"This is gonna be easy, taking out this flat chested loser," Yuria decided to no one in particular. She got into a battle position and waited for the call. "It's too bad I'm not fighting a boy. Seducing is my speciality, but I can still whip this brat without it. Hot? Her? No way!"

"Begin," Hayate ordered.

Caught off guard in her thoughts, Taka wasn't prepared for the sadistic bombshell holding a kunai a few feet away from her.

In an attempt to escape stab-dom, Taka formed an X with her fore arms and jumped back. When Yuria came down, her kunai met the cement ground. She showed her teeth and jumped for a second chance.

Ready for it, when Yuria's knife held a few inches from Takara's chest, she spun, like a ballerina, out of the way and behind Yuria.

She kicked Yuria hard in the back, sending her for forward. The fiery-haired Cloud-nin barely caught herself on the ground before her gigantic breasts slammed against it.

She snapped back up, doing a back tuck in the air to prove her grace. She saw then a glass vile with a very purple dust filing it, in Taka's hands. She slid it back into her half-vest's pocket.

"What the heck is that powder? The drug you take to get that ugly?" Yuria barked bitterly.

Takara's smirk didn't waver.

"It's a strength powder." She cracked her knuckles. "Now I'm ready to fight!!"

Yuria lunged with her fist aimed at Taka's face but she caught it.

Though no one saw how she struggled to do it, she flung Yuria's fist(and the rest of her following) over her shoulder.

Yuria fell to the ground, did a somersault, got back to her feet, and immediately roundhouse kicked at Taka's head.

Takara dropped to the ground, avoiding the kick and swept Yuria's feet.

The redhead fell backwards, but in the air, caught onto the ground and did a backhand spring.

Takara, in a squat position, jumped back to her feet just in time to catch Yuria's hard fist with both her hands. That, leaving an opening for Yuria to punch Takara upwardly in the stomach.

Winded, Takara flew back and rolled a bit on the ground, but caught her feet.

This, just in time to see three kunai thrown at her. She jumped to the side, still down, out of the way.

Yuria leapt to Takara's other side and threw two kunai, securing the edges of her clothing to the ground.

"Now, you're mine!!" Blood lust surged through Yuria's system as she ran at Takara. As she approached, though, she slowed with each step.

When she finally reached Takara she had daze-y look an her face, and dropped to the floor, unconscious.

Takara didn't look the least bit confused.

"Not strength powder. Sleeping powder!" Takara jumped to her feet and ran in front of her team, waving and blowing kissing like some superstar while they pretended to be a raging crowd.

The rest of the rookies thought that it was kind of weird, and not just them, but them especially. Not because of the nature of the odd act but because the Isao they knew would have scoffed at the stupidity and went about his business huffily and Kichiro would have furrowed his brow and then shook his head disapprovingly.

But people do change, don't they?

Neji didn't think so. That he made clear in his match against Hinata, which followed.

He mercilessly taunted and criticized her, shaking her down to about nothing.

At one point Takara wanted to shout and tell him to shut up, that it wasn't fair for him to cut her down like that, and that he should prove himself with battle and not just make cruel comments to her. But that was out of line. There was one time where she could tell him something like that, but because it was in her youth, she would have sugar-coated it. But not now. Now he was distant to her and she couldn't tell him what to do or even try. She couldn't even talk to him, though she didn't search for the reason why.

When the fighting did begin, thanks to a push from Naruto, Neji made a close jab to Hinata's hurt, though he missed. Still, it made Takara gasp for her friend's safety.

With his Byakugan, Neji saw that it was Taka who gasped. His grimace hardened and he kicked it into gear.

It maddened, it enraged, it infuriated him that she had befriended the Main Branch!!

After all they had done to him-- after all they had done to him with her!!

And the worst thing-- the worst thing is she would never know!! Damn them, damn the Main Branch!

Hinata fell to the ground. The match appeared over, but she rose to her feet again when Naruto called out to her. Takara held her fist hard in anticipation.

She began to rise again, though, inflaming Neji. The Main Branch wouldn't leave him alone!!

This time, with more anger than the first time, he beat Hinata to a pulp, spewing blood everywhere.

The Jonin interrupted before he struck, restraining him from killing her. She dropped to floor, in cardiac arrest, anyway.

After commotion that only troubled Neji further, the annoying blonde-- Uzumaki, was it?-- yes, Uzumaki came and told him off, demanding a reason for his taunting.

Neji responded distantly, because the real reasons were things he wanted no one to know. He didn't even want to know them.

First, obviously he wanted an excuse to tell the Main Branch what he thought. It was demeaning to admit but his unyielding resent for the Main Branch and all those in it made him always want to spout out his feelings of repressed hatred, but he never got the chance until then.

The second reason was buried much deeper in him then the first, being that he knew, he knew, that Takara would be in favor of Hinata winning after her abandoned her without explanation. He didn't want to here her rooting for Hinata indefinitely. If Hinata gave up, like he told her to, he wouldn't have to hear Takara encouraging her.

Also, similarly, he knew it would cause Taka to fret over Hinata and he didn't want to be any worse in her eyes.

Of course the latter only made him angrier.

Even though Neji's Byakugan was deactivated, he still saw Takara looking at him in the corner of his eye. He focused his attention to the board that portrayed the matchs' names as to not see her expression.

This, for fear that he would regret his actions. Though he was already beginning to. . .

Fire melts most,

Water drowns much.

Hate guards the lock

Of the caged bird's hutch.