Hey, hey!

So, unlike some of my stories. I decided to focus more on the emotion and less on the action. I never deemed myself good at writing action anyways.

This chapter covers the bell test. Mainly the after result of the failed attempt.

I will say as a warning. Naruto and Sasuke in the beginning aren't the most likeable. They're still young and stubborn. Still narrow minded. So bare with them!

Kakashi watched as Hinata was puking behind some trees after the failed bell test. Naruto was currently tied up to a post and Sasuke was looking at Hinata like she was overreacting. They didn't even get that physical. Sasuke had to stop himself from sending Hinata death glares. This girl was hopeless.

Of course, like Hinata predicted the moment they all separated. They all failed.

Naruto and Sasuke immediately ditched her and separated from one another. Not even sitting there to think of a plan. Naruto tried to forcefully take the bells from Kakashi. The whole objective of this bell test was to take the bells from Kakashi and not a single well thought plan was made.

While Naruto tried and failed to forcefully take the bells from their sensei, Sasuke attempted to hide and use actual stealth and ninja skills to take the bells. He still failed. Hinata would openly admit she was a quitter in this category. However, she did try.

After watching Sasuke be disqualified. The very thought of telling her father she would be sent back to the academy scared the life out of her. She used her Byakugan to monitor her sensei and when she felt his guard was down enough while he was dealing with talking sarcastically to Naruto and Sasuke, she made her move.

She jumped from on top of a tree, that she used a lot of physical energy to climb quietly. When she jumped she almost came crashing on his head. This caught Naruto and Sasuke totally off guard. Naruto even flinched when he saw her Byakugan. He's never seen her use it before.

She looked like an alien. Yet she looked so serious and dangerous.

Sasuke blinked when he saw Hinata like this. He's never seen another girl in their class willing to get…ugly. Yet she wasn't ugly. It didn't make sense to him. Why was this girl so different? Almost like she had multiple personalities, because this wasn't the girl from the roof of the academy yesterday.

Hinata had to be serious in this moment, she rather die than tell her father she failed this bell test. This stupid, stupid, bell test. She never heard her cousin Neji saying he had to take a bell test. He gloated all the time, she would remember hearing this.

Sasuke eyes widened when he caught the flexibility Hinata had. She wasn't the fastest, but she could twist and bend her way around Kakashi, who was trying to get a hold of her. Maybe that was another ability of her Byakugan? You could almost foresee when someone was going to make a certain move.

Naruto's mouth wouldn't close as he watched Hinata. She was the closest out of all of them. Her whole demeanor changed. No way this was the quiet weird girl from the academy. This Hinata could definitely hold her own.

Kakashi wasn't striking to hurt Hinata. He just wanted to see what she had to offer for the team. He watched how she sharply and aggressively pushed his hands away from getting ahold of her and would periodically try to reach for the bells. She was a spunky one when she wanted to be.

He knew she was whole heartedly being this combative because of the consequences if she failed.

She'd have to tell her father. Now Kakashi could see the lengths Hinata would go through to make sure Hiashi knew as little about her as possible. To make sure she didn't embarrass her father or her family's name. Kakashi could see this wasn't pride Hinata had in her. It was fear.

Unfortunately, Hinata's prime weakness was she burned out fast.

Kakashi quickly saw when Hinata was getting burned out. She used too much energy early on. He side swiped her feet while she was attempting to catch a quick breath and he knocked her on her back. For some reason this triggered Hinata to have to vomit.

The young kunoichi beelined behind a tree and for five minutes straight Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto heard Hinata puking. Kakashi walked near Hinata, just to make sure she wasn't throwing up any chunks. She would definitely be going home if he found out she ate breakfast. "You alright there?"

Hinata at this point now was dry heaving. Kakashi saw no food, but a lot of clear liquid. She must have tried to fill up on water.

Hearing Kakashi so close to her, Hinata quickly wiped her mouth with her sleeve and jumped. She blocked her disgusting pile of vomit and looked at Kakashi absolutely terrified. This totally caught Kakashi off guard. He didn't want to build that type of relationship with this brittle girl. "Hey. Calm down. It's just a test."

Hinata didn't hear him. All she could think of was the 'what if'. What if her sensei could smell the alcohol she had threw up. "Don't sneak up on me!"

Kakashi eyes widened. Why was she being so defensive. Hinata caught herself and her outburst. That was very unlike her and very rude. She quickly turned around and kicked dirt on the vomit and covered it up. When she was finished she turned around and bowed apologetically to Kakashi. "I'm sorry. Very, very sorry. Please forgive me sensei."

Naruto and Sasuke watched the scene unfold. If weird could go to another level, Hinata has reached that level. She went from being cool and showing off her ninja moves to being this…freak show again.

Naruto flinched a little when Hinata yelled at Kakashi and how she immediately got scared from her outburst. Why was she so scared of vocalizing herself?

While Sasuke was interested in what was going on. He was more annoyed than anything. This girl was wasting his time. "So, what does this all mean?" Kakashi looked over at Sasuke slightly annoyed. Okay, he understands the reason Sasuke has a chip on his shoulder, but he needed to see the bigger picture on how to surpass that. "You all fail. Isn't it obvious."

All three students looked completely heartbroken.

"The point of this all along was to work as a team. You all failed that perfectly. It was kind of pathetic if I was to be honest. Naruto didn't want to listen to you Sasuke. Sasuke didn't want to listen to Naruto. The only thing the two of you did work together doing was ignoring Hinata, who by the way barely whispered it and if you listened your utmost hardest. You would have heard her tell you both to wait and to plan something. Does she annoy you two that much?"

Hinata could have honestly dug her face in her vomit behind the tree before she wanted to hear any more of the harsh critique. All she really cared about was this freaking test. She didn't care that Naruto and Sasuke didn't like or respect her. They were only temporary in her life.

"Another c-chance?"

Kakashi heard the whisper from Hinata and looked at her with another interested brow raised. Honestly, she probably had the worse teamwork out of all of them. Her only reason for pleading for another chance was purely to avoid the wrath of Hiashi Hyuga.

Naruto and Sasuke were too much into their own egos. They couldn't see that Hinata was already over this team. "Okay we screwed up! We get that, but I agree with Hinata. We deserve another chance!"

Kakashi looked at Naruto as he sided with Hinata while he was tied to the wooden post. His reasoning was more genuine than Hinata's was. Soon even Sasuke joined in. All three eager to prove themselves once again. "Fine. Fine, just stop begging. You look pitiful. After lunch we'll do this. Till then, Hinata and Sasuke can eat up, but not you Mr. Sticky Fingers Naruto. Caught trying to steal a lunch. You two don't feed him either. That's an order."

Hinata frowned at this. Naruto would be starving by the time lunch ended. He wouldn't be able to really put his best effort in with no food in his stomach. That would mean Naruto missed out on breakfast and lunch. She's seen Naruto sink and start to drag after missing one meal. He couldn't handle missing more than one.

She could go days without eating, but she's seen how much Naruto loves food. He couldn't go even half a day. She was sure skipping breakfast killed him.

When Kakashi left Hinata saw Sasuke sit beside Naruto with his food. Was he trying to torture Naruto or something? She could already hear Naruto's stomach growling. Hinata just sat and stared at her food. The urge to fill her stomach wasn't there, she was concerned about other matters.

Like the possibility of them passing this test on the second try.

How were they going to do that? This was a jonin and they were three very dysfunctional individuals. People with their own personal problems. This was hopeless, she'd have to report to her father that she would be going back to the academy. That she was a total and utter failure and just hope the outcome is not as bad as the past outcomes when Hinata failed her father. Maybe he'll go back to ignoring her again.

Crap. That's right. She has a sparring match with her father this evening. Her father was a punctual man, she couldn't be out here late over a bell test. Her father would be livid if he found out she failed the first time with this test. How many chances would they get? This was all proving to become too much all at once for Hinata to process.

Hinata was knocked out her thoughts when she heard Naruto's stomach growl again. He must be miserable. She looked over and saw Sasuke wasn't eating his lunch yet. He was looking off at the ground in thought. In reality she saw him staring at her shadow. He was contemplating saying something to her.

Hinata let out a silent sigh. She rather Naruto be full and energized than worry anymore about her upcoming torture when she got home. "Naruto…please h-have my l-lunch."

She opened her lunch bag and pulled out the lunch she made herself. It was a full meal. She took her utensils out so she could feed it to Naruto. Said person looked at her totally flabbergasted. "Hinata. Stop. First of all, Kakashi-sensei told you both to not feed me. I don't want to get you in any more trouble than you're already in. You're way too nice for that. Second, you were just throwing up. A lot. You have to be starving."

Hinata wanted to frown, but she didn't. She wasn't hungry at all. Her urge to escape was starting to bother her though. She much rather be self-soothing herself than sit here in the sun and look at the pity stare Naruto was giving her. Or the hateful look from Sasuke.

"I-I…I am not hungry. You need f-food. So y-y-y….so you will be able to help us in the second try." It was a lame excuse, because in reality she felt like Naruto deserved to eat a lot more than she did.

Sasuke stared at the two and how Naruto was losing his battle of refusal to Hinata's food that smelled delicious. He looked at the food and scuffed, she probably had her maids prepare her lunch. Woke them up at the crack of dawn and told them to make her food. "Before we even dive into lunch, I just have to get some things straight. Simply because it is dragging us down way more than Naruto's block head."

Naruto glared at Sasuke, but before he could say a snarky remark back Sasuke continued.

"What is your problem Hyuga? You're all over the place. You never talk. You freak out over every little thing. You pass out from panic attacks. You fight decent enough one minute, then you vomit the next. You snap out of nowhere like some psycho. Then you mope in silence. Now you're offering Naruto your lunch? Telling him you're not hungry. When we all know you're hungry. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Hey! What the hell is wrong with YOU!? Don't talk to her like that. Not ever again. She hasn't done anything to you to deserve you talking to her like that." Naruto shouted at Sasuke. He was just so SICK of Sasuke always belittling everyone. Hinata was the closest out of everyone during the bell test to get them. Hinata never said ANYTHING mean to them. What was Sasuke's problem trying to tear her down?

Hinata didn't look at Sasuke eyes as he broke her down, piece by piece. How could you look someone in the eyes that spoke to you like that? "I'm…s-s-sorry." That's all she could bring herself to say. She didn't know what else to say. She just said whatever she felt like would get Sasuke to stop focusing on her.

He reminded her of her cousin.

Sasuke looked angered by the accusation Naruto was saying just now. "Would you shut up for ONCE Naruto. I'm not talking to her like she's trash. I'm asking a basic QUESTION. She's a ninja. She should be able to answer basic questions. She doesn't need you fake protecting her every five minutes. Which by the way it's obvious you feel the same way I do. You just feel sorry for her. At least I'm being honest."

Yes. Hinata wanted to die at this very moment.

"We…we do not have to talk about this. P-Please Naruto. E-Eat my food. Like…like I said. You need the energy. T-This is not about me. This is about team seven. This-"

Hinata paused for a moment. This conversation was taking a lot out of her. She just wanted to get away from these two. "This is about… Naruto becoming H-Hokage a-a-and S-Sasuke…k-killing a certain…someone."

The two boys stared at Hinata. For some reason they didn't think she heard or remembered what they were talking about on the roof top. "Still Hinata. This is about you too. You're a part of this team. Remember?" Hinata looked at Naruto as he spoke. She gave a reserved smile and a tight nod of her head.

This wasn't about her. They could stop trying to pretend. They didn't care about her. No one cared about her. They were just forced to be her teammate for the time being.

"Please…Naruto. E-Eat." Hinata offered Naruto her food and actually smiled when Naruto took the food this time. He was starving, she could tell. He inhaled the food and paused when he saw more food being offered to him. He looked at Sasuke as the young Uchiha offered Naruto his food but wouldn't look at him. "Eat dobe. She's right. It's better to have you useful."

Who was Naruto to say no to free food.

The two dark haired teens continued to serve Naruto. Something still bothered Sasuke though. He just felt something was off about this Hyuga girl. She avoided all of his questions. Her escape mechanism was cowering away and overly apologizing. She was good at not answering questions and changing the subject. This just showed him she was hiding something. What was it though?

All he could think about was her home life. How Kakashi told them not to ask about her father. "Those answers you gave on the roof top of the academy. It was all a load of crap wasn't it? Do you really just eat, shit and breathe Hyuga lifestyle? How old were you when you first started training."

Hinata paused and looked at Sasuke surprised as she was still feeding Naruto. The blonde, now with a full belly and in a much happier mood looked at her excitedly. "Yeah! This would be cool to know Hinata. Like let's be honest, we don't know anything about you."

Why were they doing this? They just established Naruto kindness was actually pity and Sasuke only questioned her because he wanted to ace the bell test. He didn't care about her. Neither of them could be of any use to her in reality. Just like she was no use to them.

Hinata was losing her patience. "I-I…I do not…understand."

Naruto looked confused. "You don't understand what?" Sasuke rolled his eyes and almost threw his chopsticks to the ground before just placing them with his leftover food. "She doesn't understand why we're asking. Why we keep asking, even though she's telling us not to worry about her. Look, all we're trying to do is-"

"Make sure I am not a burden. I-I won't be a burden. I do not have the option to fail."

Sasuke paused for a moment. That's the most she said without stuttering. Yet it was almost insulting. "What? Failure is not an option for me either." He took offense to this, like she was saying that Naruto and himself could fail and be fine with going back to the academy.

Hinata still wouldn't look at him this whole conversation and this annoyed Sasuke so much. Just when he was going to engage back with Hinata, he heard a voice behind him. "Well, well. Look what we have here. Looks like some teamwork is happening."

Sasuke turned around to see it was Kakashi that spoke. Hinata looked at their sensei nervously and quietly put away what was left of her lunch. "I-I…I mean. We…umm."

Kakashi held a hand up for her to stop talking, "Whatever you say wouldn't even matter in this situation. You still fed him against my orders. It looks like you had the guts to feed him the most Hinata. You, someone that lacked the most teamwork skills. This has showed me enough. You all pass. Congratulations. You're Genin now."

The three young adults gave Kakashi an owlish look. Was he being serious right now? Kakashi smiled at the group and gave them a peace sign. "First mission will be tomorrow. So be ready sharp and early in the morning. Same time. You can eat breakfast though."

With that their sensei disappeared. Leaving them alone and Naruto still tied up. Hinata looked at Naruto. While she knew this boy, that she actually admired, thought she was useless. She still wanted to help him. Hinata proceeded to un-tie Naruto from the training post. She watched him fall down once she got it loose enough.

She gave a polite bow to Naruto and Sasuke as she bid the two goodbye. "Wait! Hinata! Umm, why don't you stay. We could try to finish this team talk ya know! Now that I'm free I could give teme…umm I mean Sasuke a proper ass whooping if he gets out of line again." Sasuke gave Naruto a deadpanned look. Like that would ever happen.

Hinata's back was turned, but she stopped walking to answer them. Her fingers twitched as she stood there. She needed to escape tonight. Very badly. "I…I cannot. I have a sparring session with my…father."

Naruto was about to say something else. When he watched Hinata continue to walk away, something like 'good luck!'. However, Sasuke tapped Naruto's shoulder and shook his head for Naruto to not reply back. "She doesn't want to hear anything we have to say. Isn't it obvious dobe. She doesn't like you or me."

Naruto watched as Hinata disappeared from eyesight and frowned at Sasuke, "Me? The only reason she wouldn't like me is because you lied about me and said all that crazy crap about me not really caring about her! This is all your fault Sasuke!"

Naruto stomped his way around Sasuke, who just watched Naruto's retreating form with little interest. What was the problem with those two? They were so annoying and now he was paired with two weaklings that'll just continue to get in his way.

Most important. Sasuke was now the third wheel. The outcast and he wasn't going to understand the impact of this until months later.

Hinata was trying her best not to wheeze. Not to show any signs that she was utterly exhausted. She was still standing at the end of the match with her father. This was a first. She usually was flat on her back. Too weak and broken to get up.

Oh. She still felt weak and broken. The fear of the consequence of failing is what got her still standing.

She would be battered and bruised when she arrived to her first mission tomorrow. Great. With her new sensei and teammates, this didn't really promise a smooth first mission. Even if it was D ranked. Hiashi studied Hinata as she stood in front of him.

She didn't do bad at all. She did really good actually. She could endure and last way longer than Hanabi now. When she fell on the ground she would immediately get back up. She was progressing, but was it good enough? Was she good enough to go on a mission outside of Konoha? That was his biggest concern. His biggest fear.

Yes. The leader of the Hyuga clan had fears.

They would always be based around Hinata. His oldest daughter.

Hiashi tilted his head as he looked at Hinata, "You look exhausted. Do you have a mission in the morning or will you have the day off?" Hinata barely made eye contact with him. She still struggled in this department heavily. "Look at me when I speak to you. Look at me, in my eyes."

Hinata immediately straightened her posture and looked at her father straight in his eyes, "I have a mission t-tomorrow father. No. I am not tired." Her eye twitched as she lied. She knew her father could tell she was lying.

Hiashi looked at Hinata for a long time. She knew, that he knew she was lying. Why would she do that? Proof that she was indeed exhausted, because Hinata knew better than to lie to him.

He was going to push for another two hours of sparring, but he'll just make her think it's going to be two hours and cut it short at 45 mins. However, he was going to make this 45 minutes a rough one. Punishment for lying.

By the end of the night Hinata was dragging her feet heavily out the shower and into her bedroom. She only wanted one thing and one thing only as she shut her bedroom and crawled to her closet. Hinata rummaged in her closet and pulled out her closest friend. This friend escaped with her everywhere.

She leaned against her bed on the floor as she threw her head back like always. The burning liquid hitting her throat and burning her stomach. She didn't eat after she threw up. There was no point, this was all that she cared about anyways.

Nice short chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it.

I don't plan on making Hiashi too evil. I do plan on him and Hinata having a relationship. It's Hyuga-centric after all.

See you Saturday!