Reckless Fire

Stephano Hungary: I've just been really inspired lately, so this story will probably be updated bi-weekly for now, now that I'm out of college for the summer. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: Welcome!

"Last call for Train 151, now boarding."

'Of course, knowing my luck, I make it just in time for the last boarding to make it to school… I swear, Hinata Hyuuga, you are a good luck charm in yourself!' Hinata thought to herself as she ran towards the train. She flashed her ticket to the conductor and quickly found a seat near the front.

As soon as she sat down, Hinata sighed and leaned against the window, placing her briefcase in her lap.

She looked in an empty seat beside her and saw a flyer with a picture of Konoha Gakuen on it. Hinata reached for it and began to read.

"Konoha Gakuen: Konoha's leading school in education and athletics… Certainly are modest, aren't they…?" Hinata muttered to herself with a small smile on her face.

Looking out the window, Hinata surveyed the passing trees and buildings and other passersby.

Soon the train came to a complete halt at next station and Hinata stood to exit. As she turned, another person shoved by her, "Oh! S-Sorry!" She gasped out. The person in front of her turned around and glared at her.

Hinata gasped again as the young man turned around to stare at her with his cold gaze; he had to have been almost a head taller than her. He had hair black as night and eyes to match. "Watch where you're going." He hissed out before turning back around to exit the train.

Hinata stood frozen in place and looked at the flyer that was in her right hand; it was now crinkled from her gripping it so hard in fear of the young man's glare.

She shook off her sudden fear and hurried off the train, she still had a couple more blocks to cover before she made it to Konoha Gakuen.

After a ten minute walk, Hinata stood in front of the open gates of the glorious school that is Konoha Gakuen. Other students walked around her to enter the courtyard, and Hinata, embarrassed that she was blocking them, apologized, softly, and then started to slowly walk into the yard as well.

She looked around, noticing the perfectly tiled sidewalks, and perfectly planted cherry blossom trees. And to top it all off, a seemingly perfect breeze rolled in and lightly fluffed the trees into letting a stream of petals fall to the ground.

'I can't help but think that breeze was planned… Hehe, maybe it's just my nerves getting to me…' Hinata thought to herself as she held her briefcase in front of her with both hands, as if to shield herself from the new, uncertain environment.

As more students passed by, Hinata noticed another thing… a whole lot of them were athletes.

Some girls walked by with field hockey sticks, softball bats, tennis rackets, and cleats of every different kind, from plastic to metal.

The boys carried baseball bats, football helmets, ice hockey sticks and skates, and all sorts of padding.

"Wow… I kind of feel like I should be carrying something as well…" Hinata muttered to herself as she walked in to the lobby of the school.

"Oh, no way…" She muttered again. The inside of the school was just as perfect as the outside, if not more so. The floor was so clean she could see her reflection; hell, Hinata bet that she could probably eat off of it. The wooden directory was neatly polished and sparkling. And then there was the insanely huge trophy case that was located next to it.

Hinata's jaw dropped at the sight of it. It had to have been almost two stories tall full of trophies thanks to the heightened ceiling! Trophies for swimming to track and field to ice skating to basketball to bowling were inside. Hinata couldn't read them all, but she was pretty sure all of them were 1st place or were titled with Konoha District Champion of some sort.

She was so overwhelmed by the number of trophies, she had to take a step back and gain her bearings. Unfortunately, in doing so, Hinata tripped over her feet and fell back onto another person walking by her. "A-ah! Oh my goodness! I-I'm so sorry… N-Neji-niisan?"

What luck! Hinata had fallen on top of her cousin Neji Hyuuga. The boy recently spoken of shook his head before opening his eyes, surprised at who he saw, "Hi-Hinata-sama?" He quickly stood up before offering her his hand, helping her up.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. "O-Oh, well, I thought you would have remembered, but Otou-san t-transferred to a h-higher paying job here in Konoha, a-and so I was transferred h-here to Konoha Gakuen…" Hinata responded.

Neji slapped a hand to his forehead, at this, Hinata's eyes widened, this was so unlike him! "Ah… I must have forgotten… I was too tired last night from Martial Arts and Lacrosse practice. Forgive me, Hinata-sama." He asked. Hinata sighed and waved her hand, "Neji-niisan, please, I already told you to s-stop addressing me so f-formally… It's r-really unnecessary…"

"NEEEEEEJIIIIIIIIII!" A loud voice rang out from the opening of the front doors. "Oh no…" Neji muttered before his eyes turned dark. "Wh-what is it, Neji-niisan?" Hinata turned at the source of the noise and yelped out loud at the sight of a young man with black hair in the shape of bowl cut and eyebrows as bushy as a caterpillar flying towards them, specifically Neji, with eyes ablaze and one foot out in a dynamic flying kick.

"N-Neji-niisan, look out!" Hinata shouted at him, trying to gain his attention. But Neji simply closed his eyes, sighed and placed his briefcase on the ground. As soon as the bushy-browed boy's foot was within arm's reach, Neji's arms shot out and grabbed, before twirling around on his heel, using the boy's momentum to fling him back out of the front doors from whence he came.

"AHHHHH! NOT AGAIN!" The boy yelled out as he crashed through the doors, landing at the feet of another girl with two buns on her head.

The girl shook her head and groaned out loud, "Lee, when are you gonna give it up? You're never gonna be able to beat Neji." The boy, Lee, stood up and cracked his neck, "I will not give up, Ten-Ten! As long as the flames of youth burn bright within my soul, I SHALL NEVER GIVE UP!"

-Smack!-

"Ow!" Ten-Ten brought up her hand and slapped Lee on the back of his head, "Calm down and use your inside voice for crying out loud! And stop with that 'flames of youth' crap… It's really annoying and I get enough of it from Gai in gym class…" She grumbled as she walked into the lobby.

She walked up behind Neji and slapped him on the back, "Morning!" Neji groaned in response before picking up his briefcase that he dropped.

Ten-Ten turned to face Hinata and held her hand out before speaking, "Hey, there, name's Ten-Ten! And you are…?"

"O-oh!" Hinata's right hand quickly shot out to shake with Ten-Ten's, "I-I'm Hinata… Hinata Hyuuga."

As they dropped their handshake Ten-Ten's eyes widened, "Woah, woah, woah… Hyuuga? Are you and Neji related in any way?" Hinata nodded before speaking again, "Y-Yes… We're c-cousins. Our fathers are t-twins."

"You're Neji's cousin? No way!" Ten-Ten looked back at the boy in question to be met by his ice-cold glare before turning back to Hinata, "You're way less of a stiff than he is." She stated bluntly, pointing a thumb back at the stoic young man, and Neji scoffed in response, turning his head.

Ten-Ten then stood beside Hinata, draping an arm over her shoulder, "So, you're new here, I take it?" "Y-Yes…" Hinata replied meekly.

"Well then, I guess somebody's gonna have to give you a tour! Preferably me since, no offense, but your cousin is kind of a hard-ass, and Lee's well…" The two girls looked over at Lee who was suddenly doing push-ups in the middle of the hallway. "For being beaten by Neji, I shall do 250 push-ups, 300 sit-ups, and 400 pull-ups!"

"Well, he's Lee." The bun-haired girl stated bluntly, at which Hinata giggled behind her hand.

"So, how about we get you to the main office and get you started?" Ten-Ten asked excitedly before dragging Hinata along with her.

"Hinata-san, Tsunade-sama will see you, now." The front-desk clerk, Shizune, called.

"Oh, o-ok!" Hinata quickly stood up and stiffly walked into the headmaster's office, extremely nervous as to what kind of head she was.

'Oh… My…' Hinata thought to herself in shock as to what she saw. A pig-tailed, blond-haired, and… Well-endowed woman sat before her, and an even stranger site was the miniature pig sitting in her lap, contentedly.

"Ah, Hyuuga-san, please sit." "Uh, y-yes ma'am…" Hinata muttered.

"So, although you haven't seen much of the campus yet, what are your thoughts so far of Konoha Gakuen?" Tsunade asked, linking her hands together and resting her chin on them, gazing at Hinata's nervous exterior.

"I-It's well… U-um… The s-student body i-is certainly d-dynamic w-when it comes to a-athletes…" Hinata stated, her hands gripping the bottom of her skirt.

"It is, isn't it? Maybe you will find a sport, as well, to participate in during your time here. Tennis, Field Hockey, and Softball are particular favorites among the girls." Tsunade spoke. Hinata nodded in response before speaking, "W-well… Those are all f-fine sports, b-but I-I'm not particularly i-interested in them-!"

"Of course you're not." Tsunade interrupted her sentence. "Huh?"

The big-breasted woman smirked before leaning back in her chair, "I know you're not interested in those sports, Hinata-san." The young girl raised an eyebrow before speaking again, "You… You d-do?"

The older woman nodded in response, opening the laptop that she had on her desk before turning it around to show Hinata a video clip.

"And no. 12, Hinata Hyuuga, the Screaming Queen's left forward, prepares to take the penalty kick for the foul from the opposing team from earlier." The announcer's dialogue was recorded over the game, though sounds from the audience could be heard faintly in the background.

"HI-NA-TA! HI-NA-TA! HI-NA-TA!" "Boy, I tell ya, this crowd sure is fired up for this championship game. And it's all because of that little lady, right there!"

The video then showed footage of Hinata making the kick and sending the ball flying towards the goal.

"Unbelievable, it almost looks as if the ball turned into a comet of some sort with that white streak trailing after it… I tell ya, Hinata Hyuuga, has got to have the most powerful left-footed kick I have ever seen! And her right-footed kick is no joke, either."

The video showed the ball soaring through the air, just barely slipping past the goalie's fingers, making the final point to help the Screaming Queens win the game.

"AMAZING! Did you see that goal? Woah! This has got to be one of the most amazing games I have ever seen in my entire life! Hinata Hyuuga is definitely going places! She most definitely deserves that MVP medal! One of the most amazing soccer players I have ever seen in my career as an announcer, hands down!"

Tsunade closed the laptop's lid after the video ended and laced her fingers back together, once more. "I'm surprised that you don't know how popular you are, but then again, girls soccer isn't paid as much attention as the boys."

"W-Why is t-that?" Hinata asked.

The blonde smirked, yet again, before handing Hinata a map of the school and shaking her hand, "You'll find out soon enough, now won't you?"

And with that, Hinata was ushered out of the door and back into the main office where Ten-Ten, Lee, and Neji were waiting for her.

"So wassup? Tour time, now?" Ten-Ten asked, excitedly.

"U-Um, I suppose s-so…" Hinata said. "Yeah buddy! Let's go!"

The tour lasted about 20-25 minutes, just enough time to tour before class got started at 8:45, and since Hinata arrived at 8:00, she'd have some time to explore the school.

"And here's the final part of the school! And also, the biggest…" Ten-Ten pushed open to large wooden doors and Hinata's jaw practically touched the floor, "The gym!"

The gym had to have the area of 3 football fields side-by-side. The first two fields were completely turf, and one field on the end had wooden floors, most likely for the basketball and volleyball players. There had to have been an outside area, but she'd probably see that later. Hinata noticed other sports equipment to the sides o f the gym and slowly, but surely, her eyes gravitated towards the soccer goals and her heart started to race.

"Whattaya think? Pretty cool, huh?" Ten-ten said. She noticed Hinata became quiet and looked at her, "Hina? You okay?...Woah." Ten-ten saw Hinata's face had taken on a light pink tint, and she was smiling widely, her eyes glazed over.

The bun-haired girl followed her gaze and it fell on the soccer goals as well. "Ohhhh," She slapped Hinata on the back, snapping her out of her glazed look, "Huh?" The Hyuuga girl gasped.

"You like soccer?" Ten-Ten asked. Hinata smiled softly, blushed and nodded, "U-uh, yes! Yes I do! It's the most amazing sport in the world! How can anyone not love it?"

Ten-Ten and Lee were taken aback at Hinata's sudden passionate tone, but not Neji. He smirked; he knew how his little cousin got when it came to the sport.

Hinata noticed the shocked look on the older students' faces and backed down, smoothing out her uniform, "Um, haha, sorry… I-I, uh, get a l-little excited when i-it comes to s-soccer…"

"Hey, there's no problem with that, it's cool to be passionate about things!" Ten-Ten said. "I, for one, am especially proud of you, Hinata! For you have embraced the flames of youth so greatly, you truly are AMAZING!" Lee shouted.

Ten-Ten and Neji groaned in response while Hinata giggled.

"Hinata-sa – I mean, Hinata, can I see your schedule?" Neji asked. "O-oh, sure!" Hinata handed him the paper from her briefcase before turning back around and scanning the area of the gym.

"Looks like we've got only one class together, but at least it's the most fun one!" Ten-Ten said as she looked over Neji's shoulder to read Hinata's schedule. The boy glared at the girl's unwanted closeness but got over it.

"Really? W-what?" Hinata asked, turning around. "Gym, girl!" Ten-Ten replied, grinning.

Hinata's eyes widened and she smiled, "Well, at least I'll have friends in that class…" "Of course, but you gotta be careful, Hina." Ten-Ten warned. Neji and Lee nodded as well, "Wh-why?" "Sports aren't just a fun activity to do in one's spare time. Here at the academy, they are a way of life. And when it comes to playing the game, the top dogs of the school will do everything in their power to weed out potential allies and destroy the weaklings." Neji said gravely.

Hinata's face seemed to turn blue and Ten-Ten noticed her discomfort and quickly came to her aid, "W-well I wouldn't say it so blunt like that, but, yeah, there are some crazies out there, Hinata, and you gotta watch yourself. But we'll be there, so don't worry."

Hinata breathed out and smiled once again, "O-okay. I trust you. Wh-what time does g-gym class start, anyway?"

"Actually, it starts at 9:30, after homeroom." Lee said. "S-so it our first c-class?" Hinata gasped out. "Ohhh… We did neglect to mention that, didn't we? Hahaha…." Ten-Ten laughed nervously.

Hinata felt dizzy, was she going to be picked by the "top dogs," or was she going to be destroyed?

Only one way to find out…

"Here's your homeroom, Hina. See you in gym class, later." Ten-Ten said as she and Lee wandered off.

Neji stayed behind for a moment before placing a hand on her shoulder, "Be strong, Hinata. You can do this." Hinata blushed at Neji confidence in her and she nodded, "Right! I won't let you down, Nii-san."

The older boy bowed his head and left off in the same direction as Lee and Ten-Ten.

Hinata turned back to the door that would lead her into homeroom and took a deep breath. 'This is so nerve-wracking… What I am gonna do? I'm all alone now… Man, Screaming Queens, I really miss you girls, right now. You were my home away from home…' She looked down at her hands gripping her briefcase and frowned.

Suddenly, a pair of sapphire blue eyes popped up in her face, "Hey, why the long face?" "Gah!" Hinata jumped back almost 4 feet at the sudden presence and fell over on her butt. "O-ow…" "Hahaha, sorry, about that, didn't mean to scare ya!"

"It's a-alright, I don't mi-mi…" Hinata stopped in the middle of her sentence once to stare at the person who scared her. 'He's… Gorgeous…' The boy was about a head taller than her, with straw blond hair and peachy-colored skin. He had strange whisker marks on his face as well, but Hinata didn't mind; she thought they made him even cuter.

The boy reached down with a hand to help Hinata up, and once they made contact, Hinata's face became a cherry red. 'He's touching me…!' "Name's Naruto Namikaze, best athlete in all of Konoha Gakuen, at your service!" He shouted.

Hinata's blush became a little less bright but she still had a tinge of pink on her cheeks, "I-I… I'm Hinata Hy-Hyuuga." Naruto stopped grinning before becoming wide-eyed, "Hyuuga! No way! Are you related to Neji?" Hinata nodded meekly in response.

"Oh, man, this is so awesome, wait until Sasuke hears this… He's already pissed with one Hyuuga trying to hog the spotlight from him, now let's see what he does now that there's two… Hehehe…" The way Naruto hunched over snickering into his hands reminded Hinata of a fox for some reason.

"Wh-who's Sasuke?" She asked. The blonde quit his snickering momentarily before standing up straight, "He's kind of an asshole, jerk, stick-in-the-mud guy," Naruto started, "But he's an awesome athlete – not as good as me, mind you – and he 's my best friend!" He grinned.

Hinata smiled at his exuberance and spoke, "W-well, he sounded a l-little unpleasant w-when you first d-described h-him, but i-if he's your best f-friend that m-must mean something…"

"Yeah, he's a cool guy. You wanna meet him? He's in my homeroom, right there." Naruto pointed at the door Hinata was once standing in front of.

"O-oh, actually, I was just about to go i-in there as w-well. T-that's my h-homeroom, too." Hinata said.

"Awesome! Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"HEY! Sasuke-teme!" Naruto shouted, barging into the classroom, dragging Hinata by her arm.

Hinata became extremely red as everyone in the room immediately turned to see where the source of the noise was coming from, but Naruto didn't seem to mind, almost as if he was used to it. Trying to keep from embarrassing herself, Hinata simply kept her head down, making sure her face wasn't seen.

After a few seconds, Naruto stood in front of a few desks; Hinata still had her head down. "Sasuke-teme, I'd like you to meet Hinata. Hinata Hyuuga." He said smugly. "What?" A voice responded.

Hinata's heart raced, the dark, gravely, voice sounded familiar…

"Watch where you're going."

No… No it couldn't be!

Hinata snapped her head up and looked into the same coal-black eyes that glared at her earlier this morning on the train. "You're a Hyuuga?" He asked.

'T-this is S-Sasuke?' "U-uh, y-yes!" Hinata yelped out. She noticed a girl out of the corner of her eye snicker behind her hand. If she was trying to be sneaky she didn't do a good job of it… Having bubble gum-pink hair doesn't make you too unnoticeable…

Sasuke's eyes turned into slits and Hinata faintly turned a little blue as his eyes roamed over her. She suddenly noticed how quiet the classroom got all of a sudden… "You… You ran into me on the train this morning." He said, leaning back in his chair, resting his feet on his desk. The girls in the room, including the pink-haired one sighed dreamily.

'I ran into you? Who does this… this pretty boy think he is?' Weirdly enough, Hinata's eyes squinted and her small mouth turned into a frown. "For such a pretty boy, you certainly are a jerk." She said.

As soon as she saw Sasuke's eyes widen just a tad, Hinata realized what she just said. "O-oh my…"

She looked around the room and saw that Naruto's eyes were even wider than hers. "I-I'm sorry! I d-didn't mean – !" "OH MY GOD! HAHAHA!" Naruto broke his deer in the headlights look and fell over on the ground hard. "I-I-I can't believe you said that Hinata-chan! I'm dying!"

"Eh?" Hinata squeaked out. Why was he laughing? She just insulted his best friend! "B-but I d-don't understand!" She said.

Naruto slowly stood up with a hand on his side, "Oh, man… Hinata-chan, you sure are hilarious! No girl has ever insulted, Sasuke-teme!" He leaned over and slapped an arm over Sasuke's shoulder before speaking again, "Looks like not all of the girls in this school are gaga for you, teme! I might just have to take this one for myself." Naruto wiggled his eyebrows, suggestively. Sasuke rolled his eyes in response before glaring at Hinata, again, "Please, you'd be doing me a favor. How could anyone be interested in a mousy girl like her?"

Hinata opened her mouth to say something, but she hesitated, "Got something to say, little mouse?" Sasuke taunted.

Her lip began to tremble, "What's wrong? What happened to all that backbone you had earlier?" The smirk on his face got larger as Hinata seemed to shrink back from him.

Hinata looked to Naruto for help but it seemed he had suddenly busied himself with the pink-haired girl from earlier.

"Naruto's not here to protect you now, little mouse." He said, standing up so he towered over her, again.

Hinata felt her eyes tear up, "I-ah!" She began to talk but she squeaked, slapping a hand over her mouth before she could say anything. She looked around and saw that the girls in the room were looking at her with smirks of satisfaction, while the boys were turned away, pretending not to notice.

"Well?" Sasuke asked to Hinata, raising an eyebrow.

"Back off, Uchiha!" A gruff voice seemed to bark out, breaking the tension between Sasuke and Hinata.

The two turned to the voice and saw a boy standing up behind his chair. Hinata noticed he had short, shaggy brown hair and red triangles on his cheeks. His eyes were like black slits making him look more dog-like, somehow.

"The girl didn't do anything wrong, so stop being an asshole and leave her alone!" the boy growled. Hinata flinched back; even his teeth were canine-like!

"Or what, Kiba?" Sasuke asked, smirking, "You gonna stand up for little mouse, right here?" He jerked his head in Hinata's direction.

"If it gives me an excuse to beat your face in, then I gladly volunteer to." Kiba said punching his left hand with his right fist. "Hmph, I'd like to see you try." "No problem."

"Boys, boys, please, cool it with the death threats, will you? No need to fight each other, you'll have plenty of time to fight during spring tryouts." A tired-sounding voice rang out in the classroom and Hinata turned to see it came from a tall man with silver, spiky hair.

Strangely enough, half of his face was hidden by a mask and he had a headband covering his left eye. "Kakashi-sensei! YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the teacher.

Hinata looked at the clock and noticed that the time had gone by at least 20 minutes since the morning bell rang.

Kakashi raised a hand up and seemed to sweat, nervously, "Haha, yes, well… I was uh, lost on the road of life… And thus became distracted on the way to school… And then a black cat crossed my path, and - !" "LIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEESSSSS!" Naruto shouted again, cutting off Kakashi.

"Yes, well, I'm here now, so take a seat, Naruto." The blonde boy sat down begrudgingly but became content knowing he was sitting next to the pink-haired girl.

Hinata noticed everyone had sat down except for her and spoke up, in a small voice, "U-um… Pardon me?"

Kakashi looked up from his desk and saw Hinata wave her hand, "Ah, yes, Ms. Hyuuga. Since you seem to have already acquainted yourself with the class, you can go ahead and have a seat in-between Inuzuka-san and Aburame-san."

"U-uh…" Hinata looked around before she saw Kiba raise his hand, "Over her, girly! I'm Kiba Inuzuka."

"O-oh, coming!" She hurried over to him and sat in an empty chair between Kiba and the boy sitting next to him.

"So, if everyone is calm enough, now, let's get started…" Kakashi stared lecturing.

During the speech, Kiba leaned over and whispered to Hinata, "Hey, insulting Uchiha back there… Pretty ballsy." Hinata jumped in response, "I-I didn't mean t-to, honest! It just s-slipped!"

The wild boy shook his head and snickered deeply, "Whatever you say, girly." "Hintata…"

"Eh?" Kiba leaned back in chair and rested his hands behind his head. "Whatcha say, girly?" Hinata turned to him and smiled, confidently, "My name is Hinata."

He smirked and closed his eyes, "I heard you the first time." Hinata giggled lightly and rolled her eyes before turning back in her chair to listen to Kakashi's lecture.

"… All in all, that's it for homeroom. Good luck to you all during the last day of Spring Tryouts next class."

As soon as Kakashi finished that sentence, Hinata's smile slowly faded away into a terrified frown.

'D…Did he say tryouts were TODAY?' Hinata's face seemed to turn blue again as she sank down in her seat, her hands entangled in her waist-long hair.

'What am I gonna do? I don't have any of my gear with me! How am I supposed to try out for the team?'

Kiba noticed how miserable Hinata suddenly became and placed a hand on her shoulder, effectively breaking her out of her depressed stupor, "Hey, don't be nervous. Everyone usually finds a team to be a part of, anyway." "Wh-what do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, instead of staying after school for weeks of tryouts because of all the sports we have, the school just extends gym time to 3 hours instead of one hour and thirty minutes for three days. That way, everybody can find a sport." He explained.

"They make us play every sport we have during gym, usually separating it by boys and girls so the coaches can have an easier and less-time wasting experience trying to select players."

'Oh no! What if they've already held tryouts for girls soccer? I've got nothing, now! I'll be a total outcast!' Hinata was absolutely terrified on the inside, but tried to remain as calm as possible on the outside;

"O-oh… But still… Today's the l-last day… W-what can I possibly d-do at this point?" She asked worriedly.

"Uh…" Kiba placed a hand on his chin as he tried to figure out exactly what sports were holding tryouts today.

"Today, they are holding tryouts for track and field, volleyball, tennis, field hockey, baseball and softball, and soccer." Hinata and Kiba turned to their right at the voice that had spoken up. "Oi, Shino! Was wondering when you were gonna introduce yourself to new girl, here." Kiba said enthusiastically.

Hinata saw that the boy, Shino, had dark brown hair as well, like Kiba, but was less wild-looking in appearance but still seemed to have a shaggy look about it. He also wore black sunglasses, which she thought was interesting as well.

Looking at him read a mini-encyclopedia on insects, Hinata noticed how calm and calculated he was compared to Kiba and his abrasiveness.

After a few seconds of staring, Hinata suddenly blinked her eyes and gasped, "You s-said they're h-holding tryouts for s-soccer, today?" "That is correct." The Aburame boy replied.

"Wait. You wanna do soccer?" Kiba asked while pointing to Hinata and she nodded in response. "But you can't, that-s - !" "I-I know! I-It's impossible!" The wild boy had a bewildered look on his face, "You know why?" He asked.

"I don't h-have any of m-my gear to tryout w-with! I l-left them a-at home because I-I thought I-I wouldn't need them f-for a while!" Hinata said in a rush.

Kiba got nervous and placed a hand behind his neck, "Actually, that wasn't the answer I was looking for…" "W-What do you m-mean?"

"Well… Hinata, the truth is that there is no - !"

-BRRIINNGG!-

"Aw, crap. Bell rang. I'll tell you in gym class, later, alright?" Kiba said as he sprinted out of the room.

"U-um… Okay…" Hinata mumbled. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Shino had disappeared silently as well.

She finally stood up and held her briefcase in her hand, tightly, 'I guess this is the end of the road for me, and I haven't even started, yet…'

Hinata followed everyone out of the classroom and walked towards the gym, although with a little less pep in her step compared to the rest of them.

Before she entered through the gym doors, a woman's voice broke her out of her daze, "Ms. Hyuuga! Ms. Hyuuga!"

Hinata turned to see the black-haired woman from the front desk, Shizune, if she remembered correctly running at her with a red and white duffel bag – 'The bag! It says Screaming Queens on it! That's my bag!' She felt like she could cry tears of joy at the sight.

Once Shizune was close enough, she had hung her head, heaving in and out, "Normally, I'm not as tired, but this bag is extremely heavy!" She handed it over to Hinata who took it without any struggle and slung it over her shoulder.

"Your father had called telling us that he had forgotten to tell you that tryouts were today and meant to give you your bag. But he had it rushed over, as soon as possible. And it looks like it was right on time, too." Shizune said, impressed by the amount of good luck that graced Hinata.

"I-I really am l-lucky to h-have a father l-like him. Thank you Shizune-san!" Hinata said, bowing.

Shizune nodded her head and walked back in the direction from whence she came towards the office, and Hinata turned to face the gym doors once again.

"Okay, Konoha Gakuen. I, Hinata Hyuuga, am about to show you what I'm made of! Bring it on!" And with that, she pushed the doors open, and her heart began to race at the thought of what was to come.

.:END:.

Stephano Hungary: Here is chapter one, wrapped up all nice and tight. And expect a more action-packed chapter two in two weeks on the dot!

Preview of Chapter 2: The Spirit of Competition!

"Hope you're ready for this, Hina. It's gonna be a bumby ride."

"I-I hope I can d-do this…"

"Hinata! That was amazing! Where'd you learn to play like that?"

"Who do you think you are? Listen, Sasuke-kun is mine, and don't you forget it."

"You play adequately… For a girl."

"Y-you… Y-you… You really a-are a jerk, y-you know that?"

"Wait… What do you mean, there's no girls soccer team?"