As always, Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.
Hinata leaned against the wall next to Kurenai in a large auditorium where those entering the chuunin exam meet for the first test. Not too far away, Naruto was in an animated discussion with Gaara, both of whom were being watched-but-not-watched by the congregating genin.
Most of the entries were in their teens, though a few were in their twenties. None were as young as Hinata's class in their first chuunin exam. In all the exams she participated in, she'd never seen anyone as young as they had been.
"Why did you recommend us for our first chuunin exam when we were so young?" Hinata asked, motioning to the group for context.
"You're asking that now?" Kurenai chuckled softly, and Hinata shrugged in answer. "You all were ready, and I figured it would be a good learning experience no matter what the results were. I didn't see why I should wait to give you the opportunity to engage other villages' shinobi."
"I suppose so," Hinata said, folding her arms over her chest. "I've just never seen anyone else that young."
Kurenai bumped her shouldn't against Hinata's and gave her a playful smile. "Relax already. This is the fun part."
Hinata shifted uncomfortably under her mentor's attention. Relaxing was not what Hinata would call the last few days with Kurenai and Naruto both testing her ability to keep her guard up. The fact she had to keep her guard up with someone she normally would tell anything to only made it hurt more.
But Kurenai was right. Once the test began, no one was going to have time to pay attention to other teams, unless they were getting pitted against each other already. Hinata would solve the problem with Naruto like any other mission. And even though no two missions were the same, how she handled one was steady and routine.
"You're right," Hinata said. "It'll be nice to have new problems to think about, ones that are solvable, and I miss being on a team." The admission was too true for Kurenai not to know, and, it would appease her instructor's desire for Hinata to open up—for now.
"Then enjoy this. Just make sure you pass, too." Kurenai sighed like an over-dramatic actress. "If I let Naruto fail the chuunin exam, I'll never hear the end of it from the other jounin instructors. And can you imagine what the boys would do if you lost?"
Hinata laughed imagining it. "Kiba-kun would probably drag me out of the compound every single day for extra training. And Shino-kun would be there sulking about how he somehow failed me and needed to take responsibility."
"Which of course he'd trick Kiba into doing for him because 'that's what a team leader would do.'"
Hinata's smile faded and she looked to the cold ground as a wave of loneliness overwhelmed her. "I wish I could've done this with them. Naruto's great, but . . ."
"He's not your team."
She nodded, only to shake off the feeling before she delved too far. Hinata did have the chuunin exam to think about now. If her and Naruto's tests were tailored to their current skill level rather than the average genin's, then they'd both need to stay sharp.
One of Suna's shinobi interrupted Gaara and Naruto's discussion, and after a moment, Gaara nodded to the messenger. As he headed to the front of the room, the low rumble of talking teams quieted.
Naruto jogged over to where Hinata and Kurenai waited, a wide grin making his face childlike with happiness. "This is gonna be fun. Gaara said our challenges will be closer to jounin level. He said they didn't want to make it too easy since I'm a role model now."
His chest puffed at the compliment, but Hinata caught the hesitation hidden beneath the surface. Naruto hadn't yet gotten used to people looking up to him all the time. She suspected the glee at finally being respected would eventually win out.
"I'm up to chuunin," Hinata said, "but I don't know if I'm jounin level yet."
Kurenai shrugged. "You'd be surprised how much chuunin and jounin overlap. Jounin take on different types of responsibilities and expectations, but there are plenty of chuunin who can fight with the same strength and skill set as a jounin."
"Yeah," Naruto said, "you fight against Neji in training, and he's jounin."
Kurenai nodded her agreement. "Likely, Neji was the first jounin of your age group not only because he's a strong fighter, but because he takes on responsibility easily and has a strategic mindset to gauge what needs to be done and who is capable of doing it."
Hinata looked away. Those were all the traits that she struggled with, but if she said that aloud, Naruto would likely fuss at her for not believing in herself, and she didn't want to dampen his excitement. Instead, she forced a smile back into place and said, "By that definition, Shikamaru-kun should be next to make jounin. No one can strategize like him."
"Hey, what about me?" Naruto said with mock offense.
"I did say by that definition," Hinata replied innocently.
Any further discussion was cut off by Gaara's voice calling the genin to attention. The kazekage was young and not a loud person by nature, but he carried a distinct presence wherever he went that made people listen. Back when they were readying for battle, the shinobi didn't respond to anger for the enemy or a desire to fight. They responded to Gaara's honesty and feelings of camaraderie. It was something that Hinata very much liked about Gaara.
"Before we begin, I want all of you to look around this room. You are the first genin to compete in a unified shinobi world. Our villages put aside their grievances and fought side by side. They protected each other and died with each other as allies." Gaara let the genin sit with that statement for several moments before continuing. "Even though you are competing against each other, you are also allies. It's important you remember that throughout the chuunin exam."
Naruto grinned from ear to ear. "Looks like everyone's really taking in what he said."
"It's not the words as much as the sincerity," Hinata said. "He's like you in that way. People can feel you mean what you say with your whole heart. That's what makes them trust you both."
Naruto didn't reply, and when Hinata looked over, his flushed face watched Gaara intently. She probably shouldn't have included Naruto in her assessment. Readying for the chuunin exam with Kurenai watching over her made Hinata feel comfortable, though. She needed to remain vigilant or too much would come out. Thankfully the chuunin exam would give her and Naruto something better to think about.
At the front of the room, Gaara stepped aside and Temari took his place. "The first challenge of the chuunin exam will now begin. Jounin instructors, please take the genin you chose based on our requirements and follow the kazekage to the preparation area. The rest of the genin are to remain here to be briefed on the details of this challenge."
Noise erupted as confused genin all began asking their jounin instructors questions. Hinata and Naruto were calmer, but just as unsure. The team had never been broken up in any of the other chuunin exams.
"We're not working together?" Naruto asked.
Kurenai tilted her head side to side in feigned ignorance. "The first two challenges are always team based, so I'm sure you'll meet up again. We only know what we needed to in order to make our selection. Naruto, you're the lucky one who gets to come with me."
Naruto grumbled, but by his relaxed posture, it was mostly for show. "I guess I'll see you later."
Hinata nodded, then, just for fun, she mimicked Kiba's signature smug grin. "Don't worry, I'm part of the finest tracking team in Konoha. I can find you anywhere."
"You better," he laughed, and Hinata felt the awkwardness from earlier melt away, leaving only the decade-long friendship between them. Leaning in conspiratorially, Naruto held her hand between his own, and a small flash of chakra entered her body. "Just in case you need a pick-me-up."
Having Naruto's—and by extension Kurama's—chakra within her was a strange sensation despite having experienced it before. That sliver of chakra burned with power, yet it also wrapped around her like a warm, safe blanket. Hinata allowed herself to take comfort in that power and this time she did relax.
Once the chosen genin and jounin instructors exited, Temari called everyone's attention back to her. "I will now explain the rules of the challenge. This is a rescue mission. One of your teammates has been captured and must escape the enemy. This can be accomplished from the outside by you finding and freeing them, or they can escape on their own and rejoin the team.
"To count as a successful mission, all members of the team must be outside the designated area within one hour. If you do not rescue your teammate or if one of you fails to exit the test area within the time limit, your mission will be considered a failure. At least half of all the teams participating must succeed in their mission or no team moves on to the second round."
The shock of the last rule sent the room into a renewed flurry of questions. There'd never been a rule like that in any of the chuunin exams Hinata had participated in, but Kakashi's comment before they left made sense of it. This chuunin exam focused on preserving the unity gained during the war. Requiring half of the teams to succeed encouraged teams to help one another for the benefit of all. Competition and cooperation at the same time. Hopefully the rest of the genin would figured that out.
Temari ignored the questions and turned toward Hinata. "Hyuuga-sama, you should have been informed that your team will have added difficulty."
Hinata nodded, slightly annoyed at the formal address, though she understood it. She was the head of the most prestigious clan in Konoha and that carried an expectation of respect. But the point of this trip was to not be clan head for a while.
"Good," Temari continued. "For this round, your team will only have fifteen minutes to complete the challenge."
"I understand," Hinata said, and Temari returned her attention to the crowd of flustered genin.
"You will be escorted to the designated testing area shortly. Good luck." A smile softened Temari's military presence when she said that piece of encouragement.
Hinata stayed off to the side while the rest of the genin huddled together to discuss the mission in voices that didn't care about who was listening. Fifteen minutes was going to be tight. She'd be able to find Naruto with byakugan, but releasing him was another matter. Anything that restrained Naruto needed to be strong enough to hold Kurama as well, or he'd escape before Hinata made it to the challenge. Brute force was unlikely to work on such a restraint.
She ran through all the different seals, barriers, and restraints she knew of that might hold Naruto. A seal could do it—Kurama was contained by the seal on Naruto already—but Hinata doubted the viability of such a technique. Gaara was the only one strong enough to seal Naruto, and forcing Hinata to face the kazekage alone while trying to release Naruto wasn't realistic.
A barrier was a better choice. The four hokages were able to contain the ten tails within a barrier, and though she didn't think all the kages would be here to hold that strong of a barrier, there were other types that could contain Naruto for fifteen minutes. The question was how to counter them.
Five minutes elapsed in a flash, and the genin were all led out of the building. Hinata looked to Temari for instruction on whether to join them, and the other woman motioned for her to wait. With the last of the group gone, Temari grabbed two wooden folding chairs and positioned them near the entrance.
"We'll head to the testing area when it's time for you to join," she said, stretching the muscles in her shoulders as she sat down. "They need to figure out the point of this test themselves, not hear it from someone more experienced."
Hinata took the empty seat, but her eyes didn't meet Temari's. "You must think it's silly for me and Naruto-kun to participate."
Temari pressed her back against the top of the chair and the bones cracked to her relief. "Actually, I don't care why this was all orchestrated, I'm just glad it was." At Hinata's skeptical silence, Temari continued. "Naruto being here for a month means he can see Gaara all that time. Gaara is a capable kazekage and the village cares about him, but he doesn't have many people he calls friends the way he does with Naruto. Gaara has more in common with Naruto than he does with me and Kankoro. After everything that's happened, my brother deserves to relax and just be happy with a friend."
In that moment, Temari reminded Hinata of Neji watching over her, and her heart hurt at the distance she'd placed between them. Neji probably felt the same as Temari, wanting nothing more than to see their younger siblings happy for a little while. That desire came from a place of love. Hinata knew that, but it was easy to overlook his intentions when she and Neji fought.
"I hadn't thought of that," Hinata said, "but, now that you mention it, Naruto-kun deserves that, as well. He and Gaara-sama really are alike, even if their personalities are polar opposites."
Temari laughed along with Hinata at her last comment. "That's not a bad thing. Gaara could use a little of Naruto's impulsiveness."
"It works the other way, too. I've noticed Naruto-kun is more subdued when he talks to Gaara-sama." Hinata held her fingers together so the nails on her thumb and forefinger barely touched. "Just a little bit."
Hinata couldn't believe how comfortable she felt talking with Temari. Maybe it was because she reminded Hinata of Neji, or maybe it was because they discussed people each of them loved. Bit by bit, Hinata settled into the easy company Temari provided.
The two chatted amicably about general post-war life until one of the test's organizers informed them it was time. Temari led Hinata to a large area enclosed by tall chain link fencing that reminded her of the Forest of Death in Konoha, but being Suna, the terrain looked quite different. Cliffs replaced trees amid an arid land with little vegetation. Inside, genin battled, searched, and tried to escape with desperate fury. Only a few teams appeared beaten and out of the test completely.
A number of genin teams waited outside the fence, having recovered their "kidnapped" teammate, though less than Hinata would have thought for almost fifteen minutes to the end of the test. That meant the majority of the genin either struggled to finish the test or realized the meaning of the rules and were helping the other teams. Hinata hoped it was the later.
Still inside the field but visible to those waiting stood Moegi, her bright orange hair less striking against the browns and red of the desert landscape. She brightened at Hinata's approach and waved enthusiastically to get her attention. "Hinata-sama! We think we found Naruto-niisan! I'm here to take you there!"
Konohamaru's team obviously figured out the rules' secret meaning. Hinata was grateful for that. She didn't think it would take long to find Naruto with byakugan, but having a guide would give her more time to free him.
"Thank you!" Hinata called back.
Two long minutes later, the proctor nodded to Hinata. "Begin."
Hinata and Moegi both started running with the younger girl in the lead. The place we found is north of here," Moegi explained. "You can feel a lot of chakra coming from it, and Konohamaru figured they'd need a lot of chakra to hold Naruto-niisan."
Hinata dodged an off-target kunai thrown by a Suna genin helping two from Kumo rescue their teammate. Now that she was in the middle of the battlefield, Hinata saw many of the teams that had all three members coming to the aid of others, regardless of village, while other teams were in their final escape run out of the test area with Suna chuunin in pursuit.
They passed "enemy camps" with and without their hostages and caverns that glowed with chakra bodies fighting inside. Each was far enough away to not interfere with another team, but close enough anyone could see who needed help.
Hinata's guide led her toward one of the cliffs on the far side of the field where Konohamaru and Udon looked around as if trying to see something that wasn't there. There were no caverns or camps in the area, but Hinata could feel the chakra building the closer she got. Far underground, multiple shinobi pooled their chakra into a barrier that rose only to disappear into the ambient chakra above ground.
"There has to be a genjutsu here," Konohamaru said in lieu of a greeting. "This is the only place with enough chakra to hold Naruto-niisan, but nothing we did worked to stop the genjutsu."
"That's all right," Hinata said, examining the area for the best way to break the illusion. "My jounin instructor was a master of genjutsu."
While Shino was the best on the team at dealing with genjutsu, Kurenai made sure Kiba and Hinata knew how to identify and break a myriad of genjutsu styles. As long as it wasn't a complete sensory genjutsu that she'd already been caught in, Hinata could likely break it. She just needed to find the thread of chakra that maintained the illusion.
The genjutsu covered a large area, diluting the flow of chakra and spreading it out to byakugan's sight. That made it easy to see something was amiss, but not the best choice for finding the source chakra.
Hinata released byakugan, closed her eyes, and and let herself drift in the currents of the chakra surrounding her. Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon moved like fish swimming through a river, while the distant battles rained onto the water's surface. Before her stretched a great ocean of chakra that consumed everything that entered its borders, but that wasn't what she wanted. She searched for the delta where the river fed the ocean, a small sliver of chakra that connected them to the genjutsu.
There!
It only took Hinata a single burst of chakra to break the connection to the genjutsu, but her triumph was short-lived. Beyond the illusion, Naruto was trapped within a barrier about six feet across and twice his height. Though there was no obvious damage inside the barrier, Naruto's pupils had flattened, and the markings of his toad sage form colored his eyes. The hints of frustration that byakugan caught in her first glance melted away into a smile that spoke of trust and confidence. They'd get out of this—together.
The half a dozen jounin guards hidden behind the genjutsu ran to engage Hinata the moment they became visible. Konohamaru's team joined the battle and managed to divert two of them away from Hinata, but she'd have to deal with them more permanently in order to free Naruto.
"Kick their asses!" Naruto cheered from his prison.
"Working on it!" Hinata replied, pushing off into a kaiten to give herself a moment to breathe. She didn't have much time to waste on the riff raff if she needed to help break the barrier. She glanced at Naruto. "I take it you can't get out of that yourself?"
"Nope. It's reflecting anything I try back at me. I got hit by my own rasengan a few minutes ago. Nature chakra lets me see what's going on, but I still can't bust out of here with it. It just comes right back at me."
Naruto could overwhelm most barriers with Kurama's chakra, but then it wouldn't be a very good test if freeing him was that easy. If he couldn't break it from the inside, what about attacking from the outside. Hinata waited until one of the jounin came at her perpendicular to the barrier, and then threw the strongest Vacuum Palm attack she could produce against the barrier—jumping to the side, just in case.
The intense wave of chakra bounced off the barrier and hit the advancing jounin straight on. She sent another Vacuum Palm at him from the side, and the two combined attacks sent him flying—one down, for the moment.
"If we can't attack it from either side, how do we break it?" Naruto asked. His hand fisted in a futile desire to join the fight.
Hinata ran through all the sealing techniques and counters she knew, hoping one could help, but she'd never seen this type of barrier before. It had to be a technique special to Suna or one of its families.
"Maybe we don't try to break it," Hinata said as she landed a solid abdomen strike to one of her attackers, which would put him out of commission in a few minutes when the secondary damage kicked in.
Naruto pumped his arm in a silent cheer for Hinata's successful attack. "What, you mean go get the people making it?"
"No. Even if I could find a way to reach them, I'd never make it in time. We need to open it somehow, like when the Ten Tails was trapped in the hokages' barrier."
Think. Think. Think. How could she open a barrier she didn't control?
"Hinata, behind you!" Naruto screamed, and she shifted her head.
Byakugan's weakness was a closely guarded secret, but no one could account for dumb luck. One of the jounin Konohamaru had drawn away returned to the main battle at just the right angle to fall into her blind spot. Hinata pushed into kaiten's rotation in time to deflect both of the attackers and the kunai the newcomer had thrown, which prompted Naruto's warning.
This wasn't good. The short time limit necessitated larger techniques to deal with the situation quickly, but she needed to be careful how much chakra she used fighting. Kaiten took a bigger toll on her than it did Neji, and she didn't know how much power it would take to free Naruto yet. A barrier that could hold him would take considerable chakra no matter how they got through, and brute force was not her specialty. Using high-chakra techniques in succession would only limit her options later on.
Hinata paused her planned counterattack as she realized that wasn't true. Naruto had given her some of Kurama's chakra before he left with Kurenai. It wasn't as much as during the war, but back then Naruto remained connected to it even after only a tiny fraction remained with the army.
"Naruto-kun, are you able to amplify the chakra you gave me from in there?"
"I can try."
Without her counterattack, her opponents had righted themselves and were advancing again. Hinata readied herself for another kaiten, trusting her theory enough to allow the enemy close. She waited for the unmistakable sensation of foreign chakra bubbling inside her. Last time Hinata felt this, she'd been wounded, exhausted, and nearly depleted of her own chakra. This time Naruto's chakra didn't need to replenish hers; instead, it merged with her own, fortifying and expanding what already existed.
She pushed off into kaiten and felt the chakra swell farther and stronger than what she was capable of alone. The impact with the enemy didn't register at all, yet when the chakra burn faded from her sight, Hinata stood in the center of a crater more than double the radius of any of her previous kaiten.
"That was awesome!" Naruto cheered, and the smile on his face threatened to burn brighter than kaiten's chakra.
With the addition of Naruto's chakra, the pieces tumbling around her mind fell into place. Hinata turned to Konohamaru's team. "Can you keep all of them off me for a few minutes?"
"No problem!" Konohamaru called back as certain of his abilities as Naruto had been at his age. She envied that kind of unwavering confidence. Her enhanced kaiten had dropped two more of the jounin, so all Konohamaru's team had to do was distract those still fighting. She trusted them to fulfill their role—not that she had any other choice if she wanted to complete the test.
"You got a plan?" Naruto asked, and she nodded in reply. "Tell me what to do?"
"Like to like," Hinata said, taking a second in front of the barrier to catch her breath. "Instead of trying to directly attack the barrier, we're going to focus on reconnecting the chakra you gave me with your own. If we can connect those through the barrier, then Kurama should have enough chakra to push the barrier back—basically, we're making a tunnel."
Naruto nodded. "Sounds good, but how do we connect the chakra if the barrier reflects everything we do?"
"There's a counter curse seal that I think I can adapt to pull the chakra together, but it will take some finesse to keep the barrier from reacting."
Naruto grimaced. "I'm not always great with finesse."
"I know you can do it," Hinata said, letting her faith in him anchor them both. "Just follow my lead."
She grabbed a brush from her pack and focused on the counter curse. It was meant to sense different types of chakra and pull foreign chakra from a target, but she planned to embed Naruto's chakra within the seal itself and adjust it so it focused only on that chakra. They would only have one chance to do this right before time ran out, so she needed to slow down and make sure it worked.
The barrier was solid enough for her to write the seal directly onto it, which should improve their chances of pulling through the barrier, but counter curses were not simple. She could feel time ticking away with each brush stroke, and infusing Naruto's chakra into the seal only slowed her down more.
Konohamaru's team would need to leave soon or they'd risk not making it out of the test area in time, leaving her exposed to the enemy. Not having a third teammate only made Hinata wish Kiba and Shino were here with her even more. But she had a job to do, and wishing wouldn't help her.
"Okay," Hinata said, placing her hand palm open in the center of the seal. "Put your hand in the same place as mine and when you feel a pull on your chakra, follow it."
"You got it." The power of the toad sage vanished from his face, only to be replaced by the bright glow of Kurama's chakra mixing with his own. Even through the barrier, the intensity of his chakra made her feel like Kurama stood right behind him, ready to be released.
Hinata closed her eyes and relied solely on the flow of chakra byakugan perceived. The seal burned a fiery red around their hands and vines of chakra coiled around Hinata's wrist in search of Naruto's chakra inside her. When she collected his chakra into her hand, the vines latched on and pulled it toward the seal. The seal wanted to separate the chakra from her own, as it was designed to do, but Hinata held tight. Releasing it would close off the end of the tunnel she needed to open, except it took far more power than Hinata had anticipated to keep the seal at bay.
On Naruto's side, the barrier blocked the vines from grabbing hold, but that was why Hinata chose this seal. Barred from its desired chakra, the vines pressed into the barrier—not attacking, but moving through it the same way it would a person's inner coils. As it moved forward, the chakra in Naruto's hand began pushing into the barrier in search of the vines.
"I feel it pulling me," he said. "Should I give it more power now?"
Hinata nodded. Naruto's hand grew brighter, but so did the barrier in response.
"Don't try to fight the barrier," Hinata instructed. "Let the chakra find the path of least resistance. It wants to meet the seal."
The fiery chakra dimmed into concentrated waves that flooded the area until it found a path deeper. Little by little the two sides carved through the barrier, but it was taking too long. With Naruto's help, the two of them may still have enough time to escape, but waiting any longer would put Konohamaru's team at risk of failing the mission. The most that would happen to Naruto or Hinata if they didn't finish in time was an embarrassing story. No one would actually view them as being at genin-level. But Konohamaru's team was at the beginning of their careers, and the chance to become chuunin meant a lot.
"Naruto-kun, we're going to be cutting this very close," Hinata said, looking back Konohamaru's team.
Naruto nodded his understanding and called out to her young guards. "Konohamaru! Thanks for everything, but it's time for you guys to go. We'll handle it from here."
The three teammates exchanged a glance. "But that'll leave Hinata-sama unprotected," Moegi replied.
"Hinata's way stronger than you. She'll handle it, but you're running out of time. Don't risk your chance at chuunin on us."
Still, they hesitated.
"Don't worry about me," Hinata insisted. "Your mission is to escape with your team. Loyalty is important, but a shinobi needs to finish their mission.
"She's right," Naruto said. "Now, go!"
Konohamaru scowled, but signaled his team to retreat. "You better get out of this, or I'm going to tell everyone in Konoha that you failed because you got beat up by a couple of genin."
Hinata smirked and lowered her voice so Konohamaru wouldn't hear her as they hurried away. "You know, you'd never have left if the roles were reversed."
"Yeah, but I could have left Shadow Clones and still finished the mission."
She doubted he'd have left even if the mission was in danger, but she kept that to herself. "I'm counting on you to watch my back. I need to monitor the seal to keep it stable until your chakra meets it."
In truth, losing her guards was a big problem. Hinata couldn't detach from the seal, which limited both her mobility and leverage to fend off an attack, and most of her chakra was tied up to keep the seal from stealing the last of Naruto's chakra from her.
The two jounin remaining had paused their barrage while Konohamaru's team decided whether to stay or go. Likely, the jounin were ordered not to interfere with the regular genins' chances to complete the mission, but now that Hinata was alone again, the jounin readied their next attack.
"They're trying to flank you," Naruto warned.
Hinata's mouth thinned. If they'd come at her from the same direction she might have had a better chance, but it was too late to worry about what she couldn't control. She pivoted to face the jounin on her right and prepared for a Vacuum Palm. "Naruto-kun, a little help."
The chakra she got from him spiked, amplifying her attack enough to send the jounin flying, but the influx also caused the seal to yank hard at her control. She leaned heavily against the barrier wall and focused all her own chakra back into the seal to balance its draw.
"Behind you!" Naruto called, but it took all her concentration to keep the barrier from reflecting the increased power of the seal. She braced herself for the attack . . . but it never came.
A wall of earth rose from the ground behind her and pushed the jounin back where two Suna genin tag teamed strikes to keep the enemy from closing on Hinata again. The wall had come from a pair of Iwa genin. The female Iwa turned to Hinata ready to speak, but stalled when she took in the chakra-laden seal.
"Do you need any help with whatever that is?" she finally asked.
Hinata stayed quiet until the seal no longer tried to exceed her control, then shook her head at the young girl. "Thank you, but no. I just need a little more time to finish this."
The Iwa girl nodded and settled into a protective position opposite her partner. "We'll do whatever we can."
"You guys will run out of time if you stay here," Naruto said, not picking up the unspoken subtext of the situation. Or maybe he hadn't noticed the two in the distance were from Suna.
"We're already out of time," the Iwa boy replied in a bitter, resigned tone. "We can't get our teammate free. We could see him, but we . . . we just weren't strong enough."
The girl continued. "When we saw the team that had been helping you head for the entrance, he told us if we couldn't finish our mission, we might as well do some good by helping the hero of the shinobi world. The other two overheard us, and since they were stuck too, they joined up."
"At least this way we can make a difference."
"Thank you," Hinata said. If they weren't able to get their own teammate out, they wouldn't be strong enough to take on jounin, but Hinata didn't need them to win, only delay the enemy for a minute more.
Returning all her attention to the seal, Hinata pulled back on the part of Naruto's chakra she controlled. Too much flooded the seal when Naruto strengthened her supply of chakra to fend off the previous attack, and the chakra had begun spreading out instead of focusing on Naruto.
"Naruto-kun, I need you to increase the amount of chakra you're sending through the barrier, but slowly."
He acknowledged her, and Hinata watched the chakra brighten around his hand. The seal responded to the influx, its vines regrouping to seek out the greatest source of chakra—Naruto. Behind her the fighting continued, but she couldn't deal with that. When the vines broke through the last of the barrier to meet Naruto's chakra, the seal exploded with fire to her sight.
"I feel it!" Naruto said, eyes alight with triumph. The narrow connection widened within the confines of the seal until their hands touched skin to skin.
Relief and excitement washed over Hinata in sweet exhaustion. "It worked!"
"Of course it did," he preened. "I knew you wouldn't let us fail the genin exam. Now, it's my turn, right?"
Hinata nodded, amused by the anticipation bouncing in every twitch and expression her friend showed. Naruto had never been good at sitting around while others did the fighting. "Now that you're connected to the seal too, sending a large enough amount of chakra into it should widen the opening and allow you to pass through. Just make sure not to break the connection until you're on this side of the barrier; we don't have time to do this again."
"We're already running out of time," he said as two arm-like appendages of chakra formed from his body and began prying the tunnel open. He wasn't wrong. By Hinata's internal clock, they had to be within a minute or less of the time limit, but despite his comment, Naruto didn't appear concerned. "Hinata, what's the shortest path out of the test area? Not to the entrance, just anywhere outside it."
Of course! Hinata had been focused on the mission to free Naruto, so she hadn't paid as much attention to the rest of the rules. Temari had said all members must be outside the designated area, not all members had to return to the entrance. For most teams the natural landscape barred an easy escape, which made the entrance the logical choice. But for Naruto, the high cliffs would be only a small impediment, especially if he brought Kurama out.
Hinata shifted byakugan to the surrounding area. Fencing beyond the cliffs marked the test area's boundary, which provided a clear line to cross to be considered escaped. Several paths led to more reasonable escape areas, but those were farther away. The shortest route would be too difficult for any real genin to cross in a timely manner.
"You'll want to head in the direction of the two Suna genin helping us out," Hinata explained as succinctly as possible. "Go straight past them to the highest section of the cliff. Enemies are guarding the entire perimeter."
Naruto smirked as pure fox eyes assessed her proposed path. "It won't stop me. Kurama, get ready."
The only reply Hinata perceived was the chakra that created the two "arms" pushing the barrier open boiled over, spilling out both sides of the barrier until it covered not only her but the Iwa genin at her back. The chakra coalesced into a torso with the "arms" becoming Kurama's front legs and his head raising to the sky.
Kurama pushed the rest of his unformed body through the barrier until the hole widened enough to allow Naruto through.
Seconds passed in a flurry of motion. Naruto broke the connection to the seal, sending a backlash of chakra into it, which the barrier reflected straight into Hinata in one massive burst that overloaded her inner coils. Naruto scooped her up as Kurama finished forming. The giant fox made it halfway to the cliffs in one leap, collecting their helpers in his tails along the way. In two more jumps, they landed outside the fence and free of the test. Hinata was still reeling from the barrier attack when Kurama deposited them on the ground and disappeared back into Naruto.
"You okay?" he asked as he helped Hinata steady herself.
She nodded. "That was just a lot of chakra that hit me. I'll be fine."
Naruto turned to the genin. "How about you guys?"
The four genin stood tired and bewildered by the sudden escape. After a round of once-overs between them, each agreed they were all right. One of the two Suna boys held his arm tight against his chest and grimaced. "You didn't need to grab us. It doesn't count without our teammate."
Naruto raised a questioning brow and gave the boy a clear 'Are you stupid?' expression. "You don't leave allies behind just cause they failed a mission, especially when they came to help you. Always try to bring everyone home."
The boy flushed red and—not looking Naruto in the eye—nodded. "Thanks for grabbing us, then."
"Now, let's find out if we made it in time." Naruto's gaze lifted to a disembodied eyeball floating a few yards away. "Well, Gaara?"
The eye dissolved into sand and drifted in the direction of the village.
Hinata sighed and offered Naruto a wry smile. "Guess we'll find out when we get there."
Their group followed the floating sand back to the large hall they'd assembled in earlier. Most of the teams burst with excitement at fulfilling the mission, while the dejected continued to arrive team by team. Konohamaru waved happily, but Ebisu held him back to stay with his team.
Once in sight, the four genin with Naruto and Hinata trudged forward to their waiting jounin instructors, heads low. "Thank you all for your help," Hinata said before they got too far away.
Naruto plastered on his brightest smile. "Yeah, you guys will definitely make chuunin next time."
A little life returned to their faces at Naruto's compliment and they said goodbye.
Their sandy guide returned to Gaara's gourd as he and Kurenai approached. "You barely made it out in time," he said, "but it's not the first time you saved everyone at the last second."
Naruto shrugged. "Who cares how it happens as long as everything works out in the end."
"Well, that it did," Kurenai said, and a familiar, gentle expression warmed her face. "I'm proud of you both. Just try not to cut it so close in the next test."
No matter how old she got, Hinata would probably always find compliments a little uncomfortable. Hinata tucked some loose hair behind her ear and changed the subject. "Why is everyone gathering here? Isn't the test over?"
Gaara nodded. "It is, but we can't announce the results until everyone arrives."
Hinata and Naruto exchanged a curious glance. "I thought escaping in time with your team meant you passed," Naruto said.
"That is a major part of the test, but it's not the only criteria for passing," Gaara said. "The special rules of this chuunin exam were agreed upon by all the villages."
Temari approached with a clipboard that she handed off to Gaara. "Everyone who didn't need immediate medical attention has arrived. Those are the teams whose positions changed."
A subtle shift in Gaara's body language turned him from Naruto's friend into the Kazekage of Sunagakure. He acknowledged Temari, then called out loud enough for those mulling about to hear. "Please return to the assembly hall. We are ready to announce the results of the first test."
"This should be interesting," Naruto said, a light chuckle under his breath.
They followed Gaara and took an inconspicuous place along the wall while the rest filed in. It appeared no one else knew that there were other considerations for passing, since the genins' emotions remained stable whether good or bad.
Gaara stepped up on the front platform and waited for everyone to quiet before speaking. "I am now going to announce the results of the first test."
A low murmur of confusion passed from genin to genin and the victory on many of their faces subdued at his words. No one was sure what to expect next.
"While succeeding in your mission was the primary goal, it wasn't the only thing that mattered in order to pass. First, any team that escaped with all team members in the allotted time, and whose jounin instructors' names are not on the following list, have passed. Those who escaped but do not pass include Team Domen, Team Sakai, and Team Usui."
The sighs of relief moved like a wave through the large room, broken only by the crashing cries of the affected teams. Gaara looked at each one to silence them again.
"These teams were the first to leave the test area, each with ample time left before the test ended. They ignored the second part of the test—that more than fifty percent of the teams must escape in order for anyone to pass the first challenge. Instead of going to the aid of other teams, who were needed in order for everyone to pass, they prioritized their own safety and success.
"Shinobi cannot ignore a larger mission in order to ensure their personal success. During the war, each company had their own mission, but the overall goal was to defeat the enemy once and for all. They were not done with the war when their own mission was complete. We all had to come together and fight until the end, no matter the risks."
The three affected teams didn't argue anymore, allowing Gaara to continue. "Likewise, many shinobi had to give up on friends and family in order to push forward for the greater good of all."
Hinata swallowed hard at his statement, and her face slid seamlessly into the public mask she wore all too often. She didn't want to remember Hizashi, not in front of so many people. Sometimes she didn't want to remember anything for fear the image of him dying—for her and Neji—would burn all the good memories away.
A hand found hers and held it in a warm, soft grip. Naruto didn't look at her or acknowledge what had happened in any way. He simply kept his hand in hers, the way he had at the public funeral, back when the pain was too raw to hide.
Kurenai was right. Hinata hadn't dealt with Hizashi's death, or she would've been able to pull away from the comfort in that hand.
"A chuunin must be able to analyze their own situation," Gaara said, pulling her back into the present, "and determine the extent of their own and their team's abilities. For that reason, the following teams have passed the first test despite failing in their mission: Team Kiyabu and Team Yano. Those teams understood the reality of their situation and chose to help others succeed where they couldn't. All others who failed the mission have also failed the first test."
Cheers erupted from the two teams who'd come to Hinata and Naruto's aid, and a soft grin spread across her face. "Good for them. I'm glad they get another chance."
"Me, too." Naruto released Hinata's hand to wave congratulations to the celebrating teams. "I didn't like that we got out but they didn't. If we'd had a little more time I'd have gone and gotten their teammates for them."
Gaara drew everyone's attention back to him by sheer presence, a trait all kage seemed to have. "The second test will begin in two days. Good luck."
Naruto flashed a smug smirk that made him far more handsome than it should. "Like we need luck."
Kurenai clucked her tongue in friendly warning. "You might not want to say that too soon. From what I overheard, Gaara himself will be participating to keep the test challenging for you."
"Of course he is." Hinata sighed, but not with real annoyance. While short and a bit intense at times, the puzzle of it all had been satisfying to solve. The challenge was part of the fun.
It'd been too long since she'd had fun.