"Uh... We have to have a preliminary exam before we can move on to the real one." Hayate said. "Huh?" "A what?" Sakura asked. "Preliminary? Just what do you mean by that?" Shikamaru yelled causing me to jump. "I'm sorry. Sensei excuse me, but I really dont see the point. What's this preliminary all about? Why can't we just move on to the third exam?" Sakura asked. "Uh.. Well, you see, the first and second exams might have been too easy. The fact is, we never expected so many of you to still be here. According to the rules of the Chunin Exams, a preliminary round can be held at any stage in order to reduce the number of candidates remaining." Hayate said
"Uh but is that fair?" Sakura asked. "It's just that at this stage, we have to speed things up a bit. As lord Hokage said, a lot of important guests will be watching. We can't afford to waste their time. They've come to see only the best. So if there are any of you who feel you're not in top physical condition, now's your chance to-" he started coughing really bad again. "Talk about not being in top physical condition." Ino said.
After he was done coughing he said "Sorry about that. As I was saying, any of you who don't feel up to this, now's the time for you to bow out. The preliminaries will be starting immediately." "Come on, you mean right now?" Kiba yelled. "We just finished barely surviving the past exam. Don't we get a break?" Ino said tiredly. "Man, what a drag." Shikamaru said looking up. "Ayeeee. When do we eat?" Choji asked.
Well fine. If we have to pass by doing a preliminary exam. Fine, so be it. I wont let Naruto or Sasuke down. I'll win this. "Oh yeah. Uh. The winners will be determined by one-on-one combat, sudden death. So like I said, if there's anyone who doesn't feel up to it, now's the time to raise your hand." Hayate said. Why would anyone quit? After what we all went through just to get here, ha, no way we're going to quit. I heard Sasuke grunt a little bit so I turned my head to see he was grabbing his shoulder. Oh yeah, I forgot about that.
"Sasuke?" I asked worriedly. Naruto then turned his head. "Sasuke, listen to me. You have got to quit." Sakura said and it caused all of us to widen our eyes. "You've been like this ever since you tangled with Orochimaru. And it's getting worse" "It's that mark he put on you, isnt it?" I asked getting more worried. "You can't deny Sasuke." Sakura said. She seemed like she was thinking of something and then she started trembling with tears in her eyes. "please... Please, Sasuke, quit now before- I don't know what. I'm scared." She said wiping her tears away.
"Come on, you know as well as I do. We are in no condition to keep on fighting." "Shut up, Sakura." Sasuke said. "You think I'm blind or something?" Sakura said loudly. "Will you please be quiet?" Sasuke said trying to stay calm. "You think I dont see the suffering you're going through?" "That's enough, Sakura." " I'm sorry. I cant let you do it to yourself. I'm going to tell them about that mark. Then maybe you'll-" someone raised their hand.
Kabuto did. "Okay. You got me. I'm out." "But Kabuto-" Naruto said. Hayate looked through some papers and said "Kabuto Yakushi of the Leaf Village, right? You can go on and step back." "Gotcha" Kabuto said and he turned around and began walking. "Kabuto! Hold on a second. You can't quit. I don't get this. What's going on?" Naruto asked. "Oh, Naruto. I'm sorry, but my body's just too beat up. I can't hack it. The fact is, ever since orientation and that dust up with the sound village team, I've had no hearing at all in my left ear. And now to have to put my life on the line, to fight again right away without a break? I cant do it."
Naruto looked down with sadness. Kabutos teammate was whispering to Kabuto and I couldn't quite hear it. All I heard was Orochimaru and that was enough to spark my attention. I glared at them as I tried to listen. "Your chance..prove...wanted..my place...go for it" I just heard words from Kabuto but from the other guy I heard something important. "...Orochimaru's favorite..." I glared at them harder. Why would they think it's a good idea to talk about that here? He turned around and looked at us. He smiled and waved and walked off.
Hayate coughed and asked "Now then, does anybody else want to quit?" Another hand rose. "Alright, I'm out too." "Kiyota Yozo of the Sand Village. Alright, out the door too" Hayate said. They guy walked out and didn't even look back. "Anyone else?" He asked again. I turned my head to Sakura to see what she'll do. She slowly went to raise her hand but Sasuke grabbed it and held it down. "Don't you even think of telling them about this mark." Sasuke said coldly. Sakura looked surprised for a second but soon looked down and got teary. She shook her head "I dont get what you're trying to prove. Am I supposed to just stand by and watch you tear yourself apart? I can't bear to watch it." Sakura said.
"Then don't watch. But stay out of it. This has nothing to do with you." Sasuke said and Sakura seemed hurt by his words. He let go of her hand and said "I told you before.... What I am is an avenger. For me, this is something far more than just an exam. Whether I become a Chunin or not means less than nothing to me. Am I as strong as I could be? All I want is the answer to that. I can only find out by fighting the strongest, the best. And the best of the best are all here. This is the path I walk. Not you or anyone can change that." Sasuke..."Oh, Sasuke." Sakura said sadly. "Man, you dont know when to quit! What are you butting your head up for, you idiot? It's just because she cared about you." Naruto said.
"Naruto." Sasuke said turning around to look at him. "Huh?" "You're one of the ones I want to fight the most." Eh? "Alright, then. We will now begin the preliminary round. This round will consist of one-on-one individual combat at full battle intensity. This is not an exercise. There are 20 of you remaining, so that means we will need ten matches. The surviving candidates from these ten matches will advance to the third exam. As for the rules, there are none. You will fight until one dies or concedes defeat or is rendered physically incapable of continuing the contest. Naturally, those who are losing are urged to concede defeat promptly to avoid a fatal outcome. Furthermore, as proctor, I'm giving a certain amount of leeway in judging the matches. I might occasionally intervene if a match seems hopeless to save as many lives as possible. Now it's time to reveal what fate has been chosen for you."
Hayate turned his head towards Anko and she nodded. "Open the panel." She said and something lifted up. "The names of each pair of opponents are chosen completely at random. Before each match, these names will appear on the display behind me. As there's nothing more to say, let's begin. In a moment, the names of the first two opponents will appear."
Different names were scrambling on the screen. In yellow letters it read YOROI AKADO VS SASUKE UCHIHA Heh. Already? I turned my head to Sasuke and saw he was smirking. He flinched for a second and held his shoulder. "Alright now. Those whose names have been drawn, come forward." Sasuke and Kabutos teammate stepped forward. That guy was the one who was talking about Orochimaru. "You have been chosen for the first match, Yoroi Akado and Sasuke Uchiha. Are there any objections?" Hayate asked. "None here." Sasuke said "No." Yoroi said.
Please be careful, Sasuke. I have a feeling you'll win but something just feels off. I really hope that mark will stop acting up. Now, all I can do is watch and cheer for you. "Uh. Alright then. Let's begin the first match. Okay. Everyone other than the two opposing candidates will now clear the area and move to the upper level."
Everyone was walking to and up the stairs but we stayed behind with Sasuke for a little bit. Naruto turned his head and yelled "Hey! Kakashi-sensei!" jumping up and down while waving his hand. He stopped next to Sasuke and they were talking. I wasnt able to hear it because of Naruto jumping around but it seemed to bother Sasuke. "Come on" Kakashi-sensei said to us. We nodded our heads and we walked towards the stairs. I turned around to look at Sasuke. He was smirking like he didn't have a care about the situation he's in. I turned back around and grabbed Narutos shirt and squeezed. We walked up the stairs and watched Sasuke.
"Then if you're ready, let the match begin." Hayate said crossing his hands. "Oh, I'm ready." Yoroi said putting his hands up. Sasuke got in his stance and said "So am I." Yoroi threw shurikens at Sasuke but Sasuke got his kunai out and yelled as he threw it, causing the shurikens to go back at Yoroi. It looked like the mark bothered Sasuke again and he fell on his stomach. His eyes widened when he realized that Yoroi was gone. He moved out of the way just in time and Yoroi stabbed the ground.
Sasuke stuck his kunai into the ground and spun his body around and kicked Yorois arms. Since Yaroi was still holding onto the kunai stuck into the ground he fell back I guess? Sasuke grabbed his other arm and it made Yaroi fall on his back. The position he was in was really confusing but it looked painful. "Hey, he got him!" Naruto yelled. Yaroi moved his hand to grab Sasukes shirt and sent chakra to his hand. Sasuke was acting like he was paralyzed. Yaroi lifted up his arm and slammed it back down in Sasukes chest. I flinched as I saw Sasuke grunt in pain.
Yaroi got up and jumped back. Sasuke was grabbing his chest and still wasnt getting up. Yaroi ran forward and I couldn't even really think I just randomly yelled "Sasuke, No!" He sat up randomly but not fast enough. Yaroi jumped forward and grabbed his head. Sasuke screamed in pain as he tried to get his hand off. His hand fell down slowly while the other one still tried desperately to get his hand off. Yaroi laughed as Sasuke grunted in pain.
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