Something to Fight For (Naruto)

Entering

Haruka returned to her apartment to find two messages on the floor outside her door. One was from Ryo, saying he had to leave in a very flamboyant way. He had drawn a picture of him with a finger on his chin, smiling, for 'his Musume to remember him by'. She burned it with matches she had in a drawer.

The other was most likely from Kurenai, telling her to meet her team the next day at eight. It was short and to the point, thankfully, unlike Ryo's message. She kept that one on her table just in case she needed a reminder, which was unlikely.

All night, Haruka couldn't sleep, pacing back and forth. She kept trying to think of ways to keep her Nii-san safe without him him being upset. If there was no alternative option, then she would be forced to aggravate him with her presence, but hoped there was other options.

At least for the time being he would be safe. Rioko-sama wouldn't dare do anything with the Chunin exams coming up. There would be so many more ninja in the village, along with an extra kage. On of them was bound to notice a criminal from the Bingo Book stalking a Genin.

When morning came, she was no closer to a solution, but had to leave to meet her team. Haruka arrived at the training grounds ten minutes early. Everyone else was already there, strangely. Kiba was pacing and growling, Hinata fiddling with her fingers and glancing nervously around, and Shino just stood still, being Shino.

"Hello." Haruka greeted, appearing besides Hinata.

The shy girl jumped, having not noticed her teammate arrive. Everyone turned to Haruka wide eyed, except Kurenai, who watched with a small smile.

Kiba was the first to react. "Why the Hell did you get yourself in trouble?!?!" He barked, pointing a finger in her face. Akamaru echoed, of course.

Haruka cocked her head, looking at Kiba with a small frown. "I am sorry if my absence was an inconvenience." She said after a pause.

He threw his hands in the air, about to continue, when Hinata spoke up, strangely.

"N-no, Haruka! W-we just m-m-missed you, is a-all." She stuttered, blushing under Haruka's gaze.

"Missed me?" Haruka echoed, confused. When she was gone, there must have been more money to split between them all. So why would her time gone be such a bother to them.

"Yeah!" Kiba said, throwing his arm around her. "It was boring without your awkwardness!" He grinned, Akamaru panting and hanging out of his hood.

Haruka nodded, understanding. Less people meant less social interaction, which was something Kiba craved, being so canine like. Now she understood what they had been saying.

"Now that this reunion is over, I'll like to hand out these." Kurenai interrupted, holding out four slips. "They're Chunin exam entrance forms. I've entered you all in them." She stated, pushing them into all of their hands.

Kiba started grinning and howling, excited for all the future fights. Haruka and Shino glanced over it neutrally, while Hinata turned a bit pale. They all looked it over, reading the requirements, but stopped at one sentence on the bottom.

"Only three man teams are permitted to enter." Shino read allowed, saying what was on everyone's mind. Kiba quieted down and they all looked at Kurenai questioningly.

She sighed, turning to Haruka. "You have two choices. You can take it alone, or be put on the Genin team that has the lowest points in Tai, Gen, and Nin jutsu." Kurenai hoped she would pick the second, as the first would most likely get her killed. She would have preferred to only give her the second, but she had no choice.

Haruka sat down and thought while Kiba started growling at Kurenai. Being alone would allow her to come to her Nii-san's aid were he to be placed in the exams as well. Even so, she guessed there was an eighty percent chance she would die, which was not an option as she still had a bit more work to do. The other option had a small chance she could land in Team 7, ensuring their safety, or keep the team she was in from hurting them.

Standing, Haruka told Kurenai her choice. "I wish to the second choice, Kurenai sensei."

Kurenai nodded, relieved. The rest of the team was upset that they wouldn't have their comrade for the test, but were still thankful she at least chose the second option. She had a better chance at living then.

"You all have the rest of the day off to-" Haruka left before Kurenai could continue, wanting to go stock up on senbon. She went to three different weapons stores and bought all they had. Her Porcupine Death jutsu required quite a few of them, and she wanted to be prepared.

The rest of the day she trained, working on her strength and speed at the training grounds. She had to be in top shape to keep her new team, herself and her Nii-san safe.

Current Count: Still 29... -_-"

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Soooooooo...

Yeah, this was a bit short. Sorry, but I have a lot planned for the next chapter, so I'll make it up to you!

Song is just 'cuz. And I'll usually put vocaloids up, just because it's more... Anime-ish, I guess you could say.

Fun Fact: Haruka wasn't going to be unmasked until the preliminaries, but when I wrote the chapter after... It just happened some how. Weird, huh?

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