Cats

The next match was Sakura against Ino, however, unlike in the series, Ino had a great advantage during the battle and got the victory.

Although Ino and Kuro haven't trained in Taijutsu for quite some time, she was still training on her own and maintained steady progress.

And if we add to this her experience in fighting someone of Kuro's level, Sakura's chances would drop even more.

Ino did not go up to the upper level, but instead accompanied the doctors who were carrying an unconscious Sakura.

Asuma exhaled a bit of smoke and looked at Kuro, "The training has helped her a lot. Thanks for that."

Kuro shook his head, "No problem. It was beneficial for both of us."

.

The other matches were the same as the series, and Kuro learned many new techniques from watching them.

Soon, all the winners, except Sasuke, were standing in a line in front of the Hokage and the proctors of the other exams.

Hiruzen looked at the candidates and took the pipe out of his mouth. "Congratulations to all of you for making it this far. Still, I want to remind you that you still have one more test to go, which will take place in a month."

"Eh? Why can't we fight here and now?" Naruto looked at the old man puzzled.

"It is so that you and the Village have a proper preparation period. We need to announce the results of the preliminaries to the leaders of each Village, we must prepare and send the calls for the final stage." Hiruzen smoked his pipe and exhaled before speaking again. "Also, you will need time to prepare your battles. Previously, you faced unknown enemies, but that will no longer be the case in the finals. So, take this month to learn new tricks, train hard and rest. "

Hiruzen paused and smiled, "Before closing the matter, there is something you will have to do. Calmly and in an orderly manner each of you will remove a piece of paper from the box Anko is holding."

"Nobody move! I'll get closer." She walked in front of everyone until they had a paper.

Ibiki looked at the candidates while holding up a list, "Now, from left to right tell me the number that is written on the paper you have chosen."

"3." Shino.

"6." Neji.

"2." Shikamaru.

"7." Gaara.

"1." Temari.

"5." Kuro.

"9." Ino.

"I have the number 4." Naruto

"I the 10." Dosu.

Hiruzen blew out a bit of smoke. "So Sasuke is number 8. Ibiki, show them who will be whose opponent."

This surprised the Genin and they all looked at Ibiki, who turned the list over for everyone to see.

"!"

Temari vs. Shikamaru.

Shino vs. Naruto.

Kuro vs. Neji.

Gaara vs. Sasuke.

Ino vs. Dosu.

After a moment, Shikamaru raised his hand, "Sir, can I ask a question?"

"You can." Hiruzen raised his pipe to his mouth.

Shikamaru raised his index finger, "If this is a tournament, does that mean that only one of us can become a Chuunin?"

"In fact, it's quite the opposite. Several judges will be present for the final rounds, including myself, the Kazekage, and the Lords of various nations. The judges will make an assessment of your abilities and then decide which of you possesses the qualities required to be a Chuunin. Even if you lose in the first round, you might become one." Hiruzen raised his pipe to his mouth again and blew out a bit of smoke. "Naturally, there is a possibility that no one will be selected. The advantage of participating in more rounds of the tournament is that there is more chance to show your talent in front of the judges."

Hiruzen paused for a moment and spoke, "Thank you for your patience and wish you luck in your preparation."

.

.

.

Kuro was going to try his luck using the summoning technique.

Although he had no contract, he hoped that the technique would lead him to the home of the animal with the highest affinity.

After doing the necessary procedure, Kuro hit the ground.

*Poof!*

Smoke covered Kuro and when it cleared, he was gone.

.

Kuro appeared on a path made of wood.

Around him were quite tall trees, as well as structures of different shapes and sizes.

However, the similarity the structures shared was that it were quite tall.

In the branches of the trees and on the top of the structures there were some cats sleeping, others were polishing a sharp weapon and others were awake but lying down.

Kuro also noticed one or two cats with a crescent on their foreheads and others with a circle.

The awake cats looked at Kuro curiously.

Suddenly, the cats' ears twitched, at the same time a female voice entered Kuro's ears, "Oh? So it was a human?"

He looked ahead and saw a huge cat on the wooden path, with orange eyes, and he too caught a glimpse of two swaying tails. (A/N: Image in comments; almost.)

Kuro looked at the huge animal, "I'm sorry for the intrusion. I am Kuro Shizumatta, I came as I would like to form a summoning contract."

After he said that, the surrounding cats meowed among themselves.

The Bakeneko looked at him for a moment, "Hmm… come with me." She turned around and started walking.

Kuro followed her as he looked around.

There were cats doing different activities, from crossing obstacles with incredible flexibility, balancing in strange places etc.

The sizes also vary quite a bit; There were cats of normal sizes and others quite large, almost as large as the one Kuro was following.

"It's here." The cat's voice made him look ahead.

In front of him, to the right and to the left were Torii gates.

The one in the center was nothing special, but the other two were.

The one on the left had a crescent on top and the one on the right a circle.

Behind those doors is a wooden path that leads into a forest, making Kuro unable to see the end.

In the center there was a temple with some pretty old cat statues.

The cat went through the door and into the temple, followed by Kuro.

"Mother, I have brought him." The cat stopped in the center of a huge room and spoke.

"Thanks, Diaki." A female voice, but much more mature than that of the big cat, spoke.

Diaki moved and got behind three cats that were lying down.

All three cats were of normal size.

The one in the center was red, with two tails and a white horn in the center of the forehead.

The one on the left was white with a black crescent on his forehead, while the one on the right was black with a white circle, also on his forehead.

The cat in the center looked at Kuro. "Welcome, Kuro Shizumatta. My name is Miko, while the two of them are Taiko." She pointed her paw at the one on the right and then pointed to her left, "And this is Tsuko." She settled in and spoke again, "Now, let's talk a bit."

/\ /\ /\

(A/N: In the next chapter I'll skip the whole month straight into the Chuunin exams. Even though I have ideas about cats, I don't have anything very concrete yet, so for now, there will be mentions of them from time to time. Still, if you have any suggestions, please let me know.)