Changed Fates
By Jennifer Darknight
Ni:
Know thy Teacher, Know thy Teammates
Uzumaki Naruto...Uchiha Sasuke...
...And Hyuga Hinata...
Hinata's face reddened, and she suddenly wished that someone could just cut her throat out with a kunai. So many eyes...So many scrutinizing, leery eyes fixed on her, and her alone. She could hear the girls letting out angry snorts, and the boys blinking at her as if they saw her for the first time. Sakura-chan looked defeated, although at the same time she looked enraged, triumphant (Ino wasn't on his team, after all), and ready to rip Hinata's head off her neck. She knew not to let her near kitchens, household cleaning solutions, lunches, and herself for a really long time. If she didn't, things would get ugly.
Naruto's expression turned sour for some strange reason, and at the sight of it, Hinata's heart dropped. Was he upset...because he was on her team? And not Sakura's?
She then saw him glare at Sasuke.
Then do the same to Iruka-sensei.
"Yo, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto cried out and stood, pointing at Sasuke with a look of disgust. "Why does an outstanding Ninja like me have to be on the same team with that bastard?!"
Iruka-sensei sighed, and shook his head. Hinata knew that look—that was the look he always gave Naruto when he said something that either wasn't very bright, or just something that was so off the wall nobody really understood it. Either way, it was officially known to the other students of the class as the "Naruto Look". Hinata knew it very well.
"Because, Naruto," Iruka-sensei said in a slightly irritated voice (although not irritated enough for someone to call him 'irritated'), "Out of all the students, Sasuke has the best grades, while you would be the bottom of the class. This had to be done to balance the teams, understand?"
Hinata watched Naruto's expression as he sat down. Deflation and disappointment, mostly. He didn't throw any looks towards her, so she would think that that was a good thing. Most of the disappointment was thrown in Sasuke's direction, anyway. She knew about as much (maybe more) than anyone how much Naruto hated Sasuke, and it was probably the worst event in his life that he was stuck getting teamed with him.
Sasuke had said something, but Hinata couldn't hear it above the complaining of the other girls, which had raised to the sound of a crowd in one of those tournaments that her father would drag her to. Her ears burned, and her face lowered. She knew that they were talking about her, but what else could she do?
Besides, she was going to be on the same team with her precious Naruto-kun! They would be spending every day together! Training, eating lunch, maybe even eating dinner...and they could become friends (which was fine with her, as she was just happy to look at Naruto-kun, and being able to talk with him would be a treat that she thought could only happen with a miracle), and then she could maybe become more...
A deeper blush graced her features, and she slunk down further in her seat. Idle daydreaming was NOT the thing to do right now, especially with so many girls hounding her very existence, in search of some sign that she would try to steal Sasuke from them.
As if a girl as plain as her was competition.
She almost didn't hear Iruka's voice as it raised up above the crowd, although not really a yell:
"This afternoon we'll be introducing the Jounin Senseis. Take a break until then."
Naruto whooped for joy, and a slight smile came upon Hinata's features. Being crammed in this classroom with all those people (especially all those girls who wanted her head speared on a stick) was not something she wanted at the moment. The best thing for her to do was just slip away, like she always did, and walk around, maybe just to think about her current situation. She wasn't ready to face her teammates just yet.
...........................................
The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the birds were singing in the trees. Everything was perfect, and the day was the ideal weather for a picnic or a family gathering. If she was still five years old, she would probably have been brought out with her mother and father to enjoy the sunlight and play around as a regular child would.
But like that was going to happen today. She was twelve now, and a ninja at that—most ninja didn't even think about 'playing' or 'family' at all. It was more important to perform your duties for the village and do your best as a Shinobi.
And as an heiress to the Hyuga...she should have known better.
But the day really was nice—she couldn't help but notice. Maybe it was because of her current mood—she couldn't see her own face, but she knew that she was all smiles right now. She was on the same team with Naruto- kun. She could prove herself to him and show him that she was worth something. She could make friends with him, maybe even become more. And most of all, this was the first step on her path to becoming the Kunoichi that her father so wanted her to be.
But still. What had driven the teachers to pair the three of them up on one team?
Naruto was the bottom of the class. Sasuke was at the top. Despite her careless mistakes during some tests, and her fear to speak up when she was called on during lectures, she was...pretty high up in Class Rank, probably third or fourth in the class. If they wanted to balance out, wouldn't they have the genius, the lowest, and an average student put together? She told herself that it wasn't good to ask so many questions, and just be happy that she was on Naruto's team instead of Sakimi Yuko's, who would have tortured Hinata with her constant prattling and insults until the poor Hyuga would have wanted to jump off a cliff.
It was just...
She didn't know if she deserved being on a team with the one she had admired for so long, and the most powerful genin of that year's graduating class.
She was just so...weak. So plain. When you looked at her for the first time...you saw just some ghostly weird girl that hid in the shadows, rather than walked out in the sunlight. A girl with freaky white eyes, and who wore a heavy jacket over her, even in the summer. A girl who couldn't speak up, even if you tried to beat it out of her. She just wasn't a loud person—it wasn't really her fault.
But...
When you looked at her, and then you looked at Naruto-kun and Sasuke with their unyielding spirits, you start to see the comparison, almost too strongly.
"Chan...Hinata-chan!"
Hinata spun around, and blinked. A girl's voice sounded behind her—an older voice. She should have recognized it by now, she had heard it enough, but her brain didn't register people very well, sadly.
"Mo...Momoko-sempai!"
The older girl in front of her slumped her shoulders and pushed her glasses up her nose with a defeated air. Her cheeks puffed out, and she tucked some spare strands of reddish-brown hair behind her ear.
"Mou...Hinata-chan! I told you, don't call me 'sempai'! It makes me sound so old! I'm only thirteen, you know!"
Hinata bowed, maybe a little bit lower than she should have, and apologized in a small, meek voice.
"Go...gomennasai!"
A groan left the other girl's lips, and she shook her head. "You Hyugas are all the same, I swear. So freaking polite. I've told you ever since the first day I met you to open up a little, but you just don't listen, do you?"
Hinata shook her head, but she actually couldn't help but giggle at the other girl. Kourime Momoko—a Chuunin and a graduate of the previous year's graduating class. She was a cheery, romantic girl who was always trying to make everyone happy and smooth out arguments when others' feathers were ruffled. The girls had met three years ago, when Neji was injured during an especially horrible training session and Momoko had come down to bring him his homework for the next week. Hinata had been the one to answer the door that day, and then that was how their strange relationship began.
Hinata knew the original reason that Momoko talked to her was because she had a crush on Neji, which was so obvious even she could pick it up (but for some strange reason, Neji could not. Either that, or he just avoided the entire topic altogether). But somewhere along the line, the two saw each other for who they were (the good and the bad), and had become an awkward sort of friends, who spent time together every now and then, but not enough to where they could become 'best friends' or something like that. Momoko was busy with her Chuunin assignments and her endeavor to make Neji actually notice her as more than 'that girl who was in his class', and Hinata had other things to deal with, like training, exams, and now the issue of how she was going to deal with her two new teammates.
But she always knew, no matter how distant the two were, how to make Hinata smile.
"Well, there we go." Hinata's smile was infectious, Momoko would always say, and every time Hinata so much as had a tiny smile on her face, the other girl broke out into a huge, goofy grin. "You look so much better when you smile. You need to try it more often."
"Ha...hai..."
"And the shyness thing has gotta go sometime. I mean, if you're going to be working with a genin team, you can't just keep shying off like that. When I first joined my genin team, I was about as shy as you were, believe it or not. I only got to spend time with them for...well...not even a year since I passed the Chuunin examination, but things didn't really get worthwhile until I got out of my shell, and we worked as a team, ya know?"
Hinata nodded, but she knew that Momoko was trying to cheer her up. It was easier said than done, and both girls knew it.
"So," Momoko tucked some more hair behind her ear. "Congratulations on graduating, by the way. You planning on eating lunch, or..." How did she do it? How could Momoko hold such a large bentou box in her hands and not have Hinata notice it?! There were some things about the Chuunin that the Hyuga girl just didn't understand.
"Am I going to have to eat this myself?"
A blush came on the Hyuga's face, despite herself. It always embarrassed her that Momoko would go out of her way to do things for her on certain occasions. Like last year she snuck some snacks from the Chuunin's banquet hall for Hinata's birthday (the two managed to escape unscathed though), and on Neji's birthday she first brought her cousin an anonymous present (a beautifully crafted katana, no less. Hinata didn't know if it would be wise to tell Momoko that it was the only present he got that year, and that he used the blade every day for training, as she was likely to faint and cause a rather unwanted scene), and then threw a "I can't ever tell Neji how I feel" party for her and Hinata (Hinata felt that Momoko would have a chance with him if she just believed in herself, but then again, Hinata was the worst person to think that, what with her whole self- esteem problem).
"Th...thank you..." Hinata said softly.
Momoko grinned, scratching her head. "Oh, come on! It's the least I can do, since you're now a genin and all." She pumped a fist into the air—no, it wasn't the one holding the bentou, "Ah! Little Hinata is growing up! My mission has not been in vain!"
Momoko was a really nice person, if not a little strange.
.................................................
"So."
"Hai?"
"Who are your teammates?"
The two had been eating in silence for a while. Momoko had found a really pretty tree to sit under in the Academy garden, and the two girls opened up the bentou and started to eat their lunches without any sound. Sometimes Momoko was chatting up a storm, and Hinata was doing naught but listening, but there were other times, like these, where they just sat side- by-side, in complete silence. Hinata looked up from her onigiri and sushi, and blushed a little bit. She was on the same team with Naruto-kun...the same one she had been watching for so long...
"Uzumaki Naruto...and Uchiha Sasuke."
A loud swallow was heard, and then gagging sounds were coming out of Momoko's throat as she forced down the rice ball that was most likely caught in her throat in her surprise. She turned to Hinata, with an aghast and incredulous look on her face.
"Uzumaki Naruto...and WHO?!"
"U...Uchiha...Sasuke..." Why was she so surprised?
"SASUKE?! King-Asshole-I-Don't-Give-A-Shit-About-Anyone-Else-But- Myself-So-Fuck-Off-Peach-Fuzz Sasuke?! The same one?! The same guy who all the girls like despite the fact that he's a total nut job, probably a closet homosexual, and looks too damn pretty for his own good and is probably a hemmy or something?!"
Hinata shrunk back with every word, and cowered in the corner as Momoko continued to rant. She didn't need the Byakugan to see that her aura was dripping off of her like melting ice cream on an overflowing bowl, and that she was angry beyond all belief. Hinata thought that all the girls liked Sasuke. But this girl...Momoko was brimming with hatred. Maybe she was once a fangirl of his before she liked Neji, but he turned her down or something, and she became permanently bitter? She read about those sorts of things in her favorite novels.
"Y...yes. Do...do you know...Sasuke-san?"
Green eyes turned to fire, and Momoko stood, pumping her fist to the sky and crying out: "Do I?! He's my sworn enemy! I hate him! I hate him more than anything else in the entire world!! If I had a way to get him thrown off the face of the planet, I would! I definitely, definitely would!!"
Wow...such animosity. Hinata was glad that it wasn't her that was on Momoko's bad side. She was already on the 'bad' list of all the other girls in the class...but she had a feeling that the Chuunin had enough venom to make one want to kill themselves if they suffered her anger, instead of just wanting to avoid the person for a week. Of course with Hinata the fear was magnified by at least three, but you could imagine how much worse it would be if it was Momoko instead of anyone else.
"Ano...Momoko-sempai...calm down..."
"Ugh! How can you handle being with an ass like Sasuke?! Well, if he does anything that might hurt you in any way, call me and I'll kick his ass! Although, when you think about it, I don't think beating him will be much of a problem for you. All you need to do is use your Mystic Hinata Cuteness Powers to lull him into submission, then smack his bitch up when he least expects it! YEAH!"
"Momoko-sempai..."
And then the rest of the conversation was about Momoko ranting about how evil Sasuke was, and the nervousness about telling her about Naruto-kun was forgotten...
........................................................
"Why is the sensei for team seven so goddamn late?!"
Hinata looked up from her book from the fifth time in ten minutes to notice Naruto-kun peeking out the door, with a rather aggravated look on his face. She should have known that she couldn't read anything with Naruto- kun in the room, but she thought that if she read some more of her Mikihara Megumi novel, she'd get over her inherent nervousness and be calm enough to meet heir Jounin sensei without looking like a hermit crab without its shell.
Tough luck for that. Every time Naruto so much as spoke, Hinata's emotional alarms went off, and she had to look at whatever he was doing. No matter what he was doing.
Even when he picked up an eraser off the edge of the chalkboard and pushed a chair forward, jumping on it and wedging an eraser in-between the door and the wall. According to the way it was designed, it would fall in the entrant's head whenever he came into the room.
"Na-Naruto-kun...Th...there must be a...reason wh-why h-he's la-late..."
Her voice was so quiet that Naruto didn't hear it. But he prattled on despite it anyway. She should have known that her tiny voice wouldn't have reached his ears.
"I mean, everyone else's left with their teachers! Sakura-chan's gone with Team Eight, and even Iruka-sensei's gone!"
"So the Dobe's upset because he can't get some eye-candy." Sasuke gave Naruto a glare that could send someone flying into the floor with fear.
He's a dick! He's horrible! He mocks me and treats me like I'm lower than garbage! He treats everyone like garbage! And he'll treat you that way if you're not careful, Hinata-chan! Be careful around him!
Momoko's words flew into Hinata's head, and as she watched Sasuke's expression as he looked to Naruto-kun, the Hyuga understood a little bit of what she meant. Sasuke had no right to be rude to Naruto-kun, but it wasn't her place to say anything. Men have to stand up for themselves, and if a girl sticks up for him, it's like undermining their masculinity. Her father had said that to her when she was very small, just when she became old enough to walk. It wasn't as if she believed it...everyone needed support...but habit was drilled into her head so much it was almost impossible for her to jump out of it.
"What's it to you, you bastard?!" Naruto yelled at the young Uchiha.
Sasuke closed his eyes and let out a strange sort of snort, one which showed a sort of superiority that strangely reminded Hinata of Neji for some reason.
"...You're pathetic." Was all he said.
He was cocky, arrogant, and more than a little rude. It was no wonder that he burned Momoko so much.
But wasn't Neji-niisan the same way?
It wouldn't hurt to check to see if he was coming. Hinata was rather anxious herself, although she wouldn't show it. Being alone in a room with Naruto-kun and Sasuke was starting to make her nervous.
Boar, Hawk, Turtle, Eagle...
Byakugan!
Her eyes had changed, and she could feel her sight switch to the familiar inner coil light that she had gone to know oh-so-well. Once a day, for two to three hours every day, she would practice with her bloodline limit, and get to know the birthright that she would bring into a new generation, once she married and became the true Heiress to the Hyuga Clan. She could see everything in the room, and outside it. Through the walls of the classroom through the walls of the building. She could see Sakura-chan and her two teammates, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino, standing outside of the Academy walls, talking to their beautiful female Jounin sensei about something, although she could only see, not hear. She could see Naruto's deep red aura, which resembled something like rubies, or a rose, as well as Sasuke's chill, lifeless aura. She looked near the door, and she squinted her eyes, as if that would make anything be seen more clearly than it already was.
There was something approaching. It was a dark blue aura, which resembled a sense of calm. It was coming towards their room at a slow, leisurely pace. It was a man, actually. He couldn't be any older than twenty-seven, although you couldn't see his face through the mask that he wore. One eye was covered eyepatch style with his hitai-ate, and even though she couldn't hear him, she was sure that he was whistling something to himself as he walked. She knew, as he came closer and closer to the door, that their wait for their Jounin-sensei was going to come to an end.
Her Byakugan changed, and as her eyes came back to normal, the door slid open, only to reveal said man having an eraser fall on his head, chalk dust flying everywhere.
Naruto's mouth opened in a loud, cheery laugh that seemed to raise Hinata's spirits just at the sound of it.
"Hahahahaha! That's what ya get for being late!!!"
The man stepped into the room fully, patting his head free of the chalk dust that sat in his hair and around his face. If his nose wasn't covered by that mask, Hinata would have been sure that he would have been coughing or sneezing—at least a little bit. His one visible eye was closed, and through the mask, she was sure that she saw the makings of a grin on his face.
"Hmmm..." He said, in an easygoing tone of voice. "I think...from this first impression...that..."
A pause.
"I hate you."
...........................................
"All right, now is some time for some introductions."
The three students and the Jounin sensei were standing in the garden of the Academy, where Hinata and Momoko had eaten once before (from where she was sitting, she could still see the tree that they had sat under, and still had the mental image of Momoko ranting about how evil Sasuke was implanted in her mind). Naruto sat at the far right, Hinata in the middle (whilst blushing but still managing to look the Jounin-sensei in the face), and Sasuke on the far left. The sensei stood before them, and his eye crinkled like one did when they were smiling.
Naruto spoke first. "Introductions?"
"You know. Dreams, longings for the future, that sort of thing."
Sasuke glared at the sensei, as he seemed to glare at everyone.
"Hey, hey! Why don't you introduce yourself first?!" Naruto asked.
The man let out a sigh, and looked at all three of the young Genins as they watched him, although some more intently than others.
"Oh...my name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you my likes or dislikes. Dreams for the future? Well...I have lots of hobbies...but none I feel obligated to tell you about."
So basically, all Hinata learned was the gentleman's name. He was certainly bombastic, but he said words that just ran around in circles and taught them nothing. The teacher looked to Naruto, with a sort of blank look.
"All right, your turn."
Hinata's attention was fully focused on the blond genin, and her face started to heat up. Naruto-kun grinned and adjusted his hitai-ate, but didn't really notice Hinata's intense gaze upon him. Her heart did a flip- flop as she heard his sunny voice:
"Me!! Me!! My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I like cup ramen! What I like even more is the ramen that Iruka-sensei buys me."
Iruka-sensei bought Naruto-kun ramen? Hinata should have known, with all the attention that Iruka paid to him during their school days.
"What I dislike is waiting three minutes for the ramen to cook. And my dream..."
His eyes started to burn with that strong, confident fire that Hinata always saw in him, that fire that made her want to be so close to him. His face was fixed in an even wider grin, and he adjusted his hitai-ate again.
"...is to surpass the Hokage! And then everyone in the village will acknowledge my existence at last!"
...Naruto-kun. He's so cool...he's so strong and confident. If only I can get that courage that he shows, to keep that smile on his face day-to-day...
Kakashi-sensei's eye then turned to Hinata, whose face became even redder for someone to have caught her staring. She hoped Naruto-kun didn't notice...
"And now...our young lady."
It was her turn now. Hinata's face reddened even more, and looked down towards her jacket, poking her two index fingers together as she spoke. Like many idle things that she did, it helped her relax, and if she concentrated on her lap, she would forget that there were people around her. She would often do that when her father would meet with those dignitaries from foreign lands, and she had to sit in for the dinners.
"Anou...I am...Hyuga Hinata! I um...I like to read and write...and I don't like it...when I get nervous...um...my dream...um...is..."
She felt so stupid. She was getting really nervous, and she wasn't sounding like someone that anyone would want on their team. She was sounding like a...mousy little girl.
Come on! Be more assertive! You're ninja now! You can do this!
"My dream...is...to...become the head...of the Hyuga Clan...one day."
Nobody said anything. Hinata could feel Naruto-kun's eyes on her, but she...she was so scared! She was so nervous! She didn't know what he thought of her! What he wanted her to be...to...
"Okay. Now you."
Whew! Saved her from further embarrassment.
Uchiha Sasuke was the last one left. He still slouched, and growled at the ground, but he seemed intimidating to the Hyuga heir.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like much, but there are plenty of things I dislike." He paused a moment. Much like Iruka-sensei did when he taught the class. "I would like to say 'dream', but it's such a silly word. But I have an ambition. I wish to restore the Uchiha Clan to its former Glory, and..."
Another pause.
"Kill a certain man."
Hinata was drawn aback, and her eyes widened as she watched Sasuke. He was...so...cold. It was simple to say that he frightened her, but he didn't really do so. He just struck her as sort of cruel. And maybe a bit intense. But he struck her as that from the Academy days, as well. He was withdrawn and hidden from everyone, so that was why all the girls liked him, and they wanted to get to know the 'dark and mysterious' Sasuke and worm their way into his heart.
But with an ambition like that, if he wanted to have someone worm into his heart was anybody's guess.
Kakashi-sensei had then sat down, and his eyes were on his team still. Hinata had managed to lift her head up to look at him, but only slightly.
"All right, that's enough of that. Starting tomorrow, we start our duties."
Naruto jumped up with excitement. Oh...Naruto-kun.
"Yeah! Duties!! Duties!! What kind of duties are we talking about here, Kakashi-sensei?!"
Kakashi-sensei scratched his head, turning away a little bit. He looked bored, with the way he was sitting and the blank look in his one lazy eye.
"Oh, something between the four of us. Just a little bit of survival training."
Survival training? Didn't they do that in the Academy? Why were they doing that when they were genin now? Hinata knew that she needed more training, but as their first duty it was sort of strange.
"Anou...Kakashi-sensei..."
"Yes, Hinata-chan?"
"Anou...um...Didn't we...do this...in the Academy?"
"Sure, I'll be your opponent, but this won't be ordinary training."
Sasuke threw a glance at his teacher...actually looking up, for the first time this whole session.
"What do you mean?"
That cold voice again. Hinata would have to get used to it...if they were to be a team. She would not get intimidated by Sasuke, and would not hide in the corner when it came time to fight. She would help them in any way possible. No matter what.
A chuckle came out of Kakashi-sensei's lips, and something in Hinata's heart started to feel dread. Why was he laughing? She had a strange feeling about this.
"I don't know how you guys are going to take this, but only nine students are going to be recognized as official genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy. So, meaning, this 'survival training' is a super- difficult exam with a failure rate of 66.6%!!"
An exam?! 66.6% of failing?! If she failed, she would be sent back to the Academy?! Then she wouldn't be with Naruto-kun again...and then she wouldn't have the chance to become true Ninja, and she would crawl back five more paces in her journey to be the Hyuga heir. And her father would be furious with her. He would hate her, and then Hanabi would be recognized as the heir, and Hinata would be sent to the Branch Family with disgrace. She couldn't fail herself now. Whatever kind of exam it was...she couldn't fail. She couldn't fail, not now.
"But...but what was the point of graduating...!" Naruto wailed out, his face an expression of something mixed with being lost and just being all- out upset. Hinata had seen it before—it was a common expression that was used when Iruka-sensei berated him.
"That was just to see who had the potential to become Genin."
Kakashi-sensei put his hands in his pockets, and slumped his shoulders.
"Anyway, you'll be graded on the training field, and bring all your shinobi tools."
The sensei started to walk off, and as if it was an afterthought, he turned back to the students, looking over his shoulder.
"Oh, and don't eat breakfast. You'll throw up."
Hinata's heart felt like it was going to break. Just when she thought she was going to be true Ninja, this test was thrown at her. But if she messed up, the other two would fail, and she couldn't bear being the reason that Naruto had to go back to the Academy, or that Sasuke couldn't accomplish his ambition. She was not going to mess up, and she was going to pass this.
...But her lack of self-confidence was screaming otherwise.
As Naruto would say, "Damn it all to hell."
.........................................................
Chapter two done! Wow, it took me a while to write this, and I hope you like it. I have officially decided that this story is going to be Naru/Hina, Sasu/Saku. I need some conventional couples for once, since I have NEVER written a Naru/Hina before.
I hope this will be a good enough start.
Jen
By Jennifer Darknight
Ni:
Know thy Teacher, Know thy Teammates
Uzumaki Naruto...Uchiha Sasuke...
...And Hyuga Hinata...
Hinata's face reddened, and she suddenly wished that someone could just cut her throat out with a kunai. So many eyes...So many scrutinizing, leery eyes fixed on her, and her alone. She could hear the girls letting out angry snorts, and the boys blinking at her as if they saw her for the first time. Sakura-chan looked defeated, although at the same time she looked enraged, triumphant (Ino wasn't on his team, after all), and ready to rip Hinata's head off her neck. She knew not to let her near kitchens, household cleaning solutions, lunches, and herself for a really long time. If she didn't, things would get ugly.
Naruto's expression turned sour for some strange reason, and at the sight of it, Hinata's heart dropped. Was he upset...because he was on her team? And not Sakura's?
She then saw him glare at Sasuke.
Then do the same to Iruka-sensei.
"Yo, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto cried out and stood, pointing at Sasuke with a look of disgust. "Why does an outstanding Ninja like me have to be on the same team with that bastard?!"
Iruka-sensei sighed, and shook his head. Hinata knew that look—that was the look he always gave Naruto when he said something that either wasn't very bright, or just something that was so off the wall nobody really understood it. Either way, it was officially known to the other students of the class as the "Naruto Look". Hinata knew it very well.
"Because, Naruto," Iruka-sensei said in a slightly irritated voice (although not irritated enough for someone to call him 'irritated'), "Out of all the students, Sasuke has the best grades, while you would be the bottom of the class. This had to be done to balance the teams, understand?"
Hinata watched Naruto's expression as he sat down. Deflation and disappointment, mostly. He didn't throw any looks towards her, so she would think that that was a good thing. Most of the disappointment was thrown in Sasuke's direction, anyway. She knew about as much (maybe more) than anyone how much Naruto hated Sasuke, and it was probably the worst event in his life that he was stuck getting teamed with him.
Sasuke had said something, but Hinata couldn't hear it above the complaining of the other girls, which had raised to the sound of a crowd in one of those tournaments that her father would drag her to. Her ears burned, and her face lowered. She knew that they were talking about her, but what else could she do?
Besides, she was going to be on the same team with her precious Naruto-kun! They would be spending every day together! Training, eating lunch, maybe even eating dinner...and they could become friends (which was fine with her, as she was just happy to look at Naruto-kun, and being able to talk with him would be a treat that she thought could only happen with a miracle), and then she could maybe become more...
A deeper blush graced her features, and she slunk down further in her seat. Idle daydreaming was NOT the thing to do right now, especially with so many girls hounding her very existence, in search of some sign that she would try to steal Sasuke from them.
As if a girl as plain as her was competition.
She almost didn't hear Iruka's voice as it raised up above the crowd, although not really a yell:
"This afternoon we'll be introducing the Jounin Senseis. Take a break until then."
Naruto whooped for joy, and a slight smile came upon Hinata's features. Being crammed in this classroom with all those people (especially all those girls who wanted her head speared on a stick) was not something she wanted at the moment. The best thing for her to do was just slip away, like she always did, and walk around, maybe just to think about her current situation. She wasn't ready to face her teammates just yet.
...........................................
The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the birds were singing in the trees. Everything was perfect, and the day was the ideal weather for a picnic or a family gathering. If she was still five years old, she would probably have been brought out with her mother and father to enjoy the sunlight and play around as a regular child would.
But like that was going to happen today. She was twelve now, and a ninja at that—most ninja didn't even think about 'playing' or 'family' at all. It was more important to perform your duties for the village and do your best as a Shinobi.
And as an heiress to the Hyuga...she should have known better.
But the day really was nice—she couldn't help but notice. Maybe it was because of her current mood—she couldn't see her own face, but she knew that she was all smiles right now. She was on the same team with Naruto- kun. She could prove herself to him and show him that she was worth something. She could make friends with him, maybe even become more. And most of all, this was the first step on her path to becoming the Kunoichi that her father so wanted her to be.
But still. What had driven the teachers to pair the three of them up on one team?
Naruto was the bottom of the class. Sasuke was at the top. Despite her careless mistakes during some tests, and her fear to speak up when she was called on during lectures, she was...pretty high up in Class Rank, probably third or fourth in the class. If they wanted to balance out, wouldn't they have the genius, the lowest, and an average student put together? She told herself that it wasn't good to ask so many questions, and just be happy that she was on Naruto's team instead of Sakimi Yuko's, who would have tortured Hinata with her constant prattling and insults until the poor Hyuga would have wanted to jump off a cliff.
It was just...
She didn't know if she deserved being on a team with the one she had admired for so long, and the most powerful genin of that year's graduating class.
She was just so...weak. So plain. When you looked at her for the first time...you saw just some ghostly weird girl that hid in the shadows, rather than walked out in the sunlight. A girl with freaky white eyes, and who wore a heavy jacket over her, even in the summer. A girl who couldn't speak up, even if you tried to beat it out of her. She just wasn't a loud person—it wasn't really her fault.
But...
When you looked at her, and then you looked at Naruto-kun and Sasuke with their unyielding spirits, you start to see the comparison, almost too strongly.
"Chan...Hinata-chan!"
Hinata spun around, and blinked. A girl's voice sounded behind her—an older voice. She should have recognized it by now, she had heard it enough, but her brain didn't register people very well, sadly.
"Mo...Momoko-sempai!"
The older girl in front of her slumped her shoulders and pushed her glasses up her nose with a defeated air. Her cheeks puffed out, and she tucked some spare strands of reddish-brown hair behind her ear.
"Mou...Hinata-chan! I told you, don't call me 'sempai'! It makes me sound so old! I'm only thirteen, you know!"
Hinata bowed, maybe a little bit lower than she should have, and apologized in a small, meek voice.
"Go...gomennasai!"
A groan left the other girl's lips, and she shook her head. "You Hyugas are all the same, I swear. So freaking polite. I've told you ever since the first day I met you to open up a little, but you just don't listen, do you?"
Hinata shook her head, but she actually couldn't help but giggle at the other girl. Kourime Momoko—a Chuunin and a graduate of the previous year's graduating class. She was a cheery, romantic girl who was always trying to make everyone happy and smooth out arguments when others' feathers were ruffled. The girls had met three years ago, when Neji was injured during an especially horrible training session and Momoko had come down to bring him his homework for the next week. Hinata had been the one to answer the door that day, and then that was how their strange relationship began.
Hinata knew the original reason that Momoko talked to her was because she had a crush on Neji, which was so obvious even she could pick it up (but for some strange reason, Neji could not. Either that, or he just avoided the entire topic altogether). But somewhere along the line, the two saw each other for who they were (the good and the bad), and had become an awkward sort of friends, who spent time together every now and then, but not enough to where they could become 'best friends' or something like that. Momoko was busy with her Chuunin assignments and her endeavor to make Neji actually notice her as more than 'that girl who was in his class', and Hinata had other things to deal with, like training, exams, and now the issue of how she was going to deal with her two new teammates.
But she always knew, no matter how distant the two were, how to make Hinata smile.
"Well, there we go." Hinata's smile was infectious, Momoko would always say, and every time Hinata so much as had a tiny smile on her face, the other girl broke out into a huge, goofy grin. "You look so much better when you smile. You need to try it more often."
"Ha...hai..."
"And the shyness thing has gotta go sometime. I mean, if you're going to be working with a genin team, you can't just keep shying off like that. When I first joined my genin team, I was about as shy as you were, believe it or not. I only got to spend time with them for...well...not even a year since I passed the Chuunin examination, but things didn't really get worthwhile until I got out of my shell, and we worked as a team, ya know?"
Hinata nodded, but she knew that Momoko was trying to cheer her up. It was easier said than done, and both girls knew it.
"So," Momoko tucked some more hair behind her ear. "Congratulations on graduating, by the way. You planning on eating lunch, or..." How did she do it? How could Momoko hold such a large bentou box in her hands and not have Hinata notice it?! There were some things about the Chuunin that the Hyuga girl just didn't understand.
"Am I going to have to eat this myself?"
A blush came on the Hyuga's face, despite herself. It always embarrassed her that Momoko would go out of her way to do things for her on certain occasions. Like last year she snuck some snacks from the Chuunin's banquet hall for Hinata's birthday (the two managed to escape unscathed though), and on Neji's birthday she first brought her cousin an anonymous present (a beautifully crafted katana, no less. Hinata didn't know if it would be wise to tell Momoko that it was the only present he got that year, and that he used the blade every day for training, as she was likely to faint and cause a rather unwanted scene), and then threw a "I can't ever tell Neji how I feel" party for her and Hinata (Hinata felt that Momoko would have a chance with him if she just believed in herself, but then again, Hinata was the worst person to think that, what with her whole self- esteem problem).
"Th...thank you..." Hinata said softly.
Momoko grinned, scratching her head. "Oh, come on! It's the least I can do, since you're now a genin and all." She pumped a fist into the air—no, it wasn't the one holding the bentou, "Ah! Little Hinata is growing up! My mission has not been in vain!"
Momoko was a really nice person, if not a little strange.
.................................................
"So."
"Hai?"
"Who are your teammates?"
The two had been eating in silence for a while. Momoko had found a really pretty tree to sit under in the Academy garden, and the two girls opened up the bentou and started to eat their lunches without any sound. Sometimes Momoko was chatting up a storm, and Hinata was doing naught but listening, but there were other times, like these, where they just sat side- by-side, in complete silence. Hinata looked up from her onigiri and sushi, and blushed a little bit. She was on the same team with Naruto-kun...the same one she had been watching for so long...
"Uzumaki Naruto...and Uchiha Sasuke."
A loud swallow was heard, and then gagging sounds were coming out of Momoko's throat as she forced down the rice ball that was most likely caught in her throat in her surprise. She turned to Hinata, with an aghast and incredulous look on her face.
"Uzumaki Naruto...and WHO?!"
"U...Uchiha...Sasuke..." Why was she so surprised?
"SASUKE?! King-Asshole-I-Don't-Give-A-Shit-About-Anyone-Else-But- Myself-So-Fuck-Off-Peach-Fuzz Sasuke?! The same one?! The same guy who all the girls like despite the fact that he's a total nut job, probably a closet homosexual, and looks too damn pretty for his own good and is probably a hemmy or something?!"
Hinata shrunk back with every word, and cowered in the corner as Momoko continued to rant. She didn't need the Byakugan to see that her aura was dripping off of her like melting ice cream on an overflowing bowl, and that she was angry beyond all belief. Hinata thought that all the girls liked Sasuke. But this girl...Momoko was brimming with hatred. Maybe she was once a fangirl of his before she liked Neji, but he turned her down or something, and she became permanently bitter? She read about those sorts of things in her favorite novels.
"Y...yes. Do...do you know...Sasuke-san?"
Green eyes turned to fire, and Momoko stood, pumping her fist to the sky and crying out: "Do I?! He's my sworn enemy! I hate him! I hate him more than anything else in the entire world!! If I had a way to get him thrown off the face of the planet, I would! I definitely, definitely would!!"
Wow...such animosity. Hinata was glad that it wasn't her that was on Momoko's bad side. She was already on the 'bad' list of all the other girls in the class...but she had a feeling that the Chuunin had enough venom to make one want to kill themselves if they suffered her anger, instead of just wanting to avoid the person for a week. Of course with Hinata the fear was magnified by at least three, but you could imagine how much worse it would be if it was Momoko instead of anyone else.
"Ano...Momoko-sempai...calm down..."
"Ugh! How can you handle being with an ass like Sasuke?! Well, if he does anything that might hurt you in any way, call me and I'll kick his ass! Although, when you think about it, I don't think beating him will be much of a problem for you. All you need to do is use your Mystic Hinata Cuteness Powers to lull him into submission, then smack his bitch up when he least expects it! YEAH!"
"Momoko-sempai..."
And then the rest of the conversation was about Momoko ranting about how evil Sasuke was, and the nervousness about telling her about Naruto-kun was forgotten...
........................................................
"Why is the sensei for team seven so goddamn late?!"
Hinata looked up from her book from the fifth time in ten minutes to notice Naruto-kun peeking out the door, with a rather aggravated look on his face. She should have known that she couldn't read anything with Naruto- kun in the room, but she thought that if she read some more of her Mikihara Megumi novel, she'd get over her inherent nervousness and be calm enough to meet heir Jounin sensei without looking like a hermit crab without its shell.
Tough luck for that. Every time Naruto so much as spoke, Hinata's emotional alarms went off, and she had to look at whatever he was doing. No matter what he was doing.
Even when he picked up an eraser off the edge of the chalkboard and pushed a chair forward, jumping on it and wedging an eraser in-between the door and the wall. According to the way it was designed, it would fall in the entrant's head whenever he came into the room.
"Na-Naruto-kun...Th...there must be a...reason wh-why h-he's la-late..."
Her voice was so quiet that Naruto didn't hear it. But he prattled on despite it anyway. She should have known that her tiny voice wouldn't have reached his ears.
"I mean, everyone else's left with their teachers! Sakura-chan's gone with Team Eight, and even Iruka-sensei's gone!"
"So the Dobe's upset because he can't get some eye-candy." Sasuke gave Naruto a glare that could send someone flying into the floor with fear.
He's a dick! He's horrible! He mocks me and treats me like I'm lower than garbage! He treats everyone like garbage! And he'll treat you that way if you're not careful, Hinata-chan! Be careful around him!
Momoko's words flew into Hinata's head, and as she watched Sasuke's expression as he looked to Naruto-kun, the Hyuga understood a little bit of what she meant. Sasuke had no right to be rude to Naruto-kun, but it wasn't her place to say anything. Men have to stand up for themselves, and if a girl sticks up for him, it's like undermining their masculinity. Her father had said that to her when she was very small, just when she became old enough to walk. It wasn't as if she believed it...everyone needed support...but habit was drilled into her head so much it was almost impossible for her to jump out of it.
"What's it to you, you bastard?!" Naruto yelled at the young Uchiha.
Sasuke closed his eyes and let out a strange sort of snort, one which showed a sort of superiority that strangely reminded Hinata of Neji for some reason.
"...You're pathetic." Was all he said.
He was cocky, arrogant, and more than a little rude. It was no wonder that he burned Momoko so much.
But wasn't Neji-niisan the same way?
It wouldn't hurt to check to see if he was coming. Hinata was rather anxious herself, although she wouldn't show it. Being alone in a room with Naruto-kun and Sasuke was starting to make her nervous.
Boar, Hawk, Turtle, Eagle...
Byakugan!
Her eyes had changed, and she could feel her sight switch to the familiar inner coil light that she had gone to know oh-so-well. Once a day, for two to three hours every day, she would practice with her bloodline limit, and get to know the birthright that she would bring into a new generation, once she married and became the true Heiress to the Hyuga Clan. She could see everything in the room, and outside it. Through the walls of the classroom through the walls of the building. She could see Sakura-chan and her two teammates, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino, standing outside of the Academy walls, talking to their beautiful female Jounin sensei about something, although she could only see, not hear. She could see Naruto's deep red aura, which resembled something like rubies, or a rose, as well as Sasuke's chill, lifeless aura. She looked near the door, and she squinted her eyes, as if that would make anything be seen more clearly than it already was.
There was something approaching. It was a dark blue aura, which resembled a sense of calm. It was coming towards their room at a slow, leisurely pace. It was a man, actually. He couldn't be any older than twenty-seven, although you couldn't see his face through the mask that he wore. One eye was covered eyepatch style with his hitai-ate, and even though she couldn't hear him, she was sure that he was whistling something to himself as he walked. She knew, as he came closer and closer to the door, that their wait for their Jounin-sensei was going to come to an end.
Her Byakugan changed, and as her eyes came back to normal, the door slid open, only to reveal said man having an eraser fall on his head, chalk dust flying everywhere.
Naruto's mouth opened in a loud, cheery laugh that seemed to raise Hinata's spirits just at the sound of it.
"Hahahahaha! That's what ya get for being late!!!"
The man stepped into the room fully, patting his head free of the chalk dust that sat in his hair and around his face. If his nose wasn't covered by that mask, Hinata would have been sure that he would have been coughing or sneezing—at least a little bit. His one visible eye was closed, and through the mask, she was sure that she saw the makings of a grin on his face.
"Hmmm..." He said, in an easygoing tone of voice. "I think...from this first impression...that..."
A pause.
"I hate you."
...........................................
"All right, now is some time for some introductions."
The three students and the Jounin sensei were standing in the garden of the Academy, where Hinata and Momoko had eaten once before (from where she was sitting, she could still see the tree that they had sat under, and still had the mental image of Momoko ranting about how evil Sasuke was implanted in her mind). Naruto sat at the far right, Hinata in the middle (whilst blushing but still managing to look the Jounin-sensei in the face), and Sasuke on the far left. The sensei stood before them, and his eye crinkled like one did when they were smiling.
Naruto spoke first. "Introductions?"
"You know. Dreams, longings for the future, that sort of thing."
Sasuke glared at the sensei, as he seemed to glare at everyone.
"Hey, hey! Why don't you introduce yourself first?!" Naruto asked.
The man let out a sigh, and looked at all three of the young Genins as they watched him, although some more intently than others.
"Oh...my name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you my likes or dislikes. Dreams for the future? Well...I have lots of hobbies...but none I feel obligated to tell you about."
So basically, all Hinata learned was the gentleman's name. He was certainly bombastic, but he said words that just ran around in circles and taught them nothing. The teacher looked to Naruto, with a sort of blank look.
"All right, your turn."
Hinata's attention was fully focused on the blond genin, and her face started to heat up. Naruto-kun grinned and adjusted his hitai-ate, but didn't really notice Hinata's intense gaze upon him. Her heart did a flip- flop as she heard his sunny voice:
"Me!! Me!! My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I like cup ramen! What I like even more is the ramen that Iruka-sensei buys me."
Iruka-sensei bought Naruto-kun ramen? Hinata should have known, with all the attention that Iruka paid to him during their school days.
"What I dislike is waiting three minutes for the ramen to cook. And my dream..."
His eyes started to burn with that strong, confident fire that Hinata always saw in him, that fire that made her want to be so close to him. His face was fixed in an even wider grin, and he adjusted his hitai-ate again.
"...is to surpass the Hokage! And then everyone in the village will acknowledge my existence at last!"
...Naruto-kun. He's so cool...he's so strong and confident. If only I can get that courage that he shows, to keep that smile on his face day-to-day...
Kakashi-sensei's eye then turned to Hinata, whose face became even redder for someone to have caught her staring. She hoped Naruto-kun didn't notice...
"And now...our young lady."
It was her turn now. Hinata's face reddened even more, and looked down towards her jacket, poking her two index fingers together as she spoke. Like many idle things that she did, it helped her relax, and if she concentrated on her lap, she would forget that there were people around her. She would often do that when her father would meet with those dignitaries from foreign lands, and she had to sit in for the dinners.
"Anou...I am...Hyuga Hinata! I um...I like to read and write...and I don't like it...when I get nervous...um...my dream...um...is..."
She felt so stupid. She was getting really nervous, and she wasn't sounding like someone that anyone would want on their team. She was sounding like a...mousy little girl.
Come on! Be more assertive! You're ninja now! You can do this!
"My dream...is...to...become the head...of the Hyuga Clan...one day."
Nobody said anything. Hinata could feel Naruto-kun's eyes on her, but she...she was so scared! She was so nervous! She didn't know what he thought of her! What he wanted her to be...to...
"Okay. Now you."
Whew! Saved her from further embarrassment.
Uchiha Sasuke was the last one left. He still slouched, and growled at the ground, but he seemed intimidating to the Hyuga heir.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like much, but there are plenty of things I dislike." He paused a moment. Much like Iruka-sensei did when he taught the class. "I would like to say 'dream', but it's such a silly word. But I have an ambition. I wish to restore the Uchiha Clan to its former Glory, and..."
Another pause.
"Kill a certain man."
Hinata was drawn aback, and her eyes widened as she watched Sasuke. He was...so...cold. It was simple to say that he frightened her, but he didn't really do so. He just struck her as sort of cruel. And maybe a bit intense. But he struck her as that from the Academy days, as well. He was withdrawn and hidden from everyone, so that was why all the girls liked him, and they wanted to get to know the 'dark and mysterious' Sasuke and worm their way into his heart.
But with an ambition like that, if he wanted to have someone worm into his heart was anybody's guess.
Kakashi-sensei had then sat down, and his eyes were on his team still. Hinata had managed to lift her head up to look at him, but only slightly.
"All right, that's enough of that. Starting tomorrow, we start our duties."
Naruto jumped up with excitement. Oh...Naruto-kun.
"Yeah! Duties!! Duties!! What kind of duties are we talking about here, Kakashi-sensei?!"
Kakashi-sensei scratched his head, turning away a little bit. He looked bored, with the way he was sitting and the blank look in his one lazy eye.
"Oh, something between the four of us. Just a little bit of survival training."
Survival training? Didn't they do that in the Academy? Why were they doing that when they were genin now? Hinata knew that she needed more training, but as their first duty it was sort of strange.
"Anou...Kakashi-sensei..."
"Yes, Hinata-chan?"
"Anou...um...Didn't we...do this...in the Academy?"
"Sure, I'll be your opponent, but this won't be ordinary training."
Sasuke threw a glance at his teacher...actually looking up, for the first time this whole session.
"What do you mean?"
That cold voice again. Hinata would have to get used to it...if they were to be a team. She would not get intimidated by Sasuke, and would not hide in the corner when it came time to fight. She would help them in any way possible. No matter what.
A chuckle came out of Kakashi-sensei's lips, and something in Hinata's heart started to feel dread. Why was he laughing? She had a strange feeling about this.
"I don't know how you guys are going to take this, but only nine students are going to be recognized as official genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy. So, meaning, this 'survival training' is a super- difficult exam with a failure rate of 66.6%!!"
An exam?! 66.6% of failing?! If she failed, she would be sent back to the Academy?! Then she wouldn't be with Naruto-kun again...and then she wouldn't have the chance to become true Ninja, and she would crawl back five more paces in her journey to be the Hyuga heir. And her father would be furious with her. He would hate her, and then Hanabi would be recognized as the heir, and Hinata would be sent to the Branch Family with disgrace. She couldn't fail herself now. Whatever kind of exam it was...she couldn't fail. She couldn't fail, not now.
"But...but what was the point of graduating...!" Naruto wailed out, his face an expression of something mixed with being lost and just being all- out upset. Hinata had seen it before—it was a common expression that was used when Iruka-sensei berated him.
"That was just to see who had the potential to become Genin."
Kakashi-sensei put his hands in his pockets, and slumped his shoulders.
"Anyway, you'll be graded on the training field, and bring all your shinobi tools."
The sensei started to walk off, and as if it was an afterthought, he turned back to the students, looking over his shoulder.
"Oh, and don't eat breakfast. You'll throw up."
Hinata's heart felt like it was going to break. Just when she thought she was going to be true Ninja, this test was thrown at her. But if she messed up, the other two would fail, and she couldn't bear being the reason that Naruto had to go back to the Academy, or that Sasuke couldn't accomplish his ambition. She was not going to mess up, and she was going to pass this.
...But her lack of self-confidence was screaming otherwise.
As Naruto would say, "Damn it all to hell."
.........................................................
Chapter two done! Wow, it took me a while to write this, and I hope you like it. I have officially decided that this story is going to be Naru/Hina, Sasu/Saku. I need some conventional couples for once, since I have NEVER written a Naru/Hina before.
I hope this will be a good enough start.
Jen