Naruto was seconds behind, showing his license and walking into the arena next to her. He spotted Gemini instantly, and waved as he headed to the line to stand with the others.

Gemini smiled wide and waved, giving the three siblings a glance that said told you so as she did. She saw that something was different about Yugito, but from that distance she couldn't tell what.

Yugito was glad to see that they weren't late, and wondered just how Gemini would react when she realized what happened to her during the month. Then again, that wasn't the only thing that changed. 'For the sake of being with Foxy-kun, I'll do my best, that's all I can ask for,' she thought as she waited for the fights to start.

It wasn't long before the exam proctor- who was not the same as before, they all noticed- showed up and started explaining the rules- which were the same. He also showed them a modified matchup chart, having been changed a bit after finding that Dosu Kinta was...missing. After that, Naruto and Neji were called forward to fight while the others were sent up to the waiting area.

Up in the balcony, Gemini went straight to the railing to watch Naruto fight. She was excited to finally see the toppling of the arrogant Hyuuga. "Oi, Naruto! Beat his ass down! Show the bastard who's boss!" She shouted, gaining a thumbs up from the blonde.

"I plan on it Gem-chan, Kitty-chan!" he exclaimed after hearing Gemini tell him to kick Neji's ass. This was before he heard a scoff coming from his opponent. Turning towards Neji, a scowl came across Naruto's face. "What's your problem, huh?" he asked.

"You better kick his ass Naruto-kun!" Yugito shouted as well, and grinned when she heard his response. She saw what Neji had done to her cousin...and he was planning on killing her as well, all because of a blood feud. Then again, her country was partially to blame for all of this...

Gemini bit her lip, shaking in anger as Neji talked down to Naruto. She wanted to say something, but she knew her brother had it under control, and would want to say his piece- which he did. Then they started to fight. Still with his smug attitude, the Hyuuga prodigy continued to spout fate nonsense while badly beating Naruto. It didn't look good, and Gemini was getting visibly angrier. That it, until Naruto pulled an amazing stunt, drawing on Kyuubi's chakra even after his chakra pathways were sealed. He started fighting back for real, and the two clashed with a huge explosion. When the smoke cleared, there were two craters in the ground. In one was Neji, who stood up. In the other was Naruto, who didn't. The proctor was about to call the match when the Naruto in the hole poofed away, and the ground under Neji exploded outwards.

Naruto took note of the cheers and gasps as he came up from the ground and punched his opponent squarely in the jaw, sending him flying. Once he was unable to move, the blonde walked over to him. Neji expressed that he should have forseen the shadow clone, since it was Naruto's specialty. "For the record, I failed the Genin exam three times. There was just one jutsu I just couldn't master." The Hyuuga put the pieces together, and stared up at Naruto, wide-eyed. "Don't be whining about destiny and whatever, and how it can't be changed. Because unlike me...you're not a failure." As a little bird flew over the stadium, the proctor called Naruto as the winner, and the match was over. From the stands came cheers for the underdog, most notably from the fox girl, who seemed to be holding back tears.

Yugito was using everything in her willpower to not jump down and kill the Hyuuga right where he stood. Just because he had a bad hand in life because of the Incident years ago, he blamed everything on fate and was harassing her boyfriend with words and physical attacks. She was about to say 'screw the rules, I have power' and jump in to save him from what looked to be a killing strike before seeing the Naruto that was attacked go up in smoke. Letting the breath she didn't realize out, Yugito grinned when she saw what was going on. Once Naruto was declared the winner, she cheered very loudly. "That's my Naruto-kun!" she shouted, not feeling the killing intent coming from the Hyuuga female.

((lol you watch Yu-Gi-Oh abridged, don't you?))

Naruto made his way back up to the stands, where he was glomp-attacked first by Gemini, who told him to never worry her like that again, and then went to join Yugito. "What'd you think? Did I do okay?" He asked. He wanted to get her opinion quickly, because her fight was next.

After both congratulating and scolding Naruto, Gemini realized that it was her turn in the ring. Turning, she gave Gaara a quick salute. "Wish me luck!" She said with a cheeky grin, before jumping off the balcony and down into the arena.

((Just squeezing that in there. Now...who's winning again?))

(my roommate does.)

"You did good. But..." and at this, she grabbed him and brought her in close."Scare me like that again and you won't like the consequences. I was worried..."Yugito added softly before letting him go. The neko knew that her match was next and hoped that she would win. If not, she hoped to at least gain Gemini's permission.

"Why would I wish you luck when I already know you'll do well?"Gaara asked, confused.

(Hm...it's a toss up. Yugito has more control over demon energy than Gemini, while Gemini has more experience being a hanyou than Yugito. Hm...)

Naruto gulped and chuckled nervously. "Right, gotcha...well, um...good luck. I'll be watching." He said with a smile.

Gemini waited for Yugito to approach, both nervous and excited.

((It is a tough one...plus, Wolfie is obviously biased because Gemini is her OC, but she wants to make it fair instead of just saying Gemini wins, but she does want Gemini to win...you choose. Wolfie will accept your choice either way.))

"Thanks Foxy-kun," she said before jumping over the railing, using her new-found skills to walk down to the floor. She didn't see it, but her claws were leaving little indentations on the wall.

(What about a draw? Yugito and Gemini are so evenly matched that they KO each other?)

((That's a good idea. As long as they wake up in time for the invasion. After all, Gemini has a confession to make to Gaara ;D))

Gemini watched, interested to see how the other was walking down the wall. She looked closer to see just what was different about the girl, and was shocked to see cat ears and a tail? Those were definitely not there before...

Yugito grinned to herself as she saw the shocked look on Gemini's face. Now all she had to do was prove to Gemini that she was worthy of being called Naruto's girlfriend, and if the Bijuu's were to be believed, and future mate.

Once the two were finally facing each other, the proctor called for the match to start and Gemini held out her hand to shake. "I see you have undergone a transformation over this past month. Let's see what it's done for you. May the best woman win." She said with a smile.

Yugito nodded her head in agreement as she shook Gemini's hand. "Yes, may the best woman win. Now then, let's begin, nya~" the catgirl stated with a light grin on her face.

Gemini chuckled as she jumped away and pulled out a kunai. "Cute vocal tic. I bet Naruto-kun likes it." She said, aiming to catch the girl off guard with her comment while she threw several kunai at her.

Yugito expected a comment about her vocal tic and grinned when she was found to be right. "Wouldn't you like to know, nya~" Yugito replied as she flung her own kunai. After throwing them, she quickly started doing hand seals.

Gemini saw the hand seals and knew that her jab hadn't worked. Oh well, it was worth a try. Instead of dwelling on it, she drew her katana and raced at Yugito, getting close and executing an upward slash in an attempt to stop the neko before she could finish her jutsu. "I'd rather not hear about what you two do in your spare time, actually." She said, the implications clear.

The new neko and future Nibi couldn't resist the next verbal jab. "Are you sure you don't want to know? Perhaps they can help with Gaara-san?" she asked innocently before finishing her jutsu, shooting out several lightning bolts in rapid succession.

"I'll take advice as soon as I'm in a relationship. Gaara-san is my friend."Gemini chuckled, dodging the lightening and moving in to make a stab to the stomach of the other girl.

"If you say so..." Yugito responded as she jumped back from the attempted stab before rushing forward, attempted to do the same with her claw nails.

Seeing that Yugito was attempting to try out her claws, Gemini wondered just how long she'd had them. Probably not long enough to train much with them. Curious to see how she did, the vixen sheathed her sword and took a hand-to-hand stance. "Let's see how sharp kitty's claws are, hm?" She said.

"Hopefully sharp enough..." she muttered as went into a fierce taijutsu confrontation with Gemini.

Gemini was impressed with her opponents taijutsu skills, and found herself suddenly very glad she had trained with Gaara so much. They ended up in a deadlock of skill for a good five minutes before finally jumping apart. "Definitely sharp enough. You've improved." Gemini said approvingly, and started making hand seals that Gaara would recognize clearly. Nightmare Syndrome will take all the rest of my chakra, and probably knock me out. But if I can knock her out first, then it's worth it...

Naruto recognized the handseals that she was using and while he wanted to warn Yugito, he forced himself to stay quiet. Once Gemini finished the genjtusu, he was quite worried and hoped that nothing too bad would happen...'Kitty-chan...' he thought with worry.

Gemini finished the hand seals quickly and pressed her hands together. "Nightmare Syndrome!" She shouted, and the genjutsu started. Having learned from the experience with Gaara, she started out on the first level that introduced absolute blackness. Going to the third level too soon could result in a freak out like Gaara had had when she'd first used it on him.