Though KakaSaku Week is looooong over, I had this one half complete for a while now. Hope you enjoy it!

Prompt: walk of shame / stride of pride


She always tried to avoid failure. Someone with a family name like hers should always do so. Not that she minded it, not even a bit. It always made her strive to do better, motivated her to go further and push her limits. One could say that the legacy her parents left behind and were still making would cripple their child when they started to flutter their wings, that they would break under the immense pressure that was put on them. But she was doing fine, all the time.

For the past 6 years, Hatake Rina never understood the worried look her parents gave her when she stepped over the threshold of the Academy. But now…now she understood everything. It might've been because of the severe beating she got, but her shoulders never felt this heavy as she left the ring.

At the age of 11, Hatake Rina failed to become a chuunin. The silver haired girl never thought that the sound of cheers that weren't because of her accomplishments could be so hurtful for her ears. She had her gaze focused on the arena's floor, not even daring to gaze into her father's eyes as she had her walk of shame. She could feel everyone's stare on her, making her feel even more stupid, worthless, incompetent and the list could go on and on.

She was the daughter of the Rokudaime Hokage and the greatest medic to walk the face of the Earth, and yet she failed to follow in their footsteps. Maybe she'll never become a chuunin, staying only a measly genin for the rest of her life. Rina felt her stomach coiling and it took all of her power to put one foot after the other, without collapsing. The medics on the scene offered her to carry her out on a stretcher, but she felt that she'd lose all of her remaining dignity if that would happen. No, Hatake Rina has to leave the scene of her failure on her own two feet.

She just reached the exit, the tall walls of the arena hiding her from the on watchers of the match. The silver haired genin felt dizzy, and her legs kept wobbling with each step she made. Her small, slightly bloody hands rested on the wall next to her, desperate to hold something that would not let her fall. But her brain slowly started shutting down and she finally succumbed to her injuries, collapsing onto the tiled floor.

The unusually strong smell of disinfectant roused her from her sleep. This smell that everyone associated with injuries and hospital for her was the smell of home. It reminded the young kunoichi of her mother, who always carried this scent with her after a long workday. So, before she could even think over what she wanted to say, her mouth opened and formed two syllables.

"Mama?" Her voice was hoarse and her throat was painfully dry. She scolded herself, because she was too old to address her mother like that. Not even her 9 years old brother called her like that. Rina felt a soft hand caressing the top of her head, probably making her already disheveled hair even a bigger mess. Green eyes slowly cracked open, meeting identical ones.

"How are you feeling, Rina-chan?"

Ashamed. Guilty. A failure. That's how she felt, because even though her whole body was aching like never before, they were overshadowed by aforementioned feelings. But how could she tell this to her mother? Moreover, she felt that if she starts speaking about the events of the exam, she'll start crying. And Hatake Rina was too old to cry, not to mention that ninja were not allowed to show such kind of emotions. But what if she's not fit to become one? The 11 year old girl could still vividly recall the feeling of having the gaze of hundreds of people on her, while she left the ring. It felt like acid, and all she wanted to do was to curl up in a small ball. She had no right to call herself a shinobi.

"You did a wonderful job, sweetie." Her mother caressed her cheek.

"What?" Rina could not believe her ears.

"You did really well."

"But…but…I…" Her chapped lips started quivering. Not even biting down hard on them did stop the tears from falling down.

"Oh honey." Her mother enveloped her in a hug before she realized what happened. "You shouldn't feel so upset about it." She cooed, rubbing her back in circles. The motions did not stop the girl from crying, instead it made her sadness intensify.

How could her mother lie to her? How could she say that she wasn't disappointed in her? In a way she was glad that it was impossible to see the expression her mother sported while saying these words.

"I…I…f-ailed." Rina's words were barely intelligible between her sobs.

Sighing, her mother grabbed the silver haired girl's shoulders and gently pushed her back, so that they were facing each other.

"You might have been defeated, but that does not mean that you failed." Rina's eyes widened at the older woman's words. How could any of this make sense? She lost, but she didn't at the same time? It was just too hard for her to wrap her weary mind around it.

"Do you know what's the purpose of the Chuunin Exams?" The question sounded utterly ridiculous; of course she knew the answer to it!

"It's for genin to become chuunin."

"Yes…but the board that decides who gets promoted is curious about what the participating genin know. They organize the matches in order to see what kind of skills the genin have, are they strong and smart enough to get promoted?"

"But I've…I've shown them nothing." Rina hiccupped.

"What your mother means is that one might get a promotion even if they didn't defeat someone, just gave them a hard time." The young girls turned her head towards the entrance of her room, green eyes locking on the man standing there. Her father.

Suddenly the weight that formed in the pit of her stomach increased tenfold, making it virtually impossible for her to utter even a single word. But in a way she was grateful for that, she was far too ashamed to talk to her father. He started walking towards her bed, closing the door. He wasn't wearing his Hokage garbs, only the standard ninja uniform that was usually covered by it. It was like he wasn't visiting her as Hokage, but as an ordinary shinobi, as her father.

"The matches are over." He said, sitting down on the opposite side of the bed where her mother was.

"Who won?" Rina's voice was barely a whisper. His big hand wrapped around her smaller one, giving a reassuring squeeze.

"In the end it does not matter who won the matches."

"How could it not matter? When…" She was about to cry again, but right now was not the time to do so. She did not want to further disappoint her father. "When only the victors could get promoted. And I failed…"

"We are not disappointed in you, Rina. Not even a bit." Her mother rubbed the genin's back in circles again.

"In fact, we are really proud of you. And it doesn't matter that you got promoted or not, we will support you anyway." She looked at her father with wide eyes. Even though his face was covered by his trademark mask, she could see that he was not lying, that his words were genuine.

An enormous wave of relief washed over her. Right then it did not matter that she got defeated by her opponent, or that she still remained a genin. What did matter was the fact that her parents didn't hate her for failing, that they weren't upset. Suddenly overwhelmed by all kinds of different emotions, Rina hugged her parents as strongly as she could. They both laughed, kissing the top of her head.

"It's still not official, but I have the list of chuunin." Her father said after she released them.

"Out of 21 participants, only three got promoted." Rina prepared herself for the slight tinge of jealousy she would inevitably feel, but she'll try to be happy nonetheless for the winners. Hopefully some of her friends made it.

"Kanzaburou from Suna," Rina grimaced after hearing that name. The boy was Kankurou's son and the one who defeated her with his stupid puppets. "-Nara Shikadai…and Hatake Rina from Konoha."

"M…e, me?" She pointed a shaking finger at herself, unable to comprehend what was happening. "But how? I mean… Kanzaburou beat me, so how can I…"

"Because you almost defeated him." Her mother spoke up. "After Lee-sensei called off the match and while you left the ring, he collapsed and is still unconscious. But the both of you showed the kind of skills that are worthy of promotion."

"So that's what you meant by losing but winning at the same time?"

"Yes."

Rina felt like jumping up in her bed, and doing a little victory dance, but she refused for the time being. Right now she just wanted to express the gratitude she felt towards her parents, so she hugged them again. Because they taught her that success didn't necessarily mean everything.