6 – Sai

It was that moment Gai-sensei always lectured about. It's amazing how much of his dribble I thought I could tune out only to find that it haunted me the times I needed it most. And as much as I hated to admit it, Gai-sensei was right… again.

Across from me, my opponent was heaving as he tried to relax. Our fight had gone on much longer then anticipated. I heard that the odds makers had put him as the winner, 24 to 1. It crossed my mind that with odds like that, even our Hokage would bet against me. Considering the way she was screaming in the stands, though, I had a feeling her money was riding on me and the way most of her bets went… I almost wished she had gambled on the other guy.

The ninja from Hidden Rock was looking at me, probably calculating his next move. I could see the scoreboard behind him, blaring the fact that Rock and Leaf were tied in this last part of the Chuunin exam. A scrolling text reminded the audience that this was the final match-up and that the winner would determine which Hidden Village won the tournament.

But it didn't tell them about how medics had to carry Ino off the field when she lost. Or how Sakura had beaten the next opponent into such a state that the official had to pull her off before she did permanent damage. It didn't talk about Lee's fight against a genjutsu master and how he still managed to win. Or about the ease that Neji walked over his opponent. No mention of Kiba forfeiting when Akamaru was badly injured or how Chouji brought down his opponent a second after he had already lost the match. How Shino had met his match in a snake summoner or how Hinata had avenged him in a stunning victory.

And it certainly didn't express the way I felt right now, knowing that everyone was counting on me to win this so not just so we were one step close to getting a Chuunin rank, but for the pride of our village. Even if I was a long shot according to the odds.

So now, standing in the field, my weapons pouch empty and the scrolls long since used, I had a flashback to Gai-sensei telling us that you fought best when you were fighting to protect someone important. And I had six important people right now so it was no wonder the guy was hurting.

He attacked suddenly, splitting himself up into three shadow clones. I was out of any projectiles so I had to move quickly. A quick foot sweep at the ground and I managed to get enough dirt into the air to blind the real one. The fake ones came through and met the wrong end of my kunais.

The thing I hadn't counted on was them turning into stone and capturing the last two weapons I had. In my surprise, my opponent attacked my exposed stomach. The blow was perfect and I was eating dirt as I got pushed back twenty meters.

Lying on the ground, I could hear the thunderous applause from the Rock side. In the past, this was when Naruto would start yelling and cheering you on. But he wasn't here anymore so there was no pep talk waiting for me. No great revelation. He had been Lee and Neji's cheerleader. All I had was the dirt to talk to.

"Get up!" someone screamed from our section. It wasn't masculine and when I looked up, I was somewhat surprised to see Sakura screaming her lungs out. We hadn't been friends and she hadn't even cheered for Ino this loud. And suddenly, it all made sense.

Before I left, my father had taken me out to dinner as an apology for not being able to go with me. "There's a lot of work to be done," he said. "Don't want the newest Chuunin coming home to find her home's been repossessed."

He laughed and told stories about his chuunin exam, just like before my first one. He tried to get me to not worry about it but it wasn't working well as it had last time.

"You're miles ahead of where you were the last time," he said. "Why are you still so worked up over this?"

"I don't want to fail my team, I guess."

He sighed and let the silence draw out. "Honey, at some point, your team won't be there when you need them. It happens when you get more experienced, more missions are solo or they're Anbu and you're not. It's just the way life works."

"So I shouldn't care about them?"

"No, that's not it at all. Your genin cell… it's a special thing, like a family. So you can't fail them anymore then you could fail me. See, at some point, you don't get to spend as much time with them as you used to. But somewhere deep inside, they're still a part of you and they always will be."

He had pulled out the latest weapon, a pair of sais, and given it me then. "More appropriate now that I have a lesson behind them. They have three prongs, like your team. All three work together like a charm. But when it comes to the end, the middle one is the only part that can land a final blow." He had handed them to me and smiled. "In life, in the end, it's always just you that has to face whatever comes around. But that doesn't mean your friends and family won't be with you in some form when you do."

I think he and Gai-sensei should write a book. How to pep talk teenage girls so they can face the world.

Sakura's still cheering and I realized it was because Naruto couldn't. She was letting that part of him she kept inside come out.

I was out of weapons but I knew I could still beat this guy. Inside of me were years of practicing against Lee and Neji. I could take blow and give them back threefold. I stood up and watch as surprise dotted his face. And while he was staring at me, I couldn't help but give the trademark Hyuuga smirk.

The guy blinked and I was gone. I didn't have Lee's speed but trying to keep up with him had given me an edge. I was at his side in an instant, an elbow placed in his ribs and cracking them with the force. He stumbled and tried to recover but a spinning kick sent him to the ground.

I followed him down, sitting on his back and pulling one of his arms back by the hand. I twist the wrist and forced his elbow to bend. I used my free hand to push on it, forcing the shoulder to come close to popping.

He cried out and I made the mistake of loosening it a bit, letting him use a free arm to throw some dirt into my eyes. That stunned me just long enough for him to reverse his position and break free.

The fight turned ugly then. I realized he was out of chakra and weapons like me and it was down to hand to hand combat. But then, he hadn't had to deal with trying to pull apart two squabbling teammates for several years. Somehow a punch by him was nothing compared to one of theirs.

My jaw must have been an ugly black and blue mess but he should have hit higher to knock me out. I had a chance to retaliate and all I had to do was pull out one of Lee's patented temple strikes. The guy didn't even blink as he crumpled to the ground. A few seconds later, I had won.

A lot happened after that, the stands where the rest of the combatants were emptied out and there was a lot of celebrating. I stayed as long as I could but after a few hugs from Lee, I couldn't hold back the grimaces. I tried to tell Neji I was fine but he just picked me up and threw me over his shoulder, dragging me to the medic with an excited Lee following.

After I had passed the inspection of the medics and my teammates, we went out to meet the others. The final awards ceremony was held and the number of green vests handed out to Konoha ninja was an impressive number. More importantly, Team Gai had all been promoted. Even over the din of the crowd, I swore I heard Gai-sensei cheering about the victory of youth.

It was decided a victory dinner was in order. We set a time to meet and it wasn't hard to find the place when the hour struck. The singing gave it away.

We went inside only to find the older Shika-Ino-Cho formation happily drunk off their asses. Even Hiashi was having problems keeping his stoic appearance as they started to sing. Ino was yelling at her teammates for their lack of control over their parents. Hinata was blushing as Kiba related her fight to Shino. Gai-sensei and Kakashi were participating in some odd game again. And I'm pretty sure Asuma was hitting on Kurenai.

And in the corner, Sakura was watching them with a sad smile. I told Lee what I wanted to order and walked over to her.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," she replied.

"Thanks for cheering for me."

She blinked. "You heard me?"

"Oh yeah," I laughed. "You must have gotten that technique from Naruto."

She smiled a bit. "The loud mouth never could keep quiet during a fight."

I nodded with a laugh. "Hey, you wanna make Lee's day and come sit with us? I'll keep him in line, no freaky hearts or anything."

She laughed and nodded, quickly following into step behind us. Lee almost dropped half the food he was carrying when he saw her there. Neji let out a snide comment was rewarded by a kick in the shin by me.

Hokage-sama came in a while later, already drunk but extremely happy. Looks like her bet had paid off because she picked up the whole tab. Shizune was behind her, trying to control the older woman but it was to no avail.

The sun was peeking up the horizon by the time it was over. I think I slept but I don't really remember that part. I just remember being on the road again, trudging with the rest of the people on the way back to Fire Country. We were escorting the nobility back to their homes so our speed was diminished. Only the Hokage and Shizune had gone ahead, not wanting to leave Konoha leaderless for too long.

I wanted to run with them. I had someone waiting back home who promised a warm dinner and to listen to all my stories. I wanted to show him my new vest and give him the blow by blow of my fight. My father said I could never fail him and I hadn't. I wanted to show him my achievement.

It was two weeks before we even got to the gate and I somehow managed to contain my excitement. Lee and Neji had been behaved for the most part but I think they sensed my anxiety to get home. That or when they had tried to start a fight I had spent three hours yelling at them. We weren't children anymore, we had to act like respectable ninja now that we had Chuunin rank.

The gates were open and a few people had gathered to welcome us home. Lee took off running, wanting to go spread the word to everyone he knew. Neji said he'd walk me home since it was on the way.

"So what next?" he asked

I looked over at him with a shrug. "B rank missions?"

He smirked. "Well obviously. But I was speaking more long term."

"Jounin obviously."

"And then?"

I shrugged again. "I don't know really. Haven't given it that much thought."

"What about ANBU?" he asked. "Lee said he'd try and it's been my goal."

"You think I should?" I asked.

He paused and nodded. "You've got enough talent, the weapon mastery alone makes you a viable candidate. And… it wouldn't be the same without the three of us would it?"

Any confusion on my face melted into a giant smile. He was worried about losing his team too. "Yeah, I guess you're right," I replied. "ANBU then. We'll all work for it together."

We walked up to my house and my feet suddenly started to slow. Something felt off but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"What is it?" Neji asked.

I looked up at the sky and frowned. The cloudless blue sky was perfect, not marred by the usually black smoke that poured from the forge.

"The forge is out," I whispered, my pace suddenly quickening once again.

I ran into the house, heading to the back and into the smithy. The forge was cold to the touch, the embers a sickly gray. I let them fall from my hands and started to look around. All the equipment was perfectly in place, a thin layer of soot had formed over them.

My heart began to race as I looked around. I started to call for him but there was no reply. I ran up the stairs, barely realizing Neji hadn't followed me inside. I reached the next floor and threw open the door to my father's bedroom.

The bed was perfectly made. I ran my fingers against it and bits of dust picked up on my fingers. I saw it then, laying on the floor and shattered beyond recognition. The bedside table had fallen and the worst casualty was the picture my father kept there. It was the only one of the three of us, before mom left.

"Tenten."

"Dad?" I asked, turning around.

But it wasn't him. The person in the door was my idol, the one I had always looked to as a goal. Tsunade looked at me, her face stoic and unemotionally.

"Tenten," she started again. "There was…"

"An accident?" I asked, scooping up the broken frame. "Did he cut his hand? I always told him to be careful when I'm not here."

"Tenten…"

"He never could take care of himself."

"I'm sorry."

And that broke the spell. I knew it wasn't a cut hand or something simple like that.

"Where is he?" I asked, trying to ignore the crack in my voice.

"Your father was sick. He has been for a while."

I nodded. "The cough. He said it was from the soot, the smoke… but its okay. You fixed him right?"

Tsunade's stoicism faltered a bit. "I tried. Everyone did. But…"

"Don't say it. Please, don't say… " I whispered, trying to keep myself under control.

"It was… just his time."

I started to cry, the tears hitting the broken frame in my hands. My fingers started to curl and the glass began to dig into them. I think Tsunade told me to stop but I couldn't. I just saw him in the picture smiling and I couldn't believe what she said was true. It wasn't possible.

He was my hero. My strength. My best friend. Tsunade had been an idol, a far away goal. In the end, it had only been him. He was the only one I wanted to make proud. The only one I strove to be like. He was everything.

Someone tried to pull me away but I held fast to the last image of him, yelling in protest, screaming so that my throat got raw. I could still smell him under the dust, the mix of fire and sweat. And suddenly my teammates were there, Neji obviously getting Lee the moment he saw Tsunade and she told him. I heard Lee begging me to let go, but I kept driving the glass in as if the pain could make it less real. I felt Neji calloused hands trying to pull me free of the grip. But I knew the second I let go, it would be over. He'd really be gone.

I heard Tsunade tell them to hold me still and there was a prick at my neck. A sedative, she said, was the only thing that would work now.

And as it started to seep into my blood stream, I could only stare out the window at the clear blue sky. The smoke from the forge was gone. The smells of molten metal were gone. And worse of all, he was gone too.