The dawn sky was gray and foggy, as the sun was too drowsy to even shine the full light of its rays. It was ludicrous for anybody to be up at such an ungodly time, except for one ninja way down below in the village of Konoha.
Hinata stirred and awoke, her sensitive ears hearing nothing, nothing being the problem. It was unusually quiet.
Sitting up, she looked around her unfamiliar room, the events of her mission rushing back at her.
It was normal for her to be up at such a time in the Akatsuki, as it was a requirement to be alert and adaptable to any given time. A shinobi could not afford to fumble an attack due to fatigue.
Swiftly, with languid-bare grace, Hinata swung her legs off of the low bed, already dressed. She ran a pale hand easily through her dark locks as she headed for the bathroom.
Her bare toes twitched at the freezing tiles, and she stood in front of the mirror, not even gazing up to her reflection. She ran a towel under cold water of the faucet, dabbing her face and arms, and a toothbrush was stuck in her mouth; multi-task to a whole new level.
Before you knew it, she had snapped her cloak in place, pulled over the hood, and popped a soldier pill in her mouth. Within seconds she was out of the house, destination: The Hokage Tower.
Sasuke's keen ears picked up small footsteps heading past his door towards the exit of the apartment complex. Who in the world would be up at this ungodly hour?
The boy gave a muffled sigh into his pillow and rolled over, drifting back to sleep, as any normal villager would.
It was good that she had paid attention when Sasuke took her to the office, Hinata thought to herself. She now stood hovering above a mass jumble of black and orange.
Hinata raised her gloved hands to form some hand seals, allowing a silencing jutsu to drape over the room. Then, she delved into one of her pockets and withdrew a velvet pouch.
It had been a parting gift from Deidara-sama, the latest of his creations. He had designed it to be indestructible and self-reparable, great in a situation that would require a distraction.
Or, in this case, a wake-up call.
Hinata reached into the pouch and pulled out a small clay sculpture of a cat. It was fragile; the artistic details in the ears and eyes making it seem almost life like. Hinata balanced the figurine in the palm of her hand, right above Naruto's sleeping figure.
"Kai."
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
A flash of yellow and orange rose four feet up into the air, his scream drowned in the explosion. As the last of it faded away, Hinata calmly replaced the cat back into her pouch.
"I'm never going to get a decent nap with you around here now, eh Hinata?"
Said girl responded with a small smirk.
Art is a bang.
In a twisted déjà vu, Hinata found herself once again in the office of the Hokage, ready to get down to business. At least this time, there was an odds-on chance that the business would be genuine.
Naruto sleepily rubbed his eyes, not even bothering to cover his yawn.
"Alright, 'cause you're so anxious for the exams, I've already filled out the forms for you. The exams will not only qualify you as an official villager and shinobi, but your rank for the time being will also be considered. So you better put on a good display, believe it!"
His tan face grinned back at her, the whiskers on his cheeks more prominent in the strengthening morning light, but she didn't return the smile.
"Anyways… seeing how this is all of a sudden, and I am the greatest Hokage ever, I'll allow you to choose your opponent. I'm that yesterday you got around to meeting the gang with the teme?"
Hinata simply nodded, knowing exactly who she wanted to battle.
This was bound to be interesting.
The large dome arena was bustling with excitement. All the villagers, shinobi, and civilians alike had gathered at the orders and invitation of the Hokage himself.
The audience whispered and chattered excitedly; it had leaked that the battle would involve the new transfer from the Mist. They had seen her just a day before, and curiosity was plentiful.
A promise hung in the air of an interesting match.
At one end of the dome, a large table was set up, behind which several jounin were seated. They were renowned throughout the village, and every so often someone would even come up to them for an autograph, for everyone was astonished at the fact that they would be the judges.
The name plates at each place shined proudly.
Hatake Kakashi - The silver haired ninja lazily had his nose stuffed inside that infamous book, but if one observed closely, they could see his tense shoulders.
Yuuhi Kurenei- The crimson-eyed beauty looked sharp and serious, twirling a wavy strand of dark hair around her finger.
Maito Gai- The boastful green beast was standing on his chair, boasting about something nobody cared to listen to. His student, Rock Lee, had already come up a dozen times for his autograph.
Sarutobi Asuma- The smoke rising from his ever-present cigarette veiled the interest in his eyes.
Naruto had told them to serve as judges for an exam but given no further detail. This was Uzumaki for crying out loud, he usually wasn't reliable for information. Despite being Hokage, the kid had a lot of growing up to do.
As a result, the judges were just as expectant as the audience.
The crowd quieted as a figure in robes glided into the center of the arena. As he lifted his head, bright cerulean eyes looked fondly over the citizens of a village he loved more than anything in the world.
"PEOPLE OF KONOHA!"
Naruto's voice bellowed, his voice echoing through the edged silence. There were times when it was a good thing to be loud; he didn't even need a jutsu to amplify his voice.
He continued, "Today you all will witness a battle, an exam. This battle has no boundaries, no limits. It can take all day, or it can end in a few minutes. To put it bluntly, this is going to be AWESOME, BELIEVE IT!"
Cheers broke out throughout the audience, now on their feet in excitement.
Naruto waited patiently for them to quiet down before continuing, "The examiners," he swept a hand towards the jounin table, "will grade this ninja on…"
Kurenei stood up first and placed her hands on her hips, "Genjutsu."
Gai practically jumped in the air, "TAI-JUTSU"
Asuma gave a puff before replying stuffily, "Strategy."
Then… waiting…
…
…
"KAKASHI-SENSEIIII!!!!" Naruto was about to burst a vein, his face turning red.
"Hmm?" The silver haired jounin looked up at Naruto's bellow, causing half the arena to sweat-drop.
"Oh, yes…" Without even lowering his book he sighed, "Overall ninjutsu."
Naruto sent a glare at his former sensei before turning back to the audience, "With that finally said, may I present the examinee…"
POOF!
Smoke filled the arena, and the audience leaned forward in their seats, straining their eyes.
A dark silhouette could be made out, becoming clearer and clearer as the fog slowly cleared away.
"HINATA IKUSTAKA, the newest transfer from the MIST!"
There was no applause.
Hinata, under the safety of her hood, looked up and around her. There were a lot of people. More people than she had ever been surrounded by in her life. At least, alive.
She expected a regular exam, but it was Naruto's insistence, and she couldn't say no. Besides, he was doing her a favor by letting her choose an opponent. She smirked.
Naruto gave a low cough before continuing, "Okay, um, now with that warm, may we finally introduce her opponent. Or should I say, opponents…"
Poof! Poof! POOF! Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof! POOF!
Smoke erupted at every side of the arena, veiling the whole dome thickly. The audience gripped the edges of their seats, trying to get a glimpse.
It was…
Gasps rung out. They couldn't believe it. This foolish girl was battling…
Naruto smirked, as he dropped his Hokage robes to reveal his own battle outfit.
"Everyone."
Hinata found herself surrounded by all the shinobi she had met the day before.
Uzumaki, Haruno, Yamanaka, Tenten, Akimichi, Nara, Rock, she restrained a flinch, Hyuga, and finally, Sasuke.
They circled her like vultures, each positioning themselves in their own separate stances. Hinata lowered herself into her own stance, the familiar one she created in the Akatsuki.
Then, she waited. Only impatient fools attack first.
She had learned that from an early age.
As she spun, making eye contact with each shinobi in turn, she remembered her training.
How she was forced to sit on a rock all day; no food, no water, no talking. Building up her patience to the point of not moving a muscle for hours.
Instinctively, she patted down her pouches, feeling the familiar, comforting weight of her weapons.
She remembered how she was forced to make her own weapons. Sharpen them to the point from scratch. Then to have them dumped in a river, so that she would have to retrieve them, and find that they had been dulled by the water. To learn how to clean them again to avoid rusting.
She loosened her sash and pulled her hood down further, finally locking gazes with Sasuke.
Finally, all her training was going to be put to the ultimate test.
Then she flipped backward and caught Sakura's chakra-infused punch in her palm.
It had begun.
Hinata swept her foot down, causing the pink haired ninja to stumble back, giving herself enough time to spin and block Lee's attack.
The thick browed opponent's eyes glittered, and he met her in the air as she jumped.
He yelled, "LION COMBO!"
His foot went straight up, aiming for her stomach, but Hinata caught it between her elbows and ricocheted off his chest by pressing her knees together. They both plummeted towards the ground, and Hinata adjusted her weight by twisting them into a ball, causing him to land first.
As dust rose from the hard plummet, Hinata jumped backwards to avoid the impact. When her feet touched the ground, she found herself unable to move.
Shikamaru had timed her landing and carefully awaited her shadow to stretch enough to be in field for his shadow technique. Ino used her teammate's opportunity to raise her hands in her family's trademark mind control jutsu.
A few minutes passed, and Hinata remained completely as still as Ino.
"AGHHHH!"
Suddenly, Ino clutched her palms to her head, doubling over and whimpering in pain. "So dark… her mind… so.. so.."
Using the falter, Hinata transferred chakra to her hands. Just because she couldn't physically move didn't mean that she couldn't move her chakra.
Slowly, Hinata stretched the chakra into a dancing blue wall. Then, she made it lower, seeping up the shadow on her right side, turning it black.
All she needed was one hand seal.
"DARK BINDING NO JUTSU!"
Shikamaru found his technique blasting back at him, the black chakra wrapping around his body, binding him tightly. He felt himself go blue from the lack of air.
Hinata paid no mind to the defeated strategist after that as she dodged a flurry of metal coming at her. She used her arms to parry the blows, running swiftly towards the wall.
Thud!
Hinata bounced off the wall, parallel to the floor, flying straight forward with her arms at her side at a speed that made her seem like she was flying.
She jammed her knees onto Tenten's spine and worked her arms around so that her fingers could just brush the scrolls.
Smooth paper wrinkled under her fingers.
In a matter of seconds, she had yanked the wires connected to the sword over and pulled Tenten to the ground, tying the weapon mistress up in her own attack.
Tenten was left in a crumpled mess of metal, a kunai attached to one of the wires landing dangerously close to her head.
Hinata stepped back and turned around to find an enormous mass of green rolling straight at her. Calmly, despite the massive danger she was in, Hinata grabbed Tenten and pulled her in front of herself.
The mass stopped immediately, rolling sideways to show the squinting, chubby face of Chouji, reluctant as he was forced to slow his attack in order to protect his comrade.
All Hinata needed was that single second. She dropped the girl, and chakra infused her heels so she could jump the height needed to land on top of the large boy. She dug her chakra heel into him, causing him to groan as he rolled so that his head was at her feet.
Calmly, Hinata transferred chakra from her feet to the tip of her fingers and flicked his chubby nose.
He deflated into a mass of unconscious weight.
Hinata leapt off gracefully and found herself surrounded by the last three opponents: Naruto, Neji, and Sasuke.
The others had been fairly easy to defeat, barely considered genin compared to her level. But these three would be much more fun to play with. Hinata's ever present smirk deepened.
Unconsciously, she pulled her hood lower.
The four of them stood dead center in the arena, lowered in their stances, three surround one in the middle. The audience had been silent up till now, too consumed in the battle to even remember to breathe.
The jounin were even on the edge of their seats. Kakashi's book had been on the same page for the entire length of the battle, Kurenei had yanked out a strand of her hair, Asuma didn't even realise that his cigarette had charred out, and even Gai was sitting eerily still.
Everyone's eyes were trained on the strongest of their village.
The hooded girl in the center with the Uchiha, Hyuga, and Hokage slowly circling her. Their feet shifted in cadence.
Waiting for the next move.
The weapon quivered in anticipation, for the battle had just yet begun.