The day before your exam starts, you shall relax.
Shisui's words still lingered in Hanako's mind as she made her way across the Uchiha District. It had been awhile since she had a day off, and she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do.
Being so far from the center of the Village, the Uchiha were forced to start their own businesses. Food stands were lined up along the road, and civilian women and retired Shinobi from the Clan happily sold their goods.
"Oh my, have you grown, Hanako-chan!" Hanako stopped walking when she heard a voice call to her. She looked over at one of the stands and found an old lady looking at her with a kind smile. The wrinkles around her eyes and lips became more prominent in her grinning face.
Hanako smiled back, "It's been a while, Haruma-baa." Haruma Uchiha was one of the few respected elders among the Uchiha, not many of them could live to an old age like she had. Most died in battles outside the Village and for the Village's sake at a young age, even though they were rarely rewarded. Besides, Haruma's sweet rice cookies were something to die for.
"Just look at you, a full-fledged Shinobi already. Your father would have been so proud of you." Hanako chuckled half-heartedly. She had learned to accept that people would always refer to her father when talking about her. She was probably the daughter most would have wanted, and the girl all fathers wanted their son to marry. The girls in the Clan weren't normal Shinobi after all, they were guardians.
Children have always been trained to be warriors in the Uchiha Clan, regardless if they were boys or girls, and then they would often be forced to marry and bear their own children. The strongest men would always marry the strongest women, and the weakest would marry the rest.
The Uchiha Clan had always been an elitist clan, and would always be. One had to be powerful to be regarded, so it was to be expected that the Leader was the strongest Uchiha of all.
"How old are you?" Hanako looked at the old lady once again. For a moment she had let herself wander away in her thoughts.
"Ten," she said. "I'm still ten years old, and a Genin, so I'm not precisely full-fledged yet..." Hanako looked down, biting her lower lip. 'If I had been, I could have protected my father'.
Haruma noticed Hanako's gloomy posture and smiled apologetically. "Will you participate in the Chunnin Exam, Hanako-chan?"
Hanako looked back at the old lady. "Yes, ma'am."
"Have you been training?"
"Of course," Hanako smiled. "Fugaku-sama has been teaching me fire jutsu, and Shisui-san has been training me too."
Haruma chuckled. "Being trained by those two...you must really be a promising child." Hanako frowned slightly.
"I'm sorry?"
Haruma looked around and then, upon finding no one paying attention to them, leaned towards Hanako. "People have been talking a lot about you, saying...stuff about you."
Hanako gulped, "What kind of stuff?"
Haruma's eyes softened before she smiled again. "You have to watch out for yourself, Hanako-chan." The old lady then looked at something over Hanako's shoulder and immediately bowed her head.
"Hanako Uchiha," Hanako flinched at the stern voice directed to her. She looked at two members of the Uchiha Police Force standing behind her from over her shoulder. "Fugaku-sama wants to see you."
"Right now?" she asked. She knew them both. Tekka and Inabi, they were the youngest members from the Force, from the same generation as Shisui.
"Yes." Tekka was the one who spoke to her, Inabi only limited himself to glower at her with his arms crossed over his chest.
Hanako sighed, "But it's my day off..." she whined slightly.
"You don't have a word in this, kid, just let's get going." Inabi butted in, speaking in a hoarse voice. Hanako glared at him.
"Hanako-chan," Hanako was surprised to hear the old lady speak again to her. "Here." She handed her a bag filled with her special cookies and smiled. "Behave well, good luck with Fugaku-sama."
Hanako was speechless; she simply nodded and walked towards Tekka and Inabi while holding tightly her bag of cookies. When she stepped past Inabi, she mumbled lowly: "You don't get to call me kid."
Inabi looked at her from the tip of his eye, and smirked. "I get to call you whatever I want, at least until you prove me otherwise."
* * *
Hanako sat in Fugaku's office. For the last minutes, the leader had just been staring at her, not saying anything. She was starting to feel uncomfortable under his intent gaze, but she couldn't look away from him. That would give him the impression that she was afraid, maybe because she had done something bad but she had no idea why she was there in the first place.
"Why am I here?" she decided to ask.
Fugaku continued to stare at her, until he finally leaned back into his chair and took a deep breath. "Have you heard the rumors?" he asked.
"What rumors?" Hanako frowned, maybe it had something to do with what the old lady had told her.
"Some foreign civilians are claiming a member of the Uchiha attacked their village, and burned it to ashes in a single night." Fugaku looked straight into her eyes. "The night before you returned to the village."
"You think I did it..." Hanako looked down.
"It seems too much of a coincidence to me. Besides, the Hokage didn't tell me anything about it; I found out because Inabi heard some people talking downtown." Fugaku sighed. "Well, did you attack the village?"
"I didn't attack it... I had no intention of doing so..." Hanako looked up at Fugaku as her voice broke. "But...I did destroy it..." She looked away from the leader. "I couldn't stop myself, I don't know what had taken over me. They had just killed my father, and I wanted them to suffer as well."
"Does the Hokage know?"
"Yes, he does." Hanako said. "Fugaku-sama, can I tell you something?"
Fugaku frowned. "What is it?"
Hanako smiled slightly. "Am I a horrible person?" She looked back at the leader.
"Why?"
"I have been thinking about what I did... If you want to put me into a dungeon for a punishment, or lock me in one of the cells in the Police Force, I won't mind. I think I deserve that."
"Did anyone see you?" Hanako looked strangely at Fugaku. He was oddly calm, and he was supposed to be yelling at her.
"No, I'm sure I left no survivors."
"You can never be sure in these situations. There is always a survivor in every massacre. The existence of rumors only proves it, Hanako. Someone survived; someone who saw the crest on your back." Fugaku looked at her seriously. "But as long as they don't have a name, we shall not take the blame."
"How did you know it was me?"
Fugaku smiled. "I had a hunch...you're different, Hanako. You're a prodigy just like Itachi. However, you are unlike my son." Hanako pressed her lips tightly. Fugaku compared her to Itachi in every opportunity he had.
"Unlike...how?"
Fugaku pushed his chair away from his desk and stood up. As he paced around the room, he continued speaking. "Itachi's heart is too gentle, whereas yours is merciless when given enough reasons. You have the killer intent Itachi lacks."
"I am nothing but a murderer, aren't I..." Hanako looked at Fugaku. The leader looked back at her with contemplative eyes before he shook his head.
"No, having a killer intent is not bad, but it can be dangerous if you don't have a hang of it. You lost control of it when your father was killed." Fugaku approached Hanako until he stood in front of her. "This cannot happen ever again, understood?"
"How am I supposed to control it?" Hanako asked.
Fugaku smirked. "You need something to protect." Hanako frowned. "Women in the Uchiha Clan are guardians, they are trained to marry a man and protect their children while the man goes to battle. At least that's what they were supposed to do before the village was founded. As you may know, Itachi is my successor, and will take over the Clan one day. There are three ways in which a member can become the Clan leader, though. One, you are an heir to it; two, you are chosen by the Council; three, you kill the current successor."
"You want me to protect your son?" Hanako was surprised.
"Itachi is not very well-liked by most members, he is a loner who speaks only to Shisui. If he has never spoken to any other members, how will I expect them to follow him willingly?" Fugaku said. "Hanako, I not only want you to protect Itachi, I want you to teach him to be like you. You are both alike but at the same time you're different, and weird it is...people like you."
"I am just a troublemaker...and now a killer."
"But everyone expects great things from you, I included." His eyes lingered in the small bag Hanako had in her hands. "What's that?"
"Huh, this?" she looked at it. "It's just some cookies Haruma-baa gave me before I came here. You want some?"
Fugaku shook his head, with a smile on his lips. "I told you, everyone likes you." He then went to sit back at his desk. Just at that moment, Itachi knocked on the door.
"Father, can I come in?"
"Yes, come on in."
"I'll get going then," Hanako was about to stand up and leave but Fugaku stopped her with an upturn of his hand.
"Please, stay." When Itachi walked in, his eyes were immediately trained on Hanako, as he closed the door behind him. "What is it, Itachi?"
"I am done with my training," he said looking back at his father. "I was wondering if there was any new jutsu you could teach me before the exam."
Fugaku smirked as he looked at Hanako. The girl was dumbfounded, why was he looking at her like that. "I don't have time to train with you today, Itachi, but perhaps Hanako could teach you."
"Are you kidding? It's my day off!" Hanako snapped angrily, then realized she had just yelled at the leader and stepped back.
But Fugaku didn't seem to mind. "Just perfect then, it means you have time." He looked at her. "It's an order."
* * *
"Is there actually any jutsu you haven't learned yet?" Hanako commented in a tired voice as she and Itachi walked down the District. She had taken Itachi to the lake and showed him nearly every fire jutsu she knew, only for him to tell her he already knew them. "Even the Ryuuka no Jutsu..."
"I'm sorry..."
"Why are you apologizing?!" Hanako exclaimed in a huff. "It's not your fault..." Itachi didn't reply. Hanako looked at him sideways, still thinking about what Fugaku had said. Itachi barely spoke to any other members from the Uchiha, and because of that he wasn't liked by them. They thought Itachi was too arrogant to speak to them, but Itachi didn't seem to be arrogant. He was just socially awkward, according to her own thoughts.
When Hanako saw a café in the distance, she smiled. She knew what she was going to do. If Itachi didn't have any charisma, she would help him build it. That particular café was frequently visited by Uchiha willing to relax from their jobs. Younger members would also come here to hang out, and that day the place was crowded.
Without saying anything, she walked into the local and sat down at the last empty table. Itachi followed suit and was about to sit with her when Hanako stopped him. "Who said you could sit with me?"
Itachi was shook. "Um...I thought..."
"I was only told to teach you jutsu...there's nothing you can learn from me so we're done." Hanako smirked. "I don't want people to think that I'm hanging out with you. Find another table."
Itachi looked around and frowned. "There are no more empty tables."
Hanako shrugged, still with a grin in her face. "Then sit with someone else."
"I don't know anyone from around here..." Itachi was still looking around, this time nervously.
Hanako almost burst out laughing, "What? They're all Uchiha, you ought to know at least someone."
Itachi sighed. "I'll just go home..." Hanako frowned as her smile was wiped out from her face. Itachi turned around and was about to leave when Hanako spoke again.
"Shinobi not only need to train weapons. They must also train their social awareness. I cannot help you in something you already handle, but you lack language. You ought to learn how to make people actually like you." Hanako stood up from her table and walked towards him. "It eventually comes in handy." She smiled.
Itachi looked back at her with curious eyes. "Social awareness?"
"People know who you are, but you don't know anything about anyone." Hanako frowned. "It should be the other way around, you need to learn how to deal with people so you can get as much information you can about them, without revealing anything about yourself." Hanako looked at one girl who seemed to be reading a manga alone in her table. "I am going to help you mingle in any crowd, interact with all sorts of people. Not only will it help you in information gathering and infiltration, but it will also help you understand them and make them trust you."
"And what do I have to do?" Itachi asked.
"This is your mission," Hanako smirked. "You see that girl over there?" Itachi looked around, and observed the girl with the manga. He nodded. "You have to get her to tell you about her background. Anything...just get her to talk to you. You have five minutes."
"Five?" Itachi looked at Hanako with questioning eyes but she was already sitting again in her table, looking at him with an amused grin. He sighed and approached the girl's table... although he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do.
* * *
On the next day, Team 4 met in their spot next to K.I.A stone just before the Chunnin Exam officially started.
"Are you guys ready?" Takeshi asked a bit nervous.
"The first test is written, there's nothing to worry about." Kazuki commented tiredly. Takeshi had been talking about the exams and asking the same questions over and over again during the last days before the exam.
"Written?!" Takeshi widened his eyes. "I'm not ready!" he yelled as he pulled his hair tightly.
"You'll be fine!" Hanako snapped before sighing. "Come on, it's almost time..."
"But..."
"Takeshi," Kazuki looked at him seriously. "We'll be fine. We'll all pass, don't worry," he said with a small smile and thumbs up. Hanako looked at them and smiled softly. The other two noticed this and looked at her surprised. When the brunette noticed his surprised stares, she raised an eyebrow confused.
"What?" she asked. "Do I have something on my face?"
"You're smiling." Takeshi muttered softly. Her smile was immediately wiped out from her face and she turned away from them.
"Can't I smile?" she inquired.
"You normally don't." Kazuki commented. "At least, not like that."
"Doesn't matter," she said. "Let's go." She started walking towards the academy. The other two followed her, each one on either side of her.
When they got there, they walked to the class assigned for the exam. Once inside, they came to find a lot of surprises.
"What are you doing here?!" Hanako looked up to find a blue eyed brunette in front of her with her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"Isn't it obvious?" she raised an eyebrow. "I came to apply for the Chunnin Exam."
"Look, Uchiha. I will not let you make fun of me." Hyori frowned, tightening her hands into fists.
"Look, Senju." Hanako smirked as she said in a mocking tone. She came closer to her until her faces were right in front of each other. "I already did." She muttered softly before poking her forehead.
Hanako walked away, towards one of the tables in the room, followed by her teammates. Hyori watched her, angry, until one of her teammates walked to her.
"Who would've thought that dear Uchiha would also participate in the exam...?" Kaichi spoke. "This is going to be interesting." He chuckled softly. Hyori shot him a glare before walking away towards their other teammate, Ren.
When Hanako and her team sat at a table, they had a few peaceful seconds before a pair of hands was suddenly placed in a loud thud over it, calling the attention of the three people.
"So, who do we have here?" a boy with dark green hair and bright yellow eyes said, looking intently at them.
"Who asks?" the brunette answered curtly. The 13-year-old boy smirked at her response.
"Hiroki Daishi," he replied, sitting over the table. "And you are?" Hanako opened her mouth to reply.
"Hanako Uchiha!" The voice that spoke wasn't hers. She immediately turned around upon hearing her name. The voice belonged to a blue haired boy that walked in a quick pace towards them. "I supposed we would find you here."
"You are... Ren, right?" Hanako asked, uncertain. Ren nodded.
"So, Uchiha, huh?" Hiroki spoke once again. "Surely, you must know Itachi," he said looking at the girl.
"Itachi?" Hanako asked curiously. "You know him?" Hiroki chuckled.
"Of course I do! He's my teammate." He sighed. "Sometimes, a pain in the..."
"I know what you mean." Kazuki commented as he tried to suppress his laugh. "Sometimes, the Uchiha are quite troublesome, aren't they?" he muttered earning a death glare from the brunette. Hiroki laughed at this.
"You're right," he said. "No offense, Hanako-san," he apologized.
"None taken," she replied curtly without taking her murderous eyes away from Kazuki, who only looked away, avoiding her glance.
"By the way, I'm Kazuki Mitokado." The black haired boy said with a slight bow. "Pleasure, Hiroki-san."
"Likewise." He replied with a smile.
"I am Takeshi Komatsu." The brown haired boy said with a small polite smile.
"I'm Ren Sonoda. It's nice to meet you, Hiroki-san." Ren said politely.
"Of course," Hiroki replied with a smirk.
"What is taking so long, Ren?" Kaichi walked towards their table. "I thought you said you would only come by to say hi." He suddenly took a look at all the people gathered. "Found yourself entertained, huh?"
"So, who's the newcomer?" Hiroki raised an eyebrow.
"Kaichi Kazeyama." The blond spoke proudly while he looked at a girl with orange curled hair walk up to them.
"Hiroki, what do you think you're doing?" she asked the yellow eyed boy.
"Just chatting with some other Konoha Genin. Relax, Koharu. The first test hasn't even started yet." Hiroki sighed.
"Not yet, but soon it will." She nagged. She looked at the rest of the Genin and her eyes posed over a blond that didn't want to take his eyes off her. "What are you staring at?" she asked rudely.
"A pretty girl," Kaichi said with a flirtatious smile.
"Ugh...disgusting." She grimaced, frowning.
"Kaichi, would you stop doing that? I've told you, it is annoying." Hyori walked towards the table, looking for her team. "Now really, what's taking you guys so long?" Hanako rolled her eyes at her sudden appearance.
"Great. Now, who's missing?" she muttered sarcastically.
"Koharu, Hiroki, the test is about to start, what are you doing?" They both flinched at the serious voice and turned to look behind them for its owner.
"Of course, he was missing..." Hanako rolled her eyes once again before letting out a long sigh.
"Itachi-kun!" Koharu squeaked. "Well...I...came to call Hiroki since he's only fooling around with some brats, so..." She stuttered, while smiling like a dumb teen.
"Brats, you say?" Kazuki raised an eyebrow. "Speak for yourself." He spat annoyed.
"Shut up, brat." Koharu snapped back.
"Don't want to," he said defiantly. Koharu smacked her hand against the table.
"Kid, I suggest you not to make me angry."
"What if I do?" He defied.
"I will..." She started saying as she tightened her hand into a fist and launched herself towards him. However, she was suddenly stopped by Hanako, who now looked at her menacingly.
"I suggest you not to mess with my friends, or you'll be in great trouble." She narrowed her eyes.
"I don't need your help." Kazuki hissed at his teammate.
"Another fighting brat?" Koharu mocked. "If not, what are you going to do to me?"
"I don't think you want to know." She hissed.
"Oh really?" she asked. "Listen, here the weakling is you!"
"Me?" Hanako faked her surprise as she let go of Koharu's hand. "I don't pick up fights with kids younger than me," she said mockingly. "At least I thought that you would have a bit of dignity to go serious on Genin 'weaker' than you." She smirked. "Or is it that you're coward enough to pick up a fight with someone your level?"
"Oooo..." Kaichi muttered silently. "Low blow..." All of the present, except for Hanako and Koharu -that were too busy in their fight to pay attention to the blond- looked at him with a glare.
"You..." Koharu hissed.
"Hanako..." Takeshi warned. "Save it for later." Hanako looked at him sideways. She was going to ignore him, but then her mother's words ringed in her mind. She couldn't get into fights, at least not until the exam started.
"Tsk...fine." She shot a last glance towards the girl before turning back to her teammates.
"Hm, we'll see who the weakling is." Koharu smirked. "Itachi-kun's on my side, right?" she said while holding tightly onto Itachi's arm. Hanako raised an eyebrow at the sight and then scoffed.
"Whatever..." She turned on her heels and walked away, aware of Hyori following her.
"Hey, who's he...that Itachi guy?" she asked. Hanako stopped on her tracks and turned her head slightly to look at her.
"Why do you want to know?" Hanako raised her eyebrows, waiting for the Senju's answer.
"He's cute..." Hyori muttered softly, looking away towards Itachi. Hanako looked at her, then at Itachi, then back at her and then rolled her eyes.
"Come on, not you as well." She mumbled. "Do you like him?" Hanako asked with a frown when she noticed Hyori's smile.
"Maybe..." Hyori's eyes landed on Hanako once again and her smile turned into a smirk. "Why so angry, Uchiha?" She raised an eyebrow.
"For nothing." Hanako pursed her lips at the Senju's mocking tone. Her eyes suddenly fell on Koharu once again, noticing that she still hadn't let go of the male Uchiha. Hyori noticed this and followed her eyes, looking at Koharu as well.
"It's for her isn't it?" she asked, looking back the girl. "You have a crush on that boy, don't you?" Hanako looked back to Hyori, meeting her intent eyes. "I don't seem to like her either." Hyori continued. "She's even more annoying than you."
"Thank you?" Hanako raised an eyebrow, not knowing if to take her comment as an insult or actually as a compliment. Hyori flashed her a bright smile.
"You know, I think we had a rough start." Hyori stretched her hand towards her. "Maybe someday we can be friends." Hanako looked at the hand uncertain before slowing reaching to it.
"Are you okay? A few minutes ago you were threatening me."
"A few minutes ago I didn't know that you had such handsome friends." Hyori looked at Itachi once again, Hanako just rolled her eyes.
"I see what this is about." She muttered, letting go of the Senju's hand. Hyori turned to her once again and laughed.
"I'm just kidding!" She smiled brightly. "I'd like to get to know you, Hanako. I mean, I was pissed at the fact that you cheated and caught me on a Genjutsu, and made fun of me afterwards, because you were 'oh so good' to fight me fair and square." Hanako chuckled at this, making Hyori smile again. "But then again, I'm strong, you said so yourself! So I guess that behind that tough girl façade there's actually a nice and kind girl. Plus, it's not in my nature to be mad at someone for long. Call me bipolar, I can be rude to someone and in the next five minutes treat him or her as if were friends forever." Hanako smiled at her.
"I was right about you," she said. "You are definitely weird." Hyori chuckled.
"But still," she continued. "Don't think that I'll let you win over me." She frowned, still wearing her smile on her face. "We can be friends, but besides that, I want us to be rivals."
"Rivals?" Hanako raised both her eyebrows in surprise.
"Yes!" Hyori exclaimed excited. "Senju and Uchiha. I guess it was meant to be, don't you think?"
"Hn," Hanako smirked. "I guess it could be." They bumped their fists still smiling.
"I won't lose against you." Hyori said.
"Same here." The Uchiha replied with a sincere smile. "And, for the record, I don't have a crush on Itachi."