Shades of Gray

Chapter One

For Hikari, the idea of graduating from the ninja academy wasn't much of an accomplishment, even if she did manage to do so a year early. After all, she'd already graduated once and it was actually rather humiliating to have to sit through the experience a second time. Still she did have to admit that, if nothing else, her test scores were much better now that she actually studied. Thanks to Iruka's meddling that is. Which she had, on more then one occasion, believed was influenced by the chuunin's long standing crush on Kairi.

Still, she felt mildly vindicated in the fact that Kairi was still so hung up on Kyo that she couldn't manage to look at anyone in a romantic light. Not even Umino Iruka. But in Hikari's opinion his lack of success was justified by the fact that he was cheating by using the excuse of 'tutoring' her to get closer to Kairi. Which didn't even make that much sense considering she and Kairi didn't even live in the same house.

"Hikari-san!"

Hikari jumped in surprise but easily managed to avoid the eraser aimed at her head though, to her amusement, Morino Idate didn't fare quite so well. Just as well, as far as she was concerned. She and Idate had never gotten along all that well to begin with.

"It's amazing how well you've improved, Hikari-san," Iruka said dryly, her hatai-ate hanging limply from his fingers. "But I'm sure your shinobi skills would be better employed outside of my classroom."

Hikari rolled her eyes, muttering to herself. "As if I haven't been saying that everyday for the last four years…"

Iruka's eyes narrowed. "What was that?"

"Nothing!" Hikari said cheerfully as she skipped down the stairs to retrieve her forehead protector. "Thanks a million, sensei!"

As she leisurely made her way back to her seat she had to admit that she would somewhat miss her time at the academy. If only because her chances to annoy Iruka would be severely cut by her missions. Still, it would be nice to be busy with something important for a change. The monotonous tasks of homework and target practice had gotten very old very fast a very, very long time ago.

Fortunately, since everyone else was paying attention when their name was called, the rest of the graduation ceremony went rather quickly and before she knew it the class was dismissed for the day. Now she only had one day left in that stifling classroom and it was just for ten minutes or so while they were divided into teams. She could hardly contain her giddiness.

Now all she had to do was pray to Buddha, or whatever god decided to listen, that she managed to escape being on the same team as Idate. Even compared to all the other crap she'd gone through, that would just royally suck.

"Hi Hikari-nee!" Tenten said as she ran up from where she'd been practicing her weapon handling on the P.F.T. field. "Did you graduate?"

Hikari smirked and tapped her forehead protector with the back of her thumb. "Was there ever a doubt?"

Tenten beamed, looking a bit awed by the headband. "That's awesome Hikari-nee! You're so cool!"

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Hikari just shrugged. "I guess, but it's not really a big deal. I mean, I already was a genin once so it'd be kind of embarrassing if I failed to do it again."

"But you hurt your leg really bad right? Kairi-san once said you might have to quit as a ninja, but you didn't! You kept trying! You're one of my heroes, nee-chan!"

"One of?" Hikari said, feigning hurt. "You mean I'm not the only one?"

"Well…our class was learning about the legendary Senin today and well…Tsunade-hime is really cool too, you know?"

"Ah. I see." Hikari nodded. "She's a good role model for any kunoichi. She's probably the best there ever was."

Tenten looked a bit disappointed. "Does that mean no one can be better then her?"

"Of course not!" Hikari said. "That just means you'll have to try harder then anyone. Can you do that?"

"Definitely!" Tenten said. "You just watch! I'll be better then anyone. Even you and Tsunade-hime!"

Hikari laughed. "I'll be looking forward to it."

"Oi, Tenten!" Called one of the chuunin girls teaching Tenten's class. "Get back here, you're not done!"

"Coming! See you later, Hikari-nee!"

"Have fun." Dropping her hand, Hikari sighed as she rolled her shoulders. "Now what?"

Since her class let out early for the graduates and she already knew no one was at home, there really wasn't much for her to do. Technically if she wandered around for long enough she could find something to do but in the mean time the day would rapidly degenerate into something absurdly boring. That being said, for the moment she was perfectly content to let her eyes roam the P.F.T. field to see how many of the up coming kids had enough potential to actually become genin. So far she counted seven, and all of them were from prominent clans. Hyuuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke were especially promising as they worked with their designated age groups.

Even though she told herself not to and that it wouldn't help at all, Hikari couldn't stop the feelings of disappointment that welled up as she thought of her own sister, Sakura. She was extremely bright—something Hikari knew all too well—but as a shinobi she was greatly lacking. Hikari knew from experience that anyone could learn the theories and rules behind being a ninja, even if it had taken her a bit longer then most, but the practical application of that knowledge was impossible for more then one promising mind. Sakura just didn't want it badly enough to take being a ninja seriously. She was there to make friends, like that Yamanaka girl, and that was about it.

In all honesty, if Ino-chan hadn't befriended Sakura the year before Hikari was more then certain that her cute little sister would never have even dreamed of being a kunoichi. Still, it wasn't like she couldn't improve if she actually tried.

"Nee-chan!" Sakura called and Hikari bit back a chuckle. "What are you doing here? Didn't you go home yet?"

"Not yet," Hikari said. "I was watching the other kids. How was class?"

Sakura shrugged, her face falling just a bit. "It was okay, I guess. Some girls started picking on me in the flower field but Ino-chan scared them off."

Hikari's brow furrowed in concern as she lowered herself to her sister's level. "It's good to have friends Sakura," she said, "but you'll never improve if you don't start fighting your own battles."

"…I guess so."

Not wanting Sakura to stay depressed, Hikari gently tugged on her sister's short locks making her look up in surprise.

"What do you say we head home together after class? Just you and me. We can even stop off for something sweet for a congratulations gift, kay?"

"Congratulations?" Sakura said. "For what?"

"Well, it's the last day of the semester right?" Hikari asked and Sakura nodded. "You got your end of the year report right?" Sakura nodded again. "And I'm already positive you got the top theory marks in the class right?" Looking a little shy, Sakura nodded again. "So what better to do at a time like this then celebrate? Come on, it'll be fun!"

"…Just you and me?" Sakura said, hope saturating her voice.

"Definitely!" Hikari said. "I'll let Kairi-nee-san know that she needs to pick up Tenten-chan herself today."

Sakura squealed and wrapped her arms tightly around her sister's waist. "You're the best ever nee-chan!"

Hikari laughed and patted Sakura's hair softly. "I do what I can. Now you better hurry up or you'll be late for your last lesson."

"Hai! See you after school nee-chan!"

"I'll definitely be here!"

Feeling a great deal happier, Hikari quickly left the academy grounds and started off towards Kairi's house. The familiar road was almost soothing as she walked and every now and then she threw in a subtle skip just because she could. Regardless of her earlier sentiments about graduating, Hikari couldn't dispute the fact that she was happy to be a ninja again. The feel of her hatai-ate pressing tight against her forehead was one that she'd greatly missed in the past four years.

"Kairi-nee-chan," Hikari said, knocking lightly as she opened the door. "Are you home?"

"Kari-tan!

Hikari let out an 'oomph' as a small red bullet flew through the door and crashed into her stomach, making her tumble back onto the street. She coughed and groaned as she stood, her three year old cousin held firmly in her grasp.

"Hi Akira-chan. Happy to see me?"

Akira nodded before he wriggled in an attempt to get down. "I show you! I show you!"

Humoring the boy, Hikari set him on his feet and took his hand. He tugged and pulled her along through the door and into the house before making his way to the small backyard that Kairi had set up for training purposes.

"Ten-tan's been teachting me!" Akira said as he let Hikari go and grabbed a set of shuriken. "Watch!"

Hikari had to admit that she was impressed as each iron star landed within centimeters of the target's center right.

"See?!"

"That's amazing Akira! Really, you're fantastic!"

"He gets it from Kyo." Kairi said and Hikari started just a bit. "Ichigo too you know. I was just over at Akina-san's the other day and Ichigo was practicing her fire jutsus."

Hikari's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "She was practicing fire jutsus already? She's only five!"

"Just the hand seals." Kairi amended. "Akina-san was testing her on them."

"Still, that's crazy impressive. Although I do have to wonder about the sudden interest our clan's taken in the shinobi world. Kyo I understand, he was born to be a ninja, and even I'm not much good at anything else. But for kids like Ichigo, and Sakura especially, don't you think they'd be better suited to the Institute?"

"I suppose, but Ichigo is determined to be just like her brother. And as for Sakura…Well, it was only a matter of time before your clan joined in don't you think? Your ancestors have been in Konoha since it was founded. Honestly, I'm surprised it took so long. But on the other hand, it's still only four children out of an entire clan. You're still vastly out numbered."

"I guess so. But for how much longer? I've seen Shiori and Shunta's interest in martial arts, and Junko is rather good at earth jutsus. Granted she doesn't have enough chakra to make them 'big' but her garden has become the nicest one in the whole village."

Kairi just smiled. "I suppose so. But having your family become a ninja clan wouldn't be all bad, don't you think?"

"No, of course not. It's just…weird I guess."

"Hm. Would you like some tea, Hikari-chan? I was just about to make some."

"That'd be great. Thanks Kairi-nee."

Natural as always, Kairi bustled around the kitchen while Hikari sat at the table and looked on in silence. It always amazed Hikari just how refined her not-quite-cousin was when she cooked. She absently wondered if all women looked like that when they were in a kitchen or if it was something uniquely Kairi.

"So I see you graduated," Kairi said, pulling Hikari from her thoughts. "Congratulations."

"Huh? Oh!" Hikari grinned and fiddled with her headband, watching the reflecting light dance across the walls. "Yeah. Pretty cool huh?"

Kairi giggled. "Absolutely. I'm proud of you Hikari. I knew you could do it."

"Well I'm just glad it's over with. Do you know how embarrassing it was to be the only shinobi sent back to the academy after having actually passed the genin exam? Not to mention I competed in the chuunin exam once too. Believe me when I say that was not what I had in mind when I decided I wanted to leave my mark on history."

"I can imagine." There was silence as the tea steeped before Kairi spoke again. "So what did you come here for? Happy as I am to see you, you rarely come without a reason."

"Oh right," Hikari said sheepishly. "I forgot…Um, I promised Sakura that I would take her out to celebrate after school let out so you'll need to pick up Tenten yourself."

"Oh?" Kairi said, pouring the tea. "For your graduation?"

"No, she got top marks on the year end theory exams and I want her to be proud of that. She has such low self-esteem you know? Ino-chan has done a lot to pull her out of it but she can still use all the help she can get."

"How were her practical scores?" Kairi asked, genuinely interested. "If I understand correctly she hasn't been doing that well, right?"

"Yeah, but she's not the worst at it either. Just slightly below average." She sighed, nursing the cup that Kairi had passed over. "I want to help her out but she's always off with Ino-chan and her other friends and when she comes home she's always 'to tired' to do anything but relax. It's like she went to the academy just to be social…"

"She wouldn't be the only one you know." Kairi said. "Even I started out that way."

Hikari looked surprised. "Really?"

"Mm-hm. It's hard for civilian children to have shinobi friends and, since most of the children in Konoha come from ninja families, it makes for a small circle at the institute. It's easier just to join the academy and keep your friends since, for the first two years at least, the academy and the institute aren't that different. By third year though, the kids that can't make it are usually weeded out and they go to the institute."

"I see…Is that what happens to the kids that fail the genin exams?"

"Sometimes," Kairi agreed. "But usually only the ones that fail more then three or four times."

"Then Sakura will probably end up back at the institute anyway huh?"

"Well, I wouldn't say 'probably'. There's always a chance that she could become seriously interested in training later."

"I guess so." Hikari finished draining her tea and set the cup back down with a grin. "That was great, thanks Kairi-nee."

"You don't have to keep calling me that, you know." Kairi said with a soft smile. "Just 'Kairi' would be easier to say."

Hikari shrugged as she stood. "Force of habit. Tell Akira-chan that I'll see him tomorrow."

"Have fun with Sakura-chan."

Waving goodbye over her shoulder, Hikari called back, "Will do!"

Spending quality time with her sister, as Hikari found out, was a rather fun thing to do. As she and Sakura sat on a stone bench licking their ice cream, she couldn't help but wonder why the two of them didn't do this more often. If nothing else, it was nice to hear Sakura actually talk. Usually she just sat around reading or drawing or staring into space—something that always made Hikari hope was influenced by bouts of intense thought-sessions and not lingering signs of insanity that would surely complicate her own life if present in her kid sister.

"—and then Ino-chan flung the flowers like kunai—fwoom!—and Ami and her friends went running to the teacher crying!" Sakura paused with a sigh as she distantly stared at her icecream. "I wish I could throw weapons like that."

"I can show you if you want." Hikari said and Sakura's head snapped up, her eyes wide with hope.

"Really nee-chan? You mean it?"

Hikari shrugged. "Sure. And don't look at me like that. This isn't the first time I've offered you know."

"But I'm always so tired when you ask!"

Rather then argue, Hikari just let it go with a noncommittal shrug. "So you like the academy then?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah! I've learned lots! And I even have…" she glanced around before lowering her voice to an embarrassed hush. "…friends. This is the greatest school ever!"

Hikari held back a wince at her sister's obvious awe at finding people that actually liked her. The girl was practically rubbing salt into the gaping guilt wounds on Hikari's heart. Looking back though she knew she should have seen it. Having been bullied herself as a kid, Hikari had always been positive she could recognize the signs of abuse in others. The problem was she had been physically attacked while Sakura's wounds were all mental. And honestly, it's not like Sakura's forehead was that big. And in her own defense, Hikari had started that nickname as a term of endearment because of how smart her sister was. How was she supposed to know the local bullies would turn it into something cruel?

"Well I'm glad you like it there," Hikari finally said. "Now finish your icecream before it melts all over your dress."

Sakura looked down in surprise just as the whole glob of melting dessert slipped from her tilted cone and landed on her lap. Hikari bit back a giggle at her sister's utter bemusement before passing over her own strawberry cone.

"Here kiddo, you can finish mine." She said as she stood. "I'm gonna go grab some napkins. Don't go anywhere okay?"

Sakura nodded, her cheeks flushed a bit from embarrassment as she took a tentative lick from her new frozen treat.

From the moment she left Sakura alone to the moment she returned, Hikari had only left her sister by herself for a grand total of two and a half minutes. But apparently that was all it took to attract a bully.

The girl—probably Ami judging by Sakura's descriptions—was standing in front of a drooping Sakura with her hands on her hips and her head held up arrogantly. From her current position Hikari couldn't hear what was being said, but whatever it was seemed to make Sakura want to curl up in a corner and die and that was just not okay with Hikari. At all. As she stomped closer, Ami's words came into focus but that did nothing but add more fuel to Hikari's already simmering fire.

"—just because you're smart doesn't mean you're a good ninja. You have to rely on that Ino-pig all the time because you're just so helpless. Too bad. Maybe if you had a smaller forehead you wouldn't have to worry about being all brain and no brawn!"

Not caring one lick about the consequences, Hikari reached down and grabbed the bratty girl by the back of her shirt and hauled her up a good foot until they were face to face. Ami shrieked in surprise only to flounder in the face of Hikari's signature death glare. Not that she could be blamed, even Uchiha Itachi himself had been known to back down from the look Hikari was giving right then.

"Is there something we can help you with?" Hikari asked, her voice deceptively sweet as she spoke. "Or were you just passing by?"

"J-just passing…" Ami muttered out and Hikari nodded.

"I see. You're in Sakura-chan's class aren't you?"

Rather then answer, Ami just nodded.

"Well then, I hope you'll get along well with my cute little sister."

Ami just nodded again and, satisfied she'd terrified the girl enough for one day, Hikari lowered her just a bit before letting her drop. Ami landed on her feet but her knees buckled beneath her from fright causing her to stumble a bit before she scurried off down the street.

"Well that was fun," Hikari said, turning back to face her sister. "What do—Sakura? Hey blossom, what's wrong?"

Sakura sniffled and rubbed at her itchy eyes with her sticky hands, drawing Hikari's focus to the second missing cone. Concerned, Hikari lowered herself beside the bench so she and Sakura were level.

"What's wrong blossom? Did she hurt you?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Then what?"

"I…I'm so w-weak…" she stuttered out. "I a-always gotta be p-protected…"

Hikari smiled in understanding, her features soft as she reached out and nudged Sakura's face up by her chin.

"I used to be protected too you know."

Sakura's eyes went wide. "Really? You? But…but you're super strong!"

"I am now, but I wasn't always. Every one starts out weak, Sakura." Except for Itachi but he didn't count—he was probably born with a kunai in his hands. "The point is for you to become strong. If you don't, then you'll just stay weak forever. And nobody wants that. Right?"

Still sniffling, Sakura gave a slow nod of understanding before Hikari stood and scooped her sister up into her arms.

"Oof!" Hikari said once her sister was settled. "You're getting big!"

Sakura gave a shaky smile and Hikari nudged her sister's chin with her forehead. "What do you say we stop by the hot spring on the way home? I could use a little relaxation and you definitely need a bath."

Sakura giggled a bit and nodded.

"Alrighty then!" Hikari said as she shifted Sakura from her arms to her back. "Let's go!"

More then one person stopped to stare as a blur of white and pink raced through the market in a flurry of giggles.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hikari was decidedly more anxious today then she had been yesterday. Why? Well, yesterday it was a given she would pass. Today she didn't know what to expect from her new team. Of course, she didn't exactly care who her teammates were considering she could work decently with practically anyone, just so long as it was not Idate. In fact, as Iruka was going though his 'this will be your team and there's no trading, etc.' speech, that became her silent manta.

'Not Idate. Not Idate. Anyone—anyone!—but Idate…'

"—aruno Hikari! Again? It's the last day!"

Hikari jerked up at the sound of Iruka's irritated voice a sheepish smile on her face.

"Sorry Iruka-sensei," She said. "What did you say?"

Iruka sighed and rolled his eyes. "Your team assignment. I assume you still wish to graduate, yes?"

"Um, yes sir."

"Good to know." Iruka said, lifting his clipboard once more. "Team nine is Haruno Hikari, Mozuku Sousuke, and Hyuuga Ko."

Hikari practically collapsed from relief, slumping into her chair with a grin. 'Not Idate!' she thought, practically giddy.

"I object!" Idate said and Hikari turned on him with a hard glare.

"Who the hell asked?!"

"Enough Hikari." Iruka said. "What seems to be the issue Idate?"

"Their team is stacked, that's the issue!"

"Oh? How so?"

"Well they got Hikari the top practical performer, Sousuke who gets the best written grades, and then this year's top rookie Hyuuga Ko! That's practically cheating!"

Iruka sighed. "The teams were designed to be balanced due to each member's strengths and weaknesses. Your team was designed this way as well, Idate-kun. Besides, this isn't a competition."

If she hadn't known she'd get in trouble for it, Hikari would have laughed. Like hell it wasn't a competition! But then again, Sousuke was probably the only one in the class that knew about the genin exam's fail rate since he'd already been knocked back to the academy the year before.

"If I may continue," Iruka said. "Team ten will consist of Yue Nanami, Inuzuka Hana, and Aizawa Shuu. You're jounin instructors will arrive within the next hour or so to take you to your designated training grounds. Good luck, graduates. Dismissed."

Team nine was the third team to be collected and they warily followed as their sensei, Hamaki Mimura—a hardened old shinobi who was looking for an easy job before retirement—led them to training ground nine. Hikari dropped onto one of the three stone benches and lazily crossed her legs as her two teammates each sat gingerly beside her, Ko ready for anything and Sousuke worried for everything.

"So you're the brats I got stuck with huh?" Mimura said as he eyed the three kids. "You get less promising every year…"

"Hey!" Hikari said, slamming her foot on the ground and pointing her finger in Mimura's face. "I'll have you know we're the best our year has to offer!"

"…Well doesn't that just make me feel so secure in our future?"

Hikari scowled and slapped the bench in frustration. "What the hell is your problem old man? You afraid we'll show you up? To be honest I'm surprised they let you teach when you look like you should be on bed rest with oxygen."

"Hikari!" Sousuke hissed, glancing between his teammate and sensei.

For a moment there was nothing but silence as Mimura glared at his team. Sousuke twitched in nervousness while Ko tensed, probably for a fight. Even Hikari started to get a bit worried before Mimura let out a barking laugh and dropped back onto one of the free benches.

"You kids got spirit, if you ain't got nothing else. I think I like you guys."

"That's good to know," Hikari said, her voice bitingly sarcastic. "We're rather partial to ourselves as well."

"That's some mouth you got there girly. Can you fight as well as you backtalk?"

"Better."

"I'll be looking forward to it." Mimura said, the remnants of a smile tugging at his lips before he pushed it away with a scowl. "Now listen up. I'm Hamaki Mimura, your jounin sensei. I became a genin at nine, a chuunin at twelve, jounin at seventeen, and ANBU at eighteen. I don't accept slackers, whiners, or excuses. I plan to get through this next year quickly, make you all pass the chuunin exam next year, and retire on a healthy pension. Okay, Bright-eyes. You're turn."

It took a minute or two before Ko realized Mimura was talking to him.

"Hyuuga Ko. I am from the branch family and serve as bodyguard to Hinata-sama. I have two younger siblings. Yuuji is my brother and Konami is my sister. I hope to someday have a family and free my children of the burden of the bird-cage seal."

"Hn. You're next Glasses."

"U-um, my name is Mozuku Sousuke? I graduated last year but failed the initiation and went back to the academy. I don't have any siblings and my mother died in an accident three years ago…um…I want to pass the exam and become a good Chuunin?"

"Not to self, buy Glasses a backbone," Mimura muttered before turning to Hikari. "Okay Girly. You're up."

"Haruno Hikari," She snapped. "I have a little sister. I graduated from the academy at seven and took the chuunin exam later that year. I lost my sensei, my best friend, and my…other teammate because of a certain person. My goal is to kill that person and restore my old team. Or what's left of it anyway."

"You're old team is gone," Mimura said, no compassion in his voice at all. "Let it die or the loss'll consume ya. This is your team now and ya damn well better get used to it. As I'm sure you know, tomorrow's initiation test has a 66 percent rate of failure at best. You don't pass, you go back to the academy. No 'buts' about it. You don't want to go back, drop out and go to the institute. We don't want ya. I know two of ya have done this before but let me assure you, you'll need a hell 'ova lot more then just teamwork to make it in my exam."

"…What else do we need?" Sousuke asked, his voice almost too soft to hear.

Mimura grinned wolfishly. "Some pretty damn good luck. Now go home and do whatever. Test starts tomorrow at sun up. Come late and you'll run two hundred laps before we start."

The team sat in silence for a moment before Mimura scowled. "Well what are you waiting for? Shoo!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So your test is today huh?" Hikari's dad, Takeru, asked at breakfast the next morning. "Nervous?"

Hikari shrugged. "Not really. Annoyed is more like it. I got stuck with a pretty lousy teacher and not to mention Mozuku."

"Mozuku?" Nolani prompted and Hikari looked up from where she'd been helping Sakura with her chopsticks.

"Mozuku Sousuke. He's pretty book smart but he doesn't have much talent anywhere else. I think he joined the academy just so he could look cool or something…"

"It's not nice to judge people, Hikari." Nolani said. "Especially before you even know them. Who knows, you may find he is a rather accomplished person."

"Maybe," Hikari agreed before silently adding, 'and maybe I'm related to a god.'

"Are you taking Sakura and Tenten to the academy today?" Takeru asked and Hikari shook her head.

"Nah, school's let out for the next three weeks to prepare for the next term."

"Do you plan to keep taking them next semester?"

Hikari looked up at her dad, wiping away the rice around her mouth. "I don't know. I'd like to if I have the time. Sometimes I'll be gone on missions though, or have to leave early so I won't be able too."

"I doubt that will be a problem," Nolani said. "Akira starts the primary school next term and Kairi told me she plans to start teaching again. I don't doubt she'd be more then happy to take Sakura-chan with her in the mornings."

"But I want nee-chan to take me…" Sakura said, pouting adorably. Hikari laughed and ruffled her sister's hair gently.

"I'm sure I can still manage every now and then. It'll be like a special treat yeah?"

Sakura sighed heavily. "Yeah…"

"Anyway, I'd better go." Hikari said as she stood, stacking her dishes together gracefully. "I'll be back later to let you know how it goes."

"Good luck, sweetheart!" Takeru called as Hikari disappeared into the entryway. "Be careful too! You don't want to re-injure your leg!"

"I'll keep that in mind daddy," Hikari said before she slipped on her sandals and ran out the door.

She was the last one to arrive at the training grounds where she found Ko already practicing while Sousuke was reading a scroll under one of the trees. Fighting back the urge to roll her eyes, Hikari decided to humor her mother and crossed the field to where Sousuke was sitting.

"Hey, Sousuke-kun," Hikari said, making Sousuke look up with a surprised blush. "What are you reading?"

"N-nothing really," he said, lifting it a bit so she could read the title. "J-just something about body replacement techniques."

"You mean like the Kawarimi?"

"Essentially," Sousuke said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "But also others; including the body-flicker and simple teleportation jutsus. The techniques in here are actually rather useful, even if they are lower level ones."

"And you can do them all?" Hikari asked, just a bit impressed.

Sousuke shrugged. "In theory. I won't know until I've practiced them."

"You think you could teach me?"

"I suppose I could try."

"I'll help," Ko said. "I've been taught the basics of such jutsus already by my father."

The three kids practiced for some time before someone cleared their throat, making them spin around in surprise. It was Mimura.

"Hey!" Hikari said, pointing at him in annoyance. "You're late!"

"No," Mimura countered. "You're just unobservant."

"What do you mean by that?" Hikari said, crossing her arms.

"He's been here for a while," Ko answered instead. "He was watching us, right sensei?"

"I'm not your sensei yet boy," Mimura answered. "Not unless you three pass. Now follow me and we'll get started."

After sharing a curious glance among themselves, the tentative members of team nine followed after their potential sensei. Hikari would never admit it, but she was actually rather concerned about the upcoming test. She knew how to pass the bell test easily, but if Mimura was to be believed, that's not anything like what they were about to do. She just hoped Sousuke and Ko were up to the challenge.

They walked for sometime until Mimura finally came to a stop in front of a fenced in area covered with old worn out signs.

"Akagahara?" Ko said, his eyes narrowed in confusion.

"…Oi, sensei," Hikari said, glaring at the fenced in area before them. "What are we doing here?"

"This is where your exam will take place."

Even Ko was shocked by that announcement while Sousuke nearly choked.

"I-in there?!" He said, pointing to one sign marked 'forbidden'. "No one is allowed in there! As a jounin you should already know that!"

"Oi, Glasses, don't tell me how to do my job. I'm your proctor for this exam and if you wanna pass you'll do what I say." Mimura grinned wolfishly. "Unless you'd rather give up and fail your team by default."

"Hell no!" Hikari said, shaking her fist at their instructor. "Just tell us what to do old man and we'll blow you a-freaking-way!"

"Such a vulgar mouth on such a cute little girly," Mimura said and Hikari growled.

"What was that?! You wanna see vulgar, I'll show you vulgar—!"

"Sorry, but you're running out of time as it is." Mimura held out a small timer that was already ticking. "You must not have noticed but the timer is already running. Your hour has just dropped to forty-five minutes."

"WHAT?!?" the three yelled.

"Are you serious?!" Hikari screamed and Mimura gently massaged his ear from the force of her volume.

"Forty-three. Now will you let me explain your task or would you rather complain some more?"

To say Hikari had nothing to say would be completely ridiculous, but rather then argue and waste even more time, she swallowed back her anger and forced a smile.

"P-please continue sensei."

"Alright, at the center of Akagahara is a field of red clovers. You have forty minutes to infiltrate the forest, recover the scroll beneath the statue, and return as a complete team or you fail. Questions?"

Hikari's hand went up, shaking slightly from rage.

"Yes?"

"Just what exactly does this have to do with us graduating?"

"You already know the secret to graduating is teamwork so that gives you an advantage over other teams. The objective of this exam isn't to see if you can work as a team, I want to know how well you work as a team."

"I see," Ko said. "Which means our exam is twice as difficult as the typical one."

"At least," Mimura said, not bothering to hide his amusement. "Good luck."

"Sadistic bastard," Hikari muttered before she and her team disappeared into the trap laden forest of Akagahara.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Not even two feet in, Hikari was forced to grab Sousuke by his shirt collar and jerk him back before he could literally fall victim to the pitfall trap in front of them.

"T-thanks…" Sousuke said shakily and Hikari shrugged.

"Can't pass if you're dead," she said as they started forward again. "But just for the record, I'd get those glasses of yours checked once we're done here. That hole couldn't have been more obvious if it was painted yellow and started screaming 'step on me if you want to diiiiie! Muwahahahahaha—!'"

"You've gotten more animated in the last year, Hikari-san," Ko said, his voice trapped between amusement and concern.

Hikari shrugged again. "Meh, not really. I just stopped caring what people think. You'd be surprised how much more people have to say when they don't feel like checking their thoughts."

"You make it sound so easy…" Sousuke said as he paused to clean his glasses. "Maybe you're just naturally like that?"

"No way," Hikari said, stopping as well. "I had to work hard to be as 'animated' as I am. It was a defense mechanism."

"Let's keep moving," Ko said and they started off again. "Defense mechanism?"

"Yeah. When I was a kid Yamataro Makoto—watch it Sousuke! Do you want to die?!—used to pick on me all the time. It was like I was his personal punching bag or something."

"Maybe he liked you—I got it Hikari—I've heard it's not unusual for boys that age to pick on the girls they like."

"Possible but—to the right! The right Sousuke!—I doubt it. He was really sadistic about it. He broke two of my ribs once."

"Two?! How old were—tree! Tree! Treee!"

"Yes, Sousuke! It's a tree! We see it! You honestly call yourself a ninja?"

"It wasn't my idea to join the academy! My dad made me!"

"Indeed? But I thought you came from a civilian home."

"I do but—I got it!—my dad lost his job after mom died so he switched me over to the academy from the institute—Hikari! Behind you!—I only just started in the third year."

"Nice call, Sousuke! And that must be tough. Kairi-nee said the third year is when the institute and academy start to go 'separate ways'."

"I thought you only had a little sis—duck!—ter?"

"Kairi is my would-have-been cousin if my jackass former sensei hadn't gotten himself killed."

"Mimura-san is right; you do have a rather vulgar mouth."

"Shut up 'bright eyes'."

This went on for a bit longer as Hikari and Sousuke embellished a bit more on their pasts until finally they dropped from the trees and landed in the wide clearing.

"We…we made it?" Sousuke said as they reached the clover field, his hands on his knees as he gasped for breath.

"Seems so," Hikari said. "Hey Ko, how's our time?"

"We still have twenty or so minutes."

Hikari whistled. "Damn we're good."

Sousuke looked confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, this place used to be where they had the chuunin exam right? Well we just covered in thirty minutes what most couldn't cover in four hours."

"Our circumstances are hardly comparable. We have no competition and the traps currently in use haven't been tended in several years."

"Don't kill my buzz, Ko," Hikari said. "At least let me enjoy it first, okay?"

"But…where's the scroll?"

"Didn't Mimura say it was under the statue?"

"You mean the…monkey looking one?"

Hikari shrugged. "I guess." Crouching down, she glanced under the statue. The scroll was wedged between the stone and just barely out of her reach no matter how hard she tried. "Screw this. I'm not dislocating my arm for a stupid scroll." Standing up she gathered her chakra into her foot and placed it against the statues head. Finding her center, Hikari mentally counted to three before releasing the chakra in her foot and kicking at the same time, making the statue fall over with a dull thud.

"You know, both Sousuke and I have a longer reach then you."

"So? Why be subtle if you can just break stuff?"

"It didn't break, though." Sousuke said and Hikari shrugged.

"Same difference."

Reaching down, Ko pried the scroll from its former home and tucked it into the pouch on his hip. "Shall we go?"

"Hell yes!" Hikari said. "I can't wait to rub this in that smug jerks face—." The was a loud clank of metal, almost like a 'click' and then suddenly they were surrounded on all sides.

"Wh-what's going on?!" Sousuke said, just barely able to block an attack with his kunai. "Where did they come from?!"

"What are they?" Ko asked, kicking one in the chest and knocking it back with a crack.

"Puppet nins!" Hikari said, remembering her encounter with Katsuya in the acrobatics course all that time ago. "Something must have triggered them!"

"What?" Ko said, blocking Sousuke's back from a sneak attack. "None of us activated anything, did we?"

"What about the s-scroll?" Sousuke asked, sending a grateful look to Ko before smashing another puppet with his elbow. "They started after you took it r-right?"

"Well we can't just put it back!" Hikari said. "We'll forfeit the mission!"

"M-maybe it was a set up from the start?"

"I don't give a damn!" Hikari said. "There's no way in hell I'm losing here!"

"We're out of options!" Ko said, becoming a bit frazzled as the fight dragged on. "Our time has dwindled down to almost nothing!"

Hikari was quiet for a moment, her head starting to hurt from the rapid thoughts racing through it. "I—we…You guys go ahead without me."

"What?!" Sousuke said. "We can't just leave you here! You'll be killed!"

"Moron! I'm not staying, I'm distracting them!"

"With what?" Ko said. "You've hardly enough chakra to pull off a big enough jutsu—."

"Just trust me okay?! That's what this whole thing is about right?" Hikari smashed the head of one nin before throwing a kunai through the chest of another. "There's no way I'll die here, but I'm not quitting either. If you ever wanted to be a ninja then now is the time! The mission always comes first!"

"But not at the cost of your team!" Sousuke said.

"Look, the longer we talk about this the less chakra I have. Just go—use the body flicker we were working on—and I'll catch up with you as soon as I can."

"…Fine," Ko said at last. "But we'll fail without you."

"Don't worry," Hikari said with a grin. "I'm too stupid to die."

"Come on, Sousuke."

"But—!"

"Go!" Hikari said and finally Sousuke nodded as he and Ko flashed through the body flicker seals.

"Don't die Hikari."

"Wouldn't dream of it." And then they were gone. "Alright you pathetic shinobi-wanna-be's! Come and get me!"

Dodging and weaving through the sudden surge of attacks, Hikari counted mostly on the puppet nins' lack of sentient thought as she wove her hand seals. Her plan worked at first with several puppets crashing into others in their haste to fulfill their purpose and destroy the intruder but after a minute or so it seemed like they were getting wiser. Probably learning puppets, Hikari thought with a curse. Fortunately she was already done.

"Light element: final flash technique!" Hikari said as she stole light directly from the sun and amplified it by two, three, and then finally four times. By the time the light died out, the puppets had been reduced completely to ash. "…I still wonder how it does that." Hikari muttered to herself. "It's just light. It's not like it's hot or anything…Oh well, time to join my team."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You're fourteen minutes late," Mimura said when his battered team returned from the hell that was Akagahara. "Did you get the scroll?"

"Damn straight we did old man," Hikari said, breathing heavily from her physical and chakra exhaustion. "Show him Ko."

"Here," Ko said while tossing the scroll at him, to tired to be polite.

"Do...do we p-pass?" Sousuke asked, stuttering as much from nervousness as fatigue.

"Hm…no." Mimura said. "You don't."

"What?! Why the hell not!"

"Your team abandoned you to fight alone," Mimura said. "Obviously they will sacrifice others to protect themselves."

"We didn't want to—!" "Hikari insisted—."

"That's just stupid." Hikari said, cutting her teammates off. "That rule only applied if the person staying behind can't handle it. Obviously I could and did. Besides, I told them to go in the first place. If it was up to them we'd have all died fighting those puppets and then we would have failed by default."

"I see…" Mimura said. "Still, by insisting that your team split up you displayed a foolish amount of conceit. Had you been seriously injured, or even killed, and this was a real mission then it would have been counted as failed."

"Look, if I thought there was no way for us to escape besides sticking it out and going down together then I would have. As it stands, that wasn't the issue. I've fought puppets before and I'll probably do it again so it's something I'm well prepared to do. Besides, you know as well as I do that what you just said is a load of crap. As long as the mission objective is met, no one cares how many ninja die. Sad as it is, that's the way of the shinobi world. We're all just tools to be used and discarded in time."

"Hikari is correct." Ko said after a moment of silence. "However, I do not agree with that philosophy. Though it is true that emotion is unbecoming of a 'true' shinobi, I would lay down my life to protect my friends and allies, even at the cost of the mission."

"Me too!" Sousuke said, unusually firm. "But if there is a way the mission can be accomplished and all lives spared at the same time, then it is a shinobi's duty to carry out the mission. No matter the cost. It's because we're a team that we were able to recognize that. Because of our friendship we knew we could trust Hikari-san to keep her word and return. That's why we were able to leave."

"So that's it then?" Mimura asked. "You're sticking to that?"

"Yes." All three said at once.

"Even if you were sent back to the academy for failing to satisfactorily complete your mission objective."

"Yes." They said again.

"But I don't see how that would be possible given the circumstances." Ko said. "We did complete the mission objective."

"That's right," Mimura said gruffly. "You did get the scroll, but you did something else too."

For a moment the air was thick with tension before Mimura spoke again.

"You also passed. Congratulations team nine. We begin our first mission tomorrow."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You passed too?" Inuzuka Hana asked as team nine filtered into the Hokage's office and Hikari nodded with a proud grin.

"Hell yeah we did! Because we're freaking awesome!"

"Do you know if anyone else succeeded or are we the only teams to pass this year?"

"I think one more passed," Shuu said. "But I don't know which team it was."

Before anyone could respond, the door swung open again and everyone turned to watch as team two—Ushio Ken, Hanabari Keiko, and Morino Idate—waltzed in. Well, Idate waltzed, the others just walked.

"So it looks like I was right," Idate said. "Team nine was stacked. Did you even have to take the bell test?"

"No," Ko said and Idate's smirk dropped into a deep scowl.

"What?!" He said. "What the hell—!"

"We were given a mission in Akagahara." Hikari broke in. "Ever heard of the place?"

"Akagahara?" Keiko asked. "Really?"

"Hm," Hana said. "Now that I think about it, you three do look kind of battered…"

"That's because our bastard sensei didn't let us go to the hospital yet."

"Now really Hikari," Mimura said as the door opened again to admit the jounin to the room. "Is that how you talk about your sensei when he's not around? How rude you are."

"Don't be ridiculous," Hikari said, turning. "I wasn't raised by wolves you know. I talk about him that way when he is around too."

Mimura just laughed while the other two jounin senseis—Sano Mimi and Izuna Chuu—whether to look amused or outraged while Sandaime settled for amused and Iruka settled for outrage.

"Haruno Hikari! Your parents taught you better then that!"

"They did," Hikari agreed. "But shinobi life taught me otherwise."

"That's no excuse—!" Iruka started but Sarutobi's hand on his shoulder made him stop.

"Now, now Iruka. The more you argue the more she'll behave in that manor. She finds your reactions amusing, don't you Hikari-kun?"

Hikari pouted and crossed her arms. "You always spoil my fun Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi chuckled. "Indeed I do. Now, seeing as we're all here, I would like to get started. This—for those of you who haven't graduated before—"

"Thanks for bringing that up…" Hikari muttered.

"—this is the time when you will deliver your oath as shinobi loyal to the leaf. Any who do not wish to make this oath are permitted to leave at this time. You will receive no criticism so long as you allow the Hyuuga clan permanently disable your tenketsu and agree to live out the remainder of your life in a civilian capacity."

A few of the genin chuckled until they realized the Hokage was serious and gulped. For a moment no one moved until Hikari rolled her eyes, straitened her back, and stepped forward.

"Sandaime Hokage-sama," Hikari said as she lowered herself onto one knee and placed her right fist over her heart. "I pledge myself to the village of the leaf. My mind, my body, my chakra, and my life are tools for the preservation of the peace and lives of those within its walls. My eternal fealty rests with my Hokage and those who wish only well to those people that I serve. This I swear on my blood for all witnesses to see. I am a shinobi of the leaf."

Silence followed Hikari's words until finally Sarutobi spoke.

"Did anyone record that?" he said. "Because it's a thousand times better then the one we already have."

End Chapter One

Kaliea: Here we go! The sequel to the sequel to Dark and Light! The good news is, I have the whole story plotted from beginning to end. There will be twenty chapters and then yet another sequel titled "Fire and Shadow". The bad news is, I don't know how often I'll update. But then again, you all should be used to that by now. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to get the next one out ASAP. Don't forget to review! And till next time, ja ne!