Let's start this from the beginning

Graduation

VI

"There's already somebody there."

Hinata immediately tensed at Kiba's words, and from the corner of her eyes, she saw that the same was true for Shino as well. However, instead of focusing on that, she activated her Byakugan to see who was on their training ground. While this was almost certainly another of Itachi-sensei's tests, there was always the unlikely but not quite impossible chance that it was an actual intruder.

Thankfully, the motions of actively checking their surroundings were already starting to become second nature to all three of them,

A week into their training, when they were still just beginning to get used to the mix of unorthodox training exercises and teamwork activities, Itachi-sensei had told them that it was time for them to put their clan's techniques to good use and that he expected them to be aware of their surroundings at all times.

They had taken that task very seriously, of course. Every command he had given them so far, no matter how weird it might sound at first, had proven to have some deeper meaning that helped them in one way or another, and none of them doubted that this time would be different. However, they couldn't have predicted just how serious he took this task.

That became only clear at the end of the day when he asked them how many crows they had passed during that day's hindrance course and how many of the Konoha emblems that he had carved into several trees on the way there they had discovered.

Needless to say, their results had been… disappointing. They strived to do better from then on, though, and that was a good thing as stuff like strategically placed crows and scratches were quickly replaced by simple traps which the three of them were all very eager to avoid. Training drenched in water wasn't fun, and in Hinata's humble opinion, doing so one time was more than enough. Their strategy from then on was simple but effective: while Hinata could not keep her Byakugan activated constantly due to her limited chakra reserves, she did periodically use it to check the perimeter. In the meantime, Shino keep his insects in close to mid-range around them while Kiba actively paid attention to what he smelled instead of paying it little mind like he did previously.

If Hinata had been asked before her graduation if she would be able to cooperate so smoothly with Shino and Kiba, two boys she never really interacted with before, she would have been hesitant, but if the last few weeks were anything to go by, they truly made for a good team. Sure, things weren't perfect yet, but she had hope.

At the very least, their combined efforts would make it pretty hard for most enemies to sneak up on them. Unless they were far above their level, nobody would be able to surprise them.

The people Kiba had noticed were fortunately no enemies, however.

"It's alright," she said. "I know them. I don't see any traps around either, so this should be safe."

Both her teammates nodded at her all-clear, but they didn't relax fully yet. She couldn't fault them for it, of course; all of them had been wrong before, assuming that they were safe only to run into a trap a few moments later.

If there's one thing we have learned since graduation, it's being paranoid, she thought with a touch of humour.

Shino hummed as he summoned the insects he had sent out when Kiba announced the potential threat back to him. "And who is it?"

"My cousin and his team."

"Heh," Kiba snorted. "Do you think this means we will have a joint training session today? That sounds like fun!"

Ignoring his shout, Hinata considered that possibility. It would certainly make sense and she knew that Neji's team had held such sessions with other teams in the past. If it was true, however, things would look pretty bleak for them. She knew for a fact that Neji was stronger than any of them, and while she had never seen either Lee or Tenten fight, she had heard enough about them from her cousin to be reasonably sure that the same was true for them as well.

"It's good that you're looking forward to it."

All three of them jumped at the sudden voice coming from their midst, and they instinctively fell into a fighting stance before recognizing who the person was.

"Excellent reaction," Itachi-sensei praised, an amused twinkle in his eyes. "Entirely unnecessary, however."

Hinata saw the annoyed scowl on Kiba's face that he barely tried to hide and knew that Shino felt the same way from the increased buzzing around them, but the only thing she felt herself was a hint of resignation and wonderment. No matter how hard they tried, they could never catch signs of him before he appeared right in front of them. It didn't make sense and they could never explain just how he avoided Shino's bugs, Kiba's and Akamaru's noses, and Hinata's eyes, but somehow, he did it time and time again. It really shouldn't surprise her, though, considering he had also managed to capture her, a Hyūga, in a Genjutsu without her even noticing when that should be all but impossible due to her Byakugan.

Apparently, doing the impossible on a regular basis was just what Jōnin did.

"We will get you one day," Kiba grumbled while Akamaru next to him let out a soft whimper. "Just you wait."

"And I'm looking forward to that day."

Kiba's scowl deepened, but before he had the chance to say something he might regret, Shino spoke up. "So we will indeed have a joint session today, Sensei?"

He nodded. "I determined that sparring with the same few people all the time won't sufficiently push you to improve yourself, so I asked around to see who would be willing to join us for today."

"Then this team has been chosen by random?"

Oh, Hinata thought. I see what he's getting at. It would obviously make a difference if the presence of Neji's team was just by chance rather than a deliberate choice by their sensei. If it was the latter, there must be a deeper reason behind it, a specific lesson he wanted to teach them, while the former would mean it was likely that this was truly just a regular training session.

As much as a joint training session could ever be 'regular, that was.

Itachi-sensei gave Shino an approving nod. "Well done," he said. "It seems nothing escapes your notice. Yes, while it's true that I asked around to see who would be willing to help, I admittingly hoped that this particular team would agree to do so."

So there's indeed a deeper reason behind it…

She exchanged quick glances with her teammates, both of whom had realized the same thing she did. There was no way to know for sure what he was trying to teach them yet, not with how little information they had, but just knowing that there was something to look out for at all was already a big help. They had learned over the past few weeks that their sensei liked to give them hints about his true intentions to encourage them to think things through more thoroughly themselves, so they should be able to figure this out as long as they kept their eyes and ears open.

With that in mind, they finally breached the tree line and stepped into the clearing where four figures were already waiting.

"Finally! Our adversaries have arrived!"

Kiba grimaced at the loud and far too enthusiastic voice. He wasn't a morning person by any means, but this early in the morning was just no time to be so happy! At least the rest of them isn't like that as well, he thought with a quick glance at the unknown students, Hinata's cousin being easily identified by his Byakugan. I don't think I would be able to stand it if-

"Yosh! So many new faces! This will be an enlightening session for sure!"

It seems I spoke too soon… Kiba had barely managed to get a glimpse of him before the boy -wait, is he that man's son or clone or something? And why does he wear such a stupid costume?- appeared in front of him with a ridiculous bright smile.

Then, the green abomination bowed in a straight ninety-degree angle. "It's a pleasure to meet you! My name is Rock Lee and I-"

Fortunately for his sanity and before Kiba could do something that might get him into trouble with Itachi-sensei, the girl wearing a pink, sleeveless blouse stepped forward, grabbed the boy by his neck, and pulled him back, immediately becoming Kiba's favourite of the group. "Why do you always need to do that? Just introduce yourself normally like everyone else!"

"But-"

"No buts! You will just scare them away!"

What a bunch of idiots, Kiba thought in a strange mix of annoyance and amusement. Really, and that are the people Sensei wants us to train with? Somehow, he had expected a bit, well, more than that. He wasn't stupid enough to underestimate them because there was obviously no way he would have asked this team here without reason, but really, what could there possibly be for them to learn from? There must be something, but he really couldn't think of anything.

Kiba chuckled quietly to himself. At least I can show off a bit when I beat them.

His thoughts were interrupted by the approaching figure of Hinata's cousin.

"I apologize for that poor display," he said, his calm voice being an odd contrast to the shouting of the rest of his team. "I would like to say they're not always like this, but that would be a lie."

Kiba took a step forward, his lips morphing into a cocky smile. "They really aren't taking this serious, do they? Heh, I feel almost sorry for you."

He had mostly meant it as a joke, and considering the other boy seemed annoyed by his teammates' behaviour as well, he thought it would be well-appreciated. Unexpectedly, however, the till then neutral expression instead turned into something more stern.

He opened his mouth, but before he could say something, Hinata suddenly pushed herself in between them. "Neji-nii!" she exclaimed, her joyful voice sounding a little off even to him. "I didn't know you were already back from your mission! You should have said something."

For a moment, Kiba was sure the other boy would ignore her in favour of confronting him instead, making Kiba inwardly prepare himself for a fight with maybe a tiny bit too much enthusiasm, but the other boy ultimately only scoffed and turned away, the lines in his face immediately growing softer.

"It would have hardly been appropriate to come over so late at night."

"You know I wouldn't care about that."

"Your father most certainly would, though."

Hinata pouted at that, but judging from her silence, she acknowledged that this was probably the truth.

"Anyway," Neji continued, his lips curling into a small smile. "I haven't congratulated you yet for your graduation, have I? I told you there was no reason to worry. With your abilities, there was no way you would fail something simple as the Genin Exams." Then, he abruptly turned back towards Kiba. "Although you don't seem to have had much luck with the team you were assigned to."

Kiba blinked, caught off-guard by the sudden turn of events, but then he recognized the insult for what it was and his temper flared. "Why you-"

"It seems our pupils are already all pumped up! The flame of youth truly burns brightly in them! I can already see that you have done a good job with them so far."

Kiba hadn't even seen him move, but out of nowhere, the green-clad Jōnin he still didn't know the name of had appeared next to Neji and put his hand on his shoulder. An innocent gesture in and on itself, but judging from the slight discomfort on the boy's face, the grip must be rather tight.

Under different circumstances, Kiba would have gloated at Neji's situation, but he had his own problems to deal with in form of the hand on his shoulder.

"You give me too much credit," Itachi-sensei said. "They may have potential, but they also have a long way to go still."

The grip on Kiba's shoulder was feather-light, but he knew better than to assume that this meant his sensei wasn't mad. The grip might be light, but Kiba had become more than familiar enough with the deliberately calm voice to know that he would regret it if he took one more step out of line.

"I will be the judge of that, I think. Why don't you guys take a few minutes for some light warm-up before we switch over to sparring? Wouldn't want to give your team a disadvantage, after all."

"I agree."

Before Kiba even knew it, he and his teammates were led away by Itachi-sensei. However, even that didn't stop him from throwing a glare over his shoulders and catching the pale eyes that were so similar and yet so different from Hinata's.

Hopefully I will get to fight him, he thought. I will show you just how 'unlucky' Hinata was in getting me as a teammate.

Somehow, he suspected the other boy was thinking the exact same thing.

There is no way this will end well…

Shino generally tried not to be too pessimistic, but it was hard to see things turning out alright with how tense things already were. They had been in front of the other team for less than five minutes and already one of them -Hinata's cousin, of all people- had started a fight with them.

While he wasn't as short-tempered as Kiba who was still throwing glares at the Hyūga every chance he got, it would be a lie to say Shino wasn't feeling offended as well. Although the other boy's comment had clearly been primarily directed at Kiba, the implication that he too was a poor teammate and that Hinata would be better off with someone else… offended him.

"Hinata," he said while carefully making sure that his mouth was hidden behind his collar to avoid having his lips read. Not that this would stop a Byakugan user, but there was no use in worrying about something he couldn't change anyway. "What can you tell us about your cousin's team?" All he knew about him was that he had been a year ahead of them at the Academy and that he had graduated as rookie of the year. While helpful, that wasn't much information to go by should he need to fight him later.

The girl turned her head towards him from where she was warming up to his left after a quick glance at the aforementioned team, checking whether they were being watched just like Shino had done a few moments earlier, before answering in a hushed voice.

"Neji-nii is a prodigy, maybe even the greatest one our clan has seen in generations. I only ever beat him in spars when he holds back. He has become a Genin last year and his team goes on lots of missions outside the village as well, so he has much more experience than any of us. Don't use the same trick twice when fighting him; he's good at picking up even the smallest mistakes and will use them against you if you give him the chance.

I met his teammates only a handful of times, so I don't know too much about them. What I do know, however, is that Lee is unable to use either Ninjutsu or Genjutsu and thus focuses solely on Taijutsu in fights. It's not much of a disadvantage, mind you. It allowed him to focus solely on his Taijutsu which made him extremely proficient in it. Even Neji-nii speaks respectfully of his skills and he's not someone easily impressed.

Tenten, too, is mostly a close-combat fighter. She's a weapon specialist, and from what I heard, there's no weapon she can't handle at least to some degree. That means she's the only one on her team that can also attack you from afar, so be ready to dodge or deflect her projectiles. She stores them in scrolls, so it won't be just a few kunai and shuriken but dozens or even hundreds of them at the same time. Be ready for that."

It was certainly useful to have a teammate with information about their opponents. Every piece of intel, limited as it might be, was useful, and just knowing that all three of their opponents were close-combat fighters already gave them a slight advantage. Not that the fact that all three of them focused on Taijutsu in one way or another was much of a surprise, of course; Shino had recognised Might Guy immediately, and from what he knew of the Jōnin, he was by far Konoha's greatest Taijutsu specialist. Of course his students would specialize in that field as well.

Furthermore, judging from the conversation between Hinata and her cousin earlier, they hadn't spoken since the formation of their team, so their opponents had no way of knowing anything specific about them as well. Being from recognizable clan's was a bit of a disadvantage, of course, but they still lacked detailed information about either him or Kiba as persons.

"Pah," Kiba scoffed from his right while still sending stinky eyes to the other side of the clearing. "Prodigy or not, if I'm paired up with him, I will beat his ass. No offence, Hinata, but he's a prick."

The girl winced slightly before adopting a somewhat confused expression. "He usually isn't like that at all. I mean, he's not necessarily nice to new people, but that earlier was, well-"

"I don't care. That idiot deserves what he has coming when I beat him. Really, I was just making a joke! There was no reason to react like that, isn't that right, Akamaru?"

While not an expert, Shino liked to think that he was proficient enough in interpreting the dog's barking by now to confidentially say that he agreed with his partner's opinion.

"Don't underestimate him," Hinata said in a slightly reproving voice. "He's one of-"

"You shouldn't underestimate me, Hinata," Kiba interrupted her, and Shino could feel the by-now very familiar irritation bubble up in his chest. "I have fought you often enough to know your clan's Gentle Fist while he probably never fought an Inuzuka before. Just you wait and see how that's going to bite him!"

Hinata looked almost pleading now. "He's much stronger than I am, Kiba. You can't compare-"

"God, what is with you today? Don't you trust me?"

Upon hearing the accusatory tone, Shino decided to get involved before things could escalate even further. Now was really not the time for infighting. "This has nothing to do with trust. They're more experienced than us, so it's only natural that they have an advantage. Underestimating them will end in defeat."

Kiba sneered. "You too? I didn't think you would be afraid of fighting some guys that are barely any older than we are."

"Even just one year is a lot of time when one considers that they spent it fighting real enemies while we sat in a classroom and played students."

"'Real enemies'? They fought some bandits in the woods who can't even use chakra at most." Kiba then shot him a contemptuous glare. "But then again, I guess even just that would be too much for the likes of you."

The likes of me…? Against his will, Shino started to feel genuine anger at his teammate's comment, and no matter how hard he tried to swallow it down, it just wouldn't go away. He always has such a big mouth, he seethed inwardly. Always trying to appear big and strong when he doesn't put half as much work into training as I do. Does he think he's better than me just because he was fortunate enough to be born into a clan that focuses primarily on Taijutsu?

Shino took a step towards the other boy, the sound of buzzing insects in his ears. "Would you like to elaborate on that?"

Not to be outdone, Kiba mirrored him. "What? Don't tell me that was too hard for you to understand?"

He took another step forward. "You want to talk with me about intelligence?"

Kiba followed suit once more. "You little-"

Before he could finish, Hinata pushed herself between the two before shoving them a step back again. Not only that, after she did this, she also left her hands pressed gently against their chests, the otherwise harmless gesture holding a hint of a threat as she could very well put them both out of commission in less than a heartbeat from that position. It was probably a testament of how much better both their relationship with the girl was than with each other that neither he nor Kiba pulled away.

"Stop it, you two," she said quietly, presumably in a futile attempt not to attract attention from the others present in the clearing. "Fighting with each other is the last thing we should do right now!"

"Well, Kiba-"

"If he weren't such a-"

"No," she interrupted them both sternly, and while Shino had heard her speak like that a few times before and consequently really shouldn't be surprised, he still instinctively snapped his mouth shut. "Remember what Sensei taught us? We are a team. A unit. We need to stand together if we want to win."

It wasn't often that Hinata got so serious, but when she did, Shino couldn't help but listen, and judging from Kiba's sullen silence, the same was true for him as well. She was usually reserved, and he would even go as far as to call her shy, but at times like this, she proved that she had a backbone just as much as they did and that if pushed far enough, she wouldn't hesitate to bite back.

That didn't mean he could just put what she said into practice, though. He was still offended, still angry, and he didn't want to back down just like that.

However, he swallowed these feelings down- for now, at least. He and Kiba could settle their disagreement later. Having a clear head in the upcoming spars was important, after all, so fighting him here and now would be nothing but a hindrance.

He wondered whether Kiba would be able to do the same, but it was then that their sensei's voice rang out from next to them, depriving him of ever finding out.

"Warm-up time is over. We will begin with the spars now. Shino, you're up first, so prepare yourself."

Shino shared a long look with Kiba while Hinata glanced worriedly back and forth between them, her hands still raised to their chests in case she needed to intervene, and if there was one thing that demonstrated just how serious the situation was, then that neither of them as much as twitched at Itachi-sensei's sudden appearance.

The stand-off ended when both turned away from each other at the same time without a word.

Hinata's relief was almost palpable and so was Kiba's annoyance, but Shino ignored them both as he silently followed Itachi-sensei, who had surprisingly yet to comment on the situation, back to the other team.

He had a fight to prepare for, after all.

"Alright!" Guy-sensei exclaimed with a far too cheerful smile for Shino's current mood when they came to a stop in front of him and his team. "I hope you guys have prepared yourself, for we're not going to take it easy on you! Who of you will go first?"

Shino took a step forward and kept his gaze focused on the Jōnin, ignoring the speculative glances thrown at him by the three Genin in front of him. "I will."

"In that case… Tenten, c'mon! You're up!"

The girl in question nodded and stepped forward, accompanied by 'encouraging' shouts from Rock Lee and some quiet words from Hinata's cousin that Shino couldn't hear, while the rest of the crowd began to move away to make space for the fight to come.

"Good luck," she said, a sincere smile on her lips.

He nodded. "Likewise." Shino had no intention of losing, of course, especially not after his own teammate had betitled him mere moments earlier, but as she seemed like the most normal one of her team, being polite was the least he could do.

Guy-sensei's voice rang from a safe distance. "Are you both ready?"

They nodded, eyes focused solely on each other.

"Then show us what you're made of! With the power of youth, begin!"

Shino knew that the first few seconds of a fight were the most important ones. That it was then that most fights were decided. While it wasn't an absolute rule, whoever got the advantage early on was statistically speaking more likely to win. Thus, it was essential for him to not let this chance go to waste.

The moment Guy-sensei signalled for the fight to begin, he jumped back. His opponent was a Taijutsu specialist, so she would clearly seize the initiative and rush at him as soon as possible. His own Taijutsu skills had improved enormously in the month under Itachi-sensei's tutelage and he wasn't above admitting that he was proud of that, but he was also smart enough to understand that it wouldn't be enough for this opponent. He couldn't even beat his own teammates yet, after all.

He ignored the painful squeeze in his chest at that admission.

His prediction was confirmed an instant later when the ground where he stood a mere second before was shattered by the spiked war club Tenten had summoned in a flash.

So fast! he thought, his eyes bulging behind his glasses. And dangerous, too! She's wielding that weapon as if it weighs nothing!

Shino had no time to be surprised, however, as she didn't leave it at that. She lifted the club with one hand but did not lunge at him. Instead, she threw the whole thing with the same ease with which he would throw a shuriken, sending the man-sized weapon flying through the air at a breath-taking speed.

He barely managed to avoid it, but it was so close that Shino felt a breeze of air on his face as it sailed past him.

Unfortunately, this dodge briefly interrupted his retreat, giving his opponent plenty of time to cross the distance between them.

The first kick missed him as he made a hasty step backwards, the second was blocked when he raised his arms just in time, and he slapped the following punch aside before the fist could smash into his face, but the fourth attack connected, the blow to his guts forcing him to his knees with a dry cough.

That didn't stop him from putting her wrist in an iron grip, though. After all, as much as that had hurt, it was nothing compared to being hit by Kiba's Gatsūga, so he wouldn't let himself be beaten by just that. His free hand went to his pouch to draw a kunai -if she attacks with lethal force, so do I- while simultaneously pulling her closer to him. Tenten might be a close combat specialist, but if he was quick enough, he could-

Shino could never finish that thought as it was at that moment that her knee slammed into his chest, knocking the air out of his lungs and making him all but forget about his own attack.

She didn't even try to break free, he realized numbly. She jumped straight at me, and I only enhanced her attack even further when I pulled her towards me. What a stupid mistake…

This wasn't the time for regrets, however, as Tenten's attacks didn't stop there. Still affected by the previous blow, he barely managed to keep pace, and before he even realized it, he was hit by several more punches and kicks. None as powerful as the last one, thankfully enough, but still strong enough to make him feel dizzy after less than a minute. Even while blocking and evading the worst of it allowed him to stay in the fight, Shino knew that he couldn't let this continue if he wanted to somehow turn this match around.

Realistically speaking, he was aware of just how bad his odds were. He wasn't stupid. Whatever tentative expectations he might have had before the fight had thoroughly been crushed.

Regardless, he couldn't just give up. Didn't want to give up.

As if losing before these strangers wasn't already bad enough, doing so in front of his teammates and sensei was humiliating. They must have already realized that he was the weakest link in their team, that he couldn't keep up with them in a fight no matter how confident he portrayed himself, so he needed to prove to them that he wouldn't give up that easily. That he wasn't a burden.

With that in mind, he deliberately let himself be hit by his opponent's next kick and used the power behind it to jump back while ignoring the painful throbbing in his chest, getting finally some distance between them.

Naturally, she followed after him immediately, but Shino didn't let that stop him. He had needed only a few moments to prepare for his initial plan, and that was what he got. Besides, he had planted a few of his Kikaichū on her during their exchange, so they should weaken her. Not much considering how few there were, but still somewhat at least.

Tenten had crossed about half of the distance between them by the time he threw the smoke bomb to the ground.

Itachi-sensei had taught them to fight even when some of their senses were restricted, and it was time to put that lesson to good use.

Tenten's team had doubtlessly gone through similar lessons, of course, but at the end of the day, he still had the advantage. After all, he had not only his own senses available to but those of his Kikaichū as well. Shino hadn't dared to unleash them in masses during their previous bout, knowing full-well that she would have retreated at soon as they swarmed out of their nest inside his body. She had already proven to be much quicker than him, so the attempt of catching her by surprise that way would have been for nought anyway.

That small number of them he had slipped her earliere might not be enough to do any meaningful harm, but it allowed him to mark her, meaning he -and much more importantly, his Kikaichū- would be able to find her everywhere even in the thickest smoke.

With that in mind, he let his colony fly free. Now was his chance to start a counterattack. Even if Tenten heard the buzzing sound of them flying towards her, she wouldn't be able to effectively defend herself against them when she couldn't even see them. Moreover, the intense sound of thousands of them flying all around her coming from every direction would be enough to drown out the sound of smaller groups that would try sneaking up on her.

Or at least that was what Shino had thought.

He quickly realized how wrong he had been when the smoke that had engulfed their battlefield was suddenly blown away, and a second later, he saw Tenten standing about a dozen metres in front of him with a kusarigama whirling around her. The resulting wind was the reason for the dissipating of the smoke while the weapon itself kept most of his Kikaichū away. A few made it through, but it weren't nearly as many as he would have liked.

Then, she let the weapon suddenly fall to the ground and pulled out two scrolls.

There was barely enough time for Shino to widen his eyes before an innumerable number of kunai with attached explosion tags flew in every direction. A moment later, much of the clearing was engulfed in an explosion.

His throat tightened at the death of so many of his Kikaichū, but he couldn't let that make him freeze now. He needed to get some distance between them as soon as possible. He had a Plan B, yes, but it was better to be safe than to be sorry.

Tenten jumped out of the smoke straight at him and threw a punch in his face before Shino had the chance to follow up on that plan.

But instead of throwing him back, her fist went through his head as his body dissolved into a swarm of insects that immediately pounced on her, causing the girl to cry out in shock as her chakra was drained from her body at breakneck speed.

Finally, Shino thought as he watched the spectacle from a safe distance hidden behind a tree at the border of the clearing, panting breathlessly from exhaustion. It seems that the final trap did the job. The ones I planted on her earlier were ultimately unnecessary, it seems.

He hadn't actually expected her to find a way to defend herself from his smoke-Kikaichū combination, but it would have been foolish not to take the possibility of it happening into account. Thus, he had created a clone just in case something unpredictable happened. As it turned out, that had been a wise decision. Did you see that? he thought with a glance at their audience and Kiba in particular. I won. My Taijutsu might not be as good as yours, but-

Shino didn't have the time to finish that thought before the ground beneath his feet broke open to reveal a pair of hands that grabbed his ankles and pulled him down until he was sunk up to his head in the ground.

"That was a good strategy," Tenten praised him from where she appeared next to him, a kunai loosely pointed at his head. "You shouldn't let your guard down until you have some confirmation that the fight is really over, though."

A single glance towards where he had thought she was currently being sucked dry revealed what had happened.

"An Earth Clone…"

"Yep," Tenten confirmed. "I might be a Taijutsu specialist who prefers a more straightforward fighting style, you know, but if the situation demands it, I won't hesitate to use Ninjutsu as well if that's what it takes to win. Limiting myself to only one thing would be rather stupid. It takes at least this much for me to keep up with my teammates."

Shino only listened with one ear to her words, and he barely registered Guy-sensei calling the fight to an end.

I lost…

It was stupid to feel down about that when he had acknowledged from the very beginning of the fight that this was the most likely outcome, but he couldn't help it. When things began to turn out so well towards the end, hope had bloomed in his chest, and he had convinced himself that maybe he had been wrong. That he could actually win this. And if he wouldn't have let that go to his head, he even might have. At the very least, he would have noticed her ploy and prolonged the fight a little bit longer. If nothing else, that would have given him the opportunity to show off his abilities some more even if he ultimately still lost.

Instead, he had been beaten in every sense of the world.

Shino knew that he had gotten a lot stronger during the last month. He had never improved as quickly as he did under Itachi-sensei's tutelage. However, it wasn't enough, and a small part of him that tried to pass the blame on someone else was angry with his sensei for not teaching him more techniques. He understood the need to polish their Taijutsu and teamwork skills, he really did, but maybe if he had some Ninjutsu that weren't related to his clan's techniques-

No, he told himself. Stop that. There's no use in blaming anyone else. This is my fault alone. I lost this fight by myself and that's the end of it.

It was certainly foolish to compare himself to someone that was a Genin for a year already and had trained under one of Konoha's strongest shinobi during that time, but he did it anyway. A part of him admired her, even. She wasn't a member of a clan, the lack of surname made that very clear, but she still grew this strong in only one year after graduating from the Academy.

It was impressive and just a little bit depressing.

I will need to train more, he decided in an attempt to distract himself from the dismay he felt at his own performance. She has a lot more experience, so the only thing I can do is to make up for it with intense training. As long as I try hard enough, I should be able to catch up with her and other more experience enemies in a reasonable amount of time.

Now if he could just believe that himself, everything would be fine.

Anyway, that was for later. First, he would need to face the rest of his team and hope they weren't too disappointed in him.

Let's hope their fight will go better than the mine…

Most of you already guessed that the joint session would be with Team Guy, so this has probably not been too much of a surprise. I hope you enjoyed the chapter regardless, though :)