"Good luck." Sakura spoke with a smile as she patted me on the back, knocking me from my mental wallowing to see everyone walking towards the stairs that led to the watching area on both sides of the field.
"Uh, thanks." I spoke with a hesitant smile, to which she simply nodded while Sasuke just gave me a nod & walked away with her.
"Try not to lose too easily there, Naruto!" I blinked as I heard a familiar voice, looking up to see Kiba snickering & waving at me before I looked at the rest of the Leaf genin & their sensei standing next to him.
'Looks of pity since they think I'm about to lose. Should I just give up & shock everyone?…Nah, messing this guy up sounds like a better idea.' I thought with a smirk as I turned back to my foe, who was waiting patiently with a stoic frown while looking at me from behind his circular sun-glasses.
"May the best guy win." I spoke with a smile before frowning as he simply scoffed & went into some stance.
'Well, I was going to take it easy & see if I can't beat you without having to work too much, but it seems I need to teach you some manners first.'
"This is the first match of the preliminary rounds to decide the contestants of the Third Exams, a match between the Leaf genin Naruto Uzumaki & Yoroi Akadō. Are both fighters ready?" Both of us simply nodded as the smile faded from my face, already feeling my heart pounding in my ears & my hands shaking slightly as I began to stimulate my chakra.
"Then, without further adieu…begin!" Immediately, my hands were a blur as I reached out into my pouches & threw out a flurry of shuriken & kunai in front of me, watching as Yoroi frowned slightly before he leapt out of the way.
However, I followed his path with another shuriken, this one thrown much more accurately than the others as it curved through the air & barely nicked the side of his mask.
"Shit!" I heard him curse as I rushed forward, the man landing while holding the side of his face as he quickly raised a kunai to block my own that was aimed for his side.
Sparks flew as we pressed against each other, the only reason I haven't managed to stab him being that he was a bit older & a lot taller than I was.
Unfortunately, this was all a part of my plan and his eyes widened as I smirked victoriously, Yoroi taking too long to activate his own Chakra Absorption Jutsu as I pushed away from him while I did my new signature handsign.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Exclamations of surprise echoed on the watching floor as a sea of smoke obscured both Yoroi & I before I smirked as the dozens of clones didn't waste any time and rushed towards him.
"Grab his limbs!"
"Beat the shit out of him!"
"Bitch, I'm left!"
"Now we're right!"
"Left, right, goodnight dipshit!"
"Let him get up! Let him get up!"
"To hell with that! This is Jumpjutsu Kaisen!" I simply blinked at the absurdities that flew from my clones' lips as they all attacked Yoroi at the same time and to give him credit, he did manage to take out a few of them.
However, a few does not matter much when dozens of fists & legs were punching & kicking you in the process, four of the clones diving & pinning him to the ground before I winced as a few decided to give him nutshots.
'Ooh~ those might not work anymore. Also, I can see why Naruto likes spamming this jutsu.' Watching yourself beat the shit out someone from a safe distance is quite fun to see and when it's someone that's working for Orochimaru, who was terrifying me/ Naruto a few days ago, I quite enjoyed the beatdown in front of me.
Unfortunately, I didn't want to kill the guy despite the fact that he was working for the enemy, the clones stopping their attack as I gave a loud whistle & turning to face me.
"He's already knocked out." I answered, all of them blinking as they looked back down to see Yoroi lying out cold on the floor with his face being just one massive purple bruise.
"Uh…good job, I guess?" One of the clones said with an uncertain smile, the others looking just as uncertain while I shook my head as I dispelled them all.
Immediately, I steadied myself as the memories flashed across my vision, feeling every muscle tensing & shaking as I processed through them all in the blink of an eye before letting out a sigh as they finally vanished.
"…The winner is Naruto Uzumaki." The entire hall was silent as I turned and made my way up to where everyone from the Leaf were watching, not surprised to see their shocked faces as I walked past them & came to a standstill next to my team.
"Nice work." Sakura was the first to congratulate me, to which I grinned & gave a thumbs-up before turning to Kakashi as I felt him pat my head.
"Quick & efficient, just like I taught you."
"You mean when you had time to stop reading your books."
"Precisely." He spoke with a smile & a nod, to which I simply grumbled before smirking as I saw Sasuke give me a subtle nod & turn towards the screen.
'I see he's still unable to show any emotions in front of anyone that isn't Team 7.'
"N-Nice job, Naruto." I blinked as I heard the slight stutter from a soft yet elegant voice besides me, turning to see Hinata blushing slightly as she congratulated me.
While Sakura & Ino could have been seen as pretty in my eyes, I was always a bigger fan of Hinata in my past life and what I saw on a screen did not do justice to the girl in front of me.
'And she gets hotter as she grows older…Holy shit, Naruto was a lucky dude.' I thought as I turned to look at her whitish-lavender eyes and the moment I did, I raised an eyebrow as she turned bright red & looked away, glancing at Kurenai to see her looking amused while Kiba looked exasperated & Shino simply rose an eyebrow.
"Uh, thanks. Maybe you'll get a nice match too."
"H-Hopefully." She answered before a squeak escaped her lips as I reached over & patted her shoulder.
"Don't worry, you'll do great." I said before blinking as she gave a quick nod and quickly skittered away to hide behind a giggling Kurenai.
'Ah, right. She still has that crush on me, doesn't she?…Eh, I'll worry about that another time. Time to see whose going to fight nex-Oh. I guess canon really is done, huh?' I thought with a raised eyebrow as I looked up at the screen, turning towards Sakura to see the shocked look on her face.
Sakura Haruno vs Hinata Hyuga
'Well, that's…nice, I guess?'
"Good luck." I said as Sakura finally snapped out of her shock, not surprised to see the nervous yet hesitant smile on her face as she gave a slow nod before looking up at Kakashi as he patted her shoulder.
"Even if you don't win, do the best that you can."
"What he said." I nodded in agreement to his words, Kakashi simply rolling his eyes while Sasuke looked amused & Sakura giggled before a determined smile appeared on her face as she nodded.
"I'll try my best. No hard feelings, right Hinata?" She said as she looked past me to her foe, to which I turned around to see the nervous look on Hinata's face.
'Should I? Eh, fuck it. Nothing like a bit of support to make her more confident.'
"Don't be so tense. Keep your body loose, stay on the move and you should be fine, okay?" I spoke as I grasped her shoulders & turned her to look at me, surprised to see her not blushing as she looked at my eyes before giving a shaky smile as she nodded.
"Okay."
"Good, now both of you kick ass down there!" I shouted, both girls giggling before I grinned as they both walked down to the battlefield.
"Well, look at you, Mr. Smooth-talker~"
"What? What do you mean?" I asked as I turned to see the teasing look on Kakashi's face before my eyes widened as I realised what I had just done, Kakashi letting out a soft chuckle & even Sasuke giving an amused scoff as I slowly turned & decided to just focus on the fight.
'Oh, I really need some time alone so I can stop acting out of impulse.'
"The second match of the preliminaries are between the Leaf genin Sakura Haruno & Hinata Hyuga. Are both fighters ready?"
"Yes/ Y-Yes." Both Sakura & Hinata nodded as they readied themselves, Sakura slowly going into the stance that was taught to her in the Academy while Hinata looked a bit hesitant before going into the opening stance of the Gentle Fist.
"Then…begin!" Sakura was quick to start as she pulled out a few shuriken & let them fly, quickly rushing to the side as Hinata stumbled a bit while ducking away from them.
Skidding to a standstill a few paces to her side, Sakura did a few handsigns to focus chakra to her feet while also creating a pair of clones on either side of her, the genin quickly charging forward with her clones in a zigzag formation.
Hinata frowned slightly as her eyes flickered between the three Sakura in front of her, waiting as she watched two of them near her before chakra flowed to her hand as she lunged forward.
Immediately, Sakura sensed the danger from her palm and slid under her attack on her knees, Hinata's eyes widening as she felt a hand grabbing her ankle before yelping as Sakura heaved & let her fall to the floor.
However, as she went to finish the match, she cursed as Hinata rolled with her fall, the girl quickly doing a spin flip to her feet before Sakura leaned back as another palm strike barely missed hitting her jaw.
That was all a feint unfortunately and Sakura wheezed as a piercing pain erupted in her chest, the blow sending her rolling across the ground before her eyes widened as Hinata was already kneeling on her with a palm held to her head.
"D-Do you concede?" She asked, sounding a bit more confident and Sakura looked at the palm that was overflowing with chakra before letting out a defeated sigh as she nodded.
"I do."
"Sakura Haruno has surrendered, making Hinata Hyuga the winner." Hinata blinked as the announcement echoed in the arena, her eyes widening as she slowly stood up while Sakura giggled as she saw how stunned the girl looked.
"N-Nice work on that last attack." Sakura spoke while rubbing her chest with a wince, knocking Hinata from her stupor before the girl's eyes widened as she quickly reached forward & unlocked the chakra point she had sealed.
"S-Sorry about the hard attack, but I couldn't think of a quicker way to take you out and-!"
"Hinata! It's okay." Sakura said with an understanding smile, to which the white-eyed girl gave a shaky one back before both turned to the watching floor as they heard Naruto cheer.
"Whoo! Good job, Hinata! Don't worry, Sakura! There's always next year!"
"Can you believe this guy? I'm his teammate and he'd rather congratulate you first than console me first." Sakura spoke with an exasperated sigh and Hinata let out a soft giggle as the two of them made their way back up to the watching stands.
"That was a nice trick you did with the clones there, Sakura. Not many have an appreciation for the basic genjutsu." The pinkette blinked as she heard Kurenai's words, turning to see the woman giving her nod before watching as she turned & went back to congratulating Hinata along with the rest of Team 8.
"That's big praise from the best genjutsu user in the Leaf." Kakashi's words shocked Sakura as she slowly turned to her sensei, who smiled at her look before the girl slowly turned back to Kurenai to see the amused smile on the woman's face as she gave a nod.
"Also, she was telling the truth. Nice work with the clones."
"T-Thanks, sensei."
"And don't worry about not passing. With that little showcase down there, you've shown a bit more than one would expect from a kunoichi that came from a civilian lifestyle to do against a member of the strongest clan in the Leaf." Kakashi whispered, Sakura smiling as she nodded before turning as she felt a hand patting her back.
"Great job, even if you didn't win!" Naruto spoke with a grin, Sakura giggling before glancing over to see Sasuke to see him looking at her for a while.
However, her eyes widened & a smile appeared on her face as he hummed & nodded, elation flashing through her body while Kakashi just looked amused at seeing his little kunoichi looking overjoyed at the acknowledgement from her crush
Turning to look at Naruto to see if he was going to be jealous like usual, he was surprised to find the most chaotic of his team leaning against the railing with a smile, Hinata blushing brightly as the boy spoke to her while her team simply smirked/ giggled at her embarrassment.
'Well, would you look at that? His father married a former princess and now he's wooing a former heiress too. I guess the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree.'
After Sakura's match, the next matches were the same as the canon ones that I could remember from the series.
Tenten went up against Temari and like expected, the girl was taken out before five minutes could passed. The sight of her spine bending around the hard metal of Temari's fan was quite the gruesome sight compared to how it looked in the anime.
Thankfully, that was the worst that happened to her as Lee had caught her before she could land face first onto a bunch of razor-sharp blades, everyone clearing away from the battle arena just as Hayate announced the next match.
The next match finished faster than the one before it could, with Shino showcasing some tactics against his foe Zaku.
The sight of Zaku's arms being sent blasting to the side with blood spraying through the air was not a pretty sight and I was not the only one that looked queasy at both the guy's wounds & the hundreds of insects that pierced right through Shino's skin to devour their master's foe while still covered in his blood.
'How do the wounds even heal? Unless…are the holes permanent?' I thought in slight disgust as Shino began walking up the stairs, his insects flying & crawling back into his body by the time he made his way back to us.
"I keep forgetting that seeing you fight is not a pretty sight." Kiba said with a shaky smirk, Shino simply looking at his teammate with a raised eyebrow before giving a nod.
"It is a battle. A bit of blood is to be expected."
"Hey, Shino?" I began, everyone looking at me while Shino simply raised an eyebrow to show that he heard me.
"How does that even work? Do the insects make a hole every time they come out or does your body just have…holes inside it?"
"I never took you for the curious type, Naruto." He answered and I shrugged before responding.
"It looked gross but cool at the same time."
"And I stand corrected. Of course you would think like that." I ignored Kakashi's muttered words while still looking at Shino, who continued to stare at me in silence before slowly nodding.
"I can see that there is true curiosity in your eyes so to answer your question, the holes are permanently made in my body & sealed up by a mucus-like slime the beetles secrete to stop me from bleeding out."
"…Cool. Thanks for telling."
"It is my pleasure." Shino nodded and I smiled before turning back to my team to see all three of them staring at me with a raised eyebrow.
"What?"
"How sure are you two he's actually Naruto?" Kakashi asked and I rolled my eyes as my teammates simply shrugged.
"No clue. Maybe we should taste it out."
"I'm close to the Old Man Hokage so keep trying me and I'll have that orange book, tomatoes and cherry blossom mochi banished from the village forever."
"Oh, yeah, that's definitely Naruto. Hehe~ can you believe these two?" Kakashi said with a nervous look in his eyes, a smirk appearing on my face as both of my teammates were far too busy looking at the battle floor to look at me as I nodded.
"That's what I thought." I spoke with a nod, turning my gaze up at the big screen & watching as it rolled through names before raising an eyebrow as two new ones popped up on screen.
Shikamaru Nara vs Choji Akimichi
"Will both contestants please come do-!"
"I give. Shika wins." Choji was quick to surrender before Shikamaru could, to which I smirked as I saw the pineapple-haired boy giving his friend a sour glare as he looked to be raising his hand.
"Are you certain?"
"Pretty sure." Choji nodded while taking out a pack of chips from behind his back that Asuma handed over to him, Shikamaru grumbling under his breath while Ino giggled as she stood to the side.
"Then Shikamaru passes on to the Third Exams. The next ones to come down are…the Hidden Sound's Kin…and the Hidden Sand's Kankurou." The two fighters didn't waste any time as they walked down from the top, an amused smirk on Kankurou's face as he saw the confident one on Kin's.
"Are both ready?"
"Yes." Both answered, Kankurou cracking his neck & not unravelling the package on his back which I knew was where his actual body was while Kin scoffed as she rested her hand near her back pouch.
"Then let the match…begin."
A/N: And we're back with another chapter!
Like I said, from now on if I feel like dropping a random chapter for fun, I'm going to do it.
Anyway, as you can see, I'm completely changing the match-ups to spice things up.
Why? Because I can and because it's more fun.
Anyway, next chapter are the last of the match-ups and then, we're finally getting into the real meat of the story.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until next week...
Enjoy the cliffhanger & Ba-Bye~!