Another update! And I own nothing!

Neji paced in her room, today was an important day for her: the first day of the Chuunin exams. Today was the written test. Not to say she wasn't smart, some regarded her as a genius, in fact, but that didn't stop her from worrying about the things she'd heard about the Chuunin exams. They were tough, with ridiculously hard questions; the proctors could easily catch you cheating; it was setup, the examiners already knew who would win...et cetera.

Neji brushed through her hair for the third time that morning; it worked well as a form of meditation, not that she'd do it out in the open. As if she needed to give Tenten one more reason to call her vain, or stuck up.

It was too early to head out, too late to go back to bed. Training then.

---

Tenten woke up as her alarm went off, sitting up and stretching. Today was the big day; Chuunin exams, at least the first part. The written part. Which would probably be a whole lot easier than the fighting part of it, so Tenten was relaxed that morning. She went through her typical routine, swiftly tying her hair in buns, and turning around in the mirror to see how her outfit looked as a whole.

She paused as she looked over her form, and sighed. Still no curves...she was thirteen already, it didn't seem right. Sometimes she worried she would never look feminine...

---

Lee had been up the past few hours, training as a warm-up for the exams, even though it was written. She wanted to get the adrenaline pumping through her body, so she wouldn't be as nervous. This was very important for her to ace, to prove that she really could make it as a ninja.

She paused as she braided her long black again, as it kept coming loose. If she failed this, she would do two hundred pushups! No, probably three hundred seemed like a better number. Gai would probably think it was a better number.

This was how she'd been training herself for the past few months, training to the point of total exhaustion. Maybe Neji would be her friend if they were equals...

---

When the three finally met at the appointed place and time, both of Tenten's teammates were shocked with how calm she was being.

"It's not like you can't take it again if you fail the first time, guys." Tenten pointed out, as she ate her breakfast roll. Neji had been too nervous to eat, and still was now.

"Yes, but if you fail the first time, people will remember it forever. It will go on your record!" Neji replied, crossing her arms. She hated when Tenten oversimplified things.

Tenten sighed. She hated when Neji overcomplicated things.

"Neji, no one is going to laugh at you just because you didn't make it through the first time. It happens to everyone. Right Lee?" She asked, looking for some support.

Lee nodded in agreement. No one would laugh, after all, at least, not at Neji. Her? Maybe. As the memories of the academy years echoed loudly in her mind, she felt relatively sure that if those kids saw her fail again, they would believe that once a failure, always failure. And she hated to give them that sort of satisfaction. She suddenly noticed Neji was staring at her.

"What...?"

Neji huffed slightly, obviously annoyed with her.

"I said, do you know when Gai will be here?"

Lee shook her head. Come to think of it, had he even said he'd be here? Were they just supposed to head in themselves? As if to answer all her questions, Gai showed up just then.

"Hello, team! Glad to see everyone made it!!" He boomed, looking rather like a proud parent about to send his children off to their first day of kindergarten. He looked as if he were about to cry manly tears, so Neji quickly interrupted.

"Glad to see you too. I guess we'll head in then, see--oof!" All three were suddenly caught in a bear hug, as Gai let his manly tears loose. "Just do well, and remember, no matter what happens, you are still a shinobi of Konoha!" He said, as Neji and Tenten tried to struggle loose.

"Gai sensei, other people are staring!" Neji protested, as she saw her cousin's team looking at them with a sort of distant horror. Even Hanshiro.

"Gai sensei, you're embarassing us!" Tenten added, as if embarassment would ever be a solid reason to stop Gai.

"I will always remember!" Lee enthused, and finally, Gai let go, looking down at all them proudly. Tenten and Neji quickly shuffled away, pulling Lee with them.

Gai looked over at Kakashi, who was looking somewhat weirded out, shaking his head.

"They grow up so fast..."

---

Once the three were inside, Neji turned to them.

"Later, there will be matches. We don't want to give away our abilities, so play dumb if you have to, all right? It shouldn't be especially hard for you two."

"Hey!" Tenten looked ready to smack Neji, but suddenly noticed that Lee was no longer paying attention. She tried to line up her vision with Lee's only to find that she was staring at Team Seven.

"Who is that?!" Lee squealed, clasping her hands in front of her like some fangirl. Neji groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Do not make eye contact." She instructed, crossing her arms and turning away disinterestedly.

Tenten patted Lee's shoulder.

"Sorry Lee, you don't have a chance with him; every girl in Konoha likes Sasuke."

Lee wilted, pouting slightly.

"Oh...well I guess I can see why, with the blonde hair and blue eyes, such a cutie..." She said, still staring at the new object of her affection. Tenten blinked and looked again.

"Oh, you mean Naruto? Good luck with that, he's as dumb as a--"

"Eeeep! He's looking this way!" Lee immediately hid behind Neji, peeking out from behind her. Neji rolled her eyes.

"For crying out loud, Lee, it's just a guy. And a stupid one, at that. Come on, that door says it's the entry way." Neji paused, staring at the guards. They seemed to be blocking every attempt to get in...but, there was something off about them, at least to her. She discreetly activated her byakugan, finding them to be covered in a genjutsu, making them seem younger than they truly were. She grabbed Lee's shoulders and steered her toward the pair.

"Go try to get in, but don't reveal your skills. It's better if we play dumb and don't stick out."

Lee walked towards the door.

"Excuse me..." She said, trying to pass, but was immediately knocked back. Tenten caught her.

"Hey! You can't just block everyone from entering! It's unfair!" Tenten complained, while Neji rolled her eyes slightly, about to explain the illusion to her, when a calm, cool voice announced.

"It's a genjutsu; we're on the wrong floor for this to be the right room." Neji turned, and there stood Uchiha Sasuke, looking smug as ever. She narrowed her eyes at him slightly.

"And who might you be?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips. Sasuke smirked.

"You didn't tell me your name."

Neji blinked in surprise; who did he think he was? She was older than him, and a Hyuuga! She turned on her heel, motioning for the other two to follow. Tenten rolled her eyes slightly, turning to follow. She noticed, from a cursory glance behind her, that Sakura didn't seem to like Neji. Couldn't blame her, Neji seemed to be one of the first girls to occupy Sasuke's attention for more than a second. And he looked slightly surprised that she just blew him off like that...

Lee stayed behind, looking at Sasuke with determination.

"My name's Lee, what's yours?" She asked boldly, crossing her arms. Sasuke didn't seem to think she was worth his time, but he answered anyway.

"Uchiha Sasuke. Aren't you going to follow your ice queen?" He asked, making fun of Neji's cold demeanor. Lee shook her head.

"I wish to challenge you to a battle!"

Sasuke waved her off, turning. "You're not worth my time." And with that, he walked off, Sakura quickly following. Naruto looked at Lee brightly.

"I'll fight ya!" He offered, obviously rearing for a fight. Lee blushed a deep red, and turned quickly to follow her teammates.

"No thanks!" She squeaked.

"Aw man..." Naruto complained, turning to find his team as well.

I've always kind of thought of Sasuke as kind of chauvinist, so here's a streak of that in the story! Hope you liked it! ^_^