15

                                    

                                          
(A:N: Just so you know, Naruto has one of Orochimaru's curse marks on his wrist.)
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"Oh my kami! Naruto, what happened?" Iruka shouted shocked at my and my teammates condition. I let out a weak-sounding laugh looking at my teammates who were perched on the wall behind me. "I really hate snakes Iruka-sensei" I winked and a look of shock crossed over his face. "you mean you went against.." I nodded grabbing my wrist again with a grimace. There is a reason I always wear a jacket and/or long sleeves. Stupid perverted snake. 
                          
Iruka looked worried and he walked towards my teammates with a bucket of water. "Before you wake them up sensei, look at Sasuke's shoulderblade" He furrowed his brow in confusion but did what I told him. Iruka let out a small gasp and threw the bucket up in the air. The bucket still filled with water.
                          
I watched in amusement as Sasuke and Sakura woke up soaking wet. the bucket stuck on Sakura huge forehead. 
Sakura screamed and began pulling the thing off. 
Sasuke shook himself like a cat and looked around with a sharp glare. I was laughing so loud I was surprised Sakura didn't hear through the wooden bucket. 
                          
Sasuke grimaced holding his shoulder and I immediacy stopped laughing. "Sasuke, you need quit the exam" he rose an eyebrow. "tch" 
Translation: whatever, i've been through worse.
                          
Sakura finally got the wooden pale of her head and looked at Sasuke in worry. "He'll be fine Sakura." I tried easing her worries. 
                          
"Hey Iruka-Sensei what were the scrolled about anyways." Iruka glad for the distraction explained the purposes of the test. I wasn't listening. Earth symbolizes physical strength. Heaven symbolizes spiritual strength. End of lecture. 
                          
I wonder if Mr. Snake was after more than just Sasuke. The marks kill almost everybody who gets one. Did he know Sasuke would survive or not? I mean yea, he's an Uchiha but that doesn't mean much in the end. I wonder if he went after Itachi. If he did and he's here now that probably means he lost against Itachi.
                          
"Hey Naruto! Iruka's gone now, lets go!" Sakura's agitated voice brought me out of my thoughts. "Gomen Sakura-chan, we're following you." I gave her one of my cheeky smiles and we walked to the next exam room. 
-
3rd P.O.V.
Team seven entered the exam room chatting quietly between themselves trying not to draw attention to themselves. "Sasuke are you sure about this" Sakura whispered worried for her crush. Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance and seemingly for the hundredth time said he was alright. 
                          
Naruto stood off to the side of them thinking hard. The crowd was confused about Naruto because of diffence between the loud-mouth Naruto act he had put on before the first exam and now. Even though the Rookie 10 and some others were curious about it nobody  thought to say anything about it.
                          
Naruto's P.O.V.
"Now that everyone is here, we have an announcement to make" Iruka spoke up gaining the crowds undivided attention. "Thank you all for participating in this years Chunin Exam's." Gramps spoke up after Iruka-sensei had stepped back. "We have a lot of promising Shinobi this year. Too many actually. We will be holding a preliminaries to narrow down the number of contestants." Iruka stepped forward allowing gramps to take a break. "Anyone who feels like they can no longer continue, speak up now please." Complete silence. 
                          
That was until Kubato raised his hand. I narrowed his eyes at the male. he looks perfectly fine. His chakra flow is steady. It shows no sign of any health issues. Why is he dropping out. 
                          
Kubato started talked about his ear being damaged from a sound ninja and was dismissed after Iruka had collected his name. 
                          
"Okay, if that's all please take a strip of paper from the box going around. The number on the paper tells the order you all will be fighting in the preliminary rounds." 
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"The numbers have been collected and the preliminaries will go in this order." Iruka spoke up after the strips of papers were passed out.
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preliminaries are the same as series:
Sasuke vs Medical (M)
TenTen vs Temari
Naruto vs Kiba
Shikamaru vs Rain (F)
Shino vs Sound (M)
Sakura vs Ino
Hinata vs Nejii
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Winners:
Sasuke
Temari
Naruto
Shikamaru
Shino
Nejii