I tried not to do a cliffhanger this time guys, seeing as I seem to be somewhat notorious for them.....Ehehh.....Sorry about that, it's not usually intentional ;P

Pic of Okita  --->

(Sorry, don't think the pic is working atm -_-  Of course!)

Third Person’s POV

“So, who do you think will win?” Neji questions Kakashi, arms crossed. “Kyoku or Ashley?”

“Kyoku” is the silver haired man’s certain reply. “There’s no doubt that Ashley’s fast, but Kyoku is incredible. Back when we were in the ANBU, she was the fastest out of all of us. Her reaction time is amazing as well.”

Neji nods slowly, raising an eyebrow at Kakashi and making the older man look away awkwardly. Maybe he’d talked Kyoku up a little too much?

Kakashi’s visible eye lights up as Kyoku suddenly runs into the stadium, with Zee in hot pursuit. She sprints towards them effortlessly, giving Kakashi a closed eye smile when she notices him staring at her.

“And it looks like we have our winner!” Areki shouts excitedly into his microphone, “Kyoku Mizu of the Leaf Village, with Zee Monomori coming in a close second!”

The crowd erupts into enthusiastic screams and animated cheering, as Kyoku comes to a stop beside her two teammates and places a hand on her hip.

“Good job Kyoku” Kakashi praises the blue haired woman, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Not that I expected anything less from you.”

Kyoku smiles at Kakashi shyly, her ocean coloured eyes hooded. Though she tried to hide it, praise from someone as talented, and not to mention as handsome, as Kakashi left her a little lost for words.

“Thank you” she replies softly, before turning her head and glancing over at Zee, who is standing beside the female Snow Ninja that looks like him. “I’m not sure where that boy came from though. He’s fast…”

Kakashi and Neji also look over at Zee, who seems to be listening to something his female teammate is saying to him. She places a hand on top of his head and gives him a tiny smile, when Zee blinks and turns around. He spots the Leaf Ninja staring at him, before glancing at Kyoku and nodding his head in recognition of her win. The Leaf Ninja returns his nod with a friendly smile, when the female Mist Ninja comes racing into the stadium, with Fuisuke right behind her.

“Tanzaki Kyomura and Fuisuke Kakonura from the Mist Village take up the third and fourth positions!” Areki announces, throwing an arm in the air. “Who will be next?!”

At this point, Kakashi gives Kyoku a worried look, as Neji stares hard at the entrance where competitors are supposed to enter through.

“Where’s Ashley?” Kakashi questions the blue haired woman, making her blink. “I thought she’d at least be second.”

“I’m not sure….” Kyoku says slowly, her brows furrowing. “She was right behind me when the race began…. Perhaps she got lost?”

“Thanks to her Katsuryoku” Kakashi begins, shaking his head, “It’s virtually impossible for Ashley to get lost in a place she’s been to before.”

“Something must have happened” Neji speaks up, before smirking to himself. “But she hates to lose, so I have no doubt she’ll make it.”

A woman pauses and looks at a wooden stall set up by the side of the road, its colourful merchandise spread across a small table.

“Welcome!” the friendly owner greets, raising his hand in a wave and giving the browsing woman a smile. The woman returns his grin with one of her own, before turning her attention back down to the many items on the table. She wasn’t a citizen of the Grass Village, and was currently searching for some souvenirs to take back to her family when the Fighting Tournament was over.

Just as the woman selects an item and picks it up, a loud shout of fright behind her makes her pause. Turning around to see what had caused the shout, the woman sees a man being thrown to the side by a seemingly invisible force, lines of paper lanterns billowing through the air wildly.

Before the woman can even question what had happened, she is suddenly blown backwards by what feels like a whirlwind, the item being blown from her hands. The stall owner yells out, as he and his stall are also blown from the side of the road, colourful souvenirs suddenly taking to the air and flying in all directions. A cloud of dust slowly rises up in the wake of the strange whirlwind, people glancing around with wide eyes and trying to fix their wind swept hair.

‘I hope this doesn’t count as destroying people’s property’ Ashley thinks wryly, focusing her eyes ahead of her as she tears through the streets at an incredible clip. With her All Four’s Jutsu activated, Ashley’s speed had increased dramatically and allowed the girl to move at such a fast pace that she couldn’t even be seen by the untrained eye. Even some trained Ninja would have trouble spotting her if they blinked.

Though priding herself on her speed, Ashley didn’t particularly enjoy having to move so fast in condensed or crowded areas. She really had to focus and use her Katsuryoku to sense objects, so as to avoid crashing into things. She was especially worried about colliding with a civilian, but her Uchiha blood boiled at the thought of losing the competition.

Suddenly leaping to the right, Ashley skids around a rather large stall, narrowly avoiding crashing into a metal beam. She sweat drops, thinking how bad that could have been at the speed she’s moving. Shaking her head, Ashley quickly refocuses her Katsuryoku, using it to sense for people and objects ahead of her. Often when moving so quickly, it was easy to overlook an object or person, and Ashley didn’t have the luxury of wasting any time helping up some random citizen she’d collided with at the moment.

The blonde suddenly grins to herself, as she passes one of the other contestants, a Grass Ninja who seems to be struggling with the concept that she’s in a race. Well, Ashley guesses that the girl doesn’t understand the meaning, if her super slow pace is anything to go by.

The arena suddenly comes into Ashley’s view, making the blonde scowl. Ahead of her, Ashley can sense a couple more people sprinting through the crowds of people, so she can only assume that they’re also competitors in the race. Including herself and the Grass Ninja she’d just past, Ashley guesses that there are only five people left in the race, meaning that if she doesn’t pass the other three contestants, she’s out for good.

Kakashi’s frown deepens, as a happy Tozoku suddenly waltzes into the arena, swinging her long, red hair as she goes.

“Yay!” she sings, skipping over to Peikirin, who had finished a good few minutes ago. “I made it!”

“And Tozoku Rinosuke is our second last competitor to advance to the next Round!” Areki announces brightly, before his eyes narrow slightly. “We still have five more contestants left in the race, and whoever appears through those doors next will be the last competitor to advance to Round Four! Who will it be?!”

“Not Ashley” Tozoku chuckles lowly, exchanging a subtle high five with a smirking Peikirin. Kakashi, Kyoku and Neji all hear Tozoku’s words and glance over at her suspiciously, with the silver haired Jonin clenching his hands into fists, despite them being in his pockets.

Whatever they had done to his former student, Kakashi had faith that she would finish next. She was a fighter that one, and being disqualified just wouldn’t cut it for her.

Neji suddenly activates his Byakugan, wanting to see who’s the closest to the arena. Spotting the closest chakra signature, Neji briefly closes his eyes and releases a sigh.

“What’s wrong Neji?” Kakashi asks, seeing that the younger Jonin is using his Kekkei Genkai.

“The next contestant is one of the Stone Ninja” is the bland reply, to which Kakashi’s shoulders droop slightly. How could Ashley, his fastest student, not have made it to the stadium in time? Had someone broken the rules and attacked her? Or had she merely grown tired of this seemingly pointless Tournament?

“Hold on…..” Neji says slowly, making Kakashi straighten up. “What’s that?.....”

“What’s what?” Kyoku asks, tilting her head to the side.

“There’s another chakra coming up behind the Stone Ninja” Neji explains lowly, not entirely recognising the powerful chakra. “The person’s chakra is going a bit haywire at the moment, but they’re coming up fast. Really fast! I think they might just overtake the Stone Ninja!”

“It must be Ashley” Kakashi says happily, though he keeps his cool by shrugging a shoulder. “Not that I expected any different from her either.”

Kyoku smiles cheekily at Kakashi, causing him to glance up at the sky nonchalantly. Though he often tried to hide his feelings, Kyoku knew that her former ANBU Captain was happy to hear that his student was making somewhat of a comeback.

“And it looks like we have two contestants approaching the arena….” Areki pauses, placing a finger to his ear and seemingly listening to something. “Mm hmm….Mm hmm…..Alright…..Seems like it’s a mad dash to the finish folks! Despite initially being dead last in the race, Ashley Minami is apparently coming up at an incredible speed, with only our Jonin on security being able to see her! Who will emerge through the doors next? Will it be Ashley Minami, or-”

Suddenly, someone explodes through the arena doors, a huge cloud of dust following behind them and blocking the audience’s view.

“Can you see who it is Neji?” Kakashi asks, waving his hand and trying to blow some of the dust away from himself. “Did Ashley make it?”

“Have a little faith will ya Sensei?” a teasing voice asks from beside the Jonin, making him pause. As the dust begins to clear, he glances down, only to come face to face with a smirking Ashley, though she seems a little breathless from her mad dash.

“I just wanted to make a grand entrance is all” she adds with a wink, to which Kakashi sweat drops, though he’s secretly happy that she made it in time.

“And Ashley Minami is the final contestant to make it through to Round Four folks!” Areki shouts joyously, causing the crowd to roar with excitement. They applaud thunderously for the victorious competitors, as the Stone Ninja runs through the doors. He glances around, before narrowing his eyes at the ground and stalking over to his team, seemingly annoyed that he’d lost.

“Uh Ashley?” Neji asks wryly, raising an eyebrow at the girl as he deactivates his Byakugan. “Why is your chakra flow so wild? Normally it’s quite calm.”

Kakashi tilts his head to the side, studying his former student as she straightens up. Her blonde hair was messier than usual and her already sharp teeth had elongated by about a centimetre. He also notices that her nails had sharpened into claws and the pupil of her visible eye had become more of a slit, rather than its usual circular shape.

“All Four’s Jutsu” Ashley says simply, shrugging a shoulder as she deactivates her Jutsu. “It’s a chakra enhancing Jutsu. Kiba knows it as well.”

“Ah that’s right” Kakashi says wisely, snapping his fingers. “He used that very Jutsu in his fight against Naruto back at the Chunin Exams. Why did you need to use it though? I didn’t think that you of all people would need to use a speed enhancing Jutsu.”

Ashley smiles wryly at Kakashi, her sharp teeth shrinking back to their usual size.

“You give me too much credit Kakashi Sensei” she says with a light chuckle. “Not that I don’t appreciate your faith in me, but there are some very skilled Ninja here…..Not that I’d ever admit that any of them are more skilled than me.”

Her face suddenly growing serious, Ashley looks down at the ground, brows furrowed.

“I had to use the All Four’s Jutsu because I was attacked at the very beginning of the race” Ashley growls. “Tozoku summoned her demon Spider again and tried to get it to attack me. Kai helped me out, but by then, everyone had passed me. I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to up my speed a little, just to make sure I actually made it.”

“Wait, she attacked you?” Neji asks lowly, a scowl slowly appearing on his face as he glares over at Tozoku. “That’s against the rules! She should be disqualified!”

“Don’t worry about it Neji” Ashley sighs. “Just forget about her for now. I guess I technically attacked her as well, so maybe we should just leave it….”

“Fine” Neji huffs, crossing his arms and giving Ashley a serious look, “But I’m not happy about this.”

“Yeah” Ashley scoffs, rolling her eyes, “But when are you ever happy about anything?”

“Dammit” a low voice growls. “She still made it….”

“You didn’t do a good enough job Tozoku” another voice reprimands. The Leaf Ninja slowly turn around, sending wary looks over at Tozoku and Peikirin, who are glaring at Ashley hatefully.

“She’s not that tough” Tozoku snorts, crossing her arms. “She just got lucky. I’ll get her in the next Round.”

“What?” Kakashi growls lowly, eyes narrowing at the two young girls. Did they really think he’d let them do anything to Ashley? It’s not like Kyoku and Neji would just sit back and do nothing if they tried to attack Ashley again either.

“You think you can take me on Tozoku?” Ashley suddenly asks, making the red head narrow her eyes. “Well come on then, come and try it!”

“No thanks, you’re just a waste of time” Tozoku sneers, her cute façade crumbling further as she suddenly gives Ashley a nasty smirk. “Kiba’s wasting his time with an overweight loser like you. He’d be better off with me.”

Ashley’s eyes narrow dangerously at the red haired girl, grinding her teeth back and forth with agitation. As she clenches her fists and bends her knees, the other Leaf Ninja suddenly leap forwards.

Just when Ashley jumps for Tozoku, Kyoku grabs her by the shoulders, as Kakashi catches on to the back of her shirt and Neji appears in front of her.

“Let me go!” Ashley snarls, trying to rip herself from her teammate’s grips. “I’m going to kill that bitch!”

“You’ll be disqualified if you attack her though” Kyoku says softly, though she doesn’t release her grip on the blonde.

“I don’t care” Ashley growls softly, as Neji narrows his eyes at his youngest teammate.

“Don’t be stupid Ashley” he scolds sternly, crossing his arms and bravely staring down the blonde. “You’re a Jonin, so stop acting like a rookie Genin. You shouldn’t be goaded into fights so easily anymore. Think.”

Ashley scowls nastily at Neji, before blinking a few times and looking down at the ground thoughtfully.

‘He’s right’ she thinks with an internal sigh. ‘I’m normally too smart to get goaded into a fight, so I shouldn’t let this little bitch get to me so easily…..Kiba doesn’t even remember her name anyway….’

“Fine” Ashley eventually mutters, wrenching her arm away as Kyoku and Kakashi release her. The two Jonin eye her warily, watching to see if she’s just waiting until they relax so she can launch herself at Tozoku again. They do begin to relax however, when Ashley turns her back on the Grass Ninja and crosses her arms, closing her eyes.

“Thank Neji” she adds quietly, making the frowning Jonin suddenly smirk, the closest thing to a smile that Ashley thinks she’ll ever get from him.

“Aaaaaalright everyone!” Areki’s voice rings through the stadium. “We’re going to get underway with Round Four, the Precision Round, straight away! Can we have the roof closed please? And we’ll need the chain walls to be placed in front of the audience as well thank you!”

Everyone looks up, as a loud humming noise suddenly begins sounding through the arena. Up above, the sky slowly becomes more and more blocked out, as two huge halves of the stadium’s ceiling slide above the arena.

“While the roof is closing and the chain walls are being hung, I suggest picking two members of your team to participate” Areki says helpfully, a closed eye smile on his face. “Round Four, the Precision Round, is going to consist of two members from each team throwing kunai at targets. Sounds easy enough right? Well, we’ve made it a little bit tougher than that of course! For one thing, each contestant will be blindfolded, which is why we’re closing the roof and hanging chain walls. The chain walls that are being attached to the ceiling hang all the way down to the ground, to protect the audience from any kunai that miss the targets. Targets will appear in random positions, and the competitors are to throw the kunai and hit each target as close to the centre as possible. We’re going to have to ask the audience to remain silent for this Round, so our competitors can hear where the targets are appearing.”

As a large number of Grass Ninja begin hanging the heavy chain walls, Kakashi turns to Neji and Ashley.

“I think that both of you should compete in this competition” he suggests, as Neji nods, not bothering to question the decision.

‘Why should he worry?’ Ashley thinks wryly, giving Kakashi a doubtful look. ‘With his Byakugan, Neji should have no problem acing this Round. But why me?’

“I personally think that you’d be good at this Round Sensei” Ashley speaks up honestly. “Not only do you have fantastic aim, but you’ve got your Sharingan as well, which will help you aim.”

“For one thing Ashley” Kakashi replies, seemingly amused, “You’ve got a Sharingan as well. As for the second thing, contestants are going to be blindfolded, so my Sharingan won’t be much use.”

Ashley can’t help blanching at that. That hadn’t occurred to her, though it probably should have.

“My main reason for choosing you Ashley” Kakashi then explains, “Is because of your Katsuryoku. If I’m correct, you’re able to sense vibrations through the earth, and if you really concentrate, through the air as well right?”

“Yep” Ashley replies simply, raising a curious eyebrow and waiting to hear what exactly her Sensei's point is.

“Well, in theory, you should be able to sense where the targets are” Kakashi finishes with a shrug, making his student sigh and tilt her head.

“I dunno Sensei” Ashley replies doubtfully. “While that all sounds good in theory, I’ve never done any sort of training like that before. If the targets were living and moving, then this would be a piece of cake. But inanimate objects don’t move or make vibrations. I could probably sort of sense them, but don’t count on my aim being fantastic. This’ll be a first for me….”

“Just do your best” Kyoku speaks up, giving Ashley an encouraging closed eye smile. “We can’t fault you if you do your best.”

As Areki suddenly calls everyone into the centre of the arena, Ashley gives Kyoku a dry look.

‘They can’t fault me if I do my best?’ she wonders, sighing internally. ‘What if this was a real life scenario and despite doing my best, someone died? Would Kyoku still say that? That statement might work in regards to something like schoolwork, but in a competition where I want to win, that just doesn’t cut it.’

“Alright contestants” Areki speaks up, the dark arena suddenly being lit up by a few bright lights. “You’ll be competing one at a time, so the rest of you can watch from the holding rooms in the sides of the arena to avoid injury. First up, we’re going to call…..Neji Hyuga!”

“Good luck” Ashley says wryly, making Neji smirk as he strides over to a Grass Ninja to receive his blindfold. Ashley strolls over to the closest holding room and lifts up the bottom of a heavy chain wall, before turning around to watch Neji’s attempt.

Glancing to her left, the blonde sees that the Mist Ninja are already in this room, as well as Kyoku and Kakashi. Tanzaki watches Ashley silently, her red eyes standing out in the dark room, before Areki announces that the Round is about to begin.

“Alright everyone” the man says loudly, “We ask that you’ll kindly remain silent, so that Neji can concentrate on the targets. There will be ten to hit, and they will be appearing in random places, so each contestant will have to hit different ones…..If you’re ready Neji, then……begin!”

“C’mon Neji….” Tenten urges, her brown eyes wide as she stares up at the screen. “You’ve got this.”

“He will do excellent Tenten” Lee informs his teammate confidently, his eyes also locked onto the screen. “You know how well Neji does at target practice.”

The Leaf Ninja all remain silent, watching as the first red and white target appears, a good distance behind Neji and off to the right. Pausing for merely a second, Neji whirls around and skilfully flings a kunai in the direction of the target. The knife slices through the air, before hitting the target with a thunk.

Tenten can’t help squeaking with excitement, seeing that the kunai had landed dead in the centre of the target, before another swiftly appears on the other side of the arena. A self confident smirk tugging at his lips, Neji decides to show off a little, doing a back flip and releasing another kunai while he’s upside down in the air.

“What a show off” Ino sniffs, crossing her arms and shaking her head, before growing an anime vein as Sakura pokes her in the side, a creepy grin on the pinkette’s face.

“You’re just jealous Ino Pig” Sakura teases, making her platinum blonde friend scowl and roll her eyes.

“The day I’m jealous of Neji” Ino scoffs, a smug grin suddenly appearing on her face, “Is the day that you become more attractive than me……Billboard Brow!”

Sakura’s poking stops, as her eyelid begins twitching with irritation. Tenten sighs softly, before flicking her pretty brown eyes back up to the screens and hoping her teammate does well. Naruto barks out a sarcastic laugh, before wiping a fake tear from his eye.

“That day happened a long time ago” he informs Ino bluntly, causing a light blush to colour Sakura’s cheeks.

“N-Naruto?...” Sakura stutters, unable to keep the tiny smile from her face as Naruto gives her his signature closed eye grin, one arm folded behind his blonde head.

Unbeknownst to the dim witted male, Ino’s face also begins turning red, though the girl begins cracking her knuckles, a dangerous spark in her eyes.

“What’d you say Naruto, you little worm?!” Ino suddenly screeches from behind Naruto, causing his hair and clothes to blow forwards, the male throwing his hands over his ears. Feeling a scary aura behind him, Naruto slowly opens and blinks his blue eyes, before gulping. He glances back over his shoulder, only to see Ino flailing around in Sai and Choji’s arms as they struggle to hold her back from attacking Naruto.

“Alright!” Tenten and Lee cheer excitedly, throwing their arms in the air and ignoring the squabbling Ninja behind them. They watch as Neji comes to a stop, the brunette lowering his arms and releasing a low breath.

“And Neji has completed his part in the Precision Round!” Areki announces gleefully, leaning forwards as the Grass Ninja begin recording where each of Neji’s kunai had landed. They had to measure exactly how far each kunai was from the centre of the target they’d been thrown at, to see which contestant had gotten the most knives closest to the centre circles at the end of the Round.

“It looks as if Neji has done wonderfully!” Lee cries happily, exchanging closed eye smiles with Tenten. “He will be the winner for sure Tenten!”

“You could be right Lee” Tenten agrees, blanching as she suddenly hears a flurry of insults being shouted at Naruto, obviously coming from a still angry Ino.

“Naruto, dude” Kiba chuckles, slinging an arm across the frazzled blonde’s shoulders. “You’re not supposed to tell a girl when you think another girl is prettier than her.”

“Huh?” Naruto asks dumbly, before abruptly shoving Kiba away from him. “What are you talking about Kiba? You tell everyone that Ashley-chan is prettier than them! I don’t think Sakura-chan and….and that like it when you say stuff that like that!”

Upon saying the word that, Naruto gestures uncaringly towards Ino, causing the girl to see red and begin stomping her feet, looking almost like a wild bull.

Kiba laughs at this, before grinning charmingly and almost blinding everyone as his sharp teeth sparkle.

“Yeah” he agrees, shrugging a shoulder, “But when I say that, it’s actually true. Almost anyone is prettier than Sakura and Ino though. Girls with bad attitudes are just plain ugly man.”

“Not that I don’t like her” Choji speaks up thoughtfully, tilting his head and tapping his chin, “But doesn’t Ashley have the baddest attitude out of all the girls?”

“Yep” Kiba smirks, hooding his eyes, “My Angel is a baaaad girl, hahaha!”

“Ew” Naruto says bluntly, wrinkling his nose at the seedy look on Kiba’s face. He suddenly pauses and begins tapping Kiba on the shoulder repeatedly.

“What’s your problem now Naruto?” Kiba asks wryly, blanching at the wide eyed look Naruto has on his face. Rolling his eyes as Naruto shakily points behind him, Kiba turns around, only for the brunette to freeze.

“We’re ugly?” a murderous looking Sakura asks in a low voice, looming over Kiba with a dark shadow covering half of her face.

“I’M NOT UGLY!” Ino snaps crazily, her hands clenching into fists and eyes bursting into flame. “I’M BEAUTIFUL! I’M ESPECIALLY MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN SAKURA!”

“….Ignoring that little quip” Sakura hisses, her head slowly wrenching around so she can glare at Kiba, “We’re gonna show you just how pretty we really are!”

Kiba’s shoulders slump, his head tilting back and his eyes widening as Sakura and Ino seem to grow in height, looming over him and stretching clawed hands out towards the brunette.

Ashley’s POV

The whole stadium is silent, watching with awe as the last kunai hits the target with a soft thunk sound. Okita spins around, her long, midnight blue ponytail swirling around her. She comes to a stop and places her hands together, almost as if she were praying, before bowing her head slightly.

The crowd suddenly bursts into emphatic cheering and clapping, Okita’s performance even earning her a few whistles from the audience. The straight faced girl reaches up and unties her blindfold, only to see that the Grass Ninja aren’t bothering to measure where her kunai had landed. Why should they though? She’d hit every single one in the dead centre. And she’d made it look so damn easy too! I mean, I could do that easily if I could see the targets, but to do that perfectly with no sight to aide you?....What kind of training had that girl done?

“What an excellent performance by Okita Soujiin from the Rain Village!” Areki praises the girl, smiling widely. “But now to move onto our next contestant. And that will be………Ashley Minami from the Leaf Village!”

My eyes widen with panic, as the crowd begins clapping and cheering again, eager for my turn to begin. Me on the other hand, not so excited.

“Is he serious Kakashi Sensei?!” I hiss in a hushed voice, not wanting to gain the attention of the Mist Ninja standing on the other side of the holding room. “I’m next?!”

“Uhh….Yeah, I think he’s serious Ashley” Kakashi says smartly, clearly amused by my reaction. “What’s the problem?”

“What’s the problem?” I repeat coolly, before grabbing the front of Kakashi’s shirt and abruptly wrenching him down to my height, his visible eye wide with surprise. “I can’t go on after a performance like that! I’m going to look pathetic next to Okita! I’ve never practised hitting targets without visual aide! I’m probably going to end up completely missing the targets….Or killing myself. Actually, that might not be so bad. I’d rather be dead than have to face the humiliation of being a Ninja who can’t even hit targets without her eyesi-”

“As fun as it is for me to sit here and question your mental state” Kakashi interrupts wryly, pulling himself from my grip, “You really need to get out there.”

“Just focus your energy into hearing the targets as they appear Ashley” Kyoku offers kindly, always happy to try and help, “We all know that you can do it!”

“Yeah, I’m not Naruto” I remind the two Jonin blandly, lifting up the heavy chain wall and giving them an unimpressed look over my shoulder. “Saying we believe in you isn’t going to help me do any better.”

“In that case, we don’t believe in you and we know that you’re going to fail” Kakashi says kindly, ignoring my withering look and waving at me cheerfully. “Good luck kiddo!”

“I’ll be aiming for you Kakashi Sensei” I mutter under my breath, stalking out into the arena begrudgingly and stopping in the centre, before crossing my arms and glaring at a Grass Ninja as he timidly approaches me. The man jumps as I snatch the blindfold from his outstretched hand, placing it over my eyes and tying it securely at the back of my head.

“Good bye dignity” I sigh, spreading my feet and bending my knees a little, right hand resting on my weapons pouch as I wait for my turn to begin. Now, of course I want to hit every single target dead in the centre, but I’m not stupid. I’m not the arrogant brat that I used to be a few years ago. Now I actually know that I have different strengths and weaknesses. Throwing kunai at inanimate objects that give off no vibration whatsoever, not to mention while blind, is definitely not one of my strong points….

“If we could have silence in the stands please” Areki asks kindly, addressing the audience. “Ashley will begin in three…two....one…….begin!”

Despite the blindfold over them, I shut my eyes and activate my Katsuryoku, immediately able to feel a mass of vibrations travelling through the earth beneath my feet. To inexperienced Katsuryoku users, this feeling can be incredibly overwhelming, and it’s hard to decipher what vibrations are coming from which thing and what direction it’s in. Sometimes I can feel a little overwhelmed by the sensation as well, but at least I’m able to ascertain between different types of vibrations now. For example, I can easily tell the difference between a human and an animal, but the hard part is recognising the way a person moves. Though not a simply feat, it’s still the easiest way to determine who a person is if I can’t see them. Assuming I’ve actually met them before thou-

My train of though is suddenly interrupted by the softest chink sound imaginable, causing me to whirl around, spinning a kunai around my finger and catching it in my hand. That had come from behind me, somewhere off to the left. It sounded like it came from above head height too, and seeing as weapon summoning scrolls had been placed all around the arena, including on the chain walls, that wasn’t so hard to believe.

I felt a very, very slight vibration in the ground as the weight of the target had suddenly appeared, and, most people wouldn’t notice it, but I’m sure I felt a miniscule puff of air as well. Maybe I’m paranoid, but seeing as my Katsuryoku is activated, I’m going to assume it was real.

Taking a breath, I swiftly throw my first kunai in the direction I’m assuming the target is, feeling a sense of relief when I soon hear the satisfying thunk of my kunai hitting a target. What part exactly, I’m not sure. I’m just glad I actually hit it.

Third Person’s POV

Sakura cheers as Ashley whirls around and immediately throws a kunai at the first target, the tip of the knife embedding itself into the white circle around the centre one.

“Good shot Ashley-chan!” Naruto shouts, brows furrowed as he grins determinedly. “You gotta beat Neji for me and Sakura!”

“Hey!” Tenten cries indignantly, throwing her hands on her hips, though Naruto is too busy staring up at the screens to notice her. Kiba watches silently as Ashley continues jumping around the arena, throwing her kunai in all directions, her mouth tugged down into a scowl. Despite her closed mouth, Kiba knows that the girl is gritting her teeth, something that she often did when she was really concentrating on something.

“Oohhhh…..” Naruto breathes out, wincing slightly as Ashley’s fifth kunai misses the target by a few centimetres, sticking out of the ground on an angle. “I thought Ashley-chan said she never missed her targets?”

“Yeah, but that’s when she’s got her eyes on her target” Kiba speaks up seriously, eyes still on the screens above. Sakura nods slowly, seemingly understanding, as Naruto tilts his head and looks up at the screen, perplexed.

“But she’s got her weird Kekkei Genkai thing” he argues, waving his hand in a rolling motion. “Shouldn’t she just….know where the targets are?”

“They’re not moving you idiot” Sakura sighs, closing her eyes and shaking her head slowly. How could he not know this about Ashley yet? They’d been teammates for over three years after all.

“…..Huh?” Naruto asks after a short pause, tilting his head cutely as a question mark suddenly appears above his head.

“She uses her Kekkei Genkai to sense for vibrations through the earth” Kiba explains, having asked Ashley multiple times how her ability worked. “If the object isn’t alive and doesn’t move, it doesn’t give off any vibrations. She’s pretty much working blind here.”

“So?” Lady Tsunade suddenly interrupts, having spotted the young Ninja and made her way through the crowd towards them. “All of the others are working blind as well. Beside Neji that is, considering he’s got his Byakugan.”

“Oh!” Sakura says with surprise, her eyes flicking open. “Hello Milady! You’re here to watch the Tournament and support our team as well?”

“Why else would I be here Sakura?” the older woman asks smartly, making Sakura sweat drop. Naruto gives the Hokage a suspicious look, crossing his arms and squinting his eyes, lips pursed.

“You’re just here to get out of working again Grandma Tsunade” he decides, causing the woman to send him a nasty warning look, “Or to get drunk. Well, too bad coz no one here has any Sake!”

“Naruto!” Sakura explodes, clocking the boy upside the head with a monster punch and causing him to drop to the ground, eyes spinning and a little bit of drool hanging from his mouth.

Lady Tsunade rolls her eyes and looks back up at the screen, watching as Ashley throws two kunai at once, one heading to the left and one heading to the right. Her lips twitch up into an almost invisible smile as both kunai hit their targets, the blonde Jonin pausing to listen for her next target.

“C’mon Angel….” Kiba mumbles, eyes transfixed on the screen and his hands clenched into fists. “You’ve got this. I know you do….”

Everyone falls silent, as the last target suddenly appears way above Ashley’s head, hanging from the roof. The top middle screen zooms in on Ashley’s face, watching as the blonde tilts her head to the side, seemingly listening for something.

Before anyone can blink, Ashley bends her knees and leaps up into the air. In mid air, Ashley pulls her arm back and powerfully flings her last kunai straight up, sending it shooting up towards the ceiling.

She spins around and lands on one knee on the ground, one hand placed in front of her to help maintain her balance. A tiny smirk appears on her face, as she hears the thunk sound of her kunai hitting its target, causing both the audience and the Leaf Ninja to explode into loud cheers.

“Yeah Ashley-chan!” Naruto yells obnoxiously. “That last one was awesome!”

“Told ya my Angel was bad” Kiba smirks, crossing his arms and tilting his head to the side. “Bad ass that is.”

“All she did was throw a kunai” Sai speaks up calmly. “But even so, I guess she deserves a little applause.”

“It’s funny what a little concentration can accomplish” Lady Tsunade mutters dryly, though she’s internally smiling. Ashley hadn’t done perfect in the Precision Round, but she’d definitely done better than some of the others. Lady Tsunade was just glad that the girl was actually trying at the Tournament. She’d been a little worried that Ashley would have…..Well….Done exactly what Shikamaru had done in the Second Round. Given up out of sheer boredom.

Ashley’s POV

“And the winner of Round Four is Okita Soujiin from the Hidden Rain Village!” Areki shouts joyously, throwing his arms in the air and almost losing his microphone in the process. “Congratulations to you Okita! That was quite the performance you put on!”

I can’t help smiling with relief as the audience begins clapping thunderously, their cheering drowning out even Areki’s voice.

At least I hadn’t been one of the four who’d been disqualified. One Snow Ninja, two Stone Ninja and Kein from the Waterfall Village had all been disqualified, although Kein only lost by a few centimetres. Unfortunately, Tozoku had managed to just scrape through to the next Round. At least I’ve still got the chance to completely crush her at something. That will be immensely amusing for me.

“You just got lucky during that Round Ashley” an obnoxious voice states behind me, making me roll my eyes. “You’re going down in the next one.”

“You barely got through this Round bitch” I reply snidely, turning around and baring my teeth in a nasty smirk. “I came sixth. There’s a big difference between us.”

“Yeah” Tozoku replies, stupidly unperturbed, “You’re fat and ugly, while I’m the complete opposite. I don’t know what a total hottie like Kiba sees in you.”

“I guess my type of fat and ugly just floats his boat bitch” I laugh darkly and turn around, waving my hand. “Now why don’t you go take a long walk off a short cliff?”

Before she can reply, Tozoku suddenly falls down, face planting the ground heavily and letting out a pained shriek.

Oops. I guess the Earth just randomly moved and tripped her over.

My bad.

 Two things everyone! :D

1. Sorry if the 'Precision Round' wasn't very long or detailed. I didn't want to bore you with the details of EVERY contestant throwing kunai at targets. Figured it would be kinda boring, so I just showed a few examples lol.

2. Now, I know that you guys enjoy reading Stwf and all, but can you PLEEEAAASE stop hounding me to upload when I don't for a few days?? I love that you're so eager to read more, but threatening to kill me and such if I don't upload isn't really that funny :/

I'm a real person, living in the real world, with real person problems. I can't spend all day typing and living on Wattpad. If I could get paid for that, then sure, I'd be all for living on the Internet, but unfortunately I have a job and bills to pay and all that other fun stuff.

So please, if you don't hate me, DON'T send me death threats. Deal? :3