The Next Morning - Tsubaki's POV

I make tea and I take it to the backyard where Father plans to have me and Neji spar.

I set up the porch area, putting down the pillows for Hanabi and Father.

"Go get changed Tsubaki." Father says in the doorway.

I nod and I go to my room.

I change into the standard training clothes for the Hyuga and I put on my sandals.

I head to the backyard and I wait for everyone to get here.

Neji gets here and Father comes out with Hanabi and I set out a pillow for Hinata who wanted to watch.

"G-Good luck Tsu-Tsubaki." Hinata says to me.

I smile at her. "I'll be fine." I say and Hinata nods.

Me and Neji stand across from each other.

"Let's play fair, ok?" I ask Neji who nods.

"Right." Neji says to me.

We get into our stances and activate our Byakugans.

"Keep an eye on Neji, Hanabi, he's had a lot more field experience than Tsubaki and is over all, stronger." Father says to her.

I ignore that comment while Neji looks a bit confused.

We start our spar and we start our with our Gentle techniques, but we end up mixing Tai-Jutsu into it halfway through.

"You've practiced a mix a lot haven't you?" Neji asks surprised as he just barely blocks my fist and I palm him in the chin with my other hand.

"Guilty." I say and Neji smirks. "Sensei thought it would be better this way because I'm studying to become a medical ninja." I say as I block Neji.

I end up jumping back to dodge his foot.

Neji goes for his 64 palms technique and I put a stop to each of his jabs with my fists.

Neji pulls back and we both need a small breather. "You were practicing that too." Neji says to me.

"Yeah, it was prep for if I was gonna fight you in the Chunin Exams." I say and Neji nods.

"Let's end this." Neji says as he gets into stance again.

I nod and I fall into stance again.

We finish this, with me pinning Neji to the tree about 15 minutes later of us both giving each other a brutal beating.

We both breath heavily. "I win." I say and Neji nods.

We deactivate our Byakugans and I back off.

Our watchers are surprised.

I motion for Neji to show me his bruises and scrapes and he hesitantly does, but I heal them.

Neji looks at my hands surprised. "Your just about out of chakra though." Neji says to me.

"I have to practice and this is a good way to do it." I say to Neji who nods.

I heal my own scratches and bruises and we release our chakra points.

"Tsubaki actually won." Father says, still surprised.

Neji sits down on the porch. "We'll have to fight for real sometime Tsubaki." Neji says to me.

"Of course, I'm not satisfied with beating you like this." I say and he laughs quietly. "Besides, I should probably learn more Healing Jutsu for when that comes, that way if one of us is dying, I'll be able to heal us. Unless its me and then I might actually need help." I say and Neji smirks as I sit next to him. "I'll go get us some cold water." I say to Neji who nods.

I head inside to the house and I go get a pitcher of water with ice in it.

I grab two cups and I head back out where I set the pitcher down with the cups and I pour us some water.

We drink a lot of it.

"Did you let her win?" Father asks Neji.

I internally feel hurt by that.

"No sir, we were playing fair." Neji says to Father.

I nod and I set my cup down while Father stares at me. "I'm not weak Father." I say evenly and I get up.

Father looks like he doesn't know how to respond.

"Tsubaki, your dismissed." Is all Father is able to say.

"Yes Sir." I say as I get up. "I'll leave the water out here." I say to Neji who nods.

I head inside and I pull my hair down.

I get changed into a white T-shirt and Black leggings.

I take two of the medical books with me to the villages park where I sit down and read.

After a bit, I feel hungry and I look at the page number and I shut the book.

"Tsubaki." Sensei greets as he gets here.

I look up at him surprised. "Good afternoon Sensei." I say to him.

"How did your spar with Neji go?" Sensei asks me.

I smile slightly. "I won." I say and Sensei grins. "Father was speechless and didn't know what to do." I say as I get up, feeling quite pleased and a bit giddy.

Sensei nods. "Good job Tsubaki." Sensei says motioning for a high five and I stare at his hand confused but I do a soft high five back. "We'll work on that." Sensei says to me with a grin.

"Woah, why is Sensei so happy, and oh my Cheesecake, Tsubaki is smiling!" Hiroto yells shocked.

"Adorable." Hiroko whispers.

"Tell them Tsubaki." Sensei says to me.

I nod and I turn to look at the two. "I beat Neji in a spar in front of my sisters and Father." I say to them.

The twins are in shock before they break out in grins and tackle me in a hug. "That's awesome!" They cheer and we sit up. "Was your Father shocked?" Hiroto asks.

I nod. "He didn't know what to do." I say to them.

The twins grin gets even bigger. "Awesome!" They cheer.

I nod.

"Come on, we're getting barbeque." Sensei says to us.

The twins shoot up immediately and Hiroko helps me to my feet.

Hiroto cheers and I nod while Hiroko grins.

We head to Barbeque after Sensei seals my books into a scroll and sets it in his pouch.

We sit down and the twins want pork.

"What do you want Tsubaki?" Sensei asks me.

"I'll have pork as well." I say and Sensei nods.

Sensei orders as the twins chatter.

"Tsubaki, how is your medical Nin-Jutsu coming along?" Sensei asks me.

"I can heal Scrapes, bruises and cuts now, that's why I was at the hospital yesterday." I say and Sensei looks impressed and so do the twins.

"Alright you two, you guys are gonna have to train as well otherwise Tsubaki might leave you in the dust." Sensei says to the twins.

"Yes Sensei." The two chorus.

Our meat gets here and we start to cook it.

"Tsubaki, Mom wants you to come over for dinner." Hiroko says to me.

"Ok." I say to him and the twins grin.

I take my share of the meat and I eat while Sensei plans out our training schedule and mission schedule, and the twins continue to chatter.

"Ok, now that we know that Tsubaki knows how to smile, we have to get her to laugh." Hiroto says to Hiroko.

Hiroko nods. "We have too figure out how to make her relax and have fun as well." Hiroko says to him.

I stare at them, confused. "I'm right here." I say and the twins just stuff food in their mouths.

I shrug and I finish eating as Sensei tells us the schedule.

We nod to it and once we're all done eating, we leave.

"Tsubaki, I think this goes without saying, but in case it doesn't, I am very proud of you for being able to win against your cousin in a fair spar." Sensei says to me.

The twins nod as they hold eye contact with me.

This for some unknown reason makes me feel really happy. "Thank you." I say as I smile a very small smile.

The twins grin. "We're heading home early, but come over for dinner Tsubaki." Hiroko says to me and I nod.

"I have to go as well, here are your books back." Sensei says as he hands me my books.

I nod in thanks. The three leave and incredibly fast, which confused me.

I head somewhere quiet and I continue to read in my book.

I end up dozing off under a tree though.

I wake up after a little bit and I see its time to head to the twins house.

I just look up at the sky, feeling my fight from earlier in my body.

I get up and I walk through the village when a Hyuga confronts me.

"Lady Tsubaki, your Father requests you to stay with your team tonight, I don't know why though." She says to me.

"Ok, thank you." I say to her as I bow in thanks.

"Your very kind." She says to me and leaves.

I get to the Amano's after a bit and I knock on the door.

Its opened by Hiroko. "You came!" He says surprised.

I smile nervously. "I dozed off without anyone to wake me up." I say as I scratch the back of my neck.

Hiroko grins and pulls me inside and shuts the door.

He pushes me to the dining room as his mom puts out the food. "She fell asleep, that's why she's late." Hiroko says to Mrs. Amano and Hiroto.

Hiroto laughs while I bow in apology.

"I'm sorry I'm late." I say to them.

"Its ok, everyone needs to rest at some point." Mrs. Amano says to me gently and she sets out a plate for me while Hiroko gets me a chair.

I sit down and I pull my hair back into a low ponytail so its out of my food.

We stay thanks we eat.

Afterwards, the twins and I sit in the living room with me dozing off again.

"Adorable." Hiroko whispers.

"Tsubaki, shouldn't you be heading home?" Hiroto asks confused.

I shake my head tiredly. "Father sent a Hyuga to tell me to stay here for the night. Guess he's still shocked and doesn't know what to think about me still." I murmur quietly as I rest my head in my arms on my knees.

The twins laugh and I smile briefly as slowly fall asleep.

"Well if your sleeping over, you should at least sleep in the guest room." Mrs. Amano says to me.

"She's already almost asleep Mom." Hiroto says amused.

"Then one of you carry her." Mrs. Amano says to the twins.

After a minute, I'm picked up.

"She is incredibly light." Hiroko says quietly.

"Really?" Mrs. Amano asks concerned.

There's a hum of acknowledgement.

I just rest my head against Hiroko's shoulder as he walks.

A door is opened and I get set down after a moment on a bed.

I curl up and I fully pass out after that.

The next day

"TSUBAKI!" The twins yell and I open my eyes, startled from my sleep.

They grin in front of me and I snort quietly and I turn around, pulling the blanket over my head.

"Come on Tsubaki! We have training." Hiroto whines.

I sigh and I sit up, my hair very clearly already a mess and I stare at my bangs which fell over my eyes. "Ok." I say and I get up.

We get ready and we go on our way to the training grounds.

We wait for Sensei and during that time, I read my medical book while the Twins do some normal training.

Over the next couple of days, Father has been quiet to me whenever I'm around, and it puts me on edge.

Neji comes to dinner one night and Father talks to him but says nothing of me.

Me and Hinata share the occasional confused look but we say nothing.

"Excuse me." Hinata says and she leaves, I glance out the window to see Kiba there.

He sees me and ducks.

I look back at my plate, I didn't see anything.

I finish my food as Neji answers a question.

"Tsubaki, how do you feel about sparring with Neji again?" Father asks me.

I look up and at the two and Neji looks at Father, slightly confused.

"Tsubaki has stopped working." Hanabi says amused.

"I'm just surprised Father asked how I feel about something." I say as I set my chopsticks done with my food. "I can spar again with Neji, I could set up the back yard and we can do that in a little bit." I say and Father looks slightly troubled by my first statement, but he nods.

I clean up the dining room and I go set up the back yard.

Neji comes out after a bit and sits on the porch next to me. "Your father has been strangely quiet about you for a while." Neji says to me.

I nod. "He's barely said a word to me since our last spar." I say to Neji who nods. "I think he's just surprised, because I've never shown off my strength in front of him." I say and Neji hums.

"You forfeited your position." Neji says after a moment.

I nod with an uneasy smile. "Yeah, but I didn't want it anyways. Too many rules ways to act and its just too stuffy." I say and Neji smirks amused.

"You are stuffy though." Neji says to me.

"How so?" I ask Neji, a little confused.

"Perfect posture, perfect grammar, perfect manners, your a leader yourself." Neji says to me.

I pout slightly. "I do not have perfect grammar, I can talk anyway I please." I say to Neji who smirks. "Oh my god, I do have perfect grammar." I say and Neji laughs, so I hit his shoulder. "Not cool." I say and I put my hands on the floor next to me as the clouds move out of the way of the moon.

"Tsubaki!" Me and Neji hear a whisper yell and I look over to see the twins hiding behind some bushes.

I stare at them, slightly confused and I motion for them to get into the tree and fast before my Father comes out that way.

The twins do that fast while Neji looks at them surprised.

Father and Hanabi get here and they sit down on the pillows.

"Don't play fair this time." Father says to us.

Me and Neji look at each other, but we get up and we get into stance.

"This isn't gonna end well." I say and Neji nods on agreement.

We start and I dodge Neji and I uppercut him in the chin and he slides back.

I rush him and I do a very fast 16 palm to some important chakra passages.

I side step to the left and Neji knocks my legs out from under me.

I land on my butt, however I kick Neji in the chest before he could grab me and he slides back.

I get to my feet quickly and I dodge Nejics 64 palm and I jab him hard in the ribs in his side.

He winces and he almost kicks me in the head, but I duck backwards just in time.

I jump back a pace and I block Neji's next moves and I palm him in the chest, missing the heart and lungs on purpose.

We go on like this for a while, he gets quite a few hits on me and I him, but after too long, it comes to a draw because neither of us has enough energy for a finishing blow.

"I think, we both lose." I say to Neji through ragged breath as I sit on the ground.

"Yeah." Neji says to me as he sits in front of me.

"It came to a tie?" Hanabi says surprised.

"I should have known she wasn't strong enough to beat him in an all out fight." Father mutters.

I get irked by that but I just push it down and I push myself to get up.

"I'm gonna go shower, that was a good spar Neji, we should do it again sometime, but without pressure on who wins." I say to Neji who nods in agreement as he gets up.

"I'll still win though." Neji says to me with a smirk.

"I will let you continue to think that." I say with a smirk.

I head inside and I take a shower and I change into a clean white T-shirt with black leggings.

The twins are sitting in my window will as I come in to my room. "That was a brutal fight." Hiroto says to me.

"Are you ok?" Hiroko asks me.

I smile at the two with slight nervousness. "I'm ok." I say and the two nod.

"The come on." Hiroto says as he gets out of the window sill.

I put on my shoes and I follow them out into the village.

We walk around for a while as the twins chatter and I watch them, feeling a bit more calm than before I left the house.

I feel exhausted though and I think they know that.

We sit in the quiet park and I'm sitting with my knees to my chest, my head on my knees.

Sensei appears in front of us. "Tsubaki looks tired." Sensei comments amused.

"She just sparred with Neji again and it was brutal. Her father didn't want them to fight fair, so this time it ended in a draw." Hiroto says to him.

Sensei nods. "So its time for bed for Tsubaki then." Sensei says amused.

"It seems so." Mrs. Amano says as she walks up next to Sensei.

"Mom!" Hiroto and Hiroko say surprised.

"Come on Tsubaki, we're taking you home." Mrs. Amano says amused as she takes my hands and pulls me to my feet.

The twins stand on either side of me as we walk and Sensei leads the way with Mrs. Amano.

I know this way and they're taking me towards the compound.

I don't want to go back there right now and I tap Hiroko and Hiroto's shoulders and they look at me confused.

"Don't want to." I whisper and the twins understand.

They grin and we take a different path leaving the adults behind.

"Tsubaki, you know you can't always stay away from your house every night." Hiroto says to me.

"I just don't want to deal with Father tonight, since he made that comment earlier, I know its gonna go back to how it used to be." I say quietly.

Hiroko nods. "Mom and Sensei will find out that we left them soon, we should hurry." Hiroko says to us.

Hiroto nods and the two pick up the pace, to which I have a hard time matching.

But we get to their house and we see Mrs. Amano in the kitchen, she looks like she's been there for hours and Sensei is nowhere to be seen.

"Wait what?" Hiroto asks surprised.

I use my Byakugan which hurts a little, but it is Mrs. Amano. "Someone used the Transformation Jutsu earlier to look like Sensei and Mrs. Amano." I say and the twins oh.

Mrs. Amano looks at us with a smile. "Welcome home." She says to us. "I'll make some sandwiches." Mrs. Amano says to use as she gets busy.

"I'm not really hungry." I say to her with a nervous smile.

"Nonsense, you are under weight for a girl your age." Mrs. Amano says to me and I nod.

She hands the three of us a plate with sandwiches.

The twins aren't hungry so they put their sandwiches on my plate.

I sigh quietly and I eat all of them.

I fall asleep on the couch afterwards as the twins sleep on the recliner chairs.
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