A cheer and a raspberry to all yaoi fans, Naruto is officially NOT GAY. See Shippuden episode 57

The Chunin Exams

The sun shone through the window down onto Naruto's face. He could not remember the last time he had gotten to sleep in on a 'work day'. It was only 8 am but to him it felt like he had gotten to sleep until noon. Slowly, he crawled out of the warm bed and walked into his kitchen to see about breakfast. He shook the teakettle to see if he had enough water in it and was pleased that he did not need more. He turned on the burner and looked into his refrigerator while the water heated. He pulled out an apple and casually munched on it as he turned to a cabinet to pull out one of his special ramen cups. Iruka had given him a case on his last birthday and Naruto saved those for special occasions. Today was certainly one day worthy of being special. In a few hours, he would begin the next step on his road to being Hokage. The Chunin Exams.

Hinata had gotten up at her usual time in spite of not needing to train normally today. She got into workout clothes and proceeded to the private grounds the Head Family used. She stood in the grass there and just looked for a few minutes. It was here that her change had truly begun; on the morning her family had almost been destroyed. Her eyes fell on the spot where the flash bang had disabled her father and sister. They shifted to the spot where she had been at that moment and where she had killed for the first time. It only bothered her in the context of having done it. She felt no remorse for the act at the time or now. The man had threatened her family and herself with death. He received what he intended for others. She learned that she was capable of anger and hatred but controlled the emotions to serve her own needs rather than surrender to the negative power. She had come far from being that scared girl in the time since that moment. Smiling, she turned and went to prepare for meeting her team.

Sakura stretch as the alarm sounded. She shut it off only to hear a light knock at her door a minute later. She made sure her nightgown was in place before going to open the door. Her father was waiting on the other side.

"Good morning Sakura. I hope you slept well."

"Yup Dad. Um, shouldn't you be at work already?"

"I told my boss I would be in late today. It is not everyday your child goes to their first Chunin Exam." Shukei smiled softly down at his daughter. "Besides, I have a small gift for you."

Sakura's eyes lit up at the word gift. "Oooo, what did you get me, Dad?"

Shukei blushed a bit. "Well, it is not a regular gift. But I thought you might be able to find a use for this." He pulled a sheathed kunai from behind his back and handed it to Sakura.

Sakura was surprised by the size and weight of the knife. Most kunai were intended for throwing and to be disposable. The one was meant more for holding on to and being used in hand-to-hand combat. She slowly pulled it from the sheath and saw it was actually a lot older than most but it was well cared for. It was in a style not made in a long time. Not since the early days of the Third Ninja War. She looked up at her father puzzled.

"Well, remember how I said I tried out for the Academy when I was your age? I had gotten it then to practice with before tryouts. I never really got the hang of using it but I held onto it after failing. I … I figured I could keep something from my dreams. Your mother would have kittens if she knew I had this old thing. I pull it out every once in a while to make sure it is still in good shape."

"I know I am not the best dad around, Sakura. I do work very hard at what I do for you and your mother. Watching your dreams come true is what I set my mind to do when you were born. A father hopes of many things for their children and I hope something I once dreamed of can go with you and help with yours. Be successful today, Sakura. I am already so proud of you."

Sakura was teary-eyed listening to her father. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek before hugging him tightly. "Thank you, Daddy. For everything. I'll be proud to take this with me."

The team met in the old hideout an hour before they were scheduled to arrive at the exam site. They all grinned at one another as they went over their plans. Their teachers could not tell them what the exam would contain but they had been warned to treat it like it was a long-term class B mission. That meant a certain amount of preparation. They were wearing their 'home clothes' to make others think they were less prepared than they actually were. Naruto and Hinata took along their storage scrolls with their armor and extra supplies inside. Sakura brought along her over-sized combination shuriken pouch / first aid kit stocked with bandages and emergency items like food pills and anti venoms. She found a place for her father's knife along the top of the bag itself. The trio all nodded and set off for the school where they were told to meet.

"You ever been to room 301 before? It is not one that I remember," Naruto asked.

"No. It was on the Third Floor, that is where only the teachers go," Sakura replied.

The trio filed in the front door and headed up the stairs. Just down the hallway they spotted a small crowd of genin. The sign over the door read '301' but a pair of large teenage boys barred the door. This would not have bothered the team but in front of them was a strange looking genin in a dark green unitard and orange legwarmers. He sported a bowl cut on his head but his most disturbing feature was the large bushy eyebrows over wide eyes.

"We must get in to take our exam! We are supposed to be here!"

One of the older teens laughed, "Well, if you want to get in here, you need to get past us."

Naruto paused as he was confused. 'Wasn't 301 supposed to be on the third floor?'

Sakura and Hinata tugged on his shirt as he started toward the marked room. He looked back at his teammates.

"We need to go to the third floor, Naruto. I guess the exam is already starting," Sakura told him.

Hinata saw the confused look on Naruto's face and leaned over to whisper in his ear, "Genjutsu."

Naruto suddenly understood and followed the girls up to the next level.

He paused on the stairs once they were out of sight of the illusion. Naruto grinned in pure prankster mode and formed a ram seal with his hands. He focused and whispered, "Kai," and disrupted the illusion on the floor below. The pair of 'teenagers' were revealed to be adult chunin to the genin gathered around the door. Killer intent flared in the hallway as the pair backed up wondering who had nullified their illusion. One thought, 'This is going to hurt,' as the crowd closed in on them.

Naruto laughed as he followed the girls into the real room 301.

The motley assortment of people filling the room was striking to Naruto. He recalled what Jiraiya had briefed them on.

"The people you need to worry about will not be the Konoha ninja. A good deal of the genin from the Leaf are at the same or a lower level than you. The ones who are truly dangerous are the foreign ones. Villages do not send weak genin to an exam out of their own country. They send teams who are all but chunin already. Most will have years of experience at being ninja that you do not. Other villages have different standards on what makes a chunin. For some, it is pure power. Others rely on specific jutsu that their villages specialize in. But as a rule, they will be older, stronger physically and have a wider range of jutsu than you will. Always watch your back and remember, the nail that sticks out does not get treated well, it gets hammered down, Hard."

Naruto pointed off to a clear spot near one wall and the girls made their way over there. Within minutes Team 10 joined them.

Ino gave Sakura a slight nod and a smile, "Looking like a real ninja now, Forehead?"

"One of us has to, Piggy. Good to see you here." The girls stood silently after that.

A few minutes later, Team 7 wandered over. Kiba looked amused and Sasuke looked a bit ruffled. Shino nodded to the people already standing there and merely kept quiet. Naruto smirked as the same idea had occurred to all of them, there is safety in numbers and having friends close could be useful.

"Oy, look at the baby brigade all huddled together. Konoha must be scraping the bottom of the barrel if they send fresh meat like these kids," a Rain genin taunted.

"More like they saw the competition coming from other places this year and decided to unleash the best on you," Kiba retorted.

The Rain genin sneered, "If you are the best, Konoha will not be in the top 5 for long then."

The laughter this generated was enough set off some older Leaf genin who took issue with that insult and drew attention away from the rookies.

A white haired boy with glasses and a Leaf headband approached the three teams, "You would do well not to draw so much attention to yourselves. There is a very dangerous crowd this year and newbies like you will be seen as easy pickings."

Naruto looked up at the taller teen, "We will keep that in mind."

The white haired boy chuckled and held up a small card. "Uzumaki Naruto, genin, First time participant, Notable jutsu, None but rumored to possess several of high level. Student of Jiraiya, the Toad Sage. Missions completed, class B -1, class C -1, class D, well those are unimportant."

Naruto smirked, "Well, now we both know who I am. Who are you?"

"Yakushi Kabuto. Medic and finder of information."

"That B rank was not really public information, Kabuto."

"People talk Naruto-kun, I listen. You would be amazed what you can find out if you listen in the right places. Anyone you need info on?"

Naruto thought for a minute. "Gaara of the Sand."

Sasuke spoke up now, "Also Rock Lee from here."

"Interesting. Rock Lee is easier so him first. First Exam, student of Might Gai, superior taijutsu, no known nin or genjutsu. A note about his chakra being too low to utilize either. Gaara of the Sand Village, No information other than 1 B rank and 8 C rank with no injuries. Sand manipulation jutsu."

A team pushed past the 9 rookies and Kabuto. No one recognized the headbands they wore until Kabuto mentioned it, "Sound ninja. They are from a new village in the Rice Country."

"Don't talk about us behind our backs," growled the apparent leader of the team.

Kabuto just smiled and was about to speak when a voice sounded out over the din, "ALL RIGHT YOU MAGGOTS, FIND YOUR SEATS. THEY ARE MARKED. MOVE IT!!"

The assembled genin all moved to the desks to find their seats. Within minutes all were seated. A few empty seats were scattered around the room, indicating the teams that had fallen for the genjutsu downstairs and were still waiting there.

"I am Morino Ibiki. I am the main proctor for the first part of this Chunin Selection Exam. Around the room, you can see my assistants." Various people around the room began placing papers on the desks before the genin. "We will begin with a written exam that will test your ability to answer questions a chunin should be able to. It will be a 10 question test with each person starting with a total of 10 points. Wrong answers will result in the loss of a point. People who are caught cheating will lose 2 points from their total of 10. If you lose all of your points, you fail. If you are all truly ninja, this should not be a problem. You will have 1 hour total for this test but the final question will not be given until 15 minutes prior to the end of the test."

"Why, Sir?" asked a Waterfall ninja.

"Because I said so. You may begin, now"

Naruto gulped and turned the paper over. He was terrible at written tests. He did what Iruka always told him and read over the entire test before attempting to do anything. 'Whoa, these are HARD questions. This stuff is way past anything even Tsunade taught us. Something else is going on here.' Naruto kept his head facing the paper but he began to glance around him. Small motions from the proctors caught his notice. They were taking notes and watching from the sides. Most of the proctors seemed to be writing quickly.

Suddenly one stood up and yelled, "Number 87, you fail. Your teammates fail as well. Leave the room, now." Three genin rose and had their papers taken away. One of the genin smacked number 87 on the back of the head and muttered, "Idiot."

'So people are cheating here. But he said if you get caught you lose points. People are risking a lot if they cheat.' Naruto glumly looked down at his blank page and kept thinking

Sakura was a few rows behind Naruto and noticed he had not written anything yet. She was having trouble with the questions but managed to answer more than a few. She was certain she would pass.

Hinata was baffled by most of these questions. She had no trouble with the cipher. Her family taught her young about those. The red headed boy from the Sand was next to her. She noticed that he was using a jutsu with his sand to look around the room. 'Of course, he said if we are ninja we should have no problem. We are expected to cheat and they are looking for people who are lousy at it. That is why we have multiple chances to cheat if we get caught. Mess up too much in the field and it will be noticed that you are spying but one or two might not be enough to raise suspicions. Looking down at her paper, she muttered "Byakugan" activating her blood limit. Everything around her came into vision as her blood limit did its work. She glanced over most of the papers before finding one with what appeared to be all correct answers. She began copying those answers to her paper. One proctor made a mark against her for cheating but that was all. She was confident she would pass. 'Naruto might have a problem unless he figures this out soon. His page is still blank.'

It was already 30 minutes into the test and Naruto still looked down at his blank paper. In the corner of his eye, he caught some movement. A Leaf girl with buns that looked like panda ears was manipulating something with one hand and writing with the other. She was cheating! He waited an entire minute for her to be called out as failing but nothing happened. It confused Naruto. She was cheating but was not being tossed out. 'Well, if she can cheat and get away with it, then so can I. This will take a lot of chakra without using hand signs but I think I can pull this off.' Naruto looked intently on the proctor, Morino Ibiki. He focused on the man's entire body, clothes and look on his face. He built up a complete mental picture of the man and thought in his head, kage henge no jutsu, Shadow Transformation. Smoke puffed up in many parts of the room to reveal nearly 30 copies of Morino Ibiki.

Everyone was stunned as they began picking up papers from genin and looking them over, making comments about each one picked up. The real Ibiki lifted his hand to stop the assistant proctors from acting and he grinned evilly. 'Someone in here is smarter than they look. No one made a hand sign and no one can tell who the clones are because they all popped in looking like me. Let's see who they do NOT mess with. That should be our culprit.'

The clones roamed around the room, mocking and taunting every genin and taking the papers to look at. Finally one stopped at Naruto.

"Oh. Look at this little genin. His paper is still blank!" The clone began laughing as a second one came over and looked. "Come on blondie, you don't think you are going to pass like that, do you?"

Naruto just said, "Gimmie that!" and grabbed back his paper.

Another minute of mocking went by and the clones began to disappear in puffs of smoke. Naruto continued to grumble but picked up his pencil and began to sloppily write in answers to the test question as the correct answers floated inside his cranium.

Motino Ibiki was impressed. The whole disturbance had taken a couple of minutes but no one was obviously the cheater. 'Very good, a ninja worth passing.' Proctors kept calling out numbers as those who tried to benefit from the confusion but got caught in the process.

Naruto had filled in 5 answers before Ibiki announced it was time for the 10th question.

Ibiki spoke in dark tones, "Anyone who takes this last question and gets it wrong will never become a chunin. Luckily for those of you who are not willing to gamble that may request to leave now. It took a minute of tense silence before the first hand rose. Numbers were called out and teams dismissed as more felt they could not risk it.

Naruto gave off a head splitting yawn. Ibiki got pissed at that, "What is wrong with you, genin? This is your career on the line."

"Meh, Anko-sensei plays better mind games than that. Without the snakes poised to bite me, yours seems a little lame."

Chuckles rose around the room as the tension Ibiki had worked so hard to create shattered. 'I should have known Anko would teach that team she is with about mind games. Well, I am not going to get anymore to back out now.'

"Well, in that case, everyone still here; passes."

Ibiki explained his mind game to the incredulous genin and shrugged off anything they said.

A tree appeared from the wooden floor beside him and a red eyed, black haired woman in a jonin vest stepped into view.

"I am Yuuhi Kurenai. I will be the proctor for the Second Test of the Chunin Selection Exams. The 75 of you remaining will come with me to Training Area 44, the Forest of Death."

As the group traveled to Area 44, Naruto joined up with Hinata and Sakura. Hinata smiled at Naruto and took his hand asking, "Those were your clones, weren't they Naruto?"

"Yup. I had to make them come out transformed into the scary dude or they would have known it was me."

"What about those 2 making fun of you?" Sakura asked.

I had to make it look like I was not immune to the thing. If I had been the only person they didn't mess with I would have been spotted." Naruto grinned like he had just pulled off a master prank. "Me and Hinata had a mission once, I just sat in front of the clan compound for hours doing absolutely nothing. All their guards were watching me. Meanwhile, Hinata snuck in the back and pulled the prank. If you give someone what they expect to see, they will not notice the things they are not expecting."

Sakura just shook her head, "Hinata, you are a bad influence on this boy. HE said something that actually sounded intelligent."

Hinata blushed lightly and squeezed Naruto's hand.

The assembled genin stood before the gates of Training Area 44. Trees, larger and more menacing than the ones surrounding Konoha, loomed high overhead. The whole place gave off a feeling of foreboding. Even the sounds of birds were muted in the area, as if they were afraid as well. Rumors about this forest had circulated since it was created after the treason of Uchiha Madara. The most popular was that the First had created it in a fit of rage after the battle near Rice Country. Since those days, the forest was confined by a large fence littered with seals to keep the malevolence ingrained in the Forest confined. All manner of creatures were drawn into the region and seemed to change to suit the land. Leeches grew large enough to drain a man in minutes. Insects flourished and changed into more poisonous types. The whole area felt oppressive.

Many genin were daunted by the simple feeling of standing next to this place. More than one was glad they had paused to use a restroom knowing they would have soiled themselves otherwise. After allowing the genin to stare for several minutes, Kurenai spoke up.

"The second part of this Chunin Exam will be very simple. Each team will be issued a scroll. Either a Heaven or an Earth scroll." Kurenai displayed the two types she mentioned. "The object will be to get to the tower in the center of the Forest with one of each type. As there are an odd number of teams, we will be issuing an extra scroll to a random team." Kurenai held up another scroll resembling a fused version of the first two. "This one is basically a wild card. It will pair with either a Heaven or an Earth scroll."

"Mission time will be 120 hours. Those who do not reach the Tower within that time will forfeit. All members of a team must survive to reach the Tower in order to advance to the next stage of these Exams. If you leave the Forest, you are disqualified. You can quit the Exam at any time simply by leaving the Forest. Patrols will be monitoring the edges for dropouts."

"120 hours!" Choji cried out. "What will we do for food, or if we need to rest?"

Kurenai looked at Choji with an icy stare. "All team jonin sensei were instructed to have their genin show up for the Exams ready for a B class mission. If you showed up unprepared, it is not our concern."

"There is one last item of business before we begin. All participants must sign a waiver stating that they go into this mission willingly. It releases Konoha from any liability if you die. A team must turn in 3 waivers to obtain a scroll to participate."

Naruto looked down at his orange jumpsuit and frowned. He was not dressed properly for this type of mission. He began to pull out his storage scroll but Sakura stopped him. "Wait until we get into the forest, Naruto. We can all change inside so our opponents will think we are going in stupid. Remember what you said about giving them what they expect to see?"

Naruto thought for a moment before nodding, "Thanks Sakura, good thinking."

Hinata nodded as well and put away the scroll she had begun pulling out.

The team turned in their waivers and got a Heaven scroll.

Team 7 got an Earth scroll while Team 10 was lucky and got the sole 'wild' scroll.

Shortly, the team was taken to a random gate by an examiner. Hinata squeezed Naruto's hand once more before all three focused their thoughts into 'mission mode'. Personal feeling were safely locked away as they went from Naruto, Hinata and Sakura to being Fox, Rabbit and Blossom (Kitsune, Usagi, Hana)

The chunin examiner opened the gate and watched the team sprint into the forest. He shuddered less from the feeling the forest made than from the coldness that seemed to spring from the trio of genin. He locked the gate behind them and hoped he would never have to face those three in battle.

The team only went in about a quarter of a mile before they stopped and pulled out their storage scrolls. One at a time they got into their mission gear and armor. Once they completed the task and sealed away their normal clothing, Naruto created a trio of shadow clones in their traditional outfits. The team in their dark clothing jumped into the branches and blended into the shadows as the clones kept to the ground and headed toward the Tower at the center.

It was several hours before the team found a trace of another team. It was the sound of animals eating something that drew them to it. The pulped remains of a genin team lay in a trio of piles that some giant tigers were snacking on. Hinata turned green and bent over to vomit in the bushes nearby. Naruto just stared and the team quickly left the area. The sand mixed in with the remains had told him enough. The killers used sand as a weapon. Gaara had been here.

Within an hour, the team had the central tower in sight. They paused a few minutes to rest and make plans. They decided on having the trio of transformed clones play stalking horse in a poorly laid ambush and then spring the second one when the clones get attacked. The trio settled down to wait.

There was very little happening for the team as they waited. There was a strong feeling off in one direction that came through the overall feeling of dread the forest produced. It was like some evil was active but a good distance away. Naruto wanted to go check things out but Sakura just bopped him on the head and reminded him they were in an exam and could not simply investigate strange things like kids.

It was nearly sunset before Hinata spotted someone approaching. A team from Waterfall was making its way down the riverbank. She signaled Naruto and Sakura to be ready as the Waterfall ninja spotted the poorly hidden clones. It took only a few minutes for the clones to get captured and held. All the clones had feigned surprise and surrendered without being hit so none were dispelled. The clone Naruto pulled out a clone scroll and was handing it over when the trap was sprung. The Leaf team landed silently behind their foes and 3 disabling hits took down the Waterfall ninja.

"Crap, it's a Heaven scroll," Naruto muttered as they moved to a new location. The girls were just as depressed over getting the wrong scroll but the ambush had gone easier than they had hoped. Naruto being able to produce solid clones gave them an advantage in setting traps. Since the clones could be touched, the foreign ninja assumed they were real people.

"We will need to rest soon. It has been a long day," Hinata commented. Sakura and Naruto agreed and the team scouted for a place to rest for the night. They made a second grisly discovery near the river. A pair of genin crushed in the same manner as the Rain team. All that could be recognized were 2 Leaf headbands and some round sunglasses. The local animals had ravaged the remains and the weapons were scattered in the bushes. An Earth scroll covered in gore lay there as well.

"Ok, this is really creeping me out," Naruto said. "This Sand team is really bloodthirsty. They just killed these guys and just left the bodies alone. They did not even search them and left good weapons and a scroll behind." Naruto scraped some of the gore off the scroll with a kunai as he rolled it in the dirt. Once he got it mostly clean, he picked it up and looked at the girls.

"These guys are on a line from the Rain team to the Tower. The Sand ninja must have been going straight there and these two must have simply been in their way," Sakura commented. Her voice betrayed a small amount of fear. Hinata just nodded, her eyes showing a bit of fear as well.

"We should just make a break for the Tower now. It might be better to be there than out here for the night. It will be completely dark when we get there but I think it would be better," Sakura said.

"Wait," Naruto said. "We should wait and rest for a few hours before we go. It will make it easier and we will be more alert. Hinata and me did most of the pranks at night because people watching are at their worst in the late hours after midnight. Hinata said it has been a long day and all the other genin will be resting as well. We should have less of a problem after midnight."

Sakura was amazed at the rational thinking of Naruto. His argument was well thought out and tactically sound. What happened to the idiot that failed two times at the Academy? Six months of working together had shown her that while he was an idiot in many ways within certain areas he was a near genius. The year of pranks for the Hokage he kept referring back to had made him grow up a lot but in his core he remained an adorable idiot prankster.

After a few long minutes of thought, Sakura agreed. Hinata had nodded almost immediately with Naruto's plan. The small Hyuuga did not trust her voice after seeing 2 teams destroyed like they had been and their remains tossed aside like trash. She did not want to speak much as she was sure her stutter would return if she did before she could get a grip on things.

The team rested about 6 hours. They kept watch in shifts and got ready to move out about 2 hours past midnight. For all their preparations, they were glad they had no trouble getting to the Tower and entering. Hinata deciphered the message and shortly they were being led deeper into the Tower by a chunin with a bandage across his nose. He showed them to a room and left them there. They were the third team to arrive. The Sand team had broken the record time for the exam and surprisingly Team 10 had finished around sunset. Ino / Shika / Cho was more formidable than the apprentices had thought. The fact that they had had the 'wild' scroll meant they only needed to find a single team to defeat and would advance had helped.

The news they had was bad. Team 10 had seen the sole team from the Sound maiming members of other teams in sadistic fashion. At least 4 other teams had been forced to quit due to injuries. Naruto shook his head and told Shikamaru about the 2 teams they had found. Already 6 teams out of 25 were already known to be out. Three more had finished the test. After not even a day had passed meant there would be a lot more happening out in the forest during the next four days.

One more team arrived the following day. The genin from the Sound strutted into the central waiting area and dumped several scrolls onto the floor along with a small pile of headbands. Rain, Leaf and Waterfall were the only ones Naruto saw before he turned away in disgust. There had only been one Waterfall team in the forest. These bastards had killed them for no reason.

It was the fourth day when another Leaf team finished, Team Gai. 'Bushy Brows, Panda Chan and Ice Boy' were the mental nicknames Naruto gave the trio. The only spot of good news was that chunin patrolling the forest had found many injured genin along the edges of the forest. Most had been missing their headbands. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when one was found to be the Waterfall team. They might never be ninja again but at least they were alive. Outside of the teams crushed by Sand, there were remarkably few fatalities.

Team 7 arrived only an hour before the exam officially ended. The silver haired Kabuto was with them. It was his team that had been crushed and he apparently hooked up with Team 7 for safety. Kiba and Akamaru were both battered and bruised. The puppy seemed to be favoring one paw. Shino was dirty but maintained his normal attitude. The only outward sign of him not being well was a loud buzzing that came from him when anyone approached the boy. Sasuke was worst off and kept rubbing at a bandage on his neck. The Uchiha was pale and twitchy but his face held its normal 'I don't care about anyone else' look.

The six teams lined up before the assembled examiners and team sensei. Naruto barely listened as the Hokage spoke of the meaning of the Chunin Exams. He could feel hate rolling off the Uchiha standing next to him. He could not place the feeling but it was similar to the one in the forest a few days before. His attention was drawn back to the Hokage when it was announced there would be a preliminary round to the finals

Sasuke stood ignoring with all these losers around him. The Hokage was the only one worth listening to, at least for now. He winced as his shoulder throbbed again. Even though it pained him, a rush of power seemed to flow out of it afterwards. That Orochimaru had done something to him, but getting more power out of the bargain seemed like a benefit right now. The blonde dobe next to him kept looking but Sasuke ignored him. The boy was not worth his time. Soon, he would put the Loser in his place again, just like before. Thoughts of pain and torture of the blonde brought another throb from his shoulder but this time it felt good. It was almost like approval. Sasuke smiled as the first pair of genin was announced to fight a preliminary. He walked to the balcony and waited. Soon, it would be his turn.

The first match was announced. Yamanaka Ino against Kankuro. The remaining 16 genin were sent up to a balcony to watch with their teachers and wait their turn. The referee named Hayate Gekkou stood between them.

"The match will go on until I determine there is a winner or one of you dies. If I tell you to stop fighting, you will stop. Continuing after a command to stop will have dire consequences."

The teens faced each other. Kankuro looked at Ino and just laughed

"I get to face a little girl? Geez, even the midget blonde up there would give me a better fight than this girl. I mean she does have a nice rack for her age but I wanted a challenge."

Ino was enraged at being both dismissed and insulted. She rushed at Kankuro who still stood laighing with his arms crossed and gave him a hard side kick that sent him flying backwards. The wrapped bundle on his back fell to the floor as the Sand ninja rolled to a stop.

"I am not going to get insulted by a boy with no fashion sense wearing a cat costume and makeup. I'll have your lame butt groveling in a minute," Ino yelled. She saw the Sand ninja was slow to get up so she went for her main attack. Her hand went into a strange sign in front of her face, "Mind Transfer Jutsu!" In a moment, Ino fell limp to her knees as Kankuro stopped moving. Neither moved for a few seconds until a laugh sounded form the bundle Kankuro had dropped. The wrappings fell away to reveal a second Kankuro.

On the balcony, Shikamaru shook his head and commented, "Troublesome. A puppet user. Ino lost." The other genin looked at him as Asuma nodded, "She had a good idea but the wrong target."

"What happened?" Naruto yelled. "Why did she just collapse like that?"

Shikamaru grumbled but answered, "Ino's family uses mind jutsu to control their enemies. She would have had control of the Sand ninja if she had picked the right target. The Sand ninja hid as the puppet and his puppet disguised as himself. Ino sent her attack and her mind at the puppet. It will be several minutes before she wakes up back in her body since her attack missed a living mind."

Hayate saw Kankuro stand over Ino's motionless form and nodded. "Winner, Kankuro of the Desert."

Asuma jumped down and picked up Ino to carry her to the balcony until her jutsu wore off. "Still, she had a sound idea. If she had been on target she would have won. The Sand kid looked fairly mindless." Shikamaru nodded slowly as the rest of the Leaf genin chuckled.

The next match was shown on the display Aburame Shino vs. Abumi Zaku.

Shino stood facing the Sound ninja. His kikai bugs were nervous. The emanations from the foreign ninja disturbed his colony. This would not be an easy battle. Too many of his bugs were young and lacked battle experience. The few that remained before the Wave could not aid the newer ones effectively. Such was the result of the near destruction of his colony and receiving an additional one from the clan. The two colonies got along well enough but they were not cohesive unit even months after the implant. The newer colony needed more direction than the older one and made several clan jutsu more difficult. But Shino was like his insects; he adapted to new circumstances.

Zaku performed what looked like a wind jutsu and shot a blast of air and sound at Shino. Shino jumped away and circled around Zaku. The Sound ninja tracked the bug user constantly pointing his hands at Shino. Shino launched a wave of bugs at Zaku only to have them dispersed by another blast of compressed air. Shino noticed the small holes in the hands of Zaku now and understood. He gave a mental command to his older colony and let them fly. The smaller swarm was dispersed like the first had been but began to circle the area instead of returning directly to Shino.

"You have an interesting weapon in those hands of yours," Shino noted.

Zaku chuckled, "Jealous? I am one of the elite genin of my village. Only a few get to see what I can do. You are fortunate that you get to face me. You get to die knowing you face of a superior ninja."

"Interesting. But your prosthetics do not make you a superior ninja. Only skill can do that." Shino had his newer colony swarm behind him as he spoke. The air around the pair cleared as the kikai formed a cloud behind him.

Zaku was keeping an eye on it as Shino spoke to him. He was confident this Leaf ninja had no chance against him. He was elite. Orochimaru himself had said so.

Shino lifted his arms to direct the swarm behind him. Zaku lifted his in response and filled his arms with chakra to power the air tubes in his arms. The swarm moved to Zaku and in turn he fired. Then he screamed in pain as his arms exploded. He fell in pain as he saw his shattered arms in pieces around him. Kikai bugs were feasting on the residual chakra before returning to Shino.

Hayate looked stunned as the Sound genin writhed in pain on the floor, "Medic!!" he cried out. The medics quickly closed on the Sound ninja and carried him and the pieces of his arms to the infirmary. "Um … winner, Aburame Shino."

Shino headed for the balcony as the next match was announced, Tenten vs. Temari of the Desert.

Naruto was waiting for Shino as the bug user returned. "How did you manage that one Shino?"

"He was overconfident, Naruto. I had both of my colonies circle around him. The older insects that survived the Wave need less direct control and can be given multiple orders at once. I had both colonies circle around him but only the younger one returned to form around me. I instructed the older one to move into his blind spot and infiltrate his air channels and clog them. The intent was to merely disable them but as you can see, it was more spectacular than that. However, given the actions of his team earlier, I feel the damage is justified and appropriate."

The genin were stunned by both the tactics used as with the long oration by Shino. Most had never heard him speak so much in a month.

By the time Shino finished his explanation, Temari had soundly defeated Tenten. The weapon user was bent backwards over the battle fan and tossed aside like a rag doll. Lee sped down and caught his teammate giving the fan mistress a glare.

The next match was posted, Rock Lee vs. Akimichi Choji.

Lee handed off Tenten to the medics who took her to the infirmary to check her spine. He saw Choji approaching and bowed to the chubby ninja. "Yosh, let our flames of youth burn brightly in this battle, Choji-san"

Choji just looked at Lee. He had seen the older genin around town and was disturbed by his appearance, "Um, yeah, right, burn."

Lee held up a fist to Choji who smiled as they knocked fists in a salute. Both then waited for the signal to start.

"Begin," said Hayate.

Lee rushed forward and kicked Choji under the chin. The larger ninja was surprised at the speed and strength of the green clad boy. Lee jumped after Choji loosening the wraps on his hands.

Choji was used to being hit. It was a trait of Akimichi to be able to take hits and respond quickly in response. "Multisize jutsu!" Choji's arm and fist grew in size as he flew backwards. He swung as Lee came into range and backhanded Lee away. The spandex clad boy hit the ground hard and bounced into the wall. Choji managed to control his fall and rolled to his feet as Lee shook off the hit he had taken.

"Yosh, the flames of youth burn brightly in you Choji-san. I will not let up on you. This will be a grand battle."

Lee moved to fast to see to Choji again and kicked him from behind this time. Choji again had to react in the air. He make a seal and shouted, "Meat Tank" His body grew larger and morphed into a ball and he began rolling. Choji landed, got traction and turned back towards Lee. Lee sidestepped the rolling Choji and began making hits against the larger boy. Choji rolled around again and missed the dodging lee only to absorb another half dozen solid blows. Choji rolled into the wall this time and collapsed back into his normal form, breathing heavily. His face and hands all showed bruising as Lee had made strikes in the most vulnerable spots on Choji.

The Akimichi tried to make a hand sign only to grunt in pain as at least 2 bones in his hand had been fractured. He could not make hand signs now.

Lee called out, "I know you are injured Choji-san. I have no desire to harm you any further but I will if I must. Please surrender this battle."

Choji paused. He did not want to surrender but with a wounded hand he could not use his family jutsu. Lee had a few lumps but was basically unhurt. Pride swelled up in Choji as he thought about his family's special food pills but even those would not fix his hand. 'This is only a test to see if I am good enough to be chunin. I could fight on and be hurt more for nothing. There will be other tests.' "All right, you win. I can't keep up to you and a broken hand puts me at a larger disadvantage. We will fight again another day, Lee."

"Winner, Rock Lee," Hayate said.

Lee and Choji walked toward the balcony together. Asuma waited for Choji by the stairs. "Good job Choji. I know quitting was not something you wanted to do. I could see you fight against it. But listen to me, backing out when you are hurt in this kind of match is exactly the right choice to make. In truth, for Konoha ninja, it is something that marks one as being close to chunin than a person who fights just to save pride."

Choji thought for a moment then nodded. "I had better get this hand looked at. I am going to be out of action for a few weeks. When I am ready, can we train some more? I could have done much better with my taijutsu there."

Asuma nodded but frowned when he heard the next match called, Hyuuga Neji vs. Hyuuga Hinata.

Hinata made her way down to the floor. Neji simply leaped down to avoid using the stairs with Hinata. The pair faced off in front of Hayate. Hinata took a simple ready position while Neji stood there glaring at the younger girl. Both activated their clan bloodline and looked at each other.

"It seems Fate has brought us together, Hinata-sama. But it has also written that you will lose this battle. Give up now before you get hurt," Neji said in a cold voice.

Hinata stood silently in her ready stance.

"Even now I can see the flaws in your stance, Hinata-sama. Your weight is not in proper balance for Gentle Fist. (Juuken) Your arms are not in the right positions either."

Hinata took two steps backwards and just relaxed then stood there, watching Neji. "You are now having second thought about this match, at last Hinata-sama. I knew you were weak but you do not deserve to be in the Main House with such weakness. All your special training has been wasted I see."

Hinata finally moved. She made a large exaggerated yawn stretched a bit. She then pulled a senbon from out of her weapons holster and began cleaning out from under her fingernails.

Everyone in the balcony was taken aback by Hinata's actions except for one, her sensei, Anko.

Anko remembered the advice she had given Hinata earlier that month.

"No matter who you get into fights with, you will be smaller than they are. You are physically the smallest ninja in Konoha, Hinata. They will try to intimidate you and think their size gives them power over you. Intimidation has won more fights for ninja than skill. Ninja hate having to waste energy when a larger battle might be around the corner. Mind games are a useful tool for both sides. When confronted with them, play your own. Make the person talking seem boring and not worth listening too even if they have your full attention. Kakashi plays games like that on Guy all the time. Mess around with a something to occupy your hands that would make you seem distracted. Make small comments when the moment presents itself. If you show yourself not being flustered by their games, it will unnerve your opponent. It will keep control of the situation in your hands. Like the first thing I taught you, it's all about control."

Hinata looked back up at Neji, "Are you done, big brother? We really should get this match going .I do not think we will be allowed to advance simply through talking all day." She flicked the senbon in Neji's general direction. It spun lazily in the air and hit the ground with a quiet metallic ting. At the sound, both Hyuuga were in motion.

'Dang, Hinata is sooo cool.' Naruto thought.

Neji closed the gap between himself and Hinata in moments in a full attack. His strikes were picture perfect Gentle Fist. His balance was without equal in the clan. He had defeated sparring partners of greater age and ability with such an attack. He missed. Hinata simply was not there to be hit. Somehow she had shifted her body sideways to avoid his strike completely and he paid for his miss with a pair of strikes to his arm.

He flared his chakra at the moment of the hit to prevent his tenketsu from being closed. Hinata followed with a leg sweep that Neji jumped over and tried to strike her shoulder. A hand blocked the strike to the side before Hinata used the momentum of the leg sweep to swing to the left in a graceful pirouette.

"Very nice, Hinata-sama, but we are not here to dance."

"Oh darn, and I brought my dancing shoes." Hinata faked a pout as she waited for Neji's next attack.

Neji growled softly under his breath. This was not going the way he had thought it would. Hinata was not the same weak girl she had been for so long. Confidence poured off of her and her skills, while strange, were much better than he had realized. He would have to exert himself.

Neji closed in again, much faster than the first time. He made multiple strikes at Hinata who gave ground under the assault. Her blocks were coming just as fast as his attacks. It did make sense since they used the same basic taijutsu style but she made it seem much more graceful. Her moves had no wasted motion and fluidly went from one to the next. He pushed himself harder in the next flurry of attacks, 'She should not be this strong,' he thought.

Neji saw an opening and sent a blow at Hinata's side and felt it connect solidly. His sense of triumph was short lived as he felt a searing pain in his tricep. His arm curled in reflex as he back off a few steps. Hinata had struck at the muscle and temporarily paralyzed it. He could not open his arm from the curl the bicep was pulling it into. He poked the pressure point and felt a serious pins and needles sensation in the muscle as he rubbed it. Hinata merely waited in her ready stance but slightly favoring her side.

"If I were an enemy, big brother, you would be finished already. They would not have given you the chance to fix that."

Neji just grunted and kept up his working on his arm. It would be weakened for hours yet but he could move his arm again. He could draw this out to get more of a chance to recover. "From you? I think not. You, your sister and your father are all weak. My father was stronger than yours. He had better taijutsu, a stronger Byakugan. He should have been clan leader not yours."

"Our fathers were identical twins Neji-kun. Mine simply was born first. They were equals at birth, one no better than the other. He was raised to be a leader and your father was raised to be a warrior. Either one could have been molded into either role. They both had their future decided for them at birth it is true but that was not destiny. It was only how they were born. What Hyuuga clan leader EVER allowed a Branch member to live in the Main house? You were raised there, Neji-kun. Yes, both of us barely knew your father but he and my father fought what was chosen for them at birth. The clan made them leader and subordinate, but above that they were still brothers. True, brothers fight and get jealous of one another but when family is threatened, they gathered around and fought together."

"Father has told me of that night, Neji-kun. Your father was upset about your branding and had argued with mine. Father was in a bad place politically with the Elders and he did not wish to brand you with the seal. He was being threatened with being ousted due to his 'liberal ideals' when it came to his brother and nephew. The alarm came of me being taken and immediately they dropped their argument and fought to save me. My father killed the kidnapper and in the end yours chose to die to protect us all. My father still lights incense for his brother and isolates himself the entire day after my birthday because it has wounded him so."

Neji knew about Hiashi locking himself away that one day a year but never knew exactly why it was done. Could Hinata be telling the truth about that? Was all his hatred of the Main House due to circumstance? True, he was the only Branch member living in the main building. His room was just as fine as Hinata's and Hiashi had never actually used his curse mark. Hiashi treated him more like a son than a servant. This led to Hinata calling him 'big brother' all the time. Also, Hanabi had never been marked, as she should have been as the younger sibling.

Neji shook his head. He would not let go of things, this was too much of a distraction right now. His arm was as good as it was going to get. He needed to end this farce and move on to the next fight.

"Well, 'little sister'; this new style of yours is the talk of the clan. Why now give someone else a viewing of it?"

Neji charged Hinata and closed to striking distance. The pair began trading blows, blocks, sweeps and counters as they tried to beat down the other. Neji felt some of Hinata's blows close his chakra points and he was certain his were doing the same to her. Something seemed wrong, as his strength seemed to be slipping away. He was getting too many points closed too fast for his body to compensate. Hinata seemed just as fresh as she had earlier. A few of her motions were less steady but that was to his hits doing their job. He had to risk everything on one last blow. The move the Main house could kill him for knowing, Rotation (Kaiten)

Hinata was getting winded now. This exchange of blows was doing more damage than she liked. She was doing much better than she had hoped against Neji. A solid strike to her leg had reduced her mobility greatly and only her training at dodging blows was keeping her in this battle. She saw Neji gather chakra and for a moment thought he was going ot use a jutsu but then recognized he was going to do a move he should not know. She could not avoid a Kaiten in her state so she stopped fighting like it was a spar and began fighting like she was a ninja. Her hand reached into her holster and pulled out several senbon needles and hurled them at Neji as he shouted out the moves name.

A sphere of chakra surrounded Neji as he began to rotate in one foot. All but one senbon was blown back by the chakra but the last embedded itself into his thigh.

Hinata raised her arms before her face as the wave of chakra blew her backwards. She saw her senbon had reached its target and smiled. She shifted her weigh enough to lessen the impact before slamming into the behind her with a large thud. She fell boneless to the floor unconscious.

Neji was breathing heavily as he looked at Hinata lying there and took one step toward her but his leg refused to move. The ground swayed underneath him and he fell unable to move. The senbon in his leg had a slight blue tinge to it and he realized he had been poisoned. Blackness claimed him.

"As both fighters are unable to continue, I declare this match to be a draw, double disqualification, neither advance," Hayate said.

Medics came out to the fallen fighters as their instructors came out as well. Anko looked down as Hinata was placed onto a stretcher to be taken to the infirmary. "Good job kid. You showed someone important to you that not only are you strong, but that maybe he has been wrong about you for many years. I'll be in to see you soon."

Guy was wailing about how his 'precious student' had fallen to such a cowardly attack as a poisoned senbon. In truth, it was more of an act to save face since he was actually glad Neji had his butt handed to him. Now perhaps Neji could truly awaken the Fires of his Youth since he could lose the idea that he was invincible.

"Whoa, that was some fight, huh Sakura?" Naruto exclaimed/ "I never knew Hinata was so tough. I bet she could be kicking my butt out there with those moves. I had better train harder from now on."

Sakura just nodded along with the few other Leaf genin watching.

Hayate cleared his throat, "The next match, Gaara of the Desert vs. Kinuta Dosu."

Gaara merely used a sand teleport down to the floor as Dosu walked down the stairs. Once the pair was in position, Hayate signaled for them to begin. Dosu jumped backwards and swung his arm at Gaara. "My Melody Arm with take care of you quickly!"

Gaara merely stood motionless as the wave of sound generated by the device on Dosu's arm washed over him. For a moment Gaara seemed unharmed when he suddenly bent over an vomited.

Dosu laughed wildly. "You cannot avoid sound, desert rat. It gets through even your sand."

Gaara gave an evil grin and lifted a hand at Dosu whispering, "Sand Coffin" His sand flowed out at Dosu like water and surrounded the Sound ninja. In moments, Dosu had vanished from sight as the sand compacted around him. "Sand Funeral," Gaara whispered again as the sand crushed the genin.

The sand fell away as the crushed remains of Dosu fell to the ground. Several people in the balcony as well as a couple of jonin vomited at the sight. Death was something they were used to but this. This was simple slaughter. Gaara walked away as Hayate named him the winner. Some chunin on hand had the unenviable task of cleaning up what remained of Dosu.

It took about 10 minutes for the chunin to clean up the blood and remove the corpse. No one on the balcony spoke until the next match was announced.

Nara Shikamaru vs. Tsuchi Kin.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru grumbled as he made his way down the stairs.

The Sound girl was quiet as she made her down to the floor. Her teammates had both been braggarts and loud. She seemed much more reserved and thoughtful. 'Likely a genjutsu type since they tend to remain in the background and not noticed until they strike.' Shikamaru thought. He surveyed the floor and saw nothing he could use as a distraction. 'Ah well, the old fashioned way I guess.'

"Begin" called out Hayate as he jumped back from the genin.

Kin tossed senbon towards Shikamaru and back away out of easy melee reach. Shikamaru just stood in the same place and throw single kunai knifes at Kin, gauging her reactions. Kin just dodged and returned fire with more senbon. Shikamaru heard some bells from the latest senbon and figured they would be part of her genjutsu attack. He threw another kunai which the dark haired girl avoided. She was now in position. He raised his hands and muttered his family jutsu. His shadow reached out and connected to Kin's feet.

"Shadow Possession jutsu successful," he quietly stated. Kin tried to move but found herself taking 3 large steps backwards at the same time that Shikamaru did. Her last sight was the Leaf boy bending over backwards. The ceiling filled her view until her head rammed into the wall hard. Blackness fell.

Shikamaru straightened up and walked off with his hands in his pocket once Hayate declared him the winner.

Four genin watched the board now. Naruto, Sakura, Kiba and Sasuke were all that remained to be chosen. Sakura found herself holding her breath as the names appeared on the board. It came rushing out as she saw that she would be fighting her former crush; once Naruto and Kiba finished.

Uzumaki Naruto vs. Inuzuka Kiba

Kiba was torn on what to do. Akamaru was still injured from their time in the forest. He knew it would weaken his fighting style but he did not want to risk his puppy right now. "Stay up here, Akamaru. I can handle this guy all alone." He tried to sound brave but the puppy could tell his master was worried and just whined but obeyed.

Naruto faced Kiba down on the floor and they knocked fists like Choji and Lee had. "May the best man win," Naruto said.

"Of course I will," Kiba countered.

"Begin" Hayate called.

Naruto immediately called out his favorite jutsu and a half dozen copies of Naruto appeared around Kiba. The clones all began attacking Kiba with taijutsu as the dog user tried to figure out which was his true opponent. Solid counters would destroy the shadow clones but each time it happened Naruto would create more. He was getting a good idea of Kiba's skill level in taijutsu and decided to go for a quick knockout.

The clones piled on Kiba as the dog user called out his family attack, "Fang over Fang" (Gatsuuga) Kiba whirled quickly and became a blur just before the clones piled on and they vanished into smoke as Kiba closed in on Naruto. Naruto grinned as he dodged Kiba and set off his trap. A massive stink bomb landed on Kiba who gagged on the odor against his sensitive nose. Naruto followed up with a devastating blow to the jaw, knocking out the disoriented Kiba.

"Wiiner, Uzumaki Naruto," Hayate declared.

Kakashi came down to help with Kiba as the boy stirred. "Lucky for you I was already tired, Naruto. If I had Akamaru ,this would have gone a lot differently."

"I believe it, Kiba," Naruto replied. "We will have to do this again when you both are feeling better."

The pair knocked fists again as Kiba was escorted out to get some oxygen to clear up his sense of smell.

Final Match, Haruno Sakura vs. Uchiha Sasuke

Sasuke had spent all the matches with his Sharingan eyes activated, soaking up techniques. He did not care that it was considered rude to do so. He could claim ignorance of that fact as it had never been told to him directly. Besides, he was an Uchiha. He deserved any jutsu he could find to help him destroy his brother. Private family ownership of a jutsu that could help with that was not his concern. Most of the jutsu he copied were of little use to him as most were either too weak or he lacked the physical prowess to use them. Only the Shadow Clones Naruto had used seemed worthwhile right now but the charka cost was horrendous. Sasuke knew he might be able to make a single clone but that would be if he were fully rested. How much chakra did the Loser have?

The mark on his shoulder given to him by that Orochimaru in the forest was his little secret. It was almost promising him power if he acted in accordance with the desire to hurt and kill. If he thought of kindness or compassion it would throb. Thoughts of mercy and generosity brought pain from it. He had passed it off to Kiba and Shino as it being an Uchiha seal since it resembled his eyes. They had bought the lie and did not pursue the issue.

Sakura looked at the boy she used to have a crush on, He seemed so cold and distant since the Academy and looking at him now; he had an aura of almost evil intent. She would have to take care of business quickly if she wanted to pass to the next stage. Still, she did not relish having to fight Sasuke. If he had been kinder or found a different path, they could have remained friends.

"Begin," Hayate called and backed off again.

Sakura jumped forward and kicked at Sasuke. He just blocked her kicks with minimal effort. His Sharingan told him where the blows would fall and he just responded. He kicked in return at an opening and Sakura was sent flying away. Sasuke had yet to move from his starting position as Sakura rolled and got back to her feet.

She pulled out a double handful of kunai knives with small bags attached. She threw them around Sasuke who did not even try to moved yet. The bags exploded into a cloud of small nots. Sasuke realized now he was in danger and jumped as Sakura set off the notes. 'Sakura blizzard trial run successful,' she thought. 'That ought to impress even him.'

Sasuke barely escaped from the explosion and moved to attack Sakura directly. His blows fell fast and furious on her as she had not been expecting her attack to not even damage her former crush. Her arms took punishment as she covered her face and vitals from his blows. A strike got inside her guard and he landed a crushing fist to her stomach, lifting her up off the ground. She spat blood as her teeth bit her cheek. She landed on her back.

'All that training Tsunade-sensei put me through and he tears me apart in seconds. How strong is he?' she thought.

Sasuke picked Sakura up by the bodice of her dress with his right hand. He drew back his left as her arms hung limply at her sides. She whispered out, "Don't"

He grinned in an almost malevolent fashion as a memory surfaced. "You can do better than that Sakura. If you were more polite I might consider it. Say Please."

Sakura recalled how she had made Sasuke ask about tree climbing on the Wave. However she refused to give him the satisfaction. Her left hand reached back to grasp her father's kunai. She pulled it out of the sheath and swung it at Sasuke's head.

Sasuke's Sharingan saw her motions and correctly deduced it was a kunai in her hand as the girl was desperate strike. In a moment he knew how far he needed to lean his head to have it miss. He did not even glance at the blade. It was not until it sliced deeply into cheek that he realized something was wrong. He dropped Sakura and looked at the knife in her hand for the first time. He saw his mistake, He had assumed she would have a standard kunai and reacted to that. His hand felt the gash in his face. It has come very close to his EYE! THE FOUL GIRL HAD ALMOST TAKEN AWAY HIS EYE!! Rage flew through Sasuke at the thought and the seal on his next throbbed in sympathy. Power coursed into his body as thought of pain and suffering inflicted upon the unworthy girl flashed across his mind. The white of his left eye turned black and strange flame like marks flowed across his body from the seal.

Sakura managed to stand up and looked at the shaking Sasuke. Her knife held ready she heard a dark chuckle come from the Uchiha. He made a trio of hand signs and rushed at the girl. Purple lightning filled his hand as he moved and he thrust it at the girl's chest. The bolts arced around her body as the electricity filled it. She flew backwards in a scream of pain and rolled to a stop about 10 yards away. She lay still. Shouts arose from the balcony from the jonin when they saw Sasuke's attack. Tsunade and Kakashi were at their student in moment. Sasuke just stood there doing nothing as Tsunade bent to her student.

Sakura was not breathing.

Next Chapter: Aftermath

End Notes: Alas, poor Sakura. I am sooo evil. My kid is not happy with me leaving this cliffhanger. That must mean I did it right.

I know I accelerated some plot points out of the filler, movies and Shippuden. I love the idea of Sakura's combo medic bag weapons pouch. The pictures of it all show an over-sized kunai along the top of it. I wanted Sakura to have some sort of meaning attached to the thing so I had her father give it to her. Her father by the way is a plain working stiff man. His name means accountant.

Review Notes: Midoriryu had a nice long review with a few points I wanted to respond to. First I appreciate your clear writing and addressing my plot without seeing the need to simply slam my writing. That is the kind of constructive review I think people should make.

My treatment of Sasuke is one that I decided on in the writing of the story. I was not that I needed a villain .I just expanded all the characters along how they would be different with the changed Naruto. Sasuke lacks the bonds that the canon version made with Naruto. It caused him to fall harder and faster than he would otherwise. It was his friendship with Naruto that left him with any redeemable qualities at all. My Sasuke is not the canon one, I have stated that often enough. Yes, he is a coward. He is full of himself and his own sense of superiority. All he wants is to get revenge and rebuild his clan. Too bad he wants revenge first because if he went the other way his life would be a whole lot more fun.

Your point about canon and Sasuke not trying to kill Naruto. Actually, he succeeded on 2 separate occasions in that VotE fight to 'kill' Naruto. The Chidori through the chest and the piledriver into solid stone (manga volume 26 pg 36 and anime episode 133) The Chidori was aimed at Naruto's heart and Naruto deflected it. The only reason Naruto survived is obviously the Kyuubi.

I also think that while I have made him an almost completely evil character; I have made him actually more powerful that canon simply because he will not hesitate to use his power like canon would. In one way he could be compared to the fall of Anakin Skywalker in Episode 3. He did not intend to become what he did but he did anyhow.

Bissek, the bank account is like any account a parent would set up for their child, with both names on it. The Third put his name there to prevent anyone from stealing from it. No one would steal from the Hokage.