Notes: Here's the chapter where I warn everyone about my abysmal skill at writing fight scenes. So… sorry in advance. I tried.

I tried my best to look upset with the announcement that there would have to be preliminary matches before the final exhibition of the third stage of the Chūnin exam. Considering I'd woken up to discover I'd slept nearly an entire twenty-four hours, I was more upset about missing the chance to talk with Kakashi about what happened to Orochimaru. Now that I had a full night's sleep in, I was confused as to what had stopped the creep. Sure, we'd made it through the Forest of Death in just two days—which was pretty amazing all things considered—but Orochimaru was an ex-Sannin.

Like in the show, there was just one too many people (considering there were three genin to a team, I supposed that made some sense) and Kabuto volunteered to leave. I saw Kakashi, standing with the other jōnin instructors by the Hokage, give him a sharp look. I vaguely remembered Kakashi being suspicious of Kabuto in the show, but Kabuto was actually much stronger than anyone had realized at this point so… things were getting complicated and I didn't feel I was in a position to change it. What was I going to do about the invasion? How could I warn everyone? I couldn't just let the Sandaime die when I knew what was coming! Then again, who else currently in Konoha had a chance of forcing Orochimaru to go back into hiding to lick his wounds?

I shook my head to clear it and refocused on Hayate in time to have to move up to the spectator area overlooking the 'arena'. Naruto, Sakura, and I just shunshin'd up, but I noticed that the rest of the rookies walked up the stairs. I wondered if they hadn't been taught that yet.

"By random selection," Hayate said and then began to cough. He waved his hand to the screen above him. I focused on it.

The names began to flash on the screen, cycling through all the contestants. The first one slowly stopped on…

Me.

I sighed as Kakashi ruffled my hair and Naruto gave me a thumbs up. The second name slowly stopped as well and I looked up at who I'd be facing. Please not Gaara, please not Gaara, I begged internally.

The rotation stopped and I stared with no small amount of dread.

It wasn't Gaara. It was, in fact, pretty much the opposite.

I was to fight Hyūga Hinata.

I let out a quiet sound, not quite a huff and not quite a groan. With far more grace than my old body could have ever achieved, I jumped down to the arena floor and looked up to where Team Eight stood. Hinata was being given loud spoken encouragement by Kiba, but it was Shino who put a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her toward the stairs. I blinked, not remembering Shino touch anyone casually in the show. Then again, the "camera" didn't always focus on the other teams and who knew what they really interacted like in private.

Hinata slowly walked down the stairs. I could tell she was shaking, just little tremors in her legs, but it flashed me back to Communications classes and public presentations and all those years of Speech before I'd learned how to bundle that natural well of anxiety into a tight corner of my brain and not let it control me. I suddenly remembered just how young all my peers were. That, despite being ninja, despite all their training, they were just twelve and thirteen year olds and at that age in my past life I had been crying about bullies and stressing about the approaching years of high school. I had been given a chance to make mistakes in a mostly safe environment, not fighting for my life in a semi-magical society of trained killers.

In the end, Hinata was just a little girl with a lot of expectations on shoulders half-breaking from the pressure. But I knew too that she could become so much more than this meek little thing now standing in front of me.

I vaguely heard Hayate give the rules and then tell us to, "Begin!"

Hinata shifted into the recognizable Hyūga stance. I rocked back on my heels for a moment, wondering. The world around us had faded. I knew that Naruto and Sakura were shouting me on. I knew I was being watched by everyone from Kakashi to the Hokage to Orochimaru's people (if not the man himself, though I tried to ignore that thought). But still all I could focus on was Hinata and the young girl in the background of her, the little girl that used to be me.

If I was here to make change, why not make this one too? Why not be the ally I could be, with the experience I have? Why not give the support that boys and men so rarely realized young girls needed in the sexist society I had lived and still live in?

I activated my Sharingan and brought my hands together in a flash of symbols. I wasn't the best at Genjutsu, despite my Sharingan advantage, but I had enough to do this.

For Hinata and I, the world froze. Hinata continued to stand at the ready, nervously watching me with her bulging white eyes, and then her eyes widened. She glared at me, realizing quickly she was trapped in my genjutsu. She opened her mouth and began to make the hand sign to dispel it.

"Wait," I said, making sure my voice was calm.

Hinata paused. "I c-can see the lines of your gen-genjutsu with my Byakuran, you will- will- will not be able to f-fool me."

"Good," I told her. "Can we just talk for a moment?"

"T-talk?"

I considered Hinata for a moment. She was physically defensive. Of course she was, we were fighting. And I knew that nothing I could say would feel anything other than a trap. This was not the situation to make a new friend—not unless I was Naruto anyway. Well, in that case, there was one thing I knew I could be pretty good at. Outwardly, I sighed. "I hate seeing you like this. You look weak, Hinata. You look like a victim. You stutter and that's fine, it's normal for some people, but you have to be more than that and you know it and it only makes it worse, right?"

Hinata just watched me with wide eyes. I pushed on.

"The Hyūga and Uchiha clans were rivals once. Two of the strongest clans in Konoha and yet here we are. The Hyūga heiress is pathetic and the Uchiha heir is a mess." I gestured to her, then to me. "What does the rest of the ninja world see when they look down at this fight?"

And though Hinata shook, her mind was sharp. "W-what do you want, Sasuke?" she asked, with barely a stutter.

"I want you to fight me," I said. "Because we both know you won't win, so you have no reason to hold back. I won't go easy on you, because you are a Hyūga and I'm an Uchiha. Are you going to shame your clan by not trying to at least hurt me?"

Hinata's shaking was only getting worse and I wondered if I'd taken the wrong path—if I was hurting her more than helping her. I just wanted her to see that she could be a strong kunoichi… I wanted her to focus only on me during the fight and bring out that inner strength I knew she had.

"There's a saying," I added, to try a different tack. I remembered a long-lost quote from one of my favorite actors. "All you have to do is pretend to be who you want to be and one day you'll wake up to realize you are that person, that you don't have to pretend anymore. What frustrates me about you, Hinata, is that you don't even try to pretend to be the Hyūga heiress. Is your clan even worth that much to you?"

Because I had come into the Uchiha clan with nothing emotionally invested and I stood here realizing I'd made myself angry with the thought of shaming those ghosts so blatantly. The Uchihas had their faults, but they had noble roots and a noble purpose when they built Konoha. I hated the thought of disappointing them more than I already had by killing their last hope.

And… and maybe the anger in my words was directed at myself, not at Hinata. Maybe it was time I dropped the genjutsu and just fought the girl.

"Is that what you did, Sasuke-san?" Hinata asked, and I realized she was seeing far more in my face than I wanted her to. "Or are you still pretending to be what your family would want?" She flinched as soon as the words left her mouth, as if only then realizing the innate meanness in them.

But among clan heirs, that kind of social politics was good. No one would expect a Hyūga and an Uchiha to get along. But a sort of rivalry to push each other to be better… that had possibility.

"Yes," I said and then had to look away. "Are you ready to fight me now?"

Hinata nodded. She was still shaking, but it was smaller—more anticipatory instead of fear. She didn't thank me, but I hardly expected her to. Instead, she put her hands together and yelled, "Kai!"

The illusion shattered and we were back in the arena, standing in the same spots we had been. My chakra was already half depleted from having to hold that genjutsu for so long, but it had been worth it and it would give Hinata an even better chance of showing off.

I shifted my stance and unsheathed my short sword. Hinata bent her knees just a little more. I could see the difference in her stance already, could see the determination in her eyes, and I wondered if anyone else could see it.

If not, they would soon enough.

I charged forward and Hinata met me, blow for blow. I cut and slashed and stabbed and with every hit and miss she bruised me and cut off my chakra points.

And in the end, I was out of chakra, panting, with my sword at her throat. She was bleeding mildly from several wounds and I was pretty sure my left wrist was sprained, but the match was over and it had been no where near the massacre some would have expected.

"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke!"

I sheathed my sword and gave Hinata a little bow. She bowed back, utterly formal as expected of two clan heirs. We turned our backs on each other and walked up the parallel stairs to our teams. Though both of us were injured, I was sure Hinata walked straight and proud just as I did. We gave a show as two clan heirs would have and though my adrenaline still rushed from the fight, I was retrospectively stunned and proud for her. This was the person Hinata had tried to be when fighting Neji in the show, and had failed because Neji hadn't given her the chance to prove herself. I was glad I had been able to help her, if only a little.

"Why didn't you use any jutsu, Sasuke?" Sakura asked quietly. "Other than that initial genjutsu, I mean. You could have had her before she cut off your chakra."

"Because I wanted to see what she could do," I said honestly. "We got a lot more training, the three of us, but I think Hinata will get there. Don't you?"

Sakura looked toward Team Eight and then nodded slowly. "Yeah," she said, with just a bit of wonder in her tone. "I think so too."

Naruto bumped his shoulder into mine. "Gonna let Sakura heal you, teme?" he asked.

"No," I said. I carefully didn't look left, past Team Ten, to where Team Eight stood. I knew Hinata didn't have a healer on her team and wouldn't accept one until the matches were over. "I'm going to wait."

Naruto huffed and Sakura rolled her eyes, but they both accepted my words. I realized they'd both already known that's what I would say—since neither of them had moved to help me once I got up the stairs. I wondered for a moment how well my teammates actually knew me. I was still operating on an advantage from my other world knowledge, but that advantage weakened every day. I wondered when I'd realize I was using that knowledge as a crutch. One day, I thought, it might hold me back. I had to take care not to let it. Things had already changed so much, I couldn't assume that my knowledge held any meaning anymore.

The next match-up came on the screen. Rock Lee—I tried to hide my wince, though I knew I wasn't entirely successful. I suddenly remember that this was the fight where Gaara nearly killed Lee… where he crippled him. Lee didn't deserve that. Not the Lee I'd been training with since I first came to this world. Lee was annoying and stupid at times, but he had a good heart and was one of the most loyal ninja in the village.

The opponent's name slowly spun to a stop.

Akadō Yoroi.

I let out a sigh of relief. One of the Leaf ninja from Kabuto's team. I didn't remember him, or what he did specifically, but as long as it wasn't Gaara then Lee would be fine. He was one of the best fighters among Konoha's representatives here. He'd even managed to hurt Gaara, after all.

"Worried about your eternal rival?" Kakashi mused in my ear.

I jumped and turned to glare at Kakashi. "No," I snapped. "Of course not."

When I looked at my teammates, I saw them both laughing at me. I felt my face flush in embarrassment and I crossed my arms. "Hn."

I felt a prickle at the base of my neck and looked left at Team Ten. Shikamaru was studying me, a small smirk on his lips. I frowned at him. Ino turned and saw me looking and then glanced at Shikamaru. For some reason, she turned bright red. I quickly looked away. I hoped she still wasn't holding onto that stupid crush she had on me.

I focused back on the fight below. Lee and Yoroi had exchanged a couple, testing blows. I could tell Lee was barely at a quarter-speed, though to Yoroi I'm sure he looked like above-average quickness.

"Yosh, I was hoping for a youthful fight!" Lee suddenly exclaimed. "I should have sparred with my eternal rival instead."

I raised my eyebrow. I had no idea Lee was into trash-talking his opponents… If that could be considered trash talking, anyway.

Yoroi began to laugh. "Are you an idiot? You should already be feeling the effects."

Lee cocked his head to the side. "I only feel boredom that my opponent is so slow and uninteresting. How can I show off my youth without a youthful opponent?"

I rubbed my temples. Lee was something else.

"You won't be feeling very youthful once you realize that I've sucked your chakra each time we've touched!"

Oh god, I remembered Yoroi now. Despite myself, I began to laugh out loud. It was completely undignified and I tried to stifle it behind my hand but… Lee would never realize his luck. To go from Gaara to a ninja who relied on sucking the opponents chakra out. It was bittersweet and hilarious at the same time.

"I hardly need chakra to beat you," Lee said. And then he stopped slowing himself down.

The fight was a joke after that. My "eternal rival" was easily one of the fastest ninjas in the room. He quickly knocked Yoroi unconscious with a sad little sigh. Like he honestly was disappointed in how easy the fight had been.

"Lee," I called out, because I couldn't help myself. Not with the bomb Lee had missed. "I'll spar with you in preparation for the third exam, how's that?"

Lee lit up like a puppy. "Yosh! If I do not beat my eternal rival, I shall walk around the village five hundred times on my hands."

Gai pumped his own arms up. "If my student does not beat my hip rival, Kakashi's, student I too shall walk around the village five hundred times on my hands!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"I take it back," I said, but of course they ignored me. I turned to Kakashi for help but he shook his head.

"You brought that on yourself," my sensei said, taking no pains to hide his mirth.

"Sakura, maybe I do need healing," I said. "Maybe Hinata rattled my brain. I'm obviously not thinking straight."

Sakura didn't answer, because just then the next name came up on the screen. Tsurugi Misumi versus… Naruto Uzumaki.

Sakura and I turned to our teammate. He grinned at us. "Cheer me on, guys!"

"Of course," Sakura said.

I nodded once in agreement.

Sakura sidled closer to my side as our team leader walked confidently down the stairs into the arena. I studied Tsurugi Misumi. Kabuto's other teammate. I tried to remember who he'd fought in that other universe. Was it Kankuro? It might have been.

I got distracted trying to list off all the fights in my head that I missed the initial exchange of words. I refocused as Naruto put his hands together and puffed out his usual technique. Nine shadow clones and the original surrounded Misumi in a circle. Nine, I'd noticed a couple weeks ago, had become one of Naruto's favorite and most-used numbers. It made me wonder if he'd talked with Kurama much, or at all.

"Impressive," Misumi said.

I exchanged a glance with Sakura and we both smirked.

Then, quick and dangerous, Misumi lashed forward. His legs elongated to give him reach and his arms wrapped three times around one of the Narutos. It was like Monkey D Luffy or Mrs. Incredible on steroids. He coiled around the Naruto like a snake and squeezed. The clone popped away in a cloud of smoke. The whole move was done in less than a minute.

"Impressive," all eight remaining Narutos said, because he was a little shit sometimes.

Misumi scowled. "I can stretch as far as I need to without using chakra. You think you'll be able to hold me off with shadow clones? Don't make me laugh. Stop hiding and let's fight."

"I'm not hiding," one of the Narutos said, scratching his whiskered cheek.

Misumi struck that one with a kunai and it poofed away.

"I just wanted to see what you'd do," another Naruto said. That was poofed away with a kicked to the nose.

"Are you part snake?" another Naruto asked. It dodged out of the way of a shuriken then grinned as Misumi wrapped his elongated fingers around his neck and twisted. Another puff of smoke filled the arena.

"You're not getting very lucky," another Naruto said. Misumi ignored that one and attacked a different Naruto. It was another clone. "No, seriously, I'm the real one."

Misumi glared and reached for that Naruto.

"Or not," Naruto said and attacked himself with a kunai. He poofed away.

The two remaining Narutos laughed. Misumi let out a short shout of rage and then stepped back. He made a couple quick hand signs that I recognized as the start of a fire jutsu. "Die!" the nin snarled.

Both Narutos went up in fire and smoke. When the blaze cleared, nothing remained on the field. I looked around and saw Naruto hanging out on the railing behind Misumi. He jumped down. "Boo."

Misumi spun and snarled like a wild animal. His body stretched and collided in a wave around Naruto.

"You're squeezing me so hard," Naruto said, his voice high pitched.

"He didn't," Sakura muttered.

"He did," I said, as I watched Misumi notice that the Naruto he was squeezing was a beautiful, naked girl.

Misumi screeched and jumped back. "Stop playing with me!" he squealed.

Naruto dropped the henge and shrugged. "Okay, fine. Fūton: Daitoppa." A huge gust of wind shot up and pushed Misumi into the air and against the far wall. The ninja collapsed in a whimpering heap. After a minute of waiting, the heap went still—Misumi unconscious.

Naruto grinned as he was announced the winner and jumped up to rejoin Sakura and I. "Well, that was fun."

Sakura hit Naruto on the back of the head. "You are terrible, I hope you realize that."

"What Sakura said," I agreed.

"Come on, guys, it was funny, wasn't it?"

"No," I said in tandem with Sakura.

"I thought it was," Kakashi said.

"Shut up," we told him.

The next fight's participants were announced to be Shino and Chōji. I let myself lean into Naruto as I watched. Naruto didn't look it, but he had amazing balance. He stood solid and steady even when at rest. In my old life, I'd been small enough that I'd learned to love leaning on people and have them keep me up. In this life, I was larger, but Naruto took my weight without complaint and as we'd grown closer, I'd grown to enjoy the gesture. I felt I couldn't show a lot of physical affection for my teammates, not in the world we lived in, but leaning on Naruto showed that I trusted him—I trusted him to hold my weight without faltering, and in the ninja world that was heady.

So, I set my upper arm against Naruto's, my shoulder just below his, and let myself lean sideways into him. On Naruto's other side, Sakura looped her arm into his. She'd never leaned on Naruto like I did, but she'd taken to pressing her arms and hands against ours. Not enough to impede our movement in the case of an attack, but a point of contact nonetheless. We were a close team and had no problem showing it off to the people all around us.

I watched Shino's kikaichū circling the stadium. His bugs creeped me out—a holdover from my other life, really—but their ability fascinated me. Because I knew to look for them, I watched to see how many landed on Chōji.

But Chōji was staying back, swatting at the bugs as they got close, and for a moment I wondered how in the world Chōji had known about Shino's kikaichū beforehand. Hadn't this fight been the big reveal of Shino's abilities?

Of course, though, Chōji was a clan kid. He'd probably been raised learning about the kekkai genkai of the other Konoha clans. The Aburame were no secret to the Akimichi, I'm sure.

Still, Chōji had a frown on his face and I realized that even if he knew about the bugs, that didn't mean he had a true way to counter them. Chōji's fighting relied on his body and how his body channeled chakra. It was, in the end, a horrible matchup for Chōji. And I could tell that Shino knew it too.

Chōji sighed loudly. "Aww, man. Nothing for it. I don't really want you to drain my chakra, Shino. I'll just try again next year." He scratched his head. "I'm hungry anyway and this is taking too long. Proctor, I resign."

Shino nodded, showing his respect to Chōji—a proper thing for one clan child to another. It was a boring match, but then the preliminaries weren't about impressing people.

"Why'd he do that?" Naruto asked me. "I didn't ever think of Chōji as a quitter."

"Chōji knew he couldn't win, not when matching up his clan's abilities and Shino's," I whispered to Naruto, making sure my voice wouldn't carry across the hall to the other teams. "He chose to resign before Shino had to reveal the extent of his kekkai genkai, leaving it a mystery for the teams from the other villages. That way Shino will have a better chance against them in the finals, making Konoha look better." I paused. "At least, that's what I would do."

Naruto pouted, still obviously upset with the lack of a good fight, but he still gave Chōji a slap on the back as he passed us on the way back to his team. I gave Chōji a small smile, because I respected his choice, and he graced me with a confused expression. Honestly, I wasn't that mean, was I?

The energy in the room was low as the next names were revealed. Tenten versus Kinuta Dosu—a Sound nin. I winced as Lee began to cheer loudly for his teammate.

I vaguely remembered Dosu as being one of the Sound ninja I actually liked, though I couldn't remember why. I also didn't quite remember who he'd fought in the anime. His bandages looked familiar, but then there were a number of nin who wore bandages around their faces so my mind could just be tricking me. I let myself lean fully into Naruto, resting my entire weight on him, as I pondered the mystery.

Tenten revealed herself as a weapons mistress and began to attack Dosu with a wide array of ranged weapons. Each and every one of them missed.

"Strange," Sakura murmured. "Isn't Tenten supposed to be an excellent markswoman?"

"She is," I said. "I wonder why…" It wasn't like she was up against Temari, with the heavy winds to blow her weapons away.

And then Dosu took pity on Tenten and us audience and explained that his ability was to manipulated sound, specifically targeting his opponent's inner ear.

"I believe that you're a capable kunoichi," he said, "but I don't know many who could compensate for that amount of vertigo when trying to aim even a kunai." He shrugged. "Sorry."

Tenten shook her head, as if trying to clear it, and then launched forward to attack Dosu hand-to-hand. Now, I could easily see how her body was being affected. Even her close combat aim was off, her punches a little wide, her kicks off-center. Dosu easily blocked her moves and jabbed back with simple, deadly accuracy. Tenten retreated after only a handful of hits.

Dosu cocked his head to the side. "You can resign, or I can hurt you until you're forced to. I'll give you the choice."

"You're strangely honorable," Tenten stated. "I like that in a man."

She drew out a shuriken and threw it at him. Dosu didn't even try to dodge. The shuriken went wide by about a foot.

"Is that your decision then?" Dosu asked, taking a step forward.

"Not quite," Tenten answered. Quicker than she'd been thus far, she threw four kunai. Dosu dodged the first three and the third hit him neatly along the corner of the jaw—slicing away his face bandages to reveal a pale face. "Huh, you're pretty cute too."

And then Tenten collapsed to her knees, blood trickling out of her ears. Dosu's eyes were wide, as if he couldn't believe she'd actually hit him—even if it hadn't even drawn blood. I wondered if he'd subconsciously increased his sound chakra output—causing her eardrums to bust.

"I'm done," Tenten told Hayate a second before she collapsed all the way. Her face would have smashed into the ground if Gai hadn't shunshin'd into the arena to catch her. He gave her opponent a subdued smile and then carried her away.

"Poor Tenten," Sakura said. "What a terrible matchup for her."

I hn'd in agreement.

"I wonder who's next," Sakura wondered aloud as the names began to rotate. "So far, the only kunoichi to fight have lost. It'd be nice to get a little more of a strong female showing."

I looked at Sakura, surprised by the statement. I agreed with her, but I hadn't quite realized Sakura had grown aware enough to realize the severe lack of strong female ninja in Konoha. It was almost as if, after Tsunade left the village, there was no longer a super strong kunoichi for young girls to look up to—Sakura was the only civilian-raised girl to graduate from the Academy in the last several years. Tenten didn't quite count because, while her father wasn't a ninja, he was a weaponsmith and she'd been raised inside his store, selling weapons to various kunoichi in the village.

"You get your wish, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, drawing my attention back to the board. The two names were Sakura's and Tsuchi Kin. "One of you has to win, after all. So I guess we will have a kunoichi in the finals." He grinned.

"Apparently," Sakura said, shaking her head. "Though that wasn't quite what I meant," she muttered just loud enough I could hear as she headed to the stairs.

Kin, I remembered, was the one who'd fought Shikamaru in the anime. I'd enjoyed that fight a lot, because it had been one of the first to show off Shikamaru's true intelligence. However, I also remembered that, while Kin's senbon and bells were tricky, they were hardly the worst Sound had to offer. I believed in Sakura's ability to beat the other kunoichi.

"Going to be honest, I'm not impressed by what I've seen of the Leaf's kunoichi thus far," Kin said as the fight began. "I'd even go as far to say you're all pathetic. Is it true that your teachers instruct you on proper flower arrangements instead of physical training?"

"You never know when having seemingly unnecessary knowledge might save your life," Sakura countered.

"Sure," Kin said, and her drawl reminded me of the students who looked down on the girls in the nursing major—saying they should have just taken the pre-med track. I scowled.

But this was Sakura's fight, not mine, and Sakura was more than capable of showing someone when she disapproved of something. "Shut up," she said, and it was blatant enough that it wiped the sneer of Kin's face. "Here, I'll show you what I mean."

"Wha–" Kin began, but she was interrupted by a flurry of kunai and shuriken Sakura sent her way.

"That was in the pattern of a tulip," Sakura said. "Next is rhododendron."

Kin dodged backwards and Sakura surged after her, laying a five-point kick at her torso. Kin blocked the blows, but nearly fell against the wall before swerving to the side at the last moment.

"Stay back!" Kin warned, and she shot senbon back at Sakura.

But Sakura, I realized, was more than adept at dealing with senbon. After all, we had trained with Haku.

"What's with the bells?" Sakura asked as she caught one of the senbon between her fingers and glanced at the edge of it.

"While you were being taught flowers, I was taught the art of music," Kin replied. "Let me show you which one is better."

And then Kin attacked with a flurry of senbon. I watched as Sakura dodged the first set, then gasp as the second hit her on the right arm and shoulder.

"What?" Sakura mumbled. "But I…" she looked behind her and I took note of the senbon lying on the ground.

That's right, I remembered. The bells were just a distraction.

Sakura shook her head and looked back at Kin. "Two can play at that game," she said, and grabbed her own handful of senbon. "Daffodil!" She shot the scattered needles forward, then followed it up with a set of roundhouse kicks. "Iris!"

"Get ready for my harmony!" Kin yelled back, and the bells began to ring. She shot senbon after senbon and while Sakura dodged many, more began to scraped the sides of her clothes and pierce into her skin.

Sakura stopped and swayed. "I see," she said. "An area genjutsu, created by the sound."

"I guess you are pretty smart, for a flower girl," Kin stated. She grinned and it was just shy of feral. "But just knowing what's happening doesn't mean you can stop it." She drew another set of senbon and I felt Naruto tense under me.

Sakura snorted. "Let me tell you my favorite flower. I'm sure you can guess. It's what I was named after." She tilted her head just slightly to the side and I realized a second before what was about to happen. "Sakura blossoms are so pretty, aren't they?"

And then a second Sakura appeared between the two kunoichi. "Sharanno!" she yelled and charged. Kin let out a soft noise of shock before recovering and shooting that new Sakura with senbon.

But Sakura's Inner wasn't affected by physical blows and I knew Kin had spelled her own demise by creating an area genjutsu.

All it took was for one punch to land and then Kin was out.

"Woo!" Naruto yelled and I nearly fell from the sudden movements of his arms. "Go Sakura-chan! You did it!"

"Not so loud," I complained, rubbing my ears. "Nice," I said then as Sakura shunshin'd up to us.

"Thanks, guys," Sakura said. She was already plucking the senbon out of her skin and casually dropping them to the floor.

"Need a medic?" Kakashi asked lazily, not even looking up from his book.

"No thanks, I'm fine," Sakura replied and a second later her hands glowed green.

I looked around and saw most of the Rookie Nine staring at Sakura in shock. This, I knew, was nothing like what they would have expected out of the flower girl. I was so proud of her.

"Oh, look, another kunoichi fight," Naruto pointed out as Temari and Ino were called to the field.

Ino looked up at us, at Sakura, as she walked down to the arena. I watched and waited—it only took a moment for the surprise and disappointment in her eyes to become determination. If Sakura won her fight against an enemy kunoichi, shouldn't Ino also? I could almost hear her voice saying it, "If Forehead-girl can win, so can I!"

But Ino was up against Temari, who was shockingly strong to still be a genin, and I didn't envy her chances.

Sakura looked up from her healing as the first of Temari's fan gusts sent Ino flying back into the wall and winced. "Oh, Ino-pig," she murmured.

I walked around Naruto so I stood by Sakura's side. "I think," I whispered to her, "that even if it's hard, this is an important lesson for Ino. And better it happen now than in the field, don't you think?"

Sakura looked at me and in her green gaze I saw the weary truth. Sakura had begun to change before our mission to the Land of Waves but she hadn't made the transformation from a child playing at ninja to a true warrior until she'd seen Zabuza—his guts only being held in his abdomen by a bloody hand—slaughter countless of Gazo's men for the slight of Gazo daring to betray his monetary contract.

Naruto had always been a fighter, even since he was a child, because the village had never let him being anything else. At the same time, Naruto was always a kid playing ninja because the village had tried to squish that out of him and he was too damn stubborn to let it. Me, on the other hand… I lost what was left of my childhood the night I lost my life, and the moment I realized I'd taken Sasuke's away too. Sakura had been the last to catch up with us, but she was far beyond even the clan kids of the Rookie Nine now.

And in those green eyes, I saw that same realization. Because, despite Ino's skills, Shikamaru's intelligence, Shino's abilities, Kiba's persistence… despite Chōji's thick skin and Hinata's political unrest… they were all still children that hadn't yet seen the brutality of the ninja world. And it was far better to get that reality check here, in a mostly-friendly match, then out there in a war.

War was coming and I worried more for my classmates than even those I canonically knew died in the invasion. Things had already changed too much and they weren't ready.

So, I watched Temari bat Ino around like a rag doll and I thought, good, keep forcing her down again and again. Because maybe this way Ino won't go out into the streets armed with only a kunai and her clan's mind jutsu and expect to win against an army of invading Sand and Sound nin. Break her gently, with wind strong enough to rip her skin, because maybe she won't hesitate to make her first kill.

Don't make her one of the casualties of the Leaf's gentle training.

I wrapped my arm around Sakura's shoulders as Ino fell to the ground one last time and didn't get up.

"Don't take too long to lick your wounds, Ino-pig," Sakura said, more to herself than anything, as Asuna picked Ino up and walked away with her. "Or you'll never grow the tusks to become a boar."

And then it was Shikamaru's turn. Shikamaru, the last of his team to fight, the only one left to be able to carry the reputation of Ino-Shika-Chō to the finals. Shikamaru hesitated before walking down the stairs, obviously preoccupied with watching Asuna's take Ino to the healers, until Chōji pushed him. Then, he took his hands out of his pockets and marched steadily to where his opponent, Abumi Zaku, waited.