"DOREMI," YURI said to her genin. I know you think Sasuke is strong, and he is."

"Huh?!" The red-haired girl exclaimed. "I can take him!"

Yuri chuckled. "I know you can, but he is driven by more than just pride, like you—he's driven by hatred. He will aim to kill you if he sees you as an obstacle. Keep your guard up and make sure he never has to use his Sharingan."

"But-"

"Is that understood?" Yuri cut her off sternly.

Doremi sighed. "Yes, Sensei." 

"Good. Or else I will step in and end the fight. Good luck!" She smiled and walked away with the other two Mist genin behind her, quietly wishing their friend the same. 

The two opposing genin stood before each other once more. "Are we ready to begin?" The coordinator asked them both. 

"I'm more than ready," Doremi grinned.

 "Ready." Sasuke smirked. 

"Begin."

Doremi leapt forward with her fist raised and surrounded with chakra. Sasuke pulled out a kunai and flung it at her but she manoeuvred her body mid air to dodge it.

Suddenly, Sasuke collapsed on the floor causing Doremi's eyes to flicker with concern but then she spotted Yuri on the balcony with a disapproving look. Doremi yelled and slammed her fist towards Sasuke but he rolled away just in time. The floor where we once laid now crumbled due to Doremi's powerful punch. 

Sasuke tackled her to the floor and trapped her arm in a vice grip. "Got you." He smirked.

Doremi grunted and tried to twist her arm out of his grip. "Ha! He got her!" She heard Naruto's shrill voice declare. That made her angry. Doremi created a fist and punched Sasuke in the gut. She leapt up and rolled her shoulder.

"I'm done messing around." She scowled. She threw up a flurry of hand signs. "Water Style: Water Severing Wave!" She yelled. Then, a high pressure stream of water expelled from her mouth aimed for Sasuke. 

Yuri chuckled at the jutsu. "Very good, she's been practicing well." She muttered to herself. She looked to Team 7 that was stood a few teams away. She saw Kakashi's eye widen at the events of the fight so far. 

"Come on, Sasuke! You call yourself an Uchiha?! You're letting a girl walk all over you!" Naruto yelled from the balcony. 

Yuri scowled. "Hey, Hatake. Muzzle your fox brat." She called over them. "Team 4, give Doremi support." Both Yaragi and Sezaki began calling down to Doremi with words of praise and encouragement. 

"Hey, watch it lady!" Naruto seethed as he approached her. 

Yuri snickered evilly. "Or what?" She leant down to his level. "Believe it or not, Doremi actually likes you and your friends so I'd stop being so rude to her. You don't see my squad belittling Sasuke."

Naruto paused as he looked back to the fight. Doremi was winning so far and he did like her too. "She's the enemy though."

"She's Sasuke's opponent. Not enemy. I would've hoped that if all of you survived, you would remain friends. But it seems not." Yuri turned from the yellow-haired boy. "You're just like your sensei, heartless."

Naruto growled. "Kakashi Sensei is not heartless, you're just frigid!"

Yuri turned around and gripped the collar of his jacket. But a hand wrapped around his wrist before she could do anything else. "Leave him alone, Yuri." Kakashi spoke coldly. 

"Keep your mutt on a leash." She glared, ripping her hand from his grasp. 

The fight continued. Sasuke had somehow found more strength and had gained the upper hand, replicating a move from one of the fellow competitors on the balcony. Sasuke launched Doremi in the air and hurled her back to the concrete ground. Yuri watched with a stern look but deep down she was worried. Doremi laid on the ground with her eyes closed as Sasuke weakly stood up. 

When the coordinator announced the end of the match and Sasuke as the winner, Yuri leapt down to the battle ground.

"Doremi, can you hear me?" Yuri caressed the young's face to move her red hair out of it. 

"S-sen-" Doremi croaked. "I'm s-"

"Shush. It's okay. You did me proud." She smiled and picked her up. She turned to see Kakashi holding Sasuke up with his knee against the boy's back. She frowned. "Congrats... Sasuke." 

Sasuke smiled tiredly as he breathed heavily. "Thanks. Is... she okay?"

Yuri looked down at Doremi. "She's breathing. I'm sure when you're both patched up, she'll want a rematch." She chuckled. Kakashi chuckled which caused Yuri to frown.

The medical team arrived and took Doremi and Sasuke away, Kakashi leaving with Sasuke. 

The next fights flashed by. 

Next was Shino from the Leaf vs Sezaki from the Mist, the winner being Sezaki.

Then Kankuro of the Sand vs Tsurugi from the Leaf, the quick winner being the Sand ninja. 

The longest fight of the them all was Sakura vs Ino of the Leaf with a tie for last as they both knocked each other out in the end. 

Then it was Tenten of the Leaf vs Temari of the Sand, the quick winner being Temari and her fan. 

Shikamaru of the Leaf won against Yaragi though it was a close call. 

Then the strange fight between Naruto and Kiba of the Leaf where Naruto won by accidentally passing gas on his opponent's face. 

Next was the dramatic fight between the Hyuga cousins, Hinata and Neji with the obvious winner being the former. 

The most interesting fight of them all was between Rock Lee and Gaara of the Sand - with Gaara as the victor. 

The final battle was between Choji and the final Leaf ninja who was easily defeated by Choji. 

With all the preliminary fights out of the way, the Hokage allowed the teams a week of rest and training before the final text of the Chunin Exams. 

Though she was disappointed that Kakashi had two of his students going through to the finals compared to her only one, she was still very impressed with her genin and how they performed. 

"Time for ramen now." She smiled to her beaten up squad. "On me, of course."

If they had the energy, they would have cheered. But they couldn't.

"Yuri Sensei?" A small voice spoke behind them. It was Sakura. "If it's not too inappropriate to ask, could Team 7 please join you for ramen, we'll make Kakashi pay for us so you don't have to." The pink-haired girl twiddled her thumbs as she looked hopefully up at the Mist ninja. 

Yuri looked to Kakashi who was busy speaking to Guy, or perhaps Guy was yelling at him and Kakashi was trying to ignore him and continue reading his suggestive book. "Does he know you've asked me?"

Sakura gulped. "No, but! But we'll force him, don't worry."

Yuri chuckled. "Just tell him, it's fine. I will allow your team and my team to have a night to eat ramen and talk."

Sakura jumped up in celebration. "Thank you, Yuri Sensei! We'll see you guys tonight!" She waved to Team 4.

"Sensei, will you be okay?" Yaragi asked nervously. 

Yuri's eyes twitched slightly as she stared at Kakashi. She eventually sighed. "He... apologised for what he did to me. That's why you though we were on a... date." She gagged. "I wanted to try and like his company more for your sakes. I'm sorry I'm so... grouchy."

"We like you when you're grouchy!" Doremi beamed. "If you weren't grouchy, we'd know it's not really you." She laughed. 

Yuri sighed. "Fair point. Come on, you fought well now we can eat."