Neji was already gone by the time Naruto woke up. He had a big day today, the third part of the chunin exams were on. Naruto was going to go watch. He wanted to support Neji, plus he was interested to see what the upcoming genin were like. He hauled himself out of bed to get ready for the day.

His belly wasn't huge yet, but there was definitely a noticeable bump now. He pulled on his usual tracksuit, it was the comfiest thing he owned, and just because he looked like a girl, didn't mean he wanted to dress like one.

He didn't even attempt to put his hair in pigtails, he could never get them even, so he just pulled it all back in one big ponytail.

I don't know how Neji puts up with it. I can't wait to get rid of this burden. Though, I guess he does look fabulous with long hair, and I do appreciate that.

Naruto ate a quick breakfast, nutrition was important, and then he headed for the arena. The village was humming with life, lots of people had come to watch the exams, and it was cool to have lots of new faces around, plus the locals were taking advantage and setting up some street stalls which was fun for a change. He knew Gaara would be here in an official capacity, watching the up and coming ninjas with the other kages. I'll be up there with you one day, Gaara.

On his way into the stadium he ran into Kiba and Akamaru.

"Hey, Kiba," he grinned. "Hey, Akamaru."

It took Kiba a second, but then he realised who he was looking at.

"Naruto. Hey!" Then his eyes dropped down to Naruto's belly. "Man, how much ramen have you been eating?! You're getting fat!"

"I'm not fat! I'm pregnant!"

Kiba just laughed.

"How's it all going?"

"Great! Sakura says he's doing all the things a baby should be doing."

"He? You know it's a boy?"

"Yeah," Naruto smiled, touching his belly. "Neji can see him."

"Oh yeah," Kiba smiled. "That's pretty cool."

"It sure is. They've already bonded, he knows Neji's chakra and responds to it."

"Wow. You guys are nailing this, huh?"

"It happens when you find someone who shares your dreams."

"Woof!"

Kiba turned to Akamaru.

"You're right, buddy. We need to find a seat. You wanna sit with us, Naruto?"

"Sure," he agreed. He liked Kiba, he was the only person who had never treated him differently, never held back, never made allowances because he was an orphan and a jinchuriki. It was a kind of respect Naruto appreciated. Kiba had also been on the team for the Sasuke retrieval mission, along with Neji, Shikamaru and Choji. That mission had bonded them all for life. It was the first time they'd been completely responsible for themselves as ninja, and it had been an impossibly hard task. They'd failed, but they'd all given it everything they had, and that was why Naruto respected every member of the squad, and would always come if they called.

They found some seats and settled in to watch. It was a strange feeling, being on the sidelines of battle and being able to watch without strategising and being ready to jump in like they had to on missions.

"Do you know anyone taking the exams?" Naruto asked.

"Hinata's sister, Hanabi, is fighting today."

Kiba seemed pretty keen for that match.

"Is she good?"

"Yeah. Neji's probably the only Hyuga better than her."

"Wow. Then I can't wait to see her fight."

"Me too," Kiba said.

When everyone started to quiet down, Naruto looked down to see Neji stepping out into the arena. He looked so good, so commanding and in control, plus he was breathtakingly beautiful, he really added some glamour to the event.

"I think your eyes just turned into love hearts," Kiba teased. They probably had.

"Kiba, you can't honestly say he isn't the most beautiful person you've ever seen."

"I'm not into guys."

"That's irrelevant. He's undeniably pretty to look at no matter which way you swing."

"I guess he has nice eyes..."

Naruto grinned gleefully.

"Shut up," Kiba grumbled.

Naruto didn't know the kids in the first battle, but they put on a good show. One was a fire type user that probably could have given Sasuke a run for his money at that age, and the other was a weapon specialist. The fire user was powerful, but the blade-wielder ended up outwitting him and taking the match.

Neji called the winner, and summoned the next pair. Hinata's sister was one of them.

Kiba leaned forward in his seat, watching with great interest. Naruto was interested too, she was Neji's cousin, and Kiba said within the clan she was second only to Neji. Naruto was used to how the byakugan operated, but maybe that was just Neji's style. He was curious to see how another expert handled it.

Her opponent was a guy from the Hidden Mist Village. He was obviously a decent ninja if he'd made it through the first two exams.

As soon as the fight commenced, Hanabi launched two shuriken and activated her byakugan. Naruto expected a trigrams stance but Hanabi seemed to be hesitating. The two opponents were holding their defences and speaking to each other, but they were too far away to catch any of what they were saying.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked. Kiba's hearing was much better than his.

"The kid from the Mist Village, somehow he's camouflaging his chakra points."

"So, she's fighting blind?"

"No, wait. It's more like he doesn't have any, like his chakra network is completely fluid or something. It must be a kekkei genkai…"

Being able to manipulate chakra networks was the foundation of the gentle fist technique, without that ability Hanabi's taijutsu was no different than anyone else's.

"That means she just lost her greatest advantage."

"Yeah…"

This is what the chunin exams are about. Keeping a cool head in a crisis. If she can overcome this and win, she'll make chunin for sure.

"Don't give up, Hanabi! You can do this!" Kiba yelled.

With no other option, Hanabi fell back to regular taijutsu. She attacked furiously, landing a couple of good hits on her opponent, and taking a few too.

Beside him, Naruto could sense how tense Kiba was, he seemed pretty invested in the match, but then, he'd been on a team with Hinata so he probably knew her little sister.

Hanabi figured out pretty quick that attacks like that weren't going to work, so she backed off and took a defensive position again. The mist kid was a water type, and launched a mid-range ninjutsu attack at her which she managed to fend off with a rotation.

"Come on, Hanabi!" Kiba yelled. "Fight back!"

It had been a fast and furious battle so far, Hanabi looked like she was having to work a bit harder than maybe she was used to.

Neji was the same. He never expected me to challenge him, but I did. He fell in love with me because of that fight.

"You can beat this loser, Hanabi!" Kiba yelled.

Seeing Kiba's investment in the match, a thought suddenly occurred to Naruto. Kiba is a cool guy, I always wondered why he didn't have a girlfriend, and this is it. He likes her.

Naruto didn't know whether it was Hanabi's age, she was five years younger than them, or the fact that she was his teammate's little sister that was holding him back, but he decided to test the theory.

"Maybe she won't win. Neji didn't. That's why he fell in love with me, you know. Maybe she'll end up marrying this guy. Actually, come to think of it, Shikamaru and Temari were kinda the same."

Kiba frowned.

"Have you met Hanabi? She's still a genin not because she can't win, she always wins, but because she can't keep her temper under control. That's why the proctors won't let her pass. She's more likely to rip his head off than even smile at him. Now stop talking and watch the match."

Naruto turned his attention back to the battle, but Kiba had never taken his eyes off it.

Focussing all his attention back on Hanabi, Naruto could see what Kiba was talking about. She looked mad. A lot of other ninja might falter if their best jutsu was suddenly wiped from their arsenal, but not this fiery little kunoichi. It just motivated her more.

"Oh man, she's building her chakra," Kiba said with excitement. "This guy better watch out now."

Then without any other warning, Hanabi sprang forward and released an incredible burst of chakra, right at the guy's centre mass. He had a moment to look down and then he was on the ground, done.

"She did it!" Kiba cheered, grinning widely and punching the air. "Yes! She did it!"

Having realised she couldn't shut down part of her opponents chakra network, she'd opted to shut down the whole thing. It was brutal, but undeniably effective, despite being risky because she'd only have enough chakra for one shot.

Neji declared her the winner and medical ninjas rushed out to tend her opponent.

Kiba had teased Naruto about having love heart eyes for Neji, but he kind of had the same look on his face for Hanabi now.

"She was awesome," Naruto said.

"She's crazy," Kiba replied. His tone didn't really reflect the look he'd been giving her though. "What if she'd missed?"

Wait, does he not know he's in love with her?

"Go and congratulate her, Kiba. She fought brilliantly."

"Huh?"

"Go on," Naruto encouraged. "And she can thank you for cheering so loud."

Kiba's cheeks flushed with colour. Yeah, he's definitely clueless, or in major denial.

"I just… I mean I didn't want a leaf shinobi to lose to a mist shinobi."

"I know. Now get going."

Kiba stood up.

"Come on, Akamaru. See you later, Naruto."

"Bye, Kiba." And good luck.