Preliminary Round

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Four days had passed, and it was finally time for all the candidates who made it to the Tower with both scrolls to gather before the Hokage and their respected Sensei(s) in the large indoor arena.

But little did they know, there are still WAY TOO MANY candidates to move on to the final stage.

After Hiruzen had arrived at the Tower with Inoichi by his side, he didn't waste any time by summoning Team 10 to his temporary office.

Inoichi immediately embraced his only daughter with a warm hug as soon as he saw her, which she gladly returned. Still, she was slightly embarrassed when Naruto, Shikamaru, and Asuma were watching with their goofy grins, making fun of her. The hug ended when Hiruzen made a cough to gain their attention, which made Inoichi blush from embarrassment, but he managed to pull himself together for the sake of professionalism.

Naruto then begins retelling their experience in the forest of death, starting from their battle with ROOT to his clone's encounter with Orochimaru.

To say that Hiruzen's and Inoichi's jaws dropped to the floor was an understatement, as they couldn't believe that a team of rookie Genins had such an 'eventful' time in the most dangerous part in the exam and yet made it back to the Tower in one day.

Inoichi was relieved that Ino only had a few scratches and bruises from their battles, but as the shameless protective father he is, he couldn't help but ask multiple embarrassing questions to his daughter that made the young lady blush vermillion red from embarrassment, as Naruto and Shikamaru were failing to hold back their laughter, earning a fierce glare and pout from Ino.

After Naruto explained the very detailed report about Tanuki's mission to kidnap Karin Uzumaki, which was ordered by Danzo Shimura, Hiruzen literally was about to explode from rage, especially after Inoichi was able to confirm their story after reading all of Team 10's minds through the Yamanaka's Psycho Mind Transmission Jutsu.

Ino's mind was slightly difficult to read, given her Yamanaka heritage, despite her already giving him her consent to do so.

Naruto, on the other hand, was a different story.

It took a while for Naruto to convince Kurama to allow Inoichi to safely enter their mind since, aside from Ino, the giant fox doesn't like Yamanaka intruders into his home, which happens to be Naruto's mindscape.

Despite all these years, Inoichi still doesn't know how he feels about Naruto. Not as the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi but as the long-term boyfriend of his only daughter. He knew Ino was deeply in love with Naruto with all her heart, and as a good father, he wanted her to be happy. But no matter how older Ino gets, she will always be his little princess. And it was hard to see her grow up so fast.

His wife, Noriko Yamanaka, on the other hand, absolutely adores Naruto, especially when Ino brings him home for the first time to meet them. He reminded her so much of his parents, especially her late best friend, Kushina Uzumaki. Naruto may have his father's good looks and charm, but he has his mother's kind heart and tenacity.

After confirming Naruto's story by analyzing Ino's mind, Inoichi made an official written report of Team 10's encounter with ROOT and how Tanuki Shigaraki, Danzo's young protégé, admitted out loud of his mission from the old war-hawk himself, to kidnap a foreign candidate with a bloodline, therefore breaking a sacred law of the Chunin Exam.

Naruto also made sure that the report should include Karin's 'demise' by a wild animal in the Forest to secure her safety.

After the report was given, Hiruzen ordered his ANBU to keep a watchful eye on Danzo and make sure he doesn't flee the village, as when the next council meeting comes, he will finally be arrested and prosecuted for his crimes against the shinobi world.

But for now, the Chunin exam must be his sole priority, as Orochimaru is a complete wild card. Naruto may have foiled his attempt to mark Sasuke with a curse mark, but even he knows that this will not be the end of it.

After the meeting was done, Naruto immediately raced towards the Medical Wing to see a bedridden Anko, who was covered in bandages all over her body due to the many cuts and bruises that she received from her old Sensei.

Kakashi was there as well, reading a book when he walked in.

The moment she saw the blonde boy entering her room with tears of worry in his blue eyes, Anko could only give him a weak smile and a cool greeting to help put his mind at ease so that he won't worry too much. Naruto only responded by instantly wrapping her in a big hug, carefully not to worsen her injuries. Anko was slightly cringing in pain by the tight hug from the blonde, but she didn't mind. She is a masochist, after all.

Having Kakashi and Naruto by her side in her time of need was already making her feel better. Anko and Kakashi then told Naruto about her encounter with Orochimaru and how it led to her current condition, which only fuelled his hate and anger towards the Snake Sannin even more.

Anko couldn't leave her bed yet due to her condition, so she told Naruto and Kakashi to head to the arena for the gathering before they were late.

Anko knew it would take a while since she had received the report of the number of candidates who passed. She does not doubt that there will be a Preliminary round to thin out the number of candidates before they can advance to the third and final stage of the exam.

After Kakashi left, Anko gave Naruto a deep kiss before he left.

TOWER ARENA

There are currently eleven teams lining up in rows of three on the arena floor, making a total of 33 candidates who managed to pass the Second Stage.

· Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Choji Akimichi

· Team 8: Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame

· Team 9: Neji Hyuga, Tenten, Rock Lee

· Team 10: Naruto Uzumaki, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara

· Team Kabuto: Kabuto Yakushi, Yoroi Akado, Misumi Tsurugi

· Team Oto: Dosu Kinuta, Kin Tsuchi, Zaku Abumi

· Team Suna: Gaara, Temari, Kankuro

· Team Taki: Fu, Kegon, Yoro

· Team Kumo 1: Yugito Nii, Omoi, Karui

· Team Kumo 2: Samui, Atsui, Mabui

· Team Iwa: Kurotsuchi, Aidan, Tenoki

Naruto looked around him, slightly impressed and nervous at the same time that there were so many candidates who passed, many of whom he knew or had already met. All of the Konoha rookies are there, along with Guy's team, which made the blonde Uzumaki a little happy that there were so many Konoha ninjas who passed. Even Neji but wouldn't let him know that.

But the two teams that made him narrow his eyes with suspicion; were Kabuto's team and the team from Oto.

If Naruto recalled correctly, Orochimaru was wearing an Oto headband when they fought, which made him wonder if Dosu and his team were his underlings or something. But when Naruto looks towards the stage where Hiruzen and all the Jonin Sensei(s) are at, he doesn't see a single Jonin wearing an Oto headband.

Most would assume that their team doesn't require a Jonin Sensei like Kabuto's, but the possibility of that is unlikely. There are too many coincidences, and Naruto was taught to look underneath the underneath.

Naruto already suspects that Kabuto is a spy for someone. At first, he thought he was working for Danzo, but now all signs are pointing to Orochimaru.

On the outside, Kabuto looked like a harmless bookworm that could literally blend into the background, but thanks to Naruto's Sensory ability, he could sense that Kabuto was trying his best to suppress his chakra. Naruto assumes it was for his benefit, but unfortunately for Kabuto, he doesn't know that Naruto can also sense Negative Emotions as well. His entire aura was screaming 'treachery' and 'deceit.'

The only people who suspect Kabuto is a spy at the moment are; Naruto, Hiruzen, Ino, Shikamaru, Asuma, Anko, and Kakashi. But to everyone else, he's just the friendly and helpful guy who just happens to be good at collecting information. A figurative wolf in sheep's clothing. Naruto can only wait until Kabuto slips, but until then, he will preserve his ignorant act to learn more.

Since Anko is unavailable, Ibiki had to fill in for the introduction.

"First off, congratulations on finishing the Second Exam," Ibiki announced, but he was still shocked that 33 out of 78 candidates managed to pass the most difficult part of the exam.

While Ibiki was busy marking down the number of candidates, Guy took this opportunity to boast about his team to his Eternal Rival.

"I see your team didn't do too bad, Kakashi. They must be pretty lucky. Of course, with MY TEAM still around, your team is DOOM to failure. After all, what matters on the next test is ability, and we got you FAR out classed..." Guy said with a confident smirk ".....Well, I guess the part of growing up is learning to deal with heartbreak, huh, Kakashi?" Guy asked smugly with a cocky grin.

".....Huh? Did you say something?" Kakashi asked with a bored tone.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Guy was practically fuming a little too loudly like he was about to have a mental breakdown.

'ALRIGHT, KAKASHI, YOU WIN THIS ROUND! BOY, THAT DRIVES ME NUTS WHEN HE ACTS SO COOL! THERE IS NO WAY I'M GONNA LET YOU GET THE BEST OF ME!' Guy thought furiously as he clenched his fist with passion.

"What's wrong with Guy?" Kurenai asked Asuma regarding Guy's sudden outburst.

"You know, the typical 'Eternal Rival' stuff with Kakashi. Best we don't involve in that mess." Asuma said as he looked at the still-fuming Guy, which made Kurenai nod in agreement.

AT THE CANDIDATES LINE-OUT

"I can't believe that there are still so many remaining. This is going to be a drag." Shikamaru said with a tired sigh as he looked around to find so much competition for him and his team.

Ino agreed with her lazy friend, but she decided to look at the bright side for a change.

"Come on, Shika. It's not so bad. Besides....your girlfriend is here." Ino smugly teased as she nodded her head toward Temari's direction.

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow in confusion as he turned his head to see an angry Temari glaring daggers at him. She and her brothers were a few rows away from Team 10, with her being at the back and Gaara at the middle.

"....Oh, fuck me," Shikamaru said fearfully, feeling slightly nervous from the Suna kunoichi's murderous glare.

"Whoa, Shika, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Naruto joked as he tried to hold back his laughter, as Shikamaru rarely cursed.

"Don't act so surprised; I hang out with you two. I'm bound to curse eventually...and she's not my girlfriend, Ino." Shikamaru defended himself.

"Are you sure, Shika? Clearly, you have her 'undivided attention. Plus, she's a pretty blonde, and you're a blonde magnet. Do the math, genius." Ino teased further, making the Nara roll his eyes in annoyance.

"The only 'attention' I have from her is that she wants to tear me apart," Shikamaru said plainly, but apparently, Naruto saw that as a joking opportunity.

"Tear you apart? Oh, behave, Shika." Naruto jested with a foxy grin.

"What? No, you perverted blonde! She's been mad at me because I called her 'troublesome' during the Written Test. I don't know why it's a big deal, though." Shikamaru said plainly, only to receive a smack on the shoulder from Ino.

"She doesn't know you say that all the time, Dingus. What did you expect? I mean, look at her. Even I can tell she's the prideful-intellectual type who doesn't take insults lightly." Ino pointed out as they all looked at Temari intently, making the Suna girl blush slightly.

"Well, I guess it takes one to know one." Shikamaru mocked the platinum-blonde girl, who merely scoffed at the insult.

"I'm just gonna focus on the part where you called me an intellectual. So thank you, Shika." Ino said with a smirk.

"Ohh, don't be so touchy, Ino. You ARE the prideful-intellectual type who doesn't take insults lightly. But that's okay. Besides, I find that..." Naruto leaned forward to whisper into her ear, "...incredibly sexy." Naruto teased, which made her blush vermillion red.

But then she realized what he had just said.

"Naruto-kun....you know that you just called Temari sexy, right?" Ino asked her boyfriend.

But Naruto wasn't one to back down from a challenge.

"Mmm, I guess I did. Maybe I just have a thing for blondes in mesh armor." Naruto casually said, which made Ino fume in jealously.

But luckily, she was able to cool herself down before she exploded.

"....They do look good on her, though. The mesh really compliments her long legs. Do you think I should get some mesh too?" Ino asked the blonde Uzumaki.

"Up to you, Ino-chan. You'll look damn good in them, that's for sure. Shika and I are already wearing mesh as a shirt, so maybe we can make mesh our Team's theme." Naruto joked, but the longer he thought about it, he realized it wasn't really a bad idea.

'I'm just glad they change the subject. I mean, sure, Temari is easy on the eyes, and her legs are.....DAMN IT, NARUTO!' Shikamaru thought in frustration when he realized his friend's previous prediction might be true.

Temari narrowed her eyes when she suspected that Team 10 were talking about her.

'What are they talking about? Are they talking about me?! They were looking at me just now, that's for sure! That damn lazy Nara. He's probably telling them that I'm troublesome or something! I'll make him PAY for that!' Temari thought angrily.

While Temari was fuming at the Nara boy, Gaara was glaring at someone as well.

More particularly, a certain mint-haired girl from Taki who happens to stand right next to him in the line-up.

If looks could kill, Fu would certainly be dead by now.

Ignorant of his anger, Fu excitedly turns her head to stare back at him, thinking it is a starring contest, as Gaara barely blinks his eyes as he glares into her orange orbs, which shows nothing but happiness.

But surprisingly, his gaze was slightly softened when he also noticed a hint of loneliness in them. The same look he once had when he was younger.

"I must say, Gaara-kun, you are pretty good at this. If I didn't know any better, I say you are really angry with me." Fu said with a bright smile as she stared into Gaara's eyes.

".....I am," Gaara said with venom in his voice.

"You are? But why? Is it because I punched you?" Fu asked ignorantly, completely and blissfully unaware of Gaara's anger towards her.

"You are a threat to my existence. I will not have you erase me!" Gaara said, with the anger never leaving his voice.

"Erase you? PRE-POSTEROUS. I would never do that to a friend." Fu said with a bright smile.

"I am NOT your friend, silly girl." Gaara corrected as his eyes narrowed.

"Tee-hee, then you are silly boy yourself, Gaara-kun. I know a special friend when I see one. And you are it. So YOU just have to deal with it." Fu said with a cute smile as she pointed at Gaara.

Gaara was completely taken aback by this. Why is she not afraid of him like everyone else? He made it pretty clear that the only thing he wanted from her was her blood filling his sand gourd. But instead, she still treated him like they were old friends, something Gaara had never experienced before. He needed to know why.

"...Why are you so nice to me? Why are you ALWAYS smiling at me?! I hate everything that includes you. I love nothing except myself, and I kill ANYONE who angers me. And right now, you anger me the most." Gaara said, his tone now slightly calmer.

"Is it because I'm a silly girl?" Fu asked curiously.

"...Yes. Now answer me." Gaara demanded.

But Fu simply giggled at his question, and to Gaara's shock and surprise, she gently reached out and held his hand in hers, and his sand was not reacting for his defense as he thought it would. Instead, it just lets it happen.

"Tee-hee, you don't have to like me, Gaara. Because we are friends, and that's all that matters. I don't have to be mad or scared of you to just acknowledge your existence. Because friends are the most WONDERFUL thing in the world. And ever since I came to Konoha, I have so many now. That includes you, Gaara." Fu said sincerely with a bright smile that made Gaara feel something weird in his stomach.

Gaara was still shocked that Fu was able to touch him so easily. For as long as he could remember, he had never held a person's hand before. He felt warm and comfortable. It was completely new to him. But then the demonic voice in his head brought him back to his dark reality as he forcefully pulled his hand away from her.

"Friends are for the weak. You should only fight for yourself and ONLY yourself." Gaara said coldly.

"You're wrong, Gaara-kun. Friends make you feel complete. I'll show you one day." Fu said with determination as she turned her head to face the Hokage.

Despite his annoyance with her, Gaara couldn't help but look at the mint-haired girl longingly. But instead of hate and anger, it was now a look of curiosity.

"....Such a silly girl," Gaara said under his breath.

Kankuro couldn't believe what he was seeing. Fu managed to calm his crazy-fuming brother down with just her words and held his hand with ease. And weirdly enough, Gaara didn't seem to mind before he pulled his hand away. It was like a lonely kid who experienced kindness for the first time in his life, and he didn't know what to do.

A part of him was happy for Gaara, but the other felt great guilt, as he was one of the reasons why Gaara felt that way.

While this was happening, Sakura couldn't stop staring at Gaara as her eyes were filled with fear.

She was no stranger to violence, as she and her team once went on a C-rank mission, which was to escort and protect a client from bandits. She had been in the presence of powerful bad people before, but Gaara was an entirely different beast.

Despite being a Genin for almost half a year, Sakura still feels like she is way over her head. Like she is a civilian among ninjas.

While this was going on, Neji was glaring daggers at his cousin and her obvious crush on the Uzumaki genin, completely disgusted by her antics. To him, it's a disgrace for a Hyuga to associate with a low genin like him, much less be friends with one. He will make sure to put the blonde in his place.

Naruto briefly glanced at the Kumo team; his eyes met with Samui's eyes, who winked at him with a seducing smile on her face. If he was more innocent and less experienced, Naruto knew he would have it hard standing up after a wink from her. He could see Samui was quite a beauty with a very well-developed body.

His eyes then found the Iwa team, unlike the rest who were facing the Hokage. All of them were glaring at him, especially the one with pink eyes. Naruto hoped he wouldn't end up fighting them... yet.

Hiruzen was still surprised that there were still so many candidates left in the exam, especially since so many of them were rookies. He hoped the number of candidates would be reduced to single digits, if possible, during the second stage, but unfortunately, that was not the case. He now understood why Asuma, Kakashi, Kurenai, and Guy were eager to recommend their teams to participate.

When Ibiki was done, he finally addressed the remaining candidates.

"ALRIGHT, SHUT UP AND PAY ATTENTION, YOU MAGGOTS! Lord Hokage is going to explain the third exam to you! You better listen carefully...." Ibiki then turns to Hiruzen, "....Lord Hokage, they're all yours." Ibiki said as he moved away.

Afterward, Hiruzen then began to explain the true purpose of the Chunin Exam, which is obviously to raise the ability level of a shinobi and increase friendship between allied nations, but there is also a hidden purpose; The exams are a symbolic representation of the battle between allied nations.

In order to avoid destroying each other's military strength meaninglessly, those nations would pick 'champions' to battle on behalf of their countries in a neutral location. That was how the Chunin exams originally began. The exams also give a ninja the opportunity to carry the pride of their village on their backs and fight against other ninja for their very lives. The exam can also help advertise the strength of the village, as many important clients will be attending to see which shinobi village is the strongest. Only the best village will receive more and better business opportunities from feudal lords and important clients.

'The country's strength is the village's strength. The village's strength is the shinobi's strength. And the true strength of a shinobi is only achieved when it is pushed to its limits, such as a life and death battle.'

As Hiruzen was about to explain what they would be doing on the third and final exam, a sickly-looking Special-Jonin suddenly appeared and kneeled down before him.

"Lord Hokage, before you do, please allow me, Hayate Gekko, the appointed proctor of the third exam, to speak first." The now-identified Hayate requested while everyone looked at him in confusion as to why he interrupted the Hokage.

"So be it," Hiruzen said as he allowed Hayate to stand up and address the remaining candidates.

"....It's nice to meet you all *cough*cough* there is something I would like all of you *cough*cough* to do before the third exam *cough*cough*cough*." Hayate continued to cough violently while most of the candidates looked at him with concern and pity.

'Good god, somebody give this guy a glass of water before he coughs his lungs out.' Naruto thought as he looked at Hayate with concern.

"We need to have a Preliminary Round before we can move on to the third exam," Hayate said, which made the room fall silent as everyone was shocked at what he had just said.

"Preliminary?" Sakura asked with a shocked expression on her face.

"PRELIMINARY! JUST WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!" Shikamaru loudly asked, surprising both Naruto and Ino as they rarely hear their Nara best friend yell often, but in this case, they both understood why.

"I think what Shikamaru was trying to say is, What's this preliminary all about? Why can't we just move on to the third exam?" Ino asked politely to the sickly proctor.

"Well, you see, the first and second exams might have been too easy. The fact is, we never expected so many of you to still be here. According to the rules of the Chunin Exam, a preliminary round can be held at any stage in order to reduce the number of candidates remaining." Hayate explained.

"But that's not fair!" Karui yelled out.

"It's just that, at this stage, we have to speed things up a bit. As Lord Hokage said, a lot of important guests will be watching. We can't afford to waste their time. They come to see only the best. So if any of you don't feel like you're not in top physical condition, now is your chance to....*cough*cough*cough*" Hayate continues to cough violently.

'Talk about not being in top physical condition.' Ino thought ironically, due to Hayate's chronic coughing.

'That proctor doesn't look so good, himself,' Hinata thought with concern.

"Sorry about that. As I was saying, if any of you don't feel up to this, now is the time for you to bow out. The Preliminaries will start immediately." Hayate said.

"COME ON! YOU MEAN RIGHT NOW!" Kiba yelled out.

"No, he meant yesterday." Yugito jest, earning a round of chuckles from her Kumo peers, while Kiba glared at her.

"Quiet, please. The winners will be determined in one-on-one combat. Sudden Death. So like I said, if there is anyone who doesn't feel up to it, now is the time to raise your hand." Hayate informed.

'Does he really think anyone is gonna...' Naruto thought. Still, then he saw Kabuto was about to raise his hand out of reflex, only to immediately bring it back down as if he remembered something "....Mmmm, so that's your game, Kabuto. You quit so that we won't learn your combat abilities. But why did you stop raising your hand mid-way? Unless....you're here to spy on someone....' Naruto then turns his gaze towards Sasuke and back to Kabuto '...Of course, he's here to spy on Sasuke. And since Danzo has no interest in him, it's safe to say that Kabuto is, without a doubt, a spy for Orochimaru, and he's here to report on Sasuke's abilities. It's a stretch, but it's the only thing that makes sense.' Naruto thought as his eyes narrowed at the glasses-wearing boy.

Hiruzen and Kakashi also noticed Kabuto's attempt to raise his hand, which they then shared the same conclusion as the blonde Uzumaki.

After a minute or two, with no one raising their hand to quit, Hayate decided to move on to the preliminary.

"Alright then, we will now begin the preliminary round. This round will consist of one-on-one individual combat at full battle intensity. This is NOT an exercise. There are 33 of you remaining, so that means we will have 16 matches. The surviving candidate from these 16 matches will advance to the Third Exam. As for the rules, there are none. You will fight until one dies or admits defeat or is rendered physically incapable of continuing the contest. Naturally, those who are losing are urged to surrender properly to avoid a fatal outcome. As a proctor, I have been given a certain amount of leeway of judging the matches *cough*cough*cough*, and I would occasionally intervene if the match seems hopeless to save as many lives as possible. Now, it's time to reveal what fate has chosen for you." Hayate finished as he turned to Ibiki and nodded.

Ibiki nodded as he turned his head to the back of the arena.

"Open the panel," Ibiki spoke through his earpiece, as right behind the giant hand-seal statue revealed a giant monitor.

"The names of each pair of opponents are chosen completely at random. Before each match, each name will appear on display behind me. As there is nothing more to say *cough*cough*, let's begin. In a moment, the names of the first two opponents will appear." Hayate informed as everyone was starting to get really nervous about the outcome.

'I hope I don't go first. It would be a shame to miss out on an opportunity to collect more info on the other candidates. And who knows, I might learn something new to add to my cards.' Kabuto thought with a smirk. But his smirk faded when he saw the two names on the display.

Round 1 Kabuto Yakushi vs. Sasuke Uchiha