Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor any of the characters, beside the main OC. All credit for creating this amazing series goes to Mr. Kishimoto

Author's note: Thanks to everyone for reading! Answers to the reviews are at the bottom.

So, I am not happy at all with this chapter. The preliminaries matches were very difficult to write. In fact, they probably turned out not so great. I can't wait to get past this. Then the juicy things will arrive... XD.

I didn't edit the chapter properly, so I apologise for any mistake... I am also dead tired, so I probably did make a lot of mistakes. Feel free to point them out. (it will spare me work after all XD)

Team 7's fights... and some more

"The second match is between Abumi Zaku and Aburame Shino. Please, come down." Hayate announced.

"Ah, I get a chance of revenge against that blasted team!" Zaku shouted, jumping down.

Shino shrugged, reaching the arena with a swift Sunshin.

"Since when is Shino a show off?" Naruto asked, smirking. "We really corrupted him, then. Yatta!"

Akimi giggled. "Oh, man, this is will be the shortest match ever."

"Mah, why do you say that?" Kakashi asked, even though he didn't doubt his student's ability, it did seem like an overkill.

"We fought Zaku in the forest. We used standard formation one."

Kakashi nodded: so Akimi and Naruto had openly battled Zaku, while Shino waited in the shadows to ambush him. Like they did with him during the bell tests. He knew how deadly that tactic was.

"So Shino knows Zaku's abilities, but he doesn't know the true extent of Shino's... and trust me, there is a clear exploit."

Naruto laughed as well. "Man, this is going to be awesome."

"I actually pity poor Zaku." Akimi nodded. "It's gotta hurt like hell."

Kakashi shook his head. 'Damn them! Now they actually got me curious.'

"Don't worry, sensei. It'll be over quickly. You won't be in the blue for long." Akimi said.

"Uh?" Kakashi focused on his porn. "Did you say something, Akimi?"

The girl snorted. "That doesn't work with us, sensei." Naruto said at the same time.

The jōnin sighed. "Let's watch and support Shino, shall we?"

"GO, SHINO!" shouted Naruto. "SHOW HIM WHAT YOU ARE MADE OF!"

Shino blankly stared at his opponent. He didn't show any emotion, stoic as usual. Zaku was smirking and shifting on his legs, obviously eager to fight. He looked very confident in his own skills.

Shino mentally shook his head, while listening to his teammates laughing. They had, of course, immediately caught on his plan. It was kind of scary how well they knew each other... but certainly made them deadly as a Team.

Then Kakashi-sensei did something really stupid: encourage Naruto. One should never encourage Naruto unless it was an emergency. Naruto was hyper enough as it was.

"GO, SHINO! SHOW HIM WHAT YOU ARE MEDE OF!"

Shino cringed. Sometimes he forgot how loud Naruto could get.

"Go, Shino!" Akimi exclaimed as well, not too loud. "You don't have to shout, 'to-kun, you know Shino can hear us just fine."

"Right, sorry. Kick ass, Shino!"

Hayate stepped between them in that moment – thank the Kami, it was going to be over soon. "Does any of you want to forfeit?" the proctor asked.

"Hell no!" Zaku shouted.

"No." Shino simply said. "But you really should give up, Zaku-san, if you don't, you are never going to be a ninja again."

"Ah, you are only are afraid! That is why you didn't fight me the other day!"

"Actually, I was the one to suck up all your chakra, if you must know." Shino sounded amused. "You can't blame me for staying in the shadows. We are shinobi, after all. That's what we do."

"Well, I'll show you now that you don't have a place to hide."

Shino sighed. "Your wish..."

"Very well, begin." Hayate jumped back, just as Zaku charged Shino, pushing forward his arms.

"I highly recommend you give up.." Shino warned, nonchalantly, easily jumping back to dodge his opponent trying to grab his arms. "Or you may get hurt. You'll also never be a ninja again"

Zaku stopped and smirked. He still was in range. "Shut up! You are only afraid." he chuckled. "Zank..." That was a far as he got before there was a soundly explosion. The pressured air had gotten back, blowing his whole arms off, and sending chunks of burned meat all around.

Everyone's eyes, except Team 7 and a bored looking Gaara, went wide.

"That's why I told you to give up." Shino said, appearing suddenly behind him and sweeping a kick at him.

Zaku fell on the ground. "How?"

"I'm an Aburame: I used my insects to cover the holes in your arm up, so when you tried to hit me, your attack backfired." Shino sighed. "You should have forfeited." And a swarm of black bugs assaulted the poor Sound nin, eating off all his chakra.

"Winner, Aburame Shino!"

The sun glassed boy shrugged again and disappeared with another Sunshin.

"Two minutes and forty four seconds." Akimi said, patting his shoulder "That's likely going to be a record."

Shino shrugged. "I was in luck."

"Damn, I really hope not go against any other member of Team 7." Kiba said, while Akamaru barked in agreement. "Shino is the only one I didn't really saw fighting in the forest and did you see how..."

"Yeah." Sakura nodded. "They are frightening."

"Hn."

"Third Match: Akimichi Chōji vs. Kankurō." Hayate said. "Please come down."

"I don't want to fight." Chōji whined.

"If you win, I'll treat you to lunch, Chōji." Asuma said. "So come on."

"Well, then..."

"Are there any objection from one of you?"

"No." they both said.

"Very well, begin."

"Go, Chōji!" Shikamaru cheered.

"Fatty!" Ino shouted.

Several of Konoha's genin turned to look at her, finding a little odd that she insulted her teammate like that. Then again, they didn't know Chōji like Ino did.

Chōji's eyes narrowed and one could literally see the smoke coming out from his ears.

Then, Kankurō laughed at the remark, causing Chōji to get enraged. And a enraged Akimichi is an opponent one should not underestimate. "You should give up..." he said. "Mr. fatty!"

"Don't call me fat!" Chōji roared. "I'm big-boned, that's it!"

"Whatever you say... fatty."

Chōji roared again. "I'll show you! Baika no Jutsu! [Multi-Size Technique]"

The Akimichi's stomach inflated in size, as the boy grew to be at least three times bigger than he usually was. He looked almost like a ball, halfway between funny and scary.

Kankurō raised an eyebrow.

"Hurray for the big-boned!" Chōji shouted, tucking his arms, legs and head inside of the 'meat ball' his body had become. "Nikudan Sensha [Human Bullet Tank]"

And then, the enormous rotating form of Chōji crashed, rolling, towards Kankurō. The speed of the rotation increased the power of the technique and even Kankurō had enough good sense to dodge. Chōji, however, followed him in what soon became a strange came of run and chase.

Eventually, Kankurō managed to get Chōji to crash against the wall. The rounded boy had imbedded himself into the wall, creating cracks all around. Kankurō was glad he hadn't be hit.

"That's it, fatty!" the sand ninja shouted, smirking. "My turn now!"

He did not expect Chōji to bounce off the wall right away, rolling towards him with even more speed than before. Kankurō was run over with a sickeningly cracking sound.

"That's why you should never call an Akimichi fat." Ino smirked. "Well done, Chōji!"

Chōji stopped and dispelled the technique, returning to his normal size. He was panting a little, but smiled. He had won!

Hayate made a step forward. "Winner is..."

"You broke my puppet, your bastard!" a voice shouted and Kankurō shot out from the strange bundle he had put on the ground at the start of the match, leaping on Chōji.

The Akimichi was knocked out before he realised what happened. Kankurō was holding a kunai and looked a little murderous.

"... is Kankurō of the Sand." Hayate said. 'Man, that was close.. I was about to say Chōji. ' "The match is over, put away your weapon, kid."

Kankurō didn't seem to listen.

"Kankurō!" barked his jōnin sensei, Baki. "Kankurō, come up here!"

With a scowl, the sand genin collected the wooden rest of his once functional puppet and returned to his team, as two medics rushed into the room to collect Chōji's unconscious body.

"That was a nice piece of deception." Naruto observed. "Poor Chōji"

"You know, in the end I think the Suna nin would have preferred to lose. He looked very angry Chōji destroyed his puppet." Akimi said.

"Logical." Shino fixed his sunglasses, before putting his hands back in his pockets. "It's like that to me for my insects. They are a very precious tool and companions. It's likely that doll will never be the same... he probably has to rebuild it from zero."

"Oh."Akimi nodded gravely. "It must be worse that I can image."

Naruto was looking at the Sand Team, where Kankurō was trying to salvage the broken pieces of wood he had collected. He noticed Gaara was still looking sharply at him. 'Kami, he is getting a little too stalker-like for my liking...!' He was about to tell Akimi about it when...

"And the Fourth Match will be Katora Akimi vs. Haruno Sakura." Hayate read. "Please come down."

Sakura cursed. "Holy shit."

Akimi simply raised an eyebrow and jumped down in the arena. For a second, Sakura wanted to forfeit, but then she remembered her discussion with the very same girl.

"Does any of you have any objection?"

"No." Akimi quietly said.

"No." Sakura answered, determined.

"Very well. Begin!" Hayate jumped back.

"I know I don't stand a chance against you." Sakura said.

"Mmm." Akimi replied. "You can't never know the results until the very end."

"Thank you, Akimi-san, but I know you can best me without even trying." Sakura smiled sadly. "Nevertheless, I wish to fight you with everything I got."

"Then I will fight you with honour, as you are a proud kunoichi of Konoha and one of my comrades." Akimi bowed. "And I'll refrain from using ninjutsu... since my arsenal is quite an harmful one."

Sakura rushed forward, sweeping a punch at Akimi, who ducked. Akimi counteracted with a kick, before jumping back with a couple of acrobatics. Sakura launched half a dozen shuriken at her, but Akimi grabbed one, using it to deflect the other projectiles.

Sakura took out a kunai and charged again. "Bunshin no Jutsu!" she shouted, creating three perfect copies of herself.

Akimi dropped in the semi crouched stance of the Tiger Style, her face serene. 'She masking the Bunshin by focusing chakra on her feet... making it look like they are real. That's actually pretty good... if I weren't a sensor' She let two Sakura's hit her, before parrying the true kunai with the metal plate of her glove. 'And she can control her chakra very well, that movement was almost deadly... if I weren't used to fight opponent as fast as Kaka-sensei and 'to-kun.' Akimi launched a punch with her free hand, but Sakura managed to block her. "That's good." she jumped back and swept a dozen of shuriken at the rosette.

Sakura dodged them and created other Bunshins. This time, though, it was only a decoy for her to make a genjutsu.

Akimi felt the strange sensation of cold and smiled. 'Interesting. She probably thought this would make me uneasy, as I've shown to be adept at Katon. Really, Sakura, you only needed a little push.' The musing was enough distraction for Sakura, who promptly launched several shuriken and a couple of kunai towards Akimi.

Akimi swiftly took out her Fūma Shuriken, deflecting the projectiles. She heard a hissing sound. 'Oh, that's one of my tricks as well. No matter.' In the blink of an eye, Akimi disappeared before appearing behind Sakura.

Boom.

"That may have hurt, you know." Akimi said, quietly. "But nice shot, Sakura-san." and punched her in the guts. Let's be fair, though, she did not use all her strength. She had come to like the girl.

"Ouch." Sakura whined, landing on the other side of the arena. Akimi closed onto her, sweeping her Fūma Shuriken at her throat.

"The winner is Katora Akimi." Hayate announced.

Akimi gave Sakura an hand. "I'll look forward to a rematch."

Naruto and Shino just nodded at her, as Akimi returned to her spot and sat down. Kakashi turned a page on his book. Had she not known the jōnin as well as she did, she would have been offended. It was more probably Kakashi just knew she was going to win.

Akimi sighed. She also had been in luck, like Shino. There were a lot of opponents there she knew she couldn't defeat. Gaara. Neji and Lee as well, if she were to wager. Especially after that night. Now that she knew she had passed, she allowed herself to think about it.

The nightmare.

She shivered. It had affected her more than she was willing to admit. Kaera approached her, silently, and jumped in her lap, purring softly. 'It wasn't just a dream, nee-chan.'

Akimi frowned. 'How do you know, Kaera?'

'I just do, nee-chan. It was real. Your chakra was messed up.'

'My chakra was...?' Akimi's frown got deeper. She needed to think about this.

"... 'mi-chan?"

Akimi suddenly realised Naruto was talking to her. "I'm sorry. Did you say something?"

"That's my line." Kakashi spoke up.

"I was telling the truth." Akimi murmured. "I was... thinking."

Kakashi lowered his book, looking at her pointedly.

Naruto's cheerful smile faded for a second. "Has it something to do with you coming to sleep with me this night?"

Kakashi hid his face again in the book, but Akimi knew he was listening. Shino also looked their way. Akimi was studying her hands intently.

"Yes."

"And...?"

Akimi fidgeted, cracking her fingers. "Not here." she sent, through the Loyalty Seal. "Nightmare."

He took her hand, squeezing. "Your parents? Your gramps?"

"Kuroken. Strange dream. I've to think about it."

"We'll talk later." Naruto said, turning his attention to the arena. "Who do you think is going to win?"

Akimi looked as an eager Kiba rushed at Temari. The sand kunoichi was smirking, just as she unfolded her fan.

'What a strange weapon... mmm.' She shook her head. "He shouldn't have charged head on."

"Fifth match: Kiba Inuzuka versus Temari." Hayate said, after Sakura and Akimi left the arena. "Please come down."

Temari jumped down a scowl on her face.

"Finally, Akamaru!" Kiba shouted. "We can win this!"

The dog barked in agreement.

"You think you are going to win only because I am a woman?" Temari asked, a little annoyed. She smacked her fan on the ground. "I am not one of the cry-babies of this village!"

Kiba simply smirked, his expression feral. "I probably won't even need Akamaru for this."

"Very well. I gather you don't have any objections so..." Hayate said, looking warily between them. 'Never anger a strong kunoichi. The boy will soon learn.' "Begin!" and he jumped back.

Kiba crouched a little, forming the Ram seal. "Shikyaku no Jutsu [Four Legs Technique]" he shouted, dropping on all fours. His canine became sharper and his nails got bigger and sharper, almost claw like. His whole body was surrounded by chakra. His grin was now even more feral.

Temari raised an eyebrow and unlocked the fastening of her fan.

And then Kiba rushed at her, his speed actually impressive for a rookie genin, eventually becoming so fast his figure was blurred. But Temari looked unfazed.

"He shouldn't have charged head on." Akimi commented.

Kiba clashed against Temari, creating a small cloud of smoke. There was a moment of silence, followed by a cough. When the smoke cleared, Kiba was revealed to be on the ground, coughing. He looked a little battered and had most likely bounced back before hitting Temari, as if stopped by an invisible shield. The kunoichi was smirking.

"Wind." Naruto smirked. "She is very adept at it as well, since she stopped a taijutsu attack so easily."

Akimi nodded. "It would be so fun to fight her."

"Very sadistic of you." Naruto replied.

"She is indeed strong." Shino said, his hands in his pockets. "That fan looks very heavy. I think she is competent in taijutsu as well."

"You are right. I wonder what Kiba-san will do." Akimi mused. "He seems to be in a tricky situation."

Temari shook her head. "You should give up, kid." she said, opening her fan more widely to show a purple disk on it. "This is the first star. When you see the third, you'll have lost."

"Damn it." Kiba cursed. "Akamaru, let's go!"

This time, the small white puppy charged alongside his master. Kiba smirked as he extracted three smoke bombs from his pocket.

"Uh." Naruto said. "Bad."

"Not very smart." Akimi nodded.

"Take this!" Kiba shouted, launching the smoke bombs at Temari. Once again, the girl's confident expression didn't change.

Temari waited for Kiba and Akamaru to enter the cloud of purple smoke that surrounded her, before unleashing a gale of wind, visibly stronger than the one she had used before. The result was obvious: Kiba and Akamaru were sent crashing away from her, as the smoke dispersed.

"Second star" Temari said.

Kiba got on his feet, coughing. "Akamaru!" he exclaimed, seeing the puppy whine a little. The dog had obviously been hurt.

"Woof!"

Kiba nodded. "Let's try it!" and he launched a pill to the animal swallowing one himself. The dog's fur became red.

"Food ration pill." Shino observed. "That will boost his speed and strength up."

Naruto crossed his arms. "But will it be enough?"

Kiba crouched down on all fours again and Akamaru jumped on his shoulder. Kiba crossed his hands. "Jūjin Bunshin! [Beast Human Clone]" he exclaimed, as Akamaru transformed into a perfect copy of its master.

The two had twin feral expressions and was impossible to tell them apart.

"And now let's finish this." Kiba snarled, preparing to charge.

"Either way the match is over." Akimi observed. "Both seem pretty confident. It's going to be a big bang."

Kiba and Akamaru ran towards Temari, getting faster and faster. She didn't move. "Gatsūga! [Fang Passing Fang]"

They started to spin, using the momentum at their advantages, becoming similar to two rotating drills... and they crashed right towards Temari.

"Kamaitachi no Jutsu! [Sickle Weasel Technique] " the girl shouted back.

This time the wind gale was so big it was visible. The small tornado raised in front of her, protecting her. Kiba and Akamaru met it head on. It wasn't a very happy encounter.

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt." Akimi cringed. "A lot."

Kiba and Akamaru were sent clashing against two opposite walls and then lied there, unmoving.

"Third star." Temari announced, rotating her fan in a fluid movement, before closing it and embedding it on the ground. "It's over."

Hayate approached Kiba, crouching down to assess his conditions. "Kiba is knocked out. Winner: Temari."

After the medics had carried out the unconscious form of Kiba, while Temari smirked smugly, Hayate announced: "The sixth match will be between Nara Shikamaru and Tsuchi Kin. Please come down"

"Troublesome." Shikamaru said. "I've to fight a woman..."

"Get going, lazy ass!" Ino shouted, since she had recovered nicely. "You need to pass, or our team will look weak! If you don't, I will kick you into next week."

"Geez, geez, calm down, woman! I'm going." Shikamaru lazily said, slowly getting down the stairs.

Kin smirked. "I'm going to make this quick... he looks so dull."

Naruto pouted. "Damn it, I want to fight."

"Your turn will come up soon." Kakashi said. "Don't worry."

"Besides this match is going to be over soon." Akimi observed. "Shikamaru-san is more dangerous than he looks, isn't he?"

Naruto chuckled, watching as the lazy genius sighed. Ino was still shouting at him, encouraging him. "She is so bossy." he complained. "Poor Shikamaru."

"Do you have any objections?" Hayate asked.

"No."

"It's troublesome... but not."

"Very well, then..." Hayate jumped back. "Begin!"

Shikamaru sighed, forming the rat sign. 'Let's hope this get over soon. I wager she is a long ranged fighter... she doesn't look like an hand to hand combat opponent.'

Kin watched in amazement as Shikamaru's shadow shot forward, aiming right at her feet. She didn't know what a shadow could do to her, but if the boy was using it as a weapon... then she better dodge it. She jumped back, then to the left, until Shikamaru's shadow retreated.

Kin didn't lose time and launched two senbon at him.

Shikamaru reacted immediately, dodging the attack with a duck. He heard a tingling. 'Bells...' he realised. "I see, so you are using sound to confound me." he said. "Next time, you are going to throw a senbon without a bell, so I'll only avoid the one with a bell."

"You talk too much." Kin moved her hand again.

Shikamaru looked very alert. 'I just need to pay attention.' He thought, moving slightly to dodge other two senbon, as he heard the bell tingle. However...

"Nani?" Shikamaru turned, looking behind his back as the two original bells kept tingling. 'Strings!' he realised. He moved at the last good second, getting hit on his arm by the true projectiles. 'It was close... that was going to be a lethal one.' He prepared to use his shadow again.

"I won't let you." Kin smirked, moving the strings again.

Shikamaru froze, before feeling nauseous and falling on his knees.

"The sound of these special bells is lethal. The vibrations go straight into your eardrum, creating a powerful illusion."

Shikamaru groaned, as several image copies of Kin appeared in front of him. 'Damn it, which is the true one?' he wondered.

"You are confused, are you?" the girl asked. "And I bet you can't even use your shadow!"

Kin launched three senbon, hitting Shikamaru in the arm and shoulder. He was thrown back by the strength of the attack. 'Painful. She is very accurate with those bloody things.'

"Next time I'll throw five. Then seven..." Kin smirked.

"I thought..." Shikamaru started, stopping before finishing with a groan of pain. "I thought you said... you were going to make this quick." he grimaced.

"I see. You are in too much pain." Kin shook her head. "Then I'll be merciful" She extracted an handful of senbon. "I'll finish this now." she made to launch them... only she couldn't move.

Shikamaru was the one to smirk this time. "Kagemane no jutsu [Shadow Imitation Technique]. Success."

"What?" Kin asked, her eyes wide. "How?"

Shikamaru slowly raised. "The strings." he said. "They too make shadows. I hide mine in theirs."

Kin looked down, as the shadow of the strings suddenly became darker and bigger. 'So he can manipulate his shadow as he wants... making it as thin as he want. Damn it!'

Then she realised she was forced to match Shikamaru's movement. "What are you going to do now, eh?"

Shikamaru slowly took a shuriken out. She did as well. "I guess we'll have to see which one of us is more resilient." the boy gravely said, before throwing the weapon.

"Nani? Are you serious?" Kin shouted, as she had to launch her shuriken as well.

Shikamaru just smirked, dodging the attack at the last goo second. Kin was forced to throw her head back as well... right into the wall behind her.

Tung.

Kin was knocked out on the spot.

"A ninja should always be aware of their surroundings." Shikamaru said. "What a drag."

Hayate raised an eyebrow. "Winner: Nara Shikamaru."

"The seventh match will be between Yamanaka Ino and Tenten. Please come down."

The two girls looked eager. Tenten was smiling with confidence and Ino looked very combative as well.

'No.' Akimi thought. 'Yamanaka-san has no chance to use her family jutsu... and Tenten is a powerful combat type, I can see by the way she moves... and it's easy to guess, considering who her teammates are. And her sensei is Konoha's best taijutsu master.'

"Damn it." Naruto murmured. "I really hoped it was my turn."

"Yosh!" Lee shouted in that moment. "I wanted to fight, but now I must support my teammate. GO, TENTEN. FIGHT!"

"TENTEN! SHOW US YOUR POWERS OF YOUTH!" Gai shouted with him.

"Oh Kami." Shino said, looking distressed. "They are even worse than you, Naruto."

The blonde looked shocked. "Am I that bad, really?"

"Close." Shino curtly said. "But at least you are alone."

"If you don't count his clones." Akimi spoke up. She raised an eyebrow as Gai and Lee kept shouting. She turned to Kakashi. "Sensei, I think I won't complain that much of your bad habits anymore. At least your hobby is quiet."

Kakashi turned a page on his book. "I tried to read aloud once." he said. "It didn't finish well."

"I can imagine." Akimi shook her head and looked down at the arena. "This fight is going to be over quickly as well."

It was. Tenten didn't left Ino room to breathe or respite. She started moving around her, throwing weapon after weapon. And despite the fact that she was running – and her opponent was as well – Tenten's aim was rarely off.

She hit Ino at least once with every barrage she unleashed.

"She uses seals." Naruto observed. "How good do you think she is?"

Akimi tilted her head, just as Tenten summoned out of nowhere another dozen of shurikens. "She is very adept at storage ones. She adapted them to her needs, but..."

Ino couldn't even get closer to Tenten.

"... I think that's the extent of her knowledge. Call it a gut feeling." Akimi said, watching as the older girl easily knocked Ino out. "Overspecialisation again. She is lucky she didn't get a wind user like you or Temari, 'to-kun"

Tenten looked smugly. "This was easy." she said, jumping back to her position.

"Uh, looks like she underestimate rookies." Shino said.

Akimi smirked. "Indeed." she said. "It would be so fun to fight her as well..."

Naruto was looking sharply at the screen. "Choose me, choose me, choose me... yes!"

"The eight match will be between Tsurugi Misumi and Uzumaki Naruto. Please come down."

"Yatta! It's finally my turn, dattebayo!" and the blonde Sunshined into the middle of the arena. "I've got no objections at all!"

"Neither do I." the older Konoha genin was completely clad in black, complete with a veil over his face. He wore round glasses as well. "I am not going to go easy with you because you are a kid, you know."

"That's good, dattebayo." Naruto jumped again. "Let's fight!"

"Very well, then." Hayate jumped back. "Begin!"

Misumi smirked. "This is going to be over quickly." he rushed at Naruto, going for a punch at him.

The blond blocked with ease, albeit warily. 'No way this is what he was bragging about...' "Oh, shit!" His eyes widened, when he saw Misumi's boy twist and lengthen in an inhuman way. However, his stupor lasted only one second, because he had seen Orochimaru doing the same thing. Only, the Sannin was way quicker than this genin...

"Nice, and now what are you gonna do?" Naruto asked, as the other boy surrounded him in a deadly grip with his twisted body.

"I can control the joints of my body with my chakra... which is why I'm gonna break every bone in your body unless you give up."

"Thanks for telling me." Naruto replied, unfazed. "Go ahead then."

"Give up, punk!" Misumi shouted, tightening his grip... only to cause 'Naruto' to disappear with a puff of smoke. "Nani?"

"I'll give you an hint." Naruto said behind him. "I can create solid clones and substitute with them. And now: Fūton: Daitoppa [Wind Release: Great breakthrough]"

Once again, the difference between this genin and Orochimaru was blatant, because Misumi did not managed to dodge – no, he was sent flying towards the other side of the room. Naruto did not wait for him to land and rushed after him, enhancing his charge with chakra.

He then proceeded to punch the other boy in the stomach, knocking the air out of him. Finally, he placed a kunai to his throat. "Overconfident much, eh?" he asked.

"The winner is Uzumaki Naruto." Hayate said, expressionlessly. "Onto next match."

"Sensei, was that a Kekkai Genkai?" Akimi asked.

"I never heard of it." Kakashi eye smiled. "Why do you ask?" 'Oh, all members of my team are in the finals... take that, Gai!'

Akimi looked down, pensively. "It looked a lot like the ability the snake-teme had. He too could twist and lengthen his body." she signalled.

Kakashi sighed. "I'll tell the Hokage. Now relax." "Congratulation, Naruto." he said, as the blonde reappeared near them with a Sunshin. "Nice match"

Naruto jumped. "Thanks, sensei."

Akimi frowned, noticing that Gaara was once again looking at them. 'That boy has really got issues.' She nudged Naruto.

The blonde turned to look in her direction as well. "Do you think he has a crush on us or something?" he muttered.

Akimi giggled. "It would still be creepy... but I think it would be better if that were the case. His eyes look crazed, not lovely-dopey."

"Ninth match." Hayate said in that moment. "Rock Lee versus Sabaku no Gaara."

"Yosh!" lee exclaimed. "I can finally fight with the power of my youth!"

Team 7 exchanged a glance.

"We ought to watch this carefully." Naruto said. "We finally got to see his skills."

"Right." Akimi nodded. "Although I can't help but have a bad feeling about this. Look at his eyes."

Naruto involuntary shivered.

"He reminds me of Orochimaru." Shino murmured, quietly.

Even Kakashi had lowered his book. "Really?"

"Hai." the three of them said at once.

The jōnin leaned back to the wall. "Then I'll need to pay attention as well."

Hayate raise his arm in that moment. "Begin!"

JUTSU NOTES:

Baika no Jutsu [Multi-Size Technique] D rank, supplementary. It's a secret technique of the Akimichi clan that increases the user's body size. It can be used only for a single part of body (hands, stomach etc.) or even to turn the user into a giant, by increasing it all.

Nikudan Sensha [Human Bullet Tank] C rank, offensive, short to mind range, after turning themselves in a giant ball of meat, the user tuck into their body hands, legs and head, before using chakra to roll and charge the enemy.

Shikyaku no Jutsu [Four Legs Technique]: D rank, supplementary. It's a Inuzuka clan's techniques. The user envelopes their body in chakra, obtaining high speed and reflexes, akin to those of a wild animal. The techniques also changes the features of the user: making their canine teeth more pronounced and their nails become claw-like.

Jūjin Bunshin [Beast Human Clone], D rank, supplementary. This special transformation techniques, allows an Inuzuka to turn their animal companion in a perfect copy of themselves.

Gatsūga [Fang Passing Fang], C rank, offensive, short range. The Inuzuka and their animal partner start to spin furiously, before crashing against their opponent.

Kamaitachi no Jutsu [Sickle Weasel Technique] C rank, offensive, short to mid range. After creating wind with a fan, the user controls the gale to create a miniature tornado, often using it to send their opponent flying away.

Kagemane no Jutsu [Shadow Imitation Technique], supplementary, short range. This secret techniques is passed down generation after generation among the Nara clan. The user can extend his shadow in any form and on any surface, with the only limit of the actual size of the shadow itself. If the user's shadow meet another shadow it will merge together. Any opponent caught by the shadow will be immobilised and forced to imitate the movements of the user.

REVIEW ANSWERS:

hikari-hime 01: thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story! =)

NATSUxERZA: Jiraiya is one of my favourite characters. He will arrive soon, have faith. I love toads as well. Naruto will get very competent with seals, but I see him more like a ninjutsu freak and powerhouse. He will stay that way. I like the tip about the hair, but I doubt it would change a lot in a month time, so I'll keep him for after the time-skip. About the clothes thing, if you want to talk about it, PM me. I had already something in mind, but I always like to hear a second opinion about it. I'm glad you enjoy the story. =) Thanks for reviewing!

NoyB: first thing, I love the name. It's brilliant. Now, I am not a big fan of Naruto-bloodline, but... I just love Kushina's chains. They are so cool! So yes... there will be chains. It will be a while, but there will be chains. (The how, when and why I'll let you wonder about...) Glad you liked last chapter. Thanks for reviewing!

Neo Amon: thank you so much for reviewing. I'm glad the chapter turned out to be fine, after all. I'm glad you liked the part with Gaara. Writing creepy Gaara is fun, actually. I'll get even more chances next chapter! About the nightmare, is actually a little bit of both. I'll leave it at this, because I would hate to spoiler, XD. I'm glad you founded it interesting. The scene was a bit a spur of the moment thing, I hadn't planned to include it there...

HellsMaji:thank you for reviewing =) I answered your question via PM. Hope you liked the story.

Trishithank you a lot for reviewing! Don't thank me, it's fun to write it =) Reviews also encourage me a lot! It makes it even more fun. =)

Wizardmon0073:thank you so much for reviewing! I am happy you liked the nightmare scene. Let's say that the dream was more real than usual, and leave it at that. I know that this is my fic, but I think too many OCs may make this difficult to read, so that's why I asked about Kuroken. Oh, and incineration always helps. Incineration will be included! XD.

I am happy you liked Sasuke's fight... it was difficult to write, not sure why. Probably cause I don't like him... well. I also used one of your suggestions in the genjutsu bit. It was logical Sasuke would use genjutsu, considering his sensei is Kurenai. (as for canon, I think they didn't seal him because Team 7 arrived just before the preliminaries ended, not with days to spare...)

Guest: thank you for giving the story another chance!

You are completely right about the fact that the sentence 'Never won a spar against her' was very strong. I never realised it would have so much impact. I probably didn't even want to write it that way, it was just a slip. In fact, I changed it.

About the Loyalty Seal: I think you really misunderstood the thing. The two versions of the Loyalty seal are completely different. The only thing they have in common is the core – the twin seal that creates the connection – and the name.

Basically the slave version implies two different seals for the master and for the slave (with the master one being more complex and powerful to make the slave submit.)

The other version implies two identical seals, that only creates a connection between two people. The basic versions only makes a sort of tattoo appear, that is linked to one life-force and fades only with death. It would be a way, say, for two people to know the other is still alive should they part for a long time. So, yeah, Akimi's and Naruto's seal is NOT a slave seal. And Akimi has not some kind of evil hidden master plan ('cause I can't help but feel you doubt about her intentions.) No backdoors.

About your doubts on the choice to make the seal: well, you are right they are only teens (they are both 13). However they are not normal teens. One: they have killed, risked to be killed and lived through extremely stressful experiences (Akimi lost her family, Naruto was shunned etc.) making them much more mature than your average teenager. Second: they use Kage-Bunshin for training, making their 'mental age' much bigger than their 'actual age'. Third: they are ninja, they could die on the very next mission I think it's normal for any ninja to accelerate the normal process of things (such as finding a partner etc.) Lastly, they could find someone else. Maybe they will. It's very likely, but I think they will always share a link anyway, if not as lovers, as friends, teammates and ninja of Konoha.

CHAPTER'S NOTE

So, basically I have decided I will keep answer your reviews at the bottom of the page, unless you ask me to do it via PM. Also, if my answer implies a spoiler or something, I'll probably will answer by PM anyway. It's kind of a compromise.

I hope the chapter wasn't too dull. I made the preliminaries matches kind of quick, I hope you don't mind – and I also hope they are believable. I took great inspiration from canon episodes. Well... this is a fan fiction after all. Let me know how they are.

The poll about Shino's element is still up. Looks like earth is winning. Go vote if you haven't already and want to.

Next chapter up: Gaara and Lee fight and the end of the preliminaries!