Chūnin Exams (XVII).

The boy hadn't even scratched her, so how had he injected her with poison? She had even made sure not to breathe in the smoke of any of the explosions in case he would use the same trick as his teammate!

She didn't know if she should snarl in anger or laugh in excitement; on one hand, she had somehow fallen prey to the same trick twice, while on the other hand, she had found not one but two opponents that were actually a challenge!

But that was secondary now. First, she needed to concentrate on not losing.

"Matatabi," she thought. "I need your help. Give me some of your chakra."

"Twice in one day? Honestly, Yugi, are you slacking off?"

"Very funny, but now is not the time. I will lose if you don't hurry!"

She heard her comrades booming laugh before she finally lent her some chakra. Her lips tucked upwards, assured that whatever substance was in her body would be gone soon enough, when her vision suddenly became black.

"Hey, Matatabi! What is going on?" she shouted inside her head, ignoring how even her thoughts seemed to be more sluggish now. "Why isn't it working?"

"I don't know," the beast said, sounding unsure for the first time since she knew her. "My chakra should heal you, but for some reason, it doesn't!"

"Then send some more!"

"You sure? You still can't control it very well, you know."

"I don't care!" she replied forcefully. "I will not lose like that!"

It was stupid to let herself go like this, but she didn't want to lose here. This hadn't anything to do with the task the Raikage had given her anymore, nor with her desire to be promoted; no, she wanted to win because she had fun!

Her partner complied with a wordless grunt, and a moment later, she felt a new wave of energy surge through her veins.

...

"And the winner is-"

The proctor was interrupted when an explosion of red chakra ripped through Itachi's prison and the clone besides it, creating shock waves that sent small waves in all directions and made the water below Yugito's feet boil.

The chakra didn't form a tail, which was good, but a thin layer of it wrapped all around her body protectively, shielding her from any harm that could come to her. And it didn't just protect her from outside threats, for obviously the poison had been purged from her system.

This is very bad, he thought, a sentiment that became only stronger when he saw that her iris had been replaced by the heterochromatic eyes of the Two-Tails. There was still something human in them in the way she looked at him, which was a relief as he didn't want an out-of-control Jinchūriki at his throat. Still, by the way the human intellect clashed with the animalistic hunger in them, he could fairly confidently say that she still lacked the control she would have later in life.

Itachi knew exactly what he needed to do.

He had just opened his mouth to surrender as there was no way he would fight a Jinchūriki in such a situation when his body moved on its own to evade an axe kick that would have smashed his head. The same happened with the following attack and the one after that before his mind gained control over his body back just when he dodged another kick.

Then, rather than pursuing him further, she punched into the air in front of her to throw a shock-wave in his direction, prompting him to weave hand seals as fast as he could.

"Suiton: Suijinheki!" (Water Release: Water Formation Wall)

The wall stood for less than a second before the shock-wave broke through it, but it did the job of lessening the impact and for that, he was thankful. It still hurt when it sent him flying after it crashed into him, though.

He was still flying when Yugito appeared beside him, arriving with such a speed that even though he could still predict her movements with his Sharingan, he couldn't react in time. So, rather than trying to block her next attacks outright, he tried to minimize the damage as much as he could.

The first punch was aimed at his left shoulder, so he already twisted his body in advance so that there would be less power behind it when it connected. He was pretty sure the arm in question was still dislocated, though, the pain making him bit on his cheeks to stop himself from screaming.

The second punch aimed at his chest; thankfully, his arms were already there, so he could put them between her and his body, ignoring the intense pain that shot through his left arm and shoulder at that action.

The third attack was a kick, and this time he managed to avoid an injury altogether; Itachi ankled his legs in a manner that made her kick the bottom of his feet, allowing him to use her own power to his advantage as he pushed himself into the air and away from his opponent.

That didn't last for long, for she jumped after him just a moment later, managing to catch up to him in little more than a second. However, she didn't immediately attack him. Instead, he could see her channeling chakra towards her mouth for some kind of Jutsu.

At this point, there was not much he could do. The problem was that he needed to do something as no one seemed inclined to end the battle, so he did the only thing he could think of:

He directed all of his remaining chakra into his Sharingan and glanced directly into her eyes.

One moment she was fighting the haze of bloodlust to keep in control of her body, the next moment she found herself standing inside her inner world. That was not the real surprise, though, and neither was the monstrous, two-tailed cat behind her.

No, the real surprise was the presence of her opponent.

That she didn't immediately attack him was a testament of how shocked she was. "That's my inner world! How did you-"

"It's his eyes," Matatabi interrupted her, sounding oddly gleeful. "Though I didn't expect someone that young to be capable of such a thing."

Right, she thought. The Sharingan. I should have thought of that. To be fair, having someone invade your mind like this was rather off-putting.

"Do you plan to control me with them? I heard how one of your ancestors used these eyes of yours to control the Nine-Tails in his fight with your Shodai Hokage, you see, but I never had someone try the same with me! "

"Don't be ridiculous," she snapped. "He has barely any chakra left! Besides, there are no records of the Sharingan controlling Biju aside from the Nine-Tails!"

"But that's what makes it so interesting! "

She opened her mouth to reply, but the boy was faster. "I doubt I would have enough chakra to attempt that even if my reserves were full. Attempting it now would be nothing less than stupid of me."

"Oh, how disappointing."

"If that's not why you're here, then what is it?" she said, ignoring Matatabi's whining about how never anything interesting happened to her. Then, before he even had a chance to reply, she noticed something else. "And how do you even know about me? I can't believe they tell children much about the Biju in Konoha."

"I'm my clan's heir, so I have access to more information than most. At least when it has something to do with our Kekkei Genkai."

That makes sense, I guess. Besides, there were enough shinobi that didn't care much about their children's innocent and childhood. Such an attitude would also explain how someone so young could be so strong already as she knew from experience that only intense training brought such results. "And you're not scared?"

It was one thing for him not to be scared of her, there were enough people who didn't blame the Jinchūriki for holding a demon inside of them, but even now, standing just a few meters away from Matatabi, he seemed perfectly calm.

"You can't harm me in this world," he said with a small smile. "The worst thing you can do is throwing me out."

She narrowed her eyes but accepted the answer. "You still didn't answer my first question; what is your aim by coming here?"

He didn't reply immediacy, making her unintentional tense up in preparation for anything he might try, only to calm down again when he finally opened his mouth. "I wanted to ask you to stop attacking me."

She blinked, too surprised to answer.

Matatabi didn't have the same problem, though. "Hah! I take it back, this is actually fun! And say, why would she do that?"

"For one thing, because her control is obviously not perfect yet and running amok in another village would put your Kage into a bad position," he said. "For another, because I will die if this fight goes on for much longer. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how Konoha would react if the heir of its biggest clan was killed like that, do I? People are expected to die in these exams, of course, but if it happens because of an out-of-control Jinchūriki, people might take offense." Then he sent her another small smile. "Also, on a more personal note, I would simply prefer not to die."

"That...makes sense." And to be completely honest, she didn't want to kill him either. Not after he entertained her as much as he did. Things would be different if they met on a mission, naturally, but right now? Also, winning like this, with only half her senses, wouldn't be satisfying at all.

"He really has a point, who would have thought."

"Alright," she agreed with a sigh. "I agree. Now get the fuck out of my head."

When she came back into the real world, Yugito found herself kneeling only a few meters away from her opponent.

Honestly, how often had she found herself in that situation today? It was starting to get ridiculous.

She felt the backlash of using Matatabi's chakra, her body feeling as if she had spent the last few hours sparring with her sensei. Well, maybe a light sparring, she thought with a soft snort. I can still move, after all. Still, she could feel the strain of the day catching up with her. Not only was her entire body sore, but her chakra was also mostly depleted, another side-effect of using Matatabi's chakra.

Yet she looked much better than her opponent.

She was exhausted, yes, but with some effort, she would be able to move and continue to fight. Not very well, but at least somewhat. Itachi, on the other hand, seemed to only keep himself upwards with willpower alone. Not to forget that she had dislocated his arm, which would have limited him even if he managed to continue the fight.

There was a vague feeling of disappointment in her chest, not only because the fight was over but also because she had let herself go as much as she did. She also felt somewhat bad for injuring him. Not because of the act itself or because she had used the Biju's chakra, it would be stupid to lose because you didn't use everything at your disposal, but because she used it without being truly in control. She was taught since her earliest childhood to never use a technique she hadn't mastered yet, which was especially important for a Jinchūriki like her, and yet she had done just that.

It was dishonorable.

She knew what to do.

"I surrender."

"I surrender."