Cathy, convinced of her view, ignores Jenna's words. Out of the corner of her eye, Cathy spies a brightly colored poster with a muscular man lifting weights on it. A red arrow points around the corner. She heads in that direction and finds herself at the annual Strength competition. Cathy spies a table set up under a nearby tree. She races over and signs the participation list, just in time for the first event. Cathy takes a seat in the stands and waits for her turn.

"Will a Carl Soichiro please step forward," the proctor calls using a megaphone. Cathy's head jerks up; she had fallen asleep. She sprints to the platform yelling, "It's Cathy, damn it!" the spectators whisper among themselves when a young girl climbs next to the heavy weight champion.

"Aren't you a little small, Feathergirl?" the champion sneers.

"Bring it on, shorty!" Cathy retorts.

The champion flexes and picks up the heaviest weight. "Beat that," he looks over at Cathy but she's not there. He feels the platform lurch beneath feet as it rises about six feet into the air. Cathy's head peers at him from underneath it.

"Beat that," she quips. The judge hands her the bag of silver and watches dumbfounded as she skips away. At the table she proudly displays the silver with a smile brighter than the sun. Jenna is not impressed and instead points behind Cathy. Cathy follows her friend's gesture. A huge group of angry strong men led by the old champion are congregated at the picnic table next to theirs. They start whistling when Cathy looks at them and then go back to conspiring against her.

Cathy turns back to Jenna and, without missing a beat, says, "Sooo…what were you saying?"

Jenna chuckles. "The top two teams are Leaf and Sand. Your mission, basically, is to make friends with Sasuke. Naruto already likes you and Sakura isn't there anymore."

"What about you? Don't you and Sakura have the same status?"

Jenna nods. "The less your power, the more invisible you are. Invisible people know more and knowledge is true power."

"What? Sorry, I didn't catch that."

"Don't worry about me. I have the pride of the Sand team as my shield. If anyone picks on me, they'll come to my rescue. Plus Gaara scares everyone off." At least, that's what I'm banking on.

"Okay, but I'll be nice to Sakura too." Cathy gives 'Sakura' a slightly sarcastic edge. Jenna ignores it.

"Good idea to cover all your bases." Jenna and Cathy simultaneously eye the silver. "Do you know a good place to go shopping?"

"Do I ever!"

They walk out of the mini-mall with their arms full. "I love these earrings! They are so cute." Cathy admires the way the sunlight sparkles off them in a store window. She looks at Jenna to ask her opinion. She can barely see Jenna's hair, aggravated by static electricity, above the stack of fabric she's carrying.

"Yes, they are cute," the talking mound of hairy cloth agrees.

"What are you going to do with all of that?"

Jenna can't see Cathy point but she gets the idea. "I can't raid Temari's closet forever. So I'm going to make my own clothes."

"What will you make first?"

"The first pair of jeans this world has ever seen. Hey Cathy, could you help me do something tomorrow?"

Later that night (way late)

Most of the teams are back at the hotel. Cathy's team and a few others are out at a movie. The Sand team is spending the night rather normally. Gaara and Kankuro are playing chess; Gaara seems to be winning. Temari is at the local Laundromat washing the clothes Jenna borrowed. The last member of the team is sitting on the top bunk bed, cutting fabric with a scissors and a fierce determination. She's sewing the last seam when the hotel manager shuts off the lights.

"Aw, not again," whines Kankuro. Gaara says nothing. Jenna doesn't complain either. Things are going according to plan for her. As soon as her teammates are asleep, Kankuro snoring and Temari with her head under her pillow, Jenna slips outside through the window next to her bed. The roof is easy to climb in her lucky gym shoes but she is cautious as she runs across it. No sign of Gaara. He must be asleep with the others. She shimmies down a gutter and takes the dirt path to the training grounds. Jenna adds the pattern on the soles of her shoes to the muddy path next to the marks left by a pair of sandals a few minutes older.

The training grounds are eerie at night. Moonlight outlines the equipment in ghostly detail and the lake is a shining sea of silver surrounded by gloomy timber giants. The hair on the back of Jenna's neck stands up. Okay, we have beautiful scenery. Now where is the crazy ax murderer? Jenna gives herself a shake and gets back to business.

"Let's see if my theory is correct. Gladius Glacies." Jenna watches as the water vapor in the air condenses into a shimmering sword of ice. It appears fragile. Jenna bangs it against a tree as hard as she can; it doesn't shatter. She runs her thumb along its edge and pulls it away when a sharp pain tells her the sword is definitely sharp enough.

"Ventus Ferus." The air in the clearing begins to whirl faster and faster until even the tallest tree has to bend with its power. It dies down when Jenna reverses the Latin command. "Now for the hardest one. Pluvia Saxi." The ground trembles beneath her feet as huge chunks of earth rise and hang suspended in the air. Jenna points to the lake. The boulders move over the body of water. Jenna opens her clenched hand and the rocks drop into the water, creating a miniature tsunami. She goes to walk away and almost falls to the ground. Must've used too much of that Chakra stuff. A minute or two later, Jenna gets to her feet and slowly jogs home.

A shadow in the forest moves. Gaara steps from behind a tree, deactivating his sand shield. He looks down the path that Jenna took and thanks his lucky star that he had chosen to go that same way. Otherwise, I might have missed the show.