Hi everyone. This chapter is short, but I hope that you enjoy it to the fullest, being the first chapter I wrote and not copied. (My lil bro keeps saying that my story's bad because I copy what's going on in the episodes... But I have to for now or things might go terribly wrong... Sniff, sniff) On the other hand, my dearest brother just celebrated his birthday not long ago and he wants to review my story.

"Your story is crazy and boring and completely stupid." -Hebi-chan (my nickname for him since he's born on the year of the snake)

First of all, that review was edited to not include the funny motions he made while saying that. Second, he has nothing to do with Orochimaru. He's actually more like a boar...

I do not own this series, only my story.

Chapter Twenty One

With the explanation over, people began to disperse. Shinju briefly thought about what happened in the preliminaries before she suddenly remembered something important. With that thought in mind, she headed towards the Hokage and his subordinates. ''May I have a word with you, Hokage-sama? It concerns my status and the upcoming matches.''

''Very well, Ibiki, Anko, Hayate, come with us.'' He said before leading the way.

''Hai, Hokage-sama.'' The three proctors followed him with Shinju behind. They went through a number of hallways, before finally going inside an office where they were told to sit down.

''The three of you may not know this yet, but Hyuuga-san here was a civilian before the beginning of the Chunin Selection Exam. I must say that I was impressed by your prowess and I commend you for making it this far. I also heard that you saved your teammates from an ambush.''

''Thank you for your praise, Hokage-sama, but that was not what I came here for.'' Shinju felt a bit of heat coming to her cheeks at his words. It was the third time an adult has praised her for the first time in years, but it was the first that affected her so much.

''Of course. Like I said, you were a civilian until about a week ago and you are currently a temporary ninja. Under normal circumstances, you should return to your civilian status after you've been disqualified, but it is the first time that someone in your situation has made it to the main matches since you haven't attended the Academy. In the end, it will be up to Hiashi whether you will truly become a ninja or not. I hope to convince him to let you stay amongst our ranks though.''

''It's just as I expected then.'' Shinju paused, thinking it over. ''There's also something else I want to say.''

''Is that so?'' Sandaime-sama asked. ''What is it that you want to talk to me about?''

''You should already know by now that Orochimaru has infiltrated the Chunin Exams. I have reasons to believe that all members of the team of one Yakushi Kabuto are spies working for him.'' Knowing that the adults found it a little far-fetched, she told about what she heard. ''Akadou Yoroi had intercepted Yakushi after the latter decided to quit. I heard their conversation quite clearly and Yoroi told Yakushi to not forget about quote unquote ''Orochimaru-sama's orders''. Furthermore, the sensei of the Oto trio had the same aura and chakra signatures as the man who put the mark on Sasuke's neck.''

''You are able to sense chakra signatures and see auras? Impressive. Thank you for informing us about this.'' The Hokage seemed to dismiss her.

''There is also something I'd like to ask Mitarashi-senpai if it's fine with you, Hokage-sama.''

''What do you want to do?'' Mitarashi-senpai asked. ''Train in the Forest of Death for the tournament?''

''You also possess the same seal as Sasuke, do you not? I already sealed his seal and made it less painful for him, would you like me to do the same for you?''

''Hokage-sama…'' Mitarashi-senpai seemed to asked whether it was safe.

''Let her, I want to see what she can do.''

Thus, Mitarashi-senpai kneeled in front of Shinju who then clasped her hands on the location of the mark. She concentrated really hard and transferred some of her chakra. Moments later, it was over. They checked to see if the Cursed Seal still caused pain and no later than that, Shinju was dismissed from the office.

(Inside the office, Third Person POV)

''That girl is much stronger than I had first anticipated,'' the Hokage stated as he fumed his pipe. ''At the rate she is going, I wouldn't be surprised if she were to be the next genius of the Hyuuga Clan.''

''She didn't answer a single question in the test though nor did she even write down her own name.'' Ibiki said. ''She seemed lost in thought half of the time, yet she wasn't startled at anything.''

''Kasumi told me that according to her son and his teammate, that Hyuuga went her own way before meeting them again when they were ambushed by the Waterfall nin. We found them yesterday, unconscious and mostly unharmed. Her own clothes weren't all that dirty neither, except for her comrades' blood. I also heard from Kakashi that she helped his team when she was alone.'' Anko shared.

''There is no denying that she makes an exceptional ninja,'' Hayate coughed. ''Her morals are also in the right place.''

The Hokage sighed. It was true that a kunoichi like her was needed in their village, but they didn't even know if she wanted to continue down that road. She could return to her usual life or be constantly caught in life-death situations as there was no doubt that she had the potential of becoming Chunin and in the future, Jounin or perhaps even higher. In his opinion, what was most important was her own wishes for her future rather than the decisions made by her clan for her.

On the other hand, they also had much more to think about. Orochimaru was on the loose, ready to attack at any time, even if it was most likely that he will do so during the Third Exam. His men and spies have been identified and all except the one competing must be taken care of as soon as possible.

''Ibiki, I want you to monitor the teammates of Yakushi Kabuto and the two Sound ninja that are currently in the hospital. Have them moved into the interrogation center where they will finish healing and do not forget to use chakra cuffs.'' He ordered. ''You must extract any information about Orochimaru and his plans. Anko, I want you and Hayate to look for Yakushi Kabuto and watch over Dosu Kinuta's movements. No one is to reveal that Hyuuga-san has anything to do with this. Depending on the following events, we may have to put our Jounin and Chunin on alert and enlist her help.''

I hope that you understand Shinju's situation a bit more, maybe... I'll be posting the next chapter soon.
The pairings remain the same.

Please review!