Well, once again, a massive THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed last chapter! It was great to read all the feedback. I'm sorry if this story isn't perfect – I know it has a lot of room for improvement, so a thank you to those who point out the mistakes and help me along.
The beginning is there because, damn, I couldn't resist. I love writing Akane and Kaoru together - I haven't developed their characters as much as I should've had in the beginning, so now this plot bunny won't go away... Eh.

Hope you enjoy!

Kaoru stirred slightly before he groaned, his neck feeling five hundred different types of uncomfortable. He felt a light pressure on his chest and side, and he looked down to check what it was; his eyes widened when he noticed two heads of pink and red, respectively.

The events of the day before came flooding back, and the brunette felt a smile pulling on the corners of his mouth. They must've all fallen asleep at some point, and it was just his luck that he was chosen as the cushion. He tried to wiggle free, being extra careful about how he moved in order to not wake up his teammates. He managed to move Sakura's head to the pillow without waking her up, but moving Akane seemed a lot more complicated – his head was on Kaoru's stomach, hands clutching his shirt in an iron grip and the brunette took pity on him and stopped moving, because Akane looked so calm and relaxed when he slept. Without nonsense spewing from his mouth every three seconds and sarcastic remarks, but wait, was he dribbling? Any thoughts he might've had about letting the redhead sleep immediately disappeared, and Kaoru gave a none-too-gentle shove which succeeded in getting Akane's head off of his stomach, but also caused the redhead's head to thump against the wall, thereby waking him up.

"Ow… five more minutes…" Kaoru tried to stop it, he really did, but he couldn't help himself. He burst out laughing. The sudden sound startled Akane, making him jump and forcefully pry his eyes open. "Huh…? Oh, hey, Kaoru-chan. Whatcha doing here?" the redhead mumbled sleepily.

Kaoru snorted. "You fell asleep on me, you baka." He enlightened the smaller teen.

"Mmhmm… wait, really?" seeming to only just realise his position, Akane giggled happily. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, you were a really comfy pillow, Kaoru-chan." He teased.

"Oi, watch what you're saying!" Kaoru chastised, but there was no real bite behind his words.

"Yes, mother. Sorry, mother." Akane mocked in reply.

The two shared a laugh and the redhead rested his head on Kaoru's stomach, this time fully conscious, and he brunette briefly considered pushing him off, just for the fun of it, but decided against it.

"Should we wake her up?" Akane asked, and Kaoru belatedly realised that he was referring to their still asleep pink-haired teammate.

"No, let her sleep. I'm pretty sure it's the first decent night's sleep she's gotten in a while." Kaoru retorted.

"Huh? How can you tell?"

"Well, mainly because it's already ten o'clock and she's still out cold." The brunette replied in a 'duh' tone. Akane rolled his eyes, catching onto the mocking tone, but before he could come up with a biting retort, his stomach growled like a fell beast making Kaoru chuckle, and the redhead blushed, half in embarrassment, half in annoyance. "Come on, you idiot. We're going to find some food."

At the prospect of food, Akane brightened up and leapt off the bed, readjusting his scroll while Kaoru made sure the duvet around Sakura was tucked in and the rosette herself was still asleep.

"Right. Let's go."

When Sakura woke up, she was feeling much better than she had in a while; she was warm, comfortable, and well-rested. She opened her eyes and took a minute to take in her surroundings, letting the events of the previous day filter through. The rosette sighed happily, glad that there was no imminent danger, or wounded teammates who needed tending to, or a creepy snake Sannin trying to kill her. For once she could just rest. Rest, without a care in the world about anything.

But she knew she had to get out of bed at some point, because her stomach was screaming at her to get some food, and she had a really bad craving for dango. Although she regretted her decision the moment she pulled the blankets off of herself and felt just how cold the room was, she ploughed on and walked out of the room in search of the kitchen.

Five minutes of searching later, she stopped. No, she wasn't lost. Sakura Haruno was never lost. She was just… mapping out the site; that was it. Suddenly, she sensed it.

The same, monstrous chakra she felt back at the first exam, and she was distinctly aware of who it belonged to. Sakura could feel eyes on her, and as much as her pride didn't want to let her admit it, it made her uncomfortable. She grit her teeth, pushed down her fear, and turned around.

Insomnia-rimmed jade eyes stared at her, eyes that unsettled her so because they reminded Sakura of herself. Only his eyes showed that he bottled it all in, because he didn't have anybody who could help him. Yes, Sakura was all too familiar with his eyes; cold, empty, lonely, selfish, hateful.

But she wouldn't let emotions unsettle her. She collected herself, squared her shoulders and arched an eyebrow at the still redhead. "Yes?" she asked, voice void of emotion.

For a while - Sakura didn't know how long; minutes, maybe hours - it was silent. His gaze bore into her, burning a hole in her mind, trying, and perhaps succeeding, in reading her. Finally, she got a response.

"I want to crush you." The redhead hissed, eyes flashing dangerously. And the rosette had no doubts he would, because his eyes didn't lie – he was dangerous. But Sakura had always, for some odd reason, liked danger.

"I would like to see you try." She snarled back, a smirk pulling at her lips. The redhead's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, then almost immediately narrowed at the challenge. Before Sakura could so much as blink, thin tendrils of sand shot towards her, wrapping around her chest in a deathly grip, almost crushing her ribcage, and still tightening.

But he made the mistake of leaving her hands free, and Sakura wasted no time in twisting them up and creating her chakra dome, the solid chakra pushing the sand away and keeping it at a safe distance. The redhead, seeing his attack was blocked, pulled his sand back, but it was coiling like a snake, almost restless, at his feet, and Sakura could tell he wouldn't hesitate to use it. Keeping that in mind, she took the dome down, but was still prepared in case he decided to attack.

Sakura, not one to be outdone, decided to return the favour. Quicker than the redhead thought possible, she sprung up and was beside him, a kunai aiming at his abdomen. Gaara felt something trying to pierce through his clothes, but the sand reacted quickly, catching the kunai seconds before it could do any real damage.

They stood there, in silence, for a few seconds, neither moving, or trying to attack. The moment of aggression was gone, and instead they just stared at each other, jade on jade. Finally, Sakura forced herself to straighten and step back, smirking.

"So I guess I'm not the only one who has an impenetrable defence." She observed off-handedly, gauging the redhead's reaction. When all he did was stare, she decided it was safe and he wouldn't try to kill her. She took a deep breath, and addressed the issue which had been on her mind ever since she first laid her eyes on the redhead. "I do not know who or what you hate so much." She started, and his eyes widened at the fact that she wasn't running away. Not only that, she was talking to him. Gaara struggled to remember a time when somebody last talked to him without quivering in fear. It had to be… Yashamaru.

"But you must know that blind hatred won't lead you anywhere." Sakura inwardly chuckled at how similar this speech was to the one she had given four years ago. The circumstances were similar, she supposed, and yet she couldn't help but feel like a hypocrite. "Whether you hate because of the beast's influence, or because of your past, I don't know. But I do know what it feels like to hate. And it is pointless; instead of protecting yourself, you get hurt." With that, the rosette turned on her heel, fully intent on leaving, but something caught her ankle. She looked down. Sand.

"Don't… pretend like you know me." His voice, hoarse and raw with… something Sakura couldn't identify, rang in her ears. "I live only for myself, and fight only for myself. I hate, because hatred sheds a light on the pain and darkness caused by the constant loneliness. I hate because it makes me stronger." Sakura stood still, petrified. She used to have the same mind-set as him. Now it was gone, because she had Akane and Kaoru. But he had no one, she could tell. She could see in his eyes the same lonely, lost expression she had after her father's death. She held her breath as the redhead continued. "You have the same eyes as I do… the eyes, filled with hatred and death, that long for strength… just like mine… your eyes tell me how badly you wish to kill the one who put you through the hell called loneliness… just like I do!"

Sakura flinched. So, he had noticed what she had seen the first time. He noticed how similar they were. But he was wrong. She didn't hate anymore. She refused to live the life filled with loneliness and pain.

"Perhaps that was true… once. A long time ago. But not now." She replied quietly, trying to convince herself at the same time. "Now, I have a purpose. Now, I have a dream!"

The rosette heard a scoff behind her. "All that pointless talk of dreams and ambitions." The redhead spat the two words like they burned him. "What is the point of dreams if you cannot pursue them because your village views you as a tool, or a liability?"

Sick of the conversation, Sakura decided to go for the main strike. "Just because you're a Jinchuuriki does not make you a monster, or a tool." She whispered softly. Immediately, the sand around her ankle tightened so much she had to stifle a gasp of pain, and jerked her back to face the redhead.

His eyes blazed and he released an almost animalistic growl. "My father has been trying to get rid of me since I was six. He sends assassins, puts explosive tags under my beds, poisons my food. He created me as a tool to save the village, but now he and the whole village despise me, fear me. Now I'm a liability." He snarled. "So tell me, what impression does that give you? The only possible conclusion you can reach is that I am a monster, a broken tool. And I am not one to disappoint."

Sakura stood in silence, momentarily speechless. Gaara noticed that, and smirked coldly, a bitter look of understanding in his eyes. "You can't deny that. You have a way with words, probably the only reason I haven't killed you yet, but even you can't deny the inevitable; I live to kill. That is the sole purpose of my existence."

The rosette shook her head. Although she was determined to get to the bottom of this, she knew when she had pushed too much. Therefore, instead of replying and further aggravating the redhead, she almost lazily, channelled chakra into her captured ankle, breaking the sand's hold on her and taking a few steps away from Gaara. "I refuse to believe that is the only reason, your only purpose."

The redhead blinked, but the glare didn't leave his eyes. "Why do you care?" he hissed.

Sakura gave a small, bitter smile. "Because you were right. I used to be the same as you. But I changed. Which is why I know that it's possible, and that you cannot allow somebody else's opinion define you."

This time, when she turned on her heel and started walking, she was stopped yet again, the situation like a perfect deja-vu.

"What is your name?"

The rosette hid a smile at the question. Though she knew the intent behind it was by no means friendly, it was a good change from the bitter, hateful remarks before. She looked over her shoulder, the small smile still on her face. "Sakura Haruno. And yours?"

For a moment she thought the redhead wasn't going to reply, but he did, moments before dissolving into grains of sand. "Sabaku no Gaara."

Sakura waited a few seconds to make sure that he was truly gone before she sighed in relief. That was an… eventful morning. Feeling much worse than she did when she woke up, Sakura crept back to their room, ignoring her growling stomach in favour of the bed and the chance to sort out the mess of thoughts that was her mind.

The three days passed by in a blink once Akane had unravelled his scroll and pulled out chess, shogi, and cards, giving them the means and the time to relax and keep themselves entertained. Sakura also found out what Kaoru had shown the chunin who invaded his genjutsu – the rosette could have sworn she'd never laughed so much in her entire life.

Apparently, Kaoru wasn't limited to being able to show only his memories, and could also project his imagination onto others if they were caught in the genjutsu. The brunette told them that he imagined Ibiki in a pink, frilly dress and ballet flats, then made him dance in front of the chunin. When Kaoru had decided the chunin had seen enough, he imagined the cell in the T&I department they'd been forced to see and made Ibiki do his 'thing' – which basically involved sharp objects, torture, both physical and psychological - on the chunin. With the poor chunin mentally scarred and in pain, Kaoru had released the genjutsu.

Akane was rolling on the floor, tears spilling from his eyes from laughing so much. Sakura was slightly more composed, sitting on the bed with tears spilling from her eyes and stomach aching, but she just couldn't stop laughing.

"L-Let's agree to never piss o-off Kaoru-chan, how 'bout that, Sakura-chan?" Akane asked once he'd calmed down enough to speak.

The rosette could only nod, still snorting amusedly when she imagined Ibiki in a frilly dress.

"Kaoru, you'll be the death of us someday." She muttered quietly, still grinning.

"Hmpf. I still don't see what's so funny about it." The brunette humpf'ed, but he was smiling. "He had the gall to break into my genjutsu, something like that doesn't go unpunished in my books, Sakura-chan."

Sakura couldn't resist; she reached over and ruffled his hair, messing up the ponytail. "Oh, and by the way," she said, eyes returning to the chess board as she moved her queen up three spaces.

"Checkmate."

Before we knew it, we were summoned into the arena where all the other genin stood, a lot of them looking ruffled up and wounded. I sighed, relieved, when I saw that Neji had made it through, even if he was dirty and scratched all over. I only half-listened as the Hokage explained the rules, my brain shutting down the moment I heard the word 'preliminaries' leave his lips.

Ugh. That's such a bother. That means I'll have to come up with something new for the finals.

If you pass, that is.

I inwardly bristled. It seemed Inner still hadn't completely forgiven me. I will pass. I hissed inwardly. Do not forget that I have a certain Uchiha I wish to beat to the position of the youngest ever ANBU Captain. Failure is not an option right now.

I snapped to attention when the large screen slid open and the names began flashing on the screen.

Yoroi Akado vs Sasuke Uchiha.

I smirked, following the other genin to the stands, smirk widening as I realised that everybody had spread out, meaning that Kaoru, Akane and I were left pretty much to our own devices, and free to talk without the fear of being overheard as the other Konoha teams had squished together in order to be as far away from us as possible. I noticed Gaara's team, and the mysterious two-man team from Sound receiving the same treatment. I snorted.

"Excited?" Kaoru asked, casting me a sideways glance. I nodded slightly, sliding down the wall to rest in a sitting position.

"At least I know he's bound to put on a show." I muttered in response.

The match soon started, and I was glad to note that I was right. Even at a disadvantage, the Uchiha didn't disappoint. I was curious though, as to why he wasn't using his Sharingan. Suddenly, I realised why; red marks that faded into black began coiling up the Uchiha's neck, up his jaw then over his face. A weird chakra accompanied the marks. It was evil, foreign, and yet… familiar. Suddenly, Orochimaru's words echoed in my mind.

"I've succeeded in making the Uchiha into my puppet."

I cursed inwardly, bristling. So that's what he did. Sneaky bastard. I watched the match, curious as to what would happen once the marks settled, but I was surprised to see that they receded.

"Was that… Fuinjutsu? Or even, Juinjutsu?" Kaoru asked nobody in particular, but as his eyes met mine I knew he was thinking the same thing. I nodded, glancing back to the fight as I opened my mouth to speak, but was interrupted when a poof of smoke came from my right.

Kakashi appeared from the smoke, his eyes closed in that insincere eye-smile I had seen him give is students before. "Why do I get the feeling you kids are talking about things you shouldn't be talking about?" he asked teasingly, but there was a more serious note laced underneath.

"Perhaps because we are?" Kaoru replied with a raised eyebrow, regarding the jounin with a look of distaste on his face. I smirked.

"The seal on his neck," I pointed at the Uchiha, who was currently in mid-air with the Sound nin in front of him, the seal on his neck in clear view. "What is it?" I asked.

The smile on the jounin's face dissolved and he grew serious. "That's classified information, I'm afraid." He responded dryly, sternly.

"It's Orochimaru's, we've gathered as much." I replied in an equally dry tone, delighting in his momentary speechlessness.

"What we want to know is, are you going to let him roam around the Village, branded like a pig by an S-Rank criminal, or are you going to do something about it?" Kaoru finished for me, enjoying the fact that he got to bully the Copy-nin.

After a few seconds, Kakashi composed himself, the eye-smile back on his face. "That's for the Hokage to decide and you to forget about. This conversation never took place~." And just like that, he was gone.

Kaoru turned to me, an annoyed look on his face. "Well, that left us with even more questions, didn't it?"

I shook my head, watching as Sasuke slammed the Sound nin into the ground, then stood, waiting for the proctor to declare him the victor. "I don't know, Kaoru. I think I've had enough of meddling in other people's businesses, worrying over things that don't concern me." I watched as the Copy-nin appeared beside the raven, escorting him off the arena. Seconds before they disappeared, the jounin sent us a meaningful glance, the message in that lone coal eye clear. "I think I may take his advice and stay out of this one."

The brunette stared at me for a few seconds, as if trying to figure out if what I said was the truth, before he shrugged and turned back to watch.

"Sasuke Uchiha; the winner of the first match." And so, the next rounds began.

Shino Aburame vs. Zaku Abumi

Kankuro vs Misumi Tsurugu

Hikari Teppei vs Ino Yamanaka

Temari vs Tenten

I watched disinterested, as the names flashed by, and considered taking a nap. None of the genin, perhaps apart from the Sand team, had shown anything even relatively interesting. I cracked my eyes open to check the next two unfortunate souls who would be pitied against each other, and my heart skipped a beat.

I wiped my eyes to check if maybe the drowsiness had made my vision blurry, but when I opened them, the board hadn't changed.

Kaoru Yuhi vs Akane Satoshi

I sent a worried look over at the two, but they, like me, were frozen in place, unable to do anything other than stare at each other in utter disbelief.

"Kaoru Yuhi and Akane Satoshi. Get down here, please." The proctor's voice rang through the arena. But the boys were too stupefied to move. I sighed, and glared, first at the board, then at the proctor, and finally at the Hokage. The old man met my gaze and shook his head, as if he knew what I was thinking. Can they not be paired with someone else?

I stood up and approached my teammates, laying a gentle hand on their shoulders. I didn't say anything. I didn't need to.

It seemed as if my touch had shaken them out of whatever thoughts they were caught in, and their eyes connected. Wordlessly, they shrugged off my hand on their shoulders and headed to the stairs in silence. They stood opposite each other, not meeting the other's eyes while they waited for Hayate to begin the match.

Naruto's voice cut through the silence. Even when whispering, everybody still heard him. I sighed. A wall would be stealthier than him. "Hey, but aren't they, like, teammates? That would be like me having to fight Hikari-chan or, or Sasuke-teme! Totally not fair, dattebayo!"

A few murmurs echoed through the arena now that people realised they were teammates. I ignored them, and settled for watching the two, curious as to how the battle would progress.

"You may begin!" the proctor announced and backed away, probably expecting them to attack immediately due to the tension they were emitting.

No such thing happened.

Instead, they stood opposite each other, both looking excited but full of regret at the same time.

"Well, Kaoru-chan, it seems that it's time to decide which one of us is stronger." the redhead announced, but his words lacked their usual cheerfulness. Kaoru sighed and nodded in agreement, yet he didn't look too happy about the turn of events either. It was clear that neither teen could find in himself to be the first to attack.

"I wish it didn't have to be this way..." Kaoru sighed, taking out a handful of kunai and reluctantly flicking them at the redhead. Akane dodged easily, twisting out of the way almost lazily, his eyes never leaving Kaoru's.

"Me too, Kaoru-chan. Me too." he agreed, and the brunette noted that he had never seen Akane so sad before. "But let's treat it as if it's just a normal spar, huh? That way we can still enjoy without being too bothered by who wins." the redhead suggested, a small, hopeful grin pulling at his lips.

The change was immediate.

Kaoru nodded, his face brightening as he settled into his preferred stance. "It's on, Carrot-boy." he teased.

Akane smirked. "You're gonna regret that."

Sakura was proud. It was the only thing she could think of while watching her teammates go at it. They'd been figh- no, sparring, because they weren't trying to kill each other, they were sparring – for a good half-an-hour. And while during the previous fight, after ten minutes everybody was getting a bit bored, here, during Akane and Kaoru's fight, all the Konoha genin watched with bated breath and eyes wide in awe.

It was more like a dance than a fight, really.

The duo manoeuvred around each other with practiced ease, executing each jutsu flawlessly, throwing kunai, shuriken, and punches every two seconds just to try and catch the other off-guard, and their pace never. slowed. down.

All of the little rookie genin were getting a taste of what real stamina meant.

"Are they ever planning on stopping?!" a boy with upside-down red triangles on his cheeks exclaimed, half amazed, half exasperated.

"Knowing Akane and Kaoru? No." Sakura replied, grinning when the boy jumped in surprise.

"And who are you?" he asked, eyes narrowed.

"Their teammate." The rosette said conversationally, shrugging. "Which is how I know that they're not going to slow down any time soon. They're having too much fun."

"Fun!?" oh, great. Now the blonde joined the conversation too. "But they're fighting!"

"No," Sakura corrected sternly, growing exasperated with every second. "They're sparring. If they were fighting, there would be a lot more blood involved."

Naruto and Kiba flinched simultaneously. Suddenly, a woman with brown hair and red eyes appeared behind the two. "The brunette keeps trapping the other one in a genjutsu, yet it's always broken almost immediately after he's cast it." The words themselves created a statement, but there was the silent question behind them. How?

"We learned how to break Kaoru's genjustu quite soon after we became a team. On the off-chance that he accidently trapped one of us instead of the enemy, we didn't want to be vulnerable because we didn't know how to break the illusion." Sakura explained patiently.

The two rookies lost interest as soon as the conversation started getting technical, so Kakashi saw fit to join in the conversation. "While what you say is true," he started. "Breaking through genjutsu is far above merely genin level."

Sakura sighed, immediately annoyed. She was tired of people being shocked at what her team could do. They have been genin for over two years, after all. "But I thought you realised that we're not exactly normal genin. We have more experience, and therefore, skill, than most of the kids gathered here. I'm not saying all," her eyes strayed to Gaara and his team, then Neji, before they finally came back to Kakashi and Kurenai. "But we're stronger than most. So I would appreciate it if you stopped being surprised by what we can do. Rank doesn't mean anything nowadays."

Kurenai nodded and turned back to watch the fight, but the Copy-nin was persistent.

"Yuhi… is he a distant relative, Kurenai?" Kakashi asked.

"A cousin." She replied distractedly. "Though I never knew… that he was this good."

"Like I said, rank and age don't mean much."

Everybody's gaze was drawn back to the battle as a massive fire dragon roared to life, headed straight for Kaoru. At the last seconds, the brunette managed to roll out of the way and the dragon collided with the wall. A massive heat-wave hit the audience.

"Ugh!" Sakura groaned as she shielded her eyes. "Seriously, Akane." She muttered irritably.

The rosette finally had time to take in their appearance; Kaoru was soaked, no doubt thanks to Akane's water jutsu, his hair had slipped out of the ponytail and surrounded his face in messy, brown locks, his shirt was ripped in a few places and his sleeve was singed, but other than that, he seemed fine. Akane, on the other hand, had cuts along his arms and neck, his shirt had a clean diagonal cut through it, from the left shoulder to his right hip, and his left ear was bleeding.

Overall, though, they looked much better than Sakura had expected them to.

"Stop trying to trap me in your damn genjutsu!" Akane exclaimed, looking annoyed. "Having to break them is making me tired!"

Kaoru smirked. "Then I guess you should do something to stop me from casting them." He remarked wittily, but cringed when Akane mirrored his smirk.

"I already did. Look down, Kaoru-chan." the brunette did as told and cursed inwardly. Shit, shit, shit!
Using small-talk to distract him, Akane had caught him in a chakra string trap. The redhead's chakra, coming all the way from his foot, across the floor and to Kaoru, was wrapped around the brunette's ankles and left hand, immobilizing them. Kaoru tried to move his hand and hissed when the chakra burned him. He looked up at Akane, a faux hopeless look in his eyes.

"Only my left hand? Why?" he asked, trying to stall for time to figure out how to get free. Akane chuckled.

"Well, for one, I know you're left-handed, and it'll take a bit of effort and time to reach across your body for your hip-pouch. Secondly, you're not the kid we met in the Land of Waves. I know you can't make hand-signs with only one hand." The redhead grinned, proud of himself.

Kaoru chuckled. "You're right. I'm not Haku. However, there is something I can do." as proof of his words, he raised his right arm to his lips and tugged down the sleeve with his teeth. On his forearm, in bold, black ink, was some kind of seal.
Akane wasn't too good in sealing, he had no idea what that particular one stood for. Kaoru, aware of that, explained.

"This seal activates what I had been working on for a while. It's not like my other genjutsu. I guess you could say that its similar to the Demonic Illusion Hell-Viewing Technique." he said thoughtfully. "Only this is real. It affects the brain's pain receptors, sending false signals of pain through the body. For example, if your biggest fear is fire, you'd see yourself burning and feel the flames licking at your skin. I'm not sure if you'd get actual burns though... Do you want to be my guinea pig?"

The redhead stared at Kaoru in surprise, half amused, half disbelieving. Then he chuckled.
"I guess we're both learning from Sakura, huh?" at the brunette's questioning look, he dug in his hip-pouch and pulled out a kunai.

Kaoru snorted when he noticed just what kind of kunai it was - the tip was dipped in something purple which he could only assume was poison, and there was a couple of exploding tags dangling off it.

"Really, Akane?" he asked, disbelieving.

Akane grinned, proud of himself. "Yup. Really. Overkill all the way. Even if you trap me in that magic genjutsu of yours, one of those is bound to get you. So, what's it gonna be?"

"Let's look at our options, shall we?" Kaoru's voice was serious, but there was a teasing glint in his eyes. Sakura smirked. She knew that now, they were simply playing around. All the real fighting was already over.

"Option one says we go through with it; I capture you in my genjutsu, you throw that magic kunai of yours, just for the hell of it. Option two; you see reason and give up, though I doubt it'll happen. Option three; I see reason and give up. That sure as hell ain't happening. And option four… we stop fighting altogether and try to figure out a way beneficial for both of us."

"So basically, what do we do when neither of us can get the upper hand, right?" the redhead asked, his eyes shining and a grin on his face. He wasn't worried. He'd made Kaoru treat him like an equal. He was happy.

"Yeah, in a nutshell, yes."

"Sooo…" Akane drawled, hesitant, unsure of how to start. It took a few seconds of silence, the duo exchanging glances every so often, as if exchanging ideas telepathically. And Sakura was pretty sure they were.

"The chakra level had jumped again." Kurenai muttered from beside the rosette. "Is it another genjutsu?"

"Probably." Sakura shrugged. But inwardly, she was smirking. She had a feeling she knew exactly which genjutsu the brunette had trapped Akane in; the same one which sent one of Ibiki's chunin to the Hospital for a thorough examination. Though this one was presumably without torture, just like the beginning where they could talk in the blank, empty expanse of Kaoru's mind before the chunin interrupted and changed it into a torture chamber.

"The levels are back to normal, so the genjutsu's gone. But it wasn't broken this time." Kurenai said, her tone bewildered. Sakura could only smile knowingly as her teammates seemed to snap back to reality, twin grins on their faces.

"Well, only one of us can go through to the next round." Kaoru stated matter-of-factly, as if continuing their previous conversation.

"But that's not very team-like, is it?" Akane teased, completely unaffected by their conflicting situation. As if he already knew what was going to happen.

"Exactly. And if only one of us can go through," Kaoru replied, a similar grin blooming on his face as his gaze connected with Akane's. "Then neither of us will." They said in unison.

Akane laughed. "Glad to know you share my sentiment, Kaoru-chan." The redhead mused, grinning like an idiot. The other genin, too shocked by the sudden turn of events to react, could only watch in awe as he turned to the stands and sought out the rosette. "Sorry, Sakura-chan." He apologised lightly. "Looks like you'll be the only one going through to the finals." But Sakura merely smiled that little, knowing smile of hers and shook her head fondly.

"Well, how do you wanna do it? Simultaneous knock-out?" Akane asked, turning to face Kaoru. The brunette winced.

"I'm quite fond of my face, thank you very much. I do not want to risk your hand doing any damage to it." He replied wryly. "How about simply forfeiting?"

Akane sighed. "You're so boring, Kaoru-chan." But he raised his hand anyway, and Kaoru mirrored his movements. "Can you do the talking? I suck at stuff like that." He muttered off-handedly.

"Fine." Kaoru scowled, but turned to the proctor, then to the highest stand where the Hokage was seated and spoke anyway. "Due to the fact that we value our teamwork and friendship more than a rank promotion, we wish to forfeit so neither of us passes through to the finals. Do you agree, Akane?"

"'Course I do." The redhead smirked, feigning indignant that Kaoru even suggested he didn't want that. "The names are Akane Satoshi and Kaoru Yuhi!" he called up to the proctor.

Hayate stood in silence for a moment, before he coughed, seeming to realise that it was his cue. "Because of both participants forfeiting simultaneously, neither shall be promoted-" but he cut of suddenly, his gaze snapping up to the stands. Everybody followed his eyes and realised that the Hokage stood up and was gazing down at the two teens.

"Would you really forfeit your chance to be a chunin if only one of you can get promoted?" he asked calmly.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Kaoru replied evenly, curious.

"But you're both excellent shinobi. You have the skills for chunin, and Konoha could use your talents better if you were of higher rank." Sarutobi explained gently, but they both knew he was testing just how certain they were of their decision.

"While that it very nice of you to say, Hokage-sama, Kaoru-chan and I come in a package deal." Akane replied, and though he was grinning, his voice was serious. "Either both of us get promoted, or none, and we take the exam again in six months. If you'll allow us to, that is."

Kaoru was proud of the redhead – though his wording was less than favourable; and he called the brunette with his nickname in front of the Hokage, Kaoru appreciated the sentiment nonetheless.

"Very well." Hiruzen hummed thoughtfully. Then, he raised his voice in order to address everyone. "Due to the unexpected turn of events, I've decided that both, Kaoru Yuhi and Akane Satoshi shall be promoted to the final round."

There was a minute of surprised silence, everybody too shocked by the decision to react. Then, suddenly, there was the sound of clapping, and everybody turned their heads towards the sound;

Sakura, the knowing smile on her face turning into a full-out grin, shamelessly stood and applauded her teammates. The boys, momentarily surprised by the action, just stared up at her, before twin grins appeared on their faces and they shunshin'ed to the rosette, enveloping her in a tight hug.

Sarutobi smiled, pleased with his decision. Knowing their past, as well as personal history, he knew he had made the right choice. After all, they too deserved to be happy.

"Lord Hokage?" Anko asked from beside the man, equally as surprised as the genin below. "If I may be so bold, why did you promote both of them?" her curiosity had gotten the better of her, and even though she knew she shouldn't, she asked anyway.

Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully. "Although it's the first case like that, it is not the first time I've promoted both participants. When both parties are of equal strength and ability, it might take a lot longer than half an hour to come out with a winner. We do not have that long, Anko. This is not a war, where battles last days, or even weeks. These are genin sparring. Theoretically, they shouldn't even have the stamina to go for over half an hour without slowing down. But, as always, there are some… exceptional cases." He paused for a moment, letting Anko take it all in. "In Kaoru and Akane-kun's case… they have the skill for chunin. They have the stamina, the endurance. And a chunin's job is, predominantly, to lead. And with leadership comes sacrifice. They were both willing to sacrifice their chance for a promotion if it meant they could be promoted together. That's a lot of faith and teamwork and friendship behind a decision like that."

Anko stayed silent for a few seconds. "Then, if they have to skill for chunin… why haven't you given them a field promotion?"

The Hokage sighed. "Because I needed to be sure… I needed to be sure they wouldn't break after Izaya was hospitalised. When teams lose their senseis… they tend to lose themselves, too."

The tokubetsu jounin smirked. "But Izaya's brats are different. They aren't breakable, fragile. They're malleable. You push them down, they spring back up, twice as strong." Anko paused, a reminiscing look on her face. "Izaya taught them that."

"Indeed. They do show quite a resemblance to Izaya-kun." Sarutobi nodded in agreement, a tiny smile on his face. "I'm sure he's proud of them."

The look of confusion Anko sent the Hokage went unnoticed, as the names once again started flashing on the screen.

The three genin from Team 13 had yet to release each other. They were simply too happy and glad and relieved that they completely ignored all of the genin who were shamelessly staring and stood together, arms wrapped each other in a tender embrace.

Finally, Sakura pulled away. "You two are… absolute idiots, show-offs, spontaneous and inconsiderate brats, but goddamn it, what you did down there was absolutely amazing and- thank you."

Kaoru and Akane blinked, slightly stupefied at the out-of-character speech and the fact that the rosette's eyes were glistening. "Sakura…chan?" Akane asked cautiously, though he was smiling. "Are you… crying?"

"No, I'm not! I'm just happy." She denied, furiously wiping at her eyes while the redhead snickered.

"Aww!" Akane teased, ruffling her hair. Kaoru grinned as well, but it soon faded as he turned to look at the names that had been selected. He cast a quick look around and cursed inwardly. That wasn't good.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," he said quietly, gaining her and Akane's attention. Wordlessly, he nodded in the direction of the board. Sakura's eyes followed and widened. Then, a smirk grew on her lips.

For up on the board, for all to see were two names;

Sakura Haruno vs. Rock Lee

Well, I honestly hope you enjoyed this chapter! It's not one of my best ones, but I really, really needed it. So yeah.

It would be nice to hear your opinions, so, review, anyone?

Hope you liked it, see ya next chapter!