Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, just Takara and her family (not Anko(obviously, lol))

Some notices in the Author's Notes at the bottom.

Trigger warning: Violence, Swearing, Blood

Chapter 32 ~ Preliminary Mix Up?

There was a poof-ing sound as Kakashi, and I appeared back in the arena. I let out a long sigh of relief as I saw Naruto turn around, looking surprised and happy to see us.

"HI NARUTO, YOU HAVEN'T GONE YET RIGHT?" I said, in a completely normal level of speech. But Naruto winced and glanced up to Kakashi, and then back to me.

"Geeze, why are you yelling?" He asked, but I frowned.

"I'M YELLING?" I question just in time for Kakashi to slap his hand over my mouth.

"Yeah, so at the hospital, they told us a burst eardrum is a little more serious than we previously thought. Since the lining of the drum is so sensitive, it's gonna take a little longer to heal. But, to try to make it heal faster, they put a block on her ear to make it not receive any vibrations so the drum can focus on healing." Kakashi noted, and Naruto nodded in understanding.

"YWEAA ITW WRELLY SUSSS," I say through Kakashi's hand.

Naruto frowned and looked at Kakashi, "Um, so how long is she gonna be like this."

"Not long. Her other ear will start to take in more sounds, and she'll stop yelling. Give her an hour. But the block will be on her ear for like 2 weeks." Kakashi explained before leaning down next to my good ear. "Now, Takara, please try to whisper, so you don't burst our eardrums."

I nodded furiously until he took his hand off my mouth. "So, what's happening?" I whispered.

"Well, I haven't gone yet. So don't worry. But Ino and Kin are fighting right now." He says, motioning to the arena.

Leaning over the railing and looking at the two girls, I grimace at the scene. They are standing still, still huffing from their fight. Both look exhausted.

"Wow, I missed a lot." I said, "OH AND SASUKE IS OKAY. WE LEFT HIM AT THE HOSPITAL TO HEAL."

Naruto winced and pointed down, making me flush. "Sorry!" I try to whisper.

"Oi, could you quiet down," Shikamaru asked as he and Choji made their way over to us, their eyes never leaving the battle below.

I spared another glance myself. I'm not sure how much I've missed so far, but Ino is crouched on the ground, and Kin is standing a fair distance away, looking cocky.

Suddenly all desire to talk to my friends is sucked out of me as every ounce of my attention is put onto the scene before me.

Ino looks woozy and uncertain. Kin must be using a sound technique on her. I can't hear anything they are saying to one another, probably from working on only 50% of my hearing, and also they are quiet with what little they seem to be saying.

It was then that Kin started to throw senbon at Ino. I gasped as they hit her directly. She seemed unable to move out of the way.

My eyes rapidly scanned the area until I found the bells hanging off the senbons needles behind Ino. Those must be akin to Dosu's weapon. I bet right now I know precisely how Ino feels.

The room is spinning, and she can't see clearly. It is so quiet, and she is drowning in the ringing of the bells.

I bit my lip. How is she gonna win? She has to win!

"COME ON, INO! YOU GOT THIS!" I purposely scream. "YOU CAN WIN! FOCUS!"

The two girls look up at me. Kin looks annoyed for a half-second before realizing it was me shouting. The blood seems to drain from her face.

Her pause, in ringing the bell, seems to snap Ino out of whatever hypnosis she was in, and she managed to whip a kunai out and cut the string that is attached to the bell. It took her a few swipes, and she practically falls over, but she manages to cut the line.

Feeling the line go slack, Kin looks from me back to Ino in surprise, shouting, "What?!"

Ino already had the words for her mind control just out of her mouth and activates it.

There were a few things that allowed that jutsu to work out for her.

The strongest being that those two had never battled before, and Kin had no idea she could just move out of the way of it.

The second being the absolute speed of which Ino seemed to do the jutsu.

And finally, the fact Kin shouted out her confusion, which assured that Ino was pointing her soul in the correct place.

Ino and Kin's bodies went slack for a moment before Kin straightened out with a smile. She turned to look up at me from her spot.

"Thank you!" She called out to me, and I lazily waved back in reply.

Kin then turned back to Gekko-san and officially forfeited to the disbelief and shouts of her teammate.

Kin then used the release symbol, and Ino's soul flew right back into her body, despite the immediate cries of anger from Kin.

"She distracted me! This isn't fair!" Kin screamed at Gekko-san, pointing at me.

Gekko-san gave me a glance but sighed a little. "Everyone shouts during these matches. Part of being a ninja is not getting distracted."

I agree with him, of course, but I do feel oddly responsible for how this match turned out. Maybe I should be sparing with my shouts?

Kin was furious, continuing to argue with Gekko-san. Ino, on the other hand, sprang up the stairs and tackled me into a hug.

"I can't thank you enough! I'm not really sure what was going on, I could see so many hallucinations of her, and I felt so dizzy. But your shouting brought me back!"

I flushed as I hugged her back. "It was my pleasure. Those sound ninjas are insane."

We pulled away, and I looked back to Shikamaru, "How did your fight go?" I finally got to ask.

He grinned, "Oh, I won, it was just luck that I was going up against Tenten. I couldn't get close to her because of her weapons, and I had to do a lot of fancy footwork. But, I was able to jump my shadow between her weapons and eventually catch her. Since she already had a kunai in her hand, I just pressed it to her throat, and she had to forfeit."

I rolled my eyes, "You sound pretty cocky for a guy who looks like he went through a blender."

It's true though, he has slice and stab marks all over his body. I glance to Team Guy next to us, and Tenten was frowning. Obviously, she had been listening in on our conversation. More to that, she was also completely unharmed.

"It was just pure luck." I reiterated with a nod. Tenten being a weapons expert, means that she's gonna have a disadvantage in many fields.

I could hear Conscience cackling, 'Trust me she made it out way easier than if she had gone up against Temari.'

That made me frown. Why does Conscience keep mentioning battles that haven't happened or will happen? It's so confusing.

I tune back into my friends who were still praising Ino and Shikamaru for making it into the next exam.

"So this next battle will be the halfway point. These are going by quick." I nodded wisely, but my friends seem to look at me oddly.

"Oh, you didn't realize." Choji said, with a nod, "No, you missed three battles."

I blink.

"WHAT?! WHO?!" I looked around the room wildly to see who is missing. That visit to the hospital must have taken way longer than I realized.

"Well, after my battle, it was supposed to be Kiba and the Sand guy in all black." Shikamaru said with a shrug, "But before the Sand guy could even get down there, Kiba forfeited."

My mouth drops open, and I turned to look at Kiba. "He… he forfeited? Kiba… Kiba, the guy over there who has the cute dog? He… who once ate a clump of dirt because I dared him to… forfeited?"

Kiba was leaning on the railing, staring down below at nothing.

"Is he okay?" I whispered, the concern evident on my face.

I really wanted to go over there, but he seemed to be thinking, and I know I shouldn't bother him. Besides Hinata and Shino are there to comfort him right now.

"We don't know. It was bizarre. And only his Sensei questioned it. His team seemed to understand immediately." Shikamaru paused, "You should probably go talk to him about it later." He offered.

I nodded, still frowning. "And the other fight?"

"Oh, that was between the sand girl and that one masked guy… you know the one that was in the team with the guy who went against Sasuke? They were on Kabuto's team." Naruto tried to explain.

"Not gonna lie that was a super roundabout way of saying that." I sighed, "But okay, it was Temari verses… I think his name is Misumi Tsurugi?" I glance at the other side. "And now he's not here, sooo... Gonna guess Temari won."

Naruto nodded, "Big time. That guy, Tsururu, or whatever, was a close combat guy, and she is a distance fighter with her fan. So the moment he tried to spring on her, she got annoyed and sent him flying with a tornado attack. She really didn't even try to fight him close up." He waved his arms around to try to mimic Temari waving her fan, which made me smile.

I glance over to her, and to my surprise, we make eye contact. I give her a wave, but she doesn't return it. But just like Gaara, she doesn't seem angry at me either. Very passive.

"So two of the three sand siblings have made it. Honestly, I'll wager Gaara wins his fight too. He's probably wicked strong with his sand manipulation." I shrugged.

That seemed to get the group's attention, but before more could be said, the screen started to beep again. I suppose that means that Kin gave up her argument with Gekko-san.

As the next pair was decided, Naruto shouted with joy and jumped off the railing into the arena. Choji, on the other hand, looked very relieved as he strolled his way down.

I was conflicted since they are two of my closest friends, and they are about to duke it out.

"Well, this should be interesting," Shikamaru said dully, and Ino was already shouting cheers for Choji.

I leaned over the railing and took a deep breath before yelling, "GOOD LUCK YOU TWO!"

Neither looked up to me, but I think it's impossible that they didn't hear me.

As Gekko-san called start, they both reacted reasonably predictably.

Naruto pulled three shadow clones out, and Choji used his expanding ninja art to turn into a ball.

I frown as I essentially looked at a reveres Pac Man game with Choji slowly chasing the four Naruto's around. Choji doesn't move very fast in his ball form, especially on concrete, and can't make swift turns. Meaning that while Choji rolled around trying to crush the Narutos', the Narutos' were jumping around trying to find a way to get him out of that form. As long as he is moving, Choji is quite invincible.

"How long can he keep that jutsu up?" I asked Shikamaru, and he shrugged in response.

"We are exhausted, but it is just a matter of time. As long as Naruto doesn't do anything stupid, he will be able to wait him out." Shikamaru didn't look very hopeful for Choji, but Ino just continued her cheering.

I nodded and crossed my arms. It wasn't the most enthralling battle I had ever seen.

Naruto was beginning to get really agitated and kept shouting at Choji to come out and fight for real. As much as Naruto may have wanted to absolutely punch Choji, with Choji rolling around in that ball form, there was nothing Naruto could do. Any physical attack would probably hurt Naruto, just as much, and any weapon would just skip right off Choji's rolling figure.

"When did Choji eat last?" I questioned again, after 6 minutes into the rolling around and shouting match.

"Not in a couple hours, at least," Ino mumbled, her enthusiasm died 4 minutes ago as she slumped over the railing bored.

I sigh, "Then, any minute now."

And true to my word, just a minute later, the sweating shinobi ball finally stopped moving. Naruto seemed wary for a second, but when nothing happened, all the Narutos' moved in at once and kicked Choji like a soccer ball right into the air. The ball rose up maybe ten feet before there was a popping sound, and an exhausted Choji fell to the ground with a thump.

Naruto didn't attack him right away and instead cautiously walked up to the form. "Uhhh Choji?" Naruto asked.

Choji laid there, seemingly fainted and huffing.

Gekko-san then called the match.

Choji had overheated himself inside his own body, due to the chakra exhaustion keeping him from cooling down. He was fine, but a medic brought over a water bottle for him to chug.

Naruto came stomping up the steps to be with us, and Choji was moved to the medical area to cool off better.

"I can't believe it!" Naruto shouted. "That was way too easy!" He groaned and pouted.

'Huh, okay, suddenly, all the pairs I saw made a lot of sense for an entertainment aspect.' Conscience muttered.

"Well, you still won, so good job!" I said, giving him a pat on the back.

There wasn't any clean up this time, so the next match started immediately, with the ominous chirping from the screen. Match eight was decided.

Hinata Hyūga vs. Neji Hyūga

I nod at the decision, it makes sense since the chunin exams won't want two Hyūgas in it. Gotta have some diversity.

The cousins made their way down, and I could hear Conscience sigh, 'This is gonna be so sad.'

I frown at those words, but I try to stay focused. I don't really know either of them well, so this is an excellent learning opportunity.

Well, Conscience has told me bits and pieces here and there, but I've never spoken to them personally.

Naruto and I leaned on the railing to watch when Neji demanded Hinata forfeit. We both glanced at each other. A pretty odd thing to be saying to your cousin.

I glanced over to her team, where Shino and Kurenai seemed stoic, but Kiba was gripping the handrail so hard I could see his arms shaking.

I frowned and walked away from my team to be with Team Eight. Only when I turned did I realize Lee was talking, explaining the history of the family. I gave him a grin and continued past him.

I heard Naruto say my name, but I just held up a hand and continued over.

When I got there, I paused to lean next to the shivering Kiba. Shino and Kurenai-sensei looked at me skeptically.

"Hey, you okay?" I ask, glancing at him.

Kiba shrugged, "I'm fine." He said, but obviously, he wasn't. He was utterly focused on the words being exchanged between the two Hyūgas.

I didn't want to push him and make him feel uncomfortable, so I tried to watch the discussion below.

"A failure will always be a failure."

Okay, that caught my attention.

Kiba seemed so tense as he began to mutter curses under his breath.

I stayed silent and looked back to the match. It seems Hinata did not forfeit, and now Neji has activated his Byakugan… it's unnerving to look at.

I frown at the appearance. Is my… Kekki Genkai, that scary to look at too?"

Hinata appears to be having a panic attack as Neji is just trying to intimidate the girl into quitting.

Kiba's hands finally break from the railing and cup around his mouth, "HINATA! YOU GOT THIS! TAKE DOWN THAT FREAK!" He yelled loudly.

I raised my eyebrow, and before I could comment, Naruto began to shout too, "HE HAS NO RIGHT TO TELL YOU WHAT YOU CAN AND CANNOT BE! SHOW THAT GUY HE'S WRONG!"

I grin, well well well.

It seems everyone's getting fired up.

Hinata seems to have calmed herself and got into a position to attack. Neji copied her, and the two got ready to fight.

Their moves were intense and explosive, with visible blue chakra flying everywhere. I found myself becoming entranced by their movements.

Both Kiba and Naruto seemed to be shouting out cheers for Hinata when suddenly the two tweens froze. And everyone became silent.

Hinata began to vomit blood, and I have never heard Kiba scream "no" out loud like that.

'He took out all of her chakra points,' Conscience whispered.

I shook my head. "He's terrifying," I said.

"I… I told her to forfeit," Kiba said quietly. "I told her he'd do this."

I stared at Kiba's worried face and looked back to the battle. Hinata had begun to fight again, still using her family's style. It seems so illogical. Why doesn't she use a weapon?

But I guess some fights you know you won't win no matter what. But goddamn it, you can't just stop trying.

We all watch the fight, unfortunately, aware of the ending. I really just want Hinata to pull out a kunai from somewhere and stab him, but I'm afraid that won't happen. Neji seems to be acting like a real dick.

He finally hits her one too many times, and Hinata falls. Kiba looks ready to vault over the bar and run to her. Gekko-san starts to call the match too.

But Naruto interrupts, screaming, "No."

I looked over to him, surprised. I mean, at this point, letting Hinata continue would just mean her death.

I looked back and was shocked to see Hinata slowly standing up. She is obviously in a lot of pain, and Kiba keeps whispering under his breath that she should stay down.

The two Hyūgas' seem to exchange more words. I can't hear it all, but it looks like Hinata has called Neji out for being the one who freaked out over the family status while she doesn't care that much.

For some reason, that is what pushes Neji over the edge, and he rushes her.

I instinctively vault the railing along with Kiba, but before we have even hit the ground, all the teachers have stopped Neji.

I sigh with relief, and I give Kiba a grin. He also looks immensely relieved. It was then, of course, that Hinata vomits more blood and collapses.

Kiba and I have a head start as we ran to her body. Kurenai-sensei was holding the broken girl as we reached her.

Kiba and I fell to our knees so that she could see that we are there. Naruto also managed to get over to us and seems very worried, as well.

Hinata seems to look at us and was mouthing words, but she couldn't speak. It was then that she lost consciousness.

I frown and turn to look at Neji. I don't really agree with his actions, but I suppose it was all a part of the exam. It did feel like he went overboard, though.

But to be fair, so did I.

Naruto and Kiba seem to have very different ideas as me since they rushed Neji together, only for Lee to step out in front of them.

I stopped paying attention to the boy's squabbles as I knelt back down to Hinata, reaching out to take her pulse.

"Kurenai-sensei, she needs a doctor, her pulse is weak," I said quickly, and Kurenai-sensei immediately called for a medic. Not 15 seconds later, I felt her heart rate stop, and I went white.

"She has gone into cardiac arrest!" I yelled, and the medics were upon us with a stretcher, loading up Hinata and then booking it out of the room. I stayed where I was in shock, but I did see Kiba disappear into the mess of medics. I look down at all the blood on the floor, and I close my eyes and sigh.

'Yea, okay, you were right. That was shitty.' I thought to Conscience, but they didn't respond.

I stood back up and met Naruto at our section with Kakashi. We were all very quiet. They are scrubbing Hinata's blood off the floor as quickly as they can.

This is not really fun anymore.

I feel anxious, but I don't know why. I guess. Conscience is probably beginning to freak about something again. Today has been really stressful for them.

"Hey Takara," I hear Naruto say, so I turn to look at him. He seems pensive before meeting my eyes, "I hope I fight Neji," he says.

I stare back at him before reaching up and playfully ruffled his blond hair, "And I hope I fight Ino. That would be an easy win for me."

I could hear Ino shouting, hey, at me, but I ignored her with a grin.

Naruto rolled his eyes before wrapping an arm around my neck and brought me closer. We stood there comfortably until the blood was all cleaned up, and the next match began to chirp on the board.

Shino Aburame and Zaku Abumi

Conscience made a high pitch noise so loud I flinched, making Naruto pull away worried. I give him a reassuring smile. But Conscience is just screaming about Lee and that I had to tell Lee to forfeit.

The fact that it is not even Lee's turn confuses me, and I am getting frustrated with my Conscience.

I could hardly focus on the match at hand because the only thoughts Conscience was letting me have were an analysis of all of Gaara's moves.

The broken armed Zaku still had one arm left to fight. Shino looked comfy and spotless.

Although, I feel terrible that none of his team is here to cheer for him. So despite not knowing him well, I still shouted some fighting words for him that he didn't seem to acknowledge.

The fight began with Zaku getting up real close with Shino and letting off a sound wave that sent Shino flying. But to everyone's surprise, Shino seems to stand up immediately and was unbothered.

A scurry of bugs began to crawl out of Shino, and I stare amazed. The bugs surrounded Zaku, and Shino threatens the hell out of Zaku.

It is really cool.

Zaku struggles for a second to try to raise his other arm, but the muscular damage I did to it proves that it's not possible. So he raises his good arm at Shino to attack but couldn't. Shino's bugs have plugged the hole.

The pressure from the sound causes Zaku's arm to explode.

Amazing.

I am practically sparkling in astonishment as I watch the match. Conscience has finally quieted down.

All it took was one good punch from Shino and Zaku was out after that.

Shino won, and I cheered out for him when he did. He is surprisingly cool!

With Zaku being carted away, that left only one more fight.

Rock Lee vs. Gaara

Conscience's silence had calmed me but only for a split second before the realization set in.

'Wait! Conscience, he's not gonna die, right?!' I thought frantically.

Conscience only replied, 'He will wish he had for a long time.'

Adrenaline

I reach out and grab the excited Lee's forearm before he could jump into the arena.

He looks at me confused, but I begin to speak fast, and purely from Conscience.

"Gaara is a special kind of dangerous. He can control the sand that surrounds him entirely, like an ultimate defense. It is in that gourd he is wearing. Without your weights, I'm sure you're faster than it. But the real problem is that he can cover his entire body in a layer of sand as armor and that you won't be able to break through that easily. Although it does use a high amount of chakra. Worst of all is Gaara is a damaged kid. He won't hesitate to kill you, so don't let his sand get around you. If you even begin to think that could happen, you need to forfeit, or he will kill you." The words rush out of me like a river, and Lee seems positively dumbstruck.

He is probably still trying to absorb what I had first said when I spoke again.

"If you want to win, you have to do it before he can account for your speed and armors up with the extra layer of sand. If you don't win in six minutes, you should forfeit before you start to get tired, because that is when he will strike." I squeeze his arm a little tighter as I stare at him, "He won't float."

Lee is still thrown by my final words but nods before jumping into the arena. My shoulders were tense as I gripped the handrail. Suddenly I know how Kiba felt earlier.

I sure hope Hinata is okay.

"Takara." I hear Kakashi say.

I didn't turn around to look at him but instead offered a 'hmm?'

"How do you know all that about Gaara." He asked. Without looking at him, I knew he was looking at me suspiciously.

I could feel the panic swelling in Conscience at Kakashi's sharp mind.

"We met when we were children. My Dad took me to the sand on a mission, and we became friends. We corresponded for a couple months afterward, but we eventually lost contact." I respond. I mean, it makes sense, so it should dilute the suspicion a bit.

It was then that I noticed Kankuro is walking up to Shino, given that he is the furthest on our side of the arena. I watch as Kankuro tries to chat with Shino but fails for obvious reasons. I couldn't help but smile at that, I think I'm really beginning to respect Shino.

When he was turned down, Kankuro looks hesitantly at the rest of Team Guy before noticing me staring at him. I give him a wave and begin to walk over.

Naruto stops me by grabbing my shoulder, and I turn to look at him, confused.

"You're acting really strange, are you okay?" He asks me, and he looks really concerned too.

I furrowed my brow, "I'm acting strange?" I questioned.

I guess how I acted just now to Lee was out of character for me. It was purely Conscience. Had I done anything else odd?

Naruto just stared at me for a few more moments before motioning slightly, "Why are you going over to talk to the sand dude?"

I open my mouth, intending to say that I hadn't spoken to him since we were kids, and I wanted to catch up. But even I realized that was sort of an odd thing for me to say. We are in the arena, and I'm supposed to be in ninja mode. I don't usually act this… human around people who aren't my friends. So I guess the correct answer is-

"We might be fighting in the final exam, so I'm gonna try to squeeze some info out about him and his siblings. Although that is probably what he is trying to do to me too." I shrug.

Naruto stared at me for a moment longer before nodding, "Good idea, I'll come with you."

And so we both turn, leaving the observant Kakashi, and walk over to Kankuro.

He gave us a fake smile and greeted us kindly. Before we could really talk, I noticed the fight seeming to start.

Gaara and Lee stood facing each other, and the cork in Gaara's gourd falls to the floor ominously.

Gekko-san starts the match.

Lee jumps into it with an intense leaf hurricane, but as predicted, his foot crashes into Gaara's sand, which he then has to quickly avoid. The look of realization on Lee's face is almost laughable.

Lee turns slightly, and he seems to look around before settling on me. He gives a slight nod before turning back to the battle. Gaara and Kankuro seemed to notice immediately as Kankuro immediately mentions it.

"Oh, wow, were you spreading information about us, Takara?" He asks with a sly grin.

"I only told him about the sand." I chirped back. But a melancholy began to fall over me. Gaara and I were so close during that trip. I feel a little bad that I ratted on him. But if Conscience is right… maybe he's changed?

Naruto seems to notice I fibbed but said nothing as he continues to watch the match.

So far, it is only Lee jumping around using his taijutsu with no success. I'm sure he'll take his weights off soon.

"You three have changed since we were young," I said out loud, and Kankuro chuckled.

"Life moved on." He said simply, but it felt like there were unspoken words behind them.

"Is Gaara okay?" I spoke softly, but I'm sure Naruto still heard it.

"After you stopped replying? No, he wasn't" His words were becoming harsh.

I turned to him quickly, my curls tussling everywhere, "What? I never stopped replying. He did." I frowned and squinted at the taller boy.

Kankuro stared back at me, and before he could respond, Gai's supreme voice rang out, telling Lee he could take off his weights. We were only a minute into the fight.

This conversation with Kankuro seems really important, but it needs to wait for now. Things are getting serious.

Lee was standing on the ground level as he quickly removed his weight and tossed them aside. The incredible crashing sound shook the room. The stunned faces around me made me grin.

Oh, yea, that is very impressive. Lee would undoubtedly be a good spar. I wonder which of us is faster?

With his speed increased to a supernatural level, he began to race around Gaara dealing blow after blow. Making me tense.

No, he should just progress straight into the Lotus! Why is he messing around?

After a particularly hard punch, Gaara's face began to crack, and I felt my hope drain out of me. His layer of sand is already activated.

Lee, also noticing the cracks, begins to prepare for the Lotus immediately, while Gaara is fixing his shield.

Just as the last grain of sand completes Gaara's shield, Lee flings himself into a Lotus.

We are now four minutes into the fight, as I use my own mental timer.

Just as I said, Gaara does not float after the first kick, and Lee is forced into a barrage of kicks. But due to him not wasting his stamina earlier in the fight, he can last through all the kicks without flinching in pain. He successfully wraps Gaara and spins him down in the attack.

For a brief second, I fear that Gaara could actually die from this, but as they descend down, I notice all of Gaara's sand piling below them. My stomach twists into a knot.

Lee releases Gaara into the ground, and there is a horrible smashing sound as he makes an impact, but when the dust settles, Gaara is sitting there, looking absolutely stunned. He reaches up to hold his head and looks in pain as he makes a loud yelling noise.

"He probably has a concussion at the very least," I said, making Kankuro look shocked and worried as he grips the bar.

"Gaara's in pain… he's been hurt!" He exclaimed.

Across the arena, Temari seemed to have a similar freak out with their Sensei.

But instead of being joyful like Naruto, I am only tense. After all, now he's only pissed Gaara off.

Gaara stood up, seeming woozy, before his sand descends on Lee, with more furry and anger than before. It was all Lee could do to dodge before Gaara finally gave him a small break to gather his sand.

In that brief period, Lee opens the second and third gates together. A rush of chakra and power came over him as his skin turns red.

But to me, he has lost the moment Gaara didn't faint during his Hidden Lotus. We were past six minutes at this point.

I really hope Lee will listen to my advice, but I'm starting to think he won't.

But when he opens that fourth gate. I blink hard.

Okay, so maybe I shouldn't count him out yet.

Also, I'm terribly jealous and impressed. Technically, I can only open the first gate since I can also do the Hidden Lotus move. But I never cared to move past it. Maybe I should ask Dad to teach me.

As Lee moved, the ground cracked underneath him. With his blinding speed, he ping-ponged Gaara around in the air until Gaara's shield was cracking off of him in sheets. I couldn't help but cheer as Lee landed the final kick that would be reminiscent to the Hidden Lotus.

As Gaara flung to the Earth, in that split second, I saw his gourd crack, and so did my heart.

Gaara's gourd had saved him, as he laid obviously injured in the center of another pile of sand.

I heard Conscience begin to panic, and I found Lee laying not too far, injured as well. And probably unable to move due to muscle tears and broken bones.

I couldn't tell for sure, but I think he may have opened the fifth gate right before hitting Gaara one last time.

Both boys were awake, and Gaara held up a hand, to which the sand obeyed. His sand began to move toward Lee, and Conscience's panic began to rise up and bubble out of me as I leaned over the railing.

"LEE!" I shrieked, watching in horror as the sand began to wrap around Lee's leg.

At the last second, Lee looked up, and it felt like we made eye contact. Though I can't be sure, I didn't imagine it.

"I forfeit!" He shouted, and the second the words left his mouth, both Gai Sensei and Gekko-san dispersed the sand by their intervening.

The medics were upon the scene immediately and took Lee away. A tentativeness Gai-sensei watched after them but must have decided to stay here to support Neji, in the discussion of the real exam.

As Lee is being carried off, I give him a thumbs-up, and from what I can tell, I think he returned it.

"Takara," Naruto said, making me turn to look at him. I am beaming, knowing that Lee will be okay. "You screamed." He said, looking concerned and startled.

For a second, I didn't even process what he said, but then I smiled.

"He's my friend, Naru. I would scream if you were in danger too."

That seems to satisfy Naruto a bit, but I could tell that it may still be bothered.

Gaara got up after a second, bent over in pain, and Kankuro with Temari appeared next to him. They seemed concerned as they spoke in low voices, but it made me happy to see them all together.

"And with that, the preliminary exams are over," Gekko-san announced. The entire room seems to sigh in relief.

I finally relax in what felt like ages as I bump shoulders with Naruto. Kakashi walks over to the two of us and rolls his eyes at our excitement.

"Takara, I have to go, so I'm leaving the information for the final to you." He said loosely before body flickering away.

I groan but follow the rest of the winning students to the arena where we stood in a line before the Hokage.

He announced that we would be battling again, in display of the nation, in one month.

That made me feel even more relaxed. A month is more than enough time for my ear to heal and for me to learn more Jutsu.

The Hokage then announced that Anko would be going around with a box of papers in it, and we would all pick one from the box.

I grinned at Anko as I took a slip from the box. She returned it but continued to the rest of the group.

I opened my slip of paper to see the number one on it, and I blinked.

Why…?

Ibiki then had us read off our numbers as he wrote them down. That's when Ibiki revealed who our competitor will be in the final.

Okay, I have gone from cool as a cucumber to BURSTING WITH ANXIETY, yes, okay, THIS IS NOT GREAT.

Battle number one is me against NEJI HYŪGA… FUCK.

I heard Conscience swear as well. Yea, this is especially not great for me. My battle style gives me an immediate disadvantage.

I glance over at Naruto, and he gives me a disappointed look before turning to look at who he will be battling, Shino. His battle will be second to mine, which means that if we both win, we will have to go against one another. Extra not great.

Honestly, I feel a little conflicted, due to my growing admiration of Shino. But I'll have to put that aside.

Looks like Sasuke is supposed to go against Gaara last. That will undoubtedly be an interesting battle. And Shikamaru vs. Temari before them.

Right after Naruto's battle, then there's Ino vs. Kankuro, the middle show.

Conscience sounds conflicted because only two of the battles they knew about and everything else, 'Is messed to fucking Hell.'

The Hokage explained how the leaders will decide from these battles if any of us deserve to be a chunin.

Which, ya know, seems fair.

Our leader finally dismisses us, and I find myself being escorted out of the forest with everyone.

As we exited, Naruto told me he was gonna find Kakashi and made a mad dash off to the hospital. I presume.

I sigh as I began my stroll to pick up Usa. For a brief second, it seemed like today I could finally enjoy the peace when I heard someone walking behind me.

I turned around, expecting one of my friends but found my Dad instead.

Oh yea, at some point, I kinda forgot he was in the room with us.

He stared at me for a moment before beginning to walk with me at a leisurely pace.

"I heard you were attacked by Orochimaru." He started bluntly.

Of course, he would find out, he's beside the Hokage every day.

"Yea, it was a difficult battle, and one where I couldn't fully protect my comrades," I said softly, kicking a rock lightly.

Dad didn't respond for several seconds before humming. "Sometimes, even our best cannot stop the inevitable. And I'm positive you did everything you could… After all, that is a terrorist, and you should not have been forced to fight someone like that. Not right now. I'm just glad you seem okay."

I nodded, but I felt heavy with guilt. How could I not?

He lets me absorb his words before continuing, "Good job on your fight with that sound kid. You subdued him very quickly and didn't even let a bad injury stop you. I'm proud."

I smile slightly at his words and say thanks. But after walking several more yards, I feel something bubbling up inside me.

"Something bad is going to happen during the exam," I say. It just sort of slipped out. Conscience didn't even register I said it for a second.

Dad nods, "I think so as well."

I shook my head, "No, I don't mean 'me losing' bad, I mean 'Orochimaru is coming back,' bad."

I stare at him, absorbing his stoic face.

"I know you fought Orochimaru twice, actually." He suddenly brings up. "And you threatened him, seemingly multiple times."

I blushed, as it's not like it was a secret. I just literally forgot that happened today. It has been busy.

Dad sighed at my expression, "I'm worried you have more of a target on your back than any other Gushikan at this point. I need you to be careful to avoid trouble, and I don't want you to have to face that man again."

He looks so stressed but makes no change in his pace, "As for the exams, yes, that is what I meant as well."

"Then what do we do!?" I began raising my voice frantically. "I don't want to fight Orochimaru again! I really just want him to die! And if the exams are dangerous, then we have to stop them!"

"I've alerted the Hokage, but the chunin exams are too big to pass up without significant proof. Monetarily these exams are a huge deal for all the nations, especially the one hosting it. So I suppose for the time being the best thing we can do is train you. Train you so that you can beat that Hyūga into the dirt and then an invader if need be." His words were severe, but he kept his gaze on the path before us. "I refuse to let you be attacked by that snake again. As long as I am here, I will try to make sure he won't reach you."

I remained silent for a couple minutes before finally responding. "Dad, you can't be the Hokage's shadow that day."

That got him. He whipped around to look at me. "Why?" His voice was calm.

"If we are attacked and you're right there, then you will die! And I can't lose you too, Dad! I need you! Tell them you want to take time off so that you can bring Usa to see me fight. Say anything to make sure you are not right there." I was becoming red in the face.

We both stopped walking.

Thank Kami no one else was on that path.

"Takara, I will never leave you unless I truly must to save our nation. And if that is protecting the Hokage, then that is that." His words were cold.

"Dad!" I yelled, "Please don't leave me too!"

I stared at him for what seemed like forever. Before he slowly began to nod, "Okay. I'll take the day off." He said softly before he ruffled my curls and apologized. Whether he genuinely means it is a mystery.

We finally arrived at the daycare, and we took a curious Usa home. Although first, he excitedly hugged me after my being gone for almost a week.

That night was a hard one.

The next day I would need to begin training so that I can defeat the close-quarters combat specialist, Neji.

And despite that early wake-up call, I sat in my bed for far too long, finally begging for what little information Conscious was willing to give me for what exactly is going to happen during the chunin exams.

It is fair to say that I had horrible nightmares that night.

Authors Note:

YO, what is UP my dudes. I hope you guys are enjoying this so far.

I've put a lot of thought into the pairings for the exam, and I hope it turns out well. But I am really excited about these next chapters since I get to go off-book and write what I want.

It can really be a pain to try to keep this fanfic on track with the show, lol.

Also, I have a DeviantArt and Tumblr under the same name if you want to contact me.

Please comment if you would like to, but I would really appreciate it! They help give me the desire to write.

Thank you and have a nice day,

-ToL

P.s

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR FINALS IF YOU'RE HAVING THEM