Pushing Limits

"You're good but good isn't good enough." Zabuza said as I struggled to stand in front of him. The preliminaries went without any more hiccups if you discounted Lee getting crippled because Gai ignored my advice or that Neji, Hinata's cousin, almost killed Hinata. Were I not so worried about her I would have killed him right there but I just had to settle for doing it in the Exams since he was my first fight.

"I know but I'm unsure of how to get better without crippling myself." I said as I barely brought my sword up. We had been sparring for hours and I was reaching my limit.

"That's why I'm going to teach you. Gai said he was going to get me weights for you tomorrow as an apology for ignoring you. You will also send a Kage Bushin to learn Water Manipulation from a Mizu Bushin. I have a month to get you to what I think should be Chunin Level and I don't want Haku bitching at me because you failed." I snorted before going to attack him but Kurenai appeared.

"Sorry to interrupt but I was wondering if I could have a private talk with Kurohiko?" She said before frowning at the state I was in.

"That's fine, he's only standing because of willpower right now and Haku would be on my arse if he was put in the hospital." Zabuza said with a shrug before disappearing. I sighed and placed Kurohikari on my back before falling forward.

"Easy there." Kurenai said as she caught me before I reached the ground.

"I'm alright Kurenai but what can I help you with?" I said as she helped me to a nearby stump that was made during the spar.

"I've talked to Asuma and I honestly believe he regrets what happened with you so I was thinking of giving him a second chance; however I wanted your opinion on the matter." She said unsurely making me sigh.

"I have no problems with you dating him but I will never like the man. I will not make you choose between us ever and the only way you could make me hate you is if you get pregnant and do what was done to me. Considering how motherly you are I very much doubt you would be capable of that for more than three seconds." I assured her keeping out the fact that if Asuma repeated what he done to me to any other child I would kill him.

"I'll give him another chance but it will be a while before things are as good as they were before." She said with a relieved smile. "Do you need help getting home?" I chucked at her and shook my head.

"Nah I just need to rest a while before heading home. You just go and relax and tell Hinata that I hope she gets better." She nodded after a moment and left. I let out a sigh and turned to my right. "You can come out now Tenten."

"Was I that obvious?" Tenten asked as she stepped out of the trees and had her eyes drawn to Kurohikari.

"No I'm just skilled at knowing when people I have met are around me. I do wonder what you are here for though." She sighed and sat beside me.

"I wanted to thank you for stopping that Suna kunoichi from humiliating me like she wanted to." I shrugged as to me it wasn't that big a deal.

"You're not a fangirl and Temari is really bitchy on her bad week. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go find my friend and give him 'The Talk' since the Academy Sensei threw him out that day." I was inwardly cursing Kurenai for volunteering me for that.

BS

"I'm honestly surprised that you are here." I said in honest surprise as I looked at Asuma after opening my door. I sighed and opened the door and gestured to the seat I had for any guests that wanted to be comfortable when they waited on me. He took it silently while Haku watched him wearily.

"I wanted to let you know that I'm grateful for what you said to Kurenai. I know you have every right to hate me and yet you helped me repair my relationship. I wanted to say thank you." Asuma said making me snort.

"I didn't do it for you. Kurenai was happy before Kabuto opened his mouth." He looked a little hurt at that but I didn't really care. "You have no need to thank me. I look after those I care about and Kurenai is one of them." There was an uncomfortable silence as he nodded with a sigh. He got up and opened the door but paused for a moment.

"I'm sure it means nothing to you but I truly regret what I did to you." I said nothing as he left and rubbed my face.

"Are you alright?" Haku asked as she sat beside me allowing me to put my arm around her waist.

"As much as I can be, all I can feel around him is rage and while I know he's being honest about regretting it but it's too little too late." I said as I moved her onto my lap and placed my chin on her shoulder while I held her close. "What did he hope to achieve by coming here?"

"He wants forgiveness for his part in what happened to you. That you gave him a straight answer, even if it wasn't the one he wanted, will be a weight off of his shoulders. This also means he won't be all depressed around Kurenai." I sighed as I knew she was right but it still bugged me. Haku chuckled as she turned to kiss my temple.

"Did you ever think that it would be like this after you beat me?" She asked making me chuckle to.

"No I honestly thought that we would try and keep our distance before the temptation was too much for me and made your life a living hell. Why is it that people keep trying to see how much power will corrupt me?"

"Who better to have power than the person that will use it and fear it in equal measure? Giving it to someone that can't use it would destroy its value or tempt them to use it as a trade for something they can use."

"Fine I get that. On that subject I will be tattooing you with my Seal as soon as I learn that." This was non-negotiable as it would allow me to get to her anywhere if I needed to find her. She must have realised that as she just nodded.

BS

"Are you insane?!" I shouted at Jiraiya when Naruto told me why he was doing only one thing instead of doing something useful. I had a Kage Bushin work through the handseals with him and give him tips on how to control the Chakra Flow of the Jutsu. "Why did you think getting him to summon a Boss after exhausting his chakra was a good thing?"

"He needs to learn how to use it." Jiraiya said making me shake my head.

"He can barely use his own effectively, hence why he can't summon the Boss, so what is the point in trying to control that which will be even harder since he'll need to steal it? Also, why aren't you taking advantage of his healing factor and Kage Bushin?" If this was how he trained Naruto's Father then I'm surprised the man was so skilled.

"I don't want him using them as a crutch." He said honestly and in any other circumstance I would have bought it.

"So you want him using power from a sentient being known for being filled with anger and hatred as a crutch instead." I said trying to understand where he was coming from making him sigh.

"I have it on good authority that a bunch of S-Rank Criminals want the Bijuu and it's only a matter of time before they find him so he needs a trump card that can't be easily countered." He finally admitted making me frown as I remembered the how I got my Earth Scroll.

"Are any of them from Ame? The team I had ambushed had an objective that had nothing to do with the Exams." The look I got was far from reassuring.

BS

I frowned as I realised the remaining Oto Nin was missing from the new line up and was intrigued to see that the winner of Ino and Naruto's match would be given a free pass to the Finals while I would have to go through Neji, who Hinata had literally begged me not to kill, and Gaara, anyone that thought Sasuke would beat him needed their heads examined, while Shino would have to face the other two Sand Siblings, Shikamaru would forfeit at checkmate and I had no doubt Shino would beat Kankuro thanks to their specialties.

"Could everyone but Kurohiko and Neji Hyuga make their way out of the Arena?" Gemna, the replacement Proctor for Hayate Gekko who was in the hospital after I found him bleeding to death in the Village, said clearly getting them to clear out while Neji and I glared at each other.

"Give up it is your Fate to lose to me." Neji said making me snort.

"Like hell I will. Did you honestly think that I would give up just because you say Fate tells me to lose, especially when you nearly killed a good friend of mine, your own cousin no less, just because you couldn't handle her telling you the truth? I will be honest and say that on that day I fully intended to kill you for that but you'll never guess what changed my mind." I said bringing dead silence to the Arena. I knew the Hyuga reputation would take a hit but to be honest I didn't care.

"Perhaps your feeble mind realised the folly of such an attempt." He said with a sneer making me snort.

"No what changed my mind was the sweetest person I knew literally crawling off her hospital bed despite her heart nearly being destroyed and the bowing with her head to the ground and tears running down her face as she begs for me not to kill her worthless cousin. I know I'm not the nicest person but after that there was no way I could kill you." I took Kurohikari off my back and threw it into the nearest tree. "So instead I'm going to take everything you hold precious and crush it right in front of you."

"The First Match between Kurohiko and Neji Hyuga begins now!" Gemna said before getting out of the way. Neji charged me in a rage while I smirked at him. As soon as his palm neared my chest I lashed out and grabbed him wrist halting him completely. Thanks to the weights I wore all month my speed was equal to that of Lee with the First Gate open. I threw his arm to the side and punched him three times in the chest in places that caused pain only. He stumbled back with grit teeth before a snap kick sent him onto his back.

"Come on Neji, where is the so-called genius of the Hyuga I heard about this whole month?" I said with a nasty grin on my face as he jumped to his feet. This time I just dodged without moving my feet as I kept the grin on my face. I waited for him to over commit to a strike before I swept his leg out from under him with one foot before booting him between the legs with the other in midair.

"You're a failure so how can you do this?" He demanded as he got to his feet and glared at me.

"I can because I know the difference between false strength and true strength. You rely on Fate, Psychological Warfare and your genius reputation whereas I rely on my skills and instincts. I heard you talk down at Lee for believing that hard work can cause improvement. This is the results of working hard and your Fate can't save you from it. Lee proved it too as being able to get through Gaara's defences with nothing but his bare hands. Even I had to use my sword and ninjutsu to get past it. Now show me why Gentle Fist is considered the best and I will show you why it is useless against me."

"You are in range of my Divination!" He shouted as a Taijitu Symbol appeared below us. I snort and move my right foot back. "One palms, two palms, four palms, sixteen palms, thirty two palms, sixty four palms!" He roared as he attacked with outstretched fingers making me wonder why he said palms. I enjoyed the fact his eyes widened when I deflected each strike with the exception of the last two which I caught.

"You speak of Fate then learn a move that is officially above your station? You're an idiotic hypocrite." I told him before I snapped his fingers making him scream. I kicked him away but he merely rolled back to his feet and spun around releasing chakra. I jumped back just in time to avoid it and hear him snap his fingers back into place. I darted towards him before he could move again and decked him in the jaw. I didn't move as I watched him roll away before forcing himself to his feet.

"That isn't possible, Kaiten is the perfect defence." He said looking like he wanted to hyperventilate.

"No Jutsu is perfect and to think otherwise is stupid. How does it feel to know that everything you take Pride in is useless? How does it feel to be the genius that was losing to a so-called failure? How does it feel to see everything you took Pride in and shoved in people's faces is wrong?" I said before I kicked him into the air and dropkicked him midair. As soon as I saw he was knocked out I retrieved Kurohikari. I ignored the applause as I was declared the Winner.