Changing Fates
By Jennifer Darknight
San:
Shinobi ni Naritai!
A/N: Thank you for all the kind reviews, everyone! This is sort of my baby, so I intend to make it as good as possible. But yay! I get to write my first semi-action scene! This is my first time writing these things, but they'll get better in the long run!
On with the show!
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Hinata's sleep the night before was restless and disturbed. Too many thoughts were plaguing her mind, and relaxation was out of the question with her jangled nerves and racing thoughts. It just...It was hard for her to get to sleep at all with the prospect of failing falling on her shoulders.
66.6% of failure...Kakashi-sensei wasn't kidding. Momoko-sempai had said the same thing herself, when she popped in for a surprise visit at about 10:00 at night. It was normal for the testing Jounin sensei to bring about a survival exercise of some kind, and usually they were extremely difficult.
That didn't make Hinata feel any better.
To be honest, it made her feel a lot worse.
So here she was, standing in her room at about five in the morning, arranging a small Ninja pouch which was full of all the essentials: her own homemade medicine, kunai, shuriken, caltrops, a borrowed grappling hook from the weaponry shack on the East Wing, bandages, and some antiseptic. She would have carried more, but she knew that if she had too many things on hand, she wouldn't run as fast and would be clunky—it would be almost impossible to hide. And what help would she be to Naruto-kun and Sasuke-san if she was just a drawback? She had to make sure that at least they passed.
She tied the hitai-ate around her neck, and nodded to herself as she looked to the mirror again. She wasn't going to fail. She wasn't going to bring Sasuke-san and Naruto-kun down. She was going to be the best teammate she could be...no matter what it took.
But she knew that the second she ran out the door, she would lose all of her nerve and become a shivering mouse once again. But telling herself in the sanctity of her own room, where nobody could ridicule her or treat her badly, made her feel a little better.
She looked towards the mirror one last time, straightened her hair, and ran out the door.
...................................................................
The training field was always empty at about 5:30 in the morning. The only people crazy enough to start training that early was Neji, and even he needed sleep every now and then. Hinata stood alone in the center of the grassy field, looking around at all the trees which loomed above her in the darkness. The place was okay during the sunlit hours, but during the time when the sun was not shining, it was sure creepy. It was about as bad as the storeroom at 1 in the morning, and she almost lost her nerve to go in there and gather the needed supplies for the mission that day. She had a small arsenal of kunai in her room, sure, but they were rusty from overuse and they were hardly suitable for actual, real-time training. So she had to go down in that dark, scary storeroom where she used to think that monsters and demons roamed, just to go get a new supply of kunai, caltrops, and a grappling hook.
And if she could handle that, this place wouldn't be so bad. It was only about a half-hour until sunup anyway. Hinata sat down, picking up a stick off the ground and waving it around idly, lost in her own thoughts yet again.
Kakashi-sensei wanted us to be here early...so here I am. I wonder where Naruto-kun is...Both Naruto-kun and Sasuke-san should be here soon...I mean...they can't take long...
Minutes passed. Still, nobody came. The wind was starting to get chilly, even through her jacket. She knew that she should have sewn in added insulation for times like this. But it was really more of a security blanket rather than something to warm her up when she was cold. She sighed a little bit, drawing on the dirt with the stick that sat idle in her hands.
They were just random words. "Water", "Light", and "Child", at first. Then, over time, she got bored with that and tried writing her own name. It was a simplistic Kanji, and it was something that didn't really keep her mind too busy. It was just another one of her 'little habits'.
Hinata.
The name looked so lonely, just sitting alone like that. So she needed to write something with it. So that the name wouldn't be alone anymore. Even if she herself was alone, it wasn't right for her name to be so, especially in a pile of dirt.
She smiled to herself, picked up the stick, and wrote another name:
Naruto-kun.
There. The name wouldn't be so lonely anymore.
.......................................................................................................
It wasn't until 6:30 when Sasuke arrived, but he and Hinata didn't really say anything to one another. After all, Sasuke was a man of few words, and the only things he did that even resembled conversation was glare at the smaller girl. For the five thousandth time since she had been assigned to his team, she wondered what all the other girls saw in a man who did nothing but insult them and ignore them all the time.
Ten minutes later, Naruto-kun ran up, bursting with his usual excited energy. He bounced onto the scene, jumping on trees and pacing back and forth, waiting until Kakashi-sensei would show up and give them the test. Hinata couldn't help but watch him as he moved...He moved with such confidence. He looked so sure of himself.
And when he spoke of 'kicking Kakashi-sensei's ass', it really lifted her spirits. It made her feel like she could do anything. Ah, this strange feeling that she had. Sometimes it wasn't welcomed, especially in nerve- wracking situations, but since nobody else was around except Sasuke (who was sitting down on a tree stump, looking down towards the grass...hardly paying attention to anything around him except his own thoughts), she didn't mind the feeling too much. She felt warm, fuzzy, and content inside. She smiled and blushed a little bit, listening to Naruto as he did his two- hour-long rant about why he was going to beat Kakashi-sensei and how he was going to be Hokage one day. It kept her mind off things, things like failing and being sent home. Disgrace and depression. Everything seemed to melt away with the sound of his voice.
So...things were good for her. At least at the moment, while she listened to him and waited for Kakashi-sensei to come up and give them the test.
.....................................................................................................
"Dammit! It's 11:15 now. Where the fuck is he?!"
"Shut up, Dobe. We don't want to hear your complaining."
"What did you just call me?!"
11:15. It was 11:15. Where in the world was Kakashi-sensei?! He told them to meet much earlier than this, but he was late. Just like he was when he had to meet them yesterday, only much, much later. Yesterday, it was only about an hour or so, but he was about six hours late. If she were that late to a Hyuga Clan function, her father would have punished her for sure. It was unusual for a Jounin sensei to just be flat-out late for something.
Maybe something happened to him? Maybe he was attacked on the way here, and he was in the hospital or something?
...In a time of peace? The Anbu standing watch at the gate would dispose of them before the intruders even got close to Kakashi-sensei, or themselves for that matter.
So they had nothing to worry about.
But still...where was he? Hinata was known to be a very patient person, but even she was starting to get restless, and that was a start for her. But then again, she never had to wait six hours for someone to show up to a meeting as crucial as this one. The longer he took getting there, the more worried Hinata was that she would fail in the coming test.
No...I'm not going to fail. How many times do I have to say it?
Brave words weren't getting her anywhere.
Suddenly, she saw someone coming towards them. A tall figure, silver hair, a black mask on his face...her heart lifted and dropped at the same time, her anxiety building in her system as she watched Kakashi-sensei walk towards her at his leisurely pace. Naruto-kun seemed to notice as well, and his face was already contorted with annoyance.
"About damn time he showed up," she heard him mumble.
"Hey guys, good morning!"
Kakashi-sensei gave the three students a wave as he stood there, his one eye crinkled like it would have been if he had smiled. Naruto-kun pointed at him with a look of supreme annoyance on his face, letting out a cry of disbelief as he glared at him with piercing blue eyes:
"YOU'RE LATE!!!"
Naruto-kun...you're very impatient, aren't you?
Sasuke-kun looked over from his spot nearby a tree stump, where he did his usual routine of looking at the ground and brooding (at least, before Kakashi-sensei showed up). He didn't say anything, but rather glared (much like he always did—it scared poor Hinata sometimes, and she hadn't even been on his team for more than a day!) at everyone in the vicinity. If there was a rabbit walking by, Hinata was half-expected for him to kill it with a kunai for bothering him. The thought made her chest tighten, but she shook her head and tried to shake it off. Thinking about your teammate killing your favorite animal (second favorite, if you counted her supreme love of cats) was not the thing you needed to be doing when you are about to take a major test, and determine as of whether or not you can become a shinobi.
Hinata kept her spot beside Naruto-kun though, and watched as Kakashi- sensei pulled out a clock from his ninja pouch and placed it on the tree stump (near which Sasuke was sitting). It was one of those small, pink things that Hinata would picture sitting on her little sister's dresser (Hinata herself had a green clock with a chibi cat on the clock face. Her Aunt Hanako got it for her for her eleventh birthday—it was her favorite). He tapped the top button, and faced the three students with an unreadable, blank expression.
He then held out his hand, and the contents of which made Hinata blink.
Two bells?
"The clock is set for noon," he said. "The training exam is simple: you have to take these two bells from me before noon. The ones who get a bell gets lunch, and hereby pass. The one who doesn't get a bell not only doesn't get lunch and fails, but you will get tied to one of those stumps and I'll eat your lunch in front of you."
Hinata felt her stomach rumble, despite itself. A small blush crossed her features, and she hoped that nobody heard that. So this was why he didn't want them to eat anything. This reminded her of when Neji-niisan had to do an exercise for her father right after he became a genin the year before. Only he couldn't eat at all for the entire day, and then he had to fight her father in a serious one-on-one fight. But since Neji-niisan lost (as everyone knew that he would), he didn't get dinner, until Hinata snuck him some of her food when her father wasn't looking. He didn't take it, but it didn't matter.
"You can use your shuriken and kunai. The only way you'll win is if you come at me with intention to kill."
"B-but..." Hinata stepped back a little. "D-do you want us...to attack you? You'll be...in danger..."
Naruto-kun nodded with acknowledgment. "Yeah! You're so slow you can't even dodge a blackboard eraser! How are you gonna handle three of us on you at once?!"
A sigh escaped the sensei's lips, and the sound of it made something inside Hinata think of her Aunt Hanako whenever Neji-niisan did something like train in the snow wearing nothing more than a pair of shorts and ninja sandals. It was sort of patronizing, yet reprimanding. But Hinata herself didn't like the sound of it—maybe because it was towards Naruto-kun instead of someone like Neji-niisan, or Sasuke-kun.
"Those who have the least talent bark the loudest." He said, deadpan. "So let's ignore Mr. Dead-Last and go when I say..."
Hinata didn't register the orange blur flying forward, towards Kakashi-sensei. For a moment, it was only a quick show of color and lack of shape, but then the image changed. What she saw was Kakashi-sensei behind a surprised Naruto-kun, with one hand behind his head, and another on his throwing arm with the kunai he was holding aimed at the back of his throat. Naruto-kun's straggled breathing was the only thing that was heard in that short, awkward silence that was shown to them.
But Hinata's heart quickened.
This...is a Jounin?
But she didn't see him move...how was she supposed to do anything, much less get a bell from him?!
"Slow down..." he said in an even tone, "I haven't even said 'start' yet."
Hinata looked over at Sasuke-kun from the corner of her eye. He was grinning with some form of delight. Probably at the chance to face a Jounin, much like Neji-niisan would have been if he was in this sort of situation. His mouth was curved in a sort of smirk, and Hinata couldn't help but feel a little bit intimidated. Her eyes then focused on Kakashi- sensei again, and her eyes lowered a little as she looked at him.
"It seems like you guys actually acknowledge me—you came at me with the intention to kill."
A chuckle escaped his lips.
"You know...I'm really starting to like you guys!"
In that moment, Naruto-kun was released, and he was thrown forward, although not hard enough to really hurt. Kakashi-sensei stepped back, and stood in a straight-postured position. He looked to the three genins-to-be, and spoke again.
"Ready..."
Hinata's muscles tensed at the sound of Kakashi-sensei's voice. This was it. This was her first test as a Ninja.
"Set..."
She gripped a kunai, and held it tightly, even though her entire body was shaking. She was scared, she couldn't deny that...
"START!"
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If there was one thing that Hinata had learned during her days in the Academy, it was how to hide herself well. She was small and lightweight—smaller than even Naruto-kun (and he was one of the shortest students in the graduating class), so it wasn't hard for her to squeeze into those hard-to-reach places.
A score of underbrush was her friend at the moment, and she managed to stay still, without making a single sound as she watched the clearing where Naruto-kun stood, flailing his arms and looking at the teacher:
"Come and fight me, Kakashi-sensei! Come on, FIGHT ME!!!"
Naruto-kun...hide yourself. If you stay out there, Kakashi-sensei might hurt you...
But of course, Hinata couldn't say that out loud. She would not only give away her position, but put Naruto-kun in jeopardy.
But why would he only have two bells? They were a team, weren't they? She understood the need to separate the weaklings from the ones who were truly strong (In Hinata's case, she was the most likely to be sent back to the Academy, while Sasuke-kun was the least likely), but for some strange reason, competing against one of her teammates, no matter how long they would actually be on the same team (five minutes to five years), just didn't strike her as something that she wanted to do. All three of them had valid reasons to become Genin (some more acceptable than others...like Naruto- kun's quest to be acknowledged, and Sasuke-kun's ambition to revive the Uchiha Clan, for example), and if any of them were sent to the Academy, the chances of them accomplishing their goals would be thrown out the window. Hinata didn't want to see Naruto-kun's broken expression, or Sasuke-kun's angered rage because either of them went back to the Academy. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if they didn't accomplish their own goals because of her selfishness.
But she couldn't just give up. She had Naruto-kun on her side, and he never gave up, did he? There had to be another way. Kakashi-sensei had to have just been playing with them, getting them to be afraid so they wound fail. And there was no denying it that Hinata was afraid. Actually, she was probably more afraid now than she had ever been in her life.
Boar, Hawk, Turtle, Eagle...
Byakugan!
Her white eyes began to pulse once again, and a searing heat came over her as she switched to her bloodline limit's special vision. She could see the Chakra of all of her teammates...Sasuke-kun was a few feet away from her, hidden by some extra brush that didn't allow her to see his face, while Naruto-kun was in the clearing, yelling at Kakashi-sensei who was standing there in front of him.
Speaking of Kakashi-sensei...
A few more handseals were completed, and her vision zoomed in towards him. This took a lot more concentration than normal Byakugan, so it was sometimes hard to pull this off. For someone like Neji-niisan this was no hard feat, but for Hinata, who had just learned this technique two weeks before, this wasn't something that was easy.
She caught a glimpse of her teacher's chakra still, but her eyes moved down towards the pouches on his body. There were two on his vest, which had shuriken in it—rather typical for a Jounin. Then there was one on his hip...
There was something inside of it.
One: It was some sort of book. Pink, maybe. It had two people on the front cover, a man...and a woman. They were running...and then there was a stop sign on the back of the book.
Wait...stop sign?
Pink cover...
Man and woman running...
A deep blush crossed Hinata's features. She didn't know that adults read those things...she had caught some of the boys in class reading those books, and she had caught Neji-niisan reading one once (he said that he was working as a substitute to a class for one of his missions, and that he confiscated it from one of the students, but even though Hinata was naïve, she didn't quite buy that). She personally thought that Kakashi-sensei was above that.
And pulling it out at a time like this! For shame! Was he even trying to fight them at all?!
But through all this thinking, she had not noticed what was going on down with Naruto-kun. She caught vague glances of the orange-clad boy trying to hit the Jounin, but now she was focusing her full attention on him. Kakashi-sensei sat in a squatting position behind Naruto-kun, who was in mid-punch. His hands were in a rather familiar shape, as if ready to...
"A ninja's not supposed to get caught from behind, you idiot."
Wait...
That was the Seal of the Tiger...Kakashi-sensei was going to use that style of Ninjutsu against Naruto?!
"Naruto-kun! Nigete! Nigete Kudasai!" She heard herself screaming, only to cover her mouth and curse the fact that she had spoken out loud. Kakashi-sensei probably knew her position...
The teacher lunged forward, and it took all of Hinata's willpower to suppress a scream:
"Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Technique!"
Taijutsu?! But that was a Ninjutsu stance!
"1000 years of pain!"
Suddenly his two fingers, in the 'Tiger' stance, attacked Naruto's rectum, sending him flying through the air with a look of absolute pain, shock, and horror on his face. Hinata herself recoiled at the sight of it, although was sort of relieved that it was just that. Instead of being some sort of special Ninjutsu, it was a poke in the butt...If it wasn't done on Naruto-kun, it would have been pretty funny...no, it was still sort of funny, even if it was done to him. She wondered what it would have been like if he had used it on Sasuke...
But still...that sort of strength wasn't fair...what could they do? Naruto-kun was sent into the water of a nearby pond, and nobody was doing anything. True, Naruto-kun had run up and attacked a Jounin without thinking, but the fact that he could do it without fear was astonishing.
She wanted to do something like that.
She wanted to be brave like that.
Byakugan!
Her eyes, once again, after a short reprieve to keep her head from aching, went back into that 360 degree semi-X-ray vision that she was so used to. There were no clones nearby...and Naruto was still in the water, although his chakra seemed to get bigger by the moment.
And Kakashi-sensei was standing on the ground, reading his book as if nothing was happening.
Maybe...if she distracted Kakashi-sensei long enough, she could buy Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun some time to get the bells while he wasn't aware of their presence.
But...she was so weak. She couldn't possibly...
No. Naruto-kun wouldn't say that, would he? He wouldn't say that he was weak, and just give up.
Besides, she was on their team. She had to help them somehow.
So when an opening came...
Naruto-kun fell out of the water, coughing and hacking on the ground as he knelt down in front of Kakashi-sensei.
The man just looked down at him, and he didn't even show a sliver of concern. Just what Hinata would have expected out of a Jounin.
"Wow. You sure are weak for someone who is going to surpass Hokage." He said, looking down at the younger boy.
"I know that, goddamnit!" Naruto-kun wailed, holding onto his most likely aching stomach, "I can still fight on an empty stomach!"
Ready...
...NOW!
"Naruto-kun! Look out!"
Hinata was surprised at herself as she took several shuriken out of her pouch and threw them towards him (and his pouch) with all of her strength. She didn't want to give away her position, and she was too scared to move any further, but it was the least she could do.
She was so scared...she was so scared! She hadn't been this tense even when she was fighting Hanabi...
It wasn't only that, but she was so hungry it was hard to move.
"What the hell?!"
Naruto-kun had cried out as the shuriken came towards the sensei, no doubt. Hinata had closed her eyes shortly after she threw her weapons, mainly due to the fact that she was so scared that she would miss, mess up, or cause problems for Naruto. Her heart was racing, and her body shook with some sort of uncontrollable emotion.
"Hmmm..." She heard Kakashi-sensei's voice drift over the clearing and into her ears, causing her cheeks to burn with slight embarrassment. "It seems that our little Hyuga kitten has claws."
Hinata said nothing. She hoped Naruto would get the point and jump at the Sensei when Hinata had his attention strayed for a moment...
The water moved. She could hear it—first in one wave, then in several, and then she could hear many footsteps as the waves' crashing increased.
A hand came to Hinata's mouth, as she looked down (her face was still red, but she managed to get the courage to look towards Kakashi-sensei and Naruto-kun), and saw...
About twenty Narutos come out of the pond, rushing towards Kakashi-sensei. She had at first thought that they were normal bunshins, but as her Byakugan told her, there were bones, muscles, and actual blood in the bodies that came out of the water. Not just pure chakra.
But what in the world was it? Nobody was taught that in the Academy...the most they learned was normal 'bunshin no jutsu'. So how...
Oh, Naruto-kun.
"Hah! It's my specialty, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! With more than one of me here, it's guaranteed that I'm gonna kick your ass!"
A sigh came out of Kakashi-sensei's mouth, even though the kage bunshin clones were dashing for him. He didn't seem worried, which made something in Hinata's system coil back. How could that have been possible? Multiple flesh-and-blood clones was something to be feared in the Ninja world, even Hinata knew that. Then why...
"I'd say this couldn't last a minute. Even if you can throw Kage Bunshins around, you're still Naruto. You can't beat me with that Jutsu."
Hinata shook her head where she was sitting.
No...
Naruto-kun could win. Naruto-kun could win no matter what.
I believe in him.
"Hinata-san."
Sasuke's voice sounded next to her—calm, complacent...somewhat threatening. For a few moments, she forgot that he was even there next to her. It must have been the feat of her watching Naruto-kun...when she was looking at him, she forgot all else around her. She needed to get over that habit...especially if she was going to work with him in the future.
"H-hai, Sasuke-san?"
"I know about your limit." Was all he said. It was quick like a knife, and Hinata flinched. So it seemed everyone knew about the Hyuga's bloodline. That didn't surprise her. "Tell me, what do you see?"
What did she see? Even with her Byakugan, she wasn't catching much. There was just the large amount of Narutos, the Kakashi with Naruto's red chakra...? Hold on, that wasn't right. Everyone had their own distinct Chakra color, depending on their personality. They couldn't just change it at will, like it seemed that Kakashi-sensei was doing. Not even the Hokage could do something like that.
Dark blue chakra was above the two of them. Sasuke let out a curse, and Hinata gasped at her own carelessness before. She thought that Kakashi- sensei had forgotten about her when Naruto-kun came up with the Kage bunshins, but instead...
He switched and was homing in right for them. He knew that the two were hiding right next to each other, so it was a perfect time for him to hit them when they were off-guard.
Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic! I'm so pathetic!
Hinata jumped back as a few shuriken came towards them, and she felt a jerk as Sasuke grabbed her arm and threw her out towards another branch, on which she balanced with just one foot. She hopped over to one of the other trees, and looked down as Naruto-kun punched his own clone in the face, thinking it was Kakashi-sensei.
Speaking of Kakashi-sensei...his chakra wasn't near them. He wasn't in their direct vicinity, nor anywhere around them, it seemed. Either he was really good at hiding his chakra—good enough to beat a Hyuga's Byakugan, or he just wasn't really there. But any good ninja doubted that the latter was even possible. He was playing with them all, yes, but he wouldn't just leave them to their own devices, thinking he was there.
Where did he go?
He couldn't have just disappeared.
Another yell was heard as Naruto's clones got in an all-out brawl, apparently wondering if Kakashi-sensei had merged among them. If her palms weren't so sweaty, and her body wasn't so rigid, and her fear wasn't so heightened by that little scare, she would have yelled out to let him know that Kakashi-sensei wasn't there, but somewhere else. But her eyes were darting back and forth, a lump being formed in her throat, and her heart just wouldn't stop thumping in her chest. She knew he was there, watching her somewhere. And that scared her. She needed to get a bell from him, or help Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun get a bell, or else they wouldn't get lunch.
But where was he?
She couldn't move...
She stepped forward, and her legs turned to jelly.
The tension was so strong...she couldn't bring herself to move.
She was so scared...
No! She had to stop this. She was a graduate of the Ninja Academy! She wasn't going to let this scare her...
But...
Her head hurt, she was hungry, and she felt drained from using her Byakugan too long. She needed to turn it off, since her body couldn't handle extensive use yet, but...
She had to find out where Kakashi-sensei was.
"Hey, Hinata-chan."
It was right about then that the poor girl fainted.
.........................................................................................................
"Oi. Hinata-chan. Okiro."
The first thing she heard when she woke up was Kakashi-sensei's voice, much like it was right before she fainted. She wasn't where she was when she had fainted...instead she found herself lying down on the ground in front of a tree stump, with Naruto-kun tied up in front of it, and Sasuke- kun sitting next to her. She looked around her and blushed. They had all seen her pass out...
Naruto-kun must think terribly of me now...he probably thinks that I'm some sort of stupid failure. Well, that is true. I am the failure of the Hyuga Clan...
She looked over at Sasuke-kun, who just gave her a single nod, although his gaze didn't lose any of its previous coldness, and then she turned to Kakashi-sensei, who was towering over them.
"You know what? You guys don't need to be sent back to the Academy." He said, although the lowering tone if his voice was something that Hinata did not like. She'd heard that sort of tone before. She didn't know where she'd heard it, but she knew that she'd heard that sort of tone spoken to her—and that she wasn't exactly happy after she heard it.
"Really?! Really?! We're so good that you have to pass us all, huh?!"
Naruto-kun...it's probably not that easy...we failed. We probably failed because I wasn't good enough...
"You three are beyond all repair. Being sent back to the Academy is too good for a group of kids as talentless as you."
She could almost hear her father saying that, but even so, she felt something inside her heart just give. She couldn't cry—she didn't cry. But she had wanted to. She felt something weigh her down—something mixed with despair, acceptance, and a bit of anger. They had worked so hard to try to get those bells. How could he say something like that? Even if she fainted, it wasn't fair to call Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun failures because of her own weakness. If he wanted to down the real culprit, he should have downed her instead. It just wasn't fair...
Sasuke-kun was rushing towards Sensei already, kunai in hand, ready to cut him down on the spot. Hinata didn't need her Byakugan to see the fire shining in his coal black eyes, the anger of a man spurned.
"Gyah!"
"Sasuke-san! Yamete!"
But he was too slow. Kakashi-sensei already had him pinned, one foot against his head. He turned to Hinata, who just stood there, staring in shock.
"See? Just no skill."
A glare was thrown in the kids' direction, and Hinata felt a shiver run up her spine. Only from her father had she seen such an angry, condescending expression on someone's face. She felt her stomach twist, churn, and flop around in fear and anxiety.
"Are you insulting ninjas? Huh, are you? Why do you think you were divided into teams? It wasn't so us teachers could get a kick out of love triangles and angsty teenage drama, believe you me."
"You know, these Jounin senseis are really strict when you first start out, but that's only to get the team together. Once you guys start getting your teamwork in, the teachers really aren't that bad."
"But Momoko-sempai, you d-don't...seem the type...t-to work...in a group."
"I'm usually not, but when you have to...you have to. You have to get with the gusto. You can't just sit on your ass and do nothing. Trust me—without working together with your team, even when you're a Chuunin, you won't get anywhere."
"Then why?!" Shouted Naruto-kun. "Why don't you tell us the answer?"
It was...
Teamwork.
"Teamwork."
Her thoughts and his answer came simultaneously, and if she was more like Momoko-sempai, she would have slapped her forehead for her stupidity. Naruto-kun looked at him, and then at Hinata, and then at Sasuke who was still trapped under Kakashi-sensei's foot. He flailed about on the stump (why was he on the stump, anyway?), and if he was on the ground, he would have probably pointed to Kakashi-sensei with an accusing look on his face.
"Whaddya mean, 'Teamwork'?! One of us would have been sent to the Academy anyway, you dumbass!"
"This exercise was created to see if you could set aside your general differences and work together as a team despite the odds against you. And..." he looked towards Hinata, who gulped a little bit under his gaze.
"...only one of you seemed to understand that. And even then, the poor girl passed out before she could get the three of you to work together. It takes one to make a statement, and two to tango, but it takes three to build a bathhouse."
She could feel both Naruto and Sasuke's eyes on her. Hinata felt her face redden.
"Naruto was just running around by himself, and even though Sasuke protected Hinata from my swarm of shuriken, he didn't stick around long enough to calm her down before she passed out, since he thought that he could do everything on his own. Oh Great and Powerful Uchiha. Individual abilities are important, but it's just as important, if not more, to have a strong focus on 'teamwork'."
A pause was settled, and Kakashi-sensei let out a sigh.
"I'll give you one last chance. Those who want to accept my challenge can eat lunch—although if you give any to Naruto you will fail on the spot. It's his punishment for trying to eat lunch by himself."
Naruto-kun...So that's it...
His eyes lowered again, and Hinata could feel that glare on her once again. She swallowed hard, and looked down towards her lap. She didn't have the courage to meet Kakashi-sensei's gaze.
"My word is Law. You got me?"
And in that moment, he disappeared.
Hinata looked towards Naruto as he stood, still tied to the stump. He grinned at his two teammates, but even she could tell that it was just there to reassure them.
"I can deal without food! No problem, guys!"
She had to give him one thing...he was a terrible liar. She could hear his stomach growl quite clearly.
Hinata looked down towards her lunchbox, and then up at Naruto. Kakashi- sensei wasn't nearby. He had disappeared, and might have been watching them. She only took a few bites out of her own lunch, but even then, it tasted bad.
It isn't as if the cooking is bad...actually, the quality of the food is quite good. But...Naruto-kun. He can't go after the bells without even a little bit of food. I can handle being hungry—sometimes fasting is part of the training Father gives me, so it isn't as if I haven't done it before. If it's to help Naruto-kun...
Kakashi-sensei was probably a long way away. Besides, Naruto-kun was much more important right now; not whether or not she would handle misfortune. Even if she was sent back, it would be worth it if only to help her teammate. But it wasn't just that...she would have helped him even if they weren't on the same team...
"He-here." She couldn't look at him, her face was so red. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and she looked down towards her feet. "Y-you...n-need your strength...r-right, Naruto-kun? I'm not hungry...I-it's fine..."
"Hinata-san." Sasuke glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She couldn't see him, but she could feel his black orbs burning into her.
"I-it's all right...Kakashi-sensei's...probably...far away anyway...And...it's wrong...to um...make a teammate starve while you eat...isn't it? Kakashi-sensei said we had to...work as a team..."
"Hn."
She heard some shuffling, and she looked up, only to see two lunch boxes being held out in front of Naruto-kun. Hers and Sasuke's. She looked over to the raven-haired boy, and blinked a few times in just...surprise.
He...He actually...helped Naruto-kun. I thought he would just ignore him...
"I can't have you fainting on me, and being a liability. You're going to need all the strength you can get in order for you to help us get those bells. Hinata-san and I are not going to be doing this by ourselves, and I won't let you drag us behind. Hear me?"
Suddenly, smoke appeared in front of the three. Hinata's eyes widened, and she cursed herself for the umpteenth time that day. She knew it was a trap. She knew it! But she just couldn't leave Naruto-kun behind! That was just against everything that she believed in...
I'm going to fail...I knew it. I dragged Sasuke-kun with me and now he's going to fail too...
"What the hell?!" Sasuke-kun cried out.
But...
A furious Kakashi-sensei came out of the mist, glaring at the three and causing Hinata to cry out in alarm.
"Kyaaa!"
"You guys...!"
He stood in front of them, hands on his hips, his eye fixed in a glare that Hinata had never seen on anyone. She didn't want to get yelled at—she just wanted to be told that she was going to fail, just so that the suspense would be over. She just wanted to be told that she would fail, to be told that she would...
"Pass!"
...What?
The three members of Team Seven looked at Kakashi-sensei in...utter disbelief. Sasuke looked like he was about to let out a sigh of relief; Naruto looked like a gigged frog (It's so cute! Hinata thought); while Hinata looked about ready to faint...again. She looked at the sensei who was standing before them, winking at them playfully with his one visible eye.
"P-pass...? We...we pass?" Hinata stammered.
"But why?" Asked Sasuke in his usual darkened tone.
Kakashi-sensei just wouldn't stop grinning at them from behind that mask, Hinata was certain. The way his face was set...it couldn't be anything else other than grinning. "You guys are the first that I've ever passed, you know. Everyone else just followed everything I've said, like mindless little drones."
So we passed by disobeying you?
"True," He stepped back a bit, probably to give the surprised genins some room to breathe, "The Ninja must see underneath the underneath, and those who disobey the Ninja way are considered trash. But..." A pause.
"Those who don't care and watch out for their comrades...are lower than that!"
Hinata's eyes brightened as she watched him. He was a mysterious, strange, very easy-going, and a bit of a pervert, but Kakashi-sensei was in a class all his own. She had never heard that from any older, high-ranking Ninja before. Her father would drill into her mind that she couldn't be 'weak' and she couldn't 'slow everyone else down', and she must 'uphold the traditions of the Hyuga family', but she didn't hear much about 'teamwork' and 'helping your comrades'. Actually, the only thing the Hyuga elders told her was that it was important to work in a group, but to keep the pride of the Hyuga Clan as a priority at all times. She wasn't the type of person who was born to 'uphold clan pride'. She was physically weak, shy around people, and didn't have the courage to talk unless she was spoken to, and even then it was hard to do.
But looking at Kakashi-sensei, and looking at Sasuke-kun, and Naruto- kun...maybe there was more to this than Clan traditions and upholding reputations. She looked at them, and, even though she swore she wasn't going to do it...
She cried.
Her chance was not in vain. She actually succeeded at something...and she was going to amount to something...she was a member of Team Seven, and she could stay by Naruto-kun's side, and help Sasuke-kun in any way she could. Her father would be proud of her, and she would become the daughter that her father had always wanted her to be.
Her body trembled with sobs, and she could hear Naruto-kun flailing on the stump, letting out cries of panic as he saw her shaking form.
"Hey, hey, Hinata-chan! What's wrong?! Hey! Don't cry, huh?! We passed! What're you sad for?!"
Naruto-kun...you are such a kind, amazing person...I can't wait to spend more time with you in the future...and...Sasuke-kun...isn't that bad, either.
"I...I'm not sad..." Hinata said softly, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. "I'm...j-just...s-so happy...I..."
And more sobs came out of her throat, but as she had said, they weren't sad ones. They were sobs of happiness, sobs of triumph. After all, she had done something right, and had passed the Genin test with the boy she loved most, and the strongest one in their graduating class. And they weren't mad at her for slowing them down at all!
And...
She was a part of Team Seven.
And that was the most wonderful part of all.