A Week Later - Tsubaki's POV

I palm Neji in the chin before he could kick me. I spar with Neji for hours on end before we finally take a break.

"Your taking on the position of Heiress?" Neji finally asks as we sit down, I'm healing small scrapes on us.

"I don't have a choice." I say to Neji. "I don't want that responsibility, but unfortunately I don't have a choice." I say to Neji.

Neji tchs. "Of course you have a choice." Neji says to me.

"Hanabi wants freedom Neji, you know of all people that I'd do anything for my family." I say to Neji who freezes at that. "I don't have a choice." I say to Neji.

Neji sighs at that. "For being part of the main branch, you sure are self sacrificing." Neji says to me with annoyance lacing his tone.

"According to birth rights, the first twin born is main branch, the second twin born is cast to the side branch, I was supposed to be part of the side branch. Mother didn't want me and Hina to be separated like that and fought with our grandfather till he relented." I say to Neji who glances at me, surprised.

"Tsubaki!" Hanabi cheers as she runs to the back yard.

I sit back and she shows me her test scores. "Hey good job Hanabi, a lot better than last time. See what a little bit of studying can do?" I ask her and she grins.

"It's thanks to you big sis that I did it! You taught me perfectly." Hanabi cheers and runs inside, and then I hear a crash. "I'M OK!" She yells before I got up to check.

I softly smile amused. "She's a klutz." I say and I go back to healing Neji's scrapes and bruises.

"She's been a lot happier since you took over." Neji says to me.

I nod. "And that's all that matters." I say and Neji looks up at me surprised.

I heal my scrapes when I'm done with Neji's.

I relax quietly and I can feel my exhaustion growing.

Me and Neji work on a few techniques for a while before Hina comes out.

I hug Hina tightly and she giggles at that. "Ha-Have you two be-been out here all mor-morning?" Hina asks us surprised.

"Just about." Neji says to her.

Hina leaves and it makes me pout. "I envy the twins on my team sometimes." I say as me and Neji take a small break.

"Why's that?" Neji asks me.

"They're with each other all the time, I rarely see my sister anymore. We're both busy with completely different things." I say to Neji who looks surprised by that. "She gets home early and leaves early most of the time and I'm busy from 5am to midnight most of the time." I say as I stare at the sky.

"Wasn't today your off day from training with Lady Tsunade and your team and everything else?" Neji asks me.

"Yeah. But it's fine. The more I practice with the jutsu of the clan, the faster I master it." I say to Neji who stares at me. "And besides, with Guy not around right now, and Tenten helping Lee, you haven't had much training as of recent anyways." I say to Neji.

Father comes out of the house and sees me and Neji talking. "I thought for sure you'd be off doing something today Tsubaki, since it's your day off." Father says to me.

I shrug. "Me and Neji have been sparring for a while." I say and Father is surprised by that.

"Well I have to talk with Neji." Father says to me.

"Then if you'll excuse me." I say as I get up and I head inside.

I shower and I leave the house.

I go treat myself to some ramen, talking with Ayame.

I pay after a few bowls and I leave.

I run a hand through my wet hair, trying it get it to dry a little faster.

I go and relax at the park for a while, reading.

"Tsubaki."

I look up to see Shizune. "Hello Shizune." I say to her and she smiles.

"Why aren't you resting?" Shizune asks me and continues to scold me for not resting with how busy I've been.

She gets called away and I'm smiling softly.

I head home and I lay down, burying my face into a pillow, exhausted.

I force myself to take a nap.

Neji's POV

I knock on Tsubaki's door and I don't hear an answer, I open it to see Tsubaki taking a nap.

"Finally." I mutter and I shut the door, letting her rest.

Tsubaki's POV

I wake up after a while and it's morning.

I rub my eyes and my window gets tapped on. I look over, exhausted and I see the twins. I wave and they grin.

I go get changed and I brush my hair quickly. I head to the front door quickly, slipping my shoes on.

"Good Morning Tsubaki!" Hanabi says to me cheerfully as she gets her sandals on.

"Good Morning Hanabi, ready for school?" I ask her.

"Yeah." Hanabi says to me excited and I get up.

We leave and the twins chatter while I talk to Hanabi about her school work, helping her understand some of it as we walk.

I help with the transformation Jutsu and understanding how to do it and she nails it.

"Thanks Big Sis! I'll see you later!" Hanabi cheers and she runs onto school grounds.

I smile softly at that, glad she's coming out of her shell.

"Come on Tsubaki! We have training!" Hiroto whines and I nod.

I follow the two to the training grounds while occasionally putting my input to their conversation.

"Your talking to us." Hiroko says to me with a smile.

I smile at that. "Of course." I say to him and when we get to training, it's kinda brutal.

Afterwards, I head to the Hokage office and Lady Tsunade teaches me more medical jutsu until it's late in the evening and when I'm walking home, I read the clan do-jutsu.

"Your gonna over work yourself." Tenten says as she hangs over my shoulder.

"Hi Tenten." I say to her and she grins.

"I was on my way to see Neji to give him the latest news on how Lee is doing." Tenten says to me with a grin.

"Oh, is he getting better?" I ask Tenten.

"His rehab is going great, he should be able to start training again soon." Tenten says to me with a grin.

"That's great." I say to Tenten.

We walk inside the compound and I know Neji is with Father, so I take Tenten home with me. She goes to talk with Neji while I put my stuff away.

I go check on Hanabi and I end up helping her with homework.

"Thanks Big Sis!" Hanabi says to me with a grin.

"Alright, go get ready for bed, I'll check on you in a bit and you better be asleep." I say to Hanabi.

She grins and I leave her room.

I go join Father and Neji. "Did you two need anything?" I ask them.

"No, Neji is leaving soon for the night." Father says to me and I nod.

"Then have a good night Neji." I say to him and he nods back to me.

I go check on Hina and she's not home yet.

I head to the kitchen and I make myself some dinner and some tea.

I eat quietly and then I clean up.

I head back to Hanabi's room and I check on her to see she's asleep.

I kiss her forehead and I cover her better with her blanket. I turn her light off and I shut the door quietly as I leave.

I head to Hina's room and she's home finally.

I hug my sister and she giggles. Hina let's me hug her as she reads.

I end up dozing off on her shoulder.

"H-hey, Tsub-Tsubaki, go sleep in your bed, it-it's more com-comfortable." Hina says as she wakes me up.

I snort softly. "Get some rest Hina." I say as I get up.

"I will." Hina says to me with a smile and I smile softly.

I head to my room where I change into sleeping clothes. I lay down on my bed and I pass out almost instantly.

A week goes by of me being this busy when Naruto and Shikamaru ask me to help them go get Sasuke back.

I stare at them for a moment, thinking. "I'll have to pass on this for right now guys, I'm sorry, I'm already late meeting Tsunade and Sensei. I wish you guys luck though. And be careful." I say to them and they nod.

I head to the Hokage office and Lady Tsunade looks annoyed. "Sorry I'm late." I say to her.

Lady Tsunade forces me to read when the Sand Siblings come in.

"Hey there cutie." Kankuro says to me with a smirk and finger guns.

"Tsubaki, put that book down, you are to lead the squad of you and the sand siblings as reinforcements to help the Sasuke Retrieval team." Tsunade orders me.

"I'm a Genin." I remind her as I look at the page number.

"Since when? I bumped you up to Chunin last week." Lady Tsunade says to me.

"You must have neglected to tell me that then." I say to her and she looks nervous about that.

I get up and I put the book away. "Send a small medical team if you can." I say to Lady Tsunade who nods and I look at the Sand Siblings who stare at me.

Temari smirks at me. "You'll be an interesting squad leader." Temari says to me.

I take them to the gates and we set off while I inform them of what's happened.

I hear fighting and I see Neji getting beat up. I activate my byuakugan and I see Kiba ahead as well and farther ahead is Shikamaru, and farther ahead is Lee and Naruto. "Kankuro, go help Kiba, he's a few kilometers ahead, Temari, you help Shikamaru, he's ahead as well, Gaara, would you be willing to help Lee and Naruto?" I ask him.

"Yes." He replies flatly.

"They're to the north east of here, if you just go straight." I say to Gaara who nods and everyone scatters.

I go and help Neji and I manage to distract his opponent so Neji can get a breather.

"Tsubaki?" Neji asks shocked.

"Get a breather, I've got things." I say to Neji and it takes a bit, but I defeat Neji's opponent.

I heal some of Neji's injuries and he passes out on my shoulder. I hold him up and I start heading back when I see Choji. A medical team gets here and they take care of Neji and Choji.

"Thank you." I say to them and they nod.

I go on ahead to see Kiba is good with Kankuro. "There's a medical team just south of here." I inform Kankuro and Kiba.

"Good. The kid is losing blood and the pup isn't looking good either." Kankuro says to me and I nod.

I continue ahead and I see Temari and Shikamaru. "Are you guys alright?" I ask as I jump down next to them.

"We're all good. I saved the cry baby before he got too hurt. All he's got is a broken pinky." Temari says to me with a grin.

"If you head back the way you came, there's a medical team if you want to get that checked out now." I say to Shikamaru.

"You said you weren't able to help." Shikamaru says to me.

"Lady Tsunade is temperamental, had I gone earlier with you guys, I would have been yelled at. She sent me with the Sand Siblings as back up. I asked for a medical team, and good thing too, Neji and Choji need extensive care, and Kiba needs immediate care." I say to Shikamaru. "I'm going on ahead to see how Gaara and Lee are doing. It looks like Naruto is fighting Sasuke right now as well." I say to Shikamaru.

"Thank you." Shikamaru barely whispers.

I grin softly. "Go help your team to the village." I say to Shikamaru who nods.

I look at Temari and she nods. I go on ahead to see Lee and Gaara have finished their fight. "If you guys need medical attention, the medical team is on their way back to the village with Neji, Choji and Kiba." I say to the two.

"Thank you for coming Tsubaki!" Lee says to me exhausted.

"Your weren't supposed to exert yourself." I say to Lee who laughs nervously. "Go back to the village and pray Lady Tsunade doesn't rip your head off for leaving while you were still on Rehab." I say to Lee annoyed and he nods quickly.

"Thank you again Tsubaki." Lee says to me nervously.

"Gaara if you'd please take him back for me. I'm going to go check on Naruto and see if I can't help." I say to Gaara.

"Ok." Gaara says to me and I nod in thanks.

I go on ahead and I manage to get to the valley of the end.

Kakashi catches up with me and he looks worried.

I just push forward and we make it to Naruto and I see Sasuke's Chakra fleeing. I chase after his Chakra.

"Take him back to the village Kakashi-Sensei." I say to Kakashi who nods.

Sasuke's Chakra suddenly disappears as I'm chasing him.

I tch as I stop and I look around for a bit before I go back to the village.
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