Chapter Nine

Shikamaru and Hinata left the Hyuga Compound but not before Ino, TenTen, and Hanabi snapped a bunch of pictures of them, much to Shikamaru's annoyance. Currently the couple of the hour was strolling through the streets of Konoha heading to their destination. As they passed, many people were in the awe of the couple, many girls envious of Hinata and her looks (dress included), while the guys were mad with jealousy at the fact that the laziest shinobi in all of Konohagakure no Sato somehow landed one of the most beautiful kunoichi in town. Others were thinking how the two shinobi made a cute couple.

"Where are we headed to tonight Shikamaru-kun?" Hinata asked, curiosity eating at her. Shikamaru smirked at her and replied

"Well wouldn't you like to know?" Hinata pouted at this and Shikamaru found it cute on her, not that'd he say it out loud. He chuckled and said

"Don't worry kanojo, we'll be there soon." Hinata's face flushed at the intimate pet name he gave her.

"Okay….koibito." Shikamaru's cheeks turned red, but thankfully for him, Hinata didn't notice.

"It seems Kami is on my side tonight," Shikamaru thought silently while also thinking that nothing could possibly go wrong. Poor Shikamaru, when will he learn that no one is immune to the mischievous entity known as Murphy's Law? The couple arrived to the restaurant where they were met by the maitre'd. "I have a reservation for two under 'Nara'", Shikamaru said. Hinata was in absolute awe of the restaurant. She couldn't believe that Shikamaru managed to get a reservation at Opulence, the newest and quite frankly, one of the most expensive restaurants.

"Right this way Lord Shikamaru, Lady Hinata," the maitre'd said as he led the couple to a table in a corner that was semi-secluded.

"Shi-Shikamaru-kun, how did you manage to get a reservation here?" Hinata asked as Shikamaru pulled out her seat. "…I have my ways," was all he said as a sly smirk on his face. Hinata blushed slightly as she thought

"That smirk of his is so hot." She flushed even further. Their waitress, a pretty raven-haired young woman with amber colored eyes arrived back to their table with menus.

"Here you two lovebirds go. I'll be back in ten minutes to take your orders okay?" the woman said. The two nodded and the woman left. But unknown to them, the woman wore a malicious grin on her face as she left the restaurant by using the back door. Once she at the back of the restaurant by herself, the "woman" made the ram hand sign and smoke surrounded her. The smoke cleared, revealing a familiar bubblegum-haired green-eyed girl. Ever since she was released from jail four months ago, Sakura spent her time plotting revenge against Hinata. When she heard that Shikamaru and Hinata were going on the date, she immediately came up with a plan which she thought was fool-proof.

"Alright Hinata-teme, payback's a bitch," Sakura said as an evil grin appeared on her face.

-Line break-

Ten minutes later, Shikamaru and Hinata were ready to order. They both decided to have the same dish: Kenchin-jiru with a side of Chinese buns. Their raven-haired waitress arrived back.

"Are you guys ready to order now?" she asked politely.

"Yes, we'll both have the Kenchin-jiru with a side of Chinese buns," Shikamaru said. The "woman" wrote down the order and then said

"What about drinks?" Shikamaru looked to Hinata, who said

"Two cups of Jasmine tea please."

"Alright, two orders of Kenchin-jiru with Chinese buns and Jasmine tea coming right up," and the waitress walked away.

"So Hina-chan," Shikamaru started as he reached over and grabbed one of Hinata hands and started rubbing it softly,

"How is it so far?" Hinata smiled sweetly at her boyfriend and she replied

"Shika-kun, it's been perfect. The music, the atmosphere, everything is really tremendous."

"Would you look at what the cat drug in?" a voice said. The pair looked up to see Tsunade, Shizune, and Anko at their table.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru said.

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

"We wanted to see if the rumors surrounding you two brats are true, and apparently they are," Tsunade said as she smiled at the couple. Their waitress came back with their food. She sat them in front of them and then hurried away.

"What's her problem?" Tsunade said.

"I don't know. She was really nice tonight," Hinata said as a slight frown appeared on her face. Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and said

"Who cares?" Hinata smiled at her boyfriend's carelessness and inhaled the scent of her food, which caused her to stop abruptly. She frowned at her food as she noticed something off with the food. Training under Anko, Hinata learned how to use and spot various poisons and venoms.

"Shikamaru," Hinata said, catching everyone off guard with the lack of the suffix.

"Do not eat your food," she said gravely.

"Why? What's wrong?" Shikamaru said while he tensed up slightly.

"Anko-chan, smell this food," Hinata said, not answering her boyfriend's question. Tsunade and Shizune tensed as well as Anko leaned in to smell the food. Anko's faced screwed up and then smelled Shikamaru's food and immediately yelled

"What the fuck?!" loudly as she smacked the food onto the ground, causing everyone to look at the group.

"What's going on Anko?" Tsunade demanded.

"Someone poisoned Hina-chan and deer boy's food!" Anko shouted, causing everyone around to gasp.

"What?!" Tsunade roared. Shikamaru wore a shocked look on his face as he learned of this development. The maitre'd came to their table immediately.

"Is there a problem Lady Tsunade?" he asked.

"Yeah, one of your workers tried to poison two of my shinobi!" Tsunade said angrily.

"Oh dear," he said. He turned to Hinata and said "Lady Hinata, who was your waiter tonight?"

"A woman with black hair and amber-colored eyes," Hinata answered. The man wore a confused look on his face and said

"I have no waitress of that description working for me." Tsunade rubbed her temples as she said

"You mean to tell me that someone somehow managed to sneak into your restaurant and pose as a waitress in order to sabotage two clan heirs' food?" While she was saying this, Hinata spotted the waitress far in the back edging towards the backdoor.

"There she is" Hinata said as she pointed to the back.

"I got her Lady Tsunade. Nobody messes with my apprentice and her boy toy and gets away with it," Anko said before shunshining. Shikamaru blushed when Anko called him a "boy toy" while Hinata just smiled. Anko appeared a few seconds later with the woman being held in a head lock. Hinata discreetly activated her Byakugan and checked the woman. She was shocked at what she saw and quickly deactivated it.

"Lady Tsunade, she's under a henge," Hinata said.

"Unhenge yourself," Tsunade ordered. The woman made the ram hand sign and a cloud of smoke appeared. The smoke cleared, revealing Sakura Haruno as the prime suspect.

"Sakura/Pinky?" Tsunade and Anko exclaimed, both having shocked looks on their faces along with Shizune. Sakura glared at Hinata, who had a sad look on her face. Shikamaru had a pissed off look on his face as he stood up and took Hinata into his arms.

"Sakura, you better have a good reason for pulling this damn stunt four months after being released from jail," Tsunade said, a large throbbing vein on her forehead.

-Line Break-

After that disaster involving Sakura yet again, the maitre'd apologized to Shikamaru and Hinata and offered them a free meal as a result of their meal being tampered with, which they took as they were quite hungry. Sakura was taken to T&I by Anko, who got excited at the thought of torture. Currently the couple was taking a stroll through the park. As they were walking, the wind blew, making Hinata shiver. Shikamaru took off his coat and put it over Hinata's shoulders. They arrived to a park bench and sat down. Hinata rested her head on Shikamaru's shoulder.

"Well this date was a complete disaster thanks to Sakura," Shikamaru said. "What a complete drag." Hinata giggled and said

"Well, it wasn't a complete disaster Deer-kun; at least we got a free meal out of it, even if it was at our expense."

"I guess," Shikamaru said while wearing a down look on his face. Hinata frowned when she saw the look on her boyfriend's face and decided to cheer him up. "Hey," she said, turning Shikamaru's head so that he was looking at her, "I enjoyed our time on this date with you tonight. I've already forgot about tonight's incident and you should do the same okay?" Seeing Hinata's face, Shikamaru felt a little better.

"You're right," he said. The couple went back to looking at the stars. Tonight was a night they'll never forget for years to come.

Two months later

Two months have passed since that unfortunate incident and Shikamaru and Hinata's relationship grew even stronger. It was now October 25, the day of the Annual Jonin Exams. Hinata woke up pumped and ready to go.

"I can't believe today is the day I can become a jonin," Hinata thought as she quickly jumped out of her bed. Just then, Hanabi burst into her room.

"Nee-chan today is the day. Are you ready?" she asked.

"Yes, I am Hanabi-chan." For the last two months before today, Hinata has been working extremely hard at polishing up her jutsus and her kenjutsu with Yugao. She had learned that she had a second elemental affinity, lightning to complement her fire affinity. So aside from her training with Yamato, Hinata had been studying lightning jutsus and learned there were only a few as shinobi with lightning affinity were extremely rare, along with wind users. Fortunately Kakashi was a lightning user and had taught her his original technique, Lightning Blade or more commonly known as the Chidori. It took her some time, but she managed to perfect it, after she trained in chakra molding and manipulation of course. In her spare time, she even managed to create several jutsus, including one to use in conjunction with her Byakugan. Hinata stretched for a bit to get the kinks out of her body before heading to her bathroom. Nearly ten minutes later, Hinata walked out in only her towel. Hinata went into her closet and took a special outfit. She bought it a couple months ago, but wanted to wear it on a special occasion such as today.

"Well, today is a good day to wear it like no other day," the Hyuga mused as she put on her bra and underwear. She then put on her outfit and looked into the mirror to inspect herself. Hinata wore a cream-colored crop vest with a short-sleeved cropped fishnet shirt that stopped just a few inches above her navel, revealing her toned stomach and waistline. The collar of the fishnet shirt scooped low past her collarbone and sat above her vest zipper, revealing a portion of her cleavage. She wore a short skirt of the same color that stopped inches above the middle of her thighs. The skirt had a slit on the right side that revealed some of the black shorts underneath with fishnets attached to the shorts. Hanabi returned a short time to see the outfit her older sister was wearing.

"Hinata-nee, you look great. Neji-nii is gonna have a hard time beating back your fan boys once they see you in that get up," Hanabi commented, making her sister laugh. Hinata then stuffed her hair into a ponytail that sat in the middle of her hair. She slid on a pair of black fingerless gloves, replacing the ones she used before. She quickly wrapped tape around her right thigh and strapped on her kunai pouch. She then headed downstairs with Hanabi to eat breakfast. "Good Morning Hinata-sama, Hanabi-sama" the cook by the name of Hideaki greeted.

"Good Morning daughters," Hiashi greeted.

"Good Morning otou-sama," Hinata and Hanabi greeted back as they bowed to their father, who bowed back.

"Hinata-hime, are you ready for the Jonin exams," Hiashi inquired as they ate their breakfast.

"Yes, I know I am," Hinata replied as she drunk her orange juice. Hiashi smiled slightly and said

"Well then I'll be there along with Hanabi to watch you dominate." Harumi entered the room and said

"Hinata-sama, your friends Ino-san and TenTen-san are here." Hinata quickly finished her breakfast and gave her father a quick hug before shunshining back to her room to get the scroll that contained her swords, a nifty trick she learned from TenTen. She returned downstairs and put on her brand new pair of black thigh high boots with heels and left the compound to meet Ino and TenTen.

-Line Break-

"So are you ready to do this?" TenTen asked as she, Hinata, and Ino made their way to the stadium where the exams would take place. TenTen and Ino had showered Hinata with compliments when they saw the outfit their former shy friend had on.

"Definitely. What about you TenTen-chan?" TenTen changed up her outfit as well from the usual outfit she wore. She wore a lavender and navy colored Chinese-style blouse that stopped at her elbow. She wore a navy skirt that tied at both sides with bandaged shorts underneath. Her hair was in its usual style except she had a single braid coming from underneath her two buns each. Her black fingerless gloves were replaced by full-sleeved fingerless gloves that stopped just inches before her elbow. She sported a large scroll on her back. TenTen grinned and said

"Oh yeah, I'm so ready to kick ass right now. I'm so pumped right now."

"Yeah, I'll be rooting for you girls in the stands," Ino said. Ino wore a purple blouse with black knee-length pants instead of her usual outfit. Her hair was in its usual style. They reached the stadium where the rest of the Rookie Nine were.

"Hey guys, we're here," TenTen said, catching everyone's attention. Ino went over to Shino and gave him a hug and they shared a brief kiss. TenTen went over to Naruto and they too shared a kiss. Naruto and TenTen had just started seeing each other two months ago. As she was looking for her own boyfriend, Hinata didn't notice someone sneaking up on her until someone covered her eyes and laid their hand on her waist.

"Shinobi should never be caught off guard," the person whispered. Hinata smiled as she felt Shikamaru's hand tighten possessively around her waist. Shikamaru's hand left her eyes and Hinata turned around and faced her boyfriend while wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I wish you would stop doing that," Hinata said as she pouted slightly. Shikamaru chuckled and said

"Sorry, but it's fun doing that." He wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her closer as he said in a low husky voice "And for the record, that outfit is totally sexy on you. I'll have a hard time beating back your fan club." Hinata blushed and giggled as she brought her lips towards his own, sharing a tender kiss. It would have gone longer had Kiba not cleared his throat.

"Good luck," he whispered and kissed her once more, this time brief.

"Come on Shikamaru, Choji already went ahead to find us some good seats," Ino said as she dragged her teammate away, but not before giving Shino a sultry good bye kiss.

"Alright guys, let's go out there and kick some ass!" Naruto yelled as everyone yelled except for Shino and Sai. The group made their way into the stadium where Shinobi from different villages were standing around. Up in the Kage stand, all five Kages were currently present with their personal guards behind them. The Yondaime Raikage of Kumogakure A, a dark-skinned man whose white-blond hair was cornrowed and sporting a goatee on his chin turned to Tsunade and said "I brought ten chuunins to take the exams Tsunade, how many you have?" Tsunade smirked and said

"I have seven chuunins."

"Ah, I see," A said while stroking his goatee.

"Why do you ask? You want to bet on it?" Tsunade said as an eager look appeared on her face.

"Lady Tsunade, you know it's against the rules to bet," Shizune said while wearing a disapproving look on her face."Besides, everyone knows you're horrible at gambling."

"Shizune!" Tsunade yelled while pouting, making the rest of the Kages chuckle at the Hokage's childish antics.

"Since you all were discussing the numbers of chuunins, I thought you all should know I sent fifteen," the Godaime Mizukage of Kirigakure Mei Terumi said.

"I have six," Ohnoki, the Sandaime Tsuchikage of Iwagakure stated.

"And I have seven, the same as Tsunade," came the deep and gravelly voice of Gaara, the newest and youngest of the Kages as Godaime Kazekage of Sunagakure.

"Well, might as well get this over with," Tsunade said. The blonde Hokage stood up and put on her Kage hat, along with Gaara and the others. Tsunade held her right hand up, immediately silencing the entire arena. The wind blew as all five Kages stood up, their respective hats shadowing their faces. The shinobi in the arena immediately snapped to attention. Tsunade added chakra to her voice before saying

"Good Morning everyone, shinobi, civilians, and nobility alike! Welcome to the annual Jonin Exams!" The crowd cheered loudly and Tsunade smirked and waited for the crowd to settle down a bit. Once the crowd settled down, Tsunade continued on

"As the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, I hereby declare that the Jonin Exams began!"