After much procrastination I've finally managed to get out another chapter. Here's some bad news - I won't be updating for at least a few weeks after this week because of exams. It's unfortunate, and I apologize, but I really need to score well because my past results have been really shit and I don't want to drop into the bad classes :/

On a brighter note, there has been a reviewer who said he 'wanted to kill himself' after reading this story... something that made me laugh while saying "go ahead", hoping he could somehow hear. It's nice to get stupid reviews once in awhile instead of the usual "omg good job" or "please update" or "10/10".

Arch The Ripper: Unfortunately to have a career in writing, you can't only be good at writing - and I am unfortunately only good at writing and gaming.

enerongoku77: Yes, there is :)

Lin: It's no problem! Love the epic review as usual.

Rain Dove: Character bashing is annoying. The only kind I can stand is a story that bashes Danzo, because I totally hate the guy. And I didn't mean for the Kankuro-Sasuke fight to be a bashing :P I just thought Sasuke would win it easily, so that's how I wrote it. I'm glad you think I have the ability for 1000 reviews, although I don't really think so, at least, not yet. Also, Sasuke had the time to put his shirt back on because, well, the other teams were involved in fighting among themselves, really. Love the review on my profile as well ;)

GrandMasterSkywalkerDaemonhunt: What do you mean by shacked up? And I think Itachi can at least handle one of them on his own, but if both of them team up against him, he'll have his ass served to him...

FrozenFlamingFire: Sarcasm ;)

Crush48: Think it's your first. Thanks! :)

Thanks to Arch The Ripper, enerongoku77, J. 586, Crystal, Lin, Pyr00tje, shadowmarialove, TheOrangeStar802, Rain Dove, GrandMasterSkywalkerDaemonhunt, FrozenFlamingFire, AlleyCAT19, Awais and Crush48 for the reviews!

"My name is Shin Yaiba," he introduced himself, brushing a lock of his outrageously long orange hair off his eye.

"I don't care," Sasuke replied matter-of-factly.

Shin laughed. "You should... for my name, followed by the word 'mercy', is what you will be crying out in ten minutes. I am going to beat you, and then I am going to be a Jonin."

Meeting his confident gaze with a cold glare, Sasuke raised his fist, his Lightning chakra sizzling on it.

"If that's what you think is going to happen... then you've got another thing coming."

Neji jumped back up on his feet, growling. Shin dodged his Gentle Fist strikes, before jumping back and exclaiming, "Fire Style: Flaming Vortex Jutsu!"

The Fire Style technique was coming on fast, leaving Neji with no time to dodge, but Sasuke was swifter. He rushed to his teammate's aid, jumping to the front of the Hyuga and then punching the ground.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Barrier!"

Shin frowned as a barrier made from Lightning chakra shielded his opponents from the attack.

"Well, I never expected a fight against an Uchiha and a Hyuga to be easy," he grunted, producing his sword. "Leaf Style: Crescent Moon Dance!"

Two Shadow Clones accompanied him and the trio attacked Sasuke and Neji.

"8 Trigrams Palm Rotation!"

Easily, Neji blew the the three Shins away.

All three dispersed.

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Below us!" Neji cried.

Shin burst up from underground, just as Neji jumped away, positioning his sword at Sasuke's neck.

He smirked.

"I'm from Konoha as well! Do you not think I don't know anything about the Hyuga clan's techniques?" He chuckled, angering Neji. "You've been battling with Shadow Clones since the beginning of the battle..."

"And how do you not know you've not been battling with clones as well?"

Sasuke started mimicking Shin's chuckling as he spoke, and then exploded into a mass of lightning, electrifying his fellow Leaf Chunin.

Neji seized the opportunity to attack. This battle is over, he thought, as his first attacks sank into Shin's body.

"8 Trigrams 64 Palms!"

An array of palmed strikes later, Shin was thrown onto the ground.

However, this Shin dispersed again.

Thanks to his Byakugan however, Neji avoided the attack from above. The original Shin had descended from the ceiling, sword raised. How he'd got up there without anyone noticing, Neji didn't know.

Sasuke reappeared, boldly engaging Shin in close combat without a sword. Skillfully avoiding the swordsman's graceful sword moves, he managed to land his right foot up Shin's cheek, and three seconds after that, his left foot slammed into his opponent's other cheek.

"So you're the real original," Sasuke grinned.

Shin shot an angry glare at him, and swiped his sword again.

Neji quickly interfered. He struck with his Gentle Fist, and to both Sasuke and Shin's amazement, halved the sword. The blade clattered to the ground, now useless for battle.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Sasuke jumped back, quickly executing the same technique.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Both fireballs clashed and cancelled out each other.

Undeterred, Sasuke made more hand seals. "Fire Style: Great Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

From his mouth came his majestic flame dragon, that descended upon Shin.

Shin scoffed. "Earth Style: Terra Shield!"

The dragon slammed into the shield, exploding, but Shin was safely protected.

"Earth Style: Mud Missile Jutsu!"

He raised his arm, and countless mud balls rose from the ground, throwing themselves at Sasuke.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Barrier!"

Annoyed at how the battle was going nowhere, Shin raced forward, ready to punch the lights out of Sasuke.

Neji stepped in once more, forcing Shin to defend against his Gentle Fist blows.

As he was pre-occupied with Neji, he was struck down, a Chidori Sharp Spear piercing through him.

Sasuke stopped the jutsu, and the spear disappeared, Shin collapsing to the ground with a huge hole in his chest.

Then, he turned into a log.

Reacting quickly, Sasuke shaped his Chidori Blade, waving it up to defend himself against Shin, who had attempted to drive a kunai into his head from behind.

Neji rushed in again, jumping up and sending a flying kick Shin's way, knocking him to the ground.

Now seemingly highly frustrated, Shin got back up, maintaining a defensive stance as he bit his thumb.

Sasuke realized what he was about to do. He bit his thumb as well.

As they made the required hand seals, both slammed their palms onto the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

"Why have you taken me here, brother? Aren't we supposed to be training?"

14-year-old Sasuke looked at Itachi curiously, who just smiled at him.

"I've decided that it's time for you to learn how to use the Summoning Jutsu."

Sasuke's eyes lit up in delight. He had been waiting for this.

"What am I going to summon? Crows?"

He had always admired his brother's proficiency with the Summoning Jutsu, and how he'd used his crows in conjunction with his genjutsu skills. Now he couldn't wait to do the same.

"No," Itachi shook his head. "I think someone like you should be summoning something a bit more... different. That's why we are here today. We are going to get your summoning."

"Get?" Sasuke didn't get it... if you would mind the pun.

"Well, you see... the animal I have in mind for you is a little... tough to work with."

Sasuke didn't like the sound of it. He wanted a summon who would obey, not a rebellious one. But then again, it might be interesting to have a summon with a bit of character...

"What's the animal?"

Itachi grinned at him. "How will it be a surprise if I tell you now?"

Sasuke snorted.

They walked into the two guards. A majestic castle stood in front of them - their destination.

"State your business," one of the guards said. The two guards' faces were covered by helmets and armor.

Itachi gave them a creepy smile. His Sharingan activated, and a second later both guards collapsed onto the ground. Sasuke chuckled, as he accompanied his fellow Uchiha into the castle.

Somehow, the castle and the guards resembled this particular animal. For some reason, Sasuke couldn't remember which one, but he had a nagging feeling it was related to the animal he was going to see today, and the thought of being unable to remember what type of animal the guards and the castle looked like was frustrating.

They kept walking down a hallway, and finally Itachi stopped at a room.

Sasuke stopped as well, eyeing the door curiously.

"Unfortunately, the summon we have for you won't co-operate..." Itachi revealed. "... unless you beat him in battle."

He pushed the door, and it slid open.

Sasuke stared at the animal behind the door, and then he remembered. The castle, and the guards... They resembled a...

"Now get to it!"

"R-Right!" Sasuke rushed towards the animal, who had just noticed their presence. "You're mine!"

"Summoning Jutsu!"

There was a puff of smoke, and Sasuke got a brief glimpse of Shin's summon. It was an ape, and a rather serious-looking one at that.

However, Sasuke's summon made everyone present gasp.

It was a giant, white-skinned, generally-badass looking cat.

This cat easily towered over Sasuke, and had scars all over his back, as well as one on each eye. His yellow eyes looked somewhat crazed, and murder-hungry. In one of his hands, or paws, he held a glass of wine.

Sasuke grinned.

"Meet... Nekomata."

Nekomata finished up the glass, and threw it onto the ground, where it shattered into pieces. "So you've summoned me, Sasuke," he noted, with an evil-looking smirk.

"This will be the first time I'm using you in battle," he replied. "Get ready."

"You're not using me," Nekomata argued.

Sasuke sighed. "Fine... I need your help."

"That's more like it."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Asuma shook his head in disbelief. This boy... he's learnt to summon a monster cat! Unbelievable...

Kakashi's one single visible eye was also widened. So Itachi has taught him the Summoning Jutsu... and Nekomata too...

"Your cat doesn't scare me one bit," Shin declared, after awhile. "My ape will show you how it's done!"

Shin's ape shrieked in agreement, and leaped towards Neji.

Regaining his composure, Neji started spinning. "8 Trigrams Palm Rotation!"

The ape's tail shot out, lengthening and curling around the statue hands in the middle of the arena, pulling him to safety. Neji chased after it, determined to bring the summon down.

"Get back here!" Shin cried to his ape, but Neji kept him busy. With an annoyed look, the orange-haired Chunin glared at Sasuke and Nekomata. "Fine... I'll just have to bring you and your stupid cat down by myself!"

"Who are you calling stupid, punk?" Nekomata meowed with anger. "Mind you, I'm the strongest ninja cat in the world! I'll show you how it's done. Shrinking Jutsu!" He started shrinking, to Sasuke's height, and then attacked.

"Ha," Shin mocked. "What crap can a cat do? Scratch me to death?"

"What can a cat do?" Nekomata disappeared.

The surroundings of the arena turned into a pitch black.

Shin was instantly decapitated, Nekomata behind him, the cat's sharp claws doing the work of a sword.

"A lot," the cat proceeded to give a villain-like laugh.

The head of Shin rolled onto the ground.

A second later, he was pieced back together again, head and all.

Shin dropped onto his knees, hands clutching his head.

"I-Impossible... I got... beheaded... but... I-I'm... still here... w-why?"

His answer was another decapitation.

Nekomata laughed heartily as Shin reappeared in front of him again, his head reattached.

"No... stop!" The Leaf nin screamed, backing away as Nekomata advanced on him again.

He ran towards a door, and hastily opened it, in a bid to get away from the crazy cat in front of him. To his horror, Nekomata was now behind that particular door, and in an instant, he was decapitated for the third time.

As usual, he was 'revived', with Nekomata grinning madly at him.

Shin screamed.

His shadow shone on the ground - with no lights around, but science wasn't something he was thinking about at the moment. His shadow morphed into the shadow of three cats, which jumped up from the ground and attacked him mercilessly with their claws, all the while with their yellow eyeballs, which lacked pupils, staring into his eyes.

Shin started screaming again as the cats soon left him alone, on the ground, bleeding to death.

His surroundings became clear again, and he was back in the arena, on his knees, clutching his head. He welcomed the sight.

Unfortunately, the next moment, pain shot through his entire body. Shin looked down, to see a blue spear protruding from the front of his body.

Sasuke stood behind him, with his Chidori Sharp Spear stabbing into Shin's back.

"Thanks, Nekomata," Sasuke said, as the spear disappeared. Shin gasped, as he collapsed again.

"No problem," the cat meowed. "He deserved it. I trust I can return to Cat Fortress now."

"Yes. Although it was a short battle, you did your job. Thanks."

Nekomata nodded, shooting one last victorious smirk at Shin on the ground, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Just a minute later, the ape battling Neji disappeared as well.

Sasuke walked over to Shin, who glared up at him, mouthing 'bastard' as blood ran down his mouth.

Ignoring the unsaid insult, he graciously called for a medic.

I hoped you like the brief cameo of Nekomata! It wasn't much, but I got to show off his awesome cat genjutsu here. By the way, I have never really seen the episode on Nekomata in the anime and I take what I know from Narutopedia and a YouTube action music video of Sasuke and Nekomata, but they didn't say anything about Nekomata's behavior or personality there so I've had to do that on my own. Hopefully I didn't get anything wrong.

Question of the Day: Sasuke vs Neji - who would win?

In the next chapter, the third part of the Jonin Exams are explained.

Until next time!