How Things Change:
Chapter XII~ The Team
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"Niisan, please tell me!" Hinata pleaded.
Kakashi smirked and shook his head, "It wouldn't be fair to the others if I did!"
"C'mon, I won't tell anyone! I promise!" she was telling the truth; after all, the only people she talked to in class were Shino and Kiba, and she rarely told them anything about herself. She could easily keep it a secret.
She really wanted to be on a team with them, and was getting nervous. She had the Byakugan, yes, but no one in her class could know that, obviously. If they had, she had no doubt in her mind that she would have been put on a team with the bus user and ninken lover as they would have made a great tracking team.
Kakashi rubbed his chin as if thinking about it, but Hinata could tell by the look in his visible eye he was not going to say yes.
Huffing, she turned and stormed off, yelling, "Thanks for nothing!"
The door slammed loudly behind her causing the windows to rattle.
The air was surprisingly cool, and there was a nice breeze, but Hinata couldn't help but feel her palms begin to sweat. She was more nervous than she liked to admit. She knew Kakashi was taking on a team this year at the request of the Fourth, but she knew her being placed on said team was almost non-existent since they were family in every sense of the word, but blood.
'Maybe I'll be lucky and get Kurenai?' she thought, knowing the red eyed woman was also snagging a team this year.
Hinata decided to push the thoughts from her head. There was nothing she could do about it, after all, even if she did know. And if this was her only way to move up the ranks, then she would take it. The only thing she was glad about was the fact that it would be highly unlikely for her to be placed on a team with Sakura or Ino, as, for the most part, there was only one Kunoichi on each team as they were far outnumbered from their male counterparts.
Trying to ignore the looks of fear around her no one wanted what they thought of as a demon becoming a ninja—she continued on her way, enjoying the cool breeze as she walked.
Whoever she got placed with didn't matter, she realized. She wasn't planning on staying on any team for long, as she knew she was far too close to becoming a Chūnin for that to happen. She just needed more experience now. Hopefully, she would be ready for the next exam that would be coming up in the next four months; though, even if she missed it, she knew it would still be less than a year before she could take the exam, so it really didn't bother her too much.
Entering the classroom, she smiled internally at the shocked faces that were staring at her. No one ever passed that quickly after failing the exam, it was almost unheard of.
Ignoring the whispers, she made her way to her normal seat in the back of the room.
Iruka, whom had been fully healed and discharge from the hospital smiled at her as she walked in, a look of pride filled his face.
"WOOT! Way to go Hinata!" Kiba yelled as she made her way over to him and Shino.
Hinata blushed at the praise, still not used to being the center of attention. Though, she would never admit it, it kind of felt nice.
"I agree with Kiba-san, Hinata-san. Good job. But, how did you manage to pass if you do not mind me asking?" Shino asked in his usual monotone voice.
Hinata tried to figure out what to say, as it was a secret, when Iruka decided to save her from the question.
"It's confidential so please do not question her any further. However, I see no harm in telling you all one thing: Hinata is the reason I am standing here, today," Iruka calmly stated.
The classroom fell completely silent at that, before Naruto jumped up and pointed an accusing finger at him, "WHAT? YOU ALMOST DIED AND DIDN'T TELL ME, IRUKA-SENSEI?!"
He then turned to Hinata, and bowed down, "Thank you for saving him, Hinata-chan!"
He was awfully close to Iruka, everyone knew that, and Hinata could tell he was being genuine.
Hinata's face turned beet red as she started to stammer, "A-ah, y-you are w-welcome N-naruto-kun. I d-didn't do a-anything that g-great, I w-was j-just in the r-right spot a-at the r-right time. Anyone c-could have d-done what I d-did."
It was a lie, of course, but no one knew that (except Shikamaru, and maybe Shino). The only thing she wished was that her stutter was fake, but alas, it was not. Naruto always made her feel nervous for a reason she didn't quite understand. It wasn't a bad feeling, just a weird one.
He smiled brightly at her, "Ah, don't be like that! I bet you were awesome!"
This caused her blush to get darker, surprisingly, at which Kiba chuckled on the side of her. Hinata tried to glare at the ninken user, but her beet red face made it far less threatening than she wanted.
Iruka found the moment funny, but realized he had things he had to take care of, so quickly got the class to calm down. Once everyone was seated, he smiled.
"You guys all made it! Congratulations, you are all Genin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.I am proud of all of you! Now, I am going to call the teams out, so listen carefully!"
The room got dead silent at this.
"Team One is…"
It went on and on. Hinata couldn't help but feel her heart begin to race. Whose team would she be on? Who would her sensei be? Would they look at her the way the majority of the village did?
"Alright, Team Seven will consist of: Uchiha Sasuke…"
A gasp was heard as many girls in class crossed their fingers to be placed on the same team.
"Uzumaki Naruto…"
And there, almost all the girl's heads dropped. No one wanted to be pranked by Naruto, after all. They all learned their lessons before.
Naruto, however, was overjoyed, "HECK, YEAH! We are going to be the best team ever!"
Sasuke's face was blank, except for a very small smile, if you could even call it that, but anyone could tell he was happy about the fact.
"…and Hatake Hinata!"
Hinata's eyes widened. She wasn't quite expecting that, but it made sense. She had the worst grades in the class after all and they had the best. But who would her sensei be? She assumed Kakashi would be training the Uchiha and Uzumaki…
"Your sensei will be Hatake Kakashi! Please move to room 40b and wait for him there as per his request."
Hinata couldn't help but smile. How was that possible? That normally didn't happen. Family was normally forbidden to work under one another. She was also pleased to know her assumption was correct, Kakashi was training Sasuke and Naruto. And her…
A small smile graced her lips and Hinata got to her feet, as Naruto and Sasuke followed suit Slowly made their way out of the classroom, in silence. She was disappointed she wasn't on Shino's or Kiba's team, but she wasn't too sad about it as she got Kakashi! This was going to be great!
On her way out she heard the last two teams being called out, "Team Eight will consist of: Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Haruno Sakura and your sensei will be Yūhi Kurenai! Team Nine is still in rotation, so Team Ten will consist of: Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chōji, and Yamanaka Ino with Sarutobi Asuma as your sensei!""
Hinata could make out Sakura and Ino whining, if just barely. They weren't annoying like they used to be, but there were still some things about their personalities that would never change. At least this time, Hinata knew they were more disappointed on not being on a team together than with Sasuke. Since her little stunt, neither of them looked at Sasuke the same way anymore. She still felt slightly guilty for it, but knew it was far better it happened when it had than later in the field.
Before she could think too much about it, however, Naruto broke the silence, "Ne, Hinata-chan, isn't Kakashi your brother?"
Hinata nodded.
"That's weird, why don't you ever come over with him when he comes for dinner?"
A dark look passed over Hinata's face briefly, before she pushed the anger she still felt away. Sasuke and Naruto hadn't noticed, thankfully.
"I'd b-be too n-nervous around y-your father, Naruto-san," she stated as shyly as possible, "I d-don't do too w-well in social situations…"
It was partly true. But it wasn't nervousness she felt. It was anger. It lessened over the years, but it was still there. Kakashi tried to get her to go sometimes, but it was of no use. She refused.
'Being on Naruto's team means I'll end up running into his parents more often…' she sighed, as the thought crossed her mind. There always had to be at least one negative.
Naruto nodded, "Understandable. But just so you know it's not my dad who wears the pants in the family, if ya'know what I mean! My mom is far scarier! HEHEHEHE!"
Sasuke shook his head, "I'm telling Kushina-san…"
Naruto's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets, "You better not, bastard!"
Sasuke smirked and crossed his arms, "And if I do?"
Naruto pulled Sasuke close and whispered something into his ear.
All Hinata could make out through the whispering was, "Teddy bear…Mr. Snuggles…pictures", whatever that meant.
It must have meant something because a look of absolute horror developed on Sasuke's face, much to Hinata's amusement.
"You wouldn't dare!" he hissed.
"But I would, Sasuke! I would! HAHAHAHA!"
Sasuke huffed and left them behind, an angry blush lightly dusted his cheeks. He looked very much like a small child, Hinata mused.
The walk with Naruto was silent the rest of the way, but not unbelievable awkward, surprisingly. Peeking out of the corner of her eyes, Hinata couldn't help but blush being so close to him. Ignoring his closeness, she decided to just focus on her walking. It made her less nervous.
When they arrived to the designated class Hinata was shocked to see Kakashi already waiting for them; he was known for his tardiness, after all.
"Yo!" he said with a wave of his hand, and ushered them into the room.
"S'up, Kakahsi," Naruto said, with his signature smile.
Kakashi raised his only visible eyebrow, and Naruto quickly fixed his mistake.
"I mean, hello, Kakashi-sensei!" he said with a mock bow.
"Much better, now have a seat," he said ignoring his taunt, and he waved them to sit. "We have things to do. How about we introduce ourselves?"
"Is that even necessary? We've known each other forever!" Naruto changed the tone of his voice as to mock Kakashi's, "My name is Hatake Kakashi, I like reading porn in broad daylight, giggling at perverted things, and making up horrible excuses as to why I am always late for dinner—"
He was cut off, as Kakashi punch him in the head.
Tears came to Naruto's head as he held it, "OWWW! That hurt!"
Hinata couldn't help but let out a small giggle into her hand. Naruto's observations were quite accurate, in her opinion. Sasuke coughed into his hand, which Hinata was sure was his way to hide his own laughter.
Naruto turned to Hinata quickly, "You should laugh more often, Hinata-chan!"
Naruto thought that of everyone.
Another blush went across her face, much to Kakashi's amusement.
Before he could embarrass her anymore, Kakashi said, "Well, seeing as an introduction is unnecessary," at that he glared at Naruto, "let's get started on your last test!"
"Ugh, it better not be that stupid bell test again!"
They all knew there was one more test they had to pass. Hinata learned of it from overhearing Kakashi, and she assumed Naruto and Sasuke must have heard it from their families somehow.
Kakashi rolled his eye, that was originally going to be the plan, but he soon realized it wouldn't do any good as both Sasuke and Naruto had already passed said test before with flying colors, and Hinata herself would easily see through it with how he had stressed teamwork with her during her years of training.
"Luckily for you, it isn't the bell test," he said with his eye closed; he was obviously smiling, "It's worse. Now follow me!"
The three Genin quickly got to their feet and followed him out of the classroom. Before they could react, he grabbed all three of them, and body flickered away.
Coming to a stop, they all couldn't help but feel slightly nauseous. Even Hinata, who already knew the technique, felt dizzy.
Did he do that on purpose?
'I shouldn't have laughed at him,' she thought with a frown, as she thought of a way to pay him back for it.
When they finally got their bearings back, Hinata looked around and realized just where they were. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped opened.
Turning to look at Kakashi, she could tell he was enjoying himself. He knew she hated this place with a passion.
'Definitely getting him back…' she thought in annoyance.
"Welcome to Training Ground 44, also known as the Forest of Death!"
Shivers went down all of their backs.
He couldn't be serious, could he?
Hinata still shivered from the last time she went in there with Kakashi.
There were all sorts of slimy, creepy, crawly creatures, running down her shirt…
Kakashi looked serious now.
"Hold your hands out in front of you," he commanded.
Slowly, the three of them did as they were told. Before they could even blink, they felt handcuffs wrap around their wrists; Hinata's right hand was connected to Naruto's left, and Naruto's right was connected to Sasuke's left. The chain between each of their wrists was approximately four to five feet long as to give them some slack.
Hinata groaned internally. She had a feeling she knew where this was going, and it wasn't going to be fun.
"What's the point in this Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto whined.
"I decided to try something new. You all get a thirty minute head start to find this spot," he handed Hinata a map of the forest with an a circle around the location they needed to find, it looked to be a clearing with a river running through it, "and do whatever is necessary to keep me away. If I find out you break those cuffs, you fail, and trust me, I'll know. After that half hour, I will come after you."
He then handed them a scroll that read "CONFIDENTIAL" on it.
"If I manage to steal this scroll within thirty minutes, you fail, so I suggest you do whatever you have to as to not let that happen. Not only that, but within that time you guys must also set up a shelter as if this were a real mission, and catch yourself something to eat; either wild game or some kind of edible plant, I don't care which you decide to do. Careful, though, there are many different kinds of poisonous plants in the forest that look very similar to their safe counterparts so be weary of anything. Lastly, you must also have enough time to boil enough drinking water for at least a twenty-four hour period as the water in that river is not safe to drink without doing so. If you fail any of those things, well, I think you get the point. I may be your ally, but treat this as a real mission. In this exercise, I am your enemy so treat me as such. If you do not come at me with intent to kill you will fail miserably, understand?"
Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke all held a look of determination on their faces.
"Yes, Sir!" they said, unanimously; standing up straighter than they had been before.
Kakashi was glad to see them taking it seriously. He didn't really think that they would fail as he wasn't really trying to. He very much wanted them to pass. He had been looking forward to this team for a long time, after all.
"All of the deadly species in the forest will not bother you so long as you follow the trail I have laid out, I made sure of that." Kakashi was not trying to kill them, "However, those are only the animals and insects that I felt you would not be able to handle by yourselves. Any other predator is free game, so I would keep your eyes and ears open."
Hinata sighed in relief at that.
Kakashi put a watch on Sasuke's available hand, and pushed a button, "And your time, starts…now!"
Wasting no time, the three Genin rushed into the forest, Hinata slightly in the lead as she had the map.
They had no time to lose!
Kakashi smiled as he watched them jump to the trees.
They were already doing well. In a place like the forest of death, the high ground was always best. That is, as long as they paid attention to what could be above them.
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Normally Hinata wouldn't like to work with anyone, but obviously, she was kind of stuck. Even without the cuffs, she would have to get used to working with them eventually. At least, it wouldn't be too bad; Naruto and Sasuke were the top ranked Genin in the class, so they wouldn't slow her down too much, especially since Kakashi was more than likely going to do a thorough job at getting them up to par.
Hinata already knew their families tried not to push them too hard so they could have a peaceful childhood as Kakashi had told her when she asked, but now that they were Genin that would soon change. Now was the most important time to get them ready for the real world as they would never be ready for the life of a Chūnin, let alone Jōnin, if they did not.
'I wonder what'll happen to me?' Hinata wondered to herself, realizing Naruto and Sasuke would probably be taking up the majority of Kakashi's time.
She wasn't mad about it as it made sense, but still. Would she be doing a lot of solo training? If that were the case, it wouldn't be too bad. She had been wanting to master more elemental jutsu and this could be the perfect opportunity to do so.
'I'm sure Kakashi has figured it out,' she thought as she cleared her mind to focus on their test; she had more important things to do.
"I have an idea, guys!" Naruto said, as they came to an abrupt stop, causing the two connected to him to almost lose their balance.
"Warn us next time!" Sasuke hissed while rubbing his forehead where a low branch smacked him.
If Hinata hadn't had such good reflexes and chakra control, she probably wouldn't have made her landing on the branch she was aiming for and agreed whole heartedly with Sasuke.
"Eh, sorry, Hinata-chan!" Naruto said with a grin, purposely ignoring Sasuke much to his annoyance.
Pulling out a scroll he kept on him at all times, he said, "Like I said, though, I have a plan."
A scary glint soon filled his eyes.
Hinata knew that look, as did Sasuke and they couldn't help but smile slightly. That was Naruto's "I'm-about-to-go-all-out-on-a-prank-look", also known as the "shit-just-got-real" look.
If there was one thing they both knew that kept Naruto's complete attention it was his pranking. He would live, breathe and eat it if he could.
Kakashi was going to regret telling them to come at him with intent to kill, they all realized.
On the inside Hinata was cackling with joy, while Naruto was doing so quite loudly, and Sasuke…just stood there thinking about whatever Sasuke normally thought about.
Payback was most certainly going to be a bitch.
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Kakashi sneezed while reading his por—"educational literature"—and couldn't help but shudder.
"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" he said to himself, before turning the page to his book.
He'd worry about it when the time came, he decided. For now, he wanted to know what happened next in, as he dubbed it, "The Greatest Book Series in all of History".
Plus, what could a group of Genin possibly do to him, an elite Jōnin?
If only he had taken them more seriously…
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Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke all were breathing hard. They did a lot of work in a short amount of time. Hinata, realizing she knew more than they probably did, tried to let them do the majority of the work without making herself look lazy as they needed to hone these skills themselves. She was not a babysitter, and she wasn't going to do everything for them on actual missions.
Still, Hinata was impressed by their teamwork. Sasuke and Naruto worked together fluidly like a well-oiled machine, even with the restraints on. Hinata probably had the most trouble coordinating with them just because she avoided them (and almost everyone else) while at the Academy. She didn't know them like they knew one another.
So far, they were holding up to their titles as the best in their class. That would make things much, much easier.
Their time was just about up, and they all felt a bit of pride for what they had accomplished. Not only had they built a sturdy enough shelter (it sagged on one end, but it wasn't too noticeable), but they had also managed to boil the correct amount of water using a metal bowl Naruto kept on himself (for ramen, he said), managed to find food (a mixture of berries and nuts, and a squirrel that was much larger than it should have been that tried to attack them), and they were able to plant a mile and half of booby-traps (that didn't even count the ones they had laid around their campsite, or the ones that kept their scroll safe). How he managed to keep so many premade traps inside of that one small scroll, Hinata had no idea, but she was definitely not complaining as it made their job all the more easy.
He was quite creative with the few poisonous slugs and leeches he had found, as well.
Hinata was quite impressed with Naruto's trapping skills as they were far above what a Genin should know. He was quite, quite thorough. She felt kind of guilty for what Kakashi was about to go through (not really, he deserved it).
"Guess I'll be skipping most of my pranks this month," Naruto said to himself, as he rubbed the back of his head, "I just used almost all of my material! And I was really looking forward to some of these. At least they aren't going to waste."
Hinata raised an eyebrow at this, and she was shocked that Sasuke also looked kind of surprised.
"So that's how you pull those all off…" Sasuke muttered under his breath just loud enough for them to catch it.
Naruto nodded, a large smile filled his face, "You guys better not give away my secret, ya hear?!"
Hinata and Sasuke both nodded as they had absolutely no interest in becoming his next target, not with what they just saw him carrying.
Sasuke looked at the watch, and said, "Surprisingly, we have about five minutes to spare."
Naruto nodded, "Well, the squirrel isn't ready yet, but we collected enough berries and nuts to eat, so I think we should try and build our energy back up before he gets here, what do you guys think?"
Sasuke and Hinata nodded and they all sat down and began to eat. That really did wear a lot out of them.
Hinata was staring off in space when she realized Naruto was looking at her.
"Ne, Hinata-chan…Sasuke and I already know all there is to know about one another, but we don't know much about you. How about you tell us a bit about yourself?"
Hinata's cheeks pinked slightly, and she quietly mumbled, "There isn't much to k-know."
Sasuke cocked his head to side, and Naruto said, "Sure there is! What's your favorite food? Color? Hobbies?"
Seeing as answering those questions wouldn't hurt anything, she said, "I l-like the color purple. My favorite food is c-cinnamon rolls. And I like to—"
Before she could finish, the first of many explosions filled their ears. And then another and another and another. And then a few more after that…
It was time, finally.
Tossing their food to the side, they all stood ready. It was now or never.
Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed by without any sightings of Kakashi. Hinata didn't activate her Byakugan in order to conserve energy; that, and there really was no point. How could she tell Naruto and Sasuke where he was at when trying to keep that ability a secret?
Naruto looked back and forth between them, and asked after yet another explosion went off in the distance, "Uh, maybe we went a little overboard?"
Hinata and Sasuke couldn't help but agree.
After another five minutes went by, Sasuke said, "Uh…did we kill him?"
The answer didn't require an answer, however, as a very steady stream of killer intend flooded from behind the group.
As fast as light, they jumped around to engage the threat.
Kakashi held a look of pure murder in his eyes. He even had his Sharingan activated which made it all the scarier.
However once they got a good look of him that fear turned to shock.
He was covered head to toe in green slime and bright orange paint; had a black stamp that said "Loser" running across his forehead; and had four or five leeches latched onto his partially exposed chest, just barely missing his exposed nipple. His clothes were also in tatters, with a bad looking rash covering his arms and what was exposed of his legs (the slugs worked, it soon became apparent). He was also missing a sandal, and by the look of it, it must have gotten lost in that quick sand they managed to disguise behind one of Naruto's many exploding notes.
All in all, he looked horrible.
Naruto began to laugh hysterically, "Oh. My. GOD! Wait 'til I tell Mom! She's gonna love this!"
Naruto's laughter stopped completely when Kakashi threw something at his feet. Looking down, Naruto gulped in fear and Hinata and Sasuke followed suit.
They.
Were.
SCREWED.
Lying at their feet was his most prized possession: a first edition, leather bound copy of Icha Icha Paradise, complete with golden trim, fully colored pictures, and a signature from Jiraiya himself.
What scared them, however, was the state his book was in.
In short, it was ruined.
Kakashi cracked his knuckles as he slowly moved forward.
Before he could step any closer, however, the timer on Sasuke's watch beeped, signaling the end of the test.
"Wait, Kakashi-sensei! We passed!" Naruto yelled out as he held his hands out in front of him.
Hinata hoped it would make him stop, but she knew better. They all knew better. No one messed with Kakashi's books and got away with it unscathed. It was basically his Bible, after all.
"Then get ready for training lesson number one: Taijutsu," was all he responded with before flying forward.
Their screams could be heard from miles and miles away, but luckily, the forest absorbed most of the sound.
Kakashi was so angry, no predator dared to get close. The smell of that delicious, burning squirrel wasn't even worth it.
End.
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A/N- I did this when I should have been studying, so ignore the typos as I assume there are many. I didn't have time to proofread, sue me.