A/N: Okay, now things start to get interesting. I promise. Read and review an I'll update when I can. Also, I think I've finally decided who she'll be with but you guys have to wait to find out. Review!

-Ji-

I saw Yui looking around and I couldn't help but look at the door every once in a while myself. Kimiko was nowhere to be seen and we weren't sure if she was still thinking off her emotions or if she'd finally come to her senses. I mean, sure I was upset with the Sand genin for what he had almost done to me and my brother, but it was in the past and Kimi had managed to stop it in time. If Yui had gotten over it, then so had I.

Just as the Hokage made his way to address everyone the door opened and Kimiko came in and grabbed a seat between Yui and I.

"Now that everyone is here, let's being."

He said and started explaining how the final part of the exam would go. I turned to Kimi who looked, surprisingly, more rational than before.

"Kimi, are you okay?"

Yui asked and she smiled at him before nodding.

"Yes. Sorry about before. You were right Yui, I shouldn't have let my emotions rule me like that. If you're over it, then so am I."

She said and my brother and I both looked at her in complete shock before smiling at her, glad to have the old Kimiko back.

"Now, without further ado…"

The Hokage said, getting everyone's attentions.

"Let the final stage of the Chuunin Exams begin!"

He said then took his seat. The screen above the arena lit up and randomly started shuffling names for the first battle. It stopped and I looked up to see it wasn't anyone from our team. It was between Kankuro and someone I didn't even care about. Then Temari and TenTen with Temari coming out on top. Gaara faced off against Rock Lee and it was over with Lee having a broken arm and leg. It continued that way for a while. It would shuffle, there would be a fight, a victor, then it would shuffle again. The Hokage had said this part of the exam might take several days. I was just hoping that Yui, Kimi, and I got to go before the day was over. The board shuffled again and when everything got quiet I looked up to see who the next fight was to be between. My heart stopped when I saw it was Kimiko and Gaara. That wasn't supposed to be able to happen, he had already fought, but I looked over to see Kimiko walking over to the railing and hurdling herself over the edge and landing in a crouch in the ring. I ran over to the railing with Yui right by my side. I saw Gaara appear in the ring in a wave of sand and the Hokage stood up.

"Are you willing to fight?"

He asked Gaara who simply nodded. I looked between Kimiko and Gaara and couldn't help but feel worried. I glanced up at Gaara's siblings and saw they had the same look on their faces.

'Kimi, please be careful.'

I thought as the match was officially started.

-Kimi-

When I saw that the next match was between me and Gaara I was shocked considering he'd already fought, but shrugged it off and walked up to the rail and hopped over it and landed in the ring. I straightened back up and stared right at Gaara who was looking at me with a mix of confusion and anger. He disappeared from his spot beside his siblings and appeared in the ring across from me in a wave of sand. The Hokage stood and asked if Gaara still wanted to fight and he nodded. Then the battle was declared to have started, but neither Gaara nor I moved. I could feel the underlying emotions in Gaara's chakra and sighed when I realized I was most likely the cause of them.

"Either start the fight or you're both disqualified."

The proctor said and I rolled my eyes at him before looking back at Gaara. I drew kunai from my pouch and ran towards him. I jumped in the air and threw them at him as I landed behind him. As expected his sand blocked it and he didn't move at all. I threw a shuriken bomb at my feet to shroud the both of us in smoke. I heard the crowd start to complain about not being able to see anything, but that was exactly what I wanted. I ran through the smoke till I was face to face with Gaara, or as close as I could get with his sand blocking me from getting too close. He glared at me and I smiled at him which made his eyes widened in shock.

"What happened to you wanting to finish things?"

He asked in a guarded tone and I smiled at him again.

"I decided not to let my emotions rule me. I overreacted, but you do have to understand Gaara. I don't have many people in my life that I hold dear and love and I will do everything in my power to protect those people, even if that means I have to give my life so that they may live."

I said and he just stared at me.

"So then what now?"

He asked and I laughed slightly at his confused tone which made him narrow his eyes at me.

"We fight, but not to the death."

I said and he blinked at me in surprise before nodding.

"But don't you hold anything back just because I'm a girl."

I said to him sternly before smiling and jumping out of the cloud of smoke. I landed in a crouch, kunai at the ready as the smoke slowly started to clear. Once it was fully gone and I could clearly see Gaara again I finally decided to get serious. This was, after all, part of the Chuunin Exams.