Akina became a chunin without an examination. She didn't know why, but the Hokage didn't think it was necessary. She had completed several missions and was doing her best to protect Sasuke until the Chunin exams would take place. Sasuke was still full of hate because of what Itachi had done. No matter what she tried to say he ignored and thought only of his revenge. Since he was in a team he became stronger, but he was still not strong enough to defeat Itachi. For Akina, Itachi was still a hero who protected Konoha. On her missions she had seen again and again crows to which she had to wank. Her comrades always looked at her strangely, but she didn't care. She just felt safe knowing that Itachi was keeping an eye on her.
She had also never used her Mangekyou Sharingan on the missions. Since the first incident with it, she had never used it again. She had promised Itachi, and besides, she knew what would happen if she used it too often.
The days passed and when Sasuke came home grinning with a note, Akina was happy. She would not have thought that Kakashi would already send his team to the test. Together with Sasuke she went through everything again to prepare him. Since he came back from the wave realm, he had asked her to train with him. Akina did her best to help him and asked him not to use it too often even though it was a strong weapon. Even if he would not listen to her, she had at least tried.
Today were the fights of the Chunin exam and Akina wanted to be there. It had been a long time since she had seen her friends and she was happy that they would soon be a team together. "It's good to see you guys.", Akina grinned as she joined them. "Akina omg!" cried TenTen, hugging her friend to her. Laughing, she returned their gesture and was also crushed by Lee. Only Neji looked at her without emotion. "Hey Neji." she grinned with purpose and just hugged him.
"Get the hell off me!" he grumbled, which she did. "You've hardly changed.", she smiled and looked a bit confused when she saw Lee in that green suit. "Neither have you," TenTen smiled. Akina was still the cheerful girl from the academy. "What are you doing here anyway?" asked Lee.
"I was transferred to your team to support you. Besides, I wanted to see my brother's fight," she said honestly and stood at the railing. Sasuke's fight was the first and she hoped that his curse mark would not spread.
She had heard about the incident that happened in the Death Forest. How much she wanted to wring Orochimaru's neck!
His fight didn't last too long. After he found out that the opponent could suck chakra, it was a piece of cake for the Uchiha. But unfortunately the curse gnawed at his strength so that Kakashi had to go away with him. Akina trusted the Jonin. She had already worked together a lot from the copy ninja. He would surely take good care of his student.
The next fights were less exciting for Akina. But when Neji fought Hinata, her body contracted. Why exactly against her? He hated the main family and would not spare her if she accepted the fight. "Give up Hinata!" she heard Neji say. Inwardly, she begged Hinata to give up. She didn't stand a chance. "Go on Hinata show him!" roared Naruto.
Akina did not think it was a good idea. It gave Hinate a confidence which was not bad. But against Neji it was definitely bad. Hinata did her best even though Neji had interrupted all her chakra flows. Again and again the Hyuga got up even though her body couldn't anymore. She really had a good willpower.
Akina couldn't stand it for long and when he tried to hit Hinata's heart, the Uchiha jumped down and simply intercepted his attack. Even though he didn't hit her heart, her chest hurt.
Neji's eyes widened when he saw Akina in front of him. Why did she get in the way! He could have seriously hurt her! "Neji that's enough. She's already lost.", Akina spoke calmly and watched her being carried away. Neji looked at the Uchiha somewhat angrily. "Why can't you stop hating her? She didn't do anything to you." Neji couldn't give her an answer to that. Even Naruto yelled at the Hyuga, promising to win against him in battle.
It wasn't until a doctor ninja approached Akina that Neji knew what he could have done. He never wanted to admit it but he had missed her. Very much, in fact. He even missed her getting on his nerves with her "Hey Neji." Why couldn't he restrain himself? If he could have, he wouldn't have hurt her. He just hoped Hinata would get back on her feet.