Hot air blew against my back. To make it worse, the sun was merciless. Getting up from my stiff squat, I dashed to a tree for shade and crouched down again. I kept my eyes focused.

Where was he?

Hm.

"Pst. Twelve O'clock."

I spun around. "Oh, phew. It's you."

"Thought I was someone else?" Hana asked.

"No. Damn heat's getting to me. Where?"

"There."

I scanned the area. A group huddled together. They were hidden behind the bushes, but I made out the red cap nestled on top of someone's head.

"Should we ambush 'em?" I asked Hana.

She tied her hair into a tighter ponytail. "We have only about six more minutes. Maybe it's wise to wait."

"It's too hot," I said, impatient to sit still.

"How many belts have you got?"

From my pockets, I pulled out two belts. "You?"

"Five, including mine."

"Sweet!" I said. We slapped a high-five.

"Therefore, we should wait," she said. "I see five of them and two of us. We'll lose eight belts if we fail. Why don't we just claim our victory and wait it out."

"Great, except we aren't winning."

"What?"

"We aren't winning. Ayame's beaten. So that just leaves you, me, and Tamaki. I say we move. Let's go." I moved away from the tree.

We circled the field, stalking out prey. No one had heard us yet. Hana and I exchanged a nod.

"ATTACK!"

I tackled down one boy. Our bodies crashed into a second boy. While the boys on the ground were shocked, I grabbed their belts. Meanwhile, Hana gave her opponents a chance. She counted to three, then rammed into one boy and rolled in the dirt, wrestling for the belt.

"RUN! It's the crazy girls!"

"Oh, come on, boys. Stop being wussies," Hana said, dodging a punch. She extended a foot, and her opponent tripped. As he tumbled over, she pulled his belt away.

"Hey, Minoji, give me your belt, and I'll let you leave in one piece," I said. "Because you had a lotof nerve to bully Ayame like that."

He backed away. "She tripped by herself!"

I blinked. "Oh. I thought- never mind."

"Minoji, just give us your belt before we get nasty," Hana sighed.

Minoji tossed it and ran away. The beaten guys ran off as well, cursing.

"Got two."

"Two here."

"Hell yeah! That was way easier tha- Oh sh-"

My face planted flat the ground. Dizzy, I sent my fist up to my attacker. He caught it, and I felt my arm bend back.

"Ow OW! Stop that!" I screamed, kicking.

Ginjiro pinned me to the ground. I slapped myself for not noticing his disappearance during the ambush. Damn.

"You lose."

"HANA!" When my plea was unanswered, I looked up. She was surrounded by four boys.

"Oh shit. HANA RUN!"

"What. Do you. Think. I'm trying to do?" She dealt a blow. Through the confusion, she pushed one boy aside and ran off. They chased her, leaving me alone with Mr. Red Cap.

I tried to escape, but failed. Seeing as I had no choice, I did the only thing that came to mind. I head butted him.

Our skulls collided. He fell back, his cap falling off.

"Oh-"

"My-"

"GODS, THAT HURT."

"You are crazy!" he said.

"Maa got leass you off." I shook my head, then flipped up. "Fight for it?" I asked, going into battle position.

Grinning, he did the same, and adjusted the cap on his head. "I've got six," he told me smugly.

"Five. But once you lose, you'll have nada," I taunted.

I charged. When Gin moved out of the way, I did a ballet spin skin. My foot hit something heavy. One poof of smoke later, I saw I kicked a log.

"Hey, no fair! Since when can you do that!" I shouted. "Subs haven't even been introduced yet!"

"Thought I'd surprise ya." The voice behind me shut up when I jutted out an elbow.

We fought until we heard the whistle. I cursed, within touch of his belt. Calling it a truce, once again, Gin and I left for the center field.

Teacher Funeno was waiting for everyone in center field. We were the first ones to arrive.

When Funeno saw us, he shook his head. "Again, Ginjiro? Ayae? The goal is to capture each other's belts."

"We did," we said, showing him our stashes.

"In stealth."

We laughed sheepishly.

Funeno sent us to the bathroom to clean up. We dropped my collection of belts, and raced to the school building.

"Guys won," Gin bragged.

"Not after that humiliating defeat two minutes ago."

"You're probably the only girl left. Admit it, girls lost."

"You forget Hana."

"Four against one? She got no chance."

"It's Hana. You wimps got no chance," I said. "And don't forget Tamaki."

"Thought she lost already."

"Hell no!"

At the school, I headed to the girl's bathroom, while he went down the other hallway.

I splashed my face. In my mirror, I looked horrible, with twigs and mud all over. And a bloody nose. Before I left, I made sure my nose stopped bleeding. I did not want to risk a gusher, so I stole a roll of paper and stuffed it in my humongous pant pockets.

When we got back to the fields, all the students had gathered. Funeno announced the total belts of each team.

Girls won. In addition my belts and Hana's belts, Tamaki also got three, coming out of the adventure spotless. Another girl also hid the entire time, adding one more. Finally, to break the tie, Dai showed with two more after beating the boy who dared steal hers.

I gloated and celebrated, handing high-fives all over.

After school, I caught a face I did not think I would see in a while.

"Shisui!" I called.

Shisui waved back, ice cream cone in hand. Before he could protest, I snatched the cone from him.

"Long time no see, squirt."

Ever since Shisui's mission in Suna, we had had no contact. His escort mission took a whole month, though the job was easy.

In a month, Shisui had not changed much, though I knew he wanted a Suna tan to impress a certain girl totally out of his league. He was as pale as ever. My dad aside, no one in our clan had ever gotten a sunburn or tan. Unfortunately for Shisui, Kurenai had already ditched her old boyfriend for a new one.

"So, how's it going? The mission any good?" I asked, licking my ice cream.

"Eh, sandy. Came back early." He waved the topic away. "How's the academic building of torture? They fixed the air conditioning yet?"

"Yeah right. Those lazy asses haven't even bothered. So now we just bake in the fields all day. Played flag race."

"Ah, I remember those. How many did ya steal?"

"Five."

"Only five? I'm disappointed. I could have gotten at least ten."

"Oh, shut up," I said, and shoved him a bit. When I finished my ice cream, I unzipped my backpack and tossed to Shisui a pair of ballet shoes and a stack of books. "Since you're here, make yourself useful, will you? Carry those?"

"Hey! What am I? Your slave?" He juggled as I piled more things on top.

"Yes. Now be a good slave and carry those. My backpack's heavy since my scroll stopped working. You would have knownhad you not went to play hero in Suna."

"I thought I fixed your scroll a while back?"

"My scroll exploded, and then burned all my books andhomework. Then the police came," I said, deadpanned. "Apparently, somebodydidn't do the sealing technique right."

Shisui laughed nervously. I emitted an evil aura. My room had burned walls, shattered window, and oh, a missing roof. It had been a miracle that I was unhurt, but I still had to scrub ashes out of my hair with five showers and ten bottles of shampoo. Thankfully, my clan took care of the damages, sans the roof.

I did not get upset over redoing my homework, or having bird poop on my damn carpet because of the missing roof. No, I was upset that while the police tried to time reverse my closet, I had nothing to wear for a week.

Shisui owed me a big shopping spree. He pretended to not understand the phrase, "Compensation for idiocy," and humored instead me with his adventures in Suna. He got me a fan as a souvenir. Shisui also got me something else.

"Before I forget, here. I got these for ya," he said, handing me two pieces of paper.

"What are they?"

"Tickets. To the fall Chuunin Exam."

"Oh, cool. But why?"

"Well, Itachi's been released…"

I froze.

"And, well, he'll be in it."

I stood in place, my foot glued to the pavement. I stared at him like he had two heads.

"You know, he passed, and it would be great if you would go and support him? You know, in the finals? Uh, squirt? You okay?"

It took some time. A longtime, before I got over my shock.

I handed the tickets back to Shisui with more force than needed. I paused, then opened my mouth, then closed it when I could not find the words I wanted. Finally, I said, "Shisui, I haven't seen Itachi in two years. He's your friend, but he's not mine anymore. You can keep those."

Shisui did not let the topic drop. "You're still upset with him, aren't you?"

"I'm not upset. I just think that if Itachi doesn't want to see me, it wouldn't be right for me to see him." I was surprised by how smoothly those bitter words rolled off my tongue, and quickened my pace. Shisui caught up and handed the tickets back.

"No refunds. And come on, squirt, you can't really believe that. Itachi misses you."

"No, he doesn't," I said.

"Yes, he does, and he needs your support. So go or give the tickets to someone else. But I ain't taking them back."

I looked at him hard, trying to figure out how sincere Shisui was.

Not sincere at all, as he shrugged. "And regardless, Itachi can't avoid you there. Just sayin'."

I pointed at him. "Aha! That proves me right. Itachi isstill avoiding me, thus he doesn't want to see me, therefore I don't either, thus I'm not going!"

Shisui raised an eyebrow, and decided to play along. "But why would he possibly intentionally avoid someone for so long for the sake of an unpleasant encounter. In fact, he is deriving more satisfaction from your stress out over this trivial issue of not being able to see him, which only point to the fact that you do wish to see him, and said hypothesis can be proven by your statement above, which I quote, "He doesn't want to see me, therefore, I don't either," implying that the only reason you are keeping up with this charade of not wishing to see him isn't because you do not wish to, but because of your belief that hedoes not wish to. Because any set of induction skills can successful conclude you really do want to see him. And bad."

My eye twitched. Those were some big words.

He continued, "Why? Due to my understanding of your character-"

"What! Okay, okay, stop right there."

Silence.

"Okay," I said, after a lot of thought. "Okay, Shisui, first of all, half of that did not make any sense. Second of all, you are drawing random facts to make a wrong point sound right. You start with, "He doesn't want to see me, therefore, I don't either," which does not mean, "If he doeswant to see me, then I will want to see him too," so your sentence is meaningless. You are also going off the fact he wants to see me in the first place, which is wrong too. So, I think I can say Iknow myself best to know that Ido not want to see Itachi." I nodded.

Shisui blinked. He moved his index finger, musing over my words. After drawing a few loops in the air, he raised his eyebrows high. "Wow, I'm shocked squirt. Since when did you grow brains?"

"Since I go to school, unlike someone who plays ninja all day."

Shisui sighed. "Fine. Then don't go."

"I won't."

"No, you definitely won't."

"Yes."

"Not at all."

"Yes."

"But you will go anyway even if right now you are saying that you won't go."

"No."

"So, you aren't saying you won't go?"

"Yes– No! Shisui, stop tricking me!"

"Don't learn that in school, now do ya? Thank the cunning skills of the ninja. AndI heard a yes! See you at the Konoha arena in a week!"

I gritted my teeth. "I. Said. I'm. Not. Going."

"Don't care," he sang. "You may learn a thing or two. Oh, and going back to our discussion earlier, just because point A, "If he does not wish to see you, you do not wish to see him," does not imply point B, "If he does want to see you, then you do too," it still does not prove point C, which is that you do not want to see him. Which is independent of whether he wants to see you or not."

"Even if it doesn't prove point C, you can't prove your part either," I tested him, having no idea what we were blabbing about anymore.

"Oh, I think I'll have my proof in a week. You'll show up. After all, you don't want to waste such an opportunity for the sake of an argument you already lost, now do ya?"

"I didn't lose. If I don't show up at the Chuunin Exam, then I win. Ha!"

"Yeah, but you lost at the same time. I just bamboozled you into not going just so you can win a silly argument and spite Itachi."

"And I lost how?"

"You just proved point D. If you reallyaren't upset over the fact that you can't see him, then you wouldn't care you can't, now would you? And if you didn't care, then why would you waste two perfectly freeChuunin Exam tickets, tickets that you can't get under any other circumstances, and not just enjoy the show? The show that is at only thistime is being held here, in Konoha."

I crossed my arms. "Shisui, have you thought that I just don't want to watch Itachi in the match?"

"Squirt, Itachi isn't the only participant. You are so caught up thinking of him, you seemed to have missed the fact that the Exam is an exciting competition of world-wide ninjas." Sensing my lack of a comeback, he grinned wider. "Nice try, but I grew up with Itachi and twisted logic. You're eons away from winning these debates. Of course, you canprove me wrong. In that case, I guess you'll catch Itachi again in anothertwo more years or so. Oh, crossroad, gotta go. See ya, squirt!"

"Can you stop calling me 'squirt,'" I said. "I'm not short anymore. Last month, I grew a centimeter."

"Really? It looks like you shrunk."

"Because I don't grow at a crazy speed like you!"

He laughed.

When Shisui was gone, I looked at the tickets once more, and then stuffed them into my pockets.

That night, I collapsed onto my bed, staring at the crumbled tickets. Front row seats. These were only second best to balcony seats, and I doubted even Tamaki could afford these.

I thought about Itachi. He was one of my first friends in Konoha, but for two years, he had been gone from my life. His family had been gone. Over the seasons, no matter how much I had wanted to find him, to see him, I could not.

Shisui was right. If I wanted to see Itachi, this was my one chance.

But did I want to see him anymore? When I was eight years old, I had been so hurt over this. Month after month I had been chasing him, to make sure he was okay, to make sure we were okay. But if Itachi wanted to break our friendship and remove all contact, then maybe he was not worth it. Friendship was not supposed to hurt. It was not supposed to be one-sided either.

I slammed a pillow over my head. "What do I do? Go or don't go?"

The stars were silent above. If they were going to whisper some mystical answer, now would be a great time to hear it.

"Come on, guys. What happened to your awesome cosmic powers? Aren't you supposed to have all the answers?" I yelled.

When I got no reply, I searched in the dark. I lit my lamp and shook my future ball. Screw symbols in the sky when you have a future ball.

.

The day came, and I found myself braiding my hair, ribbon in my mouth. My dad popped in my room.

"Someone's dressed."

"Yorum sumpose toome." I removed the ribbon from my mouth and weaved it into my hair. "You are supposed to be."

"How about a kimono, then?"

"Not thatdressed!" I did not want to show up to the Chuunin Exams in a t-shirt and sweatpants, that was all.

"Okay. And I'm sorry again that something came up."

"It's fine. I decided to go with Gin."

"Your detention buddy?"

"It was an accident, okay? So what if we spilled mop water on the teacher."

"You dumped it on the teacher as a misfire of trying to soak your friend," my dad said, disapproving.

"Well, Gin fired first. We paid the detention, alright?"

"And the time before?"

"We thought rocks were a permissibleweapon."

"Uh-huh. And the other?"

"Okay, that one was my bad. But the time before that, I swear I didn't see them when I tested my kick."

"Wandering around in school fields after school hours."

"Ballet ended early. What else could I do except play a little?"

"Destroying said fields."

"It was muddy, okay?"

"Smuggling food into classrooms."

"We were hungry after trying to run away."

My dad sighed. "I'm beginning to think that kid is a bad influence."

I rolled my eyes. "Dad, chill. Good luck with research."

"Thank you! My team believes this might work this time. You see, when we placed the-"

"Okay! Good luck and see you later!" I shooed my dad out of my room.

Outside, Gin was waiting for me by his usual place at the gate. On our way to the arena, I gave Gin one of my crumbled up tickets. He held the ticket up to the sunlight.

"Wow, Ayae, these are hot. How did you get front row?"

I muttered something.

"What?"

"Nothing," I said. "Come on. Race ya."

Our backpacks shuffled behind us as we ran.

The Exams did not begin for a while, but there was already a giant line that wrapped around the Konoha arena five times.

Gin and I exchanged a nod and got on our knees. We crawled through the mob of legs to the front entrance. A pair of security guards stopped us before we made it in. One guard caught my arm and pulled me up. The other got Gin.

"Hey! Let go!"

The guards held us, asking for our parents.

I flashed my ticket to him. "We aren't sneaking in. We have tickets."

Surprised, the guard took my ticket and examined it. He looked skeptical. "Where did you get these?"

"Got them from a friend," I said.

The guard frowned. "You mean stole."

"She did not steal that!" Gin snapped.

"Then you did."

"He- We did not steal anything!" I said. "Are you going to let us in or what?"

Luck was on our side, because just then, the crowd separated for a big escort.

"All hailing the Fire Daimyo and Princess!"

Everyone, including the guards, bowed in respect. In that moment, Gin and I were freed. We sneaked inside.

Passing by us were a group of dancers and violinists, as well as royal bloods. In the center were four people lifting a carriage. There were two silhouettes behind the silk curtain to the carriage. A fan slid the curtain aside, as the princess peeked through the curtain.

I was surprised to see the princess of Fire. She was pretty, with her lips brushed red, and flowers in her buns. Her fine hair matched her doe eyes, but all the makeup and fanciness aside she looked only a few years older. In fact, her face looked like mine, enough that we could have been twins.

Gin tugged my sleeve. "Come on."

Together, we squeezed through the crowds to the front of the arena. Matching the ticket numbers to the seat numbers, I saw we got first row. Had we wanted, we could have jumped over the railing, and landed in the arena after a drop.

Everyone around us was famous or rich. Political leaders, industry owners, or noblemen. I looked up to the balconies, and saw the Hokage lighting his pipe. Beside the Hokage was another Kage. He was bulky, with dark skin. The third Kage was hidden by his robes.

Above, in the highest tower, the Fire Daimyo seated with his daughter. They were served drinks, and the curtains pulled around them.

Below, in all three lower balconies were noble clan families. Ms. Hyuuga sat toward the end, with the other women of her clan. They were all beautiful with long hair and pale eyes. In the front was a little girl clutching her father. The father was staring furiously in one direction.

I followed his gaze.

Oh hellno.

It was my clan. Shisui was being badgered from the edge. The Uchiha elder sat in the center, alongside two men, one of them Itachi's father. Itachi's father had his arms folded, glaring back at the Hyuuga father before focusing on someone else.

I followed his gaze and found the contestants' balcony. One contestant looked nervous, his knees shaking and hand clutching the railing so hard his knuckles turned white. Others were calm. One was smirking.

Then, of all the figures, I saw the smallest, mostly in the shadows.

The distance was too great and I could not make out too many details, but my heart skipped a beat. I locked my gaze on Itachi. When he moved and disappeared behind one of the doors, I stood up from my seat.

"What are you-"

"I need to check something," I said, and ran around the railings.

"But-"

"Go get popcorn or something. I'll be right back."

I passed seat after seat and saw ninjas entering a hallway. I wondered if that led anywhere, so I followed behind and found stairs. After a billion steps down and several halls, I saw an opening. I ran back when I caught glimpse of the arena. Wrong way!

Thinking it must have been upstairs, I tried the second floor. The door to the floor was locked, so I tried the third floor. Through the dizzying maze, I gave up and settled for any door, any door at all. I heard a voice behind one, and cracked it open.

"Should we send him out, my Lord?"

"Not at all! I find him entertaining."

"Thank you! Now stop talking about me like I'm not here."

I heard the Fire Daimyo laugh. He fanned himself, indulging in the jokes of another man. This other man was old, with white hair and traveler clothes. There was a giant scroll strapped to his back.

"I like you," the Daimyo said. "Witty as always, my friend."

"Father?" the princess said.

"One moment, darling," the Daimyo said, waving her off in favor of the traveler. "So how has been your journey?"

"Well, I've got a massive collection of information I can't wait to write down. I've been driving my publisher mad in fact-"

"She still hasn't left you alone?" the Daimyo said.

"Nah. Same with the editor. I think she had enough of my chicken scratch," the traveler said, laughing. "No matter where I flee to, she always finds me."

"Father…"

"Hold on, darling. When you are finished, please have one delivered prompt-prompt to the capital. I have been dying for the next part of the series."

"My Lord!" said a man in black robes and top hat. "Please."

"Oh, you'll get your copy too," the Daimyo assured, waving his war fan at the counselor.

"That's not what I meant!" the counselor said, covering his face out of embarrassment. "I don't believe now is such a time to be discussing such inappropriate-"

"Ah! But what is so inappropriate? I am merely capturing nature in its purest form. And that, my friend, is my art to you," the traveler said with a humble bow.

"Brilliant! Just brilliant! Well said," the Daimyo praised, clapping his hands enthusiastically. With his fan, he pointed on one of the servants. "Are you recording that? Hurry, hurry, while the memory is still fresh!" Immediately, the servant began to dip his brush in ink and write on the scroll.

The traveler sweat dropped. "My Lord, I'm flattered, but that is not necessary."

"Yes, it is. I want each of your words recorded onto this parchment here."

"Some words are only meant to be heard once, and that has an impact greater than being read a thousand times."

"More brilliance! Did you get that down?"

"Oi, didn't you just get what I said? Stop writing what I'm saying! And don't write that either! I told you to stop! Stop that brush!"

"You are truly amusing, Jiraiya," the Daimyo chuckled, covering his mouth with the fan.

"Father!"

"Oh! Right, yes, darling?"

She pointed to the curtains. "The match is about to begin."

"Oh! Thank you darling."

"Ah, then it is time I bid my farewells," the traveler said.

"You shall not stay?" the Daimyo asked, disappointed.

"Nah. Catch you later, and thanks for the drinks!" With that, the traveler disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The Daimyo sighed, fanning himself again. "Let's now enjoy the show, shall we?"

"Father, may I..."

I closed the door, and scurried back. I did not want to miss the match myself. I ran back down the hallway when I bumped into someone.

It was the traveler.

"Princess?"

"Uh..."

The traveler noticed his mistake. "Are you looking for your parents?" he asked. "If so, the audience is that way." He pointed down the hall.

I thanked him, and followed his directions. I heard his wooden shoes click on the floor. His footsteps faded.

Miraculously, I found my way back to my seat. Gin had his hat filled with popcorn. I stole a piece.

"Where'd you go?" he asked.

I frowned. "Not where I wanted to."

"Well, at least you're back. The match's about to begin. They are introducing the people now and- What the- Since when was your cousin in this thing? That's your cousin, right?" he asked, pointing to Itachi as he entered the arena.

Oh yeah, that was him. Uchiha right there.

"Since now?" I squirmed in my seat.

"You knew, didn't you?"

"A little. Okay, a lot. But I didn't know until I got the tickets, I swear!"

"Whatever," Gin mumbled, stuffing his mouth with popcorn. "MNot leik hesgotmtamchamce."

I sighed. "Gimme popcorn."

We watched each contestant be introduced by name and country. A creep in straitjacket. A teenage girl. A boy chewing on a twig. A tall masked man. A muscular man with his arms crossed. A jittery kid.

There were many different symbols engraved onto the headbands, but I saw only one with a swirly. Itachi's. He stood still, paying little attention to the cheers when his name was announced. Mindlessly, I clapped with the audience.

Then, Itachi looked up. He made eye contact with one person.

Me.

.

Taijutsu, the art of hand to hand combat. The grace of each punch, each kick, each drop and flip. The power of each bone snapping crunch lie in taijutsu. The skill to disable the opponent with a single jab to the muscle.

Ninjutsu, the art of unlocking spirituality. To be able to unleash one's nature and emit it into the surroundings. Whether for an offensive expulsion of fire, or a defensive concealment into the shadows. This skill becomes the unique talent that defines the ninja's role and path.

Genjutsu, the art of tampering with the mind. By bewildering and overpowering the senses, one can create the ultimate betrayal of the human body to the human mind. It is the skill that remains the most arcane, yet also the most silent and deadly.

To have one mastered means someone worthy of recognition. To master them all means fulfilling the requirement of a perfect shinobi. At least, that was what my textbook said.

Below were eight ninjas approaching that same perfection. For over a decade, never had there been a preliminary twice. Thirty three genins qualified for the finals, yet they slashed the numbers twice, leaving behind only the geniuses of geniuses. And whether for politics or pleasure, this particular Chuunin Exam was the jackpot.

The audience was restless. Everyone itched for the fighting to begin. People pooled money at the betting table.

"I'd put my money on him. He ranked second during the last Exam! He almost made it!"

"Heard some frightening information on him. All assassination missions."

"A lone kunoichi among the leagues and the Kage is voting for her!"

"So this is the heir of the Uchiha."

While the gossip spread amongst the crowd, most of the contestants left the arena. Itachi left as well.

Two contestants stayed, one ninja from Grass, one ninja from Iwa.

"Hey, see that man over there?" Gin pointed to the Iwa ninja who was waving to all his fans. "He's from Iwa. This is his third time in the exam. On his previous try, he made it to second place. I don't know why he was not ranked a chuunin though, since second is usually enough."

I watched the Iwa ninja flex his muscles to the ladies of the crowd, earning a few faints. He was tall, bulky, and shirtless, and he was not shy to show off his tan. On his bandana was the symbol of two rocks.

Gin then pointed to Kusa ninja, and told me about his clan's ability to merge in with their surroundings. The Kusa ninja was in baggy khaki, and had pasty skin and bleached hair.

"How do you know so much?" I asked Gin, suspicious of where he got his information.

"I have my ninja smarts," Gin said, reaching for the popcorn.

"No. Really." Hisninja smarts was myninja smarts. He got his information from somewhere, probably from the same place as his mysterious popcorn.

Gin gave a sheepish grin. From his pocket, he took out a booklet. "Got a copy of the betting cheat-sheet," he said.

"Where did you get that?"

Gin kept his voice low. "Err, don't look back, but you'll see a stifled noble three seats back trying to find his betting brochure."

"You what?"

"Same place as popcorn, okay? He dropped it, so I picked it up."

"And you didn't give it backto him."

Sighing, I grabbed the booklet and flipped through the pages. Might as well see what it could offer.

There was a profile of each contestant, including information like home country, clan, age, mentor, techniques, abilities, missions, success rate, betting odds… My jaw dropped. The booklet went as far as to listing diseases, eating habits, and chakra type, and blood type. Seriously, blood type? Did Ieven know myblood type?

I began to doubt the legality of the booklet. It was the ultimate stalking book. I read about the Iwa ninja on the first page. Now I knew he liked mountain hiking, wrestling, and… statue making? You had got to be kidding.

"Why would anyone have this?" I asked.

Gin shrugged. "It's a tournament, Ayae. If you are going to bet, you would want an advantage. I think the book is supposed to help rich asses rig everything in their favor."

"Intense."

Before I could read anything else, the match began. The contestants shook hands, and then backed up to a comfortable distance, both in battle position. The Iwa ninja made the first move. He sprinted forward and leaped up. While landing, he punched the ground with such an enormous force that the arena shook. Everyone felt the aftershock.

However, while I felt a bump in my seat, the ground of the arena had split in two, with rocks protruding out in spikes. After a few hand signs, the Kusa ninja melted into the ground just in time.

The tables turned when the Kusa ninja reemerged behind the Iwa ninja and stabbed a knife in his back.

My eyes widened. The crowd went silent.

The Iwa ninja exploded in a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, a monumental stone statue stood in his place, featuring the Iwa ninja in a show-off heroic pose. The statue stood ten feet tall in all its terracotta glory, half naked, with full eight-packs. One arm curled up into biceps, while the other hand shot out into the sky in a salute, dangling the Kusa ninja by the back of his shirt.

Unable to free himself, the Kusa ninja stayed in the air.

The silence shattered as the crowd burst out laughing. Gin laughed with them, while I covered my face, embarrassed for the Kusa ninja.

The real Iwa ninja leaned against one of the protruding rocks. He laughed wholeheartedly, and bowed to the audience.

Out of sympathy, he then threw a shuriken, which ripped through the Kusa ninja's shirt, freeing him. The Kusa ninja landed on his feet, humiliated.

"All good fun, eh?" the Iwa ninja said, smirking. His dialect was different from Fire's, and ladies fainted again at the foreign accent.

The Kusa ninja hissed and threw a dagger.

The Iwa ninja caught the dagger between his index and middle finger just before it reached his nose. "You attempt to kill me, albino boy? Well, if you insist on being so serious." He straightened himself up and cracked his neck. "Then I guess I should respect your wishes."

He banged both his fists into the earth. Boulders flew into the air, and a force shattered them into a million rocky spikes. With a thrust of his arm, the spikes launched at high speed. In all directions. Including mine.

I slammed the booklet to my face, and curled back into my seat. Thankfully, the spikes hit some unseen barrier and crumbled into dust.

People in white masks stretched a barrier to protect the crowd. I slumped in my chair. Front row seats? Not a good idea.

A sketchy noble next to me laughed at my panic.

"Silly girl. As if they could harm us," he scoffed, sipping his sake. My nose wrinkled at the smell the alcohol, and I leaned toward Gin.

Gin had his mouth open with the popcorn still in it. He was in shock. When he came around, he turned to me. "Holy. Cow."

"I know," I whispered. Man, that was dangerous.

"That. Was. AWESOME!"

Never mind.

I shrunk into my seat, while Gin leaned forward, his nose centimeters short of the barrier.

The Kusa ninja had dodged and snaked around the spikes, before he submerged into the ground again. But this time, the Iwa ninja slammed both of his palms into the earth and created a shockwave in the ground. Soon, the ground was waving, going from solid to liquid. Trees and bushes rocked back and forth, beginning to sink.

The match ended when the Kusa ninja floated up, unconscious. The ground hardened again into a smooth plain. The Iwa ninja was the winner.

The crowd cheered.

A particular section of the audience rooted, "IWA! IWA! IWA!" Gin decided to join them. The rest of the people from Iwagakure clapped, though with a lot more enthusiasm than in the beginning. Others were booing. Accusations of cheating were shot into the air.

Whatever the case, the audience was in an uproar, and the Iwa ninja bowed to it all. Then he stomped on the ground and mud slid out for a dramatic exit.

Meanwhile, two medics rushed to the Kusa ninja. They checked for pulses and said they needed emergency treatment. The lungs were baked with dirt.

A small intermission took place, and I returned to the booklet. So far, this booklet had been right.

"Dude, that was just- Man! I have got to tell my bro this. Did you see that? He punched the rock and it went like B-BOMMM and…" The remaining popcorn flew in the air when Gin punched the air.

"Mhm." I shooed, too busy flipping through the pages.

Gin picked up his fallen hat and dusted off the corn crumbs. "But yeah, that was the coolest thing ever. He's so going to win this!"

"Maybe." My eyes focused on each page, scanning for names.

Gin peeked over my shoulder. "Looking up your cousin?"

Yes. U. Uchiha. Found him. I skimmed, and then slammed the booklet shut, disappointed.

Nothing.

Itachi's profile only said that he was of the prodigy Uchiha clan, had the Sharingan, and good speed and movement.

"Are you worried?" Gin asked. "He's next."

"I know."

"He'll get murdered. Have you seenhis opponent?"

I winced. "He won't. He's pretty good." I reassured myself. Itachi could fight. Gin was not there thatday.

"He better be if my bro lost to him," Gin scoffed.

The proctor announced the next match, and Itachi walked into the arena alongside his opponent, an Ame ninja.

Itachi extended a hand in courtesy. The Ame ninja did not shake his hand.

The Ame ninja wore a gas mask that made his breathing heavy. He had on a beige straitjacket with pockets and plastic tubes that carry his oxygen. His back was hunched, and his arms dangled before him like lead weight. The Ame ninja looked like he belonged on the hospital bed, not in a fight. Yet, his eyes were bloodshot, and from him was a chilling aura.

I shuddered and tugged on Gin's sleeve.

"Hey, read to me about that guy?"

Gin looked for the Ame ninja in the booklet.

"Hurry!" I rushed.

The proctor whistled.

Already, the second match was different from the first. Instead of separating and moving into defense positions, these two contestants did nothing.

Itachi stood still, examining his opponent with a tilt of his head.

Meanwhile, I was shaking Ginjiro like a madman. Why was Itachi not moving away? Going into some defense position? At least get out a damn kunai! He was freaking one hundred percent exposed for crying out loud!

"Who is that guy? Is he dangerous? He won't kill Itachi right? I need to know! Now!"

"Stop... shaking... can't... read!" Gin slurred.

Below, the tension was in the air. The Ame ninja began to circle Itachi, one step at a time. His arms tugged behind him like luggage, as he made his way to Itachi's back. Itachi did not move.

Then, without warning, two shuriken were sent flying. They breezed past Itachi's face at such a rapid speed, his hair fluttered. Itachi did not blink.

"Heh. No fear," the Ame ninja rasped. More heavy breaths. Inhale. "I'll give you a chance to surrender…" Exhale. "Before I bleed that pretty little head…"

"I shall return your offer," Itachi said.

The Ame ninja's chuckle rose to a creepy laugh. In a flash, a multitude of clones trapped Itachi within a circle, and a swarm of weapons attacked him from every angle.

Itachi had already leaped into the air, avoiding the mass of iron. He deflected any remaining kunai coming at him with his own, scattering all of them so precisely that each flew toward an Ame ninja clone. The clones splattered into vapor.

But the vapors regenerated back into a replacement clone. When Itachi landed on the ground, he was in the same trouble.

"I closely studied your…" Inhale. "Battle style at preliminaries…" Exhale. "I know you like running and attacking from the shadows. Taking advantage of size and stealth like a coward mouse. But now…" Inhale. "You are in plain sight and…"

Exhale.

"Dead."

More iron flew from all direction. I snapped shut my eyes.

Thump.

Thumpthumpthumpthump.

"Fire style…"

My eyes opened, and I was blinded by the massive amount of light and heat blazing the arena.

From the air, Itachi blew a breath of fire the size of the arena. The Ame ninja and his clones stared, bewildered, unable to dodge something of that size. They were eaten by the flames and disappeared into the light. I shielded my face when I felt the burn against my cheeks.

By the time the fire was gone, the ground sizzled. Itachi stood in the center of a crater, apathetic to the gasps from the audience. He examined the destruction around him, and turned to the untouched woods in the far edges of the arena.

"Come out."

Suddenly, a band of wires shot out from the woods, taking everyone by surprise. The wires wrapped around Itachi and trapped him before he had a chance to escape.

From the shadows, the unharmed Ame ninja came out.

"How did you know?" the Ame ninja rasped, his breath heavier and more weighted. But his eyes were rolling in ecstasy.

"Your arms were incapacitated," Itachi said. "The weapons were hidden in the shadows and suspended among the surrounding trees by wire. The clones were merely meant to deceive, so your real position would not be revealed."

"You realized too late." The Ame ninja chuckled, but it turned into a wheeze. "I'll kill you… you… little…"

My eyes widened as the Ame ninja lifted an arm. The sleeve slid up and showed a rotted hand with a knife out the palm.

My heart pounded, and my breath hitched. The Ame ninja was serious. He was coming to kill Itachi.

"Shit!" Gin cried, shaking my shoulder. "This guy does assassinations, Ayae. Your cousin should yell forfeit while he still can, and the proctors can interfere!"

I was stammering.

Step.

Inhale.

Step.

Exhale.

Step.

Inhal-

A bare grin. "My offer still stands," Itachi whispered, and the wires strangled him tighter. He watched the Ame ninja step closer, less than a meter away.

One more step…

The Ame ninja fell onto the ground, gasping for air. It was useless, and his body jerked in panic. Inhaleexhaleinhaleexhale.

I was in shock. Itachi was unimpressed.

The Ame ninja gasped for air, going blue and purple. His eyes were wide and watery as he stared in fury at the boy above him.

The jerking stopped after a long minute.

The proctor did a countdown, before he raised his hand.

"Winner! Konoha shinobi, Uchiha Itachi!"

The crowd roared. There were screams and celebrations, the Konoha audience giving deafening applauds. Shisui rooted as the loudest of them all.

My mouth was open, as I stayed dumbfounded with Gin.

"What…"

"Just…"

"Happened?"

And then, Ginjiro saw. He pointed to the unconscious Ame ninja on the ground. His back revealed his oxygen pipe. It was sliced wide open.

Only after a long reflection did I realize what happened. The Ame ninja was doomed from the start. After one glance, Itachi had already figured the Ame ninja out. He made one slit into the pipe the second the match started, unbeknownst to anyone. Not even the Ame ninja himself, until it was too late.

And Itachi made sure it was too late. His lone attack was not to burn the Ame ninja. Fire ate everything, but most importantly, it ate the air. Not only had Itachi cleared his way, he also took away any oxygen. Then he waited, letting the other ninja to use whatever air he had left.

Itachi did not need to lift another finger.

I could not find any words for his victory.

I laughed at myself. "He made it in, dummy," I told myself. "Of course he'd be good enough to fight."

All that time, I was worried over nothing. I became grim though. The Ame ninja was disabled before the match even began, making him one of the weaker opponents. What if Itachi did not face him, but one of the other six opponents?

Medics carried away the Ame ninja, fumbling to find an oxygen mask. Itachi sent a spike of chakra that sliced the wires. Then he walked out of the arena. His match was finished.

In the next match, a kunoichi flipped blonde hair, cropped short. She was well built, with full breasts and wide hips. Mounted on her back was a falchion sword. The band wrapped stylishly around her arm showed her home in Iwa as well.

On the other side was a younger boy from Suna. As noon came, the weather became boiling hot, but he covered every part of his body with clothes. He was looked sickly green and his knees were shaking. He had nothing scary about him other than the katana sword he held.

Two seconds in, and I was pretty sure who was going to win.

The Iwa kunoichi cocked an eyebrow. "Well, this is a waste of time."

"Wh- whatcha talking about?" the Suna ninja asked, regripping the sword in his sweaty hands.

"I've seen your battles, hon. A weak Konoha girl and an injured boy," she said and stepped closer to him.

Once close, she toyed with the tip of her opponent's katana. "And luck in both places. While I fought off the murderous Kiri and Kusa." She looked at the Suna ninja in boredom, and tilted the katana down with a finger. "How do you expect to attack me with that stick? You are not even holding it right."

Infuriated, the Suna ninja took advantage of their closeness and stabbed the katana forward.

The kunoichi spun to his right. Before he knew it, he was lifted by the shirt. With ease, she threw him across the field and into the crater.

He landed in with a thud, shouting as he held his head. His skull was cracked, and his head was bleeding. By the time the kunoichi approached him, he was scared. The katana was gone, sent across the arena somewhere.

The kunoichi pushed him back down with a step of her heels. "Like I said, a waste of time. I'll give you a chance to forfeit."

If I were the Suna ninja, I would have screamed forfeit in an instant.

He did not.

The kunoichi was stepping on a clone. Meanwhile, three more Suna ninja charged from behind. They were skilled in the katana, but the kunoichi blocked every attack with her arm or knee. Then she aimed for the Suna ninja on the left, and landed an one-eighty kick. My eyes followed up to the swing of her legs until there was a blur of both chakra and sparks. A ear-popping BOOMlater, the Suna ninja was soaring in the air at a ridiculous speed.

All the way out of the arena.

"Hm, homerun," the kunoichi observed.

My jaw dangled. I did not know how the kunoichi did it, but that was amazing. Gin was just as bewildered, though he found the kick more scary than admiring.

The kunoichi shifted her weight to one leg, waiting to be declared the winner. The proctor sweat dropped and nodded.

Pleased, she made her way out, sending a flicker of her fingers for her fans. They screamed and rooted. The Iwa supporters were crazy happy, having two of their people in semi-finals.

Finally, the fourth match was between a Kumo ninja and a Kiri ninja.

From Kumo was an skinny teenager chewing on a twig. He was geared in clothes from his country, of heavy, non-conductible jackets and pants. At his sides were black cylinders and a scroll. He would have been the second youngest, at only twelve years old.

His opponent was the oldest, from his height and broad shoulders. A mask stopped me from seeing his face. It was painted a dark navy, with lines of the Kiri symbol. He wore a black trench coat and gloves. The biggest sword I had ever seen was strapped on his back. The tons of steel had no shine to it.

"Ugh, is this over yet," the Kumo ninja moaned.

However, the Raikage was enthusiastic. He was bored throughout the past matches, disliking the glory of Iwa and Leaf.

"GO AND MAKE KUMO PROUD, BOY!" the Raikage boomed over the crowd. "You've got a king's wealth in your hands if you win this!"

"But I don't need money," the Kumo ninja said.

"WHAT!"

The other Kages chuckled, amused by the Raikage, who strung out a mix of encouragement and death threats.

"Don't be too excited, Respected Raikage. Kiri has not been vetoed out of this competition yet," said the Mizukage.

"You and your posse can kiss my ass!" the Raikage boomed. "The sky gods are on our side this time, and the winner shall be the mighty Kumo! Watch as your village fall to shame!"

The Mizukage laughed, "There shall be no shame, only death. And Kiri has never been shamed." His eyes sparkled in delight.

"Will you two stop bickering?" the old Hokage said with a weary sigh. "It is tiring to have to listen to such childish brawls."

"Says the man with the Uchiha clan!" the other Kage attacked.

"Ah, but it is a shame the Tsuchikage's bad bones prevented him from attending this one. Who'd have thought two Iwa nin would make semi-finals."

"Don't start. Last thing I want is to have that old geezer slap his butt in front of our faces," the Raikage snarled, folding his arms.

The Hokage sighed again, beckoning for a cup of tea, as the other two Kage went on to complain of the Tsuchikage.

Meanwhile, the two contestants below shook hands.

After pocketing his twig, the Kumo ninja removed the black cylinders from their belt casing. They were nunchakus, two wooden handles connected by a chain.

He swirled them in the air. "Hey mister, aren't you a little too old to be in these things?"

The Kiri ninja unsheathed his sword. The sword was bigger than the Kumo ninja's body, yet he held it with a single hand. "Aren't you too young?"

"No. Teacher refused to let me compete any later, though I swore I could have stalled another year." The Kumo ninja sighed, looking up at the sky. The nunchakus in his hand stopped spinning, and he hung his head. "This is so pointless…"

"Then let's end this, shall we?"

The Kiri ninja swung his sword. He almost chopped the Kumo ninja's head off, had the sword not been stopped by a wooden click and the snap of a chain.

The Kumo ninja caught the sword in his nunchakus. "I mean, don't youthink I can wait another year?" he asked, as he deflected the blade.

The sword spun a full circle and returned to slice the Kumo ninja. He jumped and the sword swooshed under his feet. Then, he rubbed his chin. "In fact, even my sister agrees with me. She says I can pass off as an eleven year old." He ducked, and the blade missed his head by a hair. "Maybe even ten, but I'll have to like slouch more to look shorter." He stepped aside and let the sword land on the dirt next to him, so close the sword almost butchered his arm. "Or does slouching make me look older?"

"I don't know," the Kiri ninja said, shrugging his shoulders, and returned for another whack at the Kumo ninja. "I think it's your height."

"Well, that's perspective," the Kumo ninja said, locking the blade with his nunchakus. "You are tall, after all."

"True," the Kiri ninja agreed, pulling his blade out and sending both the sword and nunchakus flying behind him.

"My mum keeps on tell me that I need to grow," the Kumo ninja said, pulling out his scroll, and summoning a new pair of nunchakus.

Meanwhile, the Kiri ninja walked over to get his sword. As soon as he pulled it out of the earth, he raised it to block the incoming attack.

The Kumo ninja tapped his scroll again and summoned another pair of nunchakus. "Sorry about that. I thought it would hit you, but you blocked it time. Hey, you're pretty good, you know that?"

"I know."

"So, where was I? Oh yeah, my mum. I don't think I need to grow because I only seem to go up. Not sideways though. I think I'm losing bone density, or something like that. People at my town call me chopsticks, because they think I resemble chopsticks."

"You gain bone density," the Kiri ninja said, slashing the air with his sword. Chakra cut the air, so powerful that the ground split and massacred its way to the opposite wall.

The Kumo ninja was unharmed, spinning his nunchakus to part the chakra. "But better than toothpick. I was called that before too. Still, I feel like my bones are getting skinnier."

"They grow."

"Oh."

The two opponents dodged each other's attacks, before the Kiri ninja caught an opening.

"Wait," the Kumo ninja said, raising a finger. The Kiri ninja stopped and waited while the Kumo ninja summoned two more pairs of nunchakus, one of wood, the other of steel. "Hey, which one do you think would be better?"

"Steel. Wood would snap."

"I know what you mean. Wood keeps on cracking. My mum isn't going to be happy when she finds out I've already gotten through so many already. But I don't like steel. They don't make that clack sound."

"Clack?"

"Oh, you can go on now. I'll show you what you mean."

The sword went down and the boy dodged by twisting his body into an L shape. Then, his wooden nunchakus banged against each other, before they slammed into the metal of the blade. The wood splintered while the Kiri ninja lost control of his weapon. And there was the clack sound, just as Kumo ninja said.

The fight continued, from offense to defense and back again. Neither contestant seemed to have broken a sweat.

Finally, the sword made its mark.

The sword sliced the Kumo ninja evenly in half, from the skull all the way down to the legs.

My hands went to my eyes.

However, ninjas love to put on a show. I heard bone crack and meshing. When I peeked out of my fingers, I saw no blood. No brains. No guts. No halves of a body. Instead, two irritated copies of the Kumo ninja stood in place, nice and symmetrical. Somehow, they looked skinnier than before.

"Um, yeah, that was humiliating. You got to see my insides and everything. Talk about indigestion, ugh," the copies said.

One copy had his right arm clamped around the blade. The other copy had his left arm wrapped around it. Together, they locked the sword in place.

Their fingers glowed with electricity, which went up the metal of the sword. The electricity crackled, going to the handle. The Kiri ninja was saved because of his gloves. But the shock forced him to drop the sword.

The copies heaved the sword in the air and tossed it meters away. Nunchakus once again swirled in the air, and both copies charged at the Kiri ninja. Since the Kiri ninja did not have his sword to block the attacks, the copies succeeded.

They locked both arms of the Kiri ninja. "Oh, and maybe people call me chopsticks for this. I have no idea really. Well, it was nice meeting you."

There was cracking and popping in the air. Then, there was silence.

A pause.

Nothing happened.

Another pause.

The copies sweat dropped.

"Jeez, are you wearing allelectric proof stuff?" they asked, dropping an eyebrow in exasperation.

"Pretty much," said the Kiri ninja. Then, without effort, he snapped the chain grips of the nunchakus on him, and grabbed both copies, slamming them into the ground. The copies muttered an unenthusiastic "Ouch."

They sprung back on their feet and scratched their heads, dumbfounded, when the Kiri ninja was nowhere in sight. However, when they whipped around, they saw the Kiri ninja had gotten his sword.

The copies hung their heads. "Are you serious? It took forever to get that thing away..."

Finally, they sighed, muttering something along the lines of, "This is stupid," and "Guh, indigestion isn't worth it," before trudging toward the arena exit.

"HEY BOY, YOUR OPPONENT IS THAT WAY!" the Raikage raged.

"I forfeit," the copies said, shooing away the Raikage. "Outta my numchuks." Then, both copies reached into their pockets and took out twigs to chew on.

The Kage balcony exploded. The Mizukage laughed, while the Raikage yelled colorful threats.

Alone in the arena, the Kiri ninja stood, shocked. Then, he chuckled. "How lucky," he said, picking up his sword. In response to the cheers, he nodded and heaved the gigantic sword over his shoulder. He walked out.

The first round was over. The semi-finalists? A shirtless statue-maker. A ten year old strategist. A kick-ass blonde. A mysterious swordsman.

I did not think the audience could wait that long, and I did not think that the stadium could support all the ruckus. And I was shocked we were all still alive.