When Akiko entered the competitor's box for the first time she saw a fist flying towards her face. She ducked under it, took a step forward, and punched her attacker in their stomach, causing the attacker to double over. When she was certain that her foe was unable to attack her for a while Akiko stood back up and strode over to the benches lined along the back wall of the box and sat down. Shikamaru, having heard an 'oof' looked over to see what was going on and, seeing Sakura lying spread out on the floor, said, "Well, it's troublesome for me to say Sakura, but you had that one coming." Sakura, hearing Shikamaru's sentiment, groaned in pain.

Recovering quickly Sakura stood bolt upright and stomped over to Akiko. She said, "Naruto, you pervert!" and proceeded to, once again, try and knock her teammate out, failing miserably as Akiko repeatedly moved her head out of the way of Sakura's fist, easily dodging each and every punch. Sakura growled in frustration at the, to her, hitherto unknown fact that whenever she hit Naruto he was actually letting her.

Akiko coldly asked, "Is your hand sore enough yet, Sakura?"

Sakura growled out, "Why you!"

Shikamaru, well and truly sick and tired of Sakura's ridiculous attempts to inflict bodily harm on her teammate, asked, "It's not just some jutsu, is it?"

Sakura looked between Shikamaru and Akiko as Akiko said, "No, it's not."

Akiko's statement prompted Sakura to ask the, ever intelligent, question, "Huh?"

Shikamaru asked, "So, are you going to tell us what happened inside that sphere?"

"Yeah, I'll go into more detail with you later, but suffice it to say that, when I was born, my Yin chakra was used to change my gender, so this is actually what I should have been from the start. It's also why Ninjutsu and Genjutsu have always been difficult for me."

"I had wondered. It seems that you picked up some new tricks while you were in that sphere too."

"Yeah."

"That was an interesting Genjutsu that you used on Neji. I bet he didn't even realise that you'd used it."

"Huh? Genjutsu?" Sakura asked, before dismissively saying, "There's no way that someone like Naruto could ever use something as intricate and advanced as genjutsu."

Temari, having been interested in, and eavesdropping on, the conversation, sighed and said, "Weren't you listening just now you pink banshee? Akiko's Yin chakra was sealed away. I don't know what they teach you in your academy, but there are many different chakra elemental types. There's the commonly known Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning and Wind elements. But beyond them there is also Yin chakra and Yang chakra. It can be said that most Genjutsu fall well and truly under Yin release, and, since Yin chakra is based on the spiritual energy that governs the imagination, can be used to create form out of nothingness, you could say that it is also a very important element in all ninjutsu, at least elemental ninjutsu at any rate."

"Huh?" Sakura asked, not really getting what the Sunagakure ninja was saying.

Shikamaru sighed, "We did actually cover it in the academy, but you were too busy gushing over Sasuke at the time. Basically sealing away a person's Yin chakra eliminates almost any possibility of a ninja using ninjutsu or genjutsu at any high level. It also tends to affect intelligence."

"So then..."

"Akiko's intelligence is quite possibly close to my level."

Akiko said, "I wouldn't quite go that far, but yes. Due to the seal's breaking both my cognitive abilities, and my control over my chakra, have increased by leaps and bounds."

"Uhh..." Sakura intelligently said, thinking, 'That's not good...that would mean that, if Naru...Akiko, hadn't had that seal placed on her, then I might not have been placed on Sasuke-kun's team!'

Akiko asked, "Let me guess, you're second-guessing your being placed on our team?"

Sakura thought, 'Can she read minds now too?'

"No, I'm not reading your mind."

Sweatdrops started running down Sakura's face as she was increasingly weirded out by Akiko's seeming ability to know what she was thinking, before she even thought it. Sakura nervously said, "right then...I think I'll just go back to my seat."

"Yeah, bye!" Akiko said smiling.

Shikamaru said, "Yeah, later," as Sakura left the box. He then turned to Akiko and asked, "Did you really have to cold-read her?"

"Does ramen taste better with Naruto in it?"

"Uhh...I'm not entirely sure, that's a better comparison for Chouji."

"Okay...how about is rice white?"

"Usually."

"Argh! Ah, whatever. I just felt like messing with her, that's all. Hmph, she deserved it."

Temari said, "That's true."