Authors Note:

This is a character analysis chapter, which I get might be annoying after the Hiruzen and Gaara stuff but I wanted to ease back into the MC's smoothly. Also has some of my fav character interactions in the fic so I hope you guys enjoy!

Also, please note that this was originally meant to have a much larger pay-off at the end but I've saved it for the next chapter because this one would just be ridiculously crowded with it in. Either way, this chapter still has very important thematic elements to the Chunin Exams as well as the whole fic, so it's not just me saying "IMMA SLOW THE STORY DOWN OVER HERE!"

Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!

Pink veins of sunrise peeked through the early morning clouds, splintering through the white fluff like a cracked eggshell. Life was beginning to repopulate itself within Konoha's streets, shop signs being turned from closed to open while fragrant, morning-shift steam began to waft from the windows of restaurants. One in particular though, happened to be already open…

Slurrrp!

"Slow down kid, you're choke if you keep that up." Jiraiya scolded as he watched Naruto slurp down a tangled tree of noodles, fishcakes, moyashi and miniature shrimp.

"'ot 'y 'falt 's 'ood." Naruto mumbled back; voice weighted by the sheer amount of food currently sliding down to his stomach.

The two were sat on top of Ichiraku, legs dangling over the edge and occasionally kicking the large banners that trailed the storefront. Jiraiya sighed, popping a dainty serving of noodle in his mouth whilst watching the young boy gluttonously scoff up a reversing waterfall of ramen. It was only when the boy took a second to breath that he attempted communication.

"Alright Naruto. You got your contract?"

Naruto nodded, using one arm to hold up the envelope while using his other to navigate his chopsticks. Jiraiya would have been impressed if it hadn't been so gross.

"Okay, now whatever you do, make sure you minimize the amount of time you're in the compound for. In and out, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Naruto replied, waving his hand as if it were basic information.

"No, seriously. No doubt Hiashi's gonna try and sweet talk you into something, he's not just gonna let the nine-tailed jinchuriki enter his house without trying to get you under his thumb. Try and ignore him if you can. You're there for Neji."

"Right."

"After that, maybe around seven tonight, we'll meet back at the third training ground, run through some quick practice and then make our way back here because wow, this is really fucking good!" He said, slurping down a broth-soaked stretch of noodles.

"Told ya." Naruto said, with a small, sunny grin.

Sitting on the Icihiraku roof, watching the sunrise up above, it was easy for any anxiety in Naruto's stomach to dispel. Sure, he was meeting up with Neji but it would only be for a few minutes at most and then he was gone.

Easy, quick, no complications whatsoever.

Sakura had gotten up early that day, slinking out of the house for some last-minute training. It wasn't like there was much else to do, to be fair. Sasuke was training, Tenten had chores to do, Lee was M.I.A apparently and Naruto was busy with contract stuff. Speaking of which, she hadn't even made it through her taijutsu warm-up before Kankuro had emerged onto the ground, looking positively docile as he moved. At first, she was surprised but that surprise had quickly turned to relief. She had been planning to go meet him later in the day to get the contract signed but it was much easier now that he'd tracked her down.

"Hey." He said, almost groaning.

There was a noticeable lazy slant to his eyes that made her think he may have gotten up too early. However, he did not seem like one with enough discipline to do so, so she suspected he may have been forced up instead. For some reason, he'd still taken the time to apply his face paint though, even if it was done sloppily. Perhaps it was a religious thing…

"Hello!" Sakura said, slightly nervous.

"You got your contract with you?"

"Yep." She replied, digging through her pockets anxiously before retrieving the slip of paper.

Instead of saying anything, Kankuro just let out a loud yawn and thrust his hand out, motioning for her to hand it over.

"Thanks for coming out so early by the way. I was going to go over to the housing place later but- "

"Don't thank me. Thank my bitch-ass sister." He grumbled back, handing his own paper over to Sakura.

Okay, so he was forced out of bed.

She signed along his paper, making sure her writing was extra neat. This was a far cry from Kankuro, who had barley even made an effort to keep his scrawl on the dotted line. In an awkward silence, both exchanged their contracts back to the other and slipped them into their pockets. Sakura nearly turned away, expecting Kankuro to leave but strangely, he didn't. He just stared sleepily down at the ground for a few seconds before his gaze shot to her.

"Okay, I've got a deal for you. You give me twenty thousand ryo and I throw the match."

The bluntness of his blatant corruption stunned Sakura, eyes widening in shock.

"Huh?" She muttered, only for her brow to furrow in anger as his actual proposal hit her. "Wait, no! No way!"

"Are you sure? It's a bargain if you think about it. See, if you get promoted, and let's say that's sitting at a seventy-five percent chance, you'll- "

Sakura cared little about his equations though, an indigent glare worming its way through her eyes.

"Look. I'm not interested, okay?" She said, attempting to shut down the offer as forcefully (and quickly) as she could.

Kankuro looked over her, almost as if he were trying to solve a calculation, before holding his hands up with a drowsy groan.

"Fine. Have it your way." He said, beginning to walk away.

As he did so, a bitter grumble began to worm his way out of his lips.

"Tido Ocho zazza. Deide reche fare lorono tanato tido?" He mumbled, a noticeable stomp in his step.

From what Sakura could pick up on (which was practically nothing), he was certainly not singing her praises but she cared little. Despite being easily the least threatening of Team 7's opponents, he was not at all pleasant to be around. An aura of bitter laziness surrounded him. She was glad to see him leave.

At least, she was until Inner-Sakura found herself wriggling into her ear.

You know, that was actually a pretty good deal…

Sakura paused for a second, grappling with the fact that she may have passed over a potential bargain…before shaking her head around wildly, realizing that it was, as she first believed, a fucking stupid idea.

As Temari gazed upon the house in front of her, she couldn't help but feel as if she had gotten the wrong address. It was an irrational thought, since this block of housing was pretty explicitly the main residence of the Nara but that was exactly it. From her understanding, the Nara were one of the more important clans in Konoha. Certainly not the most important, far from it in fact, but definitely a higher-ranking one in the grand scheme of things.

This was exactly why she questioned the fact that members of this notable clan were apparently living in a tiny little cramped house better fit for the slums. It was tall, but also very very small. It looked poorly built as well, sharp angles marking every edge as it scaled upwards toward a set of dormers. The curtains on them were drawn though, giving Temari the impression that no one was home. Or, it would have had the bustling sounds of kitchen work not been echoing through the front door.

Knock, knock, knock.

She knocked daintily, like she would have at home. However, there was no answer.

Knock, knock, knock!

The second time around was harder, almost as if she wanted to punch the door in. It seemed to get the job done as after a delayed period of slow, lazy footsteps, the door swung open to reveal a man. He was quite old, face somewhat wrinkled. Scares ran over his face, imprinting a darker quality on his face. However, his lazy, almost droopy eyes betrayed this intimidation. In any other of his features, he just looked like an older Shikamaru.

"Hi." He said, perhaps already bored.

His sleepy features provided a stark contrast to the regal sharpness of Temari's own, as the girl straightened her posture in preparation to speak.

"Hello. Does Shikamaru Nara live at this location?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm his Chunin Exams opponent and I wish to proceed with our contract signing. I'm sure you as a Shinobi of Konoha know that this is a mandated process that both parties must engage in if they are to compete at the Chunin Exams."

The older Nara did not say anything back. He just stared back at her for a few seconds before twisting his head to the side to reveal a cramped staircase.

"Shikamaru! Some Sunanese girl is here to see you!" He yelled, having to speak unexpectedly loudly to breach the sound of pots and pans that echoed from his side.

"Tell her I'm not here." Shikamaru's voice echoed back down.

Despite the fact that Temari had heard all of this, the man still turned back around to her with the same droopy expression he'd had since he'd opened the door and said:

"He's not here."

She would have been insulted if she wasn't so unnerved. Well, perhaps, unnerved was not the correct word but she had been conditioned to expect a good response when speaking so formally to adults. In here head, this interaction would have been sealed with him calling Shikamaru down and maybe perhaps saying something like "you're very mature and well-spoken for your age". Instead, he had turned to her and treated her not just as if she were a child, but a deaf child.

Luckily, his presence as the primary adult of the household was soon uprooted by the sound of stomping footsteps from the room next to him.

"Shikaku! What are you two yelling about? Do you know how hard it is to focus on the coffee pot with you two screaming back and forth? Just march up the fucking stairs it's not so- "

A woman suddenly came into view. She was short in frame, perhaps not even that much taller than Temari herself despite being clearly much older. She had a wild mane of brown hair that streaked down to her shoulders, even the buns she'd tied in being unable to keep it from frizzing about. This wiry hair was juxtaposed by the neat bow of the apron tied around her neck. Before Temari had even had time to realize what she was seeing, the woman's manic eyes spirited gaze snapped to her with enough force to make her let out a little yelp.

"Who are you?" She asked bluntly.

So put off was Temari, that her usually strict language faltered into a nervous stutter.

"I-I-I'm Shikamaru's chunin exams opponent, ma'am. I-I've come to sign our contracts."

In a split-second, the woman's expression went from annoyed to happy. She clapped her hands together as a sunny smile spread across her face.

"Oh! I was wondering when he was going to get around to signing that thing!No surprise that someone else had to take the initiative for him but it can't be helped."

Without so much as another word, her wandering gaze found itself locked onto Shikaku. For a second, it looked as if she were about to cold-blood murder him right then and there with little care for if Temari was watching.

"And I would have expected more from you Shikaku. Dawdling at her like she's a fucking alien, honestly! Deputy Advisor to the Hokage and you can't talk to a teenager! I swear-"

Temari couldn't help but take a little bit of pleasure in watching Shikaku get put down by his wife but before she could even wipe the smile of her face, Shikamaru's mother had yet again turned her attention to her. The furious anger that had obscured her features when talking to Shikaku was gone once more, replaced by a gaze the same flavor as blooming flowers.

"Now, what's your name dear?"

"T-Temari."

"Temari." She mewled back affectionately. "Beautiful name! Very pretty! You must come in for breakfast dear, I insist!"

By the time Temari even had a chance to respond, she had already been grabbed by the scruff of her neck and dragged through the front door.

"O-oh, that's okay- "She started, nervously struggling against the woman's grip.

"Nonsense! You must have gotten up early to come here, I could never be so rude to a guest! Besides, Shikamaru's going to take a fucking decade to get up anyway and I can't just leave you standing around in the cold like a stray cat?"

She spoke so quick that it was as if Temari was comprehending her words on delay. She had to stifle a yelp as Shikamaru's mother practically tossed her into the kitchen and before she could even understand where she was, a tray of biscuits was being thrust into her face.

"These are fresh. Eat them quickly, they're better hot." Shikamaru's mother explained. "I'll go and get Shikamaru for you dear. Be back in a minute."

As the woman pranced off out of the room, Temari took a moment to look over the kitchen. The rooms she was used to at home were large and empty, any imperfections smoothed over and any character removed. Even in her own room, she had not been permitted to do so much as decorate the walls for fear of debasing the compounds royal characteristics. Here however, the walls were filled up, almost to the brim, with little dioramas and abstract art pieces. It was cramped and cozy, coated in the smells of baked toast and steamed coffee. Having just walked through the cold morning air, it was as if she'd been forced into a warm bath.

"Shikamaru Nara, get your ass down here right fucking now!" Her voice boomed from the stairwell, tearing Temari back to reality.

This was followed by a muffled haze of increasingly intelligible screaming (little of it actually coming from Shikamaru himself) as well as loud footsteps resonating through the ceiling.

Ignoring it for the moment, Temari grabbed a biscuit from the tray next to her. It tasted like honey and caramel, a single bite sending an avalanche of flavorful crumbs running over her tongue. By the time she managed to wrestle back any self-control, she'd already scoffed down five. Luckily, she managed to wipe the crumbs off her mouth by the time Shikamaru came lounging down to the kitchen. He looked even more lethargic than usual, dressed in a pair of grey tracksuit pants and a purple t-shirt that looked about ten sizes too big for him. Meanwhile, his mother leered over him from the doorframe, eyes slanted into an endless abyss of fury.

"Took you long enough, didn't it? And don't take any biscuits, those are for Temari!" She yelled, clinging onto the doorframe with enough strength to nearly squash its wood into a grainy white crumb.

Shikamaru shot an indignant glare back at her but his eyes were too droopy to communicate anything effectively. Soon, her gaze became locked back onto Temari and consequently softened.

"How were the biscuits by the way dear?" She asked, sing-song in her sweetness.

Taking a devilish look at the clearly irritated Shikamaru, Temari mustered the most sugary smile she possibly could.

"Delicious Ms. Nara!"

Ms. Nara smiled back, before turning back into the other corridor. Noting the trend of her disappearances, Temari assumed that Shikaku was due for another tongue lashing. However, before she could properly listen in, she was distracted by Shikamaru. The boy lazily snatched a biscuit from the plate next to her, stuffing just about the whole thing in his mouth as he shot her a lazy frown.

"Don't snitch." He mumbled through a mouthful of biscuit.

A part of Temari was immensely irritated that he had stolen one of her snacks, but to cede this would be to show weakness so she stayed silent. Being yet again scorned by the sloth of her opponent, her mind leapt back to the reason she was standing in his home to begin with. She held forth her contract, enough force behind the motion to make Shikamaru think she was about to stab him with a kunai. He flinched accordingly, only settling as he saw the formal piece of paper held out in front of him.

"I didn't come here for breakfast, as I'm sure you realize." She said coldly.

Shikamaru looked up at her, unimpressed.

"Shame, because I did."

With that, he grabbed the contract out of her hand and passed her his own before walking over to the toaster and plopping in two pieces of bread. Then, he began to scribble his name onto her contract, eyes more focused on the toaster timer than his own writing. Worse, he was not particularly hurried about the process, with the boy still being in the process of writing his surname by the time Temari had had the chance to write hers fifteen times over. Soon enough, they exchanged the contracts back (even with Shikamaru still more focused on the toaster than her).

Temari's writing was perfect, a regal cursive punctuating her name with a beauty and grace becoming of the Suna royal family. Shikamaru's, on the other hand, was sloppy and scratched, though not without an undercurrent of competency. Had he actually tried, Temari was actually he convinced he may have had neat writing. However, any praise she had for him was dashed by the presence of a big cartoonish smiley face that had been scrawled upon the end of his name. She looked up at him, clearly unimpressed.

"Childish."

With an uncharacteristic burst of speed, he swiped the paper out of her hands. Temari let out a squeak of surprise as Shikamaru quickly took his pencil and ran the eraser over the paper. Just as quickly as he'd taken it, he handed it back.

"Better?" He asked, eyes still focused on the toaster.

He had changed the smiley face to a frowny face, along with a super sharp unibrow that resembled a down-pointed greater than sign. This made it appear incredibly angry, an expression that was quickly replicated by Temari herself. She glowered down at Shikamaru, rage surging from her core all the way up to her gritted teeth. For some reason, that little frowny face was all it had taken to get her annoyed. Annoyed in a way not even Kankuro could make her. It was somewhat elitist but she didn't care. She simply could not understand how a ninja living in such a small, homely living space could treat her, the heiress of the Suna royal family, with such nonchalance. Though he was ignorant of her status, their match should have been eating at this mind. He should have been desperate to win, if only to make his family proud yet instead of his opponent, his eyes stayed locked on the toaster. She was tempted to yell at him, to demand his attention by forcibly tearing it away from the toaster but her mind muted her for the moment. She'd look like a ditzy schoolgirl if she attempted something like that. No, what she needed was a colder, more cerebral tone.

"I really, really dislike people like you." She said, frosty yet blunt in her words.

To her surprise, his eyes did not waver from the toaster.

"People like me?"

She supposed she must elaborate.

"Skivers. Dead ends with no motivation and no aspirations. It's just a dressed-up form of cowardice at the end of the day. You're too scared to try at anything so you just lay about doing nothing. I can empathize with all sorts of phobias but a fear to even try is just too pathetic."

There was a precision and sharpness in her words that, realistically, should have cut even a slight bit. Yet, even with the scent of venom breathing down his neck, Shikamaru did not turn his gaze to her.

"And you're one of those people who tries hard, I assume?"

"I'd like to think."

"Why?"

The simple question brought an unmatched anger to Temari's face, and even she didn't even really know why. It was such a nothing barb, especially since Shikamaru clearly wasn't even focused on the conversation, yet she felt herself becoming more enraged by the moment. For just a second, her rationale forfeited its control over her words to the whims of the id.

"I am daughter of the Kazekage, Shikamaru, the first-in-line to the royal family. This role obviously imparts a lot of responsibility upon me. If at any point my father falls too ill to continue as leader, I will be expected to begin training to take on the role of Kazekage while a temporary replacement fills his shoes. I am not given the luxury to sleep in whenever I please or lay about the house like a housecat. Do you understand?"

The words fired from her lips with bullet-like enunciation, anger sending wrinkles through Temari's forehead. Common sense told her that it was stupid to reveal her position like this, but common sense was not at the wheel right now. Instead, the Id had control and it was willing to do whatever it took to get a reaction out of Shikamaru. Surely this revelation would be enough to shock him, to surprise him, to get his eyes away from the fucking toaster.

Ding!

Nope. The toast popped upward with an irritatingly sweet bell sound and any chance of Shikamaru looking at Temari was dashed. Instead, he grabbed the toast from the toaster and began to lazily butter it. It took him a little bit before he even bothered to speak.

"Yeah, I understand."

With his toast buttered, he took a bite out of it and looked up towards Temari. Or perhaps, past Temari judging by the lack of recognition in his eyes. For a second, she thought he might walk past her completely, without even acknowledging her presence. However, just before he completely bypassed her form, his arm shot out. Much like one would do to a teammate or a comrade, he patted her on the shoulder. Twice he did it, each one seeming almost…sympathetic.

"Sounds like a drag." He said, before walking out of the kitchen and back up to his room.

Temari stood there staring at the toaster for a strangely long amount of time. It was like his indifference was a poison, symptoms slow to start with but gradually growing more and more potent. Snapping her head back to the doorway, Temari found nothing, nothing but a frame of emptiness and the sound of Shikamaru's lethargic footsteps echoing up to his room.

With that, her hands clenched in anger. She didn't know why, she didn't know how, but this bizarre interaction had well and truly gotten under her skin. She fought back the urge to kick something as straightened her posture, attempting not to start breathing heavy from the vapors of frustration clogging up her throat.

She wanted to beat Shikamaru Nara. She wanted to beat him so badly that he'd start trying and still lose. She didn't even really know why.

"Reckon I can skip it across the whole lake?" Anko asked, shooting a playful smirk at Kakashi.

As she spoke, she tossed a stone up just a few inches in the air before catching it and repeating ad nauseum. Kakashi looked over her with a look that was virtually indistinguishable from bored and amused thanks to his mask.

"You've skipped about twenty already, and none of them made it even close. Easy money says you can't."

Anko's incessant tossing stopped for a moment, an insulted little smirk gracing her lips as she began to tear her head away from Kakashi.

"Oh yeah? How's about this!"

Complete with a childish little leap, Anko chucked the stone towards the lake with all the might she could muster. In response, it managed a measly three skips before pathetically sinking like a blown-up battleship. A snort of laughter erupted from Kakashi's nose while Anko drifted back from the waterside, eyes closed with a naked. embarrassed grin.

"Okay, that was just a warmup." She said, jokingly quiet.

Kakashi had been annoyed at being dragged away from Sasuke's training, and especially so upon learning that Anko wanted to go on a walk but he was having a decent time right now. Sasuke wasn't learning anything new anyway, and, unless she'd been able to sneak past the sensors, Anko had not left her house in a week. She more than deserved some time outside, especially with the weather being as nice as it was.

He was laid down under the shade of a massive oak tree, back rested snugly against its trunk while Anko paced around intermittently. The scape in front of them was a beautiful tangle of still, sparkling streams and flourishing fauna, the trails of water accenting the bulbous hills that lay behind them. Opposite to where they were was a particularly large slope, one which Anko was incredibly determined to skip a stone over to. Yet again, she dipped down towards the lakes edge, scoping up one of the better shaped stones that lay there. Much like Sisyphus pushing a rock up a hill, she danced back up to the oak tree and aimed. This throw proved more fruitful for here, the stone bouncing upon the waters surface as if it were a trampoline, however it still sunk before it could even hope to reach the hill.

"Strike two." Kakashi laughed, being quite generous considering it was more like strike twenty-something at this point.

Anko let out a small laugh as well, but there was a certain look in her eyes that Kakashi noticed. It was indecisive, almost questioning whether it wanted to snuff its intentions out or make them clear. As her gaze became locked on Kakashi, he assumed it had chosen latter.

"Do you remember this?" She asked, softly.

A little bit too softly.

"No." Kakashi replied, bluntly.

He felt bad but it was the truth. Luckily, Anko's face was only unimpressed, not offended. She hadn't expected him too, she had just wanted him too.

"Our fourth date was here. I skipped the stones and you hung in the tree, then we went and got gyoza at the little inn down on Hikori lane. The one with the sticky door that you broke the handle of."

Her memories seemed to be vivid, more so than she was letting on. Though her bringing it up at all was strangely confrontational, Kakashi couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Up to this point, he'd thought, maybe as a coping device, that memories from your teenage were disposable in the same way ones from your youngest years were. The fact that Anko could recount something from that time with such detail was quite confronting, even more so than bringing up their relationship.

"I don't remember much from then, honestly. It's all just...a blur."

It was at that moment he noticed an analytical tint in Anko's eye.

"Makes sense." She said.

She sounded almost disappointed. Silence followed in her wake, Kakashi's eye darting down to the ground as he desperately attempted to recall something from his teens while Anko crouched down upon the grass, her tan jacket trailing against the dirt. In that silence, it was as if both made a pact to cross the line just a tiny bit.

"I'm sorry about Sasuke. I didn't let him in on purpose." She said, tilting her head to Kakashi.

Judging by her suddenness, this was clearly something she'd been holding back for a little bit.

"I know." Was all he said back.

It didn't seem as if he was all too interested in the topic at hand. His eyes were emotionless yet shaken at the same time, as if he were a child attempting to stay calm in the presence of ghosts. However, much like a child, his recollection of these ghosts was foggy and unsure. A rising unease coursed through him. Despite the fact that there was little emotion present on his face, there was something about Kakashi in that moment that was very, very vulnerable.

"Anko?" He asked, voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah?" She replied, trying not to let his demeanor unnerve her.

Kakashi did not look at her. He stared straight ahead.

"During our relationship, did I ever do anything…bad?"

She took a few moments to deliberate the question with surprising tact considering its subject matter.

"Nothing that was exclusive to you." She said, though she quickly caught a discrepancy in her own words. "Well- "

Kakashi titled his head to face her, finally.

"Look, you were always fine sober but then you'd get sad. And when you got sad, you got drunk."

"Everyone did." Kakashi replied, almost defensive.

Anko stared him back down. She knew he was being dishonest.

"Not like you, not even Asuma at his worst. You'd get blackout, Kakashi and then you'd get mean. Really mean. It got even worse after Minato died. I'd show up to your house at eight in the morning and there'd be fresh bottles strewn across the floor while you're locked in your toilet throwing up. I doubt you even remember most of it."

Kakashi said nothing. He didn't. However, then something strange happened. Anko let out a small, soft giggle. It was a distant laugh, as if she was recollecting a positive, perhaps even romantic memory yet Kakashi doubted it was so.

"Do you remember that time you called me over? It was probably about three years ago now, probably the most recent I'd properly seen you before this all happened."

A small part of Kakashi's brain told him to say he did remember, but a much larger part was too intrigued by Anko's apparent fondness for the memory as well as it's relative recentness.

"I don't remember." He replied, blankly.

"Well, it was long time after we broke up obviously. I thought it was going to be another one- night stand but when I opened your door, I was just fuckin' blasted by the smell of alcohol. It was so thick, I thought you'd tried to kill me with a poison gas or something at first. Seriously, I did a cool ninja roll out the front door and all that shit."

No matter what she said or how she said it, Kakashi found no amusement in her words.

"I realized it was just alcohol a few minutes later, and I found you slumped over on your couch. You were awake, but, like, not awake if that makes sense. You were just muttering to yourself but it wasn't even coherent. It was nothing. What really stuck with me were your eyes though. Looking into your eyes at that moment was like just staring into an endless hole of just…emptiness, I guess. They looked like they were made of glass, glossed over and unblinking. No crying, no nothing except for this respiring sob that you'd exhale every few minutes. I don't know if you were sad or whether you were just trying to breathe."

That was when Kakashi had heard enough.

"Why are you telling me this?" He said, almost annoyed.

Anko paused for a second.

"Because I wanted to thank you." She said finally. "That was the night I stopped resenting you. To a serious degree, I mean. I had been in a pretty bad place at that time too. I'd never really gotten over how he used me, but in that moment, it was as if you were telling me that I had to move forward because if I didn't, I would end up like you were. A broken shell of a person stuck drinking himself to death every night."

She shrugged.

"Sorry if that sounds mean, I'm not trying to be an asshole. God knows I would be doing the same if I had to live through what you did. I don't know how you got sober honestly."

"Neither do I."

Kakashi was not offended at Anko's words. More so than anything, he was scared. He knew he'd had a drinking problem at points in his life, that was obvious. It was not simply something you forgot but the way he remembered it had never been as graphic as what Anko had detailed. It frightened him, in a way not much had in a while. So absorbed was he in his own head that he barely listened of Anko sliding down the riverbank once more, the sound of the stone bouncing along the waters surface. It was only when he heard the unignorable sound of Anko's victorious scream that he bothered to look outward.

"Yeaaaaaahbaby!" Anko yelled as the stone skipped across to the other side of the lake, landing softly on the first reaches of the hill. "That's the one! That's what momma wanted!"

She turned around to Kakashi, victoriously holding her arms in the air. Just like that, Kakashi's thoughts were ripped away from existential dread that clouded them. He stoically pretended as if he had not seen the skip, leading to a comical burst of anger from Anko. The tension between the two was gone, for now.

Dosu lay lazily along his bed, exposed eye filling with boredom as he watched the clouds go by through his window. They were limited by the bars of his window, meaning all he really made out were thin, puny stripes of white and blue. They could have been painted on for all he knew but he didn't really care. It was the most entertaining thing here that didn't upset him on a sonic level.

Really, he should've been happy knowing that he was being permitted to participate in the exams and he had been! For about an hour until he realized he was still stuck in this shitty little cell with his shitty fucking mattress and his shitty fucking sheet and he was still eating shitty-fucking meals served at a shitty-fucking part of the day like who the fuck ate lunch at three thirty?!

He clenched his hand to keep it from slamming against the wall in rage. He truly, truly hated it here.

"Kinuta! You've got company!" A voice shouted from outside his cell

He did not recognize the face but recognized the voice. Gravely, like a bluestone in a blender. When Dosu closed his eye, he pictured a long stretch of fingernail being smashed with a hammer. Not so much the sensation that would bring, just the texture of a brittle nail shattering in on itself. That's how he identified the man's voice.

Nevertheless, he lurched up from his bed and turned to the cell door. He sat for a few seconds, waiting for anyone to make an appearance, before a distant yet prominent buzzing sound caught his attention. It was soft and stealthy and had he been anyone else, he most likely wouldn't have been able to pick up on it. It was coming from behind him. Confused, he turned to find a mass of bugs flying into through the gaps in his windows. They looked like Beatles and were big, bigger than bugs of their shape should be. Big enough even, that a group of them to the back was carrying a furled piece of paper.

Wings fluttering them to safety, the bug landed upon Dosu's mattress. So tight was their formation that their landings created a synchronized tapping sound upon the covers which he found satisfying. Satisfying enough that he resisted the urge to splatter them. However, that urge quickly rose as a group of the bugs spread their wings upward, unsheathing a group of microscopic black dots that had been riding on their backs. They were barely visible to his eye as they were, though they became more and more prominent as they bunched up together in front of him. At first, he'd thought they were simply brainless enough to smash into each other like sumo wrestlers but that wasn't it at all.

They were spelling out letters with their bodies.

Heard you got arrested. That sucks :(

They spelt. Immediately, it became apparent that someone had programmed this, as he doubted bugs, however sentient, would be capable of using emoticons.

Here is your contract :)

The beetles at the back used their mouths to unfurl the paper, revealing a pen tucked within its pages. On one line sat the name "Shino Aburame.".

You write your name on this one and give yours to the bugs. I will return at earliest convenience ;)

Dosu did as requested in the note, writing his name on Shino's contract before rolling it, the pen and his own (which had been given back to him by the guards a few hours earlier) up into a bundle for the bugs to carry.

Thank you :) :) :)

The little black ones spelt before hopping back within the confines of the beetles' wings. Another round of fluttering filled the air, as the bugs took off through the windows and left Dosu all alone.

Interesting. He thought to himself

Sakura couldn't help but pant as she leaned against the sliced stump of the training ground, bringing the juice packet to her lips. That was it, any more training and she'd get a chakra blockage.

"Bleh!" She groaned, spitting the juice onto the ground just as quickly as she'd sucked it up.

It was one of those cheap, sachet packaged ones with the "not for individual resale" lettering still hilariously typed on. It had been fine when she was running on adrenaline, but without that, it really did taste like sewer water. What's worse is that she'd chugged down about half of it for a quick sugar rush during her training, so now the collective nausea was beginning to bubble up as she realized how disgusting they really were. She would have chucked it onto the ground had she been mindful not to litter.

Aside from the drinks though, it was quite nice out here. The sound of hurrying birds chirped through the trees, resonant squawks clinging onto the quiet, understated breeze. Its presence sent soft shimmies through the leaves, almost as if they were applauding. Closing her eyes, Sakura liked to pretend that they were applauding her for a hard day's work, though perhaps it wasn't the leaves themselves. It was her friends, maybe even her family, clapping for her. A relaxed smile came to her face, serene as the soft breeze above her. It was like she was the only person for miles around…

"Hey, billboard! Wake up!"

That didn't last long. Sakura snapped awake from her daydream, to see Ino standing in front of her with a frown on her face. An immediate groan flew from Sakura's lips, as she pulled herself up to her feet.

"What do you want Ino?" She asked.

The girl didn't respond immediately. Her eyes darted around suspiciously, as if a magnetic force was trying to claw them to meet Sakura's own. Eventually they settled staring off to the side, not willing to meet Sakura's eyeline.

"I just wanted to say- "

She paused.

"- That chubby Suna kid came into our shop today looking for herbs and he was a total nightmare. Like, seriously, the rudest guy I've ever had to tend to. He was naming all these bullshit herbs he wanted and I had to explain to him that no shop for miles sold them and the he started blabbering about how I was hiding them from him- "

Looking at Sakura for just a moment, Ino saw that Sakura did not seem particularly interested in the story.

"Look. He was a complete fucking asshole, okay? And I just wanted to…"

With that, her eye snapped shut. It was as if someone was force feeding her a whole lemon with the strained, sour expression that ran up her features. For a second, it looked like she was about to fall into a rage and then stomp away but as she opened her eyes, her face softened. She couldn't hold it in much longer.

"I just wanted you'd make a really good chunin. I hope you win."

So off-guard was Sakura that the compliment hit her like a punch in the face. Panic ran through her body as she scrambled for a return bit of praise, so shocked that she couldn't even realize that it was the girl who had made her life hell for so many years. By the time she did, her mouth was already beginning to move.

"T-thanks, you too!" She stammered.

Sakura was so stunned by Ino's kindness that she didn't even realize what she'd said was an insult. Luckily, Ino showed no irritation. Instead, she smiled.

"Well, that's gonna be kinda hard isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah, of course, sorry." Sakura said, running through as many words as she thought applicable.

A brief silence rested between the two kunoichi before Ino let out a slight giggle and walked forward, playfully punching Sakura in the arm. Before Sakura could hope to recompose herself, Ino had continued to walk out of eyesight.

And so once again, Sakura found herself on the training ground alone. However, as the breeze washed through the trees once more, it felt like there was one extra leave applauding. And somehow, just that one extra leave made it seem far louder than it had been before.

As Naruto paced through the halls of the Hyuga compound, he couldn't help but start to lose himself within its walls. Something about the way it looked, how the pace of his footsteps echoed off the paper sliding doors, send a general unease through Naruto's stomach. It was as if he could physically feel something sinister grabbing at his back, even if at the same time, it felt as if he was the only one in the entire compound.

He'd arrived during the late afternoon.

"Quietest time for them aside from late at night." Jiraiya had explained.

He'd checked in at the entrance, where it had appeared for a moment he wasn't going to be let in, before a sudden change of mind had given him the authority to roam the halls freely. He'd found it strange but paid it little mind. Now, he found himself waiting for one of the branch house helpers to fetch Neji which meant he was left alone to his own devices. Once again, he did not like the compound. Its floors were too lose, it's halls too thin and its art too pretentious. Occasionally, a clan member would pass him. Almost all of them were lanky and pale, making a kind of stout, rosy-skinned person like him look completely out of place. He felt out of place as well, almost like he was yet another piece of art hung up upon their walls.

Luckily (a strange but apt word to use for this situation), the outside door was slid open, revealing Neji along with the branch house helper he'd run into earlier.

"Here you are Mr. Uzumaki." She said, forcing a smile she so clearly was not interested in displaying

Neji just glowered at him, his presence serving as an invitation for Naruto to step outside. He muttered a "thank you" to the branch house member, before stepping off the smooth wooden flooring and onto the grassy planes of the Hyuga's courtyard, if one could call it that. Even Naruto, who was not exactly in the wowing mood, had to hold back a little "woah" of surprise at the hills before him. It was as big as his apartment complex, maybe even multiple times over. A perfectly trimmed hill of glass overlooked a borderline forest. A large expanse of trees sat on the distance, spiky and green. The ground below them was a perfect golden-brown color, it's regal coloring merging perfectly with the deep green of the vegetation. Nevertheless, the shade from the Hyuga compound bathed it all in a shade of snow white. Or perhaps grey. That was it, Naruto though, this place felt very "grey".

"Are you done gawking yet?" Neji asked, holding his contract with clear annoyance.

Naruto scowled.

"Fuck you." He grumbled, retrieving his own contract as well as a pen.

The two signed in pretty much complete silence. Naruto's peeked a slight bit at Neji, only for his eyes to shot back down to the contract as he realized that his opponent was not sparing him so much as a glance. That was until, they exchanged the contracts back to each other.

"You write like a fifth grader." Neji scoffed.

For some reason, Naruto decided to take exception to that. It was just something about Neji's attitude. Something that had been eating at him since he'd seen him berate Hinata during their match.

"Man, do you ever just realize how much of a dickhead you are?"

Neji looked up at him, not saying anything. Naruto took this as an excuse to keep talking.

"Seriously, all I ever hear from you is how much you hate shit? Maybe you hate shit because you spit in the face of everyone you ever meet. Talking bad about Lee, talking bad about Hina-Hina in the way you do- "

Before he could continue, Neji let out a loud palpable groan.

"Just shut up. You are in no position to lecture anybody, Naruto. You are an abject failure as a shinobi and the only reason you have been able to prosper is because the system needs idealistic morons like you to keep itself going."

Naruto scoffed.

"I've had people call me a failure my whole life, I don't give a shit. And what about you? You're in the branch house or whatever, like, the lowest fucking rung of the clan. Doesn't that mean you're a failure? You can't just appoint someone a failure like that!"

Neji's gaze became red with fury for just a second, causing Naruto to freeze up. A twisting tornado of emotions roared through Neji's gaze as he went from looking like he wanted to strangle Naruto to looking like he was on the verge of tears in just a couple of seconds. Eventually, he settled on a deep, angered scowl. A swipe of his hand brought his forehead protector crashing to the ground, exposing the deep-seated ink of his caged bird seal.

"That's exactly it Naruto. The way the Hyuga decides things, I am a failure. No matter how good a branch house is, they are marked as failures as soon as that mark goes on their head. I never had a chance and neither did you!"

With that, Neji grabbed at Naruto's jacket. Before he could pull away, Neji pulled it up to reveal the seal on Naruto's stomach.

"Hey!" Naruto growled, stumbling back as he pulled the jacket down.

Neji's gaze became even more laser-focused.

"Naruto, when I was young, a group of main house members killed a refugee trying to cross over to Konoha. They said it was just a mistake, a moment of error as they tried to protect our border it's a lie. They were fucking around, torturing those weaker than them and it got out of hand. Guess whose head was on the chopping block when the Raikage demanded it? Not Hiashi but my father. That's because we are just pigs to them, my father, me and you. All of those on the bottom are cattle for the international elite to play with."

Naruto wanted to fight back but a sudden lump in his throat kept him silent.

"That's it, you and me are perfectly competent shinobi, perhaps even better! But we will never be able to stop being failures because it is tattooed onto our skin. However, I recognize this. I know they will never let me win, and by seeing this, I grasp whatever dignity I have left. You, on the other hand, demand recognition from the same village that has scorned you your whole life. You, on the other hand demand a seat at the table that threw their food at you when you were too weak to fight back. It's pathetic. So long as the beast lays within you, they will either ignore you or fear you. They will never respect you."

A mess of counter-arguments bubbled up to Naruto's mouth but they were cluttered and messy. He couldn't let any of them lose, because Neji had charged forward and rammed his fist right where it hurt. That resentment of the village that Naruto had tried to shed with his dream of becoming Hokage. The aspiration that that resentment might someday be unnecessary. Neji attacked it with a precision Naruto thought no one would ever be able to do.

"I guess we'll see at the exams." He said, turning his back to the Hyuga.

Neji only nodded, watching as Naruto headed towards the sliding door.

Escaping into the hallway, Naruto couldn't help but groan from the fact he'd just let Neji unload on him. Vulnerabilities formed in his mind, allowing a certain voice to creep in.

No answer for him. You've lost the psychological battle already.

Shut up! I don't remember asking you a goddamn thing.

Perhaps if you did, you would have been able to actually counter what he said instead of sitting there like a punching bag.

Naruto shook his head violently, attempting to childishly "shake" Kurama off. That sinister energy was grasping at him again and it was driving him crazy. It wasn't from the fox either, it wasn't from anything. It was just there, omnipresent in his nerves for as long as he stayed in the compound. Neji's verbal beatdown hadn't helped for sure.

"Mr. Uzumaki."

Naruto almost jumped in fright as he turned the corner to see another branch house staring back at him. Regaining his composure, he turned to the man.

"W-what is it?"

"Lord Hiashi would like to see you." The man said, with the same forced smile it seemed they all wore when talking to visitors.

Jiraiya's voice immediately echoed through his mind.

No doubt Hiashi's gonna try and sweet talk you into something.

With that, Naruto pushed past the branch house and began making a beeline for the end of the corridor.

"Tell him I'm not interested." He muttered.

As he jogged past, the branch house exploded into a nervous yelling that he attempted to shrug off.

"Wait, wait! Mr. Uzumaki, wait, please!"

It was Naruto's empathy that chained him down in the end. Something about the terror in the man's voice resonated through his chest, freezing his body in place as he recalled what Neji had said earlier. Now, he didn't have enough of an idea to know what exactly would happen if the branch house man could not fulfil an order to the head of the clan, but he knew it would be bad and above all preventable.

All he needed to do was listen.

He turned to the man, attempting to keep his expression neutral.

"Fine, fine, I'll go in."

A gasp of relief coursed through the branch houses chest. A small victory, Naruto thought.

"Oh thank god." He whispered, before recomposing himself for Naruto.

He rustled through his tattered robe and brought out a small envelope, handing it to Naruto.

"He said to give you this if you were reluctant but forgive me, I'm not allowed to see it."

Naruto nodded, taking the envelope and carefully angling it so that whatever was inside would not be in the eyeline of the branch house. What lay in the envelope was a small photograph. A photograph of three people.

Hiashi Hyuga, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. All eating dinner together. Kushina appeared to be pregnant.

With that, Naruto became much, much more eager to meet with Hiashi.