata. "Hinata-sama, I have to say I am surprised that fate would have us fight."

Hinata looked worried as she spoke, "Neji-nii-san, I had hoped we wouldn't have to fight."

"Hm, of course, you would. You're too soft, Hinata-sama. That's why you were so reluctant to start the Chunin exams, wasn't it? You can try to hide it for your teammates' sake, but I know you only agreed because you didn't want to let them down. You lack the confidence to take these things seriously or make a decision on your own terms. You're weak afraid of disappointing others."

"N-no, that's not- I just want to improve... I want to be better." Hinata fidgeted and couldn't look Neji in the eyes as he glared at her.

"A spoiled brat of the main family can't change no one can. You are and always will be a failure and an embarrassment to our family name."

As he spoke, Hinata shook, and her eyes kept flickering all around the room, but she couldn't look him in the eyes as he talked about fate and how she had no hope of improving and that this fight would prove just how much of a failure she is.

The veins around his eyes bulged as he activated his Byakugan making Hinata flinch and avert her gaze to the floor. Neji growled, "You can't even look at me! Do you think yourself so high above me, or are you such a coward, and so scared of what might be that you can't bring yourself to look up and face what's in front of you?"

Naruto gritted his teeth as Neji kept talking he was glaring daggers at the back of the Huyga's head before finally snapping "Oi! Who do you think you are?! You have no right to judge people or decide what they're like! What makes you think you have any right to look down on others! Hinata kick this guys ass for me before I have to listen to more of this drivel!"

Those around Naruto looked surprised while Neji looked up at him, annoyed before turning his attention back to Hinata, who had collected herself. "Neji-nii-san, I will not forfeit this match! I-I challenge you, Neji-nii-san." Hinata's Byakugan activated as she took a stance. Neji smiled and copied her stance as his eyes activated.

Hayata started the match, and the two Jūken users began. It wasn't a match full of spectacle, but the precision of the strikes and the power behind them was something to watch. Naruto cheered for Hinata as she tried her hardest. Though a blow to the chest left her stumbling and coughing up blood. Hinata tried to counter, but Neji blocked her chakra paths in both arms, effectively ending her ability to use the Jūken style.

That didn't stop Hinata as she got back into her stance and continued to fight. Neji tried to talk down to her, but Hinata's resolve was solid, and she would not yield to him despite her injury.

Sakura glanced at Naruto and said, "you know she's like this now because you were the one to encourage her. She's been keeping an eye on you since the academy. I think she values your opinion a lot Naruto."

Naruto grinned, "I don't know what I did, but if it helps." he took a deep breath and shouted, "you got this Hinata! I know you can beat this guy!"

Sakura smiled as Hinata set herself more firmly and went on the attack. It proved not to be enough as Neji landed yet another devastating blow to her heart, making her cough up more blood as she fell to the ground. Neji looked disgusted as he stared down at her, "Pathetic from start to finish." he walked away from her deactivating his eyes.

Hayata was about to call the match when Naruto interrupted stalling just long enough for Hinata to get back on her feet though she looked like a stiff breeze might push her over. She looked up at Neji with a fire in her eyes, ready to fight again.

Neji ground his teeth. "Why are you putting up this front Hinata-sama? You can barely stand, why are you making yourself suffer like this? No one can change; you will always be the weak disgrace of the main family. Just surrender already."

Hinata smiled, "it's ok, Neji-nii-san. I know you're suffering because of what happened. I can bear this little bit of pain if it helps you feel at ease."

Neji screamed and rushed her but didn't get far as Hayata, Kakashi, Guy, and Kurenai stopped him in his tracks. Kurenai ran to catch Hinata as she collapsed and gently lowered her student to the ground. Naruto and the others rushed down to check on her as well.

Neji looked at Naruto as Hinata mumbled something to him. "Hey failure in orange here's some free advice if you're actually serious about being a shinobi stop being so loud all the time, and secondly, you two will always be failures you can't change that."

Naruto stood and faced Neji "you want to prove that asshole?"

"Come and try it, maybe you'll get a spot in the ER next to Hinata-sama. A couple failures suffering together."

Lee stepped in, stopping Naruto from rushing him. "Please, Naruto-Kun, you cannot fight unless it is an official match. Though if we're honest, I will most likely be the one to fight Neji in the third exam."

"Tsk fine; we'll see about that bush brows." Naruto turned and headed back to Hinata.

Naruto stumbled to a stop as Hinata coughed up more blood. Kurenai quickly unzipped her jacket and checked her pulse. "She's gone into ventricle fib. Where are the medics?!" She glared at Neji, realizing he could have been trying to kill Hinata.

Neji just smiled, "best get her taken care of instead of glaring at me."

The medics showed up muttering to themselves as they got her on the stretcher and hauled her away. Naruto watched stunned at just how badly she was hurt. He turned his eyes red with vertical pupils, "I swear I'll beat you!"

The jounin in the room tensed, but Naruto blinked, and his eyes were normal again as he walked away. Naruto tried to stand off to the side more, but Sakura dragged him back to where Kakashi and the others were "come on, you don't get down in the dumps, I'm sure Hinata-chan will be ok."

Naruto didn't protest and simply took up his old spot next to her. Kakashi patted his shoulder, "We'll make sure you're ready for when you fight him."

Once the floor was cleared off blood, the next match was called up Gaara vs. Lee. Lee was more excited than Naruto was for his match. The combatants made their way down and started their match. As it progressed, Guy informed the others of how Lee can only use taijutsu and how he spends all his time training to be the best he can. "Lee, you have my permission don't hold back!"

Lee grinned and pumped his fist as he started to remove his training weights. Sakura sucked in a breath at Lee's new speed "Oh it's a good thing Sasuke isn't here he would be so mad right now."

Naruto laughed, "I'm gonna tell him all about this fight afterward."

They both flinched when they watched Lee perform the Primary Lotus and realized that almost happened to Sasuke. The fight turned in Gaara's favor as Lee had apparently strained himself quite a bit by performing the Lotus. Sakura and Naruto cheered Lee on in tandem with Guy-sensei.

Things looked hopeful as Lee recovered and started to open the inner gates, which Kakashi explained to Naruto. The fight seemed to be over after Lee performed the Hidden Lotus until they saw that Gaara had softened the blow by dissolving his gourd and using the sand as a cushion. The match was over in an instant as Gaara crushed Lee's leg and arm, and Guy had to intervene before Gaara killed him.

Things were a blur from there as Lee stood but collapsed again quickly. The medics rushed in to collect him and speak to Guy-sensei about his condition and their initial idea about the extent of the damage. Kakashi put a firm hand on both his students "it'll be alright. Let the medics handle it."

The final match of Dosu vs. Choji felt muted and rather anticlimactic after what happened to Lee. That didn't stop Ino from cheering her teammate on as best she could. Once the match was called, and Dosu won the winners minus Sasuke went down to the ground where they were informed that there would be a month's worth of time for recovery and training before the third exam started.

They drew lots, and the tournament order was decided upon. Neji vs. Naruto, Dosu vs. Shikamaru, Kankuro vs. Shino, and Sakura vs. Temari, Sasuke vs. Gaara. With everything done with they were dismissed.