AN: I actually really wanted to give Tao a bigger role in the tournament, but outside of the anime (which just extends it bizarrely for no reason) there's not much room for it. He'll just have to go on the shelf with the other characters I'll work in at some other time.

Sakura with Yamcha or Goku is pretty cute, to be fair.

And you know, shadow clones actually equally distribute chakra between them, so it could still work!

Now. After all the pleasantness, let's get to the bluntness.

Here's the thing. I don't want to outright ignore any review. However, I don't want to repeat myself over and over and bore the majority of my readers with repetitive author notes. If someone makes a review about something addressed in a chapter after when their review is marked, I'll assume my later note answers them. For people who repeatedly voice the same questions or complaints: the answer isn't going to change because you ask again.

I've tried to be blunt before about this. I will try again. It isn't relevant what the intricacies of ki and chakra are in canon lore. This is my story. Chakra and ki in this story are the same because I say so. If you don't think that's sufficient, either live with it, or stop reading, because it will never. change.

This story is not a vs story. It isn't relevant who is stronger or who is weaker, it's about them working together and interacting. This ain't a stat sheet, this ain't a power level contest. It's a story.

Finally: do not make reviews just to attack other reviewers. Addressing other reviews/reviewers in your review is fine. I will not stand for people spamming up my review section with attacking people for saying nice things, or getting into power level debates. There are appropriate places to do that, and my review section is not one.

Now look at how much space you made me waste.

The Next Dimension Over

Chapter Seventy-eight

She couldn't remember what she'd been thinking about. Whatever her goal was, whatever plans she'd been forming in her head, she actually couldn't remember them at all.

Before the brutality of the previous match, she knew she'd been thinking of what to do with the rest of the tournament. Winning wasn't something she had any interest in even before then. It didn't mean anything to her, and as 'Ino' it wouldn't do anything for her, either. She couldn't remember what she'd planned to do about that, anymore, or if she'd come up with an answer at all.

She'd certainly thought about a potential rematch with Krillin, thought it did necessitate a disappointment for Goku that he wouldn't get to have one. She hadn't come in to be defeated that easily, after all.

In his fight, Krillin did well. His technique had improved, and his strategy had, too. He'd conquered his nerves and fought with all his might instead of panicking. He really did improve over the past three years. Maybe she'd looked forward to seeing what he could do against her.

"It's a shame to have such a small arena to fight within." The man across from her gave a stiff bow, and settled into a stance that could have been either offensive or defensive. It certainly wasn't a bad position to stand in. It didn't really matter. "My regular fare is...far less restrictive than this, and I've found it to be much more fun to have more room to move around with."

"Yeah...sorry, but I'm not interested in fun right now. You're just in my way."

"Your disrespect..." He scowled across the ring at her, politeness melting away as the announcer warmed up the start of their match. "I've put up with enough of it since we've met. I'll put you back in the place you belong!"

"Begin!"

He shot from the ground. The tile cracked under his feet where he'd stood.

Given how he'd moved up until then, the speed was...actually surprising. Unprepared for the sudden assault, she only barely managed to dodge to the left of the man's incoming knee. The pink overcoat he wore fluttered in the air behind him. As bright as it was, it was almost certainly meant to be a distraction, moving so quickly through his opponent's vision that it almost demanded their attention and gaze, rather than allow it to be on him.

The back of his arm collided with her wrist, and the thunderous impact echoed off of the walls separating the participants from the observers.

Quick.

He was very quick.

She snatched his arm as he pulled away. In a quick movement, she flipped him off of his feet, and flung him toward the edge of the ring.

Fingers collided with tile, leaving indentations in stone, and narrowly stopped himself from leaving the ring. The momentum he had left flipped him upright again, standing this time at the edge of the arena. Making a wrong move while attacking him at such a tempting position would undoubtedly end up with her on the grass instead.

As a shinobi, she had plenty of tricks. Flying was not among them.

"So the tales of your strength were true." He rubbed at his forearm with his free hand, walking leisurely away from the cracked and damaged tiles. "Even if you don't have any respect, this might still be amusing."

She moved first this time.

Air whipped by her face, stirring the strands of fake blonde hair she'd given herself as her disguise. Before she quite reached him, he back flipped away, bouncing off of the wall that served as the ring's only safe barrier and lancing forward, fingers outstretched threateningly.

She dropped to her knee and kicked him squarely in the stomach.

He slammed back into the wall. Without bouncing this time.

"You should listen to the advice of your friend. Quit. And get out of my way."

If she thought about it long, it was ridiculous to try to hold up her act. Pretending to be a stranger wasn't even her first priority now, and yet...if she revealed her full strength and brushed her opponent aside in her rush to get to Tien, she wouldn't be able to convincingly hold back once she fought Goku.

Somehow, through all of the righteous anger she felt about Krillin, she hadn't entirely given up on why she was here in the first place. After three years, maybe she felt a little possessive. She wanted Goku to have the chance to show off his skills. She wanted Goku to fight and to get as far as he could in the tournament. The one who hurt Krillin wouldn't take that away. He'd already done enough.

The man stumbled to his feet once more. "I wonder...did you improve over the years since the last tournament? You gave up so easily before."

Before she could make any kind of response, he sprang toward her again, a blur of speed and color.

She snatched the arm that chopped down at her and spun her arm, flipping him through the air to the ground. Before he landed, though, he curled into a ball and twisted himself around. His feet landed firmly on tile, rather than his back, and a moment later she found herself propelled through the air.

Really, it was her own fault not being prepared and anchoring herself on the ground.

"If you intend to forfeit again, you may as well do it now."

Her shoulder contacted with the ring, but it did little to slow the momentum built from both his attack and the flip he turned against her. If he were a bit stronger, or the angle slightly less fortunate, she might have ended up flung right out of the ring. As it was...her hand slapped down on the tile as she moved. Her chakra spiked and stone chipped and cracked as the force of her movement pulled at the platform beneath her.

"As I intend to win, you can even be assured that I will seek out your revenge." He stood at a safe distance still, clearly tensed, ready to attack if she provided any opening.

And he lied. She already knew those two were associates. Even if he intended to win, he had no interest in revenge, even as a token effort.

And she really didn't care. She told him he was in her way. She was here for Goku. For Krillin and for Yamcha, and for all of their ridiculous, stupid hang ups over a tournament that didn't even manage to accurately hold the most powerful and dangerous people inside it. It wasn't important. It was almost useless. There wasn't any point.

And his friend almost killed Krillin for it.

She was thoroughly sick of this tournament.

She shoved herself to her feet. He responded immediately, leaping forward and sinking his fist into her stomach. An instant later he followed through with a fierce headbutt, fracturing her nose, sending a flood of blood down her mouth and chin.

She slammed an open palm into the side of his head.

He crashed down as she had, sliding across the tile at high speed, much too quick for him to stop before he'd topple over it. Fingers outstretched, he stabbed his hand into the tile, crushing stone and digging a trench in rock and tile as he slowed his progress to a stop, much as she had.

"I don't need your help."

His grin turned feral. "Now...saying something like that is poor foresight."

He jumped into the air, managing impressive height from simply standing in place. It was his own mistake, though. She had a rather mean uppercut, and he seemed intent to move himself directly into her path. At least it would end the battle completely.

She turned her gaze up at him, squaring her stance in preparation. His leg and fist extended, ready to drop a piercing kick on her (that would never get the chance to land).

A moment before he would have contacted, before she would have struck, one of his arms flicked toward her, closed fist opening all at once. Rock dust and pebbles gathered from his slide shot toward her in a stinging cloud of bluish-white.

"Ugh-!"

For a moment, irritation and pain replaced her sight, blurring her vision into darkness and blue.

His attack landed solidly into her chest, sending painful creaking through all of her bones, and knocking her careening backward. On memory and sense of touch, she dropped to her knee, chakra gripping through her feet and one hand to stop her movement.

Behind her, her furthest foot hung just barely over the edge.

Blinking a few times would probably clear her vision perfectly well, it was only dust after all. Even if it managed to do any damage to her eyes due to poor luck, she'd be able to heal them almost immediately.

Rather than wait for that, she charged up a surge of chakra in her right fist, and shot it upward.

Her bare fist contacted with his slippered foot with so much force that the announcer somewhere off to the side gave a yelp as the gust of displaced air crashed against his form and startled him. Of course her opponent wouldn't do the obvious and easy thing: attacking her on the ground when she was momentarily blinded, when she'd be weakened and distracted if she tried to clear her vision, when she was right on the edge of the ring.

He was smart and cocky and proud.

His weight and momentum wasn't nearly enough of a match for an angry, chakra-charged fist. She felt the wave of impact wash over her. The bones of his feet in direct contact with her fist shattered. The force of his leg destabilized against her arm.

Her vision restored itself just in time to watch the man slam through the spectators wall into the crowd.

The damage done to her arm by his attack re-knit itself as she stood, and she scrubbed at her eyes with the back of her other hand. Really. As he was the associate of the other one. The one who'd pointlessly brutalized an opponent of his because the battle had yet to 'finish', she probably should have expected dirty tactics from him.

If she hadn't made a lucky guess about how he'd take advantage of the situation...things could have ended much worse. There wouldn't be much more she could have done than fight Tien outside of a tournament match. And then any hope of ever getting Goku that rematch (or Krillin, or Yamcha, she supposed) would have vanished entirely. At best.

"-dramatic victory, Ino Yamanaka advances to the semi-finals!"

The crowd cheered around her. Goku's excitement looked subdued and entirely distracted, as his gaze kept flickering from the ring off into the distance where Krillin had gone. Even though she was fairly certain he was the next one to fight, his concern for Krillin still almost completely overruled that. With her shadow clone and the condition he was in when he left, Krillin was probably fine by now. She still couldn't really say anythng. Not as she was now.

It didn't really matter, though. By the time Goku got to fighting Yamcha or her, Krillin would be back in the audience healthy and refreshed. And Tien...his matter would already be dealt with.