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The preliminaries started when all of the people who were coming arrived. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto stood beside the other teams. It appeared everyone of importance had made it- Deidara and Haku had entered as solos, so they finished the second challenge alone with startling ease. Shin and Sai paired up this time, and had also joined them for the preliminaries. Sakura tilted her head at who was proctoring this test- Gekko Hayate died in the original timeline, killed by Suna people. She'd heard a rumor that it was Gaara who did it, but it had never been confirmed, that she knew of. He'd been replaced by Shiranui Genma, but since Gaara wasn't a psychopath anymore, there was no longer a need for a replacement. This was an interesting change.

For outfits, Sasuke was dressed practically the same as he was in the last exams, the only difference being the fact that he was wearing sweatpants instead of shorts. Sakura wore a long shirt with a belt tied over it around her stomach, clinging to her lithe profile, and black leggings underneath. Comfortable, and practical. She had her long hair tied up into a high ponytail so it wouldn't get in her face, and instead of irritating shoes like she used to wear, she had on boots. Naruto was still wearing the ridiculous jumpsuit, but with the jacket tied around his waist, revealing the black shirt with the Uzumaki symbol, and Jinchuriki symbol on either side of it. He was proudly showing off the fact that he was both, and his teammates smiled at each other when they saw him.

"Alright, brats, listen up." Hayate Gekko said, catching the attention of the students. The twenty three of them were all gathered in the room, standing before the giant hands that formed a jutsu. "The rules are simple. There's too many of you- twenty-three, to be precise. Now, these rounds are just to knock a few of you guys out before the finals, which will be held a month from now." He proceeded to explain the rules of the fights, and the three kids had honestly zoned out at this point, looking at the people they were about to fight.

So we don't go easy on them?

We pretend we're struggling a little bit so it isn't incredibly obvious that we're 'prodigies'.

Just saying, I'm making Chūnin this time. No way is Dad sending us on another cat mission.

Fine, dobe.

The first round immediately required one of Team 7- first up, Sasuke vs. a guy called Yoroi Akado. He worked with Kabuto in the Sound. Yoroi had fought Shino, last time. Sasuke remembered seeing him both times. Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged. He guessed that the exams had changed more than a little bit from last time, since they'd accidentally brought in a couple of new people. Sasuke beat him pathetically easily, and the next person was up. Shino was next- he fought a guy called Zaku Abumi, from the Sound. He won, of course. Sasuke remembered fighting this kid in the last exams, and wondered why he'd ever thought he was tough to beat at all. Next up, Kankuro went against Misumi Tsurugi, like last time, from the Sound. Kankuro (to Sasuke's relief) beat him relatively easily. Everyone else now got a look at their abilities.

Next, a more intriguing fight- Sakura versus Ino. As much as Sakura loved her friend to death, she had to knock her out. She did allow Ino the pleasure of invading her mind once, before her Inner Self kicked her out as a defense mechanism. She flash stepped behind her friend, and hit her in the back of the neck, catching her before she hit the floor too hard.

After that, another interesting fight. Tenten against Temari. Sakura always loved the girls, but she remembered that Temari won this one. Tenten truly was amazing with her weapons, though, Sakura herself had reasonable control over a few weapons, but none nearly as extensive or talented as Tenten's. Ultimately, though, Temari and her weapon, her fan, won over.