Summoned to the Hokage's Office, Hagoromo Sanae paused for a moment to catch her breath and compose herself a moment, flicking a stray lock of long blonde hair out of the way of her face before breathing out her held breath and knocking smartly. The summer heatwave had started to become unbearable and even with her newer combat gear, lighter and roomier than her previous tight kimono, Sanae had been sweating buckets recently. Lady Tsunade was likely to be hot and irritable, even more cranky th*ual so the Breeze Dancer steeled herself for the worst.

To her slight surprise a male voice beckoned her inside.

Her other four fellow classmates were all there already, stood waiting in front of the desk. A couple of Jonin clerks Sanae didn't recognise stood to the side, clipboards and scrolls out, scribbling down notes. A weasel-like man with small glasses leant to the side to peer at her, tilting his eyes downwards to regard her over the lenses. Sanae had the distinct impression his eyes had started at her chest level, before rising to meet her gaze. She ground her teeth a little before giving a very slight bow.

"Ebisu-Sensei. Is Lady Hokage not here?" she asked, glancing at the others who just shrugged back.

"Lady Tsunade and her aide, Shizune are on leave for a few days. I have been tasked with delivering her missives and issuing missions in her stead!"

Ebisu sneered a little, puffed up with his own self-importance right now.

"Now that you are here, Miss Hagoromo I can start with an important task I have for all of you that could see relations between Konohagakure and Kumogakure improve tremendously! Lady Mabui here..." he indicates a officious looking Kunoichi standing off to one side with the characteristic tanned skin and white hair of the Land of Lightning, "and myself are overseeing a grand event between our two nations that will see our best and brightest young talent demonstrating their skills and thus the skill of their whole village!"

A hand went up from her classmates, Gotuo, the tall Earth Style user known amongst them as 'Crimson Fist'.

"Err... Ebisu-Sensei, the Chuunin exams aren't due for another 8 months though. Isn't this a bit early?"

Ebisu sighed, pushing his glasses back up his nose in indignation. Mabui stepped forwards.

"Don't worry, it’s nothing that serious. The Hokage and the Raikage have decided it would be best for us, with an eye towards many of the relations built up by Naruto and Lord Bee, to celebrate our new friendship with a bit of friendly competition. As you may know, the Land of Lightning is home to many sandy beaches which attract visitors from across the nations, purely to relax and have fun, away from the cares of the world. In the spirit of this, we are collaborating with the Land of Fire, and the Land of Waves, to host the first Ninja World Sport Series! We'd like to focus on our up and coming ninja, so we have decided to leave the decisions of who gets to play what sport up to you! We've shortlisted down to five sports disciplines we believe will showcase the best and brightest our villages have to offer, while not alienating any of the other villages should they too wish to send teams to compete!"

Her smile was warm and friendly, she reminded Sanae of Shizune is many respects.

Ebisu sat forwards, elbows on the desk and steepling his fingers, copying the usual pose of the Hokage.

"Ahem, the five sports we have shortlisted are: Football, or Soccer to some people, baseball, Basketball, Gymnastics and, especially for the Land of Waves, Beach Volleyball. I expect each of you to go around your fellow ninjas and choose who would be the best for your teams. Each of you will be the team captain for your assigned sport."

Sanae saw Misou grin and punch her fist into the palm of her other hand eagerly. The water style tomboy was a keen football player and would be eager to demonstrate her skills on the pitch. She wondered if she should talk with Youmo, the Midnight Blade, over which of them would head up the baseball team as they seemed the most likely candidates for it. Her war fan swing was spot on, designed for power and distance while he had knife-edge accuracy down pat. Big Crimson would probably want Volleyball, he seemed to enjoy showing his chest off any opportunity he got.

Master Ebisu gestured for attention before continuing in his preachy tone.

"I, of course, have assigned each of you to be Captain of our team based on exhaustive research of your skills and abilities! Of course, as it is my choosing, I have chosen the best candidate each time, moreover you are to consider this a mission of at least A rank or even higher! The reputation of Konoha and the entire Land of Fire rests on your shoulders!"

One of the clerks steps forwards, handing each of them a scroll.

"Use these to collect your approved uniforms. Each of them was designed by myself, you will like them! That is all! Dismissed!"

The Five-styles Five exchanged confused glances with each other before moving towards the door and leaving, Ebisu practically shoo-ing them away before they could protest.

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"You have got to be kidding me!" Misou, known to the Five as the Azure Fang, screamed at the face of the quartermaster clerk, the vein on her forehead bulging as she practically leapt the desk to assault the poor man, clearly angered by the choice of sport she had been given as captain. Youmo, taciturn and to the point as ever, had already left with a duffel bag full of football kit; checklist in hand, presumably to ask Chojii to play goalie for their team and Shikamaru to consider heading up the midfield with Lee, or maybe even defence. It’s what little blue would have done.

"Calm down Misou!" Oiwa, the Fire Style expert pleaded, reaching out to pull her away from the poor clerk.

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! THIS A-HOLE IS A PERVERT!"

"Please Blue! He's just doing his job!"

Misou scowled. There was a slight sound as chakra was charged, then a sudden rush as the liquid in the quartermaster’s drink suddenly trebled in size and flew into Oiwa's face, drenching him from head to toe. He stumbled backwards, tripping up on the loose pile of baseball bats he had been issued with.

"Oh man, I think I got coffee in my ear!" he moaned.

"Just what the hell were you creeps thinking?" Misou asked, holding up the ridiculously small piece of fabric so Sanae could see. "There is no way this will cover me up! You think I want people staring at me in just my pants?!!"

"It's called a leotard Blue, it'll stretch." Sanae called over with a sigh as Gotuo, the body-building beef-slab taijutsu and earth style specialist of the Five, stepped up to receive his kit bag.

"But I wanted to be the football captain!" Misou protested. "I thought Gymnastics was more Oiwa's thing!"

He shrugs in agreement. "I mean, I'm not going to moan, I would have thought baseball would have been suitable for Youmo, or even Sanae. I mean, I'm more of a kunai kind of guy," He held up a wooden bat, peering at it strangely. "I mean, I've not exactly had much practice swinging these things around of late."

"Its fine, I'm not sure I know much about basketball either." Sanae replied with a shrug. Ebisu Sensei had some weird ideas for his team captains, that was for sure. She stepped aside as Gotuo turned, swinging a large net bag of orange * around his shoulder. "Funny, I always thought Volley* were white, Gotuo."

"Huh? They are." Gotuo's bicep replied as his free hand pulled a basketball shirt out of his bag and tossed it over his other shoulder, admiring the colour as Sanae placed her scroll on the counter top and unrolled it for the clerk.

Her eyes fell on the kanji text contained within it as the clerk pulled a small bag of white rubber * out from storage and an even smaller bag of kit than Misou had been given. Her fists clenched, screwing up the ends of the scroll.

"Is there a problem with your order as well Miss?" the clerk asked, his voice almost fearful at his point. Sanae's face reddened, her hair casting long shadows over her eyes as she contemplated introducing Ebisu Sensei to death by a thousand wind-chakra blades. Not the clerk's fault though, she reminded herself, breathing out a short breath and forcing a smile.

"Nope, no problem at all, all in order! Thank you!" she said as she grabbed the bags off the desk and turned, storming out of the building. Misou, catching the tension, lifted her chin and turned on her heel as well, following Big Sister Breeze.

The clerk looked down at the crumpled scroll as Oiwa and Gotuo exchanged glances and shrugged at the departure. Written upon it was a simple order:

'Konoha Beach Volleyball team - Girls only.'

<cont...>

<cont. from above>

"As far as I can see, the biggest problem will be convincing Hinata to join the team once she sees the 'uniform'" Tenten pointed out.

Sanae had to agree with her. So far, her chosen team was rounding out nicely. She only needed 2 people each game, so picking complimentary skills was easy and Tenten and Ino had both been easy sells; both Kunoichi had jumped at the chance the moment Sanae had mentioned the word 'beach'.

"Hey, it would be good if we could get Sakura to come along too! I bet she'd be an awesome spiker if we needed a reserve!"

"Game doesn't work that way Ino, I'm afraid" Sanae said with a sigh. "No substitutions in teams, two on two, same two all sets, so whoever we go with as our 'A' team, its them for the whole match."

"But still, we'd need a fourth member for practice at least, why not ask her?"

Tenten agreed.

"Yeah, makes sense! Ino, why don't you go and see if Sakura is free while we go talk to Hinata!"

"Will do! As long as that's ok with you, Captain?"

Sanae shrugged, her intention was to show that creep Ebisu that the women of Konoha were more than just objects. Sakura's now legendary strength would potentially be a huge asset on that part.

"Sure, go ahead!"

Ino gave a small cheer and a giggle as she ran off to find her best friend. Tenten knocked on the gate to the Hyuga Clan compound, stepping back from it to wait politely while Sanae made an adjustment to her team sheet.

An elderly face opened the door, raising a wrinkled eyebrow at the two as they bowed respectfully. "Friends of Lady Hinata's, yes?"

"Yes, sir!" Tenten began, "I was wondering if she was at home at the moment and if we could speak with her?"

"Yes, yes, come in! One of your other friends is already inside, though she wanted to speak with Lady Hanabi."

He stood aside to let them pass, both of them thanking him as they entered. He led them to the courtyard, where Hinata sat watching a sparring duel between Hanabi and the Azure Fang herself, Misou Senju. The two danced around each other, twirling and dodging, a long flowing whip of water lashing out continuously from Misou's hand, Hanabi ducking, diving, cartwheeling and acrobatically avoiding it with every strike. Those she could not, blue chakra blades around her fingers neatly snipped and parried.

"Remember, if you are going to win this, you need to master grace, as well as power!" the commanding voice of Hyuga Hiashi extoled, the leader of the Hyuga clan himself sat watching the balletic sparring match from a small pagoda, fanning himself to keep cool in the heat. The two older girls sat down next to Hinata, entranced by the flow before them.

"Lady Misou is really good with water style, isn't she?" Hinata whispered across to them, eyes never leaving Hanabi as she danced around. It was weird, in a way, but made sense for two intensely driven and focused kunoichi to practice Gymnastics in such a potentially deadly way.

"Yeah, she's come a long way. But her fury drives her currently." Sanae said with a sigh.

"She even asked me to join up with the Gymnastics team," Tenten chipped in. "Wanted to train dodging kunai, shuriken and other ninja tools. I declined, but only because you asked me first."

"Yes, you are really good at that as well Tenten!" Hinata beamed.

"Yeah! But I'd much rather be down the beach working on my tan and enjoying the cool water than stuck in a hot, stuffy Gymnasium learning dance routines! Plus, imagine all the boys that are going to be there!"

Sanae shot Tenten a warning glance, but it appeared Hinata had been too transfixed on the dance between her younger sister and Misou to notice. She coughed politely.

"So, Hinata, I was thinking you might be able to help out with the Volleyball team. I mean, we'll be down the beach and enjoying the fresh air. I'm pretty good on offence, but my defence is a little lacking, I don't think I'll be allowed to summon endless shadow clones mid-game."

"Yeah, we could really use your Eight-Trigrams on defence to stop any wayward shots from the other team. Leave the scoring to me and Sanae!"

Hinata gave them one of her sweet, kind smiles.

"I mean, I would, but..." she trails off, pulling her puffy training gi tighter across her chest.

"Are you still wearing that? In this heat!" Tenten asks, incredulous. "Come on Hinata! It’s like 100 degrees out here! Take it off, enjoy the sun! Come on! Join in with us on the team! The bikini's we've got for uniforms are really cute too!"

Tenten elbows Hinata playfully in the side of her well-developed bosom. "and I bet those milkshakes will bring ALL the boys to the yard!"

"Wha?!!! No!!!!" Hinata cries, face going as white as a sheet despite the blazing heat. Clutching her chest even tighter, she takes off into the house.

"Tenten!" Sanae scolds, "what you have to go and say that for? Seriously?"

"Huh? Oh, come on, you know it would be true! When it comes to the chest area, she has all the other girls in Konoha beat!"

The look Sanae gives her in response makes Tenten quail a bit, hand up defensively, the other scratching the back of her head. "I mean, present company excepted, of course!"

Sanae holds her frown a moment longer, before melting back into a smile and clapping the other * the shoulder. "Well, someone has to provide the spectators with something to look at, at least."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Tenten pouts.

"Oh, come on! Just admit you are jealous of me and Hinata. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll get yours soon enough."

"Hey! I'm not... you're cruel!"

Sanae just smiles, before heading in doors to talk to Hinata in private.

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The beach-front stalls overlooking the volleyball pitches were packed, and many more spectators had taken up positions on the boardwalks and local cafés. For the competition itself, four villages had submitted teams and had put their brightest and best up for the competition.

For Konoha, Sanae had managed to enter three teams altogether, while Kumogakure had entered four, Sunagakure had sent two and Takigakure, the Village hidden in the Waterfall, had sent one. There was even a pair from the Land of Waves themselves.

Looking over the match brackets, Sanae was relieved to see they would be facing off against two unknown kunoichi from the Hidden Cloud, meaning they would dodge the team from Hidden Sand headed up by none other than Temari herself. Sanae and her were loose rivals, each seeking to claim greater mastery of wind style and the use of the Iron Fan ninja tool over the other. So far, they had each proven greater allies than enemies, but Temari's stern approach and cool head often jarred with Sanae's carefree attitude and desire to prove herself. Temari's team had also faced a team from Kumogakure, and had proven extremely cool under pressure, recovering several hard spikes that Sanae had thought sure to score with artful uses of small wind gusts to slow the ball down just enough to recover it.

Sanae had split up Ino and Sakura. While great friends, their own rivalry meant they occasionally didn't work as well as they should together, and so Ino had been paired with Tenten. They won their first match convincingly, the flexible rules governing the ninja games aspect of the sport meaning Ino's mind-transfer technique could be used in small burst to stun or delay a blocker, while Tenten proved more than adept at controlling the ball in the air and nimble enough to cover Ino's slack on the ground. Sakura brought sheer brute force to her team, her chakra assisted leaps and spikes driving the ball into the ground faster than most could see. Her partner, an Inuzuka Chuunin named Ruiyo who specialised in using a ranged attacks as well as working with her clan's signature Ninja Dogs turned out to be a great support, sending several Nails Sakura's way for her to attack with pinpoint precision and power. Their team even tied the leader board for most Aces in the competition. Konoha was doing ok, and the girls were having fun.

<cont>

<cont. from above> Putting down her clipboard, she moved to sit next to Hinata. The pale Hyuga sat with a towel d*d over her shoulders, a large floppy hat covering her neck from the sun.

"Hey. You ok?"

Hinata nodded.

"Good. We are up next. Remember the training we did for this and relax. You'll be fine."

"Umm, okay, if you think so. There's a lot of people here." the pale girl said, tapping the tips of her index fingers together nervously.

"There is? Didn't notice!" Sanae responds with a wink, whipping off her loose shirt to reveal the bright yellow sports bikini that marked her as team captain and tying her long hair back out of her eyes. Turning to the nearest crowd of spectators, she noticed several young men looking at her. "Stare too long, you'll go blind!" she says, *ing them a kiss and winking. The announcement comes over the tannoy.

"Match 6 will be Konoha A vs Kumo B! C*l participants please proceed to court number 2!"

"That's us!" Sanae calls down to Hinata, who still hasn't moved. "Hey! Hinata, you listening? Hello?"

Hinata just sits there, trying to bury herself further in the towel.

"Alright, that's it..." she cries, grabbing a small hand-fan and making the sign of the Bird one handed to channel chakra before sending a small swirling gust of wind out the fan, striking Hinata from underneath and sending her flying from the bench into the court, towel flying off. There is a roar of approval from the nearby crowd as Hinata tumbles in the sand a moment before kipping up to her feet nimbly. Her face darts around in shock as she realises everyone can see her in her bikini.

A volleyball suddenly flies straight at her face with some considerable force, Hinata desperately bringing her hands up to catch it just in time, her eyes wide with shock.

"Concentrate on the ball! Ignore everyone else." Sanae urges, stepping onto the court beside her, hands on Hinata's shoulders. "You are strong, and kind, a true ninja of the Hidden Leaf. Let them see you are brave too!"

Hinata gives a weak nod and a small whimper of ascent, eyes not leaving the ball.

"What's the matter? Afraid to lose?" came the snarky comment from the other side of the net. Sanae turns to look at their opponents, both displaying the tanned skin and pale hair common to this region. The Kumo team captain had chosen to die her hair bright red, fading to pink at the tips. Something about her attitude made Sanae instantly want to beat her so hard it would be a humiliation, not just a defeat. The captain turns to her team-mate, *ing her thumb over her shoulder at Hinata. "Guess they just thought to send the * squad this time? Do they even know how to play?"

"The other two teams seemed to do ok. Guess they got lucky!"

"Hah! Sure they did darlin'!" the captain snorts, moving to position for the start. Sanae just stares at her opponents, eyes narrowed, assessing the way they move, the way they walk and hold themselves. The referee calls for the coin flip, Kumogakure winning with 'Heads'. "Time to lose, Leaf-*s!"

"Ignore them Hinata, focus on the ball. Let’s show 'em what it means to be Konoha kunoichi!"

The referee *s his whistle. The red-haired Kunoichi sends an easy serve over the net, straight at Hinata. Her hands go up at the last moment, batting the ball away from her face, messily sending it off to the side furthest away from Sanae.

"A shank?! On that ball?!" Sanae hears the other Kumogakure player cry out in surprise and disgust, giving out a short breathless laugh like a choking hyena. Desperately, Sanae dives to get a hand underneath before it hits the floor, her only saving grace the lightness of the serve already robbed of much of its momentum by Hinata's fumbling. The back of her fingers feel the press of the rubber just enough for her arm to fling up off the floor, sending the ball bouncing back over the net. Quickly switching, the red-haired opponent darts forwards, sending the ball into the sand where Sanae had been standing before, Hinata nowhere near close enough to recover it.

"First point to Kumogakure!" the referee calls as Sanae pushes herself up off the sand, biting her lip to hold back her frustration.

"Ya know, there ain't a consolation prize afterwards if you can win a wet tshirt competition here. Cow!" the white-haired member of the opposing team calls through the net to Hinata. Hinata looks distraught, her hands trying to cover herself up from every angle at once.

"Yeah!" the red-haired captain agrees, "A dumb, white cow! All udder, no *, no brains!"

Grabbing Hinata's shoulders, Sanae whips her team mate around and pulls her face close to her own.

"Are you really going to just stand there and let them talk to you like that? You are a Hyuga! A noble woman and one of the most powerful kunoichi I know!"

"But... but... but..." Hinata stammers, pulling away. The referee *s his whistle, the two Konoha women nowhere near ready, and the Hidden Cloud team send a lazy Ace into the sand behind them.

Some of the crowd are laughing at the exchange, just enough for the two women to hear it. Sanae feels red heat building within her gut, anger rising.

"Look at me!" she shouts at Hinata, hoping to snap her out of her reverie. "You are not dumb, you are strong! You are not a Cow, you are a ninja!"

Another whistle, another soft thud. "Kumogakure leads three to nil!" the referee calls. Sanae defends the next point on her own, Hinata just kneeling down, trying to cover herself up as much as possible. The two Kumogakure nin look shocked as Sanae actually manages to single-handedly score the next point. Noticing her team mate trying to carry on without her, Hinata stands up, and timidly manages to help Sanae score a second point, then a quick third, coming out of her shell a little bit. The Hidden Cloud nin huddle for a moment, then giggle. They start pointing at Hinata's chest, then their own, making rude gestures and swirling their fingers around their temples, mocking Hinata. Several male members of the crowd laugh and holler. Someone wolf-whistles. Sanae feels her cheeks beginning to burn with red hot rage. The whistle goes and Kumogakure send an easy serve straight at Hinata, who barely reacts in time and knocks the ball out of bounds.

"Ignore them!" Sanae commands Hinata, pointing at the crowd, noticing as she did that Ebisu Sensei has gotten himself front row seats and sure as heck doesn't seem to have noticed his village's team hadn't done anything for two *. Sanae wasn't even sure if he was aware a team sport was actually being played. Was that blood gushing out of his nose? Creep.

She felt her rage peak at that and growled in disgust. Hinata gave a small, pathetic little wail and seemed to want to disappear under the sand. "Fine, I guess I made a mistake. I thought you'd want to show Naruto how confident you had become!"

She steps away, returning to the attacker’s position at the net, leaving Hinata to sob alone at the baseline. This time, their opponents serve hard, the ball sailing over Sanae's head and smacking full force into Hinata's chest and face. The Hyuga woman staggers back a few steps in shock, eyes practically glazing over.

Sanae gives a small gasp of annoyance, raising her hands as the ball tumbles through the air, about to land out of bounds. Her hands whipped through the motions practically on auto. Bird, Ox, Dog, Release!

Suddenly, a huge wave of sand *s up from the beach behind Hinata, pushing her and the ball back towards the opponent's half. The sand wave travels through the net, straight into their opponents, blinding both as the ball is carried along above it, landing half buried in the sand at the back of the pitch.

The referee *s his whistle.

"Chakra Foul! No jutsu allowed to carry the ball further than one half! No score!"

"What the hell was that?!! Dumbo!" the red-haired captain called, brushing loose sand out of her eyes and hair. Her partner staggers up beside her, shaking sand out of ears and bikini top. There is a brief respite as two earth style Jonin attendants mould the court back into its officially determined shape.

Hinata starts to walk away. Sanae sighs, chasing up to her.

<cont...>

<cont. from above>

"Look, I'm sorry I shouted. Its just... I want to show everyone that I'm more than just my body, ok? Everyone treats me like a full adult, ‘cause I look the way I do, and sure, I might use that to my advantage all the time, but that's not who I am. I don't want to be remembered as a shameless flirt, the dumb, big-*ed * who covets male attention! I want to show the world, that I am the strongest ninja in my class! I mean, sure, Naruto will one day be hokage, that is his dream, but me, I just want to be known as the Wind Sanin! I don't want to be remembered as an exhibitionist, someone who plays on male expectation all the time and uses my body to get what I want. I know, being here, wearing... this," she tugs the strap of her bikini top, snapping it back for emphasis. "This isn't what I want to be remembered for, that I look good as a ninja pin-up! Neither should you. In fact, I respect you for not wanting to show off your amazing body to the world all the time. Less experienced me could have learnt a lot from that. But, Hinata, you have to see, that if we constantly lower ourselves to their level..." Sanae gestures to the crowd where Ebisu Sensei and a few other men are watching, "and expect that to be the way, then it always will be! You know what Naruto would want you to do? He'd want you to own your own body! You look * hot in this outfit, I'm sure every hot-blooded beach boy out there is trying to pluck up the courage to ask you out right now, but that is NOT what this is about. We are here to win, because we are here to compete. We are athletes, we are ninja and we deserve respect right now for what we are doing. We are representing Konoha! I chose you not because you look great in a bikini, but because I know you are one of the best taijutsu practitioners amongst ALL the Konoha kunoichi! I want your skills and your keen eyes, your body is just the package it comes in, ok? Now I know this was a stitch up for us ahead of time but look at them."

Sanae gestures at their opponents huddled up trying to wash sand out of their mouths, and then at the other courts where girls, women, are playing, having fun competing and showing the crowd what great sport looks like.

"This is why we are here. What we wear is practical for the sport at hand, we are, after all, on a beach right now, but it doesn't define us! Embrace yourself, realise that the gifts you have been given are more than just your appearance. See inside yourself, see the warrior I know you are, the defender of the Hyuga, and of Konoha! For my village, I stand tall and proud... won't you stand with me?"

She holds out her hand, hopeful, a smile of reassurance on her face. Hinata stops shaking, looking down at the hand offered to her.

"Want to know something else? I wanted baseball. You'd have been great at that as well. Next time though. I'll bat, you catch. Deal?"

A brief smile and a short laugh escape Hinata's lips. She takes the hand.

"Deal."

"Now let’s beat these two foul-mouthed tramps!"

The pitch reassembled, the players take their positions. Locking eyes with her opponent, Sanae hears Hinata from behind mutter "For Naruto."

The serve is solid, Hinata feeding it cleanly to Sanae this time who goes for the spike but is blocked at the last second by a smart dodge as the opponent side-steps so fast she almost blurs. Hinata manages to get under the returned ball and sends it high, the red-haired kunoichi leaping high for a chakra assisted spike of her own. Sanae sends a quick gust of wind out to slow the ball, allowing Hinata time to get underneath the ball enough.

"Air Palm!" Hinata shouts, her chakra-assisted * funnelling a wind tunnel of her own, pushing the ball back up over the net. Sanae brings her hand down hard at the apex of its curve, slamming it past the opposing blockers.

"Konoha now trail 3 to 4! Next serve!" the referee calls. Their opponents notice the shift in attitude, and their captain gives her team mate a slight nod before serving the ball slow and high. Sanae predicted the side-step from the team-mate as Hinata sends it back equally high and slow, a small ball of rapidly spinning chakra forming in the palm of her hand. She just about manages to supress the urge to yell 'Rasengan!' at the top of her voice before driving the ball down hard for their second point.

No longer doubting their opponent's aptitude, the Kumogakure pair up their game, pressuring Sanae and Hinata in their comeback. Each team fights hard and more earnestly, the points climbing up in Kumogakure's favour, Konoha managing each time to pull it back and tie only to be one-upped again. The game goes to time, the crowd on its feet.

"Kumogakure match point! Konoha to serve!" the referee calls. Sanae takes up position, readying to serve the ball hard and low into the weak-side gap. Willing up a little chakra, she guidess the wind currents around the court to carry the ball straight to her target, spinning the air inside the ball to turn the volleyball itself into a weak form of the Rasengan, judging her training to get it to the point where it would become harder than normal but not over-pressure and burst, planning to have it hurtle through the air like a bullet. Ready, she heaves the now heavy with chakra ball towards her opponent's half. The extra spin causes it to loop around behind their defence. Sanae smiles, guiding it into a perfect ace with last minute chakra control.

"Lightning Style, Searing Pain Cacophony!"

The light on the other side of the court suddenly blazes into intense whiteness that is painful to the eyes. Sanae gasps in pain as her vision flashes white, then red, then yellow then green then back to white, over and over. She hears the thud of the ball hitting the sand before the sound is magnified a hundred thousand times, over and over.

Hinata shouts out in pain as she too is blinded, adding to the rolling noise in a deafening crescendo just as the score equalises. Sanae staggers back, trying to shake the stars out of her eyes and raise her voice to protest the referee, or bring up her own justsu but even the sound of her own breath in her throat sends daggers of pain stabbing into her tortured ear drums. Its their serve. She tries to signal to the referee to pause the match, seemingly unable to even speak more than a whisper without blinding pain. The echoing sound of a fist hitting rubber sends new waves of pounding sensation through her mind. The flashes in her eyes roll into blurry vision, tears stinging. Even the sound of the wind howling as the ball passes through it is enough to nearly make Sanae double over. "Help..." she manages to croak.

"BYAKUGAN! YAK GAN! YAK GAN! YAK GAN! YAK GAN!..." Hinata's cry thundered over and over. "EIGHT TRIGRAMS FWORTYOOOALMS-UGAN-UGAN-UGAN-EIGHTTRI-YAK-GAN..."

Sanae screamed out in pain and agony as her mind pounded with the overload. A meaty slap across her face sent her spiralling to the ground

"RELEASE! LEASE-LEase-Lease-lease-ease-es-es-es...."

The echoes in her ears fade away. Tears streamed down her face, her mouth tasted blood from her Hinata's slap had caused her to bite her own tongue. Images coalesced out of the flashing multi-coloured fog, the genjutsu broken by her partner's careful timing.

Hinata stood in the middle of the pitch, her steps flowing like water, arms fully extended. Each time the ball came back towards their half, she literally flowed to intercept it, sending it back hard and high, yet unable to jump up in time to spike it. An impenetrable defence, testing the offence of the two Kumogakure nin as they swore and struggled to land a shot. One of them paused to charge chakra and lightning began to criss-cross the sand of the pitch, walking towards Hinata like some sort of living, crackling electrical net. Another hard shot returned. Hinata, veins bulging about her eyes as she used chakra-sight to see passed her own blindness, turned to see the approaching problem, unable to do much more than dance over it, trying to avoid the trap. The ball came down again hard, Sanae realising Hinata was tracing the residual chakra left by her inner-ball rasengan to find her target in their blinded state. Hinata's left foot caught the lightning net, just as her left fist bounded the ball back high. The net raced to cover Hinata, stopping her in mid kata.

One chance.

Sanae made the sign of the bird, pulling her hand sign close to her face, willing the pain and the disorientation to go away.

"Wind Style. Dance of Impetus!" she breathed. Wind rushed past her ears and inside of her, cleansing her body, her tiredness and fatigue melting away, taking all the pain and disorientation with it. The lightning cage crackling around Hinata immediately abated, dispelled by the sudden surge of wind chakra. Freed, Hinata leapt, meeting the other team's return in mid-air. The resulting joust saw Hinata the victor, her renewed energy smashing both the ball and her opponent into the ground. The referee seemed to take a moment to deliberate before awarding the point to Konoha.

Hinata looked at Sanae, all shyness and embarrassment from earlier gone. Determination and resolve burned bright in her eyes. Sanae smiled back, wolfishly. No one beats Konoha kunoichi when they are in that mind set. Their opponents stood shaken, unsure how their perfectly timed combination attack had gone so wrong. They had nothing left in the tank.

<cont...>

<cont. from above>

The final serve. Sanae had been waiting all match for this moment, sure that her trump card would be a one-shot advantage, a move easily second guessed if used again. Hinata stepped back, suddenly three extra Sanae's appearing in front her before the net, ready to aid. They heaved, hurling Hinata up, much higher into the air. Sanae's original body neatly passes the ball up high. Twin lion heads of burning chakra spring up around Hinata's hands.

The final air palm sends the ball down so hard and so fast it buries it deep into the sand more than a metre beneath the Cloud Captain's feet. Konoha wins, 2 sets to 1, final set score 15-13.

The crowd erupts in cheers. The Kumogakure kunoichi just stare in disbelief for a moment. There is an audible '*' as Sanae dismisses her clones. The red-haired captain of Kunogakure steps forwards to the net, hand outstretched.

"Not bad Konoha. Can't touch the ball with Shadow Clones, nothing in the rules says you can't touch your team mate. Respect. Sorry about what we said earlier, you guys really can play."

Sanae smiles as she takes her opponent's hand and gives it a shake.

"Apology accepted."

"That was nice." Hinata adds as she sidles up next to her. Sanae gives her a congratulatory hug, squeezing her tight. The difference in her attitude speaks volumes, happily standing tall without a care in the world.

"I knew you'd come through. For Konoha."

"For Naruto." she replies with a smile. Sanae just laughs, loud and proud.

-END-