Chapter 2

Upon awaking the following morning, Naruto realized that he had no idea where he was supposed to be going. After stumbling around his unfamiliar apartment and managing to shower and dress without killing himself, he made himself some toast for breakfast, then consulted the calendar hanging beside his apartment door. He was somewhat surprised to find that the last day marked off was the day of the Genin Exams. Which would mean that today was...the bell test.

Naruto chuckled to himself. "Well, I guess we might as well start things off with a bang," he said. With that, he leapt out his window and hit the ground running, headed for the training ground where he and his team had been told yesterday – and also several years ago – to meet Kakashi-sensei.

Upon arriving, Naruto wasn't really surprised to find both Sasuke and Sakura already in evidence. Sasuke gave his typical grunt and nod to acknowledge the blond's arrival. Sakura gave a small smile and said, "Morning, Naruto."

Naruto grinned and said, "Morning, you two." Sitting down for a minute, Naruto gathered some Nature Chakra and entered Sage Mode. Checking the nearby area, he found no one listening in, and Kakashi was – surprising no one – standing at the Hero's Memorial Stone. Turning to his teammates, Naruto said, "I think it's time we got a little revenge on Kakashi-sensei, don't you?" He gave them a rather evil grin.

Sasuke perked up at the mention of revenge. "What do you have in mind?" he asked, his eyes full of curiosity.

Sakura clenched her fists, her knuckles audibly cracking. "Tell us you have a plan. Sasuke and I are so in!" she said. Naruto noticed in passing that the girl's pink hair was once again cut short; she had obviously been to a salon or to see Ino since last night.

Still grinning, Naruto pulled the two into a close huddle, knowing the Third Hokage was probably watching them on his crystal ball. A few seconds later, the three jumped in separate directions, each one knowing what the other was doing.

xxxxxx

While Naruto and his team were preparing their surprise for Kakashi, Team Ten was waiting for Asuma to arrive at their training ground. Their test was also today, but the vibe among this team was decidedly different from Team Seven. Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji were all busy moping. They were sitting together, their backs pressed against a training post. "This is such a freaking drag," Shikamaru said.

Choji sighed. "Normally, I would get on your case for being lazy, but in this case, you're right," the somewhat rotund boy said. "This whole situation is definitively a drag."

Ino grumbled something that sounded like agreement, and all three let out a huge sigh. The first Team Ten Pity Party had commenced.

xxxxxx

Team 8, meanwhile, was almost indistinguishable from how they were the first time they did this. Their final test had been the previous day, so they were busily pulling weeds for their first D-rank mission. The only major differences were that Hinata was pulling her weight and then some – something she had struggled to do the first time around – and Kiba wasn't complaining about it this time. He almost seemed to be enjoying himself, actually. The boy was whistling, talking to his teammates, and generally causing a more positive atmosphere. Kurenai, their sensei, was watching her team; her scarlet eyes were filled with hope. She didn't know quite what to make of the changes her team seemed to have undergone overnight, but she wanted to believe they were all to the good.

xxxxxx

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had finished their plans. Kakashi, having no idea what was about to happen to him, was just entering the clearing where his pupils had been told to meet him. Of course, he had told them to meet him there at seven in the morning, and it was currently eleven, but hey, he was there.

To the masked man's surprise, when he entered the training ground, he didn't see anyone. His students were nowhere to be found. He wasn't sure what to make of this, so he stood there for a minute, then shrugged. "Well, if they can't be bothered to be here, that just makes it all the easier to fail them," he thought to himself. Turning around, he began to make his way out of the clearing, his hand rummaging in his tool pouch for his book. To his shock, however, he hadn't taken more than three steps when suddenly, the earth in front of him ruptured and a head of blond hair – along with the rest of the boy to whom it belonged – came flying upward, fist first, aimed straight for the Jonin's chin. Kakashi hadn't fully dropped his guard, of course, so he was able to dodge the attack, although it came way closer to hitting than Kakashi wanted to admit.

When Kakashi landed after jumping backward, he heard a scream. Looking upward, a pink-haired girl was flying at him, also fist-first, except this fist was coated in blue chakra. Kakashi almost panicked, but he managed to dodge this attack as well, leaping backward once again. When Sakura hit the ground, Kakashi was stunned to see huge cracks emanate from where the girl's blow landed. "If that had hit me, I would be dead," Kakashi thought.

Thinking the first two attacks had to be a fluke, Kakashi wasn't expecting to hear a distinctly bird-like sound when he landed from this second dodge, but he did. Turning, he was stunned to see Sasuke, holding a Chidori, running straight for him. Sasuke plunged the attack straight into Kakashi's gut before the man could move. Then Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving a log behind.

Sasuke chuckled lightly. Kakashi was surprised by this. Then he looked to his right and found Naruto right there, Rasengan in his hand. Kakashi audibly gasped when Naruto came at him. Naruto stopped mere centimeters from Kakashi's face. Kakashi knew, if these three had wanted to kill him, he would have been dead then and there.

Then Naruto decked him. The Rasengan vanished and Naruto's fist flew so fast Kakashi didn't have time to react. Upon landing, face-first, on the ground beneath the tree where he had substituted to avoid Sasuke's attack, Kakashi found himself surrounded by Naruto clones, Sasuke, and Sakura.

"What in the world do you three think you're doing?" Kakashi asked. "Why are you attacking me with no provocation?"

Naruto snickered. "What, you didn't think we would know what your test was?" he asked. Kakashi stared at the blond in shock. "We did our research, we knew you would do the bell test, and we know it's really all about teamwork. And we know that if we don't come at you with the intent to kill, we'll never pass." That said, the blond nodded at his teammates, and all three of them rushed the man again.

Kakashi wasn't surprised to find that the blond's clones were easy to dispel. They were, after all, just Shadow Clones, and one solid hit was a death blow for them. He was surprised, however, that he never seemed to thin the herd. Every time he dispelled one, Naruto seemed to add two. Given how many were there to begin with, this shouldn't have been possible, but it was happening.

Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura were as slippery and hard to hit as if they had been made of water. Sasuke was visibly using a Sharingan, but his other eye was closed, almost as if he were mocking Kakashi. Sakura, of course, didn't have any kind of dojutsu or special skill that Kakashi knew of, yet he couldn't lay a finger on her, no matter what he did. "What in the hell are these three?!" Kakashi asked himself, only barely managing to not say it out loud. "And what in the hell were they doing in the Academy with this level of skill?!"

Before Kakashi could voice any of this, his three students – it surprised Kakashi to find he was actually thinking of them that way – suddenly stopped. Standing in a defensive pose, not sure what to think, Kakashi watched as Naruto's clones dispelled. "If you three know about the bell test, why did you stop?" he asked. "You haven't taken the bells. Hell, I never even got them out."

Naruto chuckled and held up a hand. In the palm of his hand was both bells! "Actually, we did," he said simply. "I snuck in and got them while you were busy fighting Sasuke and Sakura. And since now," here he paused to throw each bell to a teammate, "we've all three had a bell, I think we all pass, don't you, Sensei?"

Kakashi chuckled. Naruto had seen right through the no-win situation of the bell test and found a way for all three of them to pass it. "You're right, Naruto. And yes, indeed, you three do pass. Well done, all of you. Team Seven will have its first official mission tomorrow! Dismissed." With that, Kakashi vanished in a cloud of smoke. He had one hell of a report to write and more than one question for the Hokage. "Seriously, what the hell are those three?!" he thought to himself again. "All I know is, if I'm sane by the time I get done training them, it will be a damn miracle."

xxxxxx

Hinata sighed deeply as she looked up at the Hyuga Compound. Team Eight had passed an uneventful day performing D-rank missions, and now she had something far more important to do. She had to talk to her father about Naruto and her and, she hoped, gain some respect from her family. She had a plan, but she had no idea if it would work out perfectly or not. Sighing again, she opened the door and began making her way through the halls of the main building to her father's office.

After knocking and being told to enter, Hinata stood before her father patiently. She knew better than to speak to him until he spoke first; she wasn't afraid of him, but that wasn't a battle she needed to fight.

Hiashi Hyuga, head of the clan and Hinata's father, finished signing some paperwork, then set it aside and looked at his daughter. In his experience, Hinata would normally look down or otherwise away from him when he did this. Today was different, however. Hinata met his gaze and looked him right in the eye, showing no sign whatsoever of nervousness or discomfort. She was simply waiting. For any other Hyuga, this would have meant nothing, but this was Hinata. This was monumental for her.

Hiashi paused a moment to remind himself of who this was and that she had knocked on his door. The whole situation seemed...unreal, in a way. Hiashi activated his Byakugan momentarily, but he saw nothing to indicate this was a genjutsu or any other trick, so he deactivated his dojutsu and just looked at his daughter. After another moment, he finally spoke. "Yes, daughter, did you need something?"

Hinata took a small breath, then she spoke. "Yes, Father, I do. I have a proposition for you," she said simply.

Hiashi took a moment to process this. It was a rather unusual thing for anyone in the clan to say to him, never mind Hinata. She had only really said that she had something to discuss with him; in other words, she hadn't really told him anything. "And what would that be?" he asked after thinking this over.

Hinata blinked and took a slightly deeper breath, the first time she had shown a little bit of nervousness. Then she said, "I propose to spar with a member of the clan of my choosing. If I win, I wish to speak to you about something personal, and I wish for you to hear me out. If I lose, I will step down from my position as heiress."

Hiashi was stunned. Despite outward appearances, Hiashi did love his daughter, he just didn't know what to do with her most of the time. To have this same daughter risk her position as heiress on a spar was ludicrous, but it intrigued him nonetheless. What Hiashi did not know, of course, was that Hinata intended to step down from her position regardless of the outcome of this proposed spar. She had done so before, and she saw no reason to keep up the façade this time around.

After considering carefully what Hinata had said, Hiashi eventually responded. "And who is it you propose to spar?"

Hinata took the deepest breath she had taken yet. "I propose to spar with Neji," she said simply.

To say Hiashi was stunned at this would be the understatement of the millennium. Hinata had always, prior to this, seemed at least nervous around her older cousin, if not flat-out terrified of him. Hiashi also knew the boy carried a huge resentment within himself over the death of his father, and he worried that Neji might take advantage of a spar like this to attempt to kill Hinata.

Before Hiashi could raise this objection, Hinata said, "I know Neji might try to kill me. I know how he feels about what happened to Uncle Hizashi. That's why I want to spar with him, actually."

Hiashi was flat-out dumbstruck now. Hinata had practically read his mind, or so it seemed. After thinking for a moment, he said, "If you're sure, and since you seem to know full well about Neji's feelings, I see no reason to deny you."

Hinata bowed in gratitude, letting out a breath of relief at the same time. "I do have one further request, Father," she said. Hiashi gestured for her to continue, and Hinata said, "Do not tell Neji the stakes of this spar, or that I requested it, until after the spar, please."

Hiashi chuckled. "I don't think that will be a problem," he said.

Hinata nodded. "When and where should I be for this?" she asked.

Hiashi thought for a moment, then said, "Take an hour to prepare. I will get the clan together, and we will meet in the dojo at that time."

Hinata nodded, bowed again, and left. She made her way to her room and shut the door. Upon sinking onto her bed, Hinata let out a huge breath. "Well, that worked out well," she said to herself. "Here's hoping the rest of this goes according to plan."

xxxxxx

Neji Hyuga was laying on his back on his bed when a knock sounded on his door. "Yes?" he said.

On the other side of Neji's door, Hiashi said, "I would appreciate it if you could be in the family dojo in one hour, and be prepared to spar."

Neji sighed. Another spar? Would his clan never tire of seeing how strong he was? "Who am I to spar this time?" he asked.

"My daughter, Hinata," Hiashi responded.

Neji was shocked. Hinata, the clan's heiress, had never been placed in a spar with him before. She had always been the quiet, shy type, and the clan mostly ignored her. Despite being born the heiress, Hinata was generally seen as weak, and most of the clan assumed she would be demoted, and her younger sister, Hanabi, would end up as the clan head.

Despite this, Neji knew he couldn't really refuse this request. As such, he said, "I'll be there."

Hiashi said, "Thank you, Neji," and walked away.

Neji spent some time considering why this was happening, then made his way to the dojo to get a little bit of stretching in before the spar.

Neji was slightly surprised to find Hinata was there as well. Hinata was stretching and practicing her forms. As usual, from Neji's perspective, Hinata's forms were slightly off. He didn't realize this was intentional, nor did he think about it. Hinata didn't acknowledge her cousin, which Neji knew was unusual, but he didn't think much about that, either.

Soon enough, the appointed time came, and the clan was gathered together in the dojo. Hinata and Neji stood in the center of the room. Neji stood straight and glared daggers at Hinata, who was cowering under his gaze. Her arms were crossed, and she was looking everywhere but at Neji.

Neji snorted. Nothing was ever going to change. It was fate. "You are not made out to be a ninja, Hinata," he said coldly. Hinata looked at him in fear. "You're so kind, so gentle, and even now you're trying to think of a way to avoid this fight."

Hinata shivered, then said, "You're wrong, Neji. I'm not like that."

Neji snorted. "It's true, and you know it, Hinata. Your arms are crossed in a defensive measure to try to keep me from seeing through you. You won't look at me, which is a sign you're afraid of me. I can see right through you, and I don't even need my eyes."

Hinata shook her head, looking down. Neji thought she was just denying his words, but he didn't see the smile Hinata was hiding. She was putting on a show.

"Enough of this!" Hiashi said. "This fight is officially begun!"

Immediately upon hearing this, Hinata's stance changed. She slipped into a Gentle Fist stance like a fish slipping into water. Neji was thrown off more than a little by this. "Well, Brother, if you think you can see right through me, come at me!" Hinata said, her voice different from any Neji had heard from her before.

Neji snorted. "You're putting on a strong front, Hinata," he said, activating his Byakugan. "But you know you don't stand a chance against me. Your loss was decided the moment I was chosen as your opponent. It is fate."

"We'll see about that, Brother," Hinata said back. With that, the two jumped at one another. Hinata blocked Neji's starting attack. Neji smirked, knowing that his attack would just result in a different chakra point closing. He was gobsmacked, however, when his eyes couldn't see anything happen. He had hit her chakra point cleanly. Not the one he meant to, but still. And nothing had happened. Hinata smirked. "Why, Brother, you look surprised. Surely you didn't think you could close my chakra points?"

Neji snorted. "It is of no importance. Eventually your points will close, and I will win. It is as sure as fate." Hinata rolled her eyes and began attacking Neji back. She wasn't really trying to hit his chakra points, just trying to hit him in general.

The two traded blows for several minutes. Neji hadn't managed to close a single chakra point in Hinata's body, despite hitting several cleanly. Meanwhile, Neji wasn't doing as well. Hinata had hit him with more than one attack, which left him having trouble catching his breath and with a sore knee besides. "How are you doing this?!" Neji asked. "How are you keeping up with me?!"

Hinata didn't answer. Instead, she simply came at Neji yet again. Neji had his hands full trying to block or dodge Hinata's attacks. She was much faster than he had ever seen her be before, and she was so flexible, she could get inside Neji's guard seemingly at will. Neji had no idea what was going on, but this was not how this fight was supposed to go!

Neji tried for another attack, hoping to knock Hinata out of her attack pattern and force her to defend, but his attack was once again useless. Her chakra points just wouldn't close, and Hinata was relentless. Neji's eyes filled with fear when he saw Hinata was coming at him, her hand cloaked in chakra and aimed straight for his heart. Hinata stopped mere centimeters before her blow connected.

"This fight is over," Hinata said simply. "If my attack had landed, Neji would be dead."

Hiashi stepped forward, Byakugan active. He looked where Hinata's hand was for a moment before saying, "She's right. If she hadn't stopped, she could have killed him. This fight is over. Hinata wins."

Neji growled. "You were the weakest of us, I am the strongest. How in the hell did you beat me?! What was your trick?!"

Hinata sighed. "There was no trick, Neji. You're right, I was a loser, but I'm not anymore, that's all there is to it. I changed. I know you think everything is as it is fated to be, but you're wrong. I changed, and I was a loser. Surely you can do the same. After all, you're a genius." With that, she simply walked away.

Neji was stunned. Hinata's words rang true to him, but if they were true, his entire world view would have to change. How could that be so? Was he really wrong about everything?

Hiashi chose this moment to speak up. "Neji, I have something you should see. After what Hinata just said, I hope the person you are now will be ready for it," he said. Neji was about to ask if it was just another excuse for the Main House, but he saw the scroll Hiashi was holding out. The handwriting on it was Neji's father's. And the scroll had Neji's own name on it. Instead of saying anything, Neji just took the scroll and left the dojo as well. Hiashi took a breath, then said, "Thank you, Hinata. I think I see now why you requested this spar."

When Neji arrived at his room, he opened the scroll across his bed. What he would read would change everything for the boy. He didn't know, of course, that it had done so before, but that didn't lessen the effect in any way whatsoever.

A/N: And there we go, a second chapter already. Hope you guys enjoy this one as much as the first. This story has been super fun to write so far, and I hope it's just as fun to read.