Last time, the preliminary rounds of the chunin exams have started. During this, the first 2 matches have already taken place, Sasuke vs. Kirin in and Shino vs. Zaku, each with Konoha's victory.

The arena

After the match, Shino walked back up to the platform where his team was with each of them giving him congratulations on winning his match. Once Shino went to the platform, the next match was decided randomly, which was Karui vs. Kankuro.

When Kankuro saw his name, he was excited, while Karui looked ready to fight. Before Karui could go to the arena floor, Naruto silently said something to her. Karui's eyes widen a bit at what Naruto said to her. Karui nodded in understanding, which she then leapt into the Arena floor.

As both Karui and Kankuro looked at each other, Karui kept what Naruto told her in mind. Kankuro place the bandage wrap body size packed off him and onto the floor. Once the match started, Karui quickly pulled out her sword and went to strike at Kankuro. Kankuro brought out a kunai to block her attack. He was surprise as she jumped with her sword strike to deliver a powerful side kick at his ribs. As Kankuro was sliding back a bit, Karui used the momentum she received, when kicking Kankuro, to roll with her sword for a bit, near Kankuro's bandage package or whatever, and then spin around to get on one knee with her sword up, ready to defend.

She quickly sprint to Kankuro going for a horizontal sword slash, which Kankuro stopped, but then saw the slash was just another distraction for her to kick his face. Kankuro saw this and caught her foot before it connected to his face. She used the block to twist her body around to do a back heel kick while letting go of her sword for the moment. Once Kankuro's head was twisted around enough, she quickly put Kankuro down to the ground and got him into an arm lock.

As Karui increased the pressure she looked at Kankuro and said, "Give up! Or lose an Arm!"

Kankuro only smiled at the threat that Karui told him, which he replied, "Heh, you think I'm going to lose an arm. You're going to lose your life." Kankuro moved his arm to the point where it broke and everyone heard the snap. Karui didn't look surprise when Kankuro move his head to look at her which started to break apart to reveal Kankuro was a puppet. The puppet then shed its henge of Kankuro to reveal its true body, which then wrapped around Karui.

Karui was now submission all around her body, as the puppet constricted her to the point where she can't breathe. As she struggled, the real Kankuro came out from his hiding place as the bandage bag. He grins viciously as he said, "Who's going to lose their life?"

Hayate was about to end the match, but then heard Karui say, "Th-thanks… s-sin-nce… I- I… ne-need-ed… co-co-ver…" with a smile

Kankuro looked at Karui in confusion until he knew what she meant. He looked around to see the bandages he used to bandage himself to hide in; some of it had explosive tags attach to it. Kankuro immediately tried to get out, but the explosive tags ignited with him in it. The explosions were strong enough to throw Kankuro to the other side of the arena with serious injuries around him. Karui was also knocked into a loop, but thanks to the puppet constricting him, most of the shockwave that came towards her, shielded her from some of the blast.

"KANKURO!" Temari yelled out of concerned, while their sensei looked with shock at what happened to Kankuro, while Gaara didn't show any concern for his brother's loss or safety.

After the explosions, Karui brought out a kunai from her weapon's pouch and slice puppet around her with her lightning affinity. She struggled, but gotten up. Hayate looked at the 2 combatants and declared Karui the victor, since Kankuro isn't able to get back up because of the explosions.

Once the medics took Kankuro to be treated, the next couple of matches went on which weren't any special, so I'll just go past them since they aren't worth explaining.

Sakura vs. Ino: Ended with double knockouts, while Naruto thought, "Even though I can guess they gotten stronger since the academy. They're not like Samui or Karui since they haven't yet pushed themselves to their breaking points yet."

Temari vs. Tenten: Temari's victory (you all know what happened)

Shikamaru vs. Kin Tsuchi: Shikamaru won

The next random match is Kiba vs. Samui. When the names appeared on the board, Samui just looked unfazed as she walked down to the arena floor. Kiba yelled out in excitement when his name appeared, which he jumped down onto the arena with Akamaru by his side and waited for Samui to come down to the arena.

When Kiba saw Samui, he had to admit that Samui was very attractive, but also remembered that she is from Kumo, who almost kidnapped his teammate. As both of them looked at each other, Hayate began the match where Kiba decided to be nice to Samui.

"Alright, I don't care if you are a girl… give up now and I won't have to beat you in front of everyone." Kiba stated happily

Samui only looked at Kiba, before she calmly said, "I'm sorry, but it's uncool of me to understand you since I only understand shinobi, not little boys."

Kiba had gotten angry at Samui since she just practically disrespected him by calling him a little boy, not a shinobi. Kiba got Akamaru to attack Samui, who impassively avoided the puppy's strikes. After a bit, she kicked Akamaru away from her. It was then that Samui leapt into the air to avoid a surprise attack from Kiba from behind. For a bit of time, Kiba and Akamaru tried to hit Samui, who only kept on dodging them with only slight movements, even with Kiba using a smoke bomb to blind her.

Kiba got Akamaru to use the Beast Clone Jutsu, where Akamaru transformed into Kiba, which both of them used Fang over Fang Jutsu. The cyclone attacks were incredibly fast, but Samui easily dodged them every time, where she silently thanked Naruto for her ability.

Naruto watched from the platform as he thought, "That Kiba guy is good, but he's relying on power and speed, not on control. If he had control of his attacks, then Samui would be in a difficult position. But of course, Samui has been in control of the match since out of all of Samui's skills, her greatest skill is her agility and flexibility. All that special training we did growing up together may have been embarrassing for the both of us, but it was also fun and rewarding since Samui balance and footwork is indeed on the mark…"

After attacking for so long, Kiba and Akamaru wasted a lot of their chakra and stamina on Samui, who dodged or redirected away from her. Samui was alright as Kiba was about to try something else. It was then that she made her move. Samui instantly sped through across the arena, where she quickly delivered a powerful blow to Akamaru with a flying kick on him, then landed, where she twirled gracefully around and back kick Kiba's shoulder. She then delivers a powerful strike behind him with the blunt end of her sword behind Kiba and knocked him out. Hayate declared Samui the winner.

Hinata vs. Neji: Neji won, but Hinata grew stronger as a person thanks to a bit of encouragement that Naruto gave her before the preliminary rounds even began, since he saw himself in Hinata's eyes, which she too saw herself in his eyes. Also, Naruto also learned something interesting (you guys try and guess).

Gaara vs. Kiri nin: Gaara won before he could kill Haku's teammate, where everyone saw how dangerous Gaara was with his sand.

Ko vs. Chouji: Ko won since he used his skills as a root agent.

Haku vs. Dosu: Haku won using her Ice bloodline

The final match, N (Naruto) vs. Lee. When the last match showed Naruto vs. Lee, everyone was wondering on who would win since no one knew what these 2 could do. Lee had great confidents with himself, while Naruto actually smiled from the opening of his mask since he was hoping to fight Lee when he first saw him.

Lee quickly jumped into the arena floor, where he waited for N to come out. Naruto looked at Lee with some anxious feeling, where he summoned out his bow from its hiding spot. Those who seen N fight with a bow, believe he'll use it as a staff like he did with Sasuke, while everyone else thought on how weird for a shinobi to use a bow since almost all shinobi never use a bow and arrow combo. They were surprised when he gave the bow to Yugito, to hold onto. He then turned around and jumped from the platform onto the arena floor and got into fighting stance, the same with Lee.

After both Naruto and Lee were on the arena floor, Hayate began the match where both of them just stood in their stance for a few moments. When the moment finished, both of them went racing towards each other. Lee used his Leaf Hurricane to hit Naruto, but Naruto slid then duck into side flip to his left arm. He dodge Lee's attack, where he then kicked Lee at his ribs during his Hurricane attack. Lee was thrown back into a good distance. Naruto used the momentum he got from kicking Lee to get himself back onto his legs, where he ran towards him. Lee was able to land on his feet as well, where he also charged at Naruto.

Both of them continue their taijutsu attack, where neither boy couldn't get an advantage since the both of them were skilled and fast. It was then that Lee kicked Naruto's face, where Naruto also countered with a kick at Lee's face (like Goku vs. Cell).

Everyone saw how the match was going, which many genin saw the impressive speed that the both of them, N and Lee, are going.

"Amazing, both of them are really going at it. There taijutsu is amazing." Chouji commented after he woke up from his beating from Ko.

"Yeah, but Sasuke-kun can beat them no problem." Sakura added, which Ino nodded in agreement.

"Are you sure? Since didn't N defeat him back in the forest?" Shikamaru stated. Both Ino and Sakura glared at him, while Kakashi, who listened to the conversation, took note of it.

"My, my… I'll admit that they're both good in taijutsu, but they're nothing compared on what we can do." Temari said who looked at Gaara with some nervousness and thought, "Of course, if Gaara went all out, there wouldn't be anything left."

Haku looked in at the match with curiosity since N was the only one to ever defeat her that was around her age which she commented with Zabuza. Zabuza also took note about it since this match could reveal on what N could really do.

Ko only eyed each opponent since he needs to diverge this type of information to Danzo, so he can know on what to do next, in which he either just forfeit the match or start killing off potential threats.

As everyone continue to chatter among themselves, Naruto backflip some distance, as the same with Lee, where he jumped on the stone hands. As they were continuing their taijutsu match, Gai was talking with Sakura since she asked on why both of them aren't using Ninjutsu. Gai answered that he may not know on why N, but he told her that Lee can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. Once he explain and saw Lee standing on the stone hands, Gai told Lee to take something off.

"But… Gai-sensei! You said that only for a time when I must protect many important people, isn't it?!" Lee stated

Gai did his thumbs up pose and said, "Yes I did, but this is an exception." Lee smiled at what Gai gave him permission. Lee sat down on the stone hands and pulled off his leg straps to reveal hidden weights. Once he took them off, he put back on while holding onto the weights on both his hands.

"Weights?" wondered Sakura

Kakashi thought, "What an old style training method Gai."

Lee was just giddy since he can now fight freely after he let go of them, while everyone else wondered what the big deal is. It was only when the weights hit the ground that everyone opinions changed. The weights left 2 craters about 5 ft. wide. Everyone was stunned about it, while Kakashi thought, "That's a bit much, Gai."

When Naruto saw how heavy the weights were, he thought, "So… this is going to be fun." He grinned behind his mask.

Gai gave the go signal, which Lee quickly made his move against Naruto which he disappeared in front of everyone. Naruto quickly began to run forward, but did a spin flip. Lee came behind Naruto, attempting to punch his lights out but instead he found his punch diverted by Naruto's right heel kick as he frontflip away from the spot. When Naruto diverted the punch with his right heel kick, he then continued went to spin upside down, midair. Naruto moved his left leg to deliver a kick on Lee's face, while Lee did the same to Naruto's side, where Naruto already had a defense. Both of them hit each other, Naruto's defense being able to block most of the power of Lee's kick. They were pushed apart, where Lee just stumbled back a bit, while Naruto slid on his side, before getting onto one knee and straighten his other leg for quick movement, but still somewhat bend.

Everyone couldn't believe on how fast Lee was moving, while at the same time couldn't believe that N was able to counter Lee's first strike.

"So fast" Sakura thought

"Impressive, what reaction time." Kakashi thought

Lee got back to his stance, while Naruto put himself ready in the position he was in. Both of them looked at each other, before Lee decided to take it up a notch. Lee made his move, but Naruto saw that it wasn't directed towards him. Everyone saw that Lee just started to run in circles around Naruto. Naruto figured out on what Lee was trying to do, which he prepared himself and got into his fighting stance.

As Lee continue to move around, he, and every jounin, saw that Naruto wasn't trying to follow his movements. Lee decided to take this opportunity and went for a blind upper kick on Naruto. Naruto instantly backflip to his hands when Lee kicked up, which he missed. Naruto continue to backflip where Lee immediately tried to strike at Naruto, but Naruto jumped immediately into the air, where he narrowly dodged Lee attack. Lee skid just a bit to see Naruto's kick him on his shoulder but Lee block the attack. Naruto spun around from the block, then trying to kick Lee's face with his other free leg. Lee leaned back to avoid the kick, where Naruto then twirled his body away from Lee. Lee took this opportunity and punch Naruto supremely hard, but was surprise as Naruto also kicked his face at the same time.

Both opponents were thrown away from each other, which they landed gracefully and got ready for another round. As they got ready, the audience was amazed on what's been happening.

"Unbelievable… I can barely keep up on what happening." Chouji stated

"Yeah, I'm amazed that Lee was this fast. But even so, that N guy is able counter or for that matter being able to block Lee at all." Shikamaru stated

Many shaking their heads since if they thought Lee, at their current level, they would have been beaten already. As they were discussing, Konoha jounin couldn't help but think the same thing.

"Man Gai, even though that N kid is holding his own for now, your kid is definitely the stronger one in this match." Asuma thought

"Such amazing taijutsu they're performing." Though Kurenai

Gai looked at awe while see N fighting against Lee, "Amazing… even with Lee clearly having the advantage in speed and strength, this N kid is able to react fast enough to avoid the critical hits that Lee was giving him, but the same time able to counterattack. Kumo is definitely not holding back with their genin, but it doesn't matter since Lee still has his secret skill." While thinking that Lee was going to be the victor.

Other shinobi were thinking on what was going to happen in the match. Haku really wanted to Naruto to win since she would like to have another rematch with him, plus they were both friends. Zabuza was kind of worried that Naruto would be defeated at first since Lee dropped his weights, but now he was wondering on who will win since both are somewhat even. The Suna shinobi were worried since Lee has proven himself that he might be a challenge against Gaara.

Yugito, Samui and Karui were nervous since Lee was someone that no one thought they would have to face. Yugito looked at Samui and asked her something.

"Samui… is he wearing those things?" Yugito asked

"Hai, he's been wearing it and hasn't taken them off for a year now... except to sleep and rest." Answered Samui

Karui was wondering on what they were talking about, which Yugito said, "It is clear then that the winner of this match is N, but that is only possible if he actually…" Once Karui heard Yugito say about Naruto, she went wide-eye as to actually understanding on what they meant.

Till Next Ch.