A week later, Minato stood before ninja officials and every Jonin that had a team—Kakashi Hatake, Kunerai Yuhi, and Asuma Sarutobi—in his official Hokage robes that he rarely donned. They stood in a dark room that was sealed with a jutsu to prevent secrets from getting out.
"As I'm sure you're all aware, Konoha will be hosting the chunin exams this year," he announced. "As such, we must be prepared for any possible infiltrations that are not related to the event as well as showing hospitality to those who still see our village as less than pleasant for our part in the war."
The group stayed silent, agreeing with their Hokage and waiting for the true nature of their order to be announced.
"This year's Jonin sensei, please step forward." Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma stepped up. "This is your chance to nominate your students for the exam if you feel they are ready for it."
Asuma nodded. "Yes, sir. I nominate Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka for the chunin exams."
Kurenai went next. "I nominate Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Sakura Haruno for the chunin exams."
"I nominate Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuuga, and Sasuke Uchiha for the chunin exams," Kakashi said, this group surprised everyone the least as they had all heard about the A-Rank mission they took on as a group of fresh genin. And after they had trained under the Hokage himself, they had no doubts this team would dominate the exams this year.
"Very well. Teams 7, 8, and 10 as well as Team 3 from the previous year will be officially entered into the chunin exams. They will take place in one week, on July 1. Prepare your teams well," he said. "You're all dismissed."
Guy went up to the three jonin. "Are you sure you don't want to wait another year before putting them through this?" He asked.
Kakashi leveled a look at him. "I have faith in my team, Guy. They probably would've been ready for this exam last year, maybe even sooner."
"I know the Hokage took a special interest in your team, but that training doesn't mean anything until they're up against real enemies," Asuma pointed out.
"Sure," Kakashi said. "They only defeated the Demon Brothers as well as Zabuza Momochi and his partner, not real enemies at all. Tell that to my student who almost died to protect the client." Sure, he bragged a bit about how strong his team was, but they were not empty words and he took offense to those who thought they weren't as good as he's seen them be.
Asuma held his hands up defensively. "I'm just saying," he said. "Powerful teachers don't mean anything if they can't back it up."
"They back it up just fine, don't you think? Or why else did you decline to train with our team after seeing how easily they beat Kurenai's?" Kakashi smirked at the frown on Asuma's face at the mention of the situation that had happened just a few days ago.
Kakashi had thought it would be a great idea to have the teams mingle a bit more and wanted to use training to do so. He asked Kurenai first, who eagerly jumped at the idea. The next day, Sasuke slammed Kiba into the ground and then back into a tree, Shino had been bombarded with clones of Naruto, and Sakura had been too distracted by Hinata's doujutsu and Sasuke's eyes watching her that she tripped herself up quite a bit and Hinata took her down with a swipe to her legs and a palm to the lower back, numbing her legs. It was all over rather quickly. Asuma had been watching from a distance but he hadn't escaped the eyes of Kakashi, Kurenai, and Hinata. Even Sasuke had sensed someone there and Naruto knew his teammates well enough to know someone was watching them.
When he asked Asuma the next morning, the man declined with a poor excuse but it amused Kakashi. No doubt the other Jonin wanted to work closer with his team before setting them up against his own team. He felt pride at that.
"All right, that's enough," Kurenai said with a sigh. "Men." Then she left the room, following after the crowd of other ninja. "See you at the exams." Asuma was following after her as subtly as he could but just about everyone could see that they were a thing—or they wouldn't be worth their ninja title.
"I guess our teams will all be facing off at the exam," Guy said.
"Looks like it. Maybe our teams should have sparred, but we don't have time for that now," Kakashi said.
"Maybe after."
"Maybe."
"You know what we do have time for?" Guy asked with an overwhelmingly excited expression.
Kakashi sternly said, "No. We do not have time for that."
"I challenge you, Kakashi, to one hundred laps around the village on our hands!" He declared. Kakashi got more exercise running away from the man with the bowl cut than anywhere else, but a part of him deep down had fun every time.
Team 7 was saying goodbye to Haku at the village gates. He had cut his hair to his shoulders and wore a dark green, sleeveless yukata with a white obi that was tied in a bow in the back along with brown sandals with black straps. He looked much different, but still like Haku to them. During the week he had been here, they had all grown closer and they were sad to see him go. He informed them that staying a week was already too long as he wanted to travel the nations, but he promised to send them packages and to visit when he was in the area. He also assured them that he would help spread the word of Team Harmony, and they thanked him gratefully after acknowledging that calling themselves that to anyone who asked was not a good look.
"I guess this is it," Haku said. He had a small pack filled with supplies and some self-defense weapons and he felt that was all he needed.
Hinata pulled him into a tight hug. "I'll miss you very much, Haku-chan. Please write to me often," she said into his shoulder. Haku returned the hug.
"I will. You'll probably get annoyed with me," he chuckled.
"Never!" Hinata gasped. "Travel safe."
"Yeah, visit us often!" Naruto said, patting his shoulder.
"Don't wait until we're a famous team to do so," Sasuke said with a smirk.
Haku smiled at them happily, brighter than he had when he first arrived in the village, and turned around with one last wave to begin his own journey. He was going to miss Team 7, Kakashi, and Naruto's mother Kushina, but he had his own mission.
Team 7 watched him walk away until they couldn't see him anymore and they turned away to walk about the village before they met with Kakashi for a training session.
"I miss him already," Hinata sighed.
Sasuke raised a brow. "I didn't realize you two had grown that close," he said, jealousy evident in his tone.
"He helped me a lot with my garden and the herbs I'm growing," she said. "He's very knowledgeable and he taught me a few things I didn't know."
"My mom was sad this morning when she was telling him goodbye. She really likes him and thinks of him as a son. Haku actually shed tears when she told him that, too!" Naruto exclaimed.
"I'm sure that made him very happy," Hinata said. Then she furrowed her brows as she felt someone approaching fast. Sasuke was about to ask if someone was coming as he recognized that look when a Uchiha clansman appeared before them.
"Sasuke-sama, Fugaku-sama needs your input on an important clan matter. Please come with me," he said.
Sasuke sighed and turned to his friends. "I'll catch up with you two later," he said just before disappearing toward the Uchiha Compound.
"What do you wanna do?" Naruto asked as they continued walking. "We have a couple of hours to kill before we're supposed to meet with Kakashi-sensei."
"Walking around like this is nice, isn't it?" She smiled. He returned it and they kept walking. "Maybe we can stop for a small lunch as well."
"Ichiraku!" Naruto yelled happily.
Hinata giggled. "Ichiraku, it is then." She then looked over her shoulder to see a square rock in the middle of the street with two small holes in the front that she assumed were for looking. Naruto followed her gaze and frowned at the poor disguise. They decided to ignore it and continue walking but then Naruto got annoyed a few seconds later and lashed out.
"What the hell're you doing? That's the worst disguise I've ever seen, you know!" He shouted. Before he could say any more, Konohamaru jumped out and attempted to attack him but was easily stopped by Naruto with a hand on his head. "Konohamaru, seriously?"
"Come on! Let's fight right now and I'll show you that I'm a better choice for Hina-chan!" He challenged.
Naruto sighed. "You're fighting the wrong teammate if that's what you're wanting to prove. You were there, dude. She's marrying Sasuke, not me."
"Konohamaru-kun, please don't attack my teammates," she said kindly. She opened her arms. "Can I have a hug?"
The young boy's eyes lit up as he surged into her arms and clung to her. "I haven't seen you in forever!" He whined. "My grandpa told me about that mission you went on. You're so cool!"
Hinata blushed. "Thank you. You're such a sweet boy." She looked over his shoulder at the two other kids behind him. "Are you going to introduce us to your friends?"
"Oh!" Konohamaru said. "This is my team, kinda like you three when you were small."
The young girl stepped up. "I'm Moegi Kazamatsuri and I'm gonna be the greatest kunoichi who ever lived!" Hinata smiled widely at this.
The young boy, who looked more terrified than anything, stepped forward. "I'm Udon Ise, and I'm just happy to be here!" He shouted haltingly.
"You three are working hard to be great ninja, aren't you?" She asked. They all nodded excitedly, especially Konohamaru who was still clinging to her. "You're doing very well, but there's always more to learn."
"Yeah! Your rock was square and in a place even a normal rock that large wouldn't be," Naruto sighed. "You have to study your surroundings, even more so when you're hoping to infiltrate areas or assassinate a subject."
Their eyes lit up. "Wow, you're so smart, big brother!" Moegi said, her eyes lit up and sparkled.
Naruto chuckled, a light blush on his cheeks. "Ah, well, you know…"
Hinata giggled. "Yes, Naruto is right. You three are still learning and that is why it is best to ask for help from an older nin."
"Will you help us?!" Udon asked, wiping his nose.
"I'm not sure we'll have time for any of that, guys," Naruto said, sounding genuinely apologetic. "Maybe between missions or something, okay?"
Moegi nodded. "We'll take what we can get!" She turned to Konohamaru. "Right?"
Konohamaru snuggled into Hinata's shoulder, on his teepee toes the whole time. "As long as Hina-chan is there," he said, glaring at Naruto who could only roll his eyes.
"Listen, 'ya brat, I told you you're challenging the wrong teammate," he said, crossing his arms.
"I know a rival in love when I see one!" The young boy retorted, clearly aware of Naruto's feelings for the girl he was clinging to.
Hinata patted Konohamaru's head. "Naruto and I are good friends," she assured him. "And it's unbecoming for a man to be jealous to such a degree. You're not unbecoming, right?"
Konohamaru pouted for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Right. I'm sorry," he said. She smiled proudly at him and tapped his nose tightly.
"Apology accepted." The boy's face went bright red as he giggled bashfully. "Would you three like to walk around with us?"
"Yeah!" They all exclaimed in unison. The two genin couldn't help but smile. The trio walked between them as they steadily walked through the empty back street.
"Hey, you! Let's race!" Konohamaru said.
"I'm not gonna race a child," Naruto shot back.
"Oh," came the drawn-out reply, "you're afraid a child is gonna kick your butt in a simple race, aren't you?!"
Naruto came to an abrupt stop and put his hands on his hips. "I am not! Fine, let's race right now then!"
Konohamaru smirked. "Okay, start!" He quickly called out, zipping off and leaving nothing but dust behind.
Naruto growled. "Cheater!" He yelled as he ran after him, severely holding himself back in order to make it fair. Konohamaru turned a corner with a laugh that soon turned into a yelp of pain, causing the others to quickly come rushing.
"Konohamaru?!" Moegi called out. Naruto made it first and the other three were more alarmed when Naruto shouted angrily.
"Hey, let him go!"
Hinata used the tiger seal to appear next to Naruto. She narrowed her eyes when she saw two foreign nin—a girl and a boy, slightly older than them—in the middle of the street, the boy holding Konohamaru up off the ground by his shirt and scarf.
"So, you're just gonna bump into me without an apology?" The boy, who had paint on his face in the form of purple lines and a weird object wrapped up in bandages with what looked to be hair peeking out of the top, asked angrily.
"Come on. We don't have time for this, Kankuro," the girl said. She had dirty blonde hair separated into four different spiky buns. Like the boy, she was carrying a large object on her back but it looked to be like a giant fan.
Hinata took a step forward. "Excuse me, can you please let him down?" Hinata asked politely. "They were having a simple race and I'm positive he didn't mean to run into you." She was pointedly ignored. "Naruto, you protect the kids." She was quickly beside Konohamaru, her hand gripping the boy's wrist tightly. "I asked you to please let him go."
"Huh, who the hell are you? Run along, little girl. This doesn't concern you," Kankuro replied. Hinata gripped his wrist tighter, sending her chakra out of the points on her hands and quickly numbing his wrist enough for him to drop their friend. Before Konohamaru could hit the ground, Naruto was holding him in his arms and shielding the other kids.
Kankuro gripped his wrist when she let it go. "Ah, what the hell did you do to my hand?! I can't feel it!" Behind him, the girl seems to be shocked. Hinata moved back closer to Naruto.
"I asked you to let him go twice," she said. "He's just a kid and there is no reason to behave that way in a village you're visiting." Naruto gulped at the sound of her voice as she was clearly irate; he was just thankful it wasn't directed at any of them.
"So what if he's a kid?" Kankuro said. "Bad things happen to kids all over the place!"
"It's the job of those older to ensure that they do not have a similar upbringing as us, is it not? Otherwise, you don't deserve to call yourself a protector of your village," she replied.
"Well, it's a good thing this isn't my village, is it?" He snapped. "Now, you're gonna pay for whatever crap you pulled with my hand." He took the large object off his back and it hit the ground with a loud thump.
"Are you seriously going to use the Crow for this?" The girl asked, alarmed. Hinata got into a defensive stance as Naruto set Konohamaru down and told them to stand back before standing by her side.
"You're not laying a hand on her, you wrecked paint job," Naruto hissed.
Kankuro's eyebrow twitched. "What did you say, you damn pipsqueak?!"
"Oh, I didn't realize you were hard of hearing, I'm sorry. Let me repeat it," he took a deep breath, "I said you're not laying a hand on her, you wrecked paint job!" Naruto repeated loudly.
Kankuro stepped forward. "You're gonna regret that." His voice was low and menacing.
Naruto shook with faux terror. "Oh, I'm shaking."
"Temari, are you gonna help out or what?" The boy said over his shoulder.
"I'm not going to be a part of this. You know what he'll do if he sees you acting like this," she said, stepping back. "No, thank you."
"Whatever." Just as Kankuro was raising his hand to make the next move, Hinata smirked. Before it could go any further, a small rock slammed into the back of his hand, causing him to grunt in pain and retract. They all turned to see Sasuke sitting in the tree to the side with a few rocks in his hand.
"I leave you alone for ten minutes and you find trouble," Sasuke said to his teammates, though his eyes were focused on Naruto. He turned to Kankuro. "You're a ways away from your village, aren't you? I guess it's common to terrorize kids over there, but we don't tolerate that here, nor do we tolerate disgraceful behavior in a foreign place."
"You two are from Sunagakure," Hinata said.
"What of it?" The girl, Temari said, a light blush on her cheeks from seeing Sasuke.
"You wouldn't be here without permission from Hokage-sama, which means you must be here for the chunin exams," she continued. "Is that right?" Her father had informed her that they were going to be held in Konoha this year.
"Yeah, that's right," Kankuro snapped.
"You're only here to participate in these exams. That is all you're cleared for. Any trouble you make will only result in your disqualification," Sasuke said. Like Hinata, Sasuke had also been informed and told the general rules. He had planned to ask Kakashi about it when they met up with him later.
"So you're gonna go tattle, is that what you're telling me?" He moved his weapon closer and hissed when Sasuke shot another rock at him before crushing the last one in his hand and turning it into dust.
Before they could answer, Hinata gasped and took out a senbon before swiftly sending it into the space beside Sasuke, on another branch. The senbon was caught with a lump of sand, out of it a red-haired boy appeared. Temari and Kankuro were shocked at the senses of the Konoha ninja, for her to have been able to sense him…it was hardly heard of.
"What are you doing?" The boy asked the other foreign ninja. His voice was low and raspy, but the air he held was stifling and it had Hinata reacting as soon as she felt it. "You're embarrassing the village with your behavior." He grabbed the senbon from his sand and looked at it for a moment before going back to his team.
"G-Gaara, we weren't—we were just, you know. They ended up starting something with us and we were just—" Kankuro babbled.
"Shut up," Gaara snapped, cutting him off. "Or I'll make you regret it."
"R-right. Yes, I'm—I'm sorry, Gaara," Kankuro said. Hinata observed how terrified the two nin seemed to be of this Gaara—it was clear he was the team leader—and filed that away for later.
He turned to them. "I apologize for any trouble he's caused." Sand engulfed him and then he was reappearing next to this team. He threw the senbon back to Hinata, who caught it easily in her hand while never taking her eyes off of him. "We'll be going now."
Hinata slipped the senbon back into her pouch as Sasuke landed beside her. "Hold on a minute," he said. "Your name is Gaara, correct?"
"That's right. I'm curious about your name as well."
"I'm Sasuke Uchiha," he replied. Gaara nodded before turning to Hinata.
"And you?"
"Hinata Hyuuga and this is Naruto Uzumaki. It's a pleasure to meet you three," she said politely, bowing her head in greeting. The three returned the gesture. They found it hard to believe she was being so polite to them as they were foreign nin and had caused trouble, especially Kankuro, but upon hearing that she was a Hyuuga they knew she was nothing if not polite. Hyuugas held manners nearly above everything else.
"I hope to be seeing you three in the chunin exam," the boy said and then they were walking away. Gaara was interested in Sasuke's strength, Hinata's senses, and Naruto's speed. He frowned at finding himself excited to face them in the exams…if they were going to be in them, that is.
The first thing Hinata did was turn around and check on their younger friends. "Are you three okay? Konohamaru-kun?" The boy in question rushed into her arms.
"You were so cool, Hina-chan!" He said, looking up at her with tear-filled eyes. "All three of you were cool, even your loser teammates." Sasuke and Naruto grumbled but took the compliment.
Hinata chuckled. "You said you were going to be nicer to them, didn't you?" She patted his head. "I'm glad you're all okay. How about we treat you three to food next time? We have to go to a meeting with our sensei now."
"Thank you, Miss Hinata," Moegi said. "And Mister Sasuke and Naruto."
"Yeah, thanks for everything," Udon added.
"We'll see you three later!" Konohamaru said before they all ran in the opposite direction of the Sunagakure ninja.
Team 7 faced each other seriously as they leaned against the fence.
"That guy with the red hair…" Sasuke began.
"He's gotta be pretty skilled if Hinata wasn't able to sense or hear him until the last moment," Naruto finished.
"The aura around him made me throw a weapon without thinking about it. I felt…threatened," she said.
"I saw his eyes close up and I can say with certainty that he's dangerous and especially so with that sand. I'm assuming he keeps more in the gourd on his back," Sasuke concluded. "What did you learn about his teammates?"
"The other guy is an asshole," Naruto huffed. At the flat looks he got from his teammates, he sighed. "He's cocky and easy to piss off. It clearly trips him up. You got here before he could reveal whatever the hell the Crow is."
"The girl, Temari, also carries a large weapon that I believe is a fan. Because of this, I have reason to believe that she's a wind user as it wouldn't make sense to use a huge fan as a main weapon without being one," Hinata added.
"They're all pretty strong, no doubt, but the leader is their strongest," Sasuke said.
"They're terrified of him," Hinata hummed. "I can't imagine being terrified of either of you. I feel…kind of sorry for them."
Naruto sighed, "I get what you mean."
"They're older than us, at least two of them are, so they must have more battle experience than us." Sasuke let his head thump back against the fence after saying this. "I want to fight him."
"Same here," Naruto agreed. "You, Hinata?"
She shrugged. "I don't really…have a rival. Lately, I've even been on par with Neji," she admitted. The last two spars they had had came to a draw and that's the way they preferred it. No one is weaker or stronger than the other. They strived to be equal and maintain it. The Elders, after seeing this, had stressed that it was imperative that she always be stronger than any branch member of the clan and scolded her for not working hard enough. She was just thankful that they had not discovered her near-death experience.
"Maybe you'll find one soon," Sasuke assured her. "Let's get to the meeting site." They all kicked off the fence and took to the rooftops.
Kakashi was waiting for his team by the time they showed up and he was frankly a little offended that he showed up early for once and they were late.
"Wow, you're actually here," Sasuke commented. He looked around. "Pigs should be flying and I'm sure Hell is freezing over as well."
Kakashi grinned. "Oh, haha, get it out while you can. I'm just excited for today's training session."
"Awesome! What's it gonna be?" Naruto asked, eyes practically lit with fire.
"I'm going to be separating you three and making shadow clones to battle you one versus one," he explained. "You work very well as a team, we've established that, but you also need to be able to work on your own."
They nodded. "Yes, sensei!"
Kakashi made two other shadow clones and they took Naruto and Sasuke to different training grounds while the real one stayed with Hinata.
"Remember our training a few years ago?" He asked. She nodded. "This isn't going to be like that. I'm going to be attacking you. I'm expecting you to give your best and to come at me with the intent to kill, just like your survival test."
Hinata looked at him seriously and activated her byakugan. "Yes, sensei." Her heart was pounding a little harder than she liked but she didn't let that deter her. She inhaled as Kakashi stood in a defensive stance, ready for her when she was ready.
Swiftly, Hinata was sending a kick to his head which was promptly blocked with his forearm. She spun around to land a punch to his face but Kakashi smacked her fist away and elbowed her in the chest, causing her to slide back on her feet. His forearm was slightly numb and his elbow felt funny, but he wasn't even close to being injured.
"That was cute, Hinata, but I told you to be serious," he said lazily. "Right now, you hardly seem stronger than you were the first time I ever trained you."
Hinata narrowed her eyes before taking a deep breath. She needed to remain calm as it was obvious that Kakashi was just trying to get a rise out of her. He wanted her to mess up, to be sloppy, but it wasn't going to work. She wasn't going to let it.
Before she had a chance to attack, Kakashi was coming for her and she barely had time to dodge, rolling to the side and thrusting a palm toward his side but he caught her wrist. Ignoring the pain in his hand, he flung her toward a tree and was instantly on her the moment she made contact, sending a knee into her stomach. She caught his knee with her hands and pushed chakra out as fast as she could before he jumped back.
"Is that all you have? You want to protect your teammates like this?" Kakashi provoked. "Do you want something like what happened in the Land of Waves to happen again? You're only going to get killed at this point."
Hinata froze at this, her eyes widened just a bit, shocked that Kakashi would say something like that to her. She opened her mouth to argue but promptly shut it. No, this is what Kakashi wanted and she knew that. She shook her head to rid the unwanted thought. She sent chakra to her feet and leaped high into the air, aiming for her opponent. Kakashi jumped back but was thrown off by her next move.
"Earth Style: Earthquake Slam!" She yelled as she slammed her palm on the ground, causing the ground to break up around them. Kakashi lost his footing just a bit and that was enough for Hinata to strike a palm into his shoulder before he recovered and jumped away.
"You're an earth user?" Kakashi asked, holding his shoulder.
Hinata tilted her head. "Am I?" She said, smirking just a bit.
"I can still defeat you with one arm," he stated. "Why don't I go see how your teammates will do?" He moved to take off but was stopped with a kick to his legs.
"Your fight is with me," she said steadily. "I won't let you leave until this is settled, sensei!"
Kakashi smirked and focused on her once again. "You're keeping a rather level head, aren't you?"
"If you wish to shake me up, then it won't work. I won't allow my mind to stray in the midst of a battle," she said. She ran through a series of hand signs before sucking in a large breath. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" A large ball of fire flew from her mouth and soared toward the jonin who substituted with a log and ended up behind her in the trees.
He threw a few shuriken at her that she blocked with a kunai after cutting the jutsu off. Instantly, Kakashi was in front of her and grabbing her arm to toss her like before but she substituted just as he did and threw a few explosive seals around him, activating them quickly. He jumped away into the air and Hinata, frustrated that he continued to evade her, charged her chakra into the center of a fist and went to punch him. Kakashi substituted just before and they were both shocked to see the log burst into splintered wood before it flew away into the wind.
They both paused before Kakashi smiled at her and put a hand on her head. "I think this concludes our sparring session," he said warmly. "I'm sorry for the things I said earlier, but I hope you understand why I did it."
She nodded, returning the smile with gentle eyes. "Yes, I understand, sensei. No hard feelings," she assured him.
"We'll wait here for the others."
"So what kinda sparring are we gonna do, sensei?" Naruto asked when they came to a stop. Suddenly, the ground shook. "What the hell was that?" He looked back toward the direction they came from—where Hinata was. "Is Hinata okay?"
The clone turned to him. "I have no clue," he replied. Naruto grimaced and then took off running only to be stopped with Kakashi holding a kunai to his neck.
"You're going to have to get through me if you want to go save her. Who knows what the real me is doing to her," the clone said nonchalantly.
Naruto jumped back, glaring at the jonin. "Get out of my way!" He yelled.
"Make me." Kakashi shot toward him and kicked him back into a tree, nearly sending him through it with the force. "Come on, Naruto. Don't let Hinata die on your watch like she nearly did on the bridge." Just then, a loud, shrill scream could be heard from the distance and Naruto was back on his feet with a kunai in hand.
"Shut up!" He yelled as he ran toward Kakashi, preparing to stab through him to get to his teammate. Kakashi flickered closer, causing the blonde to hesitate, before slamming the side of his fist against Naruto's head which caused the boy to hit the ground with a pained grunt.
"That's not good enough. You expect anyone to believe you'll become the Hokage if you can't even save one person?" Kakashi taunted.
Naruto inhaled sharply as he got to his feet, trying not to show how hurt he was by these words. But he noted that Kakashi was right. He didn't deserve the title of Hokage if he couldn't even save a single friend, especially one who meant so much to him. He took a few deep breaths and put his kunai up.
"Defend yourself," Naruto said, the tone of his voice low. He tossed the kunai at his teacher and distracted the jonin long enough for him to create over ten shadow clones to pile on top of him. Quickly, Naruto pulled out a pre-drawn seal and slapped it on his hand as he ran for Kakashi. The jonin, having just defeated the last of the clones, went to swipe the real Naruto's legs but was impressed that Naruto flipped over him easily. Naruto slapped the middle of his back with the seal and smirked as it lit up and Kakashi froze for a split second.
"A chakra-draining seal?" Kakashi asked. Naruto felt a bit of Kakashi's chakra being pulled into his own reserves. "I should've known you'd be proficient in fuinjutsu, more so than your peers seeing as it's in your blood."
"You should never underestimate your opponents," Naruto replied. "This seal won't do much to you as it's not designed to take much, but…" he trailed off.
Kakashi chuckled. "You just wanted me to know you could get me with a seal if you want to. Show off," he said good-naturedly.
Naruto shrugged. "I wanted to show you that I am useful in a way neither of my teammates can be. There is no Team 7 without me, just like there's no Team 7 without Hinata or Sasuke." Another scream came from the distance, but this time it sounded choked and watery. Kakashi narrowed his eye at him, silently questioning his next moves. "Hinata is capable of protecting herself. Besides, I can identify genjutsu just fine now."
Kakashi released it and smiled proudly at him from underneath his mask. "You did well, Naruto," he said, "that's enough sparring for today."
Naruto groaned. "What?! No, we're gonna keep sparring!" He yelled. The clone of Kakashi did the only thing it could, and popped. "Damn it, Kakashi-sensei!"
After sighing heavily, Naruto looked around briefly before sprinting in the direction of Hinata. He was mostly positive it was a genjutsu, but he still wanted to make sure she was okay with his own eyes.
The ground shook just a bit and Sasuke tilted his head at this. "One of them just pulled out an elemental jutsu," he muttered.
Kakashi came to a stop and turned toward the Uchiha. "I can guarantee it was Naruto," he said amusedly. When Sasuke raised a brow at this, ready to defend Hinata's abilities, another clone of Kakashi came out holding a beaten Hinata by her arms against her back painfully.
Sasuke was instantly on guard. "What the hell have you done?" He asked, glaring at their sensei.
"Her spar didn't go very well."
Sasuke swiftly pulled out a few shuriken and shot them toward Kakashi, but the jonin deflected them with a kunai. Having used that as a distraction, Sasuke was already sending a kick to his head, spinning around with another one when it was blocked. The jonin caught his leg and slammed him into the ground. The clone holding Hinata tightened its grip, causing her to hiss in pain, and pulled a kunai to hold it against her chest.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't hurt her," he said confidently as he got back on his feet.
"I wouldn't? Going easy on any of you wouldn't be doing you any favors," Kakashi replied. He nodded to the other clone who slowly pushed the tip of the knife into her freshly healed wound. Sasuke got angrier when she bit her lip to stop herself from yelling out in pain. Even angrier when she struggled to get out of Kakashi's grip, but didn't have the strength to do so.
"Let her go," he hissed furiously.
The clone then began dragging the kunai down where they both knew her scar resided causing her to squirm and whimper in pain. She shut her eyes tightly in shame after looking into Sasuke's eyes. He tore his eyes away. His mission was to beat Kakashi first, no matter how much it pained him to see her slowly reliving a recent trauma on her body. He needed to keep his focus on the enemy.
"How do you expect to save Hinata if you can't even beat me?" Kakashi asked. "And bringing your brother back? Not a chance." Sasuke's nostrils flared with fury at this and he rushed to Kakashi, flickering in at different angles to throw the jonin off before he ended up at his back and kicking him with as much strength he possessed into the trees in front of him.
"I'm bringing him back!" Sasuke snarled. After doing the proper hand signs, he sucked in a deep breath and shot a fireball at the clone before jumping back and activating his sharingan. When he did this, the genjutsu dispersed and he clenched his jaw. Hinata wasn't hurting—she wasn't even in the area and he felt silly for having fallen for it. He took a deep breath and waited for Kakashi to appear.
"You hold more physical strength than Naruto and Hinata, but it doesn't mean anything if you don't properly utilize it," Kakashi said, suddenly standing in front of him. "Anger has always been your problem, though you've been able to hold back better since you became an heir."
Sasuke kept his eyes on the jonin despite wanting to look away with something like embarrassment.
"Sasuke, you need to be able to control that better. You're extremely talented. In battle, you'll eventually face someone who has your comrade held captive or knows many things about your family and you need to be able to keep a level head," his sensei scolded.
Sasuke let his shoulders slump just a bit. "I understand. I'm…working on it. Next time, you won't be able to get in my head like that," he said, though it was more like a promise to himself.
Kakashi put a hand on his head, catching the Uchiha off guard. "I don't doubt it, seeing as it could be a real enemy next time. You're not a reckless ninja. Remember that."
"I will."
"Okay, that concludes our sparring. Let's head back." Sasuke nodded and walked silently next to the clone of his sensei, thinking about all the mistakes he made during that spar and promising himself to never let that happen again.
"She can take care of herself and I trust Naruto to aid her if I'm unable to and she needs assistance. It's not always up to me," he said after a moment. "I know I'll bring Itachi back, and so do they—no one else's opinion matters."
Kakashi smiled to himself. "You did very well today, Sasuke."
When they rejoined the others and the last clone of Kakashi popped, the real one turned to them with pride exuding from his body.
"You three did excellent," he said. "Sure, there are some things to work on, but I don't need to worry too much about you guys now."
"Why would you worry?" Naruto asked.
"I won't need to worry about you three in the chunin exams," he explained. It took a moment but then it registered with them at the same time.
"Chunin exams? Really?!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping into Kakashi's arms. Hinata giggled and Sasuke watched with an amused and proud smirk.
"There's a few people I want to fight seriously," Sasuke said. "It'll be the perfect opportunity."
"Definitely!" Naruto agreed. The two boys had talked it out before, they wanted to seriously fight each other one day when they were at their best. Hinata's smile dimmed just a bit, wishing she had her own rival, but she shook her head and focused on the happiness she felt.
Kakashi set Naruto down and pulled out a camera. "On that note, it's time for a team photo. This is a photo that will stay with you forever," he explained.
"Do you still keep yours?" Naruto asked.
"It's in my apartment," he answered. "I'll show you three one day." His eye held a look of sorrow, but Hinata didn't mention anything and instead smiled warmly. It wasn't a secret that something happened to his teammates as Kakashi and Minato never mentioned them nor had they met them. They never asked questions and Kakashi was thankful for them being so patient.
Kakashi set up the camera and put the timer on. Hinata, with a light blush on her cheeks, stood between her teammates with Sasuke's arm around her waist and Naruto's around her shoulders, her hands clutching the hem of her jacket. Kakashi stood behind them, leaning forward until his chin was on Hinata's head and his arms were wrapped around Sasuke and Naruto, effectively pulling all three into an embrace. Naruto and Hinata smiled brightly at the camera, and even Sasuke couldn't help but grin widely. Kakashi's eye squinted heavily, his smile reaching high.
The camera went off, capturing this moment of their lives that they knew they were going to cherish forever. No matter what happened, they were a team and they were going to keep going until they achieved everything they set out to do.
Kakashi put the camera away. "The chunin exams start in one week. Should you choose to take the exams, sign this application form," he handed them each a sheet of paper, "and then head to room 301 at the academy at three in the afternoon." They each took an application and looked it over.
"We'll be there!" They replied.
Kakashi had no doubt they'd do great in the exam. It was difficult, but he's worked closely with them for a while now and has seen a majority of their abilities. They each had a great chance against everyone there. He just hoped they continued to be confident.
"Well, that's all for today. Train hard for the next week in preparation, but don't overdo it. It wouldn't help to be exhausted on the day it starts," he warned.
"Do you wanna get some late lunch together, sensei?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi shook his head in response. "I have a few things to do," he said. "Next time." Then he was gone with a flicker.
"He never wants to hang out with us," Naruto whined.
"He just likes doing his own thing," Hinata assured him. "We'll grab onto him next time just to be sure he comes with us." This made Naruto laugh and she felt relieved.
"I guess we could just get lunch without him," Sasuke said.
"I promised Naruto we'd go to Ichiraku," Hinata informed him with an apologetic smile. Sasuke huffed with annoyance but began walking in the direction of the ramen stand. Hinata and Naruto shared an amused smile before following him.
Later that evening, Hinata was in her greenhouse taking a break from studying with a cup of tea when she felt that presence again. She knew Itachi was nearby, no doubt circling the compound for a few moments to alert her that he was near. She looked down at herself, frowning at the scar peeking out from her training uniform as she felt a bit ashamed that she had nearly died on her very first mission out of the village.
"Hinata-san," his voice came. It was soothing, had always been soothing to her but since their last meeting, the thought of it made her face warm.
She smiled up at Itachi. "Would you like some tea?" She asked. Looking over his face, there seemed to be more color in it and she was relieved that he appeared better than his last two visits.
His eyes darted down briefly, but Hinata knew what he saw. "That sounds wonderful, thank you," he said rather than ask questions. She was thankful and quickly got him a cup. They sat together in a comfortable silence. If she didn't know any better, she would think it had always been like this, that he'd never left. But the worn look on his face and large cloak shut that idea out quicker than it came.
"How have you been feeling?" She asked.
"I've been feeling better than before."
"The medication has worked?"
"I've been on the second one as the first one made me feel ill," he said. He pulled out another journal and handed it to her. "I document everything in here." She set her cup down and took the journal before skimming through it.
"I'm glad you stopped taking it. It seems like it was irritating your stomach too much to be worth it." She handed it back after looking over the results of the one he was currently on. "I will continue making more of those. Keep the third bottle just in case." She went into her hiding spot and pulled out a bottle of yellow, diamond-shaped pills to refill his current medication as well as another one and a small jar of her cream. "This other bottle should help your kidneys and this one should help with any cuts and bruises you may have."
He tucked them away in his cloak with a silent thanks and returned to sipping on his tea. "Have you gone on your first C-Rank yet?" He asked though it was clear he knew the answer. She nodded. "The mission was a success?"
"Yes," she replied quietly, pointedly not looking at him.
"Then that is all that matters."
After a moment of hesitation, she sunk in on herself. "I got myself hurt," she admitted. "I was so focused on getting Sasuke out of that ice jutsu that I reacted too late in protecting the client that the only thing I could do was shield him with my body."
"An ice jutsu?"
"It was a kekkei genkai. We were fighting against Zabuza Momochi and his partner, but they're both dead now. When it was clear that we were being targeted, it became an A-rank mission."
"Sasuke is safe as well as the client?" He asked. She nodded. "Then you did everything right. Hinata-san, this was your first mission and you went up against a very strong rogue ninja. You did well."
"I think I'm just finding a different excuse as to why I'm upset," she confessed. "Truth is, I almost died and it's been sticking in my head for a while now." She pulled down the collar of her training shirt to show him part of the scar before lifting up the edge just a bit to show him the other end that resided on her hip.
Itachi's eyes widened just a fraction before he schooled his expression. "I see. When you have stared death in the face, it can be mortifying but you are alive and that should be on the forefront of your mind. As a shinobi, this experience should drive you to get stronger so that it will not happen again if you can help it."
Hinata took these words in before sucking in a breath. "Thank you, Itachi-san. I haven't been able to discuss this with anyone. I think I just needed someone to tell me what I already knew." She smiled at him brightly.
He was going to reach out and put a hand on her head but held himself back and instead gave her a nod in response. "Congratulations on your first successful A-Rank mission."
"Thank you. We'll be taking the chunin exam in one week," she told him. Even if he didn't say so, she was positive he wanted updates on Sasuke.
"Most jonin sensei wait a year or so before nominating their students. You three must be very good," he responded. He finished his tea and stood up.
"Are you leaving already?" She asked, standing with him.
"Yes, but I'd like to disclose something with you before I do, although I am not entirely positive. My theories on who is helping Danzo have all taken me to Orochimaru," he said, looking down at her seriously.
"The Sannin?" Itachi nodded. "I wasn't aware he practiced medical ninjutsu."
"He experiments," he corrected. "He's only interested in furthering his knowledge and making himself as powerful as possible. He's an extremely dangerous person. I doubt he'll come around here, but I wanted to let you know as you're a holder of a doujutsu he has not been able to get his hands on."
Hinata gulped at this.
"I don't think Danzo would allow him to get to your family as that would be too risky, but I cannot say for sure. Just be careful in that exam as ninja from every nation come to participate," he warned.
She bowed her head. "Yes, I will be on guard. Thank you, Itachi-san." She slowly reached out and grasped his wrist. "Be careful on your travels."
He stared at her for another moment, taking in the gentle look in her eyes, before nodding and then disappearing. Her hand dropped to her side and she suddenly felt lonely. Sighing, Hinata took a seat and did her best to erase the kind look she had just seen in Itachi's eyes. She was only going to help him until Danzo was put away or killed. They had no kind of relationship anymore—that ended the moment he left the village—but she felt confused about her feelings for the older Uchiha brother.
She was sure that she held no romantic feelings for him as her heart could only ever belong to Sasuke. With slightly widened eyes, she realized that Itachi represented a kinder time in her life. He represented innocence. Before he left, she had already gotten used to the idea of being at his side until she died but that was ruined when he left and even more so when he returned to her with an insanely dangerous mission. Now, with Sasuke, she was afraid of being hurt the way Itachi had hurt her. Hinata was aware of the fact that her fiancé was not like his brother, but that fear stayed in the pit of her stomach, forming a tight ball of anxiety.
Talking it over with Sasuke would only be asking for a fight; she couldn't do that to him.
"Maybe I…have to talk it out with Itachi," she mumbled to herself.
The next time she saw him, they would talk about something they had both avoided bringing up.
Now we've started the chuunin exam arc! I hope y'all are excited about it. I'm barely finishing up the Konoha Crush arc; it's just difficult to find enough time to sit down and write when I want to. My child doesn't like being away from me and my husband went back to work a couple of days ago. I hope to have part one fully written out soon though! Red and I talked about the Sasuke Retrieval Arc in detail the other night as well as a very important scene in the story, something I've been dying to write out since I began the story! Well, we hope y'all enjoy this arc 3 This arc is going to be the second longest arc after the prologue, with a total of 11 chapters
-hina
NEXT UPDATE: 10/21/23