Tenten grinned at her opponent, a genuine smile that was part kinship and part intimidation, while she examined the pink-haired girl across from her, idly twirling a kunai between her fingers. Sakura had been gone for the entire month before the finals, and while it let Tenten prepare without worrying about being watched by her opponent, it also meant Tenten had no idea what had happened with the pink-haired girl.

She noticed that Sakura had trimmed her hair and started washing it again, turning the previously unkempt mess into a long and voluminous curtain of pink that fell halfway to her waist. She had a new pair of leather gloves, of a significantly better make than her old ones, with a metal plate on the back and a thick leather pad on the palm. Her cut-down dress had also been repaired, the terrible stitching job having been pulled and redone. Tenten almost felt like laughing at Sakura's return to primping, but the sleeves of the dress were nonexistent, and Tenten could see Sakura's arms.

Before she left, Sakura had some strength to her, something everyone knew from watching her match. Now, however, she looked the part. Tenten was trained by Maito Guy, and was a partner to Rock Lee, the two biggest meatheads in Konohagakure. They might be tiring, but they were the kings of physical training, and she had learned a lot while watch the two of them run amok.

Sakura's muscles were well-defined and well toned. She probably weighed the same as she had when she left, but that weight had been turned from a thin layer of flesh into solid muscle through intense strength training.

Tenten was not deeply familiar with the cat Sakura kept, the one that helped her win against Shino… Kerri? Kieri? Whatever its name, the cat was certainly a cat now, and certainly not a kitten. It was sitting next to Sakura, calmly grooming itself as if it was sitting in a windowsill instead of a battlefield. Its nonchalance was slightly disturbing, as was the fact that even though it was sitting on the ground at Sakura's feet, its head was level with the middle of Sakura's thigh. That.. is a big damned housecat.

Sakura smiled at the examination and stretched her arms slightly, using that action as an excuse to have a look at Tenten in return. The brown-haired girl had changed very little in a month, which was hardly surprising, considering her specialty did not reward physical strength all that much, but her clothing had one change that caught Sakura's eye, a vest that was covered in small tubes.

She liked to use storage seals, Sakura thought cheerfully to herself. I get the very real feeling that she is going to try and drown me in a river of steel. Sakura smiled and walked over to Tenten, fluffing her hair as she did so, then stopped and held out her hand. "Win or lose," she said, "let's show them how much ass we can kick. One of us should be promoted, at least." At their feet, Kieri meowed and rubbed her head against Tenten's leg briefly.

Tenten looked at Sakura's hand suspiciously, but saw nothing to be concerned about, and after a moment, she nodded and shook hands with Sakura. "Agreed. Don't hold back, because I sure won't." They shared a knowing grin, two fiery warriors prepared for a glorious challenge, then Sakura walked back over to her side of the roof and crossed her arms with a smirk.

"Ready?" called the proctor, holding back a cough.

Both girls nodded and tensed.

"Begin!"

All three were in motion before the first syllable had left Hayate's mouth. Sakura immediately dropped a smoke bomb, concealing herself and her companion. Tenten threw her first kunai with unerring accuracy at where Sakura had stood, and Tenten knew without a doubt that her first shot would miss. He second and third throws were already in flight along the direction she expected Sakura to dodge in, while the fourth and fifth were direct at the cat.

Which meant they all missed completely, because Sakura did not jump away from the initial attack, nor did the cat attack. Sakura lunged forward from the smoke, ducking slightly to avoid the first kunai while she charged directly at Tenten. Sakura gave a vicious smirk when she saw Tenten's eyes widen in shock, then Tenten was cartwheeling away from Sakura's attack. Sakura turned to follow, but she saw Tenten come off from a handstand and noticed the slip of paper she had slapped onto the wooden structure. And she already landed on her hands once earlier…

The explosion enveloped half of the roof.

Tenten, blinded by the light, never noticed Kieri leaving.

"Ku ku ku, what a talented girl," said Orochimaru from his place beside the other Kage.

Rasa sniffed. "Hardly a talent to blow apart a roof with your opponent."

"Who said I was talking about the girl with the explosions, Kazekage?" Orochimaru chuckled as he leaned forward, watching the arena below with a frightful intensity.

Tenten approached the cloud of smoke cautiously, a shortsword in hand. She knew Sakura had spotted the second tag, so she was fairly certain she didn't kill her pink colleague, but there should be at least some damage. Sakura was clearly a front-line fighter… which is why Tenten carried a sword. Nothing would make the girl happier than to draw Sakura into a melee match, now that she had a few of her own surprises prepared.

Eventually, the smoke cleared slightly, revealing the giant hole in the roof. And in the center of that hole, standing on the remains of a support wall from the next floor down, Sakura stood, arms crossed, with a huge grin on her face. Tenten immediately spun into a defensive whirl, spinning away and lashing out behind her instinctively, only to hit nothing. When she ended her defensive kata, she scanned the roof carefully, looking for the trap. She was looking so hard that she almost lost the match immediately.

Tenten had only the smallest of warnings, a whisper of air flowing differently behind her, the sort of not-quite-noise that you cannot hear, but can still sense. She ducked and rolled to one side as Sakura passed overhead, her fist passing through where Tenten's head had been. Tenten rose smoothly at the end of her roll and pulled out a kunai, then stopped. Sakura was now standing in the middle of the remaining roof, her arms crossed again and a grin on her face.

Tenten's paranoia rose to new levels. She had reviewed her previous fight from the preliminaries extensively, and realized that Shino had lost the moment he played along with Sakura's game plan. Sakura had to know Tenten was an expert ranged weapons specialist, so she tried to close the distance to get an up-close fight. But why wasn't Sakura trying to use the building below for cover? Why fight in the open?

Tenten cautiously began to approach Sakura, who stepped back at the same pace, yielding ground to the weapons master…

"Kakashi," Mioki said, leaning slightly towards where the white-haired jonin was sitting… and coincidentally leaning into Guy, who was blushing furiously. Kakashi was feeling deeply enthused about the upcoming day. He had three students in the finals who all seemed prepared, a group of fellow jonin that he considered friends, a young civilian woman who somehow had the power to make Maito "Jumpsuits are Cool" Guy blush like a schoolgirl, and enough film in the camera in his pocket to ensure he had some great blackmail material for later. It was going to be a good day.

"Yes, Mioki?" he replied cheerfully, looking over from where he was sitting while valiantly trying and failing to defend his wheat flakes from Anko. When Kurenai had first introduced the civilian to their little group, the woman had been sure to use every appropriate honorific and remained distant, as was proper for a low-clearance civilian amongst legendary shinobi. And then, after the now-infamous Mission to Get a Date, she had simply started calling them by their first names. After that fiasco, nobody felt capable of being offended, and the woman had simply become another part of the group.

"Five hundred ryo into the pot on your pinkette," Mioki said confidently.

Kakashi nodded and pulled out a small notebook. After the clean sweep he had made in the preliminaries, nobody wanted to bet against him, but that was no fun. So instead, they were all betting into a pot, with the person with the most correct bets winning the lot. Kakashi was not participating, but he was keeping the book, and was enjoying seeing the friendly competition from the outside.

Meanwhile, Guy was looking slightly aghast at Mioki, who shrugged and gave him a beaming smile and a pat on the knee. "How could you?" he asked, manful tears gathering in the corner of his eyes. "My student burns with the fires of youth, and has shown no weakness! She even trained hard to prepare for Haruno-san's melee prowess. How can you bet against her?"

Mioki shook her her head. "Guy, I can never really know what it is to fight as a shinobi… but I watch people for a living. Tenten is paranoid, reacting with instinct instead of really thinking it through. Because of that, she's missing something important."

Guy and Kakashi watched the arena. Tenten was now in the center of the remaining roof, while Sakura was near the edge, casually tapping her foot against the wood to adjust her sandals. She started to step to the side, circling Tenten, who was having trouble keeping an eye on Sakura and watching her surroundings for the inevitable trap. After she had circled until her back was to the next building edge, she paused and tapped her other foot against the wood, as if trying to dislodge a rock.

Kakashi's one visible eye narrowed. He turned to see Mioki smirking at the still-confused Guy and decided to throw his old friend a bone. "What is the cat doing if it is not helping her fight?" he asked Guy quietly.

And when Guy understood, the look on his face made for a great photo.

Tenten watched Sakura carefully tap her foot against the roof and then start to circle. She wanted to attack, but she couldn't figure out what Sakura was up to. Her opponent was simply circling slowly, almost daring Tenten to return to her ranged attacks, and if someone encouraged you to use your primary skill, then they were prepared for it.

On the other hand, charging in to engage in melee would be a bad idea. It was not her specialty, and she doubted she would have the capability to take Sakura at her own game. She was ready, her sword was made for this very fight, but she needed to have an excuse to be backing away when she used it, and charging into the fight and then retreating would be a rather large hint.

So she waited, and watched carefully. The cat was still out there somewhere, and was probably prepared to pounce the moment Tenten gave her the chance. Tenten was confident she could hold the cat off without a huge problem, but it would distract her from what Sakura would be doing.

Sakura stopped, ninety degrees from where she had been relative to Tenten previously, and tapped her other shoe on the wood. Then Sakura grinned, a big, smug, shit-eating grin before she made a hand sign and released a cloud of smoke. Tenten threw several kunai into the smoke in a wide spread, but Sakura did not charge out. Tenten prepared some more kunai and waited for the smoke to clear. When it did, there was Kieri, with a smug look on her face, her tail twitching back and forth. The cat reached out with her claws and scratched the wooden roof once.

Then Sakura's arms smashed through the roof at Tenten's feet, grabbing the girl's ankles and pulling her down into the building with a roar. Kieri, purring contentedly, trotted over to the hole in the roof and settled down to wait, dropping the vial in her mouth to the roof as she did so.

Tenten found herself standing in a small pool of light from the hole above her, surrounded by darkness. What little she could see of her surroundings indicated she was in a large central room, with several doorways leading off into even more darkness. At first, she wondered why there was no lighting, until her eyes spotted a pile of glittering glass near the one doorway, and the empty light socket above it. Shit.

She crouched, ready to jump out… then paused. The hole was unguarded. There was nothing keeping her from simply jumping out and ignoring the obvious trap of the dark hallways, which was suddenly a terrifying idea. Because who the hell sets up a trap that can be ignored?

The moment that thought crossed her mind, the cat's face appeared in the hole above her, framed by the light. It let out a delicate and friendly meow before pulling back. A moment later, a small glass vial dropped into the hole. Tenten snatched it before it could break and do whatever horrible thing it might do, only to discover the vial was empty.

The label on the vial was for a powerful paralytic poison. Tenten could clearly see the marks on the glass where the cat had clawed at it. On the inside of the glass. The cat gave out another friendly meow, and Tenten shivered.

Option one, out the hole. Directly into an ambush set by a fast and furious cat with poisoned claws that can drop me to the ground in one hit. Nope.

Option two, blow this entire level. But in doing so, I use all of my notes, and depending on the structure, I may end up taking myself out and becoming the biggest laughingstock in the kunoichi world. Even more nope.

Option three… try to fight Sakura in the darkness. Nope squared.

Option four, carry a flare, losing one of my fighting hands in exchange for light. Slightly less nope. I think we have a winner.

Tenten whirled at the sound of movement behind her, a handful of kunai sailing into the darkness. "Not quite," said Sakura, again from behind her. Tenten threw another set. When she heard movement behind her a third time, she started to rotate slowly, arm ready to throw, but she saw nothing in her limited field of vision. Still rotating, she reached into her vest and pulled an emergency flare, popping the cap off and igniting it. The light was no brighter than what she was getting from the hole, illuminating a meager ten-foot radius, but it was better than nothing.

Tenten took her first step into the darkness.

I swear, Sakura's going to run T&I some day.

Tenten was sweating profusely, her body aching from the tension as she carefully peeked into another room. She had been moving from room to room for five minutes, following hallways, ducking into doorways. At one point, she had found a small closet and ducked into it, pressing her back against the far wall and giving herself a moment to relax.

Then she heard movement behind the wall and remembered Shino's match. That was not relaxing in any way, and she had left the room feeling even more jittery and paranoid. With each careful step, she paused to take a breath and listen. After each breath, she exhaled, and told herself to relax. At first, it was mental, but she found herself whispering it with each exhale as time passed.

Occasionally, she would find a room with a window to the outside. Each time she did, she could hear the sound of the cat just outside the window, a friendly meow to remind her that the window was not the soft option. The idea of tangling with a cat capable of paralyzing her without knowing where Sakura was did not sound appealing.

And damn, but Sakura was good at this. Tenten heard only the occasional scuff on the floor, or the feeling of air currents shifting, to aid her on her hunt. Several times, they had happened behind her field of vision, and she had whirled, only to find nothing. At one point, she raised her arm to throw her flare, then stopped when she had the chilling realization that throwing it would leave her with her back to the dark.

Tenten was beginning to wonder if Sakura's plan was to let the flare die out before attacking. If it came to that, Tenten intended to risk the window.

Another scuff sounded ahead through a doorway into a long hallway that Tenten was fairly sure she had passed through already. She stepped forward, pressing her back against the doorframe, then peeked around the corner into the darkness. When nothing happened, she checked behind herself, because she had seen enough horror films to know better, before slipping into the hallway.

No sooner did she pass through the doorway, when she saw a tiny flash of… green, somewhere near the floor. After a moment, she saw it again, a sudden spot of iridescence. She took another step forward, raising the flair high, and saw two of the green orbs appear.

"Meww!"

Tenten relaxed slightly. It was a shock to see an animal's eyes suddenly appear like that, but from the size and location, Tenten was sure it was nothing bigger than a kitten, and poison or not, she knew she'd win that fight.

"Meww!"

She smirked and took a step forward.

A second pair of eyes appeared next to the first.

Tenten's steps faltered.

A third appeared.

Tenten frowned.

A fourth appeared, and startled Tenten, because the eyes appeared on the ceiling ahead.

And it was around the eleventh pair of eyes that Tenten finally stepped back.

She felt the air moving behind her, and she spun, kunai flashing, to find nothing there. She continued her spin, arm raised to defend against the kittens, only to find that the eyes were all gone.

Then she heard it. A deep, unpleasant growl.

From above.

That was when Sakura dropped on her from the ceiling with a howl.

The moment the smoke bomb went off, Sakura and Kieri performed a pair of henge, turning into a copy of each other. While Kieri posed as Sakura, the real one quietly dropped over the edge and slid into a window hole.

She nipped her thumb, made several signs, and quietly slapped her hand on the ground. With a puff of smoke, the Horde appeared.

When she had met them, she had not understood why a group of twelve black kittens would call themselves "the Horde." Then Onna had allowed Sakura to view one of their training sessions, and Sakura never once questioned the name again.

"Scatter," she said quietly. "Break every light bulb. Stalk her when she arrives, but stay out of any light she uses. Lead her about a bit, get her good and worked up, then lead her to me and give her the 'cute and harmless' treatment."

All twelve of the kittens saluted, then vanished into the dark.

Sakura closed her eyes and concentrated, reaching out with her chakra, sending it out in countless short strings to brush against her surroundings. Cats used their whiskers to find their way in the dark, and after Onna put her in Schrodinger's Box the first time, she had taught Sakura the Night Whisker jutsu to do the same. It had been slightly difficult to learn how to shape her chakra into a thin strand, never mind several, but nothing encouraged quick study like nearly-lethal projectiles launched at you in absolute darkness.

She made her way near the center of the area that still had a ceiling and waited quietly for a signal.

Then she heard it. The sound of Kieri tapping one foot on the ground three times, a signal they had planned in the past. Sakura listened carefully, trying to determine the location, and waited. When Kieri tapped her foot a second time, Sakura noted that location as well.

Three taps was the code for triangulation, and with two locations at a reasonably guessed distance and angle and a little bit of thought, Sakura could find roughly where Tenten had been standing. Then, when she heard Tenten's foot scrape the ceiling a foot to her left, Sakura stepped directly under her and smashed the way through to her opponent.

She didn't fight then and there. She might win, true, but she was in no rush. Onna had drilled into her head that fast and dead is not a victory, so when time is available, take exactly what you need to do your duty correctly. Her tales of her past included stories about sudden sprints on moonless nights, intermixed with tales of working under the full moon, spending an hour moving fifty feet one agonizingly slow inch at a time.

Shinobi were paranoid by nature, creatures that lived and died by their reflexes. And when you start reacting, you stop thinking.

The Horde played their part perfectly, giving Tenten the occasional sound to follow and keeping her occupied while Sakura ghosted behind her opponent, looking for a good ambush location. Eventually she found one, a long hallway big enough for the Horde to gather, with a ceiling high enough for Sakura to cling to it and go unseen from the doorway below.

And while Sakura would never admit it to the girl, the look of horror on Tenten's face when she let out her growl had been priceless. The absolute mauling she had given was just a nice bonus.

The crowd applauded when Sakura stepped out of the building with a rueful Tenten bound in rope over her shoulder and an honor guard of twelve cute and yet disturbingly orderly black kittens surrounding her. Sakura set Tenten down gently, and while she was close, whispered in her ear, "The poison vial was empty to begin with."

Sakura straightened, and to the sound of applause and Tenten's angry shout, took a bow.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had lived a long time, and was very hard to surprise. While the match had been quite interesting and more than a little delightful, it was not what he would consider surprising.

Surprise is the moment when what you thought was impossible becomes true.

The first surprise was when Orochimaru had laughed and applauded. Not the slow, sarcastic clap he usually used. Not the slightly creepy laugh that sounds like someone reading a book on how to laugh. Orochimaru clapped and laughed loudly when Haruno had dropped onto her opponent. He looked and sounded like a normal person enjoying a delightful show.

The second surprise was when a masked ANBU came out to set up for the next match, regrowing the wooden structure while a few technicians ran wires and replaced light bulbs. Sarutobi happened to glance at Orochimaru when the ANBU did his jutsu, and for a brief moment, Orochimaru, the man who willingly slaughtered people of his own village for power, looked… sad.

Hiruzen was at a loss. Orochimaru could look cold and distant. He had condescension down flat. He even managed to appear furious on a couple occasions. But something about the vague frown was disturbing for Hiruzen. And… were his eyes starting to shine with tears?

Then the Snake Sannin gave the old man a rakish grin and a wink.

A/N: This fight changed four times in the writing, and each time the tactics changed completely. The only thing that is as it was originally intended was Sakura using the darkness to her advantage. Tough write. Further, apologies for the relatively short chapter. I deleted quite a lot of padding because it was essentially the written equivalent of bad anime filler, barely interesting enough to tolerate and a detriment to the overall quality of the show.

Thanks to Pom Rania, who beta'd this chapter while Heavens Beta had a birthday celebration. Happy b-day, HB!

SevenD7, as well as a few others, commented a dislike for the "Orochimaru is still evil, wink wink," scene last chapter. I point out that I never said he was evil, just that he had a plan going despite appearing to be less manipulative here, and snakes are no more inherently evil than sharks or wolves, no matter what imagery humans assign to them.

AntiCreator asked when they decided to leave Tazuna in Konohagakure back in Chapter 13. To clarify: Tazuna left with Team 7. After the Demon Brothers attack, Kakashi decided it would make more sense to have the group pose as Tazuna and send him back when the brothers were picked up by ANBU, after getting all the relevant details that they needed.

depressedchildren pointed out a specific rule involving quotation marks in multi-paragraph speech. I appreciate the info, and will start adding it, but that's at a level where I don't think I will return to fix it until and unless I finish this entire thing and decided to give it an ultimate makeover.

A Guest pointed out that in canon, the "Kage" title was only held by the 5 great villages, and Orochimaru calling himself Otokage would raise a few hackles. Good. Meanwhile, the wiki does not explain how they get the Kage title, only that they have it. I am assuming it comes down to canon Ninja politics, you keep what you can hold. I am also assuming it, like all political systems, can change if faced with enough pressure from within or without. In canon, Oto does not make an issue of it, because he had no interest in political power. Here… we'll see.

Another Guest (and plenty of others) objected to Naruto acting stupid (the "I have the byakugan" moment was quoted.) You must not be watching/reading the same thing I am, because pre-shippuden Naruto was a damn fool who knew nothing about the world he lived in and would have died in the first act if it was not for the MacGuffin in his tummy, and continued to live off that MacGuffin all the way to the time skip. I am writing early Naruto, the kind of person who announces themselves when they arrive at a fight against someone fully capable of killing him, were it not for the MacGuffin he knew nothing about. I suspect early canon Naruto would blink stupidly at the camera the moment you used the word "Genetics" in the explanation on why he can't have the Byakugan, which is why I didn't bring it up during that very discussion. I stand by my depiction.

And finally, my slowly-becoming-a-tradition "Flame of the Chapter" post. Those of you who have seen a previous season of this particular show can give it a pass if you like, it's not exactly new content (although it may amuse you, if you enjoy moments of Lewis Black style "Angry Humor.") Another Guest commented on my rant last chapter on flaming reviewers who don't write. They then proceeded to write a condescending, arrogant, and dare I say, angry rant about how they are not a writer but can still give a meaningful review, which is rather my point. I specifically mentioned that those who give "snarly, angry reviews," tend not to write. I did not say, "Those who don't write always give snarly, angry reviews." This is grade school logic here. "All Corgis are Dogs" is not the same statement as "All Dogs are Corgis." Please, read carefully before calling something "bullshit." You may also want to reduce the condescension a little when you do so, just in case you end up looking worse than you should. Of course, why do that, when you can post a Guest review so nobody ever need know you're the one who failed a DC 5 Wisdom check?

It's also worth pointing out that, as my beta's have seen, I do not post my "knee jerk reactions" to being "butthurt." I do type them out, and oh boy, are they rude as hell, because (for fun, let's keep this one in for an example) nothing angers me like an absolute pussy hiding behind the Guest tag to post their damn fool opinion. All the more so when they try to bury that shit under a pile of psuedo-intellectual garbage harder than a cat trying to bury a turd on a marble floor. And even better, when they contradict their own damned point while doing so. I then (barring this example) delete the knee jerk rant, because it is generally angry, shitheaded garbage no better than what the damn fool reviewer posted. I then wait a few days and re-read the post that made me angry to see if the presented argument has merit (I waited a week on this one). On occasion, it does, and I try to fix the story accordingly. And when the review has a flaw in their statement big enough to pilot the Millennium Falcon through it, I carefully write out a post that indicates those flaws, like I just finished doing.

For my normal readers, bonus fake internet points if you got the Venture Brothers reference in the above paragraph. No points for the Star Wars one, though, that's too easy. And in case you are curious, the reason I even bother to reply to this is because it amuses me greatly to take someone's verbal bat away and smack them over the face with it.

Finally, because I am currently getting a giggle out of being painfully blunt, hey, angry reviewers, learn to format. I don't expect perfection when you hammer your forehead into the keyboard to leave your opinion, lord knows I have enough little errors in my own work, but basic capitalization, punctuation, and spacing will make you at least look like a more intelligent sort of social parasite. After all, if you're going to be a tick, may as well be a tick in a tux and a top hat to tip as you trip through your terrible review, twat.

I wonder how many readers just went cross-eyed at that last sentence.