Preliminaries Part 3

"The eighth battle, Naruto Uzumaki versus Inuzuka Kiba. Begin." Hayate said.

"Hehe. It's finally my turn to shine." Naruto said.

"Hey, don't steal my line. This match is as good as won, right , Akamaru." Kiba said and his dog barked in agreement. Kiba then took out Akamaru from his jacket and placed him on the ground.

"Don't bring your puppy. He'll get in the way of the match." Naruto said.

"Hehe. You fool. Akamaru's going to fight with me." Kiba said.

"Oy, oy. It that okay?" Naruto asked as he looked at Hayate.

"Yes. Animals and insects are treated the same as shinobi tools. There's no problem." Hayate said.

Naruto could only looked stupidly at Hayate.

"Whatever. That's a perfect handicap." Naruto said.

"Heh. Talking tough huh? Then... don't put a paw in this. I'll fight him by myself." Kiba said. Akamaru just crouched down as he didn't really approve his masters orders.

"Don't lose to him, Naruto!" Sakura yelled as she cheered for her teammate.

"Show us what you can do, Naruto." Kakashi said in a low voice.

"Sorry, Kakashi, but Naruto won't win against Kiba." Kurenai said to Kakashi.

"You might think that because of the reports from the academy, but that was only a shadow of the present Naruto, Kurenai. Naruto is strong for his age." Kakashi said.

"This is going to be a hard fight for Kiba." Choji said.

"Yeah." Shikamaru said.

'I saw him fighting against the other shinobi from Oto, but that was only for a short time. I don't know how strong he's become since he became a genin. He had horrible abilities in the academy.' Kiba thought as he remembered how badly Naruto did in the classes.

"As sympathy for you, I'll do you in one clean blow." Kiba said.

"Really? But you can't beat me, Kiba." Naruto said.

"Well then. Please begin already." Hayate said as the two didn't start fighting.

"Shikyaku no jutsu" Kiba said as he crouched down and got into a animal like pode as chakra enveloped his whole body. His nails became longer and sharper and so did his fangs. He then disappeared from his spot and elbowed Naruto.

"Not enough, Kiba." Naruto said as he blocked Kiba with one hand, grabbed him and threw him. Kiba skided on the ground as he then faced Naruto.

"Lucky shot." Kiba said.

"Don't underestimate me." Naruto said loudly.

"I could see you coming from a mile away."

"Damn it. Let's go, Akamaru." Kiba said as he started running towards Naruto and Akamaru followed him. He then took out three balls from his pouch and threw them before reaching Naruto's front.

"Smoke ball. Hehe." Naruto said as he saw the smoke starting to surround him. It quickly covered him and he wasn't able to see anything.

'Time to strike.' Kiba thought as he moved quickly.

"Futon: Daitoppa" Naruto said from inside the smoke as he blew out a strong wind stream from his lungs. All the smoke that was surrounding him was instantly cleared.

"Your trick didn't help you, Kiba. It's useless." Naruto said.

"I didn't know Naruto could use wind jutsu. It's the best way to get rid of smoke bombs." Shikamaru said.

"The timing of his Jutsu is very good." Temari commented.

"I thought that he was weak. He is not so bad." Kankuro said.

Naruto ran towards Kiba and punched him on the chest. Kiba blocked it, but the force pushed him away. He then looked over and didn't find Akamaru.

"Where's Akamaru." Kiba asked.

"Over here." A clone of Naruto said as he held Akamaru.

"You got stronger, Naruto. But I'm going to finish this. I'm going to attack you seriously from now on." Kiba said.

"Is that right? Too bad that you're going to lose." Naruto replied.

"Don't be surprised yet, Kurenai. This is just the beginning. Naruto has matured greatly since he graduated." Kakashi said as he looked at the kunoichi.

'Is this really the Naruto from the academy reports?' She asked herself as she saw what was happening down on the battle.

'But still, Kiba has more things to show.'

"Alright, Naruto. I'll be taking Akamaru back now." Kiba said as he took out a pill from his pouch and flung it to Akamaru as the dog opened it's mouth.

Naruto didn't wait and see what would happen if the dog took the pill. Instead, his clone gave a lit tap on the dogs head and made it unconscious.

"I'm not going to wait and see something happen."

"My dog!" Kiba said angrily.

"He's just unconscious. But anyways, you said you wouldn't use him to fight me, so it's alright, I guess." Naruto said.

"Whatever. I'm enough to finish you." Kiba said as he swallowed a pill himself. His expression and his eyes became more animal like.

"Hey. Is that okay?" Naruto asked Hayate.

"Food pills are considered shinobi tools as well." Hayate said.

"Alright, alright. I get it." Naruto said.

"Kiba is going to give Naruto some hard time now." Choji said.

"Why?" Ino asked.

"He took a food pill. They are made to help shinobi on long missions. The person that takes it doesn't need to eat or sleep for the next three days. Not to mention that their chakra becomes double of their original amount." Choji explained.

"It will be all the same to me. Naruto will win." Hiroki said as he listened to Choji.

"Don't underestimate Kiba. He's stronger than you think." Kurenai said.

"I'm not underestimating Kiba. It's just that you and everyone else are underestimating Naruto." Hiroki replied.

"I'm done playing, Naruto." Kiba said as he crawled on all fours and started attacking Naruto with fast speeds. Naruto on the other hand, kept dodging each and every attack. Kiba ran fast on the ground and he went towards Naruto and then started climbing the wall. He then jumped from above, towards Naruto and swiped at the blonde. Naruto jumped high up to dodge as Kiba passed under him.

"This is what I've been waiting for." Kiba said as he saw Naruto airborne.

"Getsuga!" Kiba said as he ran fast and then started spinning in a ferocious speed. He looked like a drill as he jumped up towards Naruto.

"You think that because I'm airborne I don't have any defense, right? Why defend when I can attack?" Naruto said as he waited for Kiba to approach. As Kiba was right under him and about to make contact, Naruto spun two times midair to get momentum and threw a punch squarely on Kiba's face, making the Inuzuka fall down to the ground.

"Uargh." Kiba cried out in pain as he hit the ground. Naruto on the other hand, landed perfectly fine on the ground. Kiba tried getting up from the ground and did it after some small difficulty.

"You've got nothing left." Naruto said to Kiba.

"I'll show you." Kiba said as he got eight shurikens. He held four on each hand. He then threw them and Naruto easily dodged them. Kiba then went on all fours again as his speed increased once more. He then swiped at Naruto.

"Not this gain." Naruto said as he grabbed Kiba's hand and threw him to the wall. Kiba was able to position his body so he wouldn't hit the wall. He skidded on the ground to stop. As he was about to attack again, he saw Naruto coming straight at him even faster than he was.

"This is the end, Kiba." Naruto said as he ran. Four clones appeared in front of Kiba and started surrounding him from all sides. A clone punched Kiba in the face and the original jumped on the clones back and leapt high into the air. Before Kiba could fall, the other clones kicked him up.

"U-Zu-Ma-Ki..." Each of the clones said a syllable as they kicked Kiba. The original Naruto started falling down and went towards Kiba as he came up.

"...Naruto Rendan!" Naruto said as he kicked downwards on Kiba's face with his heel. The impact of the kick made Kiba's head bobble and hit the ground face first, increasing the impact many times over. Kiba coughed some blood and wasn't able to move anymore since he became unconscious.

The expression of everyone's face was nothing short of surprise. Specially that of Kurenai as she was sure of Kiba's victory against Naruto.

"That has the same foundation as my lion's barrage." Sasuke said.

"In truth, it has the foundation of both leaf hurricane and your lion's barrage. He's watched both fights so he had a lot of material to copy and add to his own and unique fighting style." Hiroki said.

"Kakashi, what secret have you used in training Naruto. He's totally different from the reports in the academy." Kurenai asked.

"Naruto was already like this before he became my student and he's never stopped making progress. What made him change so much? It could be said to be one person." Kakashi said as he looked at Hiroki.

"The winner of the eight battle is Naruto Uzumaki." Hayate said.

"Everyone better listen because 'm going to be the greatest Hokage ever. Datebayo!" Naruto said with a strong conviction.

"Oooooooooh!" Lee cried out as he became fired from watching Naruto's fight.

"Chanaro! Nice one, Naruto!" Sakura cheered.

Naruto then headed back to the upper area as he ran up the stairs while Kiba was being taken away by the medics on the stretcher.

As he was passing by, Hinata was on a dilemma, but she decided to do what she wanted to and called Naruto.

"Naruto-kun. Here." She said as she bowed slightly as her white face became a little red and extended her hands to him while holding a small bottle.

"Huuum? What's this?" Naruto asked. Hinata tried saying something but was very shy.

'What's this. Hinata?' Kurenai thought as she saw her student become shy. She then smiled and decided to help her.

"It's an ointment, Naruto. Take it for her." Kurenai said as she smiled.

"Ah. Alright. Thank you Hinata-chan. You're very nice." Naruto said as he grabbed the small ointment bottle. He then continued walking over to his team. He was all smiles as he walked towards them.

"Look who it is. Good fight, Naruto." Hiroki said as the two fist bumped.

"Nothing but your obligation, dobe." Sasuke said as he fist bumped with Naruto.

"Hehe. Wait for me, teme. I'll beat you in the finals." Naruto said to Sasuke.

"Hey, Naruto. What was that all about with Hinata-chan. Are you two going out?" Sakura asked Naruto in a teasing way.

"What? No, no. Hinata is a friend." Naruto said as he got a little red.

Hiroki grabbed Naruto and placed his arm around the blonde's shoulder, pulling him close and whispering in his ears.

"Naruto, didn't you see how Hinata acted. She's always shy when you're close to her." Hiroki said, hinting Naruto that Hinata acted differently towards him.

"No, it's just her way. She is normally shy with everyone." Naruto said.

"That's true, but she didn't give the others any ointment. She cares for you, Naruto. Don't you think it means something?" Hiroki asked, giving another hint to his friend.

"What? Do you really think so?" Naruto asked.

"I do. Pay more attention to her and you will notice." Hiroki whispered as he let go of Naruto.

The blonde processed what Hiroki said and looked back at Hinata. She saw Naruto looking at her and became shy, but still gave him a smile. Naruto gave her a smile back and a wave as well. He then took the ointment and passed it on a small scratch he got from one of Kiba's attack.

"This ointment is really good." He said as the scratch disappeared instantly. He then looked at his teammates and offered them some and they refused after thanking him.

'Only your wounds heal with such speed, Naruto. The power of the kyubii never cease to amaze me.' Kakashi thought as he saw the small wound vanish.

Neji had seen the interaction between Naruto and Hinata and became angry.

'Things has been going very easy for you, Hinata-sama.' Neji thought as he had an ugly expression on his face.

"We'll, let's announce the next match." Hayate said and everyone turned their attention to the screen that started flashing names.

"Hyuga Hinata versus Hyuga Neji. Could the two please come down and face each other." Hayate said.

Hinata became startled as she saw her cousins name together with her, but none the less, she walked down and faced him.

"I never thought that I would have a fight with you, Hinata-sama." Neji said.

"Neji nii-san..." Hinata said in a low voice.

"Nii-san?" Sakura questioned.

"Eh? Those two are siblings?"

"They're not, Naruto. They have the same family name though." Hiroki said as he pointed to the screen.

"The are descendants of one of the most honorable old families in Konoha, the Hyuga clan. They are not siblings though." Kakashi said.

"Then, how are they related?" Sakura asked her sensei.

"Well, the relation of a head family and a branch family. That may be an appropriate way to say it." Kakashi said.

"Branch family and head family?" Naruto questioned.

"Hai. Hinata-san is from the head family while Neji is from the branch family." Lee said.

"In other words, it's a fight between relatives. It must be hard for both of them." Sakura said.

"To be more precise, it's a fight against cousins. Hinata's father and Neji's father are twins from the old clan leader of the Hyuga family. Hinata's father was born first, becoming part of the main family. Neji's father was born a few seconds later and was born into the branch family even though his father was the clan leader." Hiroki said.

"That's crazy." Naruto said.

"I don't know all details, but from what I know, there had been a lot of incidents between the branch and head family because of rules that benefited the head family more." Lee said.

Naruto looked down and saw that Hinata had a saddened expression on her face. He started feeling worried for her.

"Naruto, if it comes to it, stop the fight. Don't let Hinata get heavily injured. Neji is strong and Hinata is strong as well, but she is too gentle to fight seriously. When the time comes, don't hesitate to intervene." Hiroki said to Naruto.

"Leave it to me." Naruto said seriously.

"Start the battle please." Hayate said.

'I better pay close attention to this fight as well. I'll use my sharingan to learn the gentle fist.' Hiroki thought as he activated his sharingan.

"Just one thing before we square off against each other in the fight. I should advise you, Hinata-sama. Withdraw! You're not suited to being a shinobi." Neji said. His words made Hinata question herself.

"You are too nice. You wish for harmony and avoid conflict, you're open to going with the thinking of others. And, you don't have confidence in yourself. You're always feeling inferior. You thought it's a good idea to stay genin. However, you can't register for the chunin exams without three members, unless there's an extra member or you don't have a team, so you couldn't turn down when Kiba and Shino proposed it, and the truth is, you entered the exam reluctantly. Is that wrong?!" Neji asked.

"T-That's wrong. That's not true. I... I only... I wanted to change that about myself." Hinata said in a low voice as she stuttered.

"Hinata-sama, you're a spoiled one from the head family. People can never change! A failure will always be a failure. That personality and strength won't change." Neji said. His words struck Hinata and it shook her.

"Since people don't change, differences exist among them, and expressions like "elite" and "failure" are born. Everyone judges and are judged based on the value of their face and brain, ability and body type, good and bad points of their personalities. People have to suffer and live within the means of the elements they cannot change. Just like the fact that I'm from the branch family and you're from the head family, these things can't change. I've seen everything with this Byakugan. That why I understand. You're just talking tough. You're really thinking that you'd like to run away from this place." Neji said.

"Y-You're wrong. I really..." Hinata tried to say her words out.

"Ahahahahaha. What a load of crap. You believe that you know every and all things You're not even an adult and you think people can't change and there are judges and all that other crap? That fate is supreme? You're ridiculous. How can you label someone if you haven't stepped on their path and worn their shoes? Don't make me laugh. Spew that crap after you've done so, otherwise, just shut the fuck up, asshole." Hiroki said loudly to Neji.

"Hinata! Don't listen to what this guy is saying! You can change! Everyone can change! You don't have the privilege of deciding what a person is like, stupid!" He said the last line to Neji. "Give it to him, Hinata!" Naruto yelled as he encouraged her.

'Naruto-kun.' Hinata thought.

"Hinata! Don't accept what he says! Argue back! I'm getting irritated watching him spouting this crap!" Naruto said. His words had an impact on her as her expression completely changed. This was noticed by everyone watching.

"I'm not taking responsibility for what happens." Neji said.

Hinata started weaving hand seals and opened her eyes.

"Byakugan!" She said as large veins appeared on the sides of her face near her eyes. She then got into her gentle fist stance.

"Neji-nii-san, I challenge you." She said.

"Fine." Was Neji's answer as he got into his stance as well.

"Of course. The Hyuga style." Lee said.

"The Hyuga style?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. The strongest taijutsu style in Konoha. I've said it before. The one who is most likely the strongest genin of Konoha is on my team. That's that guy, Neji Hyuga." Lee said.

"Hehe. That's too bad. The strongest Genin in Konoha is on my team. And he's right there." Naruto said as he pointed towards Hiroki.

"Huh? Why are you pointing at me? You and Sasuke can take care of him if you undo the seals. And another thing, Lee. If you lose the weights, Neji can't be a match to you. Not to mention the other secret technique you have." Hiroki said.

Gai and Lee were surprised as they heard Hiroki talk about the weights. They have kept it a secret from everyone. How could Hiroki have known about it?

Neji and Hinata started fighting as they started striking one another with their Hyuga style taijutsu, the gentle fist. They both dodged the other's strikes. Hinata found and opening and struck, but Neji stepped back just enough for it to miss.

"She did it." Naruto said.

"It was close, but she missed." Hiroki said as he continued to pay attention to the fight.

"The Hyuga have a particular taijutsu and it's called the distinguished family of Konoha." Lee said.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Their taijutsu is passed down through generations. It's not the kind of taijutsu that Lee and I are good at. Our way of fighting, Furious Fist, is mainly to inflict external damage on our enemy, like broken bones and surface wounds. In contrast, the Hyuga's taijutsu inflicts damage on the chakra network through which chakra flow through the body, and damaging the insides, namely, it destroys internal organs. They posses the Gentle Fist. It's not spectacular to watch, but later it slowly takes effect." Gai explained.

"Well, you can't traina the internal organs. Even if you were really robust, one hit from it would be a deadly blow." Kakashi completed the explanation.

Hinata was fighting against Neji and started to take the offensive as she forced Neji to dodge.

"Keep going Hinata!" Naruto cheered.

"How can that attack directly at the chakra channels? It's not visible to the eyes, after all." Sakura asked.

"It's thanks to their doujutsu, the Byakugan. They can see the chakra network of a person. Not only that, their eyes are like X-ray. They can see through things and the stronger their eyes become, the longer their reach. An adult Hyuga can see things from over a kilometer in distance as if it was right in front of them." Hiroki said.

"The Gentle Fist is also different from normal attacks. They release their own chakra from a chakra opening in their hand and screw it into their opponent's body. It directly damages the chakra network of their enemy." Kakashi said.

Hinata and Neji continued their exchange as they tried making openings against each other. It was then that they both struck at the same time.

*pat*

As patting sound was heard by everyone as they looked towards the battle. Both Hinata and Neji stopped at the same time.

"So that's the full power of the head family." Neji said as Hinata's blow hadn't reached him since he used his other hand to stop it. On the other hand, his strike hit Hinata's chest, making her cough up some blood.

"Not yet." Hinata said as she pushed Neji's arm and struck again. Neji saw the blow coming and stopped her hand again and this time he struck a chakra channel on her arm. He then pulled her sleeve and a few red dots were seen on her white skin.

"I can see the tenketsu points. My Byakugan is stronger than yours." Neji said.

"What is he talking about?" Naruto asked.

On the chakra channels, there are 361 tenketsu points or chakra openings, each about the size of the head of a pin. Theoretically, hitting one directly can halt or increase chakra flow, enabling one to gain complete control over an opponent's flow of chakra. Just so you know, not even sharingan can see tenketsu points. Having the penetrating eye is one thing, but to hit it so accurately like that during a match, well, thats..." Kakashi said.

Neji then struck Hinata on her chest as the force was strong enough to send her away.

"Hinata-sama, what we have here is an unchangeable difference in abilities. It's what the distinguishes the elite from the failure. It is brute, unalterable fact. You were destined to regret having said that you don't want to run anymore, the instant you said it. And now, you must have abandoned yourself to despair. This is your ultimatum. Withdraw!" Neji said firmly.

"I-I mean it... and I'm sticking to every word... I said." Hinata said as she was getting up with difficulty.

"Because that's my nindo!" She said as she breathed heavily and turned towards Neji. She activated her Byakugan and was ready to restart battle, but she started coughing more blood. She then wiped the blood from her mouth and got on her stance again and Neji did the same as he activated his Byakugan once more.

"Go, Hinata!" Naruto said. Hinata got encouraged by his shout and she ran towards Neji.

'Strength has returned to her eyes.' Neji thought as he too ran towards Hinata.

The two then started fighting fiercely as they matched blow for blow. Hinata dodged and so did Neji. It seemed that neither had the upper hand as the fight went on. Hinata then found an opportunity and struck heavily at Neji, but he intercepted her and countered, hitting her instead. Hinata was pushed some distance away from the force of the blow. Hinata took some time, but finally decided to go head to head against Neji. She struck fiercely, but was countered again by Neji as he struck her chest once more. She coughed some blood and fell down this time.

"You just don't get it, do you? Your strikes were ineffective from the very first. It's the end." Neji said as he looked at the downed Hinata and moved away.

"Neji's last strike went directly to the heart. I feel sorry for her, but she won't be standing up to fight again." Gai said.

Naruto listening to what Gai said, grit his teeth in anger and balled his fists. The bottle of ointment that Hinata had given him started to even crack.

"Calm down, Naruto. You don't want to break Hinata's present, do you?" Hiroki said as he held Naruto's arm. Naruto looked at him and nodded his head.

"As further fighting is not feasible under these conditions..." Hayate started saying as he looked at Hinata on the floor.

"Don't stop it! Don't stop the match, datebayo!" Naruto shouted as he saw Hinata getting up with great difficulty. This surprised everyone watching the battle. Hinata got up as she held her sides, feeling pain all over her body.

"Why do you stand up? If you continue like this, you'll really die." Neji said.

"I'm... I'm far from finished." Hinata said as she took a step. She looked at Naruto and the blonde nodded at her.

"Give up the bravado. I can tell you're barely standing. You've shouldered the lot of being born into the head family of the Hyuga clan and cursed and blamed yourself for being weak. But people cannot change. That's just the way it is. There is no need for you to suffer anymore! Surrender to it!" Neji said.

Hinata only shook her head sideways as she listened to Neji.

"You're wrong, Neji-ni-san. Because I can tell that you are suffering much more than I. You're the one that's torn up over the fat of the head and branch family." Hinata said.

"What?!" Neji asked angrily as Hinata's words hit a nerve. He then started running towards Hinata and started yelling angrily.

"Go, Naruto." Hiroki said as he looked the blonde.

"Neji, the match has been called." Hayate said as he saw Neji going for Hinata.

'Oh shit!" Hayate thought as he saw Neji was about to strike Hinata.

*baaaaam*

A loud sound rang out all over the gymnasium. Everyone looked and saw an orange wearing blonde boy appearing in front of Neji and meeting strike for strike. What surprised most was that Neji was the one forced back as Naruto stood at the same place.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Take one more step and I will make you suffer." Naruto said as his eyes became dark red, his whiskers became thicker and his fangs became bigger. Neji seeing Naruto's expressions, felt tipped off. He felt his arm become numb from the blow he had exchanged with Naruto and grit his teeth.

In the next instant, all the other Jounin from Konoha stepped in.

"Naruto, calm down." Kakashi said

"Neji, you promised not to let the problem of the head and branch family influence you." Gai said as he held Neji.

"Why are the other Jounin intervening? Does the head family have more privileges?" Neji asked angrily as he looked at Gai.

Hinata started coughing blood again and she was about to fall, but Naruto quickly moved to her side and caught her.

"Hinata!" Kurenai said as she also went next to her student.

"Hinata, are you okay? Oy." Naruto asked as he saw Hinata losing consciousness.

"Naruto... I..."

'Do you think... I changed maybe a little bit?' Hinata asked the last words in thought only.

"Hey, you failure. I have two pieces of advice for you. First, if you intend to call yourself a shinobi, stop that revolting cheering of yours. And the second... a failure will always be a failure. There's no changing that." Neji said, but he regretted it the next second as Naruto appeared in front of him and punched Neji's face squarely, sending him away towards the wall behind him. The only reason he didn't hit the wall was because Gai was fast enough to get behind his student since Neji was already unconscious from the Naruto's punch.

"Oy, Kakashi, stop your student." Gai said.

'Neji is unconscious just from that punch. It wasn't a normal punch. And his speed was very fast. I could only react after Neji was struck.' Gai thought as he looked at Naruto.

"Is that right then. Then I guess you're worst than a failure." Naruto said as he looked at the unconscious Neji.

"Naruto, stop it. Calm down. You'll have a chance to fight him in the finals. You can prove your point then." Kakashi said as he placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Tsk." Naruto grit his teeth as he felt anger and frustration.

"What are you waiting for. Call the medics. She isn't well." Hiroki said.

Soon after, the medic came in and placed Hinata on the stretcher and took her out. Gai didn't put Neji on a stretcher and jumped back to the upper area with his student. He then placed him leaning against the wall. Naruto and Kakashi then jumped back to the upper area as well and they stayed by their team.

"Nice punch, dobe. Even I wouldn't be able to react to that. And he really deserved it." Sasuke said.

"Looks like you won't give him and easy time when you fight him in the finals, Naruto. That punch felt good. He deserved it for spewing all that crap." Hiroki said as he gave Naruto a thumbs up.

"You guys, you know his sensei and Lee is right here, right?" Sakura asked as she felt embarrassed that her teammates was talking about Gai's student and Lee's teammate.

"Yeah. I know, but what I have to say, I say it in front of them either way." Hiroki said.

"Alright guys, let's all calm down." Kakashi said.

A few seconds later, some proctors went and cleaned the blood from the gymnasium so the other matches could go on.

"Hey, Choji. You're out of luck. Only the strong ones are left for you. There's that bloke from Otogakure. He's probably the strongest one from them. There's Lee who is patently stronger than Sasuke, the two from Kirigakure and also that sand guy. He seems to be the most dangerous of all." Shikamaru said.

Choji's legs started to tremble as he finally noticed what Shikamaru said.

"I-I don't care! I plan to forfeit right away if that happens." Choji said as he held the railings and crouched down.

"Oh. So that means you plan to forefoot the all-you-can-eat BBQ, too, then." Asuma said as he looked at Choji.

"What? No way!" Choji said weakly.

"Don't worry, if things started getting ugly, I'll step in and stop the fight, like I did for Hinata. okay?" Asuma said as he started saying names of different types of meat.

Ino and Shikamaru just looked at their sensei as they clearly saw that he didn't step in to stop Neji from striking Hinata.

"Ooooooooh! BBQ! All-you-can-eat BBQ!" Choji shouted as he had fire in his eyes.

On the other side of the upper area, Kankuro and Temari were worried about Gaara.

'Damn it! The last match has gotten to him. His inner demons has started to manifest.' Kankuro thought. He looked at Neji and then looked at Naruto. He noticed that the blonde was some distance away from the others and only Hiroki and Sasuke was next to him. He then started moving as he went towards Naruto.

"Oy, Kankuro. Where are you going?" Temari asked.

"Just see it as a information gathering mission." Kankuro said. He then crossed the stairs separating one upper area from another and got next to Naruto.

"Hey, what are you guys doing her all by yourselves? Shouldn't you be with all your friends?" Kankuro asked.

"I am with my friends. And it's none of your business, really." Naruto said.

"That guy, Neji Hyuga, right? Well, it seems to me that he didn't reveal the true extent of his power in the last match. What's he about?" Kankuro asked.

Sasuke looked at Hiroki and Hiroki didn't say anything. He let the blonde talk since the questions was directed at him.

"I'm going to crush him!" Naruto said as he balled his fists.

"I want asking that. Anyways, you seem to be a fun guy. I quite like you." Kankuro said as he tried buttering up to Naruto.

"Eh? You're dull. And I don't like you at all." Naruto said to Kankuro. The puppet master could only grit his teeth as he heard Naruto. Sasuke and Hiroki only smirked as they saw Naruto's answers.

"Ahem. We'll continue the battles." Hayate said as he cleared his throat from coughing and the screen brightened as the last six names.

Gaara made a single handed seal and sand started swirling in the gymnasium. He then appeared in a sand vortex as he stood in front of Hayate.

"Oy, hurry up and jump down here." Gaara said as he looked at the upper area. The names on the screen were Gaara and Rock Lee.

"Yoshaaa! Go, Lee!" Gai shouted as he pointed to the stage.

"Ooooooooh!" Lee shouted with fire in his eyes and jumped down.

"I'm very happy to be squaring off with you so early in the match." Lee said to Gaara as he got into his fighting stance.

"I don't know what kind of moves the bowl cut guy had, but he will never take Gaar. Never." Kankuro said as he looked at Naruto, Hiroki and Sasuke.

"Sasuke, Naruto. Pay attention to this battle. I can say that it will be the fiercest one of them all. You guys will see Lee's true power. And speed." Hiroki said, not paying attention to what Kankuro said a second ago.

"Now then, may the tenth match... Begin!"