Butterflies

"Me? I'm nobody. I'm not skilled like Uchiha-san. I am not passionate like Haruno-san. I am not smart like Nara-san. I'm not as strong as Chouji-san. I'm not as collected as Aburame-san. Or as pretty as Yamanaka-san. I'm not as confident as Inuzuka-san. If anything, I'm like Hyuuga-san, socially awkward. Oh wait, no, she's just shy. The socially awkward one is me." OC! Team 7 remix!

Chapter 48 – First Round!

8-8

"You got your scroll?" Naruto-nii asks.

"Yeah." I answer simply. "You know the plan?"

"Yeah." He answers. "You want me to carry the prisoners' scroll?"

"No need." Asami fitted my gloves with a series of seals that I can seal basically anything I want and keep it handy at all times. "You told Yokoshima the plan?"

"Yeah." He nods. "You sure about this though? I mean, this is major, you know?"

"Yeah." I nod solemnly. I'm not looking forward to it, but I understand it. "It's Haku and her team that worries me most though."

"Yeah…" Naruto-nii doesn't like the idea at all, but… what can you do. At least Haku's focusing on the evacuation, and has very clear orders to avoid the fighting at all costs. Still… that's both Yukis and two of Naruto-nii's clansmen on one team… "We'll just have to finish up our parts quickly to go help them if they need it."

"Yeah." We seem to be going back a forth like this. "You have a communications seal set up in case anyone here needs to reach us?"

"Of course! Kakashi-sensei has one. Maki has one. And I made sure that every member of Team Haku has one, just to be sure. Hina-chan has one, so her team is covered. Shikamaru has one, so his team is covered."

…

I think about that for a long, lo~ooooooong moment. Everyone should be in contact at all times. So… why do I still feel so nervous? "We're going to be alright… right?"

"… I hope so…" Not helping, Naru-nii. Not helping at all.

8-8

"You two ready?" Mitarashi asks. I look to her, seeing nothing different about her.

"I should be asking you that. What do you think this is? Are you even armed?" I round on her. "For Kami's sake, do you think this is a game?"

"Huh?" She sounds confused, then smirks. "Oi, brat, I'm always ready for war." She claims.

"Oh really? You're going to be using jutsu that our allies might identify as enemy fire. And you're ready?" I counter. That brings her up short. "Idiot." I walk up to the cache hidden right here in the family sitting room, opening it and motioning her inside. "Take at least three you feel confident you can wield."

She grins like a kid in a candy store. "You sure about this? Any three I want?"

"That's what I said." I roll my eyes, annoyed with her. "Kakashi, Maki, are you two going to be alright without me?"

"We'll be fine, Aya-chan. Yasu-san's here with us." Maki assures me. I nod, knowing that my sisters will take care of them for me. "Are you going to be alright?"

"Yes." I promise her. "I'll be home as soon as I can. I'll be sure to keep you and Kakashi updated."

"Aya-nee…?" Saki looks worried, scared. "You still have to teach me that jutsu, ya know…" She's almost to the point of tears.

"Come here, baby girl." She glomps me in the blink of an eye. I hug her tight, idly running my hand through her hair. "Nothing will keep me from coming home."

"Promise?" She holds me a lot tighter, obviously not wanting to let me go.

"Promise. Naruto-nii and I will be here for dinner. And tomorrow I'm going to show you a really cool new jutsu." I hold her a little tighter as well. I don't care which Kami I have to defy, I'm not going to let my family down.

"What if the house gets damaged?" Saki asks, crying.

I push her back a little, crouching down to her height. "I don't come home to this house." I tell her. "I come home to my family. To my pack… to you and Yasu-nee." Tears stream down her face, but she's quick to hug me again to hide that. "I am loyal to our pack, not our den, Saki."

She nods, understanding but still refusing to let me go. I look to Hina-nee, finding that she's having a teary moment with her little sister as well. Deciding that I should probably grab a quick snack before I go, I pick up Saki, letting her wrap herself around me, and walk to the kitchen. "I was wondering when you'd find your way here." Yasu-nee says, amused.

"We both know I'd never leave without…" Yasu-nee holds up a tray with ice cream sandwiches. Wolf and moon shaped ones, just like she made for my birthday.

"I have enough for later as well. So you'll have plenty to look forward to." She says, smiling warmly. I push the tray out of the way though, hooking an arm around her middle. "Now, now, sweetie. They'll melt if you don't hurry a little."

"Let them." I say, my voice quivering a little. "I have all the chocolate I need right here." I squeeze them both a little just to show her what I mean.

Yasu-nee wraps her arms around Saki and I, holding us tight. "Promise me you'll be careful."

"I'll be home before you know it, sis."

"You'd better be. Our pack needs you." Her voice is quivering too. "I need you."

8-8

After some a pretty emotional send-off, we're all in the front yard, just about ready to leave. Mitarashi-san, Momochi-san, Haku-chan and her team, mom, daddy, Shika-nii, Naru-nii, Hina-nee, Sasa-nee, all of us are ready to go to war.

I just need to do one last thing though.

Boar – Dog – Bird – Monkey – Ram – Summoning jutsu!

Five wolves stand ready. Tsuren and her pups. "Aya." Tsuren greets me.

"Tsuren. I need to go deal with this insanity. Please… will you and your pups guard those who stay behind?"

"Of course." Tsuren nods solemnly. "Fret not, Aya. None in this den shall come to harm."

I walk up to her, wrapping my arms around her. "Be safe, Tsuren."

"And you, Aya. We have much hunting to do. It would not do to fall."

8-8

Eight of us stand at attention before thousands of spectators. I stand between Hina-nee and Shika-nii, looking up at the crowd. "Mom's probably complaining about you slouching." I mumble, smirking when I hear Shika-nii grumble about 'troublesome women'. He does stand a bit straighter though.

"Father's here with the elders." Hina-nee mumbles. I shrug. The Hyuugas aren't something I worry about most days. "They will want to see first hand what I can do."

"I say you let them keep guessing." Naru-nii says, grinning – I can hear it in his voice. "Show only what you need to for the promotion."

"Sound advice." I agree with him. "But that's your call to make."

"Nn." Hina-nee noises, uncertain what she wants.

"Eyes on the prise, Hinata." I remind her; focus on the mission.

"Nn." She noises again, the steel in her spine finally showing.

"No matter the outcome. I'm proud of you, Hinata." I whisper, knowing she'll hear me. Even from the corner of my eye, I can see pride in her eyes. Good. Let the Hyuugas see the lioness, not the timid mouse. Let them see everything they never wished to see before.

"Thank you all for coming!" Hokage-dono begins, kick-starting the tournament. He says a 'few' words, before announcing that the tournament may begin.

"Everyone but Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, please go up to the fighters' balcony." The proctor announces – some guy I've never met. His scent is familiar though. I think he's usually in Hokage-dono's office.

Everyone starts heading towards the door that would lead up to the balcony, but I stay for a second longer. Naruto-nii and I exchange a look, before we bump fists. We know what's at stake, and we know we will not fail Hokage-dono.

"Uchiha Sasuke! To the Areana!" The proctor plays ignorant. We know where he is, and it certainly isn't in Konoha. They're probably playing this off as him being late, or whatever.

-Yo, broody. I can't believe you're late for your Chuunin Exam debut!- Naruto-nii teases.

-Hnn. It's the only way you'll look good.- Sasuke teases right back. I can hear the smirk in his voice. I let them hear me giggling through the seal.

"Winner by default, Uzumaki Naruto!"

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Naruto-nii complains.

-Winner by default.- I update Sasuke, a smile in my voice. This time Sasuke's chuckle comes through the seal.

"Will Hyuuga Hinata and Namiki Aya please enter the arena!"

8-8

And so, here we are. Hinata and I. In front of the village, in front of her clan, and essentially everyone we hold dear. I wonder why I feel someone in the crowd staring at me harder than anyone else; the feeling disappears as soon as I look around.

"You ready for this?" I ask Hinata. She nods, obviously feeling nervous. "Eyes on the prise." I remind her. She takes a deep breath, calming her nerves as best she can.

"Combatants Ready? Begin!"

Neither of us move.

Her words from earlier this week resurface. How she asked me –demanded really– to really fight her, so that she can see for herself just what she can do. I smirk. A proud lioness awaiting a challenge to overcome.

I whip out my flute. She's quick to do the same. However, she also activates her Byakugan; the veins around her eyes bulge, almost looking painful. So, Hinata. Let's see, once and for all, just how far you've come then.

I start playing a random song, and dash for her. When I'm about halfway to her I start my Sound Release: Siren's Call, but she's quick to use the Offsetting Sound to counter it. I fly towards her with a Flying Tiger Knee, but does a backwards somersault at the last second to dodge. I know she'll take advantage of this, try to use her momentum to scare a kick, so I position my right shin, and lock it in place.

She doesn't disappoint. Using a Gentle Fist styled kick, I feel one of my chakra pathways shut down in my shin. Yeah, about what I figured. I should have just substituted, but I wanted to know if she could actually do that in this kind of situation. I know better now. We've never gone all out against each other, so I truly have no idea how far she can take this – though the same is true the other way around.

Landing with all my weight on my left leg, I'm already focusing on reopening the closed pathway. To make sure she doesn't try to take advantage of the opening, I create two Sound Release: Divine Hands (Ha! I finally have a name for my Step Three!) and four Sound Balls.

I keep the Divine Hands near me as a defence, sending the Sound Balls at her, and still trying to open that stupid pathway! Jeez, I've never had to reopen one before! And it's PAINFUL!

Seeing as both the Sound Balls and Divine Hands don't need a constant flow of sound waves, I refocus my Siren's Call, to force her to keep up her Offsetting Sound. I wonder if she'll be able to multitask as well as I've learned to, but seeing as she's keeping up… well, I guess she isn't going to fall behind so easily.

It takes me almost five minutes to reopen the chakra pathway she'd forcefully –and painfully– closed. All the while, she's dancing around my attacks and trying to hit my Sound Balls with one of her Gentle Fist styled kicks. She'd hit the Sound Balls a few times, but she wasn't expecting them to be flung into the distance like an actual ball. Her Sound Balls are decent, don't get me wrong, but they still explode on contact. Mine don't.

Having grown tired of this cat and mouse game, she slams her foot onto the ground, using the sound waves to create four of her own Sound Balls, which she slams into mine – all four, at the same time. The girl's good.

Just not good enough. Her four explode, mine are still in the running. And now that I'm back in the running, I can take this up a notch again. I put away my flute, unsheathing my tanto. Her eyes widen slightly, shocked, as I start to sing and keep up my Siren's Call. And, oh yes, those four Sound Balls and two Divine Hands, as still VERY MUCH active and pushing her to her limits.

But, what's the fun of getting into her effective range for her Hyuuga styled pokes again? No, no, no. That's not what this is about. Instead, I snap and create two more Divine Hands.

I'm starting to feel the mental strain though. I mean, focusing on maintaining four Sound Balls, four Divine Hands, Siren's Call, and keeping the chakra moulded and prepared for my own Offestting Sound, should Hinata figure out a way to cast a sound release genjutsu… It's a… bit taxing.

Still, this way I'll know what my own limits are – something I've never truly tested.

With no reason not to, I send two Divine Hands towards Hinata, keeping the last two behind me as a backup. She starts sweating, obviously wondering just what in the hell I'm still capable of. I smirk a little, but luckily it doesn't affect my singing.

There's suddenly a look of intense focus on her face. Crap. She's figured a way out.

Without warning, her hands –including her flute– fly down to waist level, and she lets out a screech that would make Haruno-san jealous. A bubble –a single sound wave, really– erupts from her, and all six of my jutsus fizzle out of existence at once. Interestingly, the rocks within the blast radius all shatter and the blades of grass wilt. I figured. Sound Release: Acidic Screech. Her range isn't too impressive yet, but I'm just glad I'm well outside it… I've never seen that jutsu's effect on a human target, and I'm not planning on being the first either.

I'm so shocked that I stop singing, but I don't lose focus on my two surviving Divine Hands – thank Kami-sama. So if she tries to Body Flicker behind me for a surprise attack, she knows she'll get a nasty surprise herself.

"Not bad, Hina-nee. Not bad at all." I compliment her.

She snorts, breathing hard. "I can't believe how much force it took… Those Sound Balls you make… How…?"

"All things in time." I shrug, obviously not willing to explain it in front of thousands of onlookers. I briefly wonder if anyone in the crowd even knows how intense that little scuffle was, but I seriously doubt it. I do notice that everyone's on the edge of their seats though, so they are obviously enjoying the show.

I give Hinata a moment to catch her breath. I know an opponent wouldn't ever do something so silly, but I want to see what else she can do. I now know her sound release limits, but that leaves out kenjutsu, medical jutsu, sealing jutsu… so many yummy things.

Once Hinata's caught her breath, she unseals Saki's new sword. "Sakiko asked me to use her sword against you. So we could tell her just what it's capable of." She explains. I study the sword for a second. The jagged, bone-like teeth almost making it look like a double sided saw – if a very narrow one. I don't doubt for a second it'll make sound waves, and that it's sharp… but I've never really seen what it can do either.

"Meh. Whatever." I allow my two Divine Hands to unsheathe my kodachis, sending them over to Hinata. If she wants to test something that could potentially harm people… well, she can do that OVER THERE! Far away from me.

Just in case she gets any bright ideas, I make two more Divine Hands and keep them behind me once again.

I hear a shocked noise –a collective shocked noise– from the crowd. Seeing two swords dancing around in thin air would surprise anyone, I suppose.

The reason I always make my Divine Hand in pairs is actually quite simple. One is a right hand, the other a left. Somehow that helps me focus on them. So my ethereal right hand tries stabbing Hinata, but she parries and knocks my kodachi with her… saw-sword (I guess). I hear a very distinct low pitch erupt from the brief contact. I thought so. And with Hinata's Byakugan active, there's no way she won't notice how intense that sound is. The more intense the base sound, the more you can amp it up, the more dangerous it becomes in sound release jutsu.

This might very well become a dangerous match. Good.

My ethereal left hand and right hand start attacking her using the same Earth Fang style I've learned. Focusing earth release chakra into the blades to make them stronger, heavier, and swiping at her over and over again to test her defences. She dodges them all, having seen just how dangerous this style is during my spars with Mitarashi-san, and tries to knock my kodachis as hard as she can with the saw-sword.

The only trouble with making my kodachis heavier, is that they pack more of a punch in every attack. That's bothersome, because the more energy in each strike, the more noise that stupid sword makes, the more decibels she generates for her sound release jutsu.

I'm not too surprised when, after hitting both kodachis at once, she using the nearly deafening sound waves for another Acidic Screech, decimating my two Divine Hands once again. Both kodachis drop instantly, but aren't damaged – thank Kami-sama! They weren't cheap!

Hinata seals her blade, picks up mine and throws them to me. My two remaining Divine Hands catch them and resheathe them. I just shake my head, wondering about how this match is going. "Alright, you win that one." I say honestly. I should have known that would happen, but I needed to be sure. And besides, it's not like I risked anything!

"So it's one-one." She grins. I shrug. "We both know you could have taken me earlier." I shrug again. "Medical jutsu this time?"

I sheathe my tanto, blazing through the handsigns for the Chakra Scalpel. She's quick to do the same. There's once again a collective gasp. The crowd obviously didn't expect us to have this broad a jutsu repertoire.

"One thing though…?" She looks curious, wondering what I want to know. Before she can get over her –brief– distraction I shoot a mud ball at her. She slices it in half with her Chakra Scalpel. I nod. She could probably behead me with that jutsu. I'd better be careful. "Good. Shall we?"

I Body Flicker to her, trying to slice her in half with my left hand. She ducks under the attack, trying to clip my with her right foot – Hyuuga styled poke included, I'm afraid. I sidestep, firing off three mud balls at point blank range. She slices two of them in half again, and tilts her head to one side to avoid the third.

This continues for another few minutes. Both of us testing the other's defence, and both of us being SUPER careful to not get cut in half. Between dancing around the Konoha Medic Style taijutsu –meant to focus on sweeping motions to maximize the effectiveness of using Chakra Scalpels– and trying to create openings with her water bullets and my mud bullets…

I eventually just accept that this is getting us nowhere. We're equally matched. So instead, I start playing dirty. A Mud Flow River here, a Earth Spike there, anything to create the opening I need. But she's just so… fluid with her movements that I can't seem to hit her at all. All those suicidal trainings with Mitarashi-san are paying off.

"Fine. That isn't working at all." I complain. I'll just have to lure her into a trap then. Let's see. I have more than enough mud lying around that's soaked with my chakra. And I have a few nasty surprises still up my sleeve.

I release the jutsu, seeing the green chakra surrounding my hands fade. She's quick to do the same, but she blazes through some handsigns. She tries catching me off guard with a crack from her water whip. I snap, creating a Sound Barrier to keep that at bay, then a stomp the ground with the needed moulded chakra. I smirk when she realises what just happened. Earth Release: Eject. I just love this jutsu, I really do.

She flies up a good twenty metres in the air – she'd tried sticking to the ground as it rose up beneath her, so she didn't fly up nearly as far as she might have. To try to minimize the damage, she casts Water Release: Water Prison around her. Interesting choice, but that might backfire. I stomp the ground again, and a ramp jumps up to meet her, turning her downwards momentum into sideways momentum. She crashes into the arena wall, disoriented and dizzy from rolling at such a high speed. Lucky for her, her Water Prison takes the worst of the damage, even as it ruptures and splashes everyone around her – even some of the nearby spectators.

I body flicker to her, unsheathe my tanto once again and place it against her windpipe. "Not bad. Not bad at all." I compliment her. "Try to focus more on strategy next time, and not so much on countering mine." I tell her.

"Proctor I forfeit!" I announce, resheathing my tanto and offering my sister a hand up. Her eyes are slow to focus, obviously still trying to regain her bearings. So instead, I pick her up, bridal style, and walk to the centre of the arena. Hinata's caught her second wind by the time I get there, so I carefully drop her to her feet.

"Winner by forfeit, Hyuuga Hinata!" The proctor calls it. The crowd goes wild! I don't care who they cheer for, to cheer for either of us is to cheer for Konoha. And I can live with that.

"Don't let me down, Hina-nee. I know you can be awesome when you put your mind to it."

8-8

Having made our way back up to the balcony, Naruto-nii is quick to engulf both of us in a hug. He gushes about how awesome we were and how 'totally badass' that match was, and a whole lot of crap like that. I smile, mostly for his sake and because I'm proud of Hina-nee with how far she's come.

"Next match! Will Temari of Sand and Nara Shikamaru please come down to the arena!" The proctor announces. I roll my eyes, hearing my annoyed brother complaining over and over again about troublesome matches and troublesome women and troublesome exams. He's not looking forward to this at all.

"Shika-nii, you know you have to fight at least one match. Mom'll be totally unreasonable if you don't." I remind him. He sweatdrops, knowing I'm right.

"Yeah, Shikmaru! Come on! You can do it!" Naru-nii announces, slapping his shoulder so hard that the sudden momentum forces him a little too far over the railing and he falls down into the arena bellow. I swat Naru-nii, hard. But he just grins, knowing he did the only thing that might have gotten that boy down there. Temari makes her way to the centre of the arena, presenting herself before the crowd once again.

"Combatants ready? Begin!"

Nothing happens. A whole minute passes and Shika-nii is still just laying there on his back like he was when he landed. He's still muttering and glaring dully at a more than amused, blond Uzumaki. I find myself wondering how he'd survive if we dragged him into our training regimen.

Temari's losing her patience though. "OI! Are you just going to lie there all day!?" She bellows, unimpressed with her opponent.

"I don't think she understands what she's doing." I point out. "Trying to motivate a Nara? What if she succeeds?" Naru-nii and Hina-nee laugh nervously, as the three of us wonder how this will play out.

Temari's patience eventually wears out, and she flicks open her fan. With a HUGE swat from it, a focused gust slams into the spot Shika-nii is laying down. I grin a little too widely. If there's anything Shika-nii hates, it's people making fun of his friends… and people not respecting that he just wants to be lazy.

I'm not in the least surprised to see the top of his head a few metres above the dust cloud that covers where he was lying down a second ago.

"I swear. Blondes are just naturally troublesome." I hear him muttering. I grin a little wider, knowing he's saying that for Naru-nii to hear.

"Any time, Shika-chan!" I giggle at the expected, and more than a little annoyed, groan.

But… that giggling dies down when the intensity of his focus grabs my attention. All I feel now is pity. Pity for the girl that has to face that lazy ass now that he's at least halfway motivated.

"Oi! Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to wake someone while their napping!?" I can't see from this angle, but I can hear that annoyed frown in his voice. Temari is NOT going to enjoy what comes next. I promise that much.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's rude to make a lady wait?" Temari counters.

Shika-nii snorts. "Yeah, usually a girl that makes me wait an hour and complains that I make her wait five minutes."

"HEY!" I never made you wait any more than… a half hour! At most!

"If the shoe fits, sis." He says, smirking. I grumble, hating his stupid idiocy. "Oi! I'll make you a deal. Forfeit now, and we won't have to fight at all." Ouch. That means he has a plan, but still isn't really motivated enough to want to put it into action.

"What kind of an idiot do you take me for!?" She sounds upset. Severely upset. Too bad. Obviously she's an uninformed idiot.

"Fine." Shika-nii complains, hating that it's come to this. "Don't say I didn't offer." Without warning, ten kunai are tossed and imbedded into the ground in a straight(ish) line between him and his opponent. For some reason there's a notable gap in the middle. Not one of them comes close enough to trigger any warning bells in Temari. That's a mistake in and of itself. If Shika-nii does something, anything, you can bet your last Ryou (or even your last piece of chocolate) that he's doing it for a reason.

Then one more kunai is tossed, this one with a lit explosive note, right towards Temari. She, of course, casts a wind jutsu at it to send it back to its owner, but it explodes safely about halfway between them. I smirk. A smokescreen.

After the fire – and the light from it – dies down, and all that's left is a cloud smoke, I see Shika-nii's shadow shoot down the wall, connects with the kunais in the floor and uses the shadow from the smoke cloud the extend his reach even further.

"Shadow Possession jutsu, successful." That boy's scary when he wants to be. And he hasn't even moved. I can't see her from here, but I know better than to doubt that boy when he gets like this. "You remember when I offered to let you forfeit? You're going to regret not taking that opportunity." He makes a funny movement with his arms, then it almost looks like he's banging something against his own forehead. Hard.

He releases his jutsu a second later, his shadow returning to him and picking up his wayward kunai along the way. He puts them all back into his pouch before doing a funny somersault. Ah, he was standing on two kunai embedded in the wall, which we wanted to reclaim as well. The second he lands on the ground, his back to his opponent, he announces the most interesting thing I've heard all day:

"Proctor, I forfeit." And he just walks off, no longer caring.

When the smoke clears, I find an unconscious Temari, slumped over her closed war fan, and bleeding pretty badly. Ah… He forced her to beat herself with her own fan. Ouch. That's… a bit harsh, Shika-nii.

And what's worse, she can't be tended to by a medic so long as she's still in the 'tournament'. That means she'll just have to make do with the bleeding, the obvious concussion this will give her, and whatever other problems that could mean. Poor thing.

"Winner by forfeit, Temari of Sand!" The crowd isn't sure what the think about that.

8-8

Shika-nii and –a very unhappy– Temari are back on the balcony with us. I'm offer to tend to the girl's injuries, seeing as I'm a medic and all, but Kankuro turns me down. I shrug. Don't say I don't do nice things for bad people.

"Next match! Kankuro of Sand versus Aburame Shino!"

Kankuro and Aburame-san make their way down. I'm grinning like an idiot. I mean, I know Aburame-san well enough to know that Kankuro doesn't stand a chance. Poor Temari is left leaning against the wall, her wounds still bleeding – though the bleeding is slowing down. She'll pass out from blood loss in less than a minute, and that's if she's still conscious.

I groan, hating that I feel the urge to keep her from dying. So I walk over to her, ignoring the curious glare of her redheaded little brother, and I focus my jutsu to close her wounds. It takes me about a minute, but it's long enough to know I'm missing some of the action. Temari's eyes flutter open and are slow to focus on me. I unseal a bottle of water and a blood plasma pill.

"Take this. Now." I instruct. She's too weak from blood loss, so even though she tries, her hand-eye coordination is too shot to grab the little pill. I place it in her mouth and open the bottle to help her drink from it. She swallows a few times. I open her mouth manually, checking that the pill is indeed downed; it is. I nod, satisfied with my work, even though I hate how pale she looks. Still, she offers a little smile, before her eyes flutter –closing– and her breathing evens out. She's asleep. I shake my head, annoyed that her brother couldn't see that she'd die if nothing was done – not something I'd want Shika-nii to have on his conscience.

I manoeuvre the girl, so she's lying as comfortable as possible in the recovery position – on her side, so that if she throws up for whatever reason, she won't choke on it and die.

"Why did you save her?" The redhead asks in a dry monotone. He knows she would have died, no doubt about that.

"Why not?" I ask him right back. I lay the girl's fan behind her –so it's still close to her– and decide I've done all I can. I make my way back over to my spot between Shika-nii and Naru-nii.

"You didn't miss much. Shino's mostly busy laying his trap, and Kankuro's trying to keep as far away from the larger groups of bugs." Naru-nii gives me (rather vague) update.

I shrug, seeing Aburame-san, hands still in his pockets and looking as uninterested as ever, studying the desperately dodging Kankuro.

"Thanks, by the way." Shika-nii says, referring to Temari. I can tell from the tension in his voice and shoulders that he's more than a little upset that her brother refused care. I lean my head against his bicep, letting him know that he's more than welcome.

"Seriously though, sis. You're scary good. I hope I don't end up fighting you." Naru-nii teases. I roll my eyes, choosing not to comment.

Ooh! I think that ball of black over there is Kankuro getting devoured by bugs. "Proctor. I forfeit. Why, you ask? Because my allies have already gorged on too much chakra. It would be unwise to continue beyond this point." Oh, that is the biggest lie I've ever heard! He's just forcing Kankuro to stay here when he's all but useless.

"Winner by forfeit, Kankuro of Sand!"

8-8

End Chapter 48

8-8

A/N: How interesting. The first round is over, but there seems to be so much going wrong here? Just what is happening behind the scenes? Well, I guess you'll just have to wait for the next chapter to find out!