AN: This chapter has been revised as of 8/14/20

Chapter 3: A Different Kind of Test

Hinata lashed out at the air with her open palm before pivoting on the balls of her feet to attack again, finishing a set of strikes on an imagined opponent. Satisfied with her performance, she reset her stance and went through the motions of a second set of movements. Each step squeaked on the hardwood floor, one of the only sounds in the empty room.

She wanted to do some harder training than this, but her father advised her to save her energy for the survival test. As soon as he knew that Kakashi Hatake was her sensei, he cancelled their daily practice session, which he never did unless he had an unexpected meeting. She didn't question his decision, but wondered why he was so adamant about her resting for what she assumed was a simple drill to weed out weaker candidates. There was no way that exercise actually failed 66% of students. Was there more to Kakashi-sensei?

Hinata switched from open palm thrusts to the tips of two fingers as she switched to a newer exercise. Her main goal was speed this time.

During introductions, it was difficult to get a solid read on him beyond surface details, and an elite ninja could give any first impression they felt if they chose to lie. What little she did pick up from him was most likely meaningless. Even his physical appearance gave nothing away. He dressed like the average ninja of Chunin rank or higher, except for that face mask and tilted headband. Kakashi could be disfigured in some way, or he had a medical condition that required it, but he could also be hiding a bloodline limit or preparation for a secret technique. What kind of dojutsu manifested in only one eye? Other than that, Kakashi had no extra weapon holsters or visible non-standard supplies on his person.

Hinata noticed the door slide open, followed by light footsteps that stopped at the raised edge of the training area. Hinata ignored it and continued, hands blurring as she contemplated what she could do to get more information. If she could find a long enough time to use the Byakugan on him…

She finished her forms with a pinpoint jab meant for the center of the torso, ending in a short but powerful yell that echoed off the wooden walls. She fell out of her stance and steadied her breathing as the adrenaline wore off. The clink of ceramic reminded her to check on her visitor.

Hanabi had brought in a tea set on a platter. She was in the middle of filling two cups as she sat on her knees, just like she'd been trained to. The sheer concentration she was delegating to the task brought a slight smile to Hinata's face. She crossed the distance between them and helped steady the teapot in Hanabi's grip. Hanabi made a disgruntled noise, but gave in and allowed the assistance.

"Why can't I serve tea as well as you?" she asked when Hinata sat across from her. Hanabi glared at the platter between them. Hinata studied the arrangement before choosing one of the cups. They had multiple tea sets, but this was the one she liked to use the most. The teapot had a multicolored sunrise painted on its side, and each of the cups were decorated with different images. Hinata always used the one with the smaller sun on it, and their father used the flame ringed cup. The other cup on the platter, painted with a set of exploding fireworks, was Hanabi's.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with your tea," Hinata said, before taking a sip. Nothing off that she could detect, which was impressive considering how easy it was to over-boil this kind.

"No, not the brewing. I mean the ceremony part." Hinata set the cup down and watched her younger sister. She was fidgeting more than usual, her fingers digging into her pants.

"How many weeks have you been working on this?"

"Um... three?" Hanabi rubbed the back of her neck.

"Hanabi, I've been performing tea ceremonies for six years. Consider lowering your expectations to something more reasonable. Besides, I had help from Mother at the beginning."

"I guess you're right. But still, I've been repeating the steps since this morning and I haven't gotten better at all!"

"Hm…" Hinata stood up and took the platter with her. "How about... we do something else instead? You want to enter the Academy in a few months, right? I can teach you how to throw shuriken the right way."

"But what about the tea?"

"When you train too long in one subject, it stops being as effective. You need to take breaks and work on something else before you continue practicing, or you're wasting your own time and effort." Hinata walked over to one of the hall doors. "Why don't you get my weapons holster and wait in the back garden while I return this to the kitchen?" Hanabi's mood instantly brightened up, and she rushed to get off her knees.

"You're letting me use the real ones?"

"Blunted knives are built differently than the standard shuriken. Throwing only practice ones will hinder you later by building bad habits," she said, only to realize that Hanabi already left for their private quarters. Hinata shook her head and entered the central part of the compound. Hanabi tried her hardest to act mature, but she went right back to being seven years old as soon as she got too excited. That was alright, her sister had no need to grow up quickly. She'd make sure of it.

The compound was defined by two sections, the Main and Cadet areas. The Main House's building was where all Main House members of the Hyuga Clan stayed, positioned in the center of the grounds. The Cadet building was larger and snaked around the Main building, serving as a protective wall of stone and wood. People were free to walk between the two sections, but had permanent rooms based on their position. This was all determined at birth.

Walking through the Cadet Branch's halls always earned her a variety of looks from the older children and adults, ranging from apprehensive to resentful. They turned away as soon as they thought she noticed. The younger ones were curious and stared openly, not quite aware of the tension that kept the two houses separate.

The Main Branch building was a different atmosphere. Everyone gave off an air of approval or personal pride, as if they personally sculpted her into what she was now. And in a sense they had, didn't they? She squeezed the platter harder as it sank in, though she wasn't sure why. If being strong was what she wanted, then did it matter how she got there?

Sasuke stood on a wooden dock, jutting out onto a huge, clear pond. The setting sun's light made the faintly steaming water look like liquid fire. The pond was built in the back of the Uchiha District, a private section of land for his clan's use. Now he only visited it for training or storing extra equipment.

Tomorrow was his moment of truth. He'd see how he fared against a real ninja. If he passed the test, it would only be a matter of time before he found the path to revenge. He looked into the water, dark eyes turning red in his reflection. He took a few steps away from the edge in preparation. Just one more time and he'd call it a night.

Sasuke's eyes shut as his mind turned inward, reaching for the chakra he still possessed. He directed it to his lungs and held it there, rushing through the hand seals now burned into his memory from years of studying. Horse, Tiger, Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger. At the last one, he took a deep breath and let the chakra flow to his mouth before letting it go. He aimed for the center of the pond when he blew out. As soon as his breath hit the air it ignited in a stream, curling inward to form a growing fireball over the water. Steam rose as his fireball continued to burn and expand, until Sasuke ran out of air to feed it. Satisfied, he turned his back on the cooling pond and returned to his house. His technique could be smoother, but it would serve him for now. And once he got a proper teacher, Sasuke would master any Fire Style jutsu he got his hands on.

Naruto showed up to a silent training ground, the sun barely visible above the trees. He hated getting up early, especially after he spent a chunk of the night attacking a training bag. He yawned as he entered a grassy clearing. In the area's center were three wooden posts, lined up in a row and about a foot taller than him. The rest of the training ground consisted of a thick forest with a smaller pond in the distance.

Hinata sat near the tree line, reading a small scroll. Sasuke rested against one of the posts as he sharpened a knife with a stone. He looked up at Naruto and acknowledged him with a dismissive grunt before continuing his own work. Naruto's jaw tightened and he sat as far away from Sasuke as possible. He'd prove that he could be just as "mature" as the two of them.

And so they waited for the test to start, exchanging no words. Three hours after the planned meeting time, Kakashi showed up.

"You're late!" Naruto yelled, standing up to point at him.

"Yes, I'm aware of the concept," Kakashi said. Ignoring his student's outrage, Kakashi took out an alarm clock, cranked the gear inside it, and placed it on top of one of the posts. "Anyway, this clock is set to ring at 10 AM, about an hour from now." He retrieved a couple of silver bells from one of his pockets and held them up by a red string.

"Your test is to get one of these from me before your time runs out. If someone doesn't have one, they don't pass, and I'll tie them to a stump and eat in front of them." Kakashi attached the bells to his pants belt loop. "Oh, and did I mention that I brought some nice bento boxes for later? Hope you guys aren't too hungry to wait." Sasuke glared at him.

"Telling us not to eat, and then making us sit here to further waste our time and energy...You set us up."

"Well spotted. And for the record, I only suggested that you shouldn't eat breakfast. A shinobi must see underneath the underneath, Sasuke. Letting others lead you bindly will end in your death. Nothing is as it seems." Now he was just taunting them.

"Kakashi-sensei, there are only two bells," Hinata said.

"Oh, would you look at that. I left the third one at home. Can't go back for it unless you want to wait even longer. I guess only two of you can pass now." He was probably grinning at his own joke. "At least this'll weed out the worst of you three." Naruto could tell his two teammates were thinking of him now, to his annoyance.

"I earned this headband, and I'll prove it right now if I have to! Your stupid bells are mine!" he yelled, clenching his fist.

"I hope you keep that attitude, because you need to come at me with the intent to kill if you want to get anywhere near"- Kakashi paused as an explosion of smoke went off, and he escaped the cloud with a short jump back. The clearing was empty. "Hm. Smart kids."

"Hey, are we gonna fight or what?" Naruto was still out in the open, standing behind Kakashi.

"Shouldn't you be off plotting?"

"Only a coward hides from a fight! I'll show you exactly how I became a ninja!" He took up a fighting stance. If he could beat a chunin by himself, a jounin was no problem. Naruto ran through a string of hand seals, ending in a cross shape. In a burst of chakra, four perfect clones stood around him.

Sasuke observed the two as he hid in the branches of a tree. He'd never admit it, but he was curious to see how it'd turn out. Naruto would be inevitably crushed, but the fight could reveal something important about Kakashi's skills. What kind of hand seal was a cross anyway? Did he just make it up on the spot so his clones looked cooler?

"Alright, have it your way. The first part of the test is Taijutsu," Kakashi said. At least he had the chance to check out Naruto's most recently learned technique. Genin didn't exactly pass exams by learning the Shadow Clone technique.

The four clones left the real one behind, surrounding Kakashi before throwing themselves at him with all the tactical skills of an ox. A sloppy assault. He ducked a high kick and blocked another one. With a single well timed backhand, the third clone tumbled away with a bruised cheek. It rolled to a stop and burst into smoke, leaving nothing behind.

"Wait, they're completely solid?" Sasuke frowned and focused more on how they moved. What kind of ninjutsu was that? Naruto was…actually impressive. Another clone received a chop to the neck that dispelled it, leaving two left behind to fight. The remaining clones backed away and pulled out parrying kunai for a second round.

Hinata monitored the fight with her Byakugan, focusing more on the clones and how they worked. They may have fooled her once, but she was determined to figure them out now.

Naruto's chakra was evenly cut between them, something that would greatly weaken a ninja after just one clone. The clones themselves consisted of raw, shaped chakra, with nothing physical used as a medium like water and earth clones. It'd be a dangerous technique in the hands of an already skilled person, instantly multiplying their force. Even if Naruto couldn't use it to its fullest potential, she still wondered how he acquired it at all. He didn't ever seem the type to study beyond what was mandatory.

Kakashi snatched one clone's weapon away and stabbed the other with it, then kicked the first one in the temple. They staggered away and disappeared, allowing a fifth person to jump out the obscuring smoke, fist cocked back for a wild haymaker punch. Kakashi's single eye widened for a split second, and then he caught Naruto by the wrist and swung him in the opposite direction. Naruto landed feet first and launched himself forward, earning a solid punch in. Kakashi exploded into a cut log. A hidden rope yanked Naruto into the air, dangling him by the angle.

"Good jutsu, but you need to work on your close combat skills," Kakashi came into view as Naruto slowly spun on the rope attached to a tree branch, the blood probably rushing to his head. "And this is why you never let the opponent get behind you."

"You...you just caught me off guard!"

"Well, you'll have to try a little harder if you want a bell." He began to walk away, and Naruto flailed at the end of the rope.

"Get back here, I'm not done yet!"

"Oh, I think you are." Kakashi disappeared. Hinata took the opening to approach then. Someone had to help Naruto down before he took brain damage, and it might as well be her.

"Do you plan on escaping at any point?" He opened his eyes to Hinata below, staring up at him.

"Yeah, I'm just, uh… lowering his guard before I strike again!" he laughed as he revolved in place. She shook her head and pulled out a kunai. "Woah, wait! What are you doing with that?"

"Just hold still," she said, lining up her throw.

"No really, I don't need you to"- the kunai sliced through the rope, and he fell on his back with a hard thud. "Ow, what's wrong with you?!" Naruto sat up. He only looked slightly worse for wear.

"If you stayed like that for too long, you'd give yourself a red out," she said. "And then possibly died." He blinked a few times as he processed the thought.

"...That's a joke, right?" Hinata was amazed by his obliviousness, but decided not to comment on it. Instead, she turned around to leave.

"There's no point in you trying to beat Kakashi-sensei again, so don't bother. He might do something worse next time." She knew it wasn't the kindest way to tell someone to leave, but it had to stick. Maybe, just maybe, he'd listen to reason and stay out of this.

Naruto got to his feet again, cutting the loop of rope from around his ankle. He stumbled to catch up.

"Hey, are you still angry about me making you chase me around yesterday?" he asked. Hinata switched to a run, but Naruto kept up with her.

"No, now stop following me."

"I can walk wherever I want. And I want another shot at him." She gave him a withering look before reactivating her Byakugan. Nevermind being reasonable then, she would never persuade him to stay away. He was far too stubborn.

After a few more minutes of sprinting through the woods, she crouched down behind the shrubs and foliage. Naruto used a tree trunk five cover and peeked around it. Kakashi stood with his back to them a few meters ahead, reading that book again. Hinata stayed silent as she pulled a handful of shuriken out of her pouch, then crept around him for a better angle.

Kakashi moved to the side when the shuriken shot out from the underbrush, letting them puncture a tree instead. Another group of projectiles arced towards him, driving him across the field to avoid them. He heard jingling in the middle of a dodge, and he twisted out of Hinata's reach before she could grab a bell. Kakashi backed off while she regained her balance.

"Ah, that was pretty close. But now that you've lost the element of surprise, what will you do next? Run away and try another ambush?" After some deliberation, she took up what he recognized as a Gentle Fist stance. "I'll take that as a no." Huh. Interesting reaction for a supposedly pragmatic thinker. What did she have against retreating? "I suppose I'll test you on genjutsu next." He flipped through a set of hand signs so quickly that she could hardly catch them, and a storm of leaves obscured her vision. Hinata dispelled the obvious illusion, but Kakashi slipped away again. It was time to really have fun with these Genin…

"Was it only a distraction?" Before she could properly react, she was forced to duck under a swing from Naruto. She lashed out at his exposed rib-cage and knocked him aside. "What was that for?" Naruto completely ignored her question in favor of picking himself off the ground and running at her again. "Don't play dumb with me, I saw you hoarding them! I'm taking those bells back!" he yelled. He threw another punch, and Hinata jumped to the side. Naruto turned on a dime and went after her again. Hinata blocked with her forearm and dropped low. She swept his legs out from under him with a kick, but he rolled backwards and landed in a crouch.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Five clones appeared to punch and kick her at as many angles as they could cover. Knowing they were fakes, Hinata used chakra-backed palm strikes to dispel them. Father always emphasized how dangerous the Gentle Fist was to the body, so she tried not to use the technique to its fullest extent on someone she had no intention of hurting. Clones were a different story, however. She tagged the last one in the arm, but he turned out to be the real one, and Naruto tackled her to the ground.

"Get off me!" She squirmed under his weight, but he kept his grip.

"Tell me where you put them!"

"For the last time, I don't have any bells!" Why did he even think that? This was ridiculous. With a burst of strength, Hinata pushed him off. The air grew unnaturally warm, and they both spotted a large fireball closing in on them. Naruto scrambled out of the way and Hinata threw herself to the side just in time to watch it smash into the dirt, carving itself a burning crater before it dissipated. Sasuke emerged from the leftover steam to face them, holding his kunai in a reverse grip.

"What the hell, Sasuke?" Naruto yelled. "You almost killed me!"

"Move faster next time. Now get out of here, I'm taking over." Sasuke glared at her. Hinata still had no idea why everyone was suddenly out for her blood, but if Sasuke thought that he could just take her out of this competition… Her Byakugan activated once more. He moved first, and she held her ground as he closed the distance between them. It quickly turned into one of their many schoolyard matches, except this time there was no one to hold them back.

Sasuke's knife passed a little too close to her face, and she caught his wrist and twisted until he dropped it. Hinata bent over backwards to dodge the right hook from his free hand that followed. She let him go to switch to the offensive. He barely sidestepped a palm strike to the shoulder. It was a series of close scrapes and near misses, right up until Naruto jumped in.

Their duel transformed into a chaotic, three way brawl. Bruised and winded, Hinata disrupted enough of Naruto's chakra network to prevent him from getting up, not that it stopped him from trying. Sasuke bled from the mouth where a wild kick to the jaw caught him. Too low on chakra to keep her Byakugan steady any longer, Hinata let it fade away. She felt a tap to the back of her neck, and she passed out.

"I think that's enough infighting for now." Kakashi caught Hinata's slumped over body, and the other two Genin's eyes cleared up.

"What the- where'd the bells go?" Naruto got to his feet and looked around. "Is this another trick?" Sasuke wiped away the red threatening to drip down his neck before speaking.

"It was an illusion." He felt like a fool for not even noticing, too caught up in the rush of battle to even question his shifting surroundings.

"Yes, and the fact that you both went with it so easily is disappointing. By applying a single technique a few times, I essentially turned you into my tools. Now imagine if this was a real mission." He shifted Hinata into his arms, with no response from her. "I could have easily killed her instead, and then killed the rest of your team while you were still reeling. By the time anyone came to investigate what happened, I could set the scene to cover all my tracks." Naruto's outrage dissipated as Kakashi explained, and he looked to be deep in thought. Sasuke stared at the ground with darkened eyes. "That's the reality of being a ninja. We don't play fair, and if you don't adapt to it… you die." In the distance, the alarm clock rang.

"Get me down from this thing!" Hinata winced at the sound and woke up, her back against what she identified as one of the training posts. She blinked a few times and sat up, still sore from whatever had hit her. It was probably already past ten. The blue and tan shape in her peripheral vision ended up being Sasuke. He glanced at her for only a moment, but she could see his frustration.

"Quiet, Naruto." Hinata turned and found her other teammate tied to the middle post, just high enough that his feet couldn't touch the grass as he kicked. His arms were restrained at his sides, making it impossible to break free on his own. "Good, you're up." Her attention fell on Kakashi standing before them. "Now that we're all conscious, I'm going to debrief you on the survival exercise- which you failed, by the way." Hinata's face burned with shame, but she kept quiet. There was nothing she could add that would fix this.

"First of all, let me explain to you the meaning of this test. I am a Jonin. You three are fresh Genin. No matter how tough you thought you were in the Academy, none of you can take me on alone. I assure you that it's completely impossible. In fact, the distance between any one of you and myself is so great, that it's as equally impossible for Naruto to have stolen a bell alone than the both of you doing it," he said. Sasuke frowned even deeper, and Hinata studied her lap.

"But how were we supposed to get the bells at all?" Naruto asked.

"Teamwork."

"...Oh."

"You're assigned to teams so you can work together, not fight over mission objectives. You have to learn to get along with your comrades. No one said you had to like your team as people, but you must at least respect and trust them. They're the only ones you can rely on when you're out in the field. And judging by what I've seen today, I ought to send you back to school for another semester…" There was not a hint of joking left in his tone.

"You can't take away our headbands! That's…that's crazy!"

"…Fine." The genin looked up at him again. "I'll give you one more chance. If you mess it up, I'll fail all three of you." He tossed a pair of bento boxes to them. "You may eat lunch before trying again, but Naruto gets none of it. That's your penalty. Be ready in 15 minutes." Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

They sat there in silence, everything Kakashi just said still hanging over them like a dark cloud. Hinata reached for one of the boxes and opened it, and Sasuke eventually did the same. They didn't have any time to waste. After draining her chakra reserves with her constant Byakugan use, eating now was the smartest thing they could do. And considering how much energy they wasted beating each other up, they had to recover as much as possible. Hinata broke her chopsticks apart and picked at the rice. Her appetite was gone after that speech, but she'd force herself to finish it. A low growl came from behind her. Naruto looked away from the bento boxes.

"I don't need food to kick his ass, I'll show him…" His stomach growled again, louder this time. "Ugh…" Hinata looked back down at her food. She couldn't believe she was about to do this. Naruto seemed to be at a loss for words when two lunches were simultaneously shoved in his face. Sasuke and Hinata looked at each other. Did they really come up with the same idea? Sasuke smirked and broke eye contact first.

"Hyuga, don't give him your food, you've both used more chakra than I have." Naruto grinned. "Besides, he'll eat it all and then you'll starve." His smile fell.

"Shut up, Sasuke!"

"Your Fire Style Jutsu looked more draining to me," Hinata countered. "My techniques use less chakra." Sasuke rolled his eyes at her.

"You do realize that he can't feed himself while tied up, right? Are you going to let him use your own chopsticks?" Both Hinata and Naruto blushed at the thought. That was… not something she wanted to think about.

"…I can switch the ends around, Uchiha." She sounded a little less sure of herself. "We can divide the food evenly."

"Whatever you say."

Fifteen minutes later, the training ground was once again a battlefield. Kakashi switched places with a log as a wave of flames reached him, the wood incinerating in his stead. The fireball faded and Sasuke was gone, only to appear from a different angle to deliver a bone rattling kick in mid-air. It took both arms for Kakashi to block. Sasuke backflipped and threw a handful of knives. Kakashi parried them with the metal part of his glove, and Sasuke caught one as he charged in again.

"You're pretty aggressive now. Are you trying to make up for getting beaten earlier?" he asked. Sasuke ignored his question, putting all his attention into the fight. "Nothing less from a Uchiha." Kakashi somehow met his every move with equal power. At a distance, Hinata used her Byakugan to keep track of the fight as she followed Naruto.

"Are you sure you can create enough clones for this to work?" she whispered. He nodded before ducking out of sight. A burst of smoke marked his trap, and Naruto moved to the next spot.

"I made way more at once before. Enough clones to cover the field is easy!" he answered. She double checked the other traps they set. So far, they looked completely natural. Their hastily scraped together plan might work.

"Let's finish up before Kakashi-sensei stops toying with us. We only have a few more to go."

Sasuke forced himself to stand after being knocked to the ground for the third time. He was already tired, and Kakashi had the energy to speed up. If the other two didn't do their part soon, he was about to be in trouble. Something glittered in the sun at the edge of his peripheral vision. Finally. He ducked the three shuriken he had been expecting. Kakashi deflected them.

That was the signal. Sasuke was free to use the rest of his chakra he'd been conserving, and he wasted no time in doing so.

"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique!" Sasuke yelled the name to grab Kakashi's attention, then released a monstrous fireball, even larger than the previous ones. Kakashi backed away as it dug a flaming trench in the earth to reach him. Sasuke dropped to one knee as his chest heaved for more air. He'd done all he could.

"Now!" Both he and Kakashi heard Naruto, and then the trees around him erupted into a ring of smoke. Replacing some of the stones and foliage, Kakashi was now surrounded by shadow clones. The small army approached from all sides and piled onto him. Hinata helped Sasuke up, watching the mob's assault.

"Did he get it?" Sasuke asked. Her Byakugan flickered on.

"I think so!" The pile suddenly exploded as Kakashi tore his way out, but one Naruto had something shiny in his hand.

"Ha, we got them! Take that, Kakashi-sensei!" He lifted the bells above his head. The rest of the clones popped on their own. Kakashi straightened his flak jacket, and for once he seemed genuinely pleased. But then the look in his single eye changed.

"Good job Naruto, you pass. But..."

"But what, Sensei?" Naruto asked, his enthusiasm dampened. Sasuke watched the man closely. Was there another part of the exercise?

"Who are you going to give the other bell to? There's not enough for all three of you, remember?"

"Uh..." Naruto looked at the bells in his hands and then back to Hinata and Sasuke, waiting at the other end of the field.

"I choose..." He hesitated, and then dropped both bells on the floor. "Both of them. I can fail myself, right?" Kakashi watched him with a newfound curiosity. Hinata never expected Naruto to sacrifice himself. He acted selfish and obnoxious before, but this was a clear contradiction.

"You...you idiot!" Sasuke said, finding his voice again. He sounded more shocked than angry. "Why would you waste your chance like that?" Hinata said nothing. Where did she even begin? It made no sense for him to give up being a ninja just to let her and Sasuke pass. He contributed to the victory as much as they did. Shouldn't he focus on himself? Naruto ignored them both, waiting for an answer. Kakashi nodded.

"Your decision is accepted. I'm happy to say…that you all pass! Excellent job, Team 7." A wave of surprise hit all three of them.

"But you just said one of us was going to fail!" Naruto sputtered.

"You still want that to happen?"

"N-no, but the rules!"

"What was the whole point of this test if you're passing us all anyway?" Sasuke asked.

"Well... I think you proved you could get along nicely, even if you don't all benefit from it. If Naruto had picked one or the other, I would have failed you all for still not understanding teamwork. But today, you're officially Genin." Sasuke let out a sigh, and shook his head as Naruto cheered. They made no move to stop him. If anything deserved celebration, it was probably this.

Hinata watched them with a slight smile before looking down at her own headband. Father would definitely be proud, and… perhaps she would have felt this way regardless of his opinion. Perhaps this team wasn't so bad.