Tsubaki's POV

"I got to head back upstairs now, I moved on to the next round, so I have to know the strengths of my opponents." I say to Neji who nods.

"Just pray you don't get Naruto." Neji says to me with a smirk.

I tilt my head to the side thinking. "Though it wouldn't be bad now since he's low on chakra and beat up, he still did manage to beat you, and your more experienced than I am, I'd have a fair shot since he's not beating sense into me." I say as I look up at the ceiling for a moment. "Well, I'm off." I say as I leave.

I head back up to the stands and I sit with the twins, watching Sasuke and the Red Head.

"Who's winning?" I whisper to Hiroko.

"Not sure." He whispers back.

I nod and the three of us watch intensely.

"Who are you fighting next?" Hiroto whispers.

"Who won the second match?" I ask Hiroto.

"Naruto." Hiroko whispers.

I hum. "Ok." I say and the two next to me fall.

"At least show some emotion Tsubaki." Hiroto whines.

Suddenly a blood curdling scream is heard from the arena and at once, me, Hiroko and Hiroto are at the edge of the railing watching as Sasuke pulls his arm out of a sand ball.

"Who just screamed?" Hiroko asks in a small voice, trembling.

Hiroto trembles next to me as I stare at the fight, using my byakugan to do an assessment.

"It was that red head from the sand." I say finally and the twins hide behind me, petrified.

I deactivate my byakugan.

"Ts-Tsu-Tsu-" the twins chatter nervously.

I look around us to see a gen-jutsu being placed. "Release!" I say loud enough and I use my chakra to protect the three of us.

The twins shake like leaves and I look around confused until sound and sand ninja attack.

"Tsubaki!" Father yells and I grunt quietly.

"Hiroto, take the left, Hiroko, take the pathway, I'll take the right." I say to them.

"My left or your left?" Hiroto trembles.

"Our lefts are the same, but if you want to know, stay on the right of Hiroko's backside." I say to him and Hiroto nods and we get into place.

I use my Byakugan and we start to fight off these intruders.

"Your back!" Hiroko calls to Hiroto.

"Got it!" He calls back.

I hit one guy over the edge and I hear a faint scream and then a thud.

"Killer job Tsubaki!" Sensei laughs as he joins us.

"Sensei, refrain from saying killer, like that again." I say to him.

Sensei pats my head with another laugh.

I shake my head and Sensei takes the back walkway.

"Get the boys!" One guy shouts.

"Think again!" I counter as I hit a specific chakra point that paralyzes him, he falls to the ground, frozen. "There we go." I say with a slight smirk.

"Go Tsubaki!" The twins cheer.

I stop the other guys on my side and they fall, one by one, sometimes there is a double, but its usually a one on one thing.

My hair comes undone as I narrowly dodge a Kunai by bending backwards. My hair tie was cut.

I hit the guy in a chakra point and he falls to the left of me.

I stand up straight and I see a huge box of chakra above the Kage stand. "Sensei! Lord Hokage is in danger!" I call.

"WHAT?" The twins yell.

"I'll go help him, you three handle things here, Kakashi and Guy are in the two stands over." Sensei says to us and I watch his Chakra go up to the box.

Ten guys later

Me and the twins are back against each other, Kunai in hand, but then the boys push me forward and go hide. "Pathetic!" I call them and the giant guy in front of me, rumbles with laughter.

"I like you girl." He says as he bends down to my height.

"Then tell me why your attacking my village?" I counter.

"Lord Orochimaru wants to wipe it off the map!" He laughs maniacally.

I knock him out and I do the same to the group around me.

"Hiroko, Hiroto, you heard what he said right?" I ask them.

I don't get any answers and I look behind me to see they're gone.

"That's not cool." One of the sound guys says amused and I paralyze him.

"TSUBAKI! HELP!" Hiroko cries.

"You boys are more than capable of handling yourselves." I say to them as I get surrounded by tall men again.

"DYNAMIC KICK!" Guy yells taking two guys down that were behind me.

The three to my left fall from Kakashi and Hiroko takes the two to my right.

I just paralyze the guy in front of me.

"Are you three ok?" Guy asks us.

"Well Tsubaki has been doing the most work, and because of that, the two of us are ok for the most part." Hiroto says to him as I deactivate my byakugan.

"I'm just low on chakra." I say as I look at the piles of unconscious or paralyzed guys.

"Who did all of this?" Kakashi asks us.

Hiroko and Hiroto immediately point to me. "Her." They say to him.

"SUCH A YOUTHFUL JOB!" Guy cries loudly.

I hum. "Why are you Sensei's over here?" I ask them.

"We were on our way to check with Lord Hokage, that big purple box disappeared." Kakashi says to us.

I hum. "I see, we'll stay here and start releasing the effects of the gen-jutsu on these people." I say and the two Sensei's nod and take off. "Hiroto, start tying these guys up, Hiroko, you take that side of the stands and work up, releasing the effects of the gen-jutsu." I say to the two.

"Yes Ma'am." The two say with a grin.

I start releasing people from their gen-jutsu's, and one by one, people wake up.

Father looks at the guys being tied up and looks at me as I wake up Hanabi. "What happened?" Father asks me.

"The Sand and Sound villages attacked us under a guy named Orochimaru." I say as I move down the line.

Other shinobi start to help us wake people up.

"Why are there so many shinobi tied up? This many would have been dispersed among three stands." Father asks me.

"They saw me as a threat." I say calmly.

A Shinobi takes over for me and I walk down to the twins who grin at me.

"You were awesome Tsubaki!" Hiroto says to me with a grin.

I nod. "You two could have helped more." I say and they shrug.

"You three! Go check on the academy students in the faces." A Chunin orders us.

"The faces?" Hiroto mumbles confused.

Hiroko hits him over the head playfully. "The faces." Hiroko says to him.

"Come on you two." I say as I start up the stairs.

"Wha? Hey wait up Tsubaki!" The two whine as they run to catch up.

We go to the Hokage faces and Iruka gives us the status on the students.

"Ah, now what are we supposed to do?" Hiroto whines.

I look at him in mild annoyance. "Dummy, we help the injured." I say to him.

Hiroko pales. "Are they bleeding?" Hiroko asks me.

I look at him and then at Hiroto then back at Hiroko. "Probably." I say and Hiroko looks a bit haunted. I sigh softly. "Iruka-Sensei, can you find something for Hiroko to do that doesn't involve blood?" I ask turning to face him.

Iruka looks surprised. "He can sit with the academy students and talk to them to make them comfortable." Iruka says to me.

I nod and I turn to look at Hiroko and I soften a bit on him. "Your gonna have to get over that fear sooner or later, but for now, go sit with the academy students and put their minds at ease, me and Hiroto will help get the injured to a safe place and group up with you once we finish." I say to Hiroko who nods while looking at the ground.

I ruffle his hair and its actually quite soft today.

"Your hair is soft." I say as I walk towards the hallway.

"I'm gonna get more injured to the hospital than you Tsubaki!" Hi rot claims. "I'll see you later Hiroko, don't capture all the ladies hearts while I'm gone!" Hiroto calls as he runs to catch up with me.

"Thanks, Tsubaki." Hiroko says as I just walk.

Me and Hiroto go to the place most damaged and the Chunin direct us on what to do.

How long has Hiroko had that fear? We've seen blood together. Scratches, puncture wounds, stabs, gashes. So why is he sqwemish now?

Hiroto helps me move a boulder. "Hiroto, how long has Hiroko had that fear of blood?" I ask him.

Hiroto gives one last push of the boulder and thinks as I move small rocks away from a body. "Since we were kids." Hiroto says finally. "He never looks directly at the blood and if he does, he does one of two things, freeze up, or faint, he almost decided to not become a ninja because of it." Hiroto says to me as he helps me pick up the body and place it so where a medical ninja could take a look.

"But in the forest of death, I had a bad stab wound that was bleeding, he helped stitch it up, he didn't freeze or faint." I say to Hiroto.

"He was worried about you." Hiroto replies. "We weren't lying during our introductions Tsubaki, we like you, so we're gonna be worried about you." Hiroto says as he looks me in the eyes.

I get startled by that for some reason. "I see." I say as I look away. "Let's help Hiroko get over his fear of blood." I say after a moment.

Hiroto grins. "I'm sure with you helping him, he'll get over it quickly." Hiroto says to me and I look at him confused.

"You rookies better keep moving, we're short handed so get it together." Ibiki orders us.

I look up at him for a moment. "Yes sir." I say and I motion for Hiroto to help me over in another area.

We start to help out when the news of the Hokage's death reaches us.

Me and Hiroto look at each other shocked.

"Gramps kicked the bucket?" Hiroto asks me.

"Be more respectful, please, he's our Hokage." I say to him with a small hint of annoyance.

"Keep going rookies." Ibiki orders us. "Once all the dead and injured are gathered and taken care of, you can mourn, but do it on your own time." Ibiki orders us.

"Yes sir." I say and Hiroto deadpans.

Once we're finished here, we go back to Hiroko who seems to be sad.

Hiroto tackles him in a big glomping hug.

"Hiroto!" Hiroko says shocked.

I watch them for a moment before I stifle a yawn.

The boys look at me. "She's tired." Hiroto says amused.

"Adorable." Hiroko mumbles.

"Sit, sit." Hiroto says as he pulls me over to sit between them.

I sit between them as we wait for our Sensei.

I yawn quietly and I pull my knees up to my chest, dozing off.

"Adorable." Hiroko whispers.

A while later, I get lightly shaken and I open my eyes to see our Sensei is here.

"You three did really well today, I'm proud of you guys." Sensei starts as well get up. "Tomorrow, I'll treat you guys to ramen, but for tonight, go home, get clean and get some rest. You've earned it." Sensei says to us with a warm smile.

"Tsubaki, come to our house for tonight." Hiroto says to me with a grin and Hiroko nods in agreement.

"Ok." I reply and the two grin brightly.

They take me to their house and Mrs. Amano looks us over.

"Oh no use scolding you guys, you did really well during these exams then the attack." Mrs. Amano says to us with a smile. "Tsubaki, you can come with me, you boys go use your bathroom to get washed up and clean." Mrs. Amano says to us.

I nod and follow her.

She lets me use her bathroom to take a shower and she gives me some clothes to wear for the night.

"Thank you." I say to her and she smiles.

"Just think of me as your Mom, so you don't have to thank me for a simple thing like this." Mrs. Amano says to me warmly.

I nod and she shows me to the living room where the twins are waiting.

"I'll wash your guys clothes and then make dinner, ok?" She asks us.

"Yes Mom." The twin chorus with grins and she smiles while I nod.

"I can help you with dinner if you like." I offer.

"Nonsense, let me cook for you." Mrs. Amano says to me with a smile.

I nod, unsettled that I'm unable to help her.

She goes to get our clothes and goes to wash them.

"Your Mom is really nice." I say to the twins as they chatter endlessly.

The twins stop momentarily to look at me surprised. "Isn't your father nice?" Hiroko asks me.

I pull my knees up to my chest, thinking. "Not really." I say as I look at the floor. "He hasn't been nice since my Mom died and then when my uncle died." I say and the twins look at me surprised.

The two tackle me in a hug and I feel surprised. "As long as your in our house, you won't have to tolerate behavior like that." Hiroko says to me.

I genuinely feel surprised by that.

"Our family is super duper nice, so you don't have to worry about not nice people, you can relax here." Hiroto says as he sits back with Hiroko.

I just look up at them surprised. "Ok." Is all I manage to say.
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