Disclaimer: I own nothing but with that said I hope you enjoy the chapter anyway!

Hey! Welcome back to yet another chapter. Sorry this has taken so long and it is on the shorter side but college has started up once again and I'm currently taking 5 classes ontop of working so I don't have nearly as much time as I would like but I hope you still enjoy this regardless. It's better than when I used to just disappear for like a month and then just reappear with an update, imo.

Anywho, please enjoy the chapter (or don't, can't please everyone) and as always I'll see you all at the bottom in the author's notes and I do ask that you read at least the bottom portion of that since it touches on the poll I'm currently running!

"Begin!"

The moment the words left Hayate's mouth both Sakura and Kin launched themselves at one another without hesitation, not needed any further prompting to begin their respective assaults. Sakura swiftly drew a kunai from her holster and rushed her opponent while Kin quickly brandished three senbon between her fingers and charged to meet her head on.

Clang!

The two clashed in the middle in a small shower of sparks as steel weaponry ground angrily between them each doing their best to shove the other back and claim dominance in this opening skirmish. To Kin's surprise, her opponent wasn't nearly as physically weak as she appeared, easily matching her shoves with equal and growing force, something she had not anticipated which swiftly left her on the defensive as her opponent utilized this error in judgment to bully her back towards the area walls.

Her weapons weren't suited for this kind of combat and for as much as she hated to admit it, she just wasn't physically capable of keeping up this endurance test forever. She needed to back away and fight her opponent on more advantageous footing.

With her new course of action in mind she waited for just the right moment to make her escape blurring into action the second Sakura overreached for a downward stab. Deciding that pressing a temporary opening was not worth possibly getting stuck in close quarters with her opponent for any longer, she settled for pushing the pinkette away with quick palm strike to the chest before hastily leaping back to create some breathing room for herself.

Sakura winced at the short blow but shook it off easily enough, it didn't hold a candle to what she was used to from her teams training sessions but a hit to chest wasn't ever going to feel great either. Narrowing her eyes at her retreating opponent she opted not immediately pursue her, despite having clearly been caught off guard by her strength the sound kunoichi didn't seem terribly distressed by it either. That hinted that she either had a solid poker face or she had a few more tricks up her sleeve.

She was willing to bet her entire career, it was the latter.

"What's wrong? I thought you were going to show me the difference between us?" She said suddenly, relaxing her stance while her demeanor shifted into an almost perfect replica of her teammate's bored expression. "I suppose that was nothing but talk then?" She scoffed seemingly left unsatisfied by the poor showing, something managed to break through Kin's air of superiority ever so slightly judging by the deep scowl marring her features.

She just needed to bait her into revealing more.

-Up in the stands-

"You've ruined my student." Naruto huffed as he watched Sakura's performance with half-hearted irritation. "Look at her, she's like a mini you just with less angst!" He cried dramatically earning a scowl from his teammate and a soft chuckle from his teacher at the comparison.

"Don't blame me because you're a crap teacher." Satsuki scoffed but did little to mask subtle smirk on her face spoke volumes about just how pleased she was about the whole situation, in particular how annoyed he was. "You can't blame her for wanting to follow in a better ninja's footsteps it's only natural." She preened, enjoying the look of indignation that flitted across his features.

"Better ninja my ass." He scowled crossing his arms almost childishly. "You won't be saying that when I win this entire thing." He said and she shot him a challenging look out of the corner of her eye.

"To win means that you would have to beat me first and that's not going to happen." She assured confidently. "You can watch me win if you'd like though, give yourself something to aspire to."

"Maa, you two settle down." Kakashi placed his hands on their shoulders to break them out of their little glaring match. "It's Sakura's time in the light right now so pay so show her your support now and fight later."

"Hn/Hai."

- In the Arena -

"Keep talking, it'll only make it more satisfying for me when I finally shut you up." Kin growled practically grinding her teeth to near dust in her anger before pulling out a new set of senbon. Unseen to Sakura or the spectators above, these senbon were a bit different than the first and she was going to show this wannabe kunoichi just how outclassed she really was!

Sakura would have rolled her eyes at the pure level of ego that practically dripped off her opponent's words but she wasn't about to underestimate her either. Despite her bored appearance, her mind was working overtime to crunch all the data she'd gathered during their brief confrontation into usable information.

Her opponent was prideful even after being caught on the backfoot… that either meant she did in fact have some level of skill she hadn't displayed or she was trying to hide her own weakness behind the bluster. Judging by the difference in physical strength between them she definitely was not a close ranger fighter and she'd taken the first opportunity she could to break away suggesting a preference for medium to long-range combat.

Her weapon of choice was senbon which was odd given her seemingly aggressive nature but which hinted that there was more to the choice than what she could see which set her on edge having seen firsthand what an opponent skilled with the unassuming weapons could do. She would need more information to get a clear picture but she knew that her best chance of winning at the moment was getting in close and beating her down.

Ding!

Abandoning her thoughts for a moment she quickly dodged to the right, the chime of what sounded like bells ringing pricked briefly in her right ear prompting her to move away from the sound anticipating some kind of attack. Her assumption was quickly proven correct but her choice of action was not nearly as accurate and she winced when two needles embedded themselves deeply into the skin of her upper arm.

She'd dodged that, hadn't she?

"Oops, it seems like you messed that up… wanna try again?" Kin sneered and without waiting for an answer began launching more and more volleys of the almost impossible to track weaponry towards her still confused opponent. Each time the sound of bells prompted her to move in a certain way and each time she was rewarded with more and more senbon entering her person.

Ding!

Sakura bounced to the left having heard the chime of the bell come from the same direction, assuming this was yet another trick but growled angrily when more senbon managed to nick and stab her. Glancing down the source of her confusion was revealed to her.

Little bells...

Small bells had been tied to some of the senbon but not all of them. She quickly deduced the chimes were meant to prey on her natural instincts allowing her opponent to push her into the path of a second hidden attack. Even figuring out the trick wasn't super helpful since she was capable of subverting her expectations and mixing the bells in with normal volleys…

But how did she plan to take her down like this? Senbon while effective at what they did weren't exactly suited to drawn-out fights. So far as she could tell none of her vitals had been hit which surprised her… unless the sound kunoichi was simply drawing this out which wouldn't shock her.

Kin meanwhile was reveling in the look of confusion and frustration on her opponent's face, this was what she wanted after all and she wasn't even done yet! She still had one last card to play before she finished out this fight.

"Your type likes to party right? Why don't I give you something to dance to then?" Kin smirked and the fingers on her left began to twitch and flex rapidly as if possessed while her right hand formed the half ram symbol summoning a small wave of chakra.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Sakura grabbed her head in pain as a new almost frantic ringing burrowed into the depths of her mind like daggers, the once soft melodious chime of silver bells had been abruptly replaced with what almost sounded like a gong being beaten between her ears. The sensory overload nearly dropped her to her knees as she struggled to remain upright while her head began to ache and her vision blurred.

Kin flexed her fingers and the air in front of her shimmered ever so slightly, those above who were unaffected by the technique were quick to notice the thin wires that stretched from her fingers towards the now stumbling pinkette. Each wire possessing a faint blue tinge that signaled a faint flow of chakra being pushed through them. Those with the ocular acuity to glimpse the scattered senbon closely noticed the bells had wires and it became apparent there was far more to the trick than they'd all first thought.

"Sakura…" Naruto frowned as he watched the pinkette struggle to ignore whatever hidden assault she was enduring down below, to them other than a repeated, soft chime there was nothing happening but his teammate looked like she was about to fall over any second.

…

"It's funny how cocky you tree huggers are honestly." Seeing her opponent almost defenseless under her sound assault had tipped the scales back in Kin's favor and she was going to savor it. "Thinking you're all so tough but look at you now?" She began walking towards her downed opponent making sure to increase the speed of her fingers movements and in turn the pain of her technique.

She was a kunoichi from the Sound Village, honestly what was she expecting?

Sakura finally fell to her knees in agony as the pounding between her ears grew nearly unbearable and Kin stopped right in front of the almost prone form of her almost defeated opponent, a sense of pride running through her as she proved the truth of her earlier words.

"It's your type I hate the most, can't even stand up on your own two feet." She scoffed, her gaze roaming along her downed enemy before a sick glint appeared in her eyes as caught a good look at Sakura's long flowing pink locks, that even despite her ordeals over the past couple of days maintained a healthy, silky smooth appearance. Idly, Kin ran a single finger ran through her own hair and a spark of irritation surged through her when she felt its rough texture, years of prioritizing her training had left little time for such luxuries as hair care… yet here she was in the same position this groaning mess before her.

She didn't deserve to have such nice hair, she hadn't earned that right.

In her anger she quickly pulled out a kunai from her holster and reached down to take those silky locks in hand, she wasn't just going to win she was going to outright humiliate her in front of everyone. Her fingers hovered mere inches away from the silky strands when suddenly Sakura lashed out and caught her wrist in an iron grip, annoyed almost furious emerald eyes looking up to meet her shocked expression.

How did you-"

"I know you weren't about to try and cut my hair." She hissed angrily cutting her off as she tightened her hold on the kunoichi's arm until the bones in her wrists felt like they were going to pop from the pressure alone.

Kin couldn't mount a response, not for lack of the right words or even because she was apologetic about her course of action… but rather because she was currently doubled over with spittle leaking from her open mouth as she found a chakra enchanted fist buried between her ribs.

"It was a neat trick but you aren't nearly as good at genjutsu as my teammate is." Sakura chided rising to her feet with a grunt of effort before suddenly slugging the still retching sound-kunoichi in the jaw knocking her flat onto the ground, stars swimming in her eyes. "I told you at the start I would prove you wrong and I meant that."

Kin tried to speak a rebuttal but her jaw felt like shattered glass and her lungs burned after having all the air she thought she owned forced violently out her lungs. She barely registered her opponent walking past her until she felt that now familiar iron grip grab her by the heel. She tried in vain to kick herself free, struggling with what little energy she could bring to bear but Sakura was having none of it and surged her remaining chakra through her like a living battery, empowering her weakened body.

"After the week I've had I will admit that I'm a bit cranky and you are just the one who has to deal with it so when you wake up, I hope you know that this isn't personal." She explained and to the shock of her classmates and the pride of her teammates she lifted the still struggling and now very frightened kunoichi off the ground like she was a child. "Well, it wasn't until you tried to chop off my hair anyway, now it's a little personal." She admitted unapologetically.

She'd had enough of the exams and people screwing with her and her team.

CHAAAAAA!

For a few precious and brief moments Kin understood what it was like to feel weightless, like a bird in flight she soared across the area barely able to register that fact that she'd been thrown away like yesterday's trash before eventually ran out of space to fly and she crashed heavily into the stone wall in front of her. The stone cracking ever so slightly at the point of impact while Kin herself fell unconscious the moment her face met the immovable surface, her limp body falling to the floor in a broken heap.

She didn't stand a chance.

"Winner, Sakura Haruno!" Hayate declared. Checking the still body of the thankfully just unconscious sound kunoichi and determining that there was no way for her to continue awarding Sakura the win. She would move onto the finals.

Sakura smiled with pride at her victory and quickly made her way back up the stairs where she found herself almost immediately being lifted off the ground by an excitable Naruto her face quickly flushing with embarrassment as all eyes turned to them at the over the top celebration.

"P-Put me down, you moron people are looking at us!" She hissed lightly slapping him across the head in an effort to make him let go but Kakashi and Satsuki could tell that the girl was secretly pleased to have her victory rewarded in such a way, even if she would never show or admit it out loud.

"Hahaha, you did great Sakura! Remind me never to touch your hair though." He teased finally setting her down much to her relief as fussed to fix her dress and calm herself down.

"You idiot… thanks." She admitted her previous glare morphing into a genuine smile as she bowed her head a bit in respect towards him. She would never have gotten as far as she had without him taking the time to get her on the right path and while Kakashi may have stepped up in recent months, Naruto had still built the foundations.

She would always be grateful for that.

"Not bad, you could have beat her up a bit more but I guess that'll do." Satsuki praised masking the depths of her respect with her usual aloofness. "I guess Naruto and I will have to look out for you in the finals then." She mentioned almost in passing but Sakura caught the meaning in her words.

Satsuki was acknowledging her as somewhat of an equal, not just a follower or a burden but at genuine competition.

"Guess I'll find out how far an Uchiha can fly sooner than I thought~" Sakura teased, lightly punching the heiress in the arm who smirked back challengingly. She was looking forward to seeing her go all out now.

"Good job Sakura, you've grown so much in such little time. You have a bright future ahead of you if you keep up this pace." Kakashi praised, happy that at least one of his students would make it to the finals on their first go, especially the one that had arguably been the weakest of the three at the start. "I'm proud of you."

Maybe he should have given this whole team thing a shot years ago.

Off to the side, the rest of the teams had their own thoughts about what they had just witnessed.

"Damn, I didn't know Sakura could do that… I wanna fight her now!" Kira grinned and stared across the way at the still chatting Team Seven, her blood pumping having witnessed one of the weakest of their graduating class having grown a fair bit stronger since the last time they'd all been gathered like this.

If Sakura was that strong then just how much more had the rest of her team gotten?

"You want to fight everyone." Hinata noted with some amusement but she did admit she was impressed by Sakura's performance as well, especially given that they didn't get to see everything the girl had to offer given the relative ease with which she won.

"Of course I do, can't get stronger without some good scraps." Kira smirked, not bothering to deny the accusation. "But there is one person, in particular, that I really want to get my hands on." She admitted turning her attention towards her primary target and at this Hinata couldn't help but roll her eyes knowing exactly who her teammate was referring to.

There was only one person Kira ever really wanted to fight with.

Shino remained quite too busy running an analysis on the fight to comment.

"It's good to see a young kunoichi taking her career seriously, I'm glad Kakashi hasn't been slacking in their training." Kurenai mused wondering just how well the pinkette would do had she been paired against one of her own students, perhaps they should have a group training session sometime in the future.

"Troublesome, Sakura's gotten pretty scary…" Shikari yawned as she slumped tiredly against the railing seemingly bored with this whole thing. "That means the rest of her team are probably monsters now." She was debating on just bowing out and saving herself the trouble of having to deal with this, especially since Ino seemed all fired up at the moment.

"Hmph, just because Forehead has turned into a gorilla doesn't make her stronger than us!" Ino scowled but inwardly she was happy for her old friend and resolved to take her out to celebrate when this was all said and done. "Shika, Choji you two better not let them show us up!"

"Right!" Choji nodded but the impact of his agreement was lessened somewhat by the fact he was currently stuffing his face with chips causing Ino to groan at the less than intimidating sight.

"Please kill me…" Shikari whined and from behind them, Asuma chuckled at his team.

He was eager to see how they would stack up, they had been training rather hard even despite all their bellyaching.

"That wasn't too bad, a little sloppy in the middle but pretty good for a rookie." Tenten mused looking towards her teammates to gauge their thoughts. "What do you think Neji?"

Her Hyuuga teammate shrugged. "Fate appeared to be on her side this day, how she won is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things." He answered callously. "However, I do not see her making it past the finals either with her current level of strength at best." He finished, crossing his arms while he returned to his spot against the wall leaving his female teammate to roll her eyes at the melodramatic answer.

"Yosh! Guy-sensei, her flames of youth burned brightly that match! I hope that I too may display such passion in my own bout!" Lee proclaimed and from beside him Guy smirked and nodded.

"Of course Lee, naturally as my rival Kakashi's team won't be pushovers so make sure you give it your all or expect at least one hundred laps around the village as punishment!" He said and Lee nodded in affirmative leaving Tenten to sigh at just how weird her team was before turning her attention back to the center of the arena where Hayate seemed prepared to call out the next combatants.

…

Hayate cleared his throat prompting a sudden hush fell over the area, who would be next?

"Would Choji Akimichi and Sabaku no Temari make their way down to the area." He called and waited for contestants to make their way down.

"Be careful Choji," Shikari warned keeping her eyes locked on the slowly descending blond making her way down the stairs, she got bad vibes from the Suna team and she didn't want her friend to get too beat up. "She seems pretty troublesome and we don't know how she fights yet so don't just go charging in."

"You can kick her ass!" Ino cheered taking a more optimistic approach, after all, they had been hard at work training for this moment and among them, Choji was the best suited to combat so he had to have this in the bag. "Show them the power of Team Ten!"

"I'll do my best." He promised and made his way down to meet his opponent taking his place across from her once he made it down.

- In the Arena -

"You two remember the rules?" Hayate asked and seeing them both nod quickly jumped back. "Then you may begin!"

…

"Choji Akimichi… I've heard of your clan, the books say you guys specialize in body modification jutsu, size-changing and such." She spared him a glance and her expression went from eager to unimpressed. "I expected a little more if I'm being honest." She sighed pulling out the metal slab on her back with ease and holding it up against her side.

"Tell me... are all the members of your clan as fat as you are?" She asked bluntly and from the stands, nearly every leaf genin felt the hearts stop as the dreaded F-word was uttered without mercy. Team Ten especially seemed on edge as Choji paused in his chip munching, a tick forming just above his brow.

"Did you just call me fat?" He asked leveling the Suna-kunoichi with a glare that did nothing but amuse her, the indignation and anger in his words serving as little more than confirmation to her suspicions.

"Do you need me to say it slower for you?" She balanced on the balls of her feet and leveled him with a bored look. "How you've made it this far is beyond me."

Choji crushed the bag of chips in his hand and chakra burst from his growling form whipping around him in a frenzy in response to his anger.

"I AM NOT FAT I'M BIG BONED!" He roared and Temari was caught off guard as the pudgy boy surged forward with surprising speed for his size, his hands held up as if he was reaching out to throttle her which likely wasn't too far fetched by this point given her commentary. Acting quickly, she leapt into the air using her fan to vault herself up and allowing her opponent to barrel harmlessly past her prior position.

However, Choji wasn't so easy to misdirect anymore.

Partial Expansion Jutsu!

Spinning on his heel Choji's arms rapidly expanded outwards growing to nearly the same size and length of his torso, human-sized palms held out flat Termari's eyes widened as she was caught unprepared for the devastating dual palm strike that crashed into her descending form, just barely bringing up the flat side of her metal fan to absorb some of the impact as she was launched across the field.

She grit her teeth as she was sent skidding back along the stone floor thankfully having managed to right herself before she hit the ground. Perhaps she'd underestimated him, her initial plan had been to throw him by attacking an insecurity in the hopes of making him sloppy and creating an easy opening for herself but she hadn't expected him to still be clear-headed enough to not just throw his weight around carelessly.

She would have to take this seriously or she might actually get flattened.

Human Boulder!

Quickly refocusing on the fight she was greeted to the sight of a large rolling ball of fury charging towards her with the full intent of crushing her. Unwilling to become a stain on the floor anytime soon she quickly popped open her fan jumping immediately the second star before with a mighty heave she swung her weapon towards the incoming human wrecking ball facing the threat rather than going for the predictable dodge.

The spectators watched with shock as a massive gust of wind crashed head-on with the seemingly unstoppable meat tank, the two opposing forces grinding each other down with a small shockwave resulting from the collision. However, this temporary reprieve gave Termari the advantage and the opening she needed to quickly turn the battle back in her favor. Maintaining her momentum, she used the force of her first swing to carry her into a second much stronger attack this time flooding her weapon with a large chunk of her reserves.

Wind Style: Gale Force!

A second, far stronger gust of wind rippled violently towards Choji's still spiraling form before smashing into him with far greater force than the first, His technique may have offered him a measure of protection from the hit but the sheer intensity of her attack sent him spinning out of control rolling right past his target and into the wall a few feet behind her.

"Ughh…Ah!" Shrinking back to his original size he quickly shook off the cobwebs just in time to avoid being smacked in the head by her refolded fan as he rolled along the floor to get away from her, the sand blond now hunting him down with extream prejudice.

"Wonderful, the fatty is apparently a ballerina." She muttered while lashing out once more to try and club the evading Akimichi into submission while the boy in question did his best to avoid prevent the steel bat being swung his way from entering his skull. His previous indignation at her jibes towards his weight forgotten for the moment with more pressing concerns.

It would have been a rather comical sight if not for the vicious nature of her swings.

Seeing that she was getting nowhere trying to club the still fleeing Akimichi Temari swiftly shifted her efforts to something she knew would prove far more effective, opening her fan quickly after missing an overhead swing Choji was left no time to react as sudden concentrated gust of wind plowed into him and unlike before he did not have the benefit of the extra layers of fat to shield him.

"Gahhh!"

"Choji!" The shouts of Team Ten were drowned out the sound of the portly Akimichi slamming into the floor. However, Temari appeared far from finished.

Gripping her fan tightly in her hands she spun rapidly in place creating a localized vortex around her, the surrounding air churning violently as loose dust and debris were dragged into the forming whirlwind that picked up strength with each complete rotation.

Still dazed from her first attack Choji was in no state to even prepare himself as he was sucked into the violent gale forces and thrown around like a paper bag in a storm, his weight doing little to stop his growing momentum nor the sick feeling creeping into his stomach. The spectators could only watch as the boy became a blur reaching peak speeds before his opponent decided to finish things.

Allowing her momentum to carry her, she angled her fan up and with a shout sent the collected wind storm straight up launching her opponent up towards the ceiling, his limp body going into free fall before with a grunt she swung her fan downwards guiding the wind tunnel, and by extension the Akimichi boy, back down towards the earth.

Dust exploded from the impact but cleared within moments revealing a completely unconscious Choji.

"Winner, Sabaku no Temari!" Hayate called the match and without delay, a team of medic-nin quickly made their way over to the boy placing him on a stretcher and carting him out of the arena while Temari made her way back over to her team. She, of course, caught the angry looks the boy's teammates were sending her way but she paid them no mind. She had been far more merciful than she had to be, there were worse fates than just being thrown around by a bit of wind. Had he been faced with her sister…

She fought off a shudder at the idea and offered a small prayer in advance for whoever had the misfortune of that match up.

…

"Jeez…" Asuma rubbed his neck in disappointment as he watched his student get carted off. He was perfectly content with his student's performance but it stung at his pride to see one of his own lose even with the additional training they'd undergone. That Sabaku girl was no joke to be able to hold Choji off with wind manipulation alone even if Choji was limited by the arena.

"Damn it!" Ino growled in a mixture of irritation and worry, her blue orb narrowing on the team from sand and in partially her fellow blond that had just made it up on her list. She was going down!

"This is too troublesome…" Shikari sighed but it was clear that she wasn't pleased with the results either by the slight frown marring her features. She'd been able to tell that Choji wasn't seriously injured but she still didn't enjoy seeing him thrown around like some kind of children's' toy.

…

Hayate appeared center stage once again prompting another round of silence to fall over the competitors as they all awaited the next match.

"Would Kira Inuzuka and Zaku Abumi make their way down to the arena!" He called and immediately all eyes fell onto the two contestants in question.

"Oi Akamaru looks like we're up!" Kira grinned and launched herself off the platform with a cheeky grin not needing any encouragement or reassurances from her team to practically throw herself down into the area. "Not who we wanted though… but I guess it's beats sitting around doing nothing." She shrugged.

"Arf!"

"Right! We'll kick his ass later!" She nodded stepping up to the center where her opponent was waiting having similarly launched himself down from the balcony mirroring her own flashy entrance. He had apparently also overheard her comments and appeared none too pleased with being considered some kind of warm-up.

"I can hear you ya know!" Zaku growled glaring at the Inuzuka heiress with annoyance at being brushed off so casually.

"Okay, and?" Kira sent him a blank look in return, not really seeing why she should care about offending him. "You aren't getting past us anyway so it's not like it matters." She said rolling her neck while Akamaru shifted from his spot between her chest to the top of her head in preparation.

"You little bitch..." Zaki hissed. "We'll see how long you can keep up that fucking attitude of yours while I'm kicking your ass!"

"Mhm, sure you will." She yawned dismissing him with a bored wave of her hand not at all intimidated by his shouting or aggression. "You sound like your other teammate, ya know? The same one lost in like five minutes by getting hurled into a wall."

"Why you!…"

"Alright, that's enough talking." Hayate cut in, honestly, this generation talked far too much for his liking. What happened to just attacking your enemies' sight? "On my mark… begin!" He shouted signaling the start of the third match.

Zaku in his anger wasted no time in bringing up both his palms revealing two distinct openings in the center of his palms, they looked artificial almost as if someone had inserted tubes through his hands and into his arms.

"Eat this!" He shouted and with a single surge of chakra two highly pressurized blasts of wind shot forth like a shotgun blast ripping through anything in their path towards a surprised Kira who was not expecting such an unorthodox or immediate attack from her opponent.

However, just because she wasn't expecting it, didn't mean she couldn't react to it.

Grinning, Kira surged into motion just before the pressurized winds could slam into her, dodging out the way and allowing the shot to pass harmlessly by. The only thing the surprise attack had managed to do was blow her hood off revealing her shaggy hair and growling partner who were now prepared to retaliate.

Landing off to the side in a low crouch, she quickly fell into her stance for the Inzuka clan's "Four Legs Technique" faint wisps of chakra seeping from her skin as the technique took hold. Already strong eyesight grew clearer, dull nails sharpened into fierce claws, and senses heightened to their maximum as she suddenly shot forward in a brown and black blur crossing the distance between her and her prey in seconds leaving him no time to react.

Having not expected her to dodge Zaku wasn't prepared for the feral girl's response and his sloppy defense proved it to everyone.

Hit and run was the name of Kira's game and she used it with terrifying effectiveness. She was among the fastest in her class and she had only gotten faster with further training from her mother and sister. The "Four Legs Technique" only built upon her greatest strengths granting her even greater speed and accuracy in movement while her natural strength allowed her to score devastating blows.

With practiced ease she blitzed around her opponent wildly with no real pattern or rhythm just striking when an opening presented itself. With each run jagged claw-shaped gashes were carved into his clothing as she stripped him of any protection exposing weak easily punctured flesh for her to strike at. Of course, he tried to defend himself from the rapid flurry of blows firing multiple blasts of compressed air whenever she drew near but her speed far outmatched his attack's ability to close distance and soon enough she had drawn first blood.

Then second, then third… until Zaku was covered in cuts that were just deep enough to debilitate, his movements growing sluggish and pained as he tried to ignore the stinging sensation wreaking havoc on his body.

Sliding to a stop, Kira allowed him a moment's reprieve. Not out of kindness but just to see if he would at least pull out something that might impress her before she went for his throat, metaphorically speaking.

"Wow, you really didn't put up much of a fight did ya?" She taunted standing back up to her full height allowing her eyes to roam over her handiwork with approval. "Akamaru didn't even have to join in." She mused reaching up to scratch the pup behind the ears the pup panting happily at the sudden attention.

"Shut up!" Zaku roared and pulling all the remaining chakra he could spare. He launched his strongest attack, one that would put this fucking mutt in her place!

Extreme Decapitating Airwaves!

A towering wall of wind and sound rushed forward as Zaku pushed himself to his breaking point, the arena itself actually physically rumbling as the mixture of pressurized wind and high-frequency sound raced towards the stunned Inuzuka, the area of effect attack smashing into her position and everything around her like a tidal wave causing a massive explosion of dust and debris that blocked all view of the feral heiress.

…

"Haa...haa...hahaha...eat shit tree-hugger!" Zaku shouted triumphantly fighting past his exhaustion to grab his deserved glory by the horns, nothing could have escaped that! "I told you! I said I would kick your as-"

Zaku's celebration as cut off prematurely as a drill-like whirlwind shot suddenly through the dust carving a deep furrow through the ground as it rocketed forwards towards an immobilized Zaku, his eyes growing wide as he tried desperately to move out of the way but the recoil of his attack had drained his reserves and weakened his body far too much. He could only watch as the imposing tornado carved its way towards him.

He was a sitting duck.

Just before the drill could rip the sound-genin to shreds Kira slowed her rotation, allowing herself to keep just enough momentum to deliver a devastating right hook to her gassed out opponent. The crunch of bone-cracking against her knuckles telling her all she needed to know as he was sent flying back in a heap, his eyes rolling into his head as the culmination of blood loss, chakra exhaustion, and now physical trauma caught up with him.

"Winner, Kira Inuzuka!" Hayate announced holding an arm up towards the smirking yet slightly wobbly heiress. "There will be a ten-minute intermission while we repair the damage to the arena so you all may take this time to prepare yourselves." He proclaimed before stepping off the field while a team of chunin set to work using earth ninjutsu to fix the now worn battlefield.

- In the Stands -

"You did very well Kira, but we still have to work on that ego of yours." Kurenai praised but as their instructor, it was also her job to point out mistakes. "You could have lost that match if you hadn't pulled out that final attack in time, don't give your opponents the opportunity to counter-attack if you don't have to." She lectured still proud of her student but cognizant of her flaws.

"I know I know, I'm sorry sensei…" Kira bowed her head in remorse knowing that she had gotten a tad overconfident but smiled when she felt her sensei rub her hair affectionately regardless, a playful sigh escaping her lips as she tousled the shaggy mess.

"You are such a troublemaker, your mother will be proud of you I'm sure." She joked and Kira grinned happily knowing that was probably true, she and her mother were a lot alike in that regard.

"You still fight like an animal, but at least you won so I suppose I can't criticize you too much. Good job." Hinata teased, lightly embracing her teammate/rival who happily returned the gesture with a boisterous laugh.

"You're just jealous I'm so good!" She barked and the Hyuuga heiress scoffed mockingly.

"As if, you have all the grace of a bull in a china shop." She dismissed and the two glared playfully at one another before erupting in a new round of laughter. Everything they said was in good fun and despite appearances, the pair had grown far closer in the past few months both as rivals and as friends.

That didn't mean they weren't still going to pick on one another from time to time.

"Congratulations Kira-san." Shino nodded his head towards his rowdy teammate in approval. "You finished your opponent quickly and without showing off too much, well done."

Kira gave the Aburame a deadpan stare at his heartfelt but monotone praise. "Shino, stop being so formal damn it and just join the hug like a normal person." She ordered pulling the boy against his will into the now three way embrace much to the surrounding team's amusement as he struggled to remove himself from the situation.

The Aburame clan was not into hugs.

…

"Hn, so Choji's out which is not surprising and the mutt is slightly more capable than I gave her credit for… interesting." Satsuki mused keeping track of her potential opponents. "Still, there are only a few real threats here." Her gaze drifted around the room lingering every so often on those she considered to be a challenge.

The team from Suna was without question a threat and that weirdo from earlier seemed rather relaxed which hinted that nothing they'd seen so far had them on edge.

"Everyone seems to have grown a lot stronger though, I don't think we can really say for sure who will move on and who won't." Sakura added throwing her two cents in. "There are still plenty of matches to go and a lot for us to see, it wouldn't do to get overconfident." She advised not wanting to see either of her teammates lose because they didn't approach their own fights with caution.

"She has a point." Naruto nodded rubbing his chin in thought while he replayed the two matches in his mind. "Despite his loss, Choji actually was fighting way better than he did a few months ago and Kira's speed has increased greatly as well. I don't think it's a stretch to assume all of our class have learned some new tricks." He acknowledged.

"Nothing we can't handle though." She grunted.

"Not even with a handicap…" He countered reminding her that she would be going into her fight at a disadvantage. "Remember, you don't have the luxury of going all out like you normally do." He pointed out and she scowled at the unwanted reminder of her current condition, her hand unconsciously moving to the rough patch of skin around her neck.

"I'll be fine, just worry about your own match and leave me to worry about mine." She huffed prompting the rest of her team to sigh in exasperation at the raven-haired girl's stubbornness but they supposed that was just what was to be expected at this point.

It could be worse.

…

"This bores me."

Temari flinched at the dull tone of her younger sister's voice, her words grating like the roughest sandpaper upon her ears but that was out of fear more than anything else. It was not often Risa spoke but when she did it was only ever to express dissatisfaction or to etch her final words into her victim's frantic minds.

Often the two scenarios occurred in short succession leading to a general discomfort at the sound of her voice.

"There is no blood, no one has proven anything of value… pathetic." Teal eyes turned their gaze to those that had won, watching them celebrate with barely restrained contempt that was only hidden by a mask of indifference. "Even you…"

Temari stiffened as cold eyes bored into her soul, watching her like a vulture eyeing a freshly abandoned carcass.

"There will be a time for that later." She spoke quietly keeping her features schooled to avoid drawing attention even as her instincts screamed at her to flee from the predator lying in wait at her side. "It is as father said when the moment is right…"

"The dying leaves will float along rivers of blood…" Risa inhaled deeply, ringed eyes shutting for a few brief moments before a soft exhale passed her lips. "The virtue of patience is not one I care for but I will have to find other ways to sate my desires in the meantime."

The smiling face of a certain whiskered blond appeared in her mind's eye and her lips twitched ever so slightly upwards as she shaped that cheerful visage into one of horror and palpable agony, a stark but maddened laughter piercing the silence of her thoughts while shivers of growing blood lust ran down her spine. She could hardly contain herself if only there was something to make the waiting more bearable...

"Thank you for your patience, would Sabaku no Risa and Rock Lee make their way down to the arena to begin the fourth match!"

Ask and you shall receive it seems.

AN. Chapter Complete

Again, sorry that this is a short chapter even given the length of time since the last update but since school has started up again I don't have a lot of free time and trying to balance writing with my other hobbies as well as work makes it very difficult to make extra long chapters. Anyway, let's get into the notes for this chapter!

So obviously I've changed all of the matches barring the last one in this chapter which will kick us off for the next chapter and I've also changed the winners meaning the finals are inherently going to play out differently. So far we have Sakura, Temari, and Kira all confirmed as finalists and the rest will be revealed as we go along.

Sakura won due to greater physical strength, being more familiar with genjutsu thanks to Satsuki and Kin's overconfidence allowing her to pull out an easy win without revealing anything we haven't seen.

Choji lost primarily because in my mind his fighting style is just not suited for confined spaces and while I know the arena is quite large when fighting someone like Temari who skill set works a bit better in that setting I just saw her winning. Also, she is more aggressive than Choji in attacking which doesn't help his case since he's a very passive fighter early on.

Kira won despite having a weakness to sound through her training, I thought it odd that a clan with heightened senses would have no way to counter attacks/effects that would attack such a glaring weakness. The smaller blasts were not enough to derail her and using her clan technique she managed to deafen the sound enough to plow through it without too many side effects other than being a bit unsteady at the end.

I was originally going to do a lot more canon fights but I decided to change them for story reasons or personal reasons, an example being not having Sakura fight Ino since the dynamic between the two is different and it doesn't really hold the same symbolic meanings that it has in the show.

I did my best with the fights given that I do not like nor am I good at writing fight scenes but I think they came out decently, I did look around for examples to draw from and I was a bit surprised to see how many writers just kind of opt-out of depicting any of the fights excluding Naruto's or Gaara's. So while it may not be the best I hope at least some of you appreciate the attempt but if not I can't blame you.

Anyway since this chapter was pretty self-explanatory the last and most important topic I'll touch on today is the Poll for Tayuya vs. Samui:

To start off, I am not revealing the results right now BUT I will reveal them when the next chapter goes up as that will mark the end of the voting period! Whoever is in the lead when the chapter goes up is the winner even if it's just by one vote. I was originally not going to mention this but I thought people might see it as unfair if I never mention when the voting is going to end and as such last minute voters might feel excluded.

I will say this now for all the people who have/will ask this. No, I will not add both even if they are tied or very close, I've explained multiple times why I won't do this but I still get this question. If when I post they are tied I will simply push the results back until the following chapter.

No hints will be given as to who is winning and no amount of lists or reasoning as to why one character is better or worse than another will change anything, the numbers will decide. That isn't to say I don't like seeing/reading opinions but other than announcing the winner I don't really have any say in what happens.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed even if the chapter is shorter than what I like to do for this fic, all my stories are going to be receiving shorter chapters for the time being but I still aim to meet my 7K word minimum for this one.

Take care and I'll see you all next time! Now excuse me while I pass out to prepare for another shift as always feel free to PM your thoughts if you want a response to a certain question or concern!