"Y-You shouldn't push yourself this hard, Naruto-kun."
Currently, Hinata along with Sasuke were lumbering Naruto's fatigued body, walking on the way to the mission assignment room for another D-ranked mission.
Ever since they had returned from Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves), it had been constant D-ranked missions. There were very few training sessions that Team 7 went through together.
And Kakashi seemed to be very bored with the team. He was always not paying attention, his eyes on the pages of his Icha Icha book. It was a miracle he didn't ram into anyone.
And that's not even stating the fact that Kakashi was always late to their team meetings. Even though the Hyuga Clan heavily ignored her after she was deemed a failure, she was still required to act formal, polite, and to always be on time.
To not do any of those those things would be a stain to the Hyuga Clan's reputation. But then Hinata would remember that she had already stained the Hyuga Clan reputation with her very existence.
"SAAAAAASSSSSSUUUUUKEEEEE!"
Hinata flinched, tilting her head away from Naruto after hearing his loud angry outburst. Naruto had shoved his arm off of Sasuke and moved his other arm off of Hinata as well.
Thank goodness, the girl thought she was going to pass out from making contact with him for so long.
Their teammate has gotten worse recently...The son of the White Fang thought to himself with a sigh. Sure, Hinata has been noticeably more confident, but ever since returning from Nami no Kuni, Naruto and Sasuke have been getting into more fights.
Not really fights, more like Naruto yelling Sasuke's name out of sheer rage due to his attitude, another thing that hasn't improved.
However, Sasuke seemed to be more tolerant of his teammates, so that was a good thing.
"Hmph, idiot. If you really want to prove something to me...then become stronger than me." Sasuke said daringly, turning around to face Naruto.
Both male Genin immediately had thoughts of the battle with Haku play in their mind. They may have been able to work together then, but it still didn't mean that they were equal.
Hinata sighed. It had been like this for a while now. Normally, after the mission in Nami no Kuni, Naruto and Sasuke would get in a fight, and Hinata would try to break it up calmly...only to get ignored, mostly because Hinata herself didn't know to act strict and commanding. And since she was always so quiet, it was easy for people to ignore her.
It happened so many times that Hinata just gave up on breaking Naruto and Sasuke's argument.
"Alright, then. Let's call it quits for today. I need to submit the mission report now." Kakashi announced to his Genin.
"Then I'm heading home." The survivor of the Uchiha massacre said, turning around and walking away, with Kakashi disappearing in a pool of smoke.
This left Naruto and Hinata alone.
Both were dead silent, not knowing what to say to each other.
Hinata began to blush while playing with her fingers, Come on Hinata! You can say something to him! You stood in the path of Zabuza's killing intent! Talking to someone can't be this hard! Go on, Hinata!
Her body and words failed her.
Naruto's ears perked. He could have sworn he had heard something rustling on the ground. He turned his body, seeing a rectangular thing with eye holes in it.
Is that supposed to be a rock? Naruto wondered internally out of disbelief.
"A square rock with two holes like that doesn't exist! Cut the act Konohamaru!" Naruto pointed accusingly at the rock, "It's so obvious!"
"I should have expected that from the man who is my rival!" After three explosions of different colored smoke, Hinata finally turned her head in Naruto's direction to see what was going on.
To her surprise, three little kids were revealed by the smoke, coughing heavily. A girl, a boy with a scarf, and a boy with a drooling nose and glasses. Hinata also noted the fact that they were wearing the exact same goggles that Naruto used to wear in the Academy.
What Hinata saw next was something she would never unsee. To be honest, she actually thought it was very adorable, but that was her on the inside talking.
The three kids began to introduce themselves, saying some weird stuff. All Hinata got from it was that the girl was named Moegi, the boy with glasses was named Udon, while the boy with the scarf, who was in the middle, was called Konohamaru.
Naruto squinted and threw his arms behind his head, "Yeah, I knew it was you guys. What are you guys doing with those goggles on your head?"
Konohamaru grinned, bringing his hands up to his goggles in a similar way to Naruto and his headband, "You used to wear goggles! We're just copying you, Naruto-nii-chan!"
Moegi walked up to Naruto with a pleading look, "Hey Boss, do you have anything to teach us today?"
Boss? Hinata couldn't help but giggle quietly at the way the kids were treating Naruto. She clamped her mouth shut when Naruto raised an eyebrow at her, her face flushing red like a tomato.
"Sorry, I'm going to be training!" Naruto declared, much to the disappointment of the three Academy students.
"Hey! You said you would play Ninja with us!" The grandson of the Third Hokage retorted.
"Really? Haha…"
If I play Ninja with these guys, I'll be stuck with them all day! He directed his attention over to his Hyuga teammate, an idea sprouting in his mind.
Naruto was about to introduce Hinata to Konohamaru and his friends, but the Honorable Grandson had already seen her.
A sly grin appeared on Konohamaru's face, "So Boss, is this your…" He stuck up his pinky finger, "Girlfriend?"
The sound of elephants rampaging in a tightly spaced room went off in Hinata's head as she blushed redder than the hair of a regular Uzumaki.
"No, no, no, no, no! Hinata and I are just friends! Right Hinata?" Naruto turned to the girl for confirmation.
"R-Right…" Hinata nodded with a sad look on her face. However, she noted that Naruto had a very faint blush on his cheeks.
Is Naruto-kun…?
Konohamaru took a long glance at Hinata's face. He didn't know why, but he could have sworn the girl looked familiar. Was it the hair, no, definitely not. The hair was too short and it was a different color. The clothes, no, those were too baggy. The eyes…
Oh no…
A nightmare of a memory for Konohamaru replayed in his head. He remembered pulling a prank on someone cause he wanted to be better than Naruto, and being better than Naruto meant you had to pull pranks.
He was caught as usual. But no by an adult. The girl looked like she was supposed to go to the Academy, but Konohamaru had never seen her before.
But he knew that the look on her face at the time was trouble, and those weird veins around her eyes followed by the beating that followed after did not ease his fears.
All in all, when Konohamaru saw Hinata, he bolted, screaming 'THE EYYYYYYEEEEEEES'!
"Hold on, Konohamaru!" Naruto called out for his friend, running after him, prompting Hinata and the others to follow in hot pursuit.
BANG!
The sound of a body running right into another.
Konohamaru let out a whimper as he fell back onto his butt. He looked up to see two people were significantly taller than him standing right in front of him.
A guy in black and a girl with blonde hair.
"That hurt." The boy in black commented, causing Naruto and the others to stop.
The first thing Hinata noticed was the insignia on the duos headbands.
These two are from Suna...but why are they here? Hinata thought to herself out of confusion, before remembering something that was happening in Konoha around this time.
"Konohamaru!"
Hinata snapped back into reality and saw the man in black holding up Konohamaru by the scarf.
"Stop it. We're going to get in trouble for this." The girl chided the other Suna Shinobi.
"We-We're very sorry for our rudeness. P-Please let go of our friend." Hinata took a step forward, taking a polite bow, acting respectful just from the fact that these two were from a different nation.
"Let go of him now, teme!" Naruto yelled at the ninja from Suna, which only worsened the situation.
"Let go!" Konohamaru began to kick at the man holding him.
"You're very energetic, brat." The man smirked, tightening his grip on Konohamaru's scarf, causing the boy to let grimace.
How cruel…Hinata was about to say something again to try and get the man to stop, but Naruto was already dashing towards the men head on.
Hinata widened her eyes as she saw the man in black merely move the fingers of his free hand. She heard a yell of surprise from Naruto followed by the sound of a body hitting the ground.
"What was that?" Naruto questioned out loud. It was as if he had tripped over something. But he didn't see anything! So hat was it?
"Konoha's Genin are weak. You guys act tough for people so young. I hate people like you. Your kind makes me want to break you!"
Naruto and Hinata's eyes momentarily dilated.
The blonde girl let out a sigh, "I'm not going to be held responsible for what you do."
The man lifted his hand, forming into a fist, preparing to slug Konohamaru in the face.
"Stop!" Naruto cried out as he began to dash towards the guy holding Konohamaru.
Suddenly, the man in black let out a cry, feeling a sharp pain on his hand. He let go of Konohamaru as he placed his other hand on top of the place where the pain was coming from, gritting his teeth.
The sound of a small rock hitting the ground was heard.
"What do you think you're doing in a foreign village?" The voice of Sasuke Uchiha asked. The group looked in the direction of the voice, seeing Sasuke sitting on the branch of a tree continuously chucking another small rock in the air before catching it.
"Sasuke-kun!" Hinata blurted out of surprise.
"Nii-chan!" Konohamaru cried, immediately running over to Naruto, looking for comfort with the jinchuuriki.
"Another brat that's pissing me off."
Sasuke threw the pebble into the air one more time before catching it. He pressed down hard on the rock with his fist, before opening his hand, revealing the grains of the now crushed rock.
Naruto's eyes went white as he began to pull a Hinata, pushing his pointer fingers together in an embarrassed way.
"Naruto-nii-chan! Why can't you be that cool?!" Konohamaru enquired with tears streaming down his face.
"Uh-I would have beaten that guy without a sweat!" Naruto gave Konohamaru a sheepish smile, patting him on the back.
"Liar!" Konohamaru turned his head away.
"I hate kids like you, who think they are so clever!" The man said before pulling on the bandages of the attachment on his back. The man slammed the object onto the ground, patting the brown hair like part at the top.
"Hey! Are you really going to use Karasu?!" The blonde haired girl with a fan on her back asked out of surprise, as if she actually sounded a little scared.
"Kankuro, stop it." A monotone voice commanded. Sasuke's blood ran cold, hearing the voice coming from the other side of the tree, where another branch was sticking out.
Naruto, Hinata, and the others were looking with astonished looks on their faces as they saw an auburn haired boy hanging on the tree upside down.
"You're a disgrace to our village." The boy stated.
"G-Gaara…" Kankuro attempted to force a comfortable smile, but the sweat that was running down on his face betrayed him. and his wide eyes also was a dead giveaway that this Gaara kid scared the shit out of him.
This guy...just when did he appear next to me? He was as quiet as Kakashi. Sasuke noted internally.
"Make anymore disgraceful actions...and I'll kill you." Gaara threatened with a hint of malice hidden in his voice.
This declaration from Gaara caused the man now known as Kankuro to flinch out of fear.
"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" Kankuro apologized to Gaara.
Sasuke stood up on the branch as Gaara turned into multiple grains of sand. The sand made its way in front of Kankuro and the girl (Temari), before reforming into Gaara.
"Let's go. We didn't come here to fool around." Gaara told his teammates as they began to walk away, with Kankuro and Temari doing more out of obligation than choice.
"W-Wait!" Hinata surprisingly spoke up.
The three stopped, with Temari speaking for the group, "What is it?"
"I-It is clear that you three from Sunagakure, and that by normal means ninja are forbidden from setting foot in a foreign village, even if there is an alliance. S-So...does that mean you're here for the Chunin Exams?"
"Chunin Exams?" Naruto repeated under his breath. He had never heard of such a thing before. "What's that?"
"Seems your the dumbass of the Konoha Genin. Deadlast of your class, I assume?" Temari taunted, causing a tick mark to form on Naruto's head. A tick mark also formed on Hinata's head, something that didn't go unnoticed by Temari, "Cute girlfriend, kid."
"She's not my girlfriend!"
Hinata felt an anvil drop hard on her head, with the word 'Rejected' engraved in it. Oh how the world was so cruel. She only expected that much though. After all, it's not like Naruto was aware of her feelings. Plus, the blonde in orange had his eyes set on Sakura.
"Naruto-nii-chan! The Chunin Exams are a bunch of tests where if you pass, you get promoted to the next rank!" Konohamaru supplied Naruto, causing the boy to get a wide smile on his face.
"Really? Then I'll take it too!" Naruto could practically feel the rank of Hokage on his tongue. It was getting closer and closer, he could just reach out and grab it!
He could just imagine the headlines: Old Man Hokage Gives Up The Hokage Mantle To Naruto Uzumaki, Stating That The Man Is A Much Better Hokage And Is The Strongest Shinobi In The Village!
His daydreams were cut out by Sasuke, who landed on the ground, asking for Gaara's name. Apparently, Sasuke wasn't paying too shocked at Gaara's appearance to hear Kankuro say his name, out of fear no less.
"Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Desert). I am interested in you." Gaara admitted, turning his body to face Sasuke, "Your name?"
"Sasuke Uchiha."
The two stared at each other. The wind began to blow at their clothes and faces as both characters tried to scare one another away, but to no avail.
"Hey! Hey! What about me?" Naruto asked the auburn haired Shinobi.
"I'm not interested." Gaara replied coldly, turning away once again as he and his teammates jumped away.
Sasuke couldn't help but smirk after they left.
This is getting interesting…
The Next Day
"Hehe! Screw you Kakashi-sensei! If you think showing up late is a good idea, then I'll do it too!" Naruto said as he walked onto the bridge, where Sasuke and Hinata were waiting, the former getting impatient.
"Got scared, dobe?"
"SHUT UP SASUKE!" The blonde shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Hmph, not my fault you're stupid to arrive late the one time Kakashi is here on time."
Naruto paled.
…
…
…
"What did you say?"
"NNNNNAAAAAAARRRRRUUUUTTTOOOOOOO!" The booming voice of Kakashi yelled as in a puff of smoke, the now angry Jonin was towering right behind Naruto.
Oh Naruto-kun...Hinata thought with a sad and sympathetic look, feeling sorry for her crush.
"Ka-Ka-Ka-Kakashi-sensei!" The Uzumaki trembled where he stood, ready to accept the punishment. Sasuke tried to hide the smirk on his face, but he was failing miserably.
"So, Naruto."
"Yes?"
"Why were you late?"
"Why was I late?"
"Why were you late?"
"Cause I thought you were going to be late!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about. But all I know that it is rude to keep your teammates and especially your Jonin sensei waiting!"
"HYPOCRITE!"
"Late attendance and talking back to your Jonin sensei. I will think of a punishment later. Maybe I'll have you dust my bookshelf at home."
…
…
…
"On second thought, never mind. Come here Naruto."
"GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Kakashi gave Naruto an early punishment. And if anyone saw what Kakashi was trying to do to Naruto, they would think that he was trying to drown Naruto.
"Good, since that is out of the way, I can finally get to why I called you down here."
Hinata turned her attention from Kakashi to a very wet and beat up Naruto, who was plastered on the ground with his tongue sticking out, too weak from trying to run away to move.
Note to self: Don't get on sensei's bad side.
"I wanted to give you three these." Kakashi held out three applications for the Chunin Exams.
Hinata was surprised to see Naruto standing up with a look that he would probably wear if he got a lifetime supply of ramen after Kakashi said this.
"Of course, the recommendations don't force you to take it. You can decide whether you take it or not."
"YES! KAKASHI-SENSEI I LOVE YOU!" Naruto squealed, jumping on Kakashi, who threw his arms out, struggling to throw the wet Naruto off him. This must be revenge for the silver-haired Jonin almost drowning Naruto.
When Naruto finally jumped off, Kakashi continued, "The exams are on 6 days from now. Have your applications in before then. On the day of the first round, get to the Academy by 3 PM and go to room 301. That's all."
Later-Hyuga Manor
Participate in the Chunin Exams...Hinata thought to herself as she held the application in both of her hands, gazing down at the parchment with hesitant eyes. Am I really ready for this?
No, she has to participate. Naruto and Sasuke will want to participate, and if Hinata remembers correctly, you cannot enter the exams without a team of 3. If Hinata backed out now, Naruto and Sasuke would lose their chance to become Chunin, and it would be all her fault.
No. That's not all. This is the perfect opportunity. To see if I really have changed...Hinata closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"I can do this!"
"Do what, Hinata-sama?" Hinata froze when she heard the familiar chilling voice. She looked up from her application to see her cousin, Neji Hyuga.
He had an emotionless expression on his face. A face he usually wore ever since the Hyuga Affair.
"Could that be the Chunin Exam application form in your hands?" Neji asked with a sneer, one of the only facial expressions Hinata was met with by her cousin.
"Y-Yes...it is." Hinata spoke up, trying her best to compose herself against Neji. For Pete's sake, she was there in the battle with Zabuza and Haku! She could handle this...right?
"You don't really plan on entering, do you? After all, I am entering the exams as well. We both know that if it came down to the two of us fighting, you would only hurt yourself." Neji said with no concern at all.
Hinata knew that despite what Neji was saying, he bore a strong hatred for her. She knew this, as in the past with their training sessions, Neji would glare at her with a hateful look in his eyes. He would often abuse her during training sessions, to the point where an overseer would have to intervene and use the Hyuga Clan's Fuinjutsu to keep Neji at bay.
"There are some very strong Shinobi that are also attending the Chunin Exams! Ones that are above your level! You stand no chance. Admit it! You're only entering the exams because you don't want to be a burden to your teammates." Neji narrowed his eyes as he practically stared right into his cousin's soul with little remorse for her sensitive feelings.
Despite the verbal abuse, Hinata mentally slapped herself, she could feel the emotional toll catching up to her. Any more and the tears would start falling.
She wrapped her arms around her body, a clear sign of her trying to put up a wall between her and Neji.
"N-No, that's not true! I-"
"Deep down, you know the truth. You're a failure, a disgrace to the Hyuga Clan. Everyone knows you are a failure. Even your teammates think so. Everyone knows you're both too kind and too weak to be a Shinobi. You were born into this world as a failure, as scum of the earth. This is your fate, Hinata-sama! And one cannot change their fate! And we all know your mother thought of you as a failure, just like Hiashi-Dama does!" Neji spat, walking past her, leaving her with those words.
Hinata immediately dashed to her room, slamming the door shut behind as she dropped down onto her bed facedown.
She began to cry. She cried as hard as she could. But she knew that no one would answer her cries. Ko was probably out on a mission, and basically all of the other Hyuga's looked down on her.
"Mother...please...help me…"
And the worst part was, Hinata already knew the reason why Neji hated her so much. And she knows deep down, she will never be able to change it. He hates her…
Because she is a failure…
On the Day of the Chunin Exams
"You're late, Hinata!" Naruto chuckled as he saw his female teammate walking up to them with her head down.
"G-Good morning…" Hinata droned, not even bothering to face her teammates.
Both Sasuke and Naruto picked up on this odd behavior. Sure Hinata was quiet and weird, and she basically always looked sad, but she was never this depressed before.
"Hey, is something wrong?" Naruto asked out of concern.
"N-No," Hinata lied, "It's nothing."
Naruto didn't believe it one bit.
He went up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, to which she didn't even give a reaction. Not one bit of red was on her face.
Ok, now Sasuke definitely knew something was wrong. Hinata would always blush if Naruto even said something her. He was doing much more than talking, he was actually making physical contact with Hinata, and she wasn't reacting in any way.
"Come on Hinata, I can see it in your eyes. Plus…" Naruto let out a foxlike grin, "You're a terrible liar."
Terrible…
Failure…
"Failure…"
"Huh? What was that, Hinata?"
"Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun...I don't think I can partake in the exams. I-I'm sorry." Hinata closed her eyes, turning her back from her teammates. This earned asurprised look from both of them, even Sasuke.
"Hey, come on, what happened? Did your clan do something to you?" Naruto questioned, concerned about her teammates wellbeing.
"I...I...I saw my cousin...he's also attending the exam…"
And Hinata did not need to say more.
"So this cousin of yours looked down on you and insulted you, huh? Some family he is! Hinata, whatever he said, don't pay any attention to it!" Naruto advised Hinata, only for the girl to start crying.
"B-But don't you see! I'm a failure! I didn't do anything to help out on our C-ranked mission!" Hinata hid her face in her hands, ashamed of crying in front of her teammates.
"Hinata," To Naruto's surprise, Sasuke actually was saying something, "You maybe the weakest of our team, but you are in no way useless. You were able to take down 2 of Zabuza's Mizu Bunshins (Water Clones) with relative ease."
Naruto nodded his head out of agreement, "The bastard's right! And that Byakugan of yours make you look so cool! I wish I had eyes like that!" Naruto flailed his arms around enthusiastically, genuine meaning what he said,
Sasuke closed his eyes and added, "Unlike Naruto, you actually have a brain."
"What was that?!"
This time, Hinata actually giggled at their argument. Now she felt confident now. She shouldn't have let what Neji said get her down. Whatever was coming her way, she would take it head on with her team. Team 7.
Naruto took a deep breath to compose himself, "Looks like you feel better, let's go!"
Sasuke and Hinata nodded their heads as the group walked into the Academy building.
The group arrived to a huddle of Genin surrounding a door with two people in front of it. The number above said 301, but the two in front of the door weren't allowing anyone in.
"Undo the Genjutsu you've put up," Sasuke spoke up, walking forward, "I want to go to the third floor.
Next to Team 7 was Team Guy, composed of Tenten, Lee, and Neji Hyuga. Neji glanced at Sasuke, before going to Naruto, and scanned for the third teammate, only to find Hinata being that third person. A wide frown appeared on his face.
"Not bad," One of the guards at the door stated, "But being able to detect it isn't enough! HYAH!"
The guard threw a roundhouse kick, which Sasuke was going to counter with his own, only to feel their legs being grabbed by Lee, the boy in green spandex.
This guy...He's fast. Sasuke immediately noted, I didn't even see him coming until the last second!
"Lee-kun." Hinata spoke with a small smile.
"Hinata-san! It is very youthful to see you here!" Lee smiled, giving her a wink.
"You know this guy, Hinata? Damn! Look at those eyebrows!" Naruto commented, pointing at the green spandex wearing ninja's eyebrows, which were as thick as a bottle cap.
"Y-Yes," Hinata's smile turned into a frown, seeing Lee's teammates walking towards them.
"Hinata-sama," Neji put an extreme amount of venom in his voice at the 'sama' part, "Why did you enter the exams? You only know you will fail."
Naruto and Sasuke narrowed their eyes. This must be the one that talked down Hinata. This was her cousin.
"Hey, back off! It's her choice to enter or not! You shouldn't be talking down on her as if she was a weakling! Hinata's strong! You people just don't pay any attention to see her improvement!" Naruto defended Hinata, taking a step forward while throwing a hand in front of her as if to keep Neji away,
"Naruto-kun…"
Neji ignored Naruto and turned to Sasuke, "You. What's your name?"
"You're supposed to identify yourself to me before you ask." Sasuke slipped his hands into his pockets, "Besides, I'm not going to answer something like that to someone looks down on my teammate."
"You're a rookie, aren't you. Your eyes," Neji brought a hand up to his face, holding up his pointer and middle fingers, "They're just like mine. A desire to challenge the top, to get stronger. And I can see it in your eyes, you see those two as mere burdens. People to hold you back."
"Naruto and Hinata are stronger than you think." Sasuke glanced at them momentarily before returning Neji's tight gaze. "I'm not like you."
"What?" Neji furrowed his eyebrows out of irritation.
Hinata looked at Sasuke if he had grown two heads, Since when did Sasuke-kun hold us in that kind of regard?
"A-Ano, Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun, w-we should get going now."
And with that, Team 7 left Team Guy, as they passed them, Hinata caught Neji giving her a hateful and nasty glare, as if trying to scare her away. She flinched, shuttling her eyes and looking away. Neji smirked out of satisfaction.
Hinata opened her eyes and looked forward.
Forward, that's where she was going. She wasn't going to let people like Neji get her down! The clan members of the Hyuga might try to break her confidence, but she'll keep trying to hold on! No matter what!
Hinata found her lips curling into a smile as she sped up her walking pace, eventually starting to walk side by side with Naruto and Sasuke.
I won't let Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun leave me in the dust! I'll walk with the both of them…
As a team!
Finished!
So, next chapter is the beginning of the Chunin Exams. Now, like other fics that do the test thing, I will keep skipping through most of it.
Now, since Hinata is on Team 7, she will be sitting away from Naruto, and I'll have someone else sit next to him. I think it is pretty easy who it is going to be.
So, that's all for now guys. hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Take care, goodbye!
P.S-Sorry Tiramisu, but I thought that I could take this chapter by myself. Mostly because this chapter is only around 5,000 words. Next time, I'll make sure to send you the chapter.