Concluding the Prelims

Neji and Karui stepped forward to face each other. "Well, well. I haven't seen a Huyga in a while. Tell me are they still so protective of their Byakugan? Or have they loosened up after realizing their mistake?"

"What mistake are you talking about?" Neji asked, curious as to how she seemed to be involved in some matter regarding the Huyga.

"Begin!" Hayate announce, afraid another match would start off with a long discussion.

Karui dew her sword as Neji slipped into his Gentle Fist stance. Karui swiped at Neji, only for him to parry it and retaliate with his own attack, which Karui dodged.

"Heh, so I guess you really do want to know" Karui said, analyzing Neji's previous attack. "Think back, almost nine years. To the day that we came to your village to accept a peace treaty."

Neji's eyes widened. Even in the stands, Hinata heard this and was slightly affected.

"What are you talking about?" Neji replied.

"You don't know? On that night, you damn Huyga killed my father because of their damn paranoia about someone 'stealing' their Byakugan!" Karui shouted. Neji soon let his shock leave him as he became more focused.

"Oh this is going to get good" Kurama said to Naruto.

'What are you talking about?'

"You can't sense that boys killing intent? Well I guess not, since it is being directed at that girl"

'Wait, why would Neji want to kill that Kumo ninja?' Naruto asked.

"I don't know. Just watch and maybe you'll find out."

Karui felt Neji's killing intent and shuttered a little. "W-what is this?" she said.

"That night, that your father was killed" Neji said angrily. "You demanded the head of the Huyga clan. However, the person who was killed by your father's action…was my father! You're father is just as responsible for my father's death as the head family is."

"What?!" Naruto said up in the stands. "Uhh…uhh, hey Hinata. You're a Huyga, what are they talking about?"

Hinata sighed, hoping that this would not come up with the presence of Kumo ninja. "Nine years ago, when I had just turned three, that was the same day that Kumo had come to Konoha to sign a treaty to end the war that they had been fighting for years. That night, well…" Hinata said. "t-they kidnapped me. My father killed the kidnapper and the Cloud ninja demanded my father's life or they would renew the war."

Neji heard Hinata and directed some of his killing intent towards her as well. Naruto could feel it now. Gaara had been feeling it ever since the match begun and his hunger for death grew even more, especially after being denied Lee.

"Like I said, the head family decided to use my father instead, because he and Hinata's father were identical twins, born only minutes apart" Neji said, emphasizing the 'head family' with a hint of anger mixed in. "However, fate has smiled upon me today. While I am not able to kill the men responsible for my father's death, one of their daughters has been chosen to face me and so I shall begin my…"

"Revenge…" Sasuke muttered, everyone now turning to him. I know how he feels as I am the same way. "He wants to kill those responsible for his father's death, the same way I want to kill Itachi for killing my clan." Sasuke had the same type of anger and rage mixed into his voice that Neji had.

"What are you talking about you little punk?" Karui shouted to Neji. "You damn Huyga killed my father!"

"They may have, but your father made the first move in trying to kidnap a member of the main family" Neji scoffed. "If it wasn't for your village's actions, my father would still be alive and you would not be destined to die at my hands today."

"Why you little…" Karui charged at Neji out of rage. Surprisingly, Neji was keeping his calm, despite the conversation that had just taken place. Karui drew her sword, ready to impale Neji for his insolence.

"Kaiten!" Neji called out, sending her flying back into the wall.

"That was…!" Hinata said, shocked at the move Neji had just used.

"What was that?" Ino said as everyone was also stupefied by Neji's defense.

"I-it the Kaiten, the Heavenly Spin. I-it's a Huyga t-technique that has b-belonged to the m-main family" Hinata said.

"Wow! Does that mean you can use it, Hinata?!" Naruto said excitedly.

"N-no. M-my father has not e-even tried to t-teach it t-to me yet" Hinata replied.

"It's because she's a failure" Neji said, stopping his rotation.

"Shut up, Neji!" Naruto shouted, trying to defend Hinata. "No one asked you!"

"I'm just telling the truth" Neji said, facing Karui who had just been slammed into the wall, leaving a nice impact crater next to the one Lee had made in the previous match. Neji charged in, seeing the opening. He landed a few attacks on Karui's arms and legs as they went numb and she fell to her knees.

"What is up with those attacks?" Naruto said. "It's like Neji only touched her and she's already down."

"I-It's the Gentle Fist style" Hinata said. Like Gai in the last match, and Lee in Hinata's match, she had found herself as the commentator for this match. All eyes were now on her as she began to turn red and back away.

"Gentle fist?" Sakura asked.

"Y-yes. It's the style of taijutsu passed down in the Huyga clan" Hinata explained, taking a deep breath to calm her down. "We inject our own chakra into an opponent's chakra coils."

"Unlike the taijutsu style that Lee and I use, the Iron Fist, which focuses on dealing external damage and breaking bones, the Gentle Fist focuses on using chakra to attack and destroy an opponent's inner chakra coils" Gai said, returning to the fight as the medics would not allow him to go with Lee. "It may not look impressive, but you'll definitely feel it afterwards."

"What do you mean by, inner chakra coils?" Sakura asked.

"Like veins that carry blood, chakra coils carry chakra throughout your body. These chakra coils are directly integrated into your body's internal organs, such as the heart and brain" Gai explained further.

"Wait, how can the Huyga even do that?" Sakura asked. "It's not like you can see the inner coils of the body."

"W-with normal eyes, n-no" Hinata said. Everyone had apparently forgotten about their resident Huyga in the stands as she had managed to pull a Shino and disappear from everyone's attention when Gai took over. "B-but I can s-see them with the Byakugan." Everyone looked at Hinata's eyes and noticed the swollen veins around them and the outline of her pupil.

"Wow! Really?!" Naruto exclaimed. "You really are amazing!" Hinata blushed deeply at this.

"The gentle fist is different than normal attacks in that you release chakra from your palms and inject it directly into your opponent's body, damaging their inner coils" Kakashi explained, realizing that it was now going to be difficult for a bright red Hinata to say anything cohesively. "Throughout the chakra network, there are 361 pressure points, or tenketsu, that control the flow of chakra throughout the body. By injecting chakra into these tenketsu, the gentle fist allows the Huyga to temporarily halt the flow of chakra through that point. Because of that, they possess the potential to cut off chakra from parts of your body, making it useless for their opponent to use or mold chakra in certain parts of the body, am I right Hinata?"

Hinata nodded and focused her Byakugan on Karui, who was still being beaten by Neji. He was going to enjoy this opportunity and prolong it as much as possible. "I-it look l-like s-she has no more chakra flowing i-into both her arms and legs."

"What?! Wow!" Naruto said.

"Hey Kit" Kurama said from inside him, catching the blonde's attention.

"What is it? I'm trying to watch the fight?" Naruto said to his resident demon.

"Sometime soon, get together with that little vixen you've been talking to. I want to try out something that may allow you to reopen blocked chakra points" Kurama said.

"Vixen?" Naruto asked, confused at Kurama's terminology.

"Yes, vixen. A female mate. I want you to get together with that Huyga girl and train with her once or twice as I want to test something out."

"M-m-mate?!" Naruto shouted, practically fainting inside his head.

"Uhg. You're so dense. At times I wonder why I got stuck with you."

Back in the arena, Neji made a series of strikes, this time hitting Karui directly in the chest as Hinata cringed a little. "What is it, Hinata?" Sakura said.

"T-those l-last s-strike hit her heart and the chakra network around it" Hinata stuttered out.

"What?! Then that means he really does mean to kill her?!" Sakura said.

Neji backed away, analyzing the damage done. Karui fell forward onto her hands and knees, coughing up a lot of blood. Soon after, she collapsed.

"Winner: Neji Huyga!" Hayate said, checking the damage done to Karui. Neji looked up into the stands, sending a rather evil grin towards Hinata, making her step back and fall. "Get a medic in here quick. She's going into cardiac arrest!"

Most of the genin in the stands shuttered at the call from the proctor. A few medics came in and began initial treatment, before taking her away for further attempts at stabilizing her. Neji walked back up the stairs, sending another look to a shaking Hinata.

"Stop that Neji!" Naruto shouted. "Why must you pick on Hinata like that? What has she done to you?"

"It's not what she did, it's what her father did" Neji said, sending the same look to her that he did to Karui before beating her to death.

"Neji, enough!" Gai said, apologizing to Kurenai and Hinata for his student's behavior. Neji just turned and walked away. Most likely, Gai had just saved Hinata from a rogue strike to her chest as well.

"For the final match, will the remaining two contestants please take the floor" Hayate announced. Temari and Omoi stepped forward.

To say the match was quick and one sided would be an understatement. Wanting to end it quickly, Temari opened her fan to the third star and hit Omoi with her Fuuton: Wind Scythe Jutsu. Omoi was unconscious before he even had a chance to attack.

"Alright, (cough) now that the matches are over, will the contestants who have advanced please step forward?" Hayate announced as the jonin instructors and the Hokage returned to the stage, which had been half destroyed thanks to Lee's weights. The following finalists took the floor, out of the 200 that started the exam, only 11 had made it to the 3rd round. This was still more than Anko had anticipated, but it was better than the 22 that remained before the preliminary.

"Congratulations on making it to the third round" the Hokage announced. "I guess it is time to start explaining the third round."

"Orochimaru-sama" Kabuto said, appearing before Orochimaru. "The prelims have ended and the third round is set to begin in one month."

"Good. I look forward to those matches, especially Sasukes" the snake grinned.

"Orochimaru-sama, regarding Sasuke?" Kabuto asked. "It appears as if you were going to give his the curse mark, but he had no mark, did Konoha find a way to remove it?"

"No" Orochimaru hissed. "My plans hit an unexpected bump, and Sasuke never received my gift. However, it is only a minor setback and I will have my hands on him soon enough."

"As I said before, the matches of the main event will be seen by everyone" the Hokage announced. "Each of you will fight to represent the strengths of your country and I would like you to fight with all your reserves. That is why the final event will be held a month from now."

"What? We are not going to do it now?" Naruto asked.

"No. You could say I'm giving you a month for preparations. Unlike today's battles, where you faced an unknown opponent, you will know your opponents and you will be given time to prepare accordingly" the Hokage explained. "Use this month to rest and train accordingly. I'd like to dismiss you now, but first we must decide the match ups for the next round."

"What the hell is it?!" Naruto shouted impatiently. "I've got to train for the next round!"

"Inside this box are numbers" Anko explained. "Now, each of you will take a number and this will determine the match ups for the next round." Anko passed the box around and everyone selected their numbers.

"Alright, now read off in order your numbers and I will make the bracket" Ibiki explained.

"One" Neji said.

"Two" Naruto said.

"Thee" Hinata said.

"Four" Shino read off.

"Five" Haku read.

"Six" Yugito said.

"Seven" Sasuke said.

"Eight" Gaara red, glaring over at Sasuke, who returned the look.

"Nine" Temari said.

"Ten" Shikamaru yawned.

"Eleven" Dosu said.

Ibiki thought for a second after writing the numbers and made up the bracket. "Here are the first matches: Neji Huyga vs. Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Huyga vs. Shino Aburame, Haku Yuki vs. Yugito Nii, Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara, Shikamaru Nara vs. Dosu, and Temari will face the winner of the last match. As you can see, there are three separate brackets, with each one having its own winner. The final match will consist of all three victors facing off in a three-way match to determine the overall winner."

Sasuke was definitely satisfied with his match up. A month of nothing but training would give him plenty of time to become stronger. Naruto was finally going to be able to pay Neji back for insulting Hinata and maybe even do something about that stick lodged up his ass. Being on the same team, Hinata and Shino quickly made an agreement to respect each other and not hold back in their coming fight. Haku and Yugito were both neutral about their match. They really had nothing to truly prove besides their own abilities. Shikamaru just saw everything as troublesome, Temari was indifferent, and Dosu wanted to prove to Orochimaru that he wasn't a guinea pig.

"You are all dismissed now, unless you have any questions" the Hokage announced.

"I have one" Shikamaru said. "Since this is a tournament and there is only one winner, does that mean only one person will be promoted to chunin?"

"No. Throughout the tournament, there will be judges judging your abilities. It is possible to become a chunin even if you lose your first match. Likewise, there is a chance that the victor could remain a genin" the Hokage explained.

"So, there is a possibility that everyone here will become a chunin?" Temari asked.

"Yes" the Hokage responded. "Although, think of it this way. The more matched you fight, the more chances you have to convince the judges that you have the skills to become chunin. Thank you all for your efforts in the second exam. You are all dismissed until one month from now."

"Alright, back in the village!" Naruto said, arriving at the village after the teams were escorted out of the forest. Teams 7, 8, and 10 were walking together. "Who wants to get ramen?!"

"Geez, is that all you ever think about?" Sakura said. Although she heard her stomach growling and figured so real food for the first time in five days would be nice.

"I have a better idea" Asuma suggests. "How about Barbe-Q?" Chouji quickly became excited. "Why don't we enjoy this night together to celebrate the six of you who have moved onto the third round, before you all begin your training tomorrow?" Everyone liked the idea, except Naruto who still had ramen on the brain, and they quickly found themselves at the favorite restaurant of Team 10.

Afterwards, the rookie 9 and Haku went their separate ways. Hinata ended up back at the Huyga compound and thankfully for her, Neji wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Hinata, I heard you made it into the finals" Hiashi said, appearing from their home.

"Y-yes, father. I-I have" Hinata said, giving a quick bow to her father and hoping for some sort of acknowledgement.

"Very well, be in the dojo tomorrow no later than 8:00am. We begin your training" Hiashi said in an emotionless tone. This was not the sort of acknowledgement that she had hoped to receive from her father; however, the fact that he was going to train her for the finals had to mean something.

Naruto was up early the next morning getting the ramen that he never got last night from Ichiraku. Kakashi then walked inside. "Hey, hey! Kakashi-sensei, I have a request."

"No need to tell me, I already know what you're going to ask" Kakashi said. "I already found someone to supervise your training."

"What?!" Naruto shouted, waking half the still asleep village. "But I want you!"

"I'm sorry, Naruto" Kakashi apologized. "But I have more important things I need to take care of."

"Hmph, you're just planning to train Sasuke" Naruto said, seeing right through Kakashi.

"Now, now, don't say it like that. Besides I've found you a much more reliable teacher" Kakashi explained.

"Yeah?! Like who?" Naruto questioned.

"Me" a new man said, coming onto the scene.

"It's you!" Naruto shouted and pointed at the man. "The closet perv!"

"Ebisu-sensei's a closet perv?" Kakashi questioned Naruto's last comment.

"Why the hell does he have to be my teacher?! He's weaker than me in the first place!" Naruto explained. "I beat this guy before with my harem jutsu!" Suddenly, Ebisu covered Naruto's mouth to prevent any more words from coming out.

"Harem jutsu?" Kakashi asked, now seriously confused.

"It's nothing, really!" Ebisu said, trying to dispel any suspicion. He turned to Naurto. "I'll treat you to all-you-can-eat ramen later on."

"You better!" Naruto responded.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Kurama said as Naruto agreed with the demon.

"Haku" Zabuza said, appearing at Haku's apartment.

"Yes, Zabuza-sama" Haku responded to his former master.

"So you made it to the chunin exams, not bad" Zabuza said. "Although you don't really need it, I'll be supervising your training over the next few weeks. I feel like some of these kids are going to be a real handful."

"Yes, I would much appreciate that" Haku said politely. With that, Haku had his teacher for the next few weeks.

"Good, you're here" Hiashi said, entering the dojo to find Hinata already there. "Let's begin, shall we?"

"What are we doing, father?" Hinata asked.

"We are beginning your training. I can't have you embarrassing the Huyga main branch in front of some very important individuals" Hiashi said, depressing Hinata with his comment. "We need to work on your speed and accuracy, pus we need to strengthen your Byakugan so that you can effectively see tenketsu in battle."

"Yes, father. Where are we starting then?" Hinata asked. "First, you are not to deactivate your Byakugan during these training sessions for any reason. This will help initially to strengthen it. We will begin working on your accuracy and then your speed. Finally, we will incorporate those with your Byakugan. Just so you know, I expect you to be able to use our family's signature stance for the finals."

Hinata knew what this meant. He would be hammering the eight trigrams stance into her head these next few weeks.

Shikamaru woke up, after his alarm had been going off for the past three hours. It really was a troublesome instrument that he had to deal with each morning.

"I'm surprised you're up this early" Shikaku, Shikamaru's father, said to him. "Usually you sleep in an extra hour or two."

"Well, you know. Asuma-sensei wants me to train for the upcoming match" Shikamaru explained. "It really is troublesome."

'Hmm, so my opponent is Hinata' Shino thought, meeting his father outside the courtyard of their house. 'We both know each other's moves rather well, so it will come up to whoever puts in the most work over these next four weeks'.

"Son, are you okay with this? I mean she is your teammate" asked Shibiki, Shino's father.

"I am. We promised each other that we would work hard these next weeks and fight our hardest when our match came. To be honest, I am looking forward to it" Shino said, letting out more words than he usually does.

Kakashi was climbing a rather high cliff, with one hand tied behind his back. He knew he shouldn't have accepted Gai's challenge. Suddenly, his feet slipped and he barely caught himself from falling. Seeing the top, he knew he was almost there. "Gate of Opening, open!" Kakashi said, giving himself a boost of energy and reaching the top. "Oh, you're here already."

"No, you're just late, as usual" Sasuke said, standing opposite him atop the towering plateu.

"Right then, let's get started" Kakashi said. "I'm sure you remember Lee's taijutsu from using your sharingan?"

"I do, but what does that have to do with this?" asked Sasuke.

"Well, Lee had the right idea. You will need an extreme amount of speed if you are to defeat Gaara, and to learn what I am going to teach you."

"Go on…" said Sasuke.

"You know, the reason I want to train you, is that…" Kakashi said, handing Sasuke a piece of paper. Sasuke knew what this paper was. It was chakra litmus paper, used to determine the elemental affinity of ninja. Kakashi channelled chakra into his and it crinkled. Sasuke did the same and received the same result. "You are the same type as me." Kakashi formed the Chidori in his hand and Sasuke let out a smile. This was going to be interesting.