Disclaimer: I own jack squat

Last time: Moegi wins against the second Takeda bro.

This time: Konohamaru vs. Sasame!

"The next match! Kusajishi Sasame vs. Sarutobi Konohamaru!"

In the box, Konohamaru gulped nervously as Sasame made a happy noise of excitement and elected to not take the stairs, vaulting instead over the rail of the booth and landing with an easy grace on the ground below.

The display only served unsettle the teen more and he fell to his knees on the floor, one hand clasped over his mouth as he tried to keep down the breakfast he'd eaten before the Exams.

Looking back, he realized, eating may not have been one of his better ideas.

"Sarutobi Konohamaru! Come down now or be disqualified!"

Genma's voice cut the air again, but it awakened something inside of the grandson of the Sandaime. He was the last of the Sarutobi line, with his grandfather, father and uncle all dead, killed in battle or dying of natural causes. If he chickened out now, then what would people say of him, who had relatives among the revered Hokage and the feared Guards of Fire, the squad of elite shinobi who protected the Fire Daimyo?

He would be disgraced, never able to redeem his honor. He would go down in history as the coward black sheep among heros. The seventeen year old's hand clenched on the ground as the realization that he had to fight not only for himself and potentially his life, but also for the honor and prestige of his clan. If he wanted to be the Nanadaime someday then he had to start now.

"Sarutobi, last chance!"

Konohamaru lurched to his feet and looked down into the arena with a hard and determined look in his eyes. Some would say later that it resembled Naruto's look from eight years earlier when he fought Neji in the explosive opening match.

The last Sarutobi gripped the rail and vaulted over, landing in a crouch and showing everyone in the same moment, by mimicking his enemy's move, that he wasn't afraid to do what it took to keep up with his opponent.

Naruto arrived in the box with the last Takeda and Ayame, crossing his arms and leaning on the edge of the open hole in the wall, his eyes searching and observant, watching Konohamaru to see how much his perceived little brother had grown since he'd been gone and also watching Sasame to see if he couldn't pick up any clues to what he already knew about her.

Both fighters were at the center of the arena.

Genma's hand raised.

In the moments just before, Naruto began thinking. He was running in 'missing-nin mode'. It was the mindset that he'd sunken into in the intervening years between his abandonment of Konoha and his subsequent return.

'Ninjutsu. Sasame's really fond of ninjutsu and weapons. From what I've seen of Konohamaru, he's more of a close in taijutsu fighter.' His eyes narrowed. He really hoped Baa-chan had taught Konohamaru something good, otherwise this would be over real fast. 'This is the worst match up.'

'Don't forget the power difference.'

The blond nodded mentally. No matter how many good ninjutsu Konohamaru knew, there was the simple fact that Sasame was just leaps and bounds above a genin. The Sandaime's grandson was more than likely doomed to failure, but knowing Konohamaru as he did, Naruto was certain that the teen would be dragged into defeat kicking and screaming.

"Begin!"

Sasame and Konohamaru bounced back away from each other simultaneously, each pulling out a kunai, Sasame's appearing from her sleeve, and threw them at their opponent.

The knives met in a clash of sparks and fell to the ground, but the combatants were already in motion, speeding at each other as fast as they could before clashing in a massive battle of taijutsu skills.

From the first few blows, it was obvious that Konohamaru had the upper hand as his hands were free and unencumbered, unlike Sasame whose hands were covered by the over long sleeves of her dress. Despite that, she was able to hold off the genin as his attacks grew more and more fierce.

Konohamaru over extended one of his punches as Sasame batted the attack away with a casual brush of her left sleeve then she dropped and spun, sticking her leg out, catching the Sarutobi off guard and sweeping his legs out from under him. His eyes went wide as he seemed to hang in mid-air for a bit, then Sasame followed through, following through with her spin and rising almost like a champion figure skater to drive the heel of one hand into the open ribs of the falling genin and send him slamming into the wall hard enough to make a depression and send a spiderweb of fractures out from where he hit.

The teen fell to the ground in a heap before picking himself up, wincing as he put a hand to his rib.

'It hurts just to breath. A few must be broken,' Konohamaru realized, putting chakra into his hand as he began a basic diagnostic jutsu that the Godaime had taught him.

"Alright, now listen up," Tsunade barked at the grandson of her sensei, who was sitting seiza on the ground in front of her. "You don't have the chakra control for the more advanced medical jutsu, or for my signature taijutsu, but I can teach you some basic medical jutsu."

"What!?" Konohamaru yelled at his sensei, "You mean I can use that mannish strength of yours!?"

A loud crack sounded, and Tsunade had her back to the genin who was cowering and holding the large bump on his head. "No, now listen and I'll explain. My taijutsu and medical jutsu require needle fine chakra control, which you don't have. However, I can teach you the basics, like how to heal a cut and a basic diagnostic jutsu among other things." She glared over her shoulder at the genin. "Any questions?"

Konohamaru opened his mouth to protest but saw the look in the Godaime's eyes and shuddered as he shook his head.

"Good. Now, let's get started…"

The next few weeks had been hell for Konohamaru as Tsunade had forced the genin to his limits again and again, exhausting him with ninjutsu training then forcing him to fight her until he couldn't move anymore. He had wondered if that training was what Sakura had gone through when she'd trained with the old lady, but the training really was paying dividends.

"Oh? You're alive?" Sasame sounded surprised when Konohamaru stood up with only a little hesitation from his abused ribs. "That should've killed you." She cocked her head like a curious kitten. "I wonder how you did it."

Konohamaru smirked. "An old hag with an evil temper."

Naruto laughed outright when he heard that, and when a massive wave of killing intent slammed down on him, he laughed even harder at his granny's expense.

Shizune, Sakura and Gaara looked at Tsunade, who had veins bulging all over her face and a look that said Konohamaru was a dead man when the two met next, and inched away, Gaara scooting his chair, almost seeing the flames spring to life around her.

'Konohamaru…You are so dead.' Sakura thought with a shudder.

The teen made a quick series of hand seals and his hand glowed green, which he pressed to his side and hissed in pain as he pushed the bone to its proper place and used the chakra to heal it as best he could. He wasn't able to totally heal it, but he could get it to the point where it wouldn't cause him as much pain. He finished and looked at Sasame.

"Now," he asked. "Where were we?"

Sasame giggled and her sleeves flew together then began bulging here and there as the kunoichi began to make hand seals.

Konohamaru dropped into his stance and watched as the woman continued with her jutsu. It was part of Tsunade's training. The Hokage had taught him how to watch for little idiosyncrasies in an opponents fighting style and from there be able to anticipate what they were going to do next. Tsunade had it down to a science and could predict an adversaries next move just as accurately as an Uchiha could.

Sasame finished her seals and brought her hand to her mouth.

"Katon! Karyuu Endan!"

A large dragon of flame spewed out and raged toward Konohamaru, who panicked and brought his hands up in a futile attempt to block the onrushing flame.

"Konohamaru-kun!" Shizune cried in alarm as the teen's figure was lost among the searing light and heat. "Where was Naruto!? He promised to save him!"

"Relax, Shizune."

"But Tsunade-sama…" The medic apprentice quieted when she noticed her mentor had a smirk on her face. She was lounging in her high-backed chair and looked for all the world that she was confident that Konohamaru was fine.

"Just watch. Don't sell that gaki short just yet."

Shizune wanted to protest further, but she did as she was told and looked down into the arena, where Sasame was straightening up with a put-out look on her face.

"Awww!" She whined. "Is he done already? It's not fair! Why do I always get stuck with the wimps!" She began to waver her long sleeves back and forth as she continued to carry on about her perceived bad luck when it came to strong opponents.

Up in the box, Ayame had strutted over to Naruto, who cast a single look her way then returned his attention to the ground below.

"Too bad, Naruto-kun," She purred, flicking her lavender hair in a way that was clearly meant to be an attempt at seduction, but Naruto knew the volatile kunoichi well enough that he wasn't fooled. "That's one more person you couldn't save."

The blond man glared at her icily.

"Don't bet on it, Ayame."

Ayame smirked. "Really? So you don't think he's dead?" She snorted. "You're still the idealistic fool I knew from the village."

Naruto scowled. "And you're still the icy bitch who underestimates her opponents."

Shuriken burst from the bushes behind Sasame and arced for the red kunoichi, who spun the moment she heard the whisper of the bladed stars leaving the foliage, green eyes going wide in surprise as she jumped back, senbon shooting from her sleeves to knock the stars out of the air.

Naruto's lip curled in a smirk that was usually seen on the face of arrogant prodigies like Sasuke, Itachi and Neji. "And so is your sister."

Several small, black, shadows shot past Sasame and arced back like boomerangs, revealing themselves to be shuriken that had been hidden in the shadow of the first volley.

"Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!?" Sasame wondered in surprise as she made to jump clear, then noticed the sun glinting off several fine metallic threads that were attached to each of the second wave of shuriken. "What?"

Konohamaru's voice rang out. "Katon! Ryuuka no Jutsu!" Several rivers of fire shot down the wires and surrounded the cheery kunoichi, effectively trapping her in a cage of spinning weapons, now glowing red-hot from when the fire had reached them, and burning wire.

The bushes shifted as something shot from them, resolving into the grandson of the Sandaime as he drew back for a mid-air right hook. He sent chakra into his muscles, forcing them to contract harder and faster, making his blow that much more powerful in return.

His fist connected with Sasame's face, who was so surprised at being caught by a genin in a trap that she forgot to block and was sent flying, the shuriken tearing into her skin, making her cry out as she was cut and burned at the same time. Konohamaru twisted in mid-air and slipped through a gap in the weapons, avoiding the same fate himself. He landed on one knee as the shuriken, which had lost a lot of speed when they'd sliced into Sasame, thudded to the ground at the same moment, losing their cherry-red glow as the seconds passed.

Both combatants straightened up, wincing, Sasame from the multiple slashes she'd gotten and Konohamaru from the pain that was now shooting up his right arm from over-exerting his muscle. That right hook had really cost him, he knew, even as he brought a glowing hand to the arm to do what he could to put it right again.

"Clever," Naruto commented when he realized just what was going on. "He's got a ways to go yet, but if he masters that method of fighting, he really could end up being Hokage some day."

"What're you babbling about?" Ayame snapped, angry that she'd been proven wrong by some blond squirt with no real talent, though Naruto was taller that she was and could fight on par with some of the most powerful shinobi in the world, if the rumors she'd heard were true.

"Konohamaru used his chakra to make his arm's muscles contract faster, so he could hit harder. That increased the blow's power by a decent amount."

"Keh, judging from the way he's holding his arm, I'd say he overtaxed it and made that arm pretty much useless."

"True," Naruto admitted, "but that's why he's using medical ninjutsu to speed up the healing."

"What!?" Ayame whirled and looked. Sure enough, there was a faint green glow around the kid's other hand. The glow faded and his right arm moved, visibly trembling even from as far away as the other contestants were right then. "He didn't get it all the way fixed, though."

"I never said it was perfect," Naruto retorted. "There's a lot of risk involved, but as a training method and a short-term method of offense, it's pretty good." The former missing-nin grinned. "Sasame won't be winning this that easily."

Ayame turned with a catty grin. "But you think she'll win? Don't you always have faith in your friends?"

"Maybe Konohamaru won't be winning this battle," the other ninja said smugly, "but trust me, I'll win the war. That little squirt down there will soften up Sasame up to the point that she'll be easy for me to finish off."

That shut Ayame up, and she shot him a smoldering crimson glare before moving away to her old position, leaving the blond shinobi alone again.

'Konohamaru,' Naruto thought with a heavy sense of foreboding, 'don't prove me wrong.'

"Tsunade-sensei?" Sakura asked softly as she stepped up beside her master. She'd long since dropped the 'shishou' honorific at Tsunade's behest, who claimed it made her feel old, and anyone who knew her on a friendly basis knew how much the Godaime hated to be reminded of that.

"What?" The Hokage's reply was snippy, but Sakura had known her master long enough to know that it was out of relief that Konohamaru was okay and concern that now he was okay, he wouldn't be for long.

"Uh, Sensei, did you teach him that?" It had been obvious from the very start to the trio of medical kunoichi just what Konohamaru had done to throw Sasame for a loop like that.

Tsunade looked at her second apprentice for a second then smiled smugly. "No, actually, I didn't. He came up with it all on his own."

"How?" Shizune asked.

"By thinking outside the box like Kakashi and Naruto are prone to doing."

"I don't get it," Sakura said, puzzled.

"I didn't teach him how to mix his chakra like that to amplify the contraction of his muscles. That's the basic fundamentals of my taijutsu. You use the chakra to amplify the contraction of the muscle and also use the chakra in your fist to increase the damage radius by several times."

"Right, and?" Sakura asked, knowing this. After all, she knew Tsunade's taijutsu herself.

"Well, we keep it within the limit of the human body to avoid shredding muscle like Konohamaru just did, though he didn't really overdo it like he could've, by releasing the chakra in our fists at the exact moment of impact. Konohamaru doesn't have anywhere near the control required for that. So he circumvented it by making the muscle contract that much harder with the chakra he should've used in his fist."

"So you mean…?"

The Hokage nodded. "Yeah. He's essentially created a variation of our style by working with what he knows." She smiled fondly, something she never did very often. "That kid really is the Sandaime's grandson."

"And with the rudimentary medical jutsu he knows," Shizune added. "He could, in theory, repair any damage done to his muscles in seconds if he gets enough time."

"Right, but that would essentially do the same thing as my seal if he does it in combat on a regular basis." Tsunade's face darkened somewhat. "It's a brilliant short-term solution to this problem, but he isn't able to heal the damage totally as he is now, for one, and for two, he'll end up aging at an accelerated rate if he ever fully develops it." She sighed. "Great, I have to teach another brat!"

"Hey!" Shizune and Sakura shouted together, making the Godaime laugh.

"Wow! Not bad!" Sasame said happily as she wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth where Konohamaru's fist connected. "Maybe I can get serious!" Her sleeves came together and began to wriggle as she made hand seals.

'Crap!' Konohamaru thought as he began to hop back to get some distance from the kunoichi as she flung her sleeves back. As they came forward, his hands came together in a sequence of his own.

"Ninpou! Senbon Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The rain of needles poured out of her sleeves like a monsoon-season rain storm, each and every one of the needles on target to perforate Konohamaru and turn him into the senbon-filled corpse that had become Sasame's signature on the battlefield.

The needles hit and blood sprayed everywhere as some stuck and others flew straight on through, filling the genin with holes. His eyes rolled back, blood flying from his mouth as he fell back, thudding to the ground with a finality that had even Naruto wondering if he got away safely.

There was a poof of smoke then a ground-shaking explosion, wood fragments flying as the tagged log that Konohamaru had substituted with detonated, the shrapnel shredding trees, bushes and leaves, though Sasame herself was unharmed, only because she substituted with a Kage Bunshin at the last second.

The crowd, shocked into silence by the sudden explosion, went wild as the two fighters emerged unharmed from the bushes at the opposing edges of the arena.

Konohamaru's face was set into an uncharacteristically grim mask as he watched the woman across from him check her clothes for any new rips and tears. That set his jaw on edge. She didn't consider him a threat? Well, he'd show her!

His pulse began to quicken. He had to do something to end it and he had to do it quick. He was almost out of weapons and his chakra was beginning to run low. He had nowhere near the endurance of Naruto-aniki or Sakura, though she wasn't in the same leauge as Naruto, she did have more endurance than Konohamaru. He had enough for another few exchanges, and that was it.

A minute passed.

Then another. Konohamaru's foot slid back. Sasame mimicked the move.

Another minute and both, at some unseen signal, exploded into motion, rushing at the other as fast as they could in a mutual agreement to use taijutsu for this newest skirmish in the battle.

They clashed and once again were whirling and kicking and punching, but it was futile. Konohamaru put up a good fight, but in the end, Sasame's greater experience, stamina and form won out and she knocked the genin into the air with a vicious heel hand to the chin, then she drew back and as Konohamaru fell, drove her hand deep into his gut, making him spit blood and shoot backwards into the arena wall in a spray of shattered concrete.

"Konohamaru!" The cry came from Naruto as he watched the shinobi he had come to think of as a little brother since the second exam slam into the wall and make a massive depression with an oval hole in the middle. "Damn!" He gripped the rail and prepared to vault over, but Kyuubi's youki surged and paralyzed his legs.

'Dammit Kyuubi! What the fuck do you think you're doing!?' The irate blond demanded of his tenant, who just stared down at him with a single cat-like eye.

'Naruto, don't interfere. It would end this match before it got started.'

'What the hell have you been smoking fox!?'

The kitsune's lip curled. 'Despite your skill, you're still a naïve brat. Take a second to listen and maybe you'll hear it.'

Naruto snarled, but he closed his eyes anyway, calming himself and listening to his other senses. Slowly, the faint 'thump-thump' of a heartbeat reached his ears, easily discernable since the crowd had gone silent again when the Sandaime's grandson had hit the wall.

'What?'

'That little gaki is tougher than you give him credit for. Just watch. He may surprise even you.'

'If you're wrong…' Naruto trailed off, leaving the threat unsaid.

'If I'm wrong, then you can do whatever the hell you want. Who knows? Maybe I'll even lend a hand.' The fox's booming laughter filled the blonde's ears as he left his mindscape and returned to the waking world, just in time to catch a beat-up Konohamaru shoot from the hole like a bullet at Sasame, drawing back and hitting the woman in the face with a blow that sent ripples through the dirt around their feet and seemed to echo around the stadium.

Sasame stumbled but didn't fall, which surprised Konohamaru and left him open to the heel hand that the kunoichi delivered to his solar plexus in retaliation, throwing him away to tumble head over heels until his slammed into the wall next to his hole with a sick crunch and a cry of pain. He slumped but stayed upright, took a few rolling steps forward then just seemed to fall into a dash that had him going straight for Sasame again, and this time he drew a kunai from his holster, one of his last ones, and lunged, trying to slip the blade between his foe's ribs and kill her.

He flew through the air as Sasame batted him aside with almost a careless back hand, crashing into one of the trees in the arena so hard that the plant shook and let loose a hail of leaves.

"Aww. Come on! You can do better than that can't you!?" The kunoichi said with a pouting expression. "And I got all worked up about fighting you too! Dammit, I hate it when I'm wrong." She looked away, but her attention was quickly recaptured when Konohamaru stumbled out of the bushes, holding his shoulder, trying to staunch the blood that was running down his now useless arm and trying to blink away the blood that kept getting in his eyes from the gash on his forehead over his left eye.

His clothes were torn, his hirai-ate hung lazily in front of his right eye, almost like Kakashi except in reverse. Reaching up with his uninjured hand, he somehow managed to straighten it and retighten the small piece of armor so that it sat straight, solving the problem of the blood from his forehead getting into his eye. The hirai-ate would act as both bandage and sponge as it kept pressure on the injury and soaked up whatever blood came through, at least until it got saturated and started to drip.

'Shit. Vision keeps fading,' Konohamaru thought to himself as his eyesight blurred, refocused for a moment when he blinked, then blurred again. Whether from exhaustion or blood loss he didn't know, but what he did know is that he had to so something now to get in at least a decent shot on Sasame before he passed out. 'I really didn't want to use this, but I have no choice.'

He grunted as he force his injured arm to move, the limb shrieking in protest, the nerves up and down it feeling as if liquid fire was rolling over them. Gritting his teeth to bite back a scream, he forced his hands to mold into a sequence of seals.

This jutsu was his last resort. It would be the final technique he used because if he was still conscious after the effect happened, he wouldn't have the chakra for anything else.

'Gramps, Uncle Asuma, I hope you're watching, because this is all I've got left to make you guys proud.'

"That sequence!" Tsunade yelled, leaning forward. "He can't possibly…Not in his condition!"

"What's he doing?" Shizune asked.

The Hokage sat back with a heavy sigh, partially covering her face with one hand. "He's using his birthright." She answered cryptically.

"Konohamaru, wait!" Naruto shouted, recognizing the sequence himself and knowing that the genin just didn't have the chakra for it. Not at this point. "Don't…!"

"Ninpou!" The Sandaime's grandson shouted. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He slammed a bloody hand into the ground, from which spread a spiderweb of intricate black lines. An explosion of smoke later and there was a white-furred monkey as tall as any human, decked out in full shinobi gear right down to his Konoha hirai-ate, stood blinking in the bright sun.

He looked around puzzled, then spotted the swaying Konoha genin who stood behind him.

"Hm? Konohamaru-kun? What's going on? Why did you summon me?" Enma the monkey King asked, his face showing his puzzlement. The summoner panted heavily, wavering as if he was about to collapse at any moment as he reached into his kunai pouch and pulled out a small black pill which he popped into his mouth and swallowed.

The Sandaime's grandson blinked once or twice to clear his vision and looked at the ape in front of him.

"I need your help, Enma-san," he replied, heavy pants coloring his words. Despite the boost from the soldier pill, he still was in no shape to last any length of time against an enemy like Sasame.

For better or worse, the Summoning Technique had been his last jutsu. From here on it would be his stamina which determined how long he lasted.

The monkey nodded. "Of course, Konohamaru-kun. I assume that our enemy is this scarlet woman over here?"

"Yeah. She's tough, so if you wouldn't mind…"

Enma nodded. "Say no more. I shall lend my assistance, Konohamaru-kun." The ape struck a pose, arms thrown wide and his right leg resting above his left knee. "Henge!"

There was a poof and a black staff with gold caps on the end spiraled high into the air to land with a sharp smack in Konohamaru's hand, who twirled the weapon deftly and set himself up to attack.

"Oh?" Sasame asked, "You wanna play with weapons? Okay! I can do that!" She pulled out a small scroll, unrolled it then bit her thumb, swiping the blood across a specific seal character. There was another explosion of shinobi smoke as an unsheathed katana landed in the cheery kunoichi's hand.

She looked at the edge as it gleamed in the sun, the temper line glittering as she moved it around to check the weapon's sharpness, though anyone and everyone who knew anything about weapons could see that it was a first-class weapons and didn't need any checking or sharpening.

Sasame held up her sword, the blade gleaming near her chin, tip angled at the ground as she waited for Konohamaru to make the first move.

The genin gulped as he held his staff at the ready, heart beginning to race. Sasame didn't look harmless, but he knew, he wasn't a fool. The red kunoichi was toying with him something terrible. He was breaking his back to do everything he could to scratch her and she was only doing the bare minimums. That little bit in the opening round and since had taken every fiber of his being to pull off and he still had a ways to go.

"Konohamaru-kun," said the staff in his hand, a small eye opening on the pole. "You do realize that since your chakra is lacking, I'm not as strong as I was with your grandfather or uncle."

"I know. This is the final move, one way or another."

"Even if it means your death?"

"Naruto-aniki said he'd help if she was going to kill me." The staff fell silent, knowing that the kid would be alright if he'd promised. The monkey had heard good things about the blond kid from the toads he knew.

"Very well. If you understand the consequences then I shall not stand in your way, Konohamaru-kun."

"Thank you, Enma-san."

There was a moment of quiet between both combatants then they lunged at each other with war cries the weapons meeting in a bright shower of sparks.

Konohamaru bounced back and leveled the end of his staff at Sasame's face, who held her sword up to prepare for the attack. What happened next caught her off guard, because Enma extended without warning, one gold capped end shooting forward like a bullet, catching the surprised kunoichi under her chin, snapping her head back and throwing her into the wall on the other side of the arena in an explosion to match the one he'd made earlier.

Enma retracted and Konohamaru twirled the staff over his head before slamming an end into the ground with a proud grin on his face. The smoke and rubble cleared and revealed Sasame, sprawled spread-eagle on some fragments, a dark bruise already rising on her jaw where the monkey-staff had caught her. She wasn't moving, but the genin could see her chest rising and falling.

Sasame was out cold.

Naruto's grip tightened on the rail, the blond feeling his heart begin pound as he realized just what had happened. This was the worst thing that could've happened. Konohamaru had just sealed his defeat in this match. Before, he'd had a chance, no matter how small, of defeating Sasame in this match. Now, though, he had no chance, and if he was right, then the reason why would be making its presence known in just a moment.

Icy and haunting laughter filled the air. People in the stands began looking around for the source, as Konohamaru was doing, but Naruto and his inner demons already knew where the noise was coming from.

Sasame's red-clad chest was heaving from the hearty laughing. Finally, the crowd began to catch on and one by one, the people and lower-ranked shinobi in the seats began to focus on the kunoichi who was laughing her head off as if getting KO'd was the funniest thing in the world, though the sound was creepy, like what you'd expect to hear from Gaara or Shukaku in the old days.

She began to rise, by some trick with her body keeping her torso almost parallel to the ground so it gave the impression that a puppetmaster had attached a string to her chest and was pulling her off the ground, letting her arms and head dangle. Sasame got to her feet, slumping forward, sleeves hanging as if her arms weren't even in them.

One hand came up, grasped the opposite sleeve, then jerked hard, rending the cloth at the shoulder with a sharp tearing noise that echoed throughout the entire stadium like a gunshot. The rent sleeve was released and blew away in the light breeze that was sweeping the stadium to get tangled in the brambles of one of the bushes. Another rip and the other arm was free.

Konohamaru gulped. This was a total one eighty from the perky, happy kunoichi from just a few moments ago.

"Konohamaru-kun," Enma said grimly, "this is about to get very hairy."

"Yeah…Can you help me?"

An eye opened on the staff. "I will do my best."

He inhaled deeply, trying to calm his racing nerves and endorphins. "Right. Thanks." While the genin prepared to do battle again, Sasame ripped the yellow bows from the bottom of her braids and yanked a rough hand through her hair, disentangling braids and letting her hair blow in the breeze before pulling a blood-red ribbon from nowhere and tied her hair back in a simple ponytail, before standing up straight and open her closed eyes.

"Shit!" Naruto couldn't keep the curse from flying off his lips. He knew who was out there now, and the eyes confirmed it.

Sasame's eyes had shifted from their usual vivid green to a hard and sinister amber, the same color of Orochimaru's when the snake was still alive and menacing the world.

The kunoichi's lips curled in a sneering and evil smile. When she spoke, the voice was Sasame's but the tone was someone else's.

"So, you're the little boy that let me out after so long. Thanks, I need the exercise."

Konohamaru gripped Enma tighter.

"What're you talking about, Sasame-san?"

Sasame burst out laughing. "Sasame-chan? Sasame? Don't make me laugh, chibi! Are you mistaking me for that airhead?" The woman snorted. "Looks like we need an introduction kid. You can call me Yumi."

"What?"

Sasame/Yumi looked surprised. "What? Blond-boy up there didn't tell you about me? He's met me you know."

"Naruto-aniki?"

Yumi laughed again. "Aniki? Naruto-aniki?" She looked at the blond shinobi, who was staring at her with ice hard eyes. She gave a mock coy wave. "Didn't know you had a little brother, Naruto-chan." There was a derogatory lilt to the honorific.

"Been too long, Yumi. Wish it was longer."

"Oh! The old cliché. Real witty, Naru-chan, I thought you were more creative than that."

"You know the furball is just chomping at the bit to meet you again, Yumi." Naruto was satisfied to see the woman go a little pale. The last meeting between Kyuubi and Yumi had been…explosive to say the least. The entire area the two had been fighting in had been turned into a big crater that, when Naruto had visited it again while looking for a camping ground, had turned into a new lake by a river that had been partially diverted later in the duel.

By the fight's end, Yumi had been turned back into Sasame and had been beat pretty good. If that wound had healed the way Naruto thought, the MPD-afflicted kunoichi should have a massive scar on her back in the shape of Kyuubi's chakra paw. And that was before the merge, before Naruto and Kyuubi had found a way to let even more of that searing youki out.

The kunoichi snorted. "Well, that doesn't matter. I'll deal with you two when the time comes." She picked up the sword that had fallen from Sasame's grasp when the happier side of the shinobi's personality had been hit by Enma's sudden extension. Slamming it back into the sheath and laying a light hand on the hilt, she got ready to strike.

Neji's pearly eyes narrowed grimly at the sudden departure from what he was familiar with.

"Tenten, what's she up to?" The Hyuuga prodigy asked his kunoichi teammate.

"Iaijutsu, also known as iaido, it's the art of drawing the sword from the sheath and killing the enemy in a single strike." Tenten sighed. "Konohamaru-kun has his work cut out for him if she's a master. Legends say that a master could kill you in a single slash before even you knew you were dead."

"In other words," Gai said in a bout of seriousness, "she is a deadly adversary."

"That's an understatement."

'Great,' Konohamaru thought. 'Now I have to predict her movement and get it right on the first try.' He gulped. 'Well, here goes.' The genin began to study the enemy in front of him. She was leaning forward, all her weight on her right leg, in preparation to dash at him before she slashed him with the katana. Judging by the way she was holding it, Yumi would try for a diagonal slash from right hip to left shoulder. With the speed she would get from the slash, chances were that Yumi was expecting to kill him in one slash which meant that she would be wide open after. If he could dodge the attack, then he could retaliate and possibly get a win out of this.

Both settled in for a waiting game in which both knew that the opening move would fall to Yumi. She decided to move not long after and dashed in so fast that Konohamaru barely got Enma up in time, but it wasn't any use, because the keen blade of the sword, and the reduced state in which Enma fought due to Konohamaru lacking the chakra of a Kage, sliced right through and a streak of silver passed over the genin's body right along the path he'd predicted earlier.

Blood sprayed high into the air as Konohamaru fell back with a cry, the severed halves of his staff clattering to the ground and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"KONOHAMARU!!"

Naruto's cry was the only sound in the stadium as the wounded genin landed flat on his back, the front of his shirt beginning to turn crimson as he slowly bled out. Yumi raised her katana and licked Konohamaru's blood off the tip, which was running down the edge in a small red river. Somehow, that sight, more than anything else that'd happened in the past few seconds, infuriated Naruto beyond reason.

'Kit! Calm down! Now!'

Kyuubi's cry fell on deaf ears, and the great demon felt his youki begin to move as Naruto's fury began to peak, drawing on the red chakra that coursed through the shared body and coils.

Naruto felt an electric jolt run through him as the youki hit him and his rage, fueled and amplified by the demonic energy, increased, which in turn drew out more of the demon's chakra in a self-destructive spiral that already had Naruto's face taking on its demonic signs and a faint red vapor beginning to swirl around him, lifting the cloak as if in a gentle breeze.

Kyuubi hurried to move the remainder of his chakra behind the seal that still bound him to Naruto, though it was too late and the blond was already in control of two tails worth of youki, and despite moving the chakra behind the greatly weakened seal, it wouldn't hold for long and as time went on, the chakra would heed to Naruto's anger and come to him, which would further increase his anger and blood lust. It was a vicious cycle, and it was one that would continue until Naruto got his head back on his shoulders and calmed down.

If it got too bad, Naruto might end up drawing on five tails, which was the limit the blond could handle. It would be just like with the four tails, only more intense, without the chakra buffer the two had developed.

There was a brief pause in the cycle as Konohamaru, blood dripping from his soaked shirt and dripping from his chin where he'd coughed up a little of the red liquid, struggled to his feet and reached a trembling hand into his belt pouch and drew out a blood-red pill and a kunai. He popped the pill, which some of the shinobi recognized a blood pill, a tool which would increase his blood production many fold, allowing him to last just a little longer with the injury he sported. Ragged breathing filled the air as he swayed on his feet, face pale, and looking like he would keel over and pass out at any moment.

Naruto's rage subsided, though his face remained demon-like, the youki ceased its surging and receded, his cloak falling limp and the red swirl around him vanishing.

"Konohamaru…" he murmured, both shocked at the genin's tenacity and a little concerned for his friend's well-being.

Yumi snorted. "You've got some awesome stamina, kid, I'll give you that, but you're still…" she raised her sword, this time getting ready to rush in with a stab, "Dead!" She blurred forward, a dark streak over the ground.

Konohamaru never stood a chance. He was exhausted, wounded, and was nowhere near Sasame's rank, and Yumi was even more powerful than her other personality. Yumi's katana became nothing but a series of silvery streaks that bit into countless points on the other shinobi's body. The Sandaime's grandson screamed in pain as he was lacerated in multiple places, stabbed in countless more, blood flying and once again he was thrown backwards.

The red-clad kunoichi backed up, blinking as Konohamaru again staggered upright again, despite the pain that was tearing through him, making him feel as if he was on fire from the inside out.

"Ready to go again?" Yumi asked, sounding almost eager as she prepped to stab again, most likely ready for a fatal shot. Konohamaru knew that he was no match for Yumi/Sasame, especially before. He'd been lucky, but his luck had run out and he could go no further. His grandfather had told him once that it wasn't shameful to admit defeat if you couldn't win. The kid he was, Konohamaru had proudly proclaimed that he would never lose, but here was the proof that he could lose, so he would accept it and move on, heal, then beg Tsunade-sensei to train him more, or to maybe he could get Sakura to do it. He would get stronger, there would be no doubt about it.

He raised a quaking hand and spoke the most painful phrase of his life.

"I forfeit."

Yumi burst out laughing. "Give up?" She chuckled, "You can't give up. In a real battle, do you think you can just give up? Sorry, chibi, but in a real battle, you keep going until someone…" She sprang forward, sword speeding forward, arcing straight for Konohamaru's vitals. "Dies!"

The genin shut his eyes and braced for the feel of steel slipping between his ribs. There was a 'splurch' and blood sprinkled Konohamaru's face, but for some reason there was no pain. He wasn't cold, or gurgling up blood.

Nothing.

Aside from the dull pulsing pain of his other wounds, he felt fine. The genin opened his eyes a little, then they went wide when he beheld the sight before him.

Naruto's cloak was fluttering to the ground in the box above, and the shinobi himself was right in front of the younger genin, Yumi's katana sticking through his hand, which he'd used to stop the attack.

He looked back, crimson eyes drilling into Konohamaru. "You alright?"

"N-Naruto-aniki?"

"Sorry about all this."

"It's not your fault."

"Thanks for that, but now," he glared at Yumi who swallowed hard and backed up, leaving the katana embedded in Naruto's hand, which he grabbed and ripped free with only a small grunt of pain, the wound hissing and closing in seconds, leaving only a thin pink mark behind. "I have to deal with Yumi."

Genma's hand gripped Naruto's shoulder, bringing the former missing-nin up short.

"That will have to wait until the quarter-finals, Naruto-san." He looked around. "If we could continue?"

A few minutes later, Naruto and the last Takeda were facing off, the other man smirking confidently, and the blond shinobi glaring with hard crimson eyes.

"Uzumaki Naruto vs. Takeda Koza!"

The Takeda got ready to lunge.

"Begin!"

Koza sprinted forward, grinning wildly.

"Die Blondie!"

Well, there you go. Sorry it took so freaking long. I've been busy trying to get Ultimate Ace going, and that took a while, and this chapter was a bit of a bitch to get together too. BUT, I got it done and I hope you enjoyed Sasame's little hidden trait. Sorry if the battle was a little boring, but don't worry, Yumi vs. Naruto should be a lot better. Oh yeah, expect my updates to slow down a tad. I'm home again from college again and I'm taking summer courses. For those of you who know what that means, I feel your pain. For those who don't, well, it's a college course that should take fifteen weeks, but the profs cram all that into just five. Needless to say, I'm gonna be busy with homework and such. So yeah, that's it. See you all next chapter.

Edit: 7-1-2008. Just a small change that needed to be clarifed. Thanks to KingKakashi for pointing it out.