Two days have passed since the battle with the snake Sannin, Orochimaru. The same man who betrayed Konoha long ago. For reasons Hinata didn't know, the pale-skinned man was very interested in Sasuke. He even went as far as biting the boy and giving him what Hinata could assume would be a Curse Mark of some sort.
Whatever he did to both Sasuke and Naruto, it had left them out of the game for two days. Hinata couldn't just leave the bodies of her unconscious teammates alone where anyone could attack and kill them. That was essentially the equivalent of abandoning your comrades, leaving them unconscious with no protection.
"Ugh…" The shy girl groaned, pressing down on the side of her hand. She didn't know how long, but for most of the duration that she was watching her teammates, she had her Byakugan activated, and the strain was definitely getting to her.
She couldn't just deactivate it, as that was her only way of telling if an enemy was nearby. Plus, numerous times she has seen other Shinobi enter her field of vision. Some were actually coming really close to the area she was currently in.
It could have just been sleepiness getting to the lavender-eyed kunoichi, but she could have sworn that out of all the ninja she has seen enter her field of vision, the Chakra signatures of three Shinobi in particular had entered her vision the most, along with traveling the closest in Hinata's general area.
Hinata let out a long yawn before slapping herself firmly with both hands, Not now, Hinata! Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun are counting on you to hold out until they wake up!
The preteen flinched when she heard another small moan of pain coming from her Uchiha teammate. Naruto, on the other hand, made no sound whatsoever. If Hinata didn't see the events transpiring to Naruto's current state, she would believe that the blond was fast asleep.
Unfortunately, the raven-haired rival of the Uzumaki was not so lucky for a quiet rest. He would let out small, almost inaudible cries of pain from time to time. Hinata didn't know what to do. Once again, she felt useless. Had she done more, Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't be like this. For all she knew, they could be out cold for the rest of the five days, causing them to fail.
"AHH!" Hinata let out a startled wail as she covered her eyes with her hands in order to ease the searing pain that formed in the area. She could feel her extended vision distorting before seeing only darkness. She felt the veins around her eyes retract.
The pain eventually ceased, and soon enough Hinata let her eyes see the light once again.
She started forming the hand signs to activate the Byakugan once again. However, when she recited the name of the dojutsu, the Hyuga was surprised to find nothing happening.
I used up all of my Chakra to keep the Byakugan activated… Hinata concluded at her current disability. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be a problem. She would just have to wait for her to regain Chakra and she will then be able to use the Kekkei Genkai again.
The problem was… this was not one of those circumstances.
The last thing Hinata needed was her Byakugan failing on her due to the strain it deals on her eyes. And the former heiress had used it so much, that it would take a while for her Chakra to be replenished.
Hinata was alone with no cover. Without her Byakugan to scout and read movements and attacks, she was practically useless. She was lucky that she made it two full days without seeing anyone.
Unfortunately, her gut gave her the feeling that trouble was on the way. And it also didn't help that her stomach also occasionally let out a loud gurgling sound. It would get progressively worse and harder to resist the temptations of hunger.
Since the first day, Hinata hadn't moved from her shift. The only time she did was to set up traps and get water.
She was sure that the water was dirty, so she used some sticks to make a fire to boil it, all the while keeping a lookout for enemies.
Oh, how easy making the fire would have been if Sasuke was up and awake. The young Uchiha could light up a fire with some kind of Katon Jutsu.
And if Naruto were awake, he could have had used his clones to scout the places out of the Byakugan's line of sight.
But both of her teammates were unconscious now. She hardly interacted with any of her graduating classmates, she was sure that trying to get them to help her was not going to work out. Then there was the prospect of, even if she did go out to look for them, Naruto and Sasuke could get attacked.
Plus, what's to stop her former classmates from defeating her and taking the scroll. Since Hinata was alone, putting up a fight against a squad of three was next to impossible. She was nowhere near as strong as people like Kakashi or Zabuza!
The indigo-haired girl stretched out her mouth, separating her lips and letting out a long sound.
Oh yeah, there was also the problem of sleep.
She hadn't slept in two days. And no one had decided to attack during the span of those days.
Surely nothing will happen if she were to just…
The young girl found long, heavy snores escape her lips, followed by the darkness that slowly spread across her vision, before blocking her line of sight completely.
Meanwhile
A kunai stuck into the dirt of the earth marked the rendezvous point for the three members of Team Guy. Lee arrived first, particularity out of habit due to coming to all of Guy's training sessions either early or on time.
A habit which was definitely forced onto him due to his infatuation with the spandex wearing Jonin.
Not long after Tenten arrived next, followed by Neji.
"Find anyone?" Neji asked with a toneless voice.
He sighed when he saw Tenten and Lee shake their heads. Neji himself had seen Team 10 earlier, but they were not worth being defeated for the scroll. Plus, before he left the three, he used his Byakugan and saw that the team had a Heaven Scroll anyway, the same one his team had.
While it seemed like a good idea to get rid of competition, Neji didn't see the current generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho combination as a threat.
Neji's thoughts stopped abruptly when a bad feeling formed in the pit of his stomach. Reacting quickly, he held up a hand and activated his Byakugan. The prodigy of the Hyuga silently thanked himself for following his instinct, as he could see the Chakra signatures of three people surrounding them.
He and his team were in the middle of a trap.
"Move! Now!" Neji commanded his team, with all of them dodging kunai that were thrown right at that moment. They each looked in the direction of where one kunai came from. It seemed that all three members of their opposing team had thrown one kunai.
Neji couldn't help but smirk at the poor soul sitting on the branch near him. He stood no chance against a prodigy like him.
"Your destiny is to lie on the ground at my feet, defeated." The long-haired brunet raised his voice for his opponent to hear, running to the tree closest to him.
Neji pushed some Chakra to his feet. He launched himself into the air as he felt the wind blow his long hair around. He held his hand out, grabbing the nearest branch and lifting himself on top of it.
Immediately sensing an attack from his unknown enemy, he spun around emitting Chakra from every tenketsu in his body.
"Hakkesho Kaiten (Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation)!" The young Hyuga yelled as he repelled his enemy's attack, sending him flying back into the bark of the tree hard. The opposing Genin let out a cry of pain as he spat out blood due to the force of the impact with the tree.
As Neji stopped spinning, he faced his opponent, narrowing his eyes, "You are now in my range." And with that statement, he closed his eyes, holding up two fingers as he did so. After, he took a stance differing from the usual Gentle Fist posture, facing his opponent. "Juukenho: Hakke Rokujuuyon Sho (Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams 64 Palms)!"
In one swift spinning motion, the lavender-eyed rookie now had his enemy cornered at the tree's trunk, preparing to unleash his assault. The genius from the side branch used his fingers to pierce and shut down two of the tenketsu inside his opponent.
"Hakke Nisho!"
Neji continued to jab at different areas of his opponent with swift finger thrusts, with each hit shutting down a tenketsu of the Chakra Network.
"Yonsho! Hachisho! Juurokusho! Sanjuunisho!"
Taking one last strong step forward, the prodigy finished the last of his strikes. Each time his fingers made contact, his opponent would be knocked back hard into the tree as he was backed right up against the tree. Noticeably, the bark of the tree was beginning to crack.
"Rokujuuyonsho!"
As Neji finished, a body-shaped hole in the tree had formed. The Genin that he had fought got blown through the bark and fell to the ground hard, losing consciousness in it all.
Meanwhile, Rock Lee easily dispatched of his opponent.
Lee threw some aggressive yet medium speed punches. His enemy managed to block most of the strikes while shrugging of the attacks that made contact with him.
Might Guy's favorite student had to give this fellow Genin credit, he was fast enough to be able to block these punches. Albeit, someone like Sasuke Uchiha would still be able to beat this guy.
What really turned the tide of the battle into Lee's favor was when the green spandex beast began to speed up his punches. His jabs and crosses were easily breaking through his adversary's guard. Eventually, he went down with a few hard strikes followed by some kicks.
When his battle was all said and done, Lee screamed "YOOOOOUUUUUUUTH!" to the heavens.
Last but not least, Tenten was face to face with a red-haired girl wearing glasses and a Kusagakure headband. The weapons specialist whipped out a scroll and began to twirl it around her body. She began to speed up the speed of twirls, eventually beginning to spin herself in a similar manner to Neji's Kaiten.
In fast succession, the brunette kunoichi grabbed any sort of weapon that appeared in front of her free hand from the Sealing Scroll and threw each one at her female opponent as quickly as they appeared.
The red-haired Genin made a squeaking sound of fear, jumping around to make sure that she wouldn't be hit by any of the weapons as most of them were pretty sharp.
Unfortunately for Tenten's female opponent, she wasn't able to avoid all of them. She got cut in different areas of her body from different sharp weapons and she let out a cry of pain when she felt a kunai dig into her shoulder. She looked on in fear as another one came flying right for her face.
She reacted quickly, dipping into her pouch with her good arm. The Kusa kunoichi pulled out a kunai and used it to smack away the approaching weapon. The onstream of weapons stopped. Tenten then ran towards the red-haired female, throwing her scroll and wrapping her opponent up with it, restricting her movements.
The ninja from Kusa struggled and grunted as she tried to break the scroll. However, she had to hold back a hiss because every time she made a sudden move with her right arm, a sharp pain would form in her shoulder thanks to the kunai. And with each passing second, more blood would spew out of the girl's wound.
Tenten took a step closer to the Kusa Shinobi, twirling a kunai in her hand with a hint of a cocky smirk on her face.
"Now, tell me and do the both of us a favor, which one of you guys have the scroll?" Tenten questioned her captured and defeated opponent.
Not surprised at all by the silence she received, the weapons user sighed. She turned around when she heard the footsteps of one of her teammates. She saw Neji with a scroll in his hands, an emotionless expression on his face as usual.
Tenten examined the scroll in her Hyuga teammate's hands. They started with a Heaven Scroll. They lucked out, because the one Neji retrieved from the enemy is an Earth Scroll. The female Genin couldn't help but smile.
"With this, we can go towards the middle."
"Wait." The young Hyuga spoke suddenly, much to the surprise of their teammates, as he was the quietest and reserved out of all of them. "Let us make a small detour."
"What for?"
Neji lead the way, interested in how the person he could see with his Byakugan was doing. There was no doubt that she would be struggling. After all, …
She was an indecisive failure.
With Hinata
The sun's rays flowed down on the forest, a presage for something good that was going to happen...
"I rested great!" The voice of Hinata's blond-haired teammate forced her to open her eyes to see if she was just imagining things. To her relief, she wasn't. This was actually happening. Naruto was stretching out his arms, having just woken up.
Not long after, Sasuke also awakened, sitting upright as he looked at the surrounding area before directing his attention to his teammates.
"Naruto-kun! Sasuke-kun! Thank goodness you two are okay!" Hinata smiled, wiping away the tears that momentarily appeared in her eyes.
After making sure that her teammates were okay, Hinata proceeded to blank out. She paid no heed to whatever Naruto and Sasuke were conversing about at the moment. No, she couldn't do that when she noticed something very peculiar. Very peculiar indeed.
From what she had remembered, Orochimaru had bitten Sasuke and given him some kind of Curse Mark. And she could have sworn that it was still there even when the Uchiha was unconscious. Yet, right now, the mark was gone.
Hinata froze up on the spot, feeling a chilling sensation roll down her spine. She had a bad feeling for some reason. She turned her head to her right where she saw the familiar, frightening figure of Orochimaru standing there, a lustful smile on his face.
Then, in a similar manner to what happened in the fight, the evil Sannin's head literally sprung out of place and slithered towards the group like a snake.
The reason it slithered like one was because the head actually transformed into a long snake. It's black eyes void of emotion other than desire. A desire for a certain Uchiha.
Hinata tried to warn her teammates, but for some reason, she couldn't hear her voice, even though her mouth was moving as if she was talking. It was like someone had used a mute button on her and no one would be able to hear her because of it.
She looked back at the serpent, which was lunging for her raven-haired comrade, opening its mouth wide.
No!
Hinata tried to move but found that she was practically glued into place. Similar to how she and her teammates froze up from Orochimaru's killing intent when they first met.
She saw the mouth of the reptile closing in slow motion, attempting to chomp Sasuke's head off. When suddenly…
BOOM!
A ferocious kick from Naruto sent the serpent flying into a nearby tree, saving the targeted Uchiha.
Hinata found herself moving to her crush. Orochimaru had done something to him in the fight, he shouldn't be pushing himself so hard, she had thought.
This time, her voice was unmuted, "Naruto-kun p-ugh!"
The young Hyuga never got to finish her sentence, as the next thing she knew, Naruto's hand was wrapped around her throat, holding her up. She grabbed his hand, trying to pry it off.
"Ahh! N-Naruto-kun… Please… stop… you're hurting me… AHHHH!" She cried out in pain as Naruto let out a roar, tightening his grip on the bluenette's throat. It was unbearable. It was as if she was being burned alive!
While trying to endure the pain, Hinata couldn't help but notice the loud feral noises the blond was making. And the noises would only get louder.
And louder.
And louder.
And even louder.
So loud to the point that it hurt the young girl's ears. She looked at Naruto with a pleading look in her eyes. However, that look would soon be replaced by one of shock and fear when she saw his red eyes, surrounded by an orange cloak of some sort.
The jinchuriki lifted his free hand. Hinata could hear the sound of nails sharpening. She paled, knowing what this beast that she couldn't even call Naruto was going to do.
"Naruto-kun… Stop…"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
With one final feral roar, Naruto pounced, and Hinata jumped out of her sleep letting out a blood-curdling scream. She frantically crossed her arms in a fetal position, shutting her eyes, hoping that the darkness would offer her refuge and shelter.
She then listened to hear… nothing.
Nothing except the chirping of nearby the forest life and the crackling of the fire she made from scratch.
She dared herself to open one eye, and then, when she had the courage do so, the lavender-eyed girl opened her other eye. She looked at Naruto and Sasuke, only to see that the two were still unconscious.
I fell asleep… The former Hyuga heiress concluded, silently chiding herself for letting her guard down when her teammates needed her most. How long was I out?
She didn't think it was for very long, as there was still a decent amount of light outside. And Hinata herself still felt the fatigue of staying up and guarding for two straight days.
She sharpened her gaze at her teammates, the fire in her eyes still burning brightly despite how tired she was, No matter what! I must protect these two! Just like how they've protected me.
The pupil-less kunoichi closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling slightly refreshed from the small rest she took.
She looked down at her blond teammate's face, unable to erase the image of what she saw in her head. He seemed to be in a state of rage. Not only that, but he was surrounded by that same, familiar orange Chakra from that time they were in the Land of Waves and recently when they were against Orochimaru.
It was then that she remembered how people typically looked at Naruto, no matter where he went. Could it possibly had something to do with the weird Chakra?
The possibilities… high.
Other than huge Chakra reserves, which is both good and bad, what did Naruto have that sets him apart from others?
The orange Chakra, the voice in Hinata's head spoke for her.
All she knew, was that the Naruto she saw in the dream, was not the one that she had learned to know. Far from it.
There was only hate in those red eyes. Hate. Resentment. And others of the sort. There was no strong-will to keep going forward. No positive attitude that kept him from crying.
No trace of the boy she admired.
Which made her think… could that orange Chakra be raised by rage? If so, then could it be hatred directed towards the people who ostracized him for his entire life? If that was the case, then Hinata herself had no right to berate the people who look down on Naruto…
After all, what did she do to help him?
That's right. Absolutely nothing, as usual.
She already conveyed her guilt to Naruto when they were in the Land of Waves. He shook it off and said it was alright, but Hinata knew better. Deep down, Naruto resented her for not approaching him for all of those years…
She snapped her attention to the problem at hand. She had been slacking on what she shouldbe doing instead of dwelling on the past.
Once again getting to work, she began to fulfill her duty as lookout with the bulging of her veins.
And it was a good thing that she activated the Byakugan at that time… and maybe a bad thing as well…
Because she picked up the presence of three people to her left. She whipped out a kunai and forced her body to the left, only to see the three not far in front of her.
How fast…
She was so focused on what was in front of her that she never paid attention to the other six people, separated into groups of three each, in her field of vision, approaching the site where she currently was.
"Hello there." The male with one of his eyes covered greeted in a nonchalant manner.
She narrowed her eyes when she recognized the three as the Otogakure (Sound Village) Shinobi that attacked Kabuto before the first round of the exams.
"You three must be affiliated with Orochimaru." Hinata deduced out loud for the three to hear, much to their surprise.
They quickly shook away their shock and continued as if nothing happened at all.
"Now, now. If you'd be a good girl and give us the Uchiha, then I won't make you and the blond pin cushions." The only female of the Sound ninja proposed to Hinata.
"Those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum!" Hinata pulled a quote from her sensei's handbook, "I may be an indecisive failure! But I won't ever turn over one of my dear comrades to the likes of you!"
"Oh?" The last one of the three stepped forward with a cocky smile on his face, "Big words coming from a tiny little ant. Insects like you should just mind your own business and lie on the ground playing dead! Oi! Dosu, Kin, I changed my mind. I want to kill the girl and the blond as well."
"Wait, Zaku." The male now known as Dosu raised up a hand as a signal for his teammate to halt.
Zaku gave his teammate a vexing look. "What is it?"
"Who knows what she has set up. For all we know, this is a trap. We attack together." At this announcement, all three members of the team leaped into the air, pushing off the ground in order to get a boost.
Hinata's lips curved into a small smile as she cut the string attached to another kunai, setting off her trap. A big log came swinging down on the three.
They looked at it as if it was a bug. Nothing to worry about at all.
The next thing the shy girl knew, her trap was destroyed by Dosu simply placing his hand on the incoming log.
Dosu couldn't help but smirk under his mask after seeing the look of shock on the girl's face, followed by the look of fear. He relished it just like how Orochimaru relishes the fear and terror of his victims.
Both he and Zaku threw out their hands, aiming them at Hinata. Meanwhile, Kin reached into her pouch and pulled out some senbon.
"With this, it's over!"
Nearby-In Another Part of the Forest
"Take this!" Kiba cried out as he kicked his enemy up into the air. He bent down on all fours and let a transformed Akamaru leap off of him to deliver a devastating blow to the ninja's stomach.
The opponent slammed down onto the grass hard, his body aching due to the hard impact.
Kiba grinned, petting Akamaru as he turned back into his dog form. "Nice job, boy."
Ever since the C-ranked joint mission with the Suna (Sand) Shinobi, Team 8 worked their hardest to make sure no casualties would occur.
They all improved. However, the one who showed the most change was Sakura. Not only did she cut her hair so it wouldn't get in the way as much, but she took private lessons with Kurenai as well, along with building up relations with the team to strengthen their teamwork.
As she delved further into her Shinobi career, Sakura began to notice just how important teamwork was. Whenever you're in a tight spot it is imperative to have someone you can trust next to you at all times.
And as they spent more time together, the civilian girl began to tolerate her teammates. Shino wasn't as weird as she thought he was. The boy just had his own way of expressing his feelings compared to others.
In some ways, it could be comparable to Sasuke's usual demeanor. However, Shino is much easier to approach than her crush, Sakura would soon find out.
And for not having any eye-enhancing dojutsu like the Byakugan or Sharingan, the Aburame had damn good analytical skills and was very proficient in the field.
In Sakura's book, Shino is very adaptable, skilled, trustworthy, and an all-around good Shinobi.
"It is an Earth Scroll." The bug user stated with a monotone voice after checking the third group that they have fought. Truth be told, he was getting a little frustrated, but he refused to show signs of him losing his cool in front of his team. But thankfully, they got the scroll they needed, so there was a hint of relief in his usually emotionless voice.
*Sniff* *Sniff*
Sakura and Shino turned to Kiba and his ninken, hearing them sniffing out a nearby scent. Actually…
"I smell six people about 2 o'clock." He said, pointing in the direction he specified.
"Is there anyone you can recognize?" Sakura asked him. He gave a nod in response.
"I can identify three of them. It's Team 7."
Team 8, like the other teams, took the liberty of remembering who from their graduating class was in what team. So, they knew who the members were.
Kiba formed a fist with his hand, "I say we hide near the fight. Then, when all is said and done, we swoop in and take out the victor and take their scroll so they can't advance!"
Kiba was just about to jump towards the action, only for Shino to place a hand on his shoulder in a forceful manner.
"What?" The Inuzuka asked with slight irritation.
"Three of the people fighting are from our village. Should they win, I wouldn't want to put any bad blood between us. Why? Because there is no need. We have our scrolls and fighting another enemy just risks losing that scroll."
"Huh?!" Kiba voice out of exasperation.
Shino's eyebrows dipped slightly, "As of this stage, we are still comrades. Fellow ninja of Konoha. To betray a comrade is blasphemy, and you would then be renowned as a traitor."
The Aburame was going to keep going on, but Kiba silenced him, not wanting a complicated explanation that's beyond comprehension, something that the bug user had a bad habit of doing. And the ninken owner still hasn't gotten used to it.
Kiba didn't dare say that they were in an exam, it was okay to fight them as long as they didn't kill them. They were from the same village after all.
He sniffed once again, widening his eyes when he remembered the scent of the other three people. No doubt about it. It was the same people who attacked Kabuto before the first test.
"Otogakure…" Akamaru whimpered following his owner's statement.
"We have no time to waste!" Sakura exclaimed as she jumped high off the ground, making her way over to the fight, much to her teammates' surprise.
"Hold on, Sakura!"
With Hinata
Hinata swiped the kunai in her hand across the air, knocking away any senbon thrown at her by Kin. She was already aware of its capabilities thanks to Haku and Kakashi's explanation as well.
At best, they hinder someone's movements, and only with precise aim can they really become life threatening. And from the looks of those throws, Kin was nowhere near on the level of skill that Haku was.
"AHH!" Hinata cried out, her Byakugan once again deactivating due to overuse.
How long was I asleep for?! Hinata wondered. She figured that it was for a couple of hours and that she could use the Byakugan for a couple minutes at best, but apparently it wasn't as long as she thought it was.
She jumped backwards, avoiding both Zaku and Dosu before chucking the kunai at the former.
Zaku merely grinned, holding only one hand out and applying pressure to his palms. Gusts of air pressure burst out of the little holes in his hands, blowing the weapon away.
Hinata's ears perked up at the sound of the jingling of a bell. She leaned to the right, dodging a senbon. There was something about them that Hinata found peculiar.
One of them has a bell, while the other one doesn't… That's an old trick by the books. Even fresh Genin with enough attention could see through this… Hinata noted as the thrown senbon needles landed on the bark of a nearby tree.
What caught the indigo-haired girl off guard, however, was the familiar jingling of the same bell coming from that tree, done probably by Kin using string attached to the weapon. Typical human reactions couldn't help but make Hinata turn to the tree, where she was easily left open for Kin to snipe her in the arm with three more needles.
The lavender-eyed kunoichi grimaced, taking deep breaths as she looked at the thrown objects in her arm. As she expected, the aiming was far off from a vital spot. However, she soon realized the purpose of that attack too late…
To distract her.
The next thing she knew, Dosu was right in front of her, slamming his right hand to her left ear and using his ability. He amplified the sounds generated from his arm's movements and in mid-air, directed them into Hinata's ear. The girl did her best to cover her ears, but it was to no avail.
The sound was too loud, and the next thing she knew, Hinata's mouth was wide open with a loud yell coming out of it. With no other option, she thrusted her knee into the enemy's stomach, expelling his breath for a moment and causing him to halt his attack.
While Dosu was catching his breath, Hinata took the initiative. Grabbing one of his arms and forcing off the metal gauntlet, she threw it far away, enhancing the power of her throw using Chakra to do so with what little strength she had left.
Hinata smiled, whatever he tried to do to her, it didn't work.
Or so she thought…
Before her brain could comprehend what was happening next, Hinata began to stagger, almost falling to the ground. She felt very dizzy, and she was starting to feel a little nauseous in the pit of her stomach. Then, if that wasn't enough to tell her that something was wrong, there was the blood that was running out of her left ear.
"Wh-What… did you do?" She managed to blurt out.
Dosu began to chuckle as Kin threw six more senbon needles, two on Hinata's left arm and the rest on the other, causing the Hyuga to reel back and fall onto the ground, adding to the excruciating pain.
The female Sound ninja walked over to Hinata and grabbed her by the collar of her cream-colored jacket.
The main branch member slowly tilted her head to face Kin, opening an eye, only to see multiple images of her standing in front of her. She didn't know which one was the real one, and she was more nauseous than a few seconds ago.
Could it be… Genjutsu? Hinata thought to herself.
Seeing the expression on their victim's face, both Dosu and Kin began to elaborate.
Dosu spoke first, "You see, the metal device on my arm is for the sole purpose of amplifying the sound of arm movements. What I just did was use sound waves to assault your eardrum and even better, the canal located even deeper into the ear. Attacking this canal can make you lose complete balance…"
"Right. And my ability," Kin added with a smug smile, "Deals with the ringing of those bells on the senbon. The sound produced messes with your brain and causes you to hallucinate. Long story short, you don't stand a chance against us, princess!"
How the bluenette was still conscious was a mystery to her. However, any fatigue that she had lost due to her short sleep came back and hit her like a truck full force due to the nausea she was feeling lurching in her stomach.
Kin took further advantage of that and decided to take her time killing the Hyuga.
She slapped Hinata across the face before balling her hand into a fist, slugging her hard in the stomach.
"GAH!" The indigo-haired kunoichi gasped out of pain, spitting out blood while her legs convulsed as she tried to catch her breath. Her arms went limp, dropping to her sides as she could feel darkness creeping at the edge of her vision.
However, the darkness disappeared when she felt Kin connect another punch to her stomach, causing her to pitch her body forward as an instant reflex, this time holding back the urge to spit out blood.
The Sound kunoichi gave Hinata one last knee to the abdomen before dropping her body face first onto the ground, where she forced the younger girl's head into the dirt and began to kick her in the stomach ruthlessly.
Dosu merely watched with a neutral expression on his face while Zaku grinned at seeing the female member of Team 7 being beaten into the ground.
While all of this was happening, Hinata, who was trying her best to stay conscious, reflected on her past failures. In their sparring matches, despite holding back for her benefit, Hinata would get beaten by her sister Hanabi, thus making her father view her as a failure.
Soon, the whole clan viewed her that way.
She made no long-lasting bonds at the Academy and she was the weak link of the team. Practically useless and contributing absolutely nothing. Naruto and Sasuke were already walking ahead of her when they first became a team. And as time went, they got further and further away from her, while she just stood there and watched.
All she did was admire Naruto. She never had the guts to catch up to him… and walk beside him…
She felt like giving up after these reflections, thinking that there was nothing she could offer to make anyone's world better now…
Unbeknownst to Hinata, in two different positions, Team Guy and Team 8, having just arrived at the scene, were witnessing Hinata getting kicked for about the tenth time, followed by another cry of pain and vomiting of blood.
Lee, was completely on the edge, wanting all but nothing to jump in and help. However, he couldn't do anything as Neji had him restrained by both arms. The prodigy gave his female teammate a menacing glare that made her not even think about interfering.
From what they could tell, the branch member wanted to see what Hinata could do by herself. To see if she, by his own terms, had managed to change her 'destiny'. Either that or he was taking joy in seeing his own cousin being beaten mercilessly in front of him.
Team 8, meanwhile, were waiting for the absolute perfect chance to strike. They were waiting for Shino's signal, as he was sending out his kikaichu to surround the team of Sound ninja. Of course, it took a little bit of time, so for this reason they were waiting.
Kiba could practically smell the anxiety coming off of Sakura. No doubt that she feared for Sasuke's life.
He, on the other hand, was more concerned about Hinata and really only her, as she was the one fighting and he didn't really like or care about her teammates.
The ninken owner didn't even want to ask Shino about his view on the matter. Chances are the Aburame would give a five-paragraph essay on his views on what they should do and why they should do it.
"Enough messing around, Kin." Dosu spoke, after witnessing said teammate kick the shy girl on the ground the hardest she has so far, causing her to widen her eyes out of alarming pain as she tried to let out a sound with her mouth, only to release a croaking noise. "Finish her off. Zaku, kill the blond. Then, we will make haste with containing the Uchiha."
Kin froze mid kick, letting out a disappointed sigh. "You're such a party pooper. Alright then…" She turned back to her pretty beat up victim, who was supporting her body with just her chin.
She was also noticeably trying to move her arms as well, yet the searing pain caused by the punches and kicks along with the senbon in her arms made it difficult.
For a moment, the violent kunoichi lost all composure she had at the moment, "How are you still moving?! At the state you are in you won't be able to throw a single strike."
The bruised girl clenched her eyes shut. She couldn't fail her comrades now, especially not when they weren't even able to defend themselves in the unconscious state they're in. She inhaled sharply. Hinata had to protect Naruto and Sasuke, her comrades, the people she has grown to care about during the last few weeks. Despite living her life being claimed as one by her own clan, failure was not an option here.
Finding solace in the thought of her comrades, the shy Hyuga exhaled the breath she was holding, narrowing her brows together and reopening her eyes, revealing a determined expression on her face. Having gained new found strength, she dug her left hand into the dirt, grabbing a handful of mud. With her other hand, she forced her body up while chucking the dirt she had into her attacker's face, much to the latter's shock.
Seconds later, the power in Hinata's legs returned as she took off running. While she sprinted, she began to remove the senbon in her arms. She hissed and winced each time a bolt of pain rushed through her body, but she endured and soon enough her body was senbon free.
The bluenette looked down at her hands, which were now stained with blood and mud, she curled her fingers, silently telling herself that she could do it.
She held up two fingers, as opposed to the numerous hand signs that she normally performed, whispering the name of her dojutsu. Her eyes widened with a new fire as the veins bulged around her eyes, with the amount of veins seen on her face slightly increasing. The recovered Hyuga skid to a halt to face her three enemies, closing her eyes and focusing hard on all three of their bodies.
Hinata couldn't help but smile when she saw a miraculous sight, the multiple tenketsu running throughout the Chakra Network of the Sound Shinobi. Her Byakugan has finally evolved to the stage where she could see the tenketsu.
I need to give this a shot! Hinata thought to herself with a determined look as she locked eyes with the nearest person on Team Dosu, who just so happened to be Dosu himself.
She sunk into a stance different from the usual Gentle Fist stance. Neji recognized it immediately, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Could it be that she can see the tenketsu?
"Juukenho: Hakke Rokujuuyon Sho!"
Unlike Neji, Hinata took a step forward and bent her body downwards to avoid any potential attack launched at her face. Dosu could only watch with wide eyes as Hinata's fingers made contact with two of his tenketsu, shutting them off.
"Hakke Nisho!"
She continued her strikes, mentally proud of herself for using such an advanced move in such a short time. However, that short burst of overconfidence messed her up.
"Yonsho! Hachisho! Juurokusho!"
She hadn't taken into account the speed needed for the strikes, and she was no Neji, who could get down the basis of an attack by merely seeing it a couple of times.
This disadvantage proved detrimental for her when she began her next barrage of attacks up to 32 strikes.
She missed her opponent completely and tripped on her foot, stumbling forward.
This mess up left the hime-cut kunoichi open for Dosu to slug her in the face. She stepped back, feeling blood spew out of her nose, clutching said area and closing her eyes.
Unfortunately, the vision granted to her with the Byakugan, which works even with her eyes closed, was useless as she was too busy dealing with the pain to notice Dosu behind her.
The Orochimaru underling delivered a hard chop to her neck, followed by a kick to the back of her leg which caused Hinata to collapse to the ground.
"ACK!" The girl cried out, her knees hitting the ground hard followed by her hands to support her. If she had paid any attention, she could have noticed Dosu sweating heavily, startled from the girl's sudden surge in power and determination.
Neji closed his eyes and let a 'hmph' that spilled the words 'I wouldn't expect anything less from a failure', earning detestable glares from his teammates.
"No! I can't give up!" Hinata shrieked as she delivered a sweeping kick to Dosu's legs, causing the man to lose his footing and to fall on the ground.
The former heiress leaned backwards, dodging incoming senbon from Kin before leaping into the air to dodge a gust of high air pressure from Zaku, who quickly reached into his hip pouch and threw three kunai at the aerial Hinata.
The girl was stabbed by all three of them, causing Zaku to smirk…
Only for a poof of white smoke to reveal a log with three kunai embedded in it.
The smirk on Zaku's face washed away as he looked up to see Hinata crashing down and delivering a Juuken strike to his chest, sending him flying backwards.
Kin came running towards Hinata from her right. Thanks to her Byakugan, the Leaf Shinobi easily read her movements, blocking an oncoming punch with her right hand and delivering a sidekick to Kin's belly. This expelled the raven-haired kunoichi's breath and sent her staggering back.
Hinata dug her hand into her hip pouch and pulled out a kunai, gripping it tightly with both hands and running towards the other kunoichi with it. She thrusted the kunai into her female counterpart's torso.
As an instant reaction, Kin grabbed the weapon with both hands, trying to keep it from going deeper into her body while also trying to push it away.
To her surprise, Hinata released her left hand from the kunai and began to strike at Kin's Chakra Points. She succeeded in hitting six before the Oto ninja pulled away, forcing the kunai away.
She placed her fingers on her fresh wound, feeling blood drip out of it. She flinched as soon as she felt the liquid trickling in her hand. This shock was replaced with anger towards Hinata.
"I'll make you pay for that!"
Hinata responded by sinking deep into the signature Gentle Fist stance.
"To be able to fight all three of them like that! This girl's got some skill…" Tenten complimented. Out of the tip of her eye, the weapons specialist noticed Neji's eyes twitch slightly.
"Alright! The power of youth prevails!" Lee cheered, raising his hand as a victory sign.
"Shut up." The branch member shunned his eccentric teammate, returning his attention to the battle.
Kin turned to her teammates with a frustrated look on her face, "Dosu! Zaku! Get your acts together! We need to stop messing around! It's us three against only her!"
Sweat rolled down Hinata's face. It was at this moment when she finally noticed Team Guy and Team 8 watching.
She frowned at the fact that they weren't helping. Although she did understand why, she was slightly disappointed… and a little pressurized due to their eyes being on her.
And it didn't help that one of the spectators just so happened to be her number one hater. Her older cousin, Neji…
Fortunately, after a few moments, Team 8 proved Hinata wrong…
"Tsuuga (Passing Fang)!" The tumbling body of Kiba Inuzuka came rushing out of the nearby trees, attacking Dosu from behind.
The ninja heard the sound of Kiba spinning in the air. He smirked, turning around and holding up the hand with his metal gauntlet, clashing with the ninken owner's attack.
The damage was significantly lessened. However, the brown-haired ninja still managed to push back Dosu with great force, causing the latter to dig his feet into the ground to resist the push.
Suddenly, Kiba stopped spinning and ducked down to deliver a sweep kick to his opponent's legs. The Sound Shinobi launched himself into the air and readied himself to attack him.
The slit-eyed Inuzuka slipped a hand into his pouch, grasping a hand of shuriken and throwing them all at Dosu, who merely held his hand in front of himself.
Metal met metal, the thrown shuriken collided with Dosu's device strapped on his wrist, only for the throwing stars to be bounced off the gauntlet, much to the Inuzuka's shock.
What?! The shuriken has no effect! Then how about this!
Once again fishing for a weapon in his pouch, he pulled out a kunai this time. He jumped backwards, letting Dosu land on the ground before rushing forward with his kunai hand leading.
Once again, metal hit metal, and the two weapons clashed. In a way, Kiba and Dosu were trapped in a blade lock.
"Kiba-kun!" Hinata voiced out of surprise.
Meanwhile, Kin found herself face to face with the figure of a pink-haired kunoichi named Sakura Haruno.
Sakura threw a slow punch at her female opponent, who easily caught it. The latter smirked as she took out a senbon and stabbed Sakura's throat with it…
Only for Sakura to disappear in a flash of cherry blossom leaves.
"What?! How can this be?! Genjutsu?!" Kin questioned as she looked from left and right, only to see nothing. Finally, she looked up…
Only to be dropped to the ground by the real Sakura, pinning Kin's body with a kunai held to her throat.
"Sakura-san!" Hinata smiled, knowing that Shino was also already here.
The Haruno silently thanked her sensei for teaching her some Genjutsu before the Chunin Exams, as it really helped her as a Shinobi with newfound determination.
It gave someone like her, a civilian, a person not belonging to a clan, something to use to fight alongside clan members.
It made her feel useful.
Sakura placed a knee on Kin's stomach to further restrict the girl's movements. The female Sound kunoichi let out a grunt as she tried to pry the pinkette off of her.
What she didn't expect was the threat that came out of Sakura's mouth.
"Move anymore and I'll slit your throat!"
It sounded so convincing that Kin couldn't tell that it was a bluff, as Sakura had never killed in cold blood before. And even though she knew killing was allowed, there was this certain part of her mind that said that something bad would happen to her if she did it.
Shino, on the other hand, stood in front of Zaku with his hands in his pocket.
"Hah! This will be over in a second!" Zaku proclaimed, driving his foot into the ground and taking off towards the Aburame.
He delivered a hook with his right hand to Shino's head, to which the boy merely held up his arm to block. Zaku retaliated with a punch aimed for the bug user's chest.
This time, the punch was blocked with an open hand.
Zaku smirked, opening his right fist to reveal the air hole in his arm.
"Eat this! Zankuuha (Slicing Sound Wave)!" Air burst at Shino's face, blowing him away and sending him rolling onto the ground. His body stilled, seemingly dead. "Haha! This is what you get for picking a fight with me! As long as I fight for Orochimaru-sama, I am strong!"
Sakura and Kiba let out gasps of shock, looking over to their teammate's body, thinking the worst had just happened.
This left Kiba open for Dosu to push forward slightly, causing him to stumble backwards and for the latter to slam his arm into the dog user's ears, leaving him vulnerable to the full extent of the Oto ninja's sound attack.
Speaking of dogs, Akamaru chose that exact moment to intervene. From the trees came the white dog, something the Sound Trio did not expect at all.
Similar to his best friend and owner, Akamaru spun rapidly in the air, turning to Dosu and blitzing. Since the Sound ninja was caught off guard, he took a heavy hit from Kiba's ninken, blowing him away.
"Good boy, Akamaru!"
"You little mutt!" Zaku growled, preparing himself to shoot at the dog, only to hear a voice...
"I wouldn't do that if I were you…"
Shino's voice…
"What?!"
Directly behind him.
Zaku turned around, pointing his hand to see that Shino was indeed there, standing to his full length with an indifferent expression on his face.
"You! But how?! That should have taken you out for the count!" The Orochimaru underling bellowed, raising his arms to defend himself, stealing a glance at where Shino's body was, only to see that it was still there.
Then, as soon as he laid his eyes on it, the body began to sink… as if it was rapidly decomposing or… deconstructing?
"Mushi Bunshin no Jutsu (Insect Clone Jutsu)." Shino clarified, "A variation of the Clone Jutsu known and only performed by those of the Aburame Clan. Otherwise known as Hiden techniques."
Zaku widened his eyes in an alarming manner as he saw many insects crawling around Shino's face and coat.
"Just… what the hell are you… You freak!"
"My name is Shino Aburame of Konohagakure, and you… have lost."
"WHY YOU-!"
"If you choose to continue on with fighting me," Shino interrupted, "Then know that you'll never be able to fight again afterwards."
"What the hell do you mean?!" Zaku yelled, itching to use his attack to finish off the bug user.
"It's always good to have an ace in the hole." Shino started, putting emphasis on the word hole and staring down at the other ninja's hands, prompting Orochimaru's subordinate to do the same.
He would never be able to un-see what he saw right then and there for the rest of his life.
Multiple kikaichu were storming the air holes of both his arms, plugging them up to prevent Zaku from using his ability.
"You don't have a fighting chance. Why? Because if you try to use your ability with my insects clogging those troublesome holes, well… let's just say that you won't be gloating to others and have pride in your arms anymore."
Zaku sent him an irritated glare, to which the Aburame only responded with an unnerved expression on his face.
The way Shino looked at him got to the Sound ninja. It made him feel like a weak piece of shit. And he was not going to let himself feel like thatagain!
Zaku let out an angry shout as he took a deep breath, chanting the name of a Jutsu in his head.
Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough)!
He exhaled, expecting a large gust of wind to come bursting out his mouth to blow Shino away. Only to find that the bespectacled ninja's hair was twitching because of the minuscule pressure he exerted when exhaling.
"But how?!"
Once again, Zaku had been outplayed by the Konoha nin.
"It's simple, really. While you were distracted beating on a fellow Konoha comrade, I had sent out a great deal of my insects to latch onto you and your teammates' bodies. And with the amount on all three of you, I'd estimate that you'll be sucked completely dry of Chakra in a couple of seconds."
Zaku suddenly realized what that all meant…
Since the beginning, he had been using those damn bugs to drain my Chakra!
The dark-haired ninja let out an angry shout due to being toyed around with yet again. He proceeded to throw punches at the Leaf Genin's face, to which the latter easily blocked, dodged, and parried.
Finally, after deciding that the fight had gone long enough, Shino gave Zaku a hard backhand across the face, molding Chakra to his hand in order to increase the force of the blow.
The concealed ninja watched as his enemy dropped to the ground from the force of the hit.
"You are lucky I told you about my insects." Shino stated, "If you had carried on with that wind technique with your wind holes blocked, your arms would have been blown off… and you'd probably have bled to death afterwards."
He turned his back, but not before adding, "Oh, and one more thing for future reference. Having an ace in the hole is good and all, however… two aces are better."
And even if he survived from bleeding to death, Shino knew that without his wind holes or his arms, Zaku would never be in any condition to fight.
Nice job, Shino. Sakura thought to herself when she heard the body of the defeated Oto Shinobi hit the ground, proud of her teammate for dispatching him.
Kin was still trying to break out of Sakura's hold on her, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, Kiba with Akamaru in tow were having a stare down with the other male member of the Sound ninja.
All seemed fine. Team 8 had Team Dosu beat, and Hinata was still up and kicking in case she had to assist. Yes, all was fine indeed, until…
A gasp escaped from Hinata's lips as her eyes laid sight upon a purple Chakra coming off of Sasuke in a similar manner to Naruto's orange one.
The difference was, Hinata knew what the cause of it was.
The purple Chakra was leaking out of Sasuke's Curse Mark and it seemed to be infecting the Uchiha's own.
One could tell that it was hurting him from the constant flinching movements and small sounds of pain he was making.
The gasp she had released earlier caught the attention of everyone there. They turned their heads to look where she was looking, only to see…
A wall of dark purple Chakra, which began to open up to reveal the silhouette of the young Uchiha.
The entire atmosphere that everyone felt changed to a colder, more suffocating feeling. Killing intent was leaking off of Sasuke, and it rivaled the demonic Chakra and killing intent that Zabuza Momochi used to release.
A bright orange hue could be seen on the left half of the prodigy's body. The pattern of orange dulled and turned into a black pattern resembling the Curse Mark.
Even though none of the ninja there were Sensory ninja, they could easily tell that the color of Sasuke's Chakra had darkened significantly.
The whole demeanor and vibe Hinata felt from her raven-haired teammate had a very close resemblance to the vibe he let out during his introduction to Team 7.
Except this feeling of hatred was much more intensified.
"S-Sasuke-kun…" Sakura mused at the sight of the onyx-eyed Uchiha.
No, not onyx-eyed. The skilled Genin had his blood red Sharingan activated, with two black tomoe reflecting off the eyes of those looking at him.
Sasuke looked down at his left arm, which was embedded with black marks with the source being the mark on his neck.
He could feel it. Power coursing through his veins. Power he desperately needed and desired. Power given to him by that man…
Orochimaru.
This power…
It felt good.
No longer did he have to feel weak and helpless. Helpless in the way that he felt during that one, horrible night.
He swore himself an avenger from that day on…
He looked at his female teammate, and immediately took notice of the bloodied, beaten, and battered condition she was currently in.
Sasuke then gave a hateful gaze to the Sound Trio, already knowing that they were the ones who put Hinata in this state. However, just to be sure…
"Hinata."
Said girl widened her eyes at the sudden acknowledgement from the Uchiha.
The tone of his voice was cold, calm, and dripping with a slight lust for power.
"Those three Sound guys… They put you in that state… Correct?"
After a few moments, Hinata gave a slow and shaky nod to the Uchiha. The nod was so slight that any other person would have missed it.
"Don't worry about me. This power… that man gave it to me. I can feel strength building up inside of me… And it feels good. At last I understand. I am an avenger. And to continue on my path as an avenger, I must continue on the road to power… Even if it means closing my eyes to the darkness and accepting the devil."
The former Hyuga heiress let out a gasp of shock as she remembered his words at the introduction…
"What I have is not a dream, but rather an ambition, because I will make it a reality. What I desire is… the revival of my clan, and to kill a certain someone."
While Hinata reflected on this, Dosu looked on in shock at the sight of the Uchiha.
What's going on?! Our orders were to capture the Uchiha, kill him, and bring the body to Orochimaru-sama. And those marks on his body…
Needless to say, Dosu wasn't the only member of his teammate who was confused.
"Oi! Pretty boy! Why don't you step aside and let us take care of these small fries! Then we'll take care of you." Zaku stated, rising to his feet and using his speed to run away from Shino.
Sasuke sent him a menacing glare, his anger rising and the Chakra encircling him accelerated. At this point, the marks spread over to his right half, only leaving his right arm uncovered with them.
"Come and get me, pretty boy! I can take anything you can throw at me!" Zaku shouted, getting cocky once again, disregarding the fact that he had gotten beaten and outsmarted by Shino.
"Can you now?" The Sharingan user questioned, his voice ringing in his challenger's ears as if he was right next to him.
Zaku widened his eyes when he realized that this was the case and got elbowed in the face. He was sent flying over to Dosu.
"Zaku!" Dosu called out the name of his teammate, taken aback at how far he was sent flying.
Neji activated his own Byakugan as he focused on Sasuke's body.
He narrowed his eyes, This Chakra…
The attacked Sound ninja rose to his feet, glaring at where the dark-haired Uchiha was standing.
"Sakura! Shino! Before we get involved, HIDE!" Kiba shouted to his teammates, who followed through and jumped into a nearby bushes, overseeing the battle from there.
To their surprise though, they couldn't see Sasuke.
"Zaku! Behind you!" Dosu warned his teammate.
It was too late. Sasuke had slammed his foot onto his back and pulled back the boy's arms, causing him to groan out of pain.
Hinata widened her eyes, No way! His movements are so fast! Sasuke's movements didn't appear as a complete blur to her. She could see them, but at the speed he was going, she would have a hard time reacting to it in a fight.
Hinata gasped when she saw what he was doing. He was applying pressure to Zaku's back and pulling harder.
"You're pretty proud of these arms… aren't you?"
The Sound Shinobi turned his head to face Sasuke, a look of absolute fear on his face.
"P-Please! Stop it!"
Sakura watched with wide eyes, seeing the grin on the prodigy's face. Is… Is this really Sasuke-kun? Sure, the boy was cold, but he's never shown any signs of sadism.
"Don't do it!" Hinata shrieked.
Sasuke widened his malicious grin, his pupils dilating out of excitement. He began putting more force into his pull until…
SNAP!
"AUGH!"
The defeaning sound of Zaku's arms being dislocated could be heard throughout the forest.
He opened his mouth. Out came one last scream before the boy with broken arms lost consciousness and dropped to the ground.
Sasuke glared at the remaining two ninjas of the Sound Village, who were frozen in their spots.
"And then there were two! Please make it a little more fun for me." Sasuke spoke, his voice dripping with a desire to torture his next two victims more.
He faced Dosu and began to slowly walk towards him.
"STOP!"
Sasuke froze in his tracks. Slowly, he turned his head in the direction of the voice to see Sakura slowly approaching him. Her right hand was gripping the flap of her hip pouch in case she needed a weapon quickly.
"Stay out of my way." Sasuke commanded, taking his eyes off Sakura and returning his sharp gaze back on Dosu, who flinched under his sight.
Hinata and everyone else was speechless as they saw the display that occurred in front of them.
"No! I won't!" The pinkette insisted, standing her ground against the Uchiha, which on its own is a phenomenal feat for anyone in the area to accomplish.
The pink-haired kunoichi's voice snapped Hinata out of her daze. She had to do something, or else the civilian girl could get hurt, maybe even killed in Sasuke's current state.
She had no idea if this would work. There was a small chance, but she had to take it.
Taking the opening that she had with Sasuke distracted on the green-eyed kunoichi. She took off running towards the Curse Mark holder as fast as she could.
She jumped into the air, striking as many of Sasuke's tenketsu as she could in order to stop the spread of the Curse Mark's Chakra. Maybe, with some luck, if she could stop it from spreading, the Uchiha could fight it off and prevent it from corrupting him.
Sakura watched out of surprise as her former classmate was jamming down on different parts of Sasuke with her fingers.
"AUH!" The boy cried out in pain, crouching down as he could feel the power coursing through him immediately disappear along with the corruption done to his mind.
Slowly but surely, Hinata's attempt worked, and the Curse Mark on Sasuke receded.
"H-Hinata…" Sakura mused, forgetting her dislike of the girl and temporarily replacing it with surprise.
At the Academy, Sakura held her status as top kunoichi. And while Hinata, when it came to intelligence, came as a close 2nd, she never showed any good taijutsu skills despite being a Hyuga. Then again, all people who were part of a clan were prohibited from using their clan's techniques or in this case, taijutsu style.
But to think that the Hyuga's Gentle Fist could be this potent… She had thought that their title of 'The Strongest Clan in Konoha' was just bragging rights or that they had the balls to claim such a title after the Uchiha Clan was massacred.
At that moment, the pinkette actually held a degree of respect for the girl.
"Ugh…" Sasuke groaned, pressing down on his head as he took in his surroundings, seeing the two kunoichi from his class next to him, "Hinata… and Sakura?" He voiced surprise at the sight of the emerald-eyed kunoichi, due to the fact that they were on different teams, and she didn't seem to be making any advance to attack. Could she be alone, chasing after him over some foolish crush?
He looked past the two to see an unconscious Zaku, the rest of the Sound Trio along with Kiba and Shino.
The rest of Team 8 as well. What are they doing here? The raven-haired boy narrowed his eyes, staring at the two before looking back at Sakura, who had a concerned look on her face, instead of the usual one of affection.
"Are… are you ok?" To Sasuke's surprise, the Haruno paused in the middle of her sentence, something that Hinata is more known for.
"Y-yeah. I'm fine." Sasuke shrugged the look off and looked at his teammate, "So, why are they here?"
"Oh!" The pupil-less kunoichi began, "I was in a fight with the Sound ninja," She pointed at Dosu and Kin, "And Sakura-san and the others decided to help. I'm very grateful."
To the fellow kunoichi's surprise, Hinata turned to her and gave a deep bow of gratitude, "Thank you for saving me, Sakura-san."
At this moment, Sakura's view of Hinata as a snobby little princess was diminished, replaced with thoughts that she was a kind and sweet girl. No facades. One hundred percent genuine gratitude.
Sasuke cleared his throat, "More importantly." He glared at the two conscious Sound ninjas, who widened their eyes and retreated a step.
The male of the two reached into his hip pouch and presented Sasuke with an Earth Scroll.
"Please. Accept this offering. You, Sasuke Uchiha, are too much for Kin and I. We plead that you accept this scroll with our freedom in return." He laid down the scroll, much to Team 7 (minus Naruto) and Team 8's utter shock.
He then went over to pick up the unconscious Zaku, supporting him with both arms. He turned his back to the group and leaped away along with Kin.
Hinata let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness that is over." She turned to Sakura and her approaching teammates, "Again, I cannot thank you guys enough for what you did."
Kiba flashed a small smirk. He was about to say something, but surprisingly Shino butted in, "Don't worry about it. You would do the same for us. Why? Because we are comrades after all."
Hinata looked at the conscious member of her team. He looked like he wanted to say something but held it back. She could easily tell from his face that he was going to say the complete opposite of what Shino was hoping for.
A sudden thought hit her. She looked up to where she saw Neji and his teammates, only to find that Team Guy had left.
A hopeful look appeared on her face, hoping that her cousin was at least a little impressed with her.
Neji-nii-san… Did you see? Did you see if I could change?
HUZZAH! Another one bites the dust!
Sorry for the long wait! Hopefully it was worthwhile. I was caught off guard by how long I made this chapter, at least 11,000 words! I thought it was about 8,000.
I gursg that's what I get for trying to focus on Team Guy for an entire scene. I hoped you guys liked that segment. Now, Team 10, I might not focus on, but they will still make it to the middle.
Also, about Hinata's Byakugan ''upgrading", I based it off of how the tomoe of a base Sharingan develops. The more you use it, the more it evolves. So, in this case, due to her experience and usage of the Byakugan, Hinata can bow see the tenketsu. Of course, as stated in the chapter, she isn't Neji: A prodigy who can learn a techniques by fricking looking at it. For this reason, she was unable to perform 64 Palms. She needs more training before getting to that level.
Of course, had Team 8 not jumped in, Hinata would had lost, even with the tenketsu stuff. It's still a 3v1.
That's all for now guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Take care, goodbye!