When the 120 hours were expired, the proctors assembled all of the genin who had passed the second stage to a large room with two balconies where the Hokage was waiting on a slightly raised stage in front of two massive arms and hands making a ram seal. Naruto was sad that Karin and Fuu were disqualified due to teammate deaths.
Anko congratulated them on surviving and turned the time over to the Hokage. The Hokage explained the politics of the Chuunin Exams and the reason why they were held—it being a way for the individual villages to gain prestige as a proxy for war. He explained that due to the fact that some of the Daimyos would be in attendance for the last event, they needed to have a preliminary round to cut the field down to something more manageable.
A new proctor, Gekkou Hayate, introduced himself and explained the rules for the preliminary round while coughing periodically. An electronic display would randomly select who would fight. The fights would end with submission, knockout, death, or at the word of the proctor. He offered anyone who wanted to, a chance to withdraw.
The silver-haired Konoha shinobi who had suppressed his chakra, Kabuto, raised his hand. "I need to bow out. I've used to much chakra. I don't have much to begin with."
"Very well," said Hayate. "You may withdraw."
Out of curiosity, Naruto turned on her Byakugan. Kabuto's chakra was the same as before: suppressed and with no evidence of there being less of it.
"Sensei," she whispered. "That's one of the guys who was suppressing his chakra. It's still suppressed and the exact same as before the tests."
"Really?" he said under his breath. "Interesting."
With her Byakugan still active, she saw Kakashi make some hand signs behind his back. An ANBU stationed behind them disappeared into the shadows. Naruto assumed it was to follow or stop Kabuto for questioning. She was curious as to what would happen to him, but knew better than to ask.
"Let's see who our first match is," said Hayate.
The electronic sign flashed for a few seconds and two names popped up.
"First up is Uzumaki Naruto and Tenten, both of Konoha," Hayate read off. "Everyone else please move to the balcony.
Naruto recognized Hinata's cousin's teammate. If she remembered correctly from Hinata's brief during the Bell Test all those months ago, Tenten primarily used thrown weapons, so they were both ranged specialists. It promised to be an interesting and challenging fight.
As they both faced off against each other, the other girl spoke, "I'm glad to see you've gotten a somewhat better outfit. Your old one was a disgrace to every serious kunoichi."
Naruto snorted. "If the only thing about me that people remember about me is my outfit, then it's done its job."
Tenten frowned.
Naruto added. "Plus orange is awesome."
The other girl rolled her eyes.
"Are you both ready?" the proctor asked.
"Yes," they both answered near simultaneously.
"Ready? Fight!"
Both girls jumped back.
Naruto brought out a set of bolas to test the waters.
Tenten was slightly quicker at pulling out a brace of shuriken, but paused before throwing them. "Are those bolas?"
"Yes, they are," she replied.
"Wow, I've never seen any in action. Can you show them to me after?"
Naruto smirked. "You can just stand still and I'll demonstrate them."
Tenten snorted. "No thanks."
Naruto twirled the bolas quickly and let them fly.
Tenten aimed for a fraction of a second and threw one of her shuriken. It deflected one of the weights, but the momentum of the bolas spinning kept them largely on target. Tenten dodged to the side.
"Those things are annoying," she said.
"I know," Naruto said, smirking. "Want to see something else annoying?"
She made her favorite hand sign. She could do it without now, but it was easier to do it with it and she figured it was a good trick to hold in reserve. She intentionally molded the chakra roughly to produce a lot of chakra smoke. She made 45 clones and Disguised 29 of them and herself as kunai and one as a mouse with its Byakugan active. Disguising as a weapon took much more chakra than even doing an animal the same size, but she had chakra to spare. The main disadvantage was not being able to sense anything, but Shadow Clones could be used to get around that. The remaining 15 clones picked the Disguised kunai up before the smoke dissipated. They quickly spread out around the edge of the arena. The mouse hid in a hole in the wall.
Tenten frowned and started quickly throwing kunai. Most of her throws connected to Naruto's annoyance, but her clones simply made more of themselves to compensate. She did not mind the dropped kunai clones, as the object was to spread them around. Her clones started throwing the kunai, intentionally missing so they would not get deflected.
A popped clone's memory reported Tenten saying, "I was hoping to save this for later, but there's too many of you to handle a few at a time."
A few moments later all of the human-form clones were destroyed and reported the use of a technique that Tenten called "Twin Rising Dragons" in which she floated into the air with a pair of scrolls and launched dozens of bladed weapons near simultaneously.
Almost three minutes later the mouse clone dispersed with the instructions for a specific clone to revert to normal. Tenten had finally moved right in front of one in her search for Naruto, since all the obvious clones were gone. About 10 seconds later, Naruto reverted. In hindsight she realized she should have had multiple mice hidden to account for contingencies.
She was just in time to hear Hayate say, "Winner: Uzumaki Naruto."
Tenten was frowning as a clone held a kunai to her throat. "How'd you do that?"
Naruto arched an eyebrow. "You really expect me to say in front of foreign shinobi?"
Tenten looked abashed. "Ah, good point."
"I will show you my bolas, when we both have time, if you'd like," Naruto offered.
"Thanks, I'd like that."
The second match was Sasuke versus Kinuta Dosu of Oto. Sasuke easily won because he already knew Dosu's gauntlet gimmick from before the first exam. He kept at range and then used a wire trick to wrap the Oto shinobi up when he mistakenly ignored some kunai that went wide.
The third match was Hinata versus her cousin. The whole arena was muttering about Team 7 all going first. The Hokage was glaring at Anko who was standing next to the display. Anko simply shrugged.
When the two Hyuuga stood opposite each other, Neji said, "You should forfeit, Hinata-sama. A failure like you could never win against someone like me."
Hinata cocked her head to the side and said, "How do you know I'm a failure? We've barely talked to each other for months. You know nothing of my shinobi career."
Neji snorted. "Someone who cannot even defeat their five-years-younger sister in a spar can hardly be considered otherwise."
Hinata laughed softly, "You should not mistake a conscious decision to protect my sister for a lack of skill, Neji-niisan."
Neji looked nonplussed at Hinata's calm demeanor and ready answers. Neji then snorted. "We both know I am more skilled than you. You have no chance of winning."
"Perhaps," said Hinata, "but we won't know until the match is over."
"There is no perhaps. It is Fated."
"Why must it be this way, Neji-niisan? Family should not act like this."
"A few minutes' difference in the births of our fathers and mine would still be alive," Neji replied coldly as he smoothed the headband that displayed the Leaf Badge on his forehead.
Hinata started to say, "I wish. . ." but stopped and looked sadly at him before turning and looking at Hayate. Neji continued to glare at her coldly.
"Are you both ready?" asked Hayate.
"Yes," said Hinata.
Neji continued to glare at her before saying, "Yes."
"Ready? Fight!"
Naruto turned on her Byakugan to better watch the fight, but left off her Sharingan out of respect for Hinata and her clan's wishes. With the Sharingan to copy the Gentle Fist taijutsu moves, her massively improved chakra control to create the chakra strikes, and her own Byakugan to target tenketsu, she figured she could recreate the Hyuuga fighting style with some practice if she wanted to, but consciously chose not to. She also wanted to leave her Sharingan as a trump, but with Orochimaru knowing about it, she did not know if there was a point to that.
The match was very close. Neji had an advantage in gross speed and strength, which he used to body check Hinata at one point. Hinata had an advantage in flexibility and a very slight one in hand quickness. She also had the advantage of some unorthodox moves. However, Neji was a quick study, and she only surprised him a few times.
At first it looked like Hinata would win, but after ten minutes, Neji's final advantage came to the fore—he had more endurance. The balance tipped and Neji kept closing Hinata's tenketsu, while Hinata's progress against him halted.
"You see, Hinata-sama?" Neji chuckled. "You cannot win. You are still a failure. Forfeit and go home."
Naruto seethed inside. Hinata had done very well against the older boy—hardly a failure.
"I will not give up!" Hinata shouted. She surged her chakra. Naruto could see specks of brighter chakra leak from the patch she had made in Hinata's neck. Hinata's eyes glowed blue and a dark blue pupil manifested in the center. She stretched forth her hand and said, "Divine Will!"
Neji flew backwards and slammed into the wall, knocking him unconscious.
Hayate coughed and then said, "Winner: Hyuuga Hinata."
Hinata slumped and released her chakra, causing her eyes to revert all the way back to normal.
Naruto rushed and wrapped her in a hug. "That was awesome, Hinata!" she shouted. In a much quieter voice she asked, "Do you know what you did?"
Hinata quietly replied, "No."
Naruto quietly said, "We'll figure it out later. I have a clue."
In the fourth match, Tsuchi Kin of Oto beat Kiba by using a sound-based genjutsu that both the Inuzuka and his partner were especially susceptible to because of their enhanced hearing. The Oto kunoichi used bells attached to senbon to trigger it.
The fifth match was between Ino and Sakura. As Naruto had come to expect both girls wasted the pre-match trash-talking time proclaiming how they would each win the match for "My Sasuke-kun." In a surprise upset, Sakura beat Ino using a layered genjutsu. Ino sensed and disrupted the first, but due to her cockiness, fell victim to the second.
"My father placed me in Kurenai-sensei's care during my Academy years," said Hinata. "She's the premiere genjutsu expert in the village. It appears that she has helped Sakura significantly."
Sakura turned to Sasuke, hopefully, but Sasuke simply looked away from her. The pink-haired girl looked disappointed, but brightened as she got back to her team. She received a mix of congratulations and teasing/scolding from her team and sensei.
"It looks like Kurenai-sensei is trying to break her of her fangirlishness," Naruto commented.
Sasuke snorted. "Good luck to her with that."
The sixth match was a Wind duel between Abumi Zaku of Oto and Temari of Suna. Temari simply overpowered the Oto nin using her large fan to create more powerful gusts and blades.
"Hey, Naruto-chan. I bet you could have beaten Tenten using the Wind techniques you know," said Sasuke quietly.
"Probably," said Naruto, "but very few people can guess what I did the way I did it. It's better to be sneakier, especially at this stage."
"I bet you just didn't think of it. Right, Dead Last?" Sasuke ribbed her.
Naruto stuck out her tongue.
Sasuke chuckled.
The seventh match was a slaughter, literally. Gaara of Suna used sand from his gourd to crush Kabuto's teammate Tusrugi Misami when the older Konoha shinobi rushed him. The Suna jinchuuriki muttered about blood for "Mother" as he looked evilly at Naruto.
The eighth match faced Akadou Yoroi, Kabuto's other teammate, against Sakura and Kiba's teammate Aburame Shino. The older shinobi leaped at the Aburame with a glowing hand and began to gloat about how he would drain Shino's chakra. To his surprise, Shino dissolved into bugs which sucked him of his chakra. The real Shino emerged from behind the statue of arms doing a ram sign. Shino silently listened to his Hayate proclaim his victory.
By this time, Neji's final teammate, Rock Lee, was practically bouncing off the walls. Lee looked like a miniature Maito Gai. Naruto wondered if they were related. Lee was beside himself with the desire to test his skills since his teammates had all gone early in the competition. "I hope I go last," he proclaimed.
When the sign showed Akimichi Chouji of Konoha versus Kankurou of Suna, Lee yelled very loudly, "No! It didn't work!"
When Gai loudly started consoling his student, Naruto concentrated on ignoring them.
Chouji quickly used his clan's Multi-size and Human Bullet Techniques in an attempt to smash Kankurou. It turned out that the Kankurou he flattened was really a puppet, which managed to poison Chouji in the process. After that it was only a matter of time before Chouji fell unconscious. The Suna nin was irritated about the destruction of his puppet, but gave the antidote to the med nin upon request.
Before the last match was called, Lee leaped down and began hopping around and shadow boxing with himself, ranting about how Youthful the match between he and Shikamaru would be. Shikamaru waited until the display showed his name. Then he had to be pushed by an annoyed Ino to get going. He slouched forward until he stood before the still ranting and leaping Lee.
"You know what?" Shikamaru said. "This is such a drag. Fighting the Junior Green Beast would be even more troublesome than listening to my mother complain about forfeiting. I don't want a promotion, anyway. I quit."
"What? Nooooooo!" yelled Lee. "I want to bask in the Springtime of Youth! Why can't I burn with the Flames of Youth! Why did this happen to me, Gai-Sensei? Why?"
Gai ran to his student and embraced him. The rest of those in the arena averted their eyes.
The proctors called the winners down to draw numbers out of a hat. The numbers were sloppily inked. Naruto wondered if it was because they doubted the "randomness" of the electronic display. The numbers corresponded to who would fight who in the first round of the tournament.
Hayate called out, "The fights will be as follows:
"Hyuuga Hinata of Konoha versus Tsuchi Kin of Oto,
"Uchiha Sasuke of Konoha versus Aburame Shino of Konoha,
"Rock Lee of Konoha versus Haruno Sakura of Konoha,
"Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha versus Temari of Suna,
"and finally, Gaara of Suna versus Kankurou of Suna.
"In the second round:
"the winner of the first fight gets a bye as a reward for going first,
"the winner of the second fight faces the winner of the third fight,
"and the winner of the fourth fight faces the winner of the fifth fight,
"In the third round:
"the winner of the second round's first fight will face the examinee that received the bye,
"and the winner of the second round's second fight will receive a bye.
"The final fight will be between the last two remaining examinees."
The first vocal response was Lee saying he could not fight his precious cherry blossom, much to Sakura's dismay as she did not want his attention.
Temari was consoling Kankurou about being matched up against their brother. Said brother just kept staring creepily at Naruto.
Naruto did some figuring in her head and said, "Hey guys, the way it's set up, the final will be me against whichever of you two wins the semifinals."
She must have said it too loudly because Temari walked over and said quietly, "Since you gave me a laugh at Kankurou's expense when he was being an idiot and we first met, I'll give you some free advice, Short Stuff. If you want to live, you'll lose to me, rather than face my brother."
Naruto smiled and said, "Thanks for the advice, but I think I'll take my chances."
Author's Note: As some have guessed, yes, Hinata can activate the Tenseigan due to Naruto's chakra deposit. The Tenseigan can do the same types of things as the Deva Path of the Rinnegan plus it has a buff mode. I explicitly decided to make the Technique Name the same, although I "translated" it differently than the English Anime or Manga do. "Divine Will" is my name for the Shinra Tensei which literally translates to the mouthful "Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God."
I don't think it's too big a spoiler to say that Sasuke will be manifesting the Rinne-sharingan due to his chakra deposit from Naruto.
I subscribe to the preliminary-fight selections are rigged theory. In this story, as he probably did in canon with respect to Sasuke's fight, Orochimaru tampered with all of Team 7's selections. He made it obvious to yank Sarutobi's chain. It's just happenstance that he wanted the Hyuuga battle just like in canon (which was probably rigged in canon to promote variety in the final matches). His goal was to get them a tough fight in their area of expertise without using Gaara. He just misjudged Dosu's effectiveness and didn't know Sasuke knew Dosu's trick.
I decided to let Sakura win because I think she would shine a lot more under Kurenai than canon Kakashi, whereas for the most part, Asuma seems to be only a slightly more motivated teacher than canon Kakashi. I also wanted to add some character to her besides just being a fangirl. Ino will use this loss to motivate herself (although I'm not promising screen time for anyone other than this story's Team 7).
I hope you liked the Shika vs. Lee bit, I came down to choosing the last couple of fights and couldn't resist. Sorry, the fanon unbreakable Sunset Genjutsu will not be making any explicit appearances in this fic.