(...)

Something had happened in that forest

It took less than a minute for Kurenai to realize that something in her team's dynamic had come undone during the second portion of the exams. The threads that had bound them so tightly were unraveling, even if only slightly. It was a subtle shift and one that most would have overlooked if they didn't know her team the way she did. Even now, as they stood above the arena waiting for the first matches to be called, there was a tangible air of tension between them. One that had next to nothing to do with the upcoming matches.

Natsumi appeared stoic and disinterested, but her posture was closed off and guarded… almost as if she expected to be attacked at any moment which she might have understood if they were deep inside enemy territory and not ostensibly within the village borders.

Kiba seemed lost in his own world. Present physically but subdued, he hadn't so much as cracked a joke or put his foot in mouth once since they'd reunited. Instead he seemed preoccupied by his thoughts, a rare sight and one that she couldn't help but find concerning given the circumstances.

And then there was Hinata…

The heiress to be had turtled into herself once more, whatever confidence she had built over the last few months nowhere to be found. Instead, the young Hyuga hovered close to her side, seemingly doing her absolute best to maintain some measure of distance from the rest of her team. Especially Natsumi…

Seeing this only confirmed her concerns about allowing them to participate in these exams so early into their careers. She'd allowed their success as a unit to influence her decision making, a failure on her part as a teacher. Another to add to the list.

She could only pray they held out just a little longer. The worst of it was nearly over…

Her thoughts were interrupted by the match board flashing to life. Those in attendance waited with baited breath as the cycle of names began to slow, eventually halting with a dull buzz revealing the first matchup of the preliminaries.

"Sasuke Uchiha vs. Yoroi Akado"

"Of course Sasuke's up first." Kiba snorted, seemingly brought back to reality with the first match underway. "He looks pretty roughed up though, doesn't he?"

There was an undeniable truth to that statement. It was obvious to those in attendance that the sole survivor wasn't at peak condition, if anything most would agree that the Uchiha was pushing on through sheer stubbornness alone. Not exactly surprising to those that knew him, but it put into question his chances of success. Sasuke wasn't weak by any means… but Yoroi was an unknown variable, older and more experienced. It was unlikely that this would come as an easy victory.

However, victory was open for the taking and in some cases no amount of experience couldn't overcome a large enough gap in skill.

From the stands they watched the tides of battle shift back and forth between both contestants in a metaphoric tug of war. Yoroi made clear from the outset that he wasn't an opponent to be underestimated, revealing a unique ability to rob a target of their chakra through even the briefest physical contact. It was a powerful ace up tucked in his sleeve, and one he made liberal use of to all but drain the rest of Sasuke's already strained reserves. Essentially robbed of his ninjutsu, Sasuke was forced to rely on taijutsu alone and for a moment it seemed as if Yoroi had outmaneuvered the younger genin and would take the match…

At least until Sasuke's stubborn will and Yoroi's overconfidence pulled the rug out from underneath the older genin. The result was Sasuke moving onto the final round and Yoroi having to be peeled out from the arena floor following a devastating combo-finisher.

…

"Feh, showoff…" Kiba scowled although there was no rancor behind his words, more a grudging respect than anything. Strength was strength, and he could at least acknowledge that Sasuke was strong even if he was a jackass.

Kurenai hummed as she watched Kakashi escort the disgruntled Uchiha away, the pair vanishing in a swirl of leaves and smoke. "He certainly isn't to be underestimated. The Uchiha clan were known ninjutsu specialists, by all rights he should have lost… it looks like Kakashi isn't as lazy a teacher as I believed.

Natsumi didn't bother to offer any insight, her thoughts were occupied by a specific moment during the match that caught her attention. She'd nearly missed it entirely and even now she wasn't entirely sure about what she'd seen, but right before Sasuke performed his finishing technique she swore she saw strange markings covering part of his neck. Markings that were nowhere to be seen once the match had ended.

Perhaps she had imagined it, but something in her gut told her otherwise.

The matchboard flashed to life again and another pair of names were drawn.

"Zaku Abaumi vs. Shino Aburame"

Her breathing subtly hitched at the name, gaze following the mangled sound-genin's every step as he all but hobbled down the step and into the arena. He was in no condition to fight, his arms wrapped in bandages and clipped to his sides, but he stood to face his opponent all the same. She'd all but crippled him… and yet he still wore that insufferably smug expression of superiority.

"I should have taken more than just his arms…"

It was a fleeting thought. Little more than a whisper on the wind… and yet it sent a chill running down her spine.

Was she really so wicked? Yes, he had tried to kill her among other things… but would she go so far?

So wrapped in her own inner turmoil she didn't even register the concerned looks her teammates shot her. Hinata seemed torn, seemingly wishing to comfort the blond who had unconsciously tightened her grip around the metal railing, reaching out before abruptly withdrawing. Kiba meanwhile appeared to sense the change in emotions and quietly put the pieces together, his expression hardening into a firm frown.

In the end, the outcome was both exactly what everyone expected and far worse than she could have imagined.

Shino won handily. To call the spectacle that played out a fight would be disingenuous, a fight at least implied there was some degree of competition. For all his confidence, Zaku failed to accept the severity of his injuries and the sheer misfortune he had to face an Aburame in open combat and paid a heavy price for his pride. To Shino's credit, he had offered his opponent multiple opportunities to surrender. To walk away with only a wound to his pride…

To Zaku, pride meant everything

And it was precisely that pride that had resulted in his arms, the very same arms she'd nearly tore from their sockets, exploding courtesy of the Aburame's insects clogging the strange tubes running through the sound genin's arms. It was a grizzly sight, and she'd heard more than a few contestants release dry heaves in response. Even trained as she was she couldn't deny feeling a small measure of nausea looking down at the carnage. It was a miracle the explosion had only taken his arms, it could have been far worse.

Shino advanced, but his match set an unsettling tone for things to come…

The board flashed again.

"Kiba Inuzuka vs. TenTen Higurashi"

…

"And here I thought you were supposed to save the best for last?" At last the air of melancholy surrounding them broke as Kiba's naturally competitive spirit clawed its way back to the surface, the brash Inuzuka grinning wildly as he all but shuddered in anticipation. This was a chance to let both let loose some steam and redeem himself in his own eyes.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Kiba." Kurenai warned, eyeing her student's opponent as she climbed down the stairwell into the arena. "You know how difficult it was to make it to this point, do not underestimate those that accomplished the same."

Kiba deflated slightly at her chiding but bobbed his head in understanding. "Right, don't worry! Akamaru and I have got this handled."

Hinata offered a small nod of encouragement as well. "D-Do you best! We b-believe in you."

"Don't play with your food too much." Naturally Natsumi didn't mince her words, encouraging him in her own semi-standoffish way. "I won't patch you up if you get hurt because you didn't take your opponent seriously."

"Why can't you just wish me luck like a normal person?" Kiba grumbled, hurling himself from atop the railing down into the area. "Whatever, we totally got this. Right, Akamaru?"

Akamaru baked in agreement and the pair took their places across their waiting opposition. A slightly older female with her hair tied into a pair of twin buns.

"Took you a little while to get down here… nervous rookie? You must have gotten pretty lucky to make it this far on your first go around." Tenten goaded, looking to see if her opponent was the type to let his emotions lead him around by the nose.

"Nervous, about what?" Kiba chuckled, unbothered by the attempt to get under his skin. Sharp canines flashed threateningly beneath a disarmingly lazy smirk. "Akamaru and I are gonna take this whole thing, if anything your luck ran out the moment you got matched against me."

Seeing her attempt to get into his head wasn't working, Tenten allowed her smirk to fade into a thin frown. "Greenhorns always talk the most, I'll show you the difference experience makes."

Hayate deemed both fighters ready. "Enough, begin!"

Kiba didn't need any further prompting to go on the offensive, rushing in with all the aggression the Inuzuka clan was known for and promptly putting his opponent on the defensive, however, it quickly became apparent to all involved that the older genin was well equipped to handle such a blitz.

Instead of floundering in the face of his attacks, Tenten easily adjusted to the frenzied pace and proved more than capable of deflecting or just outright evading most of his attacks. Sure he wasn't going all out just yet, but he didn't think she'd keep up so well either. What also struck him as odd was that she wasn't really retaliating despite having some clear openings to do so, preferring to dodge rather than counter. It made him feel like he was being set up… like she was trying to exhaust him now so that he'd be easy pickings later.

Well he wouldn't be baited so easily.

"Akamaru!"

Tenten balked as her vision was suddenly filled with teeth, ducking under a punch only to find the white nin-ken's jaws aimed squarely for her unprotected face. Unprepared for the surprise attack, she nearly tripped over herself stumbling back in time to avoid getting bit, a sloppy backpedal that forced her attention away from Kiba. That would be a blunder on her part, one that she would pay for in the prince of his leg viciously biting into the side of her neck.

Kiba grinned victorious at finally landing a solid blow and swiftly and pressed his opening, following up with a stomach churning gut punch/uppercut combo that sent the older genin flying back a few feet. He watched with satisfaction as she hit the ground hard, only just managing to regain her senses and shakily roll back onto her feet.

The bun-haired kunoichi scowled at him, idly wiping a bit of blood from her lip as she locked back into the fight. She mentally cursed herself for allowing him to set the pace of the battle and for overlooking the seemingly harmless puppy hidden inside his jacket. She'd underestimated it because of it's small size but clearly that wasn't a factor she could afford to ignore.

"Had enough yet?" He taunted, crouched and ready to pounce at a moment's notice. "I haven't even gotten warmed up."

Pulling out a scroll from her hip-pouch, Tenten narrowed her eyes at his taunting. "You know, you shouldn't ever pull your punches in a fight. That was your one and only chance to end this quickly, you won't be getting another."

Before he could fire a retort, he was rendered silent as she quickly unfurled the scroll revealing an array of intricate seals inscribed along the parchment. Now Kiba could admit that he still didn't understand jack diddly squat about fuinjutsu, but he had spent more enough time around his teammate to know better than to underestimate the seemingly innocuous looking symbols.

A wise decision decision on his part that saved him from being impaled only seconds later

In a single stroke the flow of battle had shifted out of his favor and now it was his turn to be on the backfoot. Motion became the name of the game as he ran around the arena doing his best to avoid the veritable storm of artillery being launched at his way. It didn't exactly take long for him to realize that his opponent clearly had a talent for throwing weapons, her accuracy bordering on unnatural as he only barely managed to dodge her litany of weaponry. Everything from basic kunai to chakrams, nothing was apparently off the table in her attempts to skewer him.

It didn't help that the closer he tried to get, the more deadly her aim became…

He hissed as fucking tanto whizzed by his head, cutting his cheek as it passed. He knew that couldn't run forever, eventually he'd start to slow down and something told him that she hadn't even scratched the surface of her weapon reserves. He needed to break her concentration and end the fight before she pulled out the big guns… Whatever those might be.

"Never underestimate the value of a good distraction"

Kurenai-sensei's words resonated in his head as he rolled out the way of yet another barrage.

"Never pull your punches huh…" He narrowed his eyes at the smirking kunoichi, a plan forming in his mind. "Lesson learned."

"Akamaru, get ready." He whispered, reaching into his tool pouch.

"Had enough yet!" Tenten mocked, launching yet another volley at her fleeing opponent. She hadn't done any major damage but that was fine, whether he went down in one attack or slowly succumbed to a thousand cuts… it made no difference to her.

She was taken aback though when her target was suddenly obscured by thick dark clouds.

"A smoke bomb?"

It was a decent strategy she mused, but at this distance there was little he could do that she wouldn't be able to react to, and she'd spot any attempts to run. All she had to do was wait him out…

"Passing Fang!"

From the smog, a spiraling whirlwind burst forth aimed directly at her. She launched another barrage of throwing stars at the incoming whirlwind but found that her weapons couldn't penetrate the heavy winds kicked up by the attack. That left dodging as the only option, narrowly avoiding being ripped to pieces as it passed her by. Thankfully it seemed as if he couldn't change direction mid-attack as she felt the ground arena shake as he impacted the far wall.

Little did she realize that was not why the ground was shaking.

Her eyes widened as the floor beneath her feet abruptly ruptured and pain exploded across her face as tight knuckles barreled one more into the underside of her jaw. She was rocketing skyward, however, Kiba took hold of her leg and pulled back with a snarl as he used the moment of his attack and her impromptu flight to slam the older genin back into the ground with a vicious throw. Tenten hit the floor like a falling star, crashing back to earth with a piercing scream.

Safe to say, the weapon mistress was down for the count and with that Kiba secured his spot in the finals.

…

"Very well done."

Kiba flushed at the honest praise, cheeks turning rosy as he grinned under his teacher's prideful gaze.

Hinata smiled and poked her fingers together. "W-We knew you could do it."

"You were… passable." Natsumi sighed with faux-reluctance. "There is always room for improvement but I suppose you didn't embarrass us so I'll overlook it."

"I hate you." He grumbled, though his muttering died down as she set to work tending to the worst of his cuts and the warmth of her healing chakra washed over him. He pointedly ignored the quiet snickering from Kurenai and Hinata who happened to catch the way his face took on a new shade of red as the blond brushed her fingers along his face. Even Akamaru seemed to laugh at him judging from the slightly shaking he could feel within his hoodie.

Thankful he was spared any further embarrassment by the sound of the board flickering back to life and new names being drawn.

Kin Tsuchi vs. Shikamaru Nara

…

"What a drag…"

Shikamaru remembered this girl; hard not to when the last time they'd met she'd been sobbing in the dirt pinned under the heel of someone he generally considered to be a friend. Of her team, it seemed that this one got off the easiest since she was only sporting a black-eye and some light bruising around her arms. Comparatively light given the state of the other two.

It seemed like she remembered him as well judging by the way she was looking at him, and he didn't miss the way she would glance in the direction of team eight either.

Part of him couldn't help but feel bad for her, even if it was only slightly. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't still a bit shaken by what he'd seen…Those hateful red eyes and that suffocating chakra, he'd never seen or felt anything like that before. Natsumi enjoyed scaring people, that much he knew for certain, but what he felt in that forest…

It went beyond anything he thought her capable of. Even now he struggled to believe it, that troublesome girl.

So lost in his thoughts he barely registered the proctor signaling for the match to begin.

…

"S-Shikamaru-kun is s-stronger than he seems." Hinata whispered as they watched the sound genin get carted off by medic staff.

"Hmph, I'm surprised he didn't just quit from the outset." Kiba snorted.

"He's certainly full of surprises." Natsumi mused, eying the future clan heir with a calculating interest. In truth she was not at all surprised that he'd won the match, she was acutely aware that Shikamru downplayed his competency to avoid excess work but these exams were revealing another side of the ordinarily lazy slacker. She hadn't so quickly forgotten that it was him, not Hinata, that had talked her down from her induced state.

It was likely under his order that the rest of her team hadn't been left to rot in the forest, and now he had shown the tactical mind he'd done so well to hide during their Academy days. Was it strange that she felt a bit of pride in him? That she wanted to see even more of that potential realized?

That she wanted to fight him herself

"Eyes on the prey not the horizon." She chided herself, reigning in her emotions before they could get the better of her. It wouldn't do for her to lose focus now, this was the time to study and analyze the competition. Admittedly she appreciated the small reprieve these fights brought her from her thoughts, even if some were more… gruesome than she would have liked.

The board flashed to life again another pair of names were drawn

Sakura Haruno vs. Ino Yamanaka

Her expression soured.

Kiba cackled, hunched over in sheer delight.

And poor Hinata… she could only shake her head.

.

AN. Chapter Complete

Yeah so about covering the prelims in one go, that clearly didn't happen. I tried to cut down on waste by not covering every fight in detail while still offering at least some insights and even that took up more space than I would have liked. There aren't that many fights left thankfully but they are the more emotionally impactful ones so ehhhhhh…

Obviously changed some stuff around, not every fight will be the exact same as evidenced, but there are certain fights that I just didn't see a need to change so those remained the same. It also helps keep them brief since we all know how those go.

I do really wish I had more time for writing, it's annoying having a storyboard and just not having the time to type things out or review but that's not your fault or problem, just me venting a little. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to the next one (whenever that gets done…)

Please leave your thoughts, always like to know how you are feeling about how things are shaping up!