As the Sasuke v Gaara match ended, there was a moment of pause as both contestants walked back up, before once more the screen lit up. More and more people had fought, and the number of Shinobi available to fight was getting lower and lower.
Thus, as Naruko looked at the screen, she only had a hint of surprise on her face, before turning towards Sakura. "Make sure you try your best, and don't hold back just because it's your friend, and a fellow Konoha Shinobi. Alright?"
"Hai sensei!" Although she looked a bit hesitant, Sakura firmly nodded her head, and walked down the stairs towards the battlefield, and on the opposite side... Ino was doing the same.
Naruko logically knew there should only be one answer to this fight - Sakura's complete and total victory. Yet... 'Will canon prevail? It should be impossible, yet, who truly knows? Sakura should surpass Ino in every single field, every single statistic, and everything one could pinpoint, yet so many other strange things have happened in these last few months. Who can be sure?'
-Ino-
Staring at Sakura, there were too many emotions to count running through Ino. Hesitation - at fighting her friend. Anticipation for fighting her rival. Self-doubt, and so much more... 'Who would have thought it would be us two fighting each other?' Standing against her... the only thing she could do was try her best! Even if she didn't win -which she would!- She would still be able to be proud and say she tried her hardest!
-Naruko-
In the end, that match, and the rest of the matches were, well - predictable. The fewer the number of people, the more easily she could guess the matches, and of course - know who would go on. In the end, all the people going onto the next round filed down to the bottom floor of the arena to hear about the next round, Naruko couldn't find it in herself to act surprised at who was going on, and who had lost - apart from Sasuke, albeit only because of his strength, and not because of who he fought.
The preliminaries in them itself was just a probability game there were always going to be certain people who would lose unless they got incredibly lucky, and there were always going to be people who would win - unless they got incredibly unlucky.
Yet, as she stared at not just the Genin down below, but also on the catwalk - there was admittedly, a bit of joy in the fact that she did have an impact. Even those who lost were far stronger than they would have been, a bit tougher mentally, and a bit more ready for the Shinobi world, even if some of them still needed some growing up. It didn't matter if they were nearly guaranteed to win or lose in the preliminaries, what mattered was that they had grown, and would continue to grow.
Naruko was rocked out of her thoughts as her Gramps spoke up, his aged gravelly voice drawing everyone's attention, "You've all done your village proud today by making it to the final round. From a pouch, you will each draw a slip of paper, upon which a number is placed. This number is matched by someone else's, and it's from here that your matches for the final round - set for a month from now will be chosen. From there, we will have a tournament, where the ultimate winner will be decided. Do we have any questions?"
There was a moment of silence before a lazy, yet curious voice spoke up, "Does that mean only one person shall become Chunin, Lord Hokage?"
A chortle escaped from him. "No young Shikamaru, no it does not. In fact, it's very possible that the winner won't become a Chunin, but someone else will. It's possible no one will become Chunin, or everyone will. What decides who becomes a Chunin, and who doesn't - solely rests upon what is needed and valued in a Chunin. Cunning, knowledge, leadership skills, experience, decision-making, and things of such nature. Now, Anko - step forward. Good luck Genin, and may the odds be in your favor."
As his words ended, Naruko watched as Anko walked forward from the shadows, pouch in hand, slightly open. "Alright brats, one at a time, no peaking, just reach your hand in and grab."
One by one each Genin or 'Genin' reached their hands in, drawing their lots.
"Alright now let's see here, match one is..."