A/N: Now, I thought I'd give you guys a bit of an explanation for the training that takes place in this chapter. I was going to skip over it so I didn't have to do this, but then I decided that just moving on to the exams would miss out on chances to show you guys a bit closer how difficult it was for Hisoka to become as proficient in sensing as you guys all know he is.

Sensing, however, isn't expounded upon that thoroughly in the Naruto 'verse. It's believed, according to the wiki, that most people are born with the ability, it's just a matter of how much of the ability they have and how thoroughly they train it. That's about the extent of it that I could find, however, so I've decided to take my liberties with how he does it. Hope it makes sense to you guys!

For the first time in his life, Hisoka had to work. He actually wasn't that certain about how he felt about this matter.

Sensing didn't come as naturally as he'd hoped.

There was that nagging edge to the work, the edge that was always there. The one that said if he could see- if the nothing wasn't the only thing around him- then he would be able to continue doing everything that had come so natural to him. Sometimes, it wasn't such a small, nagging voice. When he was at home, alone, he felt as if everything would be easier if he just stayed in bed. If he stayed in bed, he didn't have to strain his senses. He didn't have to reach out desperately and half of the time feel nothing.

He'd get up anyway. Pull on the clothes that someone laid out for him and strap on his weapons' pouch despite the hesitation his mother had displayed in allowing him to wield weapons as he was. He'd slowly make his way down the stairs, feeling out each step before he took it. Falling before training always signaled a difficult day. It was hard to be hopeful when you've failed at something even your baby sister can manage.

When he went for the door, he'd sometimes feel eyes on him. He'd pause, wait for the person to speak. More often than not, it'd be his mother offering him a bento before he left. Sometimes, however...

"Niisan?"

Shaking his head so that his bangs firmly blocked his eyes from view, Hisoka spun to face her. To him, everything was nothing-ness. She, however, was anything but nothing. Just inside the open living-room door she'd sprawled out on the floor, a book laid out before her. Her golden blonde hair fell about her face in slightly frizzy strands. Her face had begun to lose the toddler feel it'd once had and shifted into little-kid, crystal clear blue-eyes trained on him. The book itself was a mixture of simple symbols and pictures of handsigns.

"Hey, kiddo."

For a moment, an awkward silence slipped between them. Then, an easy smile on her lips, Kazue jumped to her feet and- with unnecessarily loud footsteps- moved forward to hug her brother.

"Training?"

He simply nodded, patting her back with one hand, his other moving to tug on his long bangs.

"Yup. What about you?"

"Okaasan is gonna take me to Noriaki's," she announced matter-of-factly. "We're going to practice with kunai. Nori-kun said there's no way I can hit the center yet!"

Amusement flickered across Hisoka's face.

"And you can?"

"I can," she insisted instantly.

Ignoring the bitter feeling that sprung in response- how once upon a time he would have dared her to show him- Hisoka simply offered Kazue a small smile.

"That's pretty great," he assured her. "I'm sure Nori-kun will be impressed."

Pleased, Kazue released him and responded to the smile with a beaming expression of her own.

"I know he will be!" she said.

Ruffling her hair, he nodded his agreement and moved towards the door.

"I'll see you later, then. Tell me all about it when I get back, alright?"

"Alright! Good luck, Niisan!"

_________________________________

Splotches of color invaded the nothing. His breath picked up, hands snapping up to block the oncoming blow. The flash of color disappeared as quickly as it'd appeared, leaving him confused. He didn't drop his arm, hoping that perhaps he'd simply lost track of the movement, not that his sensei had suddenly shifted track as he suspected.

The splotches weren't color as he remembered it. Not bright and vibrant, but something else. Hisoka used the word color to refer to what he saw when he picked up on chakra simply because he couldn't think of a better word for it. After all, how did someone describe something invading the nothing that he had difficulty describing as well. For someone who didn't see what he saw, it would be impossible. He doubted that he was sensing chakra in the same manner as someone else might.

Then again, perhaps he was sensing it more accurately this way. There was nothing to distract from the chakra when the chakra was all he saw. Then there was the matter that being able to "see" behind him wasn't as strange as it might have been typically. His range, when he was able to grasp onto the signatures, had been turned into 360 degrees around his form. There was no attacking him from behind any longer.

He just had to keep ahold of the signatures.

Suddenly, the color flared to life once more as Kazuki's foot smashed into his side, stealing the breath from his lungs and causing Hisoka to lose his footing. He could only feel thankful that they were currently in the center of the training area, otherwise he probably would have crashed into a tree as he tumbled head over heels. His expression even, Kazuki simply watched as Hisoka slowly picked himself off and brushed off his body. With a slightly annoyed look, the boy rubbed his scraped elbow, absently wondering how bad the small bit of blood he could feel touch his fingers actually was.

"How'd you do that? It was there, then it wasn't," he demanded.

Kazuki waited for the boy to join him in the center of the clearing again before carefully picking how to explain how he'd done. He'd realized rather quickly throughout their training sessions that the good-natured Hisoka had developed a limit for how much injury to his ego he could handle in a day. It was understandable- not that he was about to voice his opinion on the matter. The kid had gone from being a genius who never had to really work at anything to being someone who could do the same thing ten times in a row and still not understand what he was doing wrong.

His photographic memory did nothing for him if he couldn't see a thing.

"I muted my signature to about the level I think the average genin can manage," he answered simply. "Obviously, it's still above your level to be able to see past that."

Hisoka scowled, rubbing his elbow once again.

"Obviously," he grumbled.

"You need to focus on that sensation," Kazuki continued, ignoring the sarcastic tone in Hisoka's response. "Your body knows how to fight. I'm not making any tricky movements right now. Don't think about your reactions for now, focus on sensing. Send out your-"

"Mind and focus on outside my body," Hisoka cut in. "I know. I know."

Kazuki's lips twitched.

"If you know so much, then let's go again. I'll throw a harder blow, don't let it hit."

Hisoka bit the inside of his cheek, the sharp pain focusing his thoughts away from the sudden frustration that flickered through him. If he missed this, he'd have even worse bruises than before. He needed to focus on that. Perhaps snapping at a man that had already proven himself to have a short temper wasn't the best plan in the world.

Instead of apologizing, however, he simply took a deep breath and dropped his hands to his sides. As he'd learned, he took a few more deep breaths, calming his heart rate and summoning his chakra much like he would if he'd been going to perform medical ninjutsu. He'd learned early on that by applying his own chakra to the air around him, it magnified his sensing ability. It'd been the first difficult part of this training. His nature, like the rest of the Asari clan, was water. He'd learned, however, that the water naturally in the air made this step a bit easier than it might have been otherwise.

This time, he allowed more of his chakra to melt into the air around him, relaxing slightly as Kazuki's signature flared to life in front of him. There wasn't a good way to describe the feeling of suddenly seeing something. It wasn't something he'd have ever considered special before now. The best description perhaps being a match in pitch-black lighting.

"Ready."

Without warning, Kazuki sprung forward, his hand whipping towards Hisoka's face. The flash of color flickered through the nothing, enabling him to spring back, his feet catching the earth in a manner similar to the grace he'd once moved with.

Not giving him a chance to celebrate the small victory, Kazuki flashed his foot forward in the same path he'd used before and Hisoka snapped out a hand to grab it. Last second, the signature disappeared. Shoving more of his chakra into the air, Hisoka twisted to the side, just he barely managed to gasp onto the signature again as it swept his feet from beneath him.

A swear escaped his lips as his back hit the dirt.

"Better, but still not good enough. Again."

He drug himself up, repeating the ritual as he pulled the chakra into view. Within moments, he'd found himself tumbling head-over-heels once more. With his usual lack of sympathy, Kazuki ordered him up. Biting back the uncharacteristically sharp, sarcastic response that sprung to mind, he complied once more.

Perhaps the irritation at Kazuki- at himself- was what enabled him to keep ahold of the signature this time. He ignored how the nothingness usually demanded him to focus on his footing, on the sound of the world around him, and simply focused on the spark of Kazuki's signature.

This time when the foot crashed into his side, he caught it with his hand, making him skid back but enabling him to stay on his feet. The small upwards twist of Kazuki's lips was lost on Hisoka as he struck at the bend of his sensei's leg. Before he could land a blow, however, the limb was easily ripped from his grasp as Kazuki leapt backwards. Snapping a hand down to his weapons' pouch, he tugged a kunai free and flung it at the center of the signature.

A chuckle hit the air as Kazuki easily snatched it from the air. Instead of flinging it back as he might have done with anyone else, he simply dropped his hand to his side, studying the boy before him.

"Now you just need to be able to do that quicker. No one in the exams is going to wait for you to be ready before attacking. You need to be able to find my signature instantly, no matter the situation."

Hisoka knew what the next words would be before they'd even begun to leave Kazuki's lips.

"Again."

__________________

Before he knew it, days had turned to weeks.

It wasn't until the day before they would leave that he agreed to a joint practice with his teammates. After all, it was shinobi like them he'd be fighting, not Kazuki. He had the man's motions almost memorized by this point- although he had the distinct idea that the man was holding back- and fighting someone different would be a better judgement of his new skill than a final practice with their new sensei.

When he began to square off with Hikari, however, he could practically feel the hesitation coming off of her in waves. With a sigh, he gave her a cheeky smile that in no way reflected the butterflies commanding his stomach.

"What's the problem, Hika-chan? I thought you'd be pretty happy to get the chance to kick my ass. Then again, maybe you're scared that I'll still be able to pin you in two-seconds flat."

In his mind, he could see the adorable, angry blush that would light up her cheeks. He'd always loved seeing how that- combined with the childish, almost pouting twist of her lips she would often display- softened the annoyed expressions she would usually be giving him. The sudden huff of air she let out told him that he'd been right, she was probably bright red at that moment.

"I'm not scared, Hiso-kun!"

Amusement flickered across his face.

"Really? Cause I think you are."

To the side, he imagined Miki would be silently rolling her eyes. Perhaps, though, it wouldn't be in a completely disapproving manner. She didn't usually disapprove of their bickering unless there was something important going on. Then again, she might consider this important. He edited his mental picture of her expression to the slight change of her expression that she was only a few smart comments on his end from hitting him on the back of his head.

Kazuki... he didn't know the man well enough to create a mental image of his expression.

"Hiso- fine, whatever!" she snapped. "Let's start."

Amusement washing through him, Hisoka shifted into a ready position. As slipped his chakra into the air, an action that had become almost second nature to him, he froze. Instead of three signatures, he felt six. His head snapped to the side, eyes flickering open as if it would tell him exactly who perched in the trees near them. He developed his sensing ability, but that didn't mean that he'd managed to memorize the chakra natures of everyone in the village. Not yet, at least. He had full intentions of attempting to do so in the future.

At the most, he could pick Kakashi out of the three mystery observers. Helplessly, and a bit bitterly, he allowed his eyes to slid shut once again as he cocked his head in Hikari's direction.

"Who's with Kakashi-kun?"

Hikari didn't respond right away- giving him the idea that perhaps she hadn't noticed them either. A second later he noted the shift of the flare of color that was her head as she shook it. He couldn't help the excited feeling that fluttered through him. When he was focusing like this... it was almost like he could see again.

"I don't..."

"Tenzo and Uchiha Itachi," Miki answered.

He blinked a few times, about to ask how she knew them if Hikari didn't, but then shook his head instead of asking. Of course Miki knew who they were. If they were people Kakashi knew, she would know them. It was as simple as that.

The signatures dropped from the tree the moment she spoke and approached their small group. They only stopped upon drawing even with where Kazuki stood. Memorizing the feel of their chakra, he turned his inquisitive expression to Hikari once again.

"Which one's the Uchiha?"

"Furthest from Kazuki-sensei," she replied instantly.

Lining up the feels of their chakra signatures with their names, Hisoka nodded to himself.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked.

Instead of the three observers responding, it was Kazuki who gave them the answer.

"They'll be coming with us, so they wanted to see what you could do. Now, get started."

Picking up on the slightly impatient tone of Kazuki's voice, Hisoka gave in and shifted once again into a ready position. As he focused, he pulled to mind what he remembered about Hikari's fighting style. She was fast and focused on combining her speed with her strange ability to adapt to most any weapon put before her. Unfortunately, no amount of chakra sensing would tell him if she had any unusual weapons on her.

"Start."

She snapped forward, her hand dropping to her leg. Knowing she was going for her weapons' pouch, he paused for a moment to ensure she'd gripped the weapons before jumping back, a bit of satisfaction flashing through him as the thud of the weapons against the earth reached his ears. He'd managed to avoid the first attack.

He lunged towards her, not giving her a moment to think through her next actions as he flashed through a movement of kicks and punches, knowing that she wouldn't expect him to be able to pinpoint her exactly. Each was met with the usual speed of her blocks, the soft sting of blow against blow decorating his sensitive skin.

This time it was her who twisted out of the way, a flash of pain crossing his arm as some unseen weapon cut into the flesh. He didn't pause, flicking a leg out and catching it around her ankle to shift her off balance. As she stumbled, he struck out with his injured arm, his hand crashing into her chest and stealing the breath from her lungs.

Using that moment to drop his hand to his side and pull a smoke bomb from his pouch, he set it off, a smile flickering across his lips. Being blind had it's advantages, now he could "see" and she couldn't. Coughing hit the air, Hikari attempting to draw air into her lungs after his blow and meeting only smoke. Taking advantage of this, he shifted behind her, locking one arm around her collarbone and preparing to slip out a kunai to end the fight right there.

He was shocked as she suddenly flung her elbow black, slamming it against his ribcage and sending a flash of pain through his frame. Before he could recover, she'd spun around, lifting her leg up and skimming his side with the hell of her shoe as he flung himself back in an attempt to avoid the blow. Sucking in a breath to avoid the hiss of pain that threatened to escape his lips, he lunged forward instead of retreating any further, seizing the leg and tugging it towards him to pull her off balance.

It did the trick, even if she managed to snatch it from his grasp within a second of his catching it. Within seconds he'd managed to land consecutive blows to her chest and shoulder, unsteadying her even further.

The next kick he landed sent her crashing to the ground.

Not giving Hikari a moment to recover, he leapt forward, sliding his kunai to place against her neck as he settled a knee against her ribs.

"Told you I'd still be able to take you down."

"Jerk."

The sting of her word was stolen away by the pride of her tone.

It'd seem that she was just as proud of Hisoka as he was of her. It'd never taken that long for him to defeat her before.

Somehow, she'd improved without him knowing. Instead of being unsettling as he'd thought the idea would have been, he felt something akin to pleasure. After-all, if she was improving, that meant she wouldn't need him to protect her.

It meant he could handle this situation a bit easier than he'd be able to do otherwise.

"Looks like you're ready," Kazuki said. "We leave at dawn tomorrow."