The fight between Rin and Tsubasa was short. Rin was a medic-nin and, although powerful in her own way, couldn't hold her own against Tsubasa, who was very intent in fighting with all his might. First, he used close-ranged weapons, punching and kicking. Rin seemed to hold her own against him and caught on quickly. He was testing her to see what she was best at, and then use it against her. Kotori and Kakashi watched at the sidelines, along with their senseis. Kimihiro had a knowing smirk and Minato noticed. He looked concerned for his student, but said nothing.

"Let's heat things up a little." Tsubasa warned, taking out the biggest scroll from his belt. Rin blinked, staring and prepared for the worst, taking out a kunai to deflect any weapons the scroll might create. He bit his thumb quickly, letting the blood drip over the top before spreading the scroll out in front of him, running the blood along the intricate kanji and signs that were drawn on. Smirking, he threw it into the air and made handsigns.

"Summoning Fire Style: Puppet of Eternal Flame!"

There was a puff of smoke and Rin covered her mouth quickly; it was thicker than a usual smoke bomb… Once the smoke cleared, her eyes widened; in front of her was a huge, dark… Thing. She wasn't sure what she was facing, but then it occurred to her that it was a puppet. It was covered from its head to its feet with a tough looking material, similar to a poncho. She could see fingers peeking from underneath the fabric. Rin narrowed her eyes. Judging by the name, it must be fire based… So perhaps the cover was fire-proof. Water-based jutsus would work best, and she jumped back as Tsubasa moved the puppet with chakra strings. He kept his eye on Rin, the large puppet swaying in the air, its black 'hair' hanging over its face. Its face was based off of a boar, with tusks poking out from each side of its 'mouth'.

"Did he make that by himself?" Minato asked, glancing at Kimihiro. The man shook his head.

"His father helped him." he answered and Minato looked back at the fight, just in time to see the puppet blasting fire out of its mouth. Minato blinked and Kotori smiled a little. Out of all of them, Tsubasa probably had the best chakra control and the most so far, and he knew how to use it to his advantage. Rin barely managed to dodge, dropping to one knee and threw multiple kunais at Tsubasa, but he manoeuvred the puppet so it took the hits with an arm before diving for Rin. It raised both hands, and its finger tips lifted, revealing holes. Out from one hand came dozens upon dozens of senbon needles, possibly poisoned, while from the other came a shot of fire. Rin grit her teeth, quickly dodging to the side with the needles and took her chance, although she wasn't quickly enough, as some caught her on the legs. She yelled out, falling to the ground.

"Don't worry. They're not poisoned this time. They're just numbing needles." Tsubasa chuckled, moving his fingers as the puppet swung round in the air, moving in for a second round.

"Tsubasa, that's enough." Minato called, "Good job." he added with a quieter tone, already at Rin, picking her up.

"Are your legs alright?" Minato asked, setting Rin on the ground. Rin removed the needles and nodded, saying how she could heal herself just fine. Tsubasa sighed and looked round, picking up the scroll and his puppet disappeared. He winced, rolling the scroll up before putting it back and headed over to the others.

"Why did you stop it?" Tsubasa looked up at Minato, and the blonde looked at him.

"You did enough to prove yourself." Minato answered, "And now I know where I should help Rin to improve."

Meanwhile, Kakashi and Kotori walked forward. Kotori knew what she was good at, and hoped to god Kakashi wasn't of Lighting affinity. She had a sneaky suspicion though, but wouldn't let her guard down. She glared at Kakashi and, as usual, she couldn't see any emotion.

"Alright, when you're ready." Minato called, and Kakashi was off before he could even finish his sentence. At some point he had taken out a kunai and was ready to slash Kotori, but she acted fast; she had a kunai out within milliseconds and blocked his attack, although the force had her skidding back a few metres, and his kunai was inches away from getting her in the head. Instead, it got her hairclip, cutting it out of her hair. Kotori glared at Kakashi, who was clearly giving no mercy. He glared, thinking fast and threw his kunai at her, his other hand taking out shuriken and chucked them at Kotori as well. She deflected the kunai and ducked to dodge the shuriken, running at Kakashi with impressive speed. She was faster than he expected and he blocked a kick, shoving the foot away and she spun on that foot, swinging her foot at his waist. He blocked it just in time, aiming a punch, but she grabbed his fist, and she aimed to punch him, but he grabbed her fist just in time. They glared for a moment and Kotori rammed her forehead right into his, just under the headband. Her ears rang and her eyes swelled with tears at the impact, but it caught Kakashi by surprise and he stumbled back, holding his head. It was bleeding. Kotori smirked, trying to get rid of her dizzy spell and ran at him, managing to kick him. Before he could punch, she ducked and spun round on a foot, aiming to kick him off his feet. Her head spun and she grit her teeth… perhaps she wasn't thinking straight when she head-butted him. Kakashi jumped into the air, flipping and landing a bit away in a crouch. He stayed still, probably trying to stop himself from seeing double. Kotori smirked, getting to her feet. She had to bluff. She was fine, or at least that's what she was repeatedly telling herself.

"Earth release: Earthquake slam!"

She speedily made handsigns and the ground beneath her rumbled, but it was worse near Kakashi. The ground began to break beneath him and suddenly it broke to pieces, creating large holes. Kakashi easily jumped out of the way, unsteadily landing to the side, but the cracks followed his every movement, the ground cracking beneath him again. He dodged once more, looking round at Kotori, but she was gone. Damn it, a distraction? Kakashi quickly looked around, clenching his fists. Suddenly he felt a hand grab his ankle and he looked down in surprise, seeing Kotori burst from the ground and drag him down.

"Earth Release: Headhunter jutsu!" she called, standing in front of him. Kakashi glared and, as the ground closed up underneath him, he disappeared into a puff of smoke, the only thing left was a branch of a log that was now in place where he should be.

"Damn it!" Kotori cursed, looking round. Where was that sneaky asshole? She looked round, checking everywhere. No way, was he of earth affinity? She looked down, checking her feet.

Minato frowned, looking slightly concerned. Kimihiro looked at him, tempted to question him, but decided against it and looked back at Kotori. What was Kakashi playing at?

Suddenly there was a sound of… Chirping. Violent chirping. Kotori whirled round, caught off guard. Her hair flew in her eyes, but between the strands, she could see Kakashi diving at her. She panicked and made handsigns, letting them repeat in her head - hare boar dog, hare boar dog, hair boar dog - and could feel chakra surging out of her and a wall of earth burst through the ground, sheltering her from the bright light of Kakashi's attack. Her knees felt weak and she winced, but she could see Kakashi breaking through her wall. She hadn't used much chakra to cover it and closed her eyes tightly, but suddenly it stopped and she opened her eyes. Her ears did not deceive her; he had stopped. Kotori slowly looked up, watching him as he stood on the top the wall… It wasn't exactly the tallest thing, but she could barely see his face thanks to the bright sun behind him. He had his arms crossed and he looked down on her.

"I…" Kotori started, looking over at their senseis. She didn't want to give in, it was weak, but she had no more chakra. Looking back up at Kakashi, she could see he seemed weary, or perhaps that was just Kotori hoping. He jumped down and Kotori rolled backwards immediately as he seemed to be going straight for her… This fight wasn't over, and he wasn't giving her a chance to give up. Shinobi don't give up. Shinobi fight to the death. But training? Really? It wasn't that important! She grit her teeth as her head pounded… She couldn't go on for very long… Not with any jutsus. She stayed crouched, trying to relax. She was still a fast ninja, she could do this with Taijutsu alone. Kotori glared and thought carefully. Kakashi probably had enough chakra left to do what he liked, although it seemed that jutsu took a lot from him… Perhaps there was hope for her after all.

Kotori ran at Kakashi with more speed than she expected of herself and punched Kakashi, although he only seemed to step back and appeared more alert, blocking the other punch with his arm. He kicked at her, but she blocked just in time and jumped backwards. He leapt forward, and they clashed in the air, kunais out again and Kotori flipped, using Kakashi as a wall and bounced off of one of the posts into the air, Kakashi following. This was a bit more realistic; enemies wouldn't just stay in one place, they would move and dodge… But there was no time to think of how convincing the training had to be. She blocked his kunai attack again, glaring at him and flipped into a tree, hiding in a branch. She ran back just in time to dodge Kakashi, who would have landed on top of her, and she caught her balance, glaring. She had a plan, and hopefully Kakashi would fall for it. She backed up closer to the trunk and Kakashi ran at her with his kunai. She stayed still, gritting her teeth and closed her eyes tightly as he stabbed right through her. Kakashi blinked, surprised… He expected her to dodge! He stared at the kunai that went straight through her stomach, and Kotori coughed up blood. Kakashi hesitated, starting to move back, but suddenly she started to melt. Her skin turned from a pale pink to brown and Kakashi winced as the earth clone moulded over his arm, keeping him in place. He grit his teeth, trying to pull back, but the mud had hardened and he looked round quickly for Kotori, easily spotting her as she dove at him from above. She grinned at him, getting him in the shoulder. Ha! Stupid Kakashi! But suddenly he disappeared and turned out to be a log and Kotori fell on top of it. She stumbled onto the branch, looking round. Shit, he just copied her! Ass! She needed to get into more open ground. Jumping down to the ground, she looked round and tried to listen carefully. She could hear birds chirping and the leaves rustling in the wind. Clenching her fists, Kotori turned and could see Kakashi in hiding… But was he doing that on purpose? Kotori knew Kakashi was better than that; he could hide himself perfectly if he wanted to. Why was he making himself visible? Still, he could have just made a mistake. As hard as it was to believe, he was still only human. She threw two shuriken at him, and he disappeared. She heard something behind her and froze, glancing round her shoulder and winced when she made eye contact with Kakashi.

"You lose." Kakashi said darkly, and before she could spin and punch - or do anything - he grabbed her by the arm and pinned it against her back, pushing her to her knees. She grunted, "You're not fast enough." he stated, and paused, and decided to add under his breath, "But you are fast."

She smirked a little, wincing in pain. He was pinning her arm a bit tightly and clenched her fists… Her body started to really hurt. So the pain was finally catching up with her. He let her go and she got to her feet, and the pair slowly made there way back to the training area. They could see their senseis waiting with their teammates, and Kotori did a double-take when she noticed Kotaro. He still had the bandages on his left arm, and the sleeve wasn't fixed. She frowned and they stopped.

"Kotaro, how are you feeling?" Kotori asked. He shrugged, smiling.

"Feeling good." he answered and looked at Kakashi, who glanced at his arm before looking up at their senseis.

"Well, that was a good fight! Who won?" Minato asked cheerily, looking at Kotori and Kakashi.

"Kakashi did." Kotori answered, "He caught me off guard…" she mumbled, crossing her arms. Minato nodded and Kimihiro glared at her.

"Has all my training gone to waste on you?" he asked, and sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Never mind, we can go over everything once Minato's team leaves."

Kotori sighed, nodding and looked down. Minato's gaze softened and he smiled at his fellow Jounin.

"I can treat them to ramen, if you want." he offered, "Tsubasa and Kotori worked hard, and Kakashi and Rin did well too." he smiled at his team and Kotori smiled. Tsubasa looked up, eyes widening.

"Seriously?" he grinned then looked at Kimihiro, "Please, sensei! Please!"

"Well, I, I'm not sure if I…" Kimihiro frowned, looking at Minato, "Are you sure?"

"Positive." he nodded. Kimihiro nodded and looked at Kotori.

"I want you to train afterwards." he told her and she nodded. Minato smiled and gestured for them to follow and the team walked after them.

"Kotaro, wait." Kimihiro frowned, "I want to talk to you."

Kotaro sighed, grumbling and stopped, waving at Tsubasa and Kotori before heading back to his sensei. Kotori watched him and sighed before following the others.

Minato sat at the end, with Rin sitting next to him. Kotori sat by her and Kakashi sat next to her, with Tsubasa at the end. There were only two seats left. As they put down the bowls for them, Kotori smiled and began to eat happily, although her arm hurt. She knew it wasn't broken though, or else she would be in a lot more pain.

"Those were impressive moves you did, Tsubasa." Minato commented and Tsubasa rubbed the back of his head, laughing a little sheepishly.

"My dad taught me a lot of what I know. He's a big puppet user." the boy answered and Minato smiled, nodding, then looked at Kotori.

"And Kotori! You're fast if you can keep up with Kakashi. You take after your mother." he commented happily, laughing a little, "Although you're not as scary."

"Heh, thanks." Kotori smiled, her cheeks slightly red. She was glad she didn't remind him of her mother through personality; she was a terrifying woman. Rin giggled a little.

"It's a shame Kotaro can't join us." Rin said, "And Obito."

"They'll join us soon." Minato smiled and began to eat his ramen, but they heard a familiar singing voice calling Minato's name. Kotori looked round, smiling as Jin appeared behind Minato, resting an elbow on his shoulder, her chin on her palm.

"Minatooo, I was wondering where I'd find you!" she chimed, smiling flirtatiously. Minato chuckled and looked at her.

"Nice to see you, Jin." he greeted, looking back at his ramen, "How are you doing?"

"Great, just a little lonely." she replied, leaning on the Jounin. Rin giggled at the conversation and looked round at Tsubasa, who was pretending to be sick in the background. Kotori glared and chucked a small bit of meat at him, getting him square in the face. Rin giggled more and Jin smiled.

"So, what're you doing tonight, Minato?" she asked, winking at him. Minato smiled cheerily still, looking at her.

"I'm afraid I can't go anywhere tonight. I'm spending time with Kushina." Minato answered, and Jin smiled through the rejection, "And I'll be with her tomorrow, too."

"That's fine. One day, you'll find me attractive." Jin laughed, waving, "Later, Minato!"

Minato laughed as Jin walked off, hands on her pockets. Nearly every day Jin would approach him and ask him out, despite the fact he would continually tell her that he was spoken for. Despite this, through the months, Jin seemed to just make it more of a joke than serious flirting, and Minato was glad she didn't take it too harshly. She was also eighteen years old, too young for his liking, if he was honest. Rin smiled.

"Why does she keep asking you, if she knows you've got a girlfriend?" Rin asked and Minato shrugged.

"It's just something we do." Minato answered, finishing his ramen, "I need to go though. I'll pay for your bowls. Remember to train, Kotori!" he smiled as he walked off after leaving the money and Kotori grinned, nodding. She preferred him to Kimihiro, and would kill to have him as a sensei.

"You guys are so lucky." Kotori sighed playing with her ramen, "Kimihiro-sensei's so mean."

"He's okay." Tsubasa grinned, "He's just really fierce."

"He is scary." Rin frowned, "I prefer Minato-sensei. What do you think, Kakashi?" she looked at her silver haired friend, and he shrugged slightly. Kotori frowned, looking down, then stood up.

"Well, whenever you make a decision you can tell us." she looked at him, and Kakashi glanced round at her, "You can't keep quiet forever." she looked him in the eye before smiling at Rin and Tsubasa, "I'll be heading off to train! Kimi-sensei will kill me if he finds out I didn't."

"Have fun, Salmon head!" Tsubasa called after her.

Sighing, Kotori stretched and winced, looking at her arm. She wouldn't be surprised if it was already bruised. Looking back ahead, the girl blinked in surprise; it was empty. Kotaro and Kimihiro must have gone home… Sighing, she looked at the posts in the centre, then up at the sky. It was cloudy, but that wouldn't put her off. Rain was only a little thing. People like Kakashi wouldn't be put off, why should she? ugh, Kakashi. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She got into a stance and smirked a little, spinning round and throwing three kunai, each hitting the posts. She grinned at her luck and pumped her fist in the air.

"Impressive!"

Kotori spun round, glaring at the unfamiliar man. He was taller than she was, but Kotori was short for her age, and she guessed he was around thirteen. He wore an odd outfit for… Well, for anyone. A green bodysuit… Jumpsuit, perhaps? With orange legwarmers.

"Let me guess! Genin?" he asked, flashing his white teeth at her. Kotori nodded and he gave her thumbs up, "Good aim for a girl your age!"

Kotori frowned, wondering whether that was truly a compliment or not. Who was this guy?

"What do you want?" she asked.

"First, I want to know what you're doing." he smirked knowingly, "Practicing?"

"Training, yeah." Kotori put her hands on her hips, "I was gonna start with Taijutsu. Why?"

"I can help you!" he grinned, "I am a master at Taijutsu! If you train with me, you'll be perfect!"

… It couldn't hurt. Any training she could get that wasn't from Kimihiro sounded like a good deal, and she smiled. This weird looking guy could do her some good, maybe.

"Okay, but what's your name?" Kotori asked finally. He smiled, dramatically moving his arms and spread one leg back, giving Kotori the thumbs up inches from her face. She stepped back a little, staring.

"I am Might Guy! Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey!"