Tenten ducked down, missing the punch aiming for her face by an inch. She lowered her stance and centered her weight.

Punch…

Breathe

Duck…

Breathe

A hand reached out and slammed into Tenten's chest, knocking the air out of her body. She wheezed and rolled onto her side, ignoring the burning pain in her body.

Dosu grinned wiping the blood off his face. Tenten had managed to land a solid punch to the face, giving him a lovely purple bruise.

He grinned and walked over to her prone form, giving it a solid kick to the ribs.

Tenten swore she saw stars as her chest felt like it would burst into flames. She heard a sickening crack when the leg hit her and deduced that he had broken one of her ribs.

"GET UP TENTEN! MOVE YOUR ASS!" Ino shrieked.

Tenten grimaced, before pulling her body up, coughing blood onto the floor. She slowly stood, and got into a fighting stance before launching a hard kick to Dosu's head.

He reeled back with a crack and slumped to the floor in pain. Dosu clutched his nose, which was turning purple and dripping blood. "Stupid bitch!" He hissed at Tenten. Then he launched at her and they exchanged hard blows.

Up on the stands Hinata watched the match with worry. She could see Tenten slowing down, while her opponent was hitting harder with anger.

"S-Sakura-c-chan, w-why is Tenten getting s-slower." Her long buried habit of stuttering rising to the surface with her worry.

Sakura glanced at both her and Ino, worry evident on in her emerald green eyes.

"Tenten has a broken rib, and is slowing down because her stamina, she's had the air knocked out of her lungs. In order for her to win this match, she has to land a quick blow to the back of the neck, and knock him out before she runs out of energy or the pain gets to her. Her adrenaline is blocking out most of the exhaustion and pain."

Ino and Hinata glanced at Tenten with worry, seeing her getting a harsh punch to her gut. Sakura glanced anxiously at the clock, it had been going on for six minutes, and so far, none of them looked like they were willing to stop.

"CHAAAA! YOU GOT IT TENTEN!" She shrieked, thrusting her hand up in the air.

Tenten glanced back at her friend, muscles burning in pain as she straitened out. Gathering the last of her energy, she gave one final burst of speed, ducking under Dosu and gave him a hook to the chin so hard that he staggered back and slumped back unconscious.

Tenten grinned in exhilaration before the rest of her injuries caught up to her and she slumped to her knees energy spent.

Sakura cheered before jumping into the ring. Ino clambering down helped haul Tenten up and take her to the infirmary.

The next match was announced soon after. "Sakura Haruno VS Kimmimaro Kaguya"

Ino, rejoining the match, gave a shrill wolf whistle while Hinata cheered.

Sakura gave them both a wink before jumping into the ring to face her opponent. He had the distinct characteristics of someone, but she couldn't remember who…

Shaking her head, she cleared all thoughts from her head and slumped into her fighting stance, her fists poised and ready. She had already though of thirty possible moves to end the match as quickly as possible.

Kimmimaro gave the proctor a nod as he slid into a bowlike stance, open palms facing her. The proctor gave a nod and flipped his hand down.

Quick as a flash the two rushed towards each other exchanging hard blows so fast that it seemed like blurs to those who had no trained eyes.

Sensing an opening, Sakura cocked a fist back and drove in into the Kaguya's chest.

He staggered back, coughing out gobs of blood onto Sakura's face. Kimmimaro stood up before rushing at her and landing a solid hit on her solar plexus.

With his hand still on it, he leaned in and whispered "Mother's calling… What she wants, she will get." He smirked and stepped back.

Sakura crouched over stunned. "S-She's back?" She whimpered. Sakura froze, shaky and didn't dodge the vicious right hood to the face that Kimmimaro delivered. Her face had bloomed a dark purple bruise on her cheek that stung like hell, but she didn't notice.

Kimmimaro smirked watching the shivering girl in the ring. His gaze lit up in a dark satisfaction as he watched the girl tremble. Raising two fingers, he forfeited the match and watched the blonde girl come and take her friend.

She would help them, or the ones she loved will pay.