Chapter 32: Surprise (3)

"Hah! Hah!"

Sun had almost set while Shino had also placed his butt on the ground, his gaze still on the duo. Meanwhile, Kurenai had to leave for she had to certain reports to make.

Hinata, on the other hand, felt a plethora of emotions raging within her little body. With her fist connected to Eio's forehead, she let out a small sigh of relief before her consciousness started to fade while all the mental burden rushed into her consciousness once again.

Even the cool energy, whose source surprisingly happened to be Eio himself, failed to ease the tension of her nerves.

Her knees gave out and finally, she plunged into the ground only to feel warmth enveloping her body completely. The small smile on her face did widen up before she let out a small whisper and then fell unconscious in Eio's arms.

***

"Thank you..."

Hinata's whisper grazed past his ears, but hearing such a tired voice did not garner any pity from his heart. Sure, he felt bad when he saw Hinata beating herself up, but deep down, his respect for this little girl grew by leaps and bounds.

Holding her surprisingly thin body, which was completely covered by her large jacket, Eio's embrace grew a bit tighter before he picked her up and then walked towards Shino with a helpless look.

'I see... well, Kurenai might be mature, but she ain't bad, right?'

Hearing Kefla, Eio simply sighed.

'Hey, don't forget your promise. Now, you'll give me one hour! Alright?'

'Yeah, yeah.' Eio shrugged and responded before looking at Shino.

"Sorry, we made you wait for so long."

Standing up and dusting his clothes, he simply shook his head.

"It's not a problem. If I have to say, then I would like to congratulate you both. Hinata's last strike took me by surprise."

He looked at Hinata before speaking up.

"And you... you managed to bring out a part of herself that she didn't know she was capable of. Good Work, team leader."

"Team Leader?"

Eio's brows rose up. He wouldn't lie, the title did sound good.

Nodding, Shino took out three tickets from the outer pocket of his outfit.

"Sensei wanted me to give you these. As your answers to the questions remained the most reasonable, she appointed you the team leader."

Feeling a bit of hesitation coming from Shino, Eio's lips parted.

"Shino, did something happen?"

"Next time... I'll try to answer more rationally and get an effective answer."

'Oh, this was it.'

Shrugging, Eio looked at Shino before asking out.

"Yeah, before that, help me pick Hinata properly. This is way too restrictive."

***

"Hic hic... those jerks! I'll defeat them! I'll stomp them! Ino and I were a fool to even think they are good!"

A pink-haired girl cried as she stuffed her mouth with dango as her mouth-filled curses attracted the attention of other visitors.

Her fair skin covered in mud and her bright pink hair remained filled with dust while her crying face made her look all the more disastrous. But still, many kept to themselves and nobody moved to enquire about her.

Suddenly, a hand covered the top of her head while she immediately snapped her head sideways only to look at Shisui's smiling face.

"Now, now, where is that bright smile, Sakura?"

He spoke while he took a stick of dango from her plate and stuffed his mouth as he chewed merrily while mischievously ruffling her long pink hair.

"Shisui-sensei?"

Sakura questioned while immediately using her dirty hands to rub her eyes, smearing even more dirt. Looking at her now panda eyes, a short chuckle escaped out of his lips as Sakura huffed at his expression and then focused on her plate only to see all her dangos gone.

"Thank you for the food."

Shisui prayed sincerely before looking at the teary-eyed Sakura once again.

Knocking on her forehead, Shisui placed 300 ryo, the same amount as the dish and smiled.

"Eating sweets and snacks right before the exam is unhealthy. You should have gone back to your home.

Your parents must be worried."

"I am not going! After eating, I will train all night and then defeat those jerks! Sensei, you are an Uchiha, too. But why isn't Sasuke like you?!"

She grumbled while Shisui ordered juice for both of them before explaining with a soft expression.

"Sure, you can train all night. But what good would it achieve? Sakura, out of the three of you under my tutelage, you are the only genin while those two knuckleheads are still academy students.

If you cannot get past your own emotions even after becoming a full-fledged kunoichi, how do you expect those two to treat you with respect?"

Shisui pushed one of the newly arrived drinks towards Sakura and then smiled.

"Go home and rest. Tomorrow, you will meet me at 4 a.m. sharp. Your special training has already started Sakura, start observing the world around you with a broader outlook.

I know you can do it."

He spoke while the stunned Sakura slowly digested the sweet words filled with expectations as she tasted the sweet juice that made the whole thing even more memorable.

Of course, she would only fond out about her current monstrous visage after her mother comments as she screamed in rage and vowed vengeance against the despicable duo for something they weren't even aware of.

After all, Naruto had to drag his own beat-up body to the Namikaze resident where her mother, Kushina Uzumaki, already aware of his actions, broke him in literal pieces as this time around, Minato wasn't there to save him.

Meanwhile, Sasuke looked better physically, but his father's words of being disappointed with him while exemplifying his own elder and younger sibling created a mental pressure that his other two teammates failed to bear.

Finally, the next dawn, Sakura arrived at the designated location punctually as a surprise waited for her in the form of Shisui introducing her to another team.