'Shiro Etsuko? Who's that?'

You lifted your eyes to the opposite side of the balcony. You knew everyone-until your eyes found Natsuo's team. You quickly concluded that Etsuko was Natsuo's female teammate. She confirmed your decision when she jumped up and down, clapping her hands together with glee; like she was getting a puppy for Christmas.

You tore your eyes from the girl. You took your foot off of the first step and retraced your steps back to the arena floor. Etsuko made her way down the other set of stairs and met you in the middle of the floor. The two of you stood a foot apart, facing each other. Etsuko's turquoise-colored eyes were shining with delight and anticipation.

Hayate stood between the two of you. "This match is between Makase Nakao and Shiro Etsuko. Do either of you object?"

"No way!" Etsuko smiled; her voice was sickeningly high-pitched.

You only shook your head, never taking your eyes off of Etsuko. Hayate coughed into his hand before nodding. "Then you may begin."

Hayate stepped back to the far end of the room; off of the arena floor. You and Etsuko stood alone, staring each other down.

"So you're Nakao, huh?" the girl smiled. Her smiles always consisted of one side quirking upwards; almost like she was smirking.

"That would be me," you responded, face dead-panned.

Etsuko giggled, clapping her hands happily again, "Oh this is going to be so much fun!"

Etsuko reached over her shoulder, unclasping the weapon on her back. It was a giant metal ring that looked like a hula hoop-besides for the shiny blades along the edges. The blades were inches apart all the way around so that Etsuko had somewhere to put her hands. The hoop was nearly as tall as her.

You eyed Etsuko's weapon. You knew nothing about Etsuko besides that she came from the Land of Wind; but that didn't mean much. You decided to play defense, sliding a foot back to move into a stance.

"I'm so excited!" Etsuko giggled, raising her ring.

With a mighty heave, the green-haired girl hurled her ring towards you. It was quick; spinning so fast that you couldn't even see the blades. You waited for it to near you; pushing chakra into your feet as it did so and jumped up. The ring whizzed beneath you.

In the air, you took out several shuriken and sent them at Etsuko. She dodged with ease. Taking out your daggers, you dropped down. Your plan was to knock Etsuko down, hold your blade to her neck and claim victory. She had different plans.

Etsuko watched you fall towards her. She ran through handsigns. From out of nowhere, dozens of healthy-looking, green leaves swirled around her entire body.

'Leaves?' you thought, but it was too late to stop your attack. You flew into the leaves, but didn't pass through them. They acted like a steel barrier, protecting Etsuko. You could see her eyes gleam before you were tossed away.

You landed on the hard, tiled floor, skidding on your back. You shot up into a sitting position, staring at your arms. Any bare skin was cover in tiny cuts. They did not bleed, but stung like hundreds of paper cuts. Etsuko dismissed the harmful leaves, smiling at you.

You growled, hopping to your feet. You were not going to lose here. And you definitely wouldn't lose to one of Natsuo's teammates.

"You can do it, Nakao!"

You glanced up to the balcony, finding Naruto pumping his fists in the air.

You looked back to Etsuko. 'She must use Earth-styled attacks.'

This could work to your advantage. Fire was Earth's weakness. 'Arashi Kamekaze.'

Wind slid down your arms, attaching to your blades. You had to concentrate to keep it on only the blades and fight at the same time. With another set of handsigns, you took in a deep breath and blew out. Your blades became alit with flames. Etsuko was still standing idly. You rushed her, slashing a blade across her chest. Etsuko's body was suddenly engulfed in flames and she burned quickly. Ashes fell into a heap at your feet. 'Shit; she used a replacement!'

"Yoohoo!"

You whirled around to find Etsuko almost on top of you. Her blade was coming down on you. You gasped, holding your blades in front of your face. Metal clashed against metal as Etsuko's ring pushed against your blades.

"Wrong again!"

Etsuko's mocking voice rang in your ears. You gasped, eyes staring at the Etsuko struggling against you. With a cry of effort, you pushed away the clone and dodged to the side as Etsuko attacked from behind you.

You dived to the ground on your side. Your right hand, the arm against the floor, clutched at your left arm. Just below your headband, blood seeped through your fingers, staining them crimson. You glanced up to find the clone gone but Etsuko standing some feet away from you, twirling her ring casually.

You winced. 'That thing would have cut my arm clean off if I hadn't dodged!'

You got to your feet, still holding your arm. It was in pain and you were afraid to see the size and depth of the gash. Etsuko continued to play with her ring with practiced ease; she was smiling. "Nice dodge!"

You watched Etsuko carefully. What was with this chick? You had dropped one blade, but your left hand was still clutching the other. You needed to retrieve your other blade from the ground-you were going to need to remove your right hand from your wound. When you slowly did so, wiping your hand against your black shirt, you glanced to your left arm.

The gash was deep, explaining the massive amount of blood. You could see white bone. You swallowed against your throat. Glancing away and to the arena floor, you located your blade several feet to your left. Your eyes flickered to Etsuko for a moment before you dashed for your blade.

Etsuko's eyes flashed and she thrust her deadly ring straight at you. You slid towards your blade like you were sliding to home base, grabbing the handle. You immediately rolled away just as Etsuko's ring dug itself into the tiled floor where you were milliseconds earlier.

You hopped to your feet, breathing heavily. Your arm was still screaming at you, but it was distant as adrenaline coursed through your system. You set your eyes on Etsuko as her ring shuddered in the ground before flying back towards her like a boomerang. She caught the blade, her hand perfectly grabbing a section between the blades.

This was enough of that. It was time for you to switch to offense. Gripping your blades, you rushed Etsuko. She stood her ground calmly, ring held out in front of her. As you reached her, your body flickered and you appeared behind her. You sliced a blade at her neck but she ducked, spinning around in a crouching position as she did so, sweeping her ring at your legs.

You jumped up, replacing your daggers on your weapon belt as you did so. In the air, you ran through a series of handsigns, took in a deep breath of air and pinched your index finger and thumb together, bringing them to your lips. You blew out a stream of red fire. Unlike Sasuke's fireball shape, your fire split into several different streams after leaving your mouth.

The streams of fire rushed down towards Etsuko. As one neared her, she jumped backwards and the stream of fire struck the ground. Another stream was already headed her way and Etsuko was forced to dodge again. The process repeated several times and Etsuko managed to dodge every stream.

Just as the last stream of fire struck the ground in front of Etsuko, your eyes flashed. Kekki genki activated, you directed a blast of wind to strike the flames before they went out. The fire roared to life, its flames leaping out at the unsuspecting Etsuko.

You heard the girl cry out as you fell back to the floor on your feet. The fire died, revealing Etsuko still on her feet, but her clothes were singed. The smell of burnt hair also infiltrated your nostrils. Etsuko slowly brought a hand up, running it through her mint green hair. Fried locks detached and fell to the ground. She watched, mouth agape.

When she turned her eyes back on you, they weren't happy anymore. She was glaring at you. "Alright, that's enough fooling around!"

Etsuko's eyes flashed dangerously. You made to take off at a run towards her, but you only got several feet before something suddenly exploded in front of your eyes. It was a blinding flash of white and you flew backwards, hitting the ground on your back.

With a grunt of pain, you struggled into a sitting position. You looked around you. Everything was dark, like nightfall without the moon or stars. You peered up and around; the balconies and everyone on them, were gone. As your eyes adjusted to the darkness, you noticed you were surrounded by trees; like you were in a forest clearing.

'What the hell?' You took a step forward.

Something darted out of the dark brush. It rushed past you, back into the tress. You whipped around, but it was gone. All you had seen was a black shadow. While you were distracted, something attacked you from behind.

Something latched onto your ankle. You gasped in surprise, looking down. What appeared to be a tree branch was wrapping itself around your ankle. You tried to pull your foot away but you were trapped. Your foot wouldn't budge and the branch was traveling up your shin. Another branch started to work on your other leg. The branches stopped at your knees.

'Shit!' You tried to move, but it was frivolous.

The leaves on the trees around you began to rustle together, but they made no noise. It was like the world around you was on mute. You watched with apprehension as an unfelt wind blew leaves from the trees. They danced innocently towards you. One moved to brush your cheek-It slashed across your skin.

You gasped in pain, moving your right hand to your cheek. You could feel warm blood. Another leaf sliced at your side. Another came and another until your vision was clouded with leaves. You cried out in pain as you were practically diced.

'H-How!? This can't be real…we're in the arena…'

A leaf sliced at your throat. 'Is this a genjutsu? It has to be. I can beat this! If Sasuke were here he'd-'

Sasuke. You couldn't lose here, not when you had made it this far. Not after you had faced Orochimaru and survived. You owed it to your teammate to pass this since, after all, he did sacrifice himself for you to get this far.

"Are you okay?" you finally whispered, breaking the silence.

Letting go of one of your shoulders, Sasuke's left hand moved to cover the mark on his neck subconsciously. Concentration flashed across his face. You watched him with sad eyes. Why were you always such a burden?

Sasuke's right hand was still on your shoulder; and you were very aware of it. You looked away, squeezing your eyes shut. Finally, still not looking at the boy, you whispered. "Why did you do that?"

You looked back to find Sasuke watching you. His face was blank and he removed his hand from your shoulder. "Do what?"

You sat back, able to sit up on your own now. "Jump in the way like that?"

"I don't know," Sasuke replied, glancing to his left at nothing.

"That seems to be a reoccurring pattern with you. I'm beginning to think you never know what you're doing," you rolled your eyes, half-teasing.

Sasuke slowly turned his vision back to you. "How did Orochimaru know who you were?"

You blinked, taken aback by the question. Slowly, you shrugged. "I don't know. How did he know who you were?"

"He said Itachi's name…" Sasuke said so quietly it was almost a whisper.

"And he said Keitaro's…" you muttered, glancing to the ground in thought.

You glanced up at the same time, watching one another.

With several handsigns, wind was flowing around you. Eyes closed in concentration, you created a near whirlpool of wind; the radius of which you hoped would fill the entire arena floor. Another set of handsigns and a spark flew from your lips.

Flames shot up, swirling around the arena, following the flow of your wind. You pushed more chakra into your attack, making the flames bigger and spreading them around the arena. Finally, you heard a scream.

In an instant, the darkness and trees were gone. Your feet were free. You were standing on the arena floor once more. Your flames were still swirling around the arena. You saw Etsuko leap out of the flames, landing in the middle of the arena where there was no fire, on her side. She cringed, grasping at her left arm. Payback's a bitch.

You smirked; this was it. The flames, as directed by you, shot out toward Etsuko. They were seconds away from hitting when two things suddenly happened at once. Etsuko must have performed a jutsu, as the tiled floor was suddenly pulled up, looking much like a tissue would if you pinched it in the middle as you grabbed it. The floor shielded her and your fire crashed into it, effectively saving her.

On the other side of Etsuko, several tiles detached from the ground and flew towards you. Your eyes widened in surprise and in your distraction, your flames and wind died. You moved to dodge the tile headed straight towards you, not noticing the one in its shadow. It shot out at an angle, headed straight for your new destination. You gasped, but it was too late.

The tile connected with your already injured, left arm. A loud crack echoed throughout the stadium as the bone in your bicep snapped in two.

Agony shot through you, like a white hot pain. Black dots appeared in your vision from pain. You fell to the ground, whacking your chin on the hard tiles as you did so. You groaned, the fingers on your right hand twitching.

A noise from in front of you caught your attention. Forcing your eyes open, for they were sealed tight from the pain, you found Etsuko getting to her feet. You noticed that her left arm was completely bare and was burnt. From the appearance, that was either a second, or third-degree burn. Her hair was burnt and clumps were missing here and there. Her clothes were also singed, completely missing in some areas.

She was glaring at you as she stood on her feet. She grasped her ring, raising it above her head. With a cry of effort, she flung her weapon straight towards you.

Your breathing shallowed. Using the last bit of your chakra, you activated your kekki genki one last time. With your own cry, wind blasted from your body. It caught the ring, spinning it counter clockwise, and sent it flying back towards Etsuko.

Etsuko's eyes widened as she saw her weapon spinning back towards her. She moved to back away, but only ran into the wall she had created from the tiled floor. She was trapped. Before she could signal her limbs to move elsewhere, the ring caught her left arm at the shoulder before slamming into the tiled wall behind her.

Tiles crumbled to the floor. Etsuko's arm dropped solo to the ground at her feet with a sickening thump. Blood leaked out of its open bicep as blood squirted from her shoulder socket. The metallic sound of her ring hitting the ground and sliding followed.

In shock, Etsuko's head slowly turned to look at her left side, where her arm used to be. Her mouth was gaping, her eyes wide. Still in shock, she fell to her knees, her right hand fumbling for her arm, grabbing it.

"I'm ending the match," Hayate quickly rushed onto the floor as Etsuko attempted to stick her arm back on her body. "Winner of the seventh match: Makase Nakao."

You gazed up at Hayate from your spot on the ground, breathing heavily. Without the adrenalin pumping through you, you suddenly felt drained and woozy. There was a searing pain in your arm; a pain so intense it made you want to faint. Instead, you threw up on the ground in front of you.

There were running footsteps and you were being rolled onto your back. You saw medical ninjas tending to you; probably putting you on a stretcher. You were so tired that you were mostly unaware of what was going on around you. There was no sound in your world right now.

'I won…' You realized, but the words meant nothing. The significance of those two words seemed foreign to you right now. But the next thought ran crystal clear through your mind. 'Wait until I tell Sasuke…'

'So…BORED!' you exasperated to yourself, throwing your back down on the bed. Your head landed on the pillow and you gazed up at the ceiling. The hospital was supposed to release you today but coincidently, you hadn't even seen a nurse assistant yet today.

Fortunately, your hospital stay hadn't been a long one. Thanks to the medical ninjas working on you everyday, your arm was now healed. Your broken bone was mended and the large gash was now a pink s ar-though they had advised you to take it easy. All together, this was your forth morning waking up in the same hospital bed.

The time you had spent here, however, had been completely dull. No one had even come to see you! Guess you found out you didn't have friends. Granted, you assumed some may be hospitalized; but Naruto and Kakashi-sensei weren't! The only person who had come by was Keitaro and that was only once for a couple of hours.

You heard a knock on your dor, gaining your attention. The nurses always knocked before entering. 'Thank god, I can go home!'

The door opened and a person walked through the doorway, but it wasn't a nurse. Your eyes brightened and a grin spread across your face. "Kiba!"

Kiba closed the door behind him, smiling at you. His hood was down, revealing the mop of brown hair on his head. He looked completely healed with not a scratch on him.

"You're okay!" you commented as Kiba moved towards you.

"Of course," Kiba responded, pulling a chair up to the side of your bed. He sat down, elbows resting on his thighs. "They released me yesterday but told me it was past visiting hours already."

"You could have snuck in," you muttered sourly.

Kiba only smiled at you. "So I see you won your match."

"Huh?"

Kiba reached into the pocket of his sweatshirt and pulled out a folded sheet of paper, handing it to you.

"Yeah, I went right after you," you said distractedly as you opened the paper.

Printed on the paper was a bracket system with names. Noting the names, you quickly determined these were the match set ups for the third exam.

"Everyone gets a month to train," Kiba explained.

"A whole month?" you glanced to him, then back to the paper.

Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyuuga Neji

Uchiha Sasuke vs. Gaara

Kankuro vs. Aburame Shino

Makase Natsuo vs. Makase Nakao

Temari vs. Nara Shikamaru

Your eyes hardened. 'Natsuo…'

"You're honorable for doing so, however," Kabuto continued. "And for that, I will show you the proper path to take."

You turned to Kabuto, a bit of surprise in your voice. "Proper path?"

Kabuto turned his back again to lead your group. "But first, put out that fire. It might have attracted enemies by now."

"Wait," Sasuke suddenly said, halting Kabuto in his tracks. He turned around as Sasuke continued. "Do you still have your recognition cards with you?"

You glanced at Sasuke in question. A smirk slid onto Kabuto's face. "Is there someone you want information on?"

"A Sand ninja; his name is Natsuo," Sasuke replied as Kabuto took his deck of cards from a pouch around his waist.

Your eyebrows furrowed together as you looked over at Sasuke. Kabuto knelt on the ground, placing a blank card face-up on the ground. He glanced up in amusement. "No last name this time?"

"Makase…" you said after a pregnant pause.

Both Sasuke and Kabuto glanced over at you. You only continued to watch the card on the ground. As Kabuto applied chakra, the card began to spin rapidly. When it came to a rest, its blank surface was now decorated with information.

A picture of Natsuo's upper body took up the upper, left-hand side of the card. Beside that was a chart detailing his stats and abilities. Beneath that were thumbnail pictures of his two teammates and sensei. Underneath his picture read his mission statistics.

"Natsuo is sixteen," Kabuto's eyes scanned the card. "He's completed…this is incredible…he's a genin but there are no D-ranked missions listed for him. He's completed eleven C-ranked missions and 10 B-ranked. This is his first year taking the exam however so I could be missing information on him. His squad leader is Miroshi and his teammates are Ryuuku and Etsuko. It looks like all of his skills are pretty even except for his genjutsu. There's nearly no improvement on that. But the rest of his stats are pretty high. But like I said, this is his first time taking this exam and he's a foreign ninja…he could be even more dangerous."

"Those are tough opponents," Kiba said quietly, snapping you out of your thoughts.

"Huh?" you glanced over, lowering the paper to your lap.

Kiba had been looking down but he slowly lifted his head, watching you. "Please be careful."

Your eyes softened before you reached out, playfully shoving Kiba. "What are you worrying for? I'm invincible."

"I see that," Kiba rolled his eyes sarcastically before giving you a pointed stare. "I'm serious, Nakao."

You sighed, taking a glance at the paper on your lap. Natsuo's name stood out boldly. You replied without glancing up. "Don't worry…I won't be losing."