Author's Note: Hope you all enjoy the newest episode of A Complicated Situation! I've finally reached 100 reviews! Thank you guys SO much for reading and giving me feedback! Read, review, and as always...enjoy! XD

Um, this chapter seemed to have a few parts that turned out more graphic than intended. Thus, I am raising the rating of this fiction to M...JUST IN CASE! Another note: the ages of the rookie ten genin are DIFFERENT from the anime/manga. Instead of being only 12/13, they are now 15/16. The older genin (Gai's team) are 16/17. And Temari is nearly 18. Just so you're all aware...it's why some of them act more mature than they normally do.

If you're new to the story, catch up on the other chapters and please leave a review to tell me what you think. I love hearing what you all have to say. Any comments, questions, or suggestions are welcome!

Same disclaimer and summary as other chapters!


Episode 48: Unbreakable Bonds


Sutefanii knelt unmoving on the ground, holding her arm in pain, her hair covering her face. Cherushii stood nearby, circling her slowly to see if she would rise. Kankuro smirked and crossed his arms. Temari leaned against the wall, relieved that Cherushii wasn't letting her emotions get in the way. Gaara was completely unreadable, but continued to watch Cherushii intently. The pale brunette performed a few quick hand signs and murmured, "Dark imagination no jutsu," while watching her cousin carefully.

The surrounding room blurred into a whirl of color and Sutefanii was completely alone. Where am I? What happened? she wondered. Her arm began to throb with pain and she glanced down at her still-bleeding cut. Pulling her arm away, the crimson fluid that once trickled out now poured, much more forcefully than one could ever imagine. Sutefanii was suddenly wracked with intense pain and she writhed on the ground as the blood began to cover the floor.

What?! She suddenly couldn't get back up; her limbs were frozen solid. The blood continued to rush out in rivers and began to rise, coating her hands and other limbs nearest to the ground. No…I can't die like this. Not by drowning and not with so much blood….she panicked. Sutefanii's breathing became very unsteady. My greatest fears…coming to life? Wait a second…I'm trapped in a genjutsu!

Shikamaru was busy staring at Sutefanii, who was still kneeling, immobile. He closed his eyes for a moment and furrowed his brow in thought. Opening his eyes, he grinned and leaned over to Choji. If she can break free of the genjutsu fast enough..."This one is over too." Choji swallowed his mouthful of chips and tried to speak when Naruto jumped in.

"How do you know it's over? It can't be over, Sutefanii's better than this! She can't lose!" he exclaimed angrily.

Shikamaru laughed slightly. "Who said she was going to lose, idiot? Just keep watching…" Sakura gave him an unbelieving look as she and Naruto clutched at the railing.

Sutefanii moaned and shook her head roughly, trying to expel the deadly sensation. She took a deep breath and stopped all her energy flow for a moment before exploding through the genjutsu's barriers with a huge burst of chakra. She nearly fell over from an overdose of energy and she slowly brought her hand down from her arm and started to raise the other hand. Cherushii smirked. At least she's smart enough to surrender before she gets seriously hurt. Its bad enough I had to torture into submission with my genjutsu. But suddenly Sutefanii clasped her hands together in a hand sign.

"Akaruigan," she said loudly, blinking rapidly. She lifted her head and her white, then icy green eyes met Cherushii's surprised blue ones. Sutefanii smiled and rose to her feet, a predatory gleam in her transformed gaze. Cherushii took a slight step back and narrowed her own eyes.

Sakura turned to Shikamaru. "How could you know? You've never seen her fight before!" The dark-haired boy shrugged and looked back down at the match.

Cherushii scowled. "I should have known…it's the whole reason you had to leave. Of course they would have taught you to harness your precious power."

Sutefanii was still smiling, but now she circled her cousin slowly. "Did you really think I'd give up that easily? I thought you knew me…"

"I did. Once upon a time. But now…we're from two different worlds," Cherushii replied, a hidden sad tone in her voice. She pivoted on the spot to keep her eyes on her moving opponent.

"That doesn't matter…after all, we'll always be best friends first and cousins second," As soon as she finished the word 'second', Sutefanii lashed out at her cousin with shuriken. Cherushii used a kunai to block them, but Sutefanii was already forming more hand signs to attack.

"Shadow clone jutsu," she said softly, as two clones appeared beside her. The pair quickly leapt at Cherushii, keeping her busy as Sutefanii tried to plan out her next move.

A sudden puff of smoke broke Sutefanii's thoughtful trance. She blinked and saw Cherushii emerge – the clones were gone. Damn that was quick…the brunette thought as her cousin came after her. Sutefanii managed to kick the kunai out of Cherushii's hand, but was knocked onto her back again in the process.

She stood and shook her head slightly. That last fall may have cost me a few brain cells, Sutefanii thought. Time to end this. Focusing on Cherushii's penetrating gaze, Sutefanii used the Akaruigan to momentarily blind her cousin.

Cherushii blinked and Sutefanii disappeared completely. To the spectators, Sutefanii was still visible but slightly hazy since they hadn't been on the receiving end of the full effects. The darker brunette spun around and searched for her Konoha cousin.

Sutefanii managed to catapult herself off one of the side walls into the air above Cherushii. As she fell, she focused most of her chakra into her feet and hands. A spinning kick while in the air coupled with a jab to the neck's pressure point completed the attack. Cherushii grabbed a kunai from her weapons pouch and slashed at her cousin, but it was too late. Her eyelids drooped and her muscles were paralyzed. She started to fall over, but Sutefanii caught her before she hit the ground. The light brunette laid her unconscious cousin gently on the floor before turning to the proctor expectantly.

"Since Piito Cherushii is unable to continue the match, the winner is Sutefanii Jeraado," Hayate said before another coughing fit.

"Yeah! Alright Sutefu-chan!" Naruto cheered loudly as Sakura clapped. Kiba, Hinata, Choji, and Shikamaru smiled. Ino sniffed and crossed her arms. Lee gave Sutefanii a thumbs up sign. Neji smirked. Guess there's more to the Jeraado prodigy than I thought…he admitted internally. Kankuro and Temari both leapt down to retrieve their teammate. Sutefanii tried to help, but they waved her away impatiently.

"It should only take a few more minutes for her to wake up…I didn't hit her at quite the right spot to put her in a coma, thank goodness," Sutefanii told them. Kankuro nodded and scooped Cherushii up into his arms to carry her up the stairs. Temari walked close by, to prevent him from accidentally dropping her.

She lost?! How on earth could she lose? Cherushii always been able to handle everything that's been thrown at her…she even used her special genjutsu technique, Kankuro thought as he looked down at the unconscious girl in his arms. She's always been too hard on herself, even when she's done something amazing, and after this…she won't be too happy. I'd better make sure she doesn't do anything too drastic…he frowned worriedly.

Temari also cast a concerned gaze at Cherushii. I thought something like this would happen. Either she let her guard down – not very likely, but possible – or she purposely let her cousin win. The blonde kunoichi narrowed her eyes. She did always talk to me about her cousin…maybe she thought blood relatives are more important then us?...Then again, if Cherushii actually lost, it shows that we should watch out for that Sutefanii – she could be a problem…

Cherushii moaned slightly and shifted in Kankuro's arms. He stopped walking as she opened her eyes. "Is it over?" she asked, panicked. He nodded. "Dammit!" she swore several more times before realizing the position she was in. "Um…Kankuro? Can you put me down now?"

"Oh! Right, sure," he said blushing. He set her on her feet and stepped away, rubbing his head in embarrassment. Cherushii smirked a little, but then the smile faded. Shit! How did I lose? How COULD I lose?! Gaara and Kankuro must think I'm a total weak and worthless piece of crap. I'll never be able to face them again. Temari must think I'm a total pushover too. Damn! I can't believe it…I lost in front of EVERYONE.

Gaara gazed down at her. Hmph…Cherushii lost? Either she's weaker than I thought, or we all underestimated the Leaf Village's Jeraado girl. But both ways…it's not good for us. Cherushii was supposed to make it to the final rounds – thought it's too late now. All this will do is make her more emotionally unstable – seeing her cousin again certainly didn't help, and now this? He sighed and crossed his arms. Wait, what's this? His green eyes narrowed into slits as he watched a Konoha genin approach Cherushii.

"I am Rock Lee of the Village Hidden in the Leaves," the bushy-browed boy interrupted Cherushii's internal abuse of herself. "I just wanted to say that was a great match. You really have talent. Maybe while you're still in my village we could train together?" He grinned and gave her a thumbs up sign.

Her eyes widened and she smiled back reluctantly. "Thanks. And yeah, I'd love to train with you sometime…" she replied easily. Kankuro and Temari were listening into the conversation.

Temari took one look at Lee and burst out laughing. Please, like that freak would even know how to train…Still chuckling, she started to make her way up the stairs.

Lee blushed and continued to speak with Cherushii. Kankuro scowled. Upstairs, Gaara watched the verbal exchange. Although he couldn't hear any of it, he didn't particularly like how friendly the green jump suited boy was getting with his teammate. When Cherushii giggled at something Lee said, that sealed the deal. Gaara's shadowed eyes burned holes through the black-haired boy's skull.

Kankuro also seethed with jealousy. Cutting into the conversation smoothly with a dangerous edge to his voice, he said, "Come on, Cheru-chan. We've got to get back upstairs so they can start the next match." Cherushii managed a quick goodbye to Lee before being yanked away by Kankuro. He linked arms with her possessively and glared at Lee over his shoulder.

While all of this was occurring, Sutefanii had made it back upstairs to her teammates. After accepting congratulatory comments and high-fives from the other Leaf Village genin, she practically was jumped by Naruto.

"Believe it, you made it!" he shouted, hugging her tightly. "Way to go!" Sakura giggled as Sutefanii returned the embrace affectionately and then untangled herself from his arms, her face a little flushed.

"Yeah, well you better be next Naru-kun! Kick some ass!" Sutefanii exclaimed, bumping him with her shoulder.

"Nice call," Shikamaru said to her. She shot him a questioning look. He lazily pointed towards the screen.

Uzumaki Naruto vs. Inuzuka Kiba

"Whoa. Good luck Naruto!" Sutefanii cheered him on with Sakura. The brunette gave Kiba a little wave and mouthed 'good luck' before turning back to her excited blonde best friend. Yeah, great timing! Now I can pay back Kiba for going out with Sutefanii and acting like a smug jerk about it! I can't lose! Naruto thought.


Hey guys, keep a sharp lookout for a new fanfiction I'll be starting soon, most likely named "Dream Girl". Neji x Tenten fans should be pleased...

REVIEW PLEASE! Try not to flame unless it's truly constructive criticism. I'm sorry if some characters don't seem like themselves, but hey it's my story/life! Hope you liked this next chapter, please check back for updates often!

Any comments from new (AND OLD) readers would be appreciated!

Keep up the comments, I LOVE hearing what you all have to say!