As the Chunin exams drew nearer, her cousin's glares only got colder. Kiba eventually grew aware of this, and utterly hated it.
Hinata would go as far as to think of Kiba as a big brother, at least much more of a brother than Neji ever was to her. He knew practically everything about her; from the pain she constantly suffered to her little crush on Naruto, and would often tease her about it.
He was hard on her in training (Shino usually sat in the back forgotten about) in place of their usually absent Sensei. He'll also offer praise in place of her, and constantly worry about his younger teammate. Sometimes he would even go as far to as plan various scheduled training, or just go take a walk together to get her away her family.
Shino was fairly similar, though, in his opinion, it was simply none of his business to get involved with others' family conflicts. He did openly professed strong confidence in her.
She awoke early on a particular morning; it was still quite dark outside. Staying utterly still, she listened for the slightest of sounds before she moved. It wasn't hard to tell someone was outside, and the footsteps were heavy, most than likely her fathers.
Waiting for them to pass, she reviewed what she had to do today. She would meet up with her team in the training fields for a different kind of training, as specified by Kurenai-Sensei, in the morning. Depending on how long that took, she would have the rest of the day to herself (until curfew, that is), which was awfully rare. As long as nothing arose, she could enjoy being alone for once, though, she would most likely run into Ko at one point or another and he'd drag her home for more training.
Her thoughts suddenly got interrupted by two familiar voices, Neji and Hiashi. She was tempted to activate her Byakugan to see what was going on, but that was seen as invasion as privacy and was not meant to use in the household unless absolutely necessary. That and the fact that she would never "spy" on her father, not with the chance of getting caught, that is. She simply closed her eyes as if sleeping and listened intently, the voices were barely audible.
"You have high potential, Neji, therefor I expect no less than victory from you in the upcoming Chunin exams. You have Hyuga blood in you."
"Yes, sir."
It was not surprising that Neji was here, nor that they were conversing at 5 AM. Her father was naturally going to be hard on him and expect Chunin rank from him.
It wasn't long before she heard footsteps gradually leading down the hallway outside her room. They were light, so she could only assume they were Neji's. As she was about to sit up to assume her morning responsibilities, her door suddenly opened, causing her to go completely stiff.
It was her father.
She remained as if she was sleeping in hopes that he would leave, but he did not.
In fact, he walked towards her bed. It made her anxious as the warmth of his hand hovered above her face, and had to refrain from flinching when he gently rubbed his thumb against her cheek. She heard him sigh before walking out, and quickly reviewed the act of affection in her mind.
Did her father seriously just do that? It didn't hurt...it even probably would have felt comforting in the right circumstances. She touched her cheek, right where he did.
It wouldn't do her any use to ponder over it all day, so the best would be to simply forget, and so she did. For now, at least.
Knowing her father and her cousin were outside busy, she got up not feeling very restricted. She bathed and took care of her hair and skin as usual. It was probably inconvenient for a Shinobi to have an appearance that was so demanding in care, but she usually had time for it, so it wasn't much of a problem. Besides, her hair was short.
She left quietly as usual, and made it to the training grounds in no time. Shino was already there, which wasn't too surprising. He was always early.
His greetings were always simple. "Hello, Hinata."
"Good morning…Shino-kun." She would reply. She still couldn't exactly shake the uneasy feeling she got near him, though eventually she would grow used to it. Maybe if he tried dressing less…mysteriously? "How are you?"
"I'm actually not as well as I could be…Why? Becau-."
"Yo Hinata, Shino! Sorry I'm late!" Kiba abruptly interrupted.
Her attention shifted to Kiba, much to Shino's dismay. He thought someone would actually listen to him for once.
"Oh, you're not late, Kiba-kun. We just got here. Kurenai-Sensei isn't even here yet." She explained to the best of her abilities, Kiba grinned.
The three young Shinobi did not have to wait long until their Sensei showed up. She stood out a lot compared to the other Jonin, from her wavy black her to the absence of a normal green flask jacket. Her red eyes were piercing, and sometimes scary, but they were not dōjutsu.
"Oh good, you're already here." She smiled at her students, "As you all know, I have prepared a special type of training today." Kiba yawned as she spoke, "This training will exercise your sensory skills, since you are all sensory type Shinobi."
Kiba looked utterly confused, it was actually somewhat amusing. "'Sensory type Shinobi? What exactly does that mean?"
"Ah, did you not learn in the academy?" She asked, disregarding the fact that Iruka mentioned to her that Kiba was one of the big troublemakers, "Ah…of course. A sensory type shinobi is a shinobi who uses their chakra to gather information about their surroundings. For example, Hinata can use her Byakugan to scope out an area thoroughly, or Shino's insects can gather information on his surroundings and send it back to him. You and Akamaru have your powerful noses which can detect even the faintest of scents."
Kiba's face lightened up as she spoke, as if everything suddenly made sense, "Oh, I see! So that's why we were all put on a team together, right?"
"Most likely." Shino responded stoically.
"Heh, that's right." She confirmed. "You see, in those woods, I have hidden a ball. It has a very distinct smell to it. Now you three try to find it."
They all looked at each other.
"It's at 5 o'clock, Hinata, Shino!" Exclaimed Kiba as he pointed in said direction.
"Scatter." Muttered Shino as his bugs swept the area, it was simultaneous with Hinata's activation of her Byakugan. It wasn't long before they were able to locate and retrieve the ball.
"Their teamwork is outstanding." Kurenai noted.
Kiba seemed rather proud of himself when he presented the small ball to his mentor. Shino didn't really see the point and Hinata stood next to him.
But suddenly, she spoke up. "Um…Kurenai sensei? What exactly was the point of that?"
"I'm glad you asked, Hinata." She smiled, "Though, the exercise isn't over yet. I've hidden yet another ball."
They all looked at her, confused. She continued.
"This ball is scentless, and, Shino, you are forbidden from using your insects to find it, just as Hinata won't be able to use her Byakugan."
"Then how the heck are we supposed to find it?!" Questioned a frustrated Kiba. Almost all his daily activities, especially training, required the use of his nose. Suddenly getting that power stripped from him was not to his liking.
"That will be your job to figure out. I'll monitor your work from here, you may begin." She simply smiled as her pupils looked at each other, confused. The boundaries were large, and the terrain wasn't smooth and completely visible. They had a challenge on their hands.
Kiba groaned as he turned to the other two, who were just as confused. "So, what now?"
"Will you actually listen to me?" Shino asked, his hands in his pockets.
Kiba eyed him suspiciously. "What? Do you have a plan?" Akamaru whimpered in his hood.
"Perhaps." He looked at the woods. They were intimidating. "We'd have a much better chance if we split up. Why? Because we would be able to cover much more ground.
Hinata looked at Kiba, who considered the idea. "I agree with Shino-kun."
Akamaru whimpered once again as he sighed, "I guess we have no choice then. It will be troublesome…" He paused, his nose wrinkled as he realized he sounded like Shikamaru, "Shino, you stick to the trees okay? Hinata, you search west and I'll search on the east end. Meet back here in 10 minutes if you find anything or not."
The two nodded and with that, they were on their way. The young girl racked her mind of what techniques to do in order to find this troublesome ball- without using her Byakugan, that is. She'd simply have to look harder without it. It almost seemed like it was a disability, the field of vision to her was very narrow. Despite this, however, she was able to vaguely scope out the area. As expected, she didn't find anything. The ball was white so it would stand out with the green and brown background, it also was supposed to be very visible, so it's not like she had to take her time searching very thoroughly as much as she was tempted to.
She met at the rendezvous point with her teammates at the correct time, and, judging by the looks on their faces, they weren't successful either.
"This sucks." Kiba gritted his teeth, "let's try a new plan, okay? We searched the area vaguely, so maybe we just have to look deeper. Maybe it is hidden. If we search in a team we would have a better chance of not missing it. Sound good?"
Hinata spoke up for once. "I like your idea, Kiba-kun, b-but…wouldn't that take too long?"
"Are we on a time limit?" Kiba raised a brow.
"N-No, but it's not really efficient. Shouldn't we be treating this as a real mission?"
"I agree with her." Stated Shino bluntly, "it would take way too long, and too much energy would be expended."
His fangs showed as he spoke, making Hinata back up a little, "Shino, you disagree with everything….ugh! Alright. What do you think we should do?"
He did not flinch at the sudden act of aggression. It seemed almost like a challenge, one through canines. However, on this squad Shino would think no less than the two of them than equal, thus, he did not waver in his opinion. "We should try something else. Why? I just said…we could repeat what we just did and take different shifts or-."
"That will take too long, too! If we have to be so efficient, why can't I use my nose or you use your insects? This is stupid!" Kiba looked rather frustrated. Akamaru growled.
Just as Shino was about to reply, Kurenai finally stepped in. Thank god, Hinata did not want to get into a middle of a conflict.
"Alright, that's enough, you two." She sighed.
Kiba looked up at her, "Kurenai-Sensei…what gives? How are we supposed to find a simple ball if Akamaru and I can't use our noses?!"
She almost looked disappointed as she sighed, "Listen up, you three. I never hid a second ball."
The three of them looked up at her in utter shock, awaiting an explanation.
Seeing this, she began explaining. "This was a test of teamwork as well, obviously. You three didn't do so well considering the fact that you were never able to figure out there was no ball….Listen, the point of this is: Kiba, there might be a time where your sense of scent may become useless to you and Akamaru, and, Shino, your insects may not always be responsive in certain conditions. Hinata, there may even become a time where you'll have to refrain from using your Byakugan. Sure, the situation seems very unlikely…but in the Shinobi world possibilities are endless. And for all you know, one day, restricted from those powers, you could be searching for something that isn't even there. That's why teamwork is important, especially in dire situations. Do you understand?"
It took a minute for them to comprehend, Kiba the most.
"Yes, Sensei…I see!" Hinata said, making sense of it all. "You want us all to watch each other's backs."
The crimson-eyed woman simply smiled and nodded. "We will continue normal training from this point forward. I need to inform you three of something later. For now, however, I will work with you today, Shino."
Shino nodded, and the two walked off.
"Guess that leaves us." Kiba scratched the back of his head.
"A-Actually, I'm sorry, K-Kiba-kun, but…I need to improve my Byakugan's accuracy…" She looked away shyly, which was unusual around Kiba.
Once again, he raised a brow. "Eh, it's fine. I can just work on fang over fang with Akamaru or something. G'luck!"
She simply nodded, smiling, before sitting down. Activating her Byakugan, she practiced focusing on smaller objects. It was tough, but worthwhile. She wondered, what was Naruto doing?
Definitely wasn't training, that was for sure.
He indefinitely was enjoying his favorite meal- ramen, with his teacher, Iruka, at his favorite ramen place, of course, Ichiraku ramen. Ramen for breakfast was divine, he often thought.
Iruka raised a brow as Naruto proceeded to finish his 3rd bowl, "Do you plan on training after this?"
Naruto eyed him for a second, "Oh…crap! Yeah. I probably should, huh?" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Do you mind paying, Iruka sensei?"
He rolled his eyes.
Hinata's eyes grew strained after a few hours of trying to focus on the smallest of details. It was like someone whom had damaged eyesight trying to read something from afar- it was tiring.
Thus she was fairly happy when Kurenai approached her with Shino and Kiba.
"I've made up my mind." She finally begun, "I think you three are ready."
They looked at her with confusion.
"I want you three to enter the Chunin exams."
