Kakashi and two Anbu rushed towards the room Yūgao's students were in as the tower's security had alerted them to an intruder. When the three burst into the room they froze as they saw Hinata reading a scroll while leaning against a fully grown Forest Tiger who was curled around her while taking a nap, while Naruto was sitting at a nearby desk working on a seal while Shino sat on his bed examining one of his Kikaichu. They had no idea how it got inside or why it hadn't killed the Genin. Naruto glanced at the three visitors and mentally grinned while Kurama's snicker echoed through his mind.

As Kakashi and the Anbu stood in the door frozen in place while Naruto continued to work on his seal as he made plans for the third round of the exam.


The Hokage, Tsunade and Jiraiya stood before a large statue of two hands making the Ram hand sign. Before them were eight teams of Genin who'd passed the second round with their Jonin Senseis standing behind them. From Konoha Teams Six, Seven, Eight and Nine were present, along with Gaara's and Fū's teams, the team from sound and the team from Kiri that Team Six met at the start of the second round. Much to Team Six's amusement Neji's Team had only arrived half an hour ago making them the last team to pass.

"Congratulations. All of you have shown many qualities that all villages look for in potential Chunin however unfortunately I am unable to promote you all here and now. There are also too many of you to join the final round of the Chunin Exams as such we shall have preliminary matches here and now. If any of you feel you are unable to continue then say so, and remember there is no shame in knowing your current limits."

After a few moments one of the Kiri Trio raised an arm with a visible wince, "I was injured shortly before arriving yesterday and haven't fully recovered. If possible I would like to stay and watch."

"You'll need to see the medics again just to be on the safe side but afterwards you will be allowed to return," Hirzun said and the Kiri Shinobi nodded before turning and leaving the room, "Anyone else?"

After a few moments when no one else moved Hiruzen nodded, "Very well. Now I shall introduce the Proctor for these preliminary matches and the Third Round."

A brown haired Shinobi with a headband style forehead protector and wearing a Konoha Flak Jacket with a katana strapped to his back appeared, "My name is Hayate Gekkō, who until recently was Konoha's top Kenjutsu master. The Prelims and the finals of the Chunin Exam will follow the following rules. Rule One: These will be one on one fights, any outside interference will get you and BOTH combatants disqualified, and possibly banned from taking the Chunin Exams EVER again. This rule was added six years ago when a team from Ishigakure tried to sabotage teams from Iwa, Konoha and Suna during an exam at Taki." Many of the Genin gulped at how serious the new rule was, "Second Rule: You will fight until one of you is unconscious, surrender, unable to fight, or I step in. If I step in you will stop fighting immediately or face the consequences."

"The third and final rule is simple," Hayate with a small smirk as some of the Genin grew worried at what else they should worry about, "Try not to die. The Paperwork for that is always a pain in the ass," Most of the Genin blinked before shouting over each other while the Members of Team Six and Shikimaru smirked slightly, "You all though being rowdy kids and ready to be Genin and possible Chunin again?" Hayate asked with a another smirk making some of the Genin scowl at the Special Jonin as the giant screen behind the statue began cycling through pictures of the remaining Genin, "Before I forget since there isn't enough Genin here one of you will be getting a free pass to the Third Round."

As everyone waited for the first contestants to be chosen some hoped they'd have the free pass, while others were weighing the odds of which would be better down the line. The free pass or earning their spot.

As the rotating pictures came to a halt Hayate glanced over his shoulder "The first match will be Ino Yamanaka of Konoha against Temari of the Desert of Suna. All other combatants are to leave the floor and head to the platforms above."

All the Konoha Shinobi went to the right side while the Suna, Oto and Taki teams went left, though Fū gave Naruto a smirk and thumbs up while Garra gave him a small nod.

Ino and Temari were staring at each other. Ino could easily deduce that Temari used Wind Jutsu due to the War Fan on Temari's back, while Temari was curious about what the Yamanaka could do. As Ino didn't look that impressive. She was a bit leaner than most Kunoichi from Suna so at first glance Temari assumed her opponent was weak but knew that couldn't be the case due to the Yamanaka being in the Prelims… unless her teammates were the only competent ones that is.

"Start!" Hayate said as he lept back.

The two Genin burst into motion, with Ino drawing her her Water Whip and Temari swinging open her fan to show a single moon and unleashing a gale of wind directly at Ino's chest. However Ino much to everyone's surprise quickly slid under Temari's attack using her Water Whip to make a shield, keeping the iron scrapings closer to the ground and to the sides. Temari was so shocked at how Ino evaded her attack that the Suna Genin did nothing to block Ino who though the use of overloading the Tree Walking exercise launched herself at Temari and kicked the Suna Genin in the chest before kicking off Temari and launching herself back.

"Interesting," Might Guy muttered, stroking his chin. To the Taijutsu master it was obvious the Yamanaka Heiress had created that move on the fly but no one could deny it was effective. Perhaps he should offer some lessons to the other Rookie Genin some time… or new Chunin if they get promoted.

Snapping back to the moment Temari growled, and released a wider blast of wind however was shocked when Ino let herself be carried to the wall by the wind only to once more overload the Tree Walking exercise and launch herself at Temari. Unfortunately Temari was expecting it this time as she closed her fan and stepped to the side and brought her War Fan down on Ino Ino who in her panic dropped her Jutsu and unsealed her rapier and tried to deflect her opponent's weapon after twisting in the air. The Rapier snapped like a twig under the heavy fan with most of the fragments getting caught in Ino's clothes though a few embedded themselves in her arms and chest.

Luckily none of the shards were in the area the fan hit her. However Ino knew she wasn't in any shape to continue. Slowly raising an arm she said, "I forfeit. If I take another blow like that it might drive some of the metal deeper into me. Plus I was on the backfoot the entire time."

"Winner by forfeit, Temari of the Desert. Medics," Hayate called and two shinobi clad in white came out with a stretcher, carefully placed Ino on it and carried her away as the screen began scrolling through names again, "The second match will be… Hinata Hyuga against Tenten Higurashi, both of Konoha."

Neji's lip twitched but for the normally stoic teen that was a full blown smirk. Fate would now show that despite her 'growth', his cousin was still weak and doomed to fail. Neji was loath to admit it even to himself but Tenten was a genius when it came to weapons and could become proficient with even the most ridiculous weapons. Who would make a gauntlet mixed with a shield that had pointed edges, a large spike in the middle of the shield and a dagger under the gauntlet? Well Tenten had found it on a C-Rank bandit elimination mission and had kept it and he'd seen her use it a couple times since then.

Down in the arena Hinata and Tenten looked at each other thoughtfully. Tenten knew that Hinata had ordered something from their store, her father was the one to handle it as he knew there was a chance the two could meet in the Chunin Exams so the young Weapon Mistress was already on guard. Hinata meanwhile was curious what weapons Tenten would use and if they'd be what a Shinobi would call 'conventional' or not, "Are both combatants ready?" Hayate asked as both girls quickly and easily slid into their fighting stances.

Hinata's stance much to the surprise of most present had her left foot forward and balancing on her toes while the other was flat on the ground though it was pointed off to the right, meanwhile right arm was parallel over her stomach and left arm out and bent back slightly. Tenten had a hand hovering near the scroll on her back and crouched slightly so she could easily leap away while her free hand in a more defensive stance in case her opponent was faster than Tenten anticipated.

"Start!" Hayate called as he leapt back with Tenten mimicking the proctor's actions as she unsealed a kodachi before launching herself at Hinata who hadn't moved yet. Though the moment Tenten was close enough Hinata twirled under Tenten's horizontal swipe. Tenten only had a moment to realize what happened before Hinata completed her twirl and kicked Tenten's side, sending the weapon mistress away while her kodachi flew in the opposite direction. As Tenten slid across the ground before she slammed a hand on the ground to lift and twist her body until she was on her feet.

"Hmm… your Gentle Fist style is far less rigid than Neji's," Tenten mused, "Interesting. Perhaps it has something to do with your elemental affinity?"

"Correct," Hinata nodded, "I have both my Mother's Primary Affinity which is Water and my Father's Secondary which is Lightning. As such the normal Gentle Fist is beyond me due to what my body and Chakra naturally wish to do. As such I have with my father's blessing altered the Gentle Fist to suit me."

"Impossible!" Neji said in shock, "There is no possible way Hiashi-Sama would blatantly break Hyuga Tradition!"

"There are many things about my father even I am not aware of Cousin," Hinata said flatly, her eyes never moving from Tenten, "With that in mind, why would anyone else know what goes on in Father's mind?" Neji glared down at Hinata as he gripped the railing so hard his knuckles turned white.

Ignoring the glaring Hyuga, Tenten grinned and pulled out what at first glance was a simple spear. However, as Tenten took a new stance the edges of the spear began glowing slightly as a low hum filled the air. Tenten smirked, "Got this on our last mission," Tenten blurred forward and rapidly began thrusting her spear at Hinata. The young Heiress gracefully ducking and weaving around each strike even though she was occasionally nicked by the blade.

The first time the blade nicked her arm, Hinata noticed the constant stinging of lightning Chakra and used her own Lightning Chakra to counteract the invading Chakra, "A Chakra Metal Spear? Good find," Hinata said before going on the offensive with rapid strikes, chops and kicks much to Tenten's surprise who frantically tried to avoid and block each attack. Due to Hinata's unreal level of flexibility, unique style of the Gentle Fist and sheer level of ferocity despite the calm polite smile on the Heiress' face.

"Look at Hinata go," Naruto whistled, "I think the last time I saw her this aggressive was on that one B-Rank Mission where we found those slavers…"

"As if you could survive a B-Rank," Neji scoffed.

"Well it was meant to be a C-Rank Bandit Elimination mission," Yūgao-Sensei shrugged, "However the group Chunin Level Missing Nin upgraded that to a B-Rank," Neji scowled as the hate within him began to grow as he turned back to the fight.

Tenten leapt back, put her spear away and instead pulled out two wooden sticks with metal chains attached spiked metal balls, "Let's see how you deal with something a little more… unconventional!" Tenten grinned before charging at Hinata as she got the metal balls spinning so quickly they became a blur.

Hinata grinned and charged Byakugan blazing and their taijutsu fight resumed however at one point Tenten's right arm jerked and she dropped her weapon however everyone but Team Six were confused as Hinata's last attack had missed. Naruto smirked as he noticed the slight gleam of Hinata's new wires that were completely made of Chakra Metal unlike her old ones which was just coated with the unique steel, slipping between her fingers to subtly increase the range of her Gentle Fist.

Before Tenten could recover Hinata struck at her left arm sending ripples of Gentle Fist enhanced Water Chakra. With Tenten disarmed Hinata quickly lifted her right leg to rapidly kick Tenten's chest, arms, and legs with each kick enhanced with a slight amount of Gentle Fist enhanced Lightning Chakra. To finish her assault Hinata planted her foot down, did a single spin before slamming her right foot directly into Tenten's stomach. Tenten was sent flying before crashing into the ground and sliding to a stop though she couldn't get up. Her limbs were completely numb and there was a lingering stinging sensation spreading out from her stomach.

Hayate quickly checked on Tenten before saying, "Tenten is unable to continue. Winner Hinata. Medics," The Medics and Hinata moved towards Tenten. Hinata quietly explained what she'd done and the Medics nodded before taking Tenten away. Neji meanwhile was furious. Hinata had not only blatantly disregarded Hyuga tradition but had somehow defeated Tenten with a single counter attack! How had his failure of a cousin defeat a Genius of weapons?! Was this also Fate at work? Yes, that was it. Fate had let her pass the prelims so she'd lose in the finals. There was no other possibility.

While Neji was lost in denial Hinata returned to her team and gave them a grin and fist bump, "Good job Hinata. Feel bad you had to fight Tenten though," Naruto said.

"I agree however it would have been foolish to hold back," Hinata sighed, "Hopefully she'll get her chance next time."

"The third match is Choji Akamich of Konoha against Fū of Taki,'' Hayate called making the Akimichi groan.

"I don't know why but to quote Shika, this match is going to be so troublesome," Choji grumbled as he headed down to the arena. Fū on the other hand leapt over the railing and gracefully landed before walking over to the proctor an excited smile on her face.

"Are you two related?" Shikamaru asked as he moved next to the whiskered blond, "That smile is eerily similar to yours when you're too excited for your own good.

Naruto tilted his head in thought. Thanks to the Dragons and Kyubi he knew a decent amount about his mom's side of the family but even the Hokage and Jiraiya didn't know much about his father's side of the family since Minato was an orphan. "Possibly," Naruto said slowly, "I know a good bit about my mom's side of the family but I'm told my dad was an orphan… perhaps I'll ask Cousin Tsunade if there's any way to find out."

"Wait… Tsunade's your cousin?" Sakura asked in surprise.

"My mother was Kushina Uzumaki. Konoha's Red Hot Habanero or Red Death depending on who you ask," Naruto smirked, "The Uzumaki, Senju and Uchiha are all distantly related. Sadly the Uzumaki Clan was wiped out at the start of the last Shinobi War."

"Why didn't we hear anything about that?" Kiba asked, "If your mom's Clan were that important wouldn't the Academy have told us about them?"

Naruto shrugged, "A lot of people used me as a scapegoat for their hatred of the Kyubi since I was the only kid born that day. It sucks but what can ya do?"

"Is that… Why you got into pranking? As a bit of payback?" Sakura asked only to shudder at Naruto's cackle. If there was anything that could confirm his choice of payback it was that damn cackle!

Down in the area Choji had unsealed his Kanabo and got into his stance while Fū was simply bouncing on the balls of her feet, hands behind her back and a bright smile on her face. Her carefree attitude was honestly throwing Hayatte and Choji off a little, "Begin!"

Fū lept high into the air as two insect-like wings sprouted from her lower back as she began cackling at Choji's dumbfounded look, "She even cackles like you!" Hinata laughed, "There is no way the two of you aren't related somehow!"

"Or it could just be because you're both jinchūriki," Kyubi grumbled from within Nartuo's mind, "Though the odds of that laugh being a common trait is to damn low since your mother and that Bitch Mito didn't have it."

Glancing at where the Hokage was standing with his students, Naruto grinned at Tsunade's thoughtful look, the Hokage's blank expression and Jiraiya's slightly horrified one. "I wonder if Fū would be interested in joining us on a prank or two," Naruto mused, causing Hinata to laugh harder, Shino to smirk and the rest of the Konoha Genin to flinch.

"OH COME ON!" Choji yelled in annoyance, "How the hell can you fly?!"

"Seeeecccrrreeettt~" Fū sang before diving down at Choji who was still distracted that out of everyone he could have gotten he got one who could fly. Choji barely brought up his Kanabo in time to block Fū's axe kick however the girl twisted in the air due to her wings and went sideways to kick Choji in the cheek knocking him to the ground and making his eyes grow wide. "Don't think this'll be easy~" Fū giggled once more, launching herself at Choji.

Choji rolled to the side and shot to his feet before jumping back. He placed his Kanabo on his back where it stuck due to some of Naruto's Seals and made some hand signs before releasing a large ball of fire. Fū flew above the fire however Choji was nowhere to be seen as he'd used the fire as a distraction to use an Earth Jutsu to dive underground. Fū clicked her tongue in annoyance as she looked around only for Choji to shoot out of the ground behind her, his Kanabo glowing red from his Fire Chakra. However as Fū flew away Choji smirked as his arm and Kanabo grew much larger as he roared, "Partial Expansion Jutsu!"

Fū's eyes went wide before she was slammed into the ground by the giant metal bat. When Choji's arm returned to normal everyone waited to see what happened to Fū. The mint haired girl slowly got up and cricked her neck. "Nice shot," Said said before spitting out some blood, "Damn bit my tongue during that. Now… My turn," In moments Fū was in the air again as she used the standard Clone Jutsu making five copies of herself. The six copies Fū rapidly flew around Choji who despite his best efforts couldn't hit any of them.

As Fū flew around Choji she was slowly releasing powder from her wings. As the powder glittered in the light it distracted Choji only for a large amount of powder to appear and the light was nearly blinding. Choji yelled out in pain as he dropped his weapon and clasped his hands over his eyes before he felt something wrap around him. Choji managed to move his arms enough to see white thread wrapped around body with a cord leading from him to Fū. "I'd surrender if I were you," Fū grinned, "Unless you want to know what a top feels like~"

Choji paled as he went over his options. He knew he could burn the web away with his Fire Chakra but it wouldn't be fast enough to prevent Fū's threat. After a couple seconds he sighed, "I surrender."

"Winner by forfeit, Fū of Taki," Hayate called and Choji began channeling Fire Chakra and the web burned away.

"Good match," Fū said holding a hand out, "I honestly wasn't expecting your weapon to grow like that."

"Thanks," Choji said, accepting the handshake, "I honestly wasn't sure how else to beat you since I've never had to worry about a flying opponent before. Perhaps we can spar again sometime."

"Agreed!" Fū grinned. Neji scoffed but said nothing as most of the others in the room smiled at the comradery the two were showing. As the screen began rotating the remaining names again Choji and Fū headed up the stairs to stand with the Konoha Rookies. Fū nodded to the others though Neji was the only one who ignored the greeting. "Hey Naruto, Shino, Hinata."

"Hey Fū," Naruto grinned before turning to his fellow Konoha Genin, "Good fight Choji. I honestly thought you had her with that Partial Expansion Jutsu."

"Same," Choji chuckled, "It was the only thing I could think of to bring her down to the ground. Honestly I should have pinned her or something instead of letting her get back up."

"Eh. Kinda glad you didn't attack again. That Kanabo hurt!" Fū said, making everyone chuckle.

"I'm still surprised you can fly!" Naruto said, "Guess that's why you said you're better in wide open areas huh?"

"Yup," Fū giggled, "I love spending time in the air. I feel free and unbothered by everything else for a while. It's very relaxing."

"Hmm… maybe I could come up with some kind of seal that allows flight…" Naruto muttered thoughtfully, "Shino might be able to figure it out too…"

"I hadn't thought of that before," Shino said cockign his head to the side in thought, "Yes… I believe I might have something but I doubt I'll have it working until after the Chunin Exams."

"I'll be interested to see it then," Fū grinned.

"The next match is Sasuke Uchiha of Konoha against Kankurō of the Desert of Suna," Hayate said and the two Genin made their way to the floor. Once there Sasuke took a deep breath and activated his Sharingan as he got into his stance. Kankurō had a cocky smirk as he rested the large wrapped bundle on the ground, "Start!"

The bundle burst open revealing a three eyed, four armed humanoid puppet wearing a black robe with jagged teeth and spiky brown hair that shot towards Sasuke. "Go Karasu!" Kakuro roared as his puppet opened its mouth and shot out a fan of caltrops while thin blades extended from the puppet's upper arms. Sasuke leapt back away from the caltrops as he drew a ninjato and deflected the puppet's blades with a small frown.

Kakuro kept his confident smirk. As long as he could keep his opponent focused on the puppet he had nothing to worry about the Sharingan. At least until he heard Sasuke's chuckle, "So that's how it works…" Kankurō smirk turned into a look of shock as Sasuke dropped his weapon and Chakra thread shot out of Sasuke's fingers that latched onto Kurasu. At that point it became a battle of wills to see who would control the puppet.

The Suna Shinobi watched with bated breath. As far as they knew, an Uchiha had never tried to take control of a puppet. Down on the floor both Kankurō and Sasuke were starting to sweat as they fought for dominance over the puppet. Kankurō knew if he could fire the ball of poison gas Kurasu had stored he could win however he couldn't activate the mechanism as he had to devote everything he had to not losing control.

This went on for about five minutes before Kurasu jerked up right and the head turned around as Kankurō fell to his knees panting. "I… I forfeit," Kankurō gasped out, "No more Chakra…"

"Winner by forfeit. Sasuke Uchiha of Konoha," Hayate called though he froze when Kurasu began moving towards Kankurō. Everyone watched worried that Sasuke was about to kill his opponent only for the puppet to collapse in a heep in front of the Suna Puppeteer.

"It's an interesting style," Sasuke said as he picked up his dropped weapon, "Not really my style though. Next time don't hold back since I could tell you didn't need both hands to control it."

Kankurō chuckled as he wrapped Kurasu up again and hefted the puppet onto his back again, "Had to save something for the finals to surprise my opponent don't I?"

"I guess," Sasuke nodded, as Hayate used a small Earth Jutsu to move all of Kankurō's caltrops to the puppeteer's feet so he could collect them.


As the Chunin Exam Prelims were underway Orochimaru sat in the office of one of his bases in the Land of Fire. As he worked on a little paperwork a sinister smile crept its way onto his face. Jirobo and Kidōmaru had easily been able to escape Konoha with Kidōmaru's summons. A simple reverse summon to the Spider's Realm, then a second reverse summon and boom. The pair were back in Oto with no issue. He wondered if his Sensei, Tsunade and that fool Jiraiya had had fun tracking down his Mud Clones. Though once one of the half a dozen clones had easily been able to put his gift on young Sasuke he couldn't care less. Even during the invasion he'd be a good distance away. He may be immortal but he was still Orochimaru!

While being there in person would be immensely satisfying it would also be incredibly foolish as Hiruzen knew the Reaper Summoning Jutsu, which was one of the few things that could bypass all his carefully placed plans and kill him. He chuckled slightly to himself. Even if Sasuke didn't accept his gift and power it didn't matter. He already had more than enough Uchiha Clones he could use for his next vessel. He simply wanted Sasuke as that would hurt Itachi more than Orochimaru possessing a clone. Even a clone of Sasuke… though he did have DNA of Itachi's parents. Perhaps he could do something with that… decisions. Decisions.


Author's Notes:

That weapon Neji described is in fact a real weapon called a Lantern Shield. I don't know much about it but I do know that I do NOT want to be fighting someone who's using it!

Also most of the fights were kinda short because… I only had plans on who fought who/who wins. I had little to no plans on how the fights go *shrugs* still fun to write though.