Ohayo!

Next chapter to Nefarious Intentions, I think I did rather well on this one- yes I AM preening but hey everyone needs a little self-loving every once in a while.

Thanks for commenting wisdom-jewel, Ducky, Amber, Veraozao, and Axelanderya!

CONGRATS TO THESE PEOPLE FOR ANSWERING CORRECTLY. It WAS the medicine! BRAVO! *applause*

RaynexRenx

iKyoheii

Guest (You know who you are)

RaynexRenx for getting it correct first I give you the chance to decide which part of the chunins you-absolutely-cannot-stand-not-having and I'll obligingly weave it into the story.

Secrets. In life there were many secrets and Hinata was tired of them.

Village secrets.

Clan secrets.

Family secrets.

Ninja secrets.

She grasped the front of her jacket hard and bent her head as a whimper escaped her. How was it that every time she healed and thought she grew thick enough skin the wounds managed to rip open at the slightest words? When she had gotten home her father had been training Hanabi and had 'requested' that she watched. Although he scolded her younger sister he still praised her as well, and that hurt. Then, she had been reprimanded for crushing the flowers, though only a few petals were bent.

What would it take? What would it take for him to see her as his daughter, not a failure to the clan?

As though that hadn't been enough she'd had a run in with Neji. Her heart throbbed at the name and she bit her lip. He hated her. She didn't exactly know the full reasons behind it but his loathing was an all-encompassing aura whenever he spotted her. She knew some of his feelings stemmed from the fact that she was from the head family and still failed to succeed. And the other… Her eyes grew dark as the image of a green cross like seal flashed before her from the memories. Some of her earliest memories. The most painful. The teary eyed boy child that had such a thing branded into his forehead brutally but refused to shed the tears building.

'I-I'm so s-sorry Neji.'

The tears kept flowing and she fought to stop them even as hiccupping sobs erupted from her. It wasn't right. She shouldn't be crying not when something so horrible had happened and Neji had not once shed a tear. Pressing her fist to her mouth she stifled the sounds and laid herself down on her side. She really was weak. Really…weak…her eyes fluttered closed.

"Eh, Hina-chan!"Kiba exclaimed looking over at her, "What are you thinking about so hard? You have a sort of dazed look on your face."

Hinata jumped slightly, her teammates' voice startling her. "Ah!" her wide eyes darted around to find him and found that not only him and Akamaru were staring but Shino as well. Her cheeks blazed red. She must've been really out of it. "W-what were you s-saying Kiba-k-kun?"

Kiba snorted and bent down some to look at her. "It's weird y'know. I would've thought you would've been more excited with being here. I mean look at all of the competition!" He pointed in front of them. Hinata's gaze followed them to find the vast number of ninja sprawled on top of the many desks and standing confidently around the room.

"U-uuh!" she gasped, stumbling back slightly. Her back hit something and a girly shriek of outrage cut through the air. She turned her head, lips parted in horror to find one of the rookies falling into another.

"HEY! WHO THE HECK—" Ino spun around, eyes shooting flames, and perfectly styled hair whipping dangerously around her. Her eyes caught on the demure Hyuuga heiress and she froze. "Huh?" her mind seemed to register who it was she was looking at and all signs of anger fled. "Oh hey Hinata-chan!" she greeted cheerfully, "I didn't expect to see you here what with having the Dog-duo on your team and creepy bug kid."

The blue haired girl stammered for a moment before poking her fingers together and bowing her head slightly. "I-ino-san, ple-ease don't talk about them like that," she said softly.

"OI!" Kiba suddenly said over her. "Wanna say that again, Blondie?"

Forgetting about the shy person in front of her Ino looked up to glare at the boy and haughtily toss her hair over her shoulder and put a hand up. "Oh why would I want to do that?" she asked in a careless tone. "It is your clan specialty to be able to hear above average isn't it? If you missed that you're even more of a failure than that Naruto kid!"

A low growl rumbled from Kiba and he flashed his fangs. "WHY YOU-!"

The sound of the classroom door opening distracted the blond and she turned around. Her eyes lit up and she let out a squeal. "Sasuke-kun!" her hair managed to wack Kiba in the face as she flung herself onto the back of her hero. The pinkenette of the Uchiha's team soon caught sight of her and an argument ensued.

"Gah!" Kiba huffed gruffly. He gave the group a disgusted look and took hold of Hinatas' hood with a clawed finger. "C'mon you guys let's get away from these losers before we get clumped with them."

"Arf! ARF!"

Unwilling to argue Hinata let herself be led away between her two teammates. Her attention flickered back to the group of Rookies clamoring and tussling among themselves like a flock of birds. A very different head of blonde caught her eyes and everything seemed to freeze for her.

'N-naruto-kun!' A tingling started in her and red blossomed over her face. He was so amazing… even shouting… Her heart throbbed and a small smile started to curl her lips. She had been so worried that he wouldn't make it, but here he was disproving everyone's thoughts on him once again. 'I w-wish I c-could tell you—' Pink blocked her view and reality came crashing down. 'Sakura…' "Nm…" Hinata hummed feeling her heart shrivel that much more.

"Hinata-chan, are you alright?" Shino asked quietly.

The fact that he asked usually would've snapped her back into her regular state but the sadness was a dark blanket pulling her down she couldn't escape. "H-hai Shino-kun." She answered automatically. Blank glasses stared down at her and she knew he didn't believe her. But Shino was good in that way, he knew when to leave things alone, and ever so slightly he shifted so he was in front of her. No one would've noticed. No one noticed a lot of the things Shino did because they were too busy taking in the obvious. Hinata noticed though and slid obligingly farther behind him to lean against the wall.

Akamaru glanced back but otherwise the movement went unnoticed by her paired teammates. Her hands clasped together nervously and she shyly ducked her head. Even with Shino in front of her she was nervous. The people here were strong… Her eyes skipped over the row upon row of sharp faced ninja scouting out the competition much like herself and her shoulders curled more and more with every one she saw. Would she be able to handle this?

A jittery bit of adrenaline was dancing at her nerves. Half fear and half diluted excitement. She would never admit it to anyone but she did love the feel of the jutsu she performed. Every time the chakra swirled within her she felt as if a caring wind was embracing her. Her eyes closed and she managed to call on the memory briefly, her lips curving slightly as the sensations washed over her.

"Oi!" a hand jolted her and she gasped, almost falling over if the very hand that had shoved her hadn't caught her arm. "There's a guy looking at you Hinata-chan." Kiba said in a curious tone. Blinking in confusion Hinata obligingly followed his line of sight to find that someone had indeed been staring at her, and still was.

'O-one of the foreign ni-ninja from the road!' Hinata thought, her eyes taking in the rich red sprawled messily over his head and the black rimmed eyes. When their gazes met instead of looking away or making some sort of reaction like most people would the boy did nothing; his stare intensifying if anything.

'Have I do-done something to o-offend him?' she worriedly hooked her fingers together.

From on top of Kibas head Akamaru let out a soft and unsure growling bark. Kiba nodded, "Yeah boy, I don't like the way he's looking at Hina-chan either." His eyes drifted down to where the trembling girl stood and he decided maybe it was best to stay nearer to the Rookie group after all. Anything to keep that creep from eyeing her that way. Focusing on that, Kiba slung an arm over her shoulder and turned her away from his stare, facing her towards the squabbling group. "Ne, hinata-chan perhaps we should say 'hi' to everyone? After all we might not seem them after this."

A light blush dusted her cheeks at the contact but she nodded. "Ye-yes."

His eyes went back to the boy and he glared slightly, one of his fangs flashing subconsciously. The stupid shrimp hadn't stopped looking over and now two other people had joined him. 'If they think they're going to target Hinata just because she's weak…' he snarled mentally. It was his job to take care of the team. They had become part of his pack and pack members always looked after each other. Especially the smaller and defenseless ones.

Three blurs past by them headed towards the Rookies and before they knew it one grey haired competitor was on the ground with shattered glasses and three sound ninjas stood surrounding the shocked leaf genin. Light glinted menacing from the head bands of the group and Hinata gasped.

"N-naruto!" she lunged forward with a swift graceful movement even most ninja would miss but Kiba caught her hood before she could get farther than a foot away from his side and tugged her back.

"Stay with the team Hinata." Kiba growled out tensely. His eyes stayed glued on the commotion and Akamaru uttered a low growl, hunkering down further on his head. 'This place is just full of dangerous people.' The Inuzuka thought half irritated. Sure it meant that the competition was going to be good and lively but….his eyes skipped back to the nervous girl at his side. 'Hinata…'

"Alright knock it off!" A booming voice demanded. Everyone seemed to freeze and turn to look at the man who had such command in his voice. He stood tall among the many people in the room with a presence that seemed to have form, his eyes sharp and piercing and his skin marred with ragged scars, and his trench coat and skullcap adding a menacing air that would send most peoples' eyes scurrying the other direction to avoid drawing attention. Hinata shrunk down a little and poked her fingers together; her face guilty though she had done nothing to incur the man's wrath or words. Whoever this man was he was just as intimidating, if not more so than her father.

Keeping his posture relaxed and deceivingly casual with his hands in his pockets the person took in the scene where most the rookies were with a sneer. "I came to conduct an exam for ninja not babysit a bunch of overzealous brats." His gaze flitted over the grey haired shinobi's form before snapping to the Sound ninja. "You three, there is to be no killing unless given specific permission."

Hinata tensed at the subtle hint and saw Sakura looking at the man with wide horrified eyes.

Not looking as if he cared about the impression he made on those keener genin the man swept the room with an unimpressed frown. "To the rest of you I am Morino Ibiki the proctor for your first test. Take a number from a chunin and sit down. The faster we start the faster the obnoxious kids of this group can be sent home."

Hinata felt light headed. Was it just her or had he been specifically singling out the Rookies?

'Uhm…okay, if the k-kunai is thrown from here i-in that position…' Hinata frowned and glanced at the clock. She knew the equation for the problem but that alone would take up a good chunk of time in the exam. And that wasn't even the hardest question on there. 'I c-can't keep doing this. There h-has to be a b-better way.'

Her eyes drifted away from the clock only to catch on a Chunins' who had been watching her. The man smirked and looked her over before tapping his clipboard with his pencil and winking.

'Ah!' Her lavender eyes widened and she snapped her focus back onto her paper. The wording Ibiki had used had been careful and too precise to not leave loopholes. But that's what he had wanted! During his delivery of the rules Hinata had been too caught up in his intimidation to really pay attention to the phrasing but now that she reviewed it she realized he had given the answer to the test. What most of the genin were doing wrong were taking the test at face value and assuming that it was a simple written test. It wasn't. It was a stealth and information gathering test. That would explain the lenience on cheating and the degree of difficulty the test itself had.

A small secretive smile came to her face and she put her hands in her lap, keeping the pencil in hand, and clenched them into the proper sign.

"Byakugen!" she whispered beneath her breath. A pang went through her momentarily as she thought about the fact that she still hadn't mastered activating it without the word before she was flooded with glorious awareness. Brilliant blues and whites… She breathed in deeply and tilted her head so the side bangs of her hair concealed the veins at her temples. She wished she could just take the time and look around the entire room with her true sight but held herself in check. The test was of more importance.

She raised her arms back onto the desk, giving her pencil a confident twirl between her fingers before setting down to scribbling everything the person in front of her had on his paper. Thank Kami for podium-like seating.

Not even ten minutes later she was done. Hinata smiled to herself and quickly released the Byakugen while she placed her pencil down. No need to risk a Chunin seeing her and assume she was cheating even if she was done. Her curious eyes swept over the classroom and found that a few heads were up and looking around like her but most were still bent and intent on the task set before them. Well at least she was ahead in something compared to the vicious competition.

Something shiny caught her eye and she flicked her eyes to focus on a corner of her desk. A small dark green bug sat perched, focus on her paper and antenna twitching. Well, Shino would pass then, and she knew Akamaru would be helping Kiba out… She hoped the rookies would all make it. It wouldn't help her nerves if everyone she had to go up against was older. Sakura and Ino would pass, Sasuke and Shikamaru wouldn't even have a small chance of not, she wasn't sure about Choji but if he was best friends with Shikamaru surely would have thought up a tactic. Her cousins team were elite so that was nothing to worry over. But Naruto… Her attention sharply narrowed in on the presence to her left and she flushed.

Through the whole test so far she had been so intent on blocking him out so she could focus, but now… 'H-he's sitting so close to me.' She thought excitedly. If she extended her awareness enough she could feel the heat of his body radiating out. The discovery sent chills through her. She could practically feel the always-bright aura of him. A sudden chattering broke her from her love struck daze and she turned her head to look at Naruto.

His face was pale and he had his hands fisted in his hands.

Nothing was on his paper.

Her stomach dropped. If nothing was on his paper… then no points would be awarded to him, and he wouldn't make it to the next exam. Horror over took her. That couldn't happen! Naruto needed to move on. But how? He had never been good at the academic portion of being a ninja nor the stealth part.

'He needs the answers…' her eyes drifted to her paper, neatly filled out with all of the proper work. An idea came to her. 'Wh-hy not? Shino ch-cheated off me as well.'

"Uh, N-naruto!" she murmured. From the corner of her eye she saw him look up at her.

"Huh? Hinata?"

Without looking at him she moved her paper slightly so he'd be able to see it better. "Y-you can look off my paper i-if you ne-need to." Her cheeks turned crimson and she ducked her head to hide the change.

She could just imagine the foxy grin that sprung to his face. In her mind's eye she watched as the scars along his cheeks curved charmingly. "Thanks Hinata-chan!"

'Chan.'

'Chan.'

'Chan.'

Her eyes widened and she fought not to tip over. 'H-he called me cha-chan!'

Before she could lose herself though a whistling went through the air and a loud thunk hit the table. She looked down in panic to find it directly in the paper of her test. 'O-oh no!' She shut her eyes tight, fists clenching. 'Kiba, Shino… I'm s-sorry.'

"Oops, sorry about that." A chunin stood up and scratched his head sheepishly, "That wasn't meant for your table." Abruptly his face closed off and he turned to glare at a person behind her. "You with the headband! You're out!"

"Wh-wha?" the boy exclaimed in disbelief. "No way did you catch me that many times!"

The chunin didn't acknowledge his words. "You and your teammates need to leave."

Two people in different parts of the room grudgingly stood, looking bitter. "C'mon Haru," One of them said, reaching out to grab his arm.

"B-but I didn't—" He was already out the door.

Hinata wanted to faint. That had been close, she looked at her trembling hands and fisted them in her lap, too close. Obviously Naruto thought so too because he didn't take her up on her offer. Part of her was disappointed by that but a larger part was just glad she wouldn't have to explain to Shino why she was caught for cheating after she had already finished all of the questions.

'Please ju-just let him pass.'

"Alright brats! Time's up," A door opened at the back and Hinata turned to find the tallest of the genin she'd met strolling in through behind a chunin, hands in cuffs.

"Sorry I'm late!" he retorted cheerily. She narrowed her eyes. That expression was too sneaky for her liking.

"Finished playing with dolls?" Ibiki jibed slyly. "Now, that everyone's here. Let's move on to the tenth question. Some rules you should know before I give it to you though. First, if you get the question wrong your score will be wiped and you fail! Second," he smirked. "If you do get it wrong not only will you fail but you will never be allowed to take the Chunin exams again!"

"WHAT?!" Naruto shouted, practically falling out of his chair.

"You can't do that!" Kiba snarled from the back rows.

Ibiki looked at him unaffectedly. "I can and I will. Any of you that get the question wrong are forever condemned to be genins! However, if you would like to back out and try again next Exam time feel free. But this is a team test, if you go, you're entire team does as well."

Seconds passed as everyone sat in shock. Hinata blinked up at the proctor, slightly nervous but willing to take the risk. Surely it couldn't be so hard? One by one hands began to rise in the air, numbers were called, teams left. Hinata could hardly believe so many didn't want to risk the question. If one was to live the life of a shinobi yet back down in the face of an exam question…

Naruto's hand went into the air.

'W-what?!' Hinata could hardly believe it. The boy she admired so much. The boy who never backed down even in the face of an angry Hokage and a bunch of clan Elders. Was …giving up?

BAM

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME! I'M GONNA BE THE NEXT HOKAGE, BELIEVE IT!" Naruto shouted.

Hinata watched as Ibiki smirked. "Are you sure? You'll be stuck as a genin forever; this is your last chance to save yourself." He asked.

Naruto glared at him and crossed his arms.

"Hmmph," Ibiki chuckled, tilting his head down a bit and shoved his hands in his pockets. His eyes scanned over the remaining teams. 'Seventy-eight teams…more than I expected.' One side of his mouth curled slightly and he closed his eyes before straightening to his full height and glaring at them. "Alright… You all pass!"

"HUH?" Naruto gaped.

"What do you mean we pass?!" Kiba growled.

"What about the tenth question?" Sakura asked almost desperately.

Calm as ever Ibiki waited till they settled down a bit to speak. "You pass, there was no written tenth question. I asked you to abandon your task to save yourselves and you answered correctly. You teams will move on to the next Exam."

"Nani? How is that considered a tenth question?" A familiar female voice demanded.

Hinata looked over to find an irate and particularly confused blonde sand konoichi a few rows back glowering at the proctor. She furrowed her brow slightly. Why couldn't everyone just be happy they had passed? Turning to hear what Ibiki was explaining she moved to duck her head, only to hiss as something blinded and stung her eyes.

'O-ouch!' Hinata scrubbed her eyes with the back of a hand, attempting to relieve the irritating itch that had built up. She couldn't see and her eyes were burning. "Uh-!" she stopped the cry that wanted to peel from her throat. Her eyes had always been a sensitive area for her. Perhaps it was from her clan blood-limit or maybe she was just peculiar in that way but even a speck of dust could bring tears to her eyes. With a final scrub she managed to get whatever had been bugging her out and blinked watery eyes down at her paper. Nothing out of the ordinary. She frowned. From the amount of pain she'd been in she had almost expected to find a gathering of dust on the table, but it was empty.

'W-weird.'

A loud crash tore through the air and faster than most could blink the bundle that had broken through the window burst apart, unfurling to reveal itself as a banner and an odd purple haired woman. Hinata shivered at the nasty glint in the females eyes. "Hello maggots! The names Matarashi Anko, your proctor for second part in the Exams!"

Oh this was much worse than Ibiki, Hinata could feel it.

Hope you guys liked it! I had fun writing this chapter, finally some action- though perhaps not the type of *action* some of us want.

REVIEW/Fave

Question: Why is Gaara staring?

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