A/N: I really need to stop updating this story and move on to Mirror or Illusion.. they're being neglected again.. so lonely. XD. This will most likely be the last chapter for the next couple of days because I'm either goingg to work on Mirror or Illusion and/or start posting my new story which.. is either Naruto or Kingdom hearts. I have three un-posted stories so I don't know and two have them already have a complete first chapter. lol. Anyway, song is Still fighting it by Ben Folds. Enjoy the chappy :D


Vote in your reviews for what story starts next. (I will start posting with in the next day or so since both have the first chapter completed already).

Story One: AU Naruto story with Temari as the main character. Turns out boarding school isn't exactly as it seems.

Story Two: AU Kingdom Hearts story with Roxas as the main character. Roxas gets selected to go on a french exchange. NOT ENGLISH.


Shinobu POV

"Phew.. At last we're at the end.." Hayate thought as he waited for his coughing to cease. "Well, with this, the preliminary rounds for the main test have been completed!" Hayate shouted over the excited chatter.

"Nara Shikamaru, Aburame Shino, Temari, Uchiha Shinobu, Hyuuga Neji, Kankuro, Uzumaki Naruto, Gaara, Uchiha Sasuke, Yakushi Kabuto, Kinuta Dosu. You have all won the rights to compete in the "third round test" in the chunin exams." Hayate spoke, pausing to cough. "One is missing, but, congratulations to you all."

"Sensei.. I have something I wanted to ask.." Sakura spoke quietly, looking away from the group of genin below.

"Is it about Sasuke? Who knows.. I'm sorry to say that even I don't know much about him right now. Well, don't worry too much." Kakashi responded, looking away awkwardly.

"..."

"Sakura, I have to leave for a moment. Be sure to listen to what the tournament instructions are."

"Huh? O-ok.." She sighed.

"Hmm.. Including Uchiha Sasuke who isn't here right now. There are seven from the leaf, three from the sand, and one from the sound. Eleven people made it to the final event." Sarutobi sighed, thinking to himself.

"Ah, well then, Hokage-sama, if you would please.." Hayate gestured.

"Yes. Well, now I'd like to start explaining the final test. As I told you before, in the main event, your matches will be seen by everybody. Each of you will fight to represent the strengths of your countries. I'd like you to show off all of your powers with no reserves, which is why the finals.. will be held a month from now." The Hokage explained, pausing to allow the shock to settle in as well as allow for any questions.

"We're not going to do it right here right now?" Naruto asked, pointing at the abused battle feild behind him.

"This break, you can say, will be for preparations." The Hokage replied.

"What does that mean?" Neji questioned.

"In other words, in addition to informing all the various countries lords and shinobi leaders, this is the time needed to arrange for the gathering of the event. This also preparation time for you examination students."

This geezer, he always makes things complicated when he talks." Kankuro muttered under his breath. "I don't understand what you're trying to say! What does that mean?" Kankuro spoke louder so the Hokage could hear him.

"Basically, it's the preparation to get to know your enemy.. and yourself." He said, mentally sighing as he explained. "It's the time period where you will calculate your chances of winning. By analyzing the data you've accumulated during the trial competition. The battles up to now had you fight as if you were in a real combat situation, with the assumption of fighting an unknown opponent."

"That's for sure.. I never would have guessed that he would use sand as a weapon." Shikamaru thought.

"However the final trial will nont be like this. There are those who have showed all they can do already to their rivals. There are those who competed and were badly injured against a strong opponent. To make everything fair, the one month should be used by all of you to advance and improve yourselves. Of course, it would be fine to rest your body as well."

"I've got to improve.. I can't just rest for a month, seriously!" Naruto thought, images of Sasuke and the other potental opponents popping up into his head.

"Well I'd like to dismiss you now but.. there's one more thing that has to be done for the finals before I can do that." The hokage smiled.

"What the hell is it? I've got to train, now!" Naruto shouted in frustration.

"Well now, don't get so excited. There are pieces of paper inside of the box that Anko's holding so each of you take one piece." He explained.

"I'll come around, so wait your turn." Anko said, walking along the line and waiting for each person to take a slip. "Only one now!"

"Alright, you've all taken a piece. Now I'd like you to tell us the number on that paper in order starting from the left."

"I'm ten." Dosu said.

"Seven." Naruto grumbled with a confused frown.

"Nine." Temari scoffed.

"Four." Kankuro said, looking almost as confused as Naruto.

"Two." Gaara muttered.

"Five." Shinobu answered, looking from her paper to the people around her.

"Eleven." Shikamaru sighed.

"Eight." Neji stated.

"Three." Shino responded.

"Six." Kabuto smiled.

"So that means he'll be one." Ibiki said, scribbling something down onto a large clipboard.

"Yes." The hokage replied before turning to face the ten examinee's. "Alright, now I will reveal to you the final tournament." He said, clapping his hands together.

"What? That's what we drew numbers for?" Shikamaru asked, looking astonished.

"Yes.." Ikibi said, his face devoid of emotion but the glimmer in his eyes told Shinobu that he found their reaction quite amusing.

"Now, Ibiki, show them the match arrangements."


Sasuke 1 vs 1 Gaara - Shino 2 vs 2 Kankuro - Shinobu 3 vs 3 Kabuto - Naruto 4 vs 4 Neji - Dosu 5 vs 5 Shikamaru

Winner 1 (1) vs (1) Winner 2 - Winner 3 (2) vs (2) Winner 4 - Temari (3) vs (3) Winner 5

Winner (1) F vs F Winner (2)

Winner F vs Winner (3)


"That's far.." Dosu mumbled.

"What? The finals are just a regular tournament?" Temari asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Oh man.. like.. I've got one extra match. It's not like I wanted to avenge Choji or anything." Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome.."

"Shit.. I'm in the same block as Gaara." Kankuro thought to himself, nervously glancing at his brother.

"Uchiha.. Sasuke.." Gaara thought, eyes narrowed.

"Perfect.." Neji smirked.

"Hyuuga Neji.. Immediately against him.. Bring it on!" Naruto thought, eyeing Neji.

"The other Uchiha..? This will be interesting." Kabuto thought with a small smirk.

"Kabuto.. isn't he the one who told me to find Naruto in the forest?" Shinobu thought, eying Kabuto suspiciously.

"Well then, you're free to start strategizing or resting as you like. With this I'll dismiss you all but are there any final questions?"

"I would like to ask a question." Shikamaru said, lazily raising his hand.

"Yes."

"Since it's a tournament, it would mean that there's only one winner, right? Which means that only one person can become a chunin, doesn't it?" Shikamaru asked.

"No, that's not quite it. There will be judges including myself, the kazekage, lords of various countries that will make mission requests and other ninja leaders who will be watching the final test. Through out the tournament these judges will be evaluating your abilities. Those judged to have the necessary qualities to become a chunin will be able to become a chunin even if they lose their first match." The hokage explained.

"That means that.. It's a possibility that everyone here will become chunin?" Temari asked.

"Yes, but also, the possibility that no one here will become chunin. To advance in that tournament means that you have more chances to appeal to the judges. Did you understand? Shikamaru-kun?" The Hokage explained, looking over to him.

"Geez.. what a hassle." He thought as he nodded.

"Well then, thanks for all of the effort you have exerted for these trials. You're all dismissed until a month from now." The Hokage smiled.

"The second round will either be against Kabuto or Shinobu.. Hmm.. I guess I better ask Kakashi-sensei." Naruto thought. "Sakura-chan! Where's Kakashi-sensei?" He shouted up, catching the emotional girl off guard.

"I think he's probably with Sasuke-kun!" She called back.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan!" He grinned before running off.

"Great.." Shinobu sighed watching his retreating figure. "So much for training with him."

"Why would you want to train with that idiot?" Kankuro asked, overhearing her. "Oh, and are you ok?"

"Ya.. I'm fine, and he's stronger than he looks. He's a lot of help to train with." Shinobu sighed, maybe she should go find Kurenai-sensei. She could train her and she could see how Hinata and Kiba were doing.

"You could always train with me." Kankuro smirked.

"Nice try, and give away all of my secrets before we even start the tournament? No thank you." Shinobu laughed. "I'll catch you around though." She said, sending him her own smirk before walking off in the direction of the emergency rooms, soon followed by Shino.

"Have you heard from Kurenai-sensei?" Shinobu asked, weaving her way through busy medical staff.

"Yes, both Hinata and Kiba are going to be ok, though it might take a while for Kiba to heal as he's taken some damage to his heart and lungs. He's stopped coughing up blood for the most part." Shino replied, holding open the door for her as they entered their team's medical room.

"Shino, Shinobu, are the matches over?" Kurenai asked, looking up in shock.

"Ya, the main event is in a month." Shino replied, stooping down to pet Akamaru who was laying at the end of Kiba's bed, his eyes trained on his master while his head lay on his paws.

"I want to rest for today and tomorrow.. but after that I'd like to start training. I know Hinata's coming to stay with me for a week so we can train more then, but is there anything that I can learn with in that month, something that can help me in these matches?" Shinobu asked, looking at Kurenai with a hopeful yet serious expression.

"Yes.. but I don't think it's something that I persay can teach you.." Kurenai paused thinking. "Kakashi will most likely be training Sasuke.. so I doubt he will take you on right now. I think your best bet would be asking someone in the Hyuuga clan, the problem with that though is that Hiashi may be training Neji." Kurenai sighed.

"Can you train me at all?" Shinobu asked, slightly confused.

"Yes, I can. Neither of you would be training particularily for genjutsu though. The most I can do is give suggestions and watch over your battles with either each other, or your teammates once they're well enough." She said, wishing she had more to offer the two.

"What is it that I can learn though.. is it something I can teach myself?" Shinobu questioned, obviously eager to learn something, anything to give her the upper hand in a fight.

"Well.. I'm not sure to be honest. You know how in the Hyuuga clan, they utilize byakugan when they fight. Well they are one of three clans to have a kekkei genkai to do with their eyes. One of the others, is the Uchiha clan. They use something called sharingan. I'm not sure if Sasuke has learned yet but Kakashi is the only person in Konoha who would be able to teach you. But not every Uchiha member gets sharingan.. so I'm not sure if you will or won't have it." Kurenai explained.

"Sharingan..? I know byakugan has an effect on the users eyes, they have a lavendar colour normally and when in use the veins around their eyes bulk up allowing the user to look through certain objects as well as see the inner coils system in a ninja's body. They also have a much wider vision.. almost 360 degrees. Is it the same for sharingan?" Shinobu asked, wondering why she hadn't heard of it before.

"Not quite, while it does have an effect on your vision it does different things for different users. For some users it's said to make everything extremely clear, for some it's as if viewing your opponent in slow motion, it's almost as if you can see what your opponent will do before they do it. It's also known for one other thing, which is why Kakashi is known as "Copy-cat Kakashi". Some people can copy the other jutsu they see when weilding it.. that makes me think Sasuke has awakened his because as you saw during his fight, he used Gai's taijutsu. I think he may have used sharingan while in a fight with Lee." Kurenai said, trying not to get Shinobu too excited encase she didn't have it.

"So.. I wouldn't have to learn techniques? I'd just have to watch them?" Shinobu asked in awe.

"Well yes.. and no. Some techniques are strenuous to the body and performing them without former training can cause a lot of problems in battle, other techniques need a lot of chakra and if you're not used to techniques of that caliber then you'll probably pass out.. or potentially die." Kurenai explained, her expression slightly grim.

"Oh.. but.. if I did train.. it would be easier to learn jutsus that I'm already prepared for.. right?"

"For the most part, some techniques, like ninjutsu without hand signs, are almost impossible to copy." Kurenai said, trying to remember everything Kakashi had mentioned to her when he had found out she was taking the other Uchiha child.

"Alright.. um.. I'm gonna go now ok? Thank you Kurenai-sensei!" Shinobu smiled slightly before darting out of the room.

"Oh Shi-... your welcome.." Kurenai sighed.

"Are you ok Kurenai-sensei..?" Shino asked.

"Yes.. just.. worried." She replied with a meek smile.


"Kakashi-sensei!" Shinobu souted running after the retreating figure of the gravity defying haired jonin.

"Hm? Shinobu? Is there something I can do for you?" Kakashi asked, closing his book and slipping it into his pouch.

"Train me." She stated firmly once she caught her breath, causing Kakashi to raise an eyebrow.

"What.. why isn't Kurenai training you?" He asked.

"She offered, but you have the sharingan and Sasuke's in the hospital.. I can learn now and he won't know you trained someone else while he recovered so he won't act mad." She asked, exasperated.

"Have ever used it accidently before..?" Kakashi asked, wary of the girl. Emotional wasn't his thing which is why he preferred training Sasuke out of the three on his team.

"Well.. I don't think so.. " She sighed.

"Ok then, what I want you to do is do your normal training.. and focus on what you see. You'll know if it activates. If it does, come back and find me.. ok?" Kakashi asked, disappearing before she had a chance to respond.

"Why can he do it and I can't..?" She growled. "I can't rest today.. I need to train.." With that Shinobu bit her lip and took off in the direction of the training feild. She would train and get this if it killed her. Or that's what she thought as she watched familiar places and people whip by her in a blur. She would beat Sasuke in this tournament.. she had a head start. He had to take to heal.. she could train the entire month.

When she reached the training feild she didn't slow, instead, she channeled chakra to her feet and ran right towards the tallest tree, scaling it in seconds before flipping back to the ground and doing it again.. and again.. and again. She repeated this fifty-three times before she felt her knee buckle on her landing causing her to fall over.

"Fine.. I'll do sit-ups then." She growled, more at herself than anything, she felt frustrated, angry, sad with herself. So instead of getting up she aimed to do five hundred sit-ups.

"Three hundred and seventy-six... three hundred and seventy-seven... three hundred and seventy-eight." Shinobu winced as her abdomen burned.

"You remind me of my student.." A voice called as a figure sat beside her.

"You're fuzzy-brows teacher.. right?" Shinobu asked, looking over as she kept counting in her head.

"Ya.. why are you training so hard right after the preliminaries.. I thought Kurenai would tell you to rest." Gai said with a small smile.

"That's what she thinks I'm doing but Kakashi-baka won't train me and I am going to be Sasuke in the main event.. to do that I need to train, with or without a teacher." Shinobu growled as she pulled her chest up to her knees. Normally, she wouldn't open up to Gai, but she was hoping if she was honest with him he might help her train. He and Lee did always seem to be going on about hard work, so if she showed she was willing to do that she might get help.

"Kakashi won't train you..? Why not?" Gai asked in slight confusion, his normal chipper self gone as was his student.

"Because.. I'm.. not.. good enough.." She panted in between sit-ups. "But I can do it.. I have a head start.. I'll train harder than Sasuke.. and I'll show him I can win."

"I can train you." Gai smiled, even the twinkle in his teeth seemed dimmed.

"Really?" Shinobu asked, sitting up with a start.

"I'll start you doing what I had Lee do, you specialize in taijutsu right? Well maybe we can get you moving faster before the matches." Gai grinned, his mood brightening as he saw how excited she was.

"Thank you! What do we do first?" Shinobu asked, practically shaking in anticipation.

"You, need rest. I want you starting this when you're well rested. Come here first thing tomorrow. Then we can start training." Gai said, giving her a thumbs up.

"Alright.." She sighed, she was disappointed but she knew he was probably right.


A/N: I literally spent an hour making an in document version of the chart with the right names but it wouldn't show up properly so I posted it on imageshack

http(collon)(slashx2)imageshack(dot)us(slash)photo(slash)my(hyphen)images(slash)80(slash)examy(dot)png(slash)

*saves chart for later use*. Another reason updates will slow down a bit is because I am currently in the middle of making a keyblade (Riku's Soul Eater from Kingdom Hearts) and after thursday I get paid so I'll have enough money to buy the last parts and finish it which is great because it's a christmas present XD


BigSisterOf8: Ya, I tend to do pretty good with my updates when I'm on holidays. You should see me during the summer ^^; They never end O.O. lol. Thank you :D And I will/did.


DutchyPuppy: Haha, you did now, no need to be sorry :D I'm glad you liked it so much OMFG MUFFIN *random, cupcakes remind me of muffins XD* I will :D


rabbit153: Thank you, I figured it would be too cliche to stick her on team Kakashi. Different can be a good thing XD It's nice to know that not everyone forgot about that arrangement. Haha. Thanks for the review :D


girl-of-anime: Haha, thank you :D And no, I don't think that's even possible. But there is a special circumstance. That would be cool if they could see what the other saw XD but i don't see how that could work realistically either *brain running over different ideas now* Thanks for the review, and the ideas XD


Alpenwolf: I'm glad you like the song! :D And the ending, I wasn't sure if I made Naruto too weak for that one or if Hinata fainting was unrealistic but it just seemed like the perfect ending :P Haha, no problem? The seal is indeed malfunctioning. Neji cannot activate the seal. lol. *shifty eyes* No seriously, he can't XD Yeah, the adjustments freaked me out because I kept seeing my review count go up but I couldn't see them to respond ^^; Well, at least it's fixed now XD


ThorongilAnime: Haha, thanks? I think. lol. I'm a little interested in what your idea is on how her mark activated because I don't think mine is too nasty.. o.o Not sure now XD Thanks for the review.