Perne in a Gyre

by JulyFlame

Side stories for "Come From the Holy Fire". Will be occasionally alternate perspectives and scenes that don't fit the main narrative.

4. Tournament

This covers the events of the tournament, overlapping with Chapter 13 of Come From the Holy Fire. I will mention beforehand that this piece is absolutely on the long side- about 17.5k words!- but I couldn't decide on a good place to split it for uploading.

There is no specific reading order intended between this or Chapter 13, but I will say that this one will spoil some of the events within Chapter 13 by default if you'd rather read from our OC friend's POV first.

Much thanks to Tavina, Anita Magia, and Desdendelle for doing light advanced reading for this one just to make sure it was readable.

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Yoshino set the last dish in the rack to dry and pulled the sink drain stopper before she pulled the apron off and hung it back in place.

"Shikamaru, it's time to leave," she called out. It was still early, but if anything, she was going to need the extra time.

There was no response.

She wasn't surprised. She had to prod him out of his room in order to make him eat breakfast at all earlier, and he had been silent the whole time despite attempts from her or Shikaku to engage him in conversation about anything, even though it was the first time in days Shikaku had even come home. Shikamaru hadn't even bothered to change out of his pajamas or tie his hair up.

Yoshino went to his bedroom and knocked on the door before sliding it open.

Shikamaru cracked an eye open and looked up at her from his futon. Her son was dressed in his usual clothes he wore for missions and training, the first time since he had come home from the second exam, the metal band with the spiral-and-leaf etching visible on his shoulder once more. The rest of his room was in disarray; crumpled notes, books left open on the floor, and dirty laundry from the last few days scattered around. While Shikamaru was unmotivated, he usually kept his room tidy, if only to avoid getting lectured for it. She wasn't sure he had aired his futon or even put it away in the last month.

"You don't need to go if you don't want to," she told him. "There's still time to pull out of the tournament." There was a difference between pushing him to do things when Shikamaru was being lazy and then this, not with everything that had happened.

He only sighed, and rolled off the futon, before getting to his feet. "I'm going to go," he answered, voice barely audible. "It's important to Tou-san, isn't it?" He yanked at the hair-tie that was around one wrist, pulling his hair back and into its usual ponytail.

Yoshino faltered. "No, you're important to us, Shikamaru," she decided on, finally.

He looked like he didn't believe her, and went to grab his wraps and leg holster.

"I'll wait for you by the door," she told him.

"Okay."

It was probably just as well he didn't believe her. The Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans were all unhappy and discontent with the current state of affairs within the village; they were on the verge of publicly censuring Sarutobi Hiruzen, only waiting for the exams to be over and there to be fewer foreign ninja within the walls. The decision to continue with the exams when it was discovered Orochimaru had infiltrated the village with an eye towards the exams was an unpopular one. The fact that it had led to two out of three of their clan heirs becoming hospitalized and one looking ready to quit entirely was only fomenting more issues. It was better her son didn't know how much of this was weighed on him, or that there were whispers remembering that their clans could still be strong without the village.

Yoshino pulled her hair out of its ponytail and twisted it into a bun as she walked to the door, and pulled on the flak jacket that waited for her in the genkan.

It was the first thing Shikamaru focused on when he finally came out. "You're working," he noted, voice flat.

"I'm in duty status," she corrected. "I'll still be in the stadium to watch."

Shikamaru shrugged.

They left the house and began to walk. While their home wasn't as deep into the compound as others, it was still enough to take some time before they reached the gate out.

The Nara clan's allotment of land within the village walls was partially secluded by choice; it was a matter of practicality to have some of the compound be partially embedded in the woodlands where some of their deer herds were kept. The rest were in a forest outside of the walls, but a portion of their population was captured and brought into the village to help maintain its green spaces.

The clan compound was large enough for members of the clan to request space to build their own homes, but it wasn't so densely occupied that there were shops within its boundaries. Some Nara— both those single and with families— lived in other parts of Konohagakure.

They ran into Sarutobi Asuma on the way. The jōnin looked tired, not that that was any surprise either. With Shikamaru unwilling to train, and his other two students in the hospital, Yoshino was aware he had been helping try to help with the overload of work caused by the security issues in the last month.

"Yoshino-san, Shikamaru," he started. "Glad I caught you. Heading to the arena?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Do you mind if I spoke to Shikamaru alone? I'll make sure he gets there in time."

Shikamaru's eyes looked up towards her just long enough that she was able to notice. He was expecting that she would answer, one way or another.

"That's up to him."

He wasn't able to keep himself from looking surprised, looking between her and Asuma. "I—" Shikamaru faltered, at first, before steadying himself. "Okay. Sure."

She set a hand on her son's shoulder and squeezed it briefly, before he walked off with Asuma, looking confused and slightly embarrassed at getting publicly mothered.

The rest of the walk was a quiet one for her.

As she made her way to the stadium, Yoshino was able to take in the morning activities. The village was busy, filled with visitors who had arrived to both watch the tournament and gawk around Fire's Hidden Village. It was supposed to be a two-day event, this time. The opening rounds today, as well as the quarter-finals, and then the semi-finals and final match tomorrow. Curiosity and speculation at the splinter Mist-nin, the rare presence of shinobi from Rain, and the predominance of so many of the Leaf's own rookie genin— so many of them clan heirs— had resulted in more visitors to the village than past exams.

It was also a security nightmare, even for those who didn't know about the issues going on behind the scenes. The excitement in the air aside, there was an underlying tension. Yoshino wasn't the only one who had pulled out their flak jackets and old uniforms, leaving their inactive statuses behind. Most of them were women around her age, the majority of them belonging to one of the ninja clans within the village. The women who weren't had picked up on the unsaid elements, taking advantage of the opportunity that it stood for.

During the end of the last war, deciding to become a mother tended to preclude staying active as a shinobi. There was nothing forbidding them from staying active, but there were more than enough orphans within Konoha that making the decision to stay active was one met with quiet disapproval. The next generation was important; they were the future. Choosing your career over the welfare of your children was a good way to sink your prospects of ever making jōnin if you hadn't already, whatever your potential was. Marrying Shikaku when she had had stoppered those opportunities anyways. The Hokage, traditional as he was, had been reluctant to give her the sort of assignments that would have bolstered her ability to make jōnin once he had become aware Yoshino was going to marry the then-future Nara clan head.

The women who had returned to active status were ones Yoshino recognized as having finished having children, with most of those at the end of their time in the academy or now genin, with even a smattering now chūnin themselves. As much as she knew her husband was concerned about her decision to return to active status, he had the sense to not try to argue with her about it or try to change her mind.

She pushed those musings back when she saw her point of contact ahead. It wasn't long after that that she was in position within the arena.

All Yoshino was supposed to do was make sure that none of the civilians became too rowdy as the matches ran their course. It was an inevitability when betting mixed with alcohol. The work was technically genin-level, but there was the simple fact that civilians that didn't live in a hidden village usually didn't appreciate being taken to task by children or teenagers and responded better to adults in uniform. Hosting the chūnin exam tournament was meant to entice potential clients, not irritate them. As a result, it meant that this particular duty went to chūnin who were at least in their twenties.

The stands around her slowly filled up, and before long they were crowded. In the arena below, she could see the proctor leading the genin out into the middle. They were all there. Shikamaru hadn't dropped out, however much his thoughts were troubling him.

The rules weren't really all that changed from the usual expectations. Genin were rarely capable of killing, especially when up against another genin, so explicitly forbidding it didn't do much except provide a greater window for the proctor to intercede in the worst-case scenario. That part wasn't even well known to civilians in the first place; this portion of the exams was for the publicity, not to embody a strange bloodlust in civilians who would inevitably get the wrong idea.

The Hokage announced the beginning of the exams, and Yoshino could see the excitement mount in the civilians around her, more than there had been for the past tournaments she had seen. Maybe it wasn't just curiosity about what she had thought it was that had led to so many civilian outsiders within the village walls, but just the chance of seeing so many fights.

Below, all but two of the genin within the arena trailed out. It was time for the first fight. Shigure of Amegakure versus Haruno Sakura of Konohagakure.

One of Ino's childhood friends, Yoshino was familiar with the pink-haired girl. It was hard not to be when for a while Ino had insisted on dragging her new friend along with her everywhere. She hadn't pinned Sakura for being a kenjutsu specialist, though. The sword strapped to her back was a new development. Whoever had been training the girl for the tournament was either a specialist themselves or were marking their own expectations of how fast through the ranks she could progress.

The ninja from Hidden Rain was a mystery, but Yoshino could already tell that the match probably wasn't in Sakura's favor; he had at least a foot on the thirteen-year-old girl and probably was twice her weight. The multiple umbrella handles, visible even from up here, also weren't a good sign for her, if they were loaded with senbon like Rain-nin were usually rumored to do.

The proctor called the match start.

Sakura immediately put distance between herself and her opponent, but not too much. A potentially smart move; most ninja who took part in these tournaments didn't have effective ways at handling closer mid-distance opponents that wouldn't potentially backfire on them as well.

The Rain-nin didn't seem bothered by this; he retreated, and pulled out one of his umbrellas, launching it into the air, where it unfurled. Oohs and ahs rippled through the crowd she was sitting near.

Senbon sparkled in the sunlight before they started to fall, aiming for the small girl.

Sakura ran towards Shigure, the senbon piercing her skin, closing the distance with impressive speed for a genin until she was right next to him. The rain of senbon slowed, but still pierced both of them; he must have been controlling them somehow, but there was only so much he could do to stop them at the very last moment. She drew the tantō from her back and slashed out, and the older teen instinctively changed his stance, pulling out what had to be kunai from how he moved.

He struck outwards, but his aim was off; whether it was due to her speed and size or genjutsu, or both factors combined, Yoshino couldn't tell from this distance. Sakura dove between the small opening between his legs, arching backward onto her palms, kicking out at the back of Shigure's knees as she tried to flip over from it. One arm didn't bend all the way, making the flip uneven, and when she stood up, one of her knees gave out. Even from this far up, it was obvious Sakura was beginning to flag under the impact of the senbon.

There were just too many for one person to withstand without a better defensive position. In a field scenario, the girl's decisions here would have had a better impact, whether with a team or any other kind of environment besides the mostly open one of the arena.

The girl forced herself to stand again and flung herself at Shigure once more, both hands on the grip of the sword in a way that would have made any kenjutsu user wince. The blade shone in the sunlight. Whatever she was doing with this last charge, it wasn't enough to make the proctor stop her. Yoshino leaned forward, slightly.

The sword connected, hitting the older teen like a club against his side and shattered, sending him to his knees. Yoshino winced. Even a simple sword would be on the pricey side for a chūnin, much less a fresh genin.

Sakura collapsed, no longer moving.

Shouting and yelling rang through the stadium.

"Winner, Shigure of Amegakure!"

It was a loss, but one that sent a message. Senbon on their own were rarely fatal, even with how many were piercing Sakura. Even poisoned ones took time to affect. By making the final move that she had, Sakura had shown that she could have made a killing blow if necessary. Sacrificing the sword the way she had was a dramatic statement.

Shigure was able to get out of the arena under his own power. A pair of medics on duty entered the arena, checked Sakura where she was lying, and escorted her out.

It was enough time for the civilians around her to chatter idly, money to exchange hands, and make further bets now that the first fight was over.

The next match was of two Leaf-nin; another boy from Shikamaru's class— the clan heir for the Aburame— and the branch clan nephew of Hyūga Hiashi. Aburame Shino was supposed to be promising, and Shikaku occasionally griped when they were alone that when it came to Hiashi's habit of lauding the strength of the Hyūga, the other man regularly compared Hyūga Neji to Shikamaru, unfavorably.

It was probably too much to hope that Shibi's son would wipe the floor with the Hyūga boy. Hyūga Neji was considered a prodigy. Shino wasn't. That and the age difference would be enough at this point in their young lives.

Shino made the first move, kikaichū spilling out of his collar and sleeves, in a dense and dark enough cloud that Yoshino could make them out.

The Hyūga boy moved into a defensive position, but didn't move otherwise.

There was only enough time for her to wonder why he wasn't doing anything before the first of the kikaichū must have reached some predetermined boundary.

Neji began to move, and it soon turned into a spinning action, chakra turning visible as it was expelled, both that and the dust and debris being tossed into the air concealing the teenager from sight.

Yoshino pulled back, shocked. None of the civilians nearby showed any sign of understanding what they were seeing, but that was understandable. Most of the ones nearby were from other villages, towns, and cities in Fire. There was no way for them to know that the move the boy just used wasn't one he should know. Yoshino had spent enough time on teams with Hyūga clan members during the last war to know that that move he performed wasn't one branch members were supposed to know, much less be able to easily perform. It was supposed to be reserved for the leader of their clan and its heir.

And yet, the boy had put it on full display for his first match.

A large tendril's worth of the insects hit the barrier, getting flung away with force, and the rest immediately spread out, their buzzing echoing with so much volume it was able to be heard in the stands.

"I concede!" Shino shouted; his voice was filled with distress.

Yoshino frowned. The Hyūga boy had won his match, but Yoshino had doubts that this strategy would gain him a vest; there wasn't much room in the chūnin ranks for this kind of behavior. Weakening shinobi from other villages in these exams was one thing. Doing something like this to another Leaf-nin was a different matter. The Aburame clan's kikaichū were as much part of the village and its ranks as the Inuzuka dogs were. Members of either clan would balk at being part of a squad or put on the same mission as someone who thought their partners were expendable in something as relatively safe as this tournament. The move was a mark of being a prodigy; the decision to use it like this was a reminder that even a child prodigy was still a child. It wouldn't help his standing within his clan, either.

Inside the arena, Shino stormed off, and the buzzing subsided.

Neji trailed after him. There was no element of contriteness to him.

Yoshino ignored the commentary from the civilians about the last match; even the ones that lived in Konoha wouldn't have fully grasped most of it. There were no doubt further nuances that Yoshino was missing herself, both from being personally out of the field for long enough to miss specific gossip that Shikaku might not have passed on, and whatever observations the younger jōnin might have kept to themselves.

It didn't take long for the civilian chatter to move on to the anticipation for the next match; Uchiha Sasuke of Konohagakure was in the tournament, after all. Few of the other clans within the village had as much notoriety, whether it was marked from before or after the deaths of most of the Uchiha. The boy, only a bit older than Shikamaru, had more fame and recognition as an academy student, the lone survivor, than some jōnin had. If he was aware of it, he showed no sign of it, at least in those early months afterwards when Yoshino and nearly every other parent that could would walk their children to the academy and back.

According to Shikaku, Hatake Kakashi was at least trying to put plenty of effort to keep his genin team from being aware of the notoriety around them. It was strange to think that that once proud and stand-offish child prodigy— a baby-cheeked serious thing who had instantly stepped on the toes of every single other chūnin he interacted with when he made chūnin the year after Yoshino— had mellowed enough to want to avoid attention.

Given how much he was apparently failing at it, it was probably revenge from the afterlife from the Yondaime, who had been made to deal with Hatake in the first place as his first and longest student. Yoshino didn't believe that the Uzumaki boy was responsible for the Yondaime's death— not when he had that clan name, though she had never aired her suspicions to even Shikaku, since some things were better left unvoiced— but Hatake certainly deserved the brand of suffering that came from dealing with frustrating children who annoyed everyone in the vicinity.

There was also the fact that his opponent was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist, and part of the Mist-nin faction that had appeared in Wave. The fact that not just one, but two of those swordsmen belonged to that faction that declared themselves the legitimate Kirigakure was plenty of reason to cause intrigue among civilians and concern among the shinobi. The extra work caused by that development on its own had served as cause for Yoshino to decide to go active once more. She had pushed herself into assisting with the Chūnin exams because of everything else. While she wouldn't assist her son directly, Yoshino still wanted to be present and support him where she could and be close in case anything happened. Unfortunately for her, that decision had already borne out to be a wise one.

Uchiha Sasuke and Chōjūrō walked into the arena, and towards the center.

The older teen didn't look like very much. Even this far away, Yoshino could tell he hadn't entered the arena with much confidence. Dressed in as much camouflage as he was wasn't that promising, either— both his shirt and trousers were in one of the patterns that Hidden Mist tended to favor for their genin. Their chūnin usually abandoned it. The only sign that he was possibly more than he seemed was the fact that his sword was already in hand, still wrapped.

The match began, and Sasuke immediately began to move, pulling out shuriken, which he began to throw with precise movements. The sword flashed outward, preventing the first volley from succeeding at hitting their target. It was a world's worth of difference from the novice movements of Sakura-chan in the first match. While Sakura's kenjutsu had clearly been drilled into her by someone who was adept, Chōjūrō's defense against shurikenjutsu— something the Uchiha clan was known for, and that Sasuke was showing he was skilled in as well— was far beyond what Yoshino would had expected from how much confidence the boy moved with. He was no doubt worthy of the group he was part of, after all.

A second volley of shuriken provided Sasuke cover as he tried to close the distance to attack with a kunai; Chōjūrō immediately closed that opening, using the momentum from his sword to block Sasuke off.

This was the kind of match that had drawn outsiders to the village to watch. While both were fighting to prove their abilities and show they had the skills to become chūnin, their specialties were just complementary enough, and the prohibition against killing limiting enough that Yoshino found it impossible to firmly guess who would easily win, unlike with the previous two. Sasuke was skilled, for a fresh genin, but the limitations were immensely in his favor. The fact that Chōjūrō was both uninjured and hadn't severely hurt his opponent despite the sword he was wielding was impressive on its own. It was a greater handicap than aid in this circumstance.

A fireball was blocked with a sudden curtain of water that evaporated instantly but negated the attack.

The slashing movement of the bandaged sword forced Sasuke to retreat when the boy had left an opening.

It went like this for some time, much longer than either other matches combined, a deadlock of increasingly smaller openings mixed with increasingly more dangerous attacks, before Sasuke suddenly stopped moving, right as Chōjūrō's blade swung at him.

Yoshino's breath caught.

With as much force and speed as was behind that slash, that blade, even wrapped, could potentially kill the younger teen if he didn't move or Chōjūrō didn't pull back.

From one of the other stands, small and enclosed, where the competitors were supposed to wait, Sakura shouted out Sasuke's name in alarm.

The sword collided with Sasuke's side, turned to its flat side in time, an ugly echo of Sakura's final attack in the first match. Sasuke hit the ground, clutching his side.

He eventually got up, and as he did, Yoshino stared in disbelief. She couldn't hear him from up here, but was he laughing? They were slightly too far down for her to be able to read their lips well, if she still had any skill at it anymore after years without much practice, but the fight had switched to a verbal confrontation, somehow, now. Chōjūrō's attention became focused on the proctor, his sword still directed at the other boy just in case.

Whatever it was, the reaction from the proctor apparently wasn't the one the Mist-nin wanted. It wasn't often that these fights shifted from mostly physical to verbal.

People were beginning to crowd against the railing to get a better look at what was going on, in case they could figure it out. Yoshino stayed seated.

A shout rose up from the other end of this stand. "The Uchiha kid is trash-talking his opponent! He's trying to throw him off!" That only made the energy in the crowd heighten as people tried to guess what was being said. There was no way that it wasn't going to result in rumors, later.

It wasn't that often that the genin in these tried that kind of tactic to try and rattle or unseat their opponent. Usually they were even enough in skill, but not skilled enough to take that kind of risk. The ones that were unevenly matched tended to not bother. Here though, both teenagers were skilled enough that as the match dragged on, it was becoming clear that if it kept going on, Chōjūrō was the more skilled and experienced of the pair, with every exchange chipping away at whatever advantage the last Uchiha of the Leaf had appeared to start with. If the younger boy wanted to win, it was going to have to be through the use of a different approach beyond just the physical.

From how Chōjūrō squared himself though, Yoshino suspected Sasuke was about to be disappointed if he wanted the fight to be continued.

The proctor confirmed it. "Winner, Uchiha Sasuke of Konohagakure!"

The young man who left the arena with his shoulders set after holstering his sword was not quite the same as the hapless looking teenager who had entered it. Forfeiting wasn't a loss on its own, either, to become promoted. Whatever input the proctor would have would be valuable, but it was already likely to be in Chōjūrō's favor from the ones watching.

After that match, it wasn't a surprise that instead of returning to their seats, several of them left; no doubt to get food and drinks, whether from the vendors or to eat in the village. There was supposed to be an intermission after this one; the ones leaving were just trying to beat the crowds.

The upcoming match was unluckily the second of its kind. Another Rain-nin, another a Leaf-nin. The first match had set expectations for not only all of the rest, but for any that possessed the same match-up. These two would need to go beyond the staples to make a good impression, especially after the last fight.

Midare of Amegakure and Rock Lee of Konohagakure entered the arena. The Lee clan had joined the village with some… eccentricities, and the youngest member of their family to join the village's forces hadn't escaped them, if the name ordering was any sign. Lee-kun must have had a great deal of filial pride. There was also the fact the boy was dressed like his jōnin-sensei, which was hard to escape.

Midare was dressed similarly to Shigure, only missing the cloak the taller teenager had worn in his match. That wasn't that odd; if genin teams lasted beyond the first few years, they tended to start coordinating their mission and training wear. It was usually cheaper to make larger group orders once they had gotten past most of the growth spurts teenagers had, if they hadn't made the jump to whatever was the default chūnin uniform for their village.

The match began, and Lee immediately sprinted towards his opponent. A taijutsu-heavy approach; given that Midare appeared to have the same kind of umbrellas strapped to his back as his teammate, it made sense that Lee would choose to close the distance between them. Sakura's gamble was probably going to inform the strategies for this match and all the others following involving the Rain-nin, and it was going to be obvious to anyone else paying attention.

Midare swung one of his umbrellas out, trying to use it as a makeshift staff and stave the young Leaf-nin off. Lee kicked out, and brought his foot down, breaking the umbrella shaft in half. There was a flash of light reflecting off of metal as senbon poured out of the broken pipe.

There was a triumphant shout, loud enough to be made out in the stands as Lee retreated before preparing his next attack.

A possibly bad, if enthusiastic move; it gave Midare the chance to pull out a second, unruined umbrella, and rather than launch it into the air like his teammate had, he spun it out, launching a heavy volley of senbon directly at Lee. At that density, with an unskilled opponent it would potentially be deadly, but the proctor didn't intercede.

The younger teen raised his arms up to protect his face and neck.

Silence stilled the whole stadium before shouts of surprise began.

Lee wasn't just still standing, but was moving towards Midare once more, yanking the senbon out from where they had pierced his hands. That must have been painful, but the teenager was on a team with not only Maito Gai, but the Hyūga prodigy. Training with any Hyūga tended to be painful by default. You either stocked up on painkillers, developed a better level of pain tolerance, or avoided training with them.

It looked like Lee had gone with the second of those options.

The Rain-nin wasn't just out of his main weaponry, but it seemed courage as well. Midare ran, putting distance between himself and Lee, back exposed.

Yoshino frowned. Unless the Rain-nin pulled something else out, or established some kind of defense, this was going to make a poor impression the longer he avoided doing anything.

Instead, Midare wound up with his back against the wall, Lee still approaching him at a steady pace. The younger teen was taking his time. Whether or not he was aware of the spectacle it was creating was a question, but after pulling the senbon out of his hands and then arms, he had peeled his bandages first off one arm, and then the other, redoing both to be shorter and provide more cushioning and support to his hands and wrists. The red of fresh blood was easily visible as it seeped into the bandages. The darker spots against his green jumpsuit were easier to make out as a result.

A brief surge of water created a wide barrier between Midare and Lee, and the older teen pulled out a rebreather, before heading into it.

Whatever Midare's next move was intended to be, they never found out.

Lee struck, and pulled Midare out, before sending him into the air with a flurry of kicks, the kunai the Rain-nin had held dropping onto the ground.

Midare groaned, but didn't move from where he fell.

It was only a matter of time to wait and see if he got up, or had given up.

"Winner, Lee Rock of Konohagakure!"

"Yosh!"

Lee jogged for the exit, leaving a trail of senbon behind him as some continued to fall out from his body. The proctor pulled Midare up, and escorted him out.

Around Yoshino, the civilians filtered out, their talk focused on both this match and the one prior, with a few speculating on the ones to come. She stayed; there was supposed to be a genin team going around with water and bento lunches for all of the chūnin on station, and none of them were supposed to leave their positions. Yoshino went and leaned against the railing, looking down at the arena below. These first few matches hadn't torn the ground up too much, for good and for ill, but the sheer quantity of senbon below were probably going to cause problems.

The pressure of a hand settled on her shoulder, and she turned around.

Shikaku, tiredness visible in his eyes and the bags under them, smiled at her, holding up a bag and a large bottle of green tea. "I hope you don't mind that I bought us lunch," he said.

She snorted. "I haven't exactly been the model housewife for the last month. I'm not going to complain when it's this or one of those terrible day rations the genin in Supply pump out. Half dried rice, half mushy, and with overcooked vegetables."

"I can let Chōza know that some mouthy chūnin finds his department's lacking, if you want," Shikaku answered, with a smirk. He sat down on one end of the benches, putting the bag down and pulling the bento boxes out. "Troublesome women can make their own food, if they think so poorly of the free lunches."

Yoshino went and sat down, leaving the bento in the center between them. "You're welcome to eat them yourself, then," she told him, accepting chopsticks and bento. "I can just not go home and stay on duty, after all."

Shikaku made a face. "No, I like having an excuse to come home sometimes, I'm eating those things too. Chōza's already aware of the drop in quality, but the genin making the duty bento don't have enough practice for making this many." He bit into a piece of chicken and chewed for a moment before speaking again. "I should have dated someone else. Found myself a sweeter bride who wouldn't question me."

"You mean like Hyūga Yuzumi, who says you got bored and fell asleep on her? Or Uchiha Min, who you made cry after you called her boring? Or Nara Botan, who said the reason she realized she liked girls better was because of you?"

Shikaku's eyes widened, and he sputtered. "She really said that?"

Yoshino looked up at him through her eyelashes, before smirking. "No, but she could have," she teased. "Face it, Shikaku. You would have died of either boredom or from overwork if you had settled for someone who never challenged you."

"Hmph. Maybe Shikamaru will turn out smarter than me, there." He looked out towards the arena grounds. "How is he doing?"

"He got dressed on his own without me having to say anything, so a little better," Yoshino said, quietly. "I think the only reason he's still going through with this is because he doesn't want to let you down."

"If he's not ready to do this for himself, he isn't ready to become a chūnin yet," Shikaku commented. "I doubt he's going to win his match if that's the case. It's supposed to be against Hiashi's elder daughter, isn't it?"

"The match lineups haven't changed, no." She leaned in closer, and let her voice drop in volume. "Is Hinata-chan still not officially disinherited yet?"

"As far as I know Hiashi hasn't processed the paperwork, no." Officially removing his heir from the line of succession required formal documentation within Konohagakure; while it wasn't a secret that the girl was in disfavor and cast out from her family, it hadn't been made official. Hyūga Hinata was still technically the heir to the Hyūga clan. Hiashi was either expecting the shinobi lifestyle to prove him right and solve the problem without having to officially document what by all rights he appeared to consider a shameful offspring, or was allowing her the opportunity to return to favor under her own power. Whichever it was supposed to be would probably be a secret taken to the grave.

"Well, you should expect more trouble in the ranks," Yoshino told him; she tried to not relish the fact that she had the gossip for once. Not when this was going to give him more grief, at least.

Shikaku looked dismayed. "What happened?"

"Hiashi's nephew's match turned out interesting."

"The one that's supposed to be the prodigy? It was against Shibi's eldest, wasn't it?"

"Hyūga Neji used a move that I know for a fact is only supposed to be limited to their main branch's clan leader and heir."

Shikaku choked, and Yoshino quickly opened the bottle of tea, handing it over to him. He drank from it deeply, before speaking again. "You could have waited to tell me until after I had swallowed," he said, reproachfully. "If it isn't one thing, it's another… What do you think, will the boy make chūnin?"

"From this exam? Probably not," she said, shaking his head. "It was impressive and showy, but completely unnecessary. He killed off a good bit of poor Shino-kun's kikaichū. If he gets promoted now, I doubt he'll make jōnin anytime soon. Too many people will be angry."

"He won his match, but there's going to be long-term consequences," Shikaku agreed. "He's probably upset his whole clan, the Aburame, and likely the Inuzuka, too. I'm sure there are more who won't want to work with him for a while." He rubbed at his face. "What about the other matches so far? Anyone interesting?"

Yoshino popped some rice into her mouth, and thought for a moment, before answering. "Sakura-chan might get promoted from this even though she didn't move on from this round," she said. "If it weren't for the rules or arena, I think she would have been able to kill her opponent and live if it was in the field, even though by all rights she was outmatched. Whoever trained her for this taught her some kenjutsu and she broke her tantō on the Rain-nin she fought, and the strategy she used got picked up for this last match."

"Ino's little friend with the pink hair? That Sakura-chan?" Shikaku clarified, as though there could be any other option for this exam. "I remember when Ino insisted on dragging that girl everywhere with her… Then again, she's on Kakashi-kun's genin team, isn't she?"

"With Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto," Yoshino answered. "Sasuke-kun stopped fighting in his and tried to throw his opponent off verbally. I think he realized that if he didn't try to throw his opponent off, he was going to lose. The other boy forfeited for whatever reason. Didn't lose his temper like anyone would expect. It'll probably work out for him. It was a good match, besides that."

"Against the swordsman? He's lucky. We don't have much intel on Kirigakure these days, but there's no way Yagura would have allowed him to be walking around with that sword if he didn't know how to use it."

"He did," she confirmed. "That wasn't the sort of fight you get from two genin or even two chūnin facing off, when it's a bad matchup, and it was. He used his sword the whole time even though it was disadvantageous." Any bladed weapon could easily be lethal, but there was a world of difference between a normal shuriken or even tantō, and a sword of that reputation and ability.

"Shikamaru didn't seem that impressed by him when he mentioned him," Shikaku said, looking thoughtful. Shikamaru's team had ended up socializing with that particular Mist-nin team a few times due to shared connections with Team Seven, before the exams had commenced.

Yoshino drank from the bottle. "If I hadn't seen that match, I would have agreed. "

"What about the last match? I heard the Rain-nin lost on my way in, but did anything interesting happen?"

"The boy from the Lee clan took his cues from Sakura-chan's fight. He still played to his own strengths, though; taijutsu and close quarters. And a ridiculous sense of pain tolerance, apparently. He got filled with senbon and showed no sign of stopping."

Shikaku winced. "That sounds like I would expect, since by all appearances he's practically Gai-kun's apprentice in all but name."

"Mmm. Are you going to stay to watch Shikamaru's match?" she asked.

"And the rest of today's matches, if I can. The battalion commanders know where to find me if they need to."

They finished eating, letting the conversation shift to other topics: the state of Shikamaru's messy bedroom, Ino and Chōji, how to rearrange the household duties with all of them in active status, as the stands nearby began to fill up again, all the while evading directly touching on how all those things were impacted by or impacting Shikamaru's current state of mind. Nothing that couldn't be figured out easily or had no real information that could be used against them.

Soon enough, it was time for the next set of opening matches.

Yoshino had no idea what to expect, here; Hōzuki Suigetsu's clan was known for producing strong shinobi and even had their own unique technique, but the boy was an unknown entity, besides having a foul attitude that had annoyed her son. At either twelve or thirteen, he was young enough that there was enough up in the air for all of it to be in question. The only thing she knew for sure was that as a Mist-nin, he was probably more prepared this match than Inuzuka Kiba would be.

Inuzuka clan members tended to pick up chūnin slightly later than their teammates, if they were on a team led by a jōnin-sensei. Much like the Aburame, a single Inuzuka clan member did not work alone by default, but their own progress was partially determined by their dog partners. An Inuzuka puppy was still a puppy, and needed the time to mature, especially when their growth rate was different from normal dogs. Fresh Inuzuka genin were as much caretaker as they were partner to their dogs.

The match started.

It became obvious almost immediately that Suigetsu wasn't taking the match seriously; much like before, it wasn't obvious what was being said down there, but going from the body language of both boys and dog it clearly wasn't anything particularly complimentary, made only worse when Suigetsu at one point threw his head back, clearly laughing.

Eventually, it became too much for Kiba.

The Inuzuka pup disappeared in a cloud of smoke, replaced by a second Kiba.

Dog and child, indistinguishable from each other, twisted and charged for Suigetsu, tearing up the ground as they did. Dust and senbon flew into the air, making it hard to see what was happening.

A brief surge of water cleared everything away, sending the Inuzuka pair away. It wasn't strong enough to toss them against the wall behind them, but from how much water temporarily rushed at them, it could have.

It turned out to be a poor move on the Mist-nin's part.

Most of the water disappeared, while a remainder was surging back towards the other boy. It was primarily just chakra molded into water, and a good deal taken temporarily from the air, but some of it was from Suigetsu himself, taking advantage of his clan's technique. The dog returned to its original form, and Kiba tossed his partner into the air before all of it flowed back.

Yoshino wasn't able to prevent the sound of surprise that came from her, and next to her Shikaku did his best to cut back a laugh as what was undeniably urine— bright yellow under the sunlight— streamed out from the dog and hit the water that was part of Suigetsu.

Akamaru landed safely.

There was an angry scream of horror that was loud enough for everyone watching to hear.

It wasn't often a genin had a raging meltdown during these matches, but if anything qualified for causing one, being urinated on by a ninja dog in what was essentially an exhibition match counted.

It only became worse when Kiba made his way over and, in clear sight of everyone in the stands, reached for the top of the front of his trousers.

"Kiba, don't you dare!" The shout was loud enough to carry. A woman's voice, but definitely not Inuzuka Tsume.

"Yūhi Kurenai," Shikaku identified, under his breath, but just loud enough for her to hear. "She's the one in charge of that team."

"She must be mortified right now." Yoshino felt sympathetic. It was one thing for your students to fail in these exams. It was another for this sort of thing to happen.

That decision paid out poorly for Kiba and Akamaru. Almost immediately, Suigetsu charged at both of them, and smashed into them with momentarily larger than normal fists, that clubbed dog and then boy, leaving them prone on the ground.

"Winner, Hōzuki Suigetsu of Kirigakure!"

Winning wasn't quite enough for him; the proctor had to grapple the still-furious boy into a hold and used the Body Flicker to drop him at the exit, unceremoniously.

"That wasn't how I expected that match to go," Shikaku managed to say, eventually, once the medics entered the ring and took Kiba and Akamaru out of the ring.

"I don't think Kiba-kun will be picking up chūnin from that," Yoshino decided.

Shikaku covered his face for a moment. "I have a bad feeling I already know what he's going to get called, now, whether or not he ever hits the bingo books."

Yoshino could too, unfortunately. 'Piss-nin' wasn't the worst thing to get called, but it was still down there.

It was time for the match they were both waiting for; Shikamaru was finally up.

Against Hyūga Hinata, there was the chance that it could turn out interesting, if Shikamaru managed to devote any of himself to the match. It was only this morning that he had finally shrugged on the jacket that his hitai-ate that identified him as a ninja back on, and he hadn't dedicated any time to training. His peers had. Roughly a month's worth of only training could make a large impact, especially at this point in a young genin's career. Their son was intelligent, and favored strategy, but it could only go so far when there was no effort applied to use it.

And for this match, strategy would be necessary. Nara techniques would only go so far out in the open with as little cover as there was inside the arena, and even then there was only so long any of them could be used, especially for a novice, even one that showed promise with them. With a Hyūga, it would only be more fraught, since they could break free easily.

If Hinata-chan got in range for her to use any Gentle Fist techniques, and wasn't subdued quickly enough, it was possible the match would swing to her. Shikamaru's taijutsu was lacking compared to any Hyūga. He would need to be canny for this match.

The opening moves of the match were cautious ones.

Instead of closing the distance to take advantage, Hinata had backed away as soon as she could, putting space between the two of them.

Shikamaru showed no signs of doing anything yet.

Yoshino tore her attention away to look at Shikaku. He was frowning, his attention on the scene below. "There're multiple openings down there," he muttered. "I know he can see them…"

Their nerves weren't the only ones being tested; the crowd around them were beginning to sound annoyed and dissatisfied, wondering what was keeping either genin from making the first attack.

Shouting and calling from the stands was beginning to happen, urging them to actually fight.

On the ground, Hinata's nerves broke first, and she rushed forward.

Shikamaru's shadow surged towards her.

Shikaku groaned. "Shikamaru, no, you know better…"

Yoshino resisted looking away.

The shadow collided with Hinata's, and for the shortest of moments it held. One of her legs wobbled, and she must have expelled chakra in just the right way to cut herself partially loose. The follow-through came through much quicker, more assured.

Shikamaru's shadow snapped backwards, and even from here, Yoshino could see him reel.

He was throwing the match entirely.

The civilians watching would have no idea, but any chūnin or jōnin of the Leaf who had spent any time training or doing missions with a Hyūga or Nara clan member would know what he was doing.

From the change in Hinata's movements, it hadn't escaped her, either, what Shikamaru was doing. The distance between the two genin closed, and for a moment things stalled, words appearing to be exchanged instead of blows.

Whatever Shikamaru said to her turned out to be the wrong thing. The almost-timid movements of earlier were now traded for ones that were boiling over with anger. The earlier distance between them disappeared entirely, now, as Shikamaru went on the defense in earnest, narrowly avoiding strike after strike after strike, his rarely practiced taijutsu being forced into use as he did his best to avoid taking any hits, one arm soon getting disabled, forcing Shikamaru into backing away even as he tried to use that arm to field any further hits.

"Our son needs to learn how to talk to women respectfully," Yoshino said, after a precise strike forced Shikamaru down on one knee.

"Probably," Shikaku said, wincing. He was watching with his hands pressed together in front of his face, elbows resting on his thighs. "I'm not sure I want to know what he said to get that reaction."

"Even you never insulted anyone that badly," Yoshino agreed. "but he learned this from you."

Shikaku didn't respond to that. Instead, he focused on Shikamaru, who was in the middle of forfeiting.

"Winner, Hyuuga Hinata of Konohagakure!"

From the sound of the crowds, this was the largest upset so far; none of the others had been too surprising, between general knowledge and rumor available. The Nara clan, however, with the Yamanaka and Akimichi had closed their ranks around the children. Even so, it was on them for weighing Hyuuga Hinata so unfavorably when it was a simple thing to find out that Nara Shikamaru was known for lazing and had been a poor student in the academy.

As the medics went in with a stretcher, Shikaku sighed. "I'll go check on him," he said. "We need to talk, and I haven't made the time like I should have."

"He hasn't been willing to listen to anyone until today," Yoshino told him. "Maybe now it might work."

"We'll see. I'll try to come home tonight." Shikaku stood up, and took the bag of trash with him.

"If you don't, I'll drag you home."

He gave her a tired smile, and left.

The next match was the one she knew the least about. Baiu of Amegakure was dressed much like his teammates, with a large arsenal of umbrellas that had to be loaded with senbon like theirs. If he didn't have anything new to add to his match, whether he won or not, it wouldn't do much to impress anyone watching.

Tenten, a young local kunoichi, Yoshino had no idea about. The lack of a clan or family name gave no hints to what her skillset could be, the only possible suggestion being the scrolls she was carrying. Even then, the suggestion of fuinjutsu didn't help narrow things down. It was an impressive skill to have for a genin, but it didn't give any indications on its own when it came to fighting.

The Rain-nin didn't waste any time getting started, immediately pulling one of his umbrellas out, the girl pulling out a scroll in turn.

Like the Rain-nin before him, Baiu aimed the umbrella directly at Tenten, instead of attempting a senbon shower.

Tenten revealed what one of her specialities was, unfurling an empty scroll. Or rather, a mostly empty scroll; as the senbon approached, they were pulled tightly together, vanishing from sight as they became stored within the scroll.

Baiu's shout of dismay was loud enough to carry, and understandably so. That many senbon would have been a large investment. Losing them to the ground was one thing, since discarded weapons were usually to be returned in these sort of conditions when they were easy to gather like that, but by sealing them up, Tenten had effectively claimed them in a way that he couldn't fight, and she had just stolen hundreds of them in the span of a few seconds.

If he didn't want to risk losing them, he shouldn't have used them in the first place.

He pulled another umbrella out, but instead of firing its senbon, he ran for Tenten, closing the distance between them.

Tenten pulled another scroll out, and a naginata emerged, which she skillfully grabbed without letting it drop. The haft of the umbrella was shorn in half, and she slashed at him, forcing the shorter teenager back.

It went on like this for a while, with Baiu attempting to break into Tenten's defense, only to be easily forced away with a new weapon released from yet another scroll.

Yoshino couldn't see the girl's expression, but it was obvious from how she moved around the arena and alternated between weapons that she was enjoying herself and the opportunity to show her skills off. There weren't many dedicated tool-users within the village, and fewer still who could claim to be comfortable with that many kinds. Maito Gai wasn't known for using a weapons; most of this had to self-taught to some extent or another.

Baiu eventually realized he was being made a mockery of, and he pulled another umbrella out, and rushed for her, clearly planning to fire the senbon within at close quarters. From a distance, senbon weren't particularly dangerous. But if he did that within a few feet, it would be a very different and potentially lethal story.

Tenten lightly sprung away, before releasing a spear from a scroll. She swung it at the older teen, close enough that it must have skimmed past his face, knocking his hat off before she swung it back down, the spearpoint aimed at his face.

Baiu forfeited.

As the Rain-nin slunk off to leave the arena, Tenten bounced on her feet for a moment, doing a self-congratulatory dance for a short few seconds before she rushed around to collect the scrolls and weapons she had used. The pile was as large as she was once she had it all in her arms, the end of one scroll flapping over her shoulder as she left.

There was nothing wrong with a bit of levity in a fight like this.

It was finally time for the last match of the opening round.

This time, Yoshino could easily identify the civilian villagers or those with local connections; they were already leaving, uninterested in watching Uzumaki Naruto's match at all.

The break after this match would be longer than the lunch intermission; it was intended to provide time for any late-arriving visitors to watch the quarter-finals. It would already be more matches in a single day than were usually held for the exam, but judging from the audience reaction, Yoshino held the suspicion that it would be a change that would stay in place for the future. The larger budget that maintained a hidden village's military force came from the daimyo, but the true lifeblood of a shinobi village was in the other clients. The kinds of missions that warranted the most elite of jōnin were rarer than people thought; the ones that kept Konohagakure flourishing were the recurrent ones: escorting traders, guarding smaller civilian villages and towns that didn't have guards of their own, providing retainer to various nobles of the daimyo's court, doing occasional hunts throughout the various forests of Fire to prevent the more dangerous wildlife from getting out of hand, even providing training to those who could afford that particular expense which was beyond the cost of even the hardest foreign assassination.

Those were all things that needed potential clients to not just see shinobi as skilled in fighting, but as people as well, who they needed to be willing to keep around them. It was better that than for the civilians to see them as threats that needed to be eradicated or shoved to the edges of society. The shinobi clans of Water and the violence against possessors of kekkei genkai there had proved the importance of that particular need.

Opening the gates for a few days more and expanding the spectacle of the exams would buy not just a bit of that favor and positive reputation, but push new connections and money into the village itself.

The ones who were leaving now were spiting themselves over a twelve year old child. An obnoxious and terribly behaved one, but still a child. The boy would eventually outgrow it.

There was also the matter that whatever Uzumaki Naruto could or couldn't do— Shikaku had been summoned in the middle of the night, when the boy had stolen the scroll of forbidden techniques from the Hokage Manor, and Shikamaru had been put out to discover Naruto had somehow graduated without meeting even the minimum standards Shikamaru had been forced to make— it didn't excuse ignoring the other competitor for this match.

Haku of Kirigakure in Wave was a mystery. Of the Mist-nin still in the exam, he was the one there was the least information on at all. The teenager was Momochi Zabuza's apprentice, but he had never belonged to the other Kirigakure.

He was polite, he said he believed in the diplomatic purpose Zabuza claimed they were in Konoha for, and he had saved Shikamaru, Chōji, and Ino. That was all she personally knew.

Naruto and his bright orange outfit were unmistakable. The older boy was dressed in clothing that was reminiscent of the uniform of Mist hunter-nin; probably purposefully, if any of the rumors were true. Whether he would stay with that style or not would be interesting to see in the future, if the alliance between Konoha and this new Kiri solidified into something.

There was a lull before either did anything, and then Naruto's side of the arena suddenly became filled with clones, more than she could quickly count anymore. Another skill that had become disused from lack of practice; before having Shikamaru, before marrying Shikaku, Yoshino had been able to count into the hundreds in the barest of seconds, with barely any error.

Haku burst into a full speed run. It had to be chakra enhanced, since he had been standing still right before that. He zagged through the clones.

It was with a start that Yoshino realized that they were shadow clones, when several of the copies of Naruto tried to tackle Haku, and they were quickly dispatched in multiple puffs of smoke from the teenager's strikes. So many of them would have killed anyone else from the chakra use alone, but there was no sign of exhaustion from Naruto at all.

The match was playing out like Chōjūrō and Sasuke's, but with what was clearly more of a conscious decision. Naruto's moves were still rough and physical, with occasional moments of canniness that made the teen shift direction, but it still took someone very, very skilled on the other side of a fight to make that kind of brawler look this put together, when experienced shinobi usually preferred refined moves or ostentatious techniques. Haku was clearly controlling the fight, but still letting Naruto have the opportunity to shine. That was the mark of someone with confidence and the skill to back it up.

The fight took a turn that was more unexpected when, after several minutes of another exchange of various attempted blows, blocks, and dodges that left no more clones in the arena, Naruto suddenly shot upwards into the sky, far beyond a normal jump or chakra-powered leap. There was no direction except for up, and gasps and shouts filled the air when he showed no signs of coming down anytime soon, going up beyond the stands and then past the top of the arena entirely.

Someone in the stands nearby had the gall to laugh. "Brat's going to put us all out of our misery, like that!"

Yoshino tore her attention away, focusing on the man who had spoken. A local civilian, and one who was known for selling cheap produce in one of the central markets. The low costs weren't worth it, not when the reason the fruits and vegetables he sold were so cheap in the first place because by the time they reached the market they were usually days away from being spoiled.

She narrowed her eyes on him. "Expressing wishes of ill will or death towards Konoha shinobi within the village is considered a crime."

The man was about to respond mindlessly, but his eyes focused on the hitai-ate on her forehead, and he swallowed. "I didn't mean like that," he said, voice weak. "Losing like this will get that brat out of the streets so he won't be strutting around like he runs the place."

"Expect a visit after today." It wasn't an empty promise.

Yoshino turned her attention back to the arena.

"Shinobi-san, please!"

She ignored him, and the hushed speaking that followed.

She had missed the apex of Naruto's flight upwards, and now he was falling, getting dangerously close to the ground when—

He made another set of clones appear, midair, which helped change his directory and flung him to one of the inner walls, where he landed with only a minimum of scrambling, before he ran along it, building speed. The clones disappeared when they hit the ground.

The former prankster's laughter could be heard just under the stands before he launched himself off of the wall, clearly aiming himself at Haku, who was standing in the middle of the arena.

Sheets of ice formed around the teenager, closing around him and Naruto. Haku flickered out of sight on the ground, before he was visible within the panes of ice facing inwards, as though they were mirrors. Ice release was a rare kekkei genkai, and yet, here it was on full display.

Naruto dropped onto the ground in what was a hard landing, spinning around as he looked at the ice and multiple reflections of the Mist-nin.

The ice widened from the mirrors, until the two were fully enclosed within a dome, the newer sections just transparent enough to be seen through.

A single Haku leapt from the mirrors, from behind Naruto.

The match ended with a blade of ice at Naruto's throat.

"Winner, Haku of Kirigakure!"

The stands emptied out, leaving Yoshino to her own devices. There was no leaving for her; they were stretched thin as it was for this added security measure. A few chūnin would be acting as reliefs, to allow for restroom breaks, but that was it. Instead of allowing herself to get bored, she focused her thoughts on the last matches, particularly the one between Haku and Naruto.

It wasn't just a good match, but one that proved that Haku was far beyond the usual capabilities of the average chūnin. Even Naruto, who was already known for having more evasive skills than most genin and was able to regularly hide from irritated chūnin, had shown his strengths.

Haku's promotion was all but inevitable; it was more than clear that his presence in the exams was a matter of showing off his skills, rather than a need to have his merit proven. Naruto, however… As much as Yoshino was impressed and could even see how much promise he had, combined with what she had heard of from the second exam, there was no way he would be promoted, at least like this.

Promotions through the chūnin exams were as much for would-be chūnin to prove themselves to an audience as it was a popularity contest, and whatever worth Naruto had towards being promoted this soon would only open raw wounds and cause resentfulness, if it was like this. If he was going to become a chūnin any time soon, it would be due to a field promotion. Doing the slow crawl through the requisite missions, proficiency tests, and other items genin who were not put forward had to go through would take even longer. It wouldn't be any other way, as long as the Hokage continued focusing on placating people, rather than focusing on true arbitration or progress.

There had been plenty of strong showings so far among most of the genin, made more impressive by the fact they had reached this point without backing out at all. None of them had gone into the forest unaware of Orochimaru's presence or involvement, but they had pushed through. More experienced ninja had quit under less adverse circumstances, when faced with the possibility of facing someone that far beyond their capabilities. Even Shikamaru, whose team had encountered some of the Sannin's people and come out the worst for it. Team Seven's luck had been the worst. They had not only had an encounter with Orochimaru himself but another with one of his infiltrated shinobi who had taken Umino Iruka unawares and even permanently maimed the young academy teacher.

By all measures, a larger than usual set of promotions should come out of this particular exam because of Orochimaru alone. It was a bittersweet situation. Plenty of the genin had proven that they were ready for it, partially because of being put through this scenario in the first place, but the progress of others— like Shikamaru— had suffered. Konoha hadn't just been founded to prevent this sort of thing in the first place, the Nara clan— and the Akimichi and Yamanaka— had never believed in using its young shinobi like this or putting them through this kind of situation where it could be avoided.

It was common and popular enough to consider shinobi tools, and refer to them as tools. And perhaps they were, for their clan, their village, and their daimyo. But like tools, they still needed to be finished before they were used and taken care of. For the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka especially, it took time to learn their techniques and formations, and for any Ino-Shika-Chō trio to completely mesh. It had been a callous decision to use the genin like this.

Below, a row of genin— not part of the tournament, except as workers— entered the area and began to do a full sweep, clearing the ground of the leftover senbon, kunai, and shuriken that had been left behind. Whoever was in charge of that particular part of the exam was showing more caution than they usually did. Normally the arena ground wasn't cleared until after the tournament was finished.

They were mostly through with the first sweep when her relief showed up. To her surprise, it was another Nara clan member. Kasuga-kun had made chūnin a year and a half ago, but this was the first exam he was helping out with that she could remember.

"I was told to give you a half hour, Yoshino-sama," he said when he approached. "You're the last one I'm relieving, so I don't mind if you take longer." He gave a meaningful look in the direction of the stand that the genin competitors were supposed to be in. They weren't allowed to leave either, if only to prevent potential problems.

"I won't make you wait longer than you have to," Yoshino answered. "I'll be back soon enough."

She made her way through the interior hallways and stairways, eventually making it to the corridor that led out to the competitor's box. A serious-faced Hyūga in his mid-twenties or so stood in the way of the archway that separated their stands from the hallway, his arms crossed and Byakugan activated, eyes focused on her. From the tilt of his head, he must have been tracking her before she even arrived. Yoshino didn't recognize him from the ranks of the mustered chūnin this morning, which meant he was likely a tokujō or full jōnin.

"What's your business?" he asked.

"I'm here to see my son," she said, crossing her arms.

"Anyone can say that. Do you have proof?"

Yoshino did not let her hands ball into fists, only giving him an unimpressed look. "Would I be bothering to come here and like this if I wasn't?"

Naruto's head popped around the side of the archway, and he squinted at her for a moment before turning around to shout. "Hey! Hey! Shikamaru! Your mom's here! I think it's gotta be your mom, she makes the same grumpy face you do!"

The Hyūga jōnin frowned, but didn't stop her as she walked past him.

The collection of genin in the stands on the other side were showing the full gamut of moods and expressions possible, and there was an underlying mix of tension and excitement in all of them. Even for the ones who had lost, this was still an opportunity for a promotion, but they were all aware of the heightened security and what it meant.

While it wasn't always a sure thing that these things would improve relations between the villages, there was more mixing than she would have expected, if imperfectly.

Uchiha Sasuke had taken up the back corner closest to the exit, and was studying her with the sort of brazenness that only his clan used to have. The fact she was in uniform must have been a surprise to him, as well. It wasn't uncommon for kunoichi with children to stay inactive until their children were older, but Sasuke would have been too young to see much of that before everything happened. Shino and Hinata were sitting nearby, Kiba was lying on the floor by his teammates' feet.

Tenten had cornered her previous opponent and the other one who had faced her teammate, and was happily chattering at them about their umbrellas and making guesses about the mechanisms, despite the fact that not too long ago she had held a weapon to one of their throats. Their last teammate wasn't as involved in the conversation, but appeared to be keeping his eye on them.

The two Hyūga were as far apart as they could physically be without actually touching the opposing walls. Like Sasuke, Neji was sitting in a corner, but he was alone, observing everything.

Sakura looked like she was in the middle of a conversation with Lee and the Mist-nin, both Suigetsu and Chōjūrō appearing slightly confused at the fact this was happening to begin with. Lee didn't seem to mind, and was in the middle of rewrapping his arms with fresh bandages. Haku was the only one of those three who didn't appear that way, though the boy looked self-conscious in a way Yoshino hadn't expected he would appear from this close up. Then again, from what little she knew of him, there was just a good chance the teenager was far more comfortable with combat than conversations. It wasn't uncommon, with young ninja who had grown up used to only combat. There were more than a few of those in the generation of ninja a handful of years younger than her, whose careers had started and become accelerated through the last war.

Shikamaru was sitting on the ledge, legs dangling over the side. In spite of the fact that Naruto was flitting around him, pointing out that she was there, his eyes were focused on the ground below, hand around the supporting bar of the railing. The medics had patched him up well; he was wrapped with bandages, but hadn't been forced to stay in the arena infirmary. In spite of the flurry of attacks leveraged against him, Hinata must have been conscientious of not causing serious damage.

"Shikamaru," she started. "Look at me."

Shikamaru finally looked up at her, his eyes meeting hers, giving her a sullen look.

She drew up one side of her mouth, placing her hands on her hips.

Her son wasn't really motivated to do anything on his own, when left to his own devices. The fact that he looked so much like Shikaku— especially with his hair pulled up, something they had started doing the moment he had enough of a tuft of soft baby hair to allow for it— made it easy for people to assume that because he looked like his father, he took after Shikaku in nearly every way and that the lazing was a side effect of Shikaku's positions within the village and the clan. For all she could guess, that part may have been true. The bad attitude Shikamaru sometimes had though was entirely from Yoshino.

"Let's go and talk." She broke her attention away from Shikamaru, to look at Naruto. For a boy that Shikamaru hadn't spent that much time with during their time in the academy— they had never forbidden Shikamaru to interact with Naruto, unlike some families. The blond was just far too high-energy for Shikamaru considering that one of her son's hobbies was taking naps, something that had resulted in an awkward and concerned conversation from a very young Umino Iruka in his first year of teaching Shikamaru. Naruto was directing all of his focus on the other boy like he was the worried mother here. A strange image, for the boy who was treated like a demon by other villagers and had been an unrepentant prankster and troublemaker. "I can talk to my son alone, right?"

"Hahahaha, yeah sure!" Naruto turned red, and bolted; one moment he was standing near her, and the next he was settled down next to a bemused-looking Haku, his flustered face still a bright red under his blond hair.

It sparked an old memory that Yoshino immediately pushed away. She held a hand down, which Shikamaru eventually took, just long enough to stand before he shoved his hands into his pockets and looked down.

She guided him out of the stands and into the interior corridor by the shoulder. The Hyūga jōnin at the archway gave her an unapproving look, before she tugged Shikamaru away so they could speak with at least some feigned privacy.

"Tou-san already spoke to me," Shikamaru said, pulling away. He hunched in on himself and turned to stare at the nearest wall. "Are you going to nag me about it now?"

"No," she answered. "I wanted to make sure you're alright."

He looked at her from the corner of his eye, eyebrow quirked, doubt clear in his expression.

"I didn't carry you in my belly for nine months and then in a sling after that because I needed someone to torture," Yoshino said, voice deadpan, before softening. "I just don't want you to sleep your life away."

"I'm not going to sleep my life away," Shikamaru muttered. "It's just sometimes easier to get away or just stop. I can't help but notice everything, and no one else ever does. Even Asuma-sensei gets weird about it and he's the Hokage's son. I don't want to be the person everything gets put on because of that. I already get that enough with Ino and Chōji and they— We almost—" The words choked off in his throat, and he scrubbed at his eyes.

Yoshino stepped towards him, and without giving him the chance to back out, she pulled her son into a hug, running a hand through his hair. Shikamaru exhaled in surprise, his whole body tense, before relaxing. "Oh Shikamaru," she murmured. "Life's about balance and making choices and recognizing that sometimes they're not always going to be perfect. It's not doing everything perfectly or avoiding it by doing nothing. Even when you're supposed to be responsible for something, it doesn't mean it's for everything. Sometimes things just happen, even when everything else is done right."

"They almost died. We all almost died, and I didn't know what to do." Shikamaru finally started to sob, his words muffled from her flak jacket. "I wasn't able to get Ino to listen to me and they both got hurt and I didn't have a plan. How am I supposed to be a ninja if I can't—"

"Ssh," she went, cutting him off. "Shikamaru, what happened is not normal. Not for the exams, not for genin, not for chūnin. Not even for the jōnin. It's not an indictment against you. Even seasoned, experienced ninja would have struggled. You got your team out alive. You got out alive."

Shikamaru didn't argue, for one of the few times since he had turned eight and decided he was old enough to argue back against things he didn't like or found 'troublesome'. Instead, he stayed leaning against her until he pulled away, wiping runny snot and tears from his face with one arm. "I'm not going to get promoted this time, am I?" he eventually asked, giving her a cautious look with red-rimmed eyes.

"Throwing your match the way you did wasn't a good look," Yoshino agreed. "You'll probably have some more time as a genin." She reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a plain handkerchief, which she gave to him. "And don't be disgusting. Even your father doesn't do that."

He managed to give her a watery almost-smile as he cleaned off his arm.

Once Shikamaru was done, he shoved the now snotty handkerchief into one of his own pockets, before looking down at the ground again. "Do I have to go back in there?" he quietly asked.

"At least for today," Yoshino told him. The extra security precautions for the genin competitors were for a variety of reasons. Normally they didn't have any, and while Yoshino knew some of those reasons, she could tell that Shikaku wasn't disclosing all of them. "Maybe tomorrow, too, but even if you don't have to, you should at least show up to support any of your friends if they make it through."

"I don't think any of them are going to make it through," he answered.

"Shikamaru..."

"No, it's true!" Shikamaru insisted, meeting her eyes. "I don't care if Hyuuga Neji wins or not, Sasuke's weird and I think he's planning on throwing his next match, I'm not sure if Hinata's going to want to try to win anyways, and I'm not interested in seeing how fast it takes that Haku guy to run everyone else into the dirt."

She reached behind him and tugged slightly on his ponytail. "That doesn't mean you need to just spit it out like that. Learn some tact."

He ducked, and pulled his hair away from her hand. "And..." Shikamaru looked away from her. "I should probably go visit Ino and Chōji in the hospital, shouldn't I?"

"That'd be a good idea," Yoshino agreed. "We weren't going to make you if you weren't ready." The hospital already had plenty of ninja wary of it who would barely go inside of it even if it wasn't for them; there was no need for Shikamaru to join those particular ranks.

"I..." Shikamaru trailed off. He swallowed, and his back straightened, just slightly. "Thanks."

"You're my son, Shikamaru. You might be a genin now, but you're still mine." She planted a kiss to his forehead, which he immediately scrubbed at, like he usually did.

Yoshino allowed herself a smirk. If he was doing that, he was definitely getting back to his usual self. It would take some time— it always did— but the fact he was showing any improvement at all this soon was a good sign.

"Tou-san made me apologize to Hinata," Shikamaru said, looking up at her through his eyelashes.

"Did he? It looks like even he can learn in his old age," she answered. "I'm glad he made you apologize."

"She was pretty icy about it," Shikamaru muttered. "That was new. She always let people walk over her and would apologize to them in the academy..."

"That's called getting older. You and your old classmates aren't going to be the same people you all were in the academy." She wasn't able to keep herself from sounding amused. "You're all growing up. Becoming more independent and having to make your own decisions makes you figure out some things. What did you say to her, down there?"

He ducked his head again to look at the ground. "I'd rather not tell you. Can we skip the part where we do that and you yell at me?"

Yoshino wasn't able to stop herself from laughing. "That bad? Then you really did deserve getting beaten up."

Shikamaru looked up at her with a hurt expression. "I thought girls were supposed to be soft and stuff."

She exhaled in amusement. "Some of them will be, but it doesn't mean all of them should be. It definitely doesn't mean they should take whatever's thrown at them, either. You listen to your father too much."

"I thought I was supposed to."

"On most things. Ignore anything your father says about girls. He wasn't ever able to get any second dates until me."

Shikamaru eyed her, clearly unsure of how to take that particular bit of information.

"It's true. If you ask him he'll eventually admit to it. You should go back, the jōnin guarding probably won't be happy if I keep you out here much longer."

"I guess." He glanced in the direction of the exit towards the competitor box, wariness painted on his face.

"You don't look like you were crying anymore," she told him. "If that's something you're concerned about."

"Oh," he went. "It was, yeah."

"I'm supposed to be done after the matches are all over. If you don't mind waiting, I can come back over here and we can walk back home together. It's fine if you'd rather go with your friends."

Shikamaru grimaced. "I'll wait for you. Naruto's spent the last fifteen minutes daydreaming out loud about ramen. I'd rather not, even if the bento we got were trash."

"They are pretty bad. We can pick something up on the way home, then."

Shikamaru looked hesitant for a moment, but before she could ask, he darted forward to give her a quick hug, before he fled, leaving her to watch his back as he ran off, his pace only slowing to his usual casual walk right as he would have been in sight of the other genin.

Yoshino walked out enough to be able to watch. This time, Shikamaru looked like he had joined the knot of his former classmates. He wasn't sitting by himself anymore, at least.

She nodded in appreciation to the Hyūga jōnin, and took the stairs down to the walkway that would lead her back to the section of stands she was assigned to.

To her surprise, she came across Naruto in the otherwise empty corridor, and the boy appeared to be deep in thought, standing there. She slowed down, to figure out exactly what was going on here.

His eyes alighted on her and his face lit up. "Hey, hey! You're Shikamaru's mom, right? 'Cause you make the same faces he does."

"Yes, I am," she confirmed, managing to keep the confusion out of her voice. He had just said that and found out earlier.

"Uh, can you do me a favor?" His eyes squinted as he shifted around to double check their environment, as though there would be anyone paying closer attention.

"That depends."

He seemed to take that as a good sign, with how his face broke into a grin, and he pulled out what seemed to be at first glance a toy toad, green and oddly lumpy, until she realized that it was actually a wallet. "Um can you take this up to the stands we're up in I would do it but I don't want to get in trouble with the jōnin who's supposed to guarding because he's really serious looking and I'd rather not especially because it was for a good cause 'cuz Chōji asked if I could bring him anything from the special food stalls they got set up and I told him yes since he's still stuck in the hospital and—" Naruto took another breath to continue to explain.

She held up a hand before he could say anything more. "Yes, I can, and I will." Even if it was only to figure out exactly why he couldn't do so himself. She had a suspicion, but…

Naruto looked relieved, and beamed up at her. "Thank you!" He handed the wallet to her and completely disappeared in a burst of smoke.

A shadow clone.

Even after the absurd amount of chakra he had used in his match, the boy hadn't remotely fatigued himself, and had still had more than enough left to use chakra for what was a relatively unimportant errand. The clone must have been made right after the match and sent off on its task, in order to have Naruto's wallet. Of course, on its own, and a reluctance to completely tip off the jōnin guard, it had been left with the dilemma of what to do with it after the errand was completed.

Slightly to her own bemusement, Yoshino turned herself back around, making her way back.

The jōnin wasn't any more particularly amused or pleased at her presence a second time, only raising a judgemental eyebrow when she was in range to see it. Naruto flitted at the archway, peeking through past the man, and then darted out to meet her the moment he saw his wallet.

"Try to not lose your wallet, Naruto-kun," she said.

His eyes widened for a moment as he realized she was partially covering for him, and his face cracked into a wide grin. "Uh yeah sure thank you for bringing Gama-chan back!" He ran off and back to the others before the jōnin could say anything.

Yoshino returned back to her station in the stands.

Kasuga looked surprised to see her. "You still have a few minutes left," he said, when she went to take her seat again.

"Did you actually want me to take my time?" she responded, voice dry. Being relief— and a rotating one, at that— was one of the more mind-numbing duty options. It was by its nature intrusive and made you too self-conscious of time, which was the last thing anyone needed when they were doing some kind of work where it was better to ignore the flow of time. It put you in the position of interrupting whatever was going on, as well.

"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it," Kasuga said, sounding mildly reproachful. "How's Shikamaru-kun?"

Most of the Nara clan members around Kasuga's age had generally positive opinions or fondness towards Shikamaru. It wasn't hard to. Shikamaru had been an easy child to babysit when he was younger, between the fact that if he was left alone long enough he would inevitably fall asleep wherever he was and was clever enough to pick up on and play any game his extended cousins would suggest to keep him occupied as long as it didn't require too much physical exertion. Some of the ones who were now old enough that they were beginning to have children of their own were starting to discover that not every child was as easy to care for as their future clan head had been.

"I think he's going to be fine. He'll just need some more time."

Kasuga didn't bother to hide his relief. It had been a quiet concern within the clan, on whether or not Shikamaru would continue as a ninja after all of that. While it wasn't completely unheard of for a ninja clan to have a clan head who wasn't, it was still a rarity. It was also an untested matter within Konoha. None of the clans since the village's formation had had a clan head, yet, who was not an active ninja or hadn't spent a good portion of their lives as one.

"That's good, then."

The clan heads were granted the rights to know more about village affairs and issues than the average inhabitant, even if their usual clearances or duties would not necessarily allow them that information. It did not extend to all village secrets, but it was a right that came from the acknowledgement that most of the ninja clans of the village made up dozens of people to hundreds for the largest of them. They were part of the village by agreement, consent, and without them there would be no village, or a significantly smaller and weaker one if at all.

Whether that right would hold up as well with a civilian clan head who did not have any clearances or village duties at all was a question that had not been answered. The Nara did not want to be the ones to discover if the answer to that would not be in their favor.

It would be someone else's question to ask.

Kasuga left, biding her farewell; now that he was done he would have to go check in with the jōnin in charge of this part of the arena security and see what other tasks, if any, were left for him.

People slowly began to trail back in, in fits and starts, as the start time for the next match arrived.

The first eight matches hadn't been too short or too long, but it would remain to be seen if the next set would be the same. The earlier ones had taken them from late morning, into a good time midway through for a short lunch break for anyone who chose to rush it, and through the early afternoon. The hour long break— rounded for the next match start time to be at the closest quarter hour increment— had taken them to mid-afternoon.

The schedule from here— what intermissions would occur, if any— would be completely dependent on the first two matches. It wasn't impossible that the final two matches of the day could end up being at dusk or even after sunset.

Shigure of Amegakure and Hyūga Neji entered the arena grounds once more.

Their earlier wins were balanced by the other competitors. Both of them have had the opportunity to see the other's teammates in action and in Neji's case, one clan member. Shigure's teammates' losses against Neji's teammates revealed weaknesses in his own strategies and moveset where it would be shared, but it also offered incentive for him to win. Hinata's own match would have been another opportunity for Shigure to observe the Hyūga fighting techniques, as well.

Shigure's age, size, and experience were potentially advantageous against Neji's own talent. While it was clear the younger teen worked hard, raw talent could only go so far without the benefit of time, but the rules of engagement for these matches wouldn't necessarily help the older genin.

It remained to be seen.

They both moved into action immediately, Neji trying to close the distance.

Shigure's response was a much more cautious one than it might have been without Hinata's earlier match; the older teen whipped out one of his umbrellas and used that to parry Neji's strikes away. The umbrella hafts were bamboo— dried and hardened, from what she saw from her closer glimpse— but it wasn't breaking. The Rain-nin was applying the lessons learned from his teammates' fights, then. He was using it to redirect Neji's strikes instead of forcibly blocking them.

It continued on like that for some time, an almost mesmerizing dance due to the graceful circling movements of the Gentle Fist and its use against an experienced opponent.

Neither showed any sign of flagging from this far up, and it was possibly because of that that Shigure launched them into the next phase of their fight.

A surge of water spread out from around him, hard enough and strong enough to force Neji back, the younger teen almost losing his balance before leaping backwards. Using chakra to keep oneself adhered to surfaces could sometimes help, but in most fights it was just another thing to keep in mind, and more dangerous than not; you were more likely to injure or even break something if you took a forceful hit and stayed anchored like that. The worst case scenario Yoshino had heard about— only rumored, never with any names attached— was someone losing their foot, having been knocked into with such speed and force with an earth jutsu that it had been ripped straight off their leg at the ankle, the leftover remnants of chakra making it stay stuck for seconds after its owner had already been thrown backwards dozens of meters.

Yoshino was pretty sure it was just one of those stories meant to scare young genin into not developing the habit of sticking themselves in place and inevitably ending up getting injured when the force of momentum eventually made itself known to them.

Shigure took advantage of Neji's forced retreat to throw a heavy spray of senbon at him as the young Hyūga jumped. In the air, Neji wasn't able to block them. By the time he landed, the boy's arms were visibly peppered with senbon, his unbandaged one left hanging at his side. Shigure had managed to score a debilitating hit by chance.

In response, Neji all but threw himself at the Rain-nin, the fervor of his attacks making them no longer so evenly beautiful, with their new harsh approach and the Hyūga down one arm.

Shigure's right arm was taken out in turn. By the time it had happened, enough of the senbon that had hit Neji had been scattered from his movements. Most of the bandaged arm had gone from white, to red pinpricks, and then finally to the larger blobs of red joining together, pink edged this far away from the blood spreading through the fibers, diluted from perspiration.

They peeled away from each other. Even from above, it was clear to Yoshino they were breathing heavily. This match was just as much endurance as it was skill, now. Under normal circumstances Shigure would have the advantage there, due to age, but Neji was one of Maito Gai's students. Gai was well-known for his endurance.

Shigure was beginning to keep his distance more than he had earlier. From before, all indicators showed he was heavily right handed. Neji's disabling strike would cause trouble there, if the older teen proved to not have as much practice with his left side in spite of his blinded right eye.

He sent off another wave of water, paired with another volley of senbon, but Neji had planned against its reuse. Instead of retreating, the young teen used his clan head's technique once again, sending both the water and senbon away with force.

Neji didn't allow himself to stop spinning entirely before pushing forward; he moved in a skidding arc, partially carving into the dirt ground before delivering striking blows to the backs of both of Shigure's legs.

The Rain-nin could not continue.

The match was over.

"Winner, Hyūga Neji of Konohagakure!"

It had been a good match.

Neji's chances of making chūnin were ruined from his first match, but the other genin had done well in spite of the loss. It was clear that he and his team weren't set up for close combat, but he had still held out for an impressively long time in close quarters against a prodigy who specialized in it. In the field, Shigure's decisions, much like Sakura's in his first match, would have likely led to Neji's defeat instead. The restrictions were a clear handicap in his case. It was likely that when Shigure, the rest of his team, and his sensei returned to Amegakure with the assessments and recordings of their matches that at least he would likely be promoted from it.

The civilian audience had at least been impressed and entertained.

The anticipation of the people nearby was almost palpable, now that it was time for the last loyal Uchiha's second match.

Yoshino suspected they were all going to end up disappointed, especially if Shikamaru's almost off-hand comment that he thought Sasuke would throw this next match was true. It wasn't hard to put together why that would be the case, either; shurikenjutsu would only go so far as a safe combat tool against a taijutsu-heavy fighter with the Lee boy's endurance and pain tolerance. Unless Sasuke was willing to chance seriously maiming another Leaf-nin, he would likely lose. If he was willing to go that far, it was unlikely that the Sandaime would grant him a promotion unless the Daimyo interceded and demanded it.

After Shigure was taken out on a stretcher, Uchiha Sasuke and Rock Lee entered the arena grounds once again.

Lee's wrappings had been completely replaced now, and were clean of blood, at least for now.

Sasuke's motions weren't quite the same as the more confident movements of his last match. He was favoring his left side, just slightly, probably due to the hit he had taken to the ribs. While the medics had no doubt healed the worst of the damage and cleared him for further participation, he was probably still sore and feeling it. Most of the medics who could do chakra healing pulled back from healing everything in order to prevent future side effects. Very few had the sort of perfect chakra control required to be able to do that without worries, and even fewer of those had been trained since Tsunade had left the village when Yoshino was a girl.

Almost as soon as the match began, it was obvious that Sasuke was not putting his whole heart and mind into it.

His attacks weren't landing as strongly as they could have, and his moves were more evasive than anything else.

The match ended soon enough, with a strike from Lee that dropped the other boy, who fell to the ground unconscious.

Shikamaru had been right; Sasuke had thrown the match, though she suspected that neither her son or Sasuke had expected it to end like this. It was anticlimactic, especially after the last fight, but did not necessarily rule Sasuke out still, especially with how many people would still likely push for his promotion anyways.

If anything, it would likely draw some critical inspection of his opponent; while there was nothing wrong with continuing to bring the fight to an opponent who wasn't giving it his all, the fact that Lee had knocked Sasuke unconscious would cause some consternation, if only because it would be linked to Neji's own earlier actions. Head injuries weren't something to take lightly, especially in a scenario where your opponent wasn't trying to seriously harm you in return.

It was also a match that had turned out poorly for some of the spectators nearby; two were beginning to argue loudly over a bet that they had placed on the match with each other. The man who had bet on the young Uchiha was not taking the loss well.

Yoshino stood up just in time to catch one man shoving another. It was time for her to put on a bit of a show herself. She laced her hands together in the Tiger seal and quickly appeared between the two civilians, who took a moment to process her hands on both of their shirt collars, pulling them away from each other, and the fact that they were lifted just slightly off the ground, their sandals just barely brushing the ground. Their faces were both flushed. They must have spent the longer intermission drinking before the matches resumed.

"Gambling is a restricted activity within the village walls," Yoshino said looking up, allowing her eyebrows to furrow just slightly. There were no legal gambling brokers or gaming houses in Konohagakure; individual betting was generally overlooked, but it was supposed to be quickly tamped down if it started to result in altercations. Debt from gambling was also a serious security issue where active ninja were concerned. It was for civilians as well, but not to the same degree. "If you don't calm down, I'll be forced to remove you."

The unlucky gambler opened his mouth to protest, but stopped when Yoshino lifted him a bit more so that he wasn't touching the ground at all. It was just as well he did; he was tall enough that she wouldn't have been able to lift him any higher from where her hold was. She was already using a bit of chakra to lift him as it was.

The other one decided to test her patience instead. "What sorta woman works as a shinobi?"

The first man got a gleam in his eye.

Without bothering to respond, she dropped them both and shifted her grip from holding their shirt collars to restraining their wrists behind their backs, one hand for each man, and forcibly walked them in front of her and into the arena interior, where there were other shinobi on duty in case of this sort of event. That hand-off at least went smoothly, though the two civilians complained the whole time. Either way, they were no longer her problem and if they had any sense, they would stop before they were booted from the village entirely and not just the stadium.

On the positive side, it meant that when she returned to her spot the others who had been unhappy about their own bets were much quieter about it. No one else wanted to risk being ejected when there were still two fights left.

Hyūga Hinata's fight against Suigetsu was already underway by the time she got back to her seat.

Below, she could already tell there were different approaches at work; Suigetsu, it appeared, had learned the lesson from his own match and Hinata's to not unnecessarily rile his opponent lest he get embarrassed further or engage his opponent's ire. It probably helped that he had already seen the Hyūga techniques in action, as well.

Suigetsu was keeping his distance, and obviously limiting the utilization of his own clan's techniques, despite the sort of disadvantage that was. A smart approach that showed he was not just made of the rude nature he's shown before this. Clan and family techniques were not the perfect advantage some thought they were; there were only so many hours in a day, and only so much time that could be poured into training before there would no more benefit. The time spent training in those techniques was time borrowed against other things, and would leave them at a greater disadvantage in situations where those techniques couldn't be used, especially in their younger years, when they didn't have other experience to fall back on.

The academy's seemingly low base level for the skills required for graduation was not where it was for children coming from civilian families or ninja families without their own special techniques, but for the clan children who spent their time learning other skills. The graduating genin who came from backgrounds with less baggage to learn and carry into their young careers usually tended to be much more well balanced, and required less effort from their jōnin-sensei as a result when it comes to bringing them up in the skills usually needed to be a satisfactory chūnin.

Until recently, the clans with the least disadvantage when it came to those general skills were the Sarutobi and Uchiha. With nearly all of the Uchiha dead, only the Sarutobi clan remained to offer examples of what a genin strong in all of the general shinobi skills could look like when trained within a clan setting. It's one of those things that was easy to forget because of the near-mythic renown the Sharingan had gained for its powers, especially in the last few years with only one Uchiha in the village, but not every Uchiha possessed it. Even now, Sasuke showed no signs of unlocking it despite everything he had gone through, and the boy was still visibly one of the most promising of the genin that have graduated in recent years. Yoshino was beginning to suspect that despite his older brother and his parents, Sasuke just might not have the potential for it at all, and the Sharingan would end up disappearing into history.

The match below just reflected the importance of the basic foundations. Suigetsu's refusal to get close had him relying on various water based ninjutsu that were significantly weaker without his own ability bolstering them, and Hinata's own reliance on the Gentle Fist without the benefits of her father's secret techniques put the two of them at an impasse.

At this rate it would become a fight based in luck and stamina, and Yoshino didn't know which of them would win in this case. Hinata wasn't bold enough to go on the offense and Suigetsu's earlier attitude had taught him to be cautious, unlike earlier.

The fight went on like this for some time, and Yoshino started to notice that the attention of the civilians around her was beginning to flag when a ripple of explosions ripped through everything.

She shot from where she was sitting to balance on the rail. The center of explosions was focused on the Kage box, above the rest of the stands, but they were still going. Yoshino was almost dislodged by one that went off above their heads, and jumped back down barely in time to miss the debris coming down, ears already ringing. The columns supporting the roof cracked.

Shouts and cries rose from the civilian parts of the audience, and Yoshino swept her eyes over them. There weren't very many villagers— at least that she could recognize— in this section that she was in charge of. No one inactive or retired that she could use for help from the ones she was familiar with. "Back away from the front of the stands! Head inside and start going down!" She pressed her hands together for the seals needed, and her own shadow stretched outwards, to momentarily reinforce the columns keeping the roof from collapsing on their heads. Evacuate the civilians away from the most dangerous area first, and then she would have to route them to the nearest shelter. After that, if she was able, join in on the defenses. One step at a time.

She would have to focus on this. Evacuating everyone nearby would take priority. She would have to trust that Shikamaru would be fine, that Shikaku would be fine.

The tournament was over.

---

Chapter 13 will be out soon if you're reading this before it's gone up.

Planning on doing Camp NaNo for April? Want to debate over the matches in this piece?

Come write with me on Discord! Or just argue, talk fic, or anything else. :) The server invite code is: xZrqJC6