Reader-anonymous-writer – Saratobi may have trained them but you can't blame him. Just because Orochimaru has higher intelligence doesn't make him better. He was to focused on mastering every jutsu he could. Also his thought too highly of himself and in the end it was his downfall. About the well rounded team, a well rounded team doesn't have one person work on something and the other don't. A well rounded team is a team who knows the strengths and weaknesses of their team mates. It is all about choices, Orochimaru was driven and greedy so he focused on all kinds of jutsu to increase his power, forgetting to balance out himself. Tsunade made the choice to follow her passion for healing and found she had a great ability for it. She unlike Orochimaru balanced herself out, she knew to be an effective in the field she would have to be able to attack as well as defend and heal. I say Jiraiya is the "strongest" for many reasons. The most important one being that he knew what his own weaknesses were and instead of accepting them and moving on he focused to strengthen himself in those areas. He wasn't as smart as his team mates so he studied to improve himself. He is a lot like Naruto, always improving.

Main Characters: Naruto, Gaara, Shikamaru, Kakashi, Tsunade, Jiraiya

Pairings: Naruto/Hinata, Gaara/? Shikamaru/Temari, Sakura/Lee (Later), Neji/TenTen

Chapter 19

Of Bugs and Hugs

"Yes! It is finally my turn." Lee said loudly before jumping down into the ring.

Naruto looked over to Gaara and said, "What to make any bets on this one?" Gaara gave him a look that said 'do I look stupid' and shook his head.

Naruto laughed and shook him head and looked down in to the ring to witness the battle which had just begun.

Shino looked at his opponent with a curious eye. Lee was such a usual opponent. He was fast and that fact unnerved Shino. Before Shino could blink Lee came at him. Lee landed a well aimed kick to Shino's abdomen throwing Shino into the wall behind him.

As he climbed to his feet Lee did a bit of a victory dance, complete with an, "I win, I win: chant. Shino looked at him opponent and slowly moved into the looming shadows and out of Lee's view.

Noticing his challenger disappear Lee stopped his dance and slowly turned around looking for Shino.

Shino threw two shuriken from his hiding place in the shadows and Lee dodged them. Lee became off balance and Shino took advantage of that fact. Lee managed to get out of the way off Shino's incoming attack.

Lee grabbed onto Shino's arm and threw him to the other side of the ring. Shino caught himself before he could fly head first into the wall. Lee quickly ran at Shino and jumped to kick him in the head. "You are extremely fast." Shino said quietly as he just barely dodged the assault.

This continued on for what seemed like forever. Lee would attack, Shino would dodge and counter, and then it was Lee's turn to dodge. Shino knew something had to change.

Soon a buzzing began to fill the stadium. The crowd was transfixed with the fight. It seemed to go on forever. Shino knew this had to end and soon. All his chakra was gone. He was exhausted and he could tell his opponent was also exhausted.

Lee was breathing hard and looked about to collapse. However exhausted Lee was determined to make one final effort. He made rushed at Shino and landed one strong punch to Shino's face.

Bugs from the shield Shino had around his body went flying as they were hit with Lee's punch. Lee broke through the layer of bugs and managed to hit skin. Shino went flying backwards into the arena wall, unconscious.

The proctor rushed over to Shino to see if he was alright. When he stood back up to announce the winner, Lee had fainted. Both opponents were unconscious. Shino from Lee hitting him and Lee from exhaustion, it was a tied match.

"As both candidates have fallen unconscious I have no other choice but to call this match a draw. Neither candidate will proceed to the next round." Genma said as the medics retrieved both Shino and Lee.

The Hokage stood up and Naruto smirked, he knew what was going to happen. "I am sorry but even though Rock Lee of the Leaf Village has fallen unconscious. He did succeed in defeating Shino Aburame. So he is, by knockout, the winner."

After the medics had cleared the arena Genma spoke again. "Would the next particpants please come forward, Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara of the Sand Village."