Third Round

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; however I do own Akemi, Yukiko and Rukia. And the Shīringu is mine and mine alone!

Summary: "When I died and came into the Naruto universe, I didn't think that I would be able to change much. I also thought that if I told anyone that they wouldn't believe me and I definitely didn't think that I could get a Kekkei Genkai either. But I was wrong on all accounts and I could not be happier." SEQUEL!

I just want to say that I'm not good in the slightest at writing fights, so I apologise in advance if anyone is unhappy with the fights that will take place.

I want to thank everyone that had reviewed my story so far. I hope my rant in the other chapter didn't put people off. I do apologise for that but I meant what I said. However, I do want to say this. There will be some romance in the story, preferably Sasuke x Akemi. Now I am not good with romances, I prefer the subtle little signs. However, before some romance comes your way my lovely viewers, there needs to be a twist. I won't reveal what the twist is yet, you'll have to wait for that. You just need to be patient and I will deliver.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

Finally it was the Third Round of the Chunin Exams. I hadn't really slept much the night before. Even with my teammates and Haku beside me, sleep wouldn't find me. I was a little tired but I knew I would wake up when it was time to fight.

We stood in the arena where the matches were being held. The arena was outside Suna, much like the labyrinth that Gaara had made. But this time it looked like a colosseum. Today we would find out who we were fighting. I look around and see that there weren't many people left. There was twelve people all together. My team, Konohamaru's team, Kenji's team and Rika's team. The other Suna team never showed up though.

"Is this it?" Naruto asks looking around.

"There should be another team here." Sasuke mutters to us.

I purse my lip. "They must have either given up or they were targeted." I remembered in the anime, during the Chunin Exams in Konoha, Dosu tried to kill Gaara. However, he wasn't successful and ended up getting killed himself.

Naruto and Sasuke solemnly nod their heads.

Naruto points. "Look! There's Itachi and Haku!" We look and see that Haku and Itachi were in the front row of the arena. I grinned at Haku and saluted at him. Haku rolls his eyes, but that was amusement in his eyes. Haku was back in his Jonin outfit while Itachi was in his casual clothes.

"And there's Tsunade." Sasuke says looking upwards. Next to Gaara was Tsunade.

Our attention was stolen when Temari walked into the arena, she was going to be our proctor. She looks at the timer in her hands, after a few seconds she look up and says. "The Third Round of the Chunin Exams will now begin!"

The crowd cheers loudly in response.

Temari turns to us. "I will be announcing who will be facing who at the beginning of each round. The first match of the day will be between Kenji Yukimaru against Moegi!"

Moegi looks at the Suna Ninja with a nervous look. Konohamaru and Udon place a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. Kenji grins slightly, he looked fairly confident.

Temari looks to the rest of us. "Could you please go up to the waiting room and wait for you to be called down."

We all follow what she told us to do. By the time we reached the waiting room that overlooked the arena, Kenji looked to be winning already. He was using his speed and the fact there was sand on the floor to confuse Moegi. The sand was flying everywhere and was making a slight tornado.

"Wow." Naruto mumbled looking at how fast Kenji was.

I groan, "Now I don't know who to cheer for."

Konohamaru looks at me with an incredulous look. "But Moegi's from the Leaf!"

I pat his head. "Yes, but Kenji helped me in the second round. I owe him my life." If Kenji hadn't been there to save me, I probably wouldn't be alive right now.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at me.

Before we knew it, Kenji had won. Kenji had managed to sneak into the sand tornado and knock Moegi out while she looking for him in the tornado that he had created. She lay there unconscious on the floor.

Temari checks Moegi over. She stands up and raises her arm. "Kenji the winner!"

The audience cheer, some a little bewildered by the quickness of the match. Even I was a little shocked, I thought it would at least go on for a good ten minutes, she didn't even last five which was disappointing.

Kenji confidently walks up the stairs and join the rest of us. He sat with his team, who still didn't look happy to see him.

Temari announces the next match. "The second match will be Sasuke Uchiha against Youichi Kora!"

I pat Sasuke's back. "Good luck!"

Sasuke scoffs, a smirk making its way into his face. "Like I'll need it." He jumps from the hole in the wall onto the arena floor. The crowd cheered like crazy when Sasuke jumped into the arena. I swear I saw Itachi roll his eyes at his younger brother.

Sasuke's opponent, Youichi was part of Rika's team, he seemed very relaxed. He calmly made his way down to the arena with a wide grin on his face.

"Sasuke's cocky isn't he?" Naruto mumbles to me.

I nod my head. "Very. I kind of want this person to beat him now."

Naruto laughs. "Oh that would be hilarious!"

I smirk. "His ego forever bruised."

Back down in the arena, Sasuke was studying his opponent. Youichi looked very relaxed, like he wasn't even fighting. When Temari gave the signal, Sasuke immediately sprang into action. First he was going to test his opponent to see if he had any skills that were worth notifying.

Sasuke attacked with Taijutsu first. He aimed his fist at Youichi's shoulder, at the last minute Youichi dodged. His movements sloppy and unrefined. Youichi looked genuinely terrified at Sasuke's speed, which he used to his full advantage. Sasuke continued his assault of punches and kicks in all different places. Youichi was barely able to block the first attack and didn't stand a chance against the next onslaught of attacks.

Youichi was sent flying into the arena wall when Sasuke landed a punch in his gut, he let out a groan of pain from the floor. He opened his eyes to find Sasuke in front of him. He tried to scream, but Sasuke hit him at the base of his neck, knocking him unconscious.

Temari checked Youichi over. Standing up she declared, "Sasuke Uchiha is the winner!"

The crowd cheered in response, some glad that there was finally a serious contender. Itachi nods his head at his younger brother when Sasuke looked up at him. Haku cheered just as loudly at the crowd.

Sasuke jumped up back into the waiting room looking as cocky as ever. When he sees mine and Naruto's face he asks. "What?"

"I was kind of hoping you would lose." I say with a sigh.

Naruto nods his head.

Sasuke's eye twitches.

A grin spreads onto my face. "Only kidding."

Sasuke glares at me while Naruto and I laugh at his expense.

Temari grabs our attention by declaring who will be in the next match. "The third match will be between Naruto Uzumaki and Sumi Tsuki!"

I look over, it was one of Kenji's teammate. One of them that ambushed us in the Sand maze. Naruto grins brightly. "Yes!" He races down the stairs, excitement breaming in his blue eyes. Sumi just sighs and waltzes down the stairs. Once both contenders were down there, Temari began the match.

"Naruto's going to win." Sasuke says with a blank expression.

I nod my head. "Of course he will, he's Naruto-kun after all."

"Kind of hope he doesn't now." Sasuke mumbles to himself, but I heard him.

I look at him with an arched eyebrow. "I didn't know you were so petty."

Sasuke glares at me out of the corner of his eye.

Back down in the arena, the match was already taking place. Naruto had already made three Shadow Clones, and was attacking Sumi in all directions. People in the audience were wondering why he was only using Taijutsu. They were yelling for Naruto to just Ninjutsu, demanding to see some.

"Why isn't Naruto using any cool Justus?" Konohamaru asks us looking down at Naruto as he was assaulting the Suna Ninja with Taijutsu.

"He's conserving his energy." Sasuke answers.

Konohamaru looks up to Sasuke with a confused look. "What?"

I explain to the young Ninja. "Naruto-kun's not using all his strength in the beginning rounds so he'll have enough to fight the stronger people later on in the exams."

Konohamaru nods her head, now understanding why Naruto wasn't showing off his cool moves.

Back down with Naruto, Sumi was getting tired. She couldn't fend of these attacks, they seemed to be everywhere. She managed to kill one Clone, but then another two took its place. Finally Naruto managed to land a punch on the girl's head, knocking her unconscious instantly.

Temari checks Sumi. She stands up, "Naruto Uzumaki is the winner!" Medics came onto the scene and took the unconscious Sumi away.

The crowd cheer loudly in response.

Naruto swaggers up the stairs and into the waiting room with a large grin. Konohamaru races over to him. "You were great!" He exclaims.

Naruto rubs the back of his neck. "Thanks!" Naruto looks up to me and Sasuke, "Anything happen?"

"Just Sasuke being petty." I answer with a grin.

Sasuke responds by glaring at me.

Temari clears her throat, getting our attention. "The next match shall be between Akemi Nakahara and Rika Masa!"

I look at Rika to see her scowling. Naruto pats my back while Sasuke nods in my direction, I head down to the arena feeling a little nervous. It wasn't Rika that was making me nervous, if Rika was anything like her team mate then she won't be a problem. It's just the last time I was in an arena I ended up killing someone.

Minutes later, I and Rika stood opposite one another. Temari looks to us and raises her hand, "Begin!" She shouts jumping away to give us room.

I immediately jump back and decide to follow what Naruto and Sasuke did. I was only using Taijutsu to preserve my strength. It may sound cocky but I was confident that I was going to get through to the finals, there weren't any strong people besides my own team mates. But that wasn't an insult to the other teams. Naruto was trained by a Legendary Sanin, Sasuke was trained by Itachi and I was trained by Haku and Yukiko. We had very powerful tutors and we took our training very seriously.

Rika decided to be on the offensive and attack me. She aimed punches and kicks my way, but they were sloppy and unrefined. With one punch I knock her back, she rolled on the floor and came back at me again, fury shinning in her eyes.

"Why so angry?" I ask taunting her.

It worked, the rage in her eyes grew. "You took him away from me!" Rika shouts, her moves become slightly faster, but I was dodging each and every one of them.

"Who did I take away?" I ask with a grin on my face.

"My Haku!" I caught her first in my hand and looked at her. She was huffing and puffing, her cheeks were red in anger and her eyes filled my anger.

"Your Haku?" I ask sending her a look.

Her glare becomes more vicious. "Yes, my Haku."

"I think that you'll find he's my brother," I say to her, my expression becoming blank as I crush her hand in mine. "And he's not and object." Rika screams in pain and tries to struggle free as I crush her hand in my own. Her other hand scratches my hand, trying to pry it away.

"Y-you don't d-deserve him!" Rika hisses at me, pain now taking over the fury in her eyes. She fell to her knees as I added more pressure to my hand, now adding Chakra.

"Oh don't I?" Rika screams, falling forward. I let go and step away from her as she holds her now broken hand towards her body.

Rika shakily stands up. "Y-you d-don't d-deserve him!"

My anger flares. In a flash I was in front of her, l threw my arm back and punched her in the face with a Chakra infused punch. Rika was spent flying into the wall, slowly and with a painful groan, she falls to the floor leaving an imprint of her impact in the wall.

I turn around and walk away.

"Akemi Nakahara is the winner!" Temari shouts but I ignore her. I storm back up to the waiting room.

When Naruto and Sasuke see me, they wait for me to come to them. I sat down on one of the chairs provided.

"What happened out there?" Sasuke asks.

I look to them. "I take it you didn't hear it then?"

Both shake their heads.

I scowl darkly. "She was being annoying." Just the thought of what she said made my blood boil again. I wanted to hit something. But I stopped myself and forced myself to calm down. Naruto and Sasuke never said anything, which was probably the wisest thing to do at this point.

The next two matches were fairly quick. Konohamaru went against one of Rika's teammates and won. Udon fought Kenji's teammate and lost. We were given a ten minute break before the next part of the exam happened.

"The seventh match will be between Naruto Uzumaki and Konohamaru Sarutobi!" Temari announces.

Both Konohamaru and Naruto freeze in the waiting room. They look at each other before walking down into the arena with a zombie-like look on their faces.

Sasuke looks at them as they stand opposite each other in the arena. "Will the dobe be okay?"

I smirk. "I didn't know you cared."

Sasuke gives me a death glare in response.

I sigh. "I don't know. Konohamaru will be intimidated by Naruto-kun, he doesn't think he'll win, but he'll soon get the confidence. Naruto-kun doesn't want to hurt him though."

Sasuke slowly nods his head.

Before we knew it, the match had begun. After some encouraging words from the crowd and Naruto, Konohamaru sprang into action by using his own Rasengan.

Sasuke's eyes widen a fraction. "He knows it."

"Naruto-kun taught him," I answer with a grin on my face. I couldn't help but feel proud of Konohamaru.

Naruto jumped out of the way and let Konohamaru's Rasengan hit the ground. The cracked ground creating a screen of smoke that made Konohamaru confused. Naruto was high up in the smoke and made hundreds of Shadow Clones, all using a Rasengan. Konohamaru saw what Naruto was doing and created his own army of Shadow Clones, all armed with kunai. Once the two armies met, more clouds of smoke shrouded the arena.

The only reason I and Sasuke could see what was happening what because of our Kekkei Genkai, his Sharingan and my Shīringu.

"So much for conserving Chakra." Sasuke mumbled under his breathe.

Once the smoke cleared, it revealed that Naruto was the one standing and Konohamaru was on the floor. Temari came over to call Naruto the winner, but then Konohamaru moved. Konohamaru struggled to stand up, but he eventually made it up.

This time, they used Taijutsu. Every time Konohamaru would attack, Naruto would defend. Out of the two, Naruto was the only one getting any hits on their opponent. Naruto threw Konohamaru back, but he would get back up and start throwing kunai at Naruto. No matter how many times Naruto punched Konohamaru back, he always came back trying to fight him.

Naruto punched Konohamaru in the face, sending him back. It seemed that this was it for Konohamaru, but he seemed to find the strength to fight back. Konohamaru threw a shuriken and made hundreds of them fly at Naruto. Naruto seemed stunned by this and struggled to fight them all off. To get away from them, Naruto jumped into the air only to be met by Konohamaru. Konohamaru used the Sarutobi's Jutsu and combined it with Asuma's Jutsu causing an explosion which Naruto was in the middle of.

When Naruto was back on the ground, Konohamaru went after him. Naruto backed away, but fell on the broken rock that was on the ground. Konohamaru took the chance and managed to punch Naruto in the face.

While Konohamaru was soaking in the fact that he hit Naruto, Naruto attacked Konohamaru with a punch to the face, returning the one that he just got from Konohamaru. This time, Konohamaru didn't get back up.

Temari checked him. "Konohamaru is unable to battle, Naruto Uzumaki is the winner!"

The crowd cheered loudly, happy with the outcome.

Medics came by and took the unconscious Konohamaru away.

Naruto ran back to the waiting room with a large grin on his face. "I did it!" Naruto shouts throwing his hands in the air.

"Good job Naruto-kun!" I say with a grin on my face too.

"Not bad dobe." Sasuke comments with a smirk on his face.

Naruto's eye twitches. "Teme…"

Before they could fight each other, Temari pulled our attention away to her. "The eighth match will be between Akemi Nakahara and Kenji!"

I turn my head, Kenji was standing in the corner leaning against the wall. I send a smile to Naruto and Sasuke before going down to the arena.

Minutes later, Kenji stood in front of me and Temari jumped away, the match had begun.

"Don't go easy on me." I tell Kenji with a grin on my face.

Kenji returns the grin. "Same here."

We both jumped at each other, my Sai in hand and his kunai met in the middle as we tried to hit each other. The impact forced the kunai and my Sai away from us. Kenji attacked me using Taijutsu, I counteracted all his moves with my own. Kenji was fast I will admit that, but I knew people who were faster.

I jumped away as he tried to hit me again. I hooked my ankle around his foot, sending him off balance. As he fell backwards, I punched him full force in the face with a chakra infused fist. Coughing up blood, Kenji was sent flying across the arena. He landed with a painful thud, it looked like he wasn't moving. I thought the match was going to be over, but then he moved.

He slowly staggered up and wiped away the blood from his chin. He grins and tries to grab my discarded Sai near him. He gets a shock when an electric current passes through him. He curses and releases my Sai and looks to me.

I shrug. "They came like that." When I bought the Sais on the Land of the Snow, the owner said I would need to pump my chakra into them so they know I'm their new owner. If anyone else but me touches them, they would get a nasty shock.

Kenji hisses and performs a jutsu. The earth below me starts to shake and a hand made of sand appears. Kenji controls it and makes it come after me. I jump away from it and perform my own Jutsu.

I performed the Tiger Seal. "Suiton: Suiryūben!" An orb of water appears beside me. With a thrust of my hand, many sharp whips of water shot out and attacked the sand hand. While Kenji was preoccupied with fighting off my water jutsu, I made a clone with one hand, thank you Haku!

My clone stealthily and sneakily made its way behind Kenji and picked up the discarded Sai. My Clone presses my Sai to his throat. "Do you yield?"

Kenji freezes where he is. He lowers his head slightly and smirks. "No." He stabs my Clone making it disappear. He calls off his Jutsu and attacks me. I moved my arm again and used my water whips to try and hit him. Some were successful but he continued to get back up and run towards me. Kenji got too close, causing me to have to dispel my jutsu. I jump away in time.

He jumped after me, but he frowned when he saw my smirk. By the time he realised what I was doing, it was too late.

"Genjutsu Shibari!"

Kenji froze where he was. He couldn't move, under is Genjutsu he was immobile. I took the chance to hit Kenji in the neck with my hand, he fell to the floor unconscious.

Temari jumped over and checked him. "Akemi Nakahara is the winner!"

I see Haku standing up as he cheered, Itachi nods his head at me. I grin walking back to the waiting room. But not before I picked up my other Sai.

Walking back to the waiting room, I was met with both Naruto and Sasuke glaring at the last other person in the waiting room, Rio Mizuki. He was going to be Sasuke's opponent for the ninth match. The air in the room felt hostile since even Naruto was glaring at this guy.

When Rio sees me, he smirks and walks past me.

When he was gone I looked to be teammates. "What happened?"

Sasuke scowls darkly. "Nothing." He brushes past me, going down to the arena.

I look to Naruto who was looking to the ground. "Naruto-kun, what happened?" I ask him hoping to get some answers.

Naruto exhales roughly. "It doesn't matter."

I frown at him. "It obviously does. Did that guy say something?" Naruto's gaze turns dark for a moment before it was gone. However, the feeling that I had hadn't gone away, it intensified. Something was wrong.

Both our attention was stolen by the crowd. They were cheering really loudly. I look over and see Sasuke and Rio standing opposite each other. They weren't fighting, even though Temari had already jumped away. They seemed to be talking.

"Something's wrong." I mutter looking down. Sasuke didn't look happy, he looked murderous. He looked like he was going to murder Rio there and then.

I look to Naruto. "What did Rio say?" This time my tone was more forceful, I wanted to know and I wanted that information now. Naruto never got to answer. A scream of pain drew our attention away. We look down and see that Sasuke had stabbed Rio with his Chidori sword.

Sasuke's Sharingan was activated and was swirling around furiously. He drew his sword out of Rio and started to attack viciously. He wasn't giving Rio a chance to defend himself. Every time Sasuke would strike, Rio would scream, which seemed to egg Sasuke on even more.

"Holy shit." I whisper looking down in shock. The arena floor was painted in blood, Rio's blood.

The crowd didn't seem disgusted by the show of blood in fact they wanted more. They were screaming like pigs, soaking up every bit of the match. They were shouting for Sasuke to kill Rio, wanting him dead.

Itachi looked furious, his own Sharingan was activated and he was glaring at anyone who suggested Sasuke kill Rio. Haku looked worried, he was also looking at the blood with a shocked look.

Sasuke stops slashing Rio and calms down. He takes a few deep breathes and looks down at Rio with a stoic look. Sasuke turned around and walked away, he had already won this match, and there was no way that Rio could get up with the wounds that Sasuke had given him.

But then Rio opened his mouth and said something that no one but Sasuke could hear.

Sasuke stops walking.

"Don't do it." I whisper.

Whatever Rio had said to make Sasuke snap had worked. Sasuke reappeared in front of Rio and stabbed him in the heart.

I let out a shaky breathe and look away. Naruto wasn't looking at the scene below him. He was looking at the floor with his hands clenching the metal rails. When I look back down, Sasuke was looking up at us. I couldn't look him in the eye.

"Naruto, what did he say." I didn't add the 'kun' this time. I was in shock and angry, I couldn't distinguish the two at this point.

Naruto noticed and flinched. "H-he said some things."

I whirl around to Naruto. "Well I know that!" My voice become shrill with anger.

Naruto flinched again.

I take a deep breathe. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but I just don't understand,"

Naruto never got to answer. Someone behind us cleared their throat. We both turn around to see Kakashi.

"Come with me." Kakashi said walking away.

Naruto and I spare a glance at one another before following him. We walked down to the medical centre. I saw the other contestants getting treated, some glaring at us. We made it to a private room, opening the door we see Sasuke sitting on the bed with Itachi and Haku standing by him.

When Sasuke sees me and Naruto, he looks to the ground.

Itachi turns around. "I take it you have questions?"

I snort. "Of course."

"Akemi." Haku scolds lightly.

I smile at Haku before turning to Sasuke and Itachi. "I arrived back at the waiting room, Sasuke and Naruto-kun both looked ready to kill Rio there and then. However, I couldn't get it out of Naruto-kun what happened." I send an accusing look to Naruto.

Itachi looks to Naruto. "What did Rio say?"

Naruto couldn't meet Itachi's gaze. "He said some things…"

Haku walks over to Naruto and places a hand on his shoulder. "You can tell us." Haku says reassuring him.

Naruto swallows. "H-he said that I was a monster that needed to be put down." Sasuke's scowl deepens at what Naruto said, confirming that what Naruto said what true.

My anger flares. "He said what?!"

"He said something else, didn't he?" Itachi questions with a blank look.

Naruto nods.

"What did he say?" Haku asks gently. He was angry at what this Rio had said, but he knew he needed to remain calm.

"H-he asked how good Akemi-chan was in bed and how much we were paying her each." Naruto whispers, his fists clenched.

My jaw drops slightly. "H-he what?!"

Sasuke snarls and storms out the room, slamming the door behind him. Naruto silently follows behind Sasuke to make sure he was okay. Haku stood there frozen, before pure fury shines in his usual gentle eyes.

Itachi nods his head slowly. "That's why."

I look to the older Uchiha. "What do you mean?"

Itachi closes his eyes and crosses his arms. "We Uchiha are very protective. We may not seem like it but we put family above all else." That's why he saved his brother, he sacrificed his Clan for his brother.

Itachi opens his eyes and looks at me. "And he views you and Naruto as family." I look at Itachi in surprise. I felt touched though, he considered us family.

"He sees Naruto as a brother, one that he can be himself around. He doesn't have to hold back when he's with him." Itachi says about Naruto.

Itachi looks to me. "And you've done what no female has done. You earned his respect. You didn't care for his looks. What made him respect you was when you sacrificed yourself to Orochimaru and the team."

"And you returned Itachi to him." Haku says with a slight laugh. He stands behind me and grips my shoulders comfortingly.

Itachi nods his head. "He feels like he owes you. He respects you though, he does see you as an equal."

I smile at Itachi's words. It felt nice to know that my aloof teammate respects me. I almost thought he tolerated me just because I knew things, but apparently not. Oh how the fangirls must hate me. I knew that he is close to Naruto, but I didn't expect him to consider me so highly.

"And that's why he acted the way he did." Haku says looking to Itachi.

Itachi nods. "I had my Sharingan activated. I read his lips as he taunted my brother, he said some awful things, things that I will not repeat."

"He thought he could beat Sasuke if he got him angry." I say. Usually when people are angry, their moves get sloppy because of their irrational anger, they become unfocused. But not with Sasuke, he became stronger and his movements more precise. He was definitely a force to reckon with when angry.

Itachi sighs. "He was wrong, and he paid with his life."

I nod my head solemnly. I was praying for Sasuke not to kill Rio, but alas he did. I just hoped that he took it better than I did when I made my first kill.

I look to Itachi. "Was this Sasuke's first kill?"

Itachi shakes his head.

After a twenty minute break, the matches were resuming. The arena had been fixed from the previous matches and now looked brand new. The only people left in the Exams was myself, Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto had found Sasuke and managed to bring him back. However, ever since he came back he had been moody and quiet, like how he used to be.

"It looks like it's finally come down to this then." I look to Naruto with a grin, also sparing Sasuke one. But the later didn't respond.

Naruto grins. "I know. I wondering who I'm going against."

I almost knew that it would come down to this. Our team is far stronger than the other contestants so there was no doubt in my mind. Now the big question is would I be fighting Sasuke or Naruto? Both of them would be worthy opponents. I never got to fight Naruto or Sasuke during our 'retest' in Konoha because Sakura was out for the count, so I was definitely looking forward to this.

Temari walks back onto the arena floor and makes her announcement. "The tenth match will be between Naruto Uzumaki and Akemi Nakahara!"

Both Naruto and I look at each other. So who ever would win would be fighting Sasuke. We grin at each other before both jumping down from the waiting room instead of taking the stairs. We land and Temari rolls her eyes at us.

We stand opposite each other.

"Ready?" Temari questions us.

"Yep." I say getting ready, adrenaline pumping through my veins.

Naruto's grin matches my own. "Never been more ready."

Temari nods and raises her hand. "Begin!" She lowers it and jumps away.

"You're not going to go easy on me are you?" I ask getting excited.

Naruto laughs. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Talking was over, now it was time to fight.

THIRD POV

Haku was looking down worriedly at his imouto. He knew she was fully capable of fighting on her own, but he couldn't help but worry. His knee was slightly shaking, bouncing up and down. Itachi watches his friend become nervous as the match begun.

"She'll be fine." Itachi says looking at the match.

Haku sighs. "I know, I just worry too much."

Itachi nods his head, he knew the feeling very well. He was worried about his younger brother. Whoever would win this match would face his brother. He knew his brother wanted to fight both Naruto and Akemi. But he was concerned about Sasuke's stability at the moment.

Naruto and Akemi charged at each other, weapons in hand. When they met, the sheer force sent the weapons flying away. Akemi aimed a kick in Naruto's side, but Naruto dodged and tried to punch Akemi in the stomach. Akemi caught his punch and pulled him towards her aiming a punch. Naruto broke away from Akemi and jumped away from her.

Naruto made hand seals. "Rasengan!" He charged, his father's jutsu in his hand. He aimed it at Akemi by jumping into the air and thrusting his arm forward. At the last minute, Akemi jumped away so the Rasengan made impact with the ground. Naruto looks around for Akemi, but he couldn't see her with the dust that clouded his vision.

"Katon: Karyūdan!" A jet of flames blasted through the smoke and was aimed at Naruto.

Naruto shrieks slightly and manages to jump out of the way. He jumped upwards but was met with Akemi's fist when he wasn't looking. He groans as he makes impact with the ground, but he quickly gets up when he sees Akemi run at him. Naruto just about caught Akemi's fist, he twisted her arm and threw her to the side of the arena. She regains her balance and turns back around.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouts making the hand seals. Naruto had made at least one hundred Clones.

"Beat that." Naruto grins at Akemi.

A smile slowly forms on the girl's face. "Gladly." Akemi grabbed a scroll from her pouch and quickly summoned an old friend. In a cloud of smoke, the Monkey King made his entrance.

Enma looks to Akemi. "What?"

"Help me fight him." Akemi says pointing to Naruto who was looking at Enma in shock.

Enma grumbled but nods nonetheless. Now on agreement, both Enma and Akemi fought Naruto's Shadow Clones. The Clones charged at the two, each one having a Rasengan in hand. Left, right and centre both Akemi and Enma fought the Clones. The two worked flawlessly together, their moves identical. Over the three years, Akemi had been using Enma to help her train. He was definitely a fearsome opponent. However, as weird as it seemed, Enma didn't like Yukiko. He refused to have her present when he trained Akemi. He didn't like looking at her in the slightest, and that's were Haku and Enma got on, their dislike for Yukiko.

When the last Shadow Clone was gone, only one Naruto remained. He grins and charges at Akemi. Enma transforms into the staff, Akemi grabbed it and swung it at Naruto when he got close enough. Naruto tried to grab the staff, but Enma's arms materialised and punched Naruto in the face so he couldn't grab hold of him.

This pattern continued for ten minutes, Naruto would attack, Akemi would defend. Akemi and Enma would attack and Naruto would defend. Neither one of them giving in, only problem was that Akemi was soon going to run out of Chakra, keeping up her Chakra shield and having Enma out for draining her. The only disadvantage of the Chakra shield was that it drained her chakra far too quickly, meaning she couldn't use it long in fights and she needed to pick her moments.

Akemi jumped away and dispelled Enma. Akemi activated her Shīringu and attacked Naruto once more. Both Naruto and Akemi fought with Taijutsu, Akemi was using her fists more and not her legs. But she wasn't landing any hits. Naruto grins, but then he frowns when he starts to feel a little weak.

Akemi grins, she had been draining his chakra, replenishing hers. Now that her chakra was back, she activated her chakra scalpels. She charged at Naruto, feeling much better.

Naruto panics slightly and tries to dodge, but he was too slow. Akemi aimed for his legs, making him immobile. Akemi knew she didn't have long, Naruto's healing factor was the best she knew thanks to the Nine Tails.

"Genjutsu Shibari!" Naruto fell to the floor, he was under her Genjutsu. Akemi sighs and relief and goes to knock Naruto out. But he begins to twitch. He had dispelled her Genjutsu, which is a feat not many people could do.

Akemi's eyes widen before she jumps away. Naruto sprang up and began to attack her again but vigour. Akemi threw poison Senbon Needles at Naruto, but nothing would work. The poison would be quickly worked through his system and Akemi was running out of chakra again. She hadn't taken that much of Naruto's chakra but now she wish she had of. Naruto ran at her with a Rasengan in hand, but Akemi couldn't move, she was too tired. She closed her eyes and waited for impact.

Akemi screams when the Rasengan hit her stomach, Naruto look down at his teammate. He thought she would have dodged.

The crowd gasps while some cheer.

Sasuke's eye widen and he shoots up, she didn't dodge.

"Akemi!" Haku shouts standing up.

Gaara was about to jump up when he sees that Akemi was hit, but he knew he wouldn't be allowed and had to force himself to stay seated. Tsunade looked down with concern written on her face.

Down in the arena, Naruto's hand was still on the same place, just hovering over Akemi's stomach. The Rasengan was gone, but the shock was still there. Akemi stood ridged and in pain. Rasengan burnt her, leaving a gaping hole in her stomach and shirt.

Akemi grins, blood dripping from her mouth. "L-looks like you win…" Akemi whispers before falling to her knees and then to the ground.

Naruto stood frozen with wide eyes, what had he done? Akemi falling to the ground brought him back, he kneeled down and started shouting her name. "Akemi-chan!" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her, trying to wake her up. But her eyes stayed closed and it didn't look like she was breathing.

Temari rushes onto the scene. She checks Akemi's pulse. "She's alive." She says looking to Naruto. Naruto had tears in his eyes. He had hurt his precious friend.

Medics quickly made it onto the scene and rushed Akemi away.

Temari sends Naruto a look full of sympathy. "Naruto Uzumaki is the winner!"

Naruto stood frozen, he looks at his hands in horror. Even with the crowd cheering his name, he paid it no attention.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

Akemi's POV

When I woke up, I thought I was going to be in so much pain from Naruto's Rasengan. But to my surprise and relief, I didn't wake up in any pain. I open my eyes and see that I am back in our apartment in Suna. I slowly sit and still there wasn't any pain. My ruined shirt had been replaced with a new one so I knew I had been changed.

The door opens, I look to the door and see Tsunade. When she sees me awake she smiles. "Nice to see you awake."

"How long?" I ask her.

"A day." Tsunade says walking forward into the room. "Your body needed to recover from the Rasengan wound."

I lift my top up, the wound wasn't there, not even a scar.

"Rasengan wounds are usually very extensive if used at full power. It seemed as though Naruto was holding back." Tsunade comments looking at my stomach where the wound should be but isn't. I felt the slightest bit miffed that Naruto did hold back, but glad at the same time. If he used full power on me then it would have been a lot worse.

"But then again Naruto had his fair share of wounds." Tsunade says with a grin on her face.

I look at her confused. "What do you mean?"

Tsunade laughs. "Those chakra scalpels of yours, if you had used them on anyone else, they probably wouldn't have recovered."

"Really?" I ask shocked.

Tsunade nods. "Naruto had the best healing factor so it was healed by the time I got to it. But I saw it, his tendons had been ripped to shreds."

I felt slightly guilty, luckily it was Naruto I went against.

"Who won?" I ask remembering that Naruto would have to face Sasuke. I was rooting for both my teammates, but I wanted Naruto to win. Naruto would have the advantage due to his healing factor and the nearly unlimited amount of chakra he has.

Tsunade laughs heartily. "It was a draw."

My eyes widen. "Really?!"

"Both nearly killed each other too." Tsunade comments harshly, but there was an affectionate glint in her eyes.

"Typical." I mutter.

There was another knock on the door, it opened to reveal Naruto and Haku. When Haku sees me, he runs over and hugs me, "Thank goodness!" He pulls me to arm's length. "You need to stop giving a heart attack!" Haku scolds.

I pat his arms that were wrapped around me. "I'm fine Onii-chan." I look over to Naruto, he wouldn't meet my eyes. He was looking at the floor, guilt shinning in his blue eyes.

"Hey Naruto-kun." Naruto flinches.

"Naruto-kun, I'm fine honestly." I say hoping to make him feel better.

Tsunade nods, agreeing with me. "She's in good health."

"I could have killed you." Naruto whispers. He wouldn't meet my gaze, his posture was tense and his fists were clenched.

I shake my head. "You didn't. You made the Rasengan weaker than it normally is because you didn't want to hurt me."

"I thought you had died!" Naruto shouts looking at the ground, a shadow covering his eyes.

I unwrap Haku's arms from me and stand up. I was a little shaky at first, but I walked over to Naruto and took his hand in mine. Naruto looks at me, tears gathering in his eyes.

"I'm fine." I whisper soothingly. Naruto chokes on a sob and takes me in his arm. He cried into my shoulder, holding onto me tightly. It was a few minutes before Naruto calmed down, when he did he seemed much calmer.

With that sorted I look to Tsunade who was looking at us with a gentle look. "So now what?" I ask.

"Now we head back to Konoha." Sasuke says appearing from the door. When Sasuke sees me, he gives me a once over to make sure I was fine. I smile and nod my head at him. Sasuke nods his head in return.

"Home sounds good right now." I say with a smile.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

The next morning we were all ready and packed to leave Suna. We stood at the sand wall waiting. Apparently Gaara wanted to say goodbye before we left. Tsunade had already left beforehand saying how she needed to get back to Konoha to sort out some issues.

It wasn't long before we could see the Sand Siblings.

"I hope you have a safe journey back." Gaara says bowing slightly.

Temari clears her throat and nudges Gaara forward. Gaara glares at his sister before he sighs and turns to me. "Akemi, is it alright if I speak with you in private?" Gaara asks me.

I nod my head. "Sure." I walk forward and walk a little away from my teammates. Once we were in hearing distance away, we stopped.

"Is it your seal?" I ask worried.

Gaara blushes slightly. "I-It's not that."

I tilt my head slightly. "Then what is it?"

Gaara takes a deep breathe. "A-Akemi, I like you."

I laugh slightly. "I like you too, but what is this about?"

Gaara shakes his head. His eyes held determination in them. "No, I love you."

My eyes widen, the smile drops from my face and I tense.

"A-and I was wondering if you would stay here, w-with me." Gaara was nervous, that much I could tell. He couldn't look me in the eyes and he was slightly shaking with nerves.

I almost wanted to take his hand to make him stop shaking, but that would give the wrong message. I didn't like Gaara like he liked me. I saw him as a friend, I couldn't see him as anything more than a friend. But this was Gaara's first crush.

"Gaara…" I whisper. "I'm sorry, I'm not ready to have a relationship."

"Then I'll wait for you." Gaara answers immediately.

I shake my head. "Don't. I will not feel that way about you."

Gaara's shoulders drop, he was getting rejected.

"I only see you as a friend, I'm sorry." I say lowly. I didn't really know what to do, I had never been confessed to before. Yeah sure, Lee asked me three years ago, but he wasn't serious. Gaara was serious though.

Gaara nods his head. "I understand." He turns around and walks back to the group.

I sigh roughly and follow him.

With one last goodbye, and a glance at Gaara, we went on our way. In three days we would be back in Konoha.

"What was that about Akemi-chan?" Naruto asks me curious.

Kakashi chuckles. "I believe Akemi has just received her first confession of love."

"What?!" Naruto shouts. Haku looks at me for confirmation. Even Sasuke was looking at me for an answer.

"It's true." I say sighing.

"And what did you say?" Sasuke asks.

"I turned him down." I answer. I didn't regret turning him down. My rejection may have been harsh, but he needed to hear it. If I had given him the slightest bit of hope that we could be together, he would have taken it. He would have held onto his feelings for me and not let go and I didn't want that for Gaara, I wanted him to be happy.

Sasuke nods his head and doesn't comment on it.

Itachi looks to Haku. "You took that quite well." He thought that Haku would be over the top, he was super protective of me.

Haku grins. "She turned him down, I couldn't be more proud. Any man that my sister does agree to date has to go through me." The evil grin on his face spoke volumes.

Itachi just sighs, he feared for Akemi's future husband.

Naruto on the other hand was still in shock, "…He… confessed?"

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

Four days had passed, within three days we arrived back at Konoha and I've been in my bed since. My bed was so soft, oh how much I've missed this bed. I was sleeping peacefully when I was rudely awoken by a consistent knocking on my door. I was so comfy and didn't want to answer, the climate here was perfect. I actually got to sleep under my duvet and not on top of it because of how hot it was.

Without my permission, the door opens. Haku pops his head in and sees me still in bed. "Imouto, the Hokage wants to see you."

I groan in response.

"Apparently it's really important." Haku says trying to convince me.

Still I didn't move.

Haku sighs, "I did warn you." He disappears and I sigh in relief, now I could sleep.

Just as I was about to fall asleep, a hear someone running towards my room. My door bursts open and I hear someone shout. "Dattebayo!" This person jumps on me. I groan at the impact, their knee was in my stomach. I remove my duvet from my face and see that it was in fact Naruto who had jumped on me. I should have known…

"Get off me." I growl at him with a glare.

Naruto grins at me. "Then get up."

"No." I pull the cover back over my face, refusing to face the day. Naruto tries to grab the duvet and yank it away, but I have a firm grip of it despite my weak hands from sleeping. This resulted in a tug-a-war between myself and Naruto.

Seeing that I was about to lose, I kicked Naruto off my bed using my legs that he was sitting on. He yelps as he crashed onto the floor… with my duvet.

"God dammit fine!" I shout standing up in a huff.

Naruto grins while lying on the ground.

Kicking Naruto out of my room, I got ready for the day. When I was showered and dressed I came out into the kitchen and saw that Naruto, Sasuke and Itachi were there sitting at the table having breakfast.

"Who cooked?" I ask hoping that it wasn't Haku. The food looked really good, but with Haku looks could be deceiving.

"I did." Itachi says not looking up from his food.

I nod my head and sit down, also grabbing some food.

"I could have cooked you know." Haku says.

"You can't cook." Itachi answers bluntly.

I tense were I was and look at Haku's reaction. He just rolls his eyes. "Imouto thinks I cook very well, don't you." There was the puppy-dog look again, I couldn't say no to that face.

"Yeah." I say not looking at Haku. There's no way I could tell him.

Itachi rolls his eyes and continues with his food. Sasuke smirks at the situation that I'm in making me glare at him. Naruto also looks nervous, he had tasted Haku's cooking before, and never again would he touch the stuff, even if it was ramen.

After eating, Sasuke, Naruto and I headed for Tsunade's office. As we ran, Naruto looked to us. "What do you recon she wants?"

I shrug. "Possibly a mission."

Sasuke grunts agreeing with me.

We don't stop until we reach her office. Knocking on the door we were given permission to enter. Inside the office was Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?" Naruto asks confused.

Sakura smiles sadly.

"She's handing in her resignation." Tsunade answers Naruto.

I look at Sakura with wide eyes. "You're what?!"

"I'm moving to another team actually." Sakura answers, her voice low. She took one glance at Sasuke and her gaze become saddened.

"B-but why?" I ask.

"I'm not needed. You three get on so well and when I'm with you three I feel left out, like you're hiding a secret from me." Sakura admits, she wouldn't look at any of us, not even Sasuke.

Sasuke nods his head, agreeing with what she says.

"Where are you going then?" Naruto asks with a worried look.

Sakura smiles slightly. "It'll be a new team, they need a medic and since Akemi-chan is the medic on Team Seven, I'll be the one to move."

"Who's on the team?" Sasuke asks.

Sakura looks almost hopeful that Sasuke will tell her she's being stupid and that she is needed. But he doesn't say anything. "Ex-ROOT members." Sakura answers.

I look to Tsunade. "Really?"

Tsunade nods her head. "There are some ROOT members that renounced their loyalty to Danzo and are willing to come back into society."

"Who are they?" Sasuke asks again, there was a flash of annoyance on his face. The mere mention of Danzo made him annoyed.

"Someone called Sai and another called Asura." Sakura answers.

I knew who Sai was, he was the one who replaced Sasuke in Shippuden. He was also the assassin that Danzo sent after me three years ago. But I didn't know this Asura person.

"You know you don't have to leave?" I tell Sakura in a gentle voice.

Sakura shakes her head. "I have to. The more I'm on this team the less I feel needed." Sakura turns to Tsunade and bows. With that she leaves the office.

"Now at least we don't have to pretend." Sasuke says with a blank face. Now that Sakura wasn't part of our team we wouldn't have to watch what we said around her. She was the only one who didn't know about me being from another world.

I smack his arm. "Be nice." Even though I was kind of happy she wasn't on our team. I and Sakura have a complicated relationship to say the least.

"There's also another reason why you three are here." Tsunade says getting our attention.

Naruto tilts his head. "And that is?"

Tsunade grins. "I'm promoting you three to Chunin."

"Really?!" Naruto and I shout together. Sasuke's eye widen for a moment before they went back to normal and he smirks.

Tsunade nods. "Of course." She waved over Shizune who brings out three Chunin vests for us. Naruto immediately grabs it and tries it on, a perfect fit. Sasuke had more restraint and tried his on gracefully.

I look at the vest in my hands and make a face. I hated the colour. "Do we have to wear it?" I ask with a strained look.

"For about a month yes." Shizune answers with a smile.

"No." I say.

"Put it on." Tsunade says, a threatening glare in her eyes.

I return the glare. "No."

"JUST PUT THE DAMN THING ON!" Tsunade shouts at me standing up.

I grumble and put the vest on and it fit perfectly. I still didn't like it though. I would be counting down the days until I could take it off.

Tsunade huffs and sits back down. After calming down she speaks. "After careful consideration and a high recommendation from my ANBU Captain, I decided to make you three Chunin."

"Who's your ANBU Captain?" Naruto asks.

A shadow appears on the window ledge.

Itachi Uchiha.

"No way!" I shout. I never thought the Council would allow this, but this was awesome.

Sasuke looked just as shocked. "Nii-san?" His brother hadn't told him this news.

"This is so cool!" Naruto exclaims.

Tsunade smirks. "You're dismissed now, now go show people those vests!" Tsunade sends me a warning look to keep the vest on. I scowl and cross my arms.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

Walking back into my apartment I was greeted by the sight of Haku grinning widely at me. He saw my vest when I walk in and gave me a tight hug.

"I knew you could do it imouto." Haku says.

I return the hug. "Did you doubt me?"

Haku chuckles and let's go of me. "Never."

I grin widely. I had made Chunin. Naruto and Sasuke were also made up that they are Chunin now. Naruto was prancing around the village with the biggest grin I've ever seen on his face. If he's like this becoming a Chunin I wonder what he's going to be like when he becomes Hokage. Sasuke was happy too, there was a slight grin on his face. He would never react the same as Naruto, if he did I would be very worried.

Haku frowns. "However, there is something that I want to discuss with you."

My grin falls. I didn't like the tone he was using. "What?"

"Akemi, you're growing into a woman now," Haku starts by saying. "And you may start dating boys…"

My eyes widen when I realise where this conversation was heading.

"And you may even want to start… doing stuff with those boys."

"Stop!" I shout holding my hands out. Haku was trying to have the birds and the bees talk with me. I already had it back in my world from my mum, which by the way is totally awkward. It was traumatising the first time and I didn't fancy going through it again.

Haku sends me a confused look. "But imouto?"

I shake my head, "I've already had this talk. I don't need it again!"

Haku sighs in relief. "Oh thank god." He didn't want to give me the talk either, but he felt as if he had a duty since he was my older brother.

"Haku," I ask, "Who's the one who gave you the talk?" His parents were killed when he was younger and he was cared for by Zabuza. I don't see Zabuza as the type to explain this sort of thing.

Haku blushes. "Zabuza did…"

Let's just say it took me a while to get off the floor with how much I was laughing. Haku's embarrassed face made it even harder to calm down.