Sasuke was glad he got to fight first, but on the other hand he still wasn't entirely certain what was going on with the mark on his neck. He sized up his opponent, one of the genin from Kabuto's cell.

Like most of the Ame teams Kabuto's cell had apparently opted for a standard outfit consisting of a high-collared, sleeveless, purple shirt with a short-sleeved, white one underneath, a simple obi around his waist, purple pants, blue sandals and purple fingerless gloves.

Yoroi Akado then took that a step further by his hitai-ate covering his hair, round shades over his eyes, and a fabric mask over his face that hung down to his neck.

The other competitors made their way up to an attached balcony to watch the fights from an elevated angle, as did the jonin commanders, Hokage, and the proctors besides Hayate. The sickly proctor raised one arm, eyed the two genin competitors, then swiftly lowered it.

"Begin!"

With the call to start Sasuke palmed four shuriken in his right hand, crossed his arms to switch two to his left hand as he lowered his stance, and uncrossed his arms as he threw the volley of shuriken. He wasn't sure how much chakra he could risk using so he tried just activating his newly awakened Sharingan and nothing else.

The Uchiha flinched in pain and reached up for the back of his neck over his right shoulder with his left hand, the markings were creeping along his skin again. Sakura and Naruto were both worried, but to their surprise some of the Konoha jonin seemed to recognize this.

"That mark!" Anko hissed angrily, her hands suddenly gripped the railing. Kakashi narrowed his eye, ready to step in if need be.

Yoroi dodged Sasuke's initial volley and took the opportunity to charge, "What's wrong, Uchiha, more tired than you wanted to admit!?" he asked as he delivered a right punch through the younger genin's guard to the stomach, then grabbed the stumbling boy by the right arm in his left hand.

Sasuke blinked at the yellow glow at the point of contact, then he started to feel drained, "Let go of me!" he snapped, trying to pull free but already weakening. He tried to think of a way out, but he had no ninjutsu he could use and his stamina was draining fast.

Then the Uchiha got an idea, he could not pull away from his opponent, so he'd punish them for being in close. Sasuke jumped and swung his left leg high as his left hand dropped down to grab a kunai from the shuriken holster on his right leg.

Yoroi blocked the kick with his right forearm but was unprepared for the suddenly rather vicious thrown kunai lodged into his left shoulder, he hopped back as he reflexively released Sasuke who flipped to land in a crouch. From that crouch the Uchiha tried to focus his chakra again but winced in pain, the marks were still trying to grow.

Then to the surprise of the jonin who knew what was happening the marks started to recede as Sasuke stood up and cracked his neck, "Next time you grab me," he began as he caught his breath, "I'll make you regret it, Konoha ninja or not." he warned, truthfully only giving the warning because it was a fellow Konoha shinobi.

Sasuke realized he could not use chakra right now, that limited his toolkit a lot. He still had basic taijutsu, shurikenjutsu, bukijutsu, and possibly stealth if he could make use of a smoke bomb effectively. The Uchiha expected Yoroi to be harder to get a read on, but the older genin was visibly angry in his body language.

Yoroi reached to remove the kunai from his shoulder but stopped short, "This placement, was that intentional?" he asked, once removed the kunai would not be blocking the wound and an artery was definitely cut. However the longer he left the blade there the more his left arm started to go numb.

"Yes," Sasuke answered plainly, "I don't care if we're both Konoha ninja. Stay out of my way, I refuse to be halted here by the likes of you." he said bluntly as he readied two handfuls of shuriken, four of the small throwing stars in each hand.

Yoroi leaped aside to dodge the volley of shuriken, as soon as he did Sasuke gave chase. Much to the older genin's irritation the younger was attacking his injured left side with a right round kick, he grabbed the Uchiha's shin with his right hand, he decided withstanding the pain of the kick against his hand was worth draining the younger boy.

Sasuke took offense to that and jumped up off his left foot, he used the leverage of Yoroi's grip on his right leg to adjust his angle and kicked out with his left leg as he fell. His left foot hit the kunai in his opponent's left shoulder, forcing the blade deeper and tearing the wound open to bleed freely.

Yoroi leaped back with a cry of pain, he let go of Sasuke to clutch his now heavily damaged left shoulder, "You little shit!" he snapped angrily. The Uchiha had tucked his chin to roll to his feet that time, but he was panting heavier and perspiring more heavily after that exchange.

"A sore loser too?" Sasuke asked as he winced, the mark on his neck ached but he tried to power through it, "We never would have gotten along," he managed through grit teeth as he shakily got to his feet, "so I'm glad I already didn't look up to you." he added.

Yoroi glared from under his shades, his left hand twitched as he tried to use it, "Damn it, I can't make hand seals." he growled before he sighed in defeat, "Proctor-san, I need medical attention, I can't win." he admit.

"After a bloody fight, Yoroi Akado has admit defeat, meaning Sasuke Uchiha advances to the third phase." Hayate announced through some coughing, Anko was more surprised the boy had suppressed the mark on his neck.

"Go Sasuke-kun!" Sakura and Ino both cried out in unison.

Sasuke subconsciously reached for the ache in his neck as he watched Yoroi leave with the iryoninja, even though he could walk they still put him in a stretcher due to his blood loss. The Uchiha wondered if he'd get that kunai back, but didn't care much either way.

Then Sasuke noticed one of the iryonin had red hair, red eyes, and glasses under her uniform as he was exiting the 'arena' section of the room by going up the walkway. The fact she was also his age tipped him off that Karin was there, but he guessed that must have been organized by the Hokage so the girl could watch since she was apparently Uzumaki like Naruto. Also she wanted to be his physician, she was probably there in case something went weird with Naruto's Uzumaki abilities now that Sasuke thought of it.

The digital board started scrolling through names again, a few genin wondered if it was programmed to avoid match ups with members of the same team. Then the next two names appeared; Shino Aburame versus Nezumi.

Before it could begin however Kakashi put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, "Alright, I'm free to take you to get that mark looked at now." he said quietly, the Uchiha winced at the knowledge the jonin had known about it. He noticed the proctors and Hokage looking at him as well and made no arguments as Kakashi took him away.


Shino Aburame stood across from the shortest member of the Ame cell, "So, Aburame huh?" he asked curiously and Shino nodded, "I heard you guys have an affinity for bugs," he began as he reached up to pull off his hat as he pulled out a metal rod, "so I guess you aren't popular with girls. But while people are scared of your clan, they don't talk much about how you fight." he said as he connected the hat and rod to make an umbrella.

Naruto recalled the giant spiders in the depths and the massive insects in the forest of death, "Is that guy seriously bad mouthing bugs after where we just came from?" he asked dryly.

"He's kind of right, most girls don't like bugs." Sakura agreed with a shrug, Ino nodded. Tenten and Temari rolled their eyes, but Hinata kept her thoughts to herself.

Shino adjusted his shades, "Your attempts to learn of my jutsu before we fight are admirable," he began, "however they are useless." he finished simply, "Why you ask?" he began again as Nezumi opened his mouth to speak and then closed it with an exasperated expression, "Because I am used to hiding how my clan jutsu work, we clans are quite used to hiding our jutsu from others." he explained at length, "Also my kikaichu have been creeping up on you while I have been speaking to keep you distracted," he continued as a sudden coalescence of a swarm of insects formed behind the Ame genin and covered him, "they can do a lot of things, but right now they're draining your chakra directly." he explained as he adjusted his shades, "Did I win yet?" he asked as he cocked his head to the side.

Nezumi attempted to charge but the Ame genin apparently lacked in chakra reserves, as he began suffering chakra exhaustion symptoms before he reached the other genin. Then Shino burst into another cloud of insects, "What!?" the Ame genin shouted in alarm.

"I anticipated you would attack me once you realized what was going on," Shino answered as he stepped out from under the balcony, "so I switched with a mushi bunshin after I finished talking." he explained. Naruto decided the Aburame was probably the scariest genin there that wasn't himself or Gaara.

Nezumi collapsed and Shino was declared the winner. The pale eyed boy on Lee's team had something to say that caught Naruto's attention however, "I thought he was calling them somehow, but his very body is a hive." the older genin muttered, "So that's an Aburame." he mused.

Naruto's eyes widened at the description, that was almost as inhuman as he was. Maybe he could get away with being a little bit inhuman among other shinobi, more than he thought at least. His eyes drifted to the movement of the digital board as it began to cycle the names again, unfortunately the blonde still wasn't next; Misumi Tsurugi versus Kankuro


Misumi was dressed much like his teammate Yoroi, although he had regular spectacles instead of shades, "I won't be letting my guard down like Yoroi did. In fact let me be clear, you should forfeit before you get hurt." he threatened, "This won't take long." he added.

Kankuro scoffed at the bluster of his opponent, "Yeah, I agree." he said simply to the last words, pulling the bandaged mass from his back to place it on the ground next to him.

Misumi charged, "Don't try any tricks! I'll end this with the first strike!" he declared, swinging his left arm to backhand Kankuro, who blocked it with his own left arm. Misumi's arm twisted like it was prehensile suddenly, looping around the other genin, his body following suit to constrict around Kankuro's.

"I can dislocate my joints and control my body with chakra, surrender or I'll break your bones." Misumi threatened simply.

Kankuro chuckled, "No way." he responded with a smirk.

"You want to die, fool!?" Misumi asked angrily.

"Do you?" Kankuro retorted with a grin.

Misumi scowled and with a twist snapped the neck of his opponent, "Oh dear, he just wouldn't quit so I killed him before a proctor could stop me." he said with obviously fake regret.

"Now I can return the favor!" 'Kankuro' said as his head twisted around, revealing a puppet as the real Kankuro revealed himself from the bandages he'd been hiding in, "Think how much more flexible you'll be with all your bones broken." the Sunanin said with a grin, chakra strings extending from his hands to the puppet, and with a twitch of his fingers the puppet burst arms from it's torso to wrap Misumi in a hug and squeezed tight, snapping bones with multiple cracks, "I'll leave your neck though." he decided with a cruel smirk as he showed just enough mercy to let his opponent live.

Hayate coughed, "Well, that was brutal." he said as iryonin came to carry out Misumi, "Kankuro is the winner, so he advances to the third phase." he added, and Kankuro returned to the balcony as he wrapped the bandages back around his puppet.


The genin watched the scoreboard, many hoping they would get to go next, Sakura wanted Sasuke and Kakashi to return before her turn, so of course the digital board chose the names; Sakura Haruno versus Ino Yamanaka.

"Let's do this, forehead," Ino mocked on her way down, "I hope you're ready to lose." she taunted to tilt the other kunoichi.

Sakura's eye twitched, "Naruto can I borrow Nokogiribocho?" she asked.

"No." Naruto responded flatly.

Sakura sighed even though it was the expected answer, she had just wanted a distraction no matter how minor. She knew she had not taken her kunoichi training as seriously as she should have since graduating, keeping only at her academy pace despite Iruka's speech during the genin graduation ceremony.

It wasn't until Sakura saw Naruto and Sasuke fighting so viciously to survive in the forest of death up close that it really hit her what kind of career she'd gotten herself into, she barely even remembered why, probably because her parents were ninja originally.

The pink haired kunoichi had only recently since then registered that she lacked the same resolve as her team, she didn't have the same reasons for being a ninja and her reasons were either flimsy or shallow. In essence she had spent the last two days silently breaking down while trying not to let her teammates know she was doing it. Thankfully they had their own problems and had not noticed, she ignored that them not noticing hurt because she knew they were probably actually going through worse now.

Sakura walked down the steps as she considered her opponent, if there was anyone she could beat it was Ino. Yamanaka may be a clan but Sakura knew the blonde girl and her clan, she knew how they worked better than anyone except the Yamanaka themselves, the Nara and Choji clans probably, and maybe the Sandaime Hokage just because he probably knew everything.

Okay that was a lot of people that knew more than Sakura about the subject, but she was confident she knew how to avoid the Yamanaka hijutsu. The issue was Ino herself, Sakura scored higher in tests but Ino was just better at taijutsu than her.

So the pink haired kunoichi considered her options before she took her hitai-ate from its position as a hair band and wrapped it over her forehead, tying the ends around a ponytail she pulled her long hair up into, "You know what team I'm on," she said and Ino's eyes shifted to Naruto, "why even try to intimidate me?"

Ino smirked, "I wasn't aware being carried by stronger teammates made you so fearless, but I guess I'm not a weak link like you." she taunted mockingly.

"Is this a catfight?" Temari asked with a grumble, wanting the two kunoichi to get on with it.

"I have seen Naruto and Sasuke-kun fight literal jonin and hold their own," Sakura pointed out, "Naruto killed one while doped up on magic water," she added as she pulled out a kunai, "and seeing Naruto fight the way he does up close has helped me realize what kind of career we're in." she continued as she dropped into a stance, "So no hard feelings if I scar your face, okay?"

Ino's eyes widened in surprise that Sakura was willing to threaten that much over a preliminary fight, "I will sneak into your house and force you to shave your own head in your sleep if you scar me." she retorted with a bit more venom as she took her own hitai-ate from around her waist and put it over her own forehead, "You think you can match me just by taking this seriously? Fine then! I'll show you which of us is a real kunoichi right now, Haruno."

Hayate got the feeling the two kunoichi were taking this a little too personally, but that was none of his business, "Begin!" he announced with a chop of his hand.

Sakura charged and made the ram sign with her kunai handle between her hands, she formed a pair of bunshin and weaved between them. Ino readied her own kunai as she tried to keep track of the real Sakura, but it was like trying to keep track of the cup with the coin when the other two could phase right through the original and each other.

The Yamanaka hopped back and flicked the kunai to her left hand, throwing a volley of shuriken into the trio of Sakura. However in a cloud of smoke they all disappeared, leaving a single log with shuriken embed in it behind.

Ino turned swiftly but was caught flat footed by Sasuke standing behind her, this allowed the disguised Sakura to grapple the blonde kunoichi into a hold and put the kunai to her neck before she returned to her smirking pink haired self in a cloud of smoke, "You really thought Sasuke-kun just came back to jump into the arena with us?" she asked mockingly.

Ino flushed with embarrassment and anger, "That was dirty." she grumbled.

"We're kunoichi." Sakura retorted blandly, she was glad she had at least a couple of days to collect her thoughts.

"Ino Yamanaka, are you able to break the hold?" Hayate asked, he had to just in case the girl was taking her time getting free.

Ino sighed, "No, no I can not break this pin." she grumbled, even if she was a bit stronger than Sakura there wasn't much strength could do against a joint lock and a kunai held up to the neck, even if she didn't think the other kunoichi would actually sink the blade into her throat it was still disconcerting to have it there.

Shikamaru shook his head, "I can't believe she fell for that." he muttered.

"I can," Naruto disagreed, arms crossed and eyes closed as he took on an almost sagely demeanor, "a sudden pleasant sight in the middle of a tense situation that sets one on the back foot," he explained and the other Konoha shinobi all stared in shock at the blonde, "it's like a lesser form of my Oiroke no Jutsu!" he proclaimed proudly, ruining it entirely.

Sakura was sorely tempted to throw something at Naruto, but she only had a kunai and Ino on hand so she let the blonde girl go, "His what now?" Temari asked incredulously.

Tenten sneered, "You named that henge where you turn into a naked older girl version of yourself? Do you know how weird that is?" she asked with a shake of her head, "Wait, you didn't name that form did you?" she asked.

"No," Naruto lied, "that would be weird." he agreed with shifty eyes, he understood they must never know.

Kurenai's lips were tight, "Hinata, you never mentioned that jutsu." she muttered quietly.

Hinata flushed, "You never asked?" she attempted lamely, the jonin decided to accept that for now.

"I forgot about that," Kiba muttered, "wait, shit, he's right, he used it to sucker punch me during sparring once." he recalled with a wince, "It never worked again!" he added quickly at the looks he received, "But you know, not expecting it." he excused.

Naruto frowned, "Huh, maybe I shouldn't have brought up my trump card, now I can't use it if things get dicey." he muttered as he scratched his cheek.

"His trump card is turning into a naked woman." Gaara repeated the concept, his team glanced at him but it was impossible to get a read on what the auburn haired young genin thought of the situation.


Eventually everyone got over Naruto's strange burst of intelligence laced stupidity, or stupidity centered intelligence, and were ready to watch Temari and Tenten in the next round.

The blonde Suna kunoichi frowned at the Konoha kunoichi, "So is your village full of weirdos?" she asked.

"Yeah." Tenten agreed with a nod, "Most of them are okay though, that blonde pervert up there," she continued with a gesture at Naruto, who loudly denied being a pervert, "is actually also some kind of savant with weapons design. I have no idea how he got that thing working." she explained, "Those two with the green spandex are my teammate and sensei, they're great at taijutsu." she added, "Plus, we all made it this far right?" she added with a shrug.

Temari scoffed, "After that last match that's hardly saying much." she mocked, "I'm just glad that pink haired girl took it seriously, but honestly I thought I was going to be watching two civilian girls bicker rather than two kunoichi fight." she finished and Ino scowled at her for the words.

Tenten shrugged at the jibes towards her fellow Konoha kunoichi, "Well now who is being catty?" she couldn't help but retort that much though.

Temari narrowed her eyes, "See this tessen?" she asked as she lifted her large war fan off her back, the name indicated it was indeed iron, "There are three stars on it, I'm going to win by the time you see the third." she taunted.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "For someone who dishes out smack talk she sure can't take it in turn, huh?" he muttered, apparently Temari heard him because she glared at him. He'd been glared at by worse, so at this point he didn't even flinch.

The blonde Uzumaki's attitude reminded a few of the genin that his teammate Sakura had said he and Sasuke picked fights with jonin, and that Naruto had even killed one once. Temari recalled Gaara's interest in the shorter blonde and promptly returned her attention to the fight, but Naruto's eyes widened at the way the blonde kunoichi had looked away from him which had been fearful.

Naruto consciously reigned himself in and became hyper aware of his own subtle movements, normal humans did not give off a passive air of violence so he shouldn't either. As the blue eyed Uzumaki got himself under control Hayate lifted his hand, "Begin!" the proctor announced with a chop.

Tenten opened the fight by palming six shuriken in her right hand, crossing her arms to cross three shuriken to her left arm, and uncrossing her arms as she threw the volley. Temari responded by blocking them with the iron of her fan without opening it, "Oh come on, what's the point of an opening like that against a weapon like this?" she asked mockingly.

Tenten pulled a scroll from her tool pouch, "Old habit." she retorted with a confident smirk as she unfurled her scroll to reveal a fuin array, then she reached for the array with her hand and flared her chakra. In a burst of smoke the Konoha kunoichi threw a pair of large three bladed shuriken at the Suna kunoichi, this was followed by a pair of long thin kunai, then another pair of similar kunai, and finally a hatchet.

Temari had at first been insulted and batted the larger shuriken aside, but the continuous volley was a bit much unless she held a steady guard. The issue with a steady guard was it planted your feet, fine for close quarters but not so much if that was what the enemy wanted.

So Temari unfurled her fan to reveal a dot instead and swung it, from the fan came a gust of wind enhanced chakra that knocked Tenten's weapons flying to the sides, the hatchet spinning to a sliding stop off to Temari's left, "You misunderstood, don't tell me throwing things from trees like a monkey is your tactic, Konoha girl?" she mocked derisively.

Tenten bristled at the insult, but she didn't want to risk getting in close with an opponent that used such a large weapon so casually. The fact the older kunoichi was swinging around a hunk of iron that size, technically multiple hunks as the war fan wasn't just one piece of iron, meant that Temari was not to be underestimated in close quarters.

Unfortunately the Konoha kunoichi couldn't stand around thinking either as Temari unleashed another chakra infused gust of wind, Tenten leaped aside to avoid it since just being in the wake of the last blast told her that it would hurt to get hit by those.

Naruto however was staring at the fan in confusion as he had yet to figure out the chakra component, "How is she doing that?" he wondered.

"Futon no Jutsu." Kakashi answered, "She's turning her chakra into wind as she flows it into her tessen, similar to how Sasuke-kun turns his to fire when he performs Katon no Jutsu, although this is more bukijutsu than ninjutsu." he explained.

Gai frowned in concern for his student, "That Suna kunoichi must have impressive chakra control to have mastered Seishitsu Henka at her age." he mused, "For bukijutsu to resemble ninjutsu, she must not just have good control, but reserves too." he realized.

Temari opened her fan to the next step to reveal that her stars were indeed dots and launched a wider gust of wind at Tenten with a sweeping swing of her fan, the Konoha kunoichi's eyes widened in alarm as she raised her guard. The girl wished she'd managed a kawarimi in time because the wind did indeed hurt, she rolled across the ground a few times before catching her breath and springing into a handstand to hop from there to her feet.

Tenten tried to steady her breathing and come up with a plan, but she was unfortunately outmatched in this instance. Temari smirked and fully unfurled her fan to reveal all three dots she had referred to as stars, "I guess the kunoichi in Konoha are as soft as I heard." she mocked before she swung.

Tenten wanted to retort, but that was a bit hard as what felt like a hurricane of force took the air from her lungs and lifted her off her feet, the room spun around her before a sharp pain in her back as she landed back first on something hard and painful made her vision go white then black.

"So, I win." Temari gloated before tossing the defeated and unconscious kunoichi towards her own scattered weapons on the ground, then two things happened at the same time. Lee leaped to rescue his teammate from further harm as Temari tensed under the weight of Naruto's malicious intent, a metallic grinding sound came from where Naruto's white knuckled grip tightened on the railing.

"What is wrong with you!?" Lee snapped at the Suna kunoichi, "Is that how you treat an opponent who tried their best?" he asked.

Temari scoffed but was clearly flustered, "If you're so mad about it fight me in the final phase." she dared both the genin who had gotten upset at her for that.


The Suna genin were getting a reputation for being brutal, but Naruto knew the worst had yet to come. The blonde boy noticed cell eight, Hinata and Kiba in particular, were glancing at Gaara with fear as well. He supposed they would notice given their abilities, it was hard to tell with Shino though.

Ino strangely seemed to be keeping an eye on Naruto himself, apparently she'd noticed the metal bending under his grip. In his defense the railing was mostly hollow anyway.

After what felt like longer than the last matches, finally the digital board showed the next two names; Shikamaru Nara versus Kiba Inuzuka.

The Nara sighed, "Damn it, I don't want to." he grumbled as Kiba gave a sigh of relief and confidently made his way down into the arena, which Gai had swiftly cleaned of weapons to return to his student.

"Come on," Asuma encouraged gruffly, "I'll tell your parents if you quit in the prelims." he warned dryly before he took a drag of his cigarette.

Shikamaru sighed again, louder and more intentional, before he grudgingly and slowly made his way down, "I'm not going to give up just because you're slow." Kiba pointed out.

"I know." Shikamaru said, the Inuzuka didn't need to know that the Nara was intentionally annoying him since angry ninja tended to make mistakes.

"Sorry, Asuma-san," Kurenai began, "but Kiba-kun has trained hard, I don't think Shikamaru-san will win from what I've heard." she warned.

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, Shikamaru was always scoring barely above Naruto." she recalled.

Asuma smirked, "Well, he might not show what he can do, he is pretty lazy." he agreed, "I just wish I had something to motivate him, I guess the threat of parental disappointment will do for now."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "You make it sound like he'd be sure to win if he tried." he pointed out.

Asuma nodded, "Yeah, but that doesn't matter much if he doesn't try I suppose." he answered vaguely.

Finally the two former classmates who used to skip academy together were ready to go, "Begin!" Hayate declared with a chop.

Kiba let Akamaru down, "So, we doing this for real or what?" he asked his former classmate.

Shikamaru groaned, "Okaachan will kill me if I quit here," he confessed, "I hate to take this chance at promotion away from you." he apologized in advance.

Kiba smirked, "You won't catch us!" he declared before he and Akamaru split to dash in different directions. The two charged and Shikamaru ducked, immediately the Inuzuka leaped back as the Nara formed a unique hand seal. Akamaru altered his direction and began to circle the genin he and Kiba were supposed to fight, but Shikamaru just crouched there waiting.

Kiba frowned, "You're not even going to face me in taijutsu unless I force it?" he asked.

"Duh."

Kiba sighed at the response and pulled out a hyorogan, popped it into his mouth and made the ram seal. Suddenly his hair stood on end, his posture shifted, and his fingernails lengthened into claws. Naruto's eyes widened at the similarities, it wasn't quite like what the blood or the kitsune did to his body but it was similar enough to get his attention.

Sakura noticed too and she frowned, "What's Kiba doing?" she asked, slightly concerned due to what she knew of why Naruto had grown claws in the forest.

"Shikyaku no Jutsu," Kurenai answered, "one of the hiden Giju Ninpo of the Inuzuka clan." she explained, and the name itself gave away that the entire point was using chakra to imitate beasts.

Naruto made a mental note to check the history of the Inuzuka from the Sengoku Jidai and see if he could look further back, he wondered if maybe they'd developed their special hijutsu using knowledge about the blood but Kiba didn't have the same smell as him or Gaara.

Kiba did have slit pupils though, and now so did Naruto. Kiba's stance lowered, bestial and predatory like Naruto had been in the forest, then he went lower and leaped. Naruto was pretty sure he could not spin like that, nor could any beast though, so that was different at least.

Shikamaru's eyes widened as Kiba becoming a hurricane of claws spinning through the air at high speeds at him, "You're going that far!?" he snapped as he leaped to dodge, Akamaru leaped to intercept and Kiba landed.

Shikamaru was surrounded and his opponents were closer than before, "We're ninja!" Kiba reminded him as he leaped high to deliver a kick.

Shikamaru leaned back as he jumped toward where Kiba jumped from, the Nara slid under the Inuzuka's attack as he made his hand sign, "Kagemane no Jutsu," he intoned as his shadow stretched to meet where Kiba landed, a branch forking off to intercept Akamaru from charging as well, "success." he declared with a smirk as his two pronged shadow paralyzed his opponents.

"You know," Kiba began, "this isn't tag, so just grabbing me doesn't win." he reminded to cover how embarrassed he was being read so easily.

Shikamaru released Akamaru and focused on Kiba, forcing the Inuzuka to place his own claws to his neck, "Funny thing about being armed against a Nara." he reminded in turn.

"Alright, I get it, you win." Kiba conceded morosely, in response to his confessed defeat the shadow retreated

Asuma's smirk mirrored his student's, "There it is, Shikamaru-kun is a real genius at strategy. One mistake and you're in his shadow." he praised proudly, "I've still yet to pull a win against him in shogi." he recalled.

Kurenai sighed but she was glad Kiba didn't seem too upset, about as annoyed as expected to miss out on the finals but not too broken up.


Naruto stared at the unfamiliar name next to his own, Isshin, his opponent was one of the Ame genin. The bulkier one, his ninjato was arguably just a katana. The blonde Uzumaki wondered if he should use his weapons, people didn't tend to survive the Nokogiribocho and it was meant for the inhuman monstrosities not fighting equals.

The boy quelled the rising thought that no one in the room was truly his equal anymore, they were all still mortal while he could not die. Naruto glanced down at the metal he had distorted with his grip and was reminded of the other advantages, even if Orochimaru messed with the fuin holding the kitsune it didn't make much difference.

Isshin lifted his hat to glare down at Naruto, "So you're the one who killed Mubi and messed up Kagari's leg?" he asked as he tossed the hat aside.

Naruto took a second to recall that fight in the forest, "How did you already learn about that?" he asked.

"Oboro told us before we got here." Isshin responded as he unsheathed his sword.

Naruto sighed and gripped his weapon in his right hand, "They attacked us." he excused.

"You expect that excuse to fly when you reek of death and use a weapon like that!?" Isshin snapped.

Hayate interrupted with a cough, "I didn't say start yet." he reminded the two eager genin, both of them stared at him, "Okay, begin." he said with a bit less enthusiasm than the other fights.

Isshin made up for it with more enthusiasm as he charged and swung his blade, Naruto hopped back but his opponent chased and gave no openings for the blonde to attack. The Konoha genin realized he would need to force an opening and clashed Nokogiribocho's sawed edge against the ninjato.

Sparks flew before the Ame genin leaped back, Naruto gave chase but Isshin had felt the strength the young blonde had, "What in the world kind of jutsu is that?" he asked curiously.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, "Uh, nokogirijutsu?" he asked for clarification.

"No, idiot!" Isshin snapped, "How are you enhancing your strength like that!?" he asked.

Naruto's face went blank, he had no explanation for that, he had no jutsu that could enhance strength like that, "I'm not." he confessed after a moment.

Isshin frowned, "That's impossible, even if you're not using a jutsu then you must be using chakra in some way." he reasoned, "Your frame is not large enough to actually put out the force you just used." he pointed out.

Naruto shrugged, "I'm an Uzumaki." he excused, "Quit trying to figure me out, just fight me or give up." he decided to try and pretend he was playing up an intimidation tactic.

Isshin narrowed his eyes, "Those slit pupils too..." he muttered, "No doubt about it, you're dangerous." he muttered, then he held his sword in his left hand and tossed a swiftly palmed shuriken at the young blonde in an arc.

Naruto dodged and the Ame genin leaped at him, the older boy swung his ninjato and the the younger lifted his saw toothed weapon to deflect the attack by extending the blade. As Isshin retreated the younger genin leaped and shifted the angle of his swing, but to Naruto's surprise the saw toothed back edge of his extended weapon was struck by a parry that slammed it into the ground.

Isshin followed up with a thrust aimed precisely for Naruto's throat, the blonde pulled away in a panic, his left arm coming up smack the metal on the back of his glove against the blade to knock it away even as it dug into his neck. The young blonde covered the injury with his left hand as he lifted his right to yank his weapon free, stepped in under the guard of his opponent, and snapped his weapon shut as he swung his right arm to the left.

Isshin cried out as he leaped away from the pain of a saw toothed weapon ripping open his side, it was a deep and nasty injury, but he had drawn blood as well, "Victory is mine!" he declared.

Naruto swallowed thickly, he tasted blood and he could feel it being pushed down by saliva as his body healed, "No it isn't." he denied.

"Wha-? I stabbed you in the neck!" Isshin snapped with wide eyes, he looked at the blood on the end of his blade to confirm he had indeed scored a hit then looked to the blonde with an expression that conveyed a blend of bewilderment and offended indignation.

"Just a scratch." Naruto bluffed, but he did not move his left hand from the injury, "Yours is worse." he insisted.

Hayate coughed, "Uh, are you both fit to continue?" he asked.

"Yes." Both genin answered in unison as Isshin glared at Naruto, the blonde's gaze however kept alternating between the injury he'd dealt and straying around the arena.

Lee frowned when he noticed his white eyed teammate scoff, "What is it, Neji-san?" he asked.

Neji shook his head, "That blonde kid can't even meet the glare of his opponent, his mind is elsewhere. It's probably pure luck he survived that." the white eyed boy answered, "How scatter brained do you need to be lack focus in such a crucial moment." he muttered in disbelief with a shake of his head.

Isshin lunged as he lifted his sword with both hands and swung down at the younger genin's left shoulder, Naruto stepped back on his left foot as he readied his weapon for the counter but was startled by the blade of the ninjato sinking into his shoulder from a sudden thrust. Reflexively Naruto released his neck and grabbed the blade, to everyone's surprise that actually worked.

The short blonde genin yanked the ninjato from his shoulder and then pulled Isshin in to rake his saw toothed blade up the back of his left forearm, the Ame genin yowled in pain as he pulled away with a twist that forced his blade free of Naruto's grip.

"Are you trying to kill me or something?" Naruto asked dryly as he covered his latest injury with his injured left hand, he hoped his neck injury had healed up enough that he wasn't obviously inhuman.

Isshin gripped his ninjato with both hands as he grit his teeth, "If I can." he confirmed before he charged with a war cry and swung furiously, Naruto deflected the attack off his own weapon but instead of pulling back Isshin attacked again from a different angle.

Naruto didn't consider it odd to take a cut instead of stepping back, even as he was cut along his right arm and both shoulders defending against the lethal barrage of steel. Eventually Isshin tired and his footing faltered, Naruto capitalized on it and with a flourish he swung his extending blade up and over the attack of his opponent as he smacked his opponent's ninjato aside with the Kyomei Supika on his left arm with a sharp ringing sound.

It wasn't until the cleaving edge of Nokogiribocho slammed deep into Isshin's left shoulder that Naruto realized what he was doing, he had not intended to kill his opponent but it had been the easiest and fastest swing. Regardless of intent or instinct blood sprayed over Naruto and he visibly relaxed as he basked in the brief red shower.

Neji's eyes widened in surprise, he had been watching closely in case he needed to fight Isshin in a later round but he realized what was weird. Naruto did not fight with discipline or focus, there was plenty of wasted energy in the movements, but despite this the young blonde boy with slit pupils moved in a way that set alarm bells ringing in his head.

Kiba shivered but didn't want to speak up, there was now no doubt the blonde genin was comfortable with killing. He cast a concerned glance at Hinata but she just looked at Naruto with worry and concern. Shino adjusted his shades as his kikaichi relayed information to him, "Interesting." he murmured.

Ino frowned, "Wait," she spoke up, "wasn't Naruto getting his ass handed to him? What happened?" she asked, "I didn't think I looked away." she muttered

"Naruto wasn't losing," Shikamaru pointed out, "I knew he was tough but this is something else." he continued with a shake of his head, "Naruto won because despite taking more damage, his opponent was the one who got tired first." he explained, "Naruto only needed three clean hits to win compared to the multiple smaller cuts Naruto sustained, what's weird is that he didn't get tired from blood loss since that neck wound bled pretty bad."

Asuma nodded in agreement with Shikamaru's assessment, as did a few jonin. The remaining Ame genin was simply glaring at Naruto as the blonde withdrew his weapon from the corpse of his teammate.

As the blonde genin ascended the stairs he was met by Hinata at the top, "C-congratulations on winning," she said nervously, holding a small container, "I wanted to give you this ointment, for your cuts..." she said, feeling a little guilty to still be going through with it despite the fatality. The only actual fatality during the preliminaries so far too, despite some close calls.

Naruto looked at the offered container of ointment in bewilderment, he didn't need it and he had no idea why someone would try to give him a gift. After perhaps a moment too long the blonde's brain finished processing and he accepted the ointment, "Thanks, Hinata-chan." he said with a nervous smile, more grateful that she was being nice to him despite his blood splattered state than anything to do with ointment he didn't actually need.

Hinata's entire face lit up with joy at the gratitude.


The demeanor of Hinata Hyuga dropped to the floor when the scoreboard showed the next match pit her against Neji Hyuga. The girl felt her stomach drop with her mood, she thought she might have a chance at the third phase but she felt as if her hopes were already dashed.

Naruto registered the names a moment late, "Ah, your turn, Hinata-chan," he realized, "I hope you win." he added, he figured cheering her on was the least he could do in return for the ointment.

Hinata felt a lot more confident at those words and went down to meet her cousin, but that confidence faltered as she got down there. Kurenai frowned with concern, she knew enough of the Hyuga girl's home life to be concerned about the outcome of this fight.

"To think we'd fight each other here, Hinata-sama." Neji greeted coldly, formal and clipped with a blank face.

"Neji-niisama..." Hinata greeted hesitantly and refused to meet his eyes.

"Family fighting family huh?" Sakura asked, having bandaged her forehead again by now, "Must be rough." she mused.

"Well," Lee began, "normally yes, but relations between the two different houses of the Hyuga clan are strained." he tried to explain, "Certain things were done in the past to protect their Kekkei Genkai, things decided by the main branch to the detriment of the branch house, so there's some bad blood." he wasn't sure of all the details himself.

Naruto frowned, focusing on Hinata, he could see she looked nervous to be fighting the older Hyuga. What bothered Naruto more was that Neji was glaring at the girl who refused to meet his eyes.

"Well, please begin the match when ready!" Hayate announced with yet another cough.

"Before that," Neji spoke up, "there is something I must point out to Hinata-sama." he continued, "You are not cut out to be a shinobi. Withdraw from the match." he said curtly, Naruto's eye twitched as he reminded himself to set aside his wrath, "You're all sweetness and light, you may try to act like you approve of Naruto's victory but I can tell his methods disturbed you. You're a peacemaker not a troublemaker, easily led and not a leader," he continued and Hinata averted her eyes, "and you have no self confidence. You have an inferiority complex, so I know you'd have been more comfortable staying at the genin level, but applicants must take the test in teams of three and you couldn't let your teammates down. The truth is, your participation has been reluctant from the start, hasn't it?" he asked.

"N-no..." Hinata denied with a stammer, "You're wrong. I-I really wanted to change that about myself." she said as she looked down sadly, "So, of my own volition-" she tried to continue.

"Hinata-sama," Neji interrupted, his choice of honorific conflicting with his attitude towards her, "you're the sheltered little baby of the main branch, aren't you?" he asked.

"What?" Hinata asked in surprise.

"A leopard never changes it's spots." Neji continued, "A failure is always a failure, and a weak personality won't become strong." he lectured and Naruto found it harder and harder to swallow his anger, "It's precisely because of that unchanging nature of humankind that differences between people are born." he continued and the blonde boy knew from experience he was wrong, "It's why we've coined terms like 'elite' and 'failure'. It doesn't matter who you are. We're all judged on the basis of our looks, our intelligence, our talents, or our personalities. Just as we judge others in turn. Yes, it's a form of discrimination, and the factors it's based on don't change. We have no choice, we must live within the boundaries set for us by the judgements of others. It's as unchangeable as the fact I'm from the branch house and you of the main house."

Naruto realized exactly what to say to prove him wrong, but screaming about how he could make kage bunshin didn't seem like a good idea in the moment. So he wracked his brain for a more obvious change, but it seemed he was the solution to his own problem because Hinata looked at him and seemed to swell with confidence.

The fact the young Hyuga girl was encouraged by the sight of a short blonde boy absolutely drenched in drying blood with slit pupils and a vicious looking weapon was a concern for Kurenai.

Hinata finally met Neji's eyes but flinched at the glare waiting, "I've seen through plenty with this Byakugan, and so I know, this courage of yours is a bluff!" he accused, "In the truest, deepest parts of your heart, you're desperate to run away from here right now!" he added.

"N-no! I really want to-" Hinata tried to deny.

"You can't fool my eyes." Neji interrupted again as the veins around his eyes bulged to signify he'd activated his Byakugan, "Just now, to escape my stare, you averted your eyes, glancing towards the upper left is a signal you recalled a past experience, one that bought you pain. When you subsequently glanced to your lower right, it indicated you were envisioning physical and mental agony. In other words, you recalled previous experiences, and based upon those memories you imagines the outcome of this match." he explained, "You foresaw your own defeat!" he snapped with a glare and Hinata flinched, "Even now," he continued, "as you bring your arms up as if to shield yourself, you indicate your desire to put a wall between us, to create some distance from me." he continued to break down the psychology of her subtle movements, "You subconsciously beg me to come no further, to peer no deeper, because everything I've said had been right on target. In addition, the way you're touching your lip is another of those tender, intimate behaviors that expresses the agitation in your heart." he continued mercilessly as Hinata's eyes watered and her breathing became harder, "It's a defensive reflex, an attempt to ease your own anxieties and doubts, it's completely clear, whether you admit it or not, that you are aware, that you can never change yourself!"

Throughout the speech Naruto tried to contain himself, but seeing Hinata becoming visibly distressed set something off inside his brain. The blonde decided he didn't like it, "Hinata-chan quit letting him talk to you like that! The proctor already said you could start y'know!" he exclaimed.

Hinata jolted out of the mental state Neji was trying to put her in at the demand from the blonde, she took a deep breath and steeled herself before taking a stance as veins bulged around her eyes. Neji scowled but matched her stance.

Naruto wondered if the Byakugan was painful to use, it looked stressful at the least from how much the veins around the eyes seemed to throb. Then the two Hyuga clashed, their hands blurring into a dance against each other.

"So that's Juken," Sakura muttered, "Hinata never did participate in taijutsu much in the academy." she recalled.

"The Hyuga are pretty protective of this style." Ino commented, "It's prettier than I heard." she added.

"Beauty aside, you can visibly see how much chakra they're throwing into each attack." Shikamaru commented on the yellow haze in the air around the palm strikes of the two genin, "That messes up your internals, right?" he asked.

Gai nodded, "While taijutsu like mine or Lee-kun's is referred to as Goken because of the physical trauma, Juken leaves only bruises on the skin because it damages the internals directly by attacking the keirakukai with chakra." he explained, "This can cause pretty serious damage, and there's no real guard against it either. You either deflect or dodge."

"Can you block it with a blade?" Naruto asked what he felt was a fair question, and everyone looked at him like he was the weird one.

"Uh, I suppose that might work." Gai confessed, "Putting a solid object between yourself and the attack does tend to work for most things." he mused as the fight continued.

Neji ceaced deflecting Hinata's attacks and grabbed her next strike by the wrist with his right hand before sliding her sleeve up with his left, the small bruises there startled the kunoichi into widening her eyes, "You've been-?" she realized but was interrupted.

"That's right," Neji interrupted mostly because he was annoyed he'd needed to point it out in the first place, "my eyes can see tenketsu, of course I'd hit them." he clarified.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "Seeing them is one thing, not that the Sharingan can see tenketsu that I'm aware of, but hitting them in the middle of combat at those speeds is something else." he commented.

Neji released Hinata's wrist, "This fight is over." he declared confidently.

Hinata herself could find little reason to argue, with her tenketsu sealed she could not actually use Juken. Her taijutsu was crippled and she wouldn't be able to use ninjutsu either, the girl stared at the marks on her arm as if doing so might make them go away.

Naruto frowned, "Why is he saying the fight is over?" he asked rhetorically, "Hinata-chan can still stand and has weapons right?" he pointed out.

The girl tensed and Neji smirked, "You're more stupid than you look if you think she has what it takes to pull a blade on someone." he mocked.

Hinata scowled at the insult and, emboldened by Naruto's words, pulled out a kunai. Kurenai was surprised by this as she assumed Neji had said something correct that time.

Neji's smirk fell into a frown as he glared at Hinata, "If you use that, be prepared to have it used against you." he warned darkly and the kunoichi flinched away from the intensity of his glare and the threat behind his words.

Hinata considered dropping the kunai and giving up, but she recalled Naruto's fight. The blonde boy had been unflinching in the face of an actual sword, let alone the threat of a knife. So the Hyuga kunoichi took a deep breath and activated her Byakugan again.

"I can still fight you." Hinata insisted as she took a ready stance.

Neji scowled and rushed the younger genin, he feinted with his right hand and when Hinata's kunai went for it he deftly grabbed her right wrist in his left hand and pulled her off balance. Then the boy took her kunai from her with his right hand and slid the blade down her wrist towards the elbow.

Naruto's blood went cold as the smell of Hinata's blood hit his nostrils, his pupils dilated and his hackles raised but a sharp ache in his navel stopped him from completely losing control of his temper.

"Now the battle is over," Neji declared, "without medical attention you will die." he clarified as he released Hinata and dropped her bloodied kunai.

Hayate nodded, "Hinata Hyuga is unable to continue due to a serious injury, Neji Hyuga wins!" he declared quickly so he could wave the iryoninja over.

Hinata stared at her kunai, blade red with her own blood, as the iryoninja approached to give her first aid and ask if she was well enough to watch the remaining fights but the girl was turning pale and seemed to be on the verge of fainting mid treatment. Kurenai was beside her with the iryoninja, a red eyed glare on the boy who had injured her student.

Naruto clenched his teeth in a vain attempt to stop his head from spinning, his stomach felt like a bonfire was trying to consume him from within. His body shook in protest to being held back from the violence he was built for, he needed to move or he would lose control.

So the blonde made a decision and Naruto hopped the railing, "Something to say about this?" Neji dared.

Naruto ignored him and approached the fallen, bloody kunai. Hinata was already passed out but stable by the time he got there, so he crouched down and picked it up, "I'm going to ask Hinata-chan if she wants this back later." he said, "But first I'm going to ask her if I can put it in your neck for her." he directed at Neji.

Kurenai knew that Hinata would like the excuse to see Naruto, so she let the blonde hold onto her student's kunai for now even though she could guess the Hyuga kunoichi would be against his suggestion. The iryoninja finished their emergency patch up and took the now unsconscious girl away to recover.

"Well, aren't you fired up?" Neji asked mockingly, "For what reason are you butting your nose in where it doesn't belong?" he questioned.

Naruto met Neji's eyes with a glare, "You made your business public and the way you treat others and talk pisses me off," he answered, "so unless you can force me not to butt in, I'm butting in." he decided.

Neji scoffed, "Uncouth mongrel." he grumbled under his breath as he returned to the balcony. Naruto wiped Hinata's blood from the kunai on what little clean patch of clothing he had left as he returned to his team and put the kunai in his tool pouch to keep it separate from his own.


Soon enough the second last fight was up on the digital board; Rock Lee versus Gaara.

Gaara was already in the arena with a suna shunshin, eager to finally have his own fight. Lee looked excited to finally have his own fight coming up. Kiba looked worried for the other Konoha genin, Sakura wondered what the deal was with the gourd.

"Lee!" Gai announced, "I've noticed something crucial most people may have overlooked." he told his student in a teacherly tone.

"Yes sir!" Lee responded, snapping to attention and saluting.

"That gourd of his is quite suspicious..." Gai pointed out as if it wasn't the most obvious thing about the Suna genin.

"I see..." Lee answered, quickly taking out a notepad and pencil to write that down.

"Stop taking notes!" Gai scolded, "You won't have time to consult them in the heat of battle!" he pointed out.

Lee wrote that down as well, "...I see..." he answered. Sakura wondered if the boy with the bowl cut would be alright.

"Alright! Go get him, Lee!" Gai ordered boisterously.

"Yes sir!" Lee responded with equal gusto before he leaped down to face his opponent, "Facing you so soon, it makes me very happy!" he told Gaara with a smile, Naruto frowned with worry since Lee seemed like a nice guy but Gaara just smelled like blood, rot, and death.

Lee opened with the beginnings of a kick combo, but he pulled back at the barrier of sand that interposed itself between his attack and his target. Gaara didn't even flinch as the sand moved to counterattack, but the Konoha genin was fast and evaded the attack.

Naruto's eyes widened at the sight of the sand, the scent of blood was strongest in the sand, like the sand had been drenched in it. He had no idea how he would overcome that, he wasn't sure if his weapon would go through or not.

Kiba seemed more on edge too, wondering if he should warn Lee and feeling guilty that he didn't, but the idea of Gaara knowing how close their teams had gotten in the forest of death scared him into silence.

"Physical attacks are useless against Gaara." Kankuro spoke up, "The sand forms a shield to protect his body, indepent of Gaara's own will." he explained, "That's why, to this day, no one has ever wounded him." he added.

"Why is Lee only using taijutsu?" Sakura wondered, "He should back off, fight with ninjutsu and attack from a distance." she pointed out.

"It's not that Lee won't use ninjutsu," Gai began, "it's that he can't." he clarified, "Lee has no aptitude for ninjutsu or genjutsu." he explained.

Sakura was startled by that information, "How has he lasted this long then?" she asked as the fight continued below them and Lee backflipped away from the sand.

"Due to his lack of talent or ability for ninjutsu or genjutsu, he has developed his taijutsu exclusively," Gai answered as Lee jumped up onto the monument of the ram hand seal to escape Gaara's grasping, "which is precisely why he can win!" he declared confusing both Kakashi and Sakura, "Lee! Take them off!" he called out.

Everyone really hoped the jonin did not mean the spandex, Lee seemed surprised by the call out, "B-but Gai-sensei! You said never to remove them unless I was defending the lives of people precious to me!" he argued.

"It's alright!" Gai responded as he gave a thumbs up and a wink, "I'll allow it!" he declared. Lee seemed stunned for a moment before he laughed in a giddy tone, reaching under his orange leg warmers to pull out a pair of leg weights.

Kakashi sighed, he should have known Gai would rely on such a sentimentally traditional kind of training. It was so sickeningly sweet but it had its merits. Most assumed that just removing some weights wouldn't change much besides allowing him to move a bit faster, those who understood taijutsu better knew his form would likely improve but they wondered how much that would matter.

Then the weights hit the ground and kicked up massive clouds of dust, stunning more than a few. Naruto wasn't even aware people could move with that much weight, Sakura's jaw dropped, and Kakashi realized he'd underestimated his rival a tad.

"Go! Lee!" Gai cheered loudly, and Lee went. The boy was able to move so fast and strike so hard his blows were actually getting close to hitting Gaara, the Suna genin seemed startled as he struggled to follow the movements with his eyes. Naruto was visibly amazed and interested, "It's because he had no aptitude for ninjutsu or genjutsu that Lee was able to devote all of his training, all of his focus, all of his energy purely to taijutsu." Gai explained with a proud smile, "So that even if he lacked any other ninpo, he'd still be unbeatable as a taijutsu specialist!" he announced proudly.

Naruto frowned, "Why not use bukijutsu too?" he asked.

Gai just continued to smile, "Ah, yes well he does utilize weaponry and tools when needed of course, but taijutsu is the foundation of the physical arts." he retorted in defense of his chosen specialty.

Lee finally managed to land a blow, a spinning axe kick with such speed and force that it seemed to split Gaara's cheek. The shinobi from Suna seemed especially shocked by that, as they knew not even jonin assassins had ever landed such a solid blow.

"In terms of speed, Lee can't be surpassed!" Gai added proudly and Naruto was amazed since even the monsters beneath Konoha could not move quite that fast, none of the ones that he'd seen anyway, so he actually couldn't even privately refute the claim.

Gaara's sand couldn't react in time and he was getting floored by Lee soon enough, "This is bad..." Kankuro muttered, frowning. The puppeteer had noticed Gaara was becoming more unstable, and the face of the red haired Sunanin cracking and falling away to reveal an insanely bloodthirsty grin beneath an encasing of sand only confirmed his concerns.

Sakura frowned, "That sand, so Lee-kun still hadn't fully touched him." she realized, her concern returning as Gaara covered up his gleeful expression with the sand, "What is that sand?" she wondered.

"Suna no Yoroi," Kankuro answered, "if the Suna no Tate is the first part of his ultimate defense that's the second. While the Tate moves independantly of his will, the Yoroi is held tightly around him by the force of his own will." he explained. Naruto frowned, wondering where the weak point was. What Kankuro wasn't telling them was that the Suna no Yoroi was a last line of defense, it required a constant expenditure of chakra and made the young genin far heavier and thus forcing him to expend more effort just to move.

"Is that all?" Gaara asked, as Lee had taken a moment to pause and consider the ultimate defense of his opponent. The green clad genin looked to his sensei and, recieving the nod of approval, he loosened the bandages around his arms. Lee dashed around the Suna no Tate, the outer layer of sand protecting Gaara, before leaping to skid beneath the other genin and kick him up into the air. The taijutsu specialist followed through with further kicks to launch him higher despite the weight of the Suna no Yoroi.

Gai prayed for his students success, knowing that Lee was putting even more strain on his body than the jutsu he was about to use usually required by using consecutive kicks. Finally Lee wrapped the Suna genin up in his bandages and spun with his opponent as the two fell out of the air to hit the ground with his Omote Renge, the Konoha genin leaping away from the impact.

There was a moment of stunned silence before the Suna no Yoroi cracked and fell apart to reveal the shell was empty, "Impossible!" Gai exclaimed, "When did he-?" the man wondered.

"When you shut your eyes in prayer," Kakashi pointed out, "during those consecutive kicks Lee hesitated when he winced in pain, which let Gaara use that shell of his for a kawarimi." he explained for the benfit of those who had not seen it.

Gaara rose up from a mound of far looser sand with a chuckle before going on the attack, smashing Lee into a wall with a blast of his sand. Then sending a wave of more sand to crash against the boy to slam him further into the wall, licking his lips as he toyed with his opponent.

"Why doesn't Lee-kun dodge?" Sakura asked with a worried expression and tone.

"The jutsu Lee just used puts massive strain on his body." Gai answered quietly, equally as worried but far more tempered.

"Fundamentally, it's a kinjutsu." Kakashi clarified, "Using that level of high speed taijutsu puts strain on the body, right now Lee is likely in incredible pain and his muscles are weakened by the backlash." he explained.

Naruto noticed something, "He's smiling." he pointed out.

Gai smiled, "Lee is smiling because he's found his second wind," he answered, "the lotus of Konoha blooms twice!" he announced proudly.

"For you, it ends here." Gaara told his opponent, done with toying with the taijutsu specialist.

Lee continued to smile, "One way or another, this move will be the last." he agreed.

Kakashi's visible eye widened as he realized what Gai's words meant, "You didn't?" he asked, hoping he misinterpreted.

"On the contrary, I did." Gai retorted calmly, focused on watching his pupil fight.

Kakashi frowned under his mask, "So, that kid, who is still just a genin, can actually open the Hachimon?" he questioned, narrowing his eye at his self-proclaimed rival.

"Yes," Gai confirmed, "that's right." he added somberly, "Lee has the talent for it." he explained.

"No matter how much talent he has, you tought him something incredibly dangerous!" Kakashi snapped suddenly, "The Omote Renge is one thing, but the Ura Renge is not the kind of thing you teach a genin!" he argued.

Gai crossed his arms, "I am confident in his ability," he retorted as he watched his student set up the jutsu they were speaking of, "he's the only one of my genin to do so." he clarified.

"How many can he open?" Kakashi asked, recognizing that Lee had recovered by opening Kyumon.

"He's up to the fifth gate." Gai answered and if Kakashi didn't have his mask on he'd be openly gawking, stunned that a genin got that far.

Naruto was lost, "What's Hachimon?" he asked.

"The Hachimon are limiters placed on the body that must be released in preparation for the Ura Renge." Gai answered simply as the jonin of team seven lifted his hitai-ate to reveal his own Sharingan.

"Yes," Kakashi concurred, "at eight different points along the keirakukei there are places the chakra nodes converge." he explained in more detail, "Kaimon, Kyumon, Seimon, Shomon, Tomon, Keimon, Kyomon, and Shimon." he listed, "These are called Hachimon. They maintain limits on the amount of chakra flowing through the body, limits that the Renge forcibly overrides, enabling the user to draw upon strength many times their usual level, even if the body is destroyed in the process. Incidentally, the Omote Renge only opens Kaimon."

"What about the Ura Renge?" Sakura asked, becoming increasingly concerned.

"Opening the Kaimon frees the user of mental inhibitions." Gai began, "The opening of Kyumon boosts strength, and with the Seimon open the Ura Renge can begin." he explained.

Sakura grit her teeth, "Lee-kun hurt himself so much with Omote Renge already, if he keeps going..." she trailed off.

Kakashi nodded, "A trule double-edged weapon." he confirmed, "Anyone who opens all of the Hachimon will enter a state called Hachimon Tonko no Jin, they'll have the power to surpass even a Kage, but the strain will kill them." he explained.

Naruto made a mental note that such a state would be a perfect final trump card for him, since he was immortal anyway. The blonde wondered how he'd get anyone to teach him such a kinjutsu though, he'd stolen the one he already knew after all.

Lee opened the Seimon and his skin turned bright red, followed by the Shomon and his veins bulged as a bit of blood dripped down his nose from a burst vessel in his sinus from the strain. Neji activated his Byakugan, watching curiously as the genin he considered a failure moved so fast even he could barely track it.

Gaara was swiftly being kicked around the arena by Lee, the Konoha genin barely perceptable to those with dojutsu as Gaara's Suna no Yoroi was peeled away and the Suna genin himself was juggled out of reach of his sand by the high speed taijutsu combination. Finally Lee wrapped his opponent up and opened Tomon, then knocked Gaara away again before using his bandages to pull the other genin back to him and deliver a combined palm thrust and kick with such force that everyone in the audience felt it.

"What the hell is up with these Konoha shinobi...?" The jonin of the Ame cell muttered, hiding his bewilderment expertly despite the situation.

However, Gaara's gourd became sand to cushion his landing, so the boy was not knocked unconcious by being slammed against the ground as Lee had intented. Lee himself could barely stand after his performance, too slow to evade his left arm and leg being caught in the sand as Gaara lifted his right hand towards the taijutsu specialist.

Kiba and Shino recognized what was about to happen, and the Inuzuka winced in sympathy as the sand suddenly imploded around the limbs it had trapped in response to Gaara clenching his fist. The sand moved again to grab at Lee fully, but it was knocked away by Gai as the jonin leaped to interfere in the match to save his pupil.

Gaara glared at Gai as he stood up, then winced and clutched his head in pain, "Why are you helping him?" he questioned, failing to understand.

"He's my precious protégé." Gai answered, unaware that such words were beyond Gaara's current understanding, the Suna genin unable to comprehend caring about someone enough to protect them.

Gaara's sand returned to the shape of a gourd and encased him once more, "Forget it." he retorted as he turned to leave, annoyed that his kill had been interrupted. The audience were all surprised when Lee stood once more despite his broken leg, Gaara turned back to see what the commotion was.

Gai frowned, "Lee it's over, you-" he began only to halt as he realized the boy was unconcious. The eyes of the jonin watered and he hugged his broken pupil, impressed that the boy had enough resolve to stand while unconcious and proud that he could attempt a taijutsu stance while out cold from muscle memory.


Naruto considered his opponents in the finals, three of whom he definitely wanted to punish. He glanced at Kankuro, technically he had nothing against the puppeteer but the older boy was on the same Suna cell as two of the three he really wanted to hurt.

"Well, there's no need for the scoreboard," Hayate called out after the arena was cleared, "Choji Akimichi and Hanbei, please come down for the final match of the preliminary." he requested.

The final Ame genin moved down without hesitation, but Choji frowned since the last few matches, actually a lot of them really, had been a bit brutal for his liking. The only one that hadn't resulted in injury had been between Shikamaru and Kiba, neither of which had tried particularly hard to hurt the other.

Choji recalled one match had even been an actual fatality, and surprisingly it wasn't Gaara. The Akimichi glanced towards Naruto nervously.

Asuma sighed, "If you win, I'll buy all you can eat barbecue." he promised, Choji moved with a speed few knew him capable of and the genin stoically faced the Ame genin a moment later with fire in his eyes.

Hayate coughed into his fist, "Sorry," he apologized at the two genin who stiffened and made to move on the attack from the false start, "begin!" he declared for real.

Choji made a hand seal but his opponent crossed the distance between them before he could mold chakra and slammed his left elbow into the chubby genin's stomach with a low stance, then he thrust his left palm into the stomach he'd just hit with a shift of his stance towards the Akimichi.

The Konoha genin slid back, fell to his knees, and dry heaved. Hanbei unsheathed his ninjato, held it in both hands, and swung down at Choji's left shoulder with a step towards the downed boy. The Akimichi fell back as he avoided a mortal blow with a quickly palmed kunai in his right hand, but the ninjato still cut against his left forearm that he'd raised with his guard.

Hanbei pulled back, lined up his ninjato, and thrust with a low long hop towards Choji who failed to defend against that as the blade went through the left arm of the Konoha genin despite his attempts to knock the attack further off course.

Hayate was there with Asuma to separate the two then, as it became clear the Ame genin was out for blood. Iryoninja approached to heal Choji's left arm, and unlike Hinata he managed to avoid passing out although he seemed embarrassed.

Hanbei pulled away obediently and sheathed his sword in a passive stance, "I wait so long for my turn, and my opponent isn't even the right caliber." he grumbled.

Hayate eyed the Ame genin warily, "Will the victors of each match come down now? We're about to announce the match ups for the third phase." he called and each genin who won came down.

Naruto was the bloodiest, followed by Neji with a spray of Hinata's blood up his right arm and sleeve. Gaara smelled the most like blood, Shikamaru stayed as far from the Suna genin as he could. Temari had a smile that was proud and confident, while Kankuro was smirking arrogantly.

Kakashi stood in Sasuke's place, "I'll make sure he's ready for the finals." he assured, a few jonin frowned at the preferential treatment but the Hokage and Anko understood that it was needed in this case. Sakura was just worried about her teammates, then she realized her entire team had actually made it to the final round.

Shino stood patiently and impassively, no one could get a read on what he was thinking.

"To those of you who won your bouts and have qualified for the third phase of the chunin exams, I congratulate you." Hayate said formally, as Hiruzen considered the victors. Six from Konohagakure, three of whom were part of the same cell, three from Sunagakure who were all in the same cell, and one Ame genin.

Hiruzen Sarutobi wondered if Hanzo would show up, but he doubted the man would show up personally even if one of the genin of the four cells he'd sent made it to the finals. It would be nerve wracking if he did though, the Shinobigashira no Amegakure no Sato was a terrifying man in his prime and the Sandaime would be a hypocrite to underestimate an old man.

"So, uh, they're all yours Hokage-sama." Hayate said, stepping aside as his words broke the wizened Sarutobi from his musings.

"Yes," Hiruzen acknowledged as he stepped forward, "well then, starting now I shall explain the finals." he began as he adjusted his hat, "As I mentioned earlier your final battles will be conducted in front of everyone. Each of you represents the respective battle strengths of your lands," he said and a few of the genin glanced nervously at Gaara, "so we want you to exhibit and fully showcase your talents. Thus the finals will commence one month from now." he explained.

Naruto's eyes widened at the sheer amount of time he had, with that much time he had no doubt he could reach a level that Neji wouldn't be able to keep up with. Gaara however had a different idea, "Why wait?" he asked, his tone gravelly with aggravation.

"We call this the requisite preparation period." Hiruzen responded to the young auburn haired boy, "It's a period of time that allows us to relay who is competing in the final phase to the various Daimyo and other nobles or dignitaries who wish to witness it, including leaders of other hidden villages, and it also serves as a period for you applicants to prepare after the preliminaries today." he explained.

Kankuro was growing annoyed with the old man constantly beating around the bush, "I still don't get it, what do you mean?" he asked with an aggravated expression.

"You must prepare to understand the enemy and yourself." Hiruzen answered calmly, "During this period you can analyze the intelligence you have gathered on your opponents during these preliminaries, and use it to increase your chances of victory. Normally the tournament phase of the Chunin Selection Examinations is conducted as fights against a potentially unknown opponent, but during these preliminaries some of you may have revealed all your cards against your rivals. Some of you may have even been injured against comparatively strong opponents," he continued with a look to Kakashi, implying he meant Sasuke, "while others may have pushed themselves too hard." he added with a meaningful glance at Naruto, "In order to make the finals fair, we give you this month to rest and prepare, but also to take time to practice and perhaps even develop some new tricks." he explained, "So with that covered I'd like to let you all go, but we have one last thing to do before the finals. There are slips of paper in the box Anko-san is holding, each of you take one."

Anko stepped up to the genin with a box, "Line up kids, one per person." she said, and soon each of the ten genin had a slip of paper with a number on it.

"Now that everybody has one, please read out the numbers you have one at a time, starting from the left." Hiruzen instructed, curious as to how this would play out.

"Seven." Shikamaru responded lazily.

"Six." Shino responded flatly.

"Two." Neji was equally as toneless.

Sakura looked at her number, "Ten." she informed.

"Sasuke-kun got four." Kakashi said cheerfully as if that wasn't a bad omen.

"One." Naruto declared with a glare towards Neji.

"Nine." Hanbei held up the paper to show he was not lying.

"Five." Kankuro said with a confident smirk.

"Eight." Temari said her own number with little fanfare.

"Three." Gaara said, fulfilling the ill omen of four being drawn by the Uchiha.

Hiruzen nodded, "Then we shall tell you the brackets for the final tournament now," he announced, "Ibiki-san, if you would?" he requested and the man turned around his clipboard.

The first match would be Naruto Uzumaki versus Neji Hyuga, then Sasuke Uchiha versus Gaara, Kankuro versus Shino Aburame, Shikamaru Nara versus Temari, and finally Hanbei versus Sakura Haruno in the first round alone.

"With this, you all free to rest up and prepare for your matches." Hiruzen announced, "We're all done unless anyone has any questions." he said.

"I have one." Temari spoke up, "If this is a tournament, does that mean only one person becomes chunin?" she asked curiously.

Hiruzen chuckled, "No, there will be many judges. Not just myself, but the Kazekage, as well as advisors and other village heads." he explained, "During this tournament we will be determining who has displayed that they deserve to be considered chunin depending on how these matches go. Even those who lose in the first round could become chunin."

"So, all ten of us could become chunin?" Temari asked incredulously.

"Yes." Hiruzen answered simply, "However, it is also possible that none of you become chunin!" he added sternly, "The advantage of winning each bout is more chances to show what you're made of against a variety of enemies." he explained.


I debated splitting this chapter in two, there's a very good stopping point right at the end of Naruto's fight. However I decided to just make the preliminaries a mega-chapter that covers every fight and sets up the brackets for the finals.

I also considered skipping the Suna genin fights since I did not change much but ultimately decided against it, mostly because I wanted to write Naruto getting angry at Temari and learning about Hachimon. Also Misumi deserves it.

Two other things though, I don't really do character bashing. I'll explore a characters flaws but I don't like flanderizing them and making those flaws out to be everything they are as a person, Sakura Haruno is shallow and thinks she's smarter than she is because she did a good job memorizing things in the academy, she's also not an amazing ninja and she has moments where she sticks her foot in her mouth more than Naruto, like mentioning how being an orphan must be so good for Naruto to Sasuke early in canon. However she's also the most normal human on her team of what are effectively ninja super soldiers so comparitively she seems useless, I'll remind everyone that Uzumaki and Uchiha have family history of using child soldiers and clans are literally genetically different from normal families. Sakura isn't from a clan like the rest of the rookie nine, so she has to work harder and longer to keep up with their inborn advantages which she simply has not being doing because no one is going to explain this to a genin who they think should be doing D ranks. Kakashi is not blameless in this, he was a prodigy himself and is a bit socially clueless at times so Sakura's problems are effectively a blind spot for him, plus he is ironically a bit tunnel visioned towards the two students that he views as links to his past failures in their own ways.

The final thing is my update schedule gets people thinking I might burn out, it's a fair thought honestly as I do have a habit of doing that to myself. I recover fine though, my bigger concern is getting hit with writers block and getting stuck with a chapter. For anyone concerned about Excessive Ninja, my other currently ongoing story, that is what is happening there, it is not abandoned I'm just a bit stuck on how I want to write out a scene and I don't want to update it until the chapter is done. I do not have an explanation for the fact that my solution to writers block is to start writing over six thousand word chapters a day for over a fortnight about another story idea I had, but it did feel better than agonizing over the same paragraph like I was.