Kapitel 9: Chapter 9: Rookie Life Arc
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or I would have given Tenten a last name.
Playing the Role of the Byakugan Princess
Rookie Life Arc
Chapter nine
I open my eyes and stare at the ceiling as a grin spreads across my face. Today is the day that I take the Graduation Exams and finally become a Genin! Well, not an official Genin since I have to take the Genin Exams with my new team tomorrow. But, you get what I am saying. I have been waiting for this day ever since I enrolled into the Academy. No more days of sitting on my ass for seven hours and listen to Iruka lecture or going over exercises that I am already skilled in. I get to actually show off my skills now and serve Konohagakure as I contribute to the society by going on missions. When I mean missions, I am doing chores around the village for the first few months of my Shinobi career. Strange as it may seem, I am actually looking forward to doing that. As long as it has the word mission in the sentence, I really do not care what I am doing.
I jump out of bed and quickly get ready for the day. I put on my everyday wear consisting of a short sleeved grey v-neck top with black shorts, black thigh-high stockings, and black Shinobi sandals. Since the Gentle Fist requires lots of movement, and because of my flexibility, I feel it is better to wear clothes that does not restrain me compared to what Hinata usually wore at this age. Unlike her, I am not self conscious of my developing body and I do realize that my breasts are slightly larger than the average twelve year old. Which, to be honest, is fine by me because this set is already bigger than my last two in my past life at twenty one years old. I know. It's a tragedy. Anyways, I chose this outfit to fit my fighting style. While it is pretty plain, I do not mind. A Shinobi is about being sneaky and blending in with their surroundings, not to stand out *cough Ino* *cough Naruto*. I also decided to keep my hair the same as Hinata's so it doesn't get in my way.
I walk out of my bedroom and meet up with my father and Hanabi in the kitchen, where they are already eating breakfast. I slid into my seat and begin eating the food in front of me. "I'm sorry I am late," I say to my father. "I was just getting myself mentally prepared for the exams later." Actually, I slept in an extra thirty minutes.
Hiashi nods. "That is fine. Today is a big day for you and you do not need to go in with a cluttered mind."
"I know you are going to pass Nee-san," Hanabi says. "So, you should not be worrying at all."
I smile my at younger sister. She has changed a lot in the past four years. Her dark hair is halfway down her back and she grows to look more like our father everyday. At just seven years old, she is already better than I ever was. She easily picks up the Gentle Fist style and doesn't have any problems with it while my body always struggled. She is very intelligent and mature for her age as she is following into Neji's footsteps and is currently at the top of her class without much effort. In fact, she's so talented that she is already a fourth year student when she should be only a second year. At this rate, she might even graduate early! I could have graduated early myself, but we all know that I want to continue my Shinobi life with the Rookie Nine.
"Thank you," I tell her. "I am pretty sure I will pass, but you never know. I do not want to get too cocky." A downside to my sister's personality is that she has picked up on our clan's trait of thinking our abilities surpasses everyone's and can get a little arrogant at times. I am trying to correct her behavior, but I have not been succeeding.
Hanabi shrugs. "There is nothing wrong with acting that way as long as you can back it up."
"Being confident and cocky are two different things," I explain to her. "There is nothing wrong with being confident while acting cocky can get you into a lot of trouble. The key is to act humble."
"Your sister is correct to an extend," my father adds. "Though, I ,myself, believe that there is nothing wrong with taking pride to oneself if they know that their skills are noteworthy."
I resist the urge to sigh. By him saying stuff like that totally overrules my teachings. Even though I have been around her more often, she seems to take my father's word over mine. Which is understandable since he is the parent. Hiashi has been trying to instill more "pride" into me so I can become a strong leader one day. He always mentions to me that there is nothing wrong with being humble and kind. However, I need to act more vain and assertive so I do not become a pushover when I am Head, which I will not allow to happen in the first place. I believe I can still act kind and compassionate yet strong-willed and confident. There is no need for me to act like a dickhead.
Not wanting to get into a debate, I just nod my head in agreement. "I see your point of view," I tell him to hint that I'm staying neutral on this.
Looking slightly disappointed at not having the chance to lecture me about what's the correct way to act for my clan, my father changes the subject. "Is there anything you would like to do this evening to celebrate your promotion?"
At least he has faith me to pass. I shake my head. "I was actually planning on going out to dinner with my friends to celebrate," I reply.
Hiashi nods. "Very well. Just be back by ten."
I widen my eyes at my extended curfew. He usually wants me home by dinner time ever since the Uchiha mass fare incident for safety measures.I guess this is some of the perks of getting older and I'm glad he realizes that. There will be sometimes when my missions will last overnight outside of the village so it is about time to loosen my reins. "Thank you!" I say, a little too loudly.
My cheerfulness manages to break a small smile from my father. "You are welcome."
After going through my normal morning shenanigans, I leave the compound and head off towards the Academy. When I arrive, I head towards the back of the class and take my usual seat beside Naruto at the end. I allow Naruto to sit in the middle because he likes to be the center of attention and I give Sasuke the other seat so he can do what he does best, state out a window. Those two have changed as well. Well, Naruto a little and Sasuke a lot. Naruto still acts like his goofy and happy-go-lucky self, but he is smarter and has gotten a whole lot better on his technique. While he isn't a genius, he knows his Shinobi terminology and history. He has been making okay grades, since he hates homework and studying, but he kicks asses when he performs the basic Academy level jutsus now because of my chakra control lessons. He has impressed Iruka-sensei with his rapid growth and improvement, but still isn't too impressed with Naruto's Sexy Jutsu when we have to perform Transformation Jutsus. I don't know why everyone rags on him for his Sexy Jutsu. I think it's pretty damn funny and can be a great jutsu to use as a distraction during a battle.
Sasuke, thankfully, has changed for the better. While he still trains to become stronger to ultimately avenge his clan one day, Naruto and I have driven him away from a dark path. Actually, for the first couple of years, he became cold towards us and everybody else and wanted to be alone most of the time. He didn't seem to have an interest in anything other than seeking revenge. Over time, Naruto and I have proven with our actions and words that he is not alone and that we will always be there for him. We gave him the impression to consider us as his second family, if he wants to, but to never replace his original family at heart. Slowly, but surely, Sasuke opened up to us again and began to act like his old self. While he still gets in his moods and has his episodes of wanting to do nothing but train and be alone, he never pushes us away, is more talkative, and has taken on more interests other than thinking about Itachi. He seems to enjoy cooking and is really good at it. He sometimes invites over for dinner and his meals are superb and always includes tomatoes in some way or form. He also likes to take long walks around the village and Naruto or I, or both, will tag along at times. Heck, the kid even has been talking to Sakura every now and then! They aren't super close or anything like that, but at least they are on speaking terms now.
Speaking of Sakura, she has changed a little also. She still acts the same except she doesn't fangirl at the sight of Sasuke anymore. I think she leaves that shit for Inner Sakura to rant about. Sakura has stayed the top kunoichi in the class, second to Sasuke, and has been keeping up with her training. I have never actually see her train, but we talk from time from time and she will tell me briefly about her progress. Her and I aren't best friends or anything, but we are friends. Her and Ino still have some sort of rivalry going on, but I don't know for what. Probably still competing secretly for Sasuke's love and attention or who can do the best in class. To be honest, Sakura got to become top kunoichi on her own. I actually decided to end up trying in class. While I performed better than her in taijutsu and ninjutsu, she is better than me at genjutsu, kunoichi classes, and basically everything else. I would say I rank number three or four in class rankings. Not too shabby though my father isn't going to be too thrilled to hear that a female civilian outdid a clan's heiress. Oh, well.
I wave at Naruto and Sasuke as they wave back. "I am so ready to graduate from the Academy!" I tell them.
Naruto matches my excitement by throwing his hands in the air. "Me, too!" he says. "I can't wait to become a real Shinobi and go on all sorts of cool missions and learn all sorts of new jutsus!"
"There's more to being a Shinobi than just those things," I remind him.
"Let the dobe dream," Sasuke says to me. "We don't know if he's even going to pass."
Naruto turns and points at Sasuke. "I am going to pass, teme! I have been working really hard this whole time!"
Sasuke smirks. "You have one of the lowest grades in the class."
Naruto frowns. "Awhh, that doesn't mean anything! You watch! I will do even better than you!"
"Hn," Sasuke grunts. "As if."
"You wanna bet?" Naruto asks. "I bet I will do so well that they will finally come to their senses and make me Rookie of the Year over you!"
I sweatdrop. "Naruto-kun, you really shouldn't be making such bets if you're going to lose at them."
Sasuke snorts as Naruto gives me a puppy dog look. "Hinata-chan!" he whines. "You're suppose to be taking my side!"
Sasuke shrugs. "Hey, somebody has to tell you the truth."
Naruto suddenly jumps on top of our desk and bends down to get our eye level with Sasuke. "You take that back, teme!"
Sasuke narrows his eyes. "Make me, baka."
I cover my eyes with my hands as the two idiots glare at each other. Sasuke knows better than to tease Naruto like that to get him riled up. He is just doing it out of meanness. "Naruto! Stop staring at Sasuke-kun like that!" I hear Ino yell. I remove my hands from my face and see Ino and her band of fangirls surrounding my desk. Great.
"Naruto-kun!" I hiss. "Get down! You are causing a scene!"
"But, he started it!" Naruto protests. I roll my eyes and just sign in response. I know nothing I say now will break up their little feud. I can literally see the electricity zapping in between their intense glares.
"What's going on?" I hear the boy sitting in front of Naruto ask.
As he turns around, his elbow hits Naruto's bottom, and Naruto falls towards Sasuke. I cover my mouth to prevent myself from laughing as Naruto plants his lips right onto Sasuke's. Everybody in the room grew silent in shock as the two boys widen their eyes in surprise. I swear I can almost hear Inner Sakura in the corner cursing up a storm right about now. Sasuke and Naruto quickly pull away from one another as they begin to gag and wipe off their lips. All of the fangirls begin to give Naruto scary looks as Ino cracks her knuckles. Damn. It was an accident. Is violence really necessary right now? How dramatic.
I look over at the sea of preteen girls and shrug. "I guess you can get over your precious Sasuke-kun now," I tell them. "It appears that he's gay and has the hots for Naruto-kun."
"Noooo!" I hear a few fangirls cry.
Sasuke throws me an annoyed look. "Hell no I'm not!" he yells.
"Yayyy!" the fan girls cheer.
"Wait, what just happened?" Naruto asks, cocking his head to the side.
"I just saved you from a beating now get down!" I tell him as I yank him off the desk and he crashes to the floor.
"Owwww, did you have to do that?"
I nod. "Yes." I look over at Ino and the fangirls and flick my hand. "Shoo! Shoo! There's nothing more to see."
Ino places her hands on her hips. "You just want Sasuke-kun for yourself!" she growls.
I give her an innocent look. "I can't do that even if I want to," I say. "I just told you he's gay."
Sasuke covers my mouth with his hand. "Shut up! Why do you keep saying that?!"
Thankfully, the classroom door suddenly opens as Iruka and Mizuki walks in. Everyone hurries back to their original seats as they make their way over to the front desk and set two stacks of papers down. "Sorry we are a little late," Iruka says to us. "We were getting last minute stuff prepared for the exams." All the excitement and chitter chatter evaporated away as a more nervous and serious atmosphere came to life. "Part one of the Graduation Exams are about to start so listen carefully. This part will be a written exam while the second part will be a practical exam. During the first part of the exam, you will all have an hour to complete it and will take it in this room. When everyone is finished, we will begin part two. The practical exam is going to be evaluated on an individual basis so you will all sit in this room while your names get called out one by one. When you complete the second part of the exam, we will inform you if you have passed or failed. If you pass, you will be giving a hitai-ate. After that, you are free to go for the day and will return tomorrow to learn your new teams. Does anyone have any questions?"
Nobody says anything except for Naruto. "What?! I didn't know there would be a written exam!" he complains, grabbing the top of his head in panic.
"As long as you studied Naruto, you should do fine," Iruka tells him, raising his eyebrows.
Naruto sinks down in his chair. "But, I didn't," he mumbles.
"You'll do fine," I whisper to him. "They probably care more about the practical exam anyways." Well, I do not know if that is true, but he doesn't need to be freaking out before he takes the Graduation Exam.
My false hope seems to have lifted his spirits a little. "I hope so," Naruto replies.
The next hour went by fast. The exam was forty questions and most were hand picked from the reviews that we have been going over the past two weeks. Personally, I found the written exam pretty easy and I finished it in twenty minutes. Naruto was the very last person to complete the exam and finished with three minutes to spare. Though, I think he rushed the last ten or so questions just to beat the time limit. I hope he at least makes a barely passable grade. As they said in college in my past life "D's get degrees".
After Iruka and Mizuki collects our exams, they stand in front of the classroom. "Okay, it is time for the practical exam," Mizuki announces. "We are going to call you in alphabetical order starting with Aburame Shino. Please follow me and Iruka to the room across the hall."
Everyone watches as the always silent Shino gets up from his seat and leaves the room with the two instructors. As soon as the door closes behind them, the classroom goes crazy. "I totally passed that exam!" "I totally failed that exam!" "What does practical mean?" "Should I be going over my jutsus while we wait?" I just want to cover my ears and protect myself from all these idiotic comments. There's no wonder only the children from major clans, including Sakura and Naruto, became official Genin. We are not dumbasses! I mean, who the hell doesn't know what practical means at twelve years old? A dumbass!
Naruto and I decide to talk to one another until our names get called. Sasuke decides to stare out the window since he's mad at Naruto for kissing him and at me for my comments earlier. Suddenly, Iruka pops his head into the classroom and says my name. Finally! Naruto wishes me good luck and I get a nod from Sasuke before leaving the room. We walk across the hall and into an empty classroom. Iruka closes the door behind me as he makes his way to sit next to Mizuki. It looks like I am being evaluated by the two of them, Ruki-sensei, and two other instructors that I have never seen before.
Iruka gives me a warm smile. "How are you, Hinata?" he asks.
"Pretty good," I reply.
"Great," he says. "This is how the second part of the exam is going to go. We are going to call out different jutsus for you to perform for us. At the end, you are to demonstrate one technique of your choice. Do you understand?"
I nod. "Yes, sir."
"Awesome! Let's begin," Iruka says. "First, I would like for you to transform into each instructor that is sitting in this room." I make the appropriate hand signs for the Transformation Jutsu and transformed myself into every single person in the room. When I return back to my normal self, my audience shows no reaction as they scribble something down on their charts.
"Please perform the Substitution Jutsu," Mizuki orders as he points towards a lone wooden log on the other side of the room. Once again, I make the correct signs and I find myself on the other side of the room where the log used to be. This is my favorite Academy level jutsu. "Okay, now switch back to your original position."
After doing what he said, they all write some more notes down before Ruki-sensei speaks. "Create at least one clone for us using the Clone Jutsu." I nod and decide to meet their expectations by creating three clones. This time, I get impressed murmurs as a reaction.
"Finally," Iruka says. "Please perform a technique of your choice and then we will quickly grade you and give you your results."
I ponder for a moment. I have one jutsu up my sleeve I can show them, but I can also show them some taijutsu since that is my specialty. Or, I can show them how skilled I am with a kunai and some wire. I decide to just stick with my taijutsu. "Can I have a sparring partner?" I ask. "Preferably a clone of some sort?"
Iruka nods and creates a single Clone of himself. The clone walks over to me and stands and I prepare to get into my stance. I bring my left leg in front of me, leaving my right on behind, and I slightly tilt my feet at a 20 degree angle. I extend one palm out in front of me as I rest the palm by myself. I activated my Byakugan as I begin to concentrate chakra into my hands. After a few seconds, a blue layer of chakra covers both of my hands in the form of a small, sharp blade. My hands are now chakra scalpels. I lock my eyes on my opponent.
"Eight Trigrams: Thirty-Two Palms!" I rush towards Iruka's clone and begin attacking him in various chakra pathways. "Two palms! Four palms!" I allow my body to flow around him as I continue. "Eight palms! Sixteen Palms!" I twirl my feet around as I dance over in front of him to finish him off. "Thirty-two palms!" I sent a barrage of attacks to his chest, each strike creating a minor cut as a parting gift.
I just backwards and get into a defensive stance as I watch Iruka's Clone stumble backwards and disappear into a smoke cloud. I sigh as I deactivated my Byakugan and command the chakra away from my hands. I look over at the instructors and I feel pretty proud of myself as they all give me a mixture of surprised and impressed expressions on their face.
"To be honest, I am surprised you are able to create chakra scalpels so easily," Iruka says to me. "A Shinobi needs to have superb chakra control in order to do that and it looks like you have it." Well, I started my chakra controlling training at five years of age, but none of them have to know that.
"Chakra scalpels are usually used for healing back medical-nins in their patients," Ruki-sensei explains. "It is rarely used offensively because the wielder must require great precisive skills in order for it to be effective. You have the Byakugan to help you out so good job from my perspective."
"Blocking the chakra pathways while inflicting external wounds on your opponent is a genius tactic," Mizuki compliments. Thank you. It was Neji's idea.
After giving me the positive feedback, they begin collaborate with each other for a few minutes. I do not mind the wait. I already know the results. Iruka looks up at me, pulls out a forehead protector, and smiles. "Congratulations! Hyūga Hinata! You have passed! I hereby announce you a Genin of Konohagakure!"
I bow and retrieve the forehead protector from his hand. I tie it proudly around my neck. "Thank you!" I told them. I leave the room and walk into the hallways, closing the door behind me. As soon as I do, I break into a happy dance. I start to twirl around. "I did it! I did it!"
Smack! I bump hard into something. I rub my face as I look up and see Mizuki looking down at me with his hands on his hips, appearing confused. "What are you doing?" he asks.
Shit! Go away! I'm having a moment! Shouldn't you be wallowing around in self-pity up Orochimaru's ass right now? I don't say anything as I take off down the hallway and make my way outside. Ugh, Mizuki always ruins everything! Ruining my happy dance. Almost ruining Naruto's life. Good thing that Naruto is, hopefully, going to pass the Graduation Exams. Mizuki will have no reason to try to trick him this time around! Except a downside to this is that Naruto won't be able to learn Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu from the Scroll of Seals. That is where I come in! Over the past four years, I have taught myself the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Naruto spammed it so much in the anime/manga that I learnt it from memory. I taught myself so I can specifically teach Naruto the technique when he graduated since he isn't going to be involved with the Mizuki ordeal. Even though I can only create two Shadow Clones at the moment, I know that Naruto is going to pick up on this jutsu quick because of his chakra control and reserves.
I decide to sit on the swing in front of the Academy until Naruto and Sasuke finish their exams. After another hour of waiting, I see Naruto walk out of the building. As he approaches me, my heart sinks as I notice the depressed look on his face and the fact he's still wearing his goggles on top of his head. I stand up and rush over to him.
Naruto gives me a weak smile. "I see that you passed the Graduation Exams," he says. "Congrats!"
I frown. "Did you pass?" I ask.
Naruto drops his smile and looks down. I'm about to comfort him when he pulls a forehead protector from his pocket. "Hell yeah I did!" he hollers! "I told you I would! I'm one step closer to becoming Hokage now!"
I widen my eyes and sigh in relief. "Oh, thank goodness! You scared me!" I told him.
Naruto gives me a mischievous grin. "Sorry! I just wanted to trick ya!"
I playfully smack his shoulder. "You and your pranks!" I say as I watch Naruto take his goggles off and replace them with the forehead protector. "That looks way better on you."
"Right?" Naruto says as he grazes his hand across the metal part. "This is so cool. I can't believe I'm an official Shinobi now!"
"I'm proud of you!" I tell him, smoothing down his hair.
Naruto looks sheepishly at me. "Thank you, Hinata-chan!"
"As a gift for you passing the Graduation Exam, I have-" I am rudely interrupted as Mizuki suddenly appears beside of us. Creep. I didn't even sense him coming.
"Sorry to intrude on your conversation," he begins. "But, I just wanted to congratulate the both of you once again. Especially you, Naruto. You scored the best out of anybody!"
I raise my eyebrow in suspicion as Naruto raised his in surprise. "Wow! Really?" he cheerfully ask.
Mizuki smiles and nods. "You sure did! In fact, the other instructors were so impressed about how much you have improved that we are going to do a little special something for you."
Naruto begins to bounce on his toes like a little kid in anticipation. "What? What is it?"
Mizuki wraps his arm around Naruto's shoulder. "Why don't we chat over here?" he says. "It is more of a private matter." He looks back at me and winks. "Is it okay if I steal him for a moment?"
No. "Yes," I say, giving the creep a fake smile as they walk off. I clench my fists as I begin to fume. He's still going to try and rope Naruto into stealing the scroll! But, how? What can he possibly say to Naruto to trick him? He's passed? Ugh, where's Sasuke? He would know something is up and help me out. I can't handle Mizuki alone.
After a few minutes, Naruto marches back over to me with a wide grin spread across his face. "This is so exciting!"
"What is?" I demand. "What did he talk to you about?" Sheesh, calm down, Hinata.
Naruto doesn't seem to notice my sudden change in behavior. "Mizuki-sensei told me that I couldn't disclose the information to anyone," Naruto explains. "But, I will be able to tell you tomorrow!"
I want to pull my hair out. This is so frustrating! What did he say to Naruto? Why would he even want to approach Naruto now? How did he change plans so quickly? From the day I was born, I have known every major event that is going to happen and I have always expected them at the correct time. This is the first time that I am totally in the dark, blindsided, and it is driving me crazy. "Can you give me a hint?" I ask.
Naruto shakes his head. "I really wish I could, but I can't," he replies.
If he isn't going to tell me, then I will just extract information from him in other ways. I drop my nosey behavior and smile. "Okay! I will stop bothering you about it," I tell him. "So, do you and Sasuke-kun and want to do anything this evening to celebrate our passing? It is a big deal so I figure we should."
Naruto narrows his eyebrows and looks around. "Speaking of teme, where is he? I haven't seen him."
"I don't know," I tell him, trying to keep my patience. This is not the time to get distracted. "He is probably brooding somewhere. We will find him later. Are you up for my idea?"
Naruto gives me an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, but I can't tonight," he says. "I'm going to be busy."
My ears perk up. Naruto is never busy and is always willing to hang out with his friends. That means Mizuki's "special something" is going to happen later today. Plus, I said this evening and not tonight so that gives me some time frame. "What are you doing?" I ask.
Naruto gives me a nervous glance. "Um, I can't tell you."
"Why not?" I question.
"Because-" he quickly covers his mouth. "Ugh! I will see you tomorrow, Hinata-chan!" He suddenly rushes away. The little baka.
It seems like he almost slipped up and told me something important. At least I know that whatever Mizuki is planning doesn't happen until tonight. I don't know what time so I am assuming around eight I should go over to Naruto's apartment and spy on him. He will be too excited or involved with whatever Mizuki has him doing to notice me. If Mizuki is around, I can just attempt to mask my chakra and hope for the best. If I get caught by him, hopefully I have seen enough to get a clue on what is going on. I can just pull the nosey card and see him he buys it. I sigh. It's always something.
At actually eight, I am peeking my head into a window of Naruto's apartment as I watch him eat some ramen. Well, this is anticlimactic. I've been bored all day. I wish something would happen! For the past eight hours, I have been wondering around the village to keep myself occupied. I didn't want to just show up at the compound since I told my father I had plans. For a few hours, I trained in my usual spot at the Third Training Ground for a few hours before I grew tired. After that, I tried to find Sasuke so I could hang out with him and inform him on what is going on. I couldn't find him! Heck, I even sought out Sakura to hang out with her. Nothing. Neji was on a mission earlier today so I couldn't kill time with him. Instead, I just ate dinner by myself and relaxed on top of some random building. It had a great view of the sky and it was a beautiful day so I decided to lay back and watch the sunset.
Apparently, someone else at the time was thinking the same thing I was. "What are you doing up here?" I had heard a voice ask.
I lifted my head up to find the unexpected visitor and noticed Shikamaru standing at the top of the stairway that led up to here. "I am watching the sunset," I had told him.
Shikamaru shrugged and sat down next to me. "Mind if I join ya?" he asks.
"I don't know," I had said. "I thought you only liked watching clouds? Wouldn't that be considered cheating if you checked out the sunset?"
Shikamaru smirked. "We have an open relationship." He laid down beside of me. "I've never seen you up here before."
"I've never been up here before," I had replied. "I just found this place while wandering around the village."
"I always come up here when I want to get away from the troublesome of everyday life," Shikamaru had told me. "This is my favorite spot to be in the whole village."
I smiled. "I can understand why. This has a really good view of everything while being reclusive at the same time."
"It is also a good place to nap," Shikamaru had added. I laugh. Of course. Lazy ass. We watched the sky in peace and quiet as the sun continues to slip away. The full moon was out before I knew it.
I stood up and stretched. "I am going to go now. Thank you for keeping me company," I had said. I waited for response. Silence. "Shikamaru?" I received a snore as an answer. I rolled my eyes and walked off, allowing him to nap alone. My first real interaction with Shikamaru and he falls a damn sleep! Somehow, I am not surprised. He did say this was a good place to nap.
I snap out of my thoughts as I notice Naruto slipping on his orange jumpsuit and leaving his apartment. I mask my chakra as I set out to follow him. I jump from roof to roof for a while, making sure I stay a good distance away from him. Finally, we end up at the Academy where I see Naruto go up the stairs on the side that leads up to the Hokage's office. I walk up the staircase behind him and watch him hop through an open window. I flatten my body against the wall as I slid along it and poke my head over to see what he is doing. Naruto tiptoes over to a bookcase that contains many scrolls and begins shuffling through it. Suddenly, I see the Hokage flicker on the lightswitch as Naruto tenses on the spot.
"What do you think you're doing here at this hour?" he demands with his hands behind his back. Hmm, why is he here so late? There must be some small apartment that connects to the office if a Hokage chooses to live there or something.
Naruto spins around and makes a familiar hand sign. "Sexy Jutsu!"
I smack my forehead as a gush of blood flew out of the Third Hokage's nose and he lands on the ground in a daze. How in the world did a silly jutsu like that have any effect on him? Naruto quickly went back to rummaging through scrolls and picks one up. After double checking that it is the correct scroll, he grins in excitement as he attaches the scroll to his back and jumps back out of the window. I begin to follow him again. So, Mizuki ended up telling him about the scroll after all. What could he have said to Naruto? Naruto wouldn't just steal something on his own free will. We leave the village part of Konohagakure and into the forest close to the Training Grounds. Naruto stops near a small wooden shed to sit down and catch his breathe and then takes the scroll off his back to read over it.
"Let's see," he mumbles to himself. "The first jutsu is Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu. Ugh! Why does it start off with the thing I struggle with the most?" Naruto furiously shakes his head. "No! I can't complain! I need to hurry and learn one jutsu from this scroll before someone finds me in order to become a Chunin!"
Mizuki lied and told him he could become a Chunin if he stole the scroll and learned a jutsu from it before someone catches him? What a lowlife, getting Naruto's hopes up like that. I watch from behind a tree for the next couple of hours as Naruto practices the jutsu. As I thought earlier, he picked up on the technique pretty quick and is spawning at Shadow Clones left and right. All of a sudden, I hear leaves rustling from above me and branches squeaking as a figure lands behind me. Before I can reaction, I feel a kunai pressing into my back.
"If you scream, you're dead," the person behind me whispers as I freeze up. It is Mizuki. What's going on? He's not suppose to be here just yet. He is suppose to be finding Iruka, who finds Naruto first. Where is Iruka?
I don't say anything back as Mizuki shoves me forward, forcing me to reveal my hiding spot from behind the tree. Naruto glances up from the noise and widen his eyes. "Hinata-chan! What are you doing here?" he asks.
"Um, well…" I stammer.
"She followed you here," Mizuki tells him as he steps out from the tree and stands beside of him. He has a menacing look resting on his face.
Naruto looks at the both of in confusion before laughing. He closes his eyes and scratches the back of his neck. "Heh, I guess you finally found me!" Naruto says. "It was smart to use Hinata-chan since she has the Byakugan. Though, you're a little late because-"
"I didn't use the brat to search for you," Mizuki snaps, interrupting Naruto. "She followed you her own free will and do you want to know why?"
"Because I really wanted to know what you were doing, Naruto-kun," I say. "You know how nosey I can get."
Mizuki glares at me. "No, she followed you because she allowed envy to cloud her mind and plans on taking the scroll away from you to prevent you from getting promoted!"
I snap my head towards him. "What?!" What kind of bullshit is that?!
"I-is that true, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asks, hesitantly.
I violently shake my head. "No! I have no reason to be jealous because he is lying!" I admit. "Mizuki used you to steal the scroll so he can get his hands on it! He told the whole village that you stole it for your own selfish needs and everybody is looking for you at this very moment!"
Naruto widens his eyes in shock at what I just told him. I am about to speak some more, but Mizuki suddenly slaps me and slings me into a tree, knocking the breath out of me."How did you figure that out, brat?!" he yells. Wow, nice going. Admitting your plans outloud. What an idiot excuse of a villain.
Instead of answering him, I rush over towards Naruto and extend my hands out. "Give me the scroll and let's go find Hokage-sama!" I order. "We need to notify him on what is going on!"
Naruto takes a step back, refusing to listen. "I'm so confused! Why does everybody want this scroll? What the hell is going on here?" he yells.
I narrow my eyes. "I just explained to you what is going on! You need to believe me, your best friend, over an instructor who never gave you the time of day!"
As I notice the gears in Naruto's brain turn, Mizuki throws a handful of kunai towards Naruto. I push him out of the way as I cross my arms in front of me to protect myself. I fall backwards against the shed as I deflect most of the kunai with some of them sticking to me. I wince in pain as I feel trickles of blood begin to run down my body. Mizuki places a hand on his hip and sighs. "This isn't how I planned things, but I guess I just have to kill two brats now instead of one."
"I will not allow you to put your hands on Naruto-kun!" I growl, taking the kunai out of my body one by one and flinging them to the ground in anger.
Mizuki smirks. "You know, you wouldn't be so adamant to protect him if you knew his secret."
Naruto scrunched up his face. "What? What secret?" he questions. "I don't have a secret!"
"It is a secret of yours that you don't even know about," Mizuki explains. "It has always been a law that everybody in the village was forbidden to tell you about this secret."
"Forbidden to tell me?" Naruto repeats. "What is this secret?! Tell me!"
"I suppose I can break the rules and tell you about this secret before you die," Mizuki taunts. Shit! I hate standing here so helpless! If I move to attack, he will just outdo me! He knows what I can do from my exams earlier! "Do you know about the incident that happened twelve years ago that involved the Nine Tailed Fox?"
Naruto nods. "Yeah, but what about it?"
"Since that day, a special law was created for the village," Mizuki begins. "The law is that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact that you are the Nine Tailed Demon Fox!"
"Naruto! Don't listen to a word he is saying!" I yell as Naruto freezes in shock and despair.
Mizuki raises his voice over mine. "You are the Nine Tails that destroyed the village and killed many people, including the Yondaime Hokage! You were sealed by the Sandaime Hokage, who you love and admire, and you have been lied to by everyone this whole time! Didn't you find it odd how everyone hates you? Like they hated you just for even existing! Well, your friend is now the same! She hates you now for hearing what you are! You're nothing but a monster!"
"Shut up!" I yell. "That is not true! You are not a monster! You-"
"Nobody will ever love you! That scroll you are holding was used to seal you up!"
"Damnit!" Naruto yells as an intense amount of chakra begins to swirl around him in rage. For an instant, his eyes flickered over to a bright yellow color before returning back to his normal blue eyes. If he doesn't calm down, the Nine Tails' chakra is going to start leaking out and consume his mind!
Mizuki picks up the large shuriken off his back and flings it to Naruto to stop him. Damnit! I made a hand sign as an exact copy of me emerges out of thin air and runs over to Naruto, shielding him from the attack. The shuriken sticks into my Shadow Clone's back as I take off after Mizuki. I reach out to strike him, but he grabs my wrist and tosses me to the side. "I will admit, I am surprised that you are able to create a Shadow Clone since you didn't reveal it during your exams," Mizuki says to me. "Strange since most students like to show off their best abilities during those exams. Anyways, that doesn't matter. You're still no match for me!"
I clench of my fists in anger. "I don't care!" I shout. "You are not going to hurt Naruto-kun! I will protect him to my last breathe even if I lose!"
Mizuki waves his hand. "How can you even care for that monster still? That's just betrayal to our village! You saw those eyes earlier… the eyes of a real demon!"
"Naruto-kun is not like that!" I shout.
I jump towards Mizuki as he attempts to knee me in the stomach. I spin out of the way and throw a roundhouse kick to his face. He blocks it and throw a quick punch to my face, making contact. I fall to the ground again and wipe off my mouth. Ugh! I'm too tired and low on chakra. I wasn't prepared to fight against Mizuki! I shouldn't have trained earlier! "Well, it doesn't matter what you think anyways," Mizuki tells me. "I'm going to kill Naruto and get the scroll. I will deal with you later."
He turns around and begins to walk over towards Naruto, who is still frozen in fear and shock. "No!" I scream as I get up and jump on top of Mizuki's back, pulling his hair.
"W-what are you doing?!" Mizuki snaps as he grabs my shoulders and flips me over his body. I crash to the ground and he places a foot on top of my head. "You are persistent, brat. I will give you that! But, it is starting to get annoying. I guess I will just have to take care of you first and-agh!"
Mizuki stumbles backwards as Naruto lands beside of me from just tackling him. He sticks his hand out in front of me in a protective manner. "Do not touch, Hinata-chan!" Naruto growls. "I will kill you!"
Oh, thank God. He's finally came to his senses and is about to kick some major ass! Mizuki laughs. "Haha! I'll kill someone like you in one shot!"
Naruto glowers towards Mizuki. "Try it trash! I'll return the pain a thousand times over!"
"Then, do it, Demon Fox!"
Naruto makes a hand sign. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" I widen my eyes in amazement as a thousand or so Narutos appear around me, surrounding us. All I can see is a sea full of orange.
Mizuki instantly drops his bad guy act as he keeps whirling his head around in fright. "Wha-what's going on?!" he shouts.
"What's wrong?" all the Naruto's asks, smirking and raising up their fists. "Weren't you going to kill me with one shot? Well, I guess I'll start first, okay?"
I quickly run up the nearest tree to get out of the way as Naruto and his Shadow Clones all pronounce on top of Mizuki and KOed him in a thousand shots. Mizuki's screams of terror prior to that was music to my ears. After Naruto's clones poofed away, we find a bloodied and bruised up Mizuki lying pathetically on the ground. Naruto looks up at me and grins. "Hehe! I went a little too far," he says to me.
I rush up to Naruto and give him a hug. "He deserved it," I tell him. "He called you a monster and you are not, and never have been, one."
Naruto pulls away and gives me a look of hurt. "Is it true what he said?" he asked. "Am I really the Nine Tailed Fox?"
I hesitate to come up with the correct words without blowing my cover. "I-I don't know what he said is true or not. But, I do know is that you are not the Nine Tailed Fox. Mizuki mentioned that it was sealed so the fox could be sealed inside of you." Yeah, that's a good way to explain things without revealing too much!
"Why would they want to seal a demon inside of me?" Naruto asks, avert his eyes downward. "When it is obvious that everybody hates it? That's why everybody has treated me the way they did my whole life."
"Naruto-kun…"
Naruto looks back up and smiles. "Except for only a handful of people like you, Hinata-chan. You always stuck by my side and never cared what people thought about us. You've been there for me since the very beginning. Thank you for that. I have always appreciated it."
I smile back and smoothed down his hair. "We should take Mizuki and report this to Hokage-sama. Maybe he can answer your questions."
"Actually, I will handle Mizuki. You two go on ahead to see the Sandaime," I hear a voice behind me say. I turn around and notice Iruka standing there with Mizuki laying across his shoulder.
"Iruka-sensei! What are you doing here?" Naruto asks.
"I was searching for you, Naruto, before Mizuki stopped me and tied me up," Iruka explained. Hmm, that's odd. Why would he do that? In the anime/manga, Mizuki followed Iruka in order to find Naruto. "Good thing you were here, Hinata. Naruto could've ended up in some serious trouble from both Mizuki and the village."
Naruto throws his hands up. "From the village? What? Why?"
"You stole a very important and forbidden scroll," Iruka says. "None of us knew why until I came across Mizuki. You better go ahead and visit Hokage-sama before the other villagers find you and riot."
"Crap! Okay!" Naruto cries. "Come on, Hinata-chan!" He quickly rushes off as I follow after him. I didn't want to linger around Iruka alone in fear that he might start asking me questions about my appearance in this whole situation. Those answers are meant for the Hokage.
"Hinata. You may come in now," the Third Hokage informs me as Naruto leaves his office. I have been sitting in the hallway for the past thirty minutes as he and the Hokage talked alone. We actually talked together at first and gave our testimonies to what happened with Mizuki, but then the Hokage sent me out of the room to speak to Naruto. He is probably answering Naruto's questions about the Nine Tails. Naruto and I exchange glances as I make my way into the office, closing the door behind me. He didn't seem upset but he didn't look happy either. I assume learning you have a demon sealed inside of you will give you a mixture of emotions to deal with.
I sit down in front of the Hokage's desk as he sits down behind me. He clasp his hands together and gives me a warm smile. "Are you wondering why I called you back in here?"
I nod. "To be honest, yes." I had just explained myself earlier, why would he want to speak to me again?
"I just want to talk to you about something that I observe earlier," the Hokage tells me.
I arch an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" I ask.
"I just find it strange that you seem to have known what Naruto was up to this whole time," the Hokage begins as I tense up. Shit. What did he figure out? "When you followed him to my office to retrieve the scroll, you did nothing to stop him. Any other person would have. But, you did not. You were not fazed about the fact that the Nine Tails Fox lies inside of Naruto when Mizuki revealed it to the two of you. What do you think of these observations? Am I just overthinking things?"
Okay, calm down. Think this through before you speak. He is being fair enough to allow me to explain myself so I cannot screw this chance up. But, what should I say? That I used to watch you through a tv screen but then I suddenly died and ended up being reborn in this body? Nobody would believe that! Even if they did, it would be awkward as hell if everyone knew that! They would probably feel so violated that I know everything about them and watched them even in their most valuable moments. I know I would! You've always been a good liar so it is time to put those skills to the test and tell the most convincing lie ever!
"To answer your question, and I am not meaning to be rude, but I think you are just overthinking things," I tell him. "While Naruto-kun and I were talking about how our Graduation Exams went, Mizuki randomly comes up to us and pulls Naruto aside. After speaking, Naruto-kun mentions to me that he was excited about something but was not allowed to tell me because it was a secret. I found this a little strange because we all know that all the instructors at the Academy, except for Iruka-sensei, never gave Naruto-kun the time of day unless they were yelling at him. That includes Mizuki, who sudden expresses an interest in him and tells him a "secret".
At first, I thought I was just over analyzing the situation, but things officially became suspicious to me when I asked Naruto-kun to hang out with me this evening to celebrate our promotion and he denies and tells me he is busy tonight. He is never busy! Plus, I told him this evening and not tonight so that made me wonder if this "secret" that Mizuki told him about is a thing that is going to occur tonight. Worrying about Naruto-kun, I sort of spied on him and followed him around the village. When he arrived at the Hokage Tower, I thought he was just pulling some prank, especially when he used his Sexy Jutsu on you."
The Third Hokage clears his throat in somewhat embarrassment. "Well, yes. That boy is such a character."
I resist the urge to giggle as I continued. "I was planning on pulling him aside and scolding him for his antics, but I was not given the chance to when I saw him grab a scroll and jump out of a different window than when he first snuck in. At that point, I knew something was wrong and went after him. Naruto likes to play pranks, but he would never just outright steal something. I lost sight of him for awhile, but finally found him near the Training Grounds. It looked like he had already open the scroll and had been training. I was about to approach him when Mizuki comes out of nowhere with a kunai to my back. From there, you already know what happened.
"The only reason I didn't freak out about the Nine Tails is because Mizuki kept saying that Naruto-kun is the Nine-tails. But, he contradicted that statement when he always kept mentioning that the fox was sealed inside of him. All my years of being best friends with Naruto-kun, he has never possessed or shown any "demon" like qualities so I felt I had no reason to freak out and betray him in a time of need. While I am shocked he has the Nine Tailed Fox sealed inside of him, it is irrelevant information to me when it comes to my relationship with him."
I just gave him the best lie of my two lives. Actually, there is a lot of truth in it since I really didn't know what the secret was or what Naruto was up to until we were in the forest. In fact, did I even tell a lie at all or just a small fib? I watch the Third Hokage nervously as he pondered of my response. "I am glad Naruto has someone in his life who cares about him so much and will go to great lengths for him," the Hokage finally says.
I widen my eyes in shock. Okay, I was not expecting him to say that. "What?" I reply, lamely.
The Third Hokage smiles. "I am sorry if I gave you the impression that I mistrusted you. Those two observation were just something that I needed further explanation on. I never expected for Mizuki to betray the village like he did and I am trying to gather all the intel as I can."
HolyhellsonofabitchmotherofGod! He actually believes me! I am so being more careful in the future when I get myself into canon plots like these. I do not want my cover to be blown! "That is understandable," I tell him.
"Well, I know it is getting late and-"
I put my hands up to my head. "Oh, no! It is so late! I bet my father is worried sick about me!" The Hokage arches an eyebrow as I quickly bow. "I apologize for my outburst and for interrupting you."
The Third chuckles. "Do not worry. I have already sent someone to inform Hiashi on your whereabouts and what had happened. I advise you head on home so he can see in person that you are safe."
"I think that is a good idea," I say as I walk towards the door. An upset Hiashi isn't a pretty sight. "Goodnight, Hokage-sama."
"Take care, Hinata," the Hokage says back as I bow and leave his office. I sigh in relief when I reach the end of the hallway and begin to run back to the compound. Well, that meeting went better than I thought it did. I really do need to be more careful in the future. One more slip up and he might not believe me next time. I do not want to end up killed or used as tool.
Author's note: Most of my chapters from here on out are going to be of this length so get prepared! Hinata and her friends are finally Genin now! What awaits them in the future? A ton of BS is the answer! Lol, jk. But, before anyone rags on me for giving her chakra scalpels let me briefly explain. She has been training to control her chakra since she was five so it is obvious that she has excellent chakra control, better than Sakura's. It take a lot of chakra to use chakra scalpels since it is usually meant for med-nins. But, I thought it would be cool to enhance the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms just a little. Why only internally harm your opponent when you can externally cut the shit out of them by tearing their flesh? OC Hinata isn't going to become a Mary Sue, but I think her having Eight Trigrams and Shadow Clones Jutsu for right now isn't overdoing it. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and see you all on Thursday!
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein