A/N: hey guys! so sorry i didnt keep my promise :( i went on vacation and when i came back, i decided to restart my Bleach fiction so i've been focused on that.

anyway, this is my tenth chapter! YAY! \:D/

thanks everyone who follows me and faves me! and especially my reviewers! enjoy the chapter!

xoxo, Lala

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The final exams were three days from now, and everyone was in a rush to set up their booth for the festival. It seemed to be a big deal, and I could remember when I would dress up in little kimonos and dance around the house. There was always delicious food and celebration surrounding the chuunin exams.

"Okaa-san, are you making sweet onigiris for the festival again this year?" I was feeling jumpy today, my injuries had finally healed enough for me to move freely. I still wasn't allowed on active duty, but I was healing quickly.

"Calm down, Aiji. Yes, yes, of course I'm making my famous onigiris again this year. I have every year since the dawn of time," Tsuki chuckled lightly and rolled her eyes at me. "So, who do you think will win?"

I stopped fidgeting. I had barely thought about it. "Well, I know Neji's fighting Naruto. Naruto is kind of an idiot, and barely passed the exam. But I don't know his true power considering he's gotten this far. I think that'll be a close battle," I thought aloud. "Shikamaru is a pure genius, but he's really lazy so again, I'm not sure. I don't know the power of Temari, or the sound shinobi either. Then Shino's got to fight Kankuro, and Kankuro is a dope. Shino will easily win that one. Then…" I numbered off my friends to see whom I was missing. "Oh, Gaara and Sasuke are fighting. I think that'll be the best fight out of the entire exam. I think Sasuke will win, though, just because he has the willpower," I finished.

"So you think that Neji, Shino, Sasuke, and probably Shikamaru will proceed to the next rounds," Okaa-san summed up.

I nodded. "Naruto's great and all, but Neji's powers are way beyond average. And Naruto wouldn't get his weakness; that's not Naruto's style."

"He's a strange child."

"But a good one. Think of how much crap he went through as a little kid. And for no good reason at all," I emphasized my mother's fickle behavior.

"Come on, let's go grocery shopping."

"Hai," I stood up and padded to the door.

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"Look, Okaa-san! They didn't have these last year!" I ran toward a booth of delicious-looking dumplings. My mouth watered.

"Two strawberry ones, please," I paid for my snack and handed the other to my mother.

"Sora-chan, I don't think—"

"Eat it, Okaa-san," I glared at her.

"Hai, hai…" she took a small bite of the treat.

"Look! Everyone's preparing for the exams! Let's go, Okaa-san!" I started running toward the arena at full speed, wondering where in the world I'd gotten my energy.

It was incredibly crowded inside the stadium. The contestants were standing in the middle, except for Sasuke, Naruto, and Dosu, the sound dude. Naruto and Sasuke would probably show up late, but Dosu… where was he?

"Sora, do you see any seats?" Okaa-san asked over the shouts around the arena.

"Um…" I searched the area. "There! Next to Kiba-kun and Hinata!" I waved at them and they waved us over. We sat down.

"A-are Sunai-san and Izumi-san c-coming?" Hinata asked timidly.

"I know about Iz, but not Sony. She's been training like crazy lately so I wouldn't know," I shrugged.

"She said she'd be late," Kiba imformed us. "She hopes to make it by Sasuke and Gaara's match," he smirked smugly.

"Tch, he knows more about our team than we do," Izumi grunted behind me.

"AAH!" I jerked back, slamming into Hinata. She fell into her seat, rubbing her nose, and I sat next to her in mine with alarm.

"Gomen, gomen," I kept saying. She smiled and shook her head.

"Oh, look, it's Naruto," Izumi stated matter-of-factly.

"But he's not here ye—" I stopped myself as Naruto, followed closely by thousands of cattle, burst into the arena and fell to the ground. I drooped. "Wow. He hasn't changed as much as I thought he might."

"Eh. You never know," Iz shrugged, yawning.

"You're so lazy," I commented.

"Shut up if you like that shirt you're wearing," she shot back without glancing at me. I looked at my light blue kimono-style shirt as if I were making sure it was still there. Seeing it was, I scooted a little further away from the pyro.

"We will now begin the final Chuunin Exam!" the proctor, someone with a senbon in his teeth and a bandanna like Izumi's around his head, shouted and the arena went almost silent. "Naruto and Neji, stay here. Everyone else, go to the observation area."

I sighed, wishing I were down on the dirt with everyone. I'd graduated with Naruto, Shikamaru, and I'd grown up with Neji. I wanted to be part of the excitement, too.

Okaa-san, silently absorbing the scene until then, nudged me. "Aiji; look, you'll be down there soon," she smiled down to where the others were heading toward a staircase under the arena wall.

I nodded. "Soon." We sat back to watch Neji and Naruto's fight.

It was painful to hear Neji's family's story again. It was worse when Naruto seemed so nonchalant about changing it, however hopeful I might have been. I wanted him to change the setup at the Hyuga mansion, but at the same time I knew it never would. When Neji removed his hitai-ate, I realized that unless the curse mark disappeared, the curse within the Hyuga clan would never disappear.

It hurt to know that, too.

I shook my head, trying to clear it. If I'm going to be morbid and meek, I should do it later. This is already turning into an awesome fight; I don't want to miss it.

Izumi was on the edge of her seat, watching with amused and reserved eyes. She knew about all of Neji's family's troubles—all too well, considering the fact that the Kumouris were pretty much the opposite of the Hyugas—and despised them for the stupid mark. She must have agreed with me, though, when thinking that this was an amazing fight.

Hinata started coughing heavily, and I furrowed my brow at her with my full attention. She retracted her hand, now covered in blood. My eyes widened.

"Hinata! What's wrong?" I asked.

"You must still be injured from your fight with Neji," Kiba growled, eyeing me.

I sighed. "Okay, c'mon. We need to lay you down."

They nodded. We stood and Kiba carried Hinata bridal-style. We placed her flat-backed on the floor above the stands, and I started the green chakra flowing into my hands.

"Aiji?" someone said.

"Okaa-san," I greeted, not looking up and putting my hands over Hinata's heart.

"Is she okay, Sora?" my mother asked carefully.

I rolled my eyes. "Hinata-sama is fine, I promise." Even as I reassured her, my chakra was unstable. I could see the green chakra wavering with each even breath I took. Hinata had passed out, and she had a fever. Her heart wasn't working easily, and I worked to put her tissues back into their proper places.

Hot chakra reached my face.

I blinked, rewetting my eyes, and looked briefly back at the fight. Red, visible chakra was swirling around Naruto, suspending rocks and other objects. Neji was baffled as much as the rest of us, watching with wide eyes. I wiped sweat from my hairline and turned back to Hinata.

"I'm struggling," I finally admitted. "I'm still recovering from the second exam."

"Let me help," a new voice suggested.

My head whipped around, glaring, expecting to see a pervert who wanted to touch Hinata's chest. I was shocked and my neck turned red when I found an ANBU mask looking back at me. It was reminiscent of a teddy bear, with red marks on it. He was wearing a black getup and nothing else about him stood out.

"A-arigato," I bowed my head shakily. I scooted aside and his healing chakra—much bigger and steadier than mine—mixed with mine. I released my chakra and relaxed into the ground.

"She'll be okay, right?" Kiba asked the ANBU nervously.

"She'll be fine," the man replied shortly, his voice slightly muffled by the mask. "Don't worry, I'm a doctor."

"Alright. Sora, I'm going back to my seat. You stay here," Okaa-san cut her eyes warily toward the ANBU and Hinata. I nodded in understanding.

She went back to her seat and started watching again.

I looked back to the ANBU, who was still healing Hinata. Chakra stability was returning to my body, and my breathing steadied, too.

"I'LL CHANGE THE WAYS OF THE HYUGA CLAN!" I heard suddenly, Naruto's voice louder than ever. "AFTER I BECOME HOKAGE!"

I smiled. I hope you will, you loser.

The ANBU was still working. I scrunched my eyebrows. What was he doing? I decide to intervene.

"ANBU-san? Um, I'm feeling better so I'd like to help. We could save time," I added.

"Of course. She's a friend of yours, right?" I could hear the smile in his voice. I nodded carefully. I folded my legs under me, and mixed my humming healing chakra into his.

Naruto beat Neji—quite a feat, even I could admit—a few minutes after that. The ANBU and I kept healing Hinata right through Shikamaru and Temari's fight much to my dismay. I had looked forward to that fight. After that was Sasuke and Gaara's fight, but we had yet to see Sasuke.

"I think we're almost finished," I muttered, mostly to myself. I was panting and my muscles were getting painful; I was ready for a nice nap and some food.

"Yes, right about… now." We released our chakra together and I leaned back, preparing to regain some strength. The ANBU barely looked the slightest bit winded, but he sat to face me, too.

"Are you injured?" he asked. My breath caught as I tried to shove away my injuries.

"N-no."

"Let me help," he scooted toward me. I stood up and vigorously shook my head.

"No, that's okay. I'll find something to eat and I'll heal myself," I insisted with the tiniest glare.

"…Alright. I'll be off then," he stood and lingered for a minute before vanishing into thin air.

So that's an ANBU…

A great roar echoed throughout the arena. I stared over the bleachers to see Sasuke and Kakashi standing back-to-back in the center to the fighting zone, Naruto and Shikamaru and Temari—as well as the proctor—staring at them in surprise.

"Hope he wasn't disqualified," Kakashi announced their arrival officially.

I rolled my eyes. Leave it to those two to make an entrance. The extra people left the arena and I closed my eyes. I leaned my head on the bench behind me to rest a little before the fight started. After about five minutes, I hopped up and slowly went back to my seat.

"Sora?" Kiba said.

"Stay with her, will you?" I looked back at him. He nodded and looked at me worriedly.

I sighed. "I'll be fine, I swear. Just worry about her."

He nodded.

I sat down in my seat next to my Okaa-san, shaking.

"Aiji? Are you all right?" she turned to face me completely.

"I'm fine, I promise. Just a little low on strength."

"I have onigiri," she turned to her bag and pulled out carefully boxed rice balls. My jaw shuddered in anticipation and I took one carefully in my hand. I pulled a bite out of the ball and it melted in my mouth. I closed my eyes and savored the taste.

"Arigato, Kaa-san," I sighed appreciatively.

"You're welcome, Aiji. Oh look," she pointed at the arena, where Gaara emerged from the staircase in the wall. Sasuke and Gaara faced off, the proctor seeming like an extra character in the battle.

"Begin," the man declared.

I found myself enjoying the exams less and less as a growing feeling of dread emerged from the pit of my stomach. I had no idea where it was coming from or why, but I felt like my whole world was about to change, and I had no clue if it would be good or bad.

"Shit," Izumi's sharp curse drew me from my morbidity. I glanced back at the fight, only to see a thick sphere of solid sand in the center, Sasuke standing a decent length away, analyzing him.

Izumi was on the edge of her seat, clearly knowing everything about that sphere.

My eyes widened. Is that Gaara?

"Iz, what's going on?" I asked her.

"Ultimate… Defense," was all she said.

I wasn't a huge fan of Sasuke Uchiha, contrary to upperclassmen's beliefs. Not every girl in the academy was in infatuated with him. Most, yes, but some had other interests. Like me.

Nevertheless, Gaara was terrifying. I would hesitate to call him a monster, but the way he attacked people without caring about who or what they are, whether they had a family, was horrible. I definitely feared his temper paired with his abilities. If he could get rid of that anger, he would be a great friend.

But at this point, I worried for the Uchiha.

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A/N: R&R or i wont update for a month! again!

lol jk! xoxoxo

oh, and i've been thinking of finding a beta reader. if ur willing, message me. (and btw, i have no idea how that works so prepare to explain it to me.)