Chuunin Selection Exam and Surprise Attack!

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After the mission at the water country, team 7 performs a few other uneventful missions. Kakashi trains Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, and their teamwork builds. Some time passes, and then comes the yearly Chuunin exam. The Chuunin exam is a test that Genin level Ninja participate in to show off their abilities and hope to be promoted to Chuunin. The test takes place in Konoha, and Ninja from all the great nations and hidden villages participate in it. This year, there is an additional participant, the Village of Sound, who fields 3 Genin for the test.

Usually first-year Genin do not participate in the Chuunin exams, as they are not skilled enough yet, so it surprises everyone when several of Konoha's instructors, including Kakashi, recommend their first-year students for the exam. Iruka protests that Naruto isn't skilled enough yet, worrying that Naruto could get hurt or die, but has no say in the matter and eventually concedes the issue.

The first part of the exam is given by Morino Ibiki, and is a written question and answer test. All of the students are put into a room and take the test at the same time, while over a dozen higher level Ninjas watch them and try to catch them if they cheat. If a student is caught cheating 3 times, they fail. If any one of a team of 3 fails, the whole team fails. There are 9 questions and they are very difficult, but a student need only get one right in order to pass, and there is a final 10th question given at the very end of the test. Most of the students resort to cheating to get the answers due to the difficulty of the questions, and many are caught and failed. Naruto naturally does not know the answer to any of the questions, but does not want to risk cheating, so waits and hopes that he will know the final 10th question.

When the instructor is about to give the 10th question he makes a new rule. If a student fails the test they will not be allowed to participate in the chuunin exam ever again, but they can leave before being given the 10th question and take the exam next year; however their team would fail as well. Naruto is distressed over what to do, because all his hopes ride on the 10th question, which could be difficult. He finally decides to stick with it and take his chances. Once everyone who wants to leave has left, the instructor passes everyone that stayed automatically, without even giving them a 10th question.

On to the next test. Mitarashi Anko comes crashing through the window, she is the instructor for the survival part of the game and is a little on the crazy side. The survival exam pits each team of 3 against each other in a large expanse of forest. Each team starts with one scroll, either a white or black scroll, and must acquire the opposite scroll and make it to the center of the forest, where a shrine sits, within 3 days. They can use any means to acquire the other scroll, and subsequently there are a number of casualties and many injuries during this test. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura have a difficult time, but end up acquiring the 2nd scroll with the help of Kabuto (at this time, they do not know he is actually working with Orchimaru and has ulterior motives for wanting Sasuke to progress to the final test). After the survival exam, Kabuto forfeits mysteriously.

Because an unusually large number of teams manage to finish the survival test, it is decided that there will be a small tournament to weed out the candidates further. None of the candidates get any time to rest, as the tournament starts immediately. There are 1 on 1 fights while the others watch from above. Naruto is pitted against Kiba, while Sakura fights against Ino, and Sasuke against one of the Sound Ninja, Akado Yoroi. Naruto and Sasuke win their respective rounds, while Sakura and Ino both lose fighting each other. In addition, Rock Lee is seriously injured while going against Gaara. All 3 of the Sand ninjas progress.

Now that the final candidates have passed the first 2 exams, they will progress to the final exam, a public tournament, which is held in front of many feudal lords, kings, and members from other countries. Each of the candidates is allowed one month to train and prepare for the final round. Naruto trains with Jiraiya, while Sasuke trains with Kakashi.

After the month passes, everyone gathers for the grand tournament in the Konoha stadium. Naruto is fashionably late as usual. Below is a screen capture of the match ups:



Naruto and Neji go first. Neji is far more skilled at fighting then Naruto, however Naruto's stamina and powerful chakra allow him to take the hits and keep going. He eventually tricks Neji into thinking he won, only to catch him off guard with an attack from underground. Naruto pulls off the win and proves that hard work can overcome a genius.

The next match is supposed to be Gaara and Sasuke, however Sasuke is still off training with Kakashi, so they move on to Kankuro and Shino. Kankuro forfeits due to the secret plan which revolves around Gaara's fight. So Temari and Shikamaru are up next.

The battle between Temari and Shikamaru is long and drawn out. Shikamaru stays in the trees by the border of the stadium, hoping to draw Temari into the shadows where he can use his shadow bind technique. Temari knows this and so stays in the middle and uses wind attacks which have little effect. After a while Shikamaru use a hole in the ground to extend his shadow behind Temari and lands his technique successfully. He has Temari pinned however he discovers that he is unable to win and his technique will lose hold shortly. Knowing this, he forfeits.

Sasuke is about to be disqualified, seeing as how the first round of fights are finished, but shows up with Kakashi at the last moment. And so the long awaited battle commences. Sasuke's speed has increased considerably during his training over the previous month, and he is able to land hits on Gaara just as well as Lee was able to. Gaara can't defend himself and so creates a large shield of sand that encompasses him. Sasuke can't get through so decides to use his new technique, Chidori (thousand birds). After he charges it up he slammed it into the shield and manages to break through, thrusting it into Gaara's chest. This causes Gaara to unleash his demon, Shukaku, momentarily, which is similar to Naruto's. The Sand leader and Orchimaru (posing as the Sand Kazekage) didn't expect Gaara to get hurt, and so signal the secret plan into action immediately. Orchimaru takes the 3rd Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, by surprise, and 4 Sound Ninja create an energy barrier around them that will prevent anyone from getting in or out, so that Orchimaru and Sarutobi can have a duel. Orchimaru refers to the 3rd as "Sarutobi-sensei", as he used to be Sarutobi's student before he went rogue and left Konoha.

At the same time, Sand ninja that are hiding outside Konoha's border coming barreling in, and summon a giant snake to tear down the walls. Temari and Kankuro grab Gaara, who is injured, and take out into the forest where he can heal. They plan to use his secret demon to destroy Konoha, but in his current state it won't work. Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, and the Ninja Dog pursue the Sand ninja, and eventually confront them a little ways out. Konoha's defenses are managing to beat back the invaders, so Gaara's demon is their last resort.

Sasuke fights Gaara, who is using the demon's power, but doesn't stand a chance. Naruto catches up to them and fights Gaara as well. Naruto doesn't fair well, but after Gaara injures Sakura his will to fight increases. He uses his new technique, Uzumaki Naruto Combo, combined with a forest full of shadow clones that he creates, to know Gaara down. This is the final straw through and Gaara's demon comes out completely. Shukaku is the one-tailed demon and stands many stories tall, towering over Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto amazes Sasuke by managing to Summon the Frog Boss, even though he is worn out. The Frog Boss is about the same size as Shukaku, and is able to fight it although can't last long. The Frog Boss and Naruto create a combined transform technique, transforming them together into an image of the nine-tailed demon fox, which latches onto Shukaku. The transform technique is released and Naruto jumps onto Shukaku, striking Gaara (the medium) and causing the demon Shukaku to recede back into Gaara. At this point the battle is won, and Temari and Kankuro grab Gaara and retreat.

Back at Konoha, Orchimaru and the 3rd are in a fierce battle. Orchimaru summons the previous Hokages to fight for him, but the 3rd puts up a good fight. After a long battle, the 3rd decides that he needs to use a forbidden technique, which seals away the enemies soul inside your own body, killing both, in order to win. Unfortunately he only manages to disable Orchimaru's arms. This does however cause Orchimaru to flee, leaving Konoha intact and the battle won.

There is a funeral ceremony for the 3rd Hokage, and everyone is naturally quite sad. But the story must go on!