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There is nothing much of note with the rookies entering the exams alongside his team.
They're three team of the many competing but in the fodder is one made of prime material to learn of his own strength. Sasuke Uchiha with his Sharingan will give him a challenge, at least. He's destined for greatness with a dojutsu like his and he's heard many rumors of him being the Rookie of the Year, the prodigy of their generation. Their generation full of clan heirs but no one truly of note.
He ignores everyone else but the one person who has the potential, the fate, to meet his match; Sasuke Uchiha.
He allows Lee to test him first because if he cannot beat Lee, there is no point in even trying.
His teammate runs back into the exam room, a blur amongst the crowd, and he simply stares without a word.
"Well?" Tenten crosses her arms.
"I won!" Lee smiled and put his thumb up.
There's a hint of disappointment but he expects nothing less, their team is a year above theirs, but destiny will place the Uchiha over Lee. It is the order of life, the way of ninja; those with bloodlines will always triumph those without. The entire room is full of shinobi from all over but his eyes, even without the Byakugan, can see through many of them; too weak to survive in a world like theirs. He turns back to his team and doesn't allow them to even register.
The first exam is but a breeze as his Byakugan is the advantage, as it always is.
The only notable thing is that he almost laughs at the blond on Team Seven when he stands up from his seat and yells, voice echoing in a silent room.
Fate does not stand on the side of people like you.
They pass, nonetheless, because tests in the world of shinobi is not always as it seems.
What he remembers the most is the second exam; the thrill and fire of tracking down scrolls, of fights with other genin, and the memory most stark against his mind is when they stumble across Team Seven. They are fellow shinobi of Konoha but this is a test and if they cannot stand up to them, then they do not deserve to be chunin. He watches them and they send Lee; the only one still standing is the Nara girl. He can easily defeat her, in any state, but he doubts that she will fight him at all.
But Lee stops in the trees.
A team from Hidden Sound erupts from the treeline adjacent to Lee. He can see his teammate ready to react but there is no reason to; the Nara girl stalls them, a plan forming in her head, and she takes control of the other team's kunoichi. She knows what she's doing, there is that. She is a Nara and they are full of mind traps ready to spring in spite of doubts. And perhaps, he grudgingly admits, he underestimated her.
And then, the girl surprises him again.
She kills the Sound kunoichi, and there is no thought in her face, she is a blank canvas as she uses the dead body through her Shadow Possession and drops it without a care when it becomes useless. They fight to kill, and she does not seem surprised, never pulling a single attack. The fight moves fast, kunai and jutsu flying through the air, traps springing and she must cast a genjutsu for he cannot see what the Sound team runs from.
The girl kills them without flinching and their bodies hit the ground, a mere thump in the dirt. All their life reduced to a simple sound.
Lee hesitates in the trees but jumps into the clearing when the Nara girl turns her face his general direction. There is a tense line remaining in Lee's shoulders, something he can't quite recognize...perhaps it is regret which does not belong on the battlefield. He tells Tenten nothing of it. The scroll belonging to the Sound team is a Heaven scroll, nothing they need, and Lee tosses it towards the Nara girl. He opens his mouth to say something but stops himself short.
He blinks and Lee returns within moments as he tries to process exactly what he's seen, pulling himself away from the clearing where Team Seven and now Team Ten stays.
"Let's go," he says shortly, "the girl's brother is on the other team. We have no need to give them aid."
They are shinobi, first and foremost, where survival and the mission is their priority—but he files away the information for later examination. She is the first of their year to kill, even before anyone in his team, and he never sees it coming. He had thought he, or Lee, would need to intervene as a fellow Konohan shinobi but she acted before he even could try. He had focused too much on the Uchiha and even the blond annoyance caught his attention more than the Nara.
And yet, she is the one that stands victorious against three other genin.
He knows better now.
She is a possible opponent he needs to watch.
(He realizes, now, that he doesn't even know her name.)
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The next time he hears about her, his entire perspective's changed, and he sees much more than he once did.
The exams are over and he's heard many stories about the events after the invasion by Hidden Sand and Sound. There are whispers about Orochimaru and everyone knows that the Hokage has fallen, but those are not his concerns as of the moment. He is a genin and these matters are much above him. His thoughts are more about himself and his being as a Hyuga.
Naruto Uzumaki is at the root of it all, but he knows that girl plays a much bigger role than anyone else can suspect. He has seen her, and heard rumors about, aiding several of her yearmates with the third exams. He's sitting in a full teahouse, waiting for Tenten, and watching the people pass by. Everyday since the exams have been a struggle in identity, of wondering what he is without fate, but he's healing his image of the world straightened out for him. He blinks when he sees a head of indigo ducking into the teahouse with an Inuzuka and an Aburame following closely behind.
There is no other person within Konoha with hair like the early night sky; the late Himawari Hyuga was the last before Hinata-sama.
He does not look at them but it doesn't matter because they are within hearing range and he cannot help but overhear everything including their order of tea and sticky buns. He remembers that Hinata-sama favors those and his thoughts end when the muse of his previous thoughts come up in their conversation. He is a shinobi with superior hearing to civilians; he cannot help but listen when they're within range.
"Shikako-chan, she killed nine shinobi when we were chasing after Gaara," Hinata-sama says quietly, hands twisting in her sleeves as her team waits for their order, "and she faced Orochimaru in the second exam."
Her teammate, the Inuzuka, snorts. "We're falling behind but we'll catch up to Team Seven. We just have to train harder."
Neji knows that Hinata-sama does not mean what the Inuzuka speaks of but the boy is much smarter than given credit for; it is unwise to discuss such things in public.
"I must agree with Kiba," her other teammate, the Aburame, pushes up his glasses, "why? Because, we did not see this coming and Team Seven advanced much too quickly than we expected. Our friends have grown but we will too with training."
Perhaps, he should feel guilty over this invasion of privacy but he doesn't care when he hears Shikako's brought up in conversation. He's curious and it is a vice of his clan; no Hyuga with pride would admit to it but the reason why they never ask questions outside of the clan is simply because everyone in their clan knows about any event that occurs within the walls of their city. Konoha is full of gossips but their clan has the advantage in the field for never appearing to listen to conversations. People always speak around them but never check to see if they're listening because they assume the Hyuga will not care. They are wrong but it is their advantage.
"Even our little deadlast." The Inuzuka leans back into his chair. "He beat Gaara and Neji in the same day."
"N-Naruto-kun's always been strong." Hinata-sama pokes her fingers together, face running red.
The Inuzuka laughs. "I guess you always see more than we do, eh, Hinata!" But the Inuzuka sobers. "I hope Shikako made the right choice."
"I do not doubt her. Why? Because she is fully aware of the consequences and is more capable than we previously thought." The Aburame says matter of factly.
"K.O Shikako!" The Inuzuka laughs and scratches the ear of his nin-dog. "I can't believe we have to catch up with her. She's grown, that's for sure."
Tenten enters the teahouse quietly and cuts off his chances of listening into the conversation.
They speak and he learns about Lee's condition, a tinge of regret in his thoughts, but he also hears about Shikako Nara's team splintering with her and Team Seven's sensei in the hospital. They are to take the Uchiha on their team, temporarily, until Naruto comes back and Shikako is healed. No one is quite sure of the details but he suspects there is something deeper to everything occurring but Tenten is not one to dig where she is not welcome and he would not ask it of her.
He withdraws back to the Hyuga compound and out of the teahouse, navigating his way through the rubble and destruction and civilians until he reaches the winding halls of their home. He has a lot to think about in the coming days, too many revelations thrown into his face, and this is one of them. Shikako Nara spiked his interest in the second exams and when she heals, he'll watch her.
She is dangerous, but not in the way powerful genin are.
She seems harmless, unable to defend herself, and yet she has the potential to shred people into ribbons without flinching—just like Gai-sensei and his rival, Kakashi Hatake. They are the Elite Jounin of Konoha and he knows, with a bone deep surety not made of fate but of truth, that she will become one of them.
The others may focus on Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, but he knows better and keeps his eye on Shikako Nara.
He remembers her face from the second exams when she took down the Hidden Sound team; the cold detachment mixing with fear settling in her face. The lack of remorse or regret in the aftermath as he kept his eye on her when they ran. He doubts the nine others she's killed were as hard and this is the reason why she will overcome the many obstacles in the battlefield that is their life as ninja.
There are shinobi and then, there are shinobi.
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unbeta'd. please review and validate me.