Disclaimer: Do not own, but still having fun.

"Hajime!"

The two fighters seemed in no hurry to get it on. One was looking down at the other while the other… hasn't pulled his hands out of his pockets yet. The elder one took a fighting stance, smirking.

"I'm honored to fight you, Uchiha Sasuke. At last, I have the opportunity to put one of the 'Uchiha Brothers' down myself. Face it: you're still just a child. It takes many years as a Genins to even hope to become a Chunin, and that's for those who have the potential to get there. With no one to teach you the ways of your clan, you lost any and every advantages you could have over another child. You should have waited before getting in the big boy's league."

"If you say so. Are you coming or what?" Sasuke replied, bored already.

Yoroi lost his smile. How he hated that kid! He would show his master Orochimaru he would be a better choice for whatever he had planned for this kid. He would paint the walls with his blood! His face expressed his rage as he charged him, full speed.

Sasuke wasn't even bothered. The full velocity of the man had him move a little, but nowhere nearly enough to stress him, even with his new weights on. This would make Lee proud, oh yeah. Still, every time the fist of his enraged adversary came close, he felt a little weird. He was intrigued. His curiosity spiked, he decided to find out. He grabbed an incoming punch with his right hand. Now he clearly felt his chakra leave his body. The palms of Yoroi were absorbing it. While he was examining this, Yoroi tried to escape the vice-like grip on his arm. It would not budge. He hoped he would drain enough energy from the brat before he broke his arm!

"Nice. That must take Chunin level medic-nin control to absorb chakra with a simple touch in combat. Thankfully, I was fully charged and at the rate you're going, I'm in no danger. It does tire me, which, in turn, annoy me."

Sasuke pulled on Yoroi's arm and sent his knee in his enemy's stomach. He faintly heard an arm snap. Such a fragile little thing. Then, Sasuke took him by his collar and sent him ten feet in the air. By the time Yoroi stopped climbing, Sasuke had the seals for his favorite jutsu ready.

"Katon: Grand Fireball."

The massive, continuous fire breath caught his adversary as he was falling back down. He rode it up until he crashed hard in the ceiling. As the fire died, the embedded body didn't fall down. Even from there, everyone could see the white pupils. The guy was, at least, unconscious.

Hayate walked under the guy, looked up and said:

"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke. Could someone bring me a ladder?"

Then the body fell down.

"Never mind," called Hayate, expressionless.

Naruto frowned as Sasuke climbed back on the balcony.

"What was that all about?"

"He didn't… feel… like a Konoha ninja," Sasuke tried to explain.

"That implies a lot," his brother mumbled, frowning.

"Yeah."

"We'll have to see the old man about this."

"My guess is: he already knows," sighed Sasuke.

"I see. Is it the best solution, to ignore the threat?"

"Humm… He knows we're strong. The panel could be rigged but, somehow, that's unlike him. He wants to call off his bluff," guessed Sasuke.

"What if Snake-face is not bluffing?"countered Naruto.

"Then we better prepare for when he'll play his strongest cards," sighed Sasuke.

Meanwhile, the panel was rolling names again.

"Next fight: Aburame Shino vs. Otomaro Ken."

Shino, emotionless as ever, climbed down the stairs. The other ninja, his water respirator hiding his face, followed suit. They took places, one in front of the other, four meters separating them. In a ninja fight, four meters is only a step away from close range combat. None of them said a word. In fact, none of them made a sound.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaa… A 'Creepy Master's Battle!'"

Sakura sweat dropped but could not disagree with Naruto.

"Ready? Hajime!" announce Hayate, dropping an arm down.

"Doton: Muddy Swamp of putrefaction."

The ground answered the call of the Rain's ninja and seemed to swell murky water at an alarming rate. The whole arena was covered and Hayate chose to monitor the fight from afar, his feet glued to the walls. Shino, un-fazed, didn't move a muscle, even when the green gooey fluid reached him a little over the knees.

The masked nin began to circle him, without even a hint of unease at moving around.

"We were raised in a swamp, me and my brothers…" began the Rain nin.

"My brothers and I," interrupted Shino.

"What?"

"If you bother to talk, than talk well."

The Freak'O'Meter just went up two notches.

"Yes. You're right. My apology. The point is: you'll never keep up with my speed in this. They called us 'dirty' when we were kids. We ended up learning to fight dirty."

Jumping forward, he punched Shino, or tried to. The fist didn't connect as Shino bent down but the enemy move sent a lot of mud in his sunglasses. The next blow hit him. He fell on his hands and knees only to be kicked hard in the chest. Shino gasped and reeled back from the impact. He didn't go far. The muddy ground absorbed his fall. He got up on one knee, covered with slime, one hand in the mud to help support himself, the other on in sore chest. The match barely began and he was panting.

"Doton: Muddy Shockwave."

The Rain ninja raised a hand and hit the bubbly surface of water. A wave, six foot tall above the surface, submerged Shino. The wave crashed violently against the opposite wall. As the mud cleared it, Shino slid down from it and fell, face down in the water, unmoving.

Hayate groaned. He didn't want to paddle in that to confirm he was unconscious! As he though that, the body of Shino dissolved into insects. Ouf! He was that close at having to go down in that putrid swamp!

"Nice try, Leaf nin, but you can't hide from me in my environment," declared the Rain ninja loudly.

He dove in the shallow water and ripples went everywhere. A moment later, Shino flew out of it, propelled by a kick. He fell down once again limply, but this time was greeted by the awaiting knee of his enemy. Once more, Shino dissolved into an incredible mass of insects. Like Shino was for the swamp, Otomaro wasn't worried to be covered with little slimy insects that were crawling all over him. It was uncomfortable though, as some of them managed to enter his clothes.

Shino silently emerged from the water behind his enemy and hit him right on the spine. Otomaro bent a little in pain but didn't wait a second more to retaliate. His kunai pierced the Leaf nin, right in a lung. Shino dissolved once again into insects that covered Otomaro's arms.

"How can you hide so well in my swamp?" yelled the panicking ninja.

He turned and threw his kunai in what looked like Shino. He wasn't that surprised to see him crumble in another mass of six-legged creatures.

"In this swamp, I can hide my bugs anywhere I want," came a voice, seemingly from the swamp itself. "This is a playground for them. You should have made sure that this would not be a favorable environment for me beforehand."

As Otomaro looked left and right, more and more Shino appeared silently. Sweat trickled down Otomaro's back. He didn't want to turn and see how many clones were behind him. Then the bites began. Every pieces of flesh he had conscience of, or not, received a sting or bite from one of the numerous insect on him.

"Ha! HAAAAA! AAAARRRRRGGG! I give up! I GIVE UP!"

"Winner, Aburame Shino!" Hayate called out.

The bugs stopped their bite at once and the clones disappeared. Shino got out of the water and the bugs crawled up to him, entering his sleeves as he walked toward the balcony. He quietly climbed up the stairs, leaving few traces behind him. When he got to his team-mates, there was no more mud on him.

"Wow! I didn't know his bug had an auto-cleaning function!" Naruto said merrily.

Sakura shivered.

"If the price to pay is to always feel them beneath my skin, I rather wait to take a bath."

"I only hope they'll clean that before my fight," sighed Naruto.

"Don't worry. Look, the Rain nin is performing the counter jutsu."

Once the arena was back in shape to keep up the preliminaries, the board started rolling back names.

"Next fight: Kankuro of the Sand versus Tsurugi Misumi."

They looked at the called fighters get down in the arena.

"This remember me, did you see how that Kankuro guy passed the paper test?" asked Naruto to his other teammates.

"No," answered Sakura, now curious. "How?"

"Hajime!" shouted Hayate, very calmly.

"He placed a puppet amongst the examiners! He simply copied, from the puppet's point of view, the answers of one of the hidden Chunin in the class!"

"You're kidding?" Sakura said, outraged. "But… That's… That's cheating!"

"Yeah. It was simple enough but required great stealth," nodded Sasuke.

"Yeah. How is his match going by the way?" Naruto said, turning back toward the arena.

"Winner: Kankuro of the Sand!" called out Hayate.

They looked in time to see Kankuro's puppet let go of the lifeless body of a Leaf ninja.

"That's the problem with ninja fights!" Naruto whined. "If you blink too slowly, you might miss the entire thing!"

Sakura turned toward him. She whispered harshly:

"How can you be so emotionless? There is a Leaf ninja that lay dead at the feet of a Sand ninja! In a preliminary match!"

Naruto whispered back to her, very calmly.

"That's because Sasuke and I think the whole Kabuto team is phoney. They're not from Konoha… or at least do not side with us. We'll tell you later in details."

"Why not now?"

"FOREHEAD GIRL! Get your ass down here fast or you'll be disqualified! Not that it's gonna change anything to the result of this match…" called Ino from the arena floor.

"It's my turn?" Sakura said, surprised.

"Look like it," Naruto shrugged. "Too bad for you, you fell on Ino."

"Why are you saying that?"

"I would have liked to see you fight somebody strong. It would have been so much fun," Naruto said, winking at her.

Sakura smiled and blushed hard. The compliment was so natural that she could not help it. She kissed him right on the mouth and jumped hastily down on the arena floor. Naruto was struck speechless for a whole five seconds. Then he leaned down on the railing to watch the fight.

"She's better not do this too often or I might get used to it," he whispered, grinning wide.

Naruto suddenly felt a spike of killer intent sent his way. It was out so fast he could not trace where it came from. As he scanned the male crowd, he could not find anyone looking his way. In fact, the only one looking in his direction was… Ino. No… it could not be. Ino liked Sakura? Oh, well. Anything's possible. Down in the arena, a funny scene took place.

"Let's get this over with, Ino-pig," Sakura said, playfully.

"What was that all about?" the blond kunoichi shrieked. "You're with Naruto now?"

"What? No! It's just… it felt right with what he just told me. I don't think he saw that as anything else either," Sakura answered, batting the matter away.

"Huh… So you're still after Sasuke-kun? Trying to make him jealous maybe? I bet you let him do all the work on missions! Even with this supposed 'training', you still lack any skills. Even if you're stronger than me physically, and I don't think you can achieve that in a mere week before the Chunin exam, you lack techniques and a specialty! I made you what you are. I know what I'm talking about," Ino finished, sure of herself.

Sakura was calm. She looked at Ino and what she saw saddened her. She'll never be able to be the friend she was with that poor, weak girl. Sakura knew of Ino's strength and weakness too. Sakura faced the truth month ago. She was lacking strength to be a great or even a good ninja. She was working on that. Ino was even below that. She easily understood how some strong ninja became so arrogant, and how they could underestimate their enemy now. When you have to face something like that…

"Don't worry, Ino-san. They trained me to the ground. I would not be part of this team if I didn't. What about you? Training hard? As hard as you can? Until exhaustion?" asked Sakura, emotionless.

The 'Ino-san' comment offended the blond kunoichi more than she let on. Even on open 'Uchiha Brothers War', they had some sort of rough competitive friendship. She looked so… distant now. As if… she was far ahead…

"Ha! Of course! I'll show you what I can do and show Sasuke-kun what he could have had if I were in his team. I'll get him back!"

"He's all yours, if you can get him. But that's not the way to win this fight. If that's your only motivation… you're bound to lose. I won't ask you to withdraw, though. You don't believe me anyway."

"Humm… girls? I said 'Hajime' twice already," Hayate said, annoyed.

"Sorry Hayate-san," said Sakura.

On that cue, she threw two kunais toward Ino. Seeing they were aiming for her feet, Ino jump back at the last second. As they landed on the ground, the knives exploded with the power of the two detonating tag tied to them.

Ino, still in the air, was sprayed with dust and rocks. The shockwave was strong enough to send her back even further. Some stones grazed her, causing many cuts and would leave bruises. Some of them hit her hard, making her wince. What kind of explosives notes was that? She was finally about to land on the floor but her leg tripped on something. She ended up foot over head, totally entwined in metal wires.

"Activate. Now, Ino, I would strongly suggest you not to make a move and to look around you."

Ino, who had stiffened at her voice, thinking she would land some jutsu, waited until the sand from the explosion came down. When she could clearly see around her, she finally saw the totality of the web of steel wire she was hanging in. And the quantity of explosive tags tied a little everywhere in it. How can all of this even hang in the air? Oh. Kunais were stuck on the ground, walls and under the balcony all around her. They were tied at different point of the net. That's how. How did she prepared that?

"I guess you realize the situation you're into now. If you move a wire, an explosive tag will detonate. I won't even be able to stop it. In fact, it may cause the other ones to go off too."

Ino was as stiff as a board. Sakura went mad! How much more overkill could she get! She had to admit it, she was trapped, and afraid. She could be seriously hurt here. Or even… She looked in Sakura's eyes and saw no hesitation. She could read only determination in her face and… pity? Boredom? Ino's head went down and she sighed.

"I… give up."

"Winner: Haruno Sakura."

Sakura put her hands together, forming the dispel seal.

"Kai!"

The notes fell down to the floor, discharged of their explosive power. Sakura walked up to them and pick them up while Ino fought her way out of the wires. Sakura took back her kunais and wires and put them away for later use. She skipped all the way up the balcony, a happy tune on her lips.

"Sweet and short. A work well done," nodded her raven-haired teammate.

Sakura beamed at Sasuke's praised.

"Do I get a victory kiss too?" pleaded Naruto.

"That was a one time deal, Naruto!" Sakura said, hitting his arm playfully.

"Awwww! I could have got used to it!"

"In your dream, Blondie!" she said, rolling her eyes up.

"I'll see that tonight! So, who's next?" answered Naruto shamelessly.

"The board is still changing… There! Temari of the Sand against Ten-Ten," called out Sasuke.

"Cool. She's on Lee and Neji's team," Naruto told Sakura. "GO GIRL!"

Sakura leaned close to whispered in Naruto's ear.

"Does she have a chance? I never saw her fight."

"I did. She'll be fine. She's on her way to become a Weapons Master."

"Weapons Master?" she repeated. "We have weapon shops and blacksmiths but they usually sell short swords and kunaïs. Where did she find her weapons?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself? After the fight, of course. You might even make a new friend! I don't think she have a lot of female ones."

Meanwhile, down in the fighting area, two girls faced each others.

"That guy… Always showing off..." snorted Temari.

"You met him before?" asked ten-Ten, curious.

"We… ran in each other in the last task. Okay, now. No offense girl, but you should give up. My brothers aren't the only two strong members of my team."

"As Neji and Lee are not the only two of mine. But you'll judge that by yourself," Ten-Ten said, shaking her head.

"Sigh. As you wish," answered Temari, who didn't expect anything else. "I warned you. One last thing. When you'll see the third sun on my fan, it will be all over."

Ten-Ten smirked. It's always the weakest dog that barks the loudest. If her training had not taken a new turn, a few years ago, she would have been offended by Temari's claim and would have boasted about her title of Weapons Master of Konoha. Yeah… She was barking real loud back then too. She remembered clearly how it happened.

How could she get stronger if she could not spare with somebody! Lee was off training with his new master, Gai-sensei. Neji was home, training his Gentle Fist. She didn't socialize much with the other kids in her class. She was laying on her back, in her bed. She looked at the wall of her bedroom where the weapons she made at the price of hundred of hours of hard work laid still. She would soon need new walls. Her parents never understood her. She was sent to the Academy like the other kids who showed any potential in the village. She trained hard but while the other kids had their parent's skill, bloodline or ability, she didn't.

Her father was a marshal for the non-ninja population of Konoha. Her mother had a little cleaning business for fine tailoring. The Lord's wife was her main customer. That woman ate like a pig!

The forge of her father, which she learned to use very young, was put to good contribution for her weapon crafting. She knew how to throw all type of weapons dead-on target. She was currently working with her range of attack and the possibility to seal weapons to be able to carry them easily, and to carry more of them. Damn was she bored! The Hell: she would disturb Neji's training and ask for a spar.

She got up, went to her collection on the wall and wonders which one she would use today. She chose two small scythes, a wooden staff, a few daggers and a spear. No need to fully equip herself for a short spar. The walk to the Hyuga mansion was uneventful. Nobody asked why a ten years old girl was walking around with enough iron to drop straight down in a lake and get out by walking at the bottom of it.

Once in the mansion, she began the search for her white-eyed friend. He wasn't at his house. He wasn't in the garden. He wasn't in the kitchens either. If she didn't bother to look in the dojo yet, it's because she saw his sensei pass, his Byakugan on, searching for him. What could possibly make Neji miss training? Anyway, if he didn't want to be found by him, his poor trainer didn't have a chance. She would bet her first hand-made kunai that Neji's Byakugan was better than his.

She decided to go look where it would be the most difficult to look through. In the patch of forest behind the mansion. All the big clans of Konoha seem to have one of those behind their district, sector or mansion. She passed the denser part with huge trees and began to hear noises of battle. Ten-Ten got extra-careful as she didn't want to get in the crossfire of a fight including Neji.

She didn't need to worry, she realized, when she entered the brightly lighted clearing. Neji was sparing in hand-to-hand combat with his half-brother, Uzumaki Naruto, even if they were more like close cousin than brothers. Everybody knew of the 'Uchiha Brothers'. She decided to announce herself, not wanting to pass off as a voyeur or spying on their training.

"Neji! Your teacher is searching for you!" she called out.

Neji didn't even bother to turn around. Naruto would not stop his attack for such a simple distraction.

"I'm busy right now. I'm training," he said, sweating.

"He's searching for you for your training, remember?"

"Yeah? Well let's just say that I'm really training here!" he said, smirking.

He resumed his attack after that, having found an opening in Naruto's stance. Ten-Ten took this opportunity to observe them. The speed they went at was incredible! She knew of Neji's velocity in his attack but she had no ideas about Naruto's! He was a full year younger! Neji had the upper hand, even if just barely. Still… she sometime had the feeling that Naruto was pushing Neji to his limits, letting him always have the slight advantage in battle and making him work like a madman only to keep it… But it must be her imagination! No way could Naruto beat the Gentle Fist! He knew only of the bases and lacked the Byakugan to fully understand it. Even then, Naruto was very, very good.

"Neji! Here I find you!" called the Hyuga teacher, looking almost disappointed to have found his pupil. "You had a training session schedule with me this morning, remember?"

"Sorry Sensei," Neji answered, bowing to Naruto and getting a careless wave in exchange, "I forgot."

"I'm sure you did. Again. Come on now. Sorry Naruto, Hyugas only."

"No problem, man! I already turned it down from Hiashi a few time now. See ya Neji!" waved off the blond.

"See ya," replied Neji, barely hiding his grin.

Neji's trainer was a little upset that him and the Byakugan were dismissed by that boy that easily, but could not do anything about it. Hiashi-sama still had a soft spot for the kid. On top of that, Naruto was the reason he didn't have to wear a curse seal anymore. He simply bowed to him slightly and guided Neji toward the dojo. Naruto watch them go and turned toward Ten-Ten.

"So… my training session 'been cut short. Wanna spar? I have at least an hour and a half before having to go home," Naruto said, turning toward Ten-Ten.

"You have to go home? You don't have any parents!"

She put both her hands on her mouth, realizing what she just said. How could she say something that cruel?

"Sorry!" she almost shouted, seeing Naruto's face change instantly. "I didn't mean to… Sorry! Really, really, really, really sorry! I'm so stupid… I didn't think! I…"

"No, you didn't, but I'll forgive you. That's… a common reaction. Sasuke's waiting for me. We train a lot together, but not always so we don't get sick of each other."

"If your offer to spar still stands…" she asked shyly.

"It does," Naruto answered seriously.

"Okay… Then… hum…"

"Here I come," finished Naruto, not one to hesitate.

He jumped at her, sending a fury of Academy style punches and kicks. This was not the style he was using with Neji! This wasn't even near the speed he was using back then! He underestimates her! Probably because she was a girl. Still, she's a year older! She would have none of this. Her answer came fast and hard.

She developed her own fighting style and she was proud of it. She started dancing around in the clearing, dodging every attack sent her way or blocking some, with a little more power than necessary. She wanted to show him. She wasn't a Chinese doll! She made use of the superiority of her style compared to the one they teach at the Academy. The Academy style wasn't bad… but it was all general actions. It would answer to any kind of attack sent your way in an efficient, but predictable way. That's why every family kept the secret of the training behind their fighting style. It's unpredictable. She mostly had a self-teach martial art, but she could kick ass with it. And it went well with her weapons.

Naruto began to use more speed to counter her, but it laid places for openings! As soon as she saw one, instead of butting in it with her fist, she took a step back and threw a scythe, then she threw the other. The first flew by him, but he had to block the other with his arm. A large puncturing wound started to bleed where the sharp blade stuck. Naruto was wincing hard. He let out a loud hissing noise as he pulled out the blade.

"Oh NO! I'm so sorry! Now I hurt you! Man, should have I stayed in bed this morning! Literally! You must soooo hate me now! Let's go, I'll get you to the hospital, I'll explain everything!"

"If you can keep your mouth shut, I won't have to," grumbled Naruto.

"What?" she asked, confused and panicked.

"You promise to keep this quiet? I really mean it, not a single word must be heard of this," he said, looking at her seriously.

"Yeah, I promise."

Naruto looked hard in her eyes. She felt judged on the spot, as if he was scanning for any trace of malice on her face. He must have come at a good verdict since he closed the distance between him and her and moved the hand over his injury. The flesh was almost done mending itself.

"Whaaaa? How come?"

"The demon. He's healing me. He won't let me stay hurt for long. Look like it's in his best interest to keep me alive and healthy."

Ten-Ten was a bit scared. She knew, like everybody else, that Naruto was the carrier of Kyuubi, the Nine-Tail bijuu. But to see an actual proof of it… That was something else entirely.

"Does it hurt?" she asked sweetly. "Not the wound… but… the demon? Does he… hurt you inside?"

Naruto smiled sadly.

"Don't worry. I don't even feel him, most of the time. It's all healed up now. Let's get back to training. Don't hold back because you could hurt me. In fact, it's better to be me at the receiving end of your weapons. You can't cause me any lasting damage."

"Okay, if you say so…" she said, hesitating.

Training resumed with Ten-Ten being a lot more careful. The problem was, you can't really train if you don't target your enemy to hit him. She could not keep up very long as Naruto pushed her hard. She had to let her weapons fly closer and closer to him each time she threw them. Naruto was closing in from everywhere! Then he went to use some technique from afar. As a reflex, she threw both her scythe in a boomerang arc so they would both land on him. Then she realized what would happen if it hits. As it was, Naruto canceled out the technique and caught both weapon by the handle.

"Now you're talking!" he said, grinning. "We can really start the training over!"

He threw them back at her. Fast! She barely had the time to dodge both of then with a slide and a split as they stuck themselves in the trees behind her. She switched between taijutsu and weapon throwing madly, only to try to keep up. And Naruto was still using the Academy fighting style. She had to face it: even if he was a year younger, he was out of her league. Forty minutes later, he called out a break. It was about damn time! She was panting and crumbled to the ground. She could not manage a single hit!

"Ten-Ten… What were you doing?" Naruto asked, looking pensive.

"Wha… What… do you mean?" she asked back, confused herself.

"You're a weapon user! Why aren't you using your weapons?"

"I did! All the time! I just can't hit you with them anymore! You're just too fast!"

Naruto looked at her strangely.

"Have you ever though of… actually using the weapon in close range combat instead of throwing it away? Once it left your hands, you can't use it until you get it back."

"Which is why I'll try to seal them to be able to carry more of them," explained Ten-Ten, aware of that weakness very well.

"Not useful," countered Naruto. "You'll always run out of blades before the end of a fight."

"So… what do you suggest?" she asked, still sitting on the ground.

"Keep it in your hands and fight with it! If you still want to throw it, find a way to get it back. You're a weapons specialist! Here's a task for you: choose a weapon and search the library for every single fighting style that uses it. Practice every moves and attacks. Spar with me with that weapon every chances we get for a month. As a final test, at the end of one month of training, you'll be destroying a stone dummy. If you can't accomplish that, then you haven't master the weapons yet. You'll have to practice again until you manage to do it so you can start over again with another weapon. All the while, search for a way to make them get back to you. You have a great skill. It's your original one. It only needs development."

"How did you come up with all this?" she asked, amazed.

"Let's just say that I became good at thinking of new training methods. We should start now. What weapon will you begin with?"

Ten-Ten looked down. She had to choose one weapon type! She would not touch another for one full month! That was so cruel! Still…

"Bo. The wooden staff."

"Always keep your mind open for possibilities. Its study time at the Academy's library now! Search for every martial art that uses a staff."

Her weapon mastery quest began anew.

Back to the present, Ten-Ten was observing Temari. She knew her adversary was strong. Her village would not have sent her otherwise. Hopefully, she wasn't weak either. She took a small scroll, opened it and unsealed a staff. That was no wooden staff. It seemed to be made of some kind of dark steel that gave no reflection of light.

Temari, seeing that, shivered a little. She must not get it by that or they would be cleaning her brain cells on the walls.

Ten-Ten put the staff on her back and took another small scroll. Two small scythes tied to each other by a long steel wire came out.

Temari took out her fan.

"Hajime!"

Ten-Ten bent down lazily and took a small rock that was laying there. Without warning, she threw it hard at Temari's face. The Sand nin moved her head from the projectile's course. She looked back at Ten-Ten.

"Are you at the level to throw pebbles at me yet? Wow. I underestimated you."

Ten-Ten ignored the taunt superbly. She bent down again and took a good bunch of rocks. Then she started to juggle with them.

"Very entertaining, but the judges are here to see a fight, not a circus show," mocked Temari.

Temari's eyes widen as the rocks suddenly went at her. So fast! It was as if they were all thrown at the same time! The fan wielder opened her weapon, showing a sun draw on it, and made a large swipe with it. The metallic weapon created a gust of wind that knocked the stones away.

"So…that's how you use that fan," mumbled Ten-Ten, dropping the remaining rocks she had in hand.

The leaf kunoichi took back her scythes that were hanging patiently at her belt to be used.

"Let's see how you dodge this," she said, a bit louder.

She threw both her scythes sideway and changed their course by pulling the wire that connected them by the middle. Temari could not deflect weapons that came from different direction like this. She simply jumped back, out of the way.

Ten-Ten jumped after her, calling back her sharp blades and send them back at her enemy in a whip-like move. The speed was the one of a snake striking. Temari opened her fan a little wider, showing a second sun, and swiped it sideway to send the scythes back to their user. Ten-Ten caught them as she landed. Temari was already on the ground, preparing her first attack. For the third time, wind went in Ten-Ten's way but it was finally aiming at the Leaf kunoichi. She caught her. Ten-Ten crossed her arm in front of her to face the gale. She went down on one knee. Her clothes threatened to rip themselves off of her. She gritted her teeth but hold on until the air around her stopped moving.

She got back up slowly, a little shaken but unhurt by the attack. Temari had a little smirk on her lips. Ten-Ten's face closed. She took a kunai from her pouch that had a scroll tied to it. The scroll wasn't large, but very thick. Temari didn't seem to be in a hurry to get back at her, so she took the time to hook the end of the scroll on her wrist. Then she took the kunai and prepared to throw it. Temari readied her fan to send it back. Ten-ten throw it with all her strength, sending it right… on the ceiling, behind Temari. The scroll was very long. They're was a multitude of small but thick seals on it.

The scroll emitted the distinct sound and smoke of a summon and from it came a rain of sharp and pointy caltrops. The smalls, but heavy metal projectiles were gaining speed toward the ground, right where Temari was standing.

She could just have jumped far out of the way, but why not use a weapons so kindly sent your way? The fan wielder jumped back just a little and waited for them to be at the best angle to strike. She opened her fan up to its last sun and let out a massive wind attack toward the weapon user. The sharps blades of air caught the projectiles as they were about to reach her, and sent them back at full speed toward their owner.

Ten-Ten, on the other side of the arena, would have been ripped to shred by that combo attack had she not be ready. She already got rid of the scroll tied to her wrist and summoned another weapon. The small spear seemed dangerous to Temari, but she could not explain why. It was black and shiny.

As her own weapons were closing in on her, Ten-Ten threw the spear at her adversary. The spear faced the gale, passed the projectiles and stuck in the wall behind the Sand kunoichi who barely dodged it, not believing it passed her wind attack so easily. It must weight a ton! She turned back to Ten-ten only to be greeted by the hundreds of caltrop that she had just send back! She took a good deal of damage before being able to put her fan in front of her. She blocked the rest but they were pushing so hard! Even after hitting her fan, they kept pushing on it until they slide over and hit the wall behind her! Her fan seemed to weight so much all of the sudden. As the attack died, she put her fan down, panting... and almost lost it. It tried to stick to the wall behind her! As she looked back, she saw the totality of the caltrops covering the spear. She made the connection.

"A magnetic weapon..."

Ten-Ten ran to her, handling her staff with ease. Temari manage to block the attack with her unfolded fan, which she could not fold back anyway. The caltrops seemed to have damaged it. Ten-Ten then showed her how much of a weapon specialist she was. Each attack made the fan shake and bent on some places. Temari had a hard time between the magnetic spear who still tried to get her fan and Ten-Ten's fast and powerful attack.

She took many hit she could not totally parry but was still holding her own, barely. Then, Ten-Ten shoved the end of her staff directly against the unfolded fan. She pierced the metal and the staff struck Temari right in the stomach. She bent in two, eyes wide and her mouth opened in a silent shout of pain. Her knee buckled beneath her and she let go of her fan, losing the magnetic battle. As she found some of her breath back, very painfully, she looked up to see Ten-Ten holding her staff to the side of her forehead.

"Give up," she commanded.

"I can't," whispered Temari.

Ten-Ten, as feared by Temari at the beginning of the fight, struck her on the side of the head with her staff. The kunoichi fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Winner: Ten-Ten of the Leaf."

The soon to be Weapons Mistress took some time to get all her weapons and seal them away. Naruto whistled hard and sent her a thumb up from the balcony. She smiled to him and returned the gesture.

Kankuro went down in the arena and picked up his sister's prone body. He took her back to him and Gaara's position on the balcony that was strangely deserted. He laid her against the wall and took care of her injuries. The worst blow she took seem to be on the head. She would have a huge bump and a killer headache but it wasn't any more serious than that. He bandaged the deep scratches she had on her from the metal rain. There were better suited medic nin around, but the hell if they would ask any help from Konoha ninja's.

"So…Training seems to be paying up, Ten-Ten!" Naruto said as the girl walked up to him.

"If not to distract you for your next fight, Naruto, I would do the same thing that Sakura did to you earlier!" she said, her head close to his.

"That's easy to solve! Let's just say you owe me one! Why not on a date? Let's say… after the exam? A Saturday at eight? I'll come and pick you up. I know some nice places."

Ten-Ten, taken aback, blushed but nodded nonetheless. She turned toward her teammates who were waiting for her and practically skipped over to them, still red in the face.

"And they say girls are mostly after me…" Sasuke said, lifting an eyebrow.

"They are, Aniki! I'm just taking the opportunities that life offers me! Why not have some fun once in a while?"