"Oh my god, both of you look awful."

Tamaki hushed when Teacher Mizuki and the other proctors came in. It was time for our final bar exam.

Tamaki wasn't wrong. Both Gin and I hadn't slept well. The accident had happened at a horrible time. It left both of us drained. I worried for Gin more than myself, since he got hit much harder, even if he was pretending to be tough.

Our final exam was split into four days.

Day one was the written section. Both senior classes were led to a large room with assigned seating. In front, a row of teachers watched us to make sure we didn't cheat.

We had eight hours total-four in the morning, four in the evening-to finish our exam books. There were thirty minutes in between for lunch and the bathroom. To prevent cheating, teachers even watched the bathrooms.

Our exam books were thick. Looking at it, I swallowed. I hadn't bothered to study at all in the past week. How could I have slacked off so badly?

Well, no point in kicking myself now. Breathing deeply, I got started.

I did my best. I went through the math and literature and history. I went through the encryption. I finished military maneuvers. I found the target.

At some point, my pencil got short and I switched pencils. I flipped to the next page.

The eastern and western divisions are fifty kilometer apart...

I laughed. Did they give us the same question three times in a row? I couldn't believe our luck. I rushed to jot down the answer.

On the final page was one last question. It was the easiest question on the whole exam.

What are the ten shinobi commandments?

One. A shinobi must protect the village.

Two. A shinobi must respect superiors.

Three. A shinobi must mobilize upon command.

Four. A shinobi must never hesitate to follow an order.

Five. A shinobi must finish the mission.

Six. A shinobi must keep no identity.

Seven. A shinobi must defend the honor of the village.

Eight. A shinobi must forfeit lost causes.

Nine. A shinobi must never reveal emotion.

Ten. A shinobi must prioritize the collective over the individual.

It was the easiest question on the exam, yet…

My hand was shaking.

I put my pencil down and breathed. I was done.

To my surprise, there were still two hours left. Looking around, I saw most of the other students were only halfway into their exam books.

But some students were done too. Hana was casually checking her answers. Michio was taking a nap. Ijouna was playing with her bugs. Book closed, Tamaki tapped a pencil against her lip. She caught me looking at her and smiled back.

Out of my friends, Gin took the longest. Ten minutes to the end, he finished. I could hear his sigh of relief. I sighed too, a part of my nervousness gone.

Day two was physicals.

We began with speed. We did the short and mid sprints, then finished with a marathon around the village.

Gin and I had no problems, but Tamaki struggled. I felt bad. Even though she strictly told me to go ahead, I didn't want to leave her all alone.

To both our surprise, Michio jogged by her side and kept her company. Tamaki was about to argue, but Michio had already made up his mind. He wanted to be next to a pretty girl.

"If that's okay!" he tacked on, smiling handsomely.

Tamaki blushed.

They looked happy, so I was happy too. I caught up with Gin. At some point, we saw a shadow above us. It was Idate. He was running from the rooftops and got ahead.

Gin and I exchanged a look. We grinned.

"Three… two...!"

We both picked up the pace.

Hana watched us bolt past her. Fondly, she shook her head.

After speed was strength. We climbed up ropes. We swam across rivers. We hit trees until they crumpled. We held boulders above our heads until they told us to stop.

After strength was balance. Blindfolded, we had to cross a wire between two building rooftops. Once we got to the other side, they would push us off without warning. They wanted to see that we could properly fall. If you rolled right, you were fine and back on your toes.

Finally, they tested us on escape and evasion. We were tied up and had to get free before the timer ended. After getting free, we had to run through a minefield of traps. Worse, we had to do it without getting hit. That was definitely the scariest test because the teachers were throwing real weapons at us.

By the end of day two, a quarter of our grade had disappeared. Thankfully, all my friends made it. Half scarred, half relieved, we huddled and braced ourselves for day three.

Day three was technique and weaponry. Compared to day two, day three was a breather.

We began with kata, which was basically dancing. We went from offensive to defensive to offensive. To see how good our positions were, the teachers would strike or try to push us down. If your form was wrong, they could knock you off balance with a finger. But if your form was right, five people could be pushing you and you would be unmoved.

The taijutsu part was fun too. The teachers lined up boards that went higher and higher like a staircase. It didn't matter how you broke them, as long as you broke them with your body. You only had one shot, so you had to get as many as possible before your feet touched the ground.

Getting three boards was the bare minimum. A double spin kick did that easily. Most students got the bottom four with a 720 kick. Maruten got five. Hana got six.

Gin surprised everyone on his turn. He got in five solid kicks and still had enough momentum for a sixth. I held my breath when he hit the sixth. But then, I realized he wasn't intending to stop.

He had twisted and was going for the seventh.

He got it.

His cap was falling off, and he was falling too. As he fell, he lifted his leg up for a final kick. The eighth board broke.

I nearly screamed in excitement. Gin got up from the ground, grinning stupidly.

More students went, but no one could beat Gin's record.

Then Kou stepped up.

Unlike the other students, Kou didn't do any warm ups to get ready. He just closed his eyes. When he reopened his eyes, his expression changed.

He got all ten. Ten perfect strikes, so fast that it looked like all the boards broke at once. When he landed, he landed effortlessly.

His technique was incredible.

I was so stunned, I didn't notice my name getting called. Hana nudged me.

The teachers finished setting up. They held up the new boards for me, waiting.

I pouted. I had planned on five, but now that felt lame. Gin was going to have this over my head for the rest of eternity if I couldn't match him.

I needed to get the top boards.

I wanted to get the top boards.

But how? I had no idea how Kou did what he did. The most I could do was a quad, but even if I pulled off a quad, I was not sure I could hit more than six. Hana had a perfect form on her quad spin and that only reached six. At some point you'd lose momentum and fall from your own weight.

I blinked.

Weight.

I stared at the boards, which went up and up.

I laughed. Pumped, I shook my body and got ready. I was getting those top boards.

On go, I ran full speed.

My foot touched the first board.

Here goes nothing!

My foot touched the third board.

"Ayae-?!"

I touched the fifth.

Light.

The key was to be light, as I continued to climb the boards like a staircase. Seventh. Ninth. I jumped.

Once I was above, breaking all the boards was super easy. My fall did all the breaking for me.

Ten out of ten.

"You cheater!" Gin accused when I got back.

I stuck out my tongue.

The taijutsu section left me feeling super good. I was on the top of the world. Nothing could get me down.

But then, the next section got announced.

Ninjutsu.

And just like that, my luck turned upside down again.

All the students lined up. The list of ninjutsu was announced, but we already knew for months what they were going to be.

Kawarimi, the substitution.

Henge, the transformation.

Bushin, the clone.

Shunshin, the flicker.

I knew this was it. My last chance.

I hoped. I believed. I wished upon the sun, the moon, and all the lucky stars in the world. Let me do this. Let me do this. Please! Please. Just let me-

I tried.

I tried really hard.

I came off the platform without completing a single ninjutsu.

Teacher Iruka looked at me with pity. I hunched, not even embarrassed. Just disappointed.

None of the students made fun of me anymore. The entire grade was quiet. My friends were the quietest of them all. Gin pulled down his cap.

In the school hallway, Michio plopped by me.

I didn't react.

Michio leaned in. He waved his hand in front of my face. He poked my cheeks. He stretched my cheeks. He gave me a shove.

I let myself fall on the side, still hugging my knees. I curled inwards.

He dropped his shoulders. "Honey doll, you're not going to cry, are you?"

"Kunoichi don't cry," I said, my voice cracking.

"Kunoichi don't do a lot of things. That's why they're boring."

I said nothing.

After some silence, Michio let himself fall too. On the floor, he wormed closer and snuggled against my chest. He was warm. His hug did make things a little better.

"Honey doll is the greatest," he mumbled contently. "Need no ninjutsu to be super duper…"

I wiped my eyes.

The day was not over yet. There was still a final section on accuracy and aim, first with the sword, then with kunai, and finally with the shuriken.

Holding hands, Michio and I rejoined the others in the gym. He gave my hand a final squeeze before leaving for his row.

I followed the instructions, but my mind wasn't on the exam anymore.

I thought of my dad. Before the exam, my dad had wished me the best. He told me that no matter what happened, he would always be there. No matter what happened, we were always a team.

I hadn't paid attention to his words then, being too nervous about the exam. But now, remembering his words made me feel comforted. It made me feel safe, knowing my dad was waiting for me at the house. Knowing he had a yummy dinner prepared whether or not I returned home a ninja.

His words helped me calm down. His words helped me let go.

My hand picked up another shuriken.

It was okay.

So I failed. That was fine. All that mattered was…

…I tried my best.

My hand found no more shuriken. Done, I left my stance. The teachers wrote down my score and moved on to the next target board.

After they left, I looked up.

I blinked.

Ijouna, who was the closest, noticed first. Hana came over next, then Michio, then Tamaki. When Tamaki saw my board, she clapped her hands over her mouth.

Gin came over last. By then, Tamaki and I were jumping up and down, squealing.

"What's going on?" Gin asked.

Tamaki turned to Gin. "Ayae got a perfect!"

Eyes wide, Gin snapped his head to my board. On it was a ten-ten perfect bulls-eye. "No way."

"Yes way," I said, jumping again.

"No way."

"Yes way!"

"No. Way." Gin grabbed my shoulders. I didn't understand. I was happy, but he was more than happy. He was crazy happy. He was the happiest I'd ever seen him.

Hana scratched her cheek. "I don't think this has ever happened but… it is technically possible to graduate with a zero in ninjutsu."

I froze.

"Ninjutsu never hard requirement," Ijouna said.

Gin held me tighter. He laughed. "You had full marks in taijutsu, and in balance, and in speed. And you killed the written part too, didn't you? Then forget ninjutsu. You don't even need ninjutsu to pass. You can still be genin with us!"

And just like that, my heart began to soar.

Before I could say anything, we heard a high-pitched squeak.

It was Michio. He had fainted.

.

Excitement filled the school. The final day of the exam was here, the build up of all our training. We would be doing spars.

The spars were a huge event, taking up the whole back field of the school. Younger Academy students watched from the building windows. It was said jounin instructors sometimes came to observe. A few times, even the Hokage dropped in.

When I arrived at school, I found my friends gathered in the hallway. There were faces I wasn't expecting.

"Setsu, Dai, Ayame?! What are you doing here?"

We tackled each other hugs.

"Hey, hey, did you think we wouldn't come support you in something as big as this?" Dai said, rubbing my head.

Tamaki calmed us down. "Okay, okay, you positive about this?" she asked Ayame.

Ayame nodded.

"Positive about what?" I asked, looking at the paper between her and Setsu.

"So Ayae, we got told your situation and we did some calculations," Ayame explained. She showed me the math. "You have five matches coming up, right?"

I nodded.

"If you win all five of those matches, you make the cut."

"Seriously?"

She nodded.

"It's kind of ridiculous, and I don't think this has ever happened before, but you can get a zero in one section, as long as your scores everywhere else are high enough. Moreover…" She turned to Tamaki for the big reveal.

"We think five out of five matches is totally possible for you!" Tamaki exclaimed.

I blushed. I stuck out my tongue and said I was happy they believed in me that much.

Dai squished my cheeks. "Not the time to be cute," she said. "You're hands down one of the best fighters in our year."

"Just take a look, Ayae," Ayame said.

It was the rankings list from last year.

Michio. Ayame crossed him out. Members of the same clan weren't pitted against each other in the exam.

Hana. Hana and I exchanged a look. In terms of fighting, Hana probably had an upper edge over me. But beyond her…

The three most dangerous combatants on the list-Kou, Ijouna, and Maruten-were all crossed out.

"Noble clans aren't pitted against each other either," Hana reminded.

This left Idate, who, despite his showiness, was not a fighter at all.

"And you can beat Tanzou in your sleep," Gin finished.

The only remaining person who could challenge me was Gin himself.

And that was it.

"That's two people out of our whole senior grade!" Tamaki said.

All my friends cheered. We went over more logistics.

"What about you?" I asked Tamaki.

"Hm?"

"How many do you need to win to pass?"

Tamaki averted her gaze. She waved me off. "I'm fine! Just win this!"

The call came. Setsu, Dai, and Ayame sent us their best wishes. They would cheer us on from the building. The rest of us waved back and left for the fields.

Round one.

My friends were right. I won easily. Hana finished just a second before me and Tamaki two minutes later.

We went to check up on Gin.

Turned out he was in trouble. The rest of us had gotten easy opponents, but he matched against Ijouna. They were both good at ninjutsu, but unlike Gin, Ijouna knew how to combine ninjutsu with combat. Her hand signs were quicker and her reaction was better. And her flicker was deadly.

She had him beat.

"Are you okay?" I asked Gin, offering a hand.

He took it and got up. He pulled down his cap. "Yeah."

He was lying. Ijouna had shook him up. He hadn't expected a loss this early.

"Gin," I said firmly.

He looked me in the eyes.

Slowly, he remembered and untensed. He adjusted his cap again.

"I know, Ayae."

Smiling, I let go of his hand.

Round two.

I faced Minoji. I waved hi. Nervously, he waved back.

I won. Hana won. Gin recovered and was back on track.

On the other side of the field, Tamaki went against Hosei. Their match dragged on, and both looked beat. They did a double punch that sent both across the ring.

In the end, Tamaki came out top. She got up; Hosei didn't.

I ran to Tamaki while Gin helped Hosei.

In my arms, Tamaki breathed hard. One of her pigtails had come undone. She closed her eyes and smiled. "I ruined my shirt, didn't I."

I couldn't lie.

She laughed.

Round three.

After two easy rounds, my good luck ended.

Gin stood opposite of me in the ring.

I knew deep inside there was a chance of this happening, but my heart still broke.

The call came, but neither of us moved. I couldn't handle what was happening.

Finally, Gin walked up.

"Gin, I-"

He walked past me and out the ring.

Frowning, the teachers announced a forfeit.

"Gin!"

Gin didn't look bothered. "You need five out of five," he said.

"But you-" Gin had already lost against Ijouna. With me, that would be two losses against him. It didn't matter what his scores were before that point, two losses in sparring was really bad. It put him in the danger zone for cutoffs.

Again, Gin didn't look bothered. "I'll just win the next two."

I was surprised by how calm he was. No matter how tough he acted, he had been nervous throughout the exam, throughout the weeks leading up to the exam. I knew how much this exam meant to him. To his family. I knew the years of hard work he had put into this one day.

He had been the most nervous this morning. He had been shaking when I held his hand.

But something changed.

Gin was no longer nervous.

In fact, he was grinning.

We found Tamaki. She had lost; her previous match had left her too exhausted to put up a good fight. The three of us went to look for Hana.

It wasn't hard. Hana's match was gathering a big crowd. We immediately knew why.

She was fighting Michio.

All students were watching intensely. Some were sweating at how good Michio was. Others looked in awe.

Everyone knew facing Michio was an automatic loss. There was no beating him. He hadn't even broken a sweat while Hana was pushed to her limit.

But Hana wasn't giving up just yet. Glaring at him, she bit her thumb.

This caught Michio's attention. "Oh?"

Everyone went wide-eyed when Hana unleashed a new jutsu. A summoning.

When the smoke cleared, her three puppies were with her in the ring. It was the Triplets. But instead of happy and playful, they were serious and fierce. They growled.

Michio stiffened. He was kitty person, not a doggy person.

The Triplets attacked from all directions. Yelping, Michio ducked and dodged. But then, he started laughing, not scared at all.

His laugh was different though. His laugh was… darker. It was dry.

"You know, I gave this school thing a shot because I thought it'd be more fun than going straight to service. But all it's made realize is…"

He stood behind Hana.

"... how weak Konoha children really are."

He won.

Sighing, Michio looked at the sky. He looked bored. "Honestly, the Academy shouldn't be graduating any of you," he said, ignoring everyone's reaction. School was over. He didn't care about what students thought of him anymore.

He noticed me.

I couldn't read him. He had been acting funny since yesterday. He had been avoiding me too.

Hands pocketed, he left the ring.

He got two steps past me when…

"Owie, owie-!"

Vein popping, I held Michio tighter by the ear. "Apologize."

"Honey doll-"

"Apologize!"

Michio was about to argue. A glare from me shut him up.

"Inuzuka, I-"

"Not just Hana! Everyone!"

Hana sat up, watching Michio and I argue.

"Michi not taking that back! It the truth!"

"And the sky is blue! If all you want is to say something true, say that!"

"I can't believe you defending them. These boys who…"

"... are MY classmates. Are YOUR classmates. You've been at this school for almost two years. You've taken classes with them. You've eaten lunch with them. You've flirted-" I ignored the choking noises in the background. "-with them. And now you're going to pretend you don't know them? You're going to act all cool and above us? Over my dead body!"

We butted heads.

"Endearing or no, Michi forgot how annoying honey doll is too! In case you no notice, happy, safe, fun time is over! We're graduating now, we're registering into the system, a system we're woefully unprepared to handle, a system with Kiri, with Kusa, with Kumo, with thousands of nin that will chew these wonderful classmates of ours alive, and it is infuriating that this fact, this truth, this reality, is not being said, cannot be said, because heaven forbid we hurt anyone's feelings!"

I clenched my jaw.

"My mom is dead."

"Whaa-"

"My mom is dead," I said. "She died when I was seven. I don't say it because it hurts to say it. But there. I said it. A fact." I breathed. I blinked harder. "Look, even though I said it, my mom didn't come back. And you calling us weak didn't make anyone stronger.

"You know what got everyone stronger? Working really hard. Studying long nights. Training in the dojo. Trying our best and not giving up."

I dropped my shoulders.

"You're the king of the school, Michio. Everyone looks up to you. I think your words really can make people stronger, if you gave the right ones."

Michio pouted.

I hadn't meant to draw so much attention. Tamaki pulled me aside and asked what was that. Rubbing my neck, I apologized. Michio just got on my nerves. The exam was difficult enough without him being a jerk.

I crossed my arms. "I don't care if we can't be matched together. If he insults us again, I'm kicking his ass!"

Tamaki sweat-dropped. "Maybe you should put that energy into winning your last two matches."

Tamaki calmed me down.

It wasn't for long. Round four came.

Michio got called. To my alarm, Gin also got called into the same ring.

I had never ended a match faster. I started running out before the teacher even finished calling my victory.

By the time I reached Michio and Gin, their match was also over. Gin was sitting in the middle. Michio was walking away.

My stomach knotted.

"Gin!"

"Hey. Hey, it's okay," Gin said, seeing my panic. He pushed himself up and grabbed his fallen cap.

"What happened?"

Gin didn't know. He told me Michio just stepped out and let him win. Michio said it was payback for Gin letting me win. The teachers overseeing the match hadn't been very happy about it, but what was done was done.

Hearing that made me soften.

"I think he meant thank you, not payback," I said.

Gin scoffed. "Your family can't say what they mean. I got that."

We watched Michio stroll off into the distance. It was strange to see him go off by himself.

"Is it just me… or has your cousin been weird since yesterday," Gin said.

He was.

That was when I realized.

Michio… must be stressed too. I had worried about all my other friends, but not him. After all, he was number one. This exam should be easy for him.

But just because he was number one, just because the exam was easy, didn't mean he couldn't feel bad.

I forgot that Michio really liked school. He was popular. He was in a lot of clubs and afterschool activities. Because he didn't have to spend all his time studying or training, he actually spent way more time with the other students than I did. He was in the school building way more than I was.

And now he was going to be leaving all of it behind.

"Oh no."

"What?"

"I messed up!" I cried. I went way too hard on Michio. Now he was sulky and it was my fault!

I needed to make amends.

Michio was too far off. We didn't have a chance to reach him.

Instead, there was a commotion around another ring. Many teachers were gathered. Hana was already there, watching from the audience. She noticed us coming and tried to warn us.

It was too late. I already saw.

Tamaki was on the ground, unmoving. Her clothes were bloodied and her hair was all loose.

"Well shit…" Gin mumbled.

"Tamaki?!"

I called out Tamaki's name again, but she wasn't getting up. Both Gin and Hana had to hold me back.

Still standing in the ring was Tamaki's opponent, Maruten. He stepped aside when the school nurses came and carried Tamaki away.

Eventually, the other students cleared out.

I stayed. Slowly I walked into the ring and bent down. I picked up Tamaki's hairclip.

It was her favorite hairclip because of the flower on it. It was her good-luck charm.

Before I could break down, Gin held my shoulder. He said she'll be okay. I needed to get myself together.

Hana held me up too. She told me just one more match. I just needed to not think and focus on my last match.

Shaking, I nodded.

I clutched Tamaki's hairclip and held it closer to my chest.

After the fourth match was a long break. The teachers were all up front, talking through things.

Hana, Gin, and I sat under the shade. Hana had a medical kit. We used it to bandage up before our last fight.

Hana was the worst off because of her fight with Michio, but Gin was in bad shape too. I wrapped gauze tighter around his palm.

As I worked, I kept thinking of Tamaki. She had looked so beat up. But I couldn't even go check up on her. Testing students were not allowed off the field.

Hana and Gin were right. I had to stop thinking about her. But I couldn't stop thinking about her. I couldn't.

Done, I let Gin's hand go. He tested his fingers and grip.

He sensed my unease.

"Here."

I looked up. He was offering his water bottle.

We took turns drinking.

To distract ourselves, we talked about our remaining odds. Hana was safe. Gin was still in danger of the cutoffs. He had to win his next match, but that was no guarantee. Maruten and Kou were two big threats; if he got paired with either, he could be in serious trouble.

Compared to him, I was surprisingly okay. The noble clan rule protected me. And now that I had already faced Gin, there was only one person I could lose to-Hana.

The chances that Hana and I were paired together were less than one in ten, but Hana didn't want to risk it. She told me to go all out if we got put in the ring together. She wanted me to be as serious as I was the last time we faced off in Teacher Iruka's class.

She wanted me to beat her.

I realized from the way Hana was talking that there would be no fight.

Hana was going to do what Gin did. She was going to let me win.

I shook my head furiously. "No, Hana! You shouldn't sabotage yourself for me."

I already felt awful about Gin. He would already be safe if it weren't for his forfeit to me. Last thing I wanted was for Hana to ruin her rank for me too.

I curled inwards. "Please. It wouldn't be fair."

Hana and Gin exchanged a look.

"Ayae…" Hana began, setting down her water bottle. "I'm going to tell you what's unfair. It's that Minoji is safe, but you're not. It's the Hosei is safe, but you're not. We're not… I'm not doing this out of altruism. I'm doing this because, very selfishly, I want you. Because everyone in this grade wants you."

I lifted my head. "What?"

Hana pinched her nose. "How do you still not get this. Ask anyone in our year who they would want on their team, and I can tell you a hundred percent that your name is on their list. As genin, we'll be going on missions. Michio had a point. Some of them are going to tough. Some of them are going to be dangerous. And when the time comes, we… I don't trust Idate to have my back. I don't trust Tanzou to have my back. And gods, I definitely don't trust Minoji. But I trust you. I trust that you'll rise to the challenge. I trust that you'll pull your weight. I trust that whether you like me or hate me, you'll come to my side and protect me with your life. Our classmates can be dumb but they're not absolute idiots. When you failed your ninjutsu section, everyone went dead silent. Do you know why? Because without you, they suddenly felt that much less safe."

"Ayae," Gin said, thumbing his bottle cap. "Do you think I deserve a spot?"

"Of course I do!"

He turned to me sharply. "Then why don't you think you deserve one? You're not better than me, and I'm not better than you."

I swallowed.

The break lasted longer than any of us thought. In the distance, the number of adults grew. Michio was there for some reason. Teacher Iruka raised his voice.

More shinobi came in, presumably the genin instructors.

I didn't know why, but I suddenly got a bad feeling.

Whatever was happening between Michio and the teachers didn't look good. Finally, a ninja team dropped down, forcibly knocking Michio down. They flickered him away.

Alarmed, we stood up.

What-!

Then we saw the families. There were members of Hyuuga clan on one side. The Uchiha were walking in from the other.

After much talking, the teachers finalized the last matches. Teacher Mizuki stood in the center, looking very pleased. He uncovered the board with all our names and pair ups.

I saw mine.

Uchiha Ayae vs. Hyuuga Kou.

.

Hana stood in the ring next to mine. She didn't look at her opponent but at me. Gin looked at me too, his eyes wide. They weren't the only ones. Most students watched.

The Hyuuga and the Uchiha were not supposed to face each other. Yet, Kou and I were in the same ring. This time, it wasn't by accident.

My clan had made a special request, and the Hyuuga clan agreed. The Uchiha and Hyuuga clans were the two most powerful in the village. School rules didn't matter at that point.

Itachi's dad was here. He stood, watching. He hadn't believed Tomoe when she said the medicine didn't work. He believed the medicine only didn't work because I hadn't been pushed enough.

My clan wanted the Hyuuga to give me that push. They wanted this moment to not only activate my ninjutsu but also redeem my honor. My last defeat to Kou hadn't looked good for the Uchiha name.

In front of me, Kou tried to look calm, but I could tell he felt the pressure too. He wasn't as confident.

The match started.

Kou got serious. He shifted into position.

As soon as he did, my heart pounded. Against my control, I took a step back. There was a flinch in my step.

My heart rate was going up and up, the adrenaline hitting me hard. My body remembered. It remembered what Kou had done to me. It was now trying to protect me by making me afraid, by making me want to run away.

I didn't know what to do, but I knew that running away wasn't the right thing. My brain told my body to hold tight. I needed to hold tight.

All eyes were on us.

Kou advanced half a step. I forced myself to keep still.

Hold tight.

Kou was my classmate. I shouldn't be scared of him.

Kou wasn't…

He stared at me, emotionless.

Kou wasn't…

I stared at him.

He wasn't the enemy. I relaxed.

My stance caught Kou off guard. He hesitated on his next step, not sure what to expect. In the end, he decided to let me have the first move, if only to read my movements better.

I stayed where I was.

Calmly, I lifted my head.

Whatever was the problem, whatever didn't feel right, whatever was upsetting me… it wasn't Kou. I didn't look at him anymore.

Instead, I looked at Itachi's dad. Once I did, emotions I didn't realize I had came out. All the bad memories hit me at once. The cracked glass. The blood. Aunt Mikoto's desperate hug. Shisui's nervous smile.

The blank stare. Itachi's back as he walked away.

Itachi's dad usually never noticed me. He noticed me then.

The look I gave him was the meanest I had. I hoped he saw into my eyes and heard all my thoughts. They were loud thoughts. They were angry thoughts.

He was Itachi's dad. Itachi listened to his dad. Itachi did what his dad wanted. But here was what Itachi's dad did not understand.

He was not MY dad.

He had no right to be at my final exam. He had no right to be interfering with my final exam. Unlike MY dad, unlike Aunt Mikoto, unlike my friends, this person did not love me. He did not care about me. After all these years, he did not even know me.

Because if he knew me, if he even talked to me once, he would have known what a mistake he had made.

By the time he did, it was too late. I had already turned to Kou.

"You win."

Kou did not know how to react.

One of the teachers dropped his clipboard.

"Everyone knows you're better at fighting than me. Even if I did win, it'd be a fluke and that wouldn't be fair to you. Besides…" I stepped out of the ring. "I don't want to win if it means getting hurt. I don't want to win if it means hurting you."

I went to my teachers and bowed. "Sorry for wasting your time. You have taught me to forfeit lost causes, and this is a lost cause, so I forfeit."

I went to the Hyuuga and bowed. "Sorry for wasting your time. Kou is incredible. Did you know he broke ten out of ten boards? You should be very proud of him."

Finally, to Kou, I bowed. "I never got to thank you, Kou, for respecting me even when other people didn't. I respect you too. But I think we were taught different ways of showing respect. I hope you're okay if I show my respect the way my dad taught me."

I held out my hand for the sign of reconciliation.

Kou recovered. He untensed, the pressure on him slowly lifted.

He accepted.

Our fingers interlocked. Smiling, I took his hand with my other hand and gave a double handshake.

Sorry Hana.

Sorry Gin.

I remembered Tamaki's hairclip and took it out.

All around me were whispers and murmurs, questions and demands, confusion and chaos. There were hands on me, roughly dragging me this way and that.

I didn't fight back. I didn't mind, only clutching the hairclip tighter.

The uneasiness in my stomach finally went away.

.

"Am I in trouble?"

The Hokage sat opposite of me at his desk. It felt bizarre that I was in his office, meeting him in person like this. For some reason, he looked a lot smaller up close. He really was a grandpa!

"Do you think you're in trouble, Ayae?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," I answered honestly. "Is my dad angry at me?"

"What is his role in this?"

"Well, if he's angry at me, then I'm in trouble. And if he's not, then I'm not," I said seriously.

The Hokage enjoyed my answer. Lowering his pipe, he dismissed Teacher Iruka and Teacher Mizuki. He dismissed the other shinobi too.

Once they were gone, I untensed. I thought the Hokage would be intimidating, but he was nice.

"Despite sharing the same age and name, it would appear you and Itachi are indeed very different."

"Not that different."

"How so?"

I thought hard. "We both like… sweet things?" I paused. I opened my mouth, then closed it again.

"Okay, we're different," I grumbled, crossing my arms. "But that doesn't mean we can't like each other and be friends."

The Hokage didn't disagree. He said he and his friend were also very different.

We talked more about Itachi. I was surprised by how much the Hokage knew about him. It shouldn't have surprised me. Itachi did work for the Hokage after all.

As we talked, though, I felt a bit smug. Despite everything the all-knowing Hokage knew, I knew Itachi a wee better.

Itachi was very smart, but not about everything.

Itachi was very strong, but not against everyone.

Itachi and Sasuke had an incredibly sweet relationship, except when both of them were insufferable. There were definitely days when Sasuke yelled and Itachi just wanted to slam the pillow over his head.

But the biggest gap in our knowledge about Itachi turned out to be each other. Itachi never spoke to the Hokage about me, and he never spoke to me about the Hokage.

I must have looked disappointed. I had hoped Itachi talked about me, even if it was just a little bit.

The Hokage sensed this and told me what Itachi did was normal. It was encouraged that shinobi keep work life and family life separate. Things were cleaner that way.

Having different lives didn't necessarily make you disingenuous. Nor did it make one side real but not the other. People, after all, were complex.

I nodded. "It's like having different friends."

"Like having different friends," he agreed, picking up his pipe again.

I had drawn attention to myself during the final bar exam. The commotion went all the way up to the Hokage. But instead of making hasty judgments, he wanted to talk to me first.

He was glad he did. Talking to me helped him understand some things. It helped him understand who I was. It also helped settle a disagreement he had with his friend.

"So I'm free to go?" I asked, pointing to the door. While it was great to be the presence of someone as important as the Hokage, I wanted to go back to my friends.

The Hokage nodded.

"Before you do, Ayae, do you mind doing us one small favor?"

"What's that?"

"My friend… tends to worry. Would you be so kind as to shake Mr. ANBU's hand?"

A masked person appeared. I stared at his extended hand.

I turned to the Hokage. "Do I have to?"

"No. It is just to put my friend at ease."

Oh.

Smiling, I took Mr. ANBU's hand and shook it enthusiastically.

"Does your friend feel better now?" I asked the Hokage.

The Hokage smiled. "He should. Thank you, Ayae."

"You're welcome!"

In the hallway were shinobi to escort me downstairs. Unfortunately, seeing my friends would have to wait. Even though the Hokage had let me go, I was not out of the clear. The teachers still had words for me. I had to meet the disciplinary committee too, where I was lectured for a long time. Finally, I was put inside a classroom. I would be stuck there until they released me.

To my surprise, there was already someone else in the classroom.

"Michio-?"

Michio jumped on me, squeezing me in a tight hug. He had big tears in his eyes.

"Konoha sooo scary, honey doll, Michi not made for interrogation. Michi too soft and squishy for torture!"

"They tortured you?!"

Michio puffed a cheek. "With their annoying questions!"

I fell.

"Michi do well on test, they suspicious. Michi do badly on test, they suspicious! No matter what Michi do, they think Michi part of evil plot for world domination!"

Michio was exaggerating. He got in trouble for walking out on his match against Gin. His performance on the exam was already all over the place. Not only that, the scores of other students weren't making sense. Low ranking students were getting way higher marks than expected, inflating the cutoff score.

The teachers didn't know what was causing this, only that it seemed to be happening whenever Michio was around. They thought he might be rigging spots.

Specifically, my spot. They thought he might be helping me cheat. Excluding ninjutsu, my scores had jumped up all across. The final straw came when Gin forfeited to me and Michio then forfeited to Gin. They thought he and Gin had secretly come to an agreement.

"Wait, did you?"

"Of course not! Your friend did that all by himself." Michio crossed his arms, pouting.

Michio's attitude hadn't helped. He refused to go for questioning. He wasn't leaving the final round because of some stupid claim they didn't even have evidence for. And it was not like the teachers could force him either. Michio was stronger than our teachers, something he had not been shy to remind everyone. Teacher Mizuki had not taken that well.

So a team got called in.

"Honestly, can we have the corporal punishments back? If they're going to talk that much, that's practically cutting off my ear." He shook his head. "Anyway, why are you here?"

Scratching my cheek, I explained what happened.

"Wat."

"It serves him right!" I said, huffing.

Michio pointed weakly. "You… gave up your ninja career to spite Itachi's father?"

I winced. Okay, when you put it that way, that sounded bad.

I thought Michio would yell at me. That he would tell me that I lost my mind. I braced myself for the explosion.

It never came.

After coming around from his shock, he just snickered. Then he laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

It wasn't a fake laugh that time. It wasn't an exaggerated laugh. For once, he wasn't acting at all, real tears in his eyes.

"Fugaku… of all people, he used..."

He doubled over.

Just as I was getting worried, he inhaled.

The sun beamed on him from the windows. When he uncurled, it looked like all the weight had been dropped from his shoulders, his expression the lightest I'd seen.

"I lose again." Michio wiped his eyes. "He knows you better."

I didn't know why I blushed at that, but I did. Michio smiled.

I remembered something.

Michio blinked when I apologized. I had been overly sensitive. I had embarrassed him back at the field. I also thanked him for giving the victory to Gin. It meant a lot.

"Oh, no problem," Michio said, pocketing his hands. "We're all friends, aren't we?"

My lips wobbled.

He jolted when I was the one to tackle him for a hug. He rubbed his head back against mine, happy.

We waited some more, but the adults were taking forever to release us. So Michio made our clones.

We escaped through the window.

I breathed in the air, and with a giggle, jumped back out to freedom.