The battle arena was the room where Kakashi and Kira had entered. It was very similar to where Kakashi had his third task, only this time, it would be the final task. It made Kakashi wonder, Why three tasks? Obviously the second one was hard enough…How hard will this one be?

Kakashi stood on the watching balcony, looking at the students. Sure, most of them had punctures from arrows, were dirty and had bloody scratches, but they looked more eager than ever as the prepared to battle against one another. Kakashi watched in amazement.

They dispatched from their cells at the very beginning. They were on their own from the very start. They could be fighting friends, and yet look how eager they are, at such a young age. These kids…are not even human.

"This next exam will go under the command of another proctor," Masaru suddenly appeared before the students, the usual proctors flanking his side, "During this task, you will be pitted against your rival in battle. The rules are simple: Don't die. If our proctor feels that you cannot go on, than they will declare the winner of the battle. All winning participants may proceed to the Kaze's building, where we will give you your final evaluation."

Right as the Chief Examiner finished his sentence, a loud, prolonged yawn from one of the Chunin participants filled the room, putting all intended conversations to a halt. Everyone stopped in dead silence, turning to the small cat girl in front of the group with red eyes, who wiped her eyes tiredly and turned to attention back to the proctor as if nothing had happened. Kakashi looked down at his sleepy student. As aloof as he was, even he wouldn't pull a stunt like that in front of the entire Chunin staff. Suddenly, Masaru warmly chuckled.

"I should expect such from a Neko," Masaru smirked, walking slowly over to the brown haired cat girl. Kira looked up at him, too tired to narrow her eyes suspiciously as him. Kakashi watched in curiosity: he had never seen his student so tired, let alone tired at all.

Is this a sign of the apocalypse? And I haven't even finished the latest in the Make-out series…

Masaru suddenly leaned down in front of Kira, boring his eyes into hers. Kira stared back with wide eyes, contemplating his next move as her fellow participants watched in amazement. Proctors merely watched out of interest: her next move would be vital.

"Are you afraid, my little Kaze Koneko?" he whispered darkly.

This was the first time her title had been uttered during the Chunin exams in front of the other students. They all backed away slightly in a group, their footsteps and shuffling feet echoing in the large room. Kira's ear flattened slightly, noticing how her fellow participants were now separating from her. She was now alone, facing her most prominent opponent yet. This man, to her, was far more intense and threatening than the Sound ninja that had attacked her and Kakashi.

Here, she knew she was being tested.

"Well?" Masaru asked again, his shadow looming over her. He looked down at her red eyes, the red eyes that had been looked up to as a God for centuries and that marked a greatness that no other land had ever seen.

"…What?" Kira's eyes flickered open, her ears perking up, "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

If there was a moment that Kakashi would have stood up and proudly said "That's my student!" he would have complied right then. He was convinced that his attitude had rubbed off on Kira.

Masaru suddenly laughed; not a smirk or chuckle, but a mere laugh. The cat girls all watched with wide eyes as Masaru smiled down at Kira.

"I underestimated you, Kakashi," he said, turning to the Jonin, who was slightly confused, "Maybe you wouldn't make a bad Neko trainer yourself."

…Okay…Weirdo… Kakashi shrugged to himself. This guy was getting creepier by the second. But then again, if what he said was true, maybe what he meant was that Nekos are indeed a lot like cats: they won't listen on command.

"Atari Houka," Masaru suddenly said, turning to the proctor, "Get ready for the exam. The third task will start shortly." Atari nodded and walked to the middle of the arena, while people began spanning out in different directions. All the cat girls crowded around the balcony railings, looking down at the arena. Kakashi stood with Kira, feeling the same suspense he felt during the second task. His student looked pretty tired. If the second task used up more than half her energy, how would she handle in the battle?

"Wow!" Kira's ears suddenly perked up, her bright voice returning, "That's the leader of Kaze, Tora Amayah! She's so beautiful!"

"Hm?" Kakashi asked questionably, looking over. His eyes scanned the other side of the room, where an older woman stood, two guards standing by her. Her black pointed ears stuck out neatly combed long black hair, her eyes a fierce purple that could be seen from the other side of the room. Kakashi could see why she was leader of Kaze; not only was she very beautiful, but she looked fierce enough to begin with. She stood rather pensively and quiet, much like older house cats Kakashi had encountered, and stared at the participants. Her eyes grazed over them, checking out the competition this year.

"Hmph," she smirked, "Wonder if the little goddess is here."

"My lady?" the guard turned to her questionably.

"Her," the woman looked at him, "The one; the god; The Kaze Koneko. Surely you didn't forget she was in this exam?"

"I find it hard to believe she's alive at all," the guard muttered in amazement, "After all those centuries, they really thought it had died out."

"That was way before our time," the leader of Kaze smirked, "The only proof we have is tradition and documents. We as people don't know anything about her powers." Her purple eyes finally landed on the one Chunin participant. Her eyes flickered when she saw the legendary red shimmer in her eyes.

"Ah," she smiled, her tail swishing happily, "Very good; she passed the second task; not that I'm surprised." She looked at the little girl; she was leaning over the bars happily, laughing and wagging her tail.

"Lady Tora?" the guard turned to her, "You don't think—she will—kill anyone here, do you?" The woman turned to him.

"No, of course not," she said quietly, "Of course, it all depends on how well she knows her own powers."

"What?" the guard asked, slightly scared.

"If she doesn't know the full extent of her own powers," Tora continued, her eyes becoming serene, "Her physical and mental powers…Then I cannot say what she'll do in the heat of battle." She turned her gaze back to the brunette kitten with the black tipped tan ears, looking at her red eyes.

"Hm, Kyra Koneko," Tora smirked, laying a finger under her own chin in thought, "Well, aren't you interesting?"

"Well, hello there!"

Kira gave a high pitched screamed and darted behind Kakashi. Kakashi merely sighed in grief.

"Oh, Guy, forgot about you," Kakashi said quietly, patting Kira's head reassuringly as she held onto his legs for dear life, "Where were you before?"

Actually, I don't want to know…

"Lee and I happened to be talking with some very well respected proctors," Guy grinned enthusiastically, patting his own students head as Lee grinned at Kira, who squeaked in surprise, "And what were you doing, Kakashi? Watching from the side lines? I thought a respected Shinobi like you would get a better view of the games."

Games? Kakashi wanted to say to him, You think these are games? This is murder, is what they're doing. How could you watch my student put her life on the line and look at it as a game? You truly are a sick man, Guy.

"I, uh, had some important business to attend to," Kakashi mumbled, suddenly gently taking Kira's arm and pulling her over to Lee, "Kira, go play with Lee, I have to talk to Guy."

"What!?" Kira snapped her had back to stare with side eyes at her insane teacher, "Kakashi…"

"Just go," Kakashi smiled at her weakly as Lee suddenly grabbed her arm, pulling her to a corner, grinning back at Kira's wide eyes and saying, "C'mon, Kira, I wanna show you my new technique!"

Once Kakashi saw that she was out of ear shot, which was cutting it pretty close, considering her hearing range, he turned to Guy.

"Trouble?" Guy asked now, abandoning his happy demeanor as he looked at Kakashi with serious eyes, "I noticed you were pretty drained when I saw you leave that building with Masaru." Kakashi sighed and shook his head.

"It's a nightmare, Guy," Kakashi said quietly, "Not for me, but for her. Right after exams their assigning her to a Jonin squad, and when she turns ten their sending her to some Neko Jonin school and then to some fancy Geisha training school…," he shook his head once more, "And then she's off to some Capsule Cell full of hybrids I've never even heard of." Guy shook his head sadly.

"That's not exactly what you had in the cards, is it?" he asked, a faint smile behind his voice. Kakashi looked at him.

"Well, I guess not," Kakashi shrugged wearily, "I always just thought…I never thought…she'd be forcefully taken away from me like that."

"I understand," Guy nodded, "I'd feel like that if someone took Lee away from me to be sent to some school I had no idea about. It's because you practically raised them, and trained them, watching them grow." Kakashi nodded. He did, in a way, feel as though he had raised Kira to become what she was today. But he also knew she had a past; a darker past that he knew nothing about. But it never seemed to faze her, probably because she didn't remember any of it.

"But still," Kakashi said quietly, staring out at the screen on the wall, where the names of the participants would soon be flashing, "To grow up in such a society, to have her become something to great and powerful…I feel…scared for her. What if she ends up living a life she hates?"

Guy was silent, but suddenly, he laughed out loud, causing most people to stare in the room. Kakashi raised an eyebrow. His friend was losing it right before his eyes.

"Ah, Kakashi, still so naïve," he chuckled, wiping a tear from his eyes, "Don't you get it? She knows the life she's destined to, but do you see her moping about it? Look at her," Kakashi looked. Lee was talking to Kira enthusiastically, waving his arms and grinning. Kyra cocked her head curiously, but soon broke out into laughter as Lee tried to demonstrate something, which caused him to fall on the floor.

"You see?" Guy smiled back at Kakashi, "Kira's one of those students that knows the already knows the pain of being different and isolated. For her, a challenge like this is only another obstacle for her. She stays happy because," Guy's ambitious smile was replaced with a softer one, "…Because she's a lot stronger than you think she is."

Kakashi was silent. He didn't know how to respond. This is what Hisakata had said. There's still a lot you need to learn about her. Was it true? Kakashi had been fretting for months, worried that Kira, at such a young age, wouldn't be ready for the exams. But everyone was staring at her in awe, bowing to her like a god. How could this be? Was she really that powerful? During their training days, she surprised him with her agility, ferocious wind powers, and stealth. Sure, he was amazed, because he had never met a Neko. Of course, she was different than other Nekos, being that she was the Kaze Koneko, the breed that could control wind, but was she something more? Even looking at her blood red eyes now, Kakashi felt a twinge of fear. What was she? Was she something more than not only he, but her whole clan, village, the entire Land of Wind could see?
Was she really a god?

An uproar broke Kakashi was his silence. He turned his head to see that the numbers at appeared on the screen. Two names he never had heard before, but all the students, including Kira, suddenly, all leaning over the railing with open mouths.

"Hisa and Uki," a girl next to Kira said in a hushed voice, "Kira, who do you think will win?" Kira was silent.

"I don't know," she said quietly, wringing her hands together slightly, "They're both really good."

"How can you say that?" her friend laughed, "Hisa's obviously stronger, Uki got two arrows in her arm and leg! Uki's got no chance." Kira shrugged.

"Guy sensei, I have never seen such remarkable athletes before!" came Lee's hyped voice as he appeared next to Guy, "I hope Kira wins her challenge. She's the best one here." Kakashi smiled down at his friend's new student.

"Well, apparently, you're not the only one who thinks so…." He said down to him, "She's pretty popular in the betting pool."

"That's amazing!" Lee piped up once more, looking up with admiration at Kakashi, "You must be proud, Kakashi sensei." Kakashi nodded, slightly, looking at his amber-eyed student.

"Yes," he smiled, "I am."