Reborn as Sakura and Hinata: Lost in the Wind

The Chunin Exams: The Fun in a Fight

Before the exams I hadn't known a lot about Hinata; thinking back to my experiences with her in the academy she had come off to me kinda weird and painfully shy. Afterwards she seemed to completely change, becoming a lot more social. I didn't really interact with her all that much though, but everyone else seemed to like her a lot. Even then, there was always something about her that kind of scared me.

Then she left, she hurt Sasuke, and then everyone was hurt. Kiba was certainly never the same, and even though he seemed okay now he wasn't for a long time; even as dense as I was I could see that. I didn't hate her or anything, but I was angry back then.

And now she's back, Sakura's gone, but everyone is okay enough, and, through the exams, the only thing I learned about Hinata is that I don't understand Hinata.

The first exam revealed that I was more scared of her than I realized, but the second exam seemed to once again prove the opposite: that there is no reason to be scared of her. She was kind and supportive to Kenji, super smart and coordinated, and really good in combat, a 'prodigy' like Neji or Sasuke.

I glanced at her, us now on the balcony waiting for the tournaments to start, and she was staring off into space again. At least now I knew that when she was nervous she wouldn't look at people, but it was weird to think a person like her could get nervous in the first place.

"Do you think we will have to fight each other?" Kenji asked, eyes wide with the realization that could be an option. I winced; I certainly didn't want to have to fight either Kenji or Hinata, although for different reasons.

"They usually don't have teammates fight each other." Hinata answered, "Unless they do multiple rounds, that shouldn't be a problem."

The kid nodded tensely, turning back to the arena where Anko was waltzing out.

"Oh great, she's the proctor." Hinata grumbled, "I wonder what the catch is going to be."

"Hello, maggots!" Anko announced as she picked up a microphone, "And congratulations to our teams who have made it to the final exam!" There were a few cheers from the crowd, "There are twelve participants and so there will be six rounds, but you will not have any old normal round." Of course not, knowing Anko, "I hope your separation with your weapons in the last exam wasn't too traumatizing for you, because you won't have them at the beginning of your rounds! Instead, I will be hiding your weapons around the arena." She grinned wickedly, "If you want them for your fight, you're gonna have to find them. Oh, and watch out for any traps."

With that she poofed out of the arena, and Hinata smiled at me, "This'll be interesting, hm?"

"Yeah," I sighed, "I guess, but I don't see why she's gotta make it all weird."

"Because she's Anko." Hinata smiled, "I wish both of you the best of luck."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two rounds into the third exam, and Anko's little setup was offering quite the payoff. I wasn't normally one to find much humor or entertainment in watching others fight, that was more Hanabi's cup of tea, but I had to admit that both Sakura and Anko knew how to spice up an organized battle, and it was much more interesting to watch than actually participate.

Watching unsuspecting gennin run about the arena to find weapons was funny in a kind of cruel way, and one gennin's choice to just try and beat up his opponent with jutsus and then his hands was an unique choice that didn't end up panning out.

Her teammate, Kenji was his name?, had done well against him, quickly finding one of his own weapons, avoiding the traps, and then incapacitating his opponent.