Moegi was surprised to learn that she had a talent for procrastinating. It had been a week since the second stage of the exam had ended and she had not mentioned Udon's bruises to anyone. She had honestly intended to say something to him after they were out of immediate danger but, things kept coming up. First Udon had that shoulder wound and she didn't want to upset him during the healing process. Then Ebisu had started them on a demanding training schedule that left even Konohamaru exhausted.

Mornings were dedicated to group training followed by a private training session with a tutor and an additional two hours of private training with Ebisu. She really wished her parents hadn't fronted the money for the tutor. All he ever worked on was her genjutsu and she really hated it. Besides it wasn't like he was going to teach her some super secret Yukigakure technique or something.

She could've gone on making excuses for her inaction but, inaction is action. That was one of the annoying phrases they had to memorize at the Academy. It wasn't until last night though that she had really understood it. They had been sitting around having dinner when she realized leaving the situation as it was would be the same as abandoning Udon on the battlefield. Not only did somebody have to accept responsibility for their actions they also had to accept them for their inactions.

Of course she wouldn't just ask Udon. Accusing a friend's mother of abusing him would strain their friendship especially if it wasn't true. Moegi would admit it was selfish but she only had two friends and she would do anything to protect those relationships.

So, she had come up with a plan. The first step had been convincing Konohamaru to switch private training times with Ebisu so she could be alone with Udon. It had actually been pretty hard to convince him but, Ebisu had jumped in and said genjutsu training was exhausting and after that he caved. It was a shame too she had liked the alone time with Konohamaru.

Now she sat outside the little cabin waiting for Udon to return from his training. The ice Hotel had sadly not survived the storm and instead they were given a cabin on the outskirts of town. It was hardly bigger than the room they had been first given but at least this time they had a fireplace.

Absentmindedly she toyed with the training device in her hands although she couldn't really concentrate on it. Temporarily giving up on it she leaned back on the bench and rested her head against the cabin gazing up into the sky. It was overcast making mid-afternoon look more like twilight. Large snowflakes lazily fell from the thick gray clouds. The weather really was weird. Sticking out her tongue she tried to catch a snowflake like she'd seen the little kids in the village do. It was harder than it looked.

"What's that?" Udon spoke startling her.

She forced a smile embarrassed that she had not noticed his approach. Following his gaze to the glass tube she answered holding the tube up, "Bun Ekitai no Waza: Act of Dividing Liquid. The idea is you're supposed to separate the water and syrup with your chakra. It's supposed to help work on your concentration. Want to try?" He nodded and she shook it up before handing it over to him. "Sit down the cold is supposed to make it even harder."

For a moment she watched slightly irritated but not surprised as he began to separate the two liquids faster than she could. "Hey, Udon what do you think of that Mist team?"

"We've discussed this. They only attacked us because they wanted to cut down on the competition. They knew what door we had to go through because Konohamaru told them what color of scroll we got off the Yukigakure team," Udon answered never taking his eyes off the glass tube.

"But only three teams made it through."

"They didn't know that at the time. Remember when Naruto told us about his first exam. They had to hold a preliminary luckily we didn't."

Moegi had not taken her eyes off of the glass tube. Just talking didn't change the steady parting of the liquids. Hopefully lying would. "So, what did your mom think when she heard you made it to the finals?"

"She's a civilian. I'm not sure she understands how important it is."

Did the syrup stop moving for a second or was she just seeing things? "Will she be coming up for the finals?" Since they were participating in the finals they were allowed to invite people to watch them.

"No, she can't get the time off from work. What about your parents?"

Udon was definitely stressed when he talked about his mother. The fine chakra control required to separate the two liquids seem to stutter ever so slightly whenever she was mentioned. "Um, no there too busy to but my brother is trying to be assigned a mission in the area so he might make it." The idea of having her brother watch her in the finals was not exactly comforting.

"You two really don't get along do you?"

"Not really," they were getting off-topic. When did she lose control of the conversation? "What's your mom like anyway? I've never really talked to her"

Udon glanced over at her suspiciously and unconsciously she winced away from his stare. After a moment he glanced down at the tube before putting it aside. "Why are you so interested in my mother all of a sudden?"

She felt her cheeks reddened in shame and embarrassment. That was a question she hadn't prepared for, but in the back of her mind the part that was trained to be analytical understood that as a confession. Still she needed to eliminate the lingering doubt. "Where did you get those bruises?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He stood to leave but Moegi grabbed the back of his poncho and yanked it aside before pulling his shirt up. Udon spun away but for a second she had seen the bruises again they were faint and mostly healed but they were still there. He glared at her, his expression unusually intense, "They're from training."

"Liar"

"It's none of your business."

"I'm your teammate."

"It doesn't affect my performance."

"I'm your friend." Summoning her courage she was able to meet his eyes and surprisingly he flinched away.

Neither of them spoke for a long time. Moegi could almost hear the sound of the branches bending under the gently falling snow. "Can't you just let it go?"

She was tempted to, so very tempted. It would be easy just another game of pretend. Still, it felt like she was teetering on a precipice. If she didn't go forward she wouldn't be a good friend but, if she did go forward she had the fear that she would lose Udon as a friend. There was something in his posture something she could barely sense that warned her she was entering dangerous territory. "No."

He fidgeted clearly uncomfortable. "Sometimes she gets angry at me. I don't always know why." Their eyes met each other's, "please don't tell anyone."

"Why" she forced the word out. There was so much more she could add, why did he want to keep this secret, why didn't he tell anyone and why did he let it go on. He was a ninja she was a civilian he should be able to stop her.

"Because I asked you to," Udon face twisted into an unfamiliar expression. "If you tell anyone I'll say you're lying." With that he turned and went into the cabin slamming the door behind him.

Moegi's vision blurred as she felt tears roll down her cheeks. She had confirmed the information but, she hadn't planned beyond that point. She couldn't abandon Udon but, he may not forgive her.

Practice kunai struck bokken before both quickly withdrew. Saburo and Yasuo circled each other both exhausted. The small field that they were using for training was crisscrossed with their footprints. They had spent most of their days like this sparring each other. One would do their best to imitate their target fighting style while the other would try to kill them then they would switch. Their sensei had claimed that since they were technically still in the middle of their own graduation mission she couldn't train them.

Seeing an opening Saburo darted towards his smaller opponent only to be blocked again. He was forced to withdraw when Yasuo tried to bring his scabbard into his stomach. "Enough," his smaller teammate shouted. "Let's take a break." Watching his retreating back he was silently glad that his teammate had suggested the break. Then he followed to seal the practice kunai in the scroll along with the bokken. Neither of them spoke.

Yasuo was securing his sword when he unexpectedly broke the silence, "I'm going to spy on the target you should visit Nami."

"All right," he was slightly suspicious of this uncharacteristic kind gesture but, he was getting what he wanted so he wasn't going to complain.

Turning to leave he was stopped when Yasuo asked; "Did you figure it out yet?"

"Figure what out?"

"Why she was crying in the cave."

"Nami doesn't cry." That wasn't true but he would defend her anyway.

Yasuo sighed as if he was a teacher, "I was less than ten feet away. I know what I heard." He turned around with an odd smile across his face. "Have you figured out it was because of you." Saburo cleared the distance between the two of them in the blink of an eye not knowing what he was doing until Yasuo was on the ground rubbing his jaw.

"She likes you," Yasuo spat out.

"What are you talking about?" Of course Nami liked him they were friends.

Yasuo slowly climbed to his feet and brushed himself off before answering slowly as if he was an idiot. "Nami would like to date you. She thought you felt the same way. I guess she thought you were just being polite after all what respectable kunoichi dates before they're a chunin."

Saburo was confused not exactly sure how he should feel. Then a thought occurred to him, "Why are you telling me this?" Yasuo was not the type of guy who did things without a purpose.

"You and Nami are close. You probably think of her as a sister but she's doesn't. So, until she gets over you no one else can date her."

"You're not answering the question," Saburo growled out threateningly. The allegation that he thought of Nami as a sister was bizarre. Even considering recent events his relationship with Nami was far better than the one he had with his sister.

"Because I would like to ask her out but, it would be pointless until she gets over you and since we're going to be chunin very soon. I want you out of the way."

"What," he laughed not sure what was more bizarre. The fact that Yasuo liked Nami which was just strange because he always imagined him as a eunuch or the fact that he'd just presumed he would screw up.

Yasuo frowned showing more emotion than usual. "It's not funny. Nami and I get along well enough and I come from a respectable family."

"I just never imagined" he made a gesture that didn't really mean anything.

"Don't be that surprised they try to put a female on every team hoping something will happen. Children of ninjas tend to make better ninjas." Turning to leave he shouted over his shoulder, "Talk to her."

Saburo stood in the empty field pondering what he had learned. He supposed his short teammate could be right. Nami had been acting strange lately but, it was just weird to think about. She had always simply been there for him and he had always been there for her. No thinking required. Then he considered the possibility that Yasuo was lying. There wasn't any way he could have figured that all out on his own. After all, supposedly this was all happening under his nose.

Deciding to just ask her he headed back to the cabin. She had been released from the hospital just the other day but she wasn't cleared for training, not that she hadn't tried. Unfortunately, her ankle was too badly damaged for a quick heal and worse she was fighting an infection. They had left her by the fireplace with a stack of scrolls to read through. To his slight surprise she was still there the only difference being she now had a blanket wrapped around her.

She quickly glanced up at him then back at the scroll and asked "How is training coming?"

He shrugged and then added, "Okay. I wish sensei would get off her ass and show us something new though."

"Well, we're still on our graduation mission. She is not supposed to interfere." She hesitated for a second and then asked holding a pitcher, "Can you fill this. I'm drinking a lot."

Taking the pitcher he headed over to the sink remembering that she liked her water really cold. Now that he was here he was suddenly hesitant to just blurt it out. Instead he asked about her reading, "Find anything useful."

"Yep," the pride in her tone was unmistakable. "I was reading the rules on the last stage of the exam and there really aren't any."

"So"

"So," she drew out "that means as long as it's done in a one-on-one battle its fine. There is no rule against laying traps in the arena before the test begins. As far as I can tell it's never been done before but there's no rule against it. We could rig a bunch of explosives and set them off in the middle of the match," she said excitedly.

Pouring her a glass of water he asked, "Don't they sweep the arena or something?"

"They might or they might not. I'm not saying we should rely on it but I think it's worth a try." She downed most of the water in the glass and he automatically filled it. "I want you to take a look at this. Sensei dropped it off while you were out."

She opened another scroll and he recognized a tournament chart. There were eight slots in the beginning filled in with names. He found his own quickly enough but, "where are you?"

"Well since nobody knows if I'll be well enough to participate I receive a buy for the first round and then I would enter over here," she pointed to the far right.

"That seems unfair."

"Yes, but only to me. You have to remember it doesn't matter if you win the tournament. The more fights you are in the better chance you have of been promoted. Anyway look at this."

He followed her finger to the targets name, "Yasuo fighting him in first-round."

"And if the target somehow gets passed him you won't be fight until the finals. That is assuming you can defeat that girl and trust me she's nothing special," she said flashing him a quick grin. The worst-case scenario right now is that Yasuo can't kill the target but hurt him so bad he can't continue or he's taken out in the second round."

"What about you? Who are you supposed to be fighting?"

She shrugged, "I think it's up in the air. They might even have me fight both of them back to back which wouldn't be the worst thing to happen. I would get a crack at the target or take out his competition."

"Optimistic aren't you," he supped a grin by changing the subject. "I wish we knew why we had to kill him during the exams it would be a lot easier if we could kill him whenever. You know my sister told me that her team eliminated their target while he was at a hot springs."

She looked up at him with a smirk, "That would be too easy."

Her expression suddenly faltered, "You okay?" He asked

"Yeah, am just tired all of a sudden. I think I have to lay down for awhile."

"Here I'll help." Functioning as her crutch he helped her to the bed which she immediately collapsed into. It was then he remembered he hadn't asked his question yet. He wavered for a minute wondering if he should bother her now and decide he should. "Nami you remember when we were in that cave-"

"Oh please can we forget about that. The stuff you gave me for the pain made me loopy."

Saburo thought he would feel relieved but instead he just sort of felt well he didn't know. "That's what I thought but, Yasuo was saying a bunch of crap that you love me and stuff."

"Yeah, that sounds like bullshit," Nami said burying her head in her pillow.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He moved over to the other side of the bed and kneeled down to be at eye level. "You don't sound okay?"

Nami moved in one quick motion he never even saw the pillow coming. "It's not like I ever wanted to like you," she screamed. "You probably don't even care."

Saburo sat up and stared at his friend. He couldn't remember seeing her this angry before and it hurt. It hurt and it made him angry. "You've been my best friend since I've known you. Of course I like you it's just you been acting all weird lately."

"If you liked me and I like you why haven't you done anything? You can't say it's because of the Black widow program because you didn't know about it."

It suddenly dawned on him that when she had said like she had met love. He had never really thought about her that way before. Yes, he did like spending time with her and he did care about her but was that love, maybe? "I don't know. I just don't know. What I do know is that I don't like this. I don't want to lose you."

"Well that's how I feel about you. You're important to me. I just kind of have been wanting more lately. Like after we were sparring and ended in that snow bank," she trailed off.

"I think I love you." Saburo's admission probably surprised him more than it did Nami. "I just don't know what to do." He handed the pillow back to her, "Can we go slow?"

"Yeah sure, my mom says I can't even date before I am a chunin. That's at least a few weeks away," She smiled tiredly up at him. He turned to leave when she reached out for him, "Can you stay until I go to sleep?"

"Sure," he took a seat at the head of the bed and waited for her to drift off to sleep. She had an odd smile across her face. Saburo wasn't sure what he felt for her but, right now he was happy."

Konohamaru would be the first to admit with pride that he and Naruto were a lot alike. After all with the possible exception of his grandfather there wasn't a greater ninja in the world. Unfortunately, like Naruto no one ever accused Konohamaru of being the brightest person. That was why it took him most of the day to realize that not everything was right with his teammates. They were not talking to each other and in fact they had hardly said anything all night.

If they were back at home he would just ask them what was up but, Ebisu was sitting at the table engrossed in their training schedule for tomorrow. It wasn't that he didn't like or trust his sensei but, it just seemed like one of those things which should be kept within the group. Unfortunately, the cabin was so small it was impossible to have a conversation without being overheard. So, he would have to convince one of them to step outside with him which would be hard. It was dark outside and the wind was kicking up again.

Throwing the last log into the small fireplace an idea hit him. Turning he said "Moegi can you help me bring in some firewood? Between the two of us we should be able to bring enough in for the night."

"Sure," Moegi's response lacked any emotion. Pausing briefly at the door to put on their ponchos he handed her the bag to carry the wood in. They trudged to the wood pile in silence and wrestled the tarp covering the wood off before he started the interrogation.

"So, what happened between you and Udon?" She paused and for a minute he thought he would have to wheedle an answer out of her but then she looked up at him and said something but, her words carried away on the wind. He leaned in closer, "what did you say?"

"I found something out about Udon."

That didn't make any sense he thought the three of them pretty much knew everything about each other. Well, okay he was keeping a secret from Moegi right now, but Udon knew about that. "What?" she hesitated again and he leaned in even closer.

"You probably didn't notice but, when we were under the pine tree I saw Udon's back. It was covered in bruises. That didn't seem right so I wanted to figure out where they came from."

"And" Konohamaru prompted not really understanding where this was going.

"They were from his mother. I don't think it's the first time either."

That brought Konohamaru up short. It was surprising. For a moment he's tried to summon an image of Udon's mother but then he suddenly realized he never actually seen her. That was strange and he supposed Udon wouldn't lie about something like that. "Why doesn't he just tell someone?"

"I don't think he wants to get his mother in trouble."

"We could tell sensei. I'm sure he would know what to do."

"That's what I was thinking of doing but, I'm not sure if Udon would want to be my friend if I did that."

"Um, okay." Konohamaru thought for a minute until an idea occurred to him. "I got it."

Before he could fill in Moegi their sensei popped his head out of the cabin's door. "Are you two alright? You're taking a long time."

He waved in response and quickly grabbed an arm full from the woodpile. "Let's talk to Udon after sensei goes to sleep." Moegi nodded even in the dark he could tell she was relieved.

The rest of the night passed slowly. None of them really said anything. Udon spent most of the night staring into the fire while Konohamaru tried not to think about all the problems in his plan. Moegi tried to read a scroll but kept glancing over at him. Udon went to bed early and Ebisu followed about thirty minutes later. They waited a while to make sure he was in a deep sleep before he stood and said, "Let's wake him up."

Udon was a light sleeper a fact that Konohamaru never really thought about but, given today's revelation, it suddenly seemed more sinister. Of course just because it was easy to wake him up it didn't mean it was easy getting him out of bed. That required a lot of pulling and some shoving to get him outside. By then even Konohamaru could tell Udon was pissed with them.

"Why are you dragging me out of my warm bed and into the cold?" Udon demanded glaring at both of them.

"You could've told us."

Udon didn't say anything at first but when he did he lied. He was never very good at it. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Moegi told me everything."

"She's lying," his denial didn't sound remotely believable.

Konohamaru could feel Moegi's eyes on him wondering where he was going with this. On the spur of the minute he decided to give her credit for the plan as it was. "Well if that's the case will just tell sensei and Moegi will get into trouble for lying," he turned as if to leave when his elbow was grabbed.

"Can't you two just leave me alone?"

Konohamaru shook his head, "Best friends look out for each other. Listen, Moegi only told me because she thought I could help. You don't want to get your mom in trouble and that's fine but, you can't stay there. My place is huge and my parents take a lot of missions. You'll be there a week before they even noticed you and will come up with a reason for you being there." He didn't add that he would tell his parents the truth if he had to. They probably won't be too annoyed with the situation. It would only be for a few years and they had always liked Udon. "Moegi would've offered her place but minds much bigger," he added after a second's hesitation.

"And if I don't agree?" Udon asked.

"We tell sensei."

Udon nodded to himself seemingly resigned to his fate, "Can I think about it?"

"Yeah sure," Konohamaru didn't try to stop Udon as he headed back inside. He went to follow when Moegi wrapped his arm to stop them.

"Thanks for giving me the credit. I never would have thought of that." She leaned in quickly and before he knew what was going on she'd given him a quick peck on the cheek.

Konohamaru had been kissed before and some of those had even been on the lips but Moegi's had felt different. It had given him a nice flutter in his stomach that he hadn't felt since the first time he had kissed a girl. It took him a minute to understand everything that had just happened. He had helped a friend and been kissed by the girl he really liked. The first thought that occurred to him he shouted to the world, "I'm awesome."

Author's note: I am borrowing the Bun Ekitai no Waza: Act of Dividing Liquid from Geor-sama story Shinobi Wars with his permission. If you haven't read his stuff it's worth a look. The next chapter will be the last. At least that's how its planned.