OTOGAKURE NINJA ACADEMY

Well me being that intelligent person I am decides to write like three different stories at once, but I'm really into this one right now

The happiness returns…soon!

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Chapter Fifteen

"Hinata-San?" questioned the green beast Rock Lee as the group of shinobi came into sight. They have arrived on time to wait for the other Konoha nin to meet them in the field.

"Neji-Kun, look, it's Hinata!!" Lee cheered loudly, causing the elder Hyuuga and the weapons mistress Tenten to turn around. "Look Neji, your cousin has returned" Tenten pointed out. "Hn" the Hyuuga prodigy merely responded.

"Hello Neji-Niisan" Hinata greeted as she approached her brother, the others followed behind her. "Hello Hinata" he greeted kindly as well. Hinata gave a small smile, but the air around him still seemed stiff. His sudden smirk caused Hinata to shudder. An awkward aurora filled the grassy field. "Now then…" Neji paused slightly, turning himself into the gentle fist position. "Shall we have a rematch?"

"Neji-Niisan, are you still referring to the match during the chuunin exams years ago? I'm over that now, and besides, we all know your skill is unmatchable" Hinata said, admitting defeat.

"Are you going to give up that quickly?" Neji asked in more of an encouraging way then threatening. Hinata could sense the distinctive welcoming tone in his voice and decided to give in. She joined the branch family member in the Hyuuga gentle fist fighting style and braced herself for an attack. She may not be able to win, but she knew it wouldn't be a repeat of last time.

The battle was much more evenly matched now that Hinata has under gone intense training for her one on one combat skill. Thanks to Kimimaro's extra Taijutsu training, she was much quicker and stronger then Neji had expected for the young Hyuuga. The two white eyed cousins went at each other with what seemed to be endless amounts of punches and kicks at one another.

Naruto tried to hold back a yawn at noticing the fact that Hyuuga battles were usually boring. The only thing that was truly intriguing was the shown improvement of Hinata's skill. Neji was obviously struggling more this time around.

It seemed to turn more into the Hyuuga prodigy's favor when he found an opening to grab Hinata's wrist. He began to flip he over as Hinata snatched Neji's legs, bringing him down with her. She threw a few kunai at him when she thought he was on the ground, but he quickly got up and blocked them with his famous rotation move. Hinata noticed neither of the two were holding back on each other, and the spar had become rather serious.

The two began throwing blows at each other with the help of their Byakugan, both intensely into the fight, but being cautious that they wouldn't end up killing each other.

Naruto let out a smile from his dazed stare. "What are you smiling for?" Kiba asked the blonde. Naruto pointed to the two in another blank look. "Lookit them, they are getting tired" he smirked.

It was true, even though they both didn't want to admit it. Neji had clearly underestimated Hinata's stamina, and Hinata wasn't going to go down easily. "This is amazing that she can keep up with Neji now! I can't even do that to well!" Lee said eagerly. "Yeah, she is crazy good! Go Hinata!!" Kiba cheered on his teammate.

Hinata and Neji continued taking blows until they both seemed to run low on their chakra from the usage of their punches. It seemed they both collided fists at the same time, causing both of them to fall backwards. The ninja that became an audience gasped at the sight of the collision and eagerly watched them as they both tried to regain their balance.

Hinata didn't even have her Byakugan activated anymore when she simply stuck out her hand in front of Neji. The Hyuuga boy's eyes widened as Hinata simply exerted enough force into her push to make Neji fall flat on his behind on the hard earth.

The other's mouths dropped. They watched a whole long fight just to watch Neji get pushed down on the ground by a simple poke in the end?

Neji rubbed his shoulder slightly as he was on the ground. After at least a minute passed, Hinata collapsed on the ground next to him. The two sat besides each other and Neji glanced over at the Hyuuga heiress. Then he did something unexpected…he laughed.

Neji couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as he stood back to his feet. "Well Hinata-Chan, you certainly have improved" he said slightly returning to his more serious demeanor. He offered to help her up, but Hinata stood up on her own. Neji smirked and walked over to the rest of the group.

"Wow Hinata, that was great!" Naruto said encouragingly.

"Yeah I'd say!" Kiba said.

"I agree" Shino said.

"Why don't we go get something to eat?" Tenten suggested.

"Sure, why not?" Hinata agreed as they walked over to the famous Ichiraku Ramen stand.

Hinata took in every small detail in Konoha, the smell of the air, the sights of the beautiful trees, everything she would take for granted if she had still been there. It's funny that the town looked so much more beautiful after being away for only a few months. She was served immediately when she took a seat next to Kiba and her cousin.

"Is anything wrong Hinata?" Kiba asked the absentminded kunoichi. Hinata gazed up at her old teammate, awakening from her trance. "You haven't touched your food at all" he pointed out. Hinata was wondering how he had figured she was being bothered. She laughed at the thought that maybe he was just trying to get a hold of her food. "It's nothing" she said and gave him a sincere smile, returning to her bowl of ramen and inhaled it in quickly.

"So how long do you plan on staying?" the older Hyuuga asked the younger. "Honestly I'm not sure…I should really be reporting back soon" Hinata said, head down. "I should probably head to the Hokage's office. We were sent here to escort the Kazekage so he could talk to Tsunade-Sama" she continued. "Well we will come with you then!" Kiba said. Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement. "Might as well walk you there" Neji said. "Yeah, plus I need to go there soon anyways" Sakura reported. "Thank you everyone" Hinata smiled as she led the way.

The tallest building in Konohagakure blocked the twilight rays of sun from shining on the group of Konoha Nin as they made there way to the Hokage office. Just as Hinata had expected, a few of her current sound nin teammates awaited for the Kazekage to finish his business outside the building. Hinata first attempted to hide herself, but failed as she was already spotted by Ukon.

"Hey Hinata, those your friends?" he asked casually. Hinata stopped her tries of becoming hidden and approached the sound nin. "Yes, these are some of my closest friends from this village. We were just catching up, and I decided to report back here" she said. The scaly boy eyed all of the Konoha nin individually and returned his gaze to the Hyuuga. "Well we are just hanging around here for right now. Kimimaro ordered for all of us to just relax until the Kazekage is done" he responded.

Hinata nervously eyed the other teammates relaxing behind him. She felt as if Ukon served as a barrier and was the only one separating her from being pummeled by the others. Ukon turned around to try to figure out what the girl was concentrating on.

"Oh, them? Don't worry about it. Everyone was just a little frustrated. Tayuya has finally calmed down, and Kidomaru was only protecting her in the first place, so once she got over it, he did too. Karin calmed down to after Suigetsu talked some sense into her. Pretty much everyone is over it…hopefully" Ukon said unconvincingly.

"I-I-If you say so" Hinata stuttered.

"Hinata" a cold voice came from behind her. She stumbled slightly as she turned around, tripping over her own feet. It's as something as simple as hearing his name could make her lose absolutely all her coordination. She was an alcoholic, and he was the drink.

"Kimimaro" she said with a blank emotionless stare that could put his cold looks to shame.