'Normal thought...'
"Kyuubi/Bijuu speech..."
"Normal speech..."
Jutsu name...
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The eyes of a medical ninja widened in shock as he looked at Lee. "Are you the Jounin in charge of him?" He asked as he looked at Gai.
"Y-Yes..." Gai said in surprise.
"This way, please." The medical ninja pointed at a place a bit away from everyone and led Gai there.
Naruko narrowed her eyes, as she looked at the unconscious Lee. Then, she turned her head in the direction of Hair and the medic nin, to listen to their conversation.
"He is breathing, but the bones in his entire body have suffered comminuted fractures and his muscles have been torn up. I believe it will take a lot of time for him to recover." The medical ninja said seriously. "That alone would have been fine, but..."
Gai's eyes widened in shock.
"But the damage to his left arm and leg is severe. Too severe."
Naruko's eyes widened in shock. 'What?!' She looked at Lee as she remembered how Gaara crashed his leg and arm.
"I-It's hard to say this..." The medical ninja looked to the ground. "But his body will no longer allow him to live as a ninja."
Gai and Naruko looked at him utterly shocked. The medic bowed to Gai in apology and then walked back to Lee and they began to transport him out of the fighting area.
"T-That has to be a lie..." Naruko held a hand over her mouth in shock. She bit on her lip as she remembered Lee wanted to prove everyone wrong; that he just wanted to fulfill his nindo.
Gai looked sadly after Lee. 'Lee... I never imagined that you would lose.' His eyes watered. 'I wanted you to make your nindo come true... Please forgive me for not being able to stop you... Lee.'
Tears gathered in Naruko's eyes. "T-That can't be true... What is he supposed to do if he's told that?!" She shouted after them with a shakily voice. "H-He said he was going to prove everyone that you can achieve something with hard work! Can't you do something?!" She sniffed and just as she wanted to storm after the medics, Kakashi appeared behind her and hugged her.
"Naru... Calm down." He looked at her softly.
"B-But Kashi-sensei... He wanted to fight Neji and Sasuke so badly..." A single tear ran down her face before she got a grip on herself.
"That may have caused this unfortunate incident..." Kakashi said softly, but seriously.
"Huh?" Naruko looked up to him in confusion.
"To make those wishes come true, he used self-damaging forbidden techniques to try and win. And that is the result. He tried to abide by the wordless promise that he made with Sasuke, Neji and you, Naru. He desperately tried to head for the stage so he could fight you guys."
Naruko sniffed and her eyes were shadowed over by her hair. "Am I going to end like him?" She whispered.
Kakashi's eye widened. "Naru..." He said surprised.
Gai sniffed, turned around and walked a few steps before stopping again.
'I-Is Lee-san okay?' Sakura thought in concern.
'Lee... You didn't notice this until the end...' Neji thought seriously. 'One who can only gain a Pyrrhic victory... cannot move his piece forward. The heavens will not allow it.'
Naruko shook her head and took a deep breath. "Forget it...Kashi-sensei."
Kakashi sighed and petted her head. "It's okay, Naru. I will never let this happen." And with that he let go of her and walked towards Gai. "Gai. I was kind of being preachy up there, but after thinking about it... If I were in your position... I would have done the same."
Naruko's eyes widened at that. 'Kashi apologized to someone? Wow! I have to mark this in my calendar!'
Kakashi sighed. "Gai, you're in the way for the next match. Come on, let's go back up."
'And there he is, back to normal...' Naruko deadpanned. She walked towards Kakashi and hit him on the back.
"Wha? Naru?" Kakashi looked at her in surprise.
Naruko pouted at him. "That was rude, Kashi-sensei!" She walked to Gai and took his hand and gave him a small smile. "Let's go back up, Gai-san. And just ignore this baka right there."
Gai just looked at her surprised as she could really drag him upstairs.
Kakashi shook his head in fondness as he walked after them. 'That's Naru-chan how I know her... Always trying to cheer people up...'
"The 10th and final match." Hayate said seriously after Gai, Kakashi and Naruko finally left the fighting area. "Fighters, step up."
Dosu and Choji faced each other.
Dosu chuckled cheekily. "So, finally it's my turn."
Choji looked seriously at his opponent. 'I'm going to win and eat barbecue!'
'I need to advance to the main matches and fight Sasuke-kun.' Dosu thought seriously. 'Otherwise, Orochimaru-sama, I won't be able to live up to your expectations. I already have an idea of what's going on. You made contact with Sasuke-kun before we met him...and gave him a cursed seal instead of killing him. We were just test subjects to see Sasuke-kun's abilities during the exam. He does not want Sasuke-kun's life, but Sasuke-kun himself. I have been taking lightly.'
"Now..." Hayate coughed. "10th match, begin."
"Do your best!" Shikamaru cheered him on.
"Fatty!" Ino shouted at him.
A tick mark appeared on Choji's head and he gritted his teeth angrily. "Damn it, they're going to get it! I'm going to finish this match quickly and then I'm going to beat them to a pulp!"
"Then, I'll finish this match without fooling around as well..." Dosu said calmly. "Mr. Fatty."
Choji looked at him utterly pissed, an angry fire appearing in his eyes. "Are you talking to me, you bandaged imp?!" He clenched his fist. 'I know about your weakness from the last battle we had. He releases sonic waves from those holes on his arm, so...' "Ninpou: Baika no Jutsu!" Choji did a handsign and expanded to almost quadruple his size. "And Konoha-style Taijutsu..." His arms, legs and head sunk into his body and chakra flowed out of the holes. "I just have to protect my ears! Nikudan Sensha!" He rotated very quickly around himself and rolled fast towards Dosu. "Hurray for big-boned people!"
Dosu narrowed his eyes.
"Alright! Crush him, Choji!" Ino cheered him on.
'That guy attacks with sound, so he doesn't have to make direct contact...' Shikamaru summarized. 'But that's only if the ears are exposed. Choji has his head sunken into his body, ear plugs in place and is rotating.'
Dosu jumped out of the way of the quickly spinning human-ball.
'How will you attack that meat ball with sound?' Shikamaru narrowed his eyes.
Dosu waited before a wall until Choji was in front of him. Then, he jumped out of the way as Choji rolled towards him and so, Choji crashed into the wall. "You're not able to move like that, now." Dosu shouted and jumped into the air. "I will take advantage of that!" He bore his arm with the holes for the sonic waves into Choji's inflated body.
"I have ear plugs, so it's no use!" Choji shouted at him.
"No, it's over for you." Dosu snipped with his finger against his arm and a sonic wave came out of it.
Choji screamed and with a puff of smoke, he was back to normal and laid on the ground, knocked out.
"More than 70 percent of the human body is made out of water, and water transmits sound. In other words, your whole body is like an ear." Dosu explained calmly.
"Winner, Dosu Kinuta." Hayate declared seriously.
Dosu walked back towards the stairs. 'Orochimaru-sama, no... Orochimaru, I will show you that I am not just a test subject.'
The medical ninjas ran towards Choji and looked at him. "Are you okay?"
"I-I want to eat meat..." Choji told them while his eyes were spinning.
"The opponent went easy on him." Shikamaru tsked.
Ino just sighed in fondness.
"He lost, but I guess I can take him to eat barbecue." Asuma said with a smile.
Hayate coughed as he walked through the fighting area back to his normal place. 'It has finally ended.'
'The main matches will finally begin.' Sandaime thought excited.
"That concludes the Third Exam's preliminary matches." Hayate said seriously.
A few moments later...
The Sandaime looked at the crowd of genins that won their matches and were now assembled in front of him. In front of him stood Ibiki, Anko and Hayate.
"To those who have made it to the main matches of the Chunin Exam's Third Match." Hayate said seriously. "All but one are here, so congratulations."
"Sensei." Sakura asked Kakashi as she looked down to the contributors of the Third Exam's main match.
"Huh?" He looked at her.
"May I ask something..." She said in concern.
"About Sasuke? Well... Sorry, but I'm not sure myself. But don't worry about it." 'The rest is up to Sasuke, now.' He narrowed his eyes seriously. 'I don't have a good feeling...' "Sakura, I'm going to leave, so tell me the details of the main matches later." And with that he vanished.
Sakura nodded and looked worried to the ground.
Naruko looked up to Sakura and pouted. 'So, Kashi left, huh?' She huffed in annoyance and fondness. 'This asshole just can't wait for the end.'
'Including Uchiha Sasuke, who isn't present at the moment, there are five Konoha, three Suna and one Oto nin... I wonder who you will match up with, Naru-chan.' The Sandaime thought and looked at Naruko. He sweatdropped as he saw her pouting and sulking. He shook his head in fondness and then smiled at the genin, who will fight in the main matches as he stepped forward. "I will now begin the explanation for the main matches."
'Finally!' Naruko thought in excitement and concentrated on what her Jiji had to say.
"Your main match fights will be shown in front of everyone. We wish for all of you to show off your abilities as your country's representative power." The Sandaime explained seriously. "Therefore, the main matches will begin in one month."
"So, I have to wait, huh?" Naruko sighed.
"Well, the one month is a time to conduct appropriate preparations." The Sandaime said and tried to hold back his amused chuckle at Naruko's disappointed expression.
"What do you mean?" Neji asked seriously.
"In other words, we are going to announce to the Daimyos and head ninja of the individual countries that the preliminary matches have ended. And time is needed to gather those people for the main matches." Sandaime explained.
'Ah, I understand. Political reasons like always...' Naruko thought seriously.
"This is also preparation time for you candidates."
'This geezer always says stuff in an indirect way...' Kankuro thought annoyed. "I still don't understand. Explain."
"This time is used so you can know your enemy and yourself better. It is a time to analyze the information you have gathered during the preliminary matches. The battles we had were just like real combat situations. It has been done where both parties knew nothing of each other."
'It is true that I didn't expect him to use sand as a weapon.' Shikamaru thought as he looked at Gaara.
"But the main matches will not be like that. There are those who have revealed everything to their rivals. To make things fair, work hard and improve yourselves on your own next month." Sandaime said seriously.
'Yosh! I'm going to work hard, dattebayo!' Naruko thought seriously. 'I can't win in my current state. I will train a lot and finally go serious in a fight!' She giggled in excitement.
"So, I want to let you guys go, but... There's something important we must do before the main matches."
"What is it? Hurry Jiji, I have to train!" Naruko pouted at him.
Sandaime chuckled. "Don't get so hasty. Take a piece from the box that Anko is holding."
"I'll walk, so take it in turns." Anko said seriously. "Take just one." She walked to Dosu and he took a piece of paper out of the box.
As Anko was by Naruko she winked at her. Naruko took a piece of paper and smiled back at Anko. 'I thought she wasn't nice in the beginning, but looks like I was wrong.' She opened her paper and looked at the 1 that stood on in. She tilted her head in confusion. 'What's that supposed to mean, now?'
Ibiki watched Naruko and had to surpass a smile as he saw her confusion. 'I'm glad you made it to the main matches, Uzumaki Naruko.' As everyone took a piece of paper, he narrowed his eyes seriously. "Okay, everyone got one? Now, tell me what number you got, starting from the left."
"Eight." Dosu said seriously.
"One." Naruko said calmly, slowly getting where this was going.
"Seven." Temari told them casually.
"Five." Kankuro said.
"Three." Gaara said sternly.
"Nine." Shikamaru told them in a bored voice.
"Two." Neji said seriously.
"Six." Shino said sternly.
"So, he must be four." Ibiki concluded and wrote something down.
"Yes." Sandaime nodded. "We will now tell you the match ups for the tournament."
Naruko sighed. "I knew it."
Shikamaru looked at them. "That's what we drew for?"
"Ibiki, show the match ups." Sandaime ordered.
"Hai." Ibiki turned around a clipboard with a drawn diagram on it.
Everyone's eyes widened. The first match is Uzumaki Naruko vs. Hyuuga Neji. The second match is Sabaku no Gaara vs. Uchiha Sasuke. The third match is Kankuro vs. Aburame Shino. The fourth match is Temari vs. the winner of the sixth match. The sixth match is Kinuta Dosu vs. Nara Shikamaru. The respective winner of match one and two are going to fight each other, as well as the respective winner of match three and four. Then, the winner of those matches are going to fight against each other to determine the winner of the Third Exam.
'I'm at the far edge.' Dosu thought in disappointment.
'What? It's just a tournament?' Temari thought in surprise.
'Actually, I have one extra match... Mendokuse.' Shikamaru sighed.
Kankuro sighed in relief. 'I'm glad I'm not in the same block as Gaara.'
Gaara narrowed his eyes. 'Uchiha Sasuke...'
Neji smirked cheekily. 'Perfect.'
Naruko clenched her fist in determination and smiled evilly. 'I get Neji right away, huh? I'm looking forward to beating him to a pulp.' She giggled in excitement.
Sandaime looked at her and sweat dropped at her evil giggles. 'Well, looks like Naru-chan gets the match she wanted...'
'Sasuke-kun is matched up against that person?' Sakura thought in concern as she looked at Gaara.
"I have a question." Shikamaru said.
"Okay. What is it?" the Sandaime looked at him.
"If it's a tournament that means there's only one winner, right? Does that mean that only one person can become a Chunin?"
"No. That's not how it is. These main matches will have judges, including me, Kazekage, as well as the Daimyo's and... head ninjas from the other countries, who will be potential clients. Those judges will grade you by watching you in the tournament." Sandaime explained.
'Booooring...I want to train already...' Naruko sighed, not really listening anymore. 'But first, I'm going to eat Ramen...' Her mouth watered, but then, she realized something. 'Noooo! That's right, Kashi-sensei's punishment was no ramen for a week! Noooo! How am I going to survive?!'
"And those who are qualified to be a Chunin, even if they lose in the first round, will become a Chunin." Sandaime said seriously.
"So, there's a possibility that everyone here can become a Chunin?" Temari asked.
"Yes. But that also means that it's possible for no one to become a Chunin. Winning in the matches in the tournament means that you're able to show off more of your skills. Understand, Shikamaru-kun?"
'Damn it, how troublesome.' He sighed.
Naruko looked at him with a deadpan expression. 'I'm going to kill you Shika, if you don't take those matches seriously, just because they're 'Too Troublesome'.'
"That is all. We are adjourned until next month." Sandaime said calmly.
Naruko sighed. 'So, I'm matched up second with tanuki guy or Sasuke-teme. Fine with me. I always wanted to kick Sasuke-teme in the nuts anyway...' She narrowed her eyes. 'But I shouldn't underestimate tanuki guy. He could beat Bushy Eyebrows. Maybe I should ask Kashi to train me...'
Sometime later, inside the Konoha hospital...
"Where's Uchiha Sasuke's room?" Naruko asked the receptionist.
"Sasuke-sama is currently not taking any visitors." She said to her gruffly.
Naruko sighed in annoyance. "Why?" She protested loudly in anonyance. 'Is it because I'm the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, again?'
"Naru, be quieter in a hospital. I think I taught you that already." Kakashi smiled at her in amusement.
"Oh, Kashi-sensei~" Naruko smiled brightly at him and ran towards him. "I have to ask for a favor~" She looked at him with puppy-dog eyes.
Kakashi began to sweat and looked away from her. "Y-You don't have to say more. I knew you would to come to me. I found someone who will supervise your training."
Naruko's smile vanished from her face. "Oh, you won't train me, huh?" She looked down to the ground, looking like you just drowned a puppy.
'Waah... I'm sorry Naru-chan... I would love to train you...' He sighed. 'That damn council decided that I have to train the last almighty Uchiha, so he can definitely win the main matches... I fucking hate those pricks. Because of them, Naru-chan is going to be sad.' "I'm sorry, Naru. But I can't change it. I already have something to do, so..."
"You're going to train Sasuke-teme, huh?" Naruko deadpanned.
Kakashi sighed. "Yes, unfortunately. But I found a much better teacher for you than me."
"Well good luck with broody boy. But who's going to train me?" She asked him in confusion. 'I don't think there's someone who could be a better teacher than you... well except for Iruka-nii when it comes to smart stuff...or Crow-nii when it comes to teaching me how to be polite...'
"That is me!" Someone said from behind Naruko.
"Huh?" Naru turned around and looked at Ebisu in surprise. "The closet pervert, really Kashi-sensei?" She deadpanned.
Ebisu adjusted his sunglasses. "How impolite."
'Oh kami, whyyyyy me?! What did I do wrong to get one pervert after another as teachers?!' Naruko sighed depressed.
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Hey guys! So, that was Chapter 43. How did you like it? :) Finally, we finished the Third Exam's preliminary matches, hurray! :D Poor Naru-chan has to deal with another perverted teacher next chapter. And someone even more perverted is going to show up soon. (If you know who I mean ;) ) Let's just hope she doesn't lose her mind with all the perverts around her. XD
Anyway, I hope you look forward to next chapter. Have a nice day and see you then! :3
Ninpou: Baika no Jutsu = Multi-Size Technique
Taijutsu = hand-to-hand combat
Nikudan Sensha = Human Bullet Tank