"Alright, so we have the instructions. Let's begin already" Sasuke said, getting closer to Hinata so he could look over her shoulder at the paper she was holding. Hinata stiffened slightly, fidgeting at having him so close to her. Physical closeness was not something she was used to, after all.
"You aren't the leader. Let Hinata be the one to instruct us what to do" Shino interjected, keeping his distance from the two, hands in his pockets. Sasuke grumbled something, not taking a single step back from Hinata or bothering to look at Shino at all.
Hinata cleared her throat, letting her eyes glide back to the paper and doing her best to ignore Sasuke's presence right next to her. "It… it's a riddle. I have a spine, but no bones. Where my friends and I are gathered, you'll find your next clue… that's what it says" she read out loud, looking at her teammates for help.
Sasuke put a hand on his chin, thinking about it. "It is a place within Konoha we must go to… in the first place it must be somewhere public, or they wouldn't let us in… I have a spine, but no bones…"
"Where my friends and I are gathered… that means there's more than one" Shino said, adjusting his glasses. Hinata bit her lip, thinking as well. Around them, she could see other teams talking among each other, probably trying to figure out their own riddles. Each team had been given a gate from which they should leave, so Hinata started to think of places that were in the eastern part of Konoha, where they could find the object with a spine but no bones.
"It's a book" Sasuke suddenly said, catching Hinata and Shino's attention. "Books have a spine, but no bones. A place where there are many books gathered is…"
"The library!" Hinata exclaimed. Konoha's public library was in the eastern part of Konoha, an almost direct path from the eastern gate, where they were standing. Shino nodded.
"Indeed. Well thought, Sasuke."
"Hn, of course" he said petulantly, before turning around. "We should leave immediately now that we know where to go. Come on!"
"That's why I said that Hinata is the leader, not you…"
"I-It's alright, Shino-kun! Let's just go…" Hinata said, not wanting the two boys to start arguing again. With that said, the trio ran towards the library, not wasting another second.
When they arrived, the place was practically empty. It made sense, as at this time of day the majority of the people were still working or otherwise occupied. Hinata shyly went over to the librarian sitting behind the main desk, holding the piece of paper with both hands trembling.
"E-Excuse me" she called. The older man looked up, and gave her a kind smile that eased a little of her anxiety. "W-We come from the academy, and… and we have this exercise…"
"Ah! Yes, I remember. Good job solving the first clue" the man said, kneeling for a moment to recover something from the ground. He came up with another piece of paper that looked like cardboard, and placed it on top of the desk. He signaled Sasuke and Shino to come closer, and once all three were in front of him, he started to explain.
"Alright. As I'm sure your teacher already told you, you have to solve riddles and puzzles in order to find the stamps littered all over Konoha. Once you find a stamp, you use it on this" he held up the piece of cardboard, that looked like a coupon now that Hinata stopped to look at it slowly. "There are five over all, and you have to find them all before returning to the academy to show it to your teacher. Now, are you ready to hear the new riddle?"
"Yes!" Hinata said, blushing after realizing she was the only one to say it out loud, with Sasuke and Shino just nodding their heads silently. The librarian chuckled.
"I like your enthusiasm, young girl! Ok, here it comes: I have branches, but I'm not a tree. Where I converge, you'll find me. Got it?"
"I… think…?" Hinata tilted her head to the side, looking at her teammates, who were also deep in thought. She recovered the coupon from the librarian and, along with the boys, exited the library.
Once outside, Sasuke groaned. "This is so stupid! How is this exercise going to help us in our training as ninjas? It looks more like child's play than a proper training…"
"The purpose of this exercise is for us to work as a team, and solve the puzzles and riddles together. In a way, this is just a prelude to how future missions will go when we're finally genin, but I'm not surprised you don't understand that, considering how low your notes on teamwork are."
"You don't even know what my notes on teamwork are!"
"Are they less than five?"
"…"
"I rest my case."
"B-Boys, please" Hinata put herself in the middle, getting nervous at their bickering. "L-Let's just solve the riddle so we can find all the stamps. D-Don't forget we have a time l-limit…"
"…alright" Sasuke acknowledged, stepping back. Shino nodded, and they started thinking about the riddle the librarian had given them. "It has branches but it's not a tree… where I converge, you'll find me…"
"This one looks a l-little difficult…" Hinata said, playing with her fingers. She glanced down, trying to come up with the answer, when, suddenly, Shino spoke.
"Could be the fork of a river. Naka no Kawa has branches on the southern part of Konoha."
"That's true" Sasuke nodded. Hinata clasped her hands, excited.
"We s-should go there!"
She turned at the same time as Shino, but, while the boy ran ahead, she noticed that Sasuke wasn't moving. She stopped and looked at him, confused.
"Sasuke-kun?" she asked. He blinked, as if waking up from a dream, before shaking his head.
"It's nothing. Come on, the Aburame is already ahead of us. I don't want to hear him complain about us taking too long or abandoning him or something" he said, starting to run as well. Hinata bit her lip, worried about him and his strange behavior, but, seeing as he was quickly leaving her behind, she decided to keep her thoughts and questions for later.