AN: Hows it goin everyone! Im back and better than ever with a brand new chapter for you all! I made sure it was much longer than the last one, once again, sorry about that but i really didnt want to start the Chunin exams in the last chapter...

Anyway, just read it and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I dont own Naruto

Chapter 4

Naruto stood in the middle of the Konoha stadium along with all the other Genin teams who had managed to pass the second phase of the exam along with team 7, who had been put in by the council. The people in the stands were cheering for their favorite Chunin hopeful and placing wagers on who would make it to the later rounds. Naruto looked around and saw that many of the Genin hopefuls had very excited expressions, some even looked smug. Of course there was one blue-haired Hyuga who looked like she was about to faint from nervousness.

Naruto calmly walked towards her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. The girl flinched from the contact but she visibly calmed when she saw who it was.

"Don't be so nervous Hinata-chan. You only need to do your best, no one can ask any more than that. I know you will do great."

Hinata smiled and nodded. "T-Thank you Naruto-kun. C-Can you w-wait here w-with me?"

The blonde chuckled and took a step to her side while they waited. Several minutes later the Hokage sent a large fireball screeching into the sky to get everyone's attention. When the crowd finally became silent the Hokage cleared his voice and used a jutsu to make himself heard all throughout the stadium.

"People of Konoha and elsewhere in the elemental nations, welcome to the 183rd Chunin exams!"

There was another round of cheers before Hiruzen held up his hand to regain the silence.

"Now, usually we have a preliminary match to reduce the number of participants, but due to an unprecedented emergency we were forced to skip right to the last round of the exams. Below you see all the Chunin hopefuls, and right here today we will hold tournament style fights until there is only one tournament champion!"

There was a huge chorus of cheering and applause that seemed to only grow louder as time went on. Naruto stole a glance at Hinata and saw that she was taking shallow breaths with wide-eyes, the beginnings of a panic attack. Naruto took her hand in his and gave it a small squeeze, causing the girl to look up at him and calm down, if only a little.

At this time a man with a blue bandana tied around his head and a senbon walked out onto the stadium floor, and raised his voice so it would be heard over the crowd.

"My name is Shiranui Genma, and I will be the proctor for this portion of the exams!"

Once again the crowd fell silent to hear the man's words.

"We will be holding individual battles where the participants have been chosen at random and will advance via a bracket style. The contestants will fight and use any jutsu they possess, and the match will continue until one opponent forfeits, or is deemed unable to continue. Killing is frowned upon, but not grounds for disqualification. Now before we begin is there anyone here who doesn't believe they will be able to participate?"

There was silence for a few seconds as the Genin looked around for anyone who would leave. Slowly a boy with glasses and silver hair raised his arm. "I Yakushi Kabuto would like to forfeit. My chakra reserves aren't nearly large enough to be able to last that long."

Genma nodded and pointed towards the exit, and the boy walked out of the arena. Genma turned to address the crowd again.

"Would Uzumaki Naruto and Akado Yoroi please stay down in the stadium while the rest of the Genin please go to the observation balcony?"

The Genin began to walk off, and just before Naruto was about to walk towards the center of the floor he felt his hand yanked back and felt something soft and moist on his cheek. He suddenly realized that Hinata had just kissed him on the cheek.

"F-For good luck!"

Naruto smiled and let her leave. He walked over to the proctor and faced down his opponent, who looked to be much older than the normal age of a Genin. Genma looked at the two.

"Ok, put on a good show now, large turnout today. HAJIME!"

The proctor jumped back and so did Yoroi, getting some room to prepare his strategy. He looked over at Naruto who still remained in the same position with his arms down by his side and scoffed.

"Are you so scared that you decided to just let me beat you to a pulp without putting up a fight? A good idea, maybe you aren't as stupid as you look."

Naruto yawned. "Forgive me, I thought this was a fight, not a bickering match. I do hope that spewing insults isn't your jutsu, or this match will indeed be quite boring."

Yoroi growled and charged at the blonde. A blue aura surrounded Yoroi's hand, but Naruto had already felt him gathering chakra in his hands. He could feel jutsu Yoroi was going to use before he even began it, and so Naruto stood still and let his opponent come.

Yoroi grabbed Naruto's head and began to drain out his chakra, all the while laughing. "You fool! I'm going to drain every last bit of chakra you have! You should have kept your distance while you could, but it's too late now!"

Naruto folded his arms across his chest. "Oh really? If you truly wish to drain me of my chakra I hope you brought an army to do so, because I doubt you have the capacity to hold all of my chakra."

The older man laughed. "Don't think you can talk your way out of this one boy! I've already won this-"

All of a sudden Yoroi fell the ground clutching his arm and screaming in pain. He began writhing around in the dirt, screaming for help to make the pain stop.

Naruto chuckled and bent down to meet his opponent, placing his hand on his arm. Naruto's hand glowed the same pale blue as Yoroi's did earlier, and Naruto began pulling his chakra back into his system. This process only lasted for a few seconds before Yoroi finally calmed and stopped screaming bloody murder, and slipped into blissful unconsciousness.

Naruto stood back up and shook his head. "I was going to warn you, but you were insistent on jumping into the battle without hearing my warning. My chakra is quite volatile, and only those of my blood are capable of housing it, anyone else will be ripped apart by the chakra."

Naruto walked over towards the stairs to the observation balcony leaving a stunned crowd. Genma regained his bearings and walked forward as a medical team rushed over to Yoroi's side.

"Winner by knockout, Uzumaki Naruto! Can Hyuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke please come down to the stadium floor?"

The crowd erupted into a roar of cheers and applause, more over the anticipation of the second match than the result of the first. As Naruto was walking up the stairs he passed by Neji, who didn't so much as give a glance towards Naruto on his way down. Sasuke though was waiting at the top of the stairs for his blonde team mate.

Naruto tried to walk past him but Sasuke put a hand on his shoulder and turned him around.

"What do you want Uchiha?"

Sasuke glared at the blonde. "Look, I'm sorry for the other day. I shouldn't have snapped like that, and I had no right to demand anything of you."

Naruto narrowed his gaze. "You're right, you didn't."

Sasuke sighed. "Look, I'm trying to apologize here. I'm not used to doing this kind of thing, I just don't want to drive away my only friend." Sasuke held out his hand towards Naruto. "Friends?"

Naruto looked down at the outstretched appendage, then up at his raven-haired team mate. Naruto sighed and took the hand. "Friends. Now go down there and win so I can kick your ass again."

Sasuke smirked and began walking down the stairs. "In your dreams dobe!"

Said dobe shook his head and walked over to his Hyuga girlfriend, who hugged him tightly when he got closer.

"Congratulations N-Naruto-kun! T-That was a-amazing, y-you didn't e-even do anything to him!"

At this time Kiba walked up with his hands in his jacket and Akamaru on his head. "Yeah, what jutsu was that? You just stood there and a few seconds later he was on the ground screaming. Was it a Genjutsu?"

Naruto chuckled and rubbed Hinata's back as he returned the embrace. "No, his defeat was of his own making. He attempted to steal my chakra but he discovered the hard way that anyone not of my blood who tries to integrate my chakra into their system will be torn asunder by its power."

Kiba's eyes went wide and he gulped. "Yikes, remind me never to ask for your chakra in the future…"

Naruto nodded and turned his attention to the stadium below. "Will do, now let's pay attention to the fight below, it should be interesting."

Hinata detached herself and put Naruto's arm around her shoulder as she watched the fight below.

Neji and Sasuke were glaring at each other, the match having started just seconds earlier.

"Uchiha Sasuke. It will be great to prove the strength of the Hyuga clan against the last survivor."

Sasuke smirked. "Can it Hyuga. It doesn't matter what kind of jutsu you throw at me, I'll always win. I'm an Uchiha; we were stronger than the Hyuga before, and we will be stronger again."

Neji dropped into his Juken stance and activated his Byakugan. "I don't know who this 'we' you keep talking about is, but I will prove that the Byakugan is the superior Dojutsu."

Neji charged forward and sent two strikes at Sasuke's shoulder in hopes of shutting down his tenketsu and disabling his arms. Sasuke flared his Sharingan to life just before Neji reached him and saw the chakra gathered at the tips of his fingers. Sasuke bent backwards at the waist to let Neji's attack pass harmlessly over him while Sasuke dropped his right arm on the ground and used it as a pivot to try and kick Neji's abdomen.

Neji saw the attack coming and grabbed the foot, twisting it and trying to break the Uchiha's ankle. Sasuke pushed off with his right arm in the direction Neji was twisting his foot and rotated with his leg, rendering Neji's movement useless while throwing another kick at Neji's face. The Hyuga was forced to jump back to avoid the hit, but not before closing two tenketsu on Sasuke's foot that he was holding.

Neji smirked as he watched Sasuke delicately put some weight on his foot, only to wince in pain. "Two down, 359 to go."

Neji charged again, but Sasuke was more wary about letting him get within striking distance. Sasuke gathered chakra in his lungs and brought his right hand up to his mouth.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!"

A fireball several meters in diameter roared to life and was sent towards the charging Hyuga. The fireball blinded Sasuke from the smirk that spilled across Neji's lips.

"Kaiten!"

The fireball engulfed the Hyuga, but as soon as it was upon him it burst apart and in its place was a blue whirl of chakra. Sasuke's eyes went wide as he watched one of his prized clan jutsu get beaten like it was nothing.

Sasuke saw the chakra begin to fade and Neji slowed to a stop. As soon as Neji got his bearings he charged again, this time Sasuke made sure to ready himself.

'If I let him close any more of my tenketsu, it'll slow me down and it'll just allow him to close more and more. I have to be careful.'

Neji and Sasuke traded blow after blow, and Sasuke used his Sharingan to predict where Neji was going to strike to knock his wrists away to prevent any damage.

'Left. Right. Shoulder. Arm. Leg. NOW'

Sasuke planted a kick in Neji's gut sending him careening across the dirt. The crowd cheered and people were screaming out for more.

The Uchiha smirked when the Hyuga got out of the dirt and wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth.

"What's wrong Neji? I thought you were going to prove which Dojutsu was superior?"

Neji scowled and took several calming breaths. "Your arrogance will cost you dearly, Uchiha."

Sasuke chuckled. "Hello kettle, this is pot. I'm black."

With a roar Neji charged towards Sasuke, the latter of whom smirked and got ready to counter the obvious attack.

'I knew it, rile them up a bit and the Hyuga's Juken is easily picked apart. Now I just need to… is he smirking? Why would he… SHIT!'

"It's too late Uchiha, you are within my range of deviation."

Up in the stands one Hiashi Hyuga stared in disbelief as his nephew got into a signature stance of the main house.

"Impossible…"

A little girl with long brown hair looked up at her father. "Tou-san, what's wrong?"

Hiashi shook his head. "Without any guidance Neji was able to recreate one of the strongest moves of the main family. Watch closely Hanabi, for I have never seen a Hyuga as gifted with the Byakugan as Neji is."

Sasuke tried to jump back, but Neji was already on him.

'My only chance is to block as many of these as I can!'

Neji sent two strikes at his legs. "Two palms!"

Sasuke managed to block those two. 'Good, I can still use my arms, where is he going to hit next…'

Neji lunged at his legs, and Sasuke went to block those hits too. At the last second though, Neji turned twisted his body upwards and began assaulting Sasuke's arms again, and the Uchiha just wasn't fast enough to block the change.

"Four palms!"

Sasuke winced in pain as he felt his arms go limp at his side. 'Not good, not good at all! I have to get away before he does any more damage!'

Neji mentally smirked as if he was reading Sasuke's mind. 'I'm not letting you get away that easily.'

"Eight palms!"

Neji struck Sasuke's legs, cementing him in place and leaving the Uchiha at his mercy.

"Sixteen palms!"

Neji continued his barrage on Sasuke's chest, closing all tenketsu around his lung. 'No more of those fireballs for you, trash.'

"Thirty-two palms!"

Sasuke was being hit like a ragdoll, not able to move or even scream out in pain, only grunt as foreign chakra was forced into his body.

"Sixty-four palms!"

With an open palm strike to Sasuke's chest Neji sent the Uchiha skidding across the ground, slamming into the wall. Sasuke lay on the ground motionless and Neji was panting from the exertion.

"This is the reality we live in. The Byakugan is, and always will be, superior to the Sharingan."

All of a sudden the Sasuke in the dirt exploded in a puff of smoke.

"Nani!?"

Neji saw a leg coming down from above, but he was too tired to dodge it. The attack sent Neji straight down into the dirt, where he bounced a little off the ground from the recoil. After Sasuke's kick landed he jumped back into a stance, panting.

Neji coughed up blood and tried to get back up, but he collapsed back on the ground.

Genma walked forward, and saw the Hyuga couldn't last any longer. "Hyuga Neji is unable to continue. Uchiha Sasuke is the victor! Will Tsuchi Kin and Haruno Sakura please come down to the stadium floor."

A medic team came to retrieve Neji, but the Hyuga called out to Sasuke. "Wait! How… did you escape? I was sure that I had you."

Sasuke scoffed. "Kage Bunshin. I did a Kawarimi back when you were dispersing that Gokakyu. When you hang out with someone who can literally make hundreds of clones of himself you are sure to pick up a thing or two. Though my limit is only one or two, I can still do the trick."

Neji lowered his gaze and allowed himself to be put on a stretcher. "I see… I have failed the Hyuga as a branch member."

Sasuke shook his head. "Save the crap Neji. It was a good fight and you know it. If the dobe was down here he would be yelling his head off about not believing in that fate bullshit and living your own life, and for once, I would have to agree with him."

Sasuke walked over to the stairs just as Kin walked out. She sent him a sweet smile but he ignored it, he was focused on his pink-haired team mate walking down the steps.

"Sakura, hold on a second."

The girl had hearts in her eyes. "What is it Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke put a hand on her shoulder and had a deadly serious look on his face. "Listen to me. I'm not going to tell you not to fight that girl, but be careful. She won't have any problems killing you, hell, she might even do it just for a laugh. If you find yourself in a corner, forfeit. It isn't worth your life."

Sakura opened her mouth to argue, but the serious expression on Sasuke's face told her not to.

"Ok Sasuke-kun. If I don't think I can win I'll give up."

Sasuke sighed a breath of relief. "Good, I would hate to have to get used to another team mate. That would be such a pain in the ass."

Sakura chuckled and walked down the stairs to begin her match.

In the Kage box the Kazekage was chuckling in amusement.

"That was certainly a great fight. I can't wait to see the Uchiha back in action against that mystery Genin Uzumaki Naruto. That should be quite the fight, don't you think Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen nodded in agreement. "You're correct Kazekage-sama, it'll be a superb match indeed."

Under the veil covering his face the Kazekage was smirking. 'Yes… It should prove most enlightening. I am excited to see how far along my experiment has come!'

In the observation balcony Hinata was looking sadly at the ground.

"So nii-san lost…"

Naruto squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "He might've lost Hinata-chan, but he gained something far more valuable than a victory. He saw that his hatred and belief in fate can only take him so far in life, and I believe that his personality will take a turn for the better after this."

Hinata looked up at Naruto with hopeful eyes. "You really think so?"

The blonde nodded. "I do. How about after the first round we go check up on him?"

Hinata smiled and nodded.

"How adorable."

Naruto looked over his shoulder to see his team mate smirking while he heard an "eep" and felt something bury itself into his chest.

Naruto smiled. "Thanks Sasuke, now she'll never come out. Might as well tell Genma-san that she forfeits now."

He felt something like a vibration on his chest that he could only assume was a giggle. "Anyway, congratulations on that victory. Had Neji been just a little more observant he would have noticed that you were henged as a rock, but he was too overconfident in his victory and lost focus."

Sasuke gave a 'Hn' and walked over to the side of the railing. "So do you think she can win?"

Naruto looked over to see Sakura dodging several strikes from a smirking Kin. Sakura seemed to be out of breath while the other girl appeared to not have even broken a sweat.

"In all honesty, no. She will lose, but maybe that's for the best."

Naruto saw out of the corner of his eye Sasuke glaring at him. "You better elaborate a bit. Sure she hasn't been the nicest person to you, but I thought you would be above petty grudges."

Naruto shook his head. "That isn't what I meant. I hope that after this defeat she will realize that the life of a Kunoichi is just as hard as the life of a Shinobi, and maybe then she'll start taking her training seriously." Naruto saw Sasuke's features visibly relax. "Don't tell me your starting to like her?"

Sasuke sent him yet another glare. "That's none of your business."

Naruto chuckled and looked back down over the railing to see Sakura on her hands and knees gasping for breath while her opponent taunted her. After a few more jeers Sakura stood up and raised her hand in forfeit, and a medical team came to take her away to get her injuries checked.

Genma made his way to the center of the ring. "Will Subaku no Gaara and Tsurugi Misumi please make their way to the center of the ring."

Just then a swirl of sand appeared next to Genma and Gaara appeared with a twisted grin on his face. Misumi walked over next to Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke and looked out of the balcony and saw the bloodthirsty killing intent coming off the Genin and shouted down.

"No thanks, I like living. I forfeit."

There was a chorus of boos that sprang forth from the crowd who were anticipating a good match after the beat down they were forced to watch minutes before.

Gaara looked up at his intended opponent. "Come down here trash. I will have your blood or I will-"

Gaara stared wide eyed at the blonde next to his opponent as his blue eyes shifted to a purple and a ripple like pattern spread out around them and three tomoe appeared on the ring closest to the middle. Gaara didn't know who he was, but just staring in his eyes silenced the demon inside him, and it almost seemed like Shukaku was… scared?

Gaara shook his head, unused to the strange silence and looking around with very wide and frightened eyes. His gaze finally settled on the proctor next to him, who had been trying to get his attention the entire time.

"OI! If you don't leave the stadium right now you will be disqualified and escorted out of the stadium."

Gaara glared at the man and disappeared in a swirl of sand.

Genma sighed. "Will Kinuta Dosu and Rock Lee please make their way down to the stadium for their match?"

A green blur rushed past them and landed on the dirt of the stadium floor. "YOSH! It is finally my time to show my skills!"

Up in the stands an older look alike stood up an flashed a thumbs up. "Show them the power of hard work Lee!"

Lee saluted to the figure. "HAI! Gai-Sensei!"

At this time a boy wrapped up like a mummy exited the stairwell and walked out to the middle of the ring.

Genma looked at both contestants to see if there were any second thoughts, there were none. "HAJIME!"

Both opponents ran at each other with their fists cocked back ready to punch.

Naruto, with Hinata in front of him cuddled under his chin, was watching the match start below when he felt a surge of chakra behind him and a hand on his shoulder.

"Gaara, you will remove your hand or I will remove it for you. There will be no second warning."

Naruto felt the hand leave his shoulder, but Gaara remained behind him. "What did you do?"

Naruto looked over his shoulder with furrowed brows. "What are you talking about?"

Gaara glared at the blonde. "I want to know what you did! I can't hear Shukaku anymore! He's still there, I can feel him, but it's like he's scared of you! He isn't whispering in my head anymore, and I want to know what you did!"

Naruto chuckled. "If we meet in the ring, I will tell you, otherwise just watch the matches proceed peacefully."

The redhead glared for a few more seconds before walking away.

Hinata looked up at Naruto. "W-What was t-that Naruto-kun?"

Naruto shook his head. "I'll tell you when we go see Neji."

Down below Lee was on his knees, clutching his head in pain. As soon as he charged his opponent he had flicked some kind of metal contraption on his arm, and then Lee's world went fuzzy. He felt like he had been kneed in the gut, but that didn't really hurt since he had undergone the most extreme training, but his head had a massive migraine.

Lee managed to jump forward in a series of rolls on the ground to avoid being hit in the back of the head and possibly knocked out. Lee pushed himself off the ground and stood on shaky knees.

'If I can proceed further then I can prove that hard work pays off more than natural talent! I wanted to fight Neji, but if I can succeed against Sasuke, then my goal will still be realized!'

Dosu charged him again and again, but Lee was always one step ahead of him, and as time went on his migraine lessened more and more. After a few minutes of dodging Lee was finally back to normal.

"That is quite the jutsu you use there. It seems you use sound waves to disorient your opponents by attacking their inner ear, then you go in for the kill."

Dosu chuckled. "Very perceptive, but just because you know what it is doesn't mean you can counter it!"

The bandaged teen charged once again, bringing his right arm back to smash across his opponents face. To his surprise Lee disappeared from his vision, and the next thing Dosu felt was a sharp pain on the back of his neck before his eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed onto the ground.

Lee bowed to his down opponent. "A great fight Dosu-san, but if I know that you have to touch your gauntlet before you can use your attack, then I can strike in the time where you are preparing."

Genma walked into the middle of the ring while Dosu was being recovered by the medical team. "Winner by knockout, Rock Lee! Will Kankuro and Yamanaka Ino please come down to the stadium floor?"

Up in the observation balcony Kankuro laughed and made his way down the stairs while Ino looked unsure of herself. Shikamaru and Chouji were trying to reassure her, but she was still very pale with nervousness and fear.

Naruto slipped from Hinata's grip and walked over to the blonde. He put a hand on her shoulder and she looked into his eyes. "Ino, I know we don't know each other very well, but the Ino I know wouldn't be intimidated by some weirdo who wears makeup. I can remember a girl from the academy who did whatever it took to reach her goals, even if that meant a little hard work, so go out there and kick that clown's ass."

Ino smiled and nodded while wiping a stray tear from her eye. "Thanks Naruto, that's just what I needed to hear!"

Naruto smiled as he watched Ino run down the stairs. He nodded at Shikamaru and Chouji who gave a silent 'thank you' back before he made his way over to the Hyuga princess.

He wrapped his arms back around her and she looked up at him with a giggle. "Should I be jealous?"

Naruto smirked and looked down at the Hyuga. "I don't know, should you?"

Hinata smiled and slapped his arm lightly, and then they both turned their attention down to the fight below.

Ino was looking across from Kankuro, who wore a large smirk that screamed arrogance.

Genma raised his hand and jumped back. "HAJIME!"

Ino jumped back to get some room between herself and her opponent, waiting for him to make the first move and formulate a strategy accordingly. Kankuro scowled at the fact that he would have to go on the defensive.

'Shit, I don't want to have to reveal any more of Karasu's abilities than I have to, let's see if I can settle this with just some Taijutsu. I just hope she doesn't pull out any freaky jutsu.'

Kankuro charged at Ino, easily dodging the Kunai she sloppily sent towards him.

'Heh, this might be easier than I thought.'

He managed to close the distance between them without too much difficulty since Ino hadn't put up much of a fight. He started to use the simple punches and kicks, trying to see if she was just toying with him and hide her skills; she wasn't. After several blocked strikes he caught her with a solid hit to the gut, forcing her to her knees.

"This is what the Kunoichi of Konoha are like? This is pathetic. I know kids who aren't even Shinobi yet who are stronger than you guys are. You leaf Shinobi have gotten soft in these times of peace!"

Ino glared at him and pulled out a kunai. "Oh yeah! I'll show you soft!"

Kankuro jumped back just in case she had some trick hidden up her sleeve, but to his surprise all she did was cut off her hair.

"What the…" Kankuro bust out laughing uncontrollably. "You decided to give yourself a haircut!? This is great! Oh man, my sides hurt! I'll give it to you, it's certainly a creative jutsu! Who ever heard of a jutsu where someone laughs themselves to death!"

Ino glared at him and threw her hair up in the air, letting it settle around the arena between herself and her opponent. She gathered chakra in her body and sent it out towards her opponent.

"Chakra Hair Trap Technique!"

Kankuro blinked. "What the hell… I can't move! Heh, I guess you aren't so useless after all, but what now?"

Ino smirked. "This! Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Switch Technique)!"

Ino projected her mind towards Kankuro, and once she had him she would force him to surrender the match. She knew she wasn't going to win with conventional methods, so she was going to give up at the next fight, but this guy insulted her one to many times.

She thought she had the match won, but as soon as her technique reached Kankuro, it bounced right off, and it recoiled and she fell on her back while Kankuro laughed.

Ino stood up on shaky legs, tired from using so much chakra so fast. "What… what happened? I… I know that I had you!"

Kankuro smirked. "Did you?"

All of a sudden the wrappings on Kankuro's back unraveled themselves and another Kankuro rolled onto the ground while the Kankuro Ino had been fighting started changing into what looked like a puppet. The puppet then launched itself at Ino, with its arms spread wide as blades appeared on the edges of the arms.

Ino raised her arm frantically. "I forfeit!"

The puppet stopped inches away from Ino's body, and she fell to the ground in shock from how close she had been to death. Kankuro brought Karasu back to him and proceeded to wrap it back up like a mummy. Genma walked out to the middle of the arena just as Kankuro walked back to the stairs to go back and rejoin the group.

"Winner by forfeit, Kankuro! Will the participants please clear the floor and can Inuzuka Kiba and Akimichi Chouji please make their way to the arena?"

Up in the Kage box the Kazekage was chuckling. "I must say that the young Yamanaka's plan was indeed well thought out, it was just her bad luck that she had to face my son."

The Hokage nodded in agreement. "Indeed, it would seem that your son was the worst possible match up for her, especially with him able to use the puppet to block any of her mind transfer techniques."

"Yes, well let's see how this next match plays out. An Inuzuka vs an Akimichi? Two heavy hitters squaring off against each other should definitely prove to be an interesting match."

Hiruzen looked over at the Kazekage with a calculating eye. "Yes, yes it should be."

Kiba and Chouji were smirking at each other. They had been friends in the academy, skipping class to get some food and then be reprimanded by Iruka when they finally showed up with engorged stomachs were some of their fondest memories. Shikamaru would have gone with them, but he found it much easier to just sleep in class than spend the energy to skip.

Kiba set Akamaru down beside him and fell into his clan's Taijutsu stance. "Let's have a good match eh Chouji?"

The large boy only smiled and nodded.

Genma jumped back to give the two boys room. "HAJIME!"

Kiba smirked and charge in without Akamaru, hoping to end the match before he had to hurt on of his friends.

Chouji smirked. "Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial Multi-Size Technique)!"

Kiba watched in amusement as he charged headfirst into his friend's expanding stomach. It enveloped him like a balloon, and Chouji arched his back and infused chakra into his stomach to repel Kiba back into the wall. All amusement drained from Kiba's face when he realized that he hit the far wall with enough force to drive the air from his lungs.

Kiba fell to the dirt on his knees, and after a few moments he collected himself and regained his composure. "Damn Chouji… never expected you to throw your weight around… literally!"

Chouji chuckled at his friends joke. "Good one Kiba, now let's get serious!"

Kiba walked over to Akamaru's side and pet his dog. "Look Chouji, let's just use out best jutsu head on, and not drag this on. I know you don't want to hurt me, and I'm not too fond of the idea in fighting you either, so let's just throw whatever we have at each other and let whatever happens, happen?"

The plump boy downed a green pill began to gather as much chakra as he could in his body. "Sounds good to me, just do be upset when you lose!"

Kiba smirked and took a pill out of his pocket and ate it, throwing an identical pill to Akamaru who captured it in his mouth before swallowing it. They both burst with energy, so much so that Akamaru's fur gained a reddish tint.

"Jūjin Bunshin (Beast Human Clone)!"

Akamaru transformed into an exact copy of Kiba, both still overflowing with Chakra.

"You ready boy?"

Akamaru whimpered and looked at his partner with a concerned look while Kiba scratched the back of his head. "Yeah I know, but I think we can do it!"

Kiba closed his eyes in concentration. 'Have to make sure I get this right!'

"Jinjū Konbi Henge: Sōtōrō (Man Beast Transformation Combo: Two-Headed Wolf)!"

There was a puff of smoke from the stadium, and when the smoke cleared a gigantic two story tall two headed wolf appeared in all its snarling glory.

'We did it boy! We actually did it! Take that Hana, a whole two years earlier than you could!'

The large wolf turned its two heads towards the plump boy who hadn't moved from where he was standing earlier. All of a sudden chakra exploded out from his body, and began enveloping him, tendrils of chakra wrapping around his form.

"Chō Baika no Jutsu (Super Multi-Size Technique)!"

Chouji grew to unimaginable heights, towering over the double headed wolf that once appeared massive. Kiba was mentally sweating.

'Oh man, Chouji's going all out here. Let's do this boy, we can't disappoint!'

Kiba began rotating himself, picking up speed and creating small gusts of wind that seemed to tear apart the very floor of the arena. Chouji meanwhile withdrew his limbs and head, creating what resembled a human wrecking ball. He began spinning too, picking up speed and making a buffer of wind in front of him.

Without warning the two superpowers collided head first.

"Chō Nikudan Sensha (Super Human Bullet Tank)!"

"Chō Garōga (Super Fang Wolf Fang)!"

The force of the collision sent torrents of wind tearing into the crowd, causing the civilians to turn their untrained eyes away from the scene in front of them. Neither side gave an inch, each putting as much chakra and power into their attack as possible. The confrontation seemed to stretch on for an eternity, until finally, Kiba began to steadily lose ground.

'No! I'm not going down without a fight!'

With a surge of determination he managed to press Chouji back to their original position, and he in turn steadily gained ground bit by bit. He tried to hold the pace, but he was drained from wasting too much chakra on his jutsu earlier, and began to succumb to the effects of exhaustion. He dropped the rotation, and was forced back, slamming into the far wall while Choji slowed his rotation down and began shrinking down to normal size. He too was reeling from the effects of the chakra pill he had taken earlier, and he knew that if Kiba had anything left then he was done for.

Chouji lifted his head to see the double-headed wolf disappear and Kiba and Akamaru popped back into existence, falling to the dirt below motionless. Chouji himself was doing everything he could to not collapse, holding his hands on his knees while sweat poured down his face. He swallowed the dry lump in his burning throat and tried to catch his haggard breath.

Genma noticed the states of the two fighters and decided to intervene. "Winner by knockout: Akimichi Chouji!"

The crowd erupted into a chorus of cheers louder than that given to Sasuke after his match. Everyone had adrenaline pumping through their system just watching those amazing heavy hitters collide head on. Sure they weren't the most subtle jutsu, but they definitely excited everyone. Kiba and Chouji were taken to the medical bay to have their injuries checked out and their chakra pathways examined to ensure no lasting damage.

Genma cleared his throat to overcome the loud cheers. "Will Hyuga Hinata and Temari please make their way down to the stadium for their match."

Hinata's eyes subconsciously went wide with fear when she heard her name called, especially when she had to fight an unknown Kunoichi. She felt a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder and looked up into Naruto's large blue eyes. He gave her a quick peck on her forehead to distract her while he slipped something into her kunai pouch.

"Just do your best Hinata-chan and remember, no matter what happens down there I will always be proud of you."

Hinata smiled and nodded, wriggling herself out of his grip and made her way towards the stairs.

Naruto felt a presence behind him and saw a taller girl with her hair tied up in four pigtails smirking at him.

"I hope you said your goodbyes. It's nothing personal, but how about we make a deal? After I wipe the floor with her you take me out for a night on the town?"

Naruto shook his head. "You assume she is just some pretty wallflower, but you are mistaken. While she is very beautiful, she is far from helpless, so you would do well to not underestimate her."

The girl 'hmpfed' and began walking away, but turned around when something grabbed her wrist. She looked back into large purple eyes with rings spreading out from the center with three tomoe appearing on each ring.

"I won't tell you to hold back since that would be unfair to Hinata-chan, but if you hurt her unnecessarily, or do anything malicious to maim her, I'll make sure to personally make your life a living hell. Do I make myself clear?"

Temari visibly paled and nodded slowly, and when she blinked the blonde's eyes were back to their normal blue hue. Temari swallowed the lump in her throat and once again made her way back to the stadium floor.

Naruto turned with a sigh to to look down below as he saw Hinata making her way to the center of the arena floor. Sasuke let out a haggard breath and smacked Naruto on the back.

"Geeze, that was intense. I swear I could have seen my breath there for a second. So what was with the theatrics back there?"

Naruto shrugged. "I won't let anything ever happen to her, not when I've finally found someone who accepts me for me."

Temari was scowling at her blue-haired opponent, still somewhat shaken at what she just saw.

'That wasn't like any Dojutsu I've ever seen! Is that what made Gaara calm down so much? It was like staring into a void, an endless abyss of raw power, maybe that's what happened to Uzumaki's opponent…'

She barely even heard the start of the match, and she barely had time to dodge the two strikes aimed at her shoulders by her opponent.

'Shit! He was right, this chick is serious. Whatever, if I can get some distance she's finished!'

Temari jumped back and brought her large war fan out in front of her to block more jabs from her Hyuga opponent. She sent a chakra infused gust of wind at her opponent, who managed to duck out of the way and roll to the side out of its range.

"Not bad girlie, but giving me some breathing room was a really bad idea. You lost the match as soon as you backed off."

She sent several more large gusts of wind tearing at Hinata, and she could do little more than try and get out their range, but she didn't come out unscathed. Small cuts littered her arms and legs, but fortunately they weren't anything that would inhibit Hinata from fighting. Temari settled into a defensive position behind her fan, watching her opponent for any slight movement.

'Dang, she's right. I never should have given her some room. I just need to figure out a way to get close again…'

She felt around in her weapons pouch for something, anything, she could use. She felt something that wasn't in there when she packed it. They felt small and round, and when she took them out she smiled and cast a glance up at the observation balcony to see Naruto grinning back at her. In her hand were small smoke bombs with a very strong eye irritant mixed in that she recognized from one of Naruto's many pranks from his academy days.

'I have to be careful about how I go about this, or it could backfire on me. I guess it's ironic that I'm going to use something to disable her eyes while I have a Dojutsu myself…'

Quick as she could Hinata pulled a kunai out and threw it at her opponent. Just as Hinata predicted she batted it away with a gust of wind from her fan that sent it down into the ground in front of her, but she didn't see the explosive tag attached. The tag went off and sent small chunks of earth every which way.

This didn't harm Temari in any way, but it gave Hinata the momentary distraction she needed to send the small balls of smoke hurtling towards Temari with a quick flick of the wrist. Hinata was sure to jump up high before she threw them so the sun would be at her back, temporarily blinding Temari for a moment and rendering the small smoke bombs near invisible, until they went off that is.

Temari's eyes widened as she found herself surrounded by smoke.

'What does she think she's doing? I'll just blow all this smoke away and then-'

She felt her eyes water, and she couldn't control the urge to wipe her eyes. She closed her fan and ran out of the smoke for fresh air, her throat burning from the irritant and her head spinning. Temari was blinking vigorously to clear the chemical from her eye, but her vision was blurry and tunneled. She never saw the blue blur rush behind her, but she definitely felt Hinata close the two tenketsu on her shoulders that controlled the chakra flow to her arms.

Temari dropped her fan as her arms went limp, and she fell to her knees with Hinata's palm mere centimeters from the back of her skull.

Genma jumped into the field. "Temari is unable to continue. Winner: Hyuga Hinata!"

There was a loud chorus of cheers, but Hinata was only looking at one person, only his opinion mattered. Said blonde was grinning ear to ear, his eyes sparkling with pride.

Hinata smiled and turned back to her opponent. "A-Ano, Temari-san? W-Would you like me t-to reopen your t-tenketsu for you?"

Temari's vision was just coming back to her and she was half tempted to storm off in a pout, but the concern on the girls face in front of her was genuine. With a sigh she answered.

"If you don't mind… I'm glad to see that there is at least one Kunoichi in Konoha who takes her training seriously."

Hinata simply replied with a smile, and sent chakra into the closed tenketsu yet again, forcing them open. "A-Arigato Temari-san, and t-that was a great m-match"

Temari stood up and rotated her arms. When she found them in working order again she picked up her fan and strapped it to her back. "I guess it was. See you around girlie."

With a wave Temari walked off to the regular stands while Hinata hurried off the field back up to the observation balcony.

Genma waited for them to leave before announcing the next match. "Will Nara Shikamaru and Abumi Zaku please make their way to the stadium floor please"

Hiruzen chuckled and looked over to a clearly upset Kazekage. "Well, that was certainly unexpected. I thought for sure that young Hinata there was doomed, but it would seem that our number one most unpredictable ninja has rubbed off a bit on her.

The Kazekage narrowed his gaze on the stadium below. "I am inclined to agree, that move was quite unorthodox, though clearly effective. That showed great planning capabilities and ingenuity, traits rarely found nowadays. I only wish my daughter would have put up more of a fight."

The Hokage shook his head. "I think your daughter performed admirably."

The Kazekage kept his glare focused on the ground. "If you say so."

Hinata ran up the stairs towards he destination, the arms of her blonde. Sure they had been together for little more than a week, but it had been the best week of her life. Naruto had always treated her with respect, loyalty, and most of all, love. He hadn't said it, but she could see it in his eyes, the way he looked at her, the way he held her, it was magical, and it made every second together pure bliss.

So when she reached the top of the stairs, nearly knocking over Shikamaru who was on his way down, and didn't see Naruto, she was obviously confused and hurt. She was sure he would be one of the first to congratulate her. She was delightfully surprised when two arms pulled her into a large huge from behind, gentle but firm.

"That was brilliant Hinata-chan, I knew you could do it. I'm so proud of you, you showed everyone here that you are every bit the strong and dependable Kunoichi I knew you were, but most of all, I think you proved that to yourself."

His voice was so husky and just made Hinata melt in his arms. She sighed and sank against him, closing her eyes partly, never wanting the moment to end.

"H-Hai…"

Naruto chuckled and walked them over to the balcony to watch the match below.

The entire situation was troublesome, no, even that word wasn't strong enough to describe the situation. Shikamaru thought that he would stroll in, show off a few jutsu, use some effective strategy, then forfeit, but no, this Zaku guy had to come in full throttle.

He seemed to shoot compressed air out of the tubes in his hands, a terrible matchup against someone who needed a few seconds to trap his enemies in a shadow binding method. It only took a minute more, a mere sixty seconds to come up with a strategy that would allow him to win, but it would take great timing.

"What's wrong Nara? I thought you guys were supposed to be geniuses on the battlefield, but so far all you have managed to do is dance around like an idiot!"

Shikamaru shook his head. 'Man, this is gonna be such a drag…'

He threw several kunai at the ground in front of Zaku, who just stared at him with an amused grin. "What is up with all you Konoha Shinobi? Do they not teach you how to aim? I didn't even need to blast them away!"

Shikamaru just pointed down, and Zaku looked down to see explosive notes attached to the kunai. 'Shit!'

Luckily for Zaku he had enough time to jumped back against the wall before the notes had a chance to go off. Zaku looked up to see his opponent in a ram seal, and he lifted his arms to create a defense against any jutsu he would throw out if need be. Only, that was his plan, but he currently couldn't move his arms. Scratch that, he couldn't move his entire body.

"Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique) successful."

Zaku looked down, his eyes being the only thing he could move, and he saw a dark shadow extending around the outer wall and attaching itself to his own shadow.

'So those explosive notes were intentionally thrown to make me jump back into the shadow. I walked right into his own territory.'

Shikamaru smirked. "I'm glad you figured out my plan, as terrible and hastily thrown together as it was, it was no less effective."

Zaku struggled against his bindings and glared at his opponent. "So you have me caught, what now? I'm not going to forfeit, and the longer you drag this on the more chakra you waste!"

Shikamaru rubbed his chin, forcing Zaku to do the same. "You're right. This is a race against time where you have the advantage. I can't really do anything that would make you forfeit, since I can't control what you say, but I can do… this."

Shikamaru bent backwards very abruptly, and brought his opponent with him. Where Shikamaru met air as he bent back, Zaku met the cold hard stone of the stadium wall, and was knocked out cold.

Shikamaru released the jutsu and let Zaku's body drop into the dirt. "Make fun of me all you want, but don't ever bad talk my family and friends while I'm around… Man, way too troublesome."

Shikamaru put his hands behind his head and walked towards the stairs he came down from while a medical team retrieved Zaku's unconscious body for medical treatment.

Genma walked out to the middle of the field. "Winner by knockout: Nara Shikamaru."

There was a decent sized applause from those who were able to appreciate the cunning strategy displayed as opposed to the raw power that the others wanted.

Genma waited a few seconds before continuing. "The last match of the first round will consist of Aburame Shino vs Tenten, can the fighters please make their way down to the stadium?"

Not more than five minutes later a stoic looking boy with a high collar coat and sunglasses was standing across from a girl with a Chinese style shirt with her hair in buns that made her look like a panda.

"HAJIME!" And the proctor jumped back to give the fighters their space.

Immediately the girl pulled out a scroll and channeled chakra through the ink, summoning a storm of kunai hurtling towards her opponent. Her aim was true, and many of the kunai found their mark on the boy, only for him to dissolve into a swarm of insects.

"Ewww, I can never get used to Aburame and their weird bug jutsu!"

She ducked out of pure reflex as a fist sailed harmlessly over her. She ducked away from her opponent and took several jumps back for room.

"With that move the match was decided. I would advise you to forfeit Tenten-san."

Tenten scoffed and pulled out another scroll. "Please, don't count your chickens before they hatch. You missed and I haven't even gotten started yet!"

She began channeling chakra through the scroll, but the weapons she summoned only traveled about half way to their target before they lost velocity and fell to the stadium floor in large lumps of metal.

Tenten looked back and forth between her scroll and her opponent. "Nani? What's going on!?"

Shino put his hands in his coat pockets. "I told you, that match was already decided the moment you dodged my attack. I had already planted a female kikaichū on your body, and her release of pheromones allowed the males to swarm over you in a matter of moments undetected. If you do not forfeit I will be forced to drain you of your chakra completely."

Tenten scowled, but finally relented and raised her hand. "Fine, I forfeit."

Shino nodded and a small mass of small bugs flew out of Tenten's clothes and retreated back into Shino's body.

Genma walked forward into the middle of the stadium. "Winner by forfeit: Aburame Shino. That concludes the first round of the Chunin Exam finals. There will be a one hour intermission for the participants of the first round to replenish their chakra and rest to the best of their ability."

Up in the balcony Hinata, still in Naruto's arms, tilted her head up. "A-Ano… Naruto-kun?"

Naruto smiled and turned around, walking towards the entrance to the stadium complex and leaving Hinata still at the railing. When he reached the entrance he looked back over his shoulder with a grin.

"Well are you coming Hinata-chan? I thought we were going to go visit your cousin?"

Hinata squeaked and ran to his side to continue towards the medical bay. Naruto stole a glance over to his raven-haired team mate, who was smirking at Naruto, the unsaid message heavy in the air.

'One hour till out rematch.'

END

AN: Well, i promised a longer chapter and i delivered. Lots of fighting and such, weeding out the weaker ones. dont worry, next chapter gets nice and exciting, so make sure to check back soon!

Please review if you liked it and tell me if i can work on anything with the story!

Peace