Well...

Hinata did not make it to the centre of the forest with the rest of her team. Kiba looked shaken, dragging a semi-conscious Shino behind him. He started when Naruto and Sakura ran over to him. "Where's Hinata?" Naruto was frantic

"Sh-she stayed behind to fight." Kiba stammered out. "We got cornered by some sound ninja. One of them used some kind of area move. It took out most of Shino's hive. Hinata told me to grab him and run."

Naruto and Sakura shared a glance. Sakura turned back to Kiba. "She's fighting a whole team alone?" Kiba nodded.

Naruto stared at him with a violent intensity. "Where?"

"Do you have a plan?" Sakura had to raise her voice a little as she and Naruto sped through the trees of the forest of ****.

"Show up, aim for the face, get Hinata."

Sakura sighed, shaking her head. "Do me a favour Naruto. If I ask you to do ANYTHING in this fight, do it."

"You have a plan?"

"Not yet, bu-"

Sakura was cut off as a sonic boom tore through the foliage in front of them. Turning their heads in the direction of the blast, her and Naruto saw a channel of plucked leaves carved through the foliage. At its source, stood four figures, three with a note on their forehead and one with a leaf. Naruto moved to call out to them, but stopped short as Sakura grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait."

"But 'Kura-"

"Naruto, what did I say?" Naruto stared at her for a moment. His jaw began to stick out stubbornly. Sakura sighed. "We need to get closer. No point wasting the element of surprise. These guys look dangerous." Naruto's eyes flicked back and forth between Sakura and the scene in front of them. He gave a jerky nod, and the two of them moved to hide in the leaves around the unfolding scene. As they did so, the sound of a conversation came into focus.

Hinata stood panting, whatever exchange she'd just been through clearly having taken a lot of energy out of her. Flanked by his teammates was Dosu, the bandage-clad leader of the group, busy with a monologue.

"So you see," he was saying, arms raised theatrically, "You really don't stand a chance. With me disrupting your senses, Kin throwing her senbon, and Zaku pummeling you with sound you'll soon fall. Maybe if you hadn't sent away that dog, you'd stand a chance but as it is..." he raised his arm as he trailed off, and Hinata stumbled. With a flourish, Kin readied a set of senbon, and with far less flair, Zaku raised his hands to prepare a sound attack. Naruto tensed, but was once again stopped short by Sakura. She gestured emphatically at Hinata, then at her own mouth. Naruto looked closer, cocking his head in confusion. Hinata was smiling. A slight smirk graced her lips.

"Are you sure that's how this is going to pan out?"

Dosu laughed. "I don't see why it would go any differently."

"Because I just got the best news of my life. And if you kill me here, then I'll never get to make Naruto happy. I can- will not lose here."

"Cute sentiment. But it'll take more than sentiment to beat us, girl."

Hinata pointed to Dosu. "You think taking my balance can hurt me?" Her finger moved to Kin. "And you think senbon are too small for me to see?" She let her arm drop, relaxing into a confident stance. "I am Hinata Hyuga, heiress to the Byakugan. With my eyes, I am afforded the sight of a god. With my eyes, I need no other senses. With my eyes, there is _nothing _that is permitted to escape my gaze. And _you _three." A wave of tension ran through her body, the intent to utterly destroy the three ninja in front of her oozing from every pore. "You three are getting between me and the person I care most about in this world."

Before the sound team could respond, Hinata launched herself towards Zaku, Byakugan activated. Cursing, the team began trying to attack her. Dosu's attack rippled through Hinata, but it had no effect on the grey-eyed girl. A flurry of senbon came at her flank, while an attack launched by Zaku came directly for her head. Midair, Hinata spun to bring her hand to meet the ground, twisting around each of the senbon. She slapped her hand down, launching her body over the the sound attack. Flying in a graceful arc, Hinata tucked her limbs into a tight somersault. Reaching Zaku, she extended a single leg and used the spin of the somersault to kick him across the face. Zaku stumbled back, dazed, unprepared as Hinata snapped into her gentle fist stance and blasted the black haired boy's chakra points. He collapsed to the ground, paralysed.

Hinata spun to face the other two opponents. Dosu and Kin had drawn closer together, preparing for her onslaught.

"Don't worry about wasting senbon, Kin. We're going to need every chance to hit her that we can." Kin nodded in response and prepared a few extra needles. Hinata was much more careful in her approach this time, stalking closer to the pair of sound nin with a dangerous grace. She exploded into motion as soon as Kin launched her senbon, weaving through the barrage with deft ease. Weaving close to Dosu, she landed a light hit to his shoulder, leaving his gauntlet-clad arm dead. Dosu glanced back and forth between Hinata and his arm. "Well, shit." was all he got out before Hinata heaved him between herself and Kin's next senbon barrage. A couple strikes to the two ninja later, and Hinata stood alone in the clearing, the three sound ninja surrounding her on the ground. She rummaged through the items they'd been carrying, grabbing their scroll and a couple of medical supplies.

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other. "I didn't know Hinata could do that." Sakura said.

"I didn't know either..."

Sakura shook her head, pink tresses waving around her head. "I know one thing. That was hot as hell."

Naruto's brows rose. "W-wh, um, what? You're into..?"

Sakura laughed. "Did you really see the rivalry I had with Ino and not wonder if one of us had a crush on the other?" Naruto stared blankly in response. "Well, at least no one can accuse you of being a pervert." She pecked him on the cheek. "Let's go help Hinata."

The two ninja jumped down from the trees, quietly approaching the raven-haired girl. Hinata had moved over to start looking through Kin's pockets. She stiffened as the two approached, spinning around to meet them. "Naruto, Sakura! Uh, how long have you two been there?"

Sakura grinned. "Long enough to see you hand those guys' asses to them."

Naruto nodded emphatically. "That was so cool Hinata! We didn't even need to be worried about you, huh?"

Hinata blushed. "I-uh, thanks. How did you even know where I was?"

"Kiba and Shino made it to the middle of the forest, though they were in bad shape. We noticed you weren't with them, so we decided to come help out. We wouldn't want you to miss the date, after all."

Hinata's all seeing eyes glazed over as she remembered the date she'd been promised once she finished the exam. A happy smile spread over her face as she began following the two to the centre of the forest.