Scroll 7: Beasts of Red, Blue and Silver

Inuyasha and Kadaj charged. Kadaj flipped above Inuyasha's head and twirled around to his back as Inuyasha attempted to swipe at him. Kadaj swung in several quick strokes, and Inuyasha could barely block with his giant fang. Kadaj sliced into the side of Inuyasha, and he jumped back.

"He cut him!" Sora exclaimed. "Is the cut deep?"

"I think he's okay." Miroku held his stomach. He leaned in closer to Sora to whisper. "Remember: Inuyasha is a half demon. Regular wounds won't harm him the way they do humans."

"Ohhhh, right!"

"Shh!"

Inuyasha griped the wound to the side of his stomach. Blood laced down his long nails and dripped onto the concrete.

That wound is deep. He may not last long. Gekko thought.

Kadaj chuckled.

"Damn smug bastard." Inuyasha growled. "Blades of Blood!" The swung his arm out from his stomach, and the blood flowed like several harsh scythes through the air. The four or five blades cut passed Kadaj, who dodged them all by sliding and turning casually. When the attack was done, he ran for Inuyasha again, who once more could only block the oncoming slashes.

"Whoa! Did he just use his own blood as a weapon?" Sakura asked.

"Yep." Sonic answered. "He's a bit bad tempered, but he's resourceful as well.

"Blood as an attack…" Kakashi pondered, "you guys really are out of this world."

Sonic did a fake laugh. "How observant of you."

Ezi stood beside Cloud. "Do you think Inuyasha will be alright? He can barely block, let alone attack."

"Kadaj is a skilled swordsman, just like Sephiroth." He explained. "Still, he seems slower than when I we had battled."

"Enough of this fancy swinging!" Inuyasha swung his giant sword, and Kadaj had to jump back, lunging in large steps away every time Inuyasha swung.

He had managed to throw his Tetsaiga up before the materia magic from Kadaj's arm flew out in an attempt to leave the defense, and one of the lights landed beside Inuyasha and blew up into the ground, throwing him into the air. He gained control of himself and landed back onto the ground, and Kadaj was waiting for him. A green material of powder shot from his arm and into Inuyasha's chest, sliding him back, but it did not inflinct any damage.

"Was that..?" Cloud scanned the scene.

"What is it?"

"Kadaj is packed with materia… I hope that's not what I thought it was—but, I haven't seen that in a while."

"Ugh, what was that?" Inuyasha rubbed his chest, but he felt nothing. Then, Kadaj came down on him with his sword again, and he was blocking and moving from him once more.

Damn! This guy's too fast for me…Inuyasha realized.

"If only Inuyasha could use his wind scar!" Shippo cried. "That would teach this guy a lesson!"

"Yeah… but that would knock this whole place down." Kagome said, biting her lip.

Several times, Inuyasha had been sliced in the arms, legs, torso and face. Blood was coming out of him somewhere from all the hits Kadaj had managed to slice into him. Finally, Kadaj had an opening, and he sliced diagonally up and through Inuyasha's chest; he roared out in pain.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried.

The dog demon fell to his knees. Damn it! I've lost a lot of blood…

"Give up. You're not even worth my time!" Kadaj looked up at Cloud. "Heh, even your friends know it. You're dealing with a higher being here."

"Quit your high and mighty talk!" Inuyasha panted. He dug the tip of his sword into the ground and used it as a support to stand up, wobbling.

"Pathetic…" He looked up again. "Really, Cloud. You betrayed your mother to be allies with these weaklings?"

"Mother? Is he talking about Jenova?" Knuckles realized. "Man this guy is a nut case!"

"Really: once you see how easy it is to wipe each of your precious friends out-" Kadaj was behind Inuyasha in a flash, and had stabbed him through the stomach, both of his blades protruding out from him. "—You'll be begging to join mother again!"

Sakura gasped.

He's a goner… no medical ninja will be able to heal that in enough time. Kakashi thought.

The blood curdled from Inuyasha's mouth, and he spit it on the floor as he slouched forward in agony; Kadaj ripped his two blades from his body, and Inuyasha fell onto his face.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome darted to the stairs, and there was moment of disbelief at how easily he had fallen.

Gekko coughed, allowing himself to recover from the unsightly gore before him. He hesitated, like he had with Kankuro's match, deciding if there was something else up Inuyasha's sleeve, he would have done it by now.

"Since he is no longer able to battle—"

"KAGOME, STAY BACK!" Inuyasha growled in a horrible, scratchy voice.

She caught herself from flying down anymore steps, and she and everyone else watched in shock as Inuyasha began to lift himself up.

Shikamaru gasped. "What the hell is going on? He practically got sliced in two just now; he shouldn't be able to get up, right?"

"I guess he lost; but, you see? That sort of wound is not deadly to him." Miroku sounded relieved.

"No… something's wrong." Sango concluded.

Inuyasha didn't seem to be struggling. He stood up slowly as if he were just standing up from a bed, with his tired head cast down.

"Still want more? Well, if you insist…" Kadaj prepared another slash, leaping just high enough so he so he could bring his sword down onto him. Inuyasha barely moved when he grabbed the blade with his bare, left hand—he grabbed the sword tightly, and Kadaj couldn't pull it away. He was startled when Inuyasha turned his head to the side, and he could see the bright blue glare encircled by crimson eyes.

Everyone gasped.

"I knew it!" Sango said sternly. "He turned into his full demon form!" In her distress, she did not bother filtering her words in front of any wandering ears that did not understand the condition at hand—Naruto was a few people away from her on the rail, but he did hear her, and is expression became filled with terror.

"Damn; he's at his limit, and he can't use the Tetsaiga's full power here, so he transformed." Miroku deduced. "What should we do?"

"We can't stop the match, right? He'll lose."

"L-let go!" Kadaj demanded. Inuyasha turned around to fully face him, still holding the sword.

"What's wrong? I thought you said I'd be easy to wipe out!" Inuyasha chuckled through his sharp teeth.

"This isn't good." Knuckles clenched his fists tightly.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome was frozen. If she interfered, he would be disqualified. If she didn't, he might try to kill everyone.

Kadaj was forced to release his weapon when he jumped back, as Inuyasha tried clawing him. Kadaj did not anticipate the jump in speed by Inuyasha, he was flailing his much longer nails at him, growling like a beast.

"Hey, is it alright if I ask what happened to your friend there?" Kakashi asked Sonic casually.

Sonic sighed. "He went full demon when Kadaj injured him. It rarely happens, but when it does its not pretty."

"Full demon? Hmm…" Kakashi rubbed his chin. "But, don't you guys slay demons?"

"Sure, the ones that cause trouble and are just plain bad. Not all monsters are bad, after all- But Inuyasha is actually a nice guy, like I said before. This isn't necessarily something he is great at controlling though once it gets to this point."

Inuyasha seemed to be getting faster at every move, as if he were able to gain endurance from studying Kadaj's movement.

Finally, he slashed through Kadaj's leg, much to the mischievous fiend's surprise, and he toppled onto the ground, rolling away quickly before Inuyasha could swipe at him again. He stood up quickly and threw his arm out.

"Manipulate!"

A green cloud of smoke flushed out from Inuyasha, and he froze.

"Can't… move…"

"What happened? Move, Inuyasha!" Shippo proclaimed.

"It's the Materia he shot at him earlier." Cloud said. "Kadaj can control creepers and summon them from the lifestream using a mixture of Materia from his hand. He used the manipulate materia on Inuyasha, and is trying to control him."

"No!" Ezi cried. "That means he'll control his body?"

"Yes."

Kadaj chuckled and limped towards Inuyasha as the full-fledged demon fell to his knees.

"Looks like I've got you. I'll make you forfeit, then maybe I'll have you go after your pathetic friends one by-"

Kadaj's chest was ripped open. Inuyasha flew up and clawed on hand through him like a child wisps through bubbles.

The air was still for those few seconds that seemed to last quite a while, until Kadaj's body slammed into the floor.

Kadaj must have died, but he tried to sit up, his mangled body covered in red.

"He…" Everyone was speechless.

Gekko was stammering. He didn't know what to do at first. It would be the first death that emerged from the preliminaries, after all.

Inuyasha growled and began swinging his head about; a sort of anguished, victory cry spewed from him.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome had already entered the arena and had hugged him from behind.

Sakura gasped. The scene felt familiar to her, and it reminded her that Sasuke Uchiha, her dear teammate, had been cursed in the forest of death.

"Please… control yourself! I know you want to go home, but you can't use your power like this just so you can win!"

Inuyasha tried struggling, snarling at her.

"Please! Don't do this! You have to be strong, Inuyasha… I'm begging you! I don't want to see you like this!"

Cloud hopped down from the rail and jumped towards them. Inuyasha turned around, and he raised his claw at her, but Cloud shoved something in his mouth, and he unwillingly swallowed. In an instant, Inuyasha collapsed, unconscious.

"Wh-what just happened?" Sora said first. Inuyasha was knocked out, and Kadaj was no longer moving.

After a few seconds, Gekko took the initiative to cough, then speak:

"Since Kadaj has been defeated, and there was interference on Inuyasha's part, it is another double knock out: neither will continue to the next round."

"What? Interference? Kadaj was already down when Kagome got there!" Knuckles retorted.

"Allow me to explain: I had every intention of stopping the match when he went crazy; however I allowed the match to continue. He had only attacked Kadaj, and while it was a fatal blow, it is necessary to give some time before I could call him the victor." He eyed Cloud and Kagome. "They interfered before I could declare anyone as the winner, and now he is unable to continue fighting as well. With both participants unable to continue, the match was forfeited. That's that."

"But-!"

"Knuckles, stop." Kagome snapped. She wiped the water from her cheeks. "It's fine."

"I gave him an anti-Esuna; it's a strong magic that put him to sleep." Cloud explained. "Sorry."

"No! T-thank you…" Kagome looked down at Inuyasha. The purple bars were gone from his face, his nails were shorter, and he looked peaceful.

"Could you..?"

Cloud yanked the unconscious demon over his shoulder as the medical ninja in white raced over to Kadaj. Before they could examine his body, though, it dispersed into tiny green lights and floated into the air.

Everyone watched in peculiar awe as the lights seeped high into the air, and were gone.

"He… He just disappeared!" Naruto gasped. "Whoa, totally weird."

Cloud sighed. "Inuyasha did kill him. His body returned to the lifestream. But… I wonder if it will find our planet so far away from it."

"If you're worried about his actions… you can put your friend in the room in the back of the hall, instead of take him all the way to the infirmary." Kakashi said.

"T-thank you." Ezi stammered. She could tell by the look of shock on Kagome's face what was going through her head. She watched as Kagome quietly followed Cloud to the room.

"We should go make sure he's okay—"

"No, what if our match comes up soon?" Miroku clarified. "He'll be okay. Besides… I think Kagome should be the only one there when he wakes up. They may need to talk."

Shikamaru Nara v Kin Tsuchi appeared on the board next, and the lazy genin from the leaf, and the longhaired female from the sound, headed for the arena.

"Shikamaru, don't lose!" Ino yapped. Naruto and Sakura took the initiative to stand beside her and Choji to watch the match.

The battle began, and Shikamaru made a hand sign by holding his index and middle finger with his other hand.

"Ninja art: Shadow Possession Jutsu!"

"A one trick pony, huh?" Kin mocked. "If you're going to use the same old move every time this match will be easy."

He used his attack anyway: the shadow under him danced across the tile, flying towards Kin. She moved out of the way and threw senbon needles with bells attached to the end, and he rolled away quickly, halting his jutsu.

Sonic whistled. "A shadow possession technique? Too bad he wasn't fast enough."

"What did she mean by one trick pony? Have they fought before?" Ezi asked.

"Sort of." Sakura answered. "Ino's team helped us out a little when they attacked our squad."

"And don't you forget that we did!" Ino snapped.

"Huh? We were attacked by them?" Naruto scratched his head.

"You idiot! You were knocked out, remember?" Sakura chided.

"Well, I'm glad you guys made it out, anyway." Ezi said.

As the fight continued, Kin managed to trick Shikamaru and pierce into his arm with two senbons with bells.

"Shikamaru!" cried Ino. He yanked them out immediately, but grew stiff.

Kin cackled. "You feel for my trap! My bells are special, and they send a sound to your ear drum that causes you to hallucinate once they've rang into your body!" She threw three more at him, and he merely dodged by ducking his head in and covering his body with his arms, which the needles easily pushed into.

"Next I'll throw five, then seven, until you become a hedgehog!"

"Hey! I didn't like that joke." Sonic admitted.

"Go ahead and use your shadow justsu! You won't be able to figure out which one is the real me in enough time!"

"What does she mean by that?" Sonic asked.

"It must be the hallucinations he is having." Lee answered.

"T-that's no good."

As she gave a monologue, Shikamaru had used his jutsu, and somehow managed to snatch the real Kin in his jutsu.

"How?" She yelled. "I made sure all of the hallucinations had shadows too!"

"Maybe so," Shikamaru said, proudly, "but the bells you threw before with the string have shadows, and you didn't copy those."

"Hmph, this kid is smart." Shadow said to himself.

Now Kin was under his control, and he forced her to move her arm into her pouch as he did the same, both pulling out a ninja star.

"You're crazy! If you throw, I'll be throwing it too; you'd be attacking yourself!"

He threw it anyway, and she was forced to do the same with her own; Shikamaru took the effort to dodge by diving backwards quickly, and Kin had to do the same. He swung his body all the way down with agile care, but Kin had been too close to the wall behind her, so her heads slammed into it when she dodged the same way. She passed out and slid onto the floor.

"And that's what I call using your head." Shikamaru snickered. He flipped backwards so he was standing normal again, slouched. "A real ninja needs to be aware of their surroundings, too. She didn't see the wall right behind her. What a drag."

"The winner by knockout is Shikamru." Gekko declared.

Ino and Choji cheered as he sauntered lazily out of the arena.

"Wow, what a smart kid! Using his surroundings like that." Ezi stated.

"Eh, it was okay." Naruto folded his arms.

"Admit it: you thought it was cool!" Sonic said.

"I, I did not!"

"I hope it is my turn next!" Lee declared. "Please be my turn, please, please, please!"

"Man, when's it gonna be my turn already?" Naruto pouted.

Someone collapsed beside them, and everyone looked to see the monk in purple on the ground.

"Miroku!" Sango cried, racing to his side, "What's wrong?"

"He looks really sick!" Knuckles analyzed. Hearing this, Sango pulled up his sleeve to see his entire arm was purple.

"What..?"

"Hey, did he get poisoned?" Sora asked.

She gasped. "That's right! The giant bug… it must have injured him when he used his wind tunnel!"

"What? Why didn't he say anything before?"

"He… must have wanted to fight in his match first. If we left to treat it, he would have automatically lost…" Sango placed two fingers on his neck. "He's still breathing!"

"L-let's get him to our, uh, base!" Tails said carefully. "I have tons one medicine that can treat his wound."

"His pulse is low, we don't have much time, hurry!" Sango voice sounded scratched.

"Who can take him? If any of us go… we could miss our match." Knuckles enlightened.

"I'll go." Shadow said. "I can use chaos control. But, I can't use it all the way to the base, and I can't carry him on my own."

"Kirara, let's go!" Sango didn't hesitate. Her two-tailed cat transformed into a giant beast, and she helped shadow get Miroku onto Kirara's back.

"Sango, if you go!"

"I have to go!" Sango said. "I'm not leaving him like this!"

"I'll go too." Tails said. "I have to get you guys into the base." Tails flew down the hall, and Sango, Miroku and Shadow atop Kirara took off.

"Oh, I hope he'll be okay…" Sakura said quietly.

"Ah, hey is that guy gonna be okay?" Naruto asked.

Sonic looked out onto the screen. "Don't worry about that, Naruto: focus on what you have to do now."

"Huh?" He looked to the board.

Kiba Inuzuka

V

Naruto Uzumaki

"…Oh! ALRIGHT! FINALLY ITS MY TURN!" Naruto, and Kiba, the boy with the dog and wearing a heavy purple jacket, entered the arena.

"Sonic, without Sango and Miroku here…"

"Yeah, I know. That means me, you, Cloud and Knuckles could be the only ones with a chance to make it now to the next round."

"Eh, I hope Inuyasha and Miroku will be alright."

As the match began, Naruto and Kiba were bickering with one another. Naruto complained about the little white dog being a cheat, but Gekko said it was considered a weapon, especially for someone from the Inuzuka clan.

Kiba was speculating Naruto for the small dweeb he was. He recalled that the only thing he and the obnoxious Naruto had in common was that they both wanted to be Hokage. However, Naruto was always making a fool of himself at their ninja academy, and he couldn't even do a decent clone jutsu.

"Akamaru," Kiba said to the dog, "stay out of this." He made a hand sign. "Ninja art: man beast mimicry!" He went down on all fours, looking as beastly as Inuyasha had, and he swung himself at Naruto, cramming his elbow into his stomach. Naruto went toppling far and fell out onto the floor.

"Ah!" Sakura cried.

"That was fast." Choji said. "Man, Kiba was lucky getting to fight him."

"Awe, man…" Sonic's ears went down.

"No way… Naruto?" Ezi looked down at him, concerned, stunned, but then he began to rise again.

"I was wrong about him…" Sakura said thoughtfully. "…He may be an idiot, but that's what makes him Naruto: he never gives up!"

"Don't…ever… underestimate me!"

"Yeah, Naruto! Show 'em what you can do!"

"You're a mess; all tough talk!" Kiba snarled.

"I just wanted to see what you can do: you hit an old lady!"

"You'll regret that…" Kiba grumbled. "Akamaru, let's go!"

"Phew! He got me there for a second." Sonic commented.

Kiba threw smoke grenades at him next, and he used it to hit Naruto left and right in the smoke; Naruto jumped out, and Akamaru chomped at his arm, throwing him down and back into the smoke.

"Ha! He fell for it." Kiba said proudly. He waited for the dust to clear, and Akamaru was sitting proudly with an unconscious Naruto on his side.

"Man, beat by the puppy…" Knuckles said, disappointingly. Akamaru ran to Kiba, and jumped up and chomped on his arm now, too. "What the-? Did the dog betray his master?"

A puff of white smoke embodied Akamaru, and it was revealed that Naruto had used a transformation jutsu on himself, and used a clone to hold Akamaru by the arms in the air. Everyone was quite impressed; even the sand and other sun ninja were speculating with interest.

"Heh, the kids more interesting than I thought." Kankuro, the puppet master, said to his brother and sister.

"He's certainly has good timing on his jutsu." Temari added.

Aritob and Sephiroth had remained quite for the duration of the preliminaries. They certainly had nothing in common to speak of, and with Kadaj defeated so easily, they were preparing for their own fights mentally.

"These jutsu are quite interesting… perhaps I'll have to learn a few myself." Aritob spoke.

"Do it quickly, before my plan comes to fruition." Sephiroth bothered to look at Cloud on the other side, who had been tense the whole time, because of their connection. He could practically feel Cloud's desperation to escape him or fight him; either way, it boiled amusement behind his cold, green eyes.

Akamaru had turned red, and Naruto was forced to let the dog go.

"Hey, what did you feed him?"

"A food pill; but you don't need to worry about that." Kiba went on all fours again, and Akamaru hopped onto his back. "Ninja art: Beast Mimicry: Man Beast Clone!" In a puff of smoke, Kiba's jutsu turned Akamaru into a clone of himself, and they both charged for him.

"He's so fast; not as fast as me, of course." Sonic noted. Naruto swiped and moved side to side to avoid Kiba and his clone's oncoming attacks as they circled him like wild animals.

"That food pill he took doubles his stamina in agility." Asuma, Ino's sesnei, said. "Things aren't looking good for Naruto."

Kiba used the smoke bombs again, and he and Akamaru used another jutsu that caused their bodies to twist fast enough and become like berserk tornados, bouncing off the surface and possibly hitting Naruto.

"I-I can't see if they're hitting him or not with the smoke bombs covering everything!" Sakura said worriedly. As the dust cleared, however, three Kiba's stood in the middle of the floor.

"What the-?" Knuckles exclaimed.

Sonic laughed. "Man, this kid is great! He just keeps pulling the tricks!"

Unfortunately, Kiba's senses were similar to a dog's, and he could smell which one was the fake Naruto; he punched him down, but the clone transformed into Akamaru. Shocked at how he could have possibly missed such a mistake, he turned around and punched the other clone, only for it to be knocked out and turned into the real dog. The first dog stood up and ran to Kiba while his back was turned, transforming into Naruto and kicking the baffled Kiba right in the jaw. Kiba flew back, but he did not fall; Akamaru however had officially remained dormant after his own owner had knocked him out.

"What a go Naruto!" Sakura cheered.

"Classic. This is too good." Sonic said. "He'll be fine."

"The match hasn't ended yet; how can you say that?" Ezi demanded.

"I believe in him. He'll be okay." He said it so nonchalantly, it was difficult for Ezi to believe him.

After a few cuts and knocks- even though he continued to stand up from every hit- it was official despite his earlier victories that he was too slow against Kiba. For his last trick, Kiba planned to use a final attack behind him while Naruto tried to gain chakra.

In a fit of stress and anxiety he had been holding in, Naruto farted. It was loud enough for all to hear, and Kiba to smell with his sensitive nose, distracting the beast-like shinobi in a fit of agony as he tried to conceal his nose.

"Whatever works, Naruto: you got him right where you want him!" Sakura cheered.

"Right! And now its time for my secret technique!" Naruto finally managed to take the time to summon four shadow clones, and they surrounded Kiba. One of his clones punched Kiba in the face, and he used the clone as support for himself to jump up high into the air. The other three clones took a turn punching Kiba's body up into the air, where the real Naruto was.

"UZUMAKI BARAGE!" Naruto flipped down upon him, and he kicked Kiba right in the head so hard, Kiba 's entire body smacked back into the ground—blood spat from his mouth before he was knocked out.

Everyone was shocked for a moment; the technique felt similar, yet it was still an impressive display of jutsu and physical attacks being used at once. No one said a word as Gekko examined Kiba.

"The winner is: Naruto Uzumaki."

"yyyyyyyyYEAHHHH!" Naruto looked beat, and exhausted, but he managed to jump with joy.

The medical team had to come and prep Kiba to be moved with a likely concussion, so everyone waited for the arena to be cleared.

Despite this, the board began to select the next random fight:

Sango

V

Miroku

"…Ah, no way!" Ezi gasped.

"Huh? Where the hell are those two?" Everyone turned to the familiar voice.

"Inuyasha! You're okay!" Shippo said delightedly.

"…Yeah." He had his arms folded in his sleeves. Kagome came back from the hall behind them, but she said nothing. "Anyway, where the hell are they?"

"Miroku was poisoned in the forest, and Sango took him to the ship since no one else could carry him." Ezi explained.

"Still, glad to see you're okay!" Amy said.

Inuyasha's ear twitched. He could hear the conversation going on below: Kiba was being carried out, and Hinata was standing at the exit there with him.

"Forfeit the match if its that sand guy, or Neji. He'll try to kill you… and, we saw what that sand guy did in the forest, so that's a no brainer."

"Thank you for the concern, Kiba…" She said shyly.

"Hmm…" Inuyasha looked out at the sand ninja parallel to them; so it had been the sand people that had caused the bloodshed he and his team had come across. It would be pure luck if none of his comrades had to face someone capable of such gore.

He sniffed the air. "It smells like a sweaty dog in here."

"Hey! You healed pretty fast!" Naruto noted as he buzzed by to rejoin Sakura. Kagome kept quiet, but she noticed something about the strange boy she had not seen before.

"…Anyway, what should we do if Sango and Mirkou aren't here?"

"I-I'll go look for them! Sango could be on her way back!" Sora darted out, and Donald and Goofy followed to help.

"Yeah, at least with one of them here, they could win automatically." Ezi said. "Damn! This is not looking great for us…"

Gekko could already see something was wrong. "Where are the contestants for this match?"

The Hokage was also concerned.

"Uh, bathroom break?" Sonic fibbed.

Gekko cleared his throat. "Since neither are able to participate—"

"Wait! They'll be here, any second!" Amy insisted.

"I'm sorry, but if neither of them are present, there's no proof they're capable of fighting." He coughed. "They're disqualified."

The Hokage smoked his pipe. "Well, that's disappointing.'

"No…" Ezi said to herself.

The board dinged again with a new match, and caused the sun ninja to be slightly startled:

Sonic

V

Knuckles

Knuckles gaped at the sign. Sonic said nothing as he coolly sauntered down to the arena.

"H-hold on!" Ezi said. "Isn't it strange that two teammates have to battle?"

"Like I said before: the board chooses randomly." Gekko answered.

She cursed inwardly. If they had their own, separate fights with ninja from other villages, at least they both had a chance of moving on to the next round instead of just one of them.

"This wasn't random," Knuckles said, seriously, "this was destiny."

"Oh brother." Amy rolled her eyes. Knuckles entered the arena as well and stood across from Sonic.

"My, they're a colorful crew, aren't they?" Anko seemed dazzled by the blue and red animals that were about to brawl.

"I can't say the same for their last few battles; they were a bit dull, but with a few abilities to keep in mind, to say the least." The Hokage had been analyzing the new and old villages he had not seen before, of course. The only one he had found impressive so far among them was Shadow's performance.

"You may begin whenever you are ready." Gekko started the match.

"Hey, why don't you save me the trouble and just forfeit so I can move on?"

"Always messing around!" Knuckles scolded. "This is why… I can't…"

"Huh?" Sonic tilted his head.

"I can't let you continue, Sonic! You think everything is just a game, even this! Well, I'll show you I'm more capable of moving on and saving all of us!"

"Whatever you say, knucklehead!"

They both took a stance, ready for action—and the echidna and hedgehog prepared for battle.

"Come on, Sonic! You can do it!" Amy cheered.

"Hm, I'd feel bad if I cheered for just one of them." Shippo admitted.

"Yeah! Go Sonic!" Naruto yelled.

"Hmph, it doesn't surprise me that you have your fans here already." Knuckles sneered.

"I won't go easy Knuckles, just for you." Sonic winked.

"Neither will I." He patted his fists together, and the gloves turned yellow.

The battle began—Knuckles went erratic first, punching and swinging his fists at an impossible target. Sonic leapt into the air, rolling into a ball as he shadowed the wall, and used it to spin faster and faster until he kicked forward, flying towards the ground and towards Knuckles. He caught the spinning hedgehog, and the pressure forced him sliding back on the concrete. He finally gained enough control of the speed in his grip, and jump up, slamming Sonic into the ground as his body unfolded. As Knuckles landed, he planned to bury his fist into Sonic's back, but despite the dent in the floor he had formed, he used the force that bounced him back up to hop away.

"Knuckles is serious! He's trying to give Sonic a beat down!" Sora exclaimed as he walked in.

"Any sign of 'em?" Inuyasha nodded his chin towards him.

"Ah," Sora shook his head, "no sign of Sango or Miroku."

"Damn monk," Inuyasha snorted, "getting himself almost killed just so he could go on!"

"Says the guy who went berserk in battle!"

"These exams are straining all of us," Cloud approached, "so I guess they're pretty effective."

"Will you all stop blabbering and watch the fight?" Amy snarled. They said nothing to respond as they loomed over the rail to see Sonic had kicked Knuckles in the face. He flew into the air, but landed gracefully beside the hand sign statue.

Knuckles wiped the blood from his cheek, then looked around for something. He dug his gloves under the corner of the stone platform that the statue, growling with all of his power and lifting it from the concrete. He swung it up, and threw the giant piece at Sonic.

"Whoa!" Sonic swiped to the left, avoiding the block easily, but Knuckles was already there, and he punched Sonic in the cheek, and they both flew up and back into the rubble and dust. Before it could clear, Knuckles threw Sonic out into the middle, where he rolled and coughed, but weakly attempted to stand up again.

"You see? You're goofing off will do you no good in the 3rd exam!" Knuckles sauntered towards him. "Just give up!"

Sonic rolled and scrambled onto his feet like he was dizzy. "Well, your cranky pants sure aren't going to help us either now, are they?"

"Enough!" He punched and Sonic jumped away, repeating the actions several times with ferocious velocity. At a far enough space, Sonic began running around , encircling Knuckles in a twister of wind that grew higher and higher, like a tornado. Before Knuckles couldn't be seen by the dust storm that was picking up, he fell to his knees, his grasp for air coiling around his neck. Sonic stopped running, and the area cleared; there was nothing there but a hole in the ground.

Sonic twisted his head about, scanning the ground.

"Whoa, he dug underground?" Naruto realized. The whole lot seemed to be looking around for some sort of patterns or dents being forged in the ground.

"Hmph, there he is…" Neji said.

"Huh?" Sonic turned around too late. Knuckles exploded from the ground like a red rocket, drill clawing his way towards the blue blur. Sonic just moved out of the way, but the force of the attack knocked him back into the wall.

"Knuckles is really trying." Kagome said.

"Yeah! Sonic better think of something, quick!" Shippo hopped onto her shoulder.

"Come on, Sonic!" Amy screamed. "Show 'em what you're made of!"

Sonic shook his head from the impact, and he started running around Knuckles again.

"Man, he is really fast!" Lee's eyes danced in a circle as he followed.

"Is that some kind of jutsu he's using? There's no way he's actually that fast." Shikamru looked pale, almost worried.

Knuckles attempted to follow him with his eyes, until he gave up. In a fit, he hoisted his fists up, then smashed them down into the ground, creating a ripple that shook all around him. It knocked Sonic off his path and he went rolling. Knuckles turned around and tried to throw down his fist on his fallen opponent, but Sonic managed to roll and zoom away. He rolled his body up the wall, then used it to propel in the air above Knuckles.

"Sonic Wind!" Sonic spun around, and a whip of blue wind sprouted from the ground under Knuckles' feet. The wind engulfed him, and he cried out as the gust cut through him. He flew high into the air, and when the wind subsided, he began to glide.

"Damn, I won't give up!" He said through gritted teeth. Sonic came down and tried to punch his face, but Knuckles blocked, then he kicked him in the stomach and flew back into the wall hard. With his eyes squeezed shut, he slid onto the ground and fell forward.

Sonic landed as well, out of breath, a few meters away from Knuckles.

"That blue animal surely has true speed." Lee said.

"He's a hedgehog!" Naruto corrected.

Knuckles' arms were wriggling as he stood up. "I… can't… lose…"

The Hokage smoked his pipe. "Hmm, they've both suffered through many attacks, but they've showed incredible stamina."

"Sir?"

He chuckled. "The blue one is all fun and games, like Naruto. He just won't quit."

"Hm. You sound as if you like them, Hokage." Anko said smugly.

"Well, they appear more carefree than the sound, or even our allies, the sand; they even seem to have made acquaintances with the genin."

"Yeah, but a few of them are kind of creepy, like the long haired ones." Anko nodded to Aritob and Sephiroth.

"Indeed. There seems to be a line between the teams from the sun village."

"Hopefully, it doesn't cause trouble within our own village."

As the fight continued, everyone watched Sonic speed to kick and to block against Knuckles' ferocity in strength and power. They fought back and forth this way for a few moments, everyone quiet as they two never seemed to wane in their separate abilities. Sonic would make an obnoxious face to tease, and he'd regret for a slight moment as Knuckles would almost make contact with him in his anger, instead punching the earth or walls or air.

"What an odd pair." Kakashi stated.

"How so?" Ezi overheard.

"Well, granted they are animals, so their reflexes are much more agile than a humans. Still, they do possess extraordinary physical feats."

"They are special." She nodded.

Sonic and Knuckles had unexpectedly agreed upon something without thought; they had backed away from each other and were now taking a moment to catch their breath. They both looked damaged from the second exam, and even more so now with sweat intertwined in their fur, and tiny scratches over their bodies that had ripped through fur and flesh.

"Just… give it… a rest… Knucklehead!"

"I ain't… gonna… quit!" Knuckles wiped his cheek. "Why… why do you have to be the one to win, huh? Because you're Sonic?"

"Well, yeah." He snickered.

"It doesn't matter what planet we go on, what new challenges we face… you're always the same!"

"Thank you."

"I'm serious! This is exactly what I'm talking about! Don't you care where we are? Haven't you been preparing mentally for what's next? No! You just goof off and hope whatever happens you still get run around in your stupid red shoes!"

Sonic said nothing this time. It clicked in the back of his mind that there was definitely nothing true about what Knuckles was saying, that if they were really true friends, Knuckles would know Sonic's attitude was a way of coping with things and staying positive.

"I've had it!" Knuckles yelled. His breathing controlled, Knuckles raised his arms out to his side. "Master Emerald…"

"Huh? What's Knuckles doing now?" Sora asked.

"The emerald…" Ezi pondered. "Hey, Amy, is the Master Emerald back at our… hideout?"

"Hm?" Amy looked over the rail to make eye contact with Ezi, despite the people between them. "Um… yeah…"

"I wonder… he might be summoning the power of the master emerald to help them."

"The Master Emerald?" Sora echoed. "T-that means he'll be super strong, right?"

"I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen."

Knuckles continued. "Master Emerald, guide me! You are trapped here in this strange world; give me the strength to help you return to the land you are sacred to! Give your guardian the strength he needs to help you!"

"What is he yelling about?" Naruto looked irritated with arms folded.

"It sounds like he's doing some kind of summoning." Sakura analyzed.

Knuckles' body lifted into the air, a green light embodied him, and it grew brighter around his cuts and bruises until they were no longer present. The light disappeared and he landed slowly back down onto the ground.

"He… He healed!" Amy gasped.

"Oh, crud." Sonic muttered, who was still out of breath.

Knuckles punched his fists together. "You'll get what's coming to you, Sonic!"

"The blue rat's gonna get it, now that he has his energy back." Inuyasha speculated.

Sonic tried to stand up straight, wobbly, and at that moment, Tails and Sango appeared racing in from the hallway.

"What's going on?" Tails asked.

"Hey, Sonic and Knuckles are fighting!" Amy cried.

The two said nothing as they joined in the view. Knuckles came at Sonic with such a force, one could see the energy and air being sifted by his fist, and every reign came down upon Sonic. He dodged the first three swipes, but there was impact on the fourth hit at Sonic's face. The power was so intense it flung Sonic all the way across the arena and into the statue. It cracked the palm of the hand, and Sonic lay against the wall with a loud groan of pain as he sunk his head down.

"Sonic!" Amy yelped.

"Oh no, Sonic! Get up!" Tails cried.

Knuckles grinned. He couldn't help it. All of his work, all of his efforts were finally coming to fruition in a sheer stroke from his powerful fist, and he could feel the energy from the Master Emerald rejuvenating him every second.

"What?"

Gekko took a step forward, then he stopped.

"How? You should be knocked out!" Knuckles yelled.

Sonic had already stood up, and he looked up, smiling. He raised up a golden ring, something he must have had in his possession the whole time.

"You?" Knuckles was flabbergasted, but he knew.

"A golden ring?" Tails said. "I thought he had used the last one against a demon we fought on the last planet before this one?"

"Apparently not. He must have been saving it." Inuyasha scoffed. "The rat's full of surprises."

"He was never tired, then?" Kakashi raised his eye brows. "Ah… He's been faking it the whole time."

"Yeah! Get back up when they knock you down, Sonic!" Naruto cheered.

"So what if you have the power of the ring?" Knuckles growled. "I'm even stronger now with the power of the Master Emerald!"

"That's what you think, Knuckles!" Sonic spun into a ball; he spun continuously for so long in the same place, he began grinding through the material of the statue's foundation, until he zoomed up and out towards Knuckles at an incredible speed. Knuckles blocked his head, but that wasn't Sonic's target; before Knuckles could see it, Sonic reflected off the wall behind Knuckles, and used it throw himself into Knuckles' back- a spinning vortex that merely crushed into him. Everyone was shocked at the impact, it was clearly a harsh blow and it caused Knuckles to roll uncontrollably until he bashed into the wall. He was out.

Gekko approached Knuckles. He checked his vitals then stood up. "Since his opponent is no longer able to continue, Sonic is the winner."

"YEAH ALRIGHT!" Amy jumped with joy. "GOOD JOB, SONIC!"

"I knew you could do it!" Tails added to the cheering.

"Poor Knuckles…" Sango said. "He really wanted to win."

Knuckles managed to sit up on his own. Sonic stretched his hand out to him. The echidna glared at first, looking at his glove as if he would munch it off, but he took it and used it as an aid to stand up.

Sonic smiled. Knuckles did not.

"I know I'm still right… why does it have to be you?"

Sonic said nothing. He helped him limp back up to the second floor, so the next match could begin.

"Wow, you both did really well." Sakura said as they brushed by.

"Hey, Sonic!" Naruto jumped onto their path, blocking it. "Teach me how to turn into a ball like that—so I can go all—BOOSH—and knock someone out!"

"Hey, you don't need my help." Sonic grinned. "By the way, nice work on your match."

"Same to you!"

Cloud loomed over with his eyes at Sephiroth again, who was somehow always looking at him when he bothered to; his eyes clicked to the board when the names ceased to sort and the next round was displayed: Neji Hyuuga v Hinata Hyuuga.

The shy girl from Kiba's team, and the boy with long brown hair that Sango didn't like, took their places on the arena.

"Go Neji!" Rock Lee cheered.

As the battle began, the genin appeared enthralled by the match. Ezi took the initiative to investigate.

"They both have the same last name?" She said it aloud, but she resided by Kakashi on the rails.

"Ah, yes." He answered, much to her relief. "The Hyuuga are made of many, but they are cousins."

"Really? What's with their eyes? They look blind."

"No, that's just part of their kekkei genkai: The Byakugan."

"Oh!" She exclaimed. The battle began and the two Hyuuga's were hoisted into an immense hand on hand combat: chakra spewed from their palms and they reflected each other's striking palm attacks as they battled. "They are fast. Is that part of their kekkei genkai?"

"No, that's just from training so hard." Kakashi's head nodded to the movements of the opponents on the arena. "Their eyes are what what's make them special."

"Kind of like Sasuke's?"

"Yes… how observant of you."

"Just trying to understand things." She shrugged. "So, everyone from a single clan can possess the same abilities."

"Yes, that's the respected rule."

"So, are all the Uchihas jerks? Like Sasuke, then?"

Kakashi chuckled. "I take it you don't like him?"

"Well, not really… No offense to his clan, but he certainly has a way of being unfriendly that just makes you dislike him."

Kakashi nodded, folding his hands into his pocket. "Well, I can understand that. However…"

"However?"

Hinata had backed way form Neji. They both took a moment to analyze each other, and Neji spewed something about how pathetic Hinata was.

"Sasuke has no clan to represent. He is the last Uchiha alive in the village."

There was a shock. With his snooty, prideful agenda, Ezi had assumed he came from a wealthy clan—with a luxurious home and all the training a shinobi could get. It was shattered.

"You mean..?"

"It's not a secret, so you might as well know." He shrugged. "Sasuke is the last of his kind here. His entire clan was wiped out by a monster."

"A monster?"

"Not the kind you slay—a man."

She swallowed. "What kind of a man slays an entire village?"

"The kind that was part of the clan. Anyway, you can see why his behavior is a bit unstable."

She nodded. "Yeah… poor Sasuke…."

Sonic approached and stood beside her.

"How's Knuckles?"

"Eh." He observed the battle. Despite appearing evenly matched, Neji had pierced Hinata's arm, and there was no more chakra coming from her hands.

"Hey, what just happened?" Naruto slinked closer to his sensei for answers.

"Ah, Neji sealed off her chakra. There are 138 sources in the body that chakra can disperse from. According to Hyuuga inspection, if you hit the right source, you can seal off the others. Neji did this to Hinata when he aimed at the right source."

Neji pushed Hinata in her chest, and she slid onto the ground.

"I take it these two don't get along?" Sonic folded his arms.

"Neji is from a subordinate clan, and Hinata is from the higher rank of the clan."

"So, he must hate her."

Ezi speculated him, like he was a stranger with intuitive insight.

"You could say that." Kakashi answered.

Hinata attempted to stand up and pose to fight, despite her latest wound. Naruto looked perplexed and worried as his eyes fixed on the scene.

"I told you to give up." Neji warned. He raised one arm up and the other arm back behind him. They began and on hand combat again, Hinata's swipes more intense than before.

Sonic whistled in amazement. "That's some major fighting skills."

"They both have been trained by the Hyuuga clan's best."

"Come on, Hinata! Whoop this guy!" Naruto continued to chant and cheer; the others were compelled to silence by the match against the two cousins. They spun and danced as if they were in a play, rhythmically swiping and moving away in time of one other's strikes.

Hinata, the shy purple haired girl, was becoming more and more aggressive as the match stood. Neji seemed to be at her pace, maybe even faster, but they grew closer in their combat as she dodged his swipes—she had a shot now, one palm to his chest, that was all she needed to win—he moved aside and she slid by him, granting him the chance to plant his palm into her chin, and she flew upwards.

Amy shrieked and covered her eyes. Blood shot into the air form Hinata's mouth, but she backed up enough to catch herself and remained standing. She was out of breath, and she wrapped her arm around her stomach and began to cough. She stood tall again and held her hand out.

"She's out of power… why is she still trying to fight?" Cloud seemed just as concerned as everyone.

"They're only children…" Kagome said quietly.

"That won't matter in this world." Inuyasha answered. It was the first time either of them spoke since the end of his match. "If they were on a mission, that'd be kill by an enemy whether they were young or old. This place reminds me of the feudal era."

Kagome knew what he meant. The whole reason Inuyasha had lost control of himself from the beginning was fighting against monsters that meant to harm him and his dear friends; this time, monsters were roaming in all kinds of beings.

Hinata charged; her palm pressured against her side again, but she was obviously slower than before, despite her battle cry. As soon as they met, Neji's hand pressed into her chest, and a blue gush of light spewed from Hinata's back, confirming impact.

Neji Hyuuga stood still, but Hinata collapsed.

"That's it for her." Cloud said.

"It's over." Neji began walking towards the stairs, and Gekko declared Neji the winner- but he turned around in a fury when he could hear Hinata trying to stand up again. She struggled, her arms around her body, as she struggled to stand straight with her knees buckled inwards.

"I can still… do this…" She gasped for what little energy she could obtain.

"There's no point in acting tough. You can barely stand as it is." He sounded disparaging every moment he talked to her. "I can see with my eyes that you don't have any energy left. You've always held the burden of the Hyuuga Family title. You cursed your powerlessness and blamed yourself. But people cannot change. That is destiny."

"His Byakugan can see that?" Ezi said, sarcastically. "What a prude guy."

"He sure does like to blabber about what he thinks." Sonic agreed.

"Just give up now."

She shook her head. "Your wrong, Neji." He seemed puzzled by this. "You're suffering more than me."

"What's that?"

"You're suffering and confused for the fate of the head and branch families."

This ticked Neji off, and he went barreling towards her.

"Neji, stop! The match is over!" Gekko went running perpendicular towards them. In a flash, Guy was holding Neji back, Gekko was in front of him with two fingers pressed to Neji's headband, Kurenai held one of his arms, and Kakashi grabbed Neji's arm before it could reach Hinata.

"Whoa, they showed up just in time." Sonic looked to the right of him; the teleporting jutsu Kakashi had used was still lingering in a white smoke beside him.

"Why did all the jounin interfere? Does the head of the Hyuuga really get so much special treatment?" Neji did not seem to be worried, rather aggravated, by their appearance.

"Neji!" Guy chided. "You swore you would not fatally strike the head of the Hyuuga; you gave your word!"

Hinata made a loud cry and fell forward, gripping her heart. Kurenai ran to her aid, but Hinata fell backwards and lay on her back. Naruto, Sakura and Lee raced to aid. Everyone from the sun village watched in worry as they surrounded Hinata Hyuuga. She tried to say something to Naruto, but then she closed her eyes.

"What is this?" Neji sounded offended. "Hey, you, loud mouth!" He was speaking to Naruto, who turned to hear what he had to say. "I have to words of advice for you. First of all, quit with that unsightly cheering of yours; it's disgraceful!"

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Sonic commented.

"He really wanted to finish her off." Ezi squinted her eyes. "This kid is terrible."

"Second," Neji continued, "A loser will always be a loser. Those are the facts, no matter how much you cheer!"

"Do you want to try me and find out if you're right?" Naruto retorted. Neji smirked in response, and this triggered even more anguish in Naruto. He began to run towards Neji, but Lee slid in front of him just in time.

"Please do not fight him here, Naruto." Lee insisted. "Fighting him in a real match will be much more appropriate. And in the next match, that opponent could very well be me."

"…Fine." Naruto walked back to Hinata, and Lee gave his Guy sensei a thumb-up, to which Guy responded with the same action and a glistening smile.

It became serious when Hinata coughed up blood. Her sensei, Kurenai, unzipped her jacket, and placed her hand on her chest. In a state of shock, she looked at the one responsible, and he continued to smile.

"I wouldn't waste time looking at me; I'd figure out how to treat your student, first."

She didn't reply, but she turned to the medical examiners that were racing to the scene. They unrolled a white stretcher and rushed Hinata out of the arena on it. Naruto watched, with extreme dismay; the medical ninja exclaimed they needed to perform surgery on her within ten minutes, or she would surely die. They left the arena with Hinata, and Naruto took initiative to control the situation, then.

He slid his fingertips into Hinata's blood on the floor, where she had coughed up blood. He held hi bloody fist out towards Neji, and everyone watched in sheer shock as Naruto proclaimed his promise.

"I promise… I will win no matter what!"

It seemed to spark everyone's interest, even Gaara of the sand's as he watched Naruto scrap up the blood like it was nothing. What did he even mean by this?

"He's commited to win against Neji." Sonic said it so quietly, Ezi wasn't even sure if he was talking to her or himself. It seemed set to her that that Naruto would have to face this terrible child in the future, no matter what.

Hinata of the Hyuuga clan was rushed out, and everyone exited back to the second floor. Naruto had left the room to go wash his hands, but even so, everyone wondered about his statement. One of the medics returned with a broom and began scraping the drops of blood from the arena.

"Another match is going to start," Sango griped the rail, "but I still wonder about that last one: how much more bloodshed will occur with the remaining competitors?"

Sora's eyes lit up as the new match was displayed. "Probably a lot in this next one."

"Oh no…" Ezi looked at the names, something she had seen before, under different circumstances.

Cloud Strife

V

Sephiroth

"Cloud?" Sora looked at him for some sort of answer, as to whether he should go through with it or not. For Cloud, there was no other choice. He marched to the stairs, but Ezi blocked his path.

"Cloud! This could get dangerous in here if you two fight."

"This is my chance." He said quietly. "I can stop him before he hurts anymore people." She hesitantly moved over as he headed for the stairs.

On the other side of the room, Sephiroth began sauntering behind everyone there to reach the stairs.

"Good luck!" Aritob yelled, almost mockingly.

"Is he really going to fight Sephiroth here?" Knuckles said, worried.

"Yeah… this is going to be intense." Sonic stood beside Knuckles.

"That guy with the silver hair is… kind of creepy." Sakura admitted. Naruto agreed, and he ran over to Sonic for details.

"Hey! What's with this guy form your village?"

"You mean Sephiroth? He's kind of a bully, but he's strong."

"Were you guys ever friends?"

"No way! We don't exactly get along with his team, sort of how like you don't get along with Neji. He's not really the friendly type, just bad news."

"But the guy with the giant sword is good, right?"

"Cloud is, yeah. He's just moody and no fun sometimes, but he has a good heart."

"You got this, Cloud!" Sora yelled.

"Yeah, give 'em the old heave ho!" Goofy chortled.

Sephiroth gave them one look as he sauntered onto the arena, and it sent chills to Donald and Goofy. Sora remembered Sephiroth's entrance from the first time he met him at the Olympus Coliseum:

The dark red sky glowed and sparkled by a summoning symbol of great artistic measure, and he poured down to grace the earth with his dark body and power, like a descended angel of pure, quiet chaos.

Now, he was strolling with his dark cape like a regular human, preparing to fight like the rest of them.

"Do any of you have any objections to this fight?" Gekko asked.

"No."

"None at all." Sephiroth shook his head, all the while smiling at Cloud.

"Then when you're ready, you may begin." Gekko stepped away, and the two stood there.

Cloud slowly began to reach for the buster sword on his back.

"Aren't you wondering?" Sephiroth said.

"About what?"

"How I am here?"

"I don't care."

Sephiroth chuckled. "You should care, Cloud. It has a lot to do with you."

"What does that mean?"

"This place is full of more putrid spirits. They do nothing but harm one another; this planet with their wars. Thanks to you, I have a new place to cleanse."

"You're insane." He whipped his sword out from over his head. "I won't let you hurt anyone!"

"Ah, Cloud. Even if you could stop me, I don't see how you want to. If only you could understand…"

"I understand enough!"

Sephiroth's sword was out in a second, blocking all of Clouds inhumanly fast swings. With one hand gripped to his Masamune, he continued to shield himself as if the strikes were nothing.

"Whoa, they're both really fast." Sakura analyzed. "I've never seen a swordsman move like that before."

"What's going on? Sephiroth is only on the defense." Ezi realized.

"Its almost like he's toying with him." Sonic said.

Cloud stepped back. He felt weak, and he hadn't landed a mark on Sephiroth yet.

Sephiroth began to sway to the left. "You seem a little off today, Cloud."

"Shut up!"

"Well, it doesn't matter. I foresee this battle ending much differently than our last one."

"These two have been at it before?" Naruto asked.

"Sephiroth and Cloud have history together. They were both, uh, officials that protected our village; then Sephiroth went crazy for some reason." Ezi's grip tightened on the rail; something was wrong.

"Am I the only one disappointed?" Sonic asked. "I expected these two to be going at it, not talking and barely swinging at each other."

Cloud charged for him again, and the same thing happened. Sephiroth blocked his steps with swift steps and his Masamune, then he cast some sort of fire from his hand that Cloud had to roll and dodge, then block Sephiroth's swing of his sword. Then, he was behind Cloud in a second.

"What the-? Cloud, look out!" Sora exclaimed. Sephiroth had already kicked him forward, but he had appeared in front of Cloud, and Cloud managed to block his next swing just in time.

"What on earth?" Sango said.

"Its like when he fought me in the Coliseum." Sora said. "But, he wasn't that fast at it. He doesn't even have his wing out to use his power!"

"It is a shame, Cloud." Sephiroth taunted. "Without mothers power, you've become weak."

"No! You're wrong. We're still evenly matched!"

At this, he chuckled. "Oh, Cloud, you're so wrong." He whipped his sword down. "I've become much stronger, and now I can still fulfill my destiny."

"You only have one destiny!" Cloud tried to strike, but Sephiroth was behind him in a ring, and he slashed horizontally through Cloud's back.

"Cloud!" Ezi yelled.

"I can't watch!" Amy covered her eyes. There was a stillness in the air for a split second as Sephiroth began his attack. He continued to appear and disappear, back and forth in a line, cutting at Cloud as his swings tossed him around. Cloud's black clothes mixed with red as he was being cut here and there; Sephiroth was going so fast, he even began tossing him in the air like a bag.

Everyone was speechless, just waiting for the attacks to end. Cloud grunted in pain with every swing, until they were higher than the statue, and Sephiroth did one final blow: Flying down in a blue light through Cloud with his blade and landing on the ground. Cloud crashed passed out on the ground beside him.

"I told you I would never be just a memory, Cloud."

There was a split moment of shock. Cloud remained on the floor for a long while, bloodied and lifeless. Gekko announced Sephiroth as the winner, then Sora, Sonic, Ezi and Inuyasha hopped down from the balcony.

"Cloud! Wake up!" Sora cried. He slid down beside him to check his vitals. Sephiroth didn't even turn around to look at them as he walked back to the staircase.

"What the hell just happened?" Knuckles whispered. "I thought Sephiroth and Cloud were matched!"

"He just defeated him like he was nothing." Sango was just as mesmerized as the rest of them.

Cloud started coughing, and there was a slight relief from everyone.

"Cloud! We got you, buddy." Sora and Inuyasha wrapped their arms on either side of Cloud, dragging him off the arena. His head was hung low, some form of shame, or he was just exhausted. To see Cloud like this caused Ezi to stir her head around and give a Sephiroth a dark glare. She was startled to see he was already looking at her as he stalked up the stairs, smirking with a sinister glow of green in his eyes.

She shuddered. Sonic tugged at her black tank top and broke her concentration. "Let's head up with them."

"Sonic, I can't believe Sephiroth just defeated him so easily."

"Yeah, me neither."

They followed behind the others and as they walked, Cloud sighed.

"Cloud, you okay?" Sora asked.

"…No…" He coughed some more. And even coughed up blood.

"Dammit. You need to heal fast. You lost a lot of blood by those cuts." Inuyasha said.

"Its not that… Sephiroth… he…"

"Yeah, he got way stronger!" Sora exclaimed. "Who would have thought he could move like that? It's not your fault, Cloud."

"Still, I didn't stand a chance against him…"

"Don't let it get to you! We'll help you in this fight!"

"But I… lost. That means Sephiroth gets to move on in the exams, and he could hurt any of you. This world is in danger… Sora, be careful."

"I will. Still, it's sort of weird that he is just going along with these exams; what's that creep plotting?"

"He kept me alive when he could have easily killed me." Cloud stated. "So, he must want me to witness whatever he is planning."

The medical core raced in and Sora and Inuyasha placed their weary friend on the stretcher, and they zoomed him out. Sora and Inuyasha passed Rock Lee as they reached the balcony again. His round eyes turned to Sonic and Ezi as they approached.

"Hello." He said. "I just wanted to say I hope your friend recovers soon."

"Thank you; Lee, right?"

"That is correct."

"I'm Sonic. Nice to meet yeah."

"I'm Ezi. Nice to meet you too, Lee. You seem nice, like Naruto and Sakura."

"I also wanted to thank you for assisting our village. But please, and do not find this harsh, do not mistake my niceness for weakness."

"No way, never, dude." Sonic winked. "So long as you think the same way with us."

"I also wanted to say you did very well on your match," he turned to Ezi, "And, good luck on yours."

"Same to you; you know, we both haven't had a match yet. What if we end up fighting each other?"

"Then it will be my pleasure to battle with you."

She chuckled. He sounded so official and respectful in his factual speaking. "Same to you, Lee. Hopefully one of us is fighting soon."

"Thank you, but I do not think it will be me."

"Alright!" Guy sensei approached them. "This could be it! Are you ready, Lee?"

"No!" Lee pouted. "I have been waiting for so long, I might as well go last. Sonic noticed to the left of him that Kankuro, the bully from the sand with the puppet and magenta lines on his face, had come over to their side of the balcony and was speaking to Naruto by the stairway.

As they spoke, Gaara of the sand appeared on the arena before the names were finished scrambling.

"Huh? What's that weirdo doing?" Amy wondered. Then, the next match was displayed on the board:

Gaara

V

Rock Lee

"Alright!" Lee began kicking the air in excitement. "I knew if I said I wanted to go last, I would go next! It is a method of reverse psychology!"

"Wait a go, Lee; that's my student!" Guy declared, giving him a thumb-up.

"They're both kind of weird, huh?" Ezi whispered to Sonic.

"Eh, I kind of like 'em, though. So much energy."

"Still… that sand guy got down there even before the match started. He seems dangerous."

"Hopefully, Lee will pull through."

Guy patted Lee on the shoulder. "Let me give you some advice!"

"Yes sir!"

"That gourd on that guy's back is suspicious; be cautious of it!"

"Oh, you are right, sir!"

"…Hopefully, he will do okay." Ezi said again. Guy and Lee were comical, in their own way.

Lee hopped down and prepared to fight, placing one hand upward and the other behind his back, standing erect towards Gaara. Somehow, the gourd's cork had been flung so fast towards Lee without anyone noticing, but Lee caught it just before it reached his left eye.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" He dropped the cork.

Kankuro scoffed. "Whatever moves he's got, he's no match for Gaara."

"No… he's strong." Naruto insisted.

As the battle began, Lee dashed towards Gaara and flipped in the air sideways.

"Leaf Hurricane!" He spun and tried to kick Gaara in the face, but a wall of desert sand covered that whole side of his body, forcing Lee to drop down; the sand was spiraling out from the gourd, and it went at Lee in clumps from above to crush him, but he went rolling in the air backwards and slid away enough as it slunk back towards Gaara slowly.

"What an unusual technic." Kakashi observed. Despite the sand, Gaara taunted him, and Lee began flipping and spinning around Gaara, trying to kick him or make some sort of contact, but the sand blocked him every time.

"He can control sand?" Sango gasped. She remembered the dismembered people they had seen in the forest, and how their body parts were sticky with blood and pieces of sand. If this as the same guy, surely, Rock Lee was in serious danger.

A lot had occurred so far; the first two mind bending exams, the preliminaries, and now there were only a few of them left. One of the most intense battles was just barely beginning.

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TO BE CONTINUED