"You have no scroll?" Kiba asked, giving Team Seven an incredulous look that had them avert their eyes in embarrassment. Sasuke took it especially hard because it was he who, in his rage, used the fireball technique and happened to set Dosu's pouches on fire, accidentally burning their scroll.
Neji's team had already left, Neji almost dragging his half-heartedly protesting teammates away, the second Hinata had seen to Lee's ruptured eardrums.
So, it was only her team and Team Seven that were still together.
"That's not good. Why? Because quite a few teams have already finished, perished, or given up." Shino spoke. "There are not many available scrolls."
"Yeah? And you have both scrolls, then?" Naruto thoughtlessly yelled out while glaring at Kiba and Shino because he got ticked off by their remarks. But he instantly became abashed as he realized his words could be taken as a sign of aggression.
"Sure we do, midget! What? Wanna fight us for them, hah?" Kiba brashly returned the fire in the same hot-headed, provocative manner, his body language practically screaming, 'Just try it, punk!'.
Deflating, Naruto lost most of his passion as he sullenly muttered, "Shut up, dog breath." while crossing his arms on his chest and slumping his shoulders.
Hinata inwardly giggled. The boy was throwing a silent tantrum.
"Who are you calling dog breath, loser?" Kiba, not having enough social experience to understand that Naruto had already capitulated, pressed on, sparking a whole new argument with Naruto, who absolutely hated being called a loser.
His previous abashed feelings were completely forgotten the second he heard the insult, and the fire within him flared again. Giving Kiba a glare again, Naruto harrumphed. "Certainly not Akamaru. He cares for his dental hygiene. Dog. Breath."
"Arf." Akamaru barked out in agreement, clearly liking what Naruto had said about him.
Gasping, Kiba took Akamaru from his hood and held him in front of his chest in his hands. "On whose side are you!?" He exclaimed, feeling betrayed by his closest companion.
"Arf."
"What do you mean, it is for my own good?"
"Arf."
"No. No. No. That's just not fair!"
"Arf. Arf." Akamaru barked and stuck out his tongue.
Not having any good comeback, Kiba decided that two could play that game! "Haff, haff, grrr." He growled at Akamaru, who gained a smug look.
"Arf!"
Kiba's eye twitched, and Naruto, who stared at him and Akamaru in disbelief, was completely forgotten by him.
"Haf-" He started, but...
"Boys." Hinata's far too sweet voice to mean anything good, froze him and Akamaru in their tracks. "Do I need to get my rolled-up newspaper?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, already having enough experience with Kiba and Akamaru's arguments to know how to instantly stop them.
"No. We are good." Kiba quietly grumbled, and Akamaru gave an apologetic bark as Kiba put him back into his hood.
Naruto approached the Inuzuka boy and bumped his shoulder while whispering, "Whipped."
Kiba gave him a stink eye, but then he grinned and whispered back, "You have no idea."
"I do." Naruto replied, "I've got it at home, man. Try arguing with an Uzumaki woman. That's impossible."
Kiba nodded, and inwardly winced. He knew Naruto and how hard-headed he could be. Adding the feminine natural propensity to having their own truth to that... suddenly, his mother and sister no longer seemed like the worst thing ever.
Honestly? Dogs were superior to women. Who needed a woman when he could have a dog?
"Would you two stop arguing!?" The seething Sakura suddenly appeared behind them and grabbed one ear from each boy, twisting it slightly. "You are disturbing Sasuke's rest!"
"Au. Au. Au. But we are not arguing, Sakura-chan!" Naruto vehemently protested, trying to get her to release his ear.
"Hands off, bitch!" Kiba shrieked and pinned her with a glare promising pain and suffering while grabbing her wrist to stop her twisting his ear more. But he had to be careful because Sakura held him with the arm that Hinata had just healed, and he knew she would not appreciate it if he broke it again.
All the while, Sakura stubbornly tried to twist their ears some more.
Hinata, sitting next to Sasuke and leaning her back against a tree trunk, let out a mirthful giggle, finding the show hilarious. It was always fun to have Naruto and Kiba in the same room. But adding Sakura to that mix seemed to be nice, too.
She decided she would need to organize some get-togethers for their teams later on. She wasn't going to pass up on this kind of entertainment.
"Idiots." Sasuke scoffed, but his body language betrayed how much he enjoyed their antics.
The tension plaguing them as if evaporated, and everybody finally relaxed.
Hinata enjoyed the show for a few minutes and waited until Naruto, Kiba, and Sakura settled down before she stood up, getting everybody's attention.
"Well, since you have fought Orochimaru, I guess that is good enough for me. I will give you two scrolls." She casually said, causing Naruto and Sakura to grow excited while Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows.
"You have a spare set?" Sasuke asked, inwardly feeling his inferiority complex flare a bit at that insinuation.
Hinata chuckled and pushed her chakra into her wrist storage seal, unsealing a pile of scrolls, giving Sasuke a smug glance that made his scowl.
There were three earth scrolls and five heaven scrolls. A mind-numbing amount, considering how many teams Hinata's team would have to take out to get them.
"We also have spares!" Kiba proudly announced, ignoring the atmosphere as he started pulling out a heaven and earth scroll from his own pouch.
Sasuke's scowl deepened, and he turned toward Shino, hoping that... but Shino dashed Sasuke's hopes with a simple nod, showing that yes, he also had a spare set in his pouch.
"How..." Sasuke trailed off, becoming speechless alongside his teammates, who had their jaws on the floor.
Here, their team had a problem getting two scrolls, but Hinata's had almost ten of them!?
That burned somewhat fiercely. Right there, in the ego. And not only for Sasuke. Naruto and Sakura also felt inadequate.
"What can I say?" Hinata nonchalantly shrugged. "For some reason, people were very attracted to our team. You wouldn't believe the number of Kumo genin we encountered!" She exclaimed, and while Naruto and Sakura clearly didn't understand the underlying message, Sasuke did, and his expression darkened.
The fact that Kumo coveted Byakugan was well known among the clans. There really wasn't any other reason why so many Kumo teams would target Hinata's team.
"We have fought two Konoha, one Kiri, one Suna, two Tsuchi, and six Kumo teams." Shino said, and his self-satisfaction could be plainly heard despite his usually monotone voice.
Hinata nodded, and she had to say, she was very proud of her teammates.
Only her healing skills kept them going as they got injured in most of their battles. And only her scouting capabilities allowed them to get some proper rest in between the fights.
But they handled their fair share of enemies while she watched over them. They battled, learned, and improved. She had done for them what Ren had done for her, and she was happy about their progress.
"It doesn't really matter." Hinata interjected, preventing her boys from bragging some more as she handed Sasuke the two scrolls, getting a quiet, and a bit unhappy 'thank you' in return. "Let's take an hour to rest, but then we should go straight to the Tower. The sooner we get there, the better. I have a bad feeling that the second part won't end with just that."
She did not have a feeling. She had Ino telling her that there was an entire arena in the Tower. Ino's team was the first to reach it, making a new record. And Ino had already done her due diligence, scouting it.
Some chunin had very interesting thoughts, according to what Ino shared through the telepathy seal. It was barely the third day of the second phase right now, and there were already too many teams who reached the Tower. The preliminary rounds were practically a certainty.
Getting to the Tower exhausted and near the time limit would be foolish.