Pages: 13

Words: 6, 746

Chapter Twenty: Team Ebisu vs Team Gai

"My lovelies it is time to make your lovely Gai-sensei proud! This is your time to shine like the youthful stars you are. That we are blessed to be able to see floating above us in the stunning night sky!" A giant thumbs up was given to Tenten, Lee and Neji. Gai had been talking to Ebisu about his team's improvement and Ebisu had been talking to Gai about his team's improvement. One thing led to another and Gai bet his team had improved more than Ebisu's. So he proposed a match to see whose team was better.

"Gai-sensei are you blind? It's still morning there are no stars shining right now, unless you're talking about the sun but that is one star not the plural version." TenTen sighed rolling her eyes.

"Hai that is accurate, but the time of the night is much more mysterious and romantic." Gai replied with a grin along with one thick furry eyebrow raised.

"This is the first time you will be sparing with another genin team. Gai-san and I will stop any of you, if we think that you endangering the other person's life. This is a supervised fight you're not trying to kill anybody here. You are also not allowed to leave this area while you battle." Ebisu informed all of the Genin while he was sitting on a log.

"Everybody take you seat as your manly sensei draws out the first name," Gai held three crunched up balls of lined paper and energetically shook them around in his hands. Looking away he opened his hand and picked one of the balls out. He smoothed out the wrinkles and turned it around. "Tenten-chan!" The sheet was decorated with poorly drawn weapons and hearts.

Ebisu also had three smaller balls of paper. He shook them around in his hands then picked one of them out and flipped the sheet around to show everyone the name. "Miroku-kun."

"Aw man why did I have to get him, come on sensei this isn't fair! Everyone else is going to have fun with their battles, but I'm not. This won't last more than four minutes!" Tenten complained immediately once she saw Miroku's name on the paper.

"I take great offense to that." Miroku said while making his way to the middle of the wide clearing. There was no use arguing since the names drawn had been at random. He stretched himself out. He had followed Kagome's example and taken off his weights, Sango was the only one who still had them on. A sigh escaped his lips and he closed his eyes to mediate since it looked like Gai was going to burst out with a long speech.

Gai went down on one knee, rested his hands on Tenten's shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. "Tenten-chan, you must fight your hardest against any enemy. Show the burning flame of passion for fighting that I know you have inside of you! In the real shinobi world you can't always choose your battles. There are times when you're not going to want to fight but you have to. There will be times were you want to fight and can't. Sometimes you have to sit on the sidelines and watch people because it's not your battle. I am teaching you this lesson with the help of Ebisu-san and his team. No matter what the outcome is, the way I see you will never change you will always have a place inside my beating heart like everyone else on your team. You guys have made me proud to be a sensei without each and everyone one of your striking young souls. I can't tell you guys how much I love you! LOVE, DO YOU HEAR ME! THE ORGAN INSIDE OF ME PUMPS BLOOD TO THE REST OF MY BODY SO THAT I CAN SPEND TIME WITH MY TEAM. SO THEY WILL GROWING UP KNOWING THAT I LOVE THEM SO MUCH-"

"Oh Kami! Gai-sensei urusai [Shut up] just urusai! I'll fight him just so that you'll stop talking." Tenten said crossly stomping over to where Miroku stood patiently waiting with his eyes still closed. 'This is going to be one of the most pathetic battles. Miroku doesn't stand a chance against me.' Quickly she stretched her muscles, cracked her neck followed by her knuckles and then her knees.

'Tenten is too overly confident. She believes the battle is already over before it has started.' Gai thought running his fingers through his silky tresses, he heard about Miroku. A boy, who lacked motivation in class, never handed in his homework and was easily distracted by girls. Yet Miroku passed all of the tests and quizzes with almost perfects. That and he was said to have a mysterious, but very powerful one of a kind kekkei genkai. 'I wonder what it is. It must have something to do with his right arm.'

"Tenten-san I want you to know that believe in you!" Lee cheered pumping up his bandaged fists in the air excitedly. He couldn't wait his turn to battle. He would enjoy whomever he was destined to be up against.

"If you don't win I get to shave off your eyebrows when you sleep." Kagome yelled knowing how much time Miroku spent caring for his eyebrows. In his exact words 'they frame your eyes, which are the windows of your soul.' He read it in a woman's magazine that men who had good hygiene were more attractive to females.

"Don't you dare shave off my perfectly groomed eyebrows!" Miroku replied to the threat. He plucked and trimmed them to perfection. "It's okay. Don't worry. I won't let her harm you." He whispered while petting his eyebrows.

"Fine, Kagome and I will wax them off." Sango grinned she was happy to see Miroku getting all worked up usually he was very composed.

'This is a waste of my time.' Neji thought crossing his arms over his chest. Snow white eyes quickly glanced over in Sango's direction. There was a chance that he'd have to fight her, if that is what fate had already decided. He would have no say in who he would win against. After all it had already been decided.

"Let's get this over with already so I can sit back down!"

"Patience my dear Tenten-chan. You must learn this wondrous virtue." Gai said holding his chiseled chin in his hand shaking his head at the only girl on his genin team.

Ebisu blew into a whistle that he had been searching for in his pockets. 'That's right I should really look for that Jounin vest it would really come in handy to put things in. I'll look for one tonight.' "Tenten-chan and Miroku-kun are you two ready? 3, 2, 1, FIGHT!" He blew into the whistle again.

Miroku watched as Tenten jumped backwards and released eight kunai in his direction. He took two small steps back and they landed in a neat arc in front of him. Removing a kunai from his holster he held it in a defensive grasp ready to deflect any oncoming weapons. For now he would observe her and keep his attacks until the very end when she would be tired and more vulnerable to an injury. When she jumped into the air, he spun around and deflected the three shuriken she had thrown. His reiki senses were sharp and up to a certain distance he could sense when things were coming his way. Before she could land he spotted an opening and threw two ofudas, feeling triumphant when they landed on her arms.

"Like pieces of paper are really going to hurt me, seriously Miroku you should just give up. Otherwise you're just going to end up getting hurt." She said as she somersaulted in the air prior to landing.

"Your arms feel heavier than they normally do." Miroku said knowing that she would now have to work twice as hard to move them. 'Those were twenty five pound weights. I knew making those would come in handy sometime. Now that I think about it I should make more of those. They were quite useful. '

"What did you do to me?" Tenten asked when she tried to lift her arms that were at her side. They were heavy. "Well whatever you did it isn't going to stop me from defeating you."

She threw four kunai and grimaced when they landed a few feet from her. Running forward she picked them up and rolled to the side and threw them again from her position on the ground. She had to use up more energy to aim efficiently as she normally did. 'What did he do?' On her arms she could see that there was a twenty outlined with a thick rim of black. 'I'll just have to end it quickly then.' Looking at where Miroku stood in a defensive position his eyes slightly narrowed as he watched as she calculated the distance between her and him. Then she ran in a circle around him when she had almost reached her starting position she pulled out a scroll from her pocket and jumped high into the air.

'This could be bad. I might have to use it.' Miroku thought as he watched the scroll Tenten had unraveled wrapped around her body in a fast rotating coil. He unraveled the beads on his right hand and held it closed. 'She's a weapon specialist- so I'm assuming what is going to come out of there are a bunch of weapons.'

"It's too late for you to give up now," Tenten said as she spun the scroll around her body grabbing weapons and throwing them. "I've perfected this technique you can't escape."

"KAZAANA!" He revealed the palm of his hand and sucked in all the weapons then wrapped the beads around his hand again and waited. His was breathing a little labored. 'It's been a long time since I've used it.' He flipped out of the way of the two kunai that were expertly thrown after he had wrapped the beads back around his clothed hand to seal up the void.

Gai, Lee and Neji were all amazed to some degree. Gai's and Lee a lot, Neji's interest had peaked considerably. Both Gai and Lee's mouth had dropped wide open and they looked completely shocked, both of them were scared so they held each other in a tight masculine embrace "Gai-sensei…Miroku-san's hand- it has a giant black hole in it and it's sucking up all of Tenten's weapons!"

"Lee-kun don't worry I'll make sure your youthful body not sucked into it if you do the same for mine! As long as Miroku-kun doesn't point the kazanna over here we should be fine."

'Byakugan!' Neji's eyes were now completely focused on Miroku's hand. Where the hole started it also ended, the wind tunnel didn't extend further into his arm. That meant whatever was sucked up into it was gone, forever. He had never heard of this Kekkei genkai, but it was definitely dangerous and powerful. 'He may be a formidable foe worth fighting.'

"Nani?" Tenten landed on the ground her hands dug into the earth. They were straining themselves towards the end of the scroll. Pushing herself off the ground she ran towards Miroku and back flipped. Her aim was to kick him in the face. Only it was blocked with his left arm and when she was balancing herself on her arms about to flip back over, he bought up his leg and kneed her in the abdomen. Then he ran behind her and kicked her body forwards so he could put some distance between the two of them after his last attack.

"Is that everything you've got Tenten? I was expecting better." He taunted, if she got angrier she was going to do something more reckless that would tire her arm muscles out even more. Eventually she wouldn't even have the strength to move them anymore and that's when he'd be able to attack freely, without her retaliating. Then he'd come out the champion of this match and his magnificent brows would be safe.

"Tch. Fine I'll show you," She held out two scrolls, briefly glancing to the side to see Gai and Lee looking at her with astonishment Neji turned his gaze to her, she gave a nod of confirmation to her team. She kneeled down and stood up one of the scrolls at an arm's length distance away. "This will be a good trial run. Since this technique still has a couple of kinks that need to be worked out, but it should be fine to use against you though it will make you shut that obnoxious mouth of yours." The other scroll was now standing up too.

At this point he was starting to regret taunting her now, he gulped. There was no going back now. She had already formed Tora, Mi, Saru, U and Mi [Tiger, Snake, Monkey, Hare, and Snake] hand signs before crossing her arms in front of her now sporting a sinister smile on her face. Grabbing onto the beads Miroku got ready to pull them off. This jutsu looked like it was going to be impressive. The two scrolls were very thick, but they were very much like the one scroll she had used before.

"Soshoryu [Rising Twin Dragons]!" Smoke filled the area and twin dragons were born from the smoke. Both of them propelled upwards slightly higher than the tree tops and continuously entwined their bodies together before turning back into two spiraling scrolls. Tenten shot up into the air to the very top, like before, weapons popped out from the scroll and she threw them all gritting her teeth together as she missed grabbing the handles of some of the weapons. That was something that she still needed to work on. Her arms were refusing to work because of those weights Miroku had put on her wasn't helping the jutsu either. Also the wire she had summoned was weak and had snapped on some of the weapons already, 'I also need to find stronger wire, come on I can do this. I know I can…. just a little more-'

"Kazaana!" Miroku opened up the endless tunnel in his hand again then the small glint of strings attached to Tenten's fingers caught his eye. 'Crap, if I suck in these weapons she'll get pulled in also.' He wrapped his hand back up and ran around the edge of the clearing dodging the weapons that were flying his way. Using two kunai he deflected the ones he could then crossed his arms in front of his face and body getting many deep slices in his arms and legs before he managed to jump up and out of the barricade of weapons. He stepped onto the handle one weapon to the next and sliced through most of the wire. The sounds of strings 'twanging' as they snapped could be heard and a plethora of weapons embedding themselves into anything they could.

"I'm calling that the end of this match." Gai caught Tenten in his arms before she could hit the ground, she didn't even look like she was going to fall safely after that. Soshoryu was an attack that she had been working on for at least four months and she wanted it ready to be able to use it in the upcoming Chuunin exam.

"I thought I was a goner." Miroku fell back onto the log breathing out a sigh of relief wrapping the prayer beads around his arm. He would have used genjutsus but it didn't get to a point in the battle were he needed to. If he didn't have to waste his chakra just so his fight could be more flamboyant- he wouldn't. As long as the job was done, that was all that mattered to him.

"Good job Miroku!" Ebisu said patting him on his shoulder as he was getting up to remove all of Tenten's weapons in the clearing to get it prepared for the next match.

"There I've taken the weights from your arms, they should feel better now." Miroku smiled as he crumpled up the paper after he peeled them off.

"Arigato," Tenten mumbled turning her head away from him, how could she have lost? She peaked at him from underneath her lashes and looked at the many wounds he had received from her weapons as he walked away. "I guess I owe you an apology, you're not as much of a baka as I thought you were Miroku, you were able to defeat me after all."

"Are you trying to compliment me Tenten dearest? Where you so overwhelmed and impressed with my ability to fight that you've finally accepted my unconditional love for you?" He asked looking very cat like when he grinned rushing back over to her hand making a grab for her hands.

"Ii-Iie! Now get away from me! Don't touch me!" Tenten yelled kicking him, she hid her face in her hands and groaned when he tripped over the log that everyone was sitting on. His body crumpled on the left side of his face as he struggling to get up, twisting into many painful looking positions. He was crying waterfalls and whining for someone to help him because he was stuck. Finally Kagome decided to lend him a hand and pulled him back onto the log. Tenten groaned, like she had asked herself before, how could she have lost to him of all people?

"Next person that will be combating their little heart out is the attractive green beast of Konoha, no I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about the breathtaking LEE-KUN!" Billions of green hearts and sunsets decorate this page.

"Yosh! You can count on me! I will do my best Gai-sensei!" Lee stood up straight and saluted before marching over to the center of the clearing swinging his arms like a robot and picking up his knees so that they almost hit him in his chest.

"Looks like you're up Sango." Ebisu turned the sheet of paper around that had her name of it. 'That means-'

"Tch." Neji grunted he'd have to fight that weak twerp? 'What a waste of time and chakra.'

"Sango-san! It is my honor to be paired up with you for this honorable fight. I will not go easy on you and I expect you to do the same for me!"

"Wakatta [Got it] Lee-kun." Sango tightened her grip on Hiraikotsu's strap. 'I heard that he can only use taijutsu but it's his specialty, as it is mine.'

"3, 2, 1, FIGHT!" The shrill sound of whistle entered everyone's ears as the whistle was blown.

"Konoha Reppu[Leaf Gale]" Lee said quickly appearing beside Sango; he dropped to his feet and swung his leg around.

"Hiraikotsu!" The boomerang was sent hurling towards Lee as Sango had jumped up high into the air. Reaching into her pouch with a gloved hand she pulled out two smoke bombs and threw it along with the bag that was full of makibishi [throwing nails] before Hiraikotsu returned to her awaiting open hand.

"Sango-san you and I are both geniuses of hard work, we both have to work constantly train just to keep up with the genius types. You and I may be on the same level, but I have to let you know that I have the upper hand." Lee said waiting for the smoke to clear his eyes darting around as he stood with one hand out in front of his body while his other was in a loose fist behind his body. When Hiraikotsu rapidly spun towards him, he blocked it with his arms grunting as it tore up his bandages and pushed him backwards.

As soon as Lee had pushed back Hiraikotsu he quickly dodged Sango's kick. It was a blur of flying limbs there was a lot of blocking and attacking but none of the blows landed until Lee got into a crouching position and brought his palm facing up and knocked her into the air. She easily flipped over in the air and landed on her feet. Lee rushed towards her and jumped into the air and spun around with his leg out so that he could kick her. Only she swung forward into a handstand position her left leg curled down and trapped his leg in both of hers. Turning herself upright again sending his body flying forward.

'Makibishi!' Lee's eyes widened when he saw them, he couldn't safely put his hands down unless he wanted them punctured by the jagged ends. Using his arms to cover he face his body slid over a couple tearing into his arms and chest area. He jumped up and sobbed when he saw his stunning green suit had been torn, it was ruined! Fire burned in his eyes and he opened his mouth in a silent scream when they landed on Sango.

'The hitai-ite around his waist keeps him balanced…maybe I should try and remove it.' Grabbing another couple of smoke bombs she hastily tossed them in his direction laughing when one of them landed directly in his mouth.

"Ew, that has to be the foulest flavor that my wonderful taste buds have ever had to experience! Plehh! Neji-san's cooking tastes better than this, and that's saying something!" Lee scraped the remains mouth clenching his fist by his frowning face. "I will get you for that cheap attack Sango-san!" He got back down in a fighting stance and gave a warrior like cry.

Her laughter had stopped and she quickly ran towards Hiraikotsu and used it to block the attacks. Then she swung the large boomerang in a circle behind her body to hit Lee who had appeared there, only to be on the receiving end of a dynamic flying kick into her stomach. Lee's kick was so strong that she let go of her weapon to clutch her stomach. The only thing that stopped her was when her back collided with a tree.

'Alright now is my chance!' Lee ran towards her and jumped up into the air kicking out his leg. When it connected with her shoulder it would surely break. His eyes widened when a long metal chain wrapped around his leg and made him leave a Lee shaped indent in the trunk of a tree. She threw the end of the chain after swinging it around. Hopefully it would hold down his limbs and make him immobile. Using this time, seeing that she may not get another chance, she flipped over using one hand and replaced Hiraikotsu onto her back.

He slid down from the tree and used his hands to quickly undo the chain that had wound itself around his orange legwarmer. Spinning around on one hand he kicked his legs out, only to have the attacks blocked by Sango's arms. He gasped when her hands wrapped around both his ankles and spun him around rapidly in the air like she would Hiraikotsu. No matter how much Lee struggled he couldn't escape, so he braced himself for the inevitable impact, instead he found himself air born. Then Sango sprung up beside him and brought Hiraikotsu down into his stomach sending him flying back towards the ground where he created a rather large crater he lay there waiting for Sango to lean over to check on him. When she did he kicked out her legs from under her.

"Oomph." She rolled to the side when he tried to dig his heel into her shoulder and thrust her palms into his back as she used the momentum to get up. She sent Lee stumbling forwards. Then unexpectedly he turned around and punched her across the face. Then he leapt back so she couldn't retaliate. Sango's head whipped around and she used her sleeve to wipe the blood that had come out from her mouth. With two shuriken in each of her hands she threw them at Lee watching as a thin line of blood appeared on both sides of his cheeks. He quickly ran towards her his hair blowing back from how fast he was moving towards her.

One of the punches he threw was blocked, another one she ducked but the other three punches and the kick he landed. She spun a couple times in the air then landed roughly on her back. Using one of the hidden knives in the right arm of her suit she sliced off one of the orange warmers revealing the weights hidden underneath them. Kicking out her legs she spun around and knocked him off his feet before jumping back to take a moment so she could catch her breath. His leg had come awfully close to crushing her windpipes. They circled around each other waiting to see what the other person would do.

"Sango-san you have made this has been an interesting battle and I am glad to have been chosen to be your opponent. Your skills in taijutsu are almost a match for mine. Hard work will always surpass geniuses. I think you'll agree with me when I say, It's time to end this battle."

"Un." She had no time to get out of the way as Lee darted towards her swinging around Hiraikotsu she braced herself for the impact.

"Konoha Senpuu [Konoha Hurricane]!" Lee kicked the bothersome weapon away then flipped backwards and ran at her again. Sango evaded the attack by doing two backhand springs in a row. Crouching down she dodged Lee's leg that was headed for her face then swept his supporting leg out from under him and stood up and smashed his body against the ground before starting to spin him around. The sensation of his heel repeatedly slamming into her right hand made her yelp in pain but she only released him once she determined that she was rotating around the fastest that she could.

'I probably shouldn't have done that. I feel like throwing up now.' Sango thought to herself stumbling slightly to the left hand side holding her mouth with both her hands to keep her from hurling. Queasily she watched as Lee tucked himself into a tight ball and rolled on the ground then he popped out and slid backwards in a crouching position with two large handfuls of dirt that he had torn from the ground to slow him down. He recovered quickly and raced towards her while her eyes were still spinning around.

"Konoha Senpuu!" His foot connected with the underside of her chin and sent her soaring up in the air. "Kage Buyo [Shadow of the Dancing Leaf]!" His tattered bandages began to unravel only to be pinned to the ground with a kunai.

"You're not allowed to use that technique!" Gai yelled grabbing Lee by the neck, in the crook of his elbow, right out of the air. He then threw him onto the ground, Lee looked scared he crawled backwards then bowed his head to the ground trembling. "A shinobi never reveals his jutsu unless it's absolutely necessary, especially this one!"

"Go-Gomen Gai-sensei! I am so sorry! It was in the heat of in the moment." Lee continued to bow his forehead brushing against the ground each time he did.

"This time I will not punish you, but the next time I'm going to have to strike you across your good-looking face. Promise me Lee-kun that you won't use that unless it is absolutely necessary. I want you to promise your charming sensei."

"I-I-I promise you Gai-sensei! Gomen!" Lee cried resting his head against the ground until he was pulled up into the loving embrace of Gai.

"Now you know better! Everything is going to be alright Lee-kun! I am still swollen with pride since you've become stronger than you once were!" Gai also sobbed holding the boy closer.

'Did I lose? I'm guessing he would have won if he was able to execute that jutsu. Well…I lost to him….I need to train harder.' Sango thought after she had turned her body upright so she could land properly. Then went around and carefully picked up her shuriken and makibishi.

"You're up….Kagome-chan." Ebisu didn't know what to think, the sharingan against the byakugan. Neji was a horrible opponent to be up against. 'I might have to stop this battle…'

"Un!" She jumped up excitedly, everyone else had, had their turn. It had got her blood pumping.

"Kagome you have to be careful. Neji-san has the byakugan. It allows him see three hundred and sixty degrees around him and he can even see inside your body," Miroku warned hoping that Kagome would take him seriously. "He can use Konoha's strongest hand-to-hand combat style."

"The attacks he'll land on your body will cause you internal damage," Tenten looked towards Kagome. "Even if he misses, but gets close enough to your body, it will cause damage. If you get hit no matter how strong you are, it will be fatal."

"Neji-san doesn't fool around when he fights, he takes everything seriously." Lee added as he rewound his bandages around his hand.

"Wait… When you say he can see inside of my body," Kagome narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, protectively. "…does that mean my clothing is gone? Is this some sort of super ecchi da [pervert] kekkei genkai?"

"Haven't you been listening to anything else they've said?" Sango irritably asked, as everyone looked at Kagome in disbelief, now that they thought about it though….that was a good question. Sango couldn't believe her friend had such a short attention span, at times. 'Probably from Obaa-chan hitting her on the head all the time, must have loosen up more than a couple of screws.'

"Tch, what they're all trying to tell you, is the outcome of the battle. If you're smart you won't make a fool of yourself." Neji had his eyes closed as he stood in the middle of the clearing. A small breeze blew through his hair that was tied back. "On the outside we may all look different but on the inside we are all the same."

"Your hair is longer than mine," Kagome said walking to the spot opposite to him. Her arms were still crossed protectively over her upper body. "My hair would have been the same length if a youkai hadn't chewed a bunch of it off when I was forced to survive in the wilderness."

"Focus on the matter at hand!" Ebisu roared his spit flying everywhere and his nostrils flared.

"Mou..."

"3, 2, 1, FIGHT!"

"By a twist of fate it seems that youare my opponent." Neji got down into the jyuken [Gentle Fist] position. His un-bandaged hand in front of his body palm facing outwards and his bandaged hand was by his side waiting to spring up at any given moment. He ran forwards and brought his other hand out to strike Kagome's arm. The blow landed but was blocked by energy from her hand…. that was almost same in color, but was it chakra? Whatever it was he could see it, even without his clan's kekkei genkai. He jumped back to observe her 'Byakugan!' Veins bulged outwards near his eyes. He darted towards her and attacked again.

As he ran towards her with his other hand ready to pop up she spun around on her foot and grabbed the arm with her right hand and used her left one to guide his body over her head. He twisted around and landed on his feet using his other arm, since she was still holding on to his right one. With a straight hand he jabbed his four fingers into her heart area. Causing her to let go of him and tumble backwards. Blood flew out of her mouth.

"That's the feeling when one of your tenketsu points gets closed. The body has three hundred and sixty one points. I can see every single one of them," Neji turned away from the disgraceful sight of the girl struggling to get off of the ground; veins receded back into his face. He had predetermined the end of the battle. "You have no way of beating me. It's over."

"Suiton Suijinheki no jutsu[Water Bullet]!" Kagome was on her knees as she drew in the moisture. She had never preformed this technique before she guessed it was sort of like the fireball technique where you had to gather the chakra before spitting it out. Originally she was going to use the goukakyuu no jutsu but fire traveled too quickly and would burn down the training area. No thought was given to Neji's wellbeing. It didn't sit well in her throat though so hastily she spat it out and bent over frantically coughing out a puddle of water from the jutsu she was unable to execute. The rest of the water had found its way into her lungs.

"Is that supposed to be some sort of joke?" He questioned after revolving around, bringing his arm down that he was going to use to slice though the water bullets, appalled at the small jet of water that came out of her mouth. That elemental jutsu was much too advanced for someone like her to learn anyways. 'How is she still molding her chakra? That one hit alone should have incapacitated her. Perhaps she moved at the last moment…next time she won't be so lucky.'

"I've never tried to do it before; mou cut me some slack!" She held her sore throat with both her hands. Internally groaning she blocked and dodged the fast moved hands that threatened to close up her tenketsu points. In the same manner that he was trying to strike her she stuck him in his side. He grunted and jumped backwards, she could see that the reiki had affected him as he leaned his weight more on the opposite side and the way half of his face cringed.

"What is this energy?" Neji gritted his teeth together small shocks coursed through his body originating at the point she managed to hit him at. It was a careless mistake on his part for leaving the small opening in his defense.

"Reiki," Her eyes locked onto him while going through a different set of hand signs. She knew her attack would wear off soon, unlike Neji's were she could actually feel the damage inside of her body. "Doton Doryuuheki no jutsu[Earth Rising Barrier]!" Instead of using it as a barrier she successfully spat out orbs of mud in Neji's direction.

Hands where flying as Neji whacked away all the balls of mud, his nose crinkled as it splattered back into his clothing in his hair. His body was still not back to normal as he spun around and kicked a ball of mud back in her direction. The ball of mud had collided into her face, making her head whip backwards from the impact. She brought her head upright again and opened her mouth, dropping out a gigantic chunk of soggy soil. Her head bowed forward as her salvia tainted with dirt ran out from her mouth.

"Peoples limitations are set and unchangeable. Only a fool wastes their time trying to defeat someone that they can't," He got out of his fighting stance and slowly walked over to her hunched form. "My eyes allow me to see everything."

"I don't see what's so special about your eyes. Maybe I should show you mine instead?" Kagome lifted up her head, wiping off the mud on her face in one sweep. During the last week she had been fighting against her shadow clones using the 'sharingan' she knew the basics of how it worked, it allowed her to see through attacks and counter them.

Neji took an involuntary step back, 'it can't be- she has the sharingan? How-? Hiashi-sama had said the Hyuuga clan was now the noblest clan that still existed in Konoha because there was only one Uchiha survivor left. Was this the person? Those eyes…are paralyzing my body.' He closed his eyes and straightened out his body. The girl was in range, in a moment he would slide down to prepare himself to use the most advanced form of the byakugan on her. This would be something he could rub in his smug clan leader's face. A branch memberhad brought down the last remaining Uchiha by closing up their tenketsu points. Even better, he would have used an attack that very few main branch members can do. "Why aren't you wearing the clothes that show the emblem of your noble clan?"

"Nani? [What?]"

"The red and white uchiwa fan."

'Isn't that the symbol Sasuke has on the back of his shirt?' She asked herself swaying at as she stood up. "Iie, I don't belong to the Uchiha clan."

"Do you take me for an idiot?" Neji sneered he could clearly see the clan's kekkei genkai in her eyes. "Hakke Rokujuuyonshou[Divination Field Sixty Four Strikes]! Two strikes! Four strikes! Eight strikes! Sixte-"

Ebisu jumped in and knocked the Hyuuga boy away once he recognized what Neji was trying to accomplish. "I know what you trying to do. Save it for the chuunin exams this is meant to be a friendly match only. I'm going to call this-"

"This…fight isn't over Ebisu-sensei don't worry about me." She panted leaning her back against a tree. Those attacks had really done damage to her body but she could still move and that meant she could continue to fight. How else was she going to get stronger if she didn't get beat up in the process? The next time he tried something she would be ready.

"Fine but if he tries to use that attack again. I'm calling off the match." Ebisu was worried for her as he walked back to the log. With enough of her tenketsu points closed she might never be able to use her chakra again or even worse she could die.

Sharingan eyes watched Neji as he got back into his jyuken stance. Her reiki sparked with electricity she looked down to her hands that felt mildly uncomfortable. That's right she had never used her reiki the same time she used her chakra- she had never had reason to, until now that is. As Neji ran to her ready to whack her body with his palm she ducked and copied his 'two strikes' motion while using the reiki chakra mixture that was both blue and black at the same time. Seeing that it was effective and his body was stunned she went onto 'four strike followed by the eight strikes.' Of course the placement wasn't perfect but she managed to land the attack in the general area, at least. Bringing around her leg she kicked him in him across the face, sending body flying into the air. She then pushed off the ground swung around and kneed him in the side before roughly falling to the ground with her hands shaking uncontrollably.

'My own attack- she was able to copy it and she used it against me…' Neji thought as his body roughly bounced and tumbled on the ground, bringing up a cloud of dust. He breathed deeply, watching her as he lay on his stomach; he couldn't move his body after that. She wasn't in any better condition than he was. Her blue eyes stared into his snow white ones.

"End of the match, neither of them can continue the fight." Ebisu said blowing the whistle after three minutes of observing the two have a heated staring match.

"Ebisu-san I consider that was a great battle to finish this very flourishing day! Now it's time for everyone to return to their dwelling and recuperate from this phenomenal time we have been blessed to spend together." Gai said as he tossed Neji over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He then flashed his good guy pose before running off into the sunset.

"Good job with your battles, you guys have made me so proud to be your sensei!" Ebisu cried happily giving the three of them a group hug.

"Ebisu-sensei that's nice but your tears are stinging my wounds." Miroku complained struggling to get out of the embrace

"My body hurts, let go of me." Sango growled squirming against Ebisu's sudden embrace.

"Itai…" Kagome groaned as her abused body was crushed.

I'm borrowing this idea I got from another author (Jamberine) in which you can ask one question to the character of my choosing and they'll reply to you via PM for this chapter only. They'll answer it to the best of their abilites but you might not get the response you want if you ask a question that will end up giving the story away.

For this chapter you can ask Sasuke any one question you want! Make sure you address him though.

Oh and if you want to please check out my new story Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of Balance it's a Harry Potter timetravel fanfiction.

Preview: Team Ebisu has been given a new mission only it results in one of the team being up kidnapped!

Best Reviewers for the last chapter: Anonymoose13 and Gloriana the Younger