Underlined italics are Team Eight's wordless communication
Disclaimer: PandoraBoxx777 Does NOT in anyway own the series Naruto or any of its other name rights. Happy Reading!
It was strange to enter the academy again, even though it was a different building. Team Eight looked around for the staircase, only having been on the first floor.
"What floor are we supposed to go to, again?" Kiba asked nonchalantly, reaching up to give Akamaru a scratch on the ear.
Hinata folded her umbrella and placed it on her back, using a seal to keep it in place, "Three," She replied.
They all started their assent, chatting quietly amongst themselves about what they were expecting. "It would be wise to keep a low profile through all of this," Shino said, "We would be attracting less attention that way if we keep to ourselves."
"But Spider," Hinata whispered, "What if we need to help someone?"
"Yeah, or if someone tries to fuck with us?" Kiba chimed in, Akamaru barking once.
"We will cross that bridge when we get there." Shino soothed easily, "But right now my priority is protecting this team."
Hinata and Kiba nodded, "Same here." They agreed.
Shino was pleased, "Then it's decided."
They continued to the third floor, noticing a small altercation taking place by the next set of stairs. A crowd of kids stood around what seemed to be two chunin protesting and wanting to be let inside a classroom. Hinata recognized Neji's teammates being the only two standing up to them, and sighed to herself.
Of course she didn't expect Neji to actually take an actual stand against the chunin, but she would have liked him to, if only so her team could get past and continue on their way.
She looked at the sign above their heads and frowned. She turned to Shino who turned to Kiba who turned to Hinata. "Do you see it too?" They were asking.
It would be pretty embarrassing for students of a genjutsu master to not have noticed the obvious, weak genjutsu placed on the sign above their heads.
Kiba's brows furrowed further and he jerked his head very subtly towards the crowd, pursing his lips and flicking his eyes to the upper right. "Let's move on, but quietly."
Hinata and Shino nodded, activating their wallflower abilities and moving unnoticed to the side, around the other participants to the other staircase.
A ray of sunshine stood in her line of vision and her eyes couldn't help but follow it. Naruto. She didn't know he was participating too.
She noticed Sasuke standing at the front, ever the bad boy in the situation, and remained collected as he taunted the Chunin. Naruto, however, just stood back with that bright smile on his face. She couldn't help but smile at his confidence.
It's not that Hinata had any feelings for the blond, far from it, but his can-do attitude and self assurance was like a breath of fresh air, and his grin was contagious. Hinata admired Naruto, because he was just as hurt and broken as she was, but he still managed to move on and become better from it.
She recognized that he was a little rude as well as immature, but she knew that later on, he would grow into a fine shinobi. He just needed time.
Kiba sighed silently and grabbed her arm, pulling her along as she quietly sputtered and apologized
"We understand that you admire Naruto greatly," Shino said, "But you are better than to let him distract you."
Kiba grinned at her, throwing his hands behind his head, "Yeah Opal," He chimed in, "We just don't want him getting in your way, you know? Besides, you're going to be just as strong, if not even more someday."
Hinata frowned at the last comment. What was that supposed to mean? Was Naruto not already strong?
Sure he was dead last, abrasive, loud, and clueless and not necessarily the brightest of the Rookie Nine, but he was kind, he was caring. Naruto always did his best despite the fact that he was always hurting. He always wore a smile on his face whatever came his way and he never complained about his setbacks. Naruto was determined, something that Hinata wanted to be and drew strength from.
She hid her face, feeling a bit ashamed and embarrassed. Shino and Kiba gave her their hands, smiling at her, and so she smiled in return at their reassurance.
They entered the correct classroom, taking note of everyone there. There weren't many people yet, so there was no immediate threat in terms of numbers, but they figured they would fare better in sticking to themselves, far away from everyone else.
Kiba looked around and picked the spot closest to the door, but still far enough away that they wouldn't be noticed immediately.
His teammates followed and sat with him, placing themselves in strategic positions so as to maximise a better chance at escaping or sensing danger. Shino had even released some bugs to roam about in the classroom; hopefully they'll have some information on most, if not all of the shinobi.
Soon enough Team Ten walked in, trying to remain inconspicuous, which wasn't hard as even Ino stopped talking for this one moment.
Hinata took this time to study them, drinking in their appearance for what seemed like the first time.
Ino, in Hinata's opinion, was not taking her training seriously. She wore bright purple clothes and was constantly talking, whether about her looks or her new diet, which Hinata found totally ridiculous. There was nothing wrong with taking care of how you look, or wanting to look pleasing, but there was a fine line between being conscious of your appearance, and being stupidly vain.
She usually flounced around and followed Sasuke everywhere, fighting with other girls and being a bit of a sheep. Hinata knew somewhere in the back of her mind, that Ino was not shinobi material wherever she was at.
Choji was next inside, a content look on his face as he ate. He was nice, that much Hinata could tell, but he was also a little immature. He was sensitive about his weight, hating the word "fat" or otherwise.
Hinata didn't think it was that big of a deal, seeing as how his entire clan was larger than most shinobi. She didn't know anything else about him, and while she was a bit ashamed at that fact, she wouldn't let it bother her right now before they had to possibly face off in this Chunin Exam.
Shikamaru was a tougher one. He put on this lazy facade, often whining and deeming everything too "troublesome" to deal with. He often wondered aloud as to why he decided to be a ninja in the first place, and when asked, he gave a half-assed excuse.
However, Hinata could see the bright intelligence peeking out. Shikamaru was smarter than most people gave him credit for, and if he put the slightest bit more effort into anything he did, he would make an excellent shinobi. She found him staring often, eyes bright and curious. She wondered what he saw, and what he knew.
She turned away before he could catch her staring, though, he probably knew she was anyways. Maybe he was wondering about the sudden outfit change?
She looked around the room to the other genin. There were people from all parts of the Shinobi World here, from the Bloody Mist to the Land of Earth. Most, if not all, looked older than Hinata and her team. There were a few that were around their ages, but the rest looked to be about fifteen to sixteen years old. Hinata wasn't sure why, but she knew that it made the challenge a bit more exciting.
Having been lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice the next team walk in until Ino ran past her in a flurry. Hinata turned in time to see her fling herself onto Sasuke's shoulders, running her fingers across his chest.
"Sasuke!" She cooed adoringly, "I just knew you would make it. You have no idea how long I was waiting for you to show up; I've missed those good looks of yours, you know."
Sakura had a vein bulge from her forehead at the sight of her rival all over her crush, "Hey you Pig!" She shouted, comically pointing her finger, "Back off, he's mine!"
The banter began once more, Ino making fun of Sakura's forehead and Sakura making fun of Ino's name.
Hinata noticed Shikamaru sigh and stand to back Ino up, something she found endearing in the otherwise lazy ninja.
She knew that, as annoyed with Ino as he usually was, their bond ran deep. Shikamaru, Choji and Ino have been friends since they were kids, especially since their fathers knew each other from a young age as well. They were raised together, seeing as how they would continue the Ino-Shika-Cho team tradition, so familiarity at a young age was important. Hinata was unsure of which generation they were, but she knew that it was something time-honored and important.
The fact that Team Ten became friends by choice put a smile on her face.
Both boys on each team watched as the girls were just about to rip each other to shreds until Shikamaru stepped in with a sigh, "I didn't know you guys would be here too." He grumbled, "That makes this whole test even more troublesome."
Naruto pulled a face at the comment, "Oh great," He said, "I was wondering where you guys were. Could you get Ino away from my team?"
Choji bit into another chip and shrugged, "Sorry Naruto," He muffled past the food, "But you know we can't control Ino very well. She does her own thing and we just follow."
Ino turned around with a proud smirk, "Damn right." She retorted, earning another sigh from Shikamaru.
His eyes drifted to Team Eight and stared, causing Naruto to turn as well. With Naruto now quiet, everyone in the group turned to face Team Eight, who had not made any movement to greet them.
"Hey Kiba," The blond all but shouted, "What are you doing in the corner all by yourselves?"
Kiba cursed under his breath and forced a grin on his face. He knew the role he had to play, and while it wasn't very hard, since he was usually confident(some would call it cocky), he didn't want to endanger his team; but he knew at least, that if he didn't greet them, he would earn a bit more hostility that could last later on.
Kiba stood and shoved his hands into his pockets, swaggering over to the group with a cocky smile. Hinata and Shino stood to follow his lead, not willing to let Kiba face the rest of the Rookie Nine alone. While they knew Kiba could handle himself socially, they made a more formidable team together, as well as leaving a subtle message to anyone else that with one, you get two more.
They had each other's back no matter what.
"Well, well," Kiba chuckled, "Looks like the gang's all here. This makes it more interesting, wouldn't you say Shino?"
"It would seem so." Was all he said.
"Well if it isn't Dog Boy and Bug Boy," Naruto taunted, "How nice of you to join us. What's the deal? You too good to say hi or something?"
Kiba chose not to let the demeaning nickname bother him and shrugged, still grinning, "We thought it would be smarter to not attract any attention to ourselves." He tilted his chin up and flicked his eyes over his shoulder, "But since you decided to call us out and have everyone stare our way, I guess it doesn't matter anymore."
Team Seven and Ten were suddenly aware of all the eyes on them now.
"Well it doesn't matter," Naruto huffed, "Because we've been training crazy hard and we're going to blow you all away."
Kiba rolled his eyes, "Whatever loser," He replied, clearly uninterested, "We've been doing some actual training, so try to keep up while you still can."
Choji, who had been staring at Akamaru for some time, suddenly took a step forward, eyes burning with intent. Kiba glared at him, hands gripping his tetsubo tightly in case he did anything threatening.
Shino, sensing Kiba's anxiety, stepped forward, dropping one of his bugs on the ground without anyone noticing. He stepped in front of Choji who was startled enough to stop.
"What do you want?" He asked somewhat rudely.
It wasn't that he didn't like Shino, in fact, Choji has never even talked to him. He was always sitting by himself in class and at lunch. He never spoke to anyone and he was always quiet and creepy. Choji was also aware of Shino's interest in bugs, and it was something that always freaked him out for some reason.
Shino wasn't someone he wanted to mess with.
"You nearly stepped on my kikaichu beetle." The quiet boy said, bending down to pick it up. Choji nearly flinched at his voice, having never heard it before, it was deeper than he thought.
Hinata felt her hair stand on end; someone was staring at her. She chanced a glance behind her, seeing that everyone, even Neji's team, were minding their own business. Sakura and Ino were still arguing, Naruto trying to get his teammate's attention, Sasuke had his eyes closed and face scrunched in irritation. Kiba watched in amusement and Shino and Choji were still sort of staring at each other.
Brown intelligent eyes met her pearly lavender. To say she was surprised would be an understatement. Hinata wasn't sure why Shikamaru was staring, but she had to guess that he was trying to learn something.
Shikamaru couldn't help his eyes from roaming over Hinata's attire. It was so… different and unlike anything he had ever known her to be. He expected to see her in the same baggy coat and pants, but instead she looked like a ninja-geisha.
He was still well aware of how young they were, I mean, he was a genius after all, but despite their young age, he had to admit, she was very pretty; and she would grow to be even more beautiful as they got older, that much he could tell.
He looked up, having been caught staring, but he didn't mind. Her confused face meant that she couldn't read what was going on in his head. He smirked slightly, watching her cheeks tint pink at the sight, and he briefly wondered how a cute, smart girl like her was still single. Then again, it wasn't his business anyways.
"You kids need to quiet down," A new voice teased, "You're the Nine Rookies, aren't you? Not very smart to be making a scene here of all places.
All Rookie Nine turned to face the young man that had approached them. He looked young, maybe still under 18, with white hair and round glasses. He walked up confidently to the front, smirking as he peered at all of the genin around him.
"Well it's not like we asked. Who the hell are you, anyways?" Ino asked accusingly.
The boy smirk widened, "My name is Yakushi Kabuto." He replied gracefully, "But I wouldn't waste time asking questions. Look around you; you've made quite the impression already."
True to his word, most, if not all of the other contestants were staring their way.
Kabuto jerks his head into the crowd, "Those guys over there," He started, "Are from Amegakure. They're a bit touchy and short-tempered. Well, then again, I suppose everyone is, because these exams are stressful, so I shouldn't expect you all to know this; you're fresh out of the academy after all. You kind of remind me of myself."
Sakura frowned in confusion, "Are you saying this isn't your first chunin exam?" she asked.
Kabuto smiled sheepishly, "Actually, this is my seventh." He chuckled.
"Really?" Shikamaru deadpanned.
Kabuto shrugged, "Well the exams take place twice a year every year. So this would be my fourth."
"You must be an expert then!" Sakura praised.
"Yeah!" Naruto followed, "You can give us all of the inside tips, too!"
Shikamaru's surprised look turned to a frown, "Some expert," He grumbled, "He hasn't passed a single test."
Kabuto's laugh was embarrassed, "Well you know what they say," He said, scratching the back of his head, "Seventh time's the charm, right?"
Shikamaru was not amused. He sighed and stuffed his hands further into his pockets, "So, the exams really are as hard as they say. How troublesome."
"Now, don't lose hope yet," The white-haired boy reassured, "I kind of like you guys, so I'll help you out this once." He reached into his pouch and pulled out a large deck of cards colored orange.
He started to shuffle them, smirking once again, "These are my Shinobi-Info cards. They're chakra encoded and have information on everyone and everything I've learned in the past four years." He bent down with the deck still in his hands and continued explaining more about them.
Hinata glanced at Kiba and Shino, who glanced at her too.
Hinata furrowed her brows and pouted her lip just slightly, "I don't like this boy. Something isn't right."
Kiba frowned in return, lips thinning, "Me either, but there's nothing we can do about it." He glanced at Shino, frown easing just a touch, "Unless you have a plan, Spider?"
They watched as a beetle crawled down Shino's face and smiled to themselves just slightly. Shino still had his little friends around the room, and he was going to see what they tell him in just a matter of time.
They began to move to the back of the group, just as Sasuke asked for the names and stats of Rock Lee and Gaara of The Sand.
Hinata distantly listened until she heard the name of her cousin. She looked up then, meeting the knowing eyes of the older boy.
Kiba glared and stood in front of her, Shino following his lead. They knew what kind of pain was caused by even hearing his name and they weren't going to let this fucking creep exploit that. The longer this guy was around, the more distrustful he was proving to be.
He quickly moved on to reading off Gaara's stats, relaying that he went on a B-rank mission without any injuries. Some of the other Rookies whispered amongst themselves, marvelling at such an impossible thing.
Shino stored the information for later, making sure a good amount of eyes were staying on them.
"I'll give you a list of the candidates from the other villages too, just to help you guys out. We have the Leaf, Sand, Rain, and Grass, Waterfall and Sound. Looks like they sent their best candidates this year."
"I don't think I've ever heard of the Sound Village before." Sakura muttered loud enough for Kabuto to hear.
"The Village Hidden in the Sound is a new, small village that just kind of formed one day. They're still a mystery, so not much is known about them." He put his cards away and smirked, "Needless to say, the exams are going to be pretty intense this year. I've never seen a crop of candidates with so much potential."
There was a moment of unsure fear within the group.
Team Eight looked to each other and nodded. They were sure to be fine. They trained their asses off and perfected their teamwork; plus, they had their secret weapons and their secret weapons.
Naruto gave a loud, confident roar, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to beat every one of you in these exams!"
Ino turned to Sakura angrily, yelling for her to control her teammates. Sakura, not wanting to be blamed, yelled back and began fighting with her rival.
Kiba couldn't help but snort, "How about you say it a little louder Naruto, I don't think everyone heard you."
While he wasn't pleased with Naruto's obnoxious behavior, he was at least thankful the blond twit was too dumb to be scared. Kiba wanted to make sure that everyone knew that the number one knuckle-head was to blame and therefore attack.
A nudge from Shino told him to quiet down and let everyone else do the talking. Teams Ten and Seven were drawing the most attention to themselves with the shouting and bickering. It would be smart to stay quiet and allow natural selection to work itself out.
Shikamaru groaned, "You idiot," He hissed, "Do you want to put a bigger target on our backs, or what?"
The pinkette interrupted her fight with Ino to put Naruto in a headlock, tightening her grip on him as he flailed. "Naruto, you jackass!" She growled, "What the hell is wrong with you, you obnoxious little-" She stopped when she noticed all of the death glares aimed at her. Nearly every shinobi was ready to tear them to shreds in that moment, and Sakura knew it.
She laughed awkwardly, tightening her grip once more before giving everyone a scared smile, "Don't mind this idiot." She apologized, "He has a lot of deep psychological problems; there's no helping him, really. I'm so sorry for the trouble he's making."
Shino stiffened up. One of the beetles sent a certain buzz into the air that had all of the rest of his colony on high alert. They hummed within him, worried and excited and telling him that an attack was happening.
He grabbed Hinata and Kiba's sleeves, pulling them further back as a ninja threw kunai at Kabuto.
Both stood at the ready, Hinata gripping her umbrella and Kiba pulling out his tetsubo., but Shino's hands were by his side, his tekko kagi unactivated. While he was not relaxed, he wasn't moving to defend himself, meaning that they weren't the targets.
His teammates immediately dropped their positions, but still remained wary and tense.
Another shinobi that looked like a mummy, swung his fist at Kabuto, who dodged and took a step back, smirking at the miss.
Hinata breathed a sigh of relief until his glasses cracked.
Kabuto was shocked as his spectacles fell apart. He tried to replaster the smirk, taking off his glasses nonchalantly, "So," He chuckled, "It was that type of attack."
"Wait a minute," Sasuke pipped up, "I saw it all from here. Kabuto dodged the attack."
Shikamaru shrugged, "It was probably closer than it looked. What a tough guy he is, pretending he isn't shaken up. What a tough guy."
Just as he finished the sentence, Kabuto stiffened, staring hard at the ninja who attacked him. He began to sway until he fell to his knees and vomited.
The other two members of Team Seven rushed to his side, Sakura rubbing his back and Naruto ready to help him off the ground.
"Not so tough now, are you?" The mummy taunted, "That's why you're on your seventh try."
"Write this on your little cards, punk," The mummy's teammate chimed in, "The genin from the Sound Village will be chunin when this is over."
Kiba glanced at Shino who watched, studying the scene before him. It would seem that they would need to keep an eye on these ninjas.
A large puff of smoke from the front of the room caught everyone's attention now. As the smoke cleared, a familiar voice to Team Eight sounded loudly and harshly, "Alright you degenerates; pipe down and listen up."
The smoke finally cleared and through it, Hinata couldn't help but smile.
Ibiki stood front and center in the mass of a bunch of other chunin, glaring at everyone in his line of sight. "My name is Morino Ibiki. I am your proctor, and from this point on, your worst enemy. Let's begin, shall we?"
His glare intensified as he looked to the back, "But before we could do any of that," He pointed his gloved finger, "You candidates from the Sound; knock it off! Did we give you permission to fight? I bet you want to be failed before we even begin, don't you?"
The mummy shrugged his shoulders, uncaring, "Guess we're just a bit anxious, sir." He added as an afterthought.
"I don't care. I'm only going to say this once, so pay attention. There will be no fighting amongst any of you unless given direct permission from a proctor. If any of you reprobates decide that you can't follow our rules, you will be disqualified immediately. Trust me, you don't want to fuck this up while I'm around."
Ibiki goes on to having everyone line everyone up so they could take their seats. Hinata was relieved when she realized that she would be sitting by Naruto, who looked like he was about to pass out.
She began to look around as people were taking their seats. There were chunin sentinels stationed all around the area smirking and chuckling to themselves as the scared or worried looks on everyone's faces; even Ibiki was enjoying the anxious atmosphere in the room.
His eyes suddenly caught Hinata's, who gave him a smile, ducking her head shyly as he smirked proudly and nodded.
Sasuke, who had been watching the proctor, noticed the exchange and frowned. Did the Hyuga know this man? And if so, how? He scowled at the thought of her passing the exams because of her affiliation with the shinobi.
'I guess everyone could be bought by the Hyuga.' He thought bitterly.
"Alright, hurry up so we can begin." Ibiki suddenly yelled.
As everyone sat, he began to write on the chalkboard behind him. "I will take no questions." He said, "So listen carefully, you maggots.
"First rule: You all start with ten exams we will hand you have nine questions. One point will be deducted for every problem you get wrong." He allowed for that to sink in. "Second rule: Your team will pass or fail based on the entire scores of you and your team."
"WHAT!" Sakura said, clearly angry that she was stuck with Naruto on her team.
"Shut up!" Ibiki yelled back at her. "Third rule: If you're caught cheating, two points will be deducted. These sentinels are stationed all around you to catch any signs of cheating. Be warned, their eyes are extremely sharp. If they mark your names five times, you are disqualified. So it would be in your best interest not to get caught. You may begin."
There was a heavy, almost awkward stillness in the room before another glare from Ibiki sent everyone scrambling to start.
'Kiba, Shino, I have faith in our team.' Hinata thought to herself before lifting the exam to read the questions. 'Oh no! This type of question wasn't taught at the academy. Not even Kurenai taught us this. All of these questions are beyond any genin level knowledge.'
Hinata lifted her head to look around the classroom. The majority of the genins inside the classroom shared the same panic as she did, this also included Sakura. Naruto was especially panicking, hitting his head and pulling his hair at the complexity of the questions.
She needed to focus. Ibiki couldn't be of any help to her; she had to do this on her own.
Hinata could hear quick and deliberate pencil movement on papers, meaning whoever was writing, was confident in their answers. She looked around until she noticed a few genins who jotted down their answers with plenty of assurance.
'Wait, what?' Hinata asked herself.
She noticed that some of the other candidates were writing down answers as well, though not as fluid. To others, it would look like they knew the answers by heart, but Hinata had sharper eyes than others.
One candidate was using a very light genjutsu while another was tapping his pencil in a certain way as he wrote, almost like he was sending out a code.
The proctors have not begun to write names yet, so that meant that they weren't cheating. Right?
'What's the real purpose behind this exam?' She thought, 'These questions and answers are useless in actual practice, and there's no way that any average genin would know these.'
She looked around the room again, seeing a proctor smirk at a candidate who smirked in return. 'That is no genin. He must be suppressing his chakra to make himself seem weaker.
'With a chunin in our midst, there are bound to be others. They seem to know the answers to these questions and are writing slowly enough to kill time, but obviously, they know their stuff.
'Those other ninja though, are obviously cheating. Why else would they be using a genjutsu and a strange code? But Ibiki-sensei never said cheating was disallowed, only that we shouldn't get caught…' Hinata's thoughts trailed off as the answer became clear now.
It was a crucial shinobi skill to obtain information without getting caught, and here was a situation where Hinata had to do just that. She was supposed to cheat!
With a burst of confidence Hinata leaned her head forward and unclipped her bangs so her hair hid her face, including her eyes. As carefully as possible, she slid her hands under the table and discreetly performed the sign to activate the Byakugan.
Hinata had never cheated before, having studied meticulously in the academy and having some sort of moral code, but if cheating was the point of the exam, she intended to pass.
She filled up her sheet with answers she copied off the chunin working with Ibiki, who now glanced her way. He didn't smile, but she could tell from the look in his eyes that he knew she finally figured it out.
She smiled when she heard Akamaru from on top of Kiba's head, grunting and barking the answers quietly to his master.
Shino had his bugs spread out on the walls, on the ceiling and even some on the shoulders or heads of other genin.
Hinata smiled wider; Team Eight was sure to pass.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed Naruto still struggling with himself. Surely, he was freaking out, as Naruto was never book savvy in the slightest. He probably didn't even know he had to cheat in the first place.
Hinata gathered all of her courage and gently cleared her throat, "Um, N-Naruto," She stuttered.
The blond turned to her with panicked eyes, making her heart ache. She hated to see him so unsure and hopeless, it was so unlike him.
"The point of the exam is to cheat," She continued shyly, "So maybe- um, you can cheat off of me if you want."
Naruto was now beaming, "Wow, really Hinata?" He asked almost too loudly.
Hinata nodded, pushing her sheet towards him and ducking her head down endearingly. Naruto leaned in close, causing Hinata to inwardly panic about how close they were. He was going to get caught if he wasn't careful.
The sound of a kunai cutting through the air shook her from her thoughts as she instinctively leaned out of the way, almost bumping into the student on her left.
Naruto yelped as he jumped back, avoiding what would have been a painful slice.
"You there," Ibiki called out, "That's the fifth time I've caught you cheating. You and your team are disqualified. Get out of here."
Naruto watched in horror as the kid was dragged out of his seat, kicking and screaming whilst his teammates walked out with their heads hanging. There was a new sense of fear in his chest at the thought of cheating. If he was caught and disqualified, he would be letting his teammates down, and he would never become Hokage.
"On second thought," He muttered, "I think I'll be fine, Hinata."
Hinata turned to him in surprise, "Are you sure, Naruto?" She asked.
The whisker-faced boy nodded, showing off his bright smile, "Yeah! I can do this myself, no problem. Believe it!"
Hinata smiled, bashful and moved, "Okay." Was all she could say.
Seeing as there was still time left, Hinata fixed her hair once again and began to meditate. She kept her chakra level low, but was directing it with her heart, sending pulses through her body with each beat. She found herself relaxing now, more confident and sure of herself now that she's passed the first test.
"Times up!" Ibiki jolted Hinata out of her thoughts, "Put down your pencils and prepare yourselves for the final question."
Everyone breathed a collective sigh. Some relieved and others anxious.
Hinata could hear Kiba praising Akamaru, who yipped happily and glanced at Shino who nodded at her. She smiled, showing how happy she was to have made it this far.
"Very well." Ibiki announced, "First rule: You all have the choice of taking the final question. It's your decision."
A murmur of surprise rippled through the room.
'We're… free to choose?' Hinata thought, frowning in confusion.
"Now wait a minute," A harsh female voice came from the back, "What if we refuse the final question? What happens then?"
"If you refuse the final question, regardless of all your answers, you take an automatic zero; that means you fail." There was another ripple of whispers and even some shouts of indignation. "Let me finish." Ibiki glared. Everyone quieted down again, leaning forward in anticipation. "If you accept this question, and answer incorrectly, you not only fail, but you can never take the chunin exam ever again!"
"That's bullshit!" Kiba couldn't help his temper as he jumped up and shouted at Hinata's mentor. "What kind of shitty rule is that? There's a ton of people here who have taken the chunin exams multiple times."
Had it been anyone else, Ibiki would have yelled back, but he liked the Inuzuka kid and let it slide this once.
He smirked and shrugged his shoulders, "Then I guess you're just unlucky. I wasn't making the rules before," He continued, "But I am now. If you don't like it, then by all means, walk away. Just try again next year."
Kiba sat in a huff, crossing his arms and glaring(pouting in Hinata's opinion) at Ibiki, who laughed.
"Anyone who doesn't want to take the final question, get out of here. Your number will be recorded on the way out. People started to raise their hands, calling apologies to their team members as they walked out. Nearly half of the room left, leaving only 26 teams.
Hinata felt herself frown and looked to Ibiki, who remained emotionless. She couldn't get an accurate read on him, but she knew that he was hoping she would stay. He smirked slightly, tilting his head up in a challenge. Hinata glared back defiantly, and raised her chin as well, earning a proud look in return.
"Don't underestimate me! You can act like a tough guy, you won't scare me off. I don't care if I'm a genin for the rest of my life; I'm still going to be hokage!"
"This is your last chance." Ibiki warned.
"I never go back on my word." Naruto retaliated.
Ibiki smirked at his resolve and nodded, "Then I suppose that's it. I will tell you this though: You have all passed."
There was a stunned silence until Sakura stood up, "Wait what?" She shouted, "What the hell do you mean?"
Ibiki grinned, "There was no real tenth question." He shrugged, "The 'answer' was for you to stay and bravely answer it."
"Were the other nine questions just a waste of time then?" The same rough female from the back asked.
Ibiki chuckled to himself as he began to explain the test. Hinata took the time to listen carefully and absorb all of the information he would give. As ibiki started talking more, he gave a monologue about the importance of intelligence gathering and the risks you have to take to be a ninja. He once again rounded back into explaining the 'Tenth Question' solidifying his main point.
Hinata nodded along, taking every word in account and the lesson to heart. She was happy to have been able to pass and be able to learn once again from her sensei. She took the time to think hard on what he was saying and found a new resolve in being a chunin.
As Ibiki bid everyone a goodbye, Shino's head snapped up to the window. Hinata and Kiba looked as well, just as the window had been broken. Two kunai were thrown and hit the ceiling. As the smoke was clearing, Shino felt himself smirk as a familiar figure stood tall and strong.
"Alright you Maggots," A female's voice barked out, "You're not allowed to celebrate yet. My name is Mitarashi Anko. I'll be your proctor for the second test. Are you weaklings ready for it?" No one answered, still in shock. Anko pumped her fist into the air and grinned, "Alright then. Follow me!"
Ibiki's hand on her shoulder stopped her, "You're early. Again." He sighed.
Anko gave a sheepish expression, shrugging her shoulders. She looked around the room, pleased to see the terrified and awestruck expressions. Her eyes landed on Shino and she smirked proudly. Of course her little butterfly would pass the first test. Speaking of passing…
"Wow Ibiki," She chuckled, "That's a lot more than last year's. You getting soft on me, or what?"
Ibiki sniffed, "Maybe this year's candidates are tougher than they look."
Anko rolled her eyes. "Well, when I'm done with them, there won't be as many. Maybe I'll take out more than half."
There was a wave of whispers until Anko slammed her hand on a desk, "Did I say you could whisper?" She yelled, "Get the fuck out of here and follow these sentinels to the next area! Anyone who isn't out in ten seconds is disqualified!" There was a rush of bodies flinging themselves to the doors, to which Anko hit the desk again, "NO RUNNING IN THIS CLASSROOM."
Team Eight decided to leave last, not wanting to shove their way out and into a crowded hall. They watched in amusement as everyone shuffled out awkwardly, careful not to say anything to invoke Anko's wrath
Once everyone was gone, Team Eight approached both proctors. Hinata gave Ibiki a careful hug, "Thank you for the lesson, sensei." She said, Looking up to give him a bright smile.
Ibiki couldn't help but smile back and hug her as well, gently wrapping his arms around her.
Anko snorted at his careful hold and anxious expression, trying hard not to laugh in case she discouraged Hinata.
"Sensei," Shino greeted, drawing her attention.
She looked at her student who stared impassively back, and grinned. "Hello my little butterfly." She cooed, pinching his cheeks gently.
Shino rolled his eyes and removed her hands. "I'm surprised they let you proctor this year." He asked indirectly.
Anko laughed, "I am too." She responded. She put her finger to the chin in thought and tapped it, "I think it's because of the candidates. There were a lot of applications this year and with the rookies joining in, they probably wanted capable jonin."
Ibiki nodded, "There has been some talk recently-" He stopped himself as he glanced at Team Eight, "Never mind that; that's private information. What I want you three do do now is get to the next area and prepare for the second stage. Try to conserve energy and don't waste your time. I know you'll pass without any problems."
Anko nodded, "What he said. I'll find you guys once this is over. I'm going to have a few words with Baldy here first." Ibiki glared at the nickname.
Hinata bowed and moved to depart, motioning for her boys to follow. Shino bowed to Anko and Ibiki, following close behind. Kiba grinned and bowed briefly, waving his hand in goodbye.
"Kiba," Ibiki called. The dog boy turned around promptly. "Don't think you can yell at me ever again." Ibiki warned, "That's the very last time you raise your voice at me. Understand?"
Kiba visibly shrunk and left with his tail between his legs, earning laughs from his teammates and Anko.
Sasuke moved from around the corner when he heard the footsteps of Team Eight heading his way. He quickly walked outside and found his team waiting for him.
"Geez Sasuke," Naruto whined, "Did you have to take so long in the bathroom? What, were you admiring it or something?"
"Shut up Naruto!" Sakura's fist landed on his head with harsh strength. Naruto cradled the new bump on his head while Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked on, ignoring his teammates' bickering.
He only caught the last part of the conversation, hearing Anko promising to find Team Eight when she could. What were they planning? Better yet: what connection do Team Eight have with the two proctors of the test?
From the sound of it, this was more than just bribery. In fact they couldn't have been bribed at all.
He thought back to the members, mentally listing their skills and lineage.
The Aburame were an emotionless, isolated clan, but they did so out of preference. There was no way someone as strict as the Aburame would associate themselves with Anko willingly. Maybe they would with Ibiki, but there would be no actual concrete reason.
There was the Inuzuka. They were loud and brash and odd just like Anko, but probably too much for someone like Ibiki.
Finally, there were the Hyuga. A large, prestigious clan with many connections in and outside of the shinobi world. But the Hyuga were only interested in power, people with a name. There was no way they would stoop to Anko, or even Ibiki's level of social hierarchy. And while they're not above abusing money and power for their own benefit, there was too much familiarity between the students and proctors for it to be a simple pay off
Sasuke frowned, almost scowling as he tried to figure it out. He chanced a glance over his shoulder and saw Team Eight exit the building, heading in the same direction as everyone else.
He noticed how the two boys nearly fawned over their teammate, making her laugh and subconsciously forming a protective barrier around her. She looked fragile, almost too weak for the shinobi lifestyle, made worse by the shy, meek aura she put out. If anyone were to go after her, alone, she would be powerless.
Sasuke concluded that if he wanted answers, Hyuga Hinata was the way to go.