Kindling Hearts

Chapter 6 – Chuunin Exam Begins

Neji

During the months leading to the Chuunin exam, I trained with Hiashi-sama. Aside from that I performed several C-ranked missions with my team. Gai-sensei was preoccupied with his own missions to oversee ours but it didn't matter too much. Lee was also unable to accompany us due to his rehabilitation program.

I was assigned a new teammate by the name of Tsurugi Kira. She had curly olive coloured locks that ran down to her shoulders. Her eyes were emerald green and would be considered attractive by most. She wore a dark brown tunic over a mesh shirt. A three foot katana and a one foot katana rested against her left hip held on by a green sash. Black trousers covered her legs. Her body was fit with lean muscles and feminine curves.

She was an impressive shinobi, though I would never admit it to her face. Her fighting style was largely acrobatic and filled with a sense of finesse. The movement of her blades appeared to dance around her as she parried attacks with them. Her ninjutsus were also very impressive, most of which revolved around the earth element.

Tenten surprised me the most. She excelled in her training and the power of her attacks increased drastically. She seemed to have been 'insulted' by the fact that Temari and Kira had bested her in combat. She took it as an insult to her dream of becoming a legendary Kunoichi like her idol, the Godaime. The fact that Kira was a 'weapon specialist' in a manner of speaking as well only added injury to the insult. However the simple fact that she had lost in the preliminary round of her first Chuunin exam as well had been a source of friendship between the rivaling girls. Well to say they were rivals would be like saying Lee and me are rivals. Kira did not feel at all threatened by Tenten's growth. Actually, it felt almost like watching Gai and Kakashi's rivalries.

While I felt Lee would have been the better member to enter the Chuunin exam with, there was no doubt in my mind that Kira was equally capable.

Of the nine rookies from the last exam, only three were participating. Shino, Kiba and Ino were going to this exam.

Naruto had said that he wanted to finish his training with Jiraiya, Ero-sennin to him. Chouji was still unconscious, though his body was slowly rebuilding itself thanks to the nutrient supplements pumped directly into his system. Shikamaru was already a Chuunin, so he really couldn't participate. Sakura had mysteriously disappeared, but she had already quit being a shinobi anyways so it didn't matter. Sasuke was an official missing-nin and couldn't participate either. And lastly Hinata had decided she wasn't ready since her training with Tsunade-sama had become increasingly difficult.

There were other Konoha teams that went with us to Sunagakure, but I didn't know any of them. The other teams that graduated with me from the academy were all missing. I wondered briefly on what had happened to those who I always overlooked.

Shikamaru

It was an interesting day. The clouds were moving ever so freely, drifting calmly across the wide sky. It was an unusual sight for clouds to pass over Sunagakure. 'Ah, how I wish I could be like them.' The idle thought passed through my mind as a dull object struck my skull. Without looking I greeted the intruder to my quiet musings, "Hello, Temari."

"Aren't you going to wish me luck on the Chuunin exam?" Her voice was commanding but with a hint of something else. I couldn't place my finger on what that something was though.

"Bah, with Kankurou and Gaara on your team it's impossible to lose before the preliminary or final round." I replied in a lazy tone. The dull object struck my skull once again. It was definitely her fist. So in a monotone voice I wished her luck. I received another blow once again. 'You're damned if you do and damned if you don't' I thought to myself. I felt her killing ki spike slightly before it was gradually forced down by delivering a series of attacks against various parts of my face. I was grateful that she didn't use her fan, so I didn't bother to comment on her actions and how she was assigned to 'protect' me.

She sat beside me for a while in silence. I knew better than that. She had something to ask and was probably waiting for me to ask. Part of me wanted to know what was bothering her, but also I just wanted to watch the rare clouds.

Unfortunately for me, she broke the silence. "Gaara isn't going to participate this time."

I was shocked. It seemed so unusual that the most powerful Sand Genin would not want to advance in the ranks. I wondered about this unusual fact.

"He wants to get Shuukaku under control first before entering another situation where he might have to kill."

I remembered Gaara mentioning the Sand High Priest. Temari took the time to explain that Gaara no longer wanted to kill except under absolute necessity. How he did not want to be seen as a demon any longer. How he wanted to be forgiven for his sins. There was only one thing Temari never mentioned and that was the reason behind his 'sudden' change of heart.

We sat in awkward silence for some time after that.

"Who's your third teammate then?" I only realized too late when I saw her face falter. It was likely that this person had been the cause of a lot of agony in her life and considering, she had Gaara to deal with, this person must be far worse.

"Kai…" she replied quietly.

My mind ran through all the Sand nins that I had met over the last two months. It stopped upon a rather obnoxious boy.

Kai had dark curly hair and dark brown eyes. His face was rather portly and gave the feeling of being spoiled. He was a chubby boy all around. It that had been all, I was sure I would have been great friends with the fellow, except he was a brat. He gave the jolly fat man image a new perspective. He used his father's authority to bully anyone that did not agree with him. He insulted everyone and anyone at all times. I suppose he didn't insult everyone, he tread very carefully around Gaara. Temari and Kankurou also did not tolerate his antics and as children of the late Kazekage, had sufficient influence to avoid punishment from Kai's father. There were still many on the council that heavily sided with the late Kazekage after all.

As far as his skills went, I was sure that they were insignificant and substandard. There were many rumours that he only passed the Academy exam because of his father's influence. I now knew why Temari needed luck to pass this exam when she and her brother were so powerful.

"Good Luck" I said once again this time with far more feeling behind the casual words.

"Thank you" was her reply.

Hinata

I looked at the exhausted form of Naruto sleeping under a tree in our secret training location. It was a peaceful place that was free of all distractions save one. And though the remaining distraction was the most powerful, it was also the most influential. The sky was darkening and it would be time to awake him soon.

We had been practicing various taijutsu styles and stances. The forms and movement was starting to become second nature to us. Since I had said that the Hyuuga style was a family only style, we were using manuscripts to direct our movements. He would then test them against me using the Hyuuga style, minus the Jyuuken, to judge their efficiency.

It was always surprising how far he would push himself, how far he was willing to go.

"N-Naruto-kun" even after spending so much time with him, I still found myself stuttering when I talked to him. "W…Wake up." I approached his sleeping form.

He turned unexpectedly knocking me off my feet. I landed unceremoniously next to him. I was about to shake him awake when his hand held me by my waist.

I blushed furiously as I turned my head away from him. My heart pounded against my chest. "N...Naruto-k…kun?" There was no reply. However he held me close to him. I cautiously gazed upwards into his face.

He was still asleep. His breathing was even and his eyes moved rapidly. I felt a pang of disappointment. I rested my head against his chest as I found myself unwilling to release myself from this fantasy made real. 'Well, ok so Naruto wasn't awake, and he wasn't doing this on purpose, but a girl can dream right?' I chided myself.

"Sakura-chan" Naruto spoke in his sleep. The pain of those words hurt more than anything I had ever felt before. Even in his dreams, he thought of the pink haired kunoichi. Tears ran down my face and onto Naruto's warm chest.

I did not realize when he woke up his shirt wet with my tears. "H…Hinata? What's wrong?"

His comfortable touch upon my shoulders added to the pain. 'Why do you have to be so nice to me? If you weren't it would be easier to forget about you. Why?' I sadly asked myself. I did not reply aloud to his question. I simply looked away from his face.

He seemed to suddenly realize the proximity that we lay next to each other. He jumped back and knelt in front of me. His eyes were unreadable. They were moist as if in anticipation of tears.

He bowed his head low, his forehead touching the ground. "I'm sorry." It seemed so different from his usual happy self.

Naruto

Her tears scared me. It was a million times worse than the cold stares of the villagers. The feeling of pain wrapped itself around my chest. My breathing became rapid and distorted. I tried to calm myself, to put that cheerful smile, my mask to hide the hurt. I could not, the pain from seeing her cry was worse than anything I had ever experienced. I did not know why, but maybe, because this time, it was my fault. 'Did I do something inappropriate?' I thought to myself. I did not remember anything, but I did just wake up with my arms around her waist. 'She can't hold something I did in my sleep against me, can she?'

The only thing I could do was keep apologizing until she forgave my indecent behaviour, however 'accidental' it was.

She shook her head slightly. 'She wasn't going to forgive me?' I thought for a split second. The pain in my chest multiplied ten fold. It was a suffering I would wish on no living person.

"It's not your fault, you didn't do anything." Her soft voice was like balm upon a wound. The soothing feeling rushed through my body as the words destroyed the pain. The feeling of relief, of joy was akin to that of when Iruka first acknowledged my existence. The carefree smile however, still refused to return to my face. The simple fact that she was still downtrodden kept that grin from my face. I repeated my first question. Daring to approach her, I gently held her face to look into my eyes. I smiled sympathetically at her. I felt like words were forming in her mind but simply refused to be voiced.

Hinata

I wanted to tell him why I was hurt. Honestly I did. But to do that I would have to admit I liked him as well and that was what I was unsure of. I wanted him to hold me close like he was, but he was dreaming of Sakura. I knew that in his mind he had let go of the affections he once held, but did his heart? I was scared that if I told him, he would be using Sakura as a comparison, as a reference.

I started to compare myself to her. She was prettier. She was smarter. She was better than me in every way. I wondered briefly if I would ever be able to bring myself to be blinded by love like Sakura was. Was my devotion to Naruto as great as hers to Sasuke?

"Please, tell me what's wrong… I will help any way I can, so please just tell me what's wrong." He implored me. His eyes were begging me for a response. The sadness of hurt lay beneath the surface.

I moved slowly so that I knelt just in front of him. I placed my arms around his neck and leaned my head against his shoulder. I felt my face go red with the proximity of him.

He spoke no words as he placed his hands onto my back, slowly rubbing them in a comforting motion.

I hated myself for taking advantage of his kindness. I wanted to stay like this forever. I wanted to be with him forever. But knowing that it was not possible, not yet, not while he still felt something for her in his heart, made this moment more painful than I thought possible. I cried gently into his shoulder as he comforted me silently.

He sat there with his arms around me for what felt like hours. I managed to calm myself eventually. I realized then that the moon had risen high into the sky. I wiped the last of my tears as I gazed into the elegant scene. It paled in comparison to the wide grin that had spread across Naruto's face. His eyes were lit with joy as he saw me smile.

"You're prettier when you smile." He spoke the words quietly directly at my ear as if telling me a secret. As he rose he kissed me gently on my forehead. I felt the blood rush to my face. I felt my nervousness return tenfold once again. I looked questioningly at him. He smiled and then spoke again in the same manner, "A good luck charm so that you would never need to feel sadness again."

Neji

I looked around me. There were many genins there that had failed the previous exam. There were also a lot that weren't there. There were several new faces but most of them seemed inconsequential. A few gave an aura of strength, but the greatest was a trio of Sand that wore masks that resembled skulls. The symbol of Sand was engraved upon the forehead of those skulls. Besides that there was nothing truly extraordinary about their appearances.

The room we were gathered in was large and plain. It was then that I noticed an anomaly. A figure emerged from the wall. He wore a white turban and a mask that covered his mouth and nose but wasn't upon his face like Kakashi's mask. His large white tunic was worn loosely over his body. He also wore gloves, boots and a loose pair of trousers. In essence he was a white ghost within all the white sands. He wore no Jounin vest, but his aura contradicted this. He opened his mouth and spoke.

"I am Special Operatives Wu Xing. I am your first examiner." He placed a small map on the wall behind him as he begun his explanation.

"This is a maze." He said as he pointed to the map. "At the center of this maze is a tower where you will gather.

"Now these are the rules of this Exam.

"One, you must enter the tower as a team.

"Two, everyone will enter the maze at different locations, no two people will enter at the same point.

"Three, you have two hours to reach the tower, though it should take about fifteen minutes for a reputable chuunin.

"Lastly, you can all take some time to examine the map."

There was obviously more to this than met the eye, but I couldn't figure out all the implications that this test would have. I talked to Tenten and Kira to determine a plan or strategy to pass this test. The only thing we thought of was simply get to the center and wait. Because of the size of the area, none of us had any relevant tracking skill that would be of use to find the others. Also, we would waste time backtracking if we simply waited for each other to find us. But that also led to the major issue of what would happen if one teammate is caught waiting at the tower by another hostile team.

Lee

My recovery was complete. My body was well again, though the joints and muscles remained stiff from the relative infrequency of use. The light jog and practice log exercises had loosened them for the most part. I decided that it was time to visit the new friend I had made during my rehabilitation.

Karei had been a kind and caring girl. We had talked about everything and anything like old friends. She was probably the person that knew me best save for Gai-sensei. She had easily taken residence within my heart before I even realized that I considered her a friend.

I waved at her as she swam to the edge of the pool to talk to me. Smiling widely I spoke, "I win."

She giggled that cute laugh as she pulled herself out of the water. Her wet hair was clinging to the sides of her face. She stared into the pool as if deciding something. Her expression was unreadable. I did not know what to do.

I looked apologetically at her, "I'm sorry; it's not nice to gloat, especially since you are still recovering."

She shook her head and smiled at me. "It's fine, the doctors said that I probably won't ever be able to fully recover anyways." I was shocked. I didn't know. I was about to apologize again for my ignorance when she put her hand up stopping me. "They said that during my operation, there was a misalignment. It was small, and easily overlooked, not enough to prevent me from walking, but more than sufficient to ensure that I would be unable to enjoy the freedom of movement I had before."

I stared at this woman of uncharacteristic strength. If it wasn't for Tsunade, I would likely be in her position now. "Maybe Tsunade-sama can help."

She smiled and shook her head. "It had already healed up by the time it was discovered. I don't exactly like the idea of reopening a healed wound to have a 'chance' at recovery. Besides, it's not like I'm unable to move."

I looked down into the pool and gazed into my reflection. There had to be a way for me to help her. She had been a steadfast source of encouragement in the last few months when I had been unwilling to continue in this charade of rehabilitation. I hadn't felt like it was helping me. I had wanted to push myself further. She had said that too little effort would leave the muscles weaker and unable to recover, but too much effort, and the brittle recovery made thus far would shatter. She had brought out in me the balance needed.

She rested her head on my shoulder. My heart started to race. Her voice was quiet as she spoke, "Do you remember when you said, 'To protect those important to us that is the reason we fight." I nodded. "I think, I finally understand. I may not be able to protect you from monsters, or villains or even the neighbor's dog, but I want to protect you all the same. I think… I love you."

A sad smile crept across my face. My heart raced like I had finished a marathon. My face turned red as blood rushed up. "I… I…" I did not know what to say. A small tear escaped the side of my eye.

"Some time ago, I swore that I would protect this girl I liked forever. It is a promise I do not plan on retracting even though I do not know where she is." There was a small look of disappointment on Karei's face though it quickly vanished. "I'm sorry. I'm a man that can't even keep his promises, or protect that which I care most about. I'm sure, there's someone out there that would be better suited for your kindness."

I got up and was leaving when I heard her stumble and let out a small cry. I caught her before I was aware of what I was doing. She rested her hand against my face as I steadied her. "Thank you. I think… if you had left without turning back to help me, I might've been able to forget you, but you didn't. If you had turned to help, but was unable, I might've been able to forgive you for not catching me. But you did catch me. You were there when I needed you. I love you, not because you do the things you do, but because you put the effort into everything you do. Even if you don't feel the same, I don't think there's anyone in this world that is as wonderful as you."

Author's Notes...

I apologize for the long delay in updating... maybe I'll get back interested in writing this story...