"The fifth match, Temari vs Tenten," Hayate announced as the two females came down the stairs and stood in front of each other.

"Good luck Tenten!" Lee cheered.

"Begin!" Hayate hopped back.

The match ended about as quickly as it started. Temari managed to catch Tenten in a wind style attack, the others body landing directly on top of the metal fan.

"How boring," Temari said as she looked at Tentens unconscious body.

"Wh-What's up with her?" Naruto asked.

Sarah shrugged, "She probably expected a more challenging opponent."

"Hn." Sasuke just looked down.

"The fifth match...winner, Temari!" Hayate announced.

Temari simply flung Tentens unconscious body at Team Gai, Rock Lee catching her. Before Rock Lee could do down and fight her, he got stopped by Neji.

"Don't. Our time to get revenge will come soon."

Rock Lee nodded as he looked down at his female teammate. Sarah understood that look well, Sasuke too. The look of revenge.

"Next, Nara Shikamaru vs Kin Tsuchi!"

"Man this sucks," Shikamaru said as he walked down the steps, "Plus it's tough fighting a girl."

"Then I'll end it quickly," Kin responded.

"Begin!" Hayate said.

Shikamaru made a few familiar handsigns, "Ninpou: Kagemane no Jutsu."

"A one trick pony, eh?" Kin said as she ran out of the shadows way, "As long as I watch your shadow I have nothing to fear."

Kin threw some bells around the arena.

"That's an old trick. Next you'll throw one needle with a bell and one without, right? And when I react to the sound and only dodge the first one and don't notice the second one...stab right?" Shikamaru explained.

"You sure do like to talk!" Kin responded as she threw another needle at him.

Shikamaru pretended to get distracted by the bells, allowing Kin to land a hit on him with a needle. Kin grinned, thinking this would be a perfect victory for her. Kin tried moving her body but was unable to.

"Heh. The shadow copy no jutsu finally worked," Shikamaru smirked.

"What are you talking about? I don't see your shadow anywheres!" Kin exclaimed.

"You haven't noticed yet?" Shikamaru asked.

"No way.." Kin looked down at the ground.

"Exactly idiot. A string at that height doesn't make a shadow. I can lengthen, shorten, freely control my own shadow, though there is a limit." Shikamaru pointed at her, "I made my shadow really skinny to make it look like it was made by the string and then attached it to you."

Shikamaru reached into his holster and pulled out a shuriken, Kin being forced to do the same.

Kin started to freak out, "Are you stupid? Both of us will do the same movements! If you attack you will get hurt too!"

"I know that," Shikamaru responded.

Kin gasped, "You aren't..."

"We'll keep throwing shurikens to see how long we can last," Shikamaru said as both he and Kin threw shurikens at each other.

Shikamaru bent down backwards, knocking Kin's head into the wall. Kin's body fell down unconscious.

"One down," Shikamaru said as he quickly got up, "If you're a shinobi then fight with knowledge of your surroundings. Even if we move the same the distance to the wall behind us was different."

"Winner, Nara Shikamaru!" Hayate announced.

"Yes! Shikamaru!" Ino cheered.

"You rule!" Chouji shouted.

"That was kind of basic...but he was kind of cool...damn," Naruto pouted.

Sarah smiled, "He wasn't called the smartest in our class for a reason."

"Next up, Uzumaki Naruto vs Inuzuka Kiba!" Hayate announced.

"Finally, it's about time!" Naruto shouted.

"Haha! Lucky! We can definitely beat them Akamaru!" Kiba shouted.

Akamaru barked.

"Hmm...this is bound to be an interesting match," Sarah said as she watched the two boys head down into the arena.

"Hn," Sasuke responded.

"The seventh match... Uzumaki Naruto vs Inuzuka Kiba! Begin!" Hayate said before stepping back.

Kiba laughed, "It's like we've already won! We're so lucky Akamaru!"

Akamaru barked.

"Shut the fuck up," Naruto responded, "Also how the hell is he allowed to bring a dog in here and I have to fight all by myself?"

"Akamaru fights alongside me," Kiba responded.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "That's fine. You're going to need all the help you can get."

"Heh, acting all tough? Fine. Akamaru, you stay out of this," Kiba said as he sat his dog down onto the ground.

Sarah smirked.

"What exactly are you planning?" Sasuke asked her.

"Nothing," Sarah responded, "Just thought I'd help our blonde friend out."

"Knowing you, it'll probably end badly." Sasuke looked down at the arena.

Sarah shrugged, "Hmm..."

Kabuto was suspicious of this girls intentions. Was she the one Orochimaru had warned him about?

Naruto pulled out a seal from his pouch, slamming it into the ground. An ice spike came directly out of it, impaling Kiba in the stomach. Kiba yelled out in pain as Akamaru whimpered.

"What the fuck?" Naruto looked at the scene in front of him.

"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" Hayate announced.

Naruto walked back towards his team feeling more dejected than normal. Sarah was chuckling as Sasuke shot a death glare at her.

"You should really put a damn label on those things!" Naruto said as he sat down beside Kabuto.

"Aww...but that takes all the fun out of it," Sarah responded as she watched the medic-nins escort Kiba out of the arena, "You won."

"But at what cost?" Naruto asked.

"The cost of traumatizing poor Kabuto over here," Sarah hardly slapped him on the back.

Kabuto shivered in fear.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Sarah stop tormenting the poor guy."

"You're no fun," Sarah pouted.

"Now it's time to announce the next match; Hyuga Hinata vs Hyuga Neji!" Hayate announced.

"Damn, she's going to get slaughtered." Sarah glanced over towards Neji, "If he's anything like Lee then he must be incredibly strong."

"Agreed." Sasuke nodded.

Hinata and Neji made their way down the staircase and into the arena. Sasuke and Sarah watched intensely, anticipating what was going to happen. A battle between family members - Hinata who is part of the main branch family and Neji who is part of the extended branch family.

Clan politics was never particularly interesting to Sarah. Whenever the clan kids in her class would discuss it amongst their peers she would prefer to stay behind and read medical textbooks.

This was interesting to her. She could feel the pure distain Neji is radiating towards Hinata. Sarah was sure Sasuke could as well. Things were bound to get interesting.

"I never thought I'd be facing you, Hinata-sama," Neji said as he looked Hinata in the eyes.

"Brother Neji..." Hinata whispered underneath her breath.

"Huh? Siblings?" Naruto exclaimed.

"They are members of the Leafs oldest and greatest bloodline, the Hyuga clan, but they aren't siblings." Kakashi looked down at the arena.

Sarah quickly turned around, "WHEN THE HELL DID HE GET HERE-"

"Then what are they?" Naruto asked.

"They're cousins," Kakashi responded.

"Well that must make fighting each other extremely difficult," Naruto said as he looked down at Hinata with concern on his face.

Kakashi nodded, "Mhm."

"Begin!" Hayate shouted.

"Before we begin fighting I would like to say something, Hinata-sama. You don't make a good shinobi, forfeit now," Neji said in a demanding tone.

Hinata looked at him in shock.

"You are too kind. You wish for harmony and tend to avoid conflict whenever possible. You agree with others, never resisting, and you have absolutely no confidence in yourself. I always feel your sense of inferiority that's why I thought it would be best for you to remain a Genin," Neji explained, "But the Chuunin exam can only be taken as a team of three. You couldn't turn down your teammates request and unwillingly entered. Am I wrong?"

"N-No...I just wanted to change myself... Do it for myself," Hinata responded.

"Just as I thought you are a spoiled brat of the main branch family," Neji retorted, "People cannot change themselves. Losers are losers. Their personality and strength will not change because people cannot change, differences are born. Expressions like elite and loser are created. Looks, brains, ability, size, personality; all people judge and are judged in these values based on these unchangable factors. People discriminate and are discriminated against and they suffer within their own means. I am from a branch house and you are from the main house, that fact cannot be changed. I've seen through many things with my Byakugan so I know that you're just acting strong but deep down inside you just want to run away from here."

"N-No...I really.." Hinata interjects.

Hinata felt a shiver go down her spine as Neji activates his Byakugan.

"You can't fool my eyes," Neji responded, "Against my pressure just now you floated your eyes to the upper left. This is a sign that you are remembering your past experiences, your painful past. After that you looked towards the lower right. That's a sign that you're imagining physical and mental pain. Basically you are thinking about yourself and from all the experience until now you are imagining the results of the match. Imagining that....you'll loose!"

Hinata was starting to freak out.

"The action of raising your arms in front of your body, that shows that you are trying to create a wall between us. You're trying to create distance from me to prevent me from figuring out how you truly feel," Neji continued, "Because everything I have said is totally right. Furthermore touching your lip is a personality trait revealing a disturbance. It's a defense mechanism to soften the nervousness and worrying. So basically you haven't realized that you can't possibly change your fate."

"Yes you can!" Naruto shouted, "Stop deciding things about people you fucking idiot! Kick that bastards ass Hinata!"

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata whispered.

"Stand up for yourself Hinata! Fight!" Sarah shouted.

Hinata nodded as she got into a fighting position, "Thank you."

"So you want to fight? Fine," Neji responded, "I'm not responsible for what's about to happen."

The two ran up to each other and began to block each other's attacks. They seemed evenly matched. Hinata managed to land a hit on Nejis side and to his right shoulder. Before Hinata could land a final blow Neji slammed his palm into Hinata's chest, making her cough up blood.

Hinata slammed her palm into Nejis other shoulder but was unable to cause any more damage as Neji destroyed the chakra pathway in her arm with just two fingers touching her elbow. Neji used his other arm to roll up, revealing several bruises all over her arm.

Neji knocked Hinata back onto the ground.

"Hinata-sama, this is the difference in talent that can never change. The difference that divides an elite from a loser, that's a reality you cannot change." Neji looked down at her, "Forefit. Now."

Hinata slowly got herself up off the ground, "No...I refuse."

"Wow...Hinata is incredible," Naruto said.

"Yeah, she is." Sarah looked over at Nejis direction, "Going up against someone like Neji takes a lot of strength."

Sasuke nodded.

Hinata grabbed onto the side of her chest tightly, blood dripping down onto the floor. Neji got back into his fighting stance, Byakugan activated. Hinata rushed over towards Neji and began attacking him. She was loosing, taking blow after blow from Neji but her determination wasn't wavering.

"I can't loose...not here, not now! I got to prove to everyone that I'm no longer going to stay by the sidelines," Hinata's hand clenched into a fist, "I'll become stronger, just watch me!"

Neji's eyes opened as Hinata landed a punch to his jaw, sending him flying back a few feet away. He hadn't expect that coming from her.

"Go Hinata! Ti tā de pìgu!" Sarah shouted.

Neji quickly got up and began sending a flurry of jabs at Hinata. Hinata kept blocking, waiting for the perfect moment to attack. Before she could land another hit Neji slammed his palm into Hinata's side, sending her falling to the ground.

"You still don't understand," Neji said.

Hinata slowly got up and shakily stood on her feet.

"You don't understand. You'll die if you continue," Neji looked at her.

Hinata looked at him with a determined smile on her face, "It's not over."

"Acting tough is useless. You can barely stand, I can see that," Neji responded, "From the time of your birth the responsibility of the Hyuga Clan's main house has been forced upon you. You have always hated yourself for your own weakness, but people cannot change. There is no need to suffer anymore. Let it go."

"I won't," Hinata responded, "I refuse! What you say is not true at all! The person lost within the destiny of the main house is you, brother Neji!"

Neji charged at Hinata with the intention to kill her. Hinata clenched her fist tightly and used all the force she could muster to land a devastating blow to his stomach, sending him flying back into the wall.

"Winner, Hyuga Hinata!" Hayate shouted.

Hinata smiled as she gave a thumbs up at Naruto, "I....did it.."

Her body collapsed onto the ground. Naruto smiled as he cheered.

"I knew she could do it!"

Sarah was still shocked, "H-How did she manage to pull that off? Her injuries...."

"Hn." Sasuke just stared at the ground beneath him.

"Did you see her Sasuke? Kabuto? She was amazing!" Naruto exclaimed.

Kabuto nodded, "Hm..she sure was."

"I just hope her organs aren't too badly damaged," Sarah said as she looked down at the medic-nins loading Hinata up onto a stretcher, "She did take a lot of damage.."

"Yeah but the way she sucker-punched that pompous brat was priceless," Naruto laughed, "He deserved it."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Her heart muscles are extremely damaged. If they don't heal her within ten minutes she'll die," Sarah thought as she hopped down into the arena.

"Sarah-Chan!" Naruto shouted.

"I'll be right back!" Sarah shouted as she rushed over towards the group of medical ninjas.

Sarah shoved her way through and knelt down towards Hinata, unzipping her coat and inspecting the extent of her injured. Most of them were internal, as to be expected. Neji was attacking her with the intent to kill; her internal organs were slowly shutting down.

Sarah quickly began performing surgery on Hinata's body, grabbing materials from her scroll to help aid her. The medical ninjas and everyone in the stands just watched her in shock as Sarah continuously worked to heal Hinata. Healing the wound she left behind on Hinata's chest, Sarah heavily panted as she motioned for the medical ninjas to go and take her to the hospital.

"Shit...I'm low on mana," Sarah shakily got up off the ground and headed out behind the medical ninjas, "Sorry guys..I won't be watching the rest of the matches with you."

Kakashi shunshinned down and helped Sarah walk, "You did good."

"Really?" Sarah looked up at Kakashi.

Kakashi nodded, "Let's get you to a bed."

"Alright, Kakashi-sensei..."

-

"CHA!!" Sarah shouted as she looked at her two teammates, "I HAVE TO FIGHT THAT WEIRD ASS LOSER KABUTO?"

"Well it can't be that bad. Sasuke here has to go up against Gaara," Naruto pointed over towards the ravenette.

"Tch," Sasuke responded, "You're going up against Hinata."

"I know. I really don't want to fight her but I got no choice if I want to advance to the finals," Naruto pouted.

"Mhm. We got a whole month to prepare," Sarah said as she continued to read her textbook.

"Are you still looking for a way to repair the nerves in Lee's body?" Sasuke asked her.

Sarah nodded, "That's what I'm going to be doing for the next month. I already gotten myself an internship at the hospital after Yamanaka-san deemed me 'sane enough'."

"Wow, that's so amazing!" Naruto said, "Too bad I'm stuck with that pervert Ebitsu. He HATES my guts."

"I think I got off fairly easy," Sasuke smirked, "Kakashi-sensei is training me himself."

"He's probably going to teach you that one lightning blade thing that he used to pierce Haku's chest....Chidori I think the name was," Sarah looked up from her book, "That's probably going to be the only way you can make it through Gaara's defenses."

"Or you could slap some of those weird seals on and just go in there blind," Naruto suggested.

"No." Sasuke stared at him in horror, "Never again."

Naruto shrugged, "Worked fine for me."

"I am never giving you guys seals again," Sarah said as she focused her gaze back onto her book, "Now leave my room before I sick my ninneko on you."

"Yes ma'am!" Naruto responded as he dragged Sasuke out of the room by his shirt collar.

Sarah sighed heavily. It's been two days since the preliminaries and everything's been a complete mess. While she was able to score an internship at the hospital (probably didn't help that she performed LITERAL SURGERY on someone in front of everyone), Sarah also was tasked with healing Rock Lee's injuries by the Hokage.

She isn't no Tsunade Senju. She can't perform miracles out of thin air. These procedures take a lot of time and practice, practice in which Sarah lacked.

It was a shock to Sarah that she was able to repair Haku's heart muscles back at the Great Team Seven bridge. Healing Hinata and preventing her from certain death is quite the accomplishment in itself considering the extent of her injuries. Now she was faced with her biggest challenge yet, something that had never been performed in the history of medical ninjutsu.

Sarah spent countless hours studying, experimenting, and documenting her findings. She had to come up with a solution as soon as she could or else Rock Lee would never be able to become a ninja.

"If only Tsunade was in the village." Sarah sighed, "If only..."

-

Sarah tied her hair up into a bun as all the nurses around her were scrubbing in. She was finally able to come up with a way to heal Rock Lee's injuries. It was going to deplete most of her mana but it'll be worth it in the end.

Sarah had consulted her previous studies and experiments. There had to be some sort of outlier. Something she hadn't taken into account before.

When she was able to successfully regrow the nerves in a dog's paralyzed leg, Sarah felt immensely proud of herself. A few attempts later she was able to replicate the same results on a rabbit.

Now she was going to try and do the same on a human being. Sarah dawned on a gown and a pair gloves, walking into the operating room with a confident aura on her face. She only had one shot...one chance to get this right. She couldn't fail now.

Snip.

Drip.

Sarah was using her mana to slowly regrow the damaged nerve, watching as it repaired itself. She continued throughout the left side of his body, reconstructing it completely. Once she was done Sarah took off her gown and gloves, sighing in relief as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"I did it."

Sarah walked out of the operating room and decided to go visit Naruto, who somehow ended up in the hospital. Walking into his room, Sarah noticed it was empty.

"Hm...odd."

Rushing over towards Rock Lee's room, Sarah noticed Shikamaru and Naruto standing there confronting Gaara.

"What the hell is going on here?" Sarah shouted.

"I'm trying to kill him," Gaara coldly responded.

"Why do you feel the need to do that? You already won the fight! Do you have some sort of personal agenda against him?" Shikamaru asked.

"I do not," Gaara responded, "I'm going to kill him just because I want to."

"Come the fuck on! I just got done performing surgery on him!" Sarah exclaimed as she walked over and socked Gaara on the head with her fist, "You must be seriously messed up in the head if you're willing to kill someone in cold blood."

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted.

"If you continue to get in my way I won't hesitate to kill you too," Gaara looked over at Sarah, "Starting with her."

"Go ahead and try!" Naruto raised his fist, "Get behind me Sarah-chan, I'll protect you!"

Sarah rolled her eyes, "He can't do much damage if he's stuck under Shikamaru's jutsu."

"Mhm," Shikamaru responded, "Say, why exactly are you here Sarah?"

"I was coming to check on my patient," Sarah responded, "And now I'm stuck dealing with a homicidal maniac and you two."

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, "I'm perfectly capable of fighting this asshole right here! I got a demon inside of me too!"

Sarah facepalmed, "I don't think you should be announcing shit like that out in the open."

"Don't worry I already know," Shikamaru responded, "These two right here are jinchurikki and you got a kekkai genkai that traps people in dreams."

"It's not a kekkai genkai but sure, let's go with that." Sarah glanced over at Gaara, "In all seriousness you should really go back to your village. I get you're into this whole murdering people shit but I would REALLY appreciate it if you didn't murder my patient."

"And what are you going to do about it if I did?" Gaara asked her.

"Beat the fuck out of you," Sarah responded, "I'm not nice like those two over there, I won't hesitate to murder you."

"You wouldn't be the first," Gaara responded, "I have people come to assassinate me since I was six, people hired by my own father."

"Understandable, you act the way you do because of your trauma. I don't know what 'love'" Sarah pointed at the scar on Gaara's forehead, "has to do with it but I'm sure it's probably something that triggers you."

Gaara's eyes narrowed.

"So you're trying to kill Lee because of something he did?" Sarah asked her.

"I just don't see the point in loving someone. I exist to kill every human being on this planet asides from myself. There's really no point in living. I'm just a tool used by my village for war," Gaara responded.

Sarah nodded, "Everyone is; you and Naruto have it worse since you guys are - technically - nuclear bombs that could destroy a single village."

"You get it," Gaara responded.

"For the most part I do. Now could you please go back to your hotel room and NOT murder my patient? I'm tired and I barely have enough energy as is to fight you," Sarah responded.

Gaara used his sand to break himself out of Shikamaru's jutsu, "Fine. I'll definitely kill you guys tomorrow, just hide and watch."

"I'll look forwards to that," Sarah watched as Gaara walked out the door. She turned her focus back onto Naruto and Shikamaru, "Now you two get back to your fucking rooms before I manhandle you there myself."

"Y-Yes Sarah-chan!" Naruto responded as he dragged Shikamaru with him.

Sarah sighed as she placed her hands on her hips. She had a feeling something bad was going to happen.

"I better prepare for war," Sarah walked out of the room and towards the exit, "After all things are bound to get extremely....bloody."