Can't believe the support for this story. Thanks guys!

After getting through Choji's match, and then writing half of Shikamaru vs Hinata, I decided I could just skip the preliminaries altogether now that the main guys are done, so that's what I did.

Akatsuki no Kyara: Why would I not? :P

Charrmed: That sounds brilliant to hear :') thank you for your support!

Aurora-chan: Thanks a lot :D

Pyr00tje: Definitely sounds like an interesting idea. I'll be looking to see if I can do something with that.

zarethuzumi: Naruto's finishing move on Neji was my modified version of the Uzumaki Barrage :) And I'm the type of writer who's only good for writing 2k+ words stories. Anything more and I'll feel like going to sleep, yes, I can fall asleep on my own story. I have never written more than 6,000 words in a chapter. Sorry to disappoint!

Thanks to Akatsuki no Kyara, Charrmed, The True Not Important, Aurora-chan, Ivyfeather319, Pyr00tje, zarethuzumi and Nek0Nek0 for the reviews!

"Winner: Tenten!"

Ino slumped to the ground, her body littered with scars. Medics swiftly rushed in, taking the Yamanaka away on a stretcher.

"Now we're done with the preliminaries, can all winners come down to the ground please, including the one that got a free pass?"

Said Genin arrived in the arena.

Hayate repeated the battles, and winners, just for confirmation.

"The first match. Sakura Haruno vs Karin. Sakura Haruno is the winner."

"The second match. Rock Lee vs Gaara Sabaku. Gaara Sabaku is the winner."

"The third match. Dosu Kinuta vs Kankuro Sabaku. Kankuro Sabaku is the winner."

"The fourth match. Sasuke Uchiha vs Kin Tsuchi. Sasuke Uchiha is the winner."

"Fifth. Naruto Uzumaki vs Neji Hyuga. Naruto Uzumaki is the winner."

"And the sixth. Choji Akimichi vs Zaku Abumi. Choji Akimichi is the winner."

"The seventh match. Shikamaru Nara vs Hinata Hyuga. Shikamaru Nara is the winner."

"The eighth. Temari Sabaku vs Kiba Inuzuka. Temari Sabaku is the winner."

"And last but not least, Ino Yamanaka vs Tenten, and Tenten is the winner."

"Shino Aburame gets a free pass to the third stage of the Chunin Exams."

The room broke into applause for the Genin that had qualified.

The Third Hokage walked down the stairs into the arena, to address the Genin.

"We have ten Genin left now, so the third exam will be like the preliminaries. One-on-one battles." Hiruzen explained. "Only five Genin will remain standing until the end of the exam."

"Does that mean only five Genin will be promoted to Chunin?"

"No," Hiruzen shook his head. "We will assess any one of these ten Genin at the third exam. Even if they lose, they can still be promoted to Chunin if we think highly of their skills."

"Ah," Naruto nodded. "So all ten of us have a chance of making Chunin!"

"Yes."

Hayate stepped forward, carrying a box. "Every one, come here and take a piece of paper. There'll be a number inside, and when you see what it is, tell us. Got it?"

When he received nods, Hayate gestured for the Genin to take the papers. Naruto opened his, and grinned. He had gotten 7.

"7," the blonde declared. After him came the other Genin voices.

"1."

"3."

"10."

"9."

"4... What a drag..."

"I've got 2..."

"8."

"5."

"7."

"6 here!"

Hayate nodded. "Looks like all of you have gotten your numbers. Now here's how it is. Number 1 will fight against Number 2, Number 3 against Number 4, and so on. Just in case you can't count..." He coughed, but to the Genin it sounded more like a snicker. "... we've drawn up something for you. Anko!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm done." Anko finished her scribbling on some random sheet of paper, and passed it to Hayate.

The sickly proctor revealed the sheet to the Genin. "This, is the fixtures for the third exam. And just in case you can't read..." He coughed again. "... I will be reading it out to you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Of course he could read.

"Number 1 vs Number 2. Sasuke Uchiha vs Kankuro Sabaku."

"Number 3 vs Number 4. Temari Sabaku vs Shikamaru Nara."

"Number 5 vs Number 6. Tenten vs Sakura Haruno."

"Number 7 vs Number 8. Naruto Uzumaki vs Gaara Sabaku."

"Number 9 vs Number 10. Shino Aburame vs Choji Akimichi."

Naruto's got the Gaara guy! Sakura worried for her teammate. He defeated someone as powerful as Lee! How can Naruto...

Naruto was thinking something a tad bit more different. Woah, I got the Gaara guy! This should be fun!

The puppeteer, huh? Sasuke looked towards his new opponent. Looks like I'm in for quite a fight.

Isn't she the chestnut girl? Shikamaru frowned, but said nothing. A girl... I have to fight a girl again... troublesome.

"The third exam will begin in two months' time. This will give all of you as much time as you need to prepare and practice for your new opponent."

"Two months?" Sakura protested. "That's a bit too long, don't you think?"

"Nah, I think it's just fine. It'll give me more time to learn more cool jutsu!" Naruto said with glee.

With that, the Genin were all free to return home.

"Itachi-sensei! You have to train me, I tell ya!"

Naruto slurped happily on his ramen as he talked.

Itachi had a small smile on his face. "Of course. Let me go through what Team 7 will be doing these two months." He finished the last of his ramen, and tapped his chopsticks on the bowl to get Sasuke and Sakura's attention.

"I'm listening!" Naruto said excitedly.

"First, Sakura." Itachi's tone turned serious. "You will be training under a teacher I've selected for you. He's rather friendly, so you shouldn't have any problems under him. He's a skilled Earth Style user, and he'll be teaching you Earth Style ninjutsu. "In addition to that, I will also train with you for a few weeks to learn a genjutsu or two."

Sakura nodded, feeling excited.

"Next, Sasuke." Itachi turned to his younger brother. "Our first step will be learning how to control that Cursed Seal of yours."

"This?" Sasuke's hand reluctantly moved to his Cursed Seal.

"Don't tell the Hokage about this," the Jonin said softly. Sasuke dumbly nodded. "When we are done with that, which will take almost a month in estimation, like Sakura, you will be placed under the care of a teacher who can use the Lightning Style."

"Sounds interesting," Sasuke grinned.

"Lastly, Naruto." Naruto's head snapped up eagerly. "I don't know an experienced Wind Style user who's willing to be a teacher, but we'll be working on your kenjutsu. You are already highly advanced with the sword, but to beat someone like that Gaara, you'll have to increase your speed to levels to impossible heights. Basically, what I'm saying is, your kenjutsu must be perfected. By the end of these two months, I want you to become a master of kenjutsu."

Naruto took in the information. A master of kenjutsu. That didn't sound too bad.

"I am Naruto Uzumaki, the Almighty Kenjutsu Master!" He declared.

Teuchi looked up from his work, and chuckled, before going back to his cooking.

Naruto shrunk back in embarrassment.

"What we shall do first, Sasuke, is get that Cursed Seal of yours to act up."

"What?" Sasuke looked down. "Must I...?"

"Sasuke," Itachi smiled warmly. "Don't worry. I'll be here to stop if you if anything happens. Do you trust me?"

Sasuke stared back at his older brother and grinned. "Yeah, I do."

"If you'd said 'no', I would have disowned you as my brother," Itachi teased. He got into a taijutsu stance. "First, we fight. Activate your Sharingan, use ninjutsu. Just try to draw the Cursed Seal out. Okay?"

"Got it," Sasuke nodded reluctantly. Hesitantly, the Uchiha activated his Sharingan.

"Come." The older of the two beckoned his younger sibling to him.

"Fire Style!" Sasuke leaped into the air. "Fireball...!" He collapsed to the ground, clutching onto his neck.

"Sasuke!" Itachi yelled, running up. Maybe this is a bad idea...?

"I'm fine, big brother!"

"No, you aren't."

"Yes, I am!" Sasuke insisted, turning around and trying to punch Itachi in the face, but the Jonin was gone in a flash, and reappeared a meter away from Sasuke.

Grabbing a kunai in his hands, Itachi charged.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Small fireballs roamed from Sasuke's mouth, shooting towards Itachi.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu."

Itachi's own fireballs collided with Sasuke's, and both fires were put out together. At the same time, Sasuke clutched his neck again as the Cursed Seal's pain returned.

"Brother! It's... it's starting...!"

The seal began to spread.

"Focus, Sasuke. Control it." Itachi soothed.

"I... I can't!"

"Try."

"No...!"

"Try."

"I can't!"

"Control it, Sasuke!" Itachi roared into his brother's face.

Sasuke winced, and focused as the mark spread to his left arm and leg. It was only a few centimeters from reaching his face. Itachi prepared himself for a fight.

Focus... Sasuke told himself. I can do this. I can control this... I just need to focus... Let's kill something.

The raven-haired boy's eyes flew open, now with a crazed look in them. With a roar, Sasuke attacked Itachi as the Cursed Seal finally spread over the left side of his face.

Looks like he couldn't do it, Itachi frowned. Sasuke attempted a punch, but Itachi grabbed onto his wrist and flung him onto the ground, earning a cry of pain from the younger boy.

Pinning Sasuke on his back, Itachi swiftly formed an array of one-handed hand seals.

"Sealing Jutsu."

Slapping his hand over Sasuke's neck where the original Cursed Seal was, the black marks around Sasuke's left body half reversed back into his neck.

Releasing Sasuke, Itachi got up and pulled his sibling up as well.

"I couldn't control it," Sasuke sighed, shaking his head.

"Never mind that," Itachi got into his taijutsu stance once more. "Again!"

Sasuke stared at Itachi in disbelief, but complied.

"Sharingan!"

"You must be Sakura Haruno."

Sakura looked up at her new teacher. It was a male that looked slightly older than Itachi. He had short brown hair, and some sort of facial armor attached to his face, that covered his cheeks and forehead. At the top of this facial armor, at the forehead, was the symbol of the Hidden Leaf.

This man also wore the standard Konoha flak jacket, much like Itachi did.

"Yes, I'm Sakura," the pinkette bowed respectfully. "And you are...?"

"Um..." The brown-haired man seemed to be in thought. Then he looked up and smiled. "Tenzo. You can call me Tenzo."

"Pleased to meet you, Tenzo-san. Or do I address you as Tenzo-sensei?"

Tenzo chuckled. "I've never been addressed as sensei before! Tenzo-san will be fine."

Nodding, Sakura continued. "Tenzo-san, are you the Earth Style user Itachi-sensei referred me to?"

"Yep! I owe Itachi-senpai a favor, so... hahaha..." Tenzo said sheepishly.

"Itachi-senpai?"

"Oh, I worked with Itachi-senpai in the ANBU. He was one of my captains!" Tenzo explained, smiling. He led Sakura towards their destination - the Fifth Training Ground. Sakura had never been to this field before, but she couldn't be bothered. Her mind was set on learning all the ninjutsu she could learn.

"How many jutsu am I going to learn?" Sakura couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know, but we have a month and a half, so I'm sure there's plenty."

Sakura's face lit up in delight as Tenzo turnd to face her.

"We are going to be learning some C-Rank techniques," the man explained. "All pretty easy to master. Unfortunately, they are all defensive techniques, but they'll be useful."

"I think defensive techniques are a need," Sakura murmured. She didn't know much about Tenten, but from her fight with Ino, she was a master of sealing and weaponry.

After watching Tenten performing that Rising Twin Dragons on Ino, Sakura wasn't so sure she wanted to be hit by the same attack.

"First, this one." Tenzo slammed his palm onto the ground. "Earth Style: Terra Shield!" A giant shield of earth rose up in front of him. Emerging from behind the shield, Tenzo patted his piece of work in satisfaction.

"It looks unbreakable," Sakura gasped.

"It isn't," Tenzo stated simply. "The Earth Style: Terra Shield isn't completely a shield, but more like something to buy time. It's not strong enough to handle attacks that can deal a significant amount of damage, but it'll buy you time to dodge."

"Ah, I see."

"This is the second jutsu we'll be trying to master today." Tenzo placed his hands into a seal of confrontation. "Earth Style: Hidden Mole Jutsu!"

Disappearing underground, Tenzo's head then suddenly popped out from the ground, a grin on his face.

"So basically, this is like the Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu used on yourself?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Nope. The Headhunter Jutsu completely restricts it's target from moving." Tenzo's entire body rose from the ground. "With the Hidden Mole Jutsu, the user can move underground and based on the magnetic forces you feel while underground, you can also sense where your opponent is if you're in a battle."

"Will I actually be able to master two jutsu in one day?"

Tenzo grinned. "It's almost impossible, but we shall try."

Sakura nodded, preparing herself for the training she was about to receive.

And that's the end of another chapter. Hopefully I can get a new one up by the next three days. In the next chapter, Jiraiya of the Sannin makes his first appearance! Until next time!