Yet again, the world was proven to be unfair.

Kana watched with an expression of stone as Shino struggled to fight Gaara off. While both of them were limited by what they could do because of the rain, it was still obvious that Gaara was better at hand-to-hand combat. The rain caused Gaara's sand to become heavy and difficult to use, and Shino couldn't use his insect swarm to it's fullest potential in the rain either. Despite both of their disadvantages, Gaara still managed to have the upper hand with his automatic sand defence. Even with his sand soaked by the rain, it was still effective in keeping Shino back.

Meanwhile, Shino was trying to touch Gaara, which would allow his insects direct access to Gaara and his chakra without them being knocked to the ground by the rain. Because the two of them were limited in what they could do in the rain, they used mainly taijutsu, making it apparent that Gaara was more skilled.

"Enough of this," Gaara finally said, his sand shooting out to surround him from all sides. "This has gone on long enough and I've gotten bored of this."

Shino flinched, jumping away from him backwards into a handspring and drawing a kunai from within his coat. Gaara didn't give him the luxury of time, and instead sprinted towards him full speed, his sand darting out in front of him and latching onto Shino's arm. Shino desperately tried to squirm away, growing more and more frantic as Gaara approached him.

"Surrender now," Gaara droned, his sand tightening threateningly around Shino's arm. "Or else I'll break your arm."

Shino gulped, sweat dotting his face. "I... Forfeit."

"Gaara advances to the next round!" Azumi announced enthusiastically. "Next, could Neji Hyuuga of Konohagakure and Aka of Otogakure please come to the field?"

~~~~~~~~~~

"I see that Gaara boy is still as violent as before," Pein noted dully. "Which isn't always a bad thing."

"I have to disagree Pein-sama," Kana interjected. "Before, Gaara wouldn't hesitate to break bones, he hesitated this time, he gave Shino a chance to surrender."

"I suppose you're right," Pein said thoughtfully. "Good observation."

"I have to say, I'm very glad Gaara has changed," The Hokage chuckled jovially. "His village will finally start to see him as an asset instead of a monster. I had hoped that the same would happen for Naruto, however, he is no longer one of my Genin."

"Do not worry Hokage," Pein reassured the old man. "Naruto has thrived here, the people here adore him and he will be shooting through the ranks in no time."

"I'm glad..." The Hokage smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~

Neji elegantly rose from his seat and began down the stairs, the boy from Otogakure doing the same right after him. Neji glanced back at the masked figure, the corners of his lips downturned in a frown. This boy bothered him to no end, and he wasn't going to stop bothering him until that damn mask was ripped off his face. Neji faced forward again, pulling the hood of his dark green cloak over his head.

The masked figure wore his own cloak, with black clothes concealing the rest of his body, not a single piece of skin exposed. He even wore boots instead of sandals and had gloves on. His clothes were also loose enough that it could very well be a girl under there, after all, he had never heard the boy utter a single word. Everyone just assumed he was male.

"Are you both ready to begin?" Azumi asked, casting a suspicious glance at Aka.

"I am ready." Neji formally replied, then looking at his opponent.

Aka simply nodded, taking a low stance and resting his hand on the handle of his sheathed blade.

"Then you may begin!" Azumi exclaimed, quickly getting out of their way.

Aka didn't hesitate to draw his weapon, a katana it seemed. Neji took a low stance, the veins around his eyes bulging as he activated his kekkei genkai, the Byakugan. He could clearly see the chakra network of his opponent, however, what bothered him was that he could not see through the mask, which included the chakra points on his face. His face was just black, pure nothingness.

Neither of them wasted time with idle banter, immediately locking blades, kunai against sword. While Neji preferred not using a weapon at all, his goal was to disarm Aka so he could hit his chakra points, which would be easier with a weapon. Aka didn't hesitate to counter-attack, expertly knocking the kunai from Neji's grasp and leaning forward to slice him in half. Neji nimbly dodged backwards, gaining his footing before spinning as quickly as he could, bleeding chakra.

"Rotation!" He exclaimed, the dome of chakra knocking away Aka's sword as the two forces colided.

Aka glanced at his weapon which had been flung across the field, however, he did not turn and run for it. That would be stupid and only leave him open. Neji smirked triumphantly, taking a running start towards him.

"Eight trigrams: sixty-four palms!" Neji exclaimed darting towards him. "Two pal-"

Before he could connect his attack, he was lifted into the air by his neck, held up several snakes, all of which were coming from the Aka's sleeve. 

"I do not want to kill you," Aka whispered, his voice garbled. "Surrender now."

"...N...ever..." Neji wheezed, gritting his teeth.

With a sudden burst of chakra, Neji used his rotation again, cutting the snakes up into little pieces. Once free, Neji took the chance while Aka was disoriented. 

"Two palms!"

Two quick strikes connected with Aka's mask, forming a large crack down the middle. Aka gasped, his hand coming up to his mask to asses the damage.

"I was going to go easy on you..." Aka mumbled. "But now I'm mad."

Aka's hands blurred together. "Fire style: fireball jutsu!"

A huge ball of fire tore towards Neji, so hot that the rain hardly put a dent in it's power. Neji used his rotation once again, successfully reflecting the fireball.

"How many more times can you do that?" Aka asked smugly. "How are your chakra levels? I've hardly put a dent in mine."

Neji grit his teeth. "I have plenty, enough to defeat you at least."

"Let's see you try..." Aka snickered. "Fireball jutsu!"

Neji used his rotation yet again, taking a moment to calm his breathing afterwards. His eyes snapped back to his opponent, only to realize that he was gone. 

"Shit!" Neji exclaimed. "Where are you?!"

Something collided with the back of Neji's head, making his vision begin to blur. From behind him, he could hear Aka's garbled voice.

"Right here..." Aka mocked, hitting Neji again with the dull end of his sword.

"But... when?" Neji gasped, falling to the grounds knees first.

"The fireball was only a distraction," Aka replied. "I just wanted to get my sword back."

Neji grit his teeth, his consciousness beginning to fade away.

"I win."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Man, I really don't like him..." Shikamaru sighed.

"You mean Aka?" Shino asked.

"Yeah," Shikamaru groaned. "He's kind of a jerk, he was practically toying with Neji."

"There is... Something strange about him," Gaara said. "I don't like him."

"I can't argue with that," Kankuro nodded. "He totally could've just ended the fight right away, instead of dragging it on. It's obvious that he's powerful."

Naruto silently nodded, watching as Aka stood over Neji's unconscious body.

"There's just something about him," Naruto mumbled. "And it makes me want to tear him to shreds."

A/N

Sorry for the absence and lack of updates! I was watching a lot of anime instead of writing, plus I haven't had much free time. But nonetheless, I hope you guys liked the chapter!