Chapter Four

Chūnin — Part Two

Hanabi – 12
Konohamaru – 13


The weeks leading up to the battle portion of the exam were nothing but pure training. When Hanabi wasn't with her team, sparring for hours upon hours straight, she was in the training grounds of the Hyūga compound, training with her sister, her father, and countless other Hyūga, all working to prepare her. She ate, slept, and trained for three straight weeks. To say she was exhausted was an understatement, but she did feel prepared, because tomorrow was the day of the final exam, and after that, she could finally take a damn break.

Fortunately, Tora decided a little break the night before was due, and they were headed for the spa as a team. Once they arrived, they individually changed into bathing suits in order to use the co-ed room as a team, and were soon soaking their tired muscles. The moment Hanabi's toe touched the steaming water, she felt her muscles immediately begin to prepare to unwind. As she sunk in next to Eiji, she took controlled breaths, willing each knot throughout her body to slowly unravel.

"This…this is what I'm talkin' about." Eiji sighed, sinking until her nose was just above the water line. Yorimaru was absent from the top of her head, whom she had explained was receiving his own spa treatment from her older siblings back at the Inuzuka compound since dogs weren't allowed in the spa.

"My arms feel like noodles," Jun mumbled, closing his eyes as he leaned his head back.

"You'll be glad tomorrow," Tora commented, bringing her hands behind her head as she leaned against the granite. She glanced at Hanabi briefly before shutting her eyes as well. "You've got quite a few bruises there, little lamb, which I know didn't come from us."

"Huh?" Hanabi sat up a little straighter, bringing her arms from the water to examine them. Her normally pale skin was indeed a bit bluer than normal. "Oh. Yeah, I guess."

"Someone beatin' you up?" Eiji asked, half playfully, half seriously.

Hanabi shook her head, resting her arms back under the water. "My family's just been ramping up training to prepare me for the exam, that's all."

"Damn," Eiji huffed, "they must go pretty hard, huh?"

"I suppose." Hanabi shrugged, choosing to sink further into the water and let her eyes flutter closed.

The team enjoyed a good few moments of silence with nothing but the gentle sounds of running water to fill their ears, and Hanabi found it quite peaceful. It was just loud enough to drown out any unwelcome thoughts, and quiet enough that it wasn't a nuisance. She made a mental note to ask if she could get a little fountain for her room, maybe a promotion present?

Promotion present…she sure felt confident, didn't she?

But she figured she was allowed to feel confident. She had demonstrated her abilities plenty of times in the past and going into a match where she was ready to use everything at her disposal seemed like the perfect opportunity to cement herself as a truly capable kunoichi. When she was in that results room, she sized up a lot of her potential competition based on those who passed. Honestly, she didn't feel she had much to worry about, she even felt that way in Eiji's case as well. It was Jun she was concerned about, but she would never let him know that.

However, over the past three weeks, Jun had been showing some pretty admirable resolve. He was consistently giving her and Eiji a run for their money and perfecting his earth-style attacks. It made Hanabi a little regretful that she hadn't been doing too much with her water-style, but figured her taijutsu and palm attacks would be more than enough. Afterall, as far as she knew, none of her competition would have any experience against the byakugan and gentle fist techniques. So for Jun to focus more on his nature release jutsu's made a lot of sense, and he was regularly impressing the team.

Eiji had been training with her clan as well, she knew. Hinata had commented that she saw Eiji training with the other Inuzuka during one of her visits to her teammate, Kiba. Apparently Kiba had been working with her and Yorimaru on some techniques and was boasting about how she would pass "with a breeze." Hanabi was grateful she and Eiji had family to train with…but it dawned on her that she didn't know much about Jun's family. She still didn't even know much about his sensory abilities or how they worked—or even how he was able to communicate with Yorimaru. What was up with that?

Hanabi popped an eyelid open to look toward Jun, who looked nearly asleep as the ends of his pink hair bobbed in and out of the water. It probably wasn't the best time to inquire. She filed that one away for later. She scanned the other two and found Tora straightening out as well, inhaling a large yawn, which roused Eiji and Jun.

Eiji pulled her arms behind her neck in a stretch as she yawned as well. "So how we gonna celebrate when we become chūnin, sensei?"

"Hmph." Tora snickered, pulling her hand out of the water to examine her cuticles. "We'll see."

"Cause you know we're going to, right?" Eiji smirked, glancing towards Hanabi and Jun.

"I sure hope so." Jun's eyes dropped towards the water and Eiji rolled her eyes.

"Confidence, Jun! Confidence is all you need!" Eiji waved her hands above her. "If you go in there thinking you might get beat, you're gonna get beat. Bad."

"Aah," Hanabi interrupted, "what Eiji means, I think, is that we have to be positive."

"I know what she means." Jun rolled his eyes, waving a hand. "I can read between the lines of what Eiji says by now."

"See?" Eiji beamed, pushing her hand into the water to gently splash towards Jun, eliciting a tiny smile from the boy.

"It has been two years, I sure hope so." Tora snickered as Jun pushed water back at Eiji.

"Hey!" Eiji called with a laugh, creating a larger splash in response.

"Oh—come on!" Tora groaned when some of the water hit her. Jun returned creating bigger splashes that threatened to crash into Tora.

Hanabi couldn't keep back a mischievous grin as she watched them.

She might regret this.

Weaving the sign of the dog, she placed her hand on top of the water and a rather large gush of water washed over Tora.

Now was as good a time as any to practice her jutsu, right?

This drew an angry yell from the older woman as she held her arms in front of her face. "Damnit, you're gonna get the whole damn spa soaking!" Tora complained, weakly defending herself. Eiji bellowed out with laughter as she turned her attention to their sensei and soon all three were assaulting her with splashes. "Alright, you asked for it!"

The three gasped as she got to her feet and weaved several hand signs, then held out her palms, causing a giant wave to form in the confines of the tub. Hanabi quickly sucked in a breath as water crashed down over all three of them, soaking them in steamy water. Once the wave crashed and dispersed, all three sucked in massive breaths before breaking into gut-wrenching laughter.

"Sensei! Are you a water-type?" Hanabi asked between laughs as Tora settled back in, running her hand through her hair to smooth it back. She was now realizing she hadn't actually seen their sensei use anything except her clan jutsu.

Tora shrugged. "It's my affinity, yes."

"Why haven't you trained me in any water jutsu?" Hanabi asked curiously with a tilted head as she wrung out her hair. "You know I'm a water-type, too, right?"

"Of course I do." Tora snorted, waving her hand. "You just didn't seem too interested in it with your super-secret Hyūga techniques."

"Oh." Hanabi frowned. She wasn't completely wrong, she supposed. "Maybe after the exams, you could show me some jutsu's?"

"After what you just pulled? You'd be lucky." Tora eyed her, causing the three of them to erupt into laughter once more.

Hanabi wished she could feel so at ease, just like right now, all of the time.


"C'mon, get back up!"

"Right!" Konohamaru scrambled to his feet, focusing chakra in his palms with strained senses. Before he could get anything significant to form, Naruto was already taking him to the ground. "AGH!"

"Too slow!" He taunted with both feet plants on either side of the younger boy's legs. He reached out a hand to clap into Konohamaru's and yanked him back up. "Again!"

Every day for the past two months was like this. It was the most disciplined Konohamaru had been in his life, actually following a schedule. Wake up, eat, train with Team 12, train with Naruto, eat, sleep. His mother urged him to take breaks, but he didn't see the point. He could rest after he became a chūnin. He was getting so close to finally landing a rasengan on Naruto, he couldn't go into the battle part of the exams without having accomplished at least that.

"Whoa!" Naruto shouted as he barely dodged the wheel of chakra, and Konohamaru let out an exaggerated groan. "That was the closest you've gotten!"

"It's not good enough!" Konohamaru yelled back, kicking a stray rock on the ground. "How do you summon it so fast, big bro?"

"Keep practicing," Naruto tried to assure as he approached the younger boy, "you'll get faster and faster. Promise."

"I've been practicing for nearly two years!"

"And when you first did it, it took days before you could get a pebble to form," Naruto pointed out, folding his arms, "that last one I counted to two before that thing came flying at me!"

"I guess," he sighed, shoulders slumping.

"Still a week out, don't worry too much about it." Naruto waved a hand before beckoning him. "C'mon, let's go get Ichiraku's. My treat!"

"The sun's not even down yet!" Konohamaru protested with a pout and Naruto laughed, shaking his head and taking off with the assumption he'd trail behind. With a dramatic sigh, he followed dutifully behind the older boy, dragging his feet as he did. When he heard a soft voice yelling uncharacteristically loud from a training ground on their way, they both stopped. He tilted his head when he recognized the purple hair accompanied by bright purple chakra around her fists.

"Hey!" Naruto guided them towards the training ground she was at, and as they approached, Hanabi, Hinata, Eiji, and Kiba came into view. "You guys training yours, too, huh?"

"Hey Naruto!" Kiba called, skidding to a halt from his spar with Eiji. Konohamaru snickered as he watched Hinata visibly shrink as they approached, the chakra around her fists dissipating rapidly and Hanabi letting out an embellished groan of frustration.

"Elder sister!" she called, rolling her eyes as Hinata reddened, Naruto approaching with all the confidence and ignorance in the world.

"Hey," Konohamaru started with a wave as Hanabi and Eiji approached, the older shinobi converging into their own group. "How's training?"

"It'd be better if your big bro didn't disrupt us," Eiji scoffed as she crossed her arms, leaning on one leg.

"It's gonna take hours for my sister to calm down," Hanabi grumbled as she clenched her fists to her side, eyeing Naruto with irritation. Suddenly she perked up, holding her hands up towards Konohamaru. "Hey! Watch this—"

Konohamaru stepped back with wide eyes as blue chakra began emanating from her palms, and something like cat's heads began taking form over each of them. It was…interesting, but not very fearsome. Hanabi waved her hands in a panicked fashion with a frustrated squeal. It was a cute sound he wasn't sure he'd ever heard her make before.

"Kitty cats, pretty scary," Eiji mocked as she eyed the shrinking chakra until it disappeared.

"They were—it was just—" Hanabi stuttered, staring at her hands in disbelief, "I just summoned the twin lions a few minutes ago! What happened?!"

"Nervous?" Eiji smirked and Hanabi scrunched up her nose, and he found he couldn't resist eyeing the little action.

Konohamaru watched with amusement as Hanabi shoved Eiji's shoulder. "Shut up! I didn't see you doing much better with that fang passing fang!"

"Training with another Inuzuka is different!" Eiji defended, rubbing the shoulder that was shoved. "I'll be fine against literally anyone else!"

Hanabi blew a strand of hair from her face with a huff before turning back to Konohamaru and he couldn't keep the smile off his face. Her fiery personality was always something he enjoyed watching when it wasn't directed at him. "How's your training, then?"

"Great!" He half-lied. It was going well, but he didn't feel he was up to the level he should be at. "Where's Jun?"

"Volunteering at the hospital." Eiji rolled her eyes once more, glancing towards the village. "Even though he should be training with us."

"You train by yourself with Naruto?" Hanabi questioned with a head tilt.

Konohamaru shrugged before their attention was pulled by Naruto once more. "Hey! We're all gonna go to Ichiraku's, c'mon."

"We're not done training!" Hanabi objected, turning her body towards Hinata and Eiji approached next to her while nodding agreement, shoving her fists in her jacket pockets.

"They remind me of us," Hinata giggled with a hand over mouth, eyes high with a smile while Naruto chuckled. Konohamaru bounced his eyes between the older shinobi in front of him with raised eyebrows. If they reminded them so much of themselves, why were they trying to cut their training short?

"Too eager for their own good," Kiba teased as he bumped his elbow into Naruto's side.

"Stop making fun of us!" Eiji snapped, glaring up at her cousin who rolled his eyes with a smirk before setting off.

"I wouldn't pass up free food if I were you, Eiji," Kiba commented over his shoulder to which Eiji raised her eyebrows, mouth shut. With an annoyed sigh, she conceded and took off after the older Inuzuka.

"Guess we don't have a choice," Konohamaru offered towards Hanabi with a little grin, despite having just expressed the same sentiment mere moments ago to Naruto. How could he pass up a chance to spend time around her, anyway?

With a twist of her lips, she nodded. "I guess." He chuckled at the way she sagged her shoulders and dragged her feet just like he had earlier. He kept pace next to her as they traveled through the village.

As they made way, he had to find it slightly entertaining that they invited stares. Everyone wanted to stop and say hello to the Hero of the Leaf, making their trek far longer than it needed to be. Hanabi scrunched up her nose when they were stopped a fourth time, raising an eyebrow Konohamaru's way. "Is it always like this?"

"Uh, yeah." Konohamaru chuckled, glancing at an older man grabbing at Naruto's hands as he enthusiastically expressed gratitude to him, Naruto friendly as ever.

"Here I thought I got stopped too often," Hanabi scoffed, folding her arms as she tapped her foot impatiently.

After much longer than it should have taken, they arrived at Ichiraku's, Konohamaru joining Hanabi at a table near the bar. Yorimaru joined Akamaru outside, Eiji fishing out food and water for the pups before taking her place next to Hanabi.

Within moments of receiving their ramens, Konohamaru watched with a frown as a group of girls crowded around Naruto and essentially carried him away. At least this time they hadn't interrupted their training earlier as they tended to do every few days. Ever polite, Naruto pleaded with them to let him get a to-go bowl, but nevertheless disappeared without any ramen to-go. He glanced at Hanabi who was watching as well, a sympathetic look on her expression as she fixed her gaze on her sister.

He now felt out of place with Naruto gone.

"Wish I had a chance to go against that asshole from the Mist," Eiji commented, unphased as she chomped down on a piece of pork.

Konohamaru snickered, "yeah, me too."

"Maybe you'll get to see him at the next exam," Eiji taunted with a smirk. Konohamaru squinted at her disapprovingly.

"That supposed to be a round about way to say I'll fail, Inuzuka?"

"What? Round about? Me?" Eiji leaned back as if offended.

"Never!" Hanabi added lightheartedly, causing the two girls to bump elbows as they laughed at his insulted expression.

"Tch." Konohamaru grunted, feeling a little wounded that Hanabi joined in on the mocking. "We'll see who's laughing when you guys get pounded into the ground."

"Rude!" Eiji exclaimed, knocking her chopsticks down, but Hanabi continued laughing. "You think that's funny, Lady Heiress of Creepy Eyes?!"

"Ouch!" Hanabi put her hands over her heart and something about what should have been an innocent tease irked him, despite her not taking any outward offense.

"Sheesh." Konohamaru chuckled without cheer, bouncing his eyes between the two. "A little harsh coming from…"

"You'll regret finishing that sentence." Eiji eyed him with gritted teeth.

"Alright, alright!" Hanabi giggled as she put her hands on their forearms in a vain attempt to placate them. "Enough of that. Both of you are too hotheaded."

"What?" Konohamaru began echoing Eiji's earlier sentiment as he eyed the ever-growing red face of the younger Inuzuka, "hotheaded? Me?"

"Hey! Watch it, you two!" Kiba called after overhearing the brewing argument. "Finish up, Eiji. I told Hana we'd help with clean up tonight."

"You volunteered me for that?" Eiji snapped, her anger now directed at Kiba. "How's that fair?"

"Payment for training you." Kiba stuck out his tongue as he pushed his bowl up onto the bar. Eiji's eyes flashed brightly as her glare bore a hole into him, causing the older Inuzuka to shrink momentarily. "It's only fair!"

"Pfft…" Eiji grumbled, turning back to her bowl and lifting it to her lips.

"Hanging out with puppies sounds fun, what are you complaining about?" Hanabi asked with a frown, sitting back in her seat with crossed arms. Konohamaru snickered at her ignorance.

"Keep talking. Some of us aren't spoiled little brats who have everything taken care of for them," Eiji muttered, smashing the bowl back on the table with a far too much force.

"Hey!" Konohamaru interjected, tilting his head. "What's got you all worked up?"

"Nothing!" Eiji held up her hands before slamming them back down. "Nothing at all. Mind your business, honorable grandson."

Sometimes he really hated the way the title could so easily be used as an insult.

He and Hanabi watched with surprised, open jawed expressions as she got up and began stomping out of the little stand to the pups awaiting them outside. Konohamaru shot Hanabi a questioning look, to which she simply shrugged her shoulders, lifting her bowl to slurp the rest of the ramen down.

"She's been a little testy lately," Hanabi whispered as she set the bowl back down. "I think the stress is getting to her a bit."

"A bit?" Konohamaru reiterated with raised eyebrows. She covered her mouth to shield a laugh and something about it was just…endearing, to him. "You seem fine."

"I'm a little worried," Hanabi responded, tapping her chopsticks together, "but not too worried, you know?"

Konohamaru simply hummed in response, pushing his bowl towards the center of the table.

Once the group finished their meals and Kiba bid them farewell before collecting Eiji and their nin dogs from outside, Hinata approached the remaining genin with a smile, "Konohamaru, would you like to walk with us?"

He looked up in surprise at the older Hyūga. "Oh, yeah."

"Naruto says your rasengan has been giving him a run for his money," Hinata started conversation as the three began their trek. For whatever reason, this level of acknowledgement made his cheeks burn and caused Hanabi to look at him curiously.

"I mean—maybe, I think I still have a long way to go." He tried his best to sound indifferent.

Hinata giggled. "Well, you have the best trainer a genin could ask for." He nodded his agreement despite Hanabi's glare.

"Oh please." Hanabi rolled her eyes, waving away at her sister. "You're just saying that because you're in—"

"I just remembered!" Hinata cut off her younger sister before she could continue, visible scarlet overtaking her cheeks. "I'm supposed to pick something up from Shino. Excuse me."

"Yeah, right," Hanabi snorted as Hinata hurried away, and Konohamaru couldn't keep back an amused smile. She turned to him with an irritated look directed at his own eyes. "Don't ever let me fall in love."

For whatever reason, those words gave him pause. He swallowed a lump in his throat he didn't know had formed as he reluctantly nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, sure."

"It makes people stupid," she huffed, folding her arms aggressively as they continued their trek.

"Maybe…"

The churning in his gut was enough to make him feel queasy and go quiet.

"What's wrong?" she asked, dipping her head to look at him. He averted his gaze.

He hadn't expected to see her before the last exam, and this certainly wasn't how he envisioned it to be. He wondered if she even remembered that dumb little kiss he had given her. Maybe it was just that forgettable. He shrugged. "Tired is all. Lot of training."

"Oh." She nodded in understanding, turning forward. "Yeah, same here. It'll all pay off though, right?"

"Right," he perked up, lifting his head to glance at her. She swung her legs a little higher today as they walked, her arms unhooking from one another to hang loosely at her sides. He glanced at her hand and fought the urge to grab it, hold it, like some sort of creep.

"Besides," she continued, her voice a little lighter, "the Hokage has to at least be a chūnin."

An unexpected laugh left him at her tease, his lopsided grin finally returning. "Jōnin is more like it."

"You think?" she asked with a coy smile and he found it hard to avoid glancing at her lips when she did that.

The overwhelming need to get home started to creep up on him.

Despite his lack of response, she didn't look perturbed, and they walked in silence until she started humming. He raised an eyebrow without looking at her, wondering what song she might be humming. Whatever it was, he enjoyed it, so he couldn't complain, choosing to let it echo in his head. It almost reminded him of something his mother would hum around the house. Maybe he'd ask her what song it was when he got home.

When she ceased humming, it broke him from his thoughts. "This is where the Sarutobi live, isn't it?"

He stopped next to her and despite shaking his head, he responded with a "yes." She looked at him with expectant eyebrows as he rubbed the back of his neck, wishing he didn't feel nervous at this specific moment. Finally, he found his words and gestured up the trail, "but I can walk you home."

"Nah." She shook her head with a hand up. "I'll walk by myself today."

"Oh." The deflated tone behind his voice even caught him off guard and he cursed himself for it. He pulled a hand through his hair, shaking it a bit to recompose himself. "Well, night."

"Goodnight." A little too reluctantly, he turned from her and began walking into the neighborhood before her voice drew him back. "Wait."

He stopped and looked over his shoulder curiously, finding her marching towards him with intent. Before he could fully turn back to her, he felt her hands clumsily grab his elbows and froze when he felt her lips against the corner of his mouth, just barely. It was mostly against his cheek, but that tiny corner that made contact…

As quickly as it happened, she pushed off of him, stumbling backwards. His eyes blew wide when she fell flat on her bottom, and in any other situation, he'd probably laugh and help her up, but right now, he couldn't will his limbs to move. She hurriedly got up and dusted herself off, glaring at him all the while and he almost thought her expression conveyed that she was blaming him for her fall. "That's for—uhm—that's for what you did! The other night!" She pointed an accusing finger at him as she rose to full height and, again, in any other circumstance, he'd find it funny.

With that, she turned and broke into a run, disappearing within seconds, and his stiff body finally loosened. He reached up to brush his fingertips against the kissed area, pulling away when he felt something sticky, like lip gloss. He stared at his fingers, finding them slightly shiny. He glanced around the neighborhood for a brief moment before splitting into a grin, a sense of both relief and excitement washing over him as his hand closed into a fist.

"YES!"


Hanabi found comfort in the fact that their sensei was joining them for this portion of the exam, if only just as moral support from the stands while they battled. She even got to see her sister and father in the viewing stands above them, though seeing her father wasn't the most comforting. But her sisters encouraging eyes from above made up for his icy ones. She also saw Kiba next to her, to support Eiji along with her immediate family who was nearby (the red fang markings were hard to miss). As everyone finished filing in, she looked down as Kakashi entered the arena to begin his speech.

This part of exams Hanabi was fairly familiar with, having watched her sister and cousin participate, as well as a few other members of her clan. In the past, it had the potential to become a battle to the death, but was changed under Tsunade, who claimed 'dead children' wasn't a good look. Hanabi had to agree. Kakashi reiterated as much in his speech, emphasizing that this would not be a deathmatch, but a simple test of individual ability.

Again, Hanabi found herself in the familiar position of being sorry for Jun as anxiety etched his face. She worried it would be too redundant to try to comfort him, so she turned her attention back to the rest of the crowd while processing Kakashi's words in the back of her mind. She dotted her eyes around until she found Ebisu and his team to the right of them, across the arena. She smiled as Konohamaru seemed to be talking Moegi's ear off about something, Moegi with a seemingly permanent irritated look on her face as she focused on Kakashi. She caught Udon's eyes, and he straightened out, waving towards her, causing the other two to look up.

Beaming, Moegi waved both hands at her and Konohamaru shot her two thumbs up. She giggled to herself as she returned with two thumbs up back, hoping the heat in her cheeks wasn't another annoying blush. Seemingly randomly, she felt a chill go up her spine and she immediately looked up to where her father and sister were, finding them both looking down at her. Hinata was smiling down at her, but her father had a solemn look on his face which made her instantly recoil and drop her hands. She glanced over at Ebisu's team to find them all looking where she had been, then immediately dropping their gaze, apparently experiencing something similar from her father's stare.

Hiashi Hyūga was a frightening man to many, that much was clear.

As Kakashi wrapped up his speech, chatter in the arena began again. Last minute preparations were made, and finally, a proctor walked to the middle. A large screen above him came to life and the crowd of genin seemed to all hold their breath at once. No one ever wanted to be the first to compete. Two names appeared one after another within the blink of an eye and…

Jun.

What luck.

Hanabi could almost feel Jun freeze beside her as she turned to look at him. His face was expressionless except for his wide eyes, and before Hanabi could attempt to snap him out of it, Eiji was already grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Jun, listen to me." Eiji manhandled him to face her, visibly squeezing his shoulders in a death grip. Jun struggled to look at her, jaw flexing as he clenched his teeth. "You've been kicking ass since we became a team. You can do this." Hanabi saw Jun begin to shake his head and gasped when Eiji's hand connected with his cheek, a loud smack ringing through the arena. "YES!"

"EIJI!" Jun bellowed, grabbing the assaulted cheek as he gave her an incredulous look.

"Think about hitting me when you're down there." Eiji flashed a cocky grin. "I'll even let you kiss me again if you win!"

"Oh gods!" Jun groaned, shoving Eiji's hands off of him and stomping away. Hanabi cracked a smile when she noticed Tora's stunned look.

"Uhm—good luck kiddo! You can do it!" Tora shook her head as she called after the pink haired boy disappearing down the stairs. She turned to Eiji and Hanabi with raised eyebrows. "That was certainly…one way to motivate. What did you mean by again?"

"Jun kissed Eiji when she helped him figure out the clue during the first exam." Hanabi giggled, causing Eiji to redden at the comment.

"Yeah, whatever," Eiji grumbled, leaning over the railing. "He better win…"

"So he'll kiss you?" Hanabi whispered behind her playfully, causing Eiji to recoil.

Eiji shoved her shoulder backwards towards her, retorting, "yeah, you're one to talk."

As Jun entered from the left, they watched as a genin from the Cloud entered from the right, and they immediately began cheering. Hanabi looked up with a smile as she heard Ebisu's team from across the way cheering for Jun along with them. It felt good to have others on their side.

Feeling both hopeful and anxious, Hanabi watched as the fight commenced. Predictably, the Cloud genin seemed to be using lightning techniques, which only fueled her anxiety since Jun was an earth-type. The cards were already against him, but she still felt hopeful. As long as he could dodge most of the attacks, he might have had a chance.

When Jun took a bolt to the thigh and went tumbling, Hanabi winced, feeling the pain in her own thigh. She cheered as he dragged himself back to his feet, creating a dome around him much like he did to the Mist genin during the first part of the exam. She wondered if he was attempting to heal and recuperate with the little time he had under protection. With a crack of lightning, the wall crumbled to dust, though Jun didn't appear to be inside of it.

Hanabi darted her eyes to the other side of the Cloud ninja and found Jun weaving hand signs on the far side of the arena. As he slammed his hands to the ground, she saw the Cloud ninja begin sinking into the ground in a muddy pit. Her heart lifted—this could be his chance! Jun bolted forward and managed to land his heel into the chest of his opponent, knocking the air out of him. As he landed on the other side, Jun seemed to pause in place, catching his breath.

"DON'T STOP!" Eiji screamed down at Jun just as his opponent shoved two kunai into the ground, slowly pulling himself out of the mud pit. Eiji let out a frustrated groan as they watched him free himself and sink an electrified kunai into Jun's shoulder.

"Oh no…" Hanabi whispered as Jun doubled over, sputtering with the electrical charge. He struggled to reach up and pull the kunai out, throwing it to the ground. He wiped at his mouth as he rose back up, trying to weave hand signs before his opponent could strike. A mud wall appeared in front of him, taking the electrical blow his opponent launched at him. Then, a dust storm appeared around his opponent, and they could no longer see he or Jun.

Hanabi, Eiji, and Tora all cheered to some extent when they saw his opponent hit the wall outside of the dust cloud, but it was short lived as he seemed to vanish into thin air, a clone. Then it was Jun who was launched into a wall, and he fell forward onto his hands and knees. He sputtered, coughing up blood before collapsing to the ground.

"NO!" Eiji yelled as the proctor approached Jun's unconscious form, counting to three before calling the match in favor of the Cloud genin.

"Damn…" Tora sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Just had to be a kid from the Cloud…"

"Jun…" Hanabi whispered sadly as she watched the medical nin load him onto a stretcher. Her heart ached for him, she wished she could follow after him and saw the same in Eiji, but knew they had to remain for their matches.

"Sorry kiddos." Tora frowned down at the girls. "I'm gonna go check on him. I'll try to be back for your matches."

"Don't be sorry." Hanabi shook her head.

"Yeah, go," Eiji choked out; voice stamped with grief. Tora nodded with a sad smile before leaving them. Eiji slammed her fist on the railing, gritting her teeth. "Idiot."

"Who, Jun?" Hanabi asked with a grimace.

"Yeah, he could have won!" Eiji turned to Hanabi and she could've sworn her eyes were lit red for a moment. "I saw it, he was about to win! I know he was doubting himself! Damn idiot!"

"Eiji…" Hanabi sighed as she tried to rest her hand on her forearm, but Eiji jerked it away. "Hey, come on. Acting like that isn't going to help anything. We've gotta keep our spirits up for our matches, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Eiji grumbled, slumping forward, looking defeated already.

Great start…

They had some time to cool down as several more matches proceeded, which Hanabi made sure to watch intently in case there was anything helpful she could pick up from them. After a few more, Tora finally returned to join them, immediately assaulted by Eiji with questions.

"He's fine." Tora held up her hands to the Inuzuka. "A sprained arm, but he'll recover fine. He's just beating himself up now." Eiji sighed a little breath of relief, as did Hanabi. Tora set a hand on Eiji's shoulder and looked at her with serious eyes. "But Eiji, he's nervous to see you. He's worried you're going to be mad. When you do see him, please, for the love of whatever gods are out there, be gentle? I know that's difficult for you…"

"Yeah, yeah." Eiji shrugged off her hand. "I got it."

They went back to watching matches, and Hanabi felt relieved when Udon won his match against another Leaf genin, one she hadn't recognized from the academy. One more battle later, and it was Eiji's turn, her name flashing on the screen. Immediately, she turned to Hanabi and Tora. "When I win, I'm going straight to Jun." She turned to Hanabi and set her hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry I won't be here to watch you, Hanabi. But I'm not worried." For the first time since before Jun's match, she managed to crack a smile at her. "You're gonna win, so I don't need to be here."

"Right." Hanabi nodded, reaching out her arms to loop around the taller girls waist, who returned the embrace. "Goodluck."

"Don't need it," she joked as they parted, giving her a wink as Hanabi patted Yorimaru's head, "and neither do you!"

With that, Eiji hopped over the railing to land directly in the center of the arena, and Hanabi and Tora naturally scooted closer to each other.

"Always so smug." Tora chuckled as she leaned over the railing. Hanabi smiled, feeling an odd sense of calm wash over her as she watched Eiji approach with all the confidence in the world, greeting a shorter genin from the Grass coming from the right.

To her relief, Eiji's match was more straight forward. Yorimaru immediately hopped down to her right, and they assumed the Inuzuka fighting stance Hanabi had grown so familiar with. The genin from the Grass clearly wasn't prepared to battle two opponents when Yorimaru transformed into a copy of Eiji.

As a team, Eiji and Yorimaru were pretty scary, Hanabi had to admit. When they took their special food pills and turned into something closer to wolves, they were a sight to see. Within moments, Eiji was launching spinning attack after spinning attack, knocking the Grass genin around like a rag doll as they attempted to weave even one jutsu. It was as if her specialty was attacking so rapidly, the opponent didn't even have time to think, much less launch their own attack.

After a few more brutal hits, Eiji and Yorimaru were pinning the arms and legs down of their opponent, though it was impossible to tell who was who without some sort of sensory ability. The proctor counted them off, and one of the Eiji's turned to a cloud of smoke, revealing the tiny grey pup barking wildly. Hanabi giggled as she looked up at the sound of Kiba and the rest of Eiji's family cheering obnoxiously loud. Kiba was almost directly next to her father as he unleashed a slew of shouted swears with his cheering, and it brought her amusement to see her father cringe away from him.

As soon as Eiji was declared the winner, she gave a two finger salute up to Hanabi and Tora, then was gone in a flash. Hanabi sighed as her eyes lingered on the exit she had taken, finding herself lost in thought about all that had transpired so far. It was just her left, now, and she was growing restless.

She wanted to get this over with so she could go check on Jun.

"Hey." She looked up as Tora patted her on the back. "Look."

She shot her eyes up at the screen, surprised to find her name appearing directly after Eiji's fight. Then her stomach sank.

Hanabi Hyūga

Konohamaru Sarutobi

"What…" Hanabi mumbled, eyes fixated on the screen in disbelief. Tora tapping her shoulder brought her back to reality, and she looked across the way to find Konohamaru looking back at her, but he was…grinning. Quickly, he shot two thumbs up her way once more, and she felt her stomach twist into knots. He was happy? She shook her head, looking up at Tora. "I want to forfeit."

"No," Tora immediately retorted, grabbing her by the shoulders. "No, you don't."

"But—"

"Hanabi." Tora silenced her. "This is the nature of the chūnin exams. No matter who it is, you battle. Look at your father." She winced as she glanced up to find her father looking down at her with expectant eyes. She looked back at Tora. "I know you've got this silly little crush on Konohamaru, but it doesn't matter right now. Look at him, he's ready." Hanabi looked over to see Konohamaru already exiting to the stairs, not having enough time to process the 'crush' comment. "Go. Now."

Hanabi swallowed thickly as she looked down at the arena, finding Konohamaru beginning to enter. She looked back up at Tora and sucked in a long breath.

Her sensei was right. She could only imagine the wrath she would incur from her father if she gave up now, after everything she had been through, everything she had asked for and worked towards. She had to go down there, even if her feet felt like lead. Even if her entire body resisted. Even if it was him.

She nodded, and Tora released her, giving her a gentle push towards the stairs. "Do your best, little lamb."

Hanabi entered the dark stairs, and it felt ominous. It was her first time going this way, and something about it made it feel so much more real. Then she was coming out the left entrance, just as Jun had, just as Eiji had, just as so many others had. And suddenly, the spotlight was on her. And Konohamaru. She was in the middle of a giant arena, surrounded by their peers and sensei's and all those who came to support them. The Hokage, the council, the Hyūga. All of them.

Force it down.

Refocusing her eyes, she came face to face with Konohamaru, that goofy grin on his face, and for some reason, it calmed her. Something about the familiarity of it.

"I won't go easy, Konohamaru," she whispered as he held out his hand, extending two fingers.

"Better not," he teased as she returned the Seal of Confrontation.

As soon as the proctor flagged for them to begin, she activated her byakugan, but Konohamaru was already back-flipping away from her.

What was that she had thought earlier? That none of the genin she might face had any experience against a byakugan? How silly of her…

Quickly, she launched forward in an attempt at closing the distance but was cut off by a stream of fire threatening to singe off her eyebrows, causing her to fall back.

Fire-type? How did she not know this? Now she was really regretting not training in water jutsu more before this.

She had to reassess her strategy. Quickly, she pulled several kunai from her satchel, hooking them to each of her fingers as she got far enough away to avoid his fire attack. Something in her gave her pause.

She was about to launch kunai at Konohamaru.

Stop thinking about it like he's Konohamaru! He's your opponent!

With an aggravated huff, she reeled her hand back, but became distracted when she saw a bright flash of chakra gathering between his hands. Within seconds, it had grown bigger and bigger, until it was a large ball, maybe the size of a basketball, and then it was spinning towards her, and she heard him shout, "RASENGAN!"

With barely any time to react, she dipped her stance and twisted, shouting as well, "ROTATION!" With a queasy stomach, she watched as the ball of chakra continued it trajectory towards her and even penetrated her dome slightly. She breathed a sigh of relief as it dispersed within her dome, unable to make contact with her, and her heart felt like it was going to come right out of her mouth. She skidded to a stop.

"I love seeing that one!" Konohamaru yelled across at her, causing her to grit her teeth. Was he mocking her? And what the hell was that thing? Was that the technique her sister boasted about on Naruto's behalf? Quickly she readied the kunai she had previously fished out and threw three in succession towards him, though he was able to dodge each of them. Her byakugan followed his path across as he leapt upward and behind her, despite the dust gathering around them that would normally shield him from normal vision. She chose to let him think she couldn't tell he was behind her, fishing into her robe for senbon now, letting him close the distance between them.

Once he was about ten meters away, she quickly twisted on her heel and shot her palm out, landing a hit against a chakra point in his shoulder, causing him to fly backwards. Though she had managed to close a chakra point, he seemed ready, skidding to a halt on his heel. His opposite hand immediately reached for the spot she had hit, and he gritted his teeth, but still had that damn smirk on his lips. As he got back into a fighting stance, so did she, readying her senbon.

"So that's what that one feels like!" Konohamaru commented, reaching into one of his satchels. "Not as bad as I thought it'd be." Hanabi furrowed her eyebrows at this. Angrily, she weaved the hand sign of one of the few water jutsu's she knew and created as large a wave as she could muster, maybe eight meters high, and with it carried the senbon. She smirked slightly at the sound of his surprised 'whoa!', attempting to counter with his fire attack. She was pleased with the fact her water was strong enough to extinguish it. "ACK!" he yelped, causing her heart to flutter painfully as she saw several of her senbon stick into various parts of his upper body.

Pushing the feeling down, she took the opportunity to launch towards him, pulling out her obsidian kunai, and moved to strike. They clashed, ringing through the arena as her kunai connected with his, and suddenly, she froze as her eyes landed on that same obsidian blade. The one that matched hers. Without realizing it, she had relaxed her eyes, deactivating her byakugan and locked her eyes on it, unblinking. She looked up to meet his eyes, scrunched up with a grin and she felt the spot he had kissed her three weeks ago along with her lips that had brushed his just a week ago, start to burn.

"You still use it," he said, quietly.

"So do you," she replied, even quieter.

Before she realized it, he had shoved forward with a strong push, and she found herself flying through the air, then her back stinging as it smacked against the ground. She stared up at the ceiling of the dome, barely able to hear the faint noise of cheering and booing and jeering and everything in between, then saw Konohamaru on top of her, pinning her arms above her, looking down at her with a grinning, sweaty, dirty face, a trail of blood trickling down from his headband.

"Giving up so easy?" His fingers around her wrists were tight, and as she heard the proctor begin counting down, she was snapped back into reality. Just as the "thr—" left her lips, Hanabi quickly pulled her feet up and planted them on his chest, and with as much chakra as she could muster, pushed off. Quickly, she shot back to her feet, barely noticing the shocked cheering around her as she bolted forward, reactivating the byakugan and focusing every last bit of chakra in her palms. Just as he dragged himself back up, she was already in front of him.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"

Hanabi focused all her energy closing every chakra point she could, the body in front of her not that of Konohamaru's, but of a simple chakra network like any other. Shoulders, arms, hands, legs, feet—she stopped short of his abdomen, reeling herself in when she heard a voice cry out.

"HANABI—STOP!"

She stumbled backwards, her eyes immediately resting, and before her stood more than that simple chakra network. It was Konohamaru—Konohamaru, who was falling directly forward, no attempt to keep himself from landing on his face. And she stood frozen, staring down at him. The proctor began counting him off, but it was for nothing, as he was done.

And Hanabi felt an overwhelming sense of guilt and shame. Who had called after her? Her sister? Tora? Moegi?

As the medical nin entered with a stretcher and began pulling Konohamaru onto it, she felt her wrist being pulled up by that of the proctor, declaring her the winner. And it felt bitter. Not bittersweet, just bitter. She watched as Konohamaru's unconscious form was whisked away behind the exit, and she felt that horrid sensation of lead in her stomach.

Within moments, Tora had raced down to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, and tugging her out from the arena. Once the lights were off of her and she was in the darkness of the hallway, she suddenly felt exhausted, Tora's voice a muffled hum in her head.

Black overtook her vision, then she collapsed.