My bow hung invisibly over my shoulders, as always. The wood was so thin that it did not hinder me much in the fight, which created an immense familiarity. Also, the environment in which the fight took place. A large, earthy place, overgrown with grass here and there, surrounded by a few trees that had begun to rustle in the rising wind. This would be a good place to fight. I had placed my right hand on the weapon pouch while my left was in my trouser pocket, wanting to convey an image that was as casual as possible.

For a brief moment my gaze wandered around the arena, watching the jeering crowd and a small, orange, leaping ninja...Naruto, who else, trying in vain to drown out the shouts of the crowd. But in vain. Shikamaru, who was standing next to him, looked rather annoyed, but that didn't refer to me. I just grinned and waved. I already had one supporter. Kankuro grinned broadly and nodded at me, while Gaara simply looked down at me without expression. As always, he didn't allow any feelings. At least on the outside. I would like to know what it was like inside him.

Dosu came towards me. Triumph flashed in the small eye and Genma wrinkled his nose slightly. So much for impartiality then... I only caught his words halfway. All that mattered was Dosu and every single move he would make from the starting signal.

„Good, then begin."

The sonic ninja abruptly shot forward to catch me. Deftly, I backed away and made a lightning quick hook to avoid the outstretched fist, simultaneously channelling some raiton chakra into my feet to escape the sonic. Watching him from a safe distance, I surreptitiously created an invisible shadow double and took one of my shuriken from my pocket.

I wanted him to notice as little as possible.

A frontal attack would be pointless because he could immediately use the sound. If he did, I should try it from behind. But I had to distract him. So, there was only one possibility.

Again, I ran towards him, the Raiton chakra flowing through my body, but still I held it back. In a single movement, I threw the shuriken in his direction.

„Shuriken shadow clone technique."

Instantly the small weapon multiplied. Startled, the sonic ninja jerked his arm up in a flash and blocked it. What he hadn't seen, however, was the invisible shadow clone that had crept up on him from behind. At least that's what I thought, because suddenly he let his other arm swing back and hit it full force in the stomach.

A derisive laugh escaped his mouth.

„Did you really think I couldn't feel his chakra? Pathetic. And you want to have made it to the finals?"

With a lightning-fast arm movement, he lashed out and I knew I didn't have much time to react now.

Sakura:

My hands clenched around the railing in tension, hoping to somehow dispel that inner turmoil. Ino sat right next to me and cast an astonished glance in my direction. Normally I wouldn't root for Tora like that, especially since I still didn't know what to think of her. But in this fight, I wished her victory.

Especially because it was against Dosu.

One of the ninjas who tried to kill Sasuke and knocked Lee out with a few punches.

And now...now it seemed she was in a similar situation to Lee, because Dosu's sonic device was right next to her ear.

„She's lost," Ino said in such a calm voice, as if she didn't seem to give a damn.

My hands clenched. Had she even realised what that sound was causing. The pain, the dizziness...not a nice end to the fight for Tora. One I didn't wish on her at all. On top of that, she was the only kunoichi from Konoha still in the race here. Actually, we should all support her here.

„It's impossible to escape Dosu's sound now," said a voice behind me.

Surprised, I looked around and recognised Lee, leaning on crutches, standing next to us on the stairs. The black-haired boy was watching the fight with an icy expression. The stadium had gone dead silent.

I only saw Tora slump to the ground and hold her head.

No. It couldn't be over yet. She hadn't even been able to realise her full potential yet. Dosu did not deserve this victory. Not at all.

„HEY TORA. HOW DARE YOU GIVE UP ALREADY? DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!", Naruto's voice rang across the square. "COME ON! GET UP!"

I smiled sadly. What was the point of encouraging her now when she was already as good as fainting?

Dosu, meanwhile, had turned his back on her and let the spectators celebrate him like a victorious hero. Tora still sat motionless on the floor...but something was wrong.

She...she was grinning. Was that what it meant?

And then her body just fizzled out like that, right before our eyes.

Was... was she just acting?

But that was impossible, how could the sound not have hit her? She hadn't even dodged it...I couldn't explain it.

Shocked murmurs went through the arena when the supposedly beaten opponent suddenly disappeared. Almost at the same moment, the sonic ninja was attacked from behind. With one blow he was thrown backwards, rolled off and got up again.

His nose was bleeding and seemed slightly twisted. Hectically, his eyes glanced around, trying to spot the invisible opponent. Out of nowhere, a few shuriken shot at him, which he could only dodge to a limited extent, as they flew in strange paths.

When one hit his shoulder, he jumped back in fright and reached for his weapon bag. Only... it was empty.

„Is this what you're looking for?"

All eyes darted to the opposite wall of the arena. There Tora leaned, a considerable collection of shuriken and kunai in her hands. But how? Had she fished them all out of his pocket during the run? That was impossible.

„Crazy isn't it," said a familiar voice behind me and I spun around.

„Sensei Kakashi," I said delightedly and instantly my eyes searched for the familiar black-haired figure of the Uchiha.

„Where's Sasuke?"

„He's already downstairs. Don't worry, you'll be able to see him fight soon."

Disappointed, I nodded. Actually, it had been clear that he would join the others, but still, I would have seen him again beforehand to wish him good luck. So that he could actually defeat that creepy freak from Suna.

„Unbelievable," Dosu growled. „You just fished it out of my pocket without me even noticing."

"Quite right," Tora countered, not knowing which of the two statements she now meant.

„You'll regret this," the sonic ninja said as the brown-haired girl slowly put his weapons in her bag. No...not all of them. Keeping a small shuriken in her hand, she pushed herself off the wall and charged towards Dosu, who was already positioning his hand ready to strike again. No...charging was the wrong word. She was almost flying. Her movements began to blur before my eyes they were so fast.

Tora:

I could literally see the sound waves appearing in front of me. It was as if everything was happening in slow motion in front of me because of my incredible speed. Now I had to master flawlessly what I had practised all the time during the training.

I could almost feel them on my ears. Just a little further...and then I jumped to the side. The waves raced past me, missed me, but I was not yet out of danger, as Dosu had raised his other hand to strike as well. Suddenly, my shadow double appeared, blocked the blow and I dropped to the ground to make a scissor movement with my legs. Purposefully, I hit the back of his knees.

The sonic ninja staggered and toppled over. Before his body hit the ground, my hand sped forward and hit him just under the chin. It cracked ugly before the one-eyed man went down with a painful groan.

The crowd jeered. Shouting from many throats echoed in the arena, but I didn't let it distract me, which might have been my worst mistake, because Dosu disintegrated all at once. No, not exactly. He had swapped his body for a branch and was now...damn...right behind me.

Too careless, though.

Something flashed silver and I suspected something bad.

My eyes widened as the sound waves rushed towards me...but now I had almost no time left...I had to try. Maybe ... if I put all my effort and concentration ...

I hurriedly closed my eyelids and put my fingers together, literally pressed them together, felt the pressure spreading through me, but not only that. I felt it ... this protective skin that spread around me, protecting every inch of my body, even more strongly than before.

It tingled, no more and no less, as the dangerous waves hit the protective shield and then I knew it was time. Time for the counterattack. With its own weapons.

Slowly I opened my eyes and looked into Dosu's.

Barely noticeably it widened, he seemed to suspect that the tide had turned, and I gave him no more time to flee.

„Returning attack jutsu," I said, feeling the shield return to Dosu all the sound waves he had directed at me.

The ninja cried out in pain, holding his ears, staggering, blood leaking from his hearing organ. But I felt neither pity nor his pain. My body was terribly numb as I looked down at my trembling opponent, who now slumped completely and lay motionless.

Breathing heavily, I remained standing on the spot, feeling dazed and alive at the same time. Even when Genma declared me the winner of the fight in front of everyone, I still couldn't understand what had just happened.

It was only when something orange jumped at me and almost took my breath away that I returned to reality.

„You won Tora. I knew you could do it, for real now," said a happy beaming Naruto.

I looked at him in confusion for a moment before the earth began to spin ever so slowly again. Finding no real fixed point, I spun around. There was a beaming Naruto, next to a grinning Shikamaru. They had both come onto the field to congratulate me.

Genma allowed himself a small smile towards me and from the stands Hinata and Kiba waved at me. My gaze wandered to the tribune where the Hokage had taken his seat. He was standing at the railing looking down at the field but was too far away for me to see his face.

Naruto shook my shoulder saying something that didn't quite get through to me. It wasn't until Shikamaru pushed the overexcited Uzumaki aside and hugged me that I began to thaw.

„This is one of the best fights I've ever seen Tora," he said.

And that's when I realised it.

I had just won.