"Hyuga Neji vs...Kankuro."

Neji nodded. He was to be first then.

Next to him, Tenten smiled. "Good luck Neji!" She whispered, turning towards him. "I'm sure you'll win!"

"If it is fated, it will happen," Neji said, stepping forward to accept the challenge. He could almost hear tenten deflate behind him, and for a moment felt bad. Tenten wasn't a bad teammate. In fact, Neji guessed that he preferred her out of any of the other graduates from his class. He made a mental note to make it up to her. Maybe smile at her later today. That always cheered her up.

"Neji!" Guy said, stepping in front of him and gripping his student by the shoulders. "You must believe in yourself! When in doubt, remember the power of youth!" He struck a pose, thumbs up and teeth gleaming

"I'll keep that in mind," Neji said, walking past his mentor.

"Neji."

Neji almost didn't glance back. But he did. And just as he expected, he saw Lee standing behind him.

Lee nodded at him. "Win. If you do not, I cannot face you in the finals."

Neji turned back to his opponent. "If we fight, you will loose."

Behind him, Lee sighed. "We will see about that. But first, you must win here."

Neji said nothing, walking to the middle of the stadium. His opponent, Kankuro, stood in front of him, looking bored. He was dressed in a black outfit with a hood, and purple face paint lined his eyes and mouth. There was something wrapped in bandages on his back, and he was smirking in a very self satisfied way.

Neji looked towards Hayate expectantly. The battling ground was now clear, and he wanted the match to begin. He was ready for this fight. Eager, even. He did not know Kankuro's destiny, but something told him he wasn't going to lose today.

He still had to make it to the real third round. There, surrounded by ninja and civilians from all across the continent...thats where he would show how strong he really was, even compared to the Main House.

Because that would be his revenge. It wouldn't set him free...but maybe it could give him a taste of triumph. Almost unconsciously, his eyes drifted towards where Hinata was standing. If he could beat her...

Well, the taste would be all the sweeter.

He squashed that thought the moment it came up. She was too weak. She would never make it past the preliminaries.

She's made it this far...

He shook his head a fraction of an inch to both sides, a movement only someone watching him very carefully would've been able to detect. The first test had practically been built for Byakugan users (he wouldn't have been surprised if Hiashi had set it up that way) and her teammates doubtlessly did all the work in the forest. She was too weak to have made it this far on her own merit.

But still...

Neji turned his attention, to Hayate, who was holding his hands up and coughing. After a moment, he spoke. "Both contestants ready? Alright, begin!"

Neji's hands flew together, forming the seals necessary for his clan's bloodline as fast as possible. He needn't have worried about speed however, as Kankuro was taking his time. The sand genin pulled the bandaged package from off his back and stood there, waiting for Neji to make a move.

As soon as his Byakugan activated, Neji knew why.

"Hn," he muttered, looking back and forth between Kankuro and his puppet. So that's his deal. A puppeteer.

After Neji's Byakugan removed annoying, trivial things like solid barriers, he was able to see the whole situation so much clearer. "Kankuro" wasn't Kankuro at all. Rather, he was Kankuro's puppet. The real Kankuro was actually wrapped in bandages, waiting for Neji to move.

Neji arched an eyebrow.

This was going to be easier than expected.

Neji raised his hands, settling back on his heels in the traditional gentle fist style. He waited for a moment.

And waited some more.

Neither genin moved.

"Uh, you can, *cough* start now," Hayate said, looking back and forth between them. Neji didn't move. He was patient. He could wait.

Kankuro broke first.

"He" charged forward, laying the bandaged package on the floor before he did so. He raised his hands forward, palms out, and Neji charged.

And spun. Right around his opponent.

With the Byakugan's 360˚ vision, he could see the startled faces of the onlookers. The only ones who didn't seem surprised were his team's and Hinata's. Of course, the jounin present knew something was up. They just didn't know exactly what...

Neji struck the bandaged package square in the chest. There was a flash of blue energy, chakra being released from his hands, and the package twitched, and "Kankuro" slumped to the ground.

Everyone stared. Neji made sure his blow had defeated the puppeteer, and landed another one, just to make sure.

Hayate raised his eyebrows, looking back and forth between Neji and the bandaged package. Realization dawned on him.

"Is he out?"

Neji nodded. Hayate raised his right hand. *Cough* "The winner is Hyuga Neji. The next match will be picked momentarily."

Neji calmly walked up the stairs to the walkways on the side of the room, rejoining his teammates.

"Great Job Neji!" Tenten said, giving him a quick hug. Neji allowed her to do it. This way, he didn't have to smile.

"The way you beat him in one blow, that was amazing!" Tenten said, grinning as they leaned against the wall. "Well, two blows...but you really beat him in one, so..." she continued talking, and Neji looked over to Gai. The jounin instructor gave him a thumbs up, and Neji turned his attention to Lee.

Lee nodded. Neji nodded back.

Some things didn't need to be said.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright," *Cough* "the next match is about to *Cough-cough* begin," Hayate said, holding up the bowl. "The second match will be Akado Yoroi vs...Temari."

Temari didn't really expect to get any kind words. Baki simply told her that she was not to embarrass herself or her father, and Garaa said nothing. He seemed to be in control though, which was...nice. Temari was glad the leaf genin's victory over Kankuro had not drawn blood.

But these were fights. Blood would be drawn, sooner or later. And then?

Well, it would be up to Garaa to stay in control.

Temari repressed the urge to shudder as she leapt off the railing and onto the ground. She still felt uneasy about this entire plan. Letting the invasion hinge on Garaa? Yes, he was their greatest asset, but he wasn't really...well...reliable.

Not only that, temari wasn't too sure why they were invading. It was not like her father, who had been relatively distrusting, to suddenly agree to ally himself with the Sound. Not that she knew much about her father.

Come to think of it, he had never really been her father. He had been the Kazekage. Duty before family. Temari found this line of thought...questionable. At best. Just look at what it had done to Garaa.

And Kankuro really wasn't much better, though he seemed not to see it. He was angry, cold, resentful towards Garaa, only adding to his little brother's mental issues. Though she supposed she wasn't in any situation to criticize. She hadn't exactly been the ideal big sister either.

It was hard to, with a brother like Garaa.

Her opponent was a leaf ninja, an unremarkable one to say the least. He was one of the oldest genin in the room, matched only by his teammate, who coincidentally, had a matching outfit.

Cute.

His face was covered by a loose mask, the type noble women would wear if they wanted to make a statement, except unfashionable (not that it was difficult to be unfashionable, Temari had yet to find one that didn't make her cringe) He also seemed to be wearing sunglasses.

Correction, the lenses of sunglasses.

How did that even work?

"The match will begin on my mark. Go!"

Yoroi charged forward almost immediately, his hand glowing with chakra. Temari whipped her fan off her back and used it to block Yoroi's first strike, pulling it back and swinging at his knees.

Yoroi leapt up to avoid the attack, but it gave Temari all the time she needed to unfurl the fan and let loose a gust of wind. "Kamaitachi!"

Yoroi was blasted backwards, hitting the wall with a thud. Spidery cracks began to form in the wall around him, but he dropped to the ground relatively unharmed.

Of course, Temari wasn't done.

With another swing of her fan and another yell of "Kamaitachi!" Yoroi was once again flung into the wall. He managed to brace himself this time, lessening the impact, but Temari wasn't even finished warming up yet.

Yoroi was a painfully limited fighter. Whatever technique he was using was a short ranged one, fit for taijutsu. The minute he stepped up against a long or even mid-range fighter like herself, he was going to get destroyed.

Temari, while generally a mid distance fighter, could at least hold her own when it came to taijutsu. This...this was pathetic, really. Temari almost felt bad for this Yoroi.

The least she could do was put this fight out of it's misery.

"Kamaitachi!" Temari swung the fan, funneling most of her chakra into the bottom portion of the attack. Yoroi lifted his arms to defend his face, but the chakra enhanced bottom half knocked his legs out from under him. Temari shot forward, closing her fan and swinging it in an overhead blow, completely crushing crushing Yoroi's arm. Temari did her best to block the blood from Garaa's line of sight.

Hayate looked at Yoroi for a moment, checking to see if he was going to get up.

Temari thought it was quite obvious that he wasn't, but she rested the end of her fan on his back, just in case.

Hayate shrugged. That seemed to be enough for him. "Winner, Temari."

The medic nin carried Yoroi out on a stretcher, careful around his broken arm. Temari walked back up the stairs towards her team.

Baki nodded in approval, and Garaa was silent, his face unreadable. Temari supposed that was better than the alternative.

It was hard, with a brother like Garaa.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Ouch guys, no reviews? Am I doing something wrong? Anyway, no Koyaiba in this chapter, I wanted to help balance out the Koyaiba heavy chapters we've been having recently. As you can see, we're stepping away from canon - brace yourselves, because it will be the first of many.

Also, I wanted to say something now. I'm looking for an artist to draw Koyaiba for me, as I lack any artistic talent whatsoever. If you can draw him, (I don't care how bad it is, but please at least try) I'll feature an OC of yours in a later chapter, or perhaps write a one-shot of your choosing. PM me if you're interested, and I'll send you the description.