Hanabi swallowed, goosebumps rising on her arms.
Hatake Kakashi smiled at her from underneath his mask, seated quite comfortably behind his desk.
"Sasuke paid me a visit this morning," Kakashi began, fingers laced together. "He seemed quite pleased."
She was still, white eyes flooded with confusion.
"Did this visit concern me, Hokage-sama?" asked Hanabi, scratching her wrist.
Kakashi tilted his head to the side thoughtfully, carefully taking her in.
It was noon now; after she had trekked down from the Hokage monument, she had slipped back into her home to shower and to nap. Her nap had lasted a few hours, until a knock on her door and a servant had informed her of the Hokage's summons.
"Yes, in fact, it did," Kakashi said.
He slipped a piece of paper in front of her—she blinked, staring at it.
She read the words, but she didn't register them: it took her a moment. She read them again, and again, and then finally it hit her.
Chunin Exam Registration
All of the places she had to fill out were blank except for a little tidbit at the bottom.
And right in that space was Sasuke's tidy signature.
You couldn't go into the Chunin exams without the express approval of your teacher. She hadn't been able to do it before now, with him out of the village, and so much going on that she had not even thought about the exams, of being promoted. But now with this thrown into her lap, she saw it for what it was.
A chance to prove herself.
"He…" she began, but drifted off.
"It's up to you, of course," Kakashi said to her, setting down a pen beside the paper. "But now that you have your teacher's permission, you can sign up for the chunin exams whenever you wish. The registration for the next exam is closing in a week, so you still have some time to come to a decision."
A lump of lead settled in her throat.
Sensei, she thought.
In the two years that he had been gone, she had officially become a genin.
The idea of becoming a chunin had been appealing… but it hadn't been a priority, what with the mountain of books Sasuke had left her.
But now she had his express permission to enter.
"No need," Hanabi said, picking up the pen.
She began to scribble in her information, moving fast, not wasting time.
Kakashi eyed her as she worked, silent, the room the same aside from the scratching of her pen.
Hanabi slid the paper back toward him, tension pooling in her gut.
"Alright," said Kakashi, his eyes sweeping over the paper. "The details of when and where to meet will be delivered to you in due time."
"When are the exams?" Hanabi asked.
"In a little under a month," he replied. "Plenty of time for you to train." He winked. "Good luck, Hanabi-san."
She nodded. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."
With that, she made her exit.
Thank you, sensei. I won't take the opportunity you've given me lightly. We have nearly a month to go before the exams start and I plan to train for every one of those days. There's no way I'll let you down! Next time you see me I'll be chunin.
Hanabi scowled, staring down at the wet ink.
With a grunt, she balled up the unfinished letter and threw it into her trash bin.
Staring down at a fresh paper, her pen hovering, she bit her lip.
With a sigh of slight frustration, she set down the pen and stood up from her desk.
Every time she turned around from her desk now, she half-hoped that Sasuke would be there on her bed once again, a shroud of darkness and stability and warmth. Alas, he was not.
She opened up her window, jutting her head outside and inhaling deeply; fresh air tickled her lungs, her hair, tied up in a bun, waved gently in the wind.
Hanabi closed her eyes. Many unfinished letters lay at the bottom of her wastebasket; some long and eloquent, others relatively short and stiff. None seemed right however. She didn't know what to write…
What could she write?
Pleasing Sasuke had always seemed impossible, and yet, she knew nothing less than absolute confidence in her ability to become a chunin had given him the go ahead to sign her up for the exams.
She had no idea what to put. Her first draft had gone on too long. The one after that had simply been a tear jerker and had made even her cringe just looking at it. And that most recent one had just felt rigid and awful. All the ones in-between had had their own problems. It was an impossible task, she thought.
Hanabi sighed.
It came to her in the span of about a moment, exactly what she ought to put.
She pressed the pen down onto the paper and began to write. Ten seconds later, she was done.
Thank you.
Signing it, and then sealing it into an envelope, Hanabi stood up from her desk, intent on mailing it as soon as she could. Sasuke wouldn't be too far now—by messenger bird, he ought to get her message in a day or so. If he replied, it wouldn't be much longer for her to get a response. But she didn't anticipate him responding.
No, he had set out a challenge for her: pass the Chunin Exams.
And by her will alone, Hyūga Hanabi would pass those exams.
The days bled by, and Hanabi spent each and every one embroiled into an intense training regime. At the crack of dawn she would wake, breaking bread and spending time with her family before heading out to the training grounds. Aside from brief breaks to eat and rest, she would stay out until dusk, returning home with exhaustion ebbing off of her.
Every night she would shower, and watch as the dirt and sometimes blood would wash off and go down the drain. Her thin frame felt even more fragile after a hard day of training. She was sore, aching, utterly exhausted.
When she fell into bed, she would sleep for an eternity, and not budge an inch until her alarm clock would wake her up at dawn's call.
And the cycle would repeat.
In two years she had gotten strong. But without the tender care of a dedicated teacher, was she strong enough to become a chunin? She would have to find out.
Her fire jutsu was excellent, and she could use a variety of techniques now. Her taijutsu was tempered and crisp, though she would still find herself walking a strange line between what she had grown up on… the Hyūga's Gentle Fist… and what she had adapted from watching Sasuke's own fighting style, a more fluid and heavy hitting style that still used the Byakugan to its fullest extent.
One day, with maybe a week left before the exams, Hinata stopped her when she was about to leave the compound one morning.
"Let's spar," Hinata said.
Hanabi flashed her a grin. "I thought you'd never ask."
It had been ages since they had trained together—Hinata was head over heels for Naruto, and spent most of her time with him. She hardly went out on missions anymore, and trained only on occasion. Despite that, she was a jounin. By rule of thumb, the most rusty, inexperienced jounin could wipe the floor with an expert chunin, and Hanabi was well aware that she wasn't even a chunin yet.
Hanabi knew she couldn't win. But if she couldn't impress her own sister, then how in the hell would she ever impress Sasuke? She would give it her best.
The two went to the training dojo at the heart of the Hyūga compound.
There were two branch members there, idling sparring. Upon seeing the two of them, they froze in their tracks—turning toward them, they gave a bow, and then immediately vacated the premises. With the exception of close family, branch members were absolutely forbidden from even being in a dojo with members of the head family.
Hinata frowned. Hanabi bit her lip.
They said nothing, however, for there were eyes and ears everywhere in the Hyūga's domain.
Drawing up across from each other, a good five meters between them, they sized each other up.
Hinata adopted the traditional Gentle Fist pose, her palm outstretched, her Byakugan activated.
Hanabi paused for a moment; then did the same.
"Ready?" asked Hinata, who smiled slightly at her sister.
"Whenever you are," Hanabi replied, her face blank.
Hanabi adjusted her stance slightly.
A few seconds passed.
Then they rushed each other. Hinata threw a palm, which Hanabi deflected; Hanabi countered with a fist, which Hinata blocked. Before long, they were two twisting blurs, their taijutsu swift and efficient.
Blasts of chakra were deflected, so potent that you could see the shock waves in the air. Hinata smiled approvingly. When they were kids, Hanabi had often beaten her. But when Hinata had become a genin and had spent years training and going on missions, the skill gap between them had reversed to the point where Hinata would win every time.
Now, Hinata noted, it seemed that Hanabi had gotten stronger.
Blades of short, well kept grass danced around their feet as they fought. The dojo was already well worn, with holes and patches of grass torn up. All they did was add to it.
It was back and forth for a little bit, but gradually, Hinata managed to get the upper hand. She could pick apart Hanabi's offence, slowly wear her down, and her age and experience meant that her own mistakes were ones that Hanabi couldn't properly exploit.
Hinata was ready for Hanabi to concede at any moment. And then-
Hanabi jumped, twisting in the air with a kick aimed directly at her head—Hinata blocked it with her wrist, drawing back her other hand to aim a jab at the hole in Hanabi's defense.
And then suddenly, before Hinata could blink, Hanabi had used her other foot to jump up into the air, using Hinata's own body as a jumping off point. The dojo was outside, the ceiling was wide open, and Hanabi hovered for a moment… and then, Hinata saw that she was forming seals.
When a burst of fire exploded from her sister's mouth, Hinata found herself absolutely gobsmacked.
It wasn't very powerful; she had to hold back, for obvious reasons. But even then, Hinata just barely managed to avoid getting hit by it, so close that she could feel the intense heat nipping at her side as she dodged.
Hanabi landed smoothly.
Hinata stared at her, panting, sweat on her brow.
"You know how to-"
"The spar isn't over," Hanabi growled, racing forward once again. Her face was dead-set, her eyes serious.
Hinata's crisp defense had been picked apart; she had been caught off guard. A few seconds later, and some of her chakra points were shut off. Hinata yelped, rearing back, before coming back with a vengeance, managing to push Hanabi away and gain a reprieve.
The two faced each other, circling the other. Hinata panted, as did Hanabi. Smouldering grass at their feet, acrid smoke filling their noses.
Just then, a toad appeared between them.
"Hi, Hinata-san," the toad said. "Naruto wants to let you know that he's out front." The amphibian blinked, looking between the two of them, and then down at its own feet, where blackened dirt met its eyes. "Am I interrupting something?"
"Don't worry about it, Gamatatsu-san. We can stop for now." Hinata smiled and bowed at the toad, who gave her a wave back, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
"Are we calling it a draw?" Hanabi asked, exhaling slightly.
"Sure, why not," Hinata said.
"Like, I wanna hear you say it."
Hinata laughed. "It's a draw."
Hanabi let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God. I know you would have kicked my ass if we'd have kept going."
"Maybe, maybe not," Hinata said. "That fire jutsu certainly came out of nowhere. Did Sasuke-kun teach you that?"
There was a cheeky grin on Hanabi's face, as she looked at her sister.
"Maybe, maybe not," Hanabi responded. "Thanks for the spar. I hope you enjoy your time with Naruto, but I've gotta get a move-on and head out to the training grounds."
"Have fun," Hinata said.
They did the seal of reconciliation, as was custom. Then they hugged. Hanabi cringed as she looked down her sister's back. A good inch of her hair had been singed off—it seemed she hadn't escaped Hanabi's fireball entirely unscathed.
Hanabi took a few steps back.
"Um… sorry about your hair," she said, before turning around and darting away before Hinata could response.
Hinata frowned.
She looked over her shoulder, already afraid as to what she was going to see.
Hanabi heard her sister's gasp in the distance, but she was already long gone.
As she wasn't part of a traditional three man team, Hanabi had to automatically paired with other genin who were on their own for one reason or another. Perhaps their teammates had advanced to chunin. Or maybe they were on the injured list. The rules concerning chunin exams had been loosened in the years since the war, as the casualties had necessitated an influx of new chunin to fill the gaps left in Konoha's ranks. Sure, the world was at peace and militarization was a thing of the past. But no one, not even Naruto, was suggesting that Konoha ought to leave itself defenseless—and with the horrific losses of the Fourth Shinobi War, they needed new blood in their ranks.
This time around, genin from all over the Elemental Nations were coming for the exams. Last year, for the first time, an exam had happened with every major nation participating. In the decades that the system had been about, every year, there was some diplomatic incident or petty excuse that prevented one nation or another from sending any genin.
This year was going to be the same. There would be people from Iwagakure, from Kumogakure, from Kirigakure and most definitely from Sunagakure. Not to mention other, minor villages. She would have a large field of opponents to combat, and as a Hyūga, they would be gunning for her by nature. Even in this new era, to go back home and tell everyone you knew that you had beaten a Hyūga would be a prize most would be reluctant to turn down.
Hanabi knew she had her work cut out for her. But as she waited in the massive room where all the genin had been told to gather, with dozens of contestants packed from wall to wall, she knew she was ready.
When the door was opened, and the proctor Yamanaka Ino welcomed them in, Hanabi was among the first into the next room.
The chunin exams had begun.
Hanabi panted; her hair was messy, her clothes ripped, bruises running up and down her body.
Her opponent, an older genin from Kirigakure, looked no worse for wear than she did.
She sucked in a deep breath, adjusting her stance as the two squared off.
All around them, the crowd had reached an unbelievable decibel level.
The match had been intense, hard-hitting. Hanabi had known from the moment she'd seen their girl win in the semi-finals that she would be in trouble.
She was quick, fluid, easily able to escape her Gentle Fist. And beyond that, she was from Kiri, and used the water from a stream running through the arena to make all of Hanabi's fire attacks disappear into clouds of steam. In the end, Hanabi had had to use the style of taijutsu she had picked up training with Sasuke, an altered Gentle Fist that was much more hard hitting.
In the end, she had brought it to this. They were both low on chakra. One successful attack would decide this match—Hanabi knew it.
She was ready.
The first exam and second exams had been easy enough. And in the month between the second exam and the third, she had done nothing but train. She had trained her heart out, she had trained until there was nothing left, and now here she was, on the cusp of coming out on top in the Chunin Exams, stopped only by somebody who had the answer to every single one of her techniques.
And yet, by God, she could win. She would win.
Hanabi clenched her fist, grit her teeth, and then, in a flash, darted forward.
The crowd quieted as the two closed for the final exchange. It was about sixty-forty in terms of support, because while Hanabi was a hometown girl, the Kirigakure girl had managed to win them over with her tenacity in earlier matches. But it didn't matter whose side you supported. Everyone's eyes was glued to the center of the arena as they fought. No one dared cheer, or talk, in fear of missing the blow that would decide this whole exam.
A jab was dodged; a punch was dodged. A spinning round-house kick was ducked under, and a sweep of the legs was blocked and promptly rewarded with a kick. It was back and forth.
Hanabi jumped, twisting in the air with a kick aimed directly at her head—the girl blocked it with her wrist, then made to grab Hanabi's ankle.
But before she knew what was going on, Hanabi was in the air.
The girl stared up, shocked. Before she could even began to form her own hand seals, Hanabi had finished her own sequence with the vaunted Tiger seal.
A burst of flames exploded from her mouth.
She tried to dodge, and almost managed. But it caught her on the side, making the girl gasp in pain. Hanabi didn't let up. As soon as she had landed, the Hyūga charged, and though the Kiri nin tried to put up a defense, it was too much.
A punch to the gut was what sealed it.
The girl flew back a few feet, landing on her back, eyes still open. But she was spent.
The referee counted.
One.
The girl shivered slightly, trying to sit up.
Two.
Her legs shook.
Three.
She fell back down.
Hanabi let out a sigh of relief, standing straight, knowing that she had at last come out on top.
"The winner is Hyūga Hanabi."
A roar filled the stadium.
Hanabi smiled in earnest as the referee raised her hand. The sensation in the air, the warmth, the cheering. It was intoxicating… hearing the people cheer for her, for her victory. It wasn't the calm respect that she had always gotten for simply being a Hyūga—no, this was the roar of a crowd who had seen a worthy shinobi named Hanabi come out on top.
She grinned as she scanned the crowd, the many faces, from civilian to shinobi.
And yet, in the back of her mind, she knew that above all else, she wished that Sasuke had been here to see this.
In the very back of the stadium seats, immersed in the crowd, a man with mismatched eyes stood.
When the winner was announced, a roar rose up all around him.
Underneath his hood, he couldn't help but smile.
Naruto would beg him to stop by the village. Sakura would send him letter after letter. Even Kakashi would ask him from time to time to pay a visit.
But it was the prospect of seeing his student perform in the chunin exams that had brought him back this time around.
She had brought him back two months ago, to tell her himself the answers to the questions she'd had.
It had been nearly two and a half years since he had left, and nothing had changed. Naruto was still the same, girlfriend or not. Sakura was the same. Kakashi was the same.
And yet here was Hanabi.
Always changing, always evolving. Every time he saw her, something was different. She had grown an inch; she had come up with a new move, a new barb, something new to say.
When he looked at her, he didn't see the failures of his past.
He didn't see his hand through Naruto's chest. He didn't see Sakura's frightened eyes with a poisoned kunai an inch away from her neck. He didn't see Kakashi's disappointed face when he declared his intention to vaporize Konoha.
No, what he saw was his student.
The girl who had he hung from a tree within days of knowing each other; he had hung her thing until she'd spilled her guts, and she had been all the better for it.
The girl who he had taught how to breath fire, when none in her clan had used elemental techniques in generations.
The girl who he had divulged his greatest failure to—the fact that he had taken his brother's eyes. And he hadn't hesitated; he hadn't thought twice about telling her.
He trusted her.
And for Uchiha Sasuke, who trusted no one but himself, that was incredible.
As the roaring crowd showered his student with approval, he made his leave, ducking out of the stadium.
He would leave the village again. And quite honestly, he had no idea when he would be back.
But at the very least, Sasuke thought, it wouldn't just be his failures that he would come back home to.
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