Hinata stared at her girlfriend lovingly. Iruka was currently passing out the exams and Naru-chan was practically vibrating with excitement. Of course that was a bit of an overstatement, but she knew Naru-chan's tells well enough to know when the girl trying her best to keep her excitement from bubbling over. This was one such time. Hinata swore, everytime she noticed something new or old about Naru-chan she fell deeper in love with her. But she supposed that came with the territory when she's been in love for so long.
The students had all gotten a bit antsy, the lack of exercise had a surprising impact on how calm they were. Hinata had to guess that it was the reason they worked out in the mornings throughout the academy, to work off this energy sooner rather than later. Because of the tests the schedule had been flipped today so as to avoid any potential injury that would stop them from being able to take the tests. Hinata had to assume it would be a bureaucratic nightmare delaying the team formations just because one student hadn't technically failed and could potentially have a large impact on team dynamics. Her eyes shifted to Naru-chan, she would be one such example if she somehow got knocked out. As Iruka placed her test in front of her she thought of the grade break down he had told them just prior to passing out the tests. The written exams were broken into four tests. Each worth 10 points, except the one covering civilian subjects which is worth five points. Then they would move outside to do the physical portion of the exam where they would be tested on Taijutsu, their agility and their strength. Along with that they would be tested in their use of kunai and shuriken. Taijutsu is worth 12 points and weaponry is worth 10 points while the agility and strength are each worth four. Then they would get an hour long break for lunch before being tested on their ability to use stealth. That would be worth 15 points. Then they would be tested in the use of the leaf sticking exercise, that would be worth 7 points. The final required test would be over the three Jutsu learned in the academy where they could score up to 13 points. After that they could take a bonus test for up to 10 points on their chosen subject.
Hinata had no doubts that she would be fine in all subjects, she was top of her class for a reason. Truth be told she was more worried for her red headed girlfriend. They had come to the conclusion that someone had been falsifying her scores for some time now and the written test was just enough that failing it with a perfect score in all other subjects would still be a failing grade, she would be at the mercy of bonus points after that. There was also the fact that her girlfriend couldn't perform the Bunshin to a good enough level. Well it might be good enough if she is allowed to go up to 5 or more clones. They had finished the water walking exercise, but she could only barely make five functioning clones, any less and they all turned out dead looking. She knew the other subjects would be fine, Hinata would never stand for her girlfriend to to be any less proficient than herself (well that wasn't entirely true, if Hinata could really have it her way Naru-chan would just be a civilian housewife for her, but that wasn't likely to happen). Well if nothing else Naru-chan was almost assured to get full points for the bonus seeing as she had learned a genjutsu called False Senses: 100 blooming flowers.
Hinata was already certain she would be the Kunoichi of the Year. She had the best grades in her graduating class by far among the other girls. Truth be told the only other girl in class that could remotely match her was Naru-chan (and she had already established that the redheads grades didn't match her skill, leaving a wider gap than there truly was). Truth be told she wouldn't be surprised if she Managed to claim the title of Rookie of the Year. They were dead even for academics and jutsu use. And she was the strongest in the class at Taijutsu, so unless he managed to steal the spot away with bonus points it was more or less hers.
Hinata looked over her girlfriend. She had grown, quite a bit over the years. She was still small to be certain, but she wasn't the tiny child and malnourished child that she once was. Naru-chan stood at 4'6". She was still a full five inches smaller than the average for girls their age, but Hinata enjoyed that fact. She herself was the exact average at 4'11" which she fully enjoyed, it meant she got to be the one who did the holding. Well truth be told she would have even if she was the shorter of the two, but it gave her an excuse. Naru-chan often complained about her height, but it was more a frustration for having to stand on her toes to kiss the white eyed girl.
Naruko leaned in and whispered to her girlfriend. "Careful not to stare to much, it makes it look like you're undressing me with your eyes." Hina-chan looked her dead in the eye and responded.
"How do you know that's not what I'm doing?"
"You could just use your Byakugan for that." It was the truth, if her girlfriend really wanted to see her naked it's not like she had to imagine it, she had X-ray eyes and could use them at will.
"Hmm, you make a good point, remind me to do that later."
"Can do." They quited down as Iruka got to their desks and started handing out their papers.
It didn't take long for Naruko to finish. The test wasn't hard, Hina-chan made sure she knew all the material inside and out, so she was able to finish fairly easily. It's not like it really mattered anyways, she could probably write whatever she wanted and her answers would still be replaced by different wrong ones. She had actually tried that once on a homework assignment but Hina-chan noticed and made her write in the proper answers.
She decided to use the time remaining to do something more meaningful, in other words that would be staring at her girlfriend. The words sort of made her heart flutter. She had been dating her for a little while now and she still couldn't get over the fact that they were dating. Initially she didn't really know how she felt but as time went on she had decided that she did indeed feel the same way for Hina-chan. Truth be told she thinks she always felt that way, but just didn't know how to identify the emotion until after the fact.
Anyways, back to her cute girlfriend who she's currently staring at. Her girlfriend was currently wearing loose navy blue pants that were taped off at her ankles, along with an open jacket that was a light shade of black with a few dark red stripes running along it vertically. The jacket had seen some wear and tear as the sleeves had come ripped off at some point, and after much work on Naruko's part had been mended, albeit in a very amateur way. She had given her girlfriend the jacket for her most recent birthday and the girl had taken to wearing it all the time, she had actually seemed to wear it more after Naruko offered to try repairing it (The Hyuuga clan had menders, but it was Naruko's gift and she was the one who tore it during their training, so she felt like it was her job to fix it). Underneath the Jacket was a light gray shirt that had the Hyuuga clan crest emblazoned over the heart as well as on the back (not that it could be seen with the jacket currently covering it). Lastly to complete her ensemble was a mesh undershirt that, as a result of the jacket having been torn, poked past the sleeves and went down to just above her elbows.
Hina-chan tended to wear lighter clothes in general as a result of her fighting style being one that was much more reliant on speed. Everyone seems to forget that the Jyuken is incredibly fast. Just because the user isn't running all over the place or being super acrobatic doesn't mean it's not fast. Just take the 64 palms. Hina-chan can land all of them within two seconds, that requires a lot of speed, and as a result Hina-chan's build has ended up becoming quite lean. It contrasted quite a bit with herself. Her weight training was the type that allowed for putting on more muscle. In other words she was denser, weight nearly six pounds more than Hina-chan despite the other girl being so much taller.
Speaking of her weights Naruko had realized the amount of weight she has strapped to her limbs is apparently pretty abnormal. She found out from a weird green guy that most ninja only use upwards of five pounds on each wrist and leg. Naruko was close to thirty. This made it so she was pretty good at lifting heavy things, surprising far more so than Hina-chan. It also allowed for her to get bursts of speed by removing the weights. Even with her weights off Naruko still tends to lose to Hina-chan in sparring. She knew a lot of that was just because Hina-chan truthfully trained more than anybody she knew (with the exception of maybe the green guy) and she had the talent to back it up. But she liked to think she would start doing better once she learns a new Taijutsu style. Hopefully her Jonin-sensei will teach one. The Academy style, while good for teaching the basics of combat can only go so far (it doesn't help that she can't trust any instruction Mizuki gives her in it, so she's stalled), and it certainly can't match up against the Jyuken or other clan techniques. Naruko only wins those matches with brute force. She had tried to learn one of the other styles in Konoha's public domain but images on scrolls really isn't that helpful. All she really knows is that she'd like it if the style involved a lot of spins. She had grown really fond of spin kicking Kiba out of the ring. She may be short but she's grown very flexible, something Hina-chan laughs weirdly about whenever it's mentioned, because she wants to be well rounded physically. She makes sure to practice stretching every day, doing things like the splits and putting her legs behind her head and other flexibility exercises. She didn't think with her training style she'd ever be on the extreme end of flexibility (she had seen one genin who seemed capable of folding himself into a box and hiding in it, it was freaky but she could see the use).
Naruko hadn't stopped wearing dresses, but now she ties a sash around her waist to stop it from being too loose. She mainly wears a navy blue dress with a lavender swirl on the back. The swirl is made of vines and the vines expand out across the rest of the dress. The dress went down to her mid thigh, and she had black spats that poked out below it. Underneath the dress she still wore mesh undershirts that visibly covered her collar bone and acted as the sleeves of her outfit. Aside from all that she had finally started cutting her hair, she had decided enough is enough when it reached her feet and she started tripping on it. She still kept it long for Hina-chan but she made sure it didn't grow past her knees. Hina-chan had been surprisingly okay with the change, but Naruko chocked that up to the fact that what spurred the change was the time she tripped mid spar and nearly got seriously hurt. Hina-chan takes her safety very seriously and Naruko appreciated it a lot.
Speaking of her hair those two strands that look like ears had started to put up more resistance to being brushed out. She still could brush them down but she had to dedicate a lot more time to it in the mornings. She still didn't know why it did so, according to Hina-chan that didn't happen to her or anyone else in her family, so maybe it was just a weird quirk of Uzumakis (Are there more? She wasn't sure, the name had to come from somewhere right?). Either way it made her mornings longer and that wasn't something she enjoyed.
The last change of note hit Hina-chan harder than it did Naruko. They entered puberty, at least that's what Hina-chan called it. It was most apparent in that Hina-chan had started to grow boobs. Naruko did too but hers were pretty small in comparison. She's pretty sure her girlfriend was a C cup. The red head had started to give her girlfriend shoulder massages because apparently they were heavy and kind of hurt. Naruko didn't really get it. She was an A cup(according to Hina-chan she was high end of A-cup, she wasn't sure how she knew but shrugged, her girlfriend tended to know these things) and her shoulders never hurt. Though maybe it's because she's used to walking around with extra weight already. Naruko wasn't the smallest girl in the chest department at least, that honor went to Sakura who was still flat as a board. Truthfully Naruko didn't really understand why it was a good thing, wouldn't they just get in the way during a fight? Well she supposes they won't after all Hina-chan was still way stronger and she was pretty big.
The last change that puberty brought, and one she certainly wished didn't exist, was she had her first period (and the many subsequent ones to follow). Naruko had been so freaked out the first time it happened. She had no idea it was coming and then all of the sudden her belly was cramping like crazy. She had done what any reasonable person would do and asked her girlfriend what the hell was happening, and if she was gonna die. Hina-chan knew how to handle it however and after they were done getting her some medicine they had Hitomi tell her about Sex Ed. (Apparently it wasn't going to be taught in school and was instead left to parents or orphanage mothers). It had been thought by a lot of people that they would learn about it when learning about seduction but Academy students are never taught about seduction, apparently it's rare for genin to be taught. It was more a chunin skill as the village knew most people (but not all) weren't interested when a twelve year old comes onto them. So anyways, Hitomi taught her how babies are made and about wearing proper protection. Of course Naruko had bluntly said that it wouldn't be a problem because she only loves Hina-chan and that boys always have been, and always will be, gross.
It was a little disappointing to find out that they couldn't have a child of their own. She had been hoping that maybe one day they could start a family, but she quickly got over it. Having lived in an orphanage for a few years she knew that adoption was a valid option and a lot of kids really needed it. Though she had found it sort of interesting that Hina-chan was more concerned about their lack of ability to make kids. When she had asked she had muttered something about it being an heiress problem. Naruko had left it at that.
Now that she thinks about it the Hyuuga clan became really weird around her after she started dating Hina-chan, the villagers got meaner but they always get meaner over time. Hitomi had started to take pictures of the two girls a lot more, and scolding Hina-chan for not asking sooner. Hiashi simply said he's fine with it but they will have a steep hill to climb in the future. Something about the elders and the caged bird. Hina-chan's little sister, Hanabi seemed weirdly fond of the redhead and at the same time mad at her. Mad because she claimed Naruko was taking her big sister away, but fond because she also seemed to want Naruko to become her big sister in the future. Ko had simply said Iruka owed him fifty ryo for their bet. She didn't know what the bet was for, but good for him.
Naruko had also met Hina-chan's cousin, Neji, he was a year older than them and was currently a genin. He was really mean to Hina-chan and her for some reason. He told Hina-chan when she was being introduced to him. "Dating a failure only proves to me that you're also a failure." Naruko doesn't get how she's a failure, she's plenty strong even if she is the dead last. He also went on about how it's their fate to separate for the good of the Hyuuga clan. Naruko didn't like that. She started to ignore the boy from then on. Anyone who tried to separate her and Hina-chan or mocked their relationship was not someone she wanted to see.
They had also let the Ichiraku family know about their relationship. It went as expected, Ayame-nee squealed in excitement and Teuchi-ojisan just looked on proudly before pinning Hina-chan with a menacing stare and saying. "You might be a ninja but you break her heart and I break you." Hina-chan said in response.
"I'd sooner die then hurt her." That made Naruko blush but she scolded Hina-chan for that, she never wants to hear her talk about dying.
Naruko is dragged out of her thoughts as Iruka-sensei takes up their first tests and hands out the second. It was just as easy as the first and she quickly finds herself bored again. This happens another two times before she's finally done with the four written tests. She practically shot of her seat as he called for them to head outside. She didn't realize how badly she needed to stand up. But now at least she was at the portion of the test that Mizuki (or someone else, she didn't have absolute proof it was him, but he seemed most likely given that Iruka-sensei was the only other person to grade for the class) couldn't falsify her scores for physical tests.
The class was split into three groups upon heading outside, some kids were sent to the sparring ring, others to the kunai range, and the last group was sent to the empty field where they do strength and agility training. Naruko was in the second group while Hina-chan was put in the first.
The test was easy enough. There were three targets, the one farthest back is worth two points whenever it's hit, the one in the middle is worth 1 whenever it's hit and the closest one is only worth one point if hit in the bullseye. There are no points for missing but the two outer targets award double points for hitting the bullseye. They would stop as soon as they either ran out of kunai or reached ten points. Naruko hit the bullseye on the middle one twice, the outer one once, and the closest one twice. She managed to get ten points by using all five kunai. Once everyone was finished with kunai they moved onto shuriken. The test was the same, just with a different weapon. Once more Naruko scored full points by using all five shuriken.
Her group was rotated to the Taijutsu ring where Hina-chan's group had just finished and were moving to the field. She briefly wondered who is in charge over there, because Iruka-sensei is at the kunai range, and Mizuki is here at the Taijutsu ring. Guess she'll find out soon enough. Today they were sparring against Mizuki for the test. They simply had to last thirty seconds or knock him out of the ring for full points. Failing to do either of those they would be awarded points based on how long they lasted. When it was Naruko's turn to go up she noticed pretty quickly that Mizuki got tense. Oh guess he's going all out. Before he can call for them to begin she asks, "Hey Mizuki-sensei, can I take off my training weights before we begin?" Mizuki allows it not seeing what losing five or so pounds on each limb would do for her. She removes them quickly and jumps a few times to adjust to the change in weight.
Mizuki seeing she's ready calls for them to begin. He rushes forward and tries to kick her in the stomach and out of the ring. She jumps up flipping over his leg while she grabs it with her hands. Landing back on her feet and still holding the extended leg she throws him. He nearly flies out of the ring but manages to flip mid air and land on his feet. He had taken his eyes off her while flipping and landing only to find a foot lodged in his stomach when he looked back at her. The wind is knocked out of him and he falls backwards out of the ring. He stands and forces a smile, or at least she thinks it looks forced. "Very good Naruko you'll receive full points for this test." She knew he couldn't falsify this, if Iruka's subtle staring was anything to go by. Plus it was hard to say there is a good reason to not get full points when she beat the chunin in Taijutsu. He had failed to hide his sabotage from her but she knew he at least tried to not be obvious.
A few more kids went after her and most of them managed to pass the test. Her group was moved to the field where she found an older boy, maybe 15 or 16, she didn't recognize waiting, he was wearing the chunin flak jacket. He wore one of the bandanna style forehead protectors, and had a pretty average face. Seeing them arrive he says "Hello, I'm Ryuugen Yatogo, and I will be instructing you all for today's test." He looks around the class before continuing. "I've set up an obstacle course in the field," he says while raising an arm and gesturing behind him, "I'll be timing how long it takes you to get through it, if you can make it through in under a minute then you will get full points, for every 10 seconds over a minute I'll be removing points. Upon completing the course you'll see a circle. It's a gravity array, made with fuinjutsu, when you step in it will activate and the gravity around you will double. It will continue to go up by a factor of two every 10 seconds until you collapse. You'll be graded based on how long you last. You get full points if you last until the second stage and if you can manage to get past it then you will be awarded two bonus points for every stage beyond it." That's interesting, she hadn't realized they would get extra points outside of the bonus test, but she guesses it makes sense.
Naruko realizes she forgot to put her weights back on, oh well at least that means she'll get through the obstacle course faster. She managed to get through the course in under thirty seconds, the fastest of any student in her class. The gravity array was easier than she thought it would be. The first stage, two times gravity, was pretty easy because she's used to walking around with more than double her weight. The second stage was making her sweat but she could tough it out. By the third stage she could only barely stand. By the fourth stage she felt like all her blood was gathering in her legs, she was feeling woozy. She barely made it to the fifth stage using force of will and almost made it to the sixth before falling over. Still most of the kids are looking at her in shock, most had only managed to barely make it to the second stage before dropping, the only other student to make it to the third stage was Sasuke, who she only just realized was in her group. She wonders how Hina-chan did when she took the test.
They were given their lunch break and Naruko ate with Hina-chan, apparently the other girl had aced all her physical tests as well. The white eyed girl had managed to last longer than Sasuke under the gravity array, she made it to the fourth stage, but she went slower than him during the obstacle course. Hina-chan had also dismantled Mizuki during Taijutsu sparring, without even using chakra (he still had to be capable of testing the other students). Instead she hit pressure points that can be released easier. While they were eating, their written tests had been scored and passed back. Hina-chan got full points in all subjects. Naruko looked at her own test and found she had averaged about half points on all subjects,except the civilian subject test wherein she was given zero points. Her scores were falsified once more. Her total score so far currently putting her at 51 points, she needs to get 19 more to pass and become a ninja. Hina-chan had actually already passed with 71 points.
Lunch ended and they were tested on stealth, it was a surprisingly simple affair where they merely had to avoid being found by the three chunin that tested them earlier for a minute and 30 seconds to get full points. If they were caught early then they would lose points for every five seconds they had failed to hide. They were sent in one at a time and given 20 seconds to find a place to hide. Hina-chan lasted the entire time while Naruko was caught in half a minute, her bright hair betraying her easily. Hina-chan had already locked down her position as a genin while Naruko still needed to earn 16 more.
Luckily the next test was covering the leaf sticking exercise which she had mastered years ago. She was proven right when she was easily able to get full points on it making it so she only needs to earn nine more points to pass. After that they went inside for the next and last phase of testing. She sort of felt weirdly nervous as she went back into the building. If she failed to get those remaining nine points she just wouldn't pass outright.
They started the Ninjutsu test, which apparently would also be combined with their self study test. They would be individually entering another room where Iruka-sensei and Mizuki would be evaluating their ninjutsu skills. They were called in alphabetically so Naruko had quite the wait ahead of her. She did excitedly congratulate Hina-chan when she walked out with her headband. When she asked what her score was in the end she said she got 116 points. Naruko hugged her brimming with excitement for the both of them since the considerably calmer girl wasn't expressing it, she seemed more concerned with something else. The two stayed and talked until Naruko got called in.
The Ninjutsu portion was simple according to Iruka-sensei. She would just have to show them the three academy jutsu without the Jutsu failing. "Now first, please perform the Henge." Naruko does so transforming into an exact copy of Hina-chan. Iruka-sensei nods and continues. "Now do the Kawarimi with that log in the corner, then Kawarimi back after ten seconds." Once more Naruko does as instructed with out much effort. Iruka-sensei nods once more and says "Alright now perform the Bunshin no Jutsu and produce three clones."
"Iruka-sensei would it be alright if I produce more clones?"
"Yes you may, but know there is no bonus for the extra clones." Naruko nods and makes six clones that all seem perfectly healthy. Iruka-sensei smiles at her and says, "Congratulations Naruko, come up and take your headband, would you like to take the bonus test?"
"No that's alright, I'm not in the running for the top spot anyways so I don't need it." She had barely passed with 73 points but she still passed, so she doesn't really care to do the bonus test. Naruko tied the headband around her forehead only to stop as she did. It felt weird there, like the world seemed dimmer, but it didn't actually get dimmer. Weird, she chose not to wear the headband for now, she'd ask for Ayame-nee's help later with sewing it into her sash around her waist (she had started getting help from her after the jacket incident). She walks out of the room and sees Hina-chan waiting at their seat, she smiles and flashes the headband at her. Hina-chan's almost a blur as she glomps the redhead. Naruko giggles at that, it seemed they were both more excited for the other than they were for themselves.
"Congratulations Naru-chan!" Naruko smiles brightly at the taller girl, before leaning forward and giving her a chaste peck on the lips.
"Thanks Hina-chan!"
They didn't notice how long they spent like that until Iruka-sensei and Mizuki stepped out of the room and looked down at the two girls laying on the floor. Mizuki clicked his teeth in disgust. Naruko looked up at him and glared. Iruka-sensei spoke up, or down at the moment. "Can you two return to your seats so we can give our last lecture before sending you off?" The two girls nod and return to their seats.
Iruka nods his head and looks out at all of them. He speaks, his voice filled with fondness and pride. "It was six years ago that I met you all as a new chunin instructor, assigned to teach you for your entire duration here in class 103 of the first academy. I've seen each and every one of you grow into admirable shinobi that I look forward to working alongside for years to come. You may have your differences but never forget, You're all ninjas of Konoha now and every person in this room is your comrade in arms. We all serve the great tree of Konoha to protect our people and our loved ones. That is what makes this village the greatest in the elemental nations. And I see it in each of your hearts that you possess this passion. This passion we have all come to know as the Will of Fire, passed down to us from the Shodaime Hokage himself. Now I ask you the same question I did six years ago when we first met. Why are you becoming a ninja? Think about this tonight and keep that in your heart when you meet your Jonin-sensei." He finishes his speech and smiles at his class. "I'm also pleased to announce that this years Rookie of the Year is. . . Hyuuga Hinata. Uchiha Sasuke is the runner up. Now then You're all dismissed, be sure to be here tomorrow at nine A.M. to meet your new sensei." He pauses and adds as an after thought, "And if you ever want to talk, you know where to find me."
The classroom is quickly emptied and the two girls head outside to find Hitomi, Hanabi (who is currently in her second year at the academy), and the Ichiraku family waiting for them. The two girls are hugged by the two families and congratulations are passed all around. Naruko can't help but ask where Hiashi is.
Hitomi responds. "He's currently back at the compound organizing the celebration party." Hanabi pipes up after.
"Otou-sama got you lots of cinnamon buns Nee-chan!" Hina-chan smiled warmly at her sister and gave her a hug. After a few moments she breaks the hug and says to Naru-chan.
"Anything you'd like to do before we go celebrate?"
"No that's okay, The Ichirakus are going to be giving me a celebration dinner tomorrow, cause they knew I'd want to go to your party." Hinata smiles and takes the redheads hand in her own.
"Then let's go."
"Yeah!"
They took a step forward, no longer as students, but as soldiers and (by law) adults. Naruko couldn't help but smile, they would finally get to move onto the next stage of their lives.
It had been a nice night, the atmosphere in the compound was generally pretty lighthearted. Naru-chan and Hinata were currently sitting alone in one of the compounds gardens. The two girls were side by side with their fingers interlaced. Naru-chan was leaning against Hinata, her head resting on the taller girls shoulder. After what seems like hours of silence Naru-chan speaks, her voice soft, almost a whisper.
"You saved me, you know that Hina-chan? And I'm not talking about my seventh birthday." Hinata turns her head to look at the other girl. She's a bit confused, if anything the redhead saved her. She protected her from bullies and being kidnapped, and she helped her learn to be confident.
"How so Naru-chan?"
"If I hadn't met you I'd still be alone, maybe even still being abused by the Matron. Hina-chan you taught me it was okay to love myself. It's thanks to you I know what it feels like to be in love and to be happy." Naru-chan says now looking right at Hinata with a warm smile.
"It's funny Naru-chan, you taught me the same thing." Naru-chan starts to respond but Hinata leans in and captures her lips. It wasn't anywhere close to their first kiss, but it was perhaps the most passionate they had shared thus far. Hinata slides her tongue against Naru-chan's lips. The girl parts her lips and Hinata takes it as permission to advance. Only for Naru-chan to quickly pull away from the kiss and look at her in surprise.
"W-Was that your tongue?" They had never used tongue before but Hinata had thought the mood was right. Was she wrong? Did Naru-chan hate it?
"Yeah, is that a problem? Did you not like it?" Her tone is one of concern, she wouldn't have done it if she thought Naru-chan would dislike it.
"N-No it's not that I disliked it, I was just surprised. That's all."
"Then. . . Would you like to try it again?" Hinata asks wanting more but not wanting to push her girlfriend out of her comfort zone. After a moment Naru-chan nods her head and Hinata kisses her once more.
Hinata once more presses her tongue forward and Naru-chan once more parts her lips. This time however she doesn't back away in shock and Hinata takes it as a chance to explore more of her girlfriend in away she never had before. She had to admit, she was enjoying the feeling.
It had only seemed like moments but when they break apart they're both panting as though they ran a marathon. A string of saliva connects them. Naru-chan is the first to speak, breathlessly. "Wow." They had enjoyed kissing each other before but never had they kissed like that. They barely had words to describe how amazing it was.
"Yeah." Hinata was just as lost for words as Naru-chan. After a few moments pass Hinata speaks again. "What were you going to say?"
"What?"
"What were you going to say earlier, before I kissed you."
"Oh yeah, I was going to tell you I have a present for you. For saving me, for graduation, and just because I love you." That was enough to evoke a blush from Hina-chan. Naruko hands her a small wrapped box she had hidden on her. Hina-chan looks down at it and then back up at her. "Go ahead, open it."
The white eyed girl does so only to see it's actually two small sealing scrolls. She looks up at Naru-chan and uses chakra to open the one on the right. As she does Naru-chan speaks up. "Those are for saving me and graduating, I thought it fitting." It's a pair of fingerless gloves with metal plates, and arm guards, also made of metal. "The metal is chakra metal if you're curious." Hinata gasps at hearing that and activates her Byakugan. Chakra metal looks different then normal metal, sort of as if it's more empty, to the Byakugan. Indeed it does look different.
"Naru-chan, these must have cost you a fortune." She knows the other girl only gets a small stipend from the village. Naru-chan blushes.
"I've actually been saving up for them for three years now." Seeing Hina-chan's glare she says quickly. "No I wasn't skipping any meals to buy them don't worry." The white eyed girl stops glaring at that. She had made it her personal mission to make sure that Naru-chan was fed and part of that was making sure that she didn't spend her stipend on things she couldn't afford. But she had to trust that her girlfriend hadn't put her health at risk for these (as amazing as they are). "The other gift I made for you personally after we started dating."
Hinata turns her attention to the other scroll, and once more applies chakra to it. With a small poof of smoke, a small red and lavender heart pops out, Hinata realizes it's made of wood and Naru-chan painted it. "I know it's not as impressive, but I tried really hard to make sure it was shaped like a heart." Hinata thinks the other girl did a pretty good job, she can't see any carving marks at all. . . Wait, something is strange with this, this wood has chakra in it. The weird thing was, it wasn't Naruko's in fact if anything it sort of felt like her own.
"Naru-chan how did you make this?"
Naru-chan was starting to worry the other girl didn't like it and vocalized that concern. "Do you not like it? I'm sorry Hina-chan I'll try bett-" That was the last thing Hinata wanted her girlfriend to think, she loved the gift and Naru-chan had been so thoughtful, there was no way she wanted her to feel like Hinata wasn't grateful, because she was.
"No! Naru-chan I love it, I just got distracted by it that's all. This is amazing and don't you doubt that for a moment." Naru-chan smiles and nods her head. Then after a moment she answers the previous question.
"Oh! It was actually really strange!"
"How was it strange?"
"Well originally I was planning on tying our hair together into the shape of a heart." Ah, so that was why Naru-chan had kept some of her hair from when she trimmed it down to her knees. She had asked for some of Hinata's hair from her more recent haircut (it was just trimming up the split ends, nothing as large as Naru-chan's). Hinata had thought the request was a bit odd, but she didn't say anything about it. If a bit of her hair was all it would take to make her girlfriend happy then she would give her as much as she asks for.
"Okay, so you replaced it with wood?"
"No, see that's the weird part. I had tied it together and held it to my heart, hoping to infuse it with my love." Naru-chan sported the cutest blush as she spoke those words. Hinata waited for her to continue. "I don't remember how long I stood there but when I finally looked back down at it it had turned to wood. And seemed to have had a bit of that weird energy that's everywhere. Though the energy has faded from it since then."
"What energy?"
"Can you not see it with the Byakugan? 'Cause I can feel it when I sit really still. It's how I found you when the Kumo nin was trying to kidnap you. I just sat really still and tried to be calm." Hinata had no idea what energy it was, but that does explain two things she had been wondering, well kind of. It's probably the reason why Naru-chan's eyes changed back then. Hinata looks at the wooden heart again. How did her chakra get in it, and so strong too? It looked almost as if she had used a jutsu but a lock of hair wasn't nearly enough for that, clearly that energy had jump started something. But why can she see it remnants in this thing and not anywhere else? Did it have something to do with Naru-chan interacting with it? Or maybe it had something to do with it reacting with her own chakra?
Before Hinata can continue to ponder the situation with the heart she notices something odd with her Byakugan. Is that Mizuki with a scroll on his back? It has green stripes on either end along with thinner green stripes slightly further from the ends. Where had she seen that before? Maybe Naru-chan knew. "Hey Naru-chan do you know of any large scrolls in the village?"
"There's the one the Hokage keeps in his office."
"What does it look like?
"Besides being a large scroll? It also has some green stripes, I think."
While they were talking Mizuki had gotten out of the range of her Byakugan but she knows the rough direction he was heading. "I think I just saw Mizuki running off with it."
"Should we go after him?" Hinata knew Naruko wouldn't really care about their duty as Kunoichi, but she felt she should still check. After all it could cause problems if he stole it and it somehow gets found out that they knew and did nothing.
"Do you want to?"
"Not particularly, well not for the scroll, if he really did steal it we get an excuse to beat him up." She knew Naru-chan didn't care about the fact that he had likely sabotaged her, her adorable girlfriend was probably more upset about his reaction to their relationship. To be fair Hinata wanted to beat him senseless for both reasons so she was plenty eager.
"Then lets go." Hinata had never forgiven the man for the time he had tried to pull her aside from class to tell her that 'she could do better than her' She had been tempted to beat him then and their but figured it would cause problems if she did. He was allowed his freedom to speak about another person and she would be crossing a line. Of course she was well aware of the fact that the Hokage wouldn't side with her when it comes to protecting Naru-chan from such harassment. That being said she was also in her right to tell of people who said otherwise to her girlfriend or their relationship and she had made it a habit of doing just that to civilians and anyone else who tried. The elders weren't pleased but she was talented enough that they buried their complaints.
The two girls quickly set out in the direction their instructor went but they weren't able bring him back into range of Hinata's Byakugan. She tells the other girl to stop. Naru-chan did so but asked in confusion. "Why are we stopping, I know you're not tired." It's true, the girls had trained together enough that they knew the others stamina well. Hinata stifles a blush at that thought.
"You said you were able to find me by sitting still, right?"
"Yeah."
"Do you think you could use it to track down Mizuki, just think about him once you've done what ever needs to be done and then that energy will do the rest?" The idea had merit but Naru-chan whined none the less. She wasn't sure if that's how it would work, Hinata had a suspicion that it could, if only because she knows what had been going through her girlfriends head that night.
"But I don't wanna think about Mizuki."
"Please Naru-chan, think about it this way, if this works we'll find out a little more about your powers." That's what the two called the strange abilities Naruko occasionally exhibited.
"Alright, but only because you're asking." With that Naru-chan sits in the lotus position and seemingly starts meditating. Hinata is watching her carefully to look for changes. They come quickly. Two of Naru-chan's bangs float upwards forming something that looks like ears. The girl also seems to suddenly be wearing red eyeliner. Naru-chan's eyes snap open to reveal they too have changed. Normally they are a deep purple with normal sclera, now they're entirely red, both the sclera and iris, with the pupils a darker shade of red. More shockingly was how Naru-chan's whole pigment changed, she grew much paler and her hair turned white as snow. Naru-chan stands and speaks. "Alright I've found him." Hinata also couldn't help but note that a small little red dot appeared on Naru-chan's forehead.
"Let's go then." Hinata would consider about the transformation later.
The two girls take off with Naruko in the lead. She had nearly outpaced Hina-chan a few times and had to actively slow herself down so the other girl can keep up. They arrive in the forest on the west edge of the village. The two girls rocket into the clearing just in time to see Mizuki throw a huge Fuuma shuriken at Iruka-sensei.
No words need to be spoken between the two girls as Naruko rushes towards Mizuki while Hina-chan intercepts the weapon, blocking with her new arm-guards. The two men look in shock as the two newly minted genin burst into the clearing. Mizuki steps back in fear, she's not really sure why he was afraid, he was typically pretty arrogant. Naruko continues rushing towards him, and while he manages to put up a block he wasn't at all prepared for the strength of the girl, it's like she got way stronger in just a few hours! He's kicked back into a tree. "Tag in." Mizuki looks up confused, as Naruko steps away. He tries to move and winces. He clearly hadn't noticed her swapping with Hina-chan as the taller girl moved in and connect a powerful Jyuken strike to his shoulder. She'd taken enough of those to know that he probably won't regain use of the entire arm for a day without assistance from a Hyuuga.
They move to knock him out but he manages to stop them with two sentences. "Wait! If you knock me out then you'll never learn why everyone in this village hates you Naruko!" The two girls look at each other and from behind they hear Iruka-sensei call out.
"No! You can't it's forbidden!" The two girls ignore him and Hina-chan says.
"We're listening."
Mizuki turns towards Hina-chan and says, "I wonder if you'll still like her after this." He lets out a weak chuckle. "12 years ago on October 10th a powerful demon attacked the village."
"We already know that, everyone already knows that." Naruko says kind of bored, she had stopped being curious about why she's hated a long time ago, but Hina-chan really wanted to know.
"Yes and the Yondaime defeated it. But he never killed the beast, oh no, instead he sealed it inside of a new born child. You are that child Naruko! You are the demon!"
"But you just said it's sealed inside me."
"Yes but it took possession of you from within the seal! Don't you get it you're a monster!" Naruko watched him carefully as he seemed to panic at her lack of caring, a quick glance towards Hina-chan showed she started to contemplate something. Her eyes snap back to Mizuki as the sound of a kunai flying through the air draws her attention. She snatches it out of the air before it got a chance to hit her girlfriend. "Dammit why are you okay with this! Did you already know you're a monster?!"
"No not really, I just don't see how it matters, even if I am a monster I still act human. And I still love like a human, and hate like a human. And I do everything in between, so if I'm a monster I don't do a very good job of being monstrous. And from what I've seen, there are plenty of humans who do a poor job of being humane." If abusing a child was what a normal 'good' human does then she would rather be a monster.
Naruko watched as several emotions flicked across Iruka-sensei's face, pride and a hint of shock. Then contemplation before determination. She said nothing as he silently and quickly approached Mizuki who seemed to be having some sort of breakdown. Whatever it was ended swiftly as Iruka knocked him unconscious. Iruka stairs at her for a moment before a look of confusion crosses his face, Naruko doesn't think much of it as she moves a bang away from her face, it somehow just moved there all on it's own.
"What happened to you Naruko?"
"What do you mean, Iruka-sensei?"
"Your hair and eyes were different." She had no idea what he was talking about and merely shrugged, she would talk about it with Hina-chan later.
It made sense. Not the Naru-chan being a demon bit, that was nonsense, but her having the demon sealed inside her makes a lot of sense. It would explain the second chakra source of terrifying power. It would also explain what the power was that she used to kill the cloud nin. Though it leaves some mysteries, like what is the energy she feels all around them? Or why does she seem to take on rabbit like traits? From what she had seen from the few pictures taken of the beast it looked nothing like a rabbit. Why did Naru-chan feel strange compulsions towards certain things, like leaving her forehead uncovered (she had no idea what the thing about the world getting dim was), or Genjutsu? Was Naru-chan's transformation a result of channeling the demons chakra? Or was it something else entirely? These are all questions she can't yet answer. She's snapped out of her thoughts as Naru-chan shakes her.
"Hey Hina-chan we have to go report to the Hokage about what happened tonight." It looked like Naru-chan wanted to ask her something, and was slightly pensive about it, but as Hinata laces her fingers through Naru-chan's the look disappears. Hinata realized at that moment what Naru-chan had wanted to ask and she gives her hand a soft squeeze. Naru-chan smiled at her and squeezed back in response.
Looking down at her arm-guards she sees a faint scratch in them and frowns. "Sorry Naru-chan looks like I already scratched them." The two girls were walking with Iruka-sensei towards the Hokage tower while he carried the traitor.
"That's okay, it just means they're doing their job and protecting you." They fall into a comfortable silence for a while before Iruka-sensei breaks it.
"So how did you two know to look for Mizuki? The order was only given to chunin and jonin."
"I happened to see him pass by the compound while I had my Byakugan active."
"Yeah Hina-chan thought there was something fishy with the scroll so we followed him."
"It's a good thing you did, he had me on the ropes and I probably would have been hit by that shuriken if you hadn't blocked it." Iruka-sensei was stronger than Mizuki by a wide margin. The average chunin instructor is required to be almost tokubetsu jonin in strength if not more so, Iruka-sensei was between tokubetsu jonin and full jonin in strength. He just rejected promotions because he wanted to teach, to make sure the next generation could protect themselves (he had told them as much, she respected the man for his willingness to put the younger generation ahead of his own personal achievements). Teaching assistants aren't under such strict limitations and can be anywhere from newly minted chunin to long time veterans, Mizuki was barely stronger than the former.
"How did he have you on the ropes? From my understanding you are far stronger than him."
"He had been my teammate as a genin and we had been friends growing up. Imagine if Naruko betrayed you." She wouldn't be able to handle it, the mere thought made her upset. She can see now how that would effect Iruka-sensei, even if he far outclassed the other man.
They arrived not long after, Mizuki was quickly collected by the Anbu stationed at the tower to be taken to T&I (Torture and Interrogation), while the three of them were escorted up to the Hokage's office. The old man greets them kindly, sort of like a nice grandfather, and asks them to explain what happened. Iruka-sensei goes first explaining how he was alerted about Mizuki's theft like the other chunin and went looking in the forest the two had played in when they were younger. He had found him and the two engaged in combat only to stop when the two girls arrived.
The girls took that as their cue to explain things from their perspective, how they had seen Mizuki by coincidence and, after deciding the scroll was suspicious, followed after him in the direction they saw him heading. Hinata had taken the lead and when she left out the nature bit Naru-chan took that to mean she should too (she had been surprised that Iruka didn't mention anything but she suspected that he thought it was a Jutsu of some kind, she wouldn't tell him otherwise), so she did. From there the three of them explained what happened in the clearing and how Mizuki had spilled the secret concerning Naru-chan.
It had been an eventful night to say the least. The aged Kage had intentionally allowed Mizuki to take the scroll. It was under his and his ANBU's watch 24/7 there was no way such a weak chunin stood a chance of stealing it under normal conditions, but he saw a chance to out a traitor and potentially find out who he planned on selling the secrets to. It helped that the scroll was a fake to begin with, the man would have at best escaped with nothing, and depending on who he was going to, he would have died by their hands (his wayward student or Iwa come to mind).
The aged kage speaks while stroking his beard. His tone sharper than it was earlier. "I see, and how do you feel about learning of this Naruko-chan?"
"It's Naruko, and I don't really care, if I was a demon I think I'd be the first person to know it and the people who care for me don't seem to care either way." She squeezes the Hyuuga heiress's hand. The white eyed girl squeezes back. He knew about the relationship, he didn't really see the issue. The clan was tired firmly to Konoha and tying her to the clan would help insure her loyalty.
"I see and how do you feel about the villagers? For treating you so poorly?"
"I don't care about them." Well that's the sacrifice he made. He sacrificed her health and potential love for the villagers by letting them abuse her without repercussions. She wasn't wearing her forehead protector, that might be a bad sign. The last thing he needed was for her to feel that it's time to leave. He needed to find out about that now.
"And how do you feel about the village, and me?" He had to know if she is going to become a loose cannon. If he had to he would lock her up in Konoha's highest security cell for the rest of her life. He didn't want to risk killing her and the beast rampaging, or her leaving and then returning for revenge. She needed to be loyal or be restrained. There were no other options.
"I swore to protect it when I became a ninja, and I swore to obey you at the same time."
"So why are you not wearing your forehead protector then?"
"Oh I just wanted to sew the plate into my sash." She didn't seem to be lying, good. Hiruzen doesn't make any visual or audible signs of it but he can feel the relief flood through him. Despite all that has happened the girl is still loyal to the village. Or at least loyal to him.
"And what of you Hinata-san, what do you think about all this?"
"I had been suspicious of something like this ever since that night." She says putting emphasis on the word 'that'.
Hiruzen nods knowing she had seen Naruko's transformation closer than anyone else. And given that she just graduated as Rookie of the Year from Konoha's most competitive academy she was likely smart enough to have to figure out Naruko had some kind of relation to the demon.
"Alright then, Iruka-kun be sure to turn in a written report by tomorrow afternoon, if there is nothing else you have to say or ask then you're dismissed. I'll see you tomorrow Iruka." After a few moments he takes a kinder tone, and tries to talk like he would to his grandson. "Oh and Naruko-chan, congratulations on graduating."
"It's Naruko but thanks anyways." With that the two girls walk out hand in hand.
She clearly didn't have much in the way of positive emotions for her, but at the very least she seemed loyal. That was good enough. It would change, bonds are forged through combat and she would see much of it in her future.
The two girls were standing in front of the Hyuuga compound. Still holding hands. Looking at the redhead Hinata speaks. "I didn't get the chance to give this to you because of Mizuki, but I also got you a graduation present. Just let me run in and grab it for you."
Naruko smiles at her girlfriend and says, "Okay, I'll wait right here for you." Hina-chan nods and runs inside. A shiver runs up Naruko's spine. She turns and sees a red eyed crow staring at her. Something is off about it. It squawks at her and then flies away. She turns back to the entrance and sees Hina-chan running back to her with a box in hand. The girl holds it out for her, and she gently grabs it. It's about two and a half inches wide and seven inches long. She unwraps the box and removes the lid.
Inside are two six inch long senbon. They each had a little symbol tied to the ends. One is a red Hyuuga clan crest and the other is a lavender swirl. "They're chakra metal, and are meant to tie up your hair and act as weapons."
Naruko loved it. She loved her long hair and she knew Hina-chan did too. This was the perfect solution to the problem she's been having with her hair being too long. Though she would likely still be making sure it didn't get so ridiculous again.
"They're beautiful, can you teach me how to put my hair up with them?" Hinata nods, she had planned to do that anyways.
"I'll stop by your apartment early tomorrow and help you with it."
"Okay. . . I love you Hina-chan."
"I love you too Naru-chan." The girls hugged one another and shared a quick kiss.
"I'll see you tomorrow Hina-chan, thank you for the gift."
"See you later Naru-chan."
The next morning Hiruzen found himself meeting with several of his elite jonin, they were here to become sensei. Normally only regular jonin are in the pool to become sensei, but that only applies to the second through tenth academy. For the first academy elite jonin are in the pool to become sensei and get first pick of the students. Most elite jonin also have stricter standards on what it takes to be ninja so most students from the first academy end up in the reserve forces. But those who pass their jonin-sensei's test will be allowed the privilege of being trained by the best of the village. The sensei also only takes on one team during their career unless specifically requesting another. The team will be allowed to stay together until they all reach the rank of jonin.
Iruka was in the room with them along with the principal of the first academy, Yoshihido Aoba. They were there to advise the jonin on who would fit well together on a team. Some of it was unnecessary, for example it was already a foregone conclusion that they would be creating another generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and they did not need the instructors to tell them that they compliment each other.
After having read their files two jonin in particular were arguing over who would get a certain girl.
"I'm telling you, Kakashi, I should have her because I can take her Genjutsu much farther than you ever could."
"And I'm telling you, Kurenai, she has no talent in it and it would be better if I train her in Ninjutsu. She has huge reserves and would make a great Ninjutsu specialist."
Hiruzen can't recall ever hearing elite jonin argue like this over the dead last of a graduating class. He turns to Iruka and asks. "You were the girls sensei, what do you think."
"Naruko might not have talent in Genjutsu but she has a real passion for it, and I think we should nurture that. More than anything though I think she needs to be put on the same team as Hyuuga Hinata."
"And why is that?" It was Asuma speaking this time.
"I saw it last night when they helped me apprehend Mizuki," The jonin had all been informed about what happened the previous night, "The two girls already have impeccable teamwork and would require a lot less work to make a fully functioning team. They barely even need to verbalize what they're doing for the other to react. It helps that they had both put each other down when requesting team assignments."
"Who did they each request as their third?" It was Kurenai who asked this time.
"Hinata put down Uchiha Sasuke as her third and Naruko wrote in Nara Shikamaru." Ah well they certainly weren't going to put Shikamaru on the team, he was already locked for Asuma on team 10.
That had been enough to convince them, the two girls would be put on a team together, so then who should their third member be? That was the question echoing through the minds of the people in the room. Should they go with Hinata's request and put Sasuke on the team? Would it be a problem having to rival clan heirs on the same team (even if one of those clans were gone)?
"We could do the traditional team of the top two students with the dead last." It was Yoshihido who spoke. That team composition typically fails horribly. In the best cases the teams are horribly out of balance and ultimately fall apart. And in the worst cases Konoha is left with the Sannin.
Hiruzen speaks, "That still puts them all on a team together, What other options are there?"
Kazuto responds looking down at the files of the remaining graduates who hadn't been put in teams yet. "The only students left are Aburame Shino, Haruno Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba, and Uchiha Sasuke."
Iruka speaks again. "Sasuke is the only one who will work. Shino and his insects are afraid of Naruko as is Kiba's ninken Akamaru. Not only that but the two girls can't stand Kiba because he constantly mocks Naruko. Though truth be told they did start to get along, or rather stop fighting, recently. Still I wouldn't recommend it."
"What of Sakura then?" Kakashi was the one asking this time.
"She despises the other two, and Hinata seems to hate her just as much."
Kurenai spoke next. "So why does Sasuke work?"
"He doesn't care about them, but they don't annoy him and they're strong. He likes strength and will be happy he's not being held back by weaklings. They are neutral to him and don't seem to mind him. They just don't like his fans." It seems Hinata would get her wish then. He was wary of the risks of creating such a high value team that could blow up horribly, but no one else seemed to fit.
Hiruzen nods and says. "Alright then we'll pair those three as a team." He didn't really want to create another top bottom team, the nickname for the team format, but this one seems to actually mesh so maybe it would work. "The last three will be put together as the last team."
Kakashi turns to the Hokage, "So who is getting Naruko?"
He smiled, and turned his head towards the Genjutsu mistress. It would be no good if he didn't keep his promise, can't have his Elite Jonin losing faith in him.
A/N Well it took like three months but it's here. Sorry about the wait. No idea when the next update will be. Realistically speaking it could be anywhere to within a weak from now to within a few months. We'll see. Thank you so much for everyone who has stuck around all this time and continues to read it. To all the new readers, hello I hope you've enjoyed it so far, and if you're not I'm glad you at least read this much. So I've decide to just not use the Japanese names of jutsu in the rewrite with a few exceptions here and there, and those are mainly for the ones I like the sound of better. For example i'm not going to translate Rasengan to spiraling sphere, but I will for other Jutsu.
Also just as an fyi I made an edit months ago about an error I made in regards to the Henge no jutsu that I intended to upload but never did, so that has gone up too. But it's super minor and has no actual baring on the story so it's not necessary to go back and read it, but for the sake of transparency I'm posting about it here too.
Until next time.
-CM 01/29/2020