Akagahara, the forbidden area that once held the Chuunin Exam, was said to be a rigorous, dangerous place that held traps beyond imagination. Each were said to deter the one traversing the area to turn back before their deaths. Its ominous presence filled the genin that stood in front of it with fear, anticipation and, even, an unknown anxiety that, certainly, filled more than a few genin with hope. And, so it was, that Mitarashi Anko was sitting in front of the genin, eating a Dango stick and humming to herself as each genin stood waiting for her instructions.

"Ah, that was good... oh, so you're here already? I was certain I'd throw at least one of you off, because you're going to die. Hmm, alright, so where do I begin... oh! First, I need each of you to sign these forms!"

Sakura, the pink haired kunoichi from Konoha, raised her hand and said, "ano sa, what is that form?"

Anko grinned, scaring more than a few of the genin in the area and said, "oh, these? They're forms of no liability. I hate paperwork, so I decided if you take this exam, you do so, knowing that you may die. So, whoever doesn't turn one in fails, and your team does too! After you fill out your form, you come up here and turn it in to the Chuunin officer. When you do, you'll be given a scroll, one of heaven, one of earth, or one of man. You will need at least one of each to enter the tower built in the center that houses the passers of this particular examination.

Now for the rules. To enter, you need one scroll each, though it's not forbidden from having more than one. Next, if any person on your team is incapacitated, you fail. If any member of your team dies, you fail, and if any member of your team should shoot off this jutsu," here, she did the jutsu Katon: Karyuudan, "you fail. Also, the scrolls are to remain unopened while inside Akagahara, until you achieve sanctuary inside of the tower. If you open them, you fail.

Alright. There are a few things, hints, really that you'll want to know about this field. It hosted a Chuunin Examination fifteen years ago, and when the death rate passed fifteen Chuunin was shut down. So, have fun. You have thirty minutes to turn in your forms and collect your scroll. Once you are ready, move out.

This exam will last seven days, but you are allowed to arrive at the tower sooner than that, if you so choose, and will be considered as a pass, safe from any outside influence once inside."

Kimourii and Nushi both looked at Naruto, who said, "well, do we sign or not?"

Kimourii shrugged, "ano, if we do, one of us could die? What do we do? And, what about food?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. I have food enough for a week, summoning scrolls, but there is also something ominous about this place, something that irritates me drastically."

The two teammates nodded. "Well, Sutermaru thinks that it's alright to enter the forest, but that we'll have to watch out for traps. He senses three at the very bottom of the gate, in front of us and two the left, center, and right."

Naruto sighed. "Well, Genma-sensei has faith in us, right? So, I think we should do it, but, I want to make sure. So... let's vote about it?"

Kimourii sighed, "Naruto, do we really have to do this? We've been over this, voting isn't allowed. You're the leader now, you order, we follow. Besides, you're the strongest genin I know, if you can't handle this place, no one else can."

Naruto smiled. "Alright, we'll do it. Sign the form, and let's get going. If they want us to survive, then we will. Nushi, you and Sutermaru locate any more traps before we get into the forest. I want at least a heads up of what we'll come too. Kimourii, activate the Gententou, and keep it active as long as you can. I've got a few soldier pills that you can use for Chakra, but we'll need to make sure no genjutsu traps us."

She nods and activates her bloodline limit. "I'll of course activate my other doujutsu too, it may help see a trap before we come on it. Chioku.

As the three of them approached the line, the man smiled and said, "you're the last to enter, and good timing too, because the alarm sounds in two minutes."

Naruto nods and walks inside. Instantly, Nushi grabs his arm and says, "drop hole two steps in front of you, Naruto."

Naruto nods, and hops over it, the other two doing the same. After that, it was too the trees. Once they found a secure area, the trio took out their first scroll. "It's a heaven scroll, we'll need to get the earth and man scrolls before we can leave the forest. So, we'll need to find a group, take their scroll, and get away. The question is, do we incapacitate them, or kill them?"

"I'd rather not kill if we can help it. I know that it's necessary to kill as a shinobi, but, that's one aspect I'm still not happy about. Nushi, does the scroll have a scent to it?"

She shook her head. "No, it looks like we'll have to guess and pick our scrolls from now on. That means we'll be open to attack and, we'll have to attack a few genin teams to make sure we get the right scroll. Alright, Naruto-kun, let's go this way. Sutermaru says a team is going in this direction, and so we can catch them, and get a scroll."

Naruto nods and smiles. "Alright, Nushi, take point. You'll lead us in the forest, and check for traps, I'll be in the middle, in case of attack, I can react faster if I'm in the middle, and can protect from each side. Kimourii, you'll be in the back, so in case of genjutsu, you'll be able to throw off an attack easier from that position. I'll also set some Kage Bunshin to scout the area ahead for trouble. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Three Kage Bunshin appear and, knowing the orders, scatter in various directions.

Soon, they come upon their first team, a team from Getsugakure was using stealth and traps to watch their back. Smiling at the moon on their hitai-ate, Naruto briefly wonders what it would be like in the mountains, but stops as they nearly set off a trap.

He jumps over the string, and using Shadoigami, sneaks up upon the unsuspecting trio. After knocking them out, he takes their scroll, revealing it to be another heaven scroll. Nushi was about to suggest throwing it away when she stopped and said, "this is good. IF we run into another team that has two earths or two man scrolls, we can use one as a bargaining chip, if they don't have a heaven."

Naruto nodded and said, "hai that is true."

After securing the trio, and setting off a "Katon: Karyuudan" Naruto and team ran off, grinning as they threw one more team out of the competition.

They came upon another team, about an hour later, this time from Amegakure. After a little distraction, they successfully obtained their third heaven scroll. It was awkward, now that they realized they had three heaven scrolls in the same area.

Three hours later, and the team had had a stream of bad luck. After finding one team, who had no scroll, but tried to steal theirs, and then running into Kabuto's genin team, who also tried to take theirs, Naruto was beginning to seriously doubt the validity of the statement. Nushi had taken care of the first team, from Kemurigakure, rather easily, and the team from Konohagakure declined attacking, instead trading one of their easily gathered man scrolls for a heaven scroll, which they needed.

After eight hours of constant running, the genin finally sat down for a meal. Naruto bit his thumb and out came a meal, consisting of fruits, vegetables, meats, and of course, Ramen. Of course, it was ruined when Sutermaru whimpered, scratched her nose, and hid behind Nushi; someone powerful was coming their way.

Gaara, a moment later, stepped through the bushes and, eyeing Naruto and the food, sat down, his team watching for any scarce movement, indicating attack. "Uzumaki."

Naruto nodded, "Gaara, what brings you our way?"

"Oh, I'm heading to the tower; it's rather boring now that mother isn't yelling for blood. We're on the way through, and caught your trail."

"You've already gotten all three?" Kimourii asked the sand genin. He stood, "Uzumaki, I wish to fight you in the exams, so I will tell you something useful. There is a man posing as a Shinobi, stronger, faster, and has more ability than you or I combined. He is after Uchiha Sasuke; I would steer clear of this man if I were you."

Naruto nodded, "arigato, I will take that into consideration. If you want, you can take the rest of this food, we're finished."

Gaara looked at his team, who nodded, and after taking the priory occupied seats, sat down to enjoy their meal.

"So," asked Kimourii, "anyone want to tell me what's what about the guy with the gourd?"

Naruto just sighed.

Again, they were left alone, with their two heaven scrolls, and one man scroll. It had been an hour since the Sand team had been seen, and team Genma was on the watch for anything strange, mysterious.

After colliding with a Kusagakure-nin and subsequently fighting for their one man scroll, Kimourii and Nushi were beat.

"We'll set up camp along here, and decide where to go from here tomorrow. I'm going to hide the scrolls, and make it seem as if we haven't gotten any, save a regular food summoning scroll."

They nodded, and after writing the kanji for "seal" on the ground, Naruto placed the scrolls in the middle, pumped chakra through the seal, and put the scroll inside of Kimourii's pack. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A fox appeared, three tails from the looks of it, and bowed to Naruto. "We're going to sleep; do you have enough chakra to last for a few hours?"

"Hai and it's a pleasure to meet you, holder of the scroll."

Naruto smiled, "you too. Wake us in six hours."

After making sure everything was safe, the team lay down for the night.

The first thing that let them notice something was off was the lick to his face. Naruto woke, and the fox dispelled, just as they woke silently.

"Already?" Nushi asked. Naruto nodded. Kimourii sighed; stretching her arms across, you can hear the bones popping back into place. "Arigato, Naruto-kun."

He shrugs, "okay, I think we need to train while we're moving today. So, I'm going to ask you something, and I want your answer? Do you want to sign the fox summoning scroll?"

Both of the shook their heads. Nushi answered, "no, Genma-sensei already has a scroll for us to sign when we get back, so we're going to do that. But, Sutermaru and I have a new taijutsu that we can use called the Double Piercing Fang, Gatsuuga. Kaasan's said that it was a very hard move to master, and we've practiced it for three weeks now, even in the forest. I'm close to getting the timing right, and Sutermaru has it perfectly, now it's just getting everything fine tuned."

Kimourii said similar, "I could teach some genjutsu if you want, though, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto nodded and, as they moved, she described various genjutsu, and how to detect them.

It wasn't until Kiba flew overhead, and they heard a girl shout that the genin realized something was going on. "Nushi, go after Kiba! Kimourii, go with her. I'll go see if they need any help."

They both nodded, "hai!" and ran off in the direction that Kiba and Akamaru flew off too. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A fox, six tails this time, appeared in the clearing and bound off, stopping in time to kill a sixty foot snake that had attacked. They arrived just as a man attacked Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke.

Naruto sighed, did the seals, and called out, "Raikiri Rendan!" just as three shadow clones came in and attacked the man. He simply shrugged them off, hit the real one and said, "you shouldn't have gotten involved, Kukuku."

After stepping over Naruto, he did a seal and his neck extended, heading towards the last of the Uchiha Clan. Naruto kicked his body, not ready to give up, jerking his head in the process, and sending it into a tree.

"I'm a shinobi of Konoha, and it's my duty to aid an ally of the village."

The man laughed, and stood up his face hanging limply off of him. Naruto shouted, "now!"

The fox, standing in the background, bound at the man, whose eyes widened. "So, you're a jinchuuriki? Where is your seal, boy?"

Naruto growled, and attacked, his arms held up, the seal now visible. "To bad, I could have used someone like you to gain my immortality, but you and your demon would fight me too much."

And, suddenly, his fingertips glowed, as an insane chakra, impure and vast, filled the area. "Gogyou fuuin!"

He struck at various points, hitting the three seal combination, and cutting off the Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto slumped a moment later. As the man again stretched his neck, he bit into the Uchiha's neck and said, "you will come to me, for power. And, I will give it to you. And, as for you, child," he picked Naruto up, "you will fall to your death."

He threw Naruto with a force greater than any ever seen before by the genin.

As he landed, Naruto rolled in, and re-rolled, hitting his head on a rock, knocked out.

His last thought was, "Kyuubi..."

It was a few minutes later when the two Inuzuka and the Riyousha arrived to find their teams in various arrays. Naruto, blood coagulating on a rock, and Sasuke passed out from pain. Sakura was looking through Naruto's bags, obviously in need of a scroll.

"What are you doing? Naruto-kun tries to save you, and you repay him by aimlessly going through his bags?" Nushi asks. Sakura gulps as Kiba turns to his cousin and says, "thanks."

She nods and walks over, Sutermaru lifting the unconscious leader of their team. "Lucky for you we don't feel like fighting, or whatever scroll you have would be ours. As it is..."

"... as it is, we'll just leave you with a parting gift. Hagen: Narakumi no Jutsu!"

Sakura falls to her knees. "Kiba, in an hour, she'll recover from the effects of the genjutsu I just placed on her. Before then, you're on your own when it comes to fighting. I suggest you get somewhere, and set up a perimeter."

He nods, and picks up the kunoichi, as Akamaru drags the Uchiha, and finds a safe place.

"Nushi," Kimourii interrupts the musings of the nindog user. "We need to get out of here as fast as possible. I suggest we get the earth scroll from the next available team, and get out of here. Take a vial of Naruto's blood; we'll need it for the summoning scroll containing our food."

She nods.

"Ugh, what happened?" Naruto whimpers as he sits up. "My body feels like it's been through the ringer, so to speak. Kimourii, Nushi?"

"Naruto... you're awake."

He smiles. "Hey Kimourii-chan. What..."

"That's what I would like to know, Naruto."

Naruto smiles. "Hey Neji. I was fighting that guy... the one Gaara warned me about.... I think he sealed Kyuubi, more than usual."

Neji nods, "that's what I saw with Byakugan. I've released a few tenketsu, so your chakra can speed up your healing, since you've been infused with so much of the foxes, it'll take longer but work just as well."

"Yeah," Naruto says. "I was so sure that I could protect them... I guess I didn't right?"

Nushi snorts. "It's just as well, that pink haired ikeike was trying to steal our scrolls, too... "save my poor Sasuke-kun." or something like that. Neji here has graciously offered one of his extra earth scrolls for one of our heaven."

Naruto nods. "That's a deal. Can we get somewhere; I need to pass out..."

"Naruto, whoever that guy was... he's killed seventeen genin since we've been in here. If it wasn't for that Kabuto guy, you'd be dead. He... he healed you with green chakra."

"Green... medic-chakra? You have to be a Chuunin at least to be able to do that..." Neji muttered. "Alright, as of now, I'm taking control of the teams. Naruto, you're unable to move, Kimourii, I'll need your eyes for something else. Nushi, if you could track ahead? Lee, set up a perimeter, and Tenten, some traps. We've all trained together, and fought in switched teams before, so we know each other. If I were to neglect you now, I'd be remiss as a nin. Naruto, I need to see how far your tenketsu are affected."

After a few minutes he sighs. "It's bad, as far as I can tell; the seal is surrounded by another, stronger seal that is blocking off the rest of the Kyuubi's Chakra. Your regular Chakra system, large enough on its known, is fine, though you won't be able to make... say... five thousand Kage Bunshin like this, you will be able to make four thousand.

"You mean the chakra that he uses everyday is his regular chakra?" Nushi asks.

"Yes, Naruto has trained from an early age to raise his chakra capabilities. He... he has more Chakra than I do, and more than Iruka-sensei. But... the Kyuubi helped control his chakra to an extent, and his Kage Bunshin also helped that. With the Kyuubi drained, I would think that Naruto feels like a large part of his chakra is gone, even though it isn't really."

Naruto agrees. "It does. It feels like ninety-five percent of my chakra is completely cut off, and i feel weaker than I ever remember. Neji... open a few tenketsu for me, completely, and force my chakra to flow."

Neji nods, and does that. Soon, a bit of color flows into Naruto. "I'll make it to the center, but I'll need some major rest. We need to go, now."

They travel along at a nice pace, and are about to go into the last leg of the race when a voice yells out, "where are you little bugs coming from!"

They look at each other, and nod... appearing in a clearing where Sakura and the blond haired girl, Ino, are fighting off two shinobi from Otogakure. The Akamichi and Nara kids are knocked out.

Also lying on the ground, Shino, whose Kikai bugs were laying over the third, kunoichi, of the Oto team, and the Hyuuga Heiress, Hinata, lay on the ground, blood pouring from her lips.

Neji sighs and steps forward to defend the girl, as Naruto had long helped him get over his hate of that particular main house member, when an evil Chakra fills the air.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouts. Kiba, who's on the ground, out of chakra, looks up and grins. "You guys are screwed now."

Ino, who had just been knocked to the ground, is quickly picked up by Lee, as Sasuke asks one shinobi, with a jewel in the middle of his hand, if he was proud of his arms.

Then, with a quick pull, the bones pop, and a snap is heard as his arms break completely.

He is about to do the same to the other when Neji knocks the other out, a well placed hit to a sensitive tenketsu was all that was needed.

He picks up the two scrolls, a heaven, and an earth, and hand it to the Uchiha, who nods, and says, "Sakura, Kiba, we're leaving. Let's go to the center."

Neji scoffs, and picks up Hinata, as Nushi and Tenten pick up Shino, who has three scrolls, one heaven one earth, and one man. Naruto, feeling strong enough, picks up the last member, and member of the Sarutobi clan, and the group pushed off, traveling towards the center of the forest, where a field of red flowers grows.

"Naruto-san, your Fires of Youth are working today, you look as if you are extremely happy! YOSH! LET US ALL REJOICE, NARUTO-SAN IS MIGHTY IN THE FIRES OF YOUTH!"

"Please let me..." Neji muttered again as the tower came in sight of the group. "Alright, from here we need to present a united front, and enter, group after group. Sarutobi-sama, are you feeling good enough to walk?"

Sarutobi Seika, who had until this moment been held, nodded and stood on his dislocated ankle, wrapped in a very well looking cast. "Hai, I am... thank you for assisting this team, Hyuuga Neji-san."

"Ano, Neji-niisan, arigato for your assistance." Hinata smiled. Neji nodded and said, "Hinata-sama, please do not place me in that position again, though in this examination, we are too be separate, when I saw you hurt, my seal ached like I was purposely allowing you to be hurt."

Soon, each genin team entered the tower, and, opening the scroll, threw them onto the ground where Chuunin appeared as one. Each laughed, laughing when they realized that the groups had appeared at once.

"While not traditionally the correct way to unravel the secrets of the Chuunin Examination, you all pass." the first Chuunin said, who had a sadistic grin on his face.

"And," began the only Chuunin they recognized, Iruka-sensei, "as Chuunin, we're team leaders, under the command of our jounin instructor, we carry out missions. It's only when we are with the genin in our groups, that we take command.

The writing on this wall," the last said, "is something the Sandaime wrote as he took office. It has been placed on all of the Chuunin Examination entrances, and on the walls of the Chuunin Examination's third examination arena.

"If qualities of heaven are what you desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If qualities of earth are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack. When heaven and earth are opened together, the perilous path will become righteous forever. This man is the secret way that guides us from this place today."

You were each given a single scroll, either a heaven, earth, or man scroll. The heaven represents the knowledge and wisdom that a person earns, including the time they are in the academy, and what they learn on missions.

The earth scroll represents the body, and chakra of the person. It is possible to have earth, but not heaven.

The man, on the other hand, represents the Chuunin, who must have both heaven, and earth, in order to complete their given tasks. Having the heaven and earth would have allowed you entrance to this arena, though we didn't tell you that, but those that are exceptionally well, would have gotten the man, too, because that represents your goals for this exam.

Alright, you've all made it this far, dismissed."

The genin all smiled, and walked in different directions, preparing for the road ahead.

The genin stood in a crowd; by groups, in seven rows. Each of them proudly displayed their hitai-ate, and had the pride of their village on the line.

Jounin, Chuunin and the Hokage stood in front of the crowd, killing intent, and excitement running through each of them. As the crowd quieted, Sarutobi stood up and, clearing his throat, said, "welcome to the semi-annual Chuunin Selection Examination. Each of you shows the qualities that a hidden village wants in their genin, and the ability to become Chuunin. As you know, the road to Chuunin is a long, and often rugged one."

"Ano, Hokage-sama, why is it a rugged one?" Sakura asked. Naruto sighed, this girl was a nuisance.

"The road to Chuunin is rugged, because the Chuunin Selection Examinations are meant to represent war between the shinobi continents, and hidden villages. Each genin hopeful must show their worth, not only to their Kage, and Jounin, but to the village council. Also, it represents the strength of the nation, and the fact that many of those in here, are going to be, one day, the leadership of their villages.

Now, in order to move onto the third round we will need too have a preliminary match. To explain, I will have Gekkou Hayate explain. Hayate?"

Hayate nods and walks into the center of the arena. "Arigato Hokage-sama" he says, coughing lightly. "As agreed upon by the five shinobi nations, in order to make the third round more comfortable for the visiting dignitaries, there need to be less than ten participants for the third round of the Chuunin Selection Examination. It is therefore our duty to hold a preliminary match, to get the number down to a suitable level.

Each of you will participate in a match, the winner going on to the third round. You should feel honored, this is the first examination in a long while where a preliminary was needed. If you will all watch the screen, we will begin," he finished coughing.

"First match, Akadou Yoroi vs. Uchiha Sasuke... Hajime!"

As Kakashi walked away from the Uchiha, Naruto could see a glimmer of hatred in the boy's eyes as if he somehow thought we were being held back. Nonetheless, he walked onto the field and, taking a lazy stance, simply beckoned the Konoha-genin to come, which the genin had no problem with.

He ran over and, threw a punch at Sasuke, who jumped out of the way. The genin laughed, and using a quick hand seal that Naruto barely caught said, "Chakra Kyuuin no Jutsu!"

He grabbed Sasuke by the arms, and held him up, as a trail of blue flowed from his arms, and he screamed.

The genin laughed. "Ha, I could do this all day. My Chakra Kyuuin no jutsu allows me to steal your chakra, and use it as my own."

Sasuke cursed, and tried getting out of hit, pain coming from the strange marks on his neck, that Naruto had seen before. "Kuso, at this rate, Sasuke-teme is going to lose."

He was about to do something stupid when a hand came down on his shoulder. He looked up to see Genma, and Jiraiya, standing on either side of him. In the Kage's booth, Sarutobi smiled and, standing up said, "I'll be right back, a student of mine is here."

Had he stayed another moment, he would have seen the troubled exit of the sound jounin that had accompanied the three genin.

The battle would have lasted longer, but Sasuke, apparently having seen Lee's Ura Renge technique, hit Yoroi on the chin, making the genin fly into the air. He jumped up after him, positioning himself perfectly behind the other genin and proceeded to kick him in the ribs, three times each, and leg drop his shoulder as they both landed, knocking the other out.

As Sasuke walked out, Jiraiya placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder and said, "I'll be back, gaki. There's something I need to take care of."

Naruto nodded, watching as Jiraiya followed Kakashi into the back. Genma smiled and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder and said, "Naruto, you should be proud. Now... what is this I hear about your seal?"

Naruto lifted his shirt, applied a bit of chakra, and, when the seal appeared, allowed his jounin instructor a short gasp. "That's a five element seal, I'll ask Jiraiya to look at it. Oh... you know Aburame Shino, correct?"

Naruto nodded. "Good, his match is up next."

Naruto turned, and sure enough, Shino was up on the bored as, "Abumi Zaku" showed.

"Aburame Shino vs. Abumi Zaku... Hajime!"

The only girl on the team smirked and said, "that bug user is dead. Zaku is too powerful to fall to someone so useless. "Hurry and kick his ass, Zaku!"

Zaku nodded and raised his metal covered arm. "Zatkuuha!" he yelled, a blast of air pushing forth. Shino brought up his Kikai Bunshin, and tried to block the blast of pure air, but the man laughed, and the Bunshin shattered, knocking Shino into the farthest, back wall.

The trench-coat wearing genin stood, his face stoic as ever. He makes a few seals, and separates his arms, throwing out bugs from the depths of his sleeves, and, letting the insects surround him, says lightly, "Mushi Kame no Jutsu".

A gleam comes off of the amorous bugs, and as he runs toward the air user, Shino attacks, making contact with his shoulder before being hit back and into the wall again.

He sighs, and using the same seals, says, "Mushi Kabe no Jutsu", a wall rising up, to protect the air user. As Zaku grins, another burst of air flows through his arm weapon and, the wall crumbles. Shino is standing there, ready to attack, another blast of air throwing him off balance.

"Kuso, this is irritating" Shino stoically said, before he's again blasted. This time, though, the body falls apart, and Kikai bugs are seen falling apart. "A Bunshin, when" asked Zaku.

"When you destroyed my wall of kikai bugs, I used that oppurtunity" Shino simply explained, and hit the other genin in the back of the neck.

He sighed, as the Abumi raised his hand weapon, and called out, "Zankuuha!"

Everyone in the arena tensed, though it was all for naught. "Nani?"

Shino smirked, "my Kikai bugs are for more than jutsu. I can use them to disrupt the flow of chakra in a living organism, much like the Hyuuga can cut off chakra from the palms of their hands. I hypothesized that you used Chakra to blast your air, and decided that it would be worth getting a few Kikai inside of you, to disrupt said flow.

Your chakra is now useless."

"Shousa, Aburame Shino!" announced Hayate. "The third round will begin and, after that, there will be a fifteen minute break."

Next match, Sabaku no Kankurou vs. Riyousha Kimourii. Hajime!"

Naruto stood up, his friend had waited for this match, and so he couldn't wait to cheer her on.

Kankurou smirked and said, "you've got no chance, girl."

Kimourii snarled and threw a kunai, which Kankurou dodged. He simply yawned, in boredom, and threw her to the ground, and said, "you're pathetic. You sit in the tub, for hours, to attract your precious person, who doesn't acknowledge you. You don't know the pain of being a true ninja, and will never know, because you care more about your outside appearance. Your muscles are flat, because you don't care to train... you want acknowledgement that you'll never get, and I don't blame the person you admire one bit...

Naruto was about to tell the bastard a piece of his mind, until Genma-san placed a hand on his shoulder. He sat down as Kimourii fell to her knees, his verbal assault confirming her worst fears. She was about to forfeit until someone, in the crowd, said, "that is... not true."

The crowd turned, to see the Hyuuga prodigy standing stoically. "Kimourii-chan is very powerful, and deserves to be in this match. It is because of her determination, that... that I admire her very much. Win... or lose... you will be worth my attention, Kimourii."

The crowd gasped as she smiled, standing. "Neji... you have given me confidence... and something else I was lacking... I now see that letting myself go... just to inspire my precious person... was not the right path.... I... I will prove to you, Neji-kun... that I am worth your respect."

She stood up, her eyes flashing for a second, the Gententou coming to life. "Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu!"

The crowd gasped as she snarled at the Suna-genin, who dared to try and make her precious person hate her.

A few people in the crowd resisted, she noticed, though she didn't care. All her attention was on the genin in front of her. As she ran toward the genin, she jumped and said, "Konoha Senpuu!"

Lee jumped up and yelled, "YOSH! You're power of youth will prevail!"

It was for naught. As she got closer, the stomach of her opponent opened up and, a scream later, she fell out.

Hayate sighed and said, "Shousa, Sabaku no Kankurou!" End Chapter

Author's Notes: This chapter didn't come out as well as I had hoped, though next chapter, I move onto the last of the preliminaries. The chapter is too big to continue now... Ja ne,

William