Chapter 24: Preliminaries?

Bright and early everyone stood in the middle of the training arena. Seven teams stood in single file lines, only one team had a row of four. Team Seven. Twenty-five students stood standing cut and bruised worn out and wobbly. But everyone was either pleased or excited that they had finally passed the second exam.

As soon as team seven met up for the morning Kira couldn't help notice that Sasuke would every now and then glare over at Gaara's team. She didn't know what was going on with them, but she was more than surprised when she saw Gaara looked perfectly fine. There was nothing wrong with him, no scratches, no bruises, heck no injuries at all!

She was so surprised that she couldn't help but stare. Her team had a day to rest and they still were littered with cuts and bruises. Heck, her face still felt inflamed from Zaku. A dark black and blue bruise spread across her jaw on the left side to her eye. After this test she needed to go see a dentist.

Maybe she'll start wearing a mask like her brother. It did help protect him when it came to attacks to the face.

"Congratulations to you all on passing the second exam!" Anko called happily though Kira could hear that she wanted to have the remaining students to be in the single digits.

The proctors stood in the front staring down at their students.

"Sasuke's team made it!" Ino squealed happily, she was so happy that Sasuke made it to the final part of the exam.

"Hey! Check it out! Old man Hokage, Master Iruka, Master Kakshi, and even that Mega Brows guy are all gathered together! It's like a dream team!" Kira stood at the end of the line and let out a chocked laugh at the idea of her brother and Guy sensei being a dream team. She could just picture them both wearing the same bright green outfit and Kakashi acting just like Guy.

Sasuke reached up touching his mark, the bite throbbed. "I've got a bad feeling about this…" he muttered to himself.

"Now Lord Hokage himself will explain about the third exam. Listen up and take every word he says to heart!" Anko growled. No one was to disrespect the Hokage and everyone would do as she says or pay for their actions. "They're all yours, my lord."

"Very well." Lord Hokage looked over every student. "The third examination is about to commence. But before I go into specifics of how it will be conducted let me make one thing perfectly clear. It pertains to the underlying purpose of the exam."

Most stood staring at the Hokage confused not sure what he meant. "Why do you suppose an examination of this mature is being jointly conducted by all of the nations in our mutual alliance?" The Hokage was fingering his hat as he spoke. Still he saw nothing but confusion on most of the kid's faces. "To promote friendship among allied nations and raise the level and standards in the art of the shinobi."

"Friendship?" someone muttered confused.

"Be very clear about what those fine sounding phrases actually mean. This series of so called examinations is, in fact a war in miniature between of our lands."

War?! Sakura and Kira glance at one another nervously. War? Beside us you could hear Tenten mutter to herself. "Wh-what do you mean?" she currently had a cold sweat start to drip.

"If you were to study our recent history and consult a map it would swiftly become apparent that our alliance is in face a temporary and mutually beneficial agreement between groups of geographically contiguous lands whose previous existence was one of continual strife. Constantly jockeying against one another, openly and in secret, for power and the control of resources that were perpetually depleted almost to exhaustion in the struggle. Until a better way was devised. The way of the chunin journeyman ninja selection examination."

Kira stared at Lord Hokage getting an idea of what he meant. Friendship with the allies, if one of our villages were under attack we could beg our friends in our neighboring villages for help.

"That's the stupidest thing I ever heard! I thought the point was to select chinin!" Naruto growled annoyed. He hated it when the old man would throw in riddles and confuse him.

"Make no mistake. When this exam is done it will have had the side effect of winnowing out any applicants unfit to ascend to the level of chunin. But even more importantly it serves as an arena wherein, for the honor of their respective homelands young shinobi may fight to the death if need be!" Lord Hokage countered. That shut Naruto up.

Naruto stood silent now eyes wide.

"The honor of their lands?" Ino called confused hugging herself as she did so.

"This third examination will be conducted under the watchful eyes of a number of distinguished guests including the rulers and nobility of the various lands you all aspire to serve." Students looked up at their instructors as Lord Hokage continued to speak. "Among their number will be those who rule over each country's own hidden ninja villages. They will be watching you."

That was nerve wracking. Everyone would be watching you, trying to figure out what your weaknesses, counting on you to fail.

"If any one nation's applicants demonstrate skill and superiority the noblemen from every land will be quick to commission work from those trained in that superior nation. Conversely, if a particular country's applicants are shown to be incompetent or feeble commissions to agents of that country will dwindle." This was getting really heavy. "And when one land is strong in battle and the village coffers overflow with the fruits of the many outside commissions this begets then that village may say to its neighbors 'beware for we possess prowess and riches and the influence of political power'."

Kira cringed when Kiba suddenly yelled. "So?! Why is it necessary to stake our lives and fight?!"

"The strength of a country is derived from the strength of its village and the village draws strength from the shinobi who live there. The greatest strength of those shinobi only emerges in the midst of a desperate life and death battle. These exams provide a public arena for each country to show off and boast of the strengths of its warriors and hence the strength of the country itself."

Of course, everyone was either done with the lecture, still confused, or completely understood what he was talking about.

"This test has meaning and great consequence. As you struggle for the sake of your very lives and your people, you help to fulfill the dream that was envisioned by our ancestors."

"But. You've always emphasized the concept of 'friendship'…why?!" Tenten called still confused on some bits.

"Though my meaning is subtle, I chose my words with care. To preserve the balance of power at the risk of lives is the essence of friendship in the world of shinobi. Let me reiterate before the third exam begins. You are taking no ordinary test! You risk no only your own futures and dreams but the dignity and prestige of your home village as well."

"Whatever. Could you wrap up the philosophical talk and get down to the life and death stud any time soon?" Gaara called annoyed.

'Why's he in such a big hurry to fight?' Kira thought confused staring over at Gaara. It was hard to miss him. He was in the very front of his team at the end, but you could easily spot that slab of red hair. He was just so interesting, she hated that whenever he was close to her she just froze up and her brain stopped working.

He just was so different from all the guys she met, he's so calm and cool. It didn't help that he was attractive and that whenever she tried figuring out what he was thinking she'd hear this strange dark voice.

Even now she tried to figure out what was going on in that head of his, only she heard a growl, a loud terrifying growl. Any normal person would stop and run away but Kira wasn't normal, she might be crazy because she wanted to know more. Figure out what was going on with him?

"Forgive my interruption, Lord Hokage, but if you don't mind handing the rest of the proceedings over to me, Gekko Hayate, proctor of the third Exam." The new man looked sick to the bone, dark circles under his eyes, pale, greasy hair that fell out from under his hat.

He stood tall probably a little shorter than Kakashi, but he shook as if he was cold. "Go ahead." Lord Hokage agreed.

"Good to meet you, everyone…I'm Hayate…" He paused closing his eyes for a moment before starting up again. "Before we start the exam, I must ask you all to do something for me."

What was up with this guy, did he have a cold or something?

"Umm, you see…there are some preliminaries to the exam proper…and whether you proceed to the main exam is contingent on how well you manage those…" Hayate coughed a few times.

"Preliminaries?"

"Preliminaries?! Like what?!"

"Master Hayate, I don't understand what you mean by preliminaries. Why can't all of the remaining applicants just proceed directly to the next exam?" Sakura asked politely.

Hayate looked at our team looking over the pinket. "Well…I don't want to say that the first two exams weren't demanding enough…but the truth is we still have too many applicants." Every time Hayate paused he would cough. "Under the traditional rules of the exam we have to have a preliminary test to reduce the number of applicants who'll proceed to the third exam. As Lord Hokage mentioned, a number of honored guests will be observing you during the third exam…so we must make the exam intense, tight, and fast moving."

"But…" Sakura tried to interject.

"So anyway…now that you know somethings of what it's really all about…anyone who doesn't feel up to the challenge either physically or mentally, can walk away. Just take one step forward…because the preliminaries start…right now!"

What? Right now?!

"Now?!" Kiba cried staring wide eyed at the proctor, there was no way they all could start fighting right away, some of them just got out of the forest!

"Well I'm outta here." Kabuto called raising his hand.

Kira, Naruto, and Sakura look over surprised to see that Kabuto willingly wanted to leave. "What?! Kabuto…"

Hayate coughed again for a couple of seconds "Um, aren't you Yakushi Kabuto of Konoha? Okay you can go." Kabuto nodded putting his hand down. "In case I forgot to mention it, from here on in, you' fight as individuals. Not as members of teams. So you can make the decision that's right for you without worrying about anyone else. So…anyone else want out? Show of hands?" Hayate groaned as he continued to cough harder into his hand.

"Hey! Kabuto! Whats up with you quitting?!" Naruto screamed loud enough that his voice echoed on the walls.

A few people glared at Naruto for being so loud but one of them was Gaara. He was annoyed with the blond for many reasons. "Naruto…" Kabuto looked around Neji to stare at the boy. "I'm sorry but those guys we fought beat the crap out of me. And ever since my scuffle with those sound ninja prior to the first exam, I've been totally deaf in my left ear." Naruto looked to the ground saddened by this. He wanted to prove to Kabuto how strong he could be. "Now they're saying this could be a fight to the death…and I just don't think im up to that."

Naruto nodded understanding what Kabuto was coming from.

Kira glanced around at the instructors again, she didn't know why but she got the creeps from the sound nin's instructor, just the way he was looking at Kabuto gave her shivers. Did…did the sound ninja's instructors like boys? Man that's just creepy!

Glancing back at Kabuto she saw him give a wave then walked off. Now there were twenty-four students left for the challenge to become Chunin.

"I'm out."

"Me too." Glancing over I saw two guys around the same height start to back away from their teammate.

"Why're you backing out now?" It was the guy that transformed into Naruto the first time. And he attacked us again when we had Kabuto by our side. How'd he make it to the end? Probably stole scrolls from some of the other

"Dude. I'm not risking being pinned up against you or Mubi."

"We just barely made it into the third exam and now there's a chance we might fight each other. Not happening." The other walked away with his teammate.

"Well good riddance." All that was left was the same kid who attacked us under the impression of Naruto.

"Sorry Oboro," They muttered walking away shamefully. Scared to think they might have to fight their own teammate.

Sakura and Kira glance at one another, would it be possible they were going to be forced to fight one another?

Sasuke hunched over in pain gripping at his neck. 'Another wave of pain…they're coming more and more frequently…damn it!'

"So uh, looks like no one else is bailing out." Hayate announced looking over the students.

"Sasuke maybe you should quit, too." Sakura was worried about him.

Both Naruto and Sasuke thought she was completely insane. "Ever since that Orochimaru guy attacked you, you haven't been yourself!" Kira looked at Sasuke now. He was mad and annoyed at the idea of quitting.

"That mark on your neck. It's hurting again isn't it?" Kira called looking him over. She didn't need to ask, she just heard him complain about it.

"And it just keeps getting worse!" Sakura continued, staring at Sasuke desperately wanting him to listen to reason. "Please…" she begged as tears started to fall. "Please withdraw I'm afraid…" she sobbed. She knew she needed to help Sasuke in any way she could. "You're in no shape to fight, Sasuke!" Sakura almost yelled.

"Guys keep your voices down." Kira whispered glancing around she didn't want everyone to know about what's going on in their team.

"Shut up." Sasuke growled sounding like a dog about ready to pounce.

"Sasuke, I know you've barely been able to contain the pain all this time."

"I said…"

"You leave me no choice. If you won't listen to reason I'm going to tell all the teachers about that Mark! And then…" Sakura started to raise her hand but Sasuke caught it. Holding it down. A nasty glare set on his face.

"Keep your mouth shut! Not a word about the mark." Sasuke snarled while Sakura sobbed.

"Why do you always have to act so strong? I can't bear to watch you suffer Sasuke!" Sakura whimpered tears falling down her face.

"It's my decision and its none of your business. The pain is my burden to bear. Not yours."

Kira held her head annoyed. "Cut the crap Sasuke. You're in pain. Is it so wrong for Sakura to be worried about you?" She snapped glaring at the raven haired. "I don't know why you think this little fantasy of yours will make you any stronger while you torture yourself."

Sasuke looked her over annoyance in his eyes. "I told you I'm…"

"Don't give me that bull crap Sasuke." He huffed looking away from her.

"This is more than just a test okay. I don't care if I achieve Chunin level or not. 'Am I strong?' finding that out is all that matters to me now. I'm here to test myself against the best of the best. The best opponents I could find are all around us, here and now." He spoke softly, you could only guess who he was talking about. "Not even for her sake will I turn away from the path that leads to my dream."

"Hey you idiot! Why the heck are you trying to act so cool?! Sakura and Kira are worried sick about you! Don't you care?!" Naruto screamed agitated.

'I'm not that worried about him, chill. If he wants to get himself killed, then it's on him.' Kira sent to Naruto. She heard him grumbling with the idea. He really couldn't stand Sasuke sometimes.

"Naruto…You're one of the ones I want to fight."

"Oh, good lord." Kira muttered watching the surprised look cross Naruto's features to excitement. Or course Naruto would forget that Sasuke was in no position to fight

"Ahhh…well then, we'll now begin the preliminaries...which will consist of individual combat matches, as though this were part of the tournament." Naruto, Kira, and Sakura gulped staring up at the proctor waiting for the fighting to begin.

"As there are a total of twenty two combatants remaining we will hold a total of eleven bouts… and the victors of those bouts will advance to the third exam." Right. Everyone was ready to fight, to prove their worth, but the proctor was just taking so long. "This is a no holds barred combat. Each pair of combatants will fight until one of them is dead or unconscious…or admits defeat. As soon as you sense that your opponent is over powering you, immediately concede your loss…if you value your life."

Hayate started coughing again though a little harder than before. Someone should really get this guy some water or something, it sounds like he's about to cough up a lung. "Since we don't want a total bloodbath on our hands, there may be cases where we ascertain that there is an undisputed winner and step in to end the match. But don't count on that."

Great so even if they're on the brink of death they won't help us. "From here on out, the key to your fate is held in…" there was a pause as he looked up "ummm…this electronic score board. At the start of every round, we will display the names of the two combatants competing in that match, so ummm… not to hurry you all to the slaughter…but lets begin. We'll now announce the first two names."

Everyone looked up fear and adrenalin pumping through their veins at who would be the first to fight. Flashing across the screen it read. "Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi"

Great. Just great. Sauske the one person who is in no position to fight is the first to fight. "Will the individuals whose names are on the board come forward now?"

The group of kids marched towards the side.

"Be careful Sasuke-kun!" Sakura whispered nervously.

Naruto grabbed Kira's hand and the two walked off into the crowd. Sakura already biting her nails with nerves.

"It'll be okay, he's tough." Kira called glancing back at the two for a brief moment. "He'll make it." Sakura nodded to herself.

"Yeah. He's stronger than everyone. He can beat this guy," but she couldn't hide how scared she was.