"You called for me, Fugaku-sama?" Shisui asked as he looked at the Uchiha leader with questioning eyes. Fugaku looked at him and sighed. He had summoned Shisui to his office in the Police Force building, only hours before the final exam officially started.

"I'm sorry to bother you at a time like this," he started saying. "But this is a matter of urgent importance." Shisui looked at the leader with a frown. "Tekka notified me that a few days ago he found the seventh tatami of the shrine misplaced." Shisui paled for a moment. "I had a hunch and sent him to the Uchiha Library..." he went silent for a moment as he watched Shisui. The teen feared what Fugaku was about to say. "The transcript of the stone has gone missing."

Shisui's mouth dried.

"I know this has nothing to do with you, but..."

"You want to know if it was Hanako," Shisui muttered. Fugaku looked at him and nodded.

"She watched her father die, there is a high possibility Hanako has..."

"The Mangekyou..." Shisui finished for him as he leaned against the back of his chair.

"Yes," Fugaku breathed deeply. "Shisui, you and I are the only ones who know what this means."

"Well, it certainly means the rest of the clan cannot know." Shisui glowered at the leader.

"We don't know anything for sure," Fugaku continued. "But let's not take our chances."

"Hanako went missing a week ago," Shisui said.

"I know," Fugaku looked at the window. Shisui looked at him strangely.

"How-?"

"Itachi has been very concerned, he's not eating or resting properly. After you, he was the first to notice she was gone." He smiled slightly. "She really changed him, Hanako... Itachi has become more concerned in the clan this last month."

"He really wants to know how Hanako relates to Amane," Shisui said. "And besides that, the current situation with the shinobi from Iwagakure doesn't make it any easier." Fugaku looked at him. "Isao wants to kill Hanako, and Itachi's worried about that match."

"I'm certain Hanako will win, she's one of the most promising Uchiha I've ever seen."

* * *

That morning, everyone was gathered in the Arena, waiting for the final rounds to begin. All the Genin were assembled in the field, although one of them was missing. Shisui appeared next to Itachi.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes. Where's Hanako?" Itachi looked sideways at him.

"I don't know, she's been missing for the entire week. I expected you to know something." Shisui sighed. "I should have searched for her."

"I don't think that would be necessary." Both Uchihas heard a feminine voice and turned towards it.

"Hanako...where the hell were you?!" Shisui raised an eyebrow at the brunette, making her chuckle.

"I just wanted to take a walk before coming." She shrugged.

"You know very well what I mean," Shisui replied in an annoyed tone. "You missed each and every one of our trainings the last week. Where were you?!"

"I just trained on my own. Don't worry about me, Shisui," she replied calmly with a roll of her eyes, but this only managed to anger him even more.

"You know what? I'd like to see your fight, especially since you decided that you could do just fine on your own!" he snapped and teleported to the bleachers, were everyone was watching.

"I think he's angry..." Itachi turned to look at her.

"You don't say..." he sighed tiredly.

"It was just one week." Hanako looked at him a frown.

"Where were you that week?" Itachi asked.

"Training."

"With whom?" Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"Alone?" Hanako replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Itachi sighed again and shook his head. "I'm sorry, okay? I'll train with him next time if that's what got him so upset."

"That's not the problem, Hanako..." muttered the Uchiha. "We knew nothing about you, and we were worried. You cannot just leave like that-"

"Alright, it's time to begin with the final round of the Chuunin Exam," the proctor called loudly, making everyone in the arena fall silent.

"We'll talk about this later," Itachi finished making Hanako nod. She turned to look towards her opponent, who was staring at the proctor with confidence radiating from his pores. Then her eyes drifted to the bleachers, looking for Shisui. She met his eyes, but he immediately looked away.

Hanako pushed every thought away from her mind when she heard the proctor speak once again. "My name is Hayate Gekko. I'll be your proctor for the third and final exam."

The arena was submerged in the screaming and shouting of all the spectators. Each one made their own bets on who would win their fights. From the bleachers, the Genin were cheering their friends who were on the battlefield. Ren and Kaichi shouted for their teammate, Hyori. Kazuki supported Takeshi and Hanako, who were both his friends and comrades. Koharu yelled for Itachi and Hiroki. Meanwhile, the Tsuchikage was sitting next to the Third Hokage in a private section balcony, from where they waited patiently for the next round to begin so they could witness the development of the Genin from their villages.

"I believe it's time to begin," Hiruzen said while standing up.

"Yes, my back won't stand too long this position. It'd better start soon and end soon." The Tsuchikage commented while getting comfortable in his chair.

"Aren't you a stubborn Kage, isn't it time for you to choose a successor?" He laughed.

"I'm not leaving such an important place in hands of ignorant and impulsive brats until the day I die."

"I see..." The Hokage sighed. "I didn't expect any less from you, Oonoki," he said, making the Tsuchikage chuckle.

"Anyway, start with the exam now, Hiruzen. My back is starting to ache."

The Third Hokage neared the railing of the balcony and started to speak in a loud voice, directing to both spectators and participants. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for your presence in this final round of the Chuunin Exam here in Konoha." At this point people had resumed their shouting as excitement filled the place. "Right now, we're about to begin with the encounters that are to take place in this final round. Please, find a comfortable sit and enjoy the matches."

After the Hokage finished talking, the proctor turned to participants. "Well, as you already know, the rules for this final match are the same as in the preliminaries. There are no rules. The fight will only end when one of you dies, admits defeat or isn't able to continue. I can also decide when to stop a fight, but I will only do so in special cases, like fights that may harm a third party, in which case you'd both be disqualified." Hanako felt slightly uncomfortable when his eyes lingered over her while he said this. Itachi also noticed this and nudged her softly making her look at him. He smiled slightly at her; he took her hand in his and gave her a soft squeeze before letting go and turning back to the proctor. Hanako felt her cheeks flush for a brief moment but quickly pushed it away. She felt another set of eyes on her and turned her face to find Takeshi glaring at her. Beside him was Hyori who only looked at her before dedicating a playful grin and turning away. "The first match is Hiroki Diashi against Takeshi Komatsu. The rest of you, please direct yourselves towards the waiting section upstairs, and wait upon being called for your match." All of the participants complied with his orders.

Hanako walked towards Takeshi and Hiroki to wish them luck before following the rest towards where they had to go. The two Genin then walked to the center of the arena to wait for the match to begin.

"Well, any time..." Takeshi said as he breathed deeply.

"We're both ready." Hiroki added while stretching his muscles.

"I'm not losing today." Takeshi suddenly commented looking determinedly at his opponent.

"We'll see what happens." Hiroki replied with a playful smirk.

"Alright." Hayate spoke, making the two Genin get into a fighting stance. "Begin!"

Both ninja pulled out their kunai and attacked each other. Upon clashing, they quickly backed away. Takeshi threw some shuriken towards the green haired boy. Hiroki made some seals with his hands when he saw the weapons heading in his direction.

"Doton: Doryuuheki." An earth wall emerged from the ground, protecting him from the shuriken.

"Darn it..." Takeshi muttered with gritted teeth while planning how to land a hit on his opponent.

'The next thing that comes is...' Hanako thought while she observed with keen eyes the match. Hiroki had sunk into the land.

"Doton: Dochuu Eigyo." Hiroki muttered while he moved through the earth. Takeshi realized that his battle was going awfully alike to Kaichi's battle against him, and he jumped at the second in which, under him, Hiroki's hands appeared and tried to grasp him from his ankles.

"The battle's quite interesting, huh?" Hanako heard a voice beside her and turned her head to find Isao looking intently at her.

"Hm...It appears to be so," she replied curtly while turning back her attention to the arena. They were currently observing the match from the waiting area while resting their arms on the railing.

"Attention please, all the participants." A Chuunin suddenly appeared. "I'm afraid to announce that there has been a change of plans." While saying this, the ninja pulled out a paper with the new battles. Hanako widened her eyes when she saw them. Her opponent wasn't Isao anymore. She looked at the Senju girl, who looked back at her the same way. Now they had to fight each other. Hanako looked away from her and focused her eyes on Itachi but was surprised to find him completely calm. However, Isao really didn't like the new change.

"I thought there was no way to change the matches, that they were definite," he commented while glaring daggers at the Chuunin holding the plan.

"Sometimes there can be exceptions. Like this one," he said roughly before leaving the place.

"So, now I have to fight you?" Isao raised an eyebrow as he looked at the black haired boy. "Don't let me down, now I'm really pissed and I can promise I will take it out on you." Hanako frowned at him and quickly walked towards Itachi and pulled him away from the Iwagakure ninja.

"You're not letting him threat you like that, right?" she said at him. Itachi looked at her and sighed.

"There's nothing you should worry about. It's fine." Hanako pressed her lips.

"You're awfully calm considering the situation." She raised an eyebrow. "Did you know anything about this?"

"Well, it didn't surprise me." He shrugged.

"Tell me it doesn't have anything to do with you talking to the Hokage about what we discussed." Itachi focused his eyes on hers. They stood like that for a few minutes under a tense silence. "Itachi..." she spoke impatiently and Itachi took a deep breath.

"I may have mentioned something. It's not my fault the Hokage is smart enough to put two and two together." Hanako widened her eyes at him for a moment before they narrowed into a glare full of hatred.

"I can't believe you did that..." she hissed. "Do you have the slightest idea how much I waited for this day so I could fight Isao and now I have to fight her?!" Itachi didn't flinch even when she raised her voice at him. "You're so selfish, Itachi! Stop thinking I can't do things on my own!" Hanako tightened her hands into fists.

"You know what sickens me?" she asked now in a much calmer tone. "People thinking I'm weak, but do you know what sickens me the most?" Itachi just stared at her, speechless. "When my so called friends don't believe in me." And with that, Hanako just left, leaning back on the railings as she focused in the match in the arena.

Takeshi was by now panting in the middle of the battlefield. His chakra was lacking and he still hadn't managed to land a single hit on his opponent.

"Shit...he's stronger than me..." he said as sweat dripped from his forehead.

"Well, I've got to admit...fighting you has been more exciting than fighting Kaichi," Hiroki commented with a smirk.

"You know...I think it's about time we finish this." Takeshi said while making some hand seals. Hanako's eyes widened when she noticed this.

'This feeling...is that fuuton jutsu?! Since when can Takeshi manipulate his chakra nature?!'

"Fuuton: Renkuudan" The boy inhaled a fair amount of air and combining it with chakra in his lungs, he released it forming a giant air bullet moving quickly towards Hiroki. He barely dodged this attack, which went past him and in the moment it hit the ground, created a big crater.

"That was...amazing..." Hanako commented with her jaw dropped. She could feel Itachi's eyes on her the whole time, but she just continued to ignore him.

"I think we should leave it like that," Hiroki said staring wide eyed at the big hole on the ground. "You're almost out of chakra. You can't continue with this fight," he added seriously, drifting his eyes to the brunet. He didn't need to say anything else since Takeshi had already run out of chakra. He was lying on the floor, not able to move. The proctor analyzed him well and sighed.

"He's out cold." He shook his head in disapproval. "The winner of the first match: Hiroki Daishi." People started cheering at the green haired ninja; gangsters in the bleachers started exchanging money, some winning while others losing their bets. The medics arrived and immediately put Takeshi into a stretcher to transport him to the hospital. Hiroki quickly walked into the waiting area.

Hayate cleared his voice and announced the next match: "Well, certain changes were arranged for the next fight, so, please come down Hyori Senju against Hanako Uchiha." Everyone at the bleachers fell silent for a second, but suddenly they started shouting again. Hanako frowned when she listened to the comments people made.

"HAHA! That Senju will show the Uchiha kid who rules!"

"What are you talking about? It's obvious the Uchiha will win, just look who it is."

"Come on, Hanako!" Kazuki's voice ringed in Hanako's ears and a smile leaped into her face. Her eyes looked into the crowd until she found the black haired boy, cheering her from the bleachers. "Show them what you are made of!"

"Good luck." Her smile suddenly vanished at the voice from behind her. She looked over at Hyori and noticed that she was staring seriously at her. Hyori's eyes drifted to the ground when Hanako met them, before she made a series of hand seals and jumped off the railing, landing in wood trunk she summoned from the ground. The yelling got louder and louder when Hyori approached the center of the arena.

"I really need to talk to you." Hanako shuddered when Itachi's voice spoke right into her ear. Hanako looked over her shoulder to meet his obsidian eyes. "Please," he spoke in a soft pleading voice that only she managed to hear.

"I have to fight," she replied curtly, moving her eyes to the staircase right ahead and walking past him, bumping into his shoulder in the process. Itachi sighed, turning around to stare at her retreating figure as she left the waiting area.

"You shouldn't have meddled in, Uchiha." Isao said to him in a chuckle. He was leaning his back on the wall next to the railing. "You know, I really had the need to avenge Shun," he commented clicking his tongue. Itachi only glared at him, not willing to respond back. Isao noticed this and chuckled even more. "Don't you think you worry a little bit too much about her?" he continued. "You should definitely trust her strength. I'm sure she would have given me little bit of a fight." His smirk became wicked. "That is, before I killed her."

"You should really watch your tongue when you're talking to me," Itachi replied calmly, not taking his eyes off the Iwagakure Genin for even one second. "I may be holding back now, but don't expect that from me when we're down there in the arena." Isao smirked and turned his head away from the Uchiha to focus on the upcoming battle. At that moment, Hiroki arrived to the waiting area and was surprised at the tense atmosphere. He decided to ignore it and silently walked towards his teammate.

The Hokage stared seriously at the two girls as they approached each other at the center of the ground. He motioned for the Jounin next to him to scout closer to him to which he immediately obliged.

"This isn't the match I was expecting," he said softly in to his ear. "What happened to Itachi?"

"We thought you had changed the matches. The battles were arranged this way when we picked the documents this morning at your office," the Jounin replied in the same low voice the Hokage had used with him. The Third narrowed his eyes.

"I didn't make such changes."

"Anyway, I'm afraid there's no way to change the fights now. It's too late," the Tsuchikage commented with a sly smirk as he turned his head towards the Hokage, who looked at him suspiciously. "You shall let it continue, the audience is already excited." Hiruzen sighed and nodded.

"Alright." 'I just hope you had nothing to do with this, Itachi,' the Hokage thought.

"Tell me I'm not late; tell me I'm not late..." The white humanoid muttered as he appeared out of a tree trunk right next to the concrete fence surrounding the Chuunin battle arena. He then came close to it, and walked into it, pushing his head out on the other side. "Phew, right on time." Zetsu disappeared half of his body by blending it with the fence while only his face stood out from the wall. He camouflaged himself so he could watch the Uchiha's fight without getting caught. After all, Madara wanted him to report back how she was doing.

The two girls stood facing each other in the middle of the arena. "You know," the Uchiha started saying, "This kind of reminds me our first encounter, Hyori." The Senju smiled playfully upon hearing that.

"This time I'm going against you with all I've got. No more games, Hanako," she replied confidently.

"I agree with you." Hanako smirked. "Because this time it won't be an illusion." Hyori narrowed her eyes at the Uchiha. "It will all be real."

"I'm starting to feel the excitement between the two of you, so..." Both girls heard Hayate and immediately got into a fighting stance. "Start!"

At that moment, Hyori joined her hands into a seal and wooden pillars emerged from around her, which moved at full velocity towards the Uchiha brunette. Hanako activated her Sharingan and jumped just in time, dodging all the pillars moving her way. She jumped her way through and somehow managed to land safely on the ground, making a hand seal.

"Katon: Gouka Messhitsu." Fire erupted from Hanako's mouth which in seconds incinerated all the wood that attacked her. Following suit, Hanako directed the same flame towards her opponent.

"Tsk...you won't get me with that!" Hyori made some seals. "Suiton: Suijinheki." She created in front of her a water wall, big enough to protect herself from the fire coming her way. When both jutsus collided, they formed a steam cloud that covered the whole arena. Both girls had their visions hindered, and the audience complained since they couldn't see what was going on with the match. Hanako sighed and closed her eyes, focusing on finding Hyori's chakra signature.

Upon finding her, she immediately hurried toward her and kicked her in her stomach without giving her the chance to react, sending her flying out of the cloud of smoke. Hyori crashed against the wall, cracking it because of the force of the impact. Hanako made more hand seals. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu."

Hyori barely reacted when she saw the small fireballs heading her way. She stood up and jumped, clinging her feet into the wall with chakra concentrated at the soles of them. When the fire dissipated after they clashed against the concrete, Hyori's eyes widened upon finding shuriken nailed to the wall.

"Not bad..." Hanako smirked at the Senju. The smoke was finally clearing out, letting the girl get a view of her opponent. "I thought you said you were going serious," Hanako commented. "It's that really all you've got?" Hyori tightened her hands into fists until her knuckles turned white.

"I'm just saving the best for last."