This chapter was brought to you by Team Outback (Razamataz22 and Kakarot Son).

Disclaimer: Team Dragon Star does not own Naruto.

…

Sasuke groaned as he dropped to his bed, his eyes exhausted from having kept his bloodline activated for as long as he possibly could. It had only been two days since Kakashi had instructed him to keep it activated continuously, and one might have expected him to be making some form of improvement, but all keeping it active seemed to do was add upon the strain from the previous day.

It was a painful form of endurance training, one which Sasuke had never experienced the likes of before, but the young Uchiha knew that it was necessary. If he could minimize the strain of the Sharingan on his eyes, it would no doubt become far more valuable in combat. The fact that he had needed to deactivate it during his fight with Kiba in order to create a Shadow Clone was a testament to that fact.

Kakashi had explained that the Sharingan drained the body in a peculiar manner, and that a mere expansion of his reserves would not prove to be the solution he was looking for. It would help, no doubt, but the Sharingan would continue to eat up chakra at the same rate - it was the equivalent of buying time. So, unlike Sakura, he couldn't just exhaust his reserves repeatedly in order to improve his situation. He had to exhaust them by using the Sharingan, and the main issue with that was that it'd hurt like hell. The feeling was akin to a permanent headache and he was getting sick of it.

It was just about one o'clock in the afternoon by Sasuke's estimates, but all he wanted to do was fall over and die. He knew that the special form of training would reap him great benefits in the future, but the fact that he knew he wasn't even a third of the way through it made him shudder in anticipation whenever he thought of the oncoming days.

With his Sharingan deactivated - Kakashi had strictly warned him about the fine line between pushing his eyes to the limit and permanently damaging them - the Uchiha rolled his head to the side. However, he knew that he wouldn't be able to get any sleep… his eyes, and by proxy his head, hurt immensely, but the rest of his body wasn't even remotely close to being tired. Though he could use a Jutsu or two, Kakashi had also told him to try and limit the chakra he'd use during the next few days so more would be saved for his eyes to eat through. That, unfortunately, meant that Sasuke couldn't even dream about creating a Shadow Clone to spar with, and that he was limited to training with other people. The problem, however, was that Kakashi seemed to spend more time reading that book of his than actually sparring with the Uchiha, and Sakura - unlike the prior day - was off building a resistance to another kind of poison. With Naruto also still training with Jiraiya, that left the Uchiha thoroughly bored and unable to properly exercise his body - push ups got a little boring by the time you reached the two-hundred mark.

The black-haired boy let his thoughts drift off towards his blond teammate. He and Sakura had just about cracked the case; they were almost certain that Shikamaru's words were true. It explained so much about the boy's oddities, from the ungodly amount of chakra he had, to the whisker marks that adorned his face, and at the same time sounded like a good enough reason for Naruto to have unjustly been kicked out of the exam. Sasuke sure as hell didn't remember much about the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha - having just been a couple months old when it occurred - but he did know that the event had been a huge tragedy. Hundreds of Konoha's finest Ninja and their Hokage, all gone within a single night. Property damage that one could still see the aftermath of today. And many grieving families.

If Naruto did in fact have the Kyuubi sealed inside him, the Uchiha could see why someone might have bore a grudge against him for such a long period of time. Sasuke knew well enough that you only ever got one set of parents and once they were gone, they weren't coming back. In an almost ironic way, the Chunin's situation with Naruto - or rather the fox inside him - may have represented Sasuke's one with Itachi. It wasn't easy to forget and it was damn near impossible to forgive. While Sasuke wasn't happy about the fact that he had been kicked out of the Chunin exams, he wasn't so sure that he could blame the Chunin responsible that much… at least not anymore.

Then again, Naruto wasn't the Kyuubi. To blame him for the monster's wrongdoings would be somewhat akin to him going to the person who had trained Itachi and exalting his revenge upon them, just because Itachi was currently out of town. Sasuke grit his teeth and burrowed his head further into his pillow; this was too much to think about with the almost gut-wrenching pain of his overstrained eyes.

...

Sakura stood within the middle of the training ground, her eyes focused on her sensei who stood across from her, his single eye unwavering as he looked down at his pupil. He had just given her all of the knowledge needed in order to perform the technique and Sakura felt like she was ready.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Kakashi, who promptly received an affirmative nod from his pink haired student. "Proceed."

Slamming her hands into the patented seal, Sakura began to mould her chakra perfectly. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" she shouted before a burst of smoke appeared next to her, which soon revealed a perfect copy of the kunoichi standing there.

"Congratulations, you've created your first Shadow Clone," said Kakashi, showing genuine appraisal for the pink haired girl.

"That didn't seem as stressful as you made it out to be," said the original Sakura as she tried to figure out the toll on her chakra reserves.

"That would be because of the near perfect chakra control you possess," explained Kakashi. "With Sasuke, his chakra control isn't as good as yours and as such some of his energy goes to waste in creating the clone. That being said, his reserves are larger than yours so, like yourself, he doesn't truly feel the strain of creating a single clone."

"What about Naruto then?" asked Sakura, knowing how many clones the boy could seemingly pump out on an hourly basis.

"You can figure that one out on your own," said Kakashi, making the original Sakura and her clone scowl at their sensei. "There is something I will tell you, though, which neither of the other two boys know about Shadow Clones."

Now this was something that piqued Sakura's interest. Naruto had been able to perform Shadow Clones ever since they were put into the same team, and she was about to learn something that the blond didn't know about his patented technique. "What's that?" she asked, struggling to contain her excitement.

"Before I tell you, though, I want you to promise that you won't tell this to your teammates, as them knowing this information might lead to more trouble than anything else," said Kakashi sternly.

"Why don't we like the sound of this?" said the Sakura clone, speaking up for both her and the original.

"I promise," said Sakura before swallowing nervously, her previous excitement seemingly having been pushed to the side momentarily.

"Alright then. The way that Shadow Clones were used during the war was for information gathering more than anything else," said Kakashi as he began his explanation. "This was due to the fact that, when a clone disperses, the information they have gained during this time will be transferred back to the original. It's also useful for gaining experience. For example, if you and your clone trained for an hour, when the clone dispelled you would gain two hours worth of experience. The downside to this though is that it is stressful on the mind, as everything is filtered back to the original."

"I understand why you don't want Naruto and Sasuke to use the technique this way," said Sakura as she began to comprehend the possible repercussions. Both of her teammates would train themselves down to the bone on a regular basis as it was; if it were to be doubled, the mental strain along with the fatigue would be transferred, potentially putting them out of commision for some time.

"That, and I would also like them to discover this trait for themselves. Think of it as though I wanted to test them. Now since you are the most sensible of the three, I believe it would be worthwhile for your clone to continue your studies while you start to press forward in other fields. Don't think I haven't noticed the fact that you haven't done much Taijutsu training over the past couple of weeks; I believe it's time we rectified that," said Kakashi smiling behind his mask.

Sakura's face dropped slightly at that proposition as the Shadow Clone placed a hand on her shoulder. "I wish you luck," said the clone before leaving the original to Kakashi. Sakura could only swallow nervously as she slipped into her stance while Kakashi pulled out his porn, yet the pink haired girl knew that didn't give her any handicap whatsoever.

…

"You want me to fight… Hanabi?" Hinata questioned, not quite understanding what her father wanted from her.

"It has been quite a while since I have last been able to evaluate your combat skills," stated Hiashi with a curt nod. "Though I will likely be training your cousin, Neji, I would still like to have an indication of how you will perform during the exams."

"But Father, wouldn't it make more sense for me to fight Neji nii-san?"

"Perhaps, but I believe such a battle would be best saved for the exam," said Hiashi. What he didn't add however was that he wanted to see just how capable Hinata was. Hanabi was a formidable foe when she wanted to be, but Hinata was easily in her league. She was not in Neji's. "As for your own skills, do you not believe that a spar between you and your sister would help you prepare for what lay ahead?"

Hinata paused at those words because truly, she didn't know what lie ahead. Her first round match was to be against Ino, the ever popular kunoichi, before she would tackle either one of her teammates who walked away victorious from the opening bout. Although she would never say it, her money was on Shino.

"Are you feeling well?" asked Hiashi at his daughter's hesitation, worrying it had something to do with the dark seal that was engraved upon her skin.

"Yes, Father," said Hinata, snapping back to attention.

"Good, I shall tell your sibling to report by the main sparring grounds in half an hour. I believe that it will be enough time for you to properly prepare yourself," declared Hiashi before he walked away from his eldest daughter.

Hinata, meanwhile, remained rooted to the spot. Her mind travelled back to the last time she and Hanabi had battled one another, and how she had come out second best on that occasion. She remembered the looks on the elders' faces, how they were almost disgusted by the fact that the person who was meant to be the clan heir had been toppled so easily by a child half her size.

Her thoughts soon drifted towards Naruto, and she couldn't help but wonder what he would think if she lost this upcoming battle. While Hinata was almost certain that the blond would be supportive, there was a menacing little voice probing at the back of her head, telling her that if she were to lose then, there would be no comforting words from Naruto and she would find herself looking at his back as he walked away from her fallen figure.

Clenching her fist, Hinata silently declared that she would not hold back.

…

Sakura frowned slightly as she waited for Sasuke to go and fetch their blond teammate. It had taken forever for her to get the stubborn Uchiha out of his bed, the boy having apparently fallen asleep because of the strenuous training he had been doing, and only then had she realised that they still needed to grab Naruto.

Kakashi-sensei had ordered her to report back at their usual meeting spot once she had finished her little Taijutsu "session" with him. Every part of her body still ached from it, and she couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy knowing that her two male teammates naturally had body strength which she would have to work for. However, at the same time, she wasn't sure if she could complain that much - she was certainly stronger than her two teammates in other areas. Though Sasuke - and hell even Naruto - had brains and could use them when they wanted to, it was no secret that she was easily smarter than the two of them put together. Then there was also the fact that she had near perfect control, something that neither of the boys had quite yet come close to so far.

She wasn't the strongest by a longshot, but she wouldn't exactly call herself weak either. Sighing, the cherry blossom-haired girl looked over the bridge. Where exactly was Kakashi anyway? He had already been late once today, and Sakura wasn't sure she'd be very tolerant if he showed up late once again for the meeting he had called at seven in the evening. She eyed the slightly wavy water down below. It was truly a shame that Shadow Clones couldn't be used to improve her chakra reserves.

As soon as the thought passed through her head, she almost hit herself for being so stupid. Of course they could be used to improve her chakra reserves, since creating one alone took a lot of chakra. It was control that they couldn't help with, but given that, up until this point, chakra control exercises had been her best bet at exhausting her reserves, she was pretty happy to realise that she had another alternative. No wonder Naruto loved the damn things so much, they were pretty incredible even if the blond didn't know half the practical applications of them.

Sakura was surprised to hear the footsteps of Sasuke and Naruto approach her. She must have lost sense of time while she'd been thinking about Shadow Clones.

"Hey, Naruto…" she said awkwardly as she acknowledged the boy's presence. He reciprocated with an equally awkward greeting. Truth be told, things had been uncomfortable between the trio of teammates ever since the non-blond members had heard Shikamaru's revelation.

"So where exactly is Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sasuke, as he clutched his forehead. Sakura frowned deeply; he didn't look so good. The combination of the Sharingan and bloodshot eyes was not a pretty one.

"Right here," the familiar muffled voice of their sensei rang out through the area, as he appeared out of seemingly nowhere, the only clue that he had not been present the entire time being the thin wisps of white smoke floating away from his backside.

"Good, everyone's finally here," Sakura said dryly, an almost sarcastic tone to her voice. A day of exhausting herself by using Shadow Clones followed by the most vicious Taijutsu beat-down she had ever received had her ready to fall over and collapse. The fact that both Naruto and Kakashi seemed none-the-wiser about this - Sasuke probably looked worse than she did - had her rather irritated. "Now Kakashi-sensei, would you mind telling us what you called us here for?"

"Meh, what's gotten into you, Sakura? You're in a big rush all of a sudden," said Kakashi trying not to chuckle lightly, "Anyway, we're going on a mission."

"Really?" asked Naruto, pure glee visible in his eyes.

"I picked up a couple of scrolls," said Kakashi as he reached into his Jounin vest and pulled out a few scrolls. Handing them to Sakura, he continued, "It's up to you guys to choose which one you want to do, but remember with most of the other Genin busy preparing for the exams, there has been a buildup of D ranked missions."

"End-of-day D-ranked missions, oh joy," said Sasuke with sarcasm practically oozing from his lips.

"Now, now, don't be like that, Sasuke, because there is a way we can turn this into a training exercise," stated Kakashi, which quickly peaked their attentions. "One of the scrolls I gathered was for babysitting for a merchant family, while the other one is from the Akimichi family, many of whom have come down with something and they need somebody to wait tables at their restaurant. To make this a training exercise we're going to do both missions at once."

"What? How!" shouted Naruto, having no real clue.

"We're going to use Shadow Clones," stated Sasuke, quickly figuring it out.

"Correct," said Kakashi. "Because of this, you can put your current conditioning on hold until tomorrow morning, Sasuke."

Sasuke could say that he had never been so happy to remove the chakra from his eyes, the red seeping away before they turned back to their natural black. Blinking a couple of times, he tried to get readjusted into just having his normal eyes back, even if it was only temporary.

"While this isn't so much a training exercise for Naruto since he can create dozens of clones, you are each to create a single clone and send it off to do the babysitting job; one which my own Shadow Clone will join you on," said Kakashi.

"Wait, Sakura can make Shadow Clones now?" asked Naruto looking over at his pink-haired teammate, who only stuck her tongue out playfully as a response.

"While that is going on, the three of you will wait tables and come night's end when everything is over, you'll get paid for both missions and can head home with some more money in your pocket. Then starting tomorrow, while we are doing our training sessions, we will have clones go and do missions so that the higher ranking ninja aren't suddenly found hunting for Tora," stated Kakashi.

The three Genin couldn't help but smile at that; it created so many opportunities that the other Genin teams couldn't. They wouldn't have to spend endless hours painting houses or something along those lines, where instead they would be progressing on their strength both individually and as a team. This was something they could definitely work with.

...

Hanabi bounced off the ground with a small gasp of pain before skidding to a halt, quickly getting to her feet to encounter the next wave of attacks that came her way. Since Hinata wasn't attacking at this very moment, she believed that she was being given a brief reprieve from her older sister; out of pity or boasting how much better she was, it was hard to tell.

For those who had decided to watch the bout, they couldn't have been much more shocked with the turn-around. The last time these two had fought, it had been a dominant showing by Hanabi. This time, however, it was Hinata that was dictating the fight. All hesitation and all remorse had been removed, and many imagined that in this mind frame, the once timid girl could even go toe to toe with Neji.

Hanabi, having seemingly had enough with being on the back foot, let her emotions take over as she charged forward in a desperate attempt to gain some ground back on her older sister. Thrusting her palm forward, Hanabi's attack looked like it was going to strike, until Hinata knocked it away at the last second, opening up the younger girl's ribs before driving a fist square into the open area.

While many of the Hyugas watching were slightly confused as to why a Juken strike hadn't been thrown from the sickening crack, they couldn't say that the attack hadn't been effective. Hanabi's scream pierced the walls around them as she cradled her broken ribs in pain and agony, tears streaming down her face. Sadly, her pain wouldn't end there, as Hinata's fist came crashing into her nose, sending a wave of blood flying through the air as she dropped to the ground.

"Hinata, that's enough!" declared Hiashi from his position. Yet his words fell upon deaf ears as Hinata lifted her hand back once more, this time preparing to deliver a Juken strike. Black markings danced upon her skin as her strike descended. Hanabi managed to put up a feeble defence for her effort but the result was her forearm taking the blow, her bones breaking with a horrendous crunch.

Hinata didn't slow down however as she lifted her arm back once more, intending on finishing this fight like a shinobi would on the battlefield.

She had to do this, she wouldn't be weak.

Not in front of her family.

Never in front of Naruto.

As Hinata's palm descended towards Hanabi's chest, Hiashi quickly leapt in and intervened. Within seconds, all the clan heir could see was black, her father having knocked out her unsuspecting form. Holding his oldest daughter in his arms, Hiashi summoned two members of the branch family to quickly take Hanabi to the hospital as he could only imagine the amount of damage her petite body had sustained at the hands of her sister.

Walking through the hallways, Hiashi eventually came to Hinata's room and deposited the unconscious girl upon her bed, the black markings having retreated back within the seal. Looking down on her while she looked calm and peaceful for the time being, he was well aware that the darkness inside her was spreading and she needed an outlet to vent out this menacing aura. Otherwise, who knew what the consequences would be.

…

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