Chapter 13

Akari's eyes scanned the trees surrounding her. The moon shone its light above her, but the forest was still fairly dark. It didn't matter to her though. With her sharingan active she could see just about every movement in any direction. Right now she was looking for a certain one. There! From her right she saw someone raise an arm. Quickly, using her katana, she deflected the many shuriken thrown her way. They bounced off her blade and landed on the ground. She smiled but she wasn't done yet. Itachi pulled yet another string, sending more in her direction. Again she blocked them.

The sharingan truly was amazing. She could see everything! Even Itachi preparing to attack. He came at her with a katana of his own. She deflected it and they began to spar. She held her own for a while before he knocked her weapon out of her hand. He held his inches from her throat. Itachi had his sharingan active as well. He stared at her for a moment before smiling and stepping back.

"Not easy casting genjutsu on me anymore is it?" Akari smirked.

"Don't get cocky; you know I wasn't trying very hard. Though I will admit you've improved immensely these past 3 weeks."

"Thank you."

"I'm glad Hayate had already trained you in Kenjutsu. It saved me the trouble."

Akari frowned.

"He was…a great teacher." She muttered.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought him up."

"That's okay. It doesn't bother me as much anymore." She gave him a small smile.

"Good. In the world we live in, people we care for will die. All we can do is accept it." Itachi said.

Akari nodded and walked towards the fallen shuriken. Silently she began to pick them up. A moment later Itachi joined her. They could've done it faster but they took their time. Together they placed them in a pile.

"Hey. You missed one." Itachi told her.

Akari looked at him confused. She surveyed the area but she couldn't see what he was talking about. She was pretty sure she had gotten them all.

"I meant earlier. Your shoulder."

She glanced to where he was pointing. He was right. There was a gash on her shoulder. Blood was dripping down her arm. It was somewhat deep, so how had she not noticed it? Must have been all the adrenaline. It obviously hadn't hurt before, but now that she knew it was there it started to sting.

"Aw man! I thought I had gotten them all!" She pouted.

"It's okay. You still did better than last time."

He walked up to her and lightly raised her elbow. Then he pulled out a bandage. Gently he wiped away the blood and began to wrap her wound. She watched him with a small smile on her lips. He wasn't as scary as people in the village believed. He was actually a caring person. If only Sasuke knew the truth. She frowned. There was no way she was going to let Sasuke fight Itachi. She would stop him. If they fought, one of them wouldn't make it out alive. She couldn't have that.

"What?" Itachi looked at her curiously.

"Um…nothing. Just thinking."

"Careful you don't hurt yourself." He teased.

"Haha. Very funny."

Itachi smiled and finished with her bandage.

"Alright. You need to go home and rest. Your exam is tomorrow." He told her.

"Okay. I'll see you next time."

Akari grinned at him before wrapping her arms around his torso. He looked down at her in surprise. She had never hugged him before. It took him a moment, but he placed his hands on the small of her back and returned her hug. Then she pulled away.

"I'm glad you're not a homicidal maniac." She told him.

"Who said I wasn't?" He smirked.

Akari rolled her eyes before heading towards the trial. She waved one last time before going home.

The next morning she awoke to her sibling pounding on her door. It was time to head over to the arena where the final exam will be held. She got dressed quickly and strapped on her katana. The three of them left the house and met their sensei outside. He greeted them and led the way. Akari's excitement was bittersweet. Yes, she was might become a chunin, but she would have to beat her sister to do it. The two of them had already agreed there wouldn't be hard feelings but it was still hard to think about.

When they arrived, Akari recognized two people at the entrance. Naruto and Hinata stood together deep in conversation. Hinata glanced her way and smiled. It wasn't her usual shy smile but a real one. Naruto noticed her too. He grinned and grabbed Hinata's wrist, leading her to Akari. Man, they certainly seemed closer since she last saw them.

"Hey Akari! Isn't this exciting! I can't wait till I take on Neji. I plan to teach him a lesson for Hinata's sake." He told her.

"Naruto. I…I already told you. You don't need to do that for me." Hinata blushed.

So she wasn't entirely over her shyness. That was okay. She didn't need to change completely just for a guy. Just enough to be noticed.

"But it isn't just for you. It's for failures everywhere!" Naruto told her.

"Okay. I guess…that's okay then. He's… he's still my cousin though so don't hurt him too badly" She gave him a small smile.

"No promises. Anyways when we go in there Akari, we are opponents. Only one can win!" He grinned.

"I know. So I apologize in advance for beating you." She smirked at him.

"Don't get ahead of yourself! Pervy Sage taught me a thing or two!" He smirked back.

"Alright, it's time for the 4 of you to get inside. Ill escort Lady Hinata to the stands." Hayama sensei smiled at them.

The four of them nodded. Hinata wished them luck before following Hayama sensei inside. Akari and the others took a different entrance to the arena. As they walked inside Riko was grinning at Naruto.

"What?" The blond boy asked.

"So…you and Hinata." Riko teased.

"What about us?" Naruto looked confused.

"Come on man! You know what I mean." Riko nudged him with his elbow.

"Quit teasing him Riko. It's no fun when he doesn't even know what you're talking about." Mizuko said.

"Wait. What is he talking about?" Naruto asked her.

"You'll figure it out on your own soon enough." She told him.

"I want to know!" He pleaded.

Naruto turned to Akari but she was too busy giggling. Poor guy was so lost. She thought about how Hinata would be taking this conversation and clutched her stomach in laughter. After she composed herself she patted him on his shoulder.

"Just ignore him." She told him.

Naruto pouted but let it drop. They reached a hallway where the other candidates stood waiting. Beyond them was an opening that led out into the arena. Akari could hear the crowd's excitement. She grinned at Naruto but he seemed to be thinking very hard about something. Then they were signaled to walk out. The crowd grew louder as they emerged. She lined up in between Naruto and Neji. The Hyuuga gave her small nod. She returned it and stared at their proctor. It was Genma Shiranui. He was to replace Hayate. The thought made Akari upset.

"Hey! It not like that with me and her!"

Naruto was crimson red beside her. He pointed a finger at Riko who burst out in laughter. So he had finally figured it out. It certainly took him a while. The other candidates gave them weird looks. Akari glanced at them and noticed someone missing.

"Naruto? Where's Sasuke?"

The boy turned to her confused. He looked around and realized what she meant.

"He's not here! Where the hell is he then?" He cried out.

Naruto scanned the arena expecting to see his friend appear. He was nowhere to be found. Hopefully he made it in time and wouldn't be disqualified. He worked hard to get here!

"Okay. First match is Naruto Uzumaki versus Neji Hyuuga." Genma told them.

The two boys glared at each other. Akari felt very uncomfortable between them. She took a step back. Genma told the others to wait in the stands. They left Naruto and Neji to start their match. Before she could follow Naruto called out to her.

"Hey! Keep an eye out for him! That idiot better make it in time!"

She nodded and wished him luck. Neji was staring at her. Akari fidgeted a little under his gaze. He was her friend but she was kind of hoping Naruto won this one. She agreed with him and felt like Neji needed to be brought down a peg. She shrugged her shoulder apologetically before turning and joining the others. Hopefully Naruto could pull this off.

"Neji doesn't look too happy with you." Mizuko commented.

"That's probably because I'm rooting for Naruto in this one." She muttered.

"Ouch." Riko said.

"I doubt Neji will lose. Naruto isn't the strongest in our class."

Shikamaru had walked up next to Akari. He leaned on the wall arms crossed.

"You don't know that." Akari told him.

He just shrugged and turned his attention to the match. A yawn escaped his lips. Typical Shikamaru. He was already bored and they hadn't even started yet. Akari looked down at the arena. Naruto and Neji were on the attack. She watched the fight in awe at how well Naruto was doing. There was a couple moments were it seemed he was struggling but he would just pick back up again.

"His shadow clones are impressive. We can barely make four." Riko muttered.

Quite a few Narutos were on the field. They attacked Neji the best they could. Naruto even managed to trick Neji into believing one was the real one.

"I'll give him that one. He's certainly not as dumb as people thought." Shikamaru yawned.

Akari smirked at him but he just rolled his eyes. So, even he was impressed by Naruto right now. He couldn't deny it. She turned her attention back to the fight. Naruto almost had Neji but the Hyuuga used his palm rotation at the last minute.

"I forget how much of genius Neji is. Or at least I would if he let me." Mizuko commented.

Naruto was in trouble. Neji was now in range to use his 8 trigrams 64 palms. He lunged at Naruto and hit him in various places on his body. The boy couldn't block it. Neji had just his all of his chakra points. He was no longer able to use chakra.

"Man that sucks. It's going too be hard for him to get out of this one." Riko said.

The fight seemed to have stopped. Naruto and Neji seemed to be deep in conversation. Akari got most of it. Neji was explaining the ways of the Hyuuga. He explained why he hated the Main Branch so much. Akari finally understood. He went on to say you couldn't change your destiny. Once again he said that if you're a failure you'll always be one. Naruto looked angry. He didn't agree with the Hyuuga.

"Do you see that? Is that…chakra?" Mizuko leaned in closer.

"No way. Neji hit all his chakra points." Riko squinted at the blonde boy.

Akari saw what they did. Swirls of red chakra leaked out of his body. The wind around him picked up blowing in every direction.

"That's chakra all right. How he's doing it I don't know." She whispered.

Even the other candidates were shocked. Shikamaru was no longer up against the wall. He gripped the railing beside her and leaned in. Naruto disappeared and reappeared above Neji. He flung Shuriken but the Hyuuga stopped them and threw his own. Naruto dodged them with ease.

"He's gotten faster. This is amazing." Mizuko muttered.

Naruto attacked again. Neji used his rotation. The impact caused an explosion sending dust and rocks in every direction. It was enormous. Akari and Shikamaru glanced at each other in shock. She knew Naruto had gotten stronger but not by this much. Shikamaru couldn't believe it either.

They turned back to the match but the dust kept them from seeing the outcome. Akari was tempted to use her sharingan to get a closer look. Finally the dust cleared and Neji stood above an unconscious Naruto. Her face fell, but then Naruto burst out of the ground punching Neji square in the jaw. The Naruto on the ground disappeared in smoke. The Hyuuga couldn't get back up. Naruto had won. The crowd went wild. Akari cheered as loud as she could. Shikamura was complaining to Shino. He didn't think he could beat Naruto now. He hung his head depressed.

"That. Was. Awesome!" Riko hooted.

"I still have chills! Naruto really came through!" Mizuko grinned.

The twins high fived and waved at Naruto as he ran around the arena waving and blowing kisses. He still had the energy to move around. He really was something. Akari wasn't watching him though. Neji was being carried away on a stretcher. She wondered what he was thinking. A failure had beaten a genius.

"Hey guys! What did you think?" Naruto strolled up behind them.

Shikamaru got over himself and smiled at the boy. He congratulated him on his win. The twins each high fived him and told him how great he had been. Naruto blushed and tried to play it off like it was nothing. Akari grinned at him and gave him a hug. Then they all waited for the next match. It was Sasuke versus Gaara. Only problem was that Sasuke still hadn't arrived.

They waited for what seemed like forever. Shikamaru questioned what Sasuke was up to. Naruto stayed quiet but he was staring daggers at Gaara. The boy with the gourd didn't seem fazed. He glanced at Akari but only for a second. She had seen it though. Maybe he no longer wanted to kill her.

Genma finally spoke. He told them that the fight would be postponed until Sasuke arrived and they would begin the next match. Shikamaru didn't like that. It meant his match was getting closer. Naruto and Akari sighed in relief. Sasuke was still in this. The next match was Shino and Kankuro. That didn't happen either. Kankuro forfeited giving Shino the win.

"Oh come on! I want to see a fight already!" Riko whined.

Temari pulled out her fan and rode it gracefully down on to the arena. Shikamaru watched her not all too happy.

"Oh man! Why is my match the one that gets moved up? This is such a drag!" He complained.

Genma called up to him to get down. He didn't look as if he was going to though.

"ALL RIGHT! GO ON SHIKAMARU YOU CAN DO IT!"

Naruto slapped Shikamaru on the back sending him falling over the railing. Akari leaned over and saw him lying on his back.

"What a drag huh?" She grinned down at him.

He narrowed his eyes at her causing her to burst into laughter. She couldn't wait to see Shikamaru in action.