After contending with two other groups the Leaf shinobi finished the mock escort mission in near record time. Despite how awkward and argumentative the team was at first, their chunin escort was surprised by their unquestionable trust in each other. It seemed Kagome was the brains behind the group, Koga was the muscle, and Hakudoshi, well that boy had a hidden talent at exploiting an enemy's weakness.

The proctors looked at them sideways with a masked skepticism but congratulated them none the less.

"The next three teams should be here within few hours, we'll reveal the brackets for the final stage of the exam once everyone finishes." The proctor gave a nod, his beige face covering swaying and revealing his gruff, tanned skin before receding into the building with the Ichiro trailing behind.

So, the trio waited, two patiently and one ready to burst. The calmer two, Hakudoshi and Kagome, were laying lacksidaisily in the sand and soaking up the last licks of sun. The scorching heat receded as nightfall came. It had taken them a mere 8 hours and 3 minutes to arrive, which was close behind the record, held strong by Suna's own genin team from almost a century ago.

"Alright we have an odd number of participants so one member from the first-place team will bypass the first round. Ichirou, your recommendation please."

"Ah," the sandy haired chunin thought for a moment, index finger pressed against his chin, "Hakudoshi-kun."

"Why, you brat!" "Oi, great work!" Kagome and Koga both yelled. The wolf kicking the pale boy's stomach while Kagome slapped his shoulder. Hakudoshi hummed in annoyance, just when wasn't he getting abused by his teammates?

The jonin proctor clicked a button and the screen began filing through the participant's names, selecting two at random. The blinking red colors listed out the matches.

Higurashi Kagome vs. Higurashi Miroku

Yoro Koga vs. Taisho Inuyasha

Taijiya Sango vs. Kawasa Karobi

Shirgana Nejiri vs. Akimoto Hojo

Yamaguchi Kozama vs. Yazumi Byakuya

Bye Onigumo Hakudoshi

Kagome released a bated breath as she read through the entirety of the list.

Miroku.

Her cousin.

Miroku would be a hard opponent but at least she knew his skillset like the back of her hand.

The prospective chunins had one month to scope out the competition, prepare new jutsu, and heighten their skills before an all-out battle for promotions took place.

"Oi, let's go! We gotta start training." The wolf yelled at his two teammates, who simply rolled their eyes and followed along.

"Miroku-nii, when we battle, it won't be as Higurashis but as Konohagakure shinobi." Kagome leveled before flickering away with her team. An excited smirk slipped into the older boy's features. Despite his orders to protect the future head of his clan, his blood boiled with a chance to do battle with her.

"It certainly will." He whispered, with a glint in his violet eyes.

That evening, only an hour after eating, Koga was dragging his teammates and sensei along to the training grounds the non-Suna shinobi had been permitted to use.

"Koga, slow down. We literally have a whole month to train." The older Higurashi whined as she wiped a mixture of sweat and fine sand from her temples.

ONE MONTH

"Welcome to the Chunin Selection Exams, thank you all for your attendance..."

Kagome and Miroku both flickered into the arena for the first battle of the day. They glared fiercely at one another, inching closer as each second passed.

"Begin." The proctor leapt out of the way, with barely enough clearance to dodge their opening attacks. Kagome's tanto clinked against Miroku's staff. The entire audience was silent as they stared each other down with weapons crossed. Tensions grew as each second passed.

It was a stalemate.

Kagome smoothed her tanto down the staff's length and flipped backward, landing soundlessly with a cloud of dust scattering around her feet.

Both mirrored each other at the same pace, hands signs flying together before releasing a katon. The pinkish flame was overcoming Miroku's vermillion red before he readied another jutsu to suck in the flames.

"Wind tunnel jutsu." And just like that, the flames from both users were swept into the void.

"You can't beat me without it." Miroku taunted once the smoke vanished.

"So be it. Godaigon." Kagome channeled her chakra to her eyes before a pink hue took over one. Miroku raised a brow at that but continued his assault on the heiress. Despite the month of rigorous training, both were evenly matched. Each new jutsu or skill they learned cancelled out the other as their fight proceded. Kagome had smirked behind a wall made of clay as she figured out her end goal. Force out Miroku's kekkei genkai. It was a gamble, trying to force out something before the user was ready, but physically the other Higurashi was prepared but mentally, she thought something was hindering the Godaigon's awakening. She had a feeling it was her very presence in his life.

"Miroku, you can't beat me without it." The younger Higurashi mirrored his earlier sentence before preparing her assault.

The small girl flickered close, using chakra enhanced fist to disarm him. She readied herself to exchange hand to hand blows, which took the older boy by surprise. She been barely chunin level in taijutsu as it stood. He raised a brow, wondering why the sudden change in tactics, especially when he was much stronger than her with hand-to-hand combat. With each contact she forced her pure miko energy into the boy's body. By using only taijutsu she would conserve chakra if he was unable to manifest their clan's bloodline ability. Sure, her ki would be drained to zero but the energy undulating through Miroku would either force out his godaigon or over wire the balance of energy in his system. Kagome deduced he was the perfect opponent. No other in the tournament would be so susceptible to her holy energy.

As they continued their waltz, well her getting pummeled and Miroku's dance, she saw it. The dim glow of pinkish violet rising in his irises. It was soft and gentle, blooming almost imperceptibly, only jonin and ANBU would notice the shift. With her own eyes, she witnessed his body attempting to release the excess energy, forcing it into his eyes.

Miroku let out a smirk as he realized his dormant powers were finally surfacing, having no idea what his clan member was doing.

"Godaigon." He whispered, testing the name on his tongue. Both his own energy and Kagome's flooded out and his vision heightened if only for a moment before he passed out. The sandy floor caught his body and dust settled into his dark robes.

"Heh, you can't release it all at once baka."

"Just what was that?"

"They were just using taijutsu, why did he collapse all of the sudden?" The audience was speculating about the match, but without knowledge or a doujutsu, the onlookers would never know what happened. Afterall, waking a dormant kekkei gen kai was the quickest way to lose consciousness.

"The match goes to Higurashi. Next up is Yoro and Inutaisho."

With that Kagome brushed off the persistent sand and flickered back to the participant's seating area. Her dark eyes watched as the medics hauled Miroku onto a stretcher. He would make a quick recovery once his holy energy restored itself. She too, would have to make a speedy recovery, with only five matches, they would get through all of them in one day.

"Unorthodox." Bankotsu muttered as she slumped against the wall. Koga gave her a tight hug in congratulations before he strutted into the arena for his turn.

It seems both contestants were equally matched in the confidence department. A tick formed on Kagome and Hakudoshi's foreheads as the two bantered back and forth like an old married couple. Despite just meeting they taunted each other even after the proctor gave them the go ahead to fight.

"Enough talking baka! I didn't train you to mouth off!" Bankotsu stood up as he admonished his genin from the balcony. The wolf gave a sheepish look, embarrassed to be lectured in front of an entire arena of onlookers, the kages and daimyos included. He hardened his features as he raced around the dog. Each combatant was matching the other hit for hit but they grew tired as the match wore one.

The two exchanged a knowing glance as their breathing turned ragged.

We'll end this in one hit.

The immense pressure from the fight was released as both males collapsed, finally at the end of the line, pushed past their physical limitations, their bodies aching and impossible to move regardless of how much will power they had left over.

"This match...ends in a tie." The proctor yelled after waiting a few minutes for either contestant to rise.

A/N: Sorry I've been MIA for so long on this story. I love writing still, but am severely out of practice so pardon the mistakes, plot holes and everything else. I don't have anything else for this fic pre written so update times may take awhile, if anyone is actually following this still... Anyways, thanks for reading!