And so the double update continues, thus I'll stop blabbering and just let you read the next chapter of "Naruto: Next generation"! But before that I wanna repeat my request for you to review once you're done reading. And with that said:

Chapter #88: To the Limits

Title Page: Mikka is giggling out front, while a little back Kai is walking around, wrapped in bandages like a mummy

"Lets go!" Mikka called out, instantly charging at Aoru. The redhead only managed to duck under the young medic's fist as it came at her face. However the instant her attack missed, the leaf-nin threw a knee at her adversary, making the Suna gennin widen her eyes: "She's… faster then before!" she only managed to think before the assault connected and send her flying back.

Aoru managed to flip in mid-air and land safely on her feet, yet Mikka was not done as she charged again, unleashing the storm of attacks at her opponent. In a flash the redhead found herself being pushed back, just barely dodging or blocking all the punches and kicks. She couldn't keep up for long however and soon received a powerful punch in the stomach, which made her bend to the front a bit. The young medic instantly used this opening and delivered a kick into the sand-nin's chin, thus sending her flying up and against the wall.

Once more Aoru somersaulted in the air and as she came closer to the wall, she opened her fan blade again and struck it into the wall, landing with her feet on the weapon: "Dammit, what the hell's going on? Her speed seem to increase and I can hardly keep up! At this rate, she'll finish me off!" she thought to herself, getting slightly nervous. Seeing this from the platform, Kusari's grip on the rail tightened, while he turned towards his companions: "What the hell? Mikka barely had strength to stand just a second ago! What's going on?"

"She just opened three of the celestial gates" Galu replied simply, yet the chain master managed to sense worry in the green-haired boy's voice. As he said so, Taki looked even more confused then before: "Celestial gates? What's that all about?"

"One might call them body's natural limits" Naruto replied with a single drop of sweat running down his face. "You see, in the inner coils of the body, chakra flows through eight spots, each of them being one of these gates. Those gates work to limit the among of chakra that flows through the body, however each can be released forcibly by using chakra itself, even though it requires great control to do so. By releasing even one gate, you gain incredible power…"

"By opening those gates, one can quickly increase his stamina and release the limitation on nervous system, gaining both greater strength and speed" Galu added quickly. Hearing this, Kumiko turned towards her sensei: "I don't get it… if those gates are so helpful and Mikka can open them, why didn't she do it earlier?

"It's because this power has a price" Hinata cut in as sadness appeared in her eyes. "In order to increase the body's physical capabilities, the user mixes the way it works. Haven't you wonder why Mikka's skin suddenly turned red? It's because her blood took more oxygen… to put it simply, with every gate, one's power increases, however the further you go, the more you damage your body… and eventually, opening the eight gate, equals death…"

Mikka suddenly charged straight at the wall, where Aoru struck her fan. Upon reaching her target, the young medic threw a punch at it, thus making a wide crack appear on it, which shoot up, right to the surprised redhead. Tsume's eyes only widen at the sight: "She still had enough chakra to fill her fist with it? I thought that healing from before rid her almost completely!"

"That's right, Mikka, kick her ass!" Kai cheered from the platform as the crack reached Aoru's fan, making it fell off the wall, taking the sand-nin along with it. As she fell, the redhead grabbed her weapon and spinning parallel to the ground, she aimed to cut her opponent in half from above.

Seeing this, Mikka jumped back, thus avoiding the assault. As soon as her blade hit the floor, Aoru jumped back as well and upon reaching the wall behind her, she bounced off it, somersaulting over the surprised, young medic. The instant she landed on the ground, she swung her weapon at the leaf-nin that now stood behind her.

Hearing a cutting sound, Mikka jumped up and twisting in the air she located herself facing Aoru's back. Collecting all the chakra she had left in her right fist, she threw a punch at the redhead, yet before the attack connected, the sand-nin managed to jump away as well. The assault hit the floor, creating a small crater.

The young medic didn't waste a second however and jumped right after her opponent with chakra still filling her fist. Incapable of dodging in mid-air, Aoru somersaulted and the instant Mikka came within her range, she delivered a drop kick at the leaf-nin, thus sending her towards the ground at an incredible speed.

As her back hit the floor, the young medic coughed out blood, while pain shoot through her spine. Kokoro once more called out Mikka's name as she laid on the ground, barely moving, while Aoru landed right above her, placing her legs on both sides of leaf-nin's body and bringing her steel fan down at her opponent's neck.

As the weapon sunk deep into the floor, Mikka found her neck between two, wavy blades of the redhead's weapon. She couldn't move, but aside from that, she was okay. The sand-nin gazed at Lee with a calm statement: "At any time I can close my fan and end this match… I suppose the result is obvious…"

The Leaf's Green Beast didn't hesitate and immediately announced, loud enough for everyone to hear him: "Winner: Aoru!" and as he said that the medics came rushing in to take Mikka for treatment.

"That was close" announced Hanamaru, letting out a sigh of relief. "If that redhead wouldn't miss just now, Mikka would be dead" but Ibuki merely shook her head, before cutting in: "She didn't miss… that fan didn't pierce Mikka's neck, because that Sand girl didn't want it to… to put it simply: she spared her life out of her own will…"

"What makes you so sure?" asked Takaru curious as he gazed at the young assassin. The weapon mistress now turned to him as she responded: "Back then, when she blew her fan into her hand… only few people would be capable of doing that. There's no way I'll believe that some with her skill all of a sudden missed for any other reason then on purpose…"

"And above that" Akira added in his mind without changing his expression. "Even after that Mikka girl opened three of the gates, this whole Aoru was still capable of keeping up… she may not stand out much, but that sand-nin is certainly not someone to be taken lightly…"

Meanwhile Aoru closed her fan as medics took Mikka away. She attached it back to her belt and giving her opponent one, last glance, she narrowed her eyes: "It's admirable, that you're willing to go this far just for someone you care about… but as they say, hope is always the last to die" and with that she gazed at the floor as a memory from few years back flashed in her mind.

---Four years ago in Hidden Sand Village---

A short, nine-year-old, redheaded girl tripped and felt to the sandy ground, lifting up a little dust. Panic appeared on her face as she looked over her should and saw two boys and one girl, only a year or two older then her each, getting closer to her. She quickly got back to her feet and resumed her run, but only few seconds later two, other boys grew before her, blocking her way.

"Where do you think you're going, Aoru?" asked the first one with black hair, clipped in a long ponytail, wearing black and yellow jumpsuit. The boy on his left had brown skin and grey outfit, which covered his mouth. The two grabbed the redhead by her arms, completely immobilizing her.

"You really thought we'd let you get away with this?" asked the boy, who seemed like the leader of the group. He had spiky, blonde hair and sandy eyes. The leader wore a black and yellow jumpsuit, just like the other boy, yet his had a big kanji symbol for dragon on its back. The boy gazed at the girl, narrowing his eyes: "Without Touba's protection you're really helpless… so tell me, what are you gonna do in this situation?" he asked teasingly, but to his surprise there was a reply, yet not from the girl.

"Let her go" they all heard a stern voice and upon turning in the direction it came from, they saw a boy around Aoru's age, with spiky, black hair, bloody red eyes, dressing black and carrying a large scythe on his back. But what disturbed them the most was a human skull tied to the boy's belt.

Instantly the leader took a single step back with sweat appearing on his face: "T-Takai… what brings you here?" he asked nervously, now him being the one panicking. The scythe carrier didn't reply and just kept on walking closer to them. With his desperation reaching its top, the boy with the dragon kanji on his back suddenly shoot: "What is it with you? Don't tell me you actually care about this girl or any of her friends! You were the one to kill Touba in the first place!" but Takai still didn't reply.

Aoru felt the grips on her arms loosen and in a flash she broke free. Instinctually she ran towards Takai, but to her surprise, no-one even tried to stop her. Apparently they were all paralyzed with fear. The leader of the group was the first from the gang to make a move, which was a step back, as he spoke again: "Come on, Takai, you don't wanna do this! If you'll start a fight again, after what you did, there's no way they'll let you live! Touch us and you'll die!" but to his fright the other boy didn't seem to make anything of it. He just kept on walking towards them as his hand suddenly reached for the scythe.

"Lets get out of here!" the leader of the group commended and sprinted away with his companions following him without a moment of hesitation. Takai's face remained emotionless as he retreated his hand and gazed at the place the group stood just a second ago. His eyes narrowed slightly for a moment before a sudden voice broke the silence: "Thank you for your help, Takai-kun…"

It was Aoru, who now stood right behind him. The scythe user looked over his shoulder at the girl, making her instantly turn away, a deep, red color appearing on her face. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, the redhead continued: "If it wasn't for you, Uryuu and his friends would surely beat me up good, so… thank you" and with that she bowed towards the boy, however he didn't seemed to make nothing of that either. He just turned his back towards the girl and walked away, leaving her alone in the hallway, confused, yet still blushing.

---Flashback end---

Aoru got back to her team, receiving an approving nod from Honemaru. Torune instantly patted her teammate on the back, smiling widely: "Nice job, girl!", while Temari smirked under her nose. Even Tarakudo managed a compliment. It was then that the redhead gazed at Takai, yet the scythe user merely glanced at her, with his arms still crossed, and then returned to observing the screen, showing no reaction. The kunoichi lowered her sight for a split second, only to raise it again in the next, putting her usual, emotionless expression once more.

"Umm, Naruto-sensei" Kai began, turning towards his instructor. "You seem to know a lot about this gate stuff… is… is Mikka going to be okay?" he ask hesitantly and hearing this the Kyuubi vessel only smirked, before replying: "You shouldn't worry. Although opening celestial gates thus put a strain on the body, she only got to the third. It may take her a while to return to top shape, but this shouldn't cause any, long-lasting damage to her…" and as he said that, the young blonde let out a sigh of relief, which made the jounin and Hinata exchange quick smiles.

"Lets move on to another, elimination fight!" Lee announced loudly, once more drawing everyone's attention to the screen. As the new participants got chosen, Karame somersaulted over the rail and landed on the arena, awaiting for his opponent to show up. Toku merely gazed at the names and then turned to his teammate with a worried expression.

"Good luck, Kogane-chan!" Hanamaru encouraged the blonde girl. The kunoichi only gave him a warm smile and turned towards the stairs, yet before she managed to make a single step, Shikamaru's hand blocked her way. As she glanced at her instructor, the lazy jounin warned her with a serious voice: "Regardless to everything… don't push yourself, Kogane…"

The girl merely nodded and headed down the stairs to meet her adversary. Kitsune gazed quickly at Rei and with his arms still crossed, he announced: "Kogane's about to fight… you could wake up to cheer for her at the very least" and as the lazy girl lifted her head up, her eyes settled onto the two gennin that were about to start their match: "Another one of those sand-nins… this is not gonna be easy for her…"

Horamaru smirked as he observed his teammate standing in the middle of the arena: "That girl has no chance at winning… I hope you'll make a good entertainment out of this, Karame…" and with that he licked his lips, while Lee called out as the two gennin stood before each other, ready to go at it: "Twenty seventh match: Rikoteki Kogane against Karame! Ready and… BEGIN!"

---the match is over and eliminations move forward… what awaits Kogane?---

And so this concludes this double update. Hope you enjoyed it and that you'll leave me a review once you're done reading. It'd mean a lot. No jutsu this time around (though in the next match there will be some). As for now, I leave you with the updated list of gennin:

Konoha #7: Murasakki Kumiko, Tanken Ibuki, Gekido Takaru, Hagane Kusari, Haisha Kai

Konoha #3: Konpaku Rei, Rikoteki Kogane (in progress), Amagasa Toku, Debano Kitsune, Gusoku Hanamaru

Konoha #4: Inuzuka Tsume, Benda Kokoro, Kobushi Galu

Konoha: Hamano Taki, Hyuuga Hitomi, Manako Akira, Tanken Funbo, Horohoro

Suna #1: Aoru, Torune, Honemaru, Tarakudo, Takai

Suna #2: Sabaku no Sabure, Hari, Dekai, Horamaru, Karame (in progress)

Kusa: Hokku Tobane, Kanraku Nezumi, Kuchibashi Taka, Kyohaku Tokame, Wanabi Hizoku

Ame: Furikuzu Tsuino, Hebereke Nazaa

Bakufu: Abura Tetsu, Makko Shita

Tsuki: Junsei Teela, Tenka

Hane: Ono Reiji

Kumori: Kyuu

And that's really that for this time. Thanks for reading and hope to see you next chapter! Take care!