Hinata's POV (Medical Section of Leaf Camp - Land of Iron)
Hinata sat by the bed next to Sasuke. It was a position she was used to holding. Sasuke was a workaholic and often worked himself till he collapsed. It was simply a quirk of their odd team. The formation of Team Six had been an odd one from the start. Kabuto and Hinata were soft personality types thrown in with the aggressive Sasuke. Sasuke had quickly deemed the two useless, unhappy to have them. Kabuto and her had worked together to support and win over their teammate. It took a while and several interventions by a rueful Shisui, but they eventually earned Sasuke's respect and friendship.
Then Kabuto disappeared, and they were told by Shisui that he had launched an assault on his team during the Trial of Nio, leading to the injury and death of most of them before fleeing. It had rocked the recently cemented bonds of the teams. She and Sasuke had quickly grown apart without the charismatic Kabuto playing mediator.
Such had continued to get worse until a taijutsu spar one day. Sasuke had been winning, of course, and had been frustrated by it. Determined to see some fight from her, Hinata was taunted and mocked by the Uchiha until her rage was freed. She could not remember the spar, but it had ended with the two of them battered and bruised. Sasuke had discovered her temper, and she seemed determined to trigger it once it had been found. The two clashed increasingly; Sasuke seemed determined to face the temper, and Hinata grew more frustrated by it. Before, Hinata had done what Team Six had never seen since its formation. Defeat Sasuke in a spar; it had been a silent conclusion. But ever since then, Sasuke has treated her with civility and respect. Even often encouraging her and acknowledging her as an equal. Combined with Neji's efforts, they managed to form a new her. Still polite and humble, but willing to fight when necessary. She is proud of herself and determined to become even better.
Perhaps that explained her anger as she gazed upon her injured and beaten teammate. Hinata had been mortified during the match when he used his ace. To see the pain it had cost not only his opponent but himself, it had been painful to see as his friend. Worse yet, Sasuke had been heedless of the risk. That anger calmed the usually nervous and antsy woman as she decided on her action.
The two of them were in a large tent separated into rooms by flaps enforced with sound seals for privacy. While mostly healed from his injuries from his clash with Fuu, Sasuke still suffered from chakra exhaustion. And was bedridden till tomorrow. Awake but seemingly content in the silence, the Uchiha was zoned out. Likely not expecting Hinata to say anything.
"Why," Hinata states bluntly. Her eyesight was stronger than most, even without the Byakugan active. As such, she saw him subtly flinch as he drew from his thought and lazily slid his gaze at her.
"Why what?"
"Why must you be so reckless? Why risk your life at these exams? Why risk others?" Hinata asked again. Her voice held no stutter, and her Byakugan had reflexively turned on due to her anger.
She watched as Sasuke pondered this before he offered his response.
"Because it's who I am," Sasuke replied.
"You realize dying would not fulfill your goal, nor would crushing others." Hinata criticized.
"If I did anything less than my absolute best, it would dishonor my family. I cannot be sure of why, but my family was destroyed and discredited. I cannot allow this to stand as long as I still do. I have already traded my own life and the lives of those who would stand in my way. Besides, Fuu was no regular person; it took everything I had to take her down. I'm not sure what it would take to kill her." Sasuke explained.
Hinata wasn't sure what to say. She knew this would be his answer somewhere deep inside her, but she wasn't sure how to refute it. Was Sasuke going to tear himself apart for his goals? Was it right of her to impede such a thing?
"Hinata, you need to surrender." Sasuke interrupted her thoughts. I changed the topic, recognizing it wasn't going anywhere. "Gaara is without a doubt the strongest Genin present. Fuu was a joker and would've beaten most of us with ease. Gaara is the same as her but is motivated. I'm certain he'll defeat you, worried he may do even more."
"Hypocrite," Hinata replied icily. "You can risk yourself for your ideals, but I can't do the same? You motivate me to try my best, then tell me not to try?"
"Hinata, that's not what I." Sasuke stopped as a furious Hinata stomped out of the room. "Damnit… Gaara of the Sand… if you dare take one of mine… I'll kill you…" Sasuke vowed to himself, now alone.
Ino's POV (Iron Fair - Land of Iron)
Ino slowly marched through the fair, feeling incredibly lonely. Things were still awkward between her and Naruto; Neji was missing in action, and the same was true for Sakura. Her other friends were either missing or likely hanging out with Naruto. Instead, the Yamanaka slinked around the edges of the fair, attempting to take in the sights but mostly looking out for those she was trying to avoid.
Of course, things couldn't work out so neatly. Perhaps Ino's time in Team Seven had made her and Naruto develop the same taste. When she had chosen a location to mope, she discovered Naruto and Team Eight were present. A slick and regretful getaway had allowed her to avoid the complicated mess that was her love life/friendship with one Naruto Uzumaki. Furthermore, she felt conflicted by Tsunade's message.
How to repair things with Naruto, what it means to be a kunoichi, and if Ino could match her teammates. The woes pursuing Ino whirled through her mind. The young woman walked through the fair in an emotional daze. She gazed at a more oversized stall advertised as a dango bar, bringing Ino memories of her temporary sensei, Anko Mitarashi. Perhaps that was why she walked in, got a booth, and settled in with a pile of dango and sake. A habit Anko had seemingly instilled in her. As a Yamanaka, Ino knew this was a form of mimicry from her role model. A chilling thought her seeing Anko as an idol, but she supposed she needed guidance…
God, booze made her introspective. Her mind was interrupted by her booth shaking slightly as someone haphazardly plopped down into it. Ino jumped at such, then leveled a glare at the interrupter. The dark-haired Iwa kunoichi smiled at her as she poured herself a glass of liquor from the bottle Ino had bought. Ino, in a bad mood and not wanting some random woman to mess with her, drew and fired a kunai with lightning speed mere centimeters from the face of Kurotsuchi. Said the woman, freezing before barking with laughter as she sipped her glass.
"Ino, wasn't it? We were on the same team in part one. I think I fought your monster of a teammate." She asked while sipping at her stolen booze.
"Yes," Ino said, her tone defensive and frosty. "Why do you ask, better yet, why are you here? If you want revenge, then just leave, I won't have mercy for some bitch gunning for my teammate. What was your name anyway?" Ino felt her rage bubble as she spoke; sniping at someone without guilt felt good.
"Ahahahaha!" Kurotsuchi roared, slamming her fist on the table, heedless of the other patrons who glared at them. Though none dared approach, almost all of them had seen the matches of Ino and Kurotsuchi, and while they hadn't won, it was clear they were strong. "See, before, you were friendly and funny, which was nice, but you lacked some fire! Now I can see a bit of a badass out of you. Glad to see Blondie has a teammate just as fun as he is."
Ino felt annoyed at Kurotsuchi so casually using her affectionate nickname of her teammate. But buried it down, more than happy to ignore such to accept the compliment. It felt nice to talk to someone, and it was simple and guilt-free. Ino smiled as she raised her glass, and Kurotsuchi slammed hers into Ino's, both girls chugging their drinks and refilling their glasses with content sighs.
"So we're just drinking and eating off the loss, or is something else up?" Kurotsuchi said as she twirled her glass with a raised brow. Ino froze at the odd question. "Oh, come on, drinking, eating absurd amounts of unhealthy food, and doing so on your lonesome? I recognize a night of moping when I see it."
Ino sighed but nodded her head. "Frustrated with myself, not only am I weak, but I hurt one of my friends with my big mouth. Just trying to enjoy the night somehow… pretend like everything isn't fucked up." Ino said cynically as she sipped her glass once again. She was already feeling tipsy, but her misery liked the buzz.
"Ah, so I see," Kurotsuchi said plainly. "You're upset you messed up with Blondie and even more upset you couldn't beat Miss D-Cups for him. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for moping a little. After all, your ass of a teammate kicked my own. Lords knows I did some pouting of my own." She said while guzzling her glass and setting it down with a sigh.
Ino weakly glared at her but morosely nodded all the same. "Utterly embarrassing, I hurt the guy's feelings, declare my victory for him, then lose. What kind of teammate am I? Hell, what kind of kunoichi even…"
"A normal one, I would say," Kurotsuchi replied with ease. "Personally, I fail a lot, more so than I like. My grandfather mastered one of the rarest ninjutsu styles, yet I seem helpless to master such. I was also defeated today after a declaration of my own. See us, kunoichi are a little different from regular shinobi."
"So I've heard," Ino complained, looking into her glass with a frown.
"Assuming you got some spiel about how it's so different for us that we have to basically forgo ourselves to match our male counterparts?" Kurotsuchi asked. Ino blinked, stunned at the accurate guess. "Yeah, I've heard the shit too. Crushing, isn't it?"
"Yes!" Ino yelled out passionately. "It's like I have more problems than I can handle already, and now, just because I'm a woman, there's even more coming." She slumped in her seat as the flame of anger burned out as quickly as it came. "I'm trying my best, but it all feels hopeless…"
"I suppose it might be if you were some pussy and not a kunoichi." Kurotsuchi countered. "Trust me, I've been there. But I've got the perfect answer."
"The perfect answer?" Ino asked doubtfully.
"Of course! Spite is the answer, my young student." Kurotsuchi started.
"Not your student."
"See, I've always had a chip on my shoulder. Always was looked down upon and doubted. It ate away at me until I realized I could use it, had to use it." Kurotsuchi explained. "I took all the frustration and such it caused me and used it as fuel. The world may doubt you, and you may fail, but if you stay as sure as stone, in the end, you will prevail. And victory will be all the sweeter for it. My grandpa said that to me when I was young, and it has always stuck with me. So, while we may be looked down upon and even fail. We do so knowing eventually we will succeed and be acknowledged for such."
"Is this some sort of reasoning behind your superiority complex?" Ino asked frankly. "Because my team really doesn't need another ego on it."
"No, Ino, I'm starting to see Blondie's point on some things; it's making me reconsider some things… But this is more of how I keep going. It never gets easy, Ino, but if we as women persevere, we can do anything we set our mind to. Even surpass our male rivals, and one day we will. But until then, we gotta keep strong. Be confident and smart, and everything they expect of us. One day, we'll change the game when we can! … if that makes sense… I'm not very good at this comforting thing." Kurotsuchi finished lamely. "Always got into a good fight when I was upset."
Ino chuckled earnestly at her new friend. Kurotsuchi was right, and her words didn't fully comfort her. They filled her with hope; truthfully, she understood what Kurotsuchi meant. Perhaps she just needed to keep going. "No, no, you not, but somehow that helps. Why are you helping anyway?"
"Ugh, I hate to admit it, but Blondie kinda made sense in our fight… somehow that idiot had a clearer picture of what it meant to be a Kage to me… and is odd…" Kurotsuchi paused, searching for the right words.
"Wise and caring yet confusing and infuriating?"
"Yes! For some reason, it wasn't enough to kick my ass, but he had to psychoanalyze me and set out to change me for the better! And worse… it's kinda fucking working!" Kurotsuchi complained. "I'm already acting nice to you, Leaf Hippies! And now I can see why that is so problematic… your boyfriend is a damn pain in the ass, hippie."
Ino raised a brow and leveraged another kunai. To which Kurotsuchi smiled apologetically.
"Sorry reflex… anyways. After Naruto won, I couldn't help but wonder if my need to be better and my perceived superiority of myself and my home were holding me back as a person… Maybe that's what that old bastard always refers to when he says I have grown to do… anyway when I saw you moping, it reminded me of his words. Felt like talking to you would be the right thing to do." Kurotsuchi said with an odd tone.
"Thank you…" Ino was somewhat touched by Kurotsuchi for helping and was amazed to see Naruto's influence.
"Eh, wouldn't have come if I realized how heavy this would be." Kurotsuchi teased. Ino felt a little happier as she smiled.
"Well, do you want to pig out with me and get drunk to forget our embarrassment?" Ino asked, hoping to fix the awkward atmosphere.
"I thought you'd never ask."