A/N – Our girl becomes a Sennin folks!
Hinata breathed in deep and smiled widely as the Village gates came within sight.
She had missed Konoha, and everyone here, the two years she had been gone. She readjusted her backpack, barely stopping herself from breaking into a dead sprint to reach home faster.
There was so much she needed to get caught up on! She hadn't seen Hanabi and Neji in so long, and Kurenai's baby would be close to two years old now! Shino and Kiba might have made Jōnin already!
Hinata saw Izumo and Kotetsu at their post at the Village gates, chatting among themselves, and pulled out the scroll she had received from the Hokage before she left.
Kotetsu saw her first, and greeted her with a cheerful grin.
"Hinata-san, welcome back!"
"It's been a while, Hinata-san. How was your trip?" Izumo asked her, inspecting the scroll and stamping it when he was satisfied.
"Thank you, Kotetsu-san. My trip went very well, Izumo-san. I am certain I will become a Jōnin soon." Hinata smiled at them, taking the scroll back.
"That's great!" Kotetsu nodded back spiritedly and moved aside. "Have a nice day, Hinata-san!"
"You as well, Kotetsu-san, Izumo-san." Hinata bowed and entered the village.
Konoha was a little different from what she remembered. She had left the village when there was still some work to be done, after the Third War, and some of the rebuilt areas looked quite different than she had expected them to.
Hinata made her way to the Academy, returning greetings on her way there.
She climbed up the stairs, submitted the scroll to the Mission Assignment Desk to put herself back in rotation as an active shinobi, and soon found herself before the Hokage.
"Hinata-chan, welcome back." Minato smiled at her absently, wriggling a drawer that seemed to be stuck. "How was your trip?"
"It went well, Hokage-sama." Hinata answered, trying to suppress her curiosity. "I learned and improved a lot."
"Ready for your Jōnin evaluation?"
"Yes!" Hinata assured decisively (mostly because she knew that if she stopped to think about it she was going to put it off indefinitely).
"In that case, your evaluation will be tomorrow at 11. Training Ground 36." Minato frowned down at the drawer, and yanked it harshly. The drawer popped out and crashed to the ground.
"Damnit!"
"Hokage-sama, do – "
"No, no! It's okay, Hinata-chan!" Minato reassured her. "Dismissed."
'Tomorrow! That's – no, that's okay!' Hinata thought to herself as she bowed and left. 'That's okay, the sooner it's done, the better!'
Before Hinata could get stuck in a spiral of anxiety regarding her upcoming evaluation, she decided to make her way to Kurenai's house.
Anxiety can wait, first she's going to see her sister and her baby.
_
The next day, Hinata made her way to Training Ground 36, on the outskirts of Konoha.
She had spent some time with Kurenai and Mirai (who was such a cute little child!), and Konoha's fast-running rumour mill had brought everyone to see her as well.
Kiba and Ino had insisted that they throw a party for her return, and it took a lot of arguing and pleading before they agreed to postpone it.
It wouldn't do to come to her evaluation tired.
Or worse, hungover.
Hinata tilted her head curiously at the crowd she saw gathered...
... right around Training Ground 36.
'Oh no, why are they here!?'
There were so many people here! The Konoha 12, Might Gai, Kō and a handful of other Hyūga (including the Elders, why!?), Shisui, Anko – 'why are there so many people here!?'
Hinata found Kurenai and Obito surreptitiously waving at her from behind a tree, and went up to them, looking back furtively and trying to not be spotted.
"A-Ano, Onee-san, Sensei, why is everyone here?" Hinata asked nervously as Obito mussed her hair.
"Hinata-chan, you know how gossip spreads." Kurenai smiled at her comfortingly. "Everyone came to cheer for you!"
"You'll do great, Hinata-chan!" Obito hugged her, and slouched down to look her in the eye, resting his hands on her shoulders. "You'll kick ass and make Elite Jōnin, just you see! And that too before Bakashi's brats!"
Kurenai narrowed her eyes and huffed an amused breath. "Team 7 was trained by the Sannin, Obito. They may not have been promoted yet but they are still Jōnin level, at the very least."
"Details." Obito waved it off indifferently.
They heard a little commotion from the gathered crowd and turned to look.
Minato had arrived with Genma and Kakashi, in his robes and the Hokage's hat.
"Good morning, Hinata-chan." Minato removed his robes and handed them to Genma, before coming closer and standing in the middle of the clearing.
"Good morning, Hokage-sama." Hinata moved a little further from Kurenai and Obito and bowed, fighting the urge to tap her fingers together. "Ano, Hokage-sama, if I may ask, who will I be fighting?"
Minato smiled at her guilelessly.
"Me, of course!"
...
...
'This is terrible! This is so, so terrible!'
_
Hinata looked ready to faint right into the dirt. Not that Kurenai could blame her, considering she felt about the same at the moment.
No one expected Minato to test her himself!
"It's fine, she'll be fine." Obito stood next to her, nervously biting his nails. He sounded like he wanted to convince himself more than her. "Sensei won't go all out, right?"
Kurenai patted his shoulder a tad harshly, shaking him. "Obito don't be so openly anxious, she's already nervous! And pull your fingers out of your mouth!" She hissed under her breath, yanking his hand down.
Obito took deep breaths to try and calm himself down, then immediately began tapping his foot on the ground. He quickly pushed his weight down to make it stop when Hinata looked back at them.
"Onee-san, Sensei..." Hinata looked a little pale. Kurenai moved forward and grabbed her hand, rubbing her palm between her hands.
'Time for a pep talk!'
"Hinata-chan, it will be fine, alright?" Kurenai leaned down a little to look her in the eye. "You have been training for the past 2 years. I am sure that you're stronger than when you left. Obito's right, you'll be a Jōnin, if not an Elite Jōnin. Focus on that, okay? Don't worry about anything else, forget all the people that are here."
Hinata nodded unsurely, looking at Obito, who gave her a bright smile and a thumbs up.
"Kick Sensei's ass, Hinata-chan!"
Kurenai returned to her place next to Obito, and Hinata went to take her battle stance across from Minato. As she did, Obito's smile immediately fell and he began hyperventilating.
"Obito!" Kurenai hissed again.
_
Hinata stood across from the Hokage, feet planted lightly, ready to move. One palm was held out in front of her, the other hand curled inward to show her nails.
"Ready?" Minato stood in his Jōnin uniform with the Hokage's hat, a Hiraishin kunai in his hand.
'I could use the vision impairment from the hat – no, he would be used to that. He has been wearing the hat longer than I have been alive.' Hinata thought to herself. "Ready, Hokage-sama."
Minato twirled the Hiraishin kunai, and a yellow flash flew towards her. Hinata shunshined out of the way and threw some kunai at him in quick succession, which he dodged.
Minato returned a barrage of kunai at her, charging at her in another flash. He landed a kick that pushed her back a few feet.
Hinata used it to her advantage and threw more kunai at him. A couple were lodged in the trees, the others were stuck in the ground.
Hinata quickly pulled out her sword. This time when Minato flew towards her, she blocked the kunai, then slashed at him.
She did not dare push any chakra through it. Lightning was weak against wind, and she did not want to risk Minato blowing her own fire towards her.
As they exchanged blows and dodged for a while, Hinata assessed the situation.
Hinata was aware that this was, for all intents and purposes, a friendly spar. It was peacetime and, technically, she could become Jōnin just by showing proficiency in two element releases.
But Minato, for some reason, thought that she had more to offer, and damnit, she did! She did not spend two years training just to pass on a technicality!
Hinata jumped back to put some distance between them. She had landed a couple of slashes on Minato's vest, but nothing substantial. She had not been able to close any tenketsu, although she had landed a couple of kicks.
More than a spar, this is a presentation. She needs to show what she can do.
Hinata pushed some stored Senjutsu chakra to her earrings to activate them, and entered Sage Mode.
Her vision and hearing sharpened, and she felt the prick of her claws in her closed fist. She quickly opened her fist to avoid puncturing herself.
She did a quick calculation.
'Two more, I need two more.'
A Rasengan formed in Minato's hand, the blue chakra swirling.
Hinata wasn't sure that the Twin Tiger Fists would work for a jutsu as powerful as the Rasengan, but she had no other choice. She needed Minato to give her space to throw more kunai for what she had planned.
The jutsu itself was dependent on her fine chakra control, and had two facets. One fist had raw chakra, which drained the chakra of the opponent, and the other fist had lightning chakra, which caused physical damage.
She charged at him, considering in the split second what she would do.
Take the damage from the Rasengan and hope to connect the jutsu with him?
Or...
_
'Fuck!'
"Oh no, oh no, Kurenai!" Obito hissed, wincing as he saw the Rasengan form in Minato's hand.
"It'll be fine!" Kurenai hissed back, the anxiety on her face betraying her true feelings. "It'll be fine, she'll be fine. Don't fucking panic!"
Obito shot a quick look to the peanut gallery off to the side. Everyone was paying rapt attention, filled to the brim with concern (other than the Hyūga, who were probably just filled to the brim with shit).
Kakashi had closed his ever-present book and revealed his Sharingan (so had Sasuke and Shisui) to follow the spar. Shino and Neji were standing stiffly like statues (with Neji visibly sweating bullets). The Hyūga stood there with their trademark poker faces (bastards. With the exception of Kō, who looked like he was praying to any deity that would listen. Obito understood the feeling). Shikamaru, Tenten and Chōji were talking among themselves (Genma was standing close by, clearly eavesdropping). Sakura and Ino were white-knuckling each other. Kiba and Naruto seemed torn between cheering and covering their eyes in horror (Akamaru did cover his eyes, peeking through them and whining).
Everyone seemed to be on the spectrum of 'oh shit!'.
The consensus seemed to be that Hinata was going to get her ass kicked, horrendously.
Obito forcefully pushed all anxiety down and off to the side.
His student was going to become a Jōnin, and it won't be a pitiful 'better from before but soundly thrashed by the Hokage' victory (as Naruto would say, 'dattebyo!').
Obito heard Kurenai gasp, and looked back to see light purple chakra tigers form at Hinata's palms, roaring with power.
'That's my girl!'
One of the tigers looked slightly different from the other, and Obito shot another look at Kakashi when he hummed in interest.
Infuriatingly (and predictably), he did not explain what he was humming about.
Nevermind, Obito will just ask her later.
Flashes of yellow and purple were seen as they charged at each other, and Obito realised at the last moment that he had no idea what Hinata's jutsu did, how powerful it was, or how it would react when hitting the Rasengan.
'Fuck!'
The crowd gasped as one, wondering what would happen.
The jutsu hit.
...
... nothing happened.
'Holy fuck!'
_
Hinata passed him by, and it took Minato a long second to realise that the Rasengan had not connected.
In fact...
He looked down at his hand.
There was no Rasengan. And he did feel the chakra being pulled from his hand, as opposed to being pulled back into himself.
He looked back.
Hinata stood some feet away, kunai in her hands.
'Interesting. She absorbed the Rasengan.'
Minato would have to ask her how she did that. But before that, he charged her again with the Hiraishin.
She was up to something with the kunai (this was her Jōnin evaluation, she cannot be missing targets on purpose), and Minato didn't want to make it easy for her.
She threw two more kunai just as he pushed her up against a tree, a kunai at her throat. It felt like the breeze itself was at a standstill.
Everyone waited to see what she would do.
Hinata grinned, and made a seal with her fingers.
The kunai scattered around them started glowing a greenish-blue, and a seal materialised under Minato.
Five green scrolls flew from the seal, dancing through the air. Black seals glowed on them, which Minato was unfamiliar with.
'What seals are those?'
In his surprise, Minato leaned back enough that Hinata was able to get away from him. Hinata threw a chakra cloak over herself, and then she disappeared.
Minato used Hiraishin to get out of range of the scrolls, and was further surprised when the scrolls, instead of failing or catching something within range, started following him.
_
'What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck!?'
Naruto stared with his mouth hanging open as his father tried to escape the scrolls trying to capture him, to no avail. They kept following him, snaking through the air. Although that wasn't even the whole of what astonished him.
Hinata was using Sage Mode!
And then she just disappeared!
"Oi, Kiba!" Naruto nudged him, making him grunt in annoyance. "What kind of jutsu is that!?"
"How am I supposed to know, idiot!" Kiba hissed, elbowing Naruto back. "She just got back yesterday, we were busy with other things!"
Minato formed another Rasengan, and destroyed the scrolls...
Only for the seals to jump out and stick to his clothes.
'WHAT THE FUCK!?'
"What kind of seals are these!?" Tenten asked, her eyes shining in fascination.
"A most inspiring display of Youth!" Gai yelled from his wheelchair ('When did Bushier Brows get here?').
"Yosh, Gai-sensei!" Lee punched the air, stars shining in his eyes. "I shall ask Hinata-san to spar with me, to bask in the power of her Youth! And If I fail I shall do a thousand laps around Konoha on one hand with my eyes closed!"
"My dear Lee," Gai smiled brightly, gripping the arms of his wheelchair tightly. "I shall cheer for you both in this display of Youth! And If you fail I shall do a thousand handstands, for, as your Sensei, your failure is my own!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
The Eternal Sunset Genjutsu that Gai cast distracted everyone for a good 5 minutes.
_
Minato snapped out of the Genjutsu first, and was concerned to see the kunai on the ground burying themselves deeper until they were fully underground.
Five clones of Hinata materialised from the spots where the kunai were, swords in their hands.
'So that's what the kunai were for...' Minato thought, looking around and noting the positions of the clones. He did a cursory check of himself. The seals were gone. 'The seals were just a decoy.'
The clones charged Minato, who quickly threw exploding tags at them. They dodged, but one of them dissipated.
'How... the kunai?'
They sparred for a while, Hinata slashing at him (and doing more damage than she had the last time), while Minato tried to destroy the kunai in the ground to destroy her clones.
_
As Minato destroyed the last clone, suddenly, Hinata appeared out of nowhere and attacked him with Jūken, landing a few hits and then jumping back and becoming invisible again.
"She closed six tenketsu!" Neji whispered proudly, his Byakugan active. His head moved back and forth trying to spot her. He could not see anything. No chakra pathways, no visuals, nothing. Neither a hair on her head nor a dark tiger stripe on her arms was visible.
"Do you see her?" Sakura asked curiously.
Neji grinned in a manner that was a little too unhinged to the people around him.
"No."
Hinata reappeared again, and closed more tenketsu (four, this time), before disappearing.
Minato scowled, and hummed nonchalantly (if anyone asked, Neji he would say menacingly).
Minato threw a smoke bomb to obscure himself.
When the smoke blew away, Minato stood where he was before...
... in Sage Mode.
'... Kami...!'
Neji didn't know whether to be proud or scared (both. Both was good, probably).
His little cousin had made the Hokage use Sage Mode!
His frog eyes with rectangular pupils, set in black sclerae and rimmed in orange, scanned the area.
"Naruto." Neji called for his attention, gesturing at Minato.
"Tou-san may not be able to see her, but in Sage Mode he will sense where the natural energy is being concentrated." Naruto explained, scratching at his jaw. "He'll be able to find her that way."
"Hmm."
It almost didn't matter, at this moment, how the rest of the spar went. Hinata had displayed progress above and beyond what anyone had expected from her. If she wasn't made Elite Jōnin Neji will stage a revolt and eat the Hokage's robes himself!
He's sure, if no one else, he could get Hanabi to join.
_
'Alright, the last leg.'
Hinata was getting a little tired, and, honestly, it was up to the Hokage at this point, how he wanted to end this.
And apparently how he wanted to end this was with Sage Mode.
Hinata was kind of proud of herself.
Minato scanned the area, and faster than she could react, charged her.
Hinata dissolved her chakra cloak (there was no point, now that he could sense her), and focused on deflecting his attacks, which was becoming harder with how much faster he was in Sage Mode. It was almost unfair, given how fast he was normally.
Hinata froze when she felt a kunai at the base of her spine, another pointing at her throat.
"That's enough." Minato declared, putting an end to the spar. He put his kunai away and moved back, brushing off his vest and pushing back his hair. His Sage Mode deactivated, and his eyes went back to normal. "I am satisfied with the evaluation."
Hinata rolled her shoulder a little, wincing as her shoulder twinged a little. She turned towards him to hear the verdict.
"Yūhi Hinata, your proficiency in Jūken and fire release is already known." Minato declared, calling over Genma and taking his robes from him. "You have shown that you can utilise lightning chakra as well, although the spar did not allow for much use of it. You are skilled with Uzushio seals, as well as the seals I assume you learned from your summons?"
Hinata tried not to shake in place with nerves (and a little bit of exhaustion) as she nodded to confirm his assumption. She thought he would've just given her the rank (if she deserved one)! Why was he going through her entire file!?
"You have learned Sage Mode, which is quite the feat. I know from experience how difficult that is." Minato smiled at her, his hands shoved into his pockets. "Keeping that in mind, I have made my decision."
Everyone held their breaths. They were sure that Hinata would make Jōnin, but somehow the atmosphere was heavy in a way that made it seem like something more could happen.
"As far as the village of Konohagakure no Sato is concerned, you are a Sennin of Konoha."
One beat.
Two.
"Oh..." Hinata whispered, uncomprehending. Then her eyes widened as his words hit. "I-I, Really!?"
"Really." Minato smiled at her, then nodded, fingering a tear in his vest in amusement. "The evaluation is over. I think it's time for me to get back to work."
Hinata stared silently as he left. She was snapped out of her daze as she hit the ground.
"Hell yeah! Go, Hinata-chan!" Kiba yelled from above her, both him and Akamaru tackling her to the ground. "You're a Sennin!"
"I'm a Sennin..."
"Yes, you are!" Kurenai kissed the seal on her forehead. Hinata heard Obito yell 'Suck it, Bakashi!' in the background. "What did I tell you?"
Hinata smiled widely, then giggled a little hysterically when she was tackled by the rest of the Konoha 12. She looked up from the congratulations she was receiving when Neji came closer, smiling at her proudly (Kō waved at her discreetly from behind him, and then pretended he hadn't when Elder Yuma side-eyed him).
"Nii-san!" Hinata grinned at him, said grin falling a little in confusion when Neji bowed low before her. "Nii-san?"
"Hinata-sama, congratulations on your promotion."
Hinata's brain felt too slow from all the joy it had processed in the last 5 minutes. Neji had not used that suffix for her since... forever, really! "I-I, I don't understand..."
"You are a Sennin of Konoha, Hinata-sama." Neji explained to her, smiling gently but with mischief in his eyes. "Appropriate respect must be given."
All at once, Hinata remembered when she and Neji had reconciled after the Chūnin Exams.
"Forgive me, Hinata-sama." Neji pressed his head against the floor of Hinata's hospital room. "I have been dishonourable in my conduct towards you, through no fault of your own. I beg your forgiveness, and I will take any punishment you see fit to restore my honour."
Hinata felt the pain in her chest increasing, along with the pressure behind her eyes, and couldn't tell if it was because of the injury to her chest or the sorrow at seeing her proud cousin like this.
Being proven right was not as satisfactory as people said it would be.
"N-Nii-san," Hinata coughed a little, and was grateful to see no blood. Neji would only feel guiltier. "Nii-san, p-please stand."
Neji stood unhappily, and looked at Hinata strangely when she leaned over and patted the chair next to her bed.
"Hinata-sama – "
"Please, Nii-san," Hinata tried to be assertive. "Y-You are injured as well."
Neji sat in the chair stiffly, looking like he didn't know whether to look at her or not. His left shoulder was hitched up high in a way that had to be uncomfortable, considering the hit he had taken to it.
"Nii-san, I-I" Hinata's breath rattled in her chest, concerning Neji, but it had to be said. "I am no longer a Main Family member. I-I am not even a H-Hyūga. You do not need to show the same level of respect for me that you would for them."
Neji turned an impressive shade of pale (a sickly yellowish-white, with a hint of green mixed throughout) as she spoke, shaking his head before she was even done.
"I cannot, Hinata-sama, please! I – "
"Nii-san!" Hinata interrupted him, then interrupted herself with another coughing fit (unfortunately, this time there was blood, and Neji noticed it, hard as she tried to hide it). "Please, I am not the Hyūga clan heiress, or even a clan member! I am just your cousin Hinata."
Hinata held her hand out towards him, and looked at him pleadingly. If he didn't acquiesce in the next five seconds, she was using the Bubble Eyes Jutsu (if Sasuke can use it in front of Kami and the Hokage on a daily basis, Hinata can use it here where there are only two people who will know of it).
Neji stared at her intensely for a long moment, then sighed tiredly, with a small but hopeful smile.
"If I must... Hinata-chan."
No amount of pain could overshadow the joy Hinata felt at that moment.
Hinata's mouth flapped open like a fish when a thought hit her.
"How long have you been waiting for this?" Hinata demanded, ignoring everyone looking at them nosily.
"It was your fate." Was all Neji volunteered in lieu of an answer.
Hinata fell back in exasperation, and landed with her head on Sakura's lap, ignoring Sasuke chuckling at her misery.
'Well. At least they are having fun.'
A/N – And there we have it! Hinata is a Sennin, as far as Konoha is concerned.
Five Stalking Fangs: Hinata throws five kunai in a pentagonal formation. When she makes the seal, a compound seal activated on the ground green scrolls with seals on them materialise from it. The seals are generally decoys, but can be functional if the user so wishes. The seals distract the opponent. The kunai have seals that connect them to user, which allows them to channel chakra through them and create solid clones, which then attack the opponent with swords. The clones can only be destroyed when the kunai are destroyed.
The whole situation with Neji was as sad as it was funny. First he doesn't like her, and has to pull a 'Hinata-sama' from behind gritted teeth. Then when he does like her, Hinata is on the outs with the Hyūga and he cannot call her that unless he wants the seal to be used. My guy took the opportunity he was given and ran with it (Neji does not use his evolved Byakugan a lot, simply because getting his ass kicked by Hinata during the Chūnin Exams shook him enough that fate just became a... suggestion... instead of a line etched in stone. He'll use it sometimes for high level missions, but he doesn't really fixate on it like he used to).