Chapter 11: Aftermath.......

Neji looked down at Kaori's sleeping face leaning on his shoulder as he carried the girl bridal style towards the meeting spot. Yue lay curled up on Kaori's stomach, also unconscious from the battle. He was still bugged by the girl's seemingly emotionless face and by the lack of personality he saw in her eyes. What bugged him more was the techniques she was able to pull off when they were sparring.

Flashback......

"Ninja Art: Shadow Clone Illusion!" she yelled, forming a few hand seals.

Suddenly, Kaori's running image began to split up into at least 10 of her. Neji smirked."Hn, is that all? A useless clone jutsu won't work that easily on a Hyuuga-"

"Don't be so full of yourself, sweetie..." the girl said, as her clones began to split up in all directions.

Neji closed his eyes and activated his bloodline limit. "Hmph, you can make a 100 clones for all I care, but my Byakugan would find the real- what?!" exclaimed Neji as he saw that every single one of the clones had an even spread of chakra in each of them.

Taking advantage of the moment Kaori's clones charged at Neji. One of the clones tried to punch Neji who dodged. Neji in turn tried to strike at that clone only to phase through her. Before he had time to react, one of the Kaori appeared behind him and kneed him in the back. Neji cried in pain as blood spurted from his mouth. Neji lay sprawled on the ground, his fingers clutching the earth in pain.

"H-how?! That's not possible! They can't be Shadow Clones! And there's no way a regular clone could be capable of inflicting injury!"

Suddenly, Kaori appeared kneeling in front of Neji as her clones disappeared. The girl placed a finger under his chin and lifted Neji's face so that he found himself looking straight into her eyes. If there was one thing Neji knew about reading people it was through their eyes, but there was nothing he could see about her. Her brown eyes showed emptiness, completely void of all emotions.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me Neji-senpai, you have know idea what I could do...." Kaori whispered.....

End of Flashback....

"Shadow Clone Illusion...." Neji said to himself. "What kind of technique is it?....."

Suddenly he saw what he was looking for, the kunai marker. Nobody was there yet but just as he approached the marker he heard a rustling in some nearby by bushes, this was followed by some happy mewing and sounds of disgruntlement.

"Let go of me ya' little nutcase!" yelled Tenten as she emerged from the bushes while trying to break free from Hikari who was hugging Tenten like a koala bear and purring at the same time.

"NYAAAAAAA~!" she said.

Neji sweatdropped. "Uh........."

"Hmm?" Tenten looked at her teammate. "Neji!" Suddenly her eyes traveled down to Kaori, whose head rested against Neji's shoulder. That, adding to the fact that Neji is carrying her bridal style did not make the scene look any less awkward. Tenten's and Akane's eyes bugged so much that their pupils disappeared and mouths practically hit the ground in shock.

"Huh? Senpai? Daijobu-nya?" asked Hikari when she saw Tenten's expression. She then turned her head following Tenten's gaze.

"NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA??????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " Hikari screamed, suddenly jumping off Tenten and snatching Kaori from Neji while Akane grabbed Yue.

"Oi! Kaori! Wake up! Get a hold of yourself!" "Hinya!!! Yue-san! Wake-up!!!"

Suddenly a dark aura emerged from Hikari and Akane as they stiffly turned their heads to look at Neji with demonic glowing eyes. "Neeeeeeejiiiiii- seeeeeennpaaaai........"

The Hyuuga boy's body actually went rigid in fear as he saw the murderous look on their faces. 'What's wrong with me? My body is freezing up! Their aura actually feels overwhelming...'

"DIE YOU MALE-BASTARD!!!!!!" cried Hikari and Akane as they both lunged at Neji.

"Lightning Style: Double Shocker!" yelled a certain blue haired girl. All of sudden Neji watched in confusion as the demonic pair about to kill him began spazzing out as they got electrocuted by bolts of blue lightning from Kaori.

Neji and Tenten sweat dropped as they looked at Hikari and Akane who lay sprawled on the ground, twitching and extra crispy. Kaori sat up sighed irritably as she pushed her hair out of her eyes. "Utterly inexcusable!" she muttered.

"Yo!" called Zakuro Nekojiwa as she appeared behind the group with Tsuchi dragging a large bundle of an unidentifiable shape wrapped up in a large violet colored cloth.

"Zakuro-sensei! Where's Gai-sensei?" asked Tenten as she ran up to the older woman.

Tsuchi walked over dragging the bundle to them and walked away. Hikari, Akane and Kaori looked at the bundle before looking at their sister. "You didn't....." they all muttered.

Curious, Tenten and Neji undid the bundle and peeked inside. It wasn't long they both recoiled in horror and went running to the bushes to puke. Hikari and Akane also decide to have a peek inside. "Yeeeeeeeeee....!" they both said in disgust as they turned their heads.

Kaori looked stoically at her older sister. "Onee-sama, you were too hard on him....."

Zakuro shrugged casually, causing Tsuchi to sigh heavily. It was at that moment Tsuchi noticed that not everybody had returned. "Oh? Where's Cori and Gai-junior?" asked Tsuchi.

Kaori shrugged. "Who knows...."


Somewhere else...

Rock Lee slowly opened his eyes to see the clouds up ahead. His body felt cool and refreshed while he felt head lying down on something soft, warm and fluffy. "Oh, Cori-sama, he's awake!" said a woman's voice. It sounded familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Lee-senpai? Are you alright?" asked a more familar voice, as the speakers face came into view.

Suddenly, Lee became wide awake as he shot up from a seating position. "C-cori-chan!"

Cori blinked twice in surprise. "I'll take that as a yes...."

It didn't long for Lee to realize that his face was just inches from Cori's own. His face began to glow red as his hair started to stand on end. Quickly, he began to crawl away backwards from her until he bumped against something large and fuzzy. He slowly turned his head to find himself face to face with a large white tiger with blue stripes. "Konnichi-nya!" it said.

"GAAAAH!!!!!" yelled Lee, jumping into the air before quickly jumping in front of Cori and taking a battle stance. "Don't worry Cori! I'll save you from the foul beast!"

"EH?!" exclaimed Cori all of a sudden as Lee began rushing at the tiger.

"Lee-san! You meanie!!!" yelled the tiger as a pair large of wings appeared on its back in a puff of smoke. The tiger flapped her wings and began to take off into the air when Lee suddenly pounced on it and tackled the tiger to the ground.

"Cho-chotto mate kudasai, Lee-senpai!!!!" cried Cori, suddenly getting up and running towards Lee, who had the tiger in a headlock.

The sound of Cori's voice did make Lee stop in confusion. At the same time, the tiger suddenly went poof making the boy fall over.

"Waaaaaaah~! Cori-sama!!!!!!!!!!" wailed Jubei who suddenly appeared and leaped into Cori's arms crying.

In the meantime, Lee was frantically searching for the tiger that suddenly disappeared. "Cori-chan! Are you alright?! Where's that tiger?!" he demanded jumping to his feet and searching behind the trees surrounding them.

Cori and Jubei sweat dropped as they sighed heavily.

-----------------------(A few minutes of explanation)--------------------------------

"So you're saying that all cats of the Nekojiwa clan can transform with the Winged Beast Jutsu?" asked Lee.

Cori nodded, smiling like she always does. Suddenly she placed both hands on Lee's face and leaned in towards him. Lee immediately began to blush as his eyes widened while Jubei widened her eyes and fluffed her fur. 'D-don't tell me! She's already making the first mo-!' they both thought.

"Ah! Looks like I missed the cut on your cheek!" exclaimed Cori turning Lee's face slightly to the left.

"NGA!" exclaimed Jubei as she fell on to her face anime style while Lee sweat dropped.

"Are you ok Jubei?" asked Cori seeing her familiar on her face.

Jubei looked up at Cori with a forced smile on her face while chuckling slightly. Cori smiled back as she turned her head to look at Lee who was turning red since she still had his face cupped in her hands. "Hold still please," she said as the tip of her index finger glowed green with chakra. She lightly touched a bead of Lee's sweat that was trickling down the side of his face.(R.F: Gross, is it not?) The sweat coated her finger in a blue glow. Slowly, she traced the cut on Lee's cheek, causing it to heal instantly. "There, all better!" said Cori cheerfully as beamed at Lee in such a way that the air around her head sparkled with innocence.

Suddenly, steam erupted from Lee's ears resulting in him fainting again.

"EH?! Not again!" exclaimed Cori scrambling over to Lee who lay there unconscious with his face all red and steamy. "Lee-senpai, get a hold of yourself!" she exclaimed worriedly as she shook Lee's body.

Jubei sat on the sidelines watching the scene in front of her take place before turning her head in to the shadows. "And Cori-sama's Knockout Charm strikes again....." she muttered in disdain.


*R.F. watches scene on a tv moniter*

R.F.: (-_-u) Oh good grief Lee......