Kindled

Author's Notes:

I played around with the kids' ages in this story. Apologies if that bothers anyone.

Prologue

"Rasengan!"

In the middle of the circular Konoha stadium, the boy with the brown hair and blue eyes held the swirling mass of chakra in his hands and ran forward towards his opponent.

His opponent, a girl with long, brown hair, twisted to the right and rotated at a high speed, deflecting the damage of the boy's attack. Her orange kimono with the flame design danced in the eerily quiet stadium as she circled back and countered with quick movements. Her arms were up and her pointed fingers were aimed at the boy's body where she could incapacitate him.

Konohamaru deftly parried her attacks, knowing he couldn't let her hit any of his chakra points. Once she inflicted her damage, he could do nothing to defend against it.

He aimed a swift kick at her midriff and was gratified when he heard her gasp. She backed away and glared at him.

"Come on, Konohamaru!" came Naruto's voice from the stands. "Don't toy with her! If you want to win, you gotta do it fast!"

"Konohamaru! Good luck!" Hinata's supportive voice called out, the sound echoing from the same direction as Naruto's cheer.

He smiled at Hanabi with glee. "You hear that? Even your sister's pulling for me."

Hanabi laughed. "You gullible fool! She's just being nice."

Konohamaru frowned momentarily but the insufferable smile came back. "You should give up. I'm not going to lose. Naruto-niichan is here and I'm proving to him that I'm going to be his greatest rival for the title of Hokage! "

Hanabi took a deep breath, her byakugan on, eyes assessing his stance and observing everything about him. She raised a brow in response but didn't let her guard down. "My sister is watching me, too. I promised her I'll win."

He only taunted her more, trying to goad her further into losing her cool. Konohamaru knew she was a master tactician from what he'd heard from others. He'd done his homework. She was the type of fighter who was quick on her feet and thought during battle.

"Hinata-neechan?" Konohamaru scoffed. "How good can she be? She can't help you now!"

Hanabi drew back with an affronted breath. The look she flashed him was filled with loathing.

Konohamaru smiled wider. He'd hit her where she was most sensitive: her sister.

Hanabi reined in her rage even as her desire to wipe the smirk off his smug face burned within her. She cooled her emotions and thought of the strategies she practiced with Naruto-niisama.

Rasengan could be defended against. She just needed to attack relentlessly.

She took a deep breath.

And in the silence of the crowd, she heard her beloved older sister's voice call out, "Hanabi! You got this!"

It was enough to fuel her drive to win at this stage of the chuunin exams.

She flew at him, throwing as many jabs and punches she could at his body. Her speed was the only thing that could win against his powerful weapon. Yes, Konohamaru had learned the rasengan, but controlling it was still difficult for him. He wasn't at the level that Naruto-niisama's was and she'd sparred against him. She could see the way Konohamaru's hands were shaking and the way his shoulders were tense as he strained to maintain the speed and the rotation of its chakra. That means that he was still struggling to manage his rasengan. She needed to distract him with whatever she could.