Yup, I know, late again. But at least this time I'm falling only two days behind. Plus I think I can make this up to you. Basically I was planning on uploading this chapter today (which I'm doing for that matter as you can see), but I've also managed to finish chapter 88th in the meantime and thus I figured I'll submit both, since they're done and you guys have been doing your share by reviewing (though that forces me to sit down to it and write 89th for next week)… all in all, here's another, double update! No strings attached, though I'm hoping that at least some of you will be kind enough as to review both of these chappies.

This time I've manage to reply all the reviews (at least I hope I didn't missed any, but if I did, sorry), but that doesn't change the fact that I wanna thank again everyone who did review the previous chapter. It means the world to me and I'm even happier, knowing that you liked it. Really, thank you, and I do hope that you'll enjoy this chapter as well.

As for the game I purposed last time: some of you decided to try. In the cases of signed reviews, I was able to give answers earlier, but considering there were also some I couldn't reply, here's the list of readers who tried to guess with the number of matches they guessed right. I must admit that most of you were predicting Sabure to go against Ibuki and wanted Takai to face off Funbo, so basically Tanken against the strongest sand-nins. Now, those who said in their reviews they wanna know which fights they guessed correctly I told them in reply. What I'll submit bellow will be just how many matches were guessed correctly by each reviewer. Those of you who'll want to know which fights they guessed right, please let me know, giving me a way to contact you, coz I'd prefer not to give anything away in author's notes in this case. With that said, here are the results:

Cranky Wonder Joe – 1 fight

Super Tay – basically 1 fight

Hikari Midori-chan – 1 fight

Morlin – 1 fight

So, if this was a contest, it'd be a total draw. But I'm glad some of you guys found it fun. And if anyone else want to try, feel free to do so. Even those that already tried can try again. Knowing how many matches they got right, they can make a different match-up and see how many did they nailed in second try. One might say this is N:NG's version of the old "Mastermind" game.

Now, one, last thing before I get to the chapter is that I wanna invite everyone (again) to read (and review) my other, next generation fic entitled "Those Who Inherit the Will of Fire". If you're enjoying this story, then you might like the other as well.

And now, with nothing else left to say, here are the newest chapters of N:NG!

Chapter #87: Value of Life

Title Page: Mikka is walking out front, blushing, as she stares over her shoulder at Kai, who tried to keep his balance on an overly fat pig

"Surely this is not a sight you see everyday" announced Sasuke as he gazed at the street covered with blood. The ground, along with the walls around, had several cuts going along with them and in the middle of these laid Kasui's body, cut to pieces, with his blood sprayed on the sidewalk and walls. "Any idea what could've occurred here?" he turned to his partner, who also wore a tiger mask.

"Hard to say" Neji replied calmly, not showing any sign of emotion, yet even he got a little disturbed by the view. "It's hard for me to imagine what sort of technique did this, however taking the fact that there are no shuriken or any other weapon around, it's safe to use this wasn't the work of a typical blade. The cuts on walls make it clear that whatever killed this kid wasn't going for just him but effected the entire area around him…"

"Either way, Hokage-sama should be informed about this" the Sharingan user announced and then gazed at his companion. Upon smiling under his nose, he added quickly: "I'll take care of giving him the report though. You can head back home. Stay ready however… it seems things are getting out of hand" and after giving the head of the Uchiha a slightly nod, Neji went on his way.

---Back to the eliminations---

Mikka fell to her back. Blood kept on escaping her chest as she laid motionless on the floor. Aoru quickly closed her fan and placing it at her belt, she turned towards Lee: "She requires immediate medical help, so please announce the result so that she can be taken to treatment. I didn't injure any of her organs, but left like this she'll bleed to death in a short while…"

The Leaf's Green Beast only nodded and raising his hand in Mikka's direction, he announced: "This fight cannot be continued and thus I declare Aoru the vi…" but suddenly his words froze in his mouth at the sight. "This can't be!" he thought to himself as he saw the young medic-nin slowly getting back up with her body shaking and her breath shallow.

"She got up after receiving such a wound?" Torune more yelled then asked as she leaned over the rail. Naruto merely narrowed his eyes at the realization, as he noticed the wound closing itself: "Instant regeneration?" he thought to himself, completely surprised. "To be able to use that kind of skill at her age… in my entire life I only knew three people capable of pulling something like that off and even among them Tsunade had to use that weird, forehead seal..."

Noticing her instructor's behavior, Kumiko realized that he knew what just happened and instantly turned towards him: "Naruto-sensei, what's going on?" but before the blonde could answer, Hinata cut in: "She used a very special skill, known only by a few medic-nin in the entire history of Konoha. By collecting her chakra in the place where the wound was about to get inflicted, she began recovering immediately. That ability allows her to activate her cells to create new cells at a greater speed to replace the damaged ones…"

"Yeah, but at the same time it requires great among of chakra to do" Kokoro added in his mind as a worried expression crossed his face. "She managed to safe herself and postpone the end of the match, but after performing that skill she has very little chakra left, if any… regardless this fight is decided…"

"Aoru, this is getting annoying" announced Takai emotionlessly, yet still in a voice that send shivers down the redhead girl's spine. "Finish this already" the kunoichi only gulped as she opened her steel fan again and charged at her opponent. Seeing this Mikka immediately bended back, yet not fast enough and still got her left cheek cut shallowly.

The sand-nin kept on attacking, swinging her fan in every direction. The young medic did her best to avoid all the assaults, yet her reactions seemed to slow down as new cuts kept on appearing on her body. Ibuki narrowed her eyes at this: "She's drained and she can't react in time. The difference in speed from the beginning has just grew… there's no way she can win in that state…"

"Come on, Mikka, counter!" Tsume cheered for her teammate from the platform. In a flash Kusari joined her, yet his cheer was a bit different then the dog kunoichi's: "May the cutest girl win!" and at this point, as usual, Kumiko smacked him in the back of his head. Takaru only gazed at the two and then shook his head. As his eyes returned to the match, he saw the young medic receiving another cut: "This is pointless… that redhead has too big of an advantage… why is Mikka pushing herself?"

Suddenly Aoru spun on her foot and delivered a powerful spin kick right into her opponent's stomach, thus sending her flying back and crushing hard against the wall with her back. Mikka let out a yelp of pain as she dropped to the floor, propping herself with her hands. In a flash she used her hands to bounce off the ground and somersaulting in the air, she aimed another drop kick at the redhead, yet the sand-nin easily dodged the assault, making it hit the floor.

Acting on instinct, Mikka spun on her foot, aiming a spin kick at Aoru's face, however her opponent ducked under the attack and in an instant found herself standing behind the young medic, kicking the leg she stood on from beneath her and making the leaf-nin fell to the ground again.

In a flash she jumped back to her feet and charged again. Aiming an fist at Aoru's face, she got her attack thrown off course as the redhead simply taped the tip of her hand and then run her elbow into the young medic's face. Before Mikka could react, the sand-nin grabbed her by the shirt and once more swiping her feet from below her, she made the Leaf shinobi flip and land hard on her face.

To her surprise however, Mikka stood back up again, breathing quickly, as she reached for her kunai. Tarakudo only smirked behind his bandages: "Damn, that girl sure don't know when to quit…" he announced, yet Kai only smile upon replying: "Naturally, she's a Leaf ninja and above all Senkou's teammate… she's not gonna give up just like that" and with that he turned towards the arena again: "Come on, Mikka, show her what you got!"

Instantly the young medic unleashed her knives at Aoru and ran after them, yet the redhead girl easily deflected them all with her fan and delivered a powerful knee into the leaf-nin's stomach, making Mikka drop to the floor yet again.

"Considering you're a medic, one would think you had enough knowledge to figure out the gap between us at this point" stated Aoru calmly as her opponent struggled back to her feet. "Even I can tell you're at your limit and with every assault you're just getting slower and slower… why do you wanna drag this so much?"

"He's watching" she replied quietly, loud enough only for Aoru to hear her. "And thus I cannot allow this to end just like that… just his presence makes me wanna do my best. This is something I need to do… do you understand that?" she asked, raising her sight at the surprised sand-nin.

The redhead kunoichi went speechless for a short moment, before her eyes narrowed: "More then you could imagine" she replied in her mind and then elbowed Mikka in the back while she was still helping herself up with her hands. "So this is all for your special someone, eh?" she asked as a sad expression crossed her face. "Sorry to say this, but what you're doing is pointless… because regardless to how hard you try, you can't change someone's heart…" and with that sorrow appeared in eyes before she kicked the young medic in the stomach. Then her sight traveled to Takai for a split second, yet the instant the scythe user caught her glance, she looked away.

"I can't keep up at all" Mikka concluded, breathing heavily as she once more began standing back up. "At my current state, even if I were to actually land a blow on her, there's no way I'd make enough damage. I don't have any chakra to support my taijutsu… there's only one thing I can do" and with that she gazed at Galu. The green-haired boy seemed to realize what she was thinking and only shook his head in negation as their eyes meet: "Don't do this… you know this is not what Senkou taught you that for…"

---Few months earlier, one of Konoha's training grounds---

Mikka blocked the kick aimed at her head with her arm and launched an attack with an opened palm at her opponent's chest. Galu however quickly leaned to his left and grabbed her by the hand. Before she could react, he twisted and pulled her hand, thus making the young medic flip and land on her back. In a flash she jumped back up and landed on her feet, once more facing her teammate.

Instantly she charged forward, unleashing a storm of attacks, yet the green-haired boy managed to either block or dodge them all. Noticing the kunoichi slowing down, he went to counterattack and by blasting Mikka's hands away by hitting her wrists, he threw a punch, that stopped right before the girl's face.

The young medic gazed at him surprised and as he retreated his hand, she spoke up in a little scowling tone: "Why did you held back just now, Galu-kun? I asked you not to do that!" but the boy only glanced at her as he replied, as calm as ever: "And what good would me landing that blow do? Without me finishing that attack, we can continue training…"

"I know" the girl admitted after a moment of silence as she lowered her head. "And I'm sorry… it's just that… well, I asked you to teach my taijutsu because I don't want to be useless anymore. I wanna be able to take care of myself and when you hold back I feel like… you're pitying me. And it's hard to bare…"

At hearing this Galu send her a worried looked, but he did not know what to say. Yet a voice did came and as the two looked in the direction it came from, they both saw Senkou standing on a nearby tree branch: "I was wondering what you two were doing after our team training. I suppose this is the answer" and with that he jumped to the ground, somersaulting before he landed: "Considering that you're a medic, I suppose taijutsu is a good choice, but when one base his skill on hand to hand combat only, he should make sure that he'll be capable of reaching his opponent with an attack…"

"What are you getting at?" asked Galu, crossing his arms. The masked boy noticed that and realizing he went too ahead of himself, he raised his hands in a defensive gesture to show he didn't meant anything wrong: "What I wanted to say is that Mikka may be talented, but she's not as well trained in taijutsu as you… no offense, but you lack speed, which puts you at a disadvantage when fighting a fast opponent. However there's a way to speed up by proper, chakra control in a different way then just placing it in your feet…"

"I use my chakra for healing, Senkou-kun" the young medic reminded him shyly. The silver-haired boy nodded at her, before responding: "Yes, I'm aware of that, but what if I could teach you a certain trick? My dad shown it to me once. It's hard for me to master, but you with your chakra control may be able to learn it. Plus it's not that chakra draining, so you can use it in case you're pinned to the wall after performing a lot of treatment..."

"Can't you get to the point?" the green-haired boy rushed him, slightly annoyed. Senkou only threw him a glare and then turned towards Mikka again: "Listen, I'm gonna force you to do anything, it's your decision. I just figured you might wanna learn this, just in case. Plus, I know for a fact, that this technique is the very same Dead Last's father became famous for…" and at those words the kunoichi's eyes widen.

The young medic hesitated for a moment before nodding and thus the masked boy went on: "Alright, I'll tell you what this is about. However, you must be aware that this is not something you can use just like that. It's only for life-treating situation, coz using it may result in your own death as well. I'll teach you only if you promise me to use it as your last chance of survival…"

---Flashback end---

"I'm sorry, Senkou-kun… Galu-kun… but I gotta break my promise" Mikka thought to herself as she began collecting her remaining chakra. Her breath speed up as she threw a quick look at the platform: "Watch me, Kai-kun…" and with that she let out loud cry: "Heal gate… open!"

In a flash Aoru was taken aback as all the cuts she inflicted onto the leaf-nin suddenly began healing: "Wha… what the hell did she just do?" Chakra kept on cumulating inside of Mikka's body as her skin suddenly became red: "Third, Life Gate… open!" she called out, making her eyes turn white.

"The chakra flow in her body" Hitomi's eyes widen as veins appeared around them. "It changed! And as Horohoro glanced over at her confused, asking what she meant, she added quickly with sweat appearing of her face: "It's faster then natural!"

"She's capable of opening gates as well?" Lee's eyes widen in surprise, while Kakashi narrowed his: "Senkou, this is your doing, isn't it? Out of all the things I taught you… why did you let your teammate learn such a risky skill?"

Meanwhile Mikka settled her eyes on Aoru. She tightened her fists as she felt her blood rushing through her body. She started shaking a bit as her exhaustion seemed to disappear. "Lets go!" she cried out and then charged at the surprised sand-nin at an incredible speed.

---reaching for the last resort… will this be the end of Mikka or Aoru?---

And that's it for now, but don't go nowhere, coz in a moment another chapter will pop out! Do review this one. It'd be really mean a lot. And with that said, I invite you to keep on reading!