Chapter 14: Dueling Fates - Sasuke Awakens!

"I will not. I will never surrender. I will fight through to the finish, whatever the outcome. I will not quit. I will not betray and desert the best thing in my life. No, no, I will not surrender."

– Edward Abbey

Sasuke languidly swirled the ramen in his bowl, tossing his thoughts over and over again in his head. The day of his team's fight with Neji was rapidly approaching, and they were all training as hard as they could, each member of the team eager to prove themselves in their battle with the older genin.

On this day, Hinata had been borrowed by Anko the moment training had ended for "dango and girl time" as she had put it. Kakashi had claimed to have a personal matter to take care of in the evening - Sasuke was unaware that his sensei spent so much time at the memorial stone, and he still certainly made an effort to visit often if no longer obsessively - and that left the dark-haired boy alone to grab a quick dinner with his blonde teammate.

"Hey," the blonde asked, drawing him out of his revelry, "you gonna eat your ramen? I'm about to get my fourth bowl!"

"Yeah, I -" Sasuke began, immediately trying to deflect the conversation from his own thoughts, before he stopped. With Naruto, everything seemed easier. Many of the other boys his age lacked the perspective to understand him in the slightest due to the tragedy of his past, and those that could have were not exactly running to be his friend and work through his issues.

However, the Uzumaki simply understood both what he did and did not understand. He didn't try to claim they were exactly the same after their first spar, but rather argued that they both knew enough to understand each other. And maybe that was true.

"Actually…" Sasuke sighed, his teammate's eyebrow quirking upwards. "Something's been bothering me about… About what that man did, or, what he said when… When it all happened."

Naruto's expression grew serious at the mention of this topic. The dark-haired boy also appreciated how any of the normal levity the blonde seemed to have perpetually left him when the topic became serious, like now. "What did he say?"

Sasuke sighed raggedly, remembering the promise he and his sensei had made. This was good practice for actually talking about his feelings ahead of their upcoming therapy sessions. "That night he… Did what he did, the last thing he told me was that I was weak, because I didn't have enough hatred. And I believed him. I've focused so much on hating him ever since, and it made me strong. I thought it did. I became rookie of the year, and was regarded as a genius. But this last week, I've gotten much stronger than I could have imagined in such a short time - and moreso, you and Hinata have still minimized the gap between us despite my own growth. How, if someone as powerful as him could say hatred is the only way to grow strong? Are we all getting stronger because we hate Neji that much?"

Naruto listened, uncharacteristically quiet, not even moving to touch the steaming hot bowl of ramen that had been placed in front of him. After Sasuke finished, he spoke. "Nah. I mean I definitely don't like the guy, but I don't hate him."

"Yeah." The dark-haired avenger agreed. "I have an ax to grind after what he said about my family, but it takes a lot more than that for hatred. So how have we all gotten so strong if not for that?"

"I mean it's not really about Neji. Yeah, I wouldn't like the guy on principle because of the fate crap, ya know?" The blonde agreed, and then expounded. "But he insulted your family. He puts Hinata down. I meant it when I said nobody talks bad about you guys. I need to make sure I'm strong enough to beat him so nobody thinks they can get away with the crap ever again, ya know?"

Sasuke blinked, before he smiled slightly, almost shyly. "You know, you actually sound like how you say that character in that book of yours does sometimes."

"Aw, shuddap." The blonde replied, but his blush and friendly smile said he appreciated that comment. "Besides, I'm pretty sure we're gonna steamroll Neji with how strong we've all gotten. I got a secret technique from my clan scrolls that I'm hoping I can pull off by then, really show out. And there's other stuff I've been working on on the side - it ain't flashy, but it sure is tricky." Both boys snickered a bit at the inside joke.

"You too?" Sasuke replied, his smile going from genuine to ferocious as their laughter died off. "All this training with the fire jutsu I know gave me an idea. Don't tell sensei, but I've been working on it every night. I think I might be able to use it if we need it, though I doubt that." His smile was positively feral now. "It's better suited for destroying armies or buildings than individual people."

Naruto matched his look with an equally feral, predatory, and absolutely foxy grin. "Well now you have to use it… I'm excited to see it. Believe it."

"Hinata!" Sasuke shouted, beginning to move towards her - only to realize that his blonde teammate was already by her side, catching her with more gentleness than he would've thought the boy capable of. Realizing he hadn't even seen the blonde Uzumaki move, Sasuke looked towards his teacher and Hiashi, only to realize that neither of them had been prepared either.

"Well, look at that." Kakashi mused dryly. "I'm certainly going to have to push him harder on our morning runs, if he could have moved that fast this whole time."

"Indeed." Hiashi agreed, though his tone was ever so slightly clipped as he gazed at the young blonde holding his daughter against his chest. His eyes narrowed slightly as well when the boy picked her up like a princess, running with his legs a blur yet the top half of his body held perfectly still so as to not jostle the battered girl he was holding.

"Sensei, Mister Hyuga! I think Hinata needs a doctor or something, she got hit pretty hard during all that." The boy ranted off quickly, his face scrunched in an expression of pure concern and worry.

"Yes, I will be handling that." Hiashi cut in, his tone clearly attempting to be friendly but a bit curt. "You can put her down now."

It was then that it finally seemed to dawn on Naruto that he was holding Hiashi's daughter in a rather intimate way. His cheeks turned pink as he gingerly lowered her to the grass, taking a step back so her father could check her over.

The clan head sighed before smiling gratefully at Naruto. "It is good to know that both her teammates have her wellness in mind. I believe even if you hadn't been there, she likely would not have touched the ground with young Sasuke around."

"No, she wouldn't have." The avenger replied without thinking, surprising himself. 'But still, it's true. She deserves better than hitting the ground after fighting through that.' He truly felt, in this moment, that he respected Hinata - he hadn't lacked for it before, but seeing the determination she had just displayed had truly hammered home that the shy wallflower he had observed belied the iron will inside the small girl.

The clan head turned his smile towards Sasuke as well. "Your mothers would be exceptionally proud to see you right now. Both of you." He then knelt by his daughter's side, his hand glowing with a green light. The last of the Uchiha felt his chest tighten considerably at the words from the Hyuga clan head, but as opposed to a week ago, he was able to focus on the warmth the words caused in his heart instead of the pain that her being brought up pushed to the forefront.

Naruto looked over at him, also seeming initially stunned by the words before smirking mournfully. "Not as good as hearing it from them, but it still feels nice, ya know?"

Sasuke returned the expression with his own sad yet happy expression,the happiness less pronounced than his teammate's but still there. "Yeah, it does."

"I never knew you were a medic of any kind, Hiashi." Kakashi noted, smiling with his eye. Sasuke supposed he was also happy to hear that from Hiashi given the history he had with Naruto's mother.

"Ah, I haven't practiced for several years, at least not until last week. Thankfully my skills have not atrophied as much as could be expected." The clan head explained, his bloodline activating as he inspected his daughter. He then frowned tightly. "That Lee child certainly is impressive. In just three blows he cracked three of her ribs and cleanly broke another. I am amazed and terrified that she stood again, let alone was able to finish the fight how she did."

"Do we need to bring her to the hospital?" Kakashi asked, his eye narrowing a touch with concern.

"That won't be necessary." The Hyuga patriarch replied. "I will have her injuries addressed in roughly five minutes." His hands glowed a much stronger green as he focused first on using his chakra to lift and set the broken rib, before sealing the break.

"That quickly?" Anko cut in, her eyebrow raised as she sidled up next to Kakashi, standing much closer to him than she might have the day prior in public. "Last time I cracked a couple ribs I was in the hospital for a whole day."

Hiashi smirked slightly without looking away from his work. "There was a time where I was a very, very good medic."

"Shit, guess so." The special jonin agreed as she noticed color returning to her student's face. "Guess we're lucky to have you around right now then. If girlie got beaten up this bad, I'm pretty sure these two idiots will break every bone in their bodies when they get their turn. She's the cautious one."

"Hinata!" Another voice cut in as Kurenai approached, followed by her team. "Is she okay?"

"She will be fine shortly." The girl's father assured, his smile growing a bit. 'Perhaps she would not have made a bad teacher for my girl, if she still cares for her this much.'

The genjutsu mistress let out a sigh of relief, her shoulders dropping. "Thank Kami, I was worried. Those were hard blows for anyone to take, much less a fresh genin."

"Jeez Kurenai, calm down." The snake mistress sighed, rolling her eyes. "That girl is a lot stronger than you think."

The genjutsu mistress shot her friend an annoyed glare before it turned into a smile. "Well you would know I suppose. She is, after all, a student of Kakashi Hatake and Anko Mitarashi, apparently."

Anko blushed slightly, turning her head away from the other woman while pouting. "Don't know why she said all that, it's not like I taught her much."

Kurenai snorted at that. "Oh please Anko, the way she was moving had you written all over it. Looking innocent at the end just to strike was just the cherry on top."

"That's not -" She began, only to be cut off by a gentle bop on the head from Kakashi. "Anko, you taught her more in this last week than I did. You're actually a pretty good teacher."

That only made her pout deeper, though she had to admit she also felt some warmth in her gut at the words. "Shut it, both of you."

Meanwhile, Team Eight had decided that they needed to know what had happened to Hinata in the last week. "Hey Naruto, Sasuke - what the hell happened to Hinata? I had no idea that the weird girl from class could fight like that!" Kiba half-shouted, his eyes wide as he appraised the unconscious girl with new eyes.

"Don't call her weird." Both boys responded at once before looking at each other with surprised expressions that quickly morphed into smirks. Naruto looked back at the dog-like boy as his smirk grew. "She's not weird. She's awesome."

Kiba raised an eyebrow at the blonde. "What, you got a crush on her or something?"

The Uzumaki immediately turned pink, scowling and shaking his fist at the Inuzuka. "Shaddup you jerk, she's my teammate!"

"Yeah so? I still asked Sakura out the first day we were a team. I didn't get anywhere yeah, but I still asked." The feral boy replied with a roll of his eyes. "Guess she just didn't want an alpha dog to deal with."

Said pinkette made her feelings known by striking Kiba over the head. "I swear to Kami dog-boy, keep it up and I'll do the women of Konoha a favor and neuter you."

Naruto immediately broke out into laughter. "Hahaha, it's funny when Sakura hits someone and it's not me."

Kiba winced in pain as he held his head hunched over, clearly not enjoying Naruto now laughing at him. Straightening out, he smirked viciously. "Well hey, since she's just your teammate, maybe I should ask Hinata out when she wakes up. Show her what a real man is like."

Before the blonde could even begin to get riled up, another voice cut in. "Oh really?" Hiashi now stood directly behind the Inuzuka, who whirled around and was immediately filled with fear as cold, emotionless, pupiless eyes stared at him from a face set in granite, piercing directly into his quivering soul. "Please, tell me more about what you wish to show my daughter. Perhaps this afternoon over tea, while I polish the ceremonial family sword to a fine, cutting edge?"

Kiba proceeded to yelp like a kicked puppy before hiding behind his female teammate, who promptly took a step left to stand next to their austere Aburame teammate. "Oh hell no Kiba, learn to keep it in your damn pants. Assuming Hinata's dad lets you keep it."

"I am not planning to." The clan head replied, his tone frostier than the Land of Snow. Naruto was now rolling around on the ground, actual tears falling down his face in laughter. "Of course," Hiashi continued, "instead of gelding her eldest son, perhaps I will simply alert Tsume to how you were planning to approach Hinata. Given that she claimed my late wife as someone who had "Pack Rights", I feel she will respond emphatically."

Instead of reacting with more cartoonish fear, Kiba's entire face went uncharacteristically serious. "Wait, my mom gave Hinata's mom Pack Rights? She said those exact words?"

Everyone took note of the sudden change in the normally brash boy's demeanor. "Yes, those exact words, referring to both of her teammates, my late wife and Shino's father Shibi."

"Oh." The boy noted simply, before shocking everyone by bowing at the waist, first to Hiashi, then Hinata's unconscious form, still resting on the ground. "I apologize for any offense I may have caused to members of the pack - I didn't know."

"No offense is taken. Just be careful how brashly you speak in the future." The clan head acknowledged, before returning to check over his daughter - a precautionary measure, as her injuries were healed.

Naruto, rising to his feet, wiped a tear from his eye as he collected himself. "Member of the pack? What do "Pack Rights" mean?"

"It's something any Inuzuka can confer upon someone they want to be viewed as allies of the clan. It offers all the protections we offer our own pack in perpetuity, to guard them and their children and their children's children as our own. It's serious stuff." He cocked his head in Shino's direction. "We were already teammates so I was gonna have his back anyway, but now I know it's more serious than that. Didn't know they used to be teammates. Explains why my mom gets so weird around his dad."

"Wow, I didn't know you could take anything seriously Kiba." Sakura noted, an eyebrow raised. "This must be really important to your clan, huh?"

The canine shinobi nodded solemnly. "The only thing that can come before Pack Rights is the village itself." Then he smirked. "Don't worry though, we still have a shot since you don't have them - well, more since your dad isn't terrifying. Come on, one date." Whack! "OW - okay, okay. Sorry."

Shino finally broke his impassive silence, clapping Kiba on the back. "I was unaware you did not know our parents' history. Why, you ask? Because my father had explained them, and Pack Rights, in full. It is not a privilege I take lightly. I swear to uphold the honor of the distinction and provide the same protection to you in kind."

Kiba looked a bit taken aback, before smiling softly and nodding in agreement. "Thanks man."

Sakura looked to the side, pouting a bit. "Well now I feel a bit left out with all this history and clan stuff."

"Do not worry, Sakura." Shino assured her. "Why, you ask? Because regardless of Pack Rights, as our teammate, we will protect you with our lives."

Kiba nodded emphatically. "Yeah, you don't need Pack Rights. You're our teammate."

The pinkette actually felt herself tear up a bit before she smiled and wiped her eyes. "Thanks guys - same here."

Naruto smiled wide at the interaction. "Our sensei keeps telling us a team is like family - I guess your sensei has been saying the same stuff, huh?" He jerked his head in Sasuke's direction, before inclining it towards Hinata. "It feels different, right? Having a team? I didn't know what to make of either of them a week ago, but it's easy to get along with your teammates when you know what being a team means, ya know?"

The Uchiha found himself nodding in agreement, as did the members of Team Eight. "It really is." The young avenger agreed.

Kurenai and Kakashi, overhearing the conversation, exchanged a smile. "Looks like we're already teaching our students the most valuable lessons we have to offer." Kurenai noted happily.

"Agreed - I think Gai might be struggling teaching that same lesson to one of his students." Kakashi noted, his voice growing slightly annoyed as he gestured to Team Gai on the other side of the training grounds.

Across the way, Neji was not taking his teammate's defeat well, berating the boy as he worked to unseal his tenketsu. "Lee, you truly must be fated to be a failure - either that or you have spat in the face of fate with your foolish chivalry." He hissed out through gritted teeth at the green-clad boy.

"I apologize, Neji." The other boy winced as his tenketsu were unsealed more forcefully than needed. "I let my guard down. I never would have imagined Lady Hinata was capable of such a damaging technique. She seemed very unthreatening at the moment."

"You foolish -" Neji began to wind himself up again before his teacher cut in.

"Neji, that is enough." The normally silly man ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument and his eyes hard with actual anger. "Lee fought well against a worthy opponent. Your first concern as his teammate and rival should be his well-being, not the repercussions of his defeat."

The boy glared at his sensei for a moment before scoffing and returning to restoring mobility to Lee - although he did begin doing so far more gently, evident by the relaxation in the young taijutsu fighter's features. "As you say." The Hyuga let out, mostly emotionless, though those that knew him best could catch the barest hint of contrition in his tone.

After a few moments Lee shakily rose to his feet. "Thank you, Neji. I am truly sorry for my failure in claiming victory for our team."

Before the clearly still angry boy could reply, Tenten cut in. "Don't worry about it Lee - none of us would have guessed that tiny girl could be that surprising. Me and Neji will bring it home from here."

Lee smiled gratefully at the weapons mistress, nodding in agreement. "I have complete faith that you will." He then turned to walk over to the gathering of people around Hinata.

"Where are you going? Neji demanded, narrowing his eyes.

The young green beast stopped before turning back to Neji, his face frighteningly serious. "Intentionally or not Neji, your view of your cousin is wrong."

The branch member's eyes widened in shock before narrowing in anger. "She is a failure, Lee. That is her fa-"

"I am beginning to believe," Lee continued, cutting off the other boy to the surprise of his entire team, "that you are wrong about a great many things. I have always felt that way I think, but now I cannot pretend otherwise. Fate holds no sway over any of us Neji, not me in spite of my handicaps, not you in spite of the circumstances you were born to, and certainly not over Hinata, who has proven the fate you believed in for her is not something she will accept."

He then smiled wide, giving a thumbs up as the sun gleamed off his pearly white teeth. "And so I will go congratulate my opponent on a most youthful bout and victory!" The boy then turned and resumed his stride, leaving behind a gaping Neji trembling with rage.

"That - that complete and utter -" Neji began, but quieted himself when both Tenten and Gai shot him glares.

"Neji, I respect your skills a lot, but you're starting to make it hard to respect you as a person." Tenten said, spitting to the side before making to follow her other teammate.

"Regardless of the results today Neji, I believe I have been far too lenient regarding some of your most unyouthful characteristics." Gai chided, his tone one of barely restrained anger. "Look at my rival's students." He gestured to the group, who were all chatting pleasantly with each other and Team 8 with the exception of Hinata.

"I can assure you, if I cannot provide details, that each of them have suffered as much if not more than you at the hands of the circumstances they were faced with - including your cousin, whose circumstances you are partially to blame for due to your own cruelty. Do you see them lashing out at the world as if it owes them an answer, and then making others miserable using the answer they choose to believe as a way to put down others? Or do they carry on with youthful flames in their hearts, knowing that they can make their own paths?" With that, the jonin made to follow his other two students, leaving a stunned Neji to stew on his teacher's words.

"Ergh…" Hinata groaned, blinking the sleep from her eyes. She slowly began to sit up and was pleasantly surprised when instead of searing pain, she felt only slight discomfort from her damaged side.

"Hinata!" Naruto cried out, immediately rushing to her and dropping down to his needs at her side next to her father. "Hinata, are you okay?"

Rolling her neck to dislodge the stiffness, the girl nodded slowly. "I feel fine - but my side, it felt like -"

"Yeah, your dad said you busted like four ribs, but I guess he got you all fixed up right?" The blonde interrupted as his brow creased in worry. Sasuke and Kakashi came up behind him now to check on her as well, and she was pleasantly surprised to see Kurenai and Anko with them as well.

"Yes, I feel fine… You said my father healed me?" The girl clarified, finally having confusion dominating her mind.

"Indeed, I did." Hiashi nodded, smiling with almost a touch of glibness. "You are not the only one who has skills the elders consider unfitting for a Hyuga, although I have not used them in quite some time while subscribing to that same foolish logic." His smile then grew wider. "Well done, Hinata. I am so very, very proud of you. I know your mother would be as well."

The girl felt a lump form in her throat at the words from her sire, the girl couldn't trust herself to speak, instead blinking back tears and nodding at her father. He seemed to understand the impact his words had upon her, as he nodded back and said nothing more.

"Helluva job girlie - couldn't have done better myself." Anko congratulated, before her expression grew contemplative. "Well actually I probably coulda, but we'll get you there."

"Anko!" Kurenai said sharply, causing the other woman to shrink away. The genjutsu mistress then turned her attention to her would-be student, smiling wide. "That was an exceptionally impressive bout, Hinata. You've grown so much in such a short time."

The woman was unsurprised when the girl blushed, but was surprised when she didn't look away or try to reject the praise. "Thank you, Jonin Yuhi. It is gratifying to see my efforts to change have paid off."

"No need for formality, Hinata. Just call me Kurenai." The woman waved away the overtly formal way of referring to her.

"That's what I've been saying!" Anko jibbed, throwing up her hands in exasperation. "We're ninja - any ninja who gives a shit about formality needs to pull the stick out of their ass."

"... Then how would the elders of my clan stand up straight, Anko?" Hinata with an innocent tilt of her head, clearly without any thought. "Eeep!" She exclaimed, covering her mouth, clearly now thinking about it.

Everyone stared at the girl like open-mouthed fish, unable to process that she had just made a rather inappropriate joke about her own clan. Nobody knew how to respond - even Naruto, who would never pass up on the opportunity to laugh at stuffy old people, was stunned into silence.

"... Pft… Haha… HAHAHAHAHA!" The first bit of laughter came from the most unexpected source as a very un-Hyuga-like snort came from none other than Hiashi Hyuga, with the snort breaking the facade as his moment of weakness quickly turned into a full-on belly laugh.

Slowly the rest of the group started laughing, nervously at first as several questioned if Hiashi had finally cracked, and then harder as he bent over, tears starting to come out of his eyes.

"They'll be fine Hinata!" Naruto choked out through laughter. "They can use them as walking sticks - they're really long right?!" The group's laughter grew in intensity as even Sasuke found himself snickering a bit.

"Well, the jyuken is a rigid style - perhaps Hinata lacking said stick is why we had to rework her fighting style a bit." Kakashi pondered aloud with faux-seriousness.

"Ummm…" Came a new voice. Everyone looked in its direction and saw Lee, Tenten, and Gai standing awkwardly in front of the rest of them, clearly having missed out on the joke. "I am not sure what we are all laughing at… I hope it is not me…" Lee continued, a sweatdrop forming on the back of his head.

"Nah, not at all Bushy-Brows - dude, you are scary fast!" Naruto quickly smoothed over any awkwardness, clapping the boy on his back. "I think you gave Hinata all she could handle!"

"Indeed - the feeling is mutual on my end. Hinata was quite the youthful foe!" The boy agreed, turning to the girl and giving her a thumbs up. "I hope as I continue to train and improve we can have a most youthful rematch!"

The girl, climbing to her feet with her cheeks still slightly pink, nodded appreciatively. "You truly were a worthy and honorable opponent Lee - though I warn you, by the time any hypothetical rematch takes place, I will have improved as well."

"More to look forward to!" The young green beast laughed heartily, throwing his head back and bellowing out his laughter. "In the meantime, perhaps your teammates would provide an equally youthful match once all this unpleasantness is settled."

"Speaking of which," Sasuke cut in. "While it is nice we're all becoming such good friends, I'm ready for my match if BunBun is."

"I swear to Kami, pretty boy, I will turn you into a pincushion." Tenten growled, stepping towards the boy while shaking her fist.

"Perhaps we should start the match before Sasuke starts it for us." Kakashi proposed, giving the Uchiha a slightly baleful glance. The boy just shrugged in response before smirking confidently. The group all returned to their positions around the training ground as Kakashi and Gai began counseling their respective students - though one change was that Lee had decided to stay with their group instead of returning to his side to stand next to Neji.

"Now Sasuke, I know you feel confident in your chances, but do you remember what Neji said to Lee when it looked like he would be your opponent?" Kakashi asked, his voice uncharacteristically serious.

"What, the part about how he was the weakest of the tea-" Sasuke began, and then cut himself off as his eyes widened and a bit of his bravado faded. "I… Hadn't thought about it like that."

"Exactly my point." The one-eyed jonin nodded. "Confidence is good to have in one's self - you saw what it let Hinata do. But when confidence turns into arrogance, it becomes a weakness, not a strength."

The boy nodded seriously. One week ago, anybody warning him to treat a genin opponent with caution would have sounded like a joke, but he had been humbled enough in the last week that he could now recognize that others his age could be stronger than him without being sent into a spiral. "Understood, sensei. I'll play it smart, but… Well, I seem to be getting into her head at least." He replied with a smirk, jerking his head towards his opponent, who seemed to be having a rather animated conversation with her own teacher.

"I swear, I am going to knock that arrogant prick down so many pegs that he won't be able to see the damn ladder!" The weapons mistress fumed, shouting loudly enough that she could be heard around the training grounds.

"Ah. Glad to see you're putting your special skill to good use then." Kakashi noted dryly while Naruto rolled his eyes and Hinata giggled. The team had discovered in the last week that Sasuke had a uniquely strong ability to get under people's skin after one of his and Naruto's many confrontations, almost the opposite of Naruto's ability to inherently know what to say to inspire. Something about his standout ability to be insultingly derisive without coming across as if he cared led people to being desperate to "knock him down a peg", as Tenten had said. The fact that he genuinely was that way with people and was trying to be less of an ass, as opposed to the whole thing being a mask, only made it easier for him to anger his opponents and bait out mistakes.

"Kick her ass, man. I'm all for the Team Seven sweep." Naruto told his rival with two thumbs up and a foxy grin.

"Do well, Sasuke. And remember the outcome doesn't change how strong you are, win or lose." Hinata cautioned, ever the voice of reason. And then, in a further show of the loudmouth blonde next to her rubbing off on all of them, she smirked in a very un-ladylike way. "So when you win, remember to try and avoid letting your head swell."

"While I fully expect Tenten to come away victorious, I hope you are ready to put up a most youthful showing!" Lee exclaimed, once more giving a nice guy thumbs-up. Sasuke managed to contain an eyeroll and instead nodded respectfully, which the green-clad boy returned. The Uchiha then made to walk to his starting position, taking it and staring across at the weapon's mistress, already eager to begin.

"Oh, are we doing the next one?" Jiraiya said, blinking rapidly. The young avenger wondered how little the sannin had received praise for the book his blonde teammate was reading constantly if some admittedly very glowing praise was enough to throw him off so much that he had not moved from his spot the entire fight, a faraway look in his eyes. "Alright, rules are the same, try to kill each other but stop trying when I say. Fight!"

Neither participant moved initially, staring at each other, one impassively and the other with a twitching eye. "What, gonna talk all that shit about how I won't be much trouble for you and then just stand there?" Tenten attempted to goad, her fists clenched tight.

'This one is for you, sensei.' Sasuke thought as he titled his head and smiled condescendingly at the girl, as one might explaining a simple concept to a less-than-intelligent child. "I'm sorry Bunbun, did you say something?"

"... I am going to FUCKING KILL YOU!" The girl finally gave into her rage, pulling out one of the four scrolls strapped to the outside of her thighs and unraveling it, channeling her chakra and releasing a massive amount of smoke.

"CURSE YOU AND YOUR HIP ATTITUDE, KAKASHIIIIII!" Gai cried out in horror, falling to his needs as he realized that not everything his rival's students were learning from the man had anything to do with being a ninja.

'Is this what it feels like to be a proud father?' Kakashi pondered, grinning like a madman under his mask. 'No, probably what it feels like to be an asshole older brother teaching his much younger brother terrible behavior for shits and giggles.'

Before the cloud could dissipate, Tenten burst out of it with a twin-bladed naginata over her head, eyes filled with rage as she swiftly approached her opponent - swiftly, but not quite as fast as Lee with his weights. Without his weights, the comparison would be laughable. This gave Sasuke time to respond, with the boy pulling out two kunai and crossing them just in time to catch the blade of the polearm between them.

Grunting with exertion, the Uchiha noted that she was deceptively stronger than he expected given that she was a woman - a foolish assumption as he saw well-defined muscles bulge out on her arms. With another grunt, he fell to one knee as she applied pressure. "Damn." He managed to get out. "Are you sure you're a girl?"

Instead of rising to the bait, the girl instead gave him a challenging smirk. "Less of one than you apparently - though that's most boys given I grew up in a forge. Surprised you can block me this well. You don't look very strong. Ah well." And with that the girl's weapon lit up with a green glow as her blade slowly but surely began cutting through the equally metal kuani.

'Shit - wind element?!" Sasuke thought with a touch of panic. Realizing his tools wouldn't last long, the boy inhaled deeply before spitting three white, fist-sized balls of fire directly into the girl's face.

"Damn!" The girl cursed, jumping back and crossing her arms. She managed to contort her body to avoid two of the shots, but the attack did manage to graze her right shoulder, leaving a nasty burn despite the minimal contact.

"Wind chakra streaming through her weapon?" Kakashi noted, his eyebrow raised. It was always surprising when any genin hit the intermediate levels of mastering an element, but he was especially surprised given the element itself. He knew Gai would not have been able to teach that.

"Tenten is as much of a genius as Neji, just in different ways." Lee stated proudly, smiling at his teammate's skills. "She has an uncanny natural feel for three things mainly - weapons, sealing, and chakra natures. She does not use ninjutsu, but instead is capable of channeling two different elemental releases through her weapons."

"Hm. Skipping the parts of learning elemental composition that don't match what she already has to get to the tricks that help her." Kakashi mused, scratching his chin through his mask. "And how did she learn to use those elements? Your way of fighting is an exact replica of Gai's, you skills make sense, but he doesn't use ninjutsu at all outside of summoning. He doesn't have a condition like you do, he just never had talent for it."

Lee nodded in agreement. "Indeed, while sensei does not have the ability himself, he stops at nothing to ensure we all learn to our strengths. Tenten has a natural talent for it, but sensei read several books to learn the theory behind learning the elements as she wished so he could help as much as possible." Rivulets of tears spontaneously beginning to run down his cheeks, the boy held up one fist as he looked across the clearing to his teacher. "He is so cool!"

"That… Actually, it's pretty cool." Kakashi said with an eye-smile. He had always respected Gai's commitment to anything he did, but to go to lengths like learning things he would never have a use for himself, just to benefit his student… 'You really are something else, Gai.'

Sasuke took several large jumps back, regaining control over the range of the fight. He looked at his opponent, noting the burn on her arm and smiling with some satisfaction at the damage he had dealt. "Impressive - I didn't think to account for wind element composition."

The girl spat again to the side, dropping into a ready stance without showing any visible discomfort from her burn, shining noticeably compared to the rest of her skin and already turning red. "And I didn't expect you to spit fireballs without handsigns."

"I'm good with fire." The boy replied simply. It had been difficult the last week, as he had often gone home with his throat on fire and unable to speak, but he now was strong enough with the element that he didn't need handsigns to produce a few small projectiles or even a steady stream of flames, and when he did use handsigns, his attacks were bigger and stronger than ever before.

"Guess so." The girl shrugged, before her muscles tensed. "Fortunately for me, I'm better with water than wind anyway." And then she launched forward at him, once again closing the distance.

Flashing through handsigns, Sasuke brought his fingers up to his mouth after just three, shooting a half-dozen white-hot fireballs, each the size of a large dog, at the girl on a delayed pattern that would make it exceptionally hard to dodge them. Unfortunately, he did not consider that she would not try to dodge.

Spinning her weapon, she instead used one of the blades to cut through the fireball, the light blue glow encompassing her weapons steaming up contact but cleanly slicing through and then dissipating the fireballs. Sasuke's life got measurably worse when she brought around the other end, still glowing green, and it ignited into a fire naginata blade.

"Hn." The boy grunted in dissatisfaction, jumping back further. Evidently she could also channel water chakra, and on top of that she now had added the additional damage of fire to the cutting power of wind. She was approaching quickly, so he began pulling out kunai two at a time, throwing them at her just too wide for either to hit as he continued to fall back. Thank Kami, he was a touch faster than she was, so he was able to keep her at a distance.

"How in the hell are you channeling two elements into that thing?" The boy demanded, backflipping and somersaulting away from her in circles as she continued her pursuit, throwing kunai all the while that struck the ground harmlessly.

"Oh, easy." The girl smirked, growing confident at what seemed like desperate attacks from the boy, his aim slipping due to panic. "I forged this myself. The center of the blade is made of chakra resistant metal. Took a lot of practice to channel two elements, one through each arm. Only got it down a couple weeks ago."

"Really? That's creative." Sasuke huffed, coming to a standstill on the edge of the arena. He had thrown all thirty kunai he had on his person, briefly thanking any gods willing to take credit that his sensei had placed storage seals on all three of their kunai pouches to store more than met the eye. "Kind of going to screw you over here though."

"What?" The girl asked flatly, coming to a standstill as her eyes darted around quickly, looking for an attack.

"Sensei, what is Sasuke doing?" Hinata asked quizzically, her brow furrowed in worry as she observed him seemingly entirely on the backfoot.

"I must confess, I am also confused. I expected more than sloppily thrown kunai from a supposed genius." Lee noted, cupping his chin with his hand as he tried to follow the fight taking place, or rather the actions of one of the fighters.

"I'm not too sure, myself…" The jonin admitted, his visible eye narrowed as he considered what his student's goal could be. After a moment, his eye widened. "Wait… Oh, that really is clever."

"What is it, sensei?" Naruto asked, also confused. "It looks like Sasuke is just hucking kunai at her for nothing!"

"I'm not shocked you two don't see it, considering I only showed Sasuke this technique yesterday. He really is insanely talented with ninjutsu, to be able to use it in combat so soon. Either that or he's desperate and willing to try, but I suspect it is the former." The man somewhat explained before snorting. "Shocked. I accidentally made a pun."

Sasuke flashed through handseals quickly before tightening his grip on the metal wire linking all the kunai, pulling it taut between them and revealing they had formed a barrier trapping Tenten. "Lightning Style: Static Chain." He said, pumping an unreasonable amount of chakra into the technique.

The effect instantaneous as a massive field of electricity sparked around the girl, shooting from kunai to kunai via the wire. As the charge built, fueled by his chakra, it quickly traveled to the most chakra-conductive metal available - his opponent's weapon.

"GAH!" Tenten managed to shout in pain before her whole body seized, the energy traveling from her weapon, through her hands, and into her body.

Sasuke seized his opportunity, pinning the taut wire into the ground with another kunai before jumping over the field, wincing as a stray bolt gave him a slight shock. He then blitzed towards Tenten, snatching her weapon from her paralyzed hands by the resistant center and then jumping out of the field on the other side, circling back to his starting position next to the kunai he had used in the beginning, slamming the weapon blade first into the ground just too far away for the electricity to continue to affect it.

Just as the charge from his jutsu died, he grabbed the kunai up and pulled, triggering a chain reaction as the wire through all the kunai constricted. Putting all his strength into the throw, he nailed a tree behind the girl and her weapon, the wires pulling tight around his opponent as the kunai came out of the ground, restricting her movement, before he placed a single finger on the drawn wire. "Are you still conscious, Bunbun?"

The girl's legs had buckled for a moment, and she likely would have fallen to her knees if it hadn't been for the wire, but now she was breathing heavily and seemed to be regaining her feet. "It'll take more than that to knock me out." She exhaled the words raggedly, clearly still affected by the attack. "Gotta say, glad you can back up the whole genius reputation you have."

"I try not to disappoint." He replied coolly. "Now as you can see, this wire is made to conduct chakra based attacks - not just lightning, but fire too. Just a small bit and every bit of this wire will be up in flames in under five seconds. Do you concede?"

"Sasuke is so cool!" Sakura cheered, pumping her fists. "That was an amazing plan - he totally has her dead to rights!"

"No, I doubt that." Kurenai replied next to her, sighing heavily.

"Why do you say that sensei?" Kiba asked, confused as to how this wasn't an unwinnable situation for Tenten.

"Because Gai always drills the basics like nothing else." The genjutsu mistress sighed.

Tenten smirked at her opponent. "Nah, I think I can get out of this one." She managed to bring her hands together, wincing as the wire cut into her arms slightly, and making a single handseal, resulting in a puff of smoke that obscured Sasuke's vision.

It was only instinctual that he managed to dodge to the left, barely avoiding a massive two-handed mace that would have surely cracked his skull and left him unconscious on the grass. Unfortunately, he wasn't fully able to dodge the blow as the mace came down on his shoulder. Hearing a sharp crack, black spots dancing in his vision, Sasuke barely managed to stumble just far enough away to avoid another strike.

Jumping back quickly, the boy swiftly put together what had happened when he saw his wire fall in a pile around his opponent's naginata, sticking out of the ground where she had just been. 'A fucking substitution.' The Uchiha boy cursed mentally as he created more distance.

"Did you think that was my only weapon?" The girl mocked, hefting her current armament over her shoulder. It was wickedly large, to the point Sasuke was surprised she could move it. It was a kanabou style weapon, the hilt about a foot in length before giving way to three feet of studded steel.

"I hoped." The boy ground out through gritted teeth, the physical pain as intense as anything he had ever felt. "I'm impressed you were willing to injure yourself to escape my wires."

"I've been working in forges since I was old enough to walk, bringing my dad tools. A few cuts aren't gonna stop me." The girl replied, dropping the weapon's head into her hand. "That's enough talking. I'm gonna finish this."

"Wait!" Sasuke barked, holding up his good arm. "Before you keep going, can I say something?"

The weapons mistress shrugged nonchalantly. "I've been humoring you this far."

"Hilarious." The Uchiha snorted with a roll of his eyes. "I've given you plenty of reasons to dislike me since we actually met, talked down to you quite a bit. But I wanted you to know that I respect you and your abilities, Tenten."

The girl blinked, stupefied by the genuine-sounding compliment, a reaction that was mimicked all around the training grounds. "That's… Wait, so you knew my name the whole damn time?!"

"Yes. I was mainly being as rude as I was to hopefully make you angry and irrational, but I can see I've undersold your strength thinking that would work." The boy explained, smiling slightly. "I've realized this past week with my team that no matter how someone seems, you can't assume they are weak, nor should you be angry if you lose outside of a life-or-death situation. So I hope you know that you have my respect as a ninja, whoever wins."

On the sidelines, all of Team Seven exchanged smiles and glances. They had all seen this shift in Sasuke over the last week, as he seemed to come to terms with the fact that while he was certainly strong for a fresh genin, he was not unbeatable nor was he infallible. And that was okay. To have him humbly and honestly recognize the strength of an opponent was a sign of that genuine change in the way he viewed the world.

"That's… Actually, nice to hear." Tenten sighed, before smiling slightly. "And here I thought I had finally met someone who was more of an ass because of their bloodline than Neji. Guess he's still the best at that too."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that comment. "Surprised to hear you talk about your teammate like that."

The girl rolled her eyes. "He's my teammate, I respect his skills, and I know he has my back in the field and I got his, and that includes this whole thing with your team. But you've heard him talk at people about fate. I'd be lying if I said he wasn't a bit of an ass." She tilted her head and thought for a second. "Actually, I take that back. He's a complete ass."

Standing next to Gai, who was attempting and failing to restrain some snickers, Neji simply tilted his head in confusion at his teammate's words. 'I… She… Is that… Is that what she really thinks of me?' The boy would never admit that he was hurt by something so petty as words, but he did have an uncomfortable, falling feeling in his chest now. He had respected Tenten before he had Lee and Gai, due to her no-nonsense attitude and tireless work towards bettering herself and her abilities.

Even moreso, they had spent a great deal of time training together when they both needed a break from the unending energy of their other teammates, and Neji had thought they had a rapport. He had thought she at least did not disagree with his views on fate and how the world worked. He had counted her not just as a teammate, but as a friend, perhaps his only one. To hear this now…

'I hope you are learning from this Neji. I hope you change after today, even if you are victorious.' Gai mentally sighed to himself after schooling his expression again.

"Hey Lee, now that she's saying it, please tell me you think that about Neji's fate crap, too?" Naruto asked, genuinely hoping the green clad boy did not genuinely agree with his teammate.

"I, well…" The boy stuttered out before heavily inhaling and exhaling. "As someone born with the limitations I have worked to overcome, I do find my teammate's views on the world most unyouthful, and I do disagree with him on many points."

"As someone fluent in Gai-speak, which Lee seems able to use like his native tongue, that was a yes." Kakashi confirmed, causing both his students to look knowingly at Lee, who blushed.

"You three are being very casual right now considering the position your teammate is in." The young green beast pointed out, trying successfully to change the subject.

"Oh, that?" Hinata replied, sounding very unconcerned, almost humorous. "While I am certain Naruto and sensei are both worried about his injury like I am, they are also both not particularly worried about Sasuke. He's not one who accepts defeat easily, even as he has improved on that front, and his skillset is the most offensively potent out of the three of us. I doubt he is out of surprises yet."

"Yeah, pretty much." Naruto shrugged. "It's cool hearing him acknowledge Tenten, that girl is like, crazy strong and stuff. But Sasuke was the top rookie for a reason." The boy smiled almost like a predator. "I won't worry about him winning or losing until he's on the ground." Kakashi simply eye-smiled and nodded, pleased by the faith his two students were showing in their teammate.

"Then why were you so worried when I was fighting Lady Hinata?" Lee asked quizzically, one of his massive eyebrows shooting up.

"Oh, well that's easy. You're like, scary fast Bushy-Brows. I don't know if I would have been able to keep up with you either. Sasuke definitely would have gotten his ass handed to him, he's not as good at taijutsu as me and Hinata. He shoots fire and stuff instead." Naruto explained with a shrug. "Tenten is strong and all, and pretty fast too, but sensei explained to us real early on that it's better to be faster than stronger than your opponent." It had been on the second day of training, during their physical conditioning.

"It doesn't matter if you're the strongest ninja in the world if your opponent shoves a kunai in your eye before you can move." Kakashi hummed, repeating the words he had said that day. "That's actually a direct quote from the Fourth, who was quoting Jiraiya, who was quoting the Third, who I think was quoting the Second Hokage."

Both of Lee's eyebrows shot up at this as he considered their words. He then smiled wide. 'Truly sensei has me on the path to becoming a splendid shinobi then.'

"Huh. You know, I think you and I will actually get along well after I win this." Sasuke snorted, jumping back again.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Tenten replied, smiling confidently. She jerked her head at the arm hanging limply at her opponent's side. "With one arm? Sure you aren't still underestimating me?"

"I'm not out of tricks yet." The Uchiha replied, grinning confidently himself, despite the pain he was in. 'I'm trying to hide it, but she definitely broke a few things in my shoulder. I only have one option - it's not a good plan, but it's really my only one given my position.'

'I hope I can pull this off… It might blow up in my face, but at this point I need something to keep her at a distance.' Rearing back his head and grateful that his teacher had drilled him so thoroughly on producing fire orally that he no longer needed handsigns, he shot forward a stream of fire that bunched up, that started small before growing, and growing, and growing, until it was large enough to engulf the entire academy, burning with such a white-hot intensity that all the spectators could feel the uncomfortable heat against their skin. "Fire Style: Flames of the Fell God!"

'Interesting!' Kakashi thought to himself as the giant stationary fireball began trembling. "I didn't teach him whatever this is." He noted as the three genin near him watched with wide eyes.

Slowly the fireball began turning over and over vertically, gaining faster and faster speed. The young prodigy held out his good arm, seemingly exerting energy to control the technique while his opponent watched with growing eyes. Then the technique began spitting balls of fire, each the size of a larger Phoenix Flower projectile, in a pattern not dissimilar to an exploding-tag carpet bombing from above.

'A technique that combines the destructive potential of the Great Fireball with the firing rate of the Phoenix Flower… Sasuke really is a prodigy unlike any other when it comes to ninjutsu.' Kakashi thought proudly. Even though he had been an ANBU at the age Sasuke was now, even though he had already had an active Sharingan, he simply had never had the natural talent and feel for elemental ninjutsu that his student was currently showing. To create a technique like this, at his age, was not just unheard of but simply absurd in concept. It was frightening to consider what he would come up with in the years to come.

"Oh shi-" Tenten managed to get out before she had to focus all her attention on dodging the attacks, jumping around left and right, even pulling back her weapon, which was likely channeling water nature chakra to make it easier to wield, and smacking the incoming fireballs into nothingness. Yet still, despite her admirable attempts at dodging and countering, she had no room to do anything else as the attacks continued to come down, scorching the grass of the training field and quickly turning it into a warzone.

"... Wow…" Ino noted, her eyes wide with shock as she took in the attack. She turned her head towards Choji on her left first, only to regret that decision as she noted he had a mouthful of half-chewed chips easily visible due to his dropped jaw.

Turning her attention to Shikamaru and Asuma on her right, she was glad to see them staring at the attack analytically, as if picking it apart. "Please tell me you two can tell me what I'm looking at. I'm no expert and I know Sasuke is amazing, but this seems crazy."

"It is." Asuma noted admiringly, exhaling smoke and going for another drag on his cigarette. "You caught on to how he's doing it, Shikamaru?"

"He's maintaining total control over the flames, exhaling the mass of flame into a tightly compressed ball of power and then using pulses of chakra to spin it and essentially spill massive amounts of fire in a given direction while maintaining control over the mass itself." Shikamaru explained, his tone still bored but his expression dialed in closely to the fight. "There's no finesse in how he's attacking, it's the definition of overwhelming an opponent, but the finesse in his control is something else."

"Yeah…" Ino replied, trailing off. After a moment she smiled wide. "Sasuke must have really impressed his new sensei for him to learn a technique like that."

"Well if that's what you think, you're underestimating the boytoy of your dreams." Asuma snorted. "I've never heard of this technique before, and I've heard of a lot of fire techniques, with my father knowing all of them in the village. I'm pretty sure it's an original."

'Shit - fuck - shit - goddamn - SON OF A -' Tenten cursed repeatedly in her head, smacking another fireball with a mighty swing of her mace. 'I thought he was underestimating me, but I'm thinking it might have been mutual.' The girl mused. She had assumed, prodigal rookie or not, that the kid wouldn't be close to as impressive as Neji, at least not fresh out of the academy. Yet here she was, facing down a technique that was utterly overpowering, that no genin should know, forced to reckon with the idea that maybe there was merit to the reputation of the last loyal Uchiha. 'I'm gonna slip up eventually if I stay on the defensive. Time to fight fire with steel.'

Jumping back, the girl quickly resealed her weapon and pulled the last two scrolls from her legs, slamming them down into the ground before crossing her arms as a massive cloud of smoke exploded outwards.

'What the hell…' Sasuke thought to himself, his face covered in rivers of sweat as he tried to keep control over his technique. He had thought of it only a few days prior, and had spent many nights working on perfecting the concept without his team's knowledge, for once grateful that he had been something of an insomniac since the Uchiha Massacre. If he was being honest, much like Hinata with the sixty-four palms, he'd been unsure if he would be able to pull it off, but the desperation to avoid defeat was a good motivator.

He slowly but surely took a few steps forward, careful to not lose control of the massive ball of fire as he attempted to blanket the area her technique had covered with smoke in more white-hot fire. He then had to readjust as he saw two dragon-shaped smoke constructs circle around through the air, the smoke dissipating to reveal two unravel scrolls, before Tenten shot up in the middle of them.

"I can throw shit at you too, buddy!" The girl shouted cockily before her arms began to blur. Sasuke was barely able to track that each throw released a kunai at one of his fireballs, a kunai with paper trailing the back of it -

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"You've got to be kidding me." Sasuke hissed, his fireballs now being intercepted with all manner of thrown weapons that all seemed to have exploding tags attached. 'She can't have too many of those, right?'

"Hey Lee." Kakashi said to the boy, who was watching with an unusually confident smirk on his face. "How many projectiles does Tenten have in those scrolls?"

Lee's smile grew. "When I asked her three months ago, she said a few hundred. From what I understand, she tries to add at least fifty a week. It is her last resort, ultimate arsenal."

"... Huh." Kakashi noted. 'I'm sure I'll answer this question myself plenty after all this is over… But what the hell is Gai feeding his genin?'

"I can do this all day!" Tenten shouted as she sent out four more tools of death, her arms a blur as she kept pulling them from her scrolls, which must have been held up by chakra somehow considering they had yet to fall.

"So can I." Sasuke grunted. He was lying, and everybody knew it as his fireball began to dwindle. This technique took up massive amounts of chakra to maintain, and he wasn't likely going to be able to maintain it for much longer, but with his injury he simply had to hope he could outlast her.

Unfortunately, his hopes were in vain. After about five minutes of the stalemate, Sasuke's fireball, now barely the size of his average Great Fireball technique, shot forward as he pushed it with his chakra, a frustrated yell ripping from his throat with the exertion.

Tenten removed four kunai at once and threw them into the still massive fireball, activating the tags right as they spread and creating a massive, blinding explosion. She was thrown back by the force of the two attacks meeting, barely managing to catch her unraveled scrolls and land on her feet, skidding several meters on her heels before she was able to stop.

Sasuke was not so lucky, being knocked back directly into the trees behind him, hitting one fully with his back and feeling a fresh wave of mind-numbing pain from his broken shoulder. His vision went entirely white for a moment as he slid down the bark to the base, barely able to maintain consciousness. To make it even worse, some debris from the explosion had managed to hit him in the head, and he felt warm, sticky blood going down the side of his face.

As everyone's vision returned to normal, Jiraiya called out to the Uchiha. "Hey, kid - you alive?"

The boy responded by groaning, desperately wanting to stay down but still forcing himself up so the fight would not be called. "Yeah." He choked out, simply breathing causing him pain.

"Still want to fight?" The sannin asked, raising an eyebrow. 'I'll give the kid this much, he's one tough little rookie. But everyone has their limits. He's low on chakra, his shoulder blade is guaranteed broken and the arm is possibly dislocated at the AC joint, and he may very well have a concussion after getting acquainted with that tree.'

"Sasuke…" Hinata whispered, covering her hands with her mouth.

"Dammit…" Naruto growled, fists clenched tightly at his sides. "I can't believe this… Sasuke looks done."

"... Even I have to admit, I don't know how he can win this now." Kakashi sighed. "I hope he doesn't try to continue fighting. He's really risking himself at this point. I almost want to step in."

"Indeed." Hiashi, who had been quiet for the majority of the fight, agreed gravely. "He'll likely need to be held out of intense physical activity for a day or two, even if I treat him fully."

"Come on kid, you've fought well and all, but you're too beat up to keep fighting. Give it a rest. No shame in admitting defeat when you look like an overused training dummy." Tenten called out, actually looking a bit concerned as she took in how badly her opponent had been injured. 'I almost don't want to hit him anymore. I will if he makes me, but I hope he doesn't."

Sasuke grunted in anger, looking down and away from his opponent. 'It's okay to lose sometimes… I've learned that, I've accepted that. The only battle I can't lose is the one I'll have with that man one day, but… If that's true, if I know that's true, why does the thought of losing here piss me off so much, more than the thought of losing ever has?!" The boy thought to himself, wondering if he had really accepted that it was okay to be defeated so long as you became better from it.

He looked over to where his team was standing and felt his insides tangle as he took in their expressions. Hinata, eyes shining with concern and shock at his current condition. Naruto looked furious, powerless, as he watched his rival get thoroughly beaten, unable to step in. His sensei's expression, what little was visible, was tight and worried, his eye narrowed.

Looking at them, Sasuke felt ashamed. They had all expected him to be able to win, like he himself had. He realized that this defeat, if he allowed it to happen, would feel like he was letting down his family - again. Except this time he wasn't a powerless child, he was the top rookie, and his team was counting on him, and he still fell short -

It hit the boy like a boss summon, his eyes widening in shock. He knew exactly why he didn't want to accept defeat, no matter how damaged he was, how much pain he was in. In the course of a short week, he had come to care for his team, more than he had managed to care about anything since the night he walked into the quiet, bloodstained Uchiha district.

He realized in this moment, more than anything in the world, even of never killing that man, that he was terrified and furious at the thought of letting them down.

Slowly a rueful smile came over the young Uchiha. 'And here I thought I was supposed to be an Avenger… I was supposed to have only one goal, until he was dead… And here I am caring about those two and our ridiculous teacher, more than even revenge…' He looked down, his bangs covering his eyes as his frame began to shake.

"Oh come on, don't cry. I'll give you a rematch sometime." Tenten groaned, feeling second-hand embarrassment at the idea that the other genin would have such a hard time accepting a loss. Then she looked over at his team and saw that their expressions were changing, relaxing, though growing confused. Returning her gaze to her opponent, she heard it, softly at first, but growing louder.

He was laughing.

The boy threw back his head as his laughter grew loud enough for everyone to hear. It wasn't an insane sound, as if he had snapped. No, it was genuine, free laughter, as if the boy had just heard the funniest joke in the world. Tears streamed from his closed eyes as he laughed, then doubled over, using his good arm to hold his gut.

"Are you - are you laughing at me?" Tenten demanded, shaking her fist at him, her scrolls returned to the holsters on her leg as she picked up the discarded naginata, pulling it from the ground as she approached her opponent. "I thought we were past you being an ass!"

"I-I'm sorry." Sasuke choked out, straightening up, his eyes still closed. "I'm not laughing at you. I'm realizing that a genius who's supposed to be better than me or Neji ever could be has no idea what makes someone strong. I've improved so much in this last week, and it's all been because of those three over there. I guess you don't get stronger from hatred…'

He looked up and opened his eyes. Multiple people gasped across the training grounds as several people saw that his coal black eyes had changed - instead revealing a fully-matured, three-tomoe Sharingan. "But really, you get strong when you have people you can't let down."

"Well, that's… Not how that's supposed to work." Kakashi, for once, was completely caught off guard, like everyone around them. "That's not how that's supposed to work at all."

"Is that the Sharingan?" Hinata asked, wide-eyed. Like all her age, it had been so long since an active Sharingan user bearing the name Uchiha was in the village that she had no idea what the fabled dojutsu looked like.

"It is not just the Sharingan… It is a fully matured Sharingan, all at once." Hiashi breathed out the words, equally stunned. Mikoto had not fully matured her Sharingan until they were chunin, and fully teenagers. "Kakashi is very right. That is not how that is supposed to work."

Naruto, unlike those around him, was not caught up in or understanding of the development. Instead, he was excited. "Oh hell yeah - KICK HER ASS SASUKE!" He yelled at the top of his lungs with a fist pump.

"Gladly." Sasuke replied, too quiet to be heard. Adrenaline filled his body, coursing through his veins. He had no idea what had changed yet, but he knew a new energy filled him - and he knew that the world was slower than it had been a moment ago. Everything seemed crisper, focused, easier to understand and process.

And most importantly, no matter what it took, Sasuke Uchiha knew he would not lose.

"Oh hell no. I am not going down to last minute bullshit like Lee." Tenten growled, shooting forward to take the offensive as fast as she could. The girl didn't know enough about the Sharingan to know what the eye change signified, but she knew everything about the boy suddenly seemed different, and that couldn't be good for her.

She was surprised when Sasuke simply stood there, damaged arm and useful one both hanging limply at his side. She got within range, and then swiped her scythe in a horizontal slash, intent on knocking her opponent out with the flat and ending things.

Despite the fact that he didn't even move to dodge until she was already mid-swing, he ducked under the blow easily, pivoting on one planted leg and sliding next to her, throwing a hard uppercut into her side. She grunted in pain, but fought through it and brought the weapon around to strike him again, only for him to dodge and pivot back to her front, once again taking the opportunity to throw a painful and successful body blow.

Everyone watched as this pattern continued for a moment. Whereas before Sasuke had been able to keep up well enough with Tenten to dodge and counter here and there, he was now making it look like child's play, seemingly avoiding each blow at the last possible moment and then striking before Tenten could recover, never deviating from simply pivoting around her, keeping well within her guard.

Finally feeling one body shot too many, Tenten jumped back, breathing heavily as her midsection ached. The many blows to her ribs, gut, and back had added up, and she was beginning to have trouble properly wielding her weapon. "What… The actual… Fuck?" She panted, every breath causing a fresh wave of soreness to radiate from her insides.

"Don't be surprised." Sasuke jabbed, verbally this time. "You're doing this out of obligation for your teammate. I'm doing this for my team because I couldn't imagine any less from myself now. You want to win. Me?" He dropped low, arm hanging uselessly as the other one tense. "I need to - so I can look them in the eyes and deserve them."

He shot forward, running straight at her. Tenten tried to pay attention to his body, his arm, his legs, desperately trying to anticipate an attack - but she failed as despite his speed, those piercing, spinning, mesmerizing red eyes not only demanding, but holding her attention hostage -

He was right in front of her. She attempted to swing at him again, but the strike was slow and sloppy. He easily ducked and, using his good arm, sprung up and tucked his body tight, somersaulting in the air and bringing his right leg down towards her head and channeling every last bit of chakra he had left into what needed to be the decisive exchange.

To the girl's credit, she did just barely manage to bring up her naginata to guard, catching the heel of his foot on the chakra-resistant center. But despite the strength of the metal, part of the reason it was chakra-resistant was the relative brittleness and lack of flexibility compared to the rest of the metal. It held for only a moment, before snapping cleanly in half, Sasuke's foot colliding with her head and sending her face-first into the scorched earth beneath them.

Sasuke landed, knees buckling as he favored his left leg. Then his knees locked, only for him to tilt backwards ever so slightly, vision swimming again, before he finally managed to find his footing. The field was quiet for a moment as everyone waited to see if Tenten would rise again, but aside from her steady breathing, she stayed motionless.

"Winner!" Jiraiya announced, smirking and looking at the young Uchiha with impressed eyes, the gutsiness clearly pulling him out of his funk. "Sasuke Uchiha!"

To all of you out there wondering if I ever will get on a proper update schedule, hopefully, but hey, at least I got this one out fast.

Where to even begin? I know, thanking people! Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I was blocked on this chapter and originally wanted to release it with thirteen as an apology for being gone so long, but gave up and decided to give y'all something. The reception, all the kind words, pushed me through and got me going to produce what is, in my opinion at least, an even bigger emotional high than the last chapter.

Secondly, thanks again to my beta iluvbowling3. I originally had Sasuke losing this one, and maybe that would have been more fitting thematically, but the way this fight ends is so perfect and really shows how fast Sasuke is diverging from his canon self. If it hadn't been for his input the chapter would have ended differently, so major kudos to him.

Hope y'all like Tenten. The idea of a ninja weapons mistress felt so lacking in imagination and sense in canon. I wanted to bring Tenten to Lee and Neji's level, make it make sense that she fits on that team and keeps up with those two. I hope it feels that way here - no in universe reason for the canon change on this one. I just like my version better.

The "Pack Rights" bit is fun world-building, but don't worry, not just trying to boost the word count. It'll come back around.

Now, on to Sasuke… Kid is a fucking genius. Consider the techniques he created in Shippuden, like the chidori variants and Kirin. If there is one thing he has more natural talent than Itachi with when all is said and done, it's definitely elemental ninjutsu. I wanted that to show here, instead of him having spent the whole week developing insanely good hands like everyone else on the team… Not that that's all Naruto has done, but still.

As for the Sharingan, the whole thing with the Uchiha is supposed to be that they "love too much" right? After Sarada unlocks her Sharingan the way she does in Boruto, I think this is both canon compliant and a very awesome way to show that the path to real strength lies in love, not hate, which is why Sasuke has three tomoe off rip. Might be juicing him hard, but fuck it, rule of cool wins the day here.

Anything else… I don't think so at the moment and I wanna publish this. Goal for Naruto vs Neji is Halloween. Let's all pray I can meet a deadline for once.