"No," Vladdy choked.

Axel glared at her, "What the hell happened to you?" and without warning she started to continuously punch Vladdy in the face.

Vladdy couldn't move. She just let her face get beaten away.

"Do you honestly want to die here?!" Axel screamed, continuing to punch her, "What about Gaara, Naruto, Shikamaru?! What about everything you still want to accomplish, like surpassing Tsunade?! What about Sai?!"

Reflexively, Vladdy grabbed Axel's wrist and crushed it with one squeeze.

Axel pulled back, "Finally," she whispered.

Vladdy slowly stood up; she felt like she was on a high; like she wasn't completely in control; there was another presence in her mind; in her body.

Without meaning to, she let out a small chuckle, "Of course not," she answered, raising her head to Axel's.

Axel suddenly had chakra surrounding her, her eyes glowing white. And then, that cat appeared.

Again, without full control, Vladdy started channeling chakra. The part of her that WAS in control was burning, burning with pain.

Vladdy started to pore chakra; her eyes became eclipsed with black. And behind her, rose a Falcon, with the eyes of a demon, the power of a god.

In unison, they charged; the land that was a part of Vladdy, suddenly split from the large chaos of power.

Vladdy stood, control coming back to her. She looked upon her friend. Her dead friend. Her dead rival.

Axel's eyes opened slightly, "Good job," she murmured.

Vladdy bent down closer to her face, "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Axel laughed slightly, "Not yet, your not," and without warning she pressed her palm above Vladdy's right eye.

Vladdy screamed in anguish.

The tearing pain seemed to last years, thought it was only mere seconds before Axel was gone.

Vladdy screamed more; both from the pain, and the reality.

The ground disappeared and she was back on the river bank choking up water.

She rolled over, coughing. She screamed more, pressing her hands to her forehead, trying to heal whatever the hell was happening. I did not work.

She scrambled for the instruction scroll, reading rapidly, trying to figure out how to suppress the pain.

She couldn't find anything. Do I only need pure chakra control? She thought.

She attempted to focus, but the pain just got worse.

"Ugh, she's more pathetic than Axel was."

"We've got to help her!"

"Whateverrrr…."

Vladdy looked up at the sound of voices, to see the two brats who had nearly killed her earlier.

Kiri walked up to her, bent down, and placed her hand where the pain was emerging.

And then: It was dark.

Vladdy awakened outside the gate of her village. She was damp, cold, and she felt like she was about to puke. She stood up and was able to walk long enough to make it just up to the gate, and then she collapsed.

Vladdy's eyes slowly opened. She was now warm, comfortable. But she still felt sick. Once the room became focused, she realized Sai was sitting next to her bed.

"Thank god!" he whispered. He kissed her forehead, and ran his fingers through her knotted hair. "How do you feel?" he asked politely, like always.

"Like…like I'm going to be sick…-" She sat up quickly, and found a bucket stuck in front of her face. She threw up.

After a few moments, she laid back down, feeling slightly better.

Shikamaru and Gaara suddenly appeared at her other side. At first, they both smiled in relief. But Shikamaru's eyes fell to the tattoo above her right eye. "Oh, no…" he whispered.