Chapter 10

"The preliminaries will be starting immediately. Anyone who doesn't think they're in top physical shape should take their chances and leave now." The very highly sick proctor told the remaining 7 teams.

'WHAT!?' This went through just about everyone's minds at the moment. "B-But I didn't even get to eat!" Kagome whined loudly.

Choji nodded, "I'm with ya girl!" He agreed. "Is that really all your thinking about right now?" Shikamaru asked them plainly.

Kagome shrugged, "You can't really expect me to fight on a full stomach!" She said looking at him like she wouldn't believe he said that.

"The best ninja could fight under any circumstances, Kagome." The Hokage boomed out, making almost everyone look to the girl wondering why the Hokage knew her, but some just brushed it off as him being the Hokage, so he should know everyone.

Kagome deflated, "Aw." She pouted out.

"Oh yeah, uh, the winners will be determined by one on one combat. Sudden death. So, uh, like I said if there's anyone who doesn't feel up to it, time to raise your hand." The proctor said to them.

Kagome sighed solemnly, 'Man, more death? Geez, this place just doesn't stop. Wait, what's that?' Kagome narrowed her eyes and she gained a serious look and looked out into the group of elite ninja standing behind the Hokage.

'Which one is he?' She looked through them then saw it. 'Of course. He picks the one who looks the most like a chick.' Kagome scoffed and gave her best 'Vegeta Stare' to the elite leaf ninja. 'How bold. To stand with the Hokage.' She looked to see the old man, nor anyone else had noticed.

She kept her stare until he looked at her. She hardened her gaze as she heard Sakura warning Sasuke to stop because of the curse make, he inflicted on him. 'This guy…He really rubs me the wrong way.' Kagome kept her eyes on Orochimaru, knowing she was right because his ki signature was unmistakably nasty.

He smirked at her and while no one was looking, he licked his lips with that nasy tongue of his. 'Damn him…' Kagome gave him her best hard glare, more upset than anything that he had wussed out and tricked her during their fight, then attacked her friends while her back was turned, like an amateur.

She only broke contact when she heard a collected group of silent gasps. She looked over to see, Kabuto, of all people raising his hand, "Okay, you got me."

"But, Kabuto!" Naruto said in disbelief.

"Wah? Hold on! Kabuto! You can't quit! I don't get this what's going on?!" Naruto yelled at him.

Kagome furrowed her brows at the silver haired chuunin exams expert, 'Why would he quit when he knows everything about anything in this exam? He's not even that injured.' Kagome thought as she looked him over.

"Oh, Naruto, I'm sorry, but my body's just too beat up. I can't hack it. The fact is, ever since orientation and that dust up with the sound village team, I've had no hearing at all in my left ear. And now to put my life on the line, to fight again right away without a break? I can't do it." He said in an honest voice.

"Isn't this your 7th try? You must really not want to pass, if that's all it takes for you to quit." Kagome said lifting a brow in his direction. Naruto's head popped up from his disappointed gaze appointed to the floor, to look at Kagome in shock that she would say that.

She said it in such a harmless way but her eyes showed how she really felt, clearly. "You put all that information, into those cards and for what? So you can quit half way?" She continued carelessly.

Both Sasuke and Kabuto were wondering where she was going with this, Kagome shrugged putting her hands behind her head in a relaxed way, "It's just a little sketchy, that's all I'm sayin." She said to him in a voice filled with no accusations or cockiness.

Kabuto mentally narrowed his eyes at her, 'Just what is she trying to imply? Is she onto me or something?' He thought as a drop of sweat dripped from his temple. He kept his weak, kind, and innocent façade up like an expert, "Sorry, I guess I'm just not as strong as you all are." He admitted sadly, slightly catching Kagome off guard.

He waved to Naruto and his team then walked out. 'Sorry, Sasuke, sorry Naruto. I'd love to stick around but if I did that, the old me might get stirred up. Then I wouldn't be mush use as a spy, plus no need in me being around when you're here to watch over things, is there Orochimaru. Don't worry we'll meet again Sasuke, oh and of course I can't forget you…Kagome….' Kabuto smirked as he walked out of the room with an evil look in his eyes.

Kagome sighed, 'This place sure does keep you on your toes...' She thought wearily.

"Now is there anyone else who wants to quit?" Kagome looked around the noticed Sakura of all people about to put her hand up, it shocked her to no end but she looked to where her gaze was studied and it made sense. 'Sasuke.'

She put her harms down from her head when Sasuke grabbed Sakura's hand and yanked it down.

"am I supposed to just sit here and watch you torture yourself?! I can't, I won't bear to watch it!" She yelled at him.

"Then don't watch! This has nothing to do with you so stay out of it!" He snapped at her.

Kagome glared at his rudeness but he continued on, "To me this is much more than an exam, whether or not I become a chuunin or not means less than nothing to me!" He said to her.

Now, even Kagome's eyes had to widen at this, he had seemed so serious throughout this whole thing. How could it mean nothing?

"All that matters to me is am I as strong as I can be? The only way I'll know the answer to that if I fight the best of the best. And the best of the best, are all here. This is the path I walk, not you or anyone can change that!" He said to her with such fierceness.

Kagome's glare softened, 'Well, I can understand that. I also want to fight the best of the best, to test my own limits, to be as strong as I could possibly be… But the only difference is…Sasuke-'

"Oh Sasuke…" Sakura whimpered.

'You'd do anything to get it, even if it means being consumed by evil. You said it yourself, and that…That is where we are different.' Kagome said looking to the black haired boy with a mixture of sadness and disappointment, 'It's always the best ones who choose to take a dark path to achieve such dangerous goals…I've seen it one too many times to count…' Kagome thought back to all of the enemies she faced, always hungry for power and willing to hurt anyone and destroy anything to get it. Always sinking to the lowest possible points to reach that power. Kagome's eyes saddened at the thought of how many lives were destroyed from that way of thinking… She looked up to the root of the problem, or rather the snake and gave him a hard look.

'Well, it won't happen again! I won't let it!' She yelled out into her mind with a determined fire. The chance to save someone from their own darkness before it turned into something ugly, was something she refused to give up. She looked to Sasuke to see him looking back at her with narrowed eyes. She ignored his verbal challenge and nodded mentally, 'Yes…No one deserves that!'

"Hey! What are you biting her head off for? She was only tryna help-!" Naruto started to yell at Sasuke but he cut him off.

"Naruto." He said turning to face the blonde. "Eh?" Naruto looked at him confused. "You're one of the one's I want to fight the most!" He said to him making Naruto's eyes widen.

Kagome couldn't help but notice the look in Naruto's eyes, it was more than just shock. It was happiness and joy… 'Hmm? Wonder why that is?' Kagome wondered, her thoughts were cut short by the proctor.

"Well, the preliminaries will start now, it will be a one on one match to determine the winner, this is not an exercise. There are 21 of you remaining, which means there will be 11 matches. Yes, that means one of you will be fighting twice. The surviving candidates for these 11 matches will progress onto the third part of the exam as for the rules, there are none. You will fight until one dies or conceded defeat or is rendered physically incapable of continuing in the contest. Naturally those who are losing are recommended to concede to avoid a fatal outcome, furthermore as proctor, I'm given a certain amount of leeway on judging the matches, on occasion I'm allowed to intervene if a match seems hopeless, we'd like to save as many lives as possible. Now it's time to reveal what fate has been chosen for you." He looked over to a big screen on the wall and everyone's eyes followed.

"The names of each opponent are chosen completely at random, before each match, the names will appear on the screen behind me, if there's nothing more to say, let's begin." He said plainly. "In a moment the names of the first two candidates will appear.

Kagome crossed her fingers hoping she was first, her Saiyan need for battle popping up, 'I hope me and Gaara get to up against each other first so we're both at full power, well the full power of my base, I'm most definitely going to do this without coming out of my base! I'll set that as a goal for myself.' Kagome thought gaining a playful grin of her face.

The names stopped spinning and Kagome deflated with a pout, "Aw, it's Sasuke." She whined childishly.

Shikamaru lifted his brow at her, "You're one strange chick." He commented to her with a lifted brow. Kagome looked to him with innocent wide eyes and started laughing, "Gee thanks, spike!" she said with a small blush.

Shikamaru and everyone else who listened all sweatdropped, "It wasn't a compliment! And what the hell did you call me?" He snapped at her.

"Alright! Those whose names have been selected come forward. " Both Sasuke and another leaf village ninja with black shadows for eyes walked forward. "Ruy Arucado and Sasuke Uchiha you have been chosen, are there any objections?" The proctor asked them.

"None here."

"No."

"Okay, now everyone else will now clear the area and move to the upper level." He pointed to the over-looking level up above.

Everyone took the stairs like normal people but Kagome excitedly jumped all the way to the upper level and sat on the railing. "Hurry up guys! The view's great! Hahaha!" Kagome waved to everyone as the trailed up the stairs.

Kiba sighed, "Geez, she never stops drawing attention to us does she?" He said in a tired voice. "She's very cheerful." Hinata added.

"Tch, what a drag." Shikamaru sighed.

"Here I come, Kagome!" Naruto was the only one who yelled back to her with a wave of his own as he ran full speed up the stairs leaving everyone in the dust.

Sakura sweatdropped, "I could've sworn he was weak and injured just a few seconds ago...?" She said with a twitching eyebrow.

"We'll those two are painfully alike…" Kakashi said wearily, starting to be glad he didn't have both her and Naruto to deal with.

Kuurenai chuckled, "Yes, she is quite the intresting one. To be so innocent and simple-minded whenever she's not in a fight. I have no idea how she does it." Kurenai shook her head as the two watch Naruto run over to Kagome and start blushing and talking away.

Kakashi nodded, "Well, there are many mysterious things about that girl, I'm actually kind of eager to see her match." He said to the brown haired Kunoichi.

"You're not the only one." Gai popped up on Kakashi's other side.

"Haha! Naruto! You made it! It's great to see you and Sakura here!" Kagome smiled at Naruto and hopped down from her perch on the railing that most people only leaned over.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah you guys too! That was a pretty amazing trick you did back there by the way! Do you think you could teach me how to fly?!" He yelled in excitement. Kagome tilted her head and placed her finger to her chin, "Hmm, I guess I could one day, but I make no promises that you'll be able to do it. It takes a lot of Ki control." She told him wearily but he completely shrugged off the negativity and started cheering.

Kagome sweatdropped, "Uh…Okay? Ehehehe." She laughed nervously.

"Ready! Begin!" The match started and the Ruy guy threw the first kunai. Kagome's eyebrows furrowed as she watched the match continue then sighed in disappointment.

Naruto looked over to her confused, "What's up Kagome? You don't seem all that excited anymore." Naruto commented curiously. Kagome shrugged, "Oh yeah, sorry. I'm just way more into fair matches, when both can start out at their best, that way you can really see who's the strongest, but with this match…" Kagome looked down to see Sasuke getting beat but then have the upper hand at some points but then lose it in other cases.

"You think Sasuke is going to lose because of his injuries?" Kakashi popped up behind the two and lifted a brow at Kagome.

Kagome giggled lightly then shook her head, "Ah, nope. From what I've seen Sasuke's will is way too great for him to be taken down that easy, he'll win no matter what it takes." She said confidently with that light tone of hers like she was never worried about anything.

Kakashi eye widened slightly at this before he closed it letting a hidden smile grace his face, "I see…"

"Huh? How do know Sasuke so well? What did I miss?" Naruto asked her scratching his head looking back and forth between her and Kakashi for answers.

Kagome looked to him and then looked back to the fight below, "Well, it isn't really hard to see. I mean, I heard what he said earlier." She told him. 'And I also heard him back in the forest…' She thought the last part.

"Ah, so you heard that, huh? That's just Sasuke being a jerk." Naruto said with a huff. Kagome giggled, "That's not what you said when he told you he wanted to fight you too." She teased.

Naruto's eyes widened and he blushed, "What?! I-I didn't-! I mean-!" He sputtered out making Kagome laugh even harder.

"I'm only kidding Naruto calm down already!" Kagome laughed out putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder. He blushed loudly at the physical contact and stopped sputtering.

Kakashi rolled his eyes at his student's hopelessness with girls "If you two are done flirting, it looks like Sasuke is in trouble. That is if your still interested in the fight?" Kakashi said making Naruto's blush spread all over his face and Kagome's cheeks started to heat up at the accusation.

"Wait, Sasuke?" The both looked down to see that Ruy guy on top of Sasuke and sucking out his chakra. "Oh no…" Naruto muttered with wide eyes at the fact that the great Sasuke Uchiha had fallen like this.

Sasuke managed to kick the guy off but he was too weak and barely dodged the next attack. He was backed into a corner now and Kagome shook her head and furrowed her brows, 'No I know what I'm talking about. Sasuke can do this, I'm positive!' She thought as she looked down at the boy.

"Sasuke…" Naruto looked to Sakura for support for their teammate but she turned her head away and Naruto looked back at the scene in aggravation, "Hey Sasuke! C'mon man, what was that?! And you call yourself an Uchiha!? You're gonna let this guy walk all over you! C'mon stop messing around and get in gear!" He yelled down at the last clan member.

That seemed to be what he needed because Sasuke ended up dodging the next hits thrown at him then managed to land a great kick under the guy's chin sending him flying before he used Lee's dancing leaf shadow, he started another move but Kagome's keen eyes caught his movements clearly. He coughed out blood then the mark on his neck grew a fiery color and started to spread all over his face again, suddenly the curse mark receded.

Sasuke successfully regained the upper hand and landed a barrage of kicks and punches to Ruy's body successfully knocking him out. But in the process he passed out himself.

"Oh, just when you thought he was down." Kagome smirked seeing Sasuke struggled to get up.

"The winner is Sasuke Uchiha." Kagome looked to Kakashi with a grin, "Told ja!" She giggled out.

Kakashi sweatdropped then disappeared in a cloud of smoke only to appear behind Sasuke to catch him.

"WhooHoo! Yeah, you go Sasuke! Hey Sasuke! You won but in such an un-cool way!" Naruto yelled loudly in a taunting voice.

"Wow, he was amazing." Hinata said to her teammates.

"Yeah yeah, he wasn't that great." Kiba scoffed with a lie.

"Hey Kagome, am I crazy or did you see some kind of black tattoo on Sasuke's neck?" Naruto asked looking at Kagome curiously.

Kagome lifted her brow at him, 'Huh? So he saw it too?'

Kagome started to answer, "Well, of cours-"

"Naruto, your just seeing things! There was nothing there!" Sakura butted in giving Kagome a look that said 'don't tell him!'. Kagome frowned deeply ,'Why would she want to lie to Naruto? I can't keep anymore secrets from him than I already am…I'm literally horrible at it!' Kagome sighed shaking her head.

"Huh? You sure?" He looked back and forth between the two girls. Kagome nodded slowly but said nothing.

"Okay, the next match begins immediately. The next contestants are…" The two names popped up and Kagome turned to her team mate with the same loud enthusiasm as Naruto.

"Alright! Yay Shino! You can do it!" She yelled as he walked down there.

Kagome's P.O.V

I watched with extreme interest as Shino jumped down to fight that guy Sasuke messed up in the forest. "Wonder how he's gonna fight with no arms? Is that even fair?" Naruto asked looking down at them.

I shrugged, "Who knows, I just wanna see what Shino's got. I've never seen him in a fight before." I grinned and decided to listen in on this, but before I did I made sure to keep an eye on that snake Orochimaru across the room. He looked me in the eye then smirked before making a hand sign and disappearing.

I was shocked for a slight moment but then I shook my head and closed my eyes eyes, 'If I can't see him, I'll just have to feel him out!' I was focused on concentrating but Naruto yelled and I lost it, "Hey Kagome! Your missing it! What are you doing anyways?" He asked me looking to me curiously.

I looked back to the fight to see Zaku actually had a free arm, he ran at Shino and gave him a fierce sound wave straight to the face. I frowned when I saw this and furrowed my brows, his body was on the floor smoking. He slowly started to stand and I cringed slightly seeing bugs start to crawl all over his face.

"Wha!" Zaku yelled out in shock as Shino stood up completely fine. But Zaku wasn't about to be, behind him were a bunch of bugs crawling his way.

"They're a rare parasitic beetles that hunt in a swarm, they feed on your chakra. And an army this size, will suck you dry in less than a minute." Shino informed him.

"Your only intelligent option is to forfeit, if you use your good arm against me, my army will swarm you from behind… Conversely if your use your arm to keep them at bay, then you have me on your blind side. Either way your defeat is certain. It's wise to always have an ace in the whole." He said to him.

I nodded, "Nice, Shino! You're doing great!" I stopped my cheer when Zaku pulled out his right arm. But as soon as he went to blast both Shino and his bugs, I guess his chakra exploded half way through his arms at his elbows. I gasped in shock along with the others.

"AH! MY ARMS! What's wrong with them!?" He screamed out in pain I cringed slightly knowing that must've hurt. 'His arms are getting no breaks this week!' I thought shaking my head as Shino explained what happened.

He ran and was behind Zaku's panicked form in a second, "You see, while I was giving you my piece of helpful advice I sent my beetle to cover up those bother some holes in your hands, both hands just to be sure." He said to him.

"Wow, Shino's kind of scary…" I muttered to myself. Naruto nodded from his spot next to me, "You can say that again."

"You see, while an ace in the whole is good, 2 aces are better…" Shino said to him before blocking an aggressive hit from Zaku then knocking him to the floor.

Shino was soon announced the winner and I sighed, I looked over to Naruto to see him confused and slightly disgusted, "What's wrong Naruto?" I asked him knowing the answer.

"Man, that Shino is good! Who would have known with him being so quite all the time! I can't wait to get my shot at him!" He yelled out I sweatdropped, 'Well, I thought I knew what he was going to say.' I walked back over to my team as Shino came up.

"Oh, wow Shino, that was great." Hinata said with a smile.

"Yeah, way to get Shino!" Kiba smirked. I looked over to Shino and grinned holding my thumbs up, "That was great Shino! I didn't know someone so creepy could be so strong!" I laughed out.

Kiba sweatdropped, "What that even a compliment?" He questioned I shrugged, "Of course It was!"

Shino said nothing but, "Just make sure you 3 do the same." He said vaguely before turning away.

'Man, Shino sure has a way with words, that guy…' I thought with a sigh.

I saw the next name come up and it was some leaf ninja with a drape of the bottom half of his face, and Gaara's brother. I leaned an elbow on the railing and sighed irritatedly, "Man! When is it gonna be my turn!?" I cried out with a pout.

Hinata looked over to me curiously, "You want to fight?" She asked me like it was a crazy idea. I nodded, "Yeah, I'm tired of just standing around here! I need some action in my life. But I do hope I get to fight him." I smirked looking over to Gaara.

Kiba and Hinata gasped, "Wait, who are you talking about, Kagome?" Kurenai asked me from behind. I nodded over to where he stood, "Gaara, of the Desert." I said with a grin.

Even Shino gasped at this, "What!? Kagome, you have no idea what he's capable of, you know he finished the test in under 2 hours!?" Kurenai warned me.

My eyes widened slightly, "Wow, well he is good, I'll give him that. But I'd like to see for myself what he's got. Don't worry about me." I said to her trying to calm her down.

"But, Kagome-chan you saw what he did to that team in the forest didn't you?" Hinata asked me. I nodded, "Don't worry Hinata, I'm not scared of him." I patted her back giving her a smile.

Kiba growled, "You idiot! It's not about whether or not you're scared of him! He'll kill you!" Kiba yelled angrily.

I shrugged, "I don't see what the big deal is. He's pretty creepy that's for sure, but Shino's pretty creepy too." I said trying to make him calm down.

Kiba sighed in aggravation but I couldn't understand why they were so worried, I mean, I told them about who I am and I love a good fight. Really, he's the only one in this room worth fighting at this point.

The match behind me ended quickly and Gaara's brother was the winner, that wasn't too much of a surprise to me. I waited for the next names to pop up patiently.

It was Sakura and Ino Yamanaka.

"Whoohoo! Go Sakura!" I yelled out, Sakura was pretty strong when she tried so this was going to be interesting.

The match lasted a long time and it was pretty personal too, by the looks of it. But sadly it ended in a draw after a long time. I smiled at how strong Sakura had been, she was passed out but her ki was fine so I knew she'd be alright.

The matches continued after that and I decided to take a seat a meditate, rather than not. So then next match continued and I sat against the wall behind my team, then sat in the position Piccolo taught me. But before I could get into it the names on the screen stopped and my team gasped making me look up curiously. "Huh?"

"Looks like you're up!" Kiba called to me. I stood up and saw the names I was slightly disappointed but I still couldn't help the grin that graced my lips.

Normal P.O.V

"This ought to be interesting." Kiba said gaining a wolf grin.

"G-Good luck, Kagome-chan." Hinata smiled at her.

'Finally, after all this time I can see what she's really got. ' Kurenai said as she watched her newest student jump off the railings instead of taking the stairs.

Sakura gasped seeing the names, 'No way! Kagome's going to fight one of the sand ninja?' She thought then smiled remembering they way Kagome handled the ninja back when she helped them in the forest of death. 'CHA! YOU GET EM KAGOME! KICK HER TEETH IN!' She cheered on the inside, "Go Kagome!" Was all she yelled out the outside though.

Naruto grinned seeing his crush's name on the big screen, 'Whoa, Kagome's gonna fight now?' "GO KAGOME! KICK THAT CHICK'S BUTT! He yelled out eagerly as he practically threw his body over the railing to watch the fight.

'Now we finally get to see what she's got. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious.' Kakashi thought as he watched silently.

"Well, now we get to see what she's made of!" Gai said with a serious look on his face as he looked down into the ring.

Lee grew hearts in his eyes, "Go Kagome!" He yelled in a cheerleading voice making his team mates sweatdrop at his loudness.

Gaara had his arms crossed and look of killer intent permanently in his eyes, but as h watched the match he was also interested to see if this girl was ever going to stand a chance against him.

Kagome smirked as she walked towards the sand ninja slowly the same time she did, they both stopped in front of the proctor, "I have to say, you're not the one I wanted to fight, but I'm not complaining." She said to her.

Temari gave her a smirk but on the inside she was a bit shaky about her, 'What is she? I have no idea how she did that earlier, but if she thinks she can beat me she's got another thing coming!'

"Temari. Kagome. Ready yourselves….BEGIN!"

Temari jumped back and Kagome did the same gaining distance from each other.

Kagome looked Temari up and down then sighed, 'Well, this isn't going to be all that fun…but the least I can do is not end it so quickly.' She thought giving her a smirk.

Temari scoffed, "I don't know what you're thinking challenging Gaara like that, but I'll tell you one thing. If you can't beat me, then you have no chance against him!" She pulled out her fan and swung it at Kagome causing a tornado to appear, Kagome's eyes widened at the trick then she disappeared leaving an after-flash behind her.

Kakashi's eyes widened, 'She's fast!' But he wasn't the only one thinking that.

The Hokage watched the fight with interest keeping his eyes on Kagome, but when she disappeared he narrowed his eyes, 'Well, she certainly is fast, I'll give her that.'

Kagome reappeared behind Temari and the Kunoichi stopped her jutsu and looked around frantically, 'Where'd she go!?'

"Behind you." Kagome said lightly just as Temari went to turn around Kagome picked up her leg and swung it at her, "Too slow!" She yelled out and her foot collided with Temari harshly sending her flying across the room only to hit the wall hard enough to shake the ground.

'Ah-Such strength!' Kurenai gasped.

Kagome scratched her cheek as she walked towards Temari's limp form with big eyes, 'Did I…Overdue it?' She wondered but Temari coughed out blood and slowly started to get up shakily.

"Whoa, that girl took down Temari so easily! I didn't even see her move!" Kankuro yelled out in shock.

Gaara narrowed his eyes at the scene, 'Mother is getting antsy…' He thought as Temari stood up and glared harshly at Kagome.

"Grr! You'll pay for that!" She yelled out. Kagome flipped and jumped back across the room to gain some distsance, "What a relief! I thought you were done already!" Kagome laughed out lightly.

Temari growled angrily, 'What is this? A joke? Is she seriously having fun? Is this a game to her?!' She thought angrily as she looking into Kagome's eyes, she saw no malice or any signs of her being sadistic, she saw confidence, and innocence making her wonder just what she was playing at here. 'I don't get it, and I don't care! I'm going to finish her now!'

Temari stood up fully and unleashed all 3 moons in her fan, "I'd like to see you dodge this, sweetheart!" She yelled out then she whirled her fan around and disappeared along with it.

Kagome's brows furrowed, 'This must be some sort of jutsu…If that the case then!' Kagome felt her out then looked above to see her flying on her fan.

Kagome lifted her brow, "That's pretty impressive." She complimented with a smirk looking up at her, "Oh? You think so? I'm flattered, now try this!"

This time Temari waved her whole fan making the tornado consume the entire ring.

"Oh no! Kagome!" Naruto yelled out.

Kiba growled, "Kagome…" He muttered fisting the railing tightly.

"Oh no! Kagome-chan!" Lee yelled out as well.

Kankuro smirked, "She's got her now."

Gaara scoffed, "No, she doesn't." He said plainly making Kankuro look at him with shock, 'What? What do you mean?" He asked him but Gaara said nothing but kept his eyes on the match.

Kagome smirked, "This all you've got?!" Kagome powered up slightly then flared her energy roughly and the force of it threw Temari back and distinguished her tornado.

'Guess it's time to end this.' Kagome watched Temari fall to the floor then jumped up and disappeared then reappeared above Temari making the Kunoichi look up at her in fear and shock, "Impossible!" She said shaking her head.

Kagome smirked, "Is it?" She slammed her foot down in Temari's stomach making her cough out blood then hit the floor in a crater of smoke.

The proctor walked over and noticed even after that tornado there wasn't a scratch on Kagome. "And the winner is, Son Kagome!" It was silent for awhile but of course not long.

"Whoa…" Naruto gasped out. "NICE KAGOME!"

'That fight barely last 5 minutes…And from the looks of it…' He watched Kagome grin and rub the back of her neck embarrassed after she jumped back on the upper level and both her team, his team, and Lee went to congratulate her.

'She was holding back…And by a long shot.' Kurenai finished his thought as she watched her student cheekily smile to her friends.

"Alright! I knew you could do it!" Kiba said cockily. "Good job, Kagome." Hinata smiled.

Naruto gave her thumbs up, "Man! That was great Kagome!" Naruto cheered.

"Thanks guys." Kagome smiled.

Gaara shook lightly and started to breath raggedly and Kankuro, who had just picked up the unconscious Temari looked at him wearily, 'oh no…I hate it when he gets like this!' He thought watching his little brother with caution.

The matches went on and Shikamaru went next against, Kin the sound ninja, he won of course.

Next was Naruto and Kiba, like Hinata Kagome was conflicted on who to cheer for seeing as they were both her friends, "Go Naruto! Do your best okay!" Kagome grinned waving to the blonde.

"HEY!" Kiba yelled from his spot on the floor. Kagome giggled nervously, "Hehe… You go too, Kiba and Akamaru! Do your best!" She yelled out hoping it would work.

"That's not the same!" He yelled back with a tick mark on his head, meanwhile Akamaru barked back in response.

"Tch, whatever. I'm still gonna kick his butt!" He yelled out.

So the fight went on and Naruto ended up winning by out smarting Kiba and then messing with his nose then catching the advantage and using his newest move to win.

"And the winner is Naruto Uzumaki!"

Kagome stopped herself from cheering with the others and settled for a grin.

"It was nothing! Piece of cake!" Naruto started to walk past and Kagome patted him on the back, "Good job, Naruto! You did great!" Kagome said giving him a smile.

He blushed, "Ah it was nothing!"

Next match! Hinata Hyuuga vs Neji Hyuuga!

Kagome's eyes narrowed as Hinata's name was called up, 'It's time now Hinata, show them how much you've grown!' Kagome thought as she looked to her friend. She walked over to where Naruto, Lee, Sakura, and Kakashi stood to see better.

"Hinata! You've got this!" Kagome yelled down seeing Hinata look up at her shakily but Kagome gave her a hard look making Hinata nod in determination.

Kagome growled and gripped the railings as Neji started to pick harshly at Hinata's insecurities. "Kagome…" Sakura muttered seeing how worked up she was getting.

Kurenai thought back to when she first took Hinata under her wing then back to when she saw Kagome and Hinata hashing it out.

Kagome's lips twisted into a snarl at his harsh words, "A failure will always be a failure." He continued.

"SHUT UP!" Kagome yelled at the Hyuuga on anger. "Just shut your mouth already! All this talk about destiny and how you can't change! Your wrong! Hinata's better than however you make think of her! She may be soft and kind but she's also strong! And who the hell are you to judge her for it!" She yelled at Neji giving him a harsh stare.

Neji looked up at her and scoffed, "You know nothing, stay out of it." He snapped.

Kagome growled in anger and gripped the railing harder then looked to Hinata, "Hinata! Are you really going to just stand there and let him talk to you that way!? Do something! Your driving me crazy!" She screamed at the girl.

Hinata's eyes widened and everyone around Kagome looked at her in shock, 'Whoa…I didn't think Kagome was capable of being anything but happy…' Sakura thought shocked.

Kakashi looked at her with understanding, 'Well, after the stern talking to she gave to Hinata. It only makes sense that she'd be upset now.' He looked over to Kurenai who was looking at Kagome as well then the two jonin made eye contact and nodded.

Hinata's hair shadowed her eyes as she remembered what Kagome said to her weeks ago…

Flashback!

"Stop it…" She started as her hair shadowed her eyes. Hinata looked confused, "Just stop it, already!" She yelled at her. Hinata jumped back, having never been yelled at by Kagome before.

"S-Stop w-what?" She asked in a scared voice but Kagome ignored her. "Stop doing that! Stop putting yourself down just so that you can have a reason to give up! I may have not been a ninja for a long time but I know that being a fighter and protector means that you have to believe in yourself! You can't keep counting on others to do it for you!" She yelled at her in anger.

Hinata's eyes widened in shock, 'I-I….I…Depend on others?' She thought replaying in her mind all the times Shino and Kiba had to rescue her.

"Hinata, you are a good fighter! You have such great advantages and such potential but you never use it!"

"Hinata, you're my friend… And regardless if you take what I say to you and throw it away or whether you decide to use it, I will be there for you, because that's just who I am. But I need to know that if or when the time comes, will you even do the same for me?" She asked knowing it was harsh but Hinata needed this push.

"Well, Hinata? Would you?" Kagome asked when Hinata said nothing but looked at her with wide frightened eyes at the accusation. "Or would you chicken out and run away and leave me to fend for myself when you know you probably could have done something but you talked yourself into thinking you can't!?" Kagome boomed at her.

Hinata looked down at her hands that were shaking and gulped…

She looked back up to Kagome with scared but serious eyes, "Y-YES!" She yelled out clenching her fists to her sides.

Kagome looked at her with soft eyes. "Yes I would help! I'll do whatever it takes to protect my friends! I won't give up! And I won't back down!" She cried out as a tear fell from her eyes.

"Because that is my nindo as well! My ninja way!" She yelled out as she looked up at Naruto and Kagome before getting into a fighting stance.

The two started fighting using their Byakugans and gentle fists. Gai and Kakashi started to explain what was going on but Kagome already knew from experience so she tuned them out and watched the intense fight with interest.

Kagome was silent throughout the fight making Naruto look at her every now and again wondering why she was all of a sudden so quite.

'When is she going to use it already? We didn't spend all that time for her to learn that technique just for her not to use it!' She thought impatiently as the fight went on. The two cousins went at it with ferocity and Naruto cheered them on.

"No!" Kagome yelled once Neji got her with a direct hit to the stomach. The hyuuga coughed out blood onto Neji's hands.

Hinata went to strike at him again but he stopped her easily and hit her chakra point in her arms. Kagome growled getting frustrated again, "C'mon Hinata!" She yelled out to the girl.

Hinata jumped back away from Neji and nodded, 'Okay…Just like we practiced…' Kagome watched as Hinata closed her eyes then smirked, "Yes!" she cheered silently.

"Huh? What are you so happy about Kagome? It still looks pretty bad out there." Sakura asked curiously.

Kagome shook her head with a smirk, "Don't count Hinata out just yet, we didn't spend all that time training together for no reason y'know." She looked to the pink haired Kunoichi with a grin.

Kakashi lifted a brow at this, 'What else could this girl have under her sleeve?' He wondered.

Hinata opened her eyes then used her chakra to jump high into the air and she focused her chakra into her hand, Kagome smiled when she saw she was using the new move she taught her, "Huh? What's that? What's she doing with her hand?" Naruto asked looking high into the air where Hinata was.

Kakashi's eye widened, "It looks like a concentrated form of chakra, I don't remember this being one of the Hyuuga clan's techniques!" he said confused.

Gai shook his head, "It isn't." He replied. Kurenai looked to Kagome to see her smirking with an excited gleam in her eyes.

"Is this what you two were doing all that time Kagome?" She asked her student. Kagome looked up to Kurenai and nodded, "Yup!"

Hinata's energy charged into her hand she formed it into a blue disk, 'Normally learning such a move like the Destructo disk would take a much longer time, but Hinata was determined and she wanted to change so badly that she trained non-stop to get it down pat. All be it weak, she still managed to make it with her focused chakra.' Kagome thought as she smiled softly at the girl, 'She made it her own.'

Hinata charged it up with her chakra then threw it at Neji, "Hyuuga Disk!" She yelled out and Neji's shocked form didn't have enough time to dodge and he was hit head on.

The crowds gasped at the turn of event, "YEAH! Alright! That's what I'm talking about Hinata!" Kagome yelled out breaking the pregnant silence.

"Neji!" Ten-Ten yelled out.

Gai looked down at the black haired Saiyan, "You taught her that?" He asked her curiously. 'The amount of chakra she put into that blast…'Neji coughed out blood as he flew through the air then hit the floor with a grunt of pain.

Kagome nodded, "Yeah! It took a lot of time and Hinata was really dedicated but she did it! I'm so proud of her!" Kagome said wiping a fake tear from her eye comically.

"But aren't you a Ki-user? How were you able to train her at all?" Sakura asked her curiously, that question made the jonin look to her for the answer as well, and Naruto, Lee, and Ten-Ten were confused.

"Good question, but it really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. You see, I showed Hinata the real version of that attack when she had her Byakugan activated so she would be able to see my moves and how I did it perfectly, then after a lot of pushing and motivation she was able to do her own version of it with her chakra and she made it her own, The Hyuuga Disk. Is what she chose to call it." She explained looking down at Hinata with stars in her eyes.

"Wow…That's amazing. To have learned something like that in a week?" Kakashi said shaking his head in disbelief.

Naruto did that thing where he nodded along when he really didn't understand a thing, "Great thinking Kagome!" He gave her a thumbs up.

"Yeah, Hinata really has grown a lot since I met her, she may not have won the fight but she'll come out of it a stronger person." She nodded.

Everyone looked at her curiously, "What do you mean? Neji's down for the- Wait he's getting up!" Naruto yelled in shock.

"What? No way!" Sakura yelled looking down as well.

Neji was slowly getting up with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, "Impressive trick Hinata. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't shocked." He said with a scoff.

Hinata was breathing hard as she readied herself to fight again.

"Yeah, that attack is pretty intense if your not used to it, so it most likely took a lot of her." Kagome said plainly as she watched Hinata and Neji go at it once more before he landed a painful blow to her heart.

Kagome gasped at this. "Oh my god! He's so…ruthless." She said shaking her head.

"Since she is no longer able to continues this match, the winner is-"

"NO! DON'T STOP THIS MATCH!" Naruto yelled out in anger.

"Naruto! What are you saying!? Can't you see she's unconscious?!" Sakura snapped at him.

This time even Kagome was shocked to see Hinata start to stand again, "Hinata-chan…." She muttered softly.

"What do you think you're doing? If you continue with this you'll die!" Neji said to her.

'Not now..Not in front of the people I admire the most! Not when's he's finally getting to see the real me!' Hinata thought determined.

Hinata finally started to speak up for herself but this anger Neji enough to try and kill her where she stood.

"Neji no! The match is over!" the proctor yelled as he ran to stop the fast boy.

Quicker than anyone saw Kagome and the Jonin all stopped Neji, Kagome stood with her arms out in front of Hinata with narrowed eyes at the boy, "Why are you and the Jonin budding in?" He growled.

"Because you've already won! So back off!" Kagome yelled at him.

"Kagome…-chan…cough cough cough!" Hinata fell to the floor. "Hinata!" Both Kurenai nd Kagome helped the girl up. "Hinata, don't worry. You did great!" Kagome encouraged.

Kurenai laid Hinata down gently on the floor as Naruto, Lee, and Sakura all came rushing down to see her, "HINATA!" Naruto yelled out.

"Hinata are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

"N-Naruto…I just…I…" She passed out before she could finish. 'Do you…think I changed?...Maybe…Just…A little?...'

Kagome sighed sadly, "Hey you! Loser! I have a piece of advice for you, first of all if you intend to call yourself a shinobi then stop that foolish cheering of yours it's disgraceful. And second, once a failure always a failure. You can't change that." He growled out looking at Kagome harshly. Kagome glared but before she could respond Naruto cut in angrily, "Hmph! We'll just see about that!" Naruto ran at Neji and surprisingly Lee stopped him.

"Huh? What are you doing!?" He yelled at the martial arts ninja.

"Naruto, I understand where you are coming from believe me, but the rules say all fighting must be done in a match. The loser beating the gifted genius through sheer will power, now would that not make for an exciting match? Even if I am the one who ended up having to fight Neji. Of course if you ended up fighting him, that is fine too." Lee said as he looked art Neji.

Kagome was too busy worrying over Hinata, "Her Ki is dropping… Kurenai-sensei!" She said looking to her sensei in worry as Hinata coughed out more blood.

Kagome glared at Neji, "I wouldn't waste your time glaring at me. She's the one you need to worry about." Kagome fisted her hands in the cement causing to come up like dirt.

No one seemed to notice until the medics came and took Hinata away. "Kakashi…" Gai muttered to his rival as Kagome stood up from her spot and he saw the two mini craters where Kagome's hands used to be. Kakashi's eye widened, 'What? Then…' He looked back up to the upper level where they were standing before and gasped seeing the spot where Kagome stood, the spot on the railing she was holding onto was gone and red dust was on the floor beneath it.

"Such strength…" He muttered in shock. "And she wasn't even trying." Gai continued for him.

Kurenai looked over to the two Jonin when Hinata was out of view, curiously. Kakashi only nodded to the spot next to Kagome, then the upper level. Her eyes widened in realization, then she turned to look at Kagome, 'Incredible! Kagome…just what..?'