8 Chapter 8

Hinata vs Satsuki

"Make the Seal of Confrontation." Iruka ordered, and both Hinata and Satsuki complied immediately, grinning at one another all the while.

"Begin!"

The two jumped backwards as was proper in a spar before rushing each other. Satsuki threw a fast right hook which Hinata slapped away, throwing her own two fingered tenketsu strike at Satsuki's shoulder.

Satsuki in response grabbed Hinata's arm and struck her in the gut with a left underhand. Hinata, powering through the pain gave Satsuki two strikes to the tenketsu in her forearm, forcing the Uchiha to let go and jump back in a hiss of pain

Hinata eyed the place Satsuki had hit her for a moment, wincing as she touched it. In that small moment, Satsuki had already come up upon her again, this time throwing a quick flurry of kicks, all which Hinata slapped away. The kicks were too fast for her to get any counter hits of her own, but that was Satsuki's plan after all. The quick precise kicks continued pushing Hinata back until she was almost out of the sparring area.

Just as she was about to be pushed out, her feet placed firmly, an inhale of air entering her lungs. Satsuki's latest kick slowing on a mass of outward flowing chakra

"Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation!" Hinata called out, her body quickly starting to spin at high speeds. The chakra slammed into Satsuki like a truck and sent her flying back several feet before landing hard on the ground.

The class watched in awe as Hinata stopped spinning, looking just a bit dizzy as she slowly made her way over to the downed yet still conscious Satsuki. The onyx eyed girl taking her slow walk as another challenge slowly rose to her feet and returned to her fighting stance.

"Bring it!" She roared, rushing her again, she started another flurry of attacks, this time laced with punches as well, once again trying her best to push the Hyuga heir out of bounds.

This was a fight Satsuki knew she couldn't win by normal means. She was good at taijutsu, but Hinata was another thing entirely. A taijutsu specialist.

As Hinata blocked her hits, she subtly sent a strike to one of the tenketsu in her leg. This made Satsuki wince in pain and lose her balance, falling backwards and landing on her ass. When she looked up, she saw Hinata with her Byakugan active. Dropped down in her stance with two fingers just inches from her neck.

"Satsuki has been cornered, the winner is Hinata Hyuga." Iruka announced, earning a soft chorus of claps and some cheers from the entire class.

—

Lei

The fight was truly a spectacle. Even if it was shorter than Satsuki would have liked, she kept a good intensity all match long, and Hinata held a good defense. Hinata just happened to be a bit better at defense then Satsuki was at attacking.

"Now it's my turn!" Naruko shouted, eyeing Hinata with an excited grin.

"Are you sure you want to fight me, Naruko?" Hinata hummed with a soft smile…that didn't reach her eyes.

That look was one she would give all of us whenever we did something absolutely fucking stupid or pushed ourselves too hard. The look of a mother ready to punish her dumbass, yet lovable children.

Naruko hesitated for a moment when faced with that look.

"On second thought, I'll just fight Satsuki." She chuckled nervously. Hinata's smile widened just a bit more, this time it spread throughout all of her features.

"Good girl."

Several minutes passed before Naruko and Satsuki could fight, the rest of the girls in the class had their fights. The only interesting one was Sakura vs Ino, which Ino won. It was quite unsurprising since Sakura prioritized her love life more than Ino did. They were both pretty down bad in that regard, but Ino was forced to train by her parents, Sakura wasn't.

"Well then, are you ready to go, flatty?" Naruko teased the Uchiha who winced a bit before directing a malicious smirk at the blonde.

"I'm going to enjoy beating that chest fat off of you, cow."

—

Naruko vs Satsuki

"Make the Seal of Confrontation." Iruka ordered for the last time of the day.

"Begin!"

Instead of leaping backwards, both girls instantly threw punches out. Satsuki's hit was the only one that found purchase. Slamming into Naruko's cheek and sending her skidding backwards.

Satsuki let another smug smirk slip onto her face as she rushed Naruko, sending a flurry of mixed kicks and punches as she had done to Hinata before.

Naruko, knowing she couldn't slap them away like the Hyuga, raised her arms to block her head. Taking hits to her forearms, stomach, ribs, and legs. All the while Satsuki didn't let up, hitting her over and over again.

Iruka looked like he was about to call the match off, seeing how one sided it was, but out of nowhere Naruko threw a quick jab of her own which slammed right into Satsuki's nose. It gave her attacks pause which the blonde wasted no time capitalizing on. Sending her own flurry of slower, yet just as powerful, attacks.

Satsuki regained her bearings, blocking the hits and avoiding maximum damage, all the while dishing her own counterattacks here and there.

The fight was looking like a stalemate, Satsuki couldn't start up another combo of fast attacks, and the hits that would land on Naruko wouldn't slow her down her relentless burst of punches.

Suddenly Satsuki dropped her guard. Naruko raised her eyebrows in confusion, but wouldn't let a chance like this pass her by. She threw a strong left hook with the intention of knocking Satsuki out. It found purchase right on the onyx eyed girl's chin, but just as quickly as she landed that hit, Satsuki, using the momentum of the hit, launched her right leg up. It connected with devastating force on the side of Naruko's head.

The Uzumaki dropped like a rock, unconscious on impact. Satsuki panted heavily as she swayed on her feet, struggling to stand upright. Finally her legs gave and she dropped down to her knees.

Iruka and Mizuki rushed over and started inspecting Naruko.

"Damnit, Naruko Uzumaki is unconscious, the winner is Satsuki Uchiha!"

—

Lei

Wow, that was honestly an even better fight than the first one, and as I looked at the rest of the class, I realized they shared my opinion.

"That went about how I expected it too, but Naruko fought well didn't she?" Hinata asked from beside me. I was still sitting under the tree and she had come to join me after her fight since no one would be stupid enough to challenge her.

"Yeah, I expected Satsuki to win, but Naruko actually almost won. The fight definitely would have been more one sided if she hadn't fought you before, but it was still an amazing showing from both of them." I agreed easily.

She hummed and then a silence settled over us.

An awkward silence.

It had been like this ever since she got back, I honestly didn't know how to strike up a conversation since her confession.

As much as I felt much the same way she felt about me, I really didn't want to have that attack right here and right now while we are still at the academy. No, I wanted to maybe do it over a nice bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's, or maybe even at my place.

"That concludes our taijutsu sparring test for the day, the girl's rankings goes as follows-"

"#1 Hinata Hyuga 100%

#2 Satsuki Uchiha 95%

#3 Naruko Uzumaki 90%

#4 Ino Yamanaka 85%

#5 Sakura Haruno 80%"

"We will now head inside and begin the final phase of the exam, the ninjutsu testing." Iruka announced, making his way into the building followed by Mizuki.

Satsuki and Naruko were both being tended to by a medic chunin, so they would most likely be joining us later.

"Guess it's almost that time." I got up and stretched my stiff body. "Let's end this phase of our lives and move onto the next."

"Right, let's do it." She smiled, also rising up to her feet and making her way towards the academy building.

We entered and followed the class, we stopped in the hallway just before our classroom.

"Alright class, I want you all to line up in alphabetical order by last name, we will call you in, you will perform the jutsu we tell you to, and then we will give you your final scores and whether you passed or not. Have I made myself clear?"

""Yes."" The entire class chorused.

I gave Hinata a little wave as I made my way towards the end of the line. Kuzan joined me by my side and lined up right beside me, he was right after me with the last name Tamura.

"Shino Aburame." Iruka called from inside the classroom. The glasses wearing boy shrugged himself off the wall and made his way in the room.

"How do you think you did?" Kuzan asked, more than likely already knowing the answer, but wanting to make small talk.

"I'll eat a squirrel raw if I don't end up Rookie of the Year."

Kuzan chuckled at that, and a comfortable silence ensued.

"Hey Lei." He started again.

"Hm?"

"You should come by and visit the orphanage again sometime, Mama Reiko, and all the little ones miss you." His face had grown soft with a hint of seriousness and something else I couldn't place.

"Yeah, I did say I was going to do that, didn't I? I guess I never got around to it, but yeah, I'll visit. Perhaps the day of our first genin missions.

Kuzan's soft look transformed into a bright smile. "Good, they'll be so happy to see you again, I'm sure of it."

"Hinata Hyuga."

I looked over to see the girl looking at me, a small, yet confident smile adorning her soft cheeks. I gave her a thumbs up which she returned as she walked in.

"Uh, my head hurts!" The familiar voice of Naruko whined. I looked over to see Naruko and Satsuki both walking down the hall.

"If you just went down instead of trying to hit me so much, you wouldn't be feeling so much pain right now." Satsuki humphed.

"I fought when I was in a fight, what was I supposed to do, just take your hits?" Naruko asked with narrowed eyes.

"You shouldn't have even challenged me in the first place, you're lucky Lei didn't let us take off these seals, or I would have definitely destroyed you."

The two continued to argue with each other, never for a second considering where they were and how many people were listening. I had tuned them out. If I wanted to keep my sanity over the years, I literally had to.

Hinata walked out of the door a minute later with a bright smile, and her leaf headband wrapped around her neck.

The two girl's arguing stopped when their eyes landed on their closest friend, warm smiles replacing the annoyed sneers.

"It looks good on you!" Naruko beamed, wrapping Hinata in a hug and inspecting the headband closely. "Oh I can't wait to get mine."

"Thank you, Naruko, I'm sure yours will look great." Hinata returned the hug, her eyes trailing over to Satsuki who upon noticing Hinata's gaze immediately killed the smile that had wormed its way onto her face.

"It's nice." Was all she said, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared at the far wall uncaringly.

""Haha!""

The three girls looked over at Kuzan and I as we both burst out laughing. Satsuki's tsundere attitude and actions would never fail to make me laugh. The speed in which her smile dropped off her face and was replaced with a typical Uchiha scowl completely took me out.

Satsuki's face started burning red as she watched the two of us laughing, a glare pointed at both of us. As we started to calm down, I looked at Hinata, still wiping the tears out of my eyes.

"Congrats, I'm guessing you got Kunoichi of the year?" I asked, my wide grin still in place from all the laughing.

Hinata returned my grin with one of her own and nodded once.

"What how?!" Satsuki growled with indignation.

"Well, I'm sure you both aced the written portion, you both definitely aced the kunai and shuriken throwing, but Hinata got that extra 5% on you during the taijutsu spar." I explained. My eyes looked over to Hinata for confirmation, earning another nod.

Satsuki glared at Hinata for a moment before sighing and leaning against the wall.

From all the time I had spent with Satsuki over the years, I knew she wasn't actually mad at Hinata, but instead at herself for being beat out. She shouldn't be upset though, its just a title, it doesn't actually hold any real weight, especially when she and Hinata were neck and neck all year.

As the minutes passed, more people went into the classroom and came out with their headbands. To this point, no one had failed yet.

"Lei Senju."

I looked over to Kuzan. "Guess it's my time."

"I'd say break a leg, but you're just standing there…"

"Never change, Kuzan." I said, patting his shoulder. "Never change." I turned around and made my way into the classroom. Iruka and Mizuki were seated with a stack of papers, and a box of headbands in front of them.

"Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei." I bowed to each of them before approaching.

"Hello, Lei. The jutsu you will be graded on is the clone jutsu. They needn't be solid clones, we ask for three illusionary clones that hold up a solid resemblance to yourself." Iruka explained, his hand picking up his pencil as he eyed me.

"Right."

"Clone Jutsu."

A large puff of smoke appeared in the class, and standing next to me were three illusionary clones.

Both Iruka and Mizuki eyed the clones with scrutiny before Iruka started writing something down on the paper. When he looked up a smile tugged at his lips.

"A satisfactory showcase of the desired jutsu. Your scores for each section are here." Iruka handed me a piece of paper.

[Written Section - 100% / Ranged Weapon Section- 82% / Taijutsu Section - 100% / Ninjutsu Section - 100% / Class Rank - #1]

"Congratulations, Lei Senju, you have graduated from this Academy and have begun your life as a Genin Shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves." Iruka announced, handing me a fresh headband.

All of the time I spent training, all of the times I fell and forced myself to get back up. All of the time I sat on my ass drawing seals, and reading boring and interesting scrolls alike.

All of it led to this moment, and I had to wipe my eyes before the wetness overwhelmed me.

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei." I bowed once more, this time much deeper.

"No, thank you for being an amazing student, Lei. You may have angered me more than once with your nonchalance towards learning within my class, but you were a pleasant student to have. I wish you the best in your shinobi career." Iruka gave me the best, most sincere smile he could possibly manage.

"Thank you!" I bowed once more before putting on my headband. Tying it firmly against my forehead and walking out.

As I stepped out, I felt another wave of pride fill my chest as all the remaining kids eyed me, then my headband.

"Kuzan Tamura."

"I guess it's my turn, congrats, Rookie of the Year." Kuzan smiled, placing a hand on my shoulder as he walked past me and into the classroom.

"How was it? What jutsu do we have to do?" Naruko asked.

"I don't think I'm allowed to tell you, but take my word for it, you don't need to worry one bit." I answered, giving her a grin.

Hinata gave me a knowing smile as Naruko deflated. Satsuki raised an eyebrow before realization surfaced in her eyes, as well as a small smirk pulling at her lips.

Instead of leaving, Hinata and I waited for Naruko and Satsuki to get their headbands. Satsuki had gone in first and came out with the piece of paper, a slight glare on her face as she eyed Hinata. Then Naruko went in and came out, looking like it was the best day of her life.

"This is so cool, we're finally ninja!" The excitable blonde jumped in place.

"Yeah, we should totally celebrate!" I agreed, and the two other girls grew more excited when they realized what I meant by "celebrate."

—

"Time sure flies, doesn't it? I feel like it was just yesterday you four came to eat here together for the first time. Look at you all now…Genin!" Teuchi chuckled from behind the counter.

"Yeah, it feels great. All the training we did has paid off, but the grind ain't over yet, its just beginning." I answered, all the while slurping down my own bowl of freshly made ramen.

"Yeah, now we need to become chunin, then jonin, and then…I don't know, maybe we should make a cool title for ourselves like the sannin have." Naruko hummed in excitement. I raised an eyebrow at her suggestion and went into thought.

A title for the four of us doesn't sound too bad actually, but we'd have to earn it. Start our own legendary tale or something like that.

"I thought you wanted to be Hokage?" Hinata asked, pausing her inhaling of the ramen for a moment as she looked at our resident knucklehead.

"I do, but that's like years off don't you think? It would be great to have something while I wait for that old man to hand me the hat!"

"As if he'd ever give it to you." Satsuki snorted, her eyes trailing over to me for a moment before landing back on her bowl.

"Just you watch, Satsuki! I'm gonna be the greatest Hokage! Then the entire village will have to do whatever I say!" She looked over at Hinata, then me, before giggling into her hand mischievously.

That can't be anything good.

"I for one think you'll make a great Hokage." Ayame, the Lord of Bowls daughter, gave the blonde a sisterly smile.

"Of course, thanks for the vote of confidence, Ayame-nee." Naruko beamed at the girl a few years older than us and gave her a thumbs up.

We spent the rest of the evening sitting and chatting with Teuchi and Ayame, even after we had finished eating.

Eventually we realized the moon was already high in the sky and said our goodbyes to them.

As we walked down the streets of the leaf, I couldn't help but notice the silence between all of us was deafening. I eyed the girl curiously who seemed to be speaking to each other through looks and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it's getting late isn't it? I'm gonna head home now, want to come with, Satsuki?" Naruko suddenly stopped and asked.

"Yeah hard pass." Satsuki frowned as she started making her way towards the Uchiha compound. She didn't even say bye or anything. Which wouldn't have been unusual four years ago, but she practically always wishes us goodnight nowadays.

"Alright see you tomorrow, Naruko." Hinata gave Naruko a happy smile, one that Naruko tried to return, but the tick mark on her forehead and the twitching of her lips told me it was heavily forced. The blue-eyed girl turned and made her way back to her apartment.

"Well it looks like it's just the two of us." I said after a moment of awkward silence.

"Mhm."

I honestly didn't know what to do, but judging by the way the girls were having a silent conversation and then all of a sudden two of them leave, I can assume Hinata wanted some alone time with me.

Which means she wants an answer.

I looked at the girl who was a few inches shorter than me for a long while as we walked down the streets of Konoha with no destination in mind. As I watched her, examined her features, and thought about all the time we had spent together leading up to this moment I made up my mind.

"Hey, Hinata."

Hinata slowed her pacing at the unusual softness of my voice. Her white eyes looked up at me in question.

"Yeah, Lei?"

"We should talk…but not here." I looked around the village, delving into my mind for a place that would actually 'set the mood.' Then it popped into my head. "Follow me."

After uttering those words, I took off into a sprint, a quick look over my shoulder let me know that Hinata was right on my trail, light pink dusting her cheeks as she easily kept my pace.

We ran for a good three minutes or so until we finally reached my desired location. I activated chakra into my feet and started running up the rocky surface, Hinata just behind me. Once we reached an appropriate height, I jumped down and landed on the spiky hair of Lord Second's stone face. Hinata landing seconds after me.

"You know it's funny, I've never actually been up here." I admitted, chuckling a bit as I looked out at the vast village.

"Me neither." Her voice was soft as she grew entranced by the view.

Seeing her so mindblown brought a smile to my face, at the very least if all else fails, I chose a great place to set the mood.

I took a seat at the front of my grandfather's head, patting the spot next to me. As Hinata's eyes refocused, she saw what I was doing and joined me, sitting down and crossing her legs to the side.

I swallowed my spit as I wondered how I should truly go about this. In my past life I wasn't a virgin, but I never actually dated a woman. I had a few one night stands after long nights at a bar and that was it. So how is a man supposed to convey his feelings to a girl he cares about?!

—

Hinata

Her eyes glanced over to Lei, the boy who had helped her all those years ago when those foolish boys had decided to bully her.

She fought the urge to giggle at the memory. Back then Lei wasn't the amazing guy she knew now. He was just an ordinary run of the mill clanless orphan who happened to stumble on a random girl getting verbally assaulted.

Yet instead of doing what any normal boy of his lineage and age would do, he had done the complete opposite.

"You guys think you're cool picking on a girl."

"Shit, do your jelly rolls act as armor!?"

"Got a problem with that tubs?"

She couldn't stop the giggle from leaving her lips as she recalled his words from then.

"What's got you laughing?" The target of her affection asked from beside her.

"Nothing, nothing." She waved him off with a smile hidden behind her hand. Lei eyed her something she had seen far too often in him.

Indecision, Hesitance, Fear.

He hid them well most of the time when he was around her, Satsuki, and Naruko, but she could still see it. Her byakugan was considered the best recon dojutsu for a reason, and when it came to analyzing the features of someone she knew and cared about for so long, it excelled at spotting emotions hidden from the surface.

In all the time she had known him, he had never actually come forward with a goal. Satsuki wanted to avenge her clan. Naruko wanted to become Hokage. She wanted to change the way her clan worked and protect the Leaf. Yet Lei still hadn't decided.

"Hinata."

Her white eyes locked onto his green orbs and stayed. Whether it was for a few seconds or a whole minute she had no idea.

"I'm going to be honest, I'm still trying to figure everything out. From this shinobi life we find ourselves beginning, to the various feelings that bud in my chest. I won't ever claim to be an expert. Nor will I claim to know what I want for myself."

He paused, inching his body a little closer to hers to the point their shoulders were touching.

"However I do know that throughout the years I've spent grinding in the mud, trying my damn hardest to make something of myself…you were there. There for Naruko, there for Satsuki, there for me."

His hand slowly worked up to the side of her face, her cheeks burning with intensity as the moment she imagined and dreamed about for years became reality and burned into her mind forever.

"I want you by my side. I want you watching my back. I want you protecting, and encouraging me. I don't know how this will work, and I doubt you do either, but if its anything like our time thus far has been, I'm sure this will be something that lasts."

"Lei…"

A small, nervous smile pulled at his lips, his face tinged with red as he readied himself for his next words.

"I want you by my side, through the good times, the worst of battles, and heartache, and everything in between. Stand by me forever, Hinata."

Both hands came to her face to wipe the tears that had begun leaking out of her eyes. A flurry of emotions saved up for years, finally being released in the arms of the boy she had fallen in love with. Quiet, happy sobs escaped her lips as she threw herself into his chest. Words that strongly resonated could not be said, not in her current state, not in this moment, but to solidify their bond on the head of his grandfather, she uttered one word that would express all of those the words that would remain trapped in her bosom.

"Forever."