Chūnin Exams (XI).

"Okaa-san, I didn't expect you to come."

A small, genuine smile sneaked on Mikoto's face at the honest surprise in her son's voice. It wasn't easy to get him by surprise, making her savour the experience whenever it happened.

"Of course I came! How could you think I would miss this? It's a very important moment in your life, after all."

"I just thought you would be too busy, that's all. I'm sorry."

She naturally knew the real reason for why he hadn't expected her. As the matriarch of Konoha's strongest and most prominent clan, she would make for a precious hostage, especially because she also had a Kekkei Genkai. Naturally, there were also some darker and more unsavoury reasons for why other villages could have an interest in her, but she preferred not to think too much about that.

"I do have a lot to do," she agreed, going on with the front they were presenting to anyone that might be listening. "But I convinced your father to take my share during my absence. Let's see if he still thinks them 'easier' and 'less important' than his when we return home, shall we?"

She counted the widening of his smile as a win. "Hopefully he will not be too cross with you for forcing him to do all the accounting."

"Ah," a third voice cut in. "If I remember correctly, Fugaku-san always struggled a bit with numbers. How cruel of you to force this upon him, Mikoto-san."

"It's important to face your weaknesses to overcome them, Hokage-sama," she replied with a slight bow. "He will come out of this stronger than before, I'm sure."

She was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to hear her son's female teammate whispering "your mum is so cool!" into his ear, so she just acted as if she hadn't noticed.

The old man chuckled. "Very true. Now that I think about it, I think my wife said the same every time she forced me to help her with the house." Then he turned towards her son's team. "The Tsuchikage is expecting me, so I have unfortunately no time to talk right now. However, I still would like to hear about your exams so far, so would you mind meeting me later today?"

Although it wasn't formulated as an order, there was no doubt that they would agree. After all, you didn't simply deny a request from your kage.

"Of course, Hokage-sama."

"Wonderful. I will send someone for you once my meeting is over." He turned back towards her. "Mikoto-san, take the rest of the day off. It will be enough if you resume your duties tomorrow."

She bowed again. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Maybe it would be 'the right thing' to decline and continue doing her job, but the very reason she had accepted to act as one of his bodyguards during the final exam was to talk to and see her son. As he said, it would be enough if she took a break for today. Besides, she was hardly his only guard.

Mikoto was aware of the hostile glances thrown in their direction, so she thought it was probably best to get out of sight. Not that she was afraid anything would actually happen, but such an atmosphere was hardly suitable for a family reunion.

"Why don't you show me the place you're staying at?" she asked. "And maybe your assigned trainings-ground as well? I might be able to give you a pointer or two if you don't mind?"

"Well, we will leave you two-" her son's male teammate started, but she didn't let him finish.

"Nonsense. You're more than welcome to join us. I'm sure I can help you two as well."

They were obviously uncomfortable at the thought, but neither of them disagreed.

You couldn't just deny a simple request from your kage, but denying a mother was almost even harder. Besides, after dealing with stubborn members of her clan all her life, she was more than capable of speaking in a manner that didn't allow any objection. A trait which motherhood had only enhanced.

"On that note, there is something I have for you," she continued before fetching something from her pocket. "Before we departed, I went to your parents, Yukio, and asked them if they wanted me to deliver a message for them, seeing as they can't come in person to watch you fight." She then handed him the letter.

"Wow," he replied with a big smile before bowing to her, his previous awkwardness forgotten. "Thank you, Uchiha-san. That really means a lot to me."

She smiled at him for a moment before turning to Itachi. "I'm also supposed to tell you from your father that he has absolute trust in your success. I tried to make him wish you 'good luck' as well, but you know how he is. He insisted you wouldn't need it." Which was so typical for her stubborn husband. It was almost adorable at times, really. "Shisui, Izumi, and Sasuke were not so insistence, however. They also want me to let you know that they expect you to return with nothing less than a new flak jacket."

"They would say that, yes," Itachi chuckled, genuine amusement shining in his eyes. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

"Oh, there was also this young girl, Haku, who came to our house just hours after you left. Apparently, she wanted to wish you good luck as well."

That seemed to surprise him. "She did?"

"She looked rather disappointed that she missed you. You should thank her when we return."

It had been a little off-putting how well the girl could hide her sadness behind a smile, though. Her mask had been good, even for a child that grew up in a clan. She didn't tell her son that she had invited the girl for dinner that night, or that she went shopping with her the next day.

Mikoto wouldn't exchange her children for anything in the world, but it would be a lie if she said she didn't wish for a daughter when she found out she was pregnant for the second time. Her first child, the heir, should be a boy -a girl could be the heir as well, of course, but the Uchiha Clan traditionally preferred boys above girls- but the gender didn't matter much for the second one.

Maybe she should arrange for another trip with her when they returned home? She could invite Izumi and her mother as well, making a girls' day out of it. When she was already at it, she could ask Anko to come as well.

Speaking of Anko, the dark look in her eyes vanished as soon as it appeared, but not before Mikoto noticed it. It was unfortunate, but in these days, so soon after the last war and the Nine-Tails attack both, there were many orphans in the village, and she thanked all the gods she knew that both she and her husband had survived it. The thought of leaving her children behind chilled her more than she could put into words.

"I hope these two don't give you too much grief," she addressed the girl while pointing at her two teammates. "I know how troublesome boys can be, no matter how hard their parents try to educate them. Sometimes they need a strong hand to lead them."

Anko had apparently not expected to be spoken to since they were talking about family, but she recovered quickly. "Nah, they have more common sense than most. A chop to the head or two is usually enough to beat some sense into them."

"Then you're luckier than most," she laughed. "I will still cheer for you during your fight, though. We women need to stick together, don't we?"

Her eyes went wide for a second before she quickly looked away, cheeks suspiciously red. "Thank you, Uchiha-san."

"Please, call me Mikoto," she corrected her gently. "Also, Izumi sends you her best wishes as well. I think she might look up to you a bit since you met at Itachi's birthday."

It might not be as good as well-wishes from your family, but it was the best thing she could offer. And anyway, most people considered their teammates as an extension of their family, she had certainly done so with Kushina. They were her son's teammates and as such, in a manner of speaking, her family as well.

All awkwardness from the beginning was forgotten as they walked towards their lodgings, their conversation turning towards more light-hearted topics.

"I see," he said as he took another puff from his pipe. "So Oonoki tried to manipulate the results of the exam, huh?"

It was not exactly surprising, unfortunately. Itachi lacked information in that regard, having only participated in a single Chūnin Exam before which also happened to be in Konoha and not having not been involved in the organization of another one, but Hiruzen knew his fellow kage well enough. Such an act of manipulation had been predictable, but there wasn't anything he could do about it as long as there was no proof. The Genin could have come up with it themselves for all they knew and that would be exactly what Oonoki would claim if confronted about it.

Well, it seemed as if the plan had failed anyway, so it didn't matter anymore.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Anko said. "We overheard some of them talking about it and also talked with other teams who had heard the same."

So several villages would be annoyed with Iwa for the foreseeable future. Maybe it would be a good idea to use this common ground to begin a conversation or two about alliances? He doubted anything tangible would come out of it, but even something simple as an agreement on better trade deals would be helpful.

"You should have gotten a good look at your competition," he continued. "What do you think about your chances in this tournament?"

"All of them are pretty good," Yukio answered for them. "But we're confident that we could win against most of them without too much struggle. There are only two people that might be a real problem."

"Only two?" he asked good-naturedly. "That's very confident of you. And who might these two be?"

"One is the leader of the team from Amegakure," Anko continued. "His name is Mezo. He's confident and charismatic. He was also the closest thing to a leader our group had during the exam and no one challenged him on that. We weren't able to observe many of his fights, but when we did, he was easily dominating his opponents. He was also still uninjured by the time we passed as well."

"That's very impressive," he agreed. Both Yukio and Anko had been injured, even though it had been only small cuts. Itachi had none, though, but that was only fair; he had far more experience than anyone else in these exams. "And the other one?"

"The female member of the team from Kumo," Itachi said. "Her name is Yugito Nii. Her two teammates aren't weak either, but she is on a completely different level. Just like Mezo, she has come out of the second exam without as much as a cut. Even her clothes survived without taking any damage. From what we have seen of her abilities, it wouldn't be wrong to say that she is the greatest threat in this exam."

Yugito Nii, he thought. I recognize that name. Not only from his conversations with Itachi but also from the general information he as Hokage had access to. The Jinchūriki of the Two-Tails, wasn't it? Yes, that would definitively be a problem.

It would honestly be a surprise if anyone in this tournament could beat her. Itachi was strong, yes, and had more experience, but there was still a limit to what he could do at his current age. He could win if he used some of his most powerful techniques, but not only did they want to keep them a secret, it would also be stupid to permanently damage one of Kumogakure's Jinchūriki like that.

"I see," he said again. "So, what do you think your chances are to come out of this victorious?"

There was a short break before Anko answered. "Slim, Hokage-sama," she said without hiding how unhappy she was about this confession. "We held back our true abilities, of course, but it's likely that the others did so as well. All of us could probably beat Mezo, but if what we have seen from Yugito was her while holding back, she would probably win a confrontation."

He hummed thoughtfully. "Remember, you don't need to win to be promoted. All that matters are the abilities you demonstrate during the exam." And to admit your own inferiority, to stay objective even when you didn't like it, was an important skill a Chūnin needed to possess.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

"Yukito," he turned towards the boy. "You will face her in your first bout, so that will be your only opportunity to show off. Make the best of it."

His face darkened as he nodded. "I will not disappoint you, Hokage-sama."

"I know you will not," he replied with a warm smile. "Now, I think it's time for you to return to your quarters for tonight. You need to be rested for tomorrow, after all."

He couldn't help but be a little excited about the next day. These exams had always interesting fights between the next generation to offer, and seeing the youth of your village showing off their skills never ceased to be refreshing.