The Hyuga just kept the insults coming with a very poor attempt in trying to act as if he was sincere about her welfare and improvement. Nobody was fooled in the slightest and Itona clearly regretted his last statement. His intention was for someone else to have a chance at improving, not for Neji to fulfil whatever possible vendetta he could be harbouring against the Yamanaka girl.

"She obviously needs more practise and I'm more than willing to help,"

Nobody had any argument and this time there was no way to get out of it. After everything the group had been through it all failed because the class had a few spare minutes.

Oh well.

Kasumi wasn't about to let that stop her. If she couldn't avoid the fight then she was damn well going to make sure that she got a very important message across to the arrogant Hyuga. She may be weak now but she was not going to give up and she was not afraid of him. She was going to get stronger. He would win for sure but he would have to savour this victory because there wasn't going to be very many in the future. That she could guarantee.

"Let's just get this over with,"

"Are you sure?!"

While Kasumi had tried to be quiet with her comment to her friends, Daiki's outburst made that invalid. If the class wasn't looking at her before for her answer to the challenge then the loud noise would have undoubtably caught their attention. At least she was able to learn from this and grabbed Tatsuya's arm before whispering her reasoning in his ear. She trusted that he would be able to relay the message to the others. It was Daiki that she was worried about with concerns to this volatile situation. If anyone was going to act or over react it would be the hyper Inuzuka.

"If I do this now it may be counted as my match against him and the fight will only go until school finishes so it shouldn't be a long fight anyway and if there is no time afterwards then he can't gloat or taunt about his win. Alright?"

Tatsuya nodded in understanding and went to stand next to and slightly in front of their Inuzuka friend. TenTen read the situation and followed suit on Daiki's other side. While Tatsuya began talking in his usual lower tone and volume Kasumi made her way to where their sensei and her opponent were waiting.

This was it. It was going to hurt and be even more embarrassing than her fight with TenTen but there was no way out this time. All she could do was make the most of it. She was going to show not just Neji but the rest of the class. She may be a weak Yamanaka outcast but she was never going to give up and she wasn't afraid of anyone. Not anymore. She had vowed to change and, if anything, she could count this as her first step to becoming a new, stronger person.

"You ready to lose Yamanaka?"

"The real question is, are you ready to fight me?"

"Whatever,"

She couldn't beat in him hand to hand combat but she could win their mind game battle. He did start this after all. It may have only infuriated him further but for her it was worth seeing that defeated scowl on his face, especially when she was about to get her ass kicked. This time she couldn't be bothered stalling, she had a mission now.

"Are we going to start or what? You were so eager for this fight five seconds ago,"

"What's your rush?"

"I just want to get this over with,"

Before Neji could respond and the banter could continue, Itona stepped in. With a firm hand on each of their shoulders he was able to put his entire arm span distance between them. After both students were in their fighting stance and filled to the brim with determination it was time to let the fight begin.

With this last word spoken out loud by the teacher and with the rest of the class looking on the fighters advanced towards each other. Closing the short distance quickly and beginning the one-sided fight.

All Kasumi had to do was stay conscious.

She didn't care about winning but her goal was to prove herself and she could only do that by staying conscious the entire time.

"You've got this Kasumi!"

Daiki was being his usual self but even with the information from Tatsuya he still probably believed that Kasumi could win somehow. He was going to be very disappointed but maybe the same explanation out of Kasumi's own mouth might calm him down after the fight. The Inuzuka had a nasty habit of overreacting in this sort of situations.

Kasumi didn't have time to think too deeply about this because at that time she was currently trying desperately to ward off Neji's assault. His taijutsu was as good as ever and his clan's reputation was only reinforcing his strength. His fighting style was all about strength and precision.

The fight was fast and ferocious with the girl purely on the defensive. She tried desperately to restrict the blows to her forearms but more often than not they were landing on her torso and knocking the wind out of her lungs. With almost a minute into the fight gone Kasumi had still not thrown a single punch and was now only a metre or so away from the fence. Her first taste of dirt in this fight came seconds later when she backed onto a rock and the slight slip caused her arms to drop. Even though it was only a miniscule different it was enough for Neji to take the advantage and land a direct hit to her now somewhat exposed face. Her momentum from her trip on the rock didn't help her at all and she ended up hitting the ground.

Neji smirked and Kasumi smiled.

This infuriated him further and he didn't even give her enough time to get back on her feet before he was using his to deal more damage to her arms and sides. Eventually she was able to get a grip on the fence that now trapped her and by pushing off against it she was able to get enough force behind her body to smash into her opponent and knock him off balance for a change. It wasn't enough for him to fall over but just enough so that Kasumi had the opportunity to free herself from the fence and she did this by using it to jump over her opponent. With Neji still regaining his feet he was unable to grab her or hit her while she was in the air which then led to the tables turning. Neji found himself with his back to the fence facing the Yamanaka.

This time Kasumi smirked.

It wasn't enough to win but it still showed that she hadn't lost all of her skill and was capable of pulling a couple of tricks from out of her sleeves.

It didn't take long for Neji to recover from his brief moment of shock at the clever stunt the girl had just pulled and once he had regained his composure the barrage continued. They were making there way back to where the fight had started but they didn't make it all of the way before Kasumi was knocked down again. It took her a bit longer to get up this time as she didn't have the fence to lean against as well as the fact that her arms were severely bruised by this point. She had to use one arm to get to her feet again while the other one tried to fend off the unending attack. Neji wasn't about to give her time to catch her breath or get to her feet. He wasn't going to stop.

To everyone watching the fight was actually very boring. Besides from Kasumi's stunt with the fence everything had been the same. Neji used his clan's signature fighting style to attack Kasumi and she was trying desperately to defend. She was failing. Everyone knew Neji was the best and they all thought that Kasumi was a close second, even after her fight with TenTen, but this showed that the Hyuga had been holding back. He was enjoying this way too much. He kept beating her to the ground and never relented his assault. Kasumi kept getting back up. Still smiling. Even with her injuries. Even with no hope of winning. She kept going. Neji wouldn't stop attacking and Kasumi wouldn't stop getting back up. It would have been an amazing fight if it wasn't so boring. Neji attacked, Kasumi defended, Kasumi fell to the ground and then she got back up again.

The pair had almost made it from one side of the clearing to the other. Kasumi was at the point where she didn't need Neji's help to almost fall over. She was tired and hurt. It didn't matter. So long as she stayed in the fight until the end she would win in her own way.

Neji was still striking with his palms in rapid one-two succession. Purposefully aiming for her arms and then striking at her sides when she weakened. If she was going to give him an opening then he would take it. If she was too weak to hold her arms steady and protect herself then he would strike.

"Don't give up Kasumi!"
That was it. Neji had been playing nice up until then but that Inuzuka was just plain annoying. He thought him and his friends were tough but they were all just a bunch of weaklings. It irritated him to no end when people thought they were stronger than they were and didn't know their place. The Inuzuka wouldn't shut up and the Yamanaka wouldn't stay down. Worst of all they kept company with a couple of useless civilian-born shinobi wannabes who couldn't fight their way out of a wet cardboard box.

With this firmly in his mind he made a strong, decisive attack. Just as the school day came to a close Kasumi collapsed again as she received the strongest attack of the entire fight. A solid hit to her chest sent her down and she made no immediate move to get back up. No matter how hard she tried it took a few good seconds for air to start returning to her lungs. While she concentrated on this, she attempted to ignore the beating she was still receiving from the Hyuga. Shortly after she started getting to her feet again Itona stepped in to stop the fight with a quick and firm grasp of Neji's leg as he still tried to keep his opponent down.

"That's enough for today. Good job everyone. I hope you all took notes from today's lesson and we will try working on these towards the end of the week. Tomorrow will be ninjutsu training so make sure you all get some rest. Don't forget to study for the theory test at the end of the week as well. Keep training and I'll see you all tomorrow,"

After this he gave Neji his leg back and watched as his group of students steadily made their way back into the large Academy building. Daiki, Tatsuya and TenTen quickly made their way over to Kasumi because while the girl had been able to get herself back onto her feet after the last attack, she was barely keeping herself upright. Her trio of friends noticed this immediately and the boys took an arm each to help keep her standing while TenTen fussed over the few bruises that were visible, not realising that this was only a miniscule proportion of the injuries she had received in the short fight she had just participated in.

This made Itona happy. Seeing his students looking after each other. This was an extremely important trait to have in the field. Some of the best teams were those who looked after each other, had each other's backs, who could trust each other and work together as a team. Unfortunately, there was four of them so they would never all be on the same genin team but maybe when they all advanced to chunin and beyond they may find themselves fighting alongside each other. Either way, Itona knew that they spent a lot of time together outside of the Academy and would continue to do so even if they weren't on the same genin team. Oh well. There was still a couple of years before they would graduate and have to worry about what genin team they were on. For now, it was time for everyone to go home. Itona could go home and maybe relax for a little before planning the classes for the next day. All of his students could go home as well but their mission was to enjoy their childhood while they had it. They needed to do a little bit of study and training but more importantly they needed to make friends and spend time with them. It was important for them to have fun before they officially entered the dangerous world of the shinobi.

With this Itona left the group to their own devices as they assisted their Yamanaka friend in entering the building.


"I'm going to kick his ass!"
"You wouldn't be able to take me on. What makes you think you stand a chance against him?"

"Shut it TenTen!"
"Daiki. That's my ear,"
While Tatsuya and Daiki were helping Kasumi to walk, Daiki and TenTen had started up an argument. Unfortunately for Kasumi it meant that Daiki's naturally loud and boisterous voice was directed straight into her ear. She was having trouble standing as it was and if her Inuzuka friend kept this behaviour up her lack of hearing would contribute to a further lack of balance. She could understand why he was angry but right now she just wanted to sit down and rest.

Once Kasumi had called him out for his outburst, he turned to her sheepishly with his signature Inuzuka smile in place.

"Sorry Kas. How are you feeling anyway? You think you can make it home?"

"My place is closer if you want to rest there for a bit,"

"Thanks guys,"
Daiki and Tatsuya were really sweet. They really cared for her. They were worried for her and they deserved any answers they wanted. She would repeat herself a thousand times if they asked. Tell them everything and anything. They wanted to know what had happened the past couple of weeks and she wanted them to know about her new conviction and plan to break free.

"When we get back to the classroom, I might rest for a bit but then I think I should be good to make it to Daiki's, if that's okay. I want to talk to your mum but then I also promised all of you some answers as well. Hey TenTen. Have you been to Daiki's yet? His mum, Nami, is the best and she always helps us to train. She's also really nice so don't worry,"

"Okay. If you're sure but first I think you should rest for a bit. Your face looks really weird. If you're in pain you don't have to hide it,"

"Okay. Okay. Also, Kas? Seriously Daiki?"
"I was trying to lighten the mood,"
"Whatever you say,"

"It sounds a bit like cat,"

At Tatsuya's joke the two girls laughed, much to Daiki's chagrin.

"Why do you laugh at his jokes and not mine?!"

"I'm just better at it,"

"You-!"
"Daiki! My ear,"

The Inuzuka just groaned as his friends ganged up on him which caused his friends to laugh again, and this time it was finally caused by Daiki.

With laughs and smiles the four of them continued the rest of the journey to the classroom in silence. Except for Katsu. While the small ninken had been quiet up until then he was now making small whimpering noises and attempting to jump up Kasumi's leg. Said girl would have found the concern a lot cuter if she wasn't almost tripping over her favourite canine.

When they finally reached the classroom all of their classmates had already left. While TenTen went off to get the remaining bags Daiki and Tatsuya helped Kasumi onto a nearby bench. Kasumi had somewhat recovered and the mot noticeable improvement was her breathing, it was a lot steadier now then when she had finished her fight. The pain had also eased slightly, especially now that she had stopped moving and was given an opportunity to rest for a little bit. Katsu now had a chance to climb up onto Kasumi's lap and took that moment to then fall asleep. Much to the girl's jealousy.

Once all of their belongings had been collected the group then began to start the final leg of their journey. Daiki and Tatsuya once again supported Kasumi while TenTen offered, more like demanded, to carry her bag, and refused to take no for an answer.

"Ready?"

"Ready…Ow! All good. All good…Let's go,"

Even though she had tried to reassure Tatsuya, and the others, that she was fine she was unable to hide the sudden pain she received when she stood up. After a little more reassurance about her capability to walk they made their way to the Academy's exit.

"So how long is the story you have to tell us?"

"What's your point?"

Kasumi didn't quite have the strength to hide her sarcasm but figured that the conversation might take her mind off the lingering pain. Even if it was a little mean, Tatsuya would understand. If it was Daiki it may have started a fight and led to more yelling in her ear but Tatsuya was definitely the most reasonable out of all of them, herself included.

"You could always start telling the story now. You'll have to repeat it for Nami but you'll probably end up talking with her about it anyway. At the rate you're walking, you probably won't be able to talk with Nami until tomorrow anyway,"

This last sentence from Tatsuya was said in jest and this time Kasumi took it as such. The only response was a smile and a light elbow jab at his side. This jab took almost all of her energy but it got the message across.

"Fair enough, but if I stop to catch my breath it is not an invitation to start bombarding me with questions. Okay, Daiki?"

"Hey! Why only me? TenTen asks a lot of questions too,"

"Yes, but your especially loud,"

Everyone readily agreed to this last statement of Kasumi's and for once even Daiki didn't argue. Whether it was because the comment was true or because he didn't want to pick a fight with Kasumi, they couldn't really tell but at least he was being quiet for once. Thankfully TenTen kept her mouth shut on the matter as well because whenever she provoked the Inuzuka he always retaliated.

There was some light banter within the group as they finally made their way out of the academic building and towards the Inuzuka compound. Regrettably this came to a speedy conclusion when a certain classmate appeared to be waiting for them, or one of the in particular, in the shade of the tree that stood guard at the main entrance to the Academy.

"I want to talk to you Yamanaka!"

"What you're doing right now is yelling not talking and secondly I'm not in the mood to deal with you. Leave us alone. You got what you wanted,"

"I want to talk about that! Why are you so pathetically weak?! I wanted a challenge!"
By this point, the group was standing right in front of Neji and the only reason why Daiki hadn't already tried to start a fight with him was because he was still needed to help Kasumi stand. This didn't stop the Inuzuka from radiating rage and twisting his face into a vicious scowl, which wasn't terribly scary and would have been more hilarious than anything if the situation was a bit more light-hearted.

"Fine than! Shut up and listen. One. If you wanted a challenge you shouldn't have fought me straight after I came back-… from being sick… Two-"

"You liar! You were training to get stronger!"

"She obviously hasn't gotten stronger you idiot!"

"Shut up dog breath!"

"Enough!"

If Daiki couldn't physically strangle him then he would yell. It was the only thing he could od in this situation besides nothing, but right now nothing was exactly what he should have been doing. The sooner they could get away form the Hyuga the sooner Kasumi could get to the Inuzuka compound and finally get some rest.

"Two! All you wanted was a fight so that you could prove to everyone that you could win. Well congratulations. You beat me and proved to everyone that you are the best now be gracious about it and leave us alone. Three! For your information, you are the only one who cares about this. I have bigger problems to worry about besides who happens to beat me in class. Four! Leave us alone! I'm not going to give up until I become a ninja and I'm strong enough to free myself! Right now, that's what matters! Not some petty, delusional rivalry!"

Once Kasumi had finished her rant, with the volume of her voice steadily rising throughout, there was silence again outside the Academy building. Everyone was either quiet or speechless, both being incredibly rare for the present Inuzuka and Hyuga respectfully. Obviously, this wasn't a permanent state for Neji as he soon decided to fill the silent void with more of his condescension and interrogating.

"What could you possibly need to be free from?! You're a child of the head of the clan and your clan certainly isn't like mine! You also don't want to become the strongest?! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! If you aren't the strongest then you will never get this 'freedom' you want! I also refuse to ever be second place to someone as pathetic and weak as you! Someone like you should never be a shinobi and that goes for your useless side-kicks as well!"

Tatsuya had to act quickly in order to catch Kasumi before she fell as Daiki finally lost it. Before anyone could blink, he had left his position at Kasumi's side and finally grabbed the arrogant Hyuga by the collar in an attempt to intimidate him before the Inuzuka let loose his own exceptionally loud rant. Even Neji seemed shocked at the brazen actions of his fellow student and even more so by the sensitive information that left his lips without careful consideration as his anger blinded him. No one was going to disrespect his pack. Especially the alpha.

"You have no idea what she has been through! What any of us have to put up with! We are all outcasts at school but she has it worse at home! You think she was training?! And you call us idiots! She wasn't allowed to leave the house! That's why she was gone and why she got weaker! Her family treats her like dirt; like a slave! That's the type of freedom she's fighting for and all you do is fight for your stupid pride! Who's the real pathetic one now?!"

Once again nobody was able to talk but for many different reasons from shock to anger to sadness. Neji was the first to compose himself and with a half-hearted "So what?" left the group to their business. The four remaining children were unmoving and deathly silent.

TenTen clutched Kasumi's bag with a death grip as stray tears rolled down her face onto the same bag she held with her hands and stare.

Tatsuya was in a similar state. His physical anchor was the grip he had on the still unsteady Kasumi but his gaze was also down as he became fascinated with the ground. His emotions were the most well hidden of all but was still visibly shaken by this unexpected confrontation.

Daiki kept his gaze fixed on the tree which his adversary had just vacated the vicinity of with anger still written on his face but slowly fading as the seconds passed by.

This anger was replicated by the Yamanaka but instead of decreasing, her infuriation was only growing as time moved forward and she was on the brink of exploding. The others would have assumed that her shaking was the same as before, her unbalance due to fatigue, but they all discovered the error of this thought as she flung herself forward and delivered her most powerful punch of the day to the side of Daiki's face as hot, angry tears streamed down her face like an erupting volcano.