Chapter Text
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“Dang and here I thought Pinky would have made the cut,” Anko says as the genin file into the main hall where the Hokage would talk
“Are there any more teams arriving?” Hayate Gekko says he stands with the various Jonin and the Hokage
“Watch it old man, I'm coming for your hat!” Naruto shouts announcing his and his team's arrival as Iruka rushes to talk to the Hokage and the Jonin
“Where the hell have you been dead last? Sleeping on the job?” Kiba says in a joking and curious tone having not seen him when Haruno dropped off two scrolls to their team and the other teams
“Eat a bone Kiba! Where I have been is none of your business. Now come on, let's get this party started already!” Naruto says returning the jab and trying to change topics
“Mm, how glorious to be bathed in the blood of their enemies,” Gaara mutters in demented glee disturbing both his siblings Temari and Kankuro
“Talk about a far cry from the kind semi mute cute guide we met two weeks ago,” Karui grumbles in shock at seeing the pink-haired boy covered in dry blood
“I would stay away from him if the amount of blood on him is not his,” Omoi comments
“He certainly has many layers,” Samui muses with a calculated eye
“I’m glad I didn’t face him in the Forest of Death,” Chojuro says nervousness clear in his tone since he along with his teammates had been assigned to give their report on the pink-haired Genin
“So, the mute evaded my team, no matter it looks as though he did his job to keep Sasuke -kun safe and here,” Orochimaru comments intrigued to know why the pink-haired brat looked like they came out of a war zone and his teammates were barely scratched up
“Damn kid with all that blood on him. Knowing Gaara that pink-haired kid’s days are numbered,” Baki mutters at seeing the late team seven show up keeping an eye on the pink-haired kid
“Are we sure that kid comes from the Leaf? They look like a Seven Swordsmen of the Mist minus one of the iconic blades. That kid looks like they crawled away from a war zone,” Darui muses curious to note that the pink-haired Genin looked like he walked out of a death pit while his teammates looked like they just came back from a lunch break
“Looks like the guppy is not much of a guppy anymore,” Mei says with a smirk curious to know if Haruno had worn blood of their enemies or if the blood was their own
“Couldn’t Haruno clean up a little before entering the main hall?” Kurenai says with a frown concern in her tone at seeing Haruno’s appearance
“The kid certainly knows how to make a statement, coming in here lookin near half dead,” Asuma comments back also with a frown
“Appearances are not everything my youthful friends his actions were most kind to his fellow Leaf comrades this according to Rock Lee,” Guy says all while frowning at the fact that there seemed to be nothing wrong with Naruto or Sasuke meaning Haruno took most if not all hits for the team
“Maa, I doubt his enemies will say he was kind,” Kakashi says as he takes in the appearance of all his charges noting Haruno clearly look worse for ware
“Attention you maggots! The next phase will begin after Hokage -sama says a few words,” Anko shouts getting all the genin to stand at attention
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Sakura was tired and watching 11 matches take place after one Kusagakure Shinobi, one Kirigakure Shinobi, and Kabuto Yakushi forfeit really made Sakura want to take a nap. Both Naruto and Sasuke’s fight, if you could call it a fight, was pathetic and made Sakura question just how chunin were promoted. Sasuke went first and was up against Karin Uzumaki, a genin from Kusagakure. Apparently Sasuke had saved the girl in the Forest of Death when separated from everyone. The girl was so grateful to Sasuke that she forfeited faster than a first year Academy student could pull a kunai out of their weapon pouch. Naruto’s fight that happened right after Sasuke’s match was equally abysmal. Hinata Hyuga, while a relatively smart girl and moderately decent overall, had a crush on Naruto the size of the Hokage monument meaning she was never going to fight Naruto. Sasuke who had yet to be dragged off by that point by Kakashi Sensei had to drag Naruto back up to the balcony and yell at him to take the win and shut up.
Kakashi Sensei then took Sasuke away to get his curse mark sealed and Temari of the Sand crushed Tenten without breaking a sweat. Shino’s match against Zaku an Otogakure shinobi was interesting to say the least in that Shino showed that bugs could mess a person up fast. Kankuro of the Sand fought an older leaf shinobi who had been teammates with Kabuto the guy’s name was Misumi Tsurugi. Kankuro won that fight. Karui and Omoi, both from Kumogakure, had a double knockout meaning they were disqualified from moving to the next phase. Dosu from Otogakure stomped Choji, and Samui from Kumogakure stomped Kiba. Neji fought a shinobi from Kirigakure and Neji won after that Shikamaru fought a girl named Kin from Otogakure. Shikamaru’s fight was drawn out and a little boring with Shikamaru winning after the girl Kin forgot her surroundings. Chojuro from Kirigakure fought Yoroi Akado, the other member of Kabuto’s team. Chojuro ended up winning that fight and Sakura really just wanted her match to come up so she could go take a nap like Naruto was. Naruto had fallen asleep during Karui and Omoi’s match.
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“Haruno Sakumo vs Yamanaka Ino, please come down to the floor to start your match,” Hayate Gekko says
“Look, you should just give up, you're barely standing as it is, and while my team is grateful that you helped us earlier in the Forest of Death, you don’t stand a chance against me. You’re a no name civilian born shinobi who has just gotten lucky in the past,” Ino says as she stands opposite of Haruno
“Hn,” Sakura grunts saying shut up in a tone of irritation that no one could understand since Sasuke was still off with Kakashi
“Um, begin,” Hayate says after getting a small nod from Haruno and Ino
Swoosh. Poof. Sakura runs at Ino all while weaving the hand signs for the simple Clone Jutsu creating two images to run with her as she ran at Ino.
“You really think that cheap trick will work? It’s an Academy grade basic!” Ino shouts out calling Haruno a fool essentially
Wack! Poof. Sakura lands her blow with her clones disappearing as her blow lands, shocking the crowd. This move impressed the Third Hokage who noted that Haruno’s form was perfect and something that his former Sensei Tobirama-sama would have been proud to witness. Many learned the form and knew how to do it but few ever perfected it or used it in battle so to see it used was a surprise to many of the higher rank shinobi.
Poof. Poof. Sakura throws a smoke bomb to conceal herself the proctor and Ino’s downed form. Sakura then quickly uses the Transformation Technique and turns into a perfect image of Hayate even taking on the Tokubetsu Jonin’s posture. This while Ino is distracted from rolling on the ground after the punch Haruno delivered. Once the Transformation Technique is complete the smoke disappears and Ino slowly gets up to note Haruno probably transformed to look like the proctor.
“Um, is there a problem?” Sakura says mimicking Hayate’s voice through auditory genjutsu she had learned a bit of before Sarutahiko died plus she thanked the fact that Hayate sounded not too dissimilar to herself
“Not a problem at all just stand back Proctor,” Ino says with a smirk quickly running through the hand signs to do the Mind Transfer Technique and implement it as both Sakura and Hayate move to get away from the other
Hayate had worked with Yamanaka before so knew the hand signs that Ino was waving so quickly moved away from Haruno or his double since the kid had transformed into his image. Hayate was going to say something but Haruno actually spoke and it didn’t sound too dissimilar to him and what he would have asked so he let the match continue even if it was a bit underhanded of the Genin to use him in the match. Hayate found Haruno’s layered play interesting especially if it worked in the kids favor at the end. Hayate was going to voice who he was but was hit with Ino’s jutsu before being able to identify himself.
Zing! Slouch. Ino performs the jutsu and aims it at the Hayate that had not spoken thinking Haruno was mute. Hayate is hit and instantly slouches his shoulders showing he was hit just as Ino’s body slouches to the ground showing the Jutsu worked.
“Looks like game over for Haruno,” Shikamaru says confident in his teammates abilities
“What a tremendous show of skill being displayed!” Lee exclaims
“I guess all the blood and torn up clothes was just for show,” Asuma muses as he too believes Ino has just won the match
“Well it would make sense Haruno looked rather worse for wear,” Kurenai says as she watches what appears to be the proctor look back at both Ino’s slumped body and the supposed fake proctor’s body
“I wouldn’t be too sure, Kakashi told me the kid was very slippery to pin down,” Guy says with frown wondering where Kakashi was and why Haruno’s remaining teammate Naruto had decided to not watch the matches surely the kid would have wanted to support their teammate or other fellow Leaf shinobi comrades
“I, Haruno… Ack!” Ino starts to say in Hayate’s body only to cough as a smoke bomb goes off
Poof! Sakura uses the smoke bomb to cover her hand signs for her version of the Shadow Clone jutsu to grab both Ino’s body and the body Ino was inhabiting to force the girl to forfeit. Once the smoke clears the crowd for a second time is shocked not thinking that Haruno actually succeeded with her Transformation jutsu. Thud! Sakura holds Hayate’s body against one of the walls as her clone also transforms to look like Hayate chokes Ino’s unconscious body against the other wall.
“What is that proctor doing?!” Kurenai questions
“I don’t think that’s the proctor,” Asuma says almost losing his cigarette in shock
“Impressive tactical skill,” Darui comments as Samui who is the only one left awake also agrees with him
“Agreed,” Samui comments impressed by the pink-haired 12 year old boy who had been her and her teams guide 2 weeks ago
“Ugh. W...What are you doing?” Ino shouts clawing at the hand at her throat confused as to why the proctor would attack her
Poof. Sakura dispels the transformation technique on herself and her clone before pulling out a kunai to drive into Hayate’s body while her clone does the same to Ino’s body. The whole crowd holds their breath, curious to see if Haruno would actually aim to kill a fellow Leaf shinobi.
“I surrender!” Ino shouts mid-way through Haruno’s swing of the kunai and instantly the various Jonin from the Leaf teams spring into action
Might Guy and Kabuto’s Jonin Sensei intervene with Sakura and Hayate’s body while Asuma and Kurenai intervene with the Sakura clone and Ino’s unconscious body. Sakura noting the match was over dispels her clone making Asuma catch Ino’s unconscious form. Sakura takes a step back and Kabuto’s Jonin Sensei undoes his kunai at Haruno’s throat. Guy catches Hayate’s body as Ino is shaking in the man’s body. Sakura then walks back up to the balcony where Naruto has yet to wake up and Kakashi and Sasuke are still absent. Ino for her part is terrified of the fact that she was so close to death. Her father had always warned her about leaving her unconscious body unprotected. Ino hadn't really thought much about it until Haruno had nearly succeeded in killing the body she was inhabiting and her unconscious form.
“I think you can undo your jutsu, kid,” Guy says feeling somewhat bad that the girl was shaking in Hayate’s form
“What the hell is your problem?! Ino was your classmate!” Shikamaru shouts in disbelief and anger moving to get close to Haruno and Naruto only for Haruno to glare at Shikamaru daring the Nara heir to take another step
“Troublesome,” Shikamaru grumbles in irritation as he sees Haruno pointing at Naruto who seemed to now be resting their head on Haruno’s leg forcing Shikamaru to turn away and wait for Ino and Asuma to come back
“How disappointing I was looking for blood,” Gaara says disappointed that Haruno didn’t kill the blonde girl or the kid who had yelled at them
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Orochimaru found Haruno’s display a master class in the basics. The boy, formerly a girl, displayed the Clone Jutsu, Transformation Justu, and to some extent a Substitution Jutsu in tricking the Yamanaka heir which Hayate was real. Orochimaru also noted that Haruno displayed taijutsu and genjutsu though to much smaller extents. Orochimaru thought it interesting how Haruno managed to evade his sound team and not give away any special techniques here in this match against the Yamanaka heir. The only thing that Haruno gave was a master class in tactical skill with using the basics to outsmart an opponent and make said opponent look like a fool.
Orochimaru could tell the Haruno kid looked tired and he doubted that it was just a front to lull enemies into. Even so the kid displayed something few higher ranked shinobi thought to use in battle: the Clone Jutsu. The fact the jutsu worked displayed just what a master could do with the basics, for it was one thing to learn the basics another to incorporate them into a fight and come out on top.
Orochimaru was very disappointed he didn’t get to see Sasuke fight since Karin Uzumaki forfeit so quickly. Orochimaru was happy to have come back for Haurno’s match since it was such a phenomenal display of what training and mastering the basics could show off. It was clear Haruno’s academy files were sorely lacking in information. Orochimaru was curious who would be the unlucky bastard to have to fight again and was hoping that Naruto or even Sasuke would have to go since Orochimaru thought Naruto’s match was just as abysmal as Sasuke’s match.
Mei found it intriguing that the pink haired brat out classed the blonde girl. The range of skill the kid displayed at just using basics made the blonde girl’s defeat that much more embarrassing for the girl. Mei had been pleased to see the amount of blood on Pinky’s clothes and the look of absolutely not giving a damn, it gave Mei chills. While this showing didn’t say everything it was a nice preview into the potential of why Yagura wanted Haruno to join Kirigakure. The boy didn’t give up, but like a good obedient pet they stopped the moment they were told. A display of excellent control and subtle manipulation. If it were up to Mei she would have promoted Saku -kun right there and then, not only was the fight entertaining, it was tactical. Mei had found some of the other matches boring and had been eager to see Haruno fight.
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“Haruno Sakumo vs Ha Kusa, please come down to the floor to start the final match of the preliminaries,” Hayate Gekko says
“WHAT!? This thing is rigged! Old Man! Haruno’s fought enough can’t you give him a break! I’ll fight for him the other guy doesn’t look that tough anyways,” Naruto loudly shouts having woken up when Rock Lee and Gaara fought having missed Neji’s fight against a Kirigakure shinobi
“Shut it pipsqueak! If Haruno wants to forfeit they can, but the matches are randomly selected!” Anko shouts back thinking Naruto was being disrespectful but secretly agreeing with the blonde
“Who are you calling a pipsqueak! You ugh,” Naruto starts to say only to fall unconscious thanks to Kakashi hitting one of his pressure points to knock him out
“Maa, that’s enough Naruto,” Kakashi says with an exasperated tone catching his charge before Naruto face plants
“I’m surprised you’re still awake, you look ready to collapse. Maybe you should have let your friend come and play instead. Doesn’t matter all you got is cheap basic tricks that will not work on me,” Kusa says with a smug grin as he stand across from Haruno
“Um, begin,” Hayate Gekko says a with nervousness in his tone noting that Haruno did look a lot more tired since the last match and he really did not want to be used again by the kid to finished the match
“Here I come, Pretty boy,” Kusa taunts as he charges at Haruno
Swoosh. Slice. Splat! Thud. Splat. Thud! Splat. Kusa charges at Sakura only for Sakura to doge the attack and counter with ease. Sakura cuts the guy’s throat and decapitates the guy, killing him instantly with two bloody kunai dripping full of blood. Kusa’s severed head hit the ground before the rest of his body joined the decapitated head. The blood sprays on the ground and on to Sakura’s annoyed and tired form.
This action shocks everyone in the crowd for the only other participant to come close to killing their opponent beside Sakura was Gaara and Shino. All the others were heavily injured but none killed and none had the intent to kill even the Kirigakure shinobi had only aimed to wound not kill. Luckily Gaara was not in the room when Sakura killed her opponent or Baki might have felt that Gaara would have gone on a killing spree. It was a little known fact in Sunagakure that Gaara loved to see others bleed.
“There might just be someone worthy of the title of a Seven Swordsmen of the Mist,” Mei says with some amusement noting the lack of hesitation on Haruno’s part to kill their opponent and in a bloody efficient way
“Mm, so the mute is perfect for ANBU then, why am I not surprised?” Orochimaru says with a sinister smirk knowing that these preliminaries would peak Danzo’s interest
“That kid is a beast and can’t possibly from the Leaf,” Darui says mostly in shocked confusion
“Kakashi, how could you let one of your Genin kill in this tournament?! It’s bad enough they nearly killed a former classmate,” Guy scolded his rival now happy that Naruto had been knocked out
“He should be removed from serving if he so callously can kill without hesitation!” Asuma says with a glare of disgust at Kakashi
“Why would he kill his opponent? Surely they didn’t say anything that could have provoked an execution,” Kurenai questions out loud making it sound like she was concern when she was actually noting that Haruno was perfectly suited for ANBU and Root with the lack of hesitation the kid displayed for killing
“That guy is totally unhinged,” Shikamaru says with shock at witnessing what he did
“He clearly disregards village loyalty with his former match and this one shows he either doesn’t understand the meaning of these exams or is unrefined,” Neji huff with superiority trying to hide his discomfort at witnessing the pink haired boy’s display
“How …terrible,” Hinata says nervously with shock at witnessing the brutality
“Even insects will bite when tired,” Shino says with a frown noting how Haruno killed so swiftly
“He’s just like Gaara,” Temari says with slight fear
“Deadly,” Kakuro says with a gulp agreeing with his sister
“He’s certainly doesn’t play any games,” Dosu says with a grim frown not pleased that Orochimaru had sent him and his teammates to go after Haruno if the boy was so swift to execute their opponent while clearly tired and standing on their last legs
“He, would be welcome in Kirigakure with that lethality,” Chojiro says with a nervous glance at the decapitated head
“Pinky is a better ally than enemy it seems,” Samui comments noting how un-phased the boy seemed by killing their opponent
“Hn, who’s pretty now?” Sakura grumbles more irritated and tired than she was before the match started before looking over to the proctor Hayate with a look that asked if he was going to call the match or not
“Um, …H.. Haruno Sakumo is the winner. Please, stay here on the floor as the rest of the winners come down to be addressed on what to do next. Those winners not here a representative or their Jonin sensei can get the information for what next,” Hayate says initially shocked at how cold Haruno was in joking with the dead body and not wanting to cross the killer
“Hn,” Sakura grunts saying sleep before signing in ANBU sign language the word for down and promptly passing out
Kakashi was quick enough to catch Sakura’s body before she hit the ground. Kakashi was quick to call for a medic. He was happy that Haruno was out thanks to chakra exhaustion. Kakashi, being the only awake representative for team seven was required to stay and hear who his charges would be facing in the tournament a month from the day.
“The following matchups will be Uzumaki Naruto vs Hyuga Neji, Aburame Shino vs Kankuro, Nara Shikamaru vs Temari, Gaara vs Uchiha Sasuke, Samui vs Chojuro, and finally Haruno Sakumo vs Kinuta Dosu. You have a month to prepare yourselves for the tournament. You are all dismissed,” Hayate says
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Kakashi was of course concerned. Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin all but told Kakashi that Sasuke would defect the Leaf, Naruto was getting more and more angry at not being in a proper fight and Haruno was complicated. Kakashi had not been around for Haruno’s first match but was told after by Guy that Haruno had been close to killing the proctor and Ino at the same time only stopping when Ino in Hayate’s body shouted they surrender. Kakashi didn’t care much for gossip but he could understand why some people might start to talk and claim Haruno was a miniature Kakashi in that Kakashi had been once called friend killer Kakashi. Haruno’s second match was dramatic to say the least in that Haruno killed their opponent in a quick bloody execution. His opponent’s head rolling to the ground with a wet splat definitely left an impression, with all that were there. Kakashi was happy he was able to catch Haruno from face planting before the announcements of the tournament but he was greatly conflicted on how to treat Haruno.
Kakashi was frankly impressed that Haruno made it through both their matches since it was clear they had gone through some stuff in the Forest of Death. If Iruka’s report was to be believed then Haruno carried his team solo for 4 days out of the 5 to get them to the tower at the center of the Forest of Death. Another thing that was concerning was that Asuma’s team along with Guy’s and Kurenia’s team claimed that Haruno gave them the scrolls to pass the survival part of the exam. No team had ever done the Forest of Death portion and acquired as many scrolls as Haruno did with a total of 18 known scrolls according to Iruka that was. The medic told Kakashi that Haruno appeared to be chakra exhausted but they would take them to the hospital since it was hard to tell with all the dried and recent blood on the boy’s clothes.
Kakashi knew from the Hokage that Jiraiya would be training Naruto for the month and that Sasuke would be Kakashi’s to train outside of the village for security reasons. Kakashi wasn’t sure how to train Haruno or who to even get as an instructor for Haruno. The kid was smart and took orders well but it was hard for Kakashi to pin down what Haruno’s flaws were as a shinobi for everything that Haruno had done thus far would have been the exact same moves that Kakashi would have made. Perhaps not the killing of the last guy in the preliminary matches but truthfully Kakashi felt Haruno looked ready to take a nap and those in his way would die literally in this case.
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Author’s Note: Team seven just barely makes the cut to hear about the preliminaries. Sasuke and Naruto pass with extreme ease. Multiple people fight and since it's an odd number (27 participants) a fighter must fight again. Sakura uses her tired brain to out smart Ino and take a win then later Sakura faces off a Kusagakure and kills them.
Note that the last guy that Sakura fights and kills I made up his name and the word for grass roughly translates to Kusa in Japanese. The guy’s last name Ha is a rough translation of blade in Japanese according to Google Translate. Note that I didn’t want to re-write all the fight scenes nor did I want to add too much to the other characters I added in. I only had Samui, Karui, and Omoi in this chapter and in this part to show that they are the same age roughly speaking of Choji, Shikamaru, and Ino. I had Chojuro from Kirigakure here since he became Mei’s right hand guy in Shippuden.
In case you wanted the match ups it was the following
Sasuke Uchiha, Konohagakure vs Karin Uzumaki, Kusagakure -winner Sasuke
Naruto Uzumaki, Konohagakure vs Hinata Hyuga, Konohagakure -winner Naruto
Temari, Sunagakure vs Tenten, Konohagakure -winner Temari
Shino Aburame, Konohagakure vs Zaku Abumi, Otogakure -winner Shino
Kankuro, Sunagakure vs Misumi Tsurugi -winner Kankuro
Karui, Kumogakure vs Omoi, Kumogakure -Tie no winner
Dosu Kinuta, Otogakure vs Choji Akimichi, Konohagakure -winner Dosu
Samui, Kumogakure vs Kiba Inuzuka, Konohagakure - winner Samui
Shikamaru Nara, Konohagakure vs Kin Tsuchi, Otogakure -winner Shikamaru
Chojuro, Kirigakure vs Yoroi Akado, Konohagakure -winner Chojuro
Sakumo Haruno, Konohagakure vs Ino Yamanaka, Konohagakure -winner Sakumo
Neji Hyuga, Konohagakure vs Unnamed Kirigakure -winner Neji
Gaara, Sunagakure vs Rock Lee, Konohagakure -winner Gaara
Sakumo Haruno, Konohagakure vs Kusa Ha, Kusagakure -winner Sakumo
Next up is the fallout of the preliminaries and the month of training for Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura.
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