Author Notes: I hope the fight between Hinata and Sasuke was to all of your liking, I understand it could stand to have been longer.
As time goes on and more fights are added feel free to offer input. If you feel I could be more/less details on various aspects it's good to voice that to me. Of course at the moment it has only been Taijutsu, but that will change soon as we pass the examinations.
I am also feeling subtle hints that perhaps my chapters could each stand to be a little longer? I will be attempted to keep this in mind for the future!
One final note; I decided to put in a week break between graduation and their teams being announced. There is a reason you'll see, but it's also because it's hard for me to entirely accept that for someone as busy as the Hokage is (allegedly) he can cram perfectly thought out teams from a list of people that graduated that very same day.
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Naruto Sempai: Chapter 14 – Teams Assemble!
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Hinata resisted the urge to shift under her fathers presence. No matter how composed she felt, she always felt awkward under his direct gaze.
"I am informed you passed your genin exams today" he spoke, as a statement rather than a question.
"Yes Father" she replied keeping a level voice.
"I am glad to see your time with Uzumaki Naruto has not gone to waste, as prior to which you were facing the prospect of failing, were you not?" he asked, his voice perfectly smooth. Hinata had to focus herself on not looking away from him in shame of herself.
"Yes father" she replied automatically
"I presume your training with Uzumaki Naruto will continue?" he inquired
"Yes father. Naruto-Sempai has spoke of expanding my training to encompass preparing for situations he feels the genin exams do not" she answered, trying to keep her responses as short and to the point as possible. After all, her father was not a man for idle chatter.
"I see. That seems like an intelligent thing to consider. Continue to do well under his tutorship, Hinata" he said, giving her a slight nod.
"Yes Father" she repeated.
"Now I am interested in exact level of your progress; tell me of your results in comparison to those of your classmates" he instructed his expression cool and unreadable, his posture as always picture perfect. This was to be expected. Every single time there were recorded tests she would have to recite her scores and her ranking in the class based on which. It was the common procedure at this point.
"In my written test I scored one hundred and thirteen of one hundred and twenty seven. I positioned fourth, behind tied for first place Haruno Sakura and Nara Shikamaru who scored maximum points." She began giving a slight paused until her father nodded in motion for her to continue.
"In my shuriken test I scored sixty eight out of one hundred. I came in fifth place behind Uchiha Sasuke, who scored one hundred out of one hundred" she finished a nervousness creeping into her voice. From his stony expression it was impossible to read, but she assumed he could not be best pleased with that result.
"Continue" he instructed.
"In my ninjutsu test I performed all required techniques as required and scored one hundred out of one hundred. Due to the number of students who did so there were no ranking for such"
"And Taijutsu?" Hiashi asked, barely visibly leaning inward.
"I was given one hundred and ninety six points for my performance against Uchiha Sasuke. Placing my as the top of my class by forty two points above Uchiha Sasuke" she finished, silently hoping this was enough to please him enough to see past her other short comings.
"And over all?" he asked, revealing nothing of his thoughts or emotions.
"I scored four hundred and seventy seven points out of the required three hundred. I positioned first, two points ahead of Uchiha Sasuke." She announced, fighting hard to keep her voice smooth. Not proud or any other such thing which could cause her to sound arrogant.
"I see." He said, closing his eyes and gesturing for her to leave.
Hinata inwardly slumped. She had hardly been expecting a cry of joy and a hug, but some acknowledgement would not have gone unappreciated.
"Yes father" she said with a bow. She stood and turned to leave. Just as she reached up for the door her father spoke
"Your cousin Neji is a genius among our clan, Hinata." He said, pausing thoughtfully "Yet if I recall, your scores surpass his by over twenty points."
Hinata blinked, not daring to turn around.
"Continue to make me proud, Hinata"
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Hinata looked at her reflection in the mirror. She worn her usual attire, but her attention was focused upon the new addition to her appearance that took the form of a metal plate on a piece of cloth wrapped loosely around her neck. It hadn't sunk in until now. She was now a fully fledged, and responsible shinobi of Konohagakure.
It was probably because everything had been moving so quickly up until now. First Naruto had greeted her after she had finished her Ninjutsu test. Making a fuss of her new forehead protected, and he seemed especially pleased that she had taken the title of 'Rookie of the year'. He even decided to treat her to ramen, but she had to wonder if they weren't going to end up there anyway. She had no difficulties working out that he was exceptionally proud of her. He had even set up special training during the week break they had before their teams would be decided.
Then last night had been the meeting with her father.
'Continue to make me proud, Hinata'
She smiled at the thought. It would hardly count as a complement by any one else's standards. But knowing her father, she could see this was about as close as she could get.
Satisfied with her appearance she stepped out of her room, and began to make her way to the agreed meeting point with Naruto. She couldn't help the spring in her step. She felt good today. She had passed that big hurdle that was the genin exam. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and she had persuaded Naruto to show her the ability he used against her in their training. The seal-less technique.
Even the idea of such a thing intrigued her to no end. She had attempted to look it up during the small period of time that was her own between the academy and training. But to no avail. When she had proposed the idea to Sasuke he had simply said it was impossible.
'But it isn't, is it, Naruto-sempai?' she thought to herself with a soft smile. Whenever she thought of him lately she could feel her body automatically warm to that ever present energy that flowed from him.
In just months he had taken her, Hyuuga Hinata, the stagnant student, and turned her into something so much more. Someone she could be proud of. For once. His abilities, his personality, even his outlook on life. She had passed the stage that was awe, and was already into the admiring stage. Her goals had become distinctly similar to his. He was the kind of person she wanted to be.
Not powerful. Not that strength held no value to her, but that was not what she thought of when she considered him strong. It was the confidence and determination. Those were the traits in him that she truly admired. The traits that she herself still lacked.
It was true that she had come a long way. She only stuttered now when feeling a strong sense of discomfort, and she could hold a conversation, no longer afraid to show her curiosity with a mild and polite question or two. But she still could barely bring herself to instigate a conversation with anyone other than Naruto himself. Even when she was in a conversation, it was still the case that the other person did most of the talking.
"Hinata" a voice from behind her said, bringing her back to earth. She turned to find Sasuke behind her.
"Sasuke-kun?" she asked, confused by his presence. Had he known where she was?
"Congratulations on your examination results" he compliments coolly. Hinata gave a small bow in thanks.
"Thank you, Sasuke-kun" she replied, but before she could add to it he spoke again.
"I noticed you getting stronger before the exams. But I never would have thought that you would beat me" he admitted "Perhaps it was because I had become lazy, but I wonder…" he trailed off, eyeing her suspicious. Hinata could only stand there, unable to bring herself to tell him the truth. Neither did she want to lie to him, so instead she opted to allow him to continue.
Sasuke clicked his tongue and breathed a laugh.
"It looks like I picked a good person to be my rival after all" He said, looking at her with a smirk.
"Th-Thank you, Sasuke-kun." She responded, again with a slight bow. Unable to think of an appropriate response to what he was saying. Instead she caught herself thinking he didn't speak to people often enough to express what he was trying to say correctly. She mentally scolded herself.
"Just know, that you might be ahead for now, but I won't let that go unchanged." And with that, he simply turned and walked away.
Hinata could only watch as he left. She wondered for a moment if it was her own shyness, or his awkwardness that had made their conversation so abrupt. She hadn't exactly responded well to his words, but then he hadn't given her much to work with either.
"Hinata-chan!" another voice came, again from behind her. She turned again, this time to see Naruto running towards her. She smiled again, and walked toward him.
"Good morning Naruto-Sempai" she greeted happily.
"Hmmm, I don't know. You've got that now" he said pointing toward her forehead protector.
"What do you mean?" she asked confused.
"Don't you think it's a sign that we're equals now?" he asked with a grind, thumbing towards his own "We're both shinobi of the hidden leaf now." He finished with a wink. Hinata's smiled broadened
"Yes, Naruto-Sempai, but you are a chuunin, and I am barely a genin" she pointed out a little uncomfortably.
"Barely?" he questioned with fake confusion "From what I heard you scored top of the class, with the best grades they've had since… er, that time" he said, waving it off
"That time?" she repeated, resisting a laugh.
"Yeah, that time, it was good there was cake. So, training!" he pushed on ignoring their former topic.
"Want to see an Uzumaki special?" he offered with a knowing grin. Hinata's smile lit up her face with obvious excitement.
"Yes please, Naruto-sempai"
"Come on then, let's go. Race you" he laughed, bolting from the spot. Hinata quickly shot after him, but could barely even keep him in her sights. By the time she got to their make-shift training ground her breath was already quickened.
Although the chuunin exams had come and past they decided to stay there instead of going back to their training ground. Hinata had asked out of the idea that they were less likely to be interrupted, or discovered. Not that she had a fear of it, but she couldn't help but feel as though in some form she was betraying Sasuke. At the very least his trust.
"So, you ready?" he asked. Hinata nodded, her smile fading down as she looked closely at the curled palm he now held up. His fingers were spread as though he were holding an invisible ball.
Then all of a sudden she could see the air being sucked and pulled around his open palm. As though the air was being pulled in to a hand sized maelstrom. She watched with fascination as it condensed into a transparent, yet light twisting sphere in his hands.
"A-amazing…" was all she could whisper out in awe
"What is it?" she asked, tearing her eyes off the sphere to look at Naruto.
"Nature manipulation, at the highest level. This actually a stol-er, borrowed move." Naruto said scratching the back of his head with his free hand.
"But I don't understand" Hinata said, a frown spreading across her face "We were taught that chakra has to be manipulated with hand signs to create techniques, how is it possible you didn't have to?"
Naruto smiled.
"How it is possible for you to use your gentle fist?" he asked. Hinata blinked.
"I focus my chakra to my palms and release them into my strikes" she answered, unsurely.
"The first step to this technique working is not dissimilar. Well they both involve focusing your chakra to your hands at least. This technique involves taking nature transformation to the highest level. Remember on my first day teaching in the academy, I gave out paper to see what you chakra element was?" he asked. Hinata nodded in response.
"Well, when you master your chakra's element, a technique like this will become possible. Though of course, this technique takes a lot of training to get it working. But the results…" he grinned. He whipped his arm around a faced his palm towards the trees. Hinata watched as the maelstrom of wind shot forward, and with a splintering crash punched a clean hole right through the tree.
Hinata gaped.
"This technique doesn't have the pure power that Kakashi-sensei's Raikiri has, but it has range. Plus I don't think I have developed this technique to the same level Kakashi-sensei has." Hinata slowly turned her head,
"Ano, Naruto-semapi?" she asked shakily "You didn't punch a hole through me…" she pointed out, though immensely grateful. Naruto suppressed a laugh into a grin
"Of course not, you're my ramen partner! Besides, I can't summon this power instantly. So if I try to use it too quickly it doesn't work properly. But even that has its uses" he explain, demonstrating by creating splashes in the water next to them. After several he shook his hand as though he had been writing for a long period of time.
"Still, this technique is somewhat chakra-intensive. Even I cannot afford to shoot them off without thinking." Hinata nodded. A technique that powerful? That much made sense at least.
A random thought crossed her mind
"Ano, Naruto-Sempai, is that your power?" she asked, curiously. Naruto frowned and shook his head.
"No, it's not the kind of ability I like to use." He confessed "I mastered it so my wind jutsu could be more effective, and as far as that goes, it's a worth while exercise if you have the time." Hinata's expression softened. Realising that he probably had nothing but time when he likely worked on it.
"But I can understand how it is a potentially nice ability to have, especially against dangerous Hyuuga heirs" he laughed. Hinata flushed and looked away. He nudged her
"Nothing to be embarrassed about. The fact that you got me to the point where I had to use that is quite impressive I think" he said with his usual grin. Hinata smiled shyly back.
"Alright, training!" he said, clapping his hands together "Taijutsu we've covered enough for now I think. We can keep going if that's what you want, but for now it might be an idea to broaden your expertise if only a little. So we can work on ninjutsu, genjtsu, chakra control, elemental manipulation if you are interested, or weapons, shuriken techniques, sea-ahh, well maybe not that" He caught himself, mid-ramble.
"Seals?" she repeated, confused. Naruto waved his hands off
"Seals are complicated, probably not the ideal thing for you to be working on at the moment." He explained. But seeing Hinata's curious expression he continued "Why? Do you want to learn seals?" he asked, folding his arms thoughtfully.
Hinata weighed the idea.
'It wasn't anything like that' she thought to herself 'I was more curious that you mentioned it than anything else'
"Would you like me to learn seals?" she countered, feeling daring. Naruto's expression slowly formed a grin.
"Hyuuga Hinata. You ask me what my abilities are?" he said, moving his hands to his hips "My favourite abilities lie within my seals" he grinned. Hinata returned to a confused expression
"What kind of seals?" she asked, having never been taught about any such thing a a combat seal before. Naruto whipped out several pieces of paper from his back pouch and held them up to her
"You know what these are?" he asked. She inspected them, recognising only one.
"All I know is that one is an explosive tag" she said, pointing to the first. Naruto half nodded and half shrugged
"Yeah, but that's the most boring one!" he cried, removing it from the others sliding it back into his pouch.
"Seals can be used for anything. Storing weapons, food and that sort of stuff is commonly known, but it's the uncommon stuff, and the creative side of it that always captivate me." He grinned, pulling one apart from the others
"This one is one I came up with. After Ero-sennin explained to me how exploding tags worked." He began to talk at an increasing rapid rate
"Ero-Sennin?" Hinata questioned, confused by the name. Naruto froze
"Errr… opps?" he grinned sheepishly. Hinata didn't respond, unsure if that name was appropriate or not
"Long story, filled with sighs and other things" he said waving it off "Anyway, exploding tags essentially use a sort of seal too. It's a chakra seal, and the detonating is the release. So the idea occurred to me. If just that can release an explosion. Why can't I seal something else?" he held the tag higher
"Why can't I seal my wind manipulation?" he grinned. Hinata blinked
"Really?" she asked before she could catch herself.
"Course! Here's watch this" he grinned. He moved to the already partially-hollow tree, and stuck the tag on a low thick branch. He backed up back to where Hinata stood and smiled.
"Ready?" he asked, excitement rolling off him. Hinata nodded uncertain as to what he was about to unleash. Naruto formed the seal
With a high pitched hiss that rang through the forest, the branch came clean off. Hinata could only stare in a mixture of awe and disbelief.
"Come on, take a look" he said, taking her hand in his and pulling her to the tree. As she inspected the branch she saw it was cut cleanly off. As though a perfectly sharp blade and run through it.
She blinked and looked at Naruto after a moment. She crackled a small, yet somewhat cheeky grin
"What else have you tried?" she asked.
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Hinata sat herself in her usual seat. Again she was earlier than everyone else. But then she supposed of course that was likely to be the case. She turned her attention outside, while her mind turned out of reality. Instead wondering who would be in her team. If the teams where indeed 3 genins with their jounin instructor then she would be paired with two other people from the class.
But the more she thought about it, the more she realised she didn't really have much of a preference either way. She hadn't really interacted with anyone enough for her to feel as though she had enough to judge it on.
'Perhaps Sasuke-kun wouldn't be so bad´ she thought in her mind. At least she had spoken with him. That had to count for something, right?
"Good morning" said Uchiha greeted offhandedly.
"Good morning, Sasuke-kun" she replied glancing at him before looking back toward the front.
"Ano, are you excited about the teams?" she asked, choosing the word excited over nervous, deciding he probably wouldn't admit it, even supposing he were.
"Not really, I just hope I'm not put in a recon team" he answered not turning to look as he answered.
'A recon team?´ she repeated mentally. 'Of course. How is it that didn't occur to me before?'
'They'll organise the teams into task specialty types´ she looked around the slowly filling room. Trying to remember what each person specialised in.
Looking at Sasuke she felt that there was no doubt he would be part of some battle-capable team. From what she had been told of the sharingan it's ability at recon would be pale in comparison to the Byakugan.
'Which probably places me on a recon team' she realised. She looked around the room, and spotted four people she knew had some sort of recon ability. There was Kiba, whose family specialised in scent tracking, and fast attacks. Ino, whose mind body transfer could be used with wild life, notably birds as unseemly scouts. Shino whose bugs would give him obvious advantages, and Ami being the final potential with her chakra sensing ability.
But then, if there were 5 of them total, two of them might have to be a part of a different sort of squad. With her gentle fist she would be a capable fighter for a battle-orientated squad. She glanced back at Sasuke, who was still sitting in the same position. She knew that the Uchiha were known for their great flame jutsu. Meaning that combining her taijutsu, with that ninjutsu would be a powerful combination.
She played with the idea in her head. She did after all score the highest in the taijutsu test, perhaps that was the sort of thing they would have in mind for her now?
Being the first one in a fight?
She bit her lip. That didn't really sound that appealing to her.
"Alright class" Iruka called from the front. Hinata's body chilled. She hadn't even heard the bell go off. Had she been that unfocused in her thoughts?
Iruka began to read off the sheet he was holding that named the members of each team, and their jounin sensei's. Hinata sat frozen in her own time, barely breathing due to her nerves as each name was called from the paper.
"Team 7 will be; Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and your final member will be Haku"
Hinata momentarily broke her body's self-imposed prison to glance at Sasuke, who seemed completely unfazed by the announcement. She supposed it didn't really mean much to him. He always seemed more of the loner type.
"Team 8 will be; Inuzuka Kiba, Aburane Shino and Hyuuga Hinata"
Hinata finally allowed herself a breath of relief. Breathing somewhat more rapidly now that she had clamed down a little. She resisted the urge to smile at her own silliness. Whatever had she been so afraid of? Everyone in their class was capable in their own rights, after all, they had all passed the test.
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When she had first seen Kurenai-sensei, she didn't really know what to think. The jounin certainly had a fashion sense Hinata felt confident she could never adopt. The very idea made her feel quiet uncomfortable. But she had a serious aura about her, which reassured Hinata. All in all Hinata felt that her jounin-sensei gave nothing away from just her appearance.
She was soon lead out of the academy so they could introduce themselves.
"My name is Yuhi Kurenai, I like open minded people, I dislike arrogant and selfish people. My hobby is having some evening drinks whenever I am off duty. I want to fight Sarutobi Asuma" she said with a glint in her eye "and my dreams are to one day be thought of as highly by you as I thought of my sensei" she said, finished on a warming smile. After a moments silence Kiba decided to speak up first.
"My name is Inuzuka Kiba, I like spending time with my clans ninken, I dislike all the trouble they cause together" he said, giving Akamaru a playful nudge "My hobby is taking walks with Akamaru, and I want to fight That Uchiha-teme! I don't really have any dreams, except to become strong" he finished with a half hearted shrug. He then glanced over to Shino who after a moments pause spoke up.
"I am Aburame Shino. I like studying insects, I dislike people who kill insects for no reason. My hobby is collecting new specimens for my insect collection. I only wish to fight someone strong. My dream is to become a member my clan can be proud of." He finished, his voice without any sort of expression. Hinata found herself a little taken aback by which. If only she had that level of self control.
She was suddenly aware all eyes were on her.
"Ano, my name is Hyuuga Hinata." She said, suddenly feeling as though her mouth was becoming a desert "I-I like, ano, people who care about others. I dislike… ano…" her mind was blank. She couldn't think of something she disliked?
"I dislike… ano, shrimp?" she offered, looking around as though they were going to make her think of something else. When they didn't she continued.
"My hobby is f-flower pressing. And I want to fight…. Ano… well…" she looked about herself again, earning a confused look from Kiba, and a soft hearted smile from Kurenai.
"My-my fa-father" she whispered
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Author Notes: Another chapter completed! I hope you continue to enjoy it!
And yes, I totally went there with Haku. Not a bad idea, thank you person who suggested it you know who you are. It means shifting the time of the event a little forward but it's nothing I have a problem with doing. And yes, Naruto went on that mission. No Haku is not a chuunin because it would break the agreements between the nations to auto-promote someone to chuunin. And finally, he didn't attend the academy because he's a little past that too. ]
By the way, I recently re-learnt Haku is actually a boy. I take it everyone is happy with that? If not I can write him as a girl, for any difference it might make. Whatever up to you, if you all tell me you want a girl Haku, that's fine, and easily done.
Now to answer the inevitable question; Is Hinata stronger than Sasuke?
No, she is not. She is at this time superior in a taijutsu by a margin enough for her to academically be ranked as better. However the fire jutsu's that Sasuke knows as well as his ability with shuriken/kunai that cannot be tested by a genin tests standard, could not count towards this. In short, all things considered Sasuke is stronger. The 'Rookie of the year' is just a button of his that will be pressed for what I suspect to be obvious reasons.
If you have any questions at all, never hesitate to ask them! If they are not question that will be answered in the next chapter, or potential spoilers, I will answer them!
Until next time, EA!