So not only did we have to compete DIRECTLY after the second exam in a preliminary, but Sasuke was up first against one of the older, more experienced Konoha ninja.

Great.

Best case scenario.

Not.

"I'll be fine," Sasuke assured me, his eyes leaving mine to rest on his opponent, Yoroi. "This will be easy."

"GO SASUKE!" Naruto shouted, clearly ecstatic.

He was so oblivious, it wasn't even funny. He had no idea what pain Sasuke was in.

"Someone believes in me," Sasuke responded positively, clapping Naruto on the back. "Time for me to go do my Uchiha thing and win this she-bang."

He cracked his knuckles and followed Yoroi to the front of everyone else, leaving us to watch as he went.

You better be okay, Sasuke.

"Man, as much as I hate Sasuke sometimes, I hope he doesn't die," Naruto said. "That would suck."

I groaned. "Yeah, it would suck," I agreed, sighing.

"Everyone else – this is the fighting arena so you need to go up to the second level." Hayate pointed above. "Let's move, people."

Naruto and I linked arms and climbed the stairs together, and the rest of the Genin spread out around the second level balcony.

I kept squeezing Naruto's arm hard to steady my nerves. "You're gonna give me a bruise!" he complained, rubbing his arm. "You need some serious chill."

"Sorry!" I squeaked.

Kakashi came over to Naruto and I and stood behind us, watching over our heads as they finished preparations for the match and Sasuke and Yoroi stared at each other in the middle of the arena, waiting, sizing each other up, eyes narrowed.

His head was in the game at least. But maybe I should give Kakashi a heads up about the curse seal situation in case things get ugly.

"Sensei," I began, turning around, but Kakashi shook his head like he already knew what I was going to say.

He already knows. That means he knows it was Orochimaru.

"We're not going to talk about it now," Kakashi told me shortly. "He is not going to use the Sharingan…it'll be tough, but Sasuke is capable without it."

I nodded, swallowing again although my throat was suddenly very dry.

"WHY NOT?" Naruto demanded at Kakashi. "Not use SHARINGAN? That's his only hope!"

"That's not his only hope," I argued, looking down at Hayate who approached the two guys.

Then I shouted, "DON'T DIE, PLEASE, SASUKE!"

Naruto shook his head at me. "You better not get all crazy up in here."

"Look who's talking…" Kakashi muttered under his breath, but luckily Naruto didn't hear him.

"BEGIN," Hayate coughed out, backing up quickly to let the contestants have at it.

"COME ON, SASUKE, MERK 'EM! MERK 'EM!" Naruto shouted instantly, sounding very crazy himself. What a hypocrite, am I right? "MERK 'EM, BABY!"

Kiba called over, "What the hell is merk?"

"It means beat excessively until death," Naruto and I sang into unison.

"OH MY GOD!" I screamed, looking down at the fight.

The older Konoha opponent had just thrown shurikens that Sasuke dodged and countered, but barely. The curse seal was really affecting him, slowing him down. He seemed weak.

I covered my face with my hands. "THIS IS BAD! THIS IS BAD!"

"Ai, come with me," Kakashi said suddenly, putting a hand on my shoulder tightly.

"What? Why?" I demanded, peeking through my fingers.

"YES!" Naruto shouted in victory as Sasuke pinned Yoroi down with his legs.

"We need to talk," Kakashi said simply. "Let's go."

"Right now? During Sasuke's fight?" I asked, and then screamed when Sasuke was hit in the face. "YOU B*STARD! YOU ABSOLUTE TURD! CALL IT, REF!"

"Yes, right now. You're not a good observer," Kakashi said patiently. "You're not helping at all. Also, we need to talk."

He was probably right. It was just going to get me upset and anxious for my own fight by watching Sasuke's.

So I followed him reluctantly out of the arena down a long corridor. He led me into one of the rooms with a dark wooden door. We walked inside to a dark and large room with pillars surrounding the middle.

"Sit," he instructed, pointing to a chair near the doorway. I sat across from him, twiddling my fingers, waiting for him to bring up the reason why he wanted to "talk."

"So. How'd the second exam go?"

"Um…well…it was tough. This guy…you may already know…he was dressed like a girl but it was a guy, I know right, anyway—"

"Orochimaru," Kakashi said.

My eyes grew dark. "He killed my parents."

"Don't get all revengeful like Sasuke on me," Kakashi said, sighing. "I can only take so much of that. Listen, Ai. I've been thinking about something lately. First, is there anything you want to tell me?"

"Uh…no."

Kakashi wasn't convinced. "Ai, did you know it's very rare for you produce steam?"

I gulped. "Uh, to have both fire and water chakra? Yeah, pretty cool, right? Whoever my parents were, well, they might've been super strong or something."

Kakashi patiently nodded. "Interesting thought. But it's a lot of chakra. An…unbelievable amount. I can sense these things. How do you explain that?"

"Guess I'm lucky," I squeaked, scratching my arm.

"Or maybe it's not luck."

"Oh."

"You know who else has a lot of chakra? Naruto. You guys are pretty alike…"

"Both pretty spirited," I agreed quietly, not liking where this conversation was going.

Did Kakashi know? Was he going to just spit it out already?!

"Ai…there's no, like…chance…that maybe…you are also a Jinchuuriki?"

"A what? That is absolutely RIDICULOUS, how dare you even ask me such an absurd…such an insane idea…you…" Kakashi didn't flinching, one eye staring me down. "You—okay, yeah, you are absolutely right."

I hung my head and peeked up to see his reaction. His face was stoic.

"Which tailed-beast do you possess?"

"Kokuo. The, uh, the Five-Tails."

Kakashi nodded seriously. "The Five-Tails…the only one who had the willpower to escape the initial seal alone. And the possessor of steam. Of course."

"Well, now you know," I said, crossing my arms.

My mind suddenly flashed back to my meeting with Itachi and Kisame in the forest a week or so ago. 'Why don't we just take her now?' they had said.

Had it been because I was a Jinchuuriki?

"We'll talk about it more later. I just wanted you to know I know."

Kakashi put his hand on my shoulder and then led me back out into the arena.

I walked quickly to see what was going on with the fight and ran over to the edge of the balcony. Both Sasuke and Yoroi were on the floor, Sasuke facedown and Yoroi flat.

Hayate slowly walked over to check Yoroi's pulse while Sasuke stirred and crawled to his feet.

"Winner of the first match," Hayate announced loudly. "UCHIHA SASUKE!"

Sasuke stood weakly, panting, eyes out of focus, but looking satisfied. Kakashi appeared next to him in the arena immediately, whispering in his ear.

Naruto was cheering from the other side of the arena like crazy, and I screamed, "YAY, SASUKE! YAY, SASUKE!"

Then I realized I was standing directly next to Gaara. He had turned towards me. I stopped cheering, my whole face dropping, my eyes suddenly locked and entranced by his cold glare.

I inhaled sharply, holding it in, my whole body on alert and tense. It's like the rest of the world faded out of view, out of focus, but Gaara's face and body and hands were crystal clear.

"Congratulations," he said in a low voice. I couldn't discern the mood behind it. "Perhaps you'll be as lucky. But not if you draw me as your opponent."

Was he seriously threatening me? A bunch of emotion stirred up in my chest and without sorting through how I was feeling, I shot back, "What do you want? To kill me? You could've done that already, remember?"

Gaara suddenly looked angry and I honestly thought he might send some sand my way. But I didn't care. He was going to acknowledge me and stop pretending I'm Enemy Number One.

"I've changed my mind before," he said airily, turning back to face the arena.

I clenched my fists and walked away.

That boy infuriated me, terrified me, but most of all, thrilled me.

The second match's contestants had been chosen during my daydreaming – Abumi Zaku and Shino.

Shino against the annoying Sound guy! This would be good.

"Shino, huh?" Naruto said excitedly as I rejoined him. "This exam is awesome. I can't wait until my turn."

"Do you remember him? Sasuke broke his arm in the forest," I told Naruto at the same time Hayate yelled, "BEGIN!"

Naruto's jaw dropped. "It's all bandaged! He kind of did Shino a favor. He's handicapped!"

Zaku rushed at Shino, and Shino easily caught the strike, holding his opponent's arms. Zaku released some chakra during the close contact, sending Shino flying back, smoking.

"Where's Sasuke?" Naruto asked, looking around for Kakashi and Sasuke. "What is going on with that guy? He seems off."

I figured I'd give it a try to re-explain to him what had happened. "So, have you noticed that curse mark on his neck?"

"Kind of."

"Okay. Well, remember that creepy snake girl with the tongue?"

"Vaguely. She was mean. I remember the snake though. Good times."

"Okay, so the girl was actually a guy named—"

"WAIT, WHAT? SHE WAS TRANSGENDER? Okay, you know what, I'm cool with that. We need to be more supportive of the LGBT community, after all. Basic human liberties to love who we please and be as we are meant to be, am I right?"

"What? Oh my God. Just forget it, Naruto."

"Okay, I will!" Naruto responded happily.

I smacked my forehead.

I glanced over at all of the Kages standing in the front of the arena from all the different villages. Our Hokage was watching Shino intensely, and I figured he'd be hoping Shino won since this was a test of Konoha power after all.

I looked for the Sound Kage to see if he was watching Zaku as hopefully, but he wasn't around anymore. I remember noticing him in the beginning, a tall guy with black hair pulled into a ponytail and wide, almost creepy eyes…

Something hit me.

Wait a second. WAIT JUST A HOT MINUTE HERE. IT COULDN'T BE, COULD IT? OROCHIMARU?

But as soon as I thought about it, it seemed like I had just figured out the truth.

"NO!" I shouted, horrified. "NARUTO, I GOTTA GO!"

Naruto wasn't even listening to me, too wrapped up in the fight. Shino was now producing bugs from the inside of his jacket.

"Things just got weird," Naruto was saying, shaking his head as millions of tiny black bugs emerged from Shino's outstretched arms flying towards Zaku.

I was already running towards the exit on the second level again, all the way to same large room with pillars that Kakashi and I had just been.

Once again, it was dark in the room, but there was a small dim glow coming from the center, surrounded by pillars. As my eyes got adjusted to the light, I saw Kakashi standing over Sasuke who was on the ground, passed out.

He must've sealed up the curse?

"Hello, Kakashi," came a voice from the shadows and shivers ran down my spine.

It seemed I had come just in time. I mean, not really sure how I could help with Kakashi here already, but it's not like I was just going to stay out there knowing he'd be here.

Kakashi was already facing the tall, dark figure as it emerged from behind one of the pillars. "Orochimaru," Kakashi whispered. "It's you."

"You've really grown," Orochimaru said, and he lit up, glowing with purple flames. He was smiling.

It was him. Actually him. The one who had ruined Sasuke. And attacked Naruto and I. Who knew about our tailed beasts somehow. Both of us. And the man who had killed my parents.

I had gasped out loud. They both noticed me in the darkness. Orochimaru immediately erupted into laughter.

"PERFECT! It's TASURA AI! Come in, my darling, come in."

I stepped closer to them slowly and Kakashi instinctively stood in front of me.

"Leave her alone."

Orochimaru grinned. "I have no use for her. Her body is already occupied, you might say. I certainly won't be the one to take her away. No, no, I want Sasuke-kun."

"Why?" I demanded from behind Kakashi. "You murdered my parents. Why not me?"

Orochimaru wouldn't stop smiling. "Oh, I don't want to kill you! You're too much fun. That wasn't fair, me killing your parents, was it? Consider it a life lesson. I'm helping you! Life isn't fair, and now you know. And Sasuke, well, I don't want to kill him either! He has what I want. The Sharingan. It's gonna be great. With Sasuke, I can do anything."

"How do you know he's gonna work with you?" I asked, my eyes narrowed to slits.

"Because he will want the power only I can provide," Orochimaru said. "Jealous, Ai? Jealous I don't wantyou? Don't worry, you'll be very useful one day to others who want that power only you posses."

Kakashi said sharply, "That's enough."

"Look, I don't want a fight right now," Orochimaru said. "Maybe this will make you feel better, Ai. I'm actually scared of you. I don't want to take on both you and Kakashi right now. No way! I'm out of here. Until next time, my love. I'm not talking to you, Kakashi, I hate you. Good luck, Tasura Ai. It has been quite a pleasure meeting you."

I rolled my eyes as Orochimaru walked away into the shadows and disappeared. I no longer sensed his presence in the room. I shook with anger – how could he do this to Sasuke? Would Sasuke actually seek him out? Sasuke was too smart for that, right?

Kakashi turned around. "Well, that could've got messy. I'm glad you showed up."

"He's scared of me," I said grinning.

"Yeah… well…the tailed-beast power is definitely something to fear. Look, I'm going to bring Sasuke to the hospital," Kakashi said. "You go back to the matches."

He picked up Sasuke into his arms and left for the medical wing. I sighed and quickly followed him out, not wanting to be in this room alone anymore.

When I came back to the arena, they were preparing for the next match. I ran back over to Naruto. "Who won?" I demanded. Then I noticed Shino rejoining his teammates and Zaku nowhere to be seen.

"Shino!" Naruto confirmed, cheering. "Two for two, Konoha! Yeah, buddy! We rock!"

"The first match was against two Konoha ninjas," I corrected. "So that doesn't really count."

"We're one for one on this team!" Naruto exclaimed, unfazed. "I wonder who I'll get to fight!"

"Me too," I said looking around the room, starting to feel nervous for Naruto. And myself.

What if I did have to fight Gaara? Or someone like Tenten or Shikamaru? Someone who was more of a friend than foe… And then there was the worst-case scenario: I had to fight Naruto. Would they do that? Make two teammates fight against each other to the death? The thought made me want to throw up.Anyone but Naruto. I looked at him, lost in thought.

"Naruto…" I started, wanting to share with him my worries about fighting each other so maybe we could come up with a game plan or something.

I could offer to forfeit. I mean, I would. Naruto deserves to move on. I was surprised with how easy that decision was to make. Part of me couldn't believe I'd do that for him despite my own ambitions to move on. But the other part of me knew how much I cared for Naruto. He was like family.

Naruto didn't notice me looking at him with a worried look on my face because he was watching the screen to see the next two opponents. "Ai," Naruto said suddenly. "AI! AI! AI!"

"You're up," Kakashi said from behind me, startling me. I didn't realize he had come back from bringing Sasuke to the medical team. He was pointing forward, straight ahead of my eyes.

I looked up at the screen.

It read: Tasura Ai. vs. Yamanaka Ino.

I blinked several times. "Seriously?" I was a little disappointed. I felt a little bit of pretentiousness creeping up. "This is annoying."

Naruto glanced at me, surprised at my reaction. "What? You can so do this. A total win-in-the-bag."

"This just isn't what I wanted," I sighed. "I actually wanted a challenge."

Naruto was now looking behind me, his jaw slightly ajar and eyes wider. "Uh-oh."

I whipped around and found myself face-to-face with Ino. She was glaring at me. "Let's just see how easy it'll be."

"Whoops," I said.

We both made our way down to Hayate and stood in front of him, facing each other. Ino looked pretty mad, and I regretted saying those things out loud. Now she was riled up with more motivation to beat me. Annoying, but maybe this is the challenge I asked for?

Even still, probably not.

"Okay, the match begins on 'go.' Okay? …. CHEESE!" he shouted. Ino and I both had started to move and then stopped short, huffing.

We both glared at him. He burst into laughter and we yelled in frustration.

"STOP MESSING AROUND!" Ino shouted at him.

"YOU TAKE ME FOR A JOKE?" I yelled, putting my fists up.

"Okay, okay, go," Hayate said, hands up in defense, backing up, coughing again.

"Things are about to heat up in here," I said, putting my hands together to channel my chakra. "Get ready."

"You don't scare me," Ino barked. She put her hands together in formation as well, and I recognized the technique as Mind Transfer Jutsu.

"No way," I said, but realized my steam defense wouldn't block that kind of jutsu.

So I needed to go offensive from the get-go. I summoned a fire jutsu, and Ino instantly backed up, dodging most of it. "Nice," I congratulated her.

She tried to go for the Mind Transfer again, but this time, I threw a handful of shurikens to throw her off. She stopped trying to perform the jutsu to dodge the weapons, but it gave me the opportunity I needed to strike. I tried summoning the same fireball jutsu, and she was unable to dodge this time.

The left side of her body was severely burned, glowing red, and I could see parts of it where the first couple layers of skin had been scorched off. Nothing fatal, but hopefully it would give her the motivation to forfeit now before it got worse.

"It will only get worse," I warned. "I'm more a peace kind of girl. Wanna call it off now?"

Ino's eyes were even more wild with fury now, and losing her train of thought, she rushed at me with a kunai out in full rage. It was a silly move, but I humored her by just standing in place, calmly.

When she got to me, confused at this point, she hit a wall of steam that sprung up to defend me.

She cried out again as the heat once again burned her exposed skin and jumped back.

"FIGHT ME!" she screamed, her face now bright red with anger and from the heat.

"But I'm doing pretty well like this," I retorted, crossing my arms. "You'll never touch me."

I couldn't help looking up at Gaara, and I met his eyes. He was looking at me, watching my fight with a neutral expression. I wished I knew what he was thinking. I couldn't be touched in battle, just like him and his sand… Didn't he see how alike we were?

Ino attempted her Mind Transfer Jutsu once again, but I decided to end it. I was small and fast – in a moment, I was in front of her, ready to go hand-to-hand. She wasn't fast enough to block my first hit, but managed to block my second, recovering fast.

But I was too quick for her, and I realized taijutsu wasn't her strong suit as I landed a kick in her side, knocking her several feet back on the ground. A second later, I was standing over her.

"Do you forfeit? I don't want to have to hurt you more," I told her honestly. "I have barely even begun to fight, and I am certain I will win."

Ino was thinking about it, now burned, bruised, and slightly bloody. I had hit her in the face, and her mouth was bleeding in the corner. Her eye was bruising fast, and I started to feel almost bad beating her up. I quickly shook away the thought; it wasn't ninja-like.

"No," she finally responded and tried to climb to her feet.

I kept her pinned down, using my legs to keep hers down and putting my hands on her arms. "I'm sorry then," I told her, and closed my eyes, summoning my chakra to my hands.

She screamed as my hands started steaming and glowing, hot as a flame. They were gripping her arms and I knew I was doing serious damage to her skin. The skin I was holding had just about melted when she shouted, "I FORFEIT!"

I instantly released my hands and got to my feet, grinning. Naruto was cheering his head off, and I smiled up at him. I felt happy to be moving on, but a little disappointed that had been my match, the first chance to prove myself to the Kages and the other competitors.

The medical team rushed over to take Ino to the hospital to get her burns treated.

"Winner of the third battle…Tasura Ai," Hayate announced.

"WOOHOO!" I cheered and rushed back up the stairs to rejoin Naruto and Kakashi-sensei.

I ran past everyone, arm outstretched for high-fives on my way back to my spot, but no one took the opportunity except Kiba and Rock Lee who wrapped me up into a huge hug.

"YOU ARE SO STRONG, TASURA AI! I KNEW YOU'D EASILY DEFEAT HER!"

"Thanks, Rocky!" I said brightly, hugging him back.

"This is why I will love you until the day I die! Even if it takes forever for you to love me back! I will wait for you until the end of time!" he shouted.

I rolled my eyes.

Just then I noticed Gaara who standing only a few feet away with his siblings, staring at the exchange between Lee and I. He was giving us a hard, murderous look.

Why was he looking at us like that?

"When it is my turn finally, I will fight for you. I DEDICATE MY BEAUTIFUL NINJA ART TO YOU!"

More people than Gaara were starting to stare, so I quickly gave him an awkward salute and hurried back to where Kakashi and Naruto were standing.

Shikamaru and Chouji were both staring at me, unsure how to react, as I joined my place on the balcony between them and Naruto.

"Uh…sorry for taking out your teammate?" I said, nervously laughing.

"She didn't stand a chance," Shikamaru said neutrally and turned to see the next match-up. "Congrats on your win."

Naruto was jumping on me and yelling, "YOU WON! YOU AND SASUKE WON! SO WE ARE TWO FOR TWO! TWO FOR TWO! TWO FOR TWO!"

I joined in so we were both yelling, "TWO FOR TWO! TWO FOR TWO!"

"QUIET UP THERE IN THE RANKS!" Hayate croaked loudly, stopping us mid-chant. "WE'RE TRYING TO GET STARTED HERE!"

"Oh, sorry," I called down. Naruto grinned widely.

Kakashi was staring at the ceiling. Then he sighed and said, "Well, we are two for two. Naruto, you better win also."

Naruto and I jumped up and down excitedly, silently now.

So all of the winners of the matches could potentially be my next opponent for the official third exam.How exciting. Next time I would probably have to go all out…

The next match-up was Tenten and Temari. I watched as both girls calmly made their way down to the arena and faced each other, already all business and ready to fight.

Go, Tenten.

Hayate announced the start, and Tenten immediately sprang into action, throwing kunais at Temari. Temari didn't even flinch.

"You missed," Temari said sweetly, smiling evilly as the kunais fell around her harmlessly.

"I never miss," Tenten shot back, confused. "What's going on? Something's going on."

Shikamaru sighed next to me. "Temari's gonna win. Another loss for Konoha to the Sand village."

"How do you know?" Naruto demanded. "We need to root for Konoha until the end!"

"Look, I just know. Temari's going to win," Shikamaru restated, sounding bored. "No sense in avoiding the truth. The girl is good."

Chouji nodded. "If Shikamaru says so, that's the way it is. Listen to Shikamaru. He knows all."

"These guys are hard to understand," Naruto whispered to me, and I rolled my eyes.

I made a "W" with three fingers and then flipped it sideways to an "E" to signify whatever.

Tenten was having a tough time. All of her weapons were missing Temari by a long shot, and she had unrolled a huge scroll that had summoned a plethora of flying weapons. Temari had taken the huge fan that remained on her back and placed by her side, unraveling it slightly.

Her secret was her wind, I suddenly realized. Shikamaru must have already realized that, and that's why he thought that Tenten would be unable to defend herself against it.

"Here's the first star," Temari told Tenten as if she were her schoolteacher, pointing at the fan and the big purple star on it. "When it gets to the third star, you will lose. Feel free to surrender at any point before that."

Tenten narrowed her eyes, and I admired her fighting spirit. She wasn't going to go down without a fight. And I don't care what Shikamaru said and if he wanted to be all negative. I was going to root for Konoha until the end like Naruto had said.

"GO, TENTEN!" I shouted, and I wasn't alone. Lee was shouting at his teammate encouragingly too.

Tenten pulled out another scroll, and when I looked over at Lee again, he looked genuinely surprised. Tenten crouched low to the ground, placing the scroll next to her.

Temari rolled her eyes at whatever Tenten was plotting, obviously thinking it would never be enough.

"RISING TWIN DRAGONS!" Tenten shouted and the scroll erupted forming circles around each other in spirals towards the ceiling.

More weapons emerged and Temari threw her fan up, showing the second star. Temari once again deflected all of the weapons.

Then Tenten, with strings attached to the weapon, pulled them back up and sent back with even more force. Temari showed her the third star and I watched with dread as Tenten was blown backwards, along with all of the knives, shurikens, kunais, and blades she had already thrown.

Luckily none of them hit her, and she sat up to see Temari standing aggressively with the fan showing the three stars behind her back.

"Not good enough," Temari said.

Then she waved her fan and she disappeared along with it. She reappeared above everyone's heads, on her fan like a freaking magic carpet from Aladdin.

Seriously?

"A whole newwww woooorld," I sang with dramatic hand movements. "Does anyone else think that is ridiculous looking?"

I stopped laughing once Temari sent an intense wind attack. It was like Tenten was trapped inside some personal tornado, the wind circulating at incredibly high speeds. I noticed her clothes start to rip a little and cuts appearing on her arms and legs from the impact of the pressure. It was horrible to watch.

"There's chakra in there," I noted, trying to stay calm and not lose my mind, seeing how bad it was affecting Tenten over the next several seconds.

Finally Temari released the jutsu, and Tenten fell from up in the air straight onto Temari's now closed fan. It was a dramatic close, and Temari was announced as winner.

"Too easy," Temari scoffed, looking at Tenten's unconscious bloodied body. And apparently it wasn't over.

Temari reared her fan back and threw Tenten's light body through the air. Before I could even react, Rock Lee had jumped down and caught her in his arms, looking outraged.

Rocky…he was a good guy, truly.

"HOW DARE YOU!" he shouted, eyes glaring at her, strengthening his grip on Tenten in his arms.

Temari shrugged. "Nice catch."

"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO DO THAT!" he continued, pointing at her dramatically.

"Chill out," Temari said coolly, closing her fan and fastening it to her back.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!"

Gaara spoke and the whole arena grew quiet as he did. "Temari, you won. Get back up here and stop speaking to this loser."

Rock Lee's face grew contorted with anger, and I sensed trouble.

Temari was too laidback to care anymore. "Look, sorry, man," she told Rock Lee, glancing nervously up at Gaara. "I'm just gonna go."

Using her fan, she floated back up to Kankuro and Gaara. Kankuro nodded at her, and Gaara did nothing as if this scenario unsurprisingly met his expectation of what he had predicted.

Rock Lee carried Tenten to the medical team who took her to the infirmary. Tenten could have died from that attack; she was lucky to still be alive.

Maybe Temari wasn't such a monster and spared her on purpose?

"The next match is Nara Shikamaru and Kin Tsuchi."

Shikamaru looked positively bothered by this news while Naruto groaned. "I thought it was gonna be me!" Naruto pouted, stomping his foot like a first grader.

"You'll get your turn, bud," I said confidently. "Good luck, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru sighed and began walking slowly towards the stairs. Kin had already jumped down, and she watched in frustration as Shikamaru took his time, going down the steps one at a time. He clearly wasn't looking forward to this match.

"Could you move any slower?" Kin said impatiently, waiting by Hayate.

Shikamaru continued to bring both feet to each step before moving to the next one. It was so slow, it was awkward, and I could barely contain my laughter at the whole situation.

"I think it's a new millennium," Kin burst, throwing her hands up. "My clothes are out of style! I AM GOING TO DIE OF OLD AGE BEFORE YOU EVEN GET TO THIS FREAKING ARENA!"

Shikamaru threw a cheeky grin up at Chouji, and his sensei as if saying: Make the enemy mad! Check!

He finally took his place in front of Hayate, and eyed Kin like he was being told to eat his Brussels sprouts and he really didn't want to.

"This is troublesome," he said to no one in particular.

"Then I'll end it quickly," Kin said evilly.

"Begin." Hayate stepped back.

Shikamaru tried his shadow clone jutsu, but Kin remembered it from the Forest of Death. She dodged.

"Watch this," she said mysteriously.

She threw two needles that had bells attached to them, so forcefully that they dug themselves into the wall behind Shikamaru's head. She went to prepare for a second attack, but got distracted by Shikamaru's know-it-all smile.

"I know what you're gonna do. You're gonna throw them again with and without bells, and I'm supposed to fall for the trick of dodging only the bell needles. Not gonna happen," Shikamaru said, crossing his arms and spreading his feet wide. "You know what my IQ is, sister?"

Kin narrowed her eyes. "Whatever. Just wait."

Shikamaru dodged the bells like he said he would, but Kin had somehow tied thread to them and had trapped Shikamaru within it. She pulled them back, striking him.

"Ha. This is gonna be fun. It'll be a nice slow death, just like you approached this fight. How's that for continuity?" she said proudly.

Shikamaru shook his head. "I got a plot twist for ya."

Kin looked down and suddenly became confused. "I…can't move. I can't move! What's going on?"

She started to panic, but only in her eyes, because she couldn't move any other part of her body.

"You've been hoodwinked, honey!" Shikamaru yelled, sticking out an arm to point at her. "I did my shadow jutsu by blending it in with the thread's shadow. You didn't even notice. I told you, I'm a genius."

"UGH! You're so dumb, you moronic punk! We will do all of the same moves!"

She looked pissed though, because this strategy of Shikamaru's didn't help her one bit.

Shikamaru nodded, stepping forward a couple feet while she moved backwards a couple feet. He removed a shuriken from his pocket and so did she.

"Let's see who survives," Shikamaru said and threw the shuriken.

I waited with baited breath as the shurikens flew at each other. Shikamaru leaned backwards into a rather flexible backbend, dodging the shuriken, but Kin, up against the other wall, didn't have the same luck.

Her back and head hit the wall, and the shuriken struck her in the face.

Shikamaru's team, Naruto, and I erupted into cheers as Shikamaru was declared the winner, and Kin was removed from the arena by the medical team.

"GO, SHIKA! SHIKA, SHIKA!" Naruto and I chanted as Shikamaru rejoined our party upstairs.

He had a little more bounce in his step now.

"Thanks," he said, nodding. "Glad it's over with."

"ME NEXT!" Naruto whined. "PLEASE! I WANT TO FIGHT SOOOOO BAD!"

"Well, you just got your wish," Kakashi said, and even he sounded excited.

We both looked at the screen, and it read Naruto's name.

Uzumaki Naruto vs. Inuzuka Kiba.

"YEAH!" Naruto shouted, pounding the air above his head. "I CANNOT WAIT!"

"This sucks," I said. Naruto turned to me, confused. "You have to fight the dog. The cute little puppy."

Naruto shrugged. "Whatever. It's a ninja dog, after all. SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE, AI!"

He gave me a quick pat on the head and then jumped down to the arena. Kiba and Akamaru also jumped down after Naruto, clearly eager.

"Good luck!" I called down to Naruto.

"BEGIN!" Hayate shouted, and I thought I might throw up.

I got even more nervous watching Naruto fight Kiba than watching Sasuke. These were two of my friends, for one thing, and Naruto was like my brother. If he got hurt or lost the fight, I'd be just as miserable as he would be.

"Is he gonna win?" I shouted at Kakashi as if he could predict the future.

"He has an excellent shot," Kakashi said calmly, and then he took a second look at my wild eyes. "Why don't you take a walk? I'll tell you what you miss."

Since my breath was starting to quicken its pace and my heart was pounding, I took his advice and ran back into the hallway for the third time in the last hour or so.

The alone time gave me some space to think as I paced up and down it. Please be winning, Naruto.

I sat down on a bench I walked by in the hallway, put my hands together on my lap to stop them from shaking, and rested my head down on my legs.

Naruto would be able to match Kiba's energy easy, but Kiba's strength, Kiba's speed? Naruto was a force to be reckoned with, but he had never squared off on anyone like this before.

Suddenly, I realized someone had disturbed my loneliness.

I looked up quickly, gasping, as I saw none other than Gaara of the Desert standing in front of me, the two of us alone in a very long dim hallway.

My heart instinctively increased its pace, adrenaline starting to flow in my veins. Did he follow me just now? Why else would he be here?

"Uh…" I whispered. I was totally speechless.

Let's let him do the talking, shall we? He's the one that approached me here.

"Congratulations," he said for the second time today, his tone indefinable. Sarcasm? Genuine acknowledgement? Who knew how he meant it or if he did at all?

"Uh…thanks," I replied slowly. "But don't you think I could've taken on a stronger opponent?"

I raised my eyebrows, barely aware of the words coming out of my mouth. Now that he was here, in front of me, I was hardly capable of speech.

His presence was sending my body into pins and needles, every nerve ending aware that he was near and reacting as such. Why did he have this effect on me?

"I don't know anything about you," he said coldly. He looked away.

I replied, "You're right. You don't. Well, good luck…"

"Perhaps I will fight that Leaf ninja…the one who seems to hold you in high regard," Gaara said, chin up, eyes glaring daggers down at me.

It couldn't be…was he jealous? No. Not possible. Gaara of the Desert doesn't get jealous over a schoolboy crush. And why would he? He was right about the fact that we didn't know each other very well…but it was ignorant to think there wasn't somethingbetween us.

"Lee? Oh…he's just…." I thought of Gaara seeing Lee confess his undying love for me. I almost giggled. "We're good friends. Great guy."

"He is very open with his feelings," Gaara said, his face unchanging. "As a ninja…I can't understand that. It seems foolish. Do you return the sentiment?"

Did Gaara really just ask if I felt the same for Rocky? Did I also love him, he was basically asking? Why did he care?

"Don't underestimate him. And I'll not sure why his or my feelings are of any interest to you, Mr. Sand Man."

Ooh, burn. Good one, Ai.

"Any enemy is worthy of my interest," Gaara instantly retorted, smooth as usual. What qualified someone as Gaara's enemy? "Why did you leave the arena? Your teammate is fighting. You seem…close."

"I am not a good observer of my teammates' fights," I said sadly. "I get a little too wrapped up in the what-ifs and think they're going to die or something."

I felt another pang of worry for Naruto. How was it going back there?

Gaara frowned. "These feelings…of care for someone else…I cannot understand them. It intrigues me."

Maybe that's why he was here. I intrigued him. I was like his opposite, after all. Well, Gaara intrigued me too.

"Well, you intrigue me too," I decided to let him know. "And…believe it or not, I care about you too."

Gaara's eyes flared. "I'm a monster. You refuse to admit that in my presence you're terrified. Even after you've seen me kill. So just say it. Say you're scared of me."

Silence filled the air with the exception of our breathing.

I looked him dead in the eye, and said slowly, "You don't scare me. Not one bit."

More silence.

"I shouldn't have come here," he finally said quietly. "You need to stay away from me."

Before I could react, he was gone before my eyes.

Gaara.

I headed back to the arena myself, feeling a little braver to face the fight that was happening.

As I entered, I heard Hayate say loudly as I ran over to the ledge to see, "AND THE WINNER IS UZUMAKI NARUTO!"

"YES!" I shouted, almost instantly crying from happiness.

Naruto looked tired and beat up, but he was still on his feet and grinning.

I met him at the bottom of the stairs and gave him a piggyback ride up them, singing "Happy Birthday" because I didn't know any other victory songs.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO NAR-U-TO! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!" I put him down and faced him, my hands on his shoulders. "I'M SO PROUD OF YOU, BROTHER!"

Naruto hugged me excitedly. "WE DID IT! ALL THREE OF US FROM TEAM 7 ARE MOVING ON!" Naruto shouted, and we jumped high in the air, kicking our feet up behind us, arms stretched towards the ceiling.

"WOOHOO!" I squealed. "I can't wait to hear about your fight!"

"You weren't there?" Naruto demanded, his eye now twitching. "WHAT THE HELL? TAKE A BATHROOM BREAK? WAS THERE A SALE ON THE RED HAIR DYE YOU USE FOR YOUR HAIR? WERE YOU SAVING THE FREAKING WORLD BECAUSE WHAT COULD'VE KEPT YOU FROM MY MOST IMPORTANT MOMENT AS A NINJA?"

"MY HAIR IS TOTALLY NATURAL!" I screamed back even though I knew he was just trying to get a rise from me. "AND YOU KNOW ME, NARUTO! I'M WEAK! FORGIVE ME, I'M WEAK!"

Several people were staring at us. "Both of them won their matches," Kankuro said slowly as if trying to process this information. Or convince himself it was true.

"What idiots," Dosu muttered.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Well, now I just get to tell you the story myself and exaggerate all the good parts," he exclaimed, giving me a thumbs up. I giggled.

Kakashi walked over to us and put his hands on our shoulders. "Good work, team. You guys just keep making me look good," he said, nodding. "All three of my subordinates making the cut."

"You're welcome," Naruto said, puffing out his chest.

"Pleasure doing business with ya," I said, extending a straight arm and hand.

Kakashi shook his head. "But I was right from the start. I certainly have my hands full."

"Our Facebook status would be: it's complicated," I joked and then slapped my face.

I can't believe these world mix-ups are still happening!

"Facebook? Huh?" Naruto asked me. "You are SO weird sometimes, Ai."

"Forget about it," I said, and then I noticed Gaara was back in the arena, in the middle of his two siblings, staring at the screen for the next match-up.

That Gaara.

Hyuuga Hinata vs. Hyuuga Neji.

Oh, sh*t. They were from the same clan. This should be good. Or bad. One of the two.

"What, are they siblings?" Naruto barked.

"Cousins," Kakashi said. "With some awkward family drama in the works."

"Should make for a good fight," I said excitedly.

Naruto shook his head. "I'm nervous for Hinata."

"Why?"

"Well, she's so nice. Neji is gonna crush her."

"Hey! Don't give up on her," I scolded.

I looked down at Hinata and Neji who had made their way down. They were facing each other, Neji's face hard and focused, and Hinata looking rather timid.

"Begin," Hayate announced, looking interestedly at the two of them.

"Are you gonna forfeit?" Neji asked immediately. "Would save me some trouble, but will save your life."

Hinata took a small breath in. "No…"

"You're an idiot. I told you from the beginning, you're not fit to be a ninja. It doesn't fit who you are. I know you, Hinata, you're a deer in headlights. Go on, quit. You know you want to."

"You don't scare me, Neji-kun," Hinata whispered, but the arena was so quiet we all heard her.

"GO, HINATA!" I screamed.

"YEAH! GO, HINATA!" Naruto shouted encouragingly. "YOU GOT THIS, GIRL! KICK HIS ASS!" He turned to me, nodding. "I hate bullies."

Hinata looked up and locked eyes with Naruto. I saw something in her change, and she re-positioned herself for the fight.

"We fight," she challenged, activating her Byakugan as Neji did the same.

Naruto got her feeling some type of way.

"They fight the same way," Naruto noticed.

Rock Lee had come to join us watch the fight.

"Oh yeah, that taijutsu is super strong," he commented. "I mean, Neji is probably the strongest Leaf Genin because of it."

"I could take him," I said, crossing my arms.

Rock Lee looked at me in astonishment. "YES, I AGREE, BEAUTIFUL FLOWER!"

I snorted.

Then I gasped; Neji and Hinata had ran to the middle to begin their intense fist fight, with blue glowing chakra channeled into their hands and feet.

I knew what that special Hyuuga chakra did…even a touch would damage the inner body and organs. No wonder Rocky held Neji is high regard. If you knew mastered how to use it…it was seriously deadly.

And Neji had. I watched his swift movements, and even though Hinata was landing blows on him, he seemed to know where the needle-sized opening points to the chakra body system were.

"I see what you mean, Rocky," I said quietly, as finally Neji landed a blow on Hinata who coughed blood, "He's a genius."

Rock Lee nodded. "Yes…his Byakugan can see everything. To be able to use it at its full potential during battle is truly amazing."

Naruto was shocked. "Man, that's beyond what I could've ever come up with."

"Which isn't saying much," I teased, and Naruto elbowed me in the ribs.

She was knocked down pretty hard a second later, but remained stirring.

Even Neji looked surprised. "Haven't you had enough?" he yelled. "You're going to die."

She slowly stood up, shocking the entire room of people. She was shaking from head to toe.

I saw Hayate looking back at the Kages, like he was asking permission to call it. If Neji laid one more blow, who knows what would happen?

"No, I'm not done," she said strongly.

I was so proud of her, but I was starting to get worried about what Neji would do. He was cold towards her. Too cold. So bitter. His grudge went beyond personal towards her. He was blaming her for something bigger.

"Feeling the pressure of the main house get to you, huh? What would they say if a branch house member beat you? Afraid to be yet again another a failure?" Neji laughed. "You can't change who you are, Hinata. You're weak."

Hinata met his eyes and glared. "And based on your obsession with the main house, it seems like the person who wants to change who they are the most is you."

"OHHHHH!" Naruto shouted, hand covering his mouth. "YOU JUST GOT SERVED, SON!"

I pressed my palms together and gave a jerk of my head in agreement.

Neji's eyes immediately narrowed and I swear I saw the killer intent. He rushed at her, and I knew Hinata wasn't going to stand a chance. Naruto and I yelled out, just about to jump over the balcony ourselves, when we saw Hayate, Kurenai (Hinata's sensei), and Gai-sensei had also jumped to the middle, separating Neji and Hinata. Gai was constraining Neji, pulling him back, and Kurenai lifted Hinata up.

The medical team was already surrounding her, and I heard something like, "She's not gonna make it! Get her to the emergency room immediately!"

Neji was glaring after her. "I told her to quit."

"You were trying to kill her on purpose," Kurenai spat at him. "Congratulations on your win."

Naruto was fuming. He walked away from the balcony, towards the double doors I had been through to escape the arena myself, punching the wall on his way there. I was angry, too.

Neji didn't fight with honor and against his own family too. As I watched Naruto slam open and close the doors to the hallway, my eyes landed on Gaara across the balcony.

He was looking down at the remains of Hinata's blood on the arena floor. His eyes were wide, almost manic, and I could see from where I was standing the death grip in which he was holding the railing. His knuckles grew coarse and his hands pale.

Then the next match-up appeared on the screen, drawing my gaze away from Gaara.

Rock Lee vs. Gaara.

My heart dropped. This was going to be bad. One way or another. I was sure of it. And with a mix of emotions inside I didn't feel like sorting out, I wasn't sure who I wanted to win.

But I didn't want Lee to get hurt, that much I knew to be true.

Lee was standing nearby Naruto and I still, looking at his name appear on the screen.

Then he turned to me. "Tasura Ai, this is for you."

"No, this is for you," I told Lee.

Rocky shot me a grin and jumped over the balcony, landing smoothly on his feet, his hands ready in taijutsu position, his knees slightly bent, balancing on the balls of his feet lightly.

Gaara was there in a flash of sand, standing upright, arms crossed lazily. His stance was casual, but his eyes made him look murderous. Gaara had it out for Lee, for whatever reason, but Rocky wasn't one to go down without a fight.

"Good luck," I whispered to both of them.