Edit: Hey guys; I kinda rewrote parts of this chapter as 'pick-ups', as they call it in the movie business. (Not that I'm in the movie business, but I listen to a lot of directors' commentaries.) Sorry if you've read this chapter already; it's nothing world-changingly new, but I think what I've put in makes the chapter better. So here is Chapter Three, again.
Hey, you guys! Sorry I haven't updated for so long; I was busy with university work. Well, contrary to what the first two chapters might have suggested, this will indeed be an Adventure fic and not just fluffy NaruHina romance. There'll be friendship, action, romance, explosions, new jackets and more!
So, I present to you, the next chapter of…The Sun Kunoichi.
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Chapter Three:
Divergence
There are concepts in worlds that are as old as existence itself. They repeat themselves over and over in cycles, rising and falling, like the very breath of reality. They are common to all worlds, all places where anything lives. Death, love, joy and sorrow are ones you may know of; others are beyond the scope of my ability to explain.
But there is another concept. It is not one that you would see or hear or taste or even experience in this world. It is not a thing that could happen in this place, or even the other worlds that brush up against ours from time to time. It is not a concept that many places could sustain.
But in that world, that place, where all that happens here is not mere words, the Concept lives.
And sometimes, it awakens.
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It was the day after the genin exams, but Hinata was not celebrating. Shuffling through Konoha's busy streets alone, the quiet dark blue-haired girl tried to smile and nod politely when she passed others, but she couldn't quite bring herself to do it.
She had passed the exams well enough. In terms of the written test she was one of the highest-ranked students, and she had performed all ninjutsu admirably. Her taijutsu score was quite low, however; she had only won one of her two matches, and that was because she'd been lucky enough to fight Ino Yamanaka. The cold stare and silent acceptance when she had told her minders of her success had hurt Hinata, but the real pain came before when she watched Naruto Uzumaki sitting on the swings, alone and isolated from everybody else.
I wish Anko was here, thought Hinata. She would know what to do now.
The older kunoichi had told Hinata that she would return from her mission on the day of the genin exams, but Anko had not been present in the crowd of parents and students that had gathered out in the schoolyard. Hinata supposed that Anko might not want to talk to the other parents – she was not particularly eloquent in small talk – but she had at least hoped her adoptive older sister might meet up with her after the crowds had disappeared. Alone, Hinata didn't think she had the courage to approach Naruto, to tell him that he was the greatest person she knew, even if he didn't pass the exams. If Anko had been there…
…and yet, Naruto had disappeared swiftly as the wind the second time Hinata got a chance to look at him. He had been such a huge part of her life since the day she had beaten Shikamaru and realised how important Naruto was to her, and now she had lost him. When even Naruto's endless optimism and energy couldn't make him a ninja, how could she do it?
Walking silently down the street, Hinata Hyuga would have completed her circuit of Konoha, then returned to the Hyuga compound. She would have found out that Naruto did pass the exams (in a sense) in a few days, and she would have been happy, even if it was only for a moment. She would have sadly resigned herself to only seeing him occasionally, and she would have spent the next few months as she was now –disheartened and meek.
But that day, there was a gust of wind.
All it took was a few seconds, but the gust that swept through Konoha waved open a pair of curtains, and swiftly the orange light of sunset flooded Naruto's room to the point where further sleep was impossible. It ended as soon as it began, the wind dying down again quickly, but the change was made.
Naruto should have slept for much longer, but here, he woke up.
Arrgh! thought Naruto as he rubbed his eyes. What's wrong? I'm not wearing my pyjamas or my sleepy-hat!
Naruto pulled his hand out from under his back, and realised he was still wearing his clothes from last night. That alone was unusual; ever since Sakura Haruno had teased him for not owning pyjamas on the first day of school, he had steadfastly changed into them every night, although a niggling feeling in the back of his mind insisted that he could sleep in longer the next day if he just wore his daytime-clothes to bed. He worriedly felt his forehead for his trademark goggles, but his hand was left wanting, his forehead covered only by a smooth strip of cloth and metal.
…Cloth and metal?!
Eyes widening, Naruto sat bolt upright, threw off the covers that Iruka had carefully tucked him into, and dashed to his bathroom mirror. His reflection stared back at him, its skin and hair dirty but with no visible scratches. Upon his head was a Leaf Village headband, glinting in the fading light of the day like a crown. Seeing the Leaf symbol in that dazed state between consciousness and sleep suddenly brought Naruto to life again, and he remembered everything that had happened last night.
He'd beaten Mizuki, saved Iruka and returned the scroll. He'd proven them all wrong. He'd cleared the first massive step to becoming Hokage.
The resulting "WOOHOO!" could be heard from the opposite side of the village.
Rushing out to the balcony outside his house, Naruto shouted to the streets below:
"I'M A NINJA! A REAL NINJA! IN YOUR FACE, KONOHA!"
The crowd below either ignored Naruto's bellowing or jeered nastily at him, but he ignored them out of habit and instead focused on the one person far below that seemed to be happy about his success. A short girl with dark blue hair that had been walking near Naruto's apartment stopped in her tracks and stared up at him, violet eyes radiating happiness.
Naruto! You passed!
Hinata looked up at the small, scruffy-looking boy and truly smiled, for the first time in many days. Gazing up at him peacefully, she was then immediately taken aback by what he did next.
"Hey, Hinata!" he shouted down at her. "I passed!"
He's talking to me! I have to say something.
"G-great, N-Naruto!" she stammered loudly, trying not to blush furiously.
Oh, brilliant, Hinata, shethought. (She was never cuttingly sarcastic to anyone else, but within her own mind she figured it was fair game.)
"Let's get ramen together!" said Naruto.
"W-what?" asked Hinata.
He drooped a little. It figured, of course; he'd been turned down by 'friends' before. Putting on his usual brave attitude, he said:
"Uh, okay, if you don't want to-"
"No!" Hinata shouted. "I m-mean, yes! Yes, I'll get ramen with you!"
All-right! thought Naruto. Of course, I never thought Hinata wouldn't go get ramen with me. Not for a second! She's the nicest person ever!
"Okay!" said Naruto. "I'll be down in a min-"
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, nose twitching a little. Hinata thought this was unbearably adorable and concentrated very hard on not squeeing, while Naruto wondered.
I smell really bad, he thought. I guess that's what happens when you spend a whole night running away from a guy and then you beat him up. Maybe I should shower first…
"-uh, I might need more time," said Naruto, scratching his head. "I kinda stink right now."
Hinata tried to prevent herself from giggling insanely.
"I'm gonna take a shower," Naruto said, "but you can wait in my room 'til I'm done! I'll leave the front unlocked for you!"
He gave the thumbs up. She nodded, lacking the composure to say anything at that point.
N-naruto…showering…
Were Hinata a boy, she would've suffered from a nosebleed. Instead she began to feel lightheaded as Naruto turned and walked back into his room. Annoying as it was for her, this always happened when she had thoughts like this. Breathing in and out slowly, she concentrated on thinking the most un-romantic thoughts possible as she walked up the stairs of the building Naruto's room was in.
Iruka-sensei's lectures…the Hyuga elders playing ping-pong…cinnamon rolls…Naruto covered in cinnammo-NO! Whirling Leaf, Drill Two! Ram, Snake, Tiger! Ram, Snake, Tiger!
Reaching the top of the stairs, Hinata came to an open door. The room it lead to, very much like its owner, smelled of sweat and miso and a very particular type of jacket fabric. Hinata cautiously stepped in. Naruto had invited her to wait there, so it wasn't technically trespassing, but she was still a little nervous.
The apartment was very, very small; Hinata's room was about four times bigger. In it was a table, a fridge and a kettle, with assorted cutlery spread out all over every available horizontal surface. Naruto's dirty clothes lay in a heap, a pile of well-worn textbooks sat in the corner, and a few comic books and other periodicals with names like Real Ninja Stories Magazine were scattered across the floor.
Standing upright next to the fridge, Hinata carefully picked up the closest issue of Real Ninja Stories Magazine and flicked through to one of the stories. It had apparently been written by 'Karui E. Kanshisha', and was filled with the improbable adventures of a rogue ninja called Okachisai of the North.
Hinata began to read the story and quite enjoyed it, despite the overblown narration and omnipresence of underdressed princesses who needed rescuing by Okachisai, but she quickly put the magazine back in its place when she heard Naruto approaching. He was dressed in his usual orange outfit, but she had to admit he looked more grown-up than usual with his Leaf headband affixed firmly to his forehead.
"Sorry that took a while," he said. "I had mud all over me!"
"T-that's alright," said Hinata. "I…read one of your magazines."
It was half making-conversation, half an admission of guilt, but instead of prompting him to say something, it made Naruto look very nervous.
"U-Uh," he said, "which one?"
"R-r-…Real Ninja Stories," she got out.
Naruto visibly relaxed.
"Good," he said. "Yeah, Real Ninja Stories is pretty cool. Do you read it usually?"
"No," she admitted.
"Oh, okay," Naruto said.
He put his hands into his pockets and went to the door, Hinata following. Taking his keys out for the door, he thought aloud:
"Like…if a girl was into Real Ninja Stories though, that'd be the coolest thing ever."
Hinata immediately resolved to take out a subscription.
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Ayame smiled as she served the ramen to the old man, who accepted it with a curt nod and left. She was not happy because he was a good customer; he complained about the service whenever he came to Ichiraku. Her grin was because Ichiraku was making exceptionally good profits lately, maybe even good enough that she might be able to leave for another land soon. Like all teenagers she was yearning to get her own place to live in, perhaps in an entire other city, but she had to sell a lot of noodles to make hiring another hand a real possibility for Teuchi. So she was understandably pleased when Naruto Uzumaki AKA He Who Eats Nothing Else But Ramen showed up, accompanied by what she assumed to be a friend.
"Hi, Ayame!" said Naruto fondly. "I'll have my usual, please. What do you want, Hinata?"
The girl beside him, a Hyuga, mumbled something. He looked confused and leaned in closer to her, while she blushed and looked away. Turning to Ayame again, Naruto asked:
"Ayame, what kind of ramen should Hinata have?"
Ayame cleared her throat. Naruto could be such an idiot!
"Why don't you introduce us, first?"
The realisation hit Naruto's face like a wet, undercooked bun.
"Oh, yeah! Hinata, this is Ayame! She's been selling me ramen for a really long time! And Ayame, this is Hinata Hyuga. She's my classmate."
He nodded, then added:
"Actually, wait, no, she's not my classmate anymore. Now that we're genin, we won't be in the same class anymore, so I guess we're friends!"
His words resonating in her mind, Hinata suddenly felt conflicted by this. Of course, she had realised from the start that they couldn't be in the same class forever, but the reality of it had only just sunk in. Naruto might have passed the genin exams, but that was no guarantee that they'd be placed on the same squad.
Still…he had said that they were friends…
Ayame slapped him lightly on the head for this.
"Don't be stupid!" she said. "Of course you're friends."
She looked to Hinata.
Not like most Hyuga, she thought. For one, she's pretty damn shy. For another, she's actually sort of adorable.
Smiling at the girl, Ayame asked: "Hinata, do you eat much ramen?"
Hinata shook her head. Most elders of the Hyuga considered it a vulgar meal of the masses.
"Alright," Ayame said kindly, "we'll start you off with some shio. It's nice and light."
"Shio?" whined Naruto. "That's baby ramen, Ayame!"
He started to notice Hinata slump in her seat.
Whoops, he thought. I forget how easy it is to make Hinata sad.
"Uh, but, good start!" he said. "Sometimes I eat shio between miso bowls so I taste the miso even more. So it's actually pretty good!"
Hinata nodded quietly.
Man, why's Hinata always so down? he thought. Is it 'cos she doesn't like me? But, when most people don't like me, they look annoyed. Hinata just looks all sad and scared at the same time. I gotta cheer her up!
"Hey," he said, "I didn't mean it about that 'baby ramen' thing."
She nodded, and he continued.
"I mean, you've never even had ramen before! That's really, really amazing!"
He shook his head in disbelief.
"A-amazing?" she asked. Neither she nor anything about her had ever been called 'amazing' by anyone before.
"Yeah!" he confirmed. "I pretty much live off it! Not ever having ramen would be like…"
Suddenly, a thought crossed Naruto's mind, and he stopped beaming so widely. He frowned in perceived disgust and said:
"Wait, would baby ramen be, like, ramen made of babies?"
Naruto immediately covered his mouth with his hand, but it was too late. Hinata's expression was wide-eyed surprise, even more expressive thanks to her lack of pupils.
Made of…
Hinata's mouth quivered.
Naruto didn't move that much, but he suddenly looked distinctly embarrassed and uncomfortable at the same time.
She burst out laughing, the pitiful 'I'm so sorry' look on his face too much even for her composure. This laughter made Naruto smile again, and he laughed too, the two children giggling happily at Naruto's faux pas.
Huh, thought Naruto. Hinata is actually kinda pretty when she's laughing.
Their meals arrived (Naruto's already a double helping), and both set to eating the noodle dishes. Hinata listened intently to Naruto's story of what had happened to him the previous night. The daring nighttime raid to steal the scroll, the dramatic battle between Iruka and Mizuki, the last, vital moment where Naruto discovered how to make Shadow Clones; he sure knew how to make relentless danger sound exciting.
No! Hinata scolded herself as she and Naruto began their third and sixth bowls respectively. Naruto could've died last night! I shouldn't be so immature; he's a real person!
And yet, she listened closely until his tale came to a close.
When it finished, Hinata sat in silent contemplation, her bowl of ramen cooling in the night air. After all those years of wondering why everyone could treat Naruto so badly – sure, he was sometimes overbearing, but he certainly wasn't the only twelve-year old boy guilty of that – Hinata finally had an answer.
It was certainly an unconventional situation, she thought. Hinata knew enough about jutsu to realise that theoretically anything could be sealed within any object, but giant demon foxes were admittedly somewhat outside of her area of knowledge. She assumed that people were not actually frightened of Naruto himself. If that were so, they would have been trying to keep him calm and under control. It was rather the potential he held, the innate possibility that the eyes of a child might one day become those of a monster, that made the people of Konoha wary of him.
Naruto was by no means the perfect ninja. Despite Hinata's fervent wishing for him to pass on the day before the genin exams, she had still known deep inside that it was very likely that he'd fail. Every time he had gotten a question wrong in class she had inwardly cringed, wishing she had the courage to walk over and help him where no other student would. She didn't care that he wasn't as smart as other boys, because in truth she found his cluelessness sort of cute, but could he smarten up enough to make it in the field as a real ninja? He was undoubtedly the most determined person she had ever met, an unintentional ideal and mentor to her, and that he had made Shadow Clones – actual solid Shadow Clones – was proof enough of his power. The citizens of the village were wrong to fear him, because Naruto didn't want to destroy Konoha, he wanted to rule it. But did he have what it takes to be Hokage? To be more than the average ninja, despite the fact that nearly everyone else had massive advantages in intelligence over him? Could he pay attention when lives depended on it? Most importantly, could he stop thinking about ramen for five minutes and look at her?
Suddenly Naruto did look at Hinata, and she immediately turned away, blushing so much she swore the air around her hummed. The inquisitive look on his face erased almost all the questions from her mind for the moment, leaving her feeling like she was six years old and seeing him for the first time again.
Well, she thought. He'll certainly have the upper edge if he ever fights me…
Hinata then turned her thoughts onto images of close-quarters combat with Naruto, but her train of thought was swiftly derailed when he spoke again.
"Wow," said Naruto, "I talked a whole lot there. You're a really good listener, Hinata."
"Th-thankyou," she managed to respond.
Just as he was about to call for his seventh bowl, Naruto was called out by Teuchi, who came from out the back to see him.
"Hey, Naruto!" he said.
"Hi, Teuchi," said Naruto. "This is Hinata; Hinata, Teuchi owns Ichiraku."
"Y-your ramen is very nice, Teuchi-san," said Hinata politely.
"Thankyou, Hinata," said Teuchi. "Naruto, I'd like to give you something today."
Naruto stopped eating.
"Huh?" he asked. "What?"
"Well," said Teuchi, sitting next to the boy, "you're getting older now, Naruto. You're a genin, so you'll start getting paid for your work, but a lot of that will go into items and books for your training, and the stipend you get from the Hokage tends to go towards food. Am I right?"
"Mm-hm," Naruto nodded.
Hinata suddenly realised why so many of Naruto's books were second-hand. As a child with no family, he'd have to live on the welfare money the Hokage's office gave him. There were probably not a great deal of impoverished ninja so she doubted that the stipend was too low, but considering how badly most people treated Naruto, she wouldn't be surprised if it were hard for him to buy the right equipment.
"Ayame and I both want you to have a…well-rounded life," he said. "We want you to have hobbies, time alone and with friends, things that aren't only about being a great ninja. But, you need money for most things like that."
"Teuchi," protested Naruto, "It's nice of you to say that, but I really can't accept you giving me money. I wanna make my own way to the top."
"We know," said Ayame. "So we're not giving you money. We're giving you stocks."
Naruto looked confused.
"…why would I need socks?" he asked.
"Stocks," Ayame said, while Hinata covered her mouth and giggled. "You might not know, but Ichiraku's part of a group of restaurants all over the Land of Fire. We're sort of a company."
"And if you own stocks in our company," said Teuchi, "you can sell them if they're worth more later, so you'll get money from that. It's our gift to you."
Naruto frowned.
"I'm not sure that this isn't some kinda sneaky way to teach me math," he said cautiously.
"You don't have to learn math," said Teuchi. "Just tell us when you want to sell your stocks, and we'll do that for you."
Slowly, Naruto nodded.
"Alright," he said, a smile encroaching on his wary face. "Thanks, Teuchi. And thanks for the ramen, Ayame."
Both smiled warmly. He reached for his wallet, but Teuchi shook his head.
"Those can be on the house for tonight," he said. "After all, it's not every day a young boy catches a criminal ninja, hm?"
Naruto nodded happily in conformation, and he and Hinata stood up, leaving Teuchi and Ayame behind.
Walking through the night in contented silence, Hinata looked up at the clear sky and mentally thanked whatever star had brought her that night. Then, naturally, Naruto broke the silence.
"You know," said Naruto, "when I was there in the forest, hiding from Mizuki…for a second I really thought I was completely alone. Stupid, huh?"
"Y-you were scared," said Hinata. "It's just…something that happens."
Naruto nodded sagely, then stopped walking completely. Stopping with him, Hinata asked what was wrong.
"I told you about the Nine-Tailed Fox, didn't I?" he said, eyes widened.
"Mm-hm," she said.
Naruto cringed. I can't believe it! He had been so caught up in telling his story (rather well, he thought) that he hadn't even thought to keep the fact that he had the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed inside him a secret! Now Hinata, and…Teuchi! Teuchi and probably Ayame both knew! This was a disaster. He didn't mean to let anyone else know…
"Aggghh!" he said out loud.
Seemingly reading his mind, Hinata said:
"I w-won't tell anyone."
He looked back to her.
"Really?"
She nodded very sharply, absolutely certain. His questing blue eyes stayed fixed upon her for a whole minute, his normally kind gaze now one of piercing concern. Then visibly relaxing, he returned to the perpetually happy-go-lucky boy she'd always known.
"Okay," he said.
Together, the young ninja walked home.
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The Sasuke Law.
As Shino Aburame knew, there were multiple natural laws of the universe. The law of gravity, for example. Two objects exert a force on each other, equal to the mass of both divided by the square of the distance between them, multiplied by the gravitational constant. The law of attraction between charged particles was similar. Both were independently verified, consistent and empirically proven laws. (Of course, they weren't quite perfect descriptors of reality, but they were convenient enough lies that Shino was happy to use them.)
The Sasuke Law, on the other hand, was not. It did not appear in any of Shino's textbooks, of which he had read many. Bringing it up in conversation would only cause blank stares among, say, Ino Yamanaka. Even Shikamaru Nara, the only boy in the class Shino could conclusively say was smarter than him (although he was so lazy that Shino still had the academic advantage), would only respond with a look of bored confusion. It had never been independently verified or empirically proven.
But Shino Aburame was convinced it affected everything, all the same.
The Law was quite simple. Basically, every action that a person could do was ranked on a scale of ease. Persuading Naruto Uzumaki to eat, talk about or doodle little pictures in his notebook of ramen was on the 'easy' end of the scale. Understanding one of Iruka-sensei's lectures was about mid-range. Successfully carrying a conversation with another person without accidentally saying something that made them slowly inch away from you was on the 'exceptionally difficult' end. Thus, using this scale, one could map how hard any series of tasks could be. A 'difficulty field', if you will.
The Law was that no matter what the task was, Sasuke Uchiha's difficulty field was always flat.
Holding his teeth firmly together and yet still grinding them a little, Shino Aburame stared down at the paper that he had received. It was a single test that would define his future career as a ninja, and he had passed admirably. Ninety-eight percent.
Nighty-eight percent was not enough for Shino. 'Admirably' was as good as failure in his eyes; he might as well have simply slept through the test.
How could he have received only ninety-eight percent? Hadn't he spent hour after hour reading through dozens of textbooks every night? Didn't he know the entire chakra pathway system; its locations, its names, its importance in combat and medicine as well as its uses outside those two areas? Hadn't his taijutsu forms been flawless, exactly the same as the ones in Taijutsu For Genin And Beyond?
This was unacceptable. He'd barely been able to meet the basic academic standard set down by his parents; what was he going to say to them? That ninety-eight percent was enough to become a genin, so what did it matter? It was a terrible start to his career as a ninja, and it was worst because he knew for certain that Sasuke Uchiha had passed at ninety-nine point nine percent, the highest possible mark in the exam. There went the Sasuke Law again.
Actually, considering the Law even further, the system of 'difficulty fields' was probably best described as analogous to mass. If Shino was, say, a small moon, then the test had been an asteroid – one easily outweighed the other, and so Shino had brought it into his orbit. Sasuke, on the other hand, was a black hole. This was for three reasons:
1. Black holes were so massful that everything else seemed nearly massless in comparison. He was so difficult to beat at anything, everything else paled in significance.
2. He seemed to suck all the light out of the room.
3. Otherwise sensible people revolved around him.
The third point was being illustrated right this very minute, as virtually every girl in the class save for Hinata Hyuga was beating Naruto Uzumaki to a pulp for accidentally kissing Sasuke. Shino had not paid much attention to the exact circumstances of the situation, but he did privately wonder why. It wasn't as if giving Naruto bruises all over was going to remove the kiss from existence. He supposed it might've been simply because the girls didn't like Naruto, but why harangue someone you don't like when you can just avoid them completely?
Kiba Inuzuka, for example. Sitting up in the further-back rows, Kiba was grinning from ear to ear at the prospect of becoming a real ninja. Listening to him babbling on, Shino realised with confusion and then astonishment that Kiba was happy to have simply passed. Evidently his family had somewhat lesser academic standards than Shino's, because he claimed that his mother and sister had both bought him presents due to his success. He was probably lying, of course, but Shino shuddered to think of what kind of upbringing could reward a child for merely passing a test. No, a merely adequate performance was never enough, and he wouldn't let such ideas ruin his grades. Carefully, he moved a little away from Kiba.
"So," Kiba said to Shikamaru, "What you get?"
Shikamaru slowly directed his attention to the dog-ninja as Shino made a heroic effort to not correct the boy's grammar.
"Sixty-seven," he said in his usual detached tone.
"Sixty-seven?!" said Kiba, shocked. "Damn! Wish I'd done so well. My mom might've gotten me two presents. Then again, not much use for more old practice kunai anymore, huh boy?"
He patted his dog Akamaru affectionately, who poked his owner's chin with his nose in response. Shino looked at the two, analysing them.
Very simple, he said. A symbiosis of only two.
"Doesn't matter, anyway," said Kiba. "I passed. And I bet I'll be first here to make chunin, as well!"
Confidence bred by ignorance, noted Shino.
"Chunin?" asked Shikamaru, incredulously. "Gimme a break. We're all twelve; there's no way any of us are gonna try out for chunin this year. Besides, don't you think the tests to become a chunin might be a little bit harder than the ones to become a genin here?"
Kiba waved a hand at this.
"Shikamaru, Shikamaru," he said. (He would have said it a third time, but that would have taken too long.) "Being a good ninja's not all about passing tests. You need something other than just smarts."
"Like what, exactly?" asked Shikamaru.
Kiba sat back.
"I dunno," he said. "Luck. Skill."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes.
"I suppose the rest of it's concentrated power of will?"
Ignoring his bickering classmates, Shino returned to the important task of the moment: squad selections. Even if he wasn't the highest-scoring student in the class, he would definitely have ranked at least second or third. That meant that while he would not be in a squad with the dead-last (Naruto, he guessed accurately), he would probably be with someone of a high score, and someone of a fairly low score. This was meant to 'balance out' the squad, although Shino personally saw no great reason for this system. The incompetent shouldn't be made genin at all.
"Squad Eight," announced Iruka. "Hinata Hyuga. Kiba Inuzuka. Shino Aburame."
Although it was hidden from view by the darkly tinted glass, Shino's left eye twitched.
Oh, perfect, thought Shino.
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With the squads announced, the class broke for lunch. Kiba dashed out almost immediately with Akamaru, while Sasuke Uchiha followed not long behind. Sakura Haruno left to find him almost immediately, an event that triggered Ino's first of many attempts that day to run off to find Sasuke first. She was only stopped by the presence of Iruka, who gently insisted that she at least familiarise herself with her teammates.
Hanging around at the back of the class, Hinata hoped against hope that this time, Naruto would notice her. Sitting alone and in the middle row, there was no Sakura to distract him now. If she stood up, maybe she could go and see him before he left.
Swallowing nervously, Hinata stood from her chair. Yes, today was the day that she would talk to Naruto again, and make real friends with him. Last night was a very lucky thing to have happened to her, but she couldn't depend on luck if she wanted Naruto to know about her feelings. Standing up from her desk and pushing her chair out, Hinata took the vital first step. Breathing carefully, she took another, and another, making her way through to the aisle.
I can speak to him...I can speak to him...I can speak to him without blushing and looking down...
Breathing in most at the last second, she began to take one more step when Shino Aburame stepped into her view.
Argh!
Silence followed.
"Hello," said Shino, remembering the correct word for greeting people this time.
"H-hello," Hinata responded.
More silence followed, as Naruto stared wistfully out the window. Hinata looked intently at him, and willed Shino to let her pass with all her heart, because she wasn't brave enough to tell him to get out of the way with her mouth.
This conversation is going well, thought Shino.
MOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVE!
A smile crossed Naruto's face, and he stood up.
NO! NOT YOU! STAY!
In her mind, Hinata shouted herself hoarse as Naruto walked away, but her mouth could only manage a small "uh...".
Shino felt the deep, unsettling feeling that he usually had whenever a conversation went wrong. Examining his place in the now mostly-empty classroom, as well as Hinata's, he looked to the door that Naruto had retreated through, then to the sad-looking girl in front of him, then the door again.
She was not an average girl. She was apparently not affected by the Sasuke Law, for one thing. For another, she was smart – the second smartest girl in the class, he knew from the test rankings.
The second smartest...
It suddenly occurred to Shino that maybe Hinata was not unlike him. Always quiet unless spoken to, academically brilliant, but always beaten by one person - whichever girl received the highest marks. He wondered what exactly she wanted to speak to Naruto Uzumaki of all people for, but the sudden flash of realisation in Shino's mind was a welcome development. Maybe the conversation could be salvaged.
"Your written test score was impressive," said Shino.
The strange, pale boy's statement intrigued Hinata. The actual words weren't all that surprising, although it was nice to be reminded of her success. It was the tone. He had not said it jealously, but it had not been a compliment either. It was more of a statement of fact, no different to him informing her that her hair was short.
"T-thankyou, Shino," said Hinata. "P-perhaps we should...find Kiba?"
As the two walked out of the Academy side-by-side, it occurred to Hinata that she really should have been more angry with him. He had blocked off her access to Naruto when she was so close to speaking with him again, and hadn't even apologised! But she couldn't really think of a way to tell him off without starting on the wrong foot, and as he thoughtfully stared at the ground, she remembered how little he had spoken to anyone in the whole six years they'd been in the same class. Perhaps he simply wasn't very good at talking to other people, as opposed to ants.
The two found Kiba playing with Akamaru on the grass, both boy and dog greeting them cheerfully. Sitting in the shade of a tree, Hinata and Kiba ate their lunch in relative silence. Shino politely refused, saying that he wasn't hungry, although he disappeared for about five minutes for no apparent reason.
The silence among them was broken by the sudden appearance of Naruto. Sneaking past them with a devious smile on his face, the road-cone-coloured ninja had only passed out of sight for a few moments when Kiba asked the world in general:
"What do you think he's up to?"
Hinata was relieved to hear that Kiba's voice seemed to hold no hatred for Naruto. Instead there was amusement, condescension, and maybe even a hint of bitterness – but she wasn't sure. Mulling this over, she suggested:
"M-maybe he's planning a practical joke again."
Kiba leaned back as Akamaru mooched on the side of his face, and commented:
"He smells weird."
Shino raised an eyebrow as Hinata tried to keep her indignant rage internalised.
Naruto smells perfectly normal! No…he smells perfect…
Kiba continued:
"Not quite…bad. Sure, he could shower more, but it's not like he smells terrible. He smells like…power."
Shino raised the other eyebrow at him.
"Seriously! Akamaru can tell. Naruto smells like he's got more chakra than the rest of the class combined."
Akamaru jumped onto Kiba's lap as he said, with a touch of the theatrical:
"Maybe the rest of the village."
So maybe other people do know he has the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed within him, Hinata thought. But then again, it's probably best I don't mention it until somebody else does.
Shino, out of eyebrows to raise, was forced to speak.
"Unlikely," he said. "If Naruto were so powerful, surely he would've used all that chakra before. He has certainly been angered enough to do lasting damage on previous occasions, yet he has been a consistent dead-last in every class."
This was not quite true, strictly speaking. While 'sharp as a bowling ball' would be an unkind yet accurate descriptor of Naruto's mental prowess (although the scarcity of bowling balls in Konoha would make it an unusual phrase to use), he was actually semi-capable at taijutsu, and thanks to his frequent travels across Konoha he was excellent at chakra-jumping, the art of leaping huge distances in a single bound. There was a lot of raw strength and energy in the bright orange boy's stocky frame. The trick was getting him to use it effectively.
"I guess," said Kiba. "But Shikamaru's always getting low scores, and he's the smartest guy I know…damn. Poor bastard had to be in a team with Ino. Sure glad I didn't end up in her group."
Neither Shino nor Hinata responded, both instead staring into space. This continued for a full minute until Kiba stood up, Akamaru climbing up onto his shoulder in the process. He angrily said:
"Perfect. Two brilliant conversationalists for squadmates. We'll talk in a secret code of blushing and eyebrow-raising."
Neither responded to this, although Hinata looked a little more uncomfortable. Kiba threw up his hands.
"Oh, come on! We're never gonna be an interesting team if I'm talkin' to myself all the time! Hinata, we've been discussing Naruto for a full three minutes and you haven't got anything to say to defend him?"
For the briefest of seconds, Kiba thought he'd succeeded in goading Hinata into speaking – but instead, she just looked down again, her pupilless eyes fixed on the ground. The boy realised that this was a step in the wrong direction, and sat down next to her.
He then said, quite softly:
"I'm sorry, Hinata. But…uh…you gotta realise…most of us know."
Know what? thought Shino.
Hinata saddened further. So I'm that obvious…
"Look, it's…we're…uh, not, like, making fun of you for it. We're…"
He looked to Shino for hints; Shino remained cautiously impassive in response.
"…well, I'm happy about it. Far as I'm concerned, any girl not squeeing over Sasuke's a victory for good taste."
Hinata laughed at this, which lead Kiba to chuckle in response. He looked to Shino, who did not laugh along; he instead stood straight as ever and remained very still.
That guy is really uptight, he thought. Still...got Hinata to laugh, at least.
So that is why she wanted to speak to Naruto...his eyes narrowed in thought. Curious.
"Where did you learn the word 'conversationalist'?" Shino asked.
"Vocabulary calendar," Kiba answered matter-of-factly, entirely unoffended. "My mom always tells me to learn to talk better, but I only got up to March fourth on it when Akamaru chewed it up. If you guys ever happen to end up at my house, put your shoes up on the top shelf if you want 'em to survive the visit intact."
He looked furtively at both of his squadmates, as if it were a half-disguised invitation.
Hinata then spoke.
"Does it seem late?"
Kiba frowned in confusion.
"Huh?"
Hinata, straining against her desire to simply not speak, repeated:
"If it's not too early, then maybe we should f-find our sensei? Iruka-sensei didn't direct us to her, and we've been here a long time."
"That is a good point," said Shino. "We should probably search for her before much more of the day is wasted."
Kiba levelled his doglike eyes at Shino in suspicion.
'Wasted'? he thought. Oh yeah, go on. Stare back at me like you got no idea I heard your little crack at Hinata and me. You think you're so cool, Aburame, but I'll show you. You wait and see.
I wonder what Kiba is looking at me for, thought Shino.
Standing up, Kiba and Hinata went back to the courtyard outside the academy with Shino. Reaching a shady tree, they found three of their classmates – Shikamaru, Ino and Choji. Up in the classroom itself, Shino could see Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura waiting for their sensei.
"Hey guys," greeted Choji.
"Hey," replied Kiba, and Shino and Hinata nodded slightly to confirm their presence.
There were few class members who genuinely didn't like Choji; Ino Yamanaka was one of them. Trying not to bring up her own lunch as the portly boy continued on with his, Ino wondered in her head why anyone would let themselves go as far as an Akimichi could. She'd seen them enter her family's flower shop, and it wasn't just her…ugh…squadmate that was a little on the heavy side.
Lucky I have naturally skinny genes, she thought, although she was prone to spontaneously dieting. Turning her attentions away to less weighty matters, she focused on the three members of Squad Eight.
Shino was a difficult one to read. Dressed in the same light grey jacket that he always wore and wearing the same dark, reflective glasses, Shino was a fly's wing away from exceptionally creepy. Although Shino was never intentionally mean, the way he talked was so blunt, precise and enunciated Ino sometimes wondered if he was even human at all. He had never shown any particular interest in other people, not even as friends; he instead preferred to watch ants making their hills or collecting food from him. She hoped that she would never have to mind-control him, because she figured his mind would be a quite scary place.
Kiba, on the other hand, was like a drawing in crayons. Kiba lived for two things – playing with Akamaru and fighting, which had overlapped more and more as the years rolled on. Probably the dumbest boy in the class apart from the obvious road-cone-coloured dead-last, he always wore a distinctly unfashionable fur hoodie that Akamaru would nestle in. Watching him rub his nose on Kiba's hair, Ino had to admit that Akamaru was a cute dog, but there was no way she'd ever try to pet him. She knew she'd never get the smell of either he or his owner off. As for people, Kiba tended to hang out with Shikamaru and Choji more than anyone else. He had once been friends with Naruto – possibly the inept student's only friend – but evidently something had gotten between them, because now Kiba's best friend was Akamaru, and Naruto's best friend was…himself.
Hinata, on the other hand, was the hardest of all for Ino to get a fix on. If Ino were a member of a rich and influential clan…wait, she already was. But if she were a member of the richest and most influential clan, as Hinata was, she certainly wouldn't be so modest. Always mumbling and averting her eyes, Hinata consistently wore a thick little jacket and kept very quiet – definitely not Ino's style. More importantly, Ino certainly wouldn't be mooning over a scruffy street-rat whose idea of subtlety was bright orange and yet couldn't notice Hinata's love for him if it were stapled to his face. (Even if it were so arranged that the part that faced his eyes was the part that said "HINATA LIKES YOU".) Then again, having one less girl in the ongoing competition for Sasuke Uchiha's heart was a welcome thing, and Hinata was so quiet and so nice, Ino sort of wanted to give her a hug and maybe some chocolate.
Shikamaru inclined his head slightly to look at Squad Eight, and spoke up.
"Thought you'd've left by now," he drawled.
"U-um…" began Hinata.
Shikamaru did not roll his eyes or mock Hinata as he once had. Ever since that day they had fought, so long ago now, he'd reigned in his comments around the quiet girl, partly to avoid hurting her feelings and partly to escape a potential beating. Hinata may have been shy and kind, but she was also the highest-ranked girl in taijutsu class, and he was still the worst boy at it.
"We are looking for our sensei," explained Shino. "She has not met us at the allocated time."
"Same here," shrugged Shikamaru, leaning back as he always did.
"So," he said, "Naruto and Sasuke on the same squad. That's gotta suck."
"For which one?" asked Kiba.
"Either," noted Shikamaru.
"Hey!" protested Ino. "Don't talk about my Sasuke like that! He's the most talented ninja in any class. He'll be the only reason that team gets anywhere."
Hinata privately wondered how Ino could still entertain hopes of making Sasuke her boyfriend when he had rejected every offer of love that had ever come his way (which he'd been receiving for a good five years now), and concluded that it wasn't just boys that were exceptionally bull-headed.
"He's good," admitted Shikamaru, "but only at school stuff. He'd really suck as a squadmate. Like, he has never hung out with me and Choji, or anyone else to my knowledge, unless he absolutely had to."
"Well maybe if you weren't so mean to-"
"Mean?" asked Shikamaru. "We've always been the ones asking him! Hell, we even let Naruto tag along sometimes, and you know what he's like."
Somehow slouching even further, he added:
"'Sides, I think he's a bit creepy, how he's always so focused and he barely ever says a word. Sasuke didn't get voted 'Most Likely To Snap One Day and Kill Everybody' for nothing."
Shino frowned.
"When was he voted this?" he asked.
Shikamaru sighed.
"Joke, Shino," he said. "I just made that up."
"Then it's not really a democratic approach," insisted Shino.
"His clan died, you know," pouted Ino. "You shouldn't say that about him."
"That was years ago," said Shikamaru. "More than enough time to get over something like that."
The group suddenly fell silent. Shikamaru realised that he'd done something wrong, but was unsure what exactly. Carefully looking around, he saw that neither Choji nor Ino looked particularly upset (although his friend had stopped putting chips in his mouth), and Shino remained as quietly stoic as ever. It was rather Hinata, and surprisingly Kiba, that looked melancholy.
"Yyyeah," he said lamely. Slouched on the ground, his formerly comfortable position had suddenly become very awkward.
Fortunately for all, a distraction finally came in the form of their senseis, a man and a woman. Both were fairly tall, but there their resemblances ended. The man dressed in a style not unlike Iruka's, following standard shinobi practices regarding uniform, but was more muscular and had impressive facial hair. The woman's clothes were mostly bandages, and she had dark, slightly curly hair and quite striking maroon eyes.
Stepping forward, the man spoke to all of them.
"I'm sorry for our lateness," he said.
"Thirty minutes? What, were you on a date?" asked Shikamaru.
The previous sad awkward silence was quickly replaced by a happier, more innocent awkward silence thanks to his comment. Neither Shino nor Shikamaru's expressions changed, but Ino smiled knowingly, Hinata fidgeted nervously, and Choji rapidly returned to his chips. Kiba said nothing, but Akamaru nudged at his face in such a way that Kiba quickly knew both of the senseis were emitting very particular pheromones. The frown that marred his face slowly melted away, and he instead grinned into his jacket as the male sensei spoke.
"Uh, we'll take it from here," the shinobi said, even though there was nobody to really take things from. "Ino, Shikamaru, Choji…"
A smile passed over his face as the three followed him away to another part of the courtyard.
The raven-haired kunoichi stepped forward, her maroon eyes flicking from Shino to Kiba, then finally resting on Hinata, who politely returned the gesture by quietly looking lower than her gaze.
"Good afternoon. I'm Kurenai Yuhi, and I'll be your squad leader. I know all your names, but I'd like you to tell me them again so we can be sure."
She smiled, and Hinata immediately felt heartened. She had never met the jonin before, but she was sure that the kunoichi would be kind.
Kiba briefly waited, then said:
"I'm Kiba of the Inuzuka clan. This is my dog, Akamaru."
Akamaru yipped in greeting; Kurenai nodded to the dog.
Shino then spoke.
"I am Shino Aburame. Kurenai-sensei, have you heard of my clan's particular skill?"
Kurenai began to respond, but Shino continued speaking, something that both Hinata and Kiba winced slightly at.
"If you have, then you will also know that it might have psychological effects on Kiba and Hinata if I use it. Knowing this, would you consider it best for me to avoid using this skill at all costs?"
Kurenai considered this.
"I am placing this at your discretion, Shino, although you should probably know that Hinata could discover this skill for herself."
Shino looked subtly uncomfortable.
Me? Why could only I and not Kiba work out what Shino's skill is? thought Hinata. I don't know much about the Aburame clan…something related to bugs? But they're very mysterious. Hmm, it's kind of exciting having teammates I don't know much about! B-but I shouldn't try to find out Shino's secret skill. Even if it is very interesting.
Kurenai turned to Hinata.
"I'm sorry, Hinata, I've deprived you of your introducing yourself."
"Th-thankyou, Kurenai-sensei."
Kurenai frowned.
I didn't think Hiashi was being fair on her when he said she was useless, she thought, considering the clan leader's words, but she is pretty shy.
"I'd…still like it if you did introduce yourself, Hinata."
"Sorry, Kurenai-sensei. My name is Hinata Hyuga."
"And?"
Hinata looked confused.
"And I don't have any other names?"
Kurenai laughed.
"No, Hinata, your special skill. The skill of your family."
"Oh!" Hinata realised. "The Byakugan."
Kurenai nodded. Kiba, suddenly also looking as uncomfortable as Shino, spoke again.
"Uh, Kurenai-sensei, maybe we should all agree to, uh, agree to not, um…use our skills on…each other?"
Hinata blinked in confusion. What could he mean? I don't see how the Byakugan could frighten Kiba – it's not even an offensive technique by itself. It's only for seeing things from afar and through thi-
…through things.
Kiba rubbed the back of his neck in awkwardness, and Hinata blushed down at the ground. Shino, on the other hand, looked more concerned than embarrassed.
"Put it this way, Kiba," remarked Kurenai. "We'll try to keep from using our particular special skills unless it's a matter of life or death. Is everyone fine with that?"
All three genin nodded.
"Excellent," said Kurenai. "We'll head to the training ground."
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So, Kurenai has met the squad! ("Bawnk!" shouts Kiba, "I am zeh spy" says Shino, "Mwfh mfh fh fh" says Hinata.) I think this is a better chapter length than the last chapter's; it fits the right amount of stuff in without being too short. Or maybe not, please tell me what you think!
Note: Thanks to the Concept making the wind blow so Naruto got up earlier, Hinata spent that evening eating ramen with Naruto rather than at the Hyuga compound. So here, Hiashi would still have told Kurenai why he thinks Hinata's not really worth that much, but Hinata herself would not have been listening outside (as she was eating ramen with Naruto instead).
Edit: Thanks so much for reading (possibly again)! I swear, next chapter'll be up real soon, and this time I'll take a bit more time to edit it. But I'm glad I went back and George Lucas'd this one, because I think it's way better now. Thanks again!
-MA