I, Your Father, Carry a Big Stick

Chapter 65: I, Your Father, Delve Within the Valley of Dreams

With the First Stage of the Chunin Exams taking place at 10:00 AM, Wu had Hinata up by 4:30 AM so they could discuss his plans, fill her black holes of a belly, and get her in the proper mindset.

“I have no intention of helping you ‘cheat,’ but I’ll either be hiding in your clothes or somewhere around you throughout the Exam. I expect to see you doing your best, Hinata.”

Though the idea of having Wu concealed within her clothes made her feel a little sheepish, Hinata nodded with a resolute look as she expressed, “I intend to win.”

Nodding his head in approval, Wu gently caressed the blunette’s head as he whispered, “That’s my girl…you can do anything you put your mind to. And if you stumble, I’ll be right beside to pick you back up…”

“Wu-kun…”

Closing her eyes, Hinata felt as though her heart had ‘blossomed’ when Wu rewarded her with a chaste kiss. He had been intense and passionate during their first night together, but he was incredibly gentle when voicing his love and support. She knew he could ‘ravish’ her at a moment’s notice but would never force the matter without her consent…

With Wu pulling away from her, Hinata slowly opened her eyes, a radiant smile developing across her face as she softly asserted, “I love you…Wu-kun…” for the first time. The latter’s eyes turned fiery in response, so even though she knew she should conserve her energy, Hinata licked her lips slightly, her eyes narrowing slightly in the way Wu had instructed her the day of their engagement…

“You…”

Realizing what Hinata was trying to do, a wolfish grin developed across Wu’s face as he asserted, “You’re so fucking adorable…” before pulling her flush against his body and adding, “Let me show you how much I love you…” in a deep, resonant tone…

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Pulling out a small pocket watch, Kurenai’s brows furrowed as she said, “If she doesn’t arrive in the next fifteen minutes, you’ll have to wait until next year to take the Chunin Exams…”

Contrasting the raven-haired Jonin’s expectations, Kiba, usually the most fired-up member of Team 8, replied, “It’s not a big deal. Hinata-chan has a lot on her plate right now. If she doesn’t show up, she doesn’t show up.”

As she hadn’t spent much time with her Team over the past three weeks, Kurenai raised her brows and asked, “Did something happen…?” in a tone that was more curious than concerned. She knew things between Naruto and Hinata were somewhat tenuous, but, as the most powerful member of Team 8, Kurenai believed Hinata could handle herself. If not, Kurenai was confident a certain fiery-eyed boy would have something to say…

Before Kiba could answer his Jonin-sensei’s question, Akamaru barked from atop his head. Almost immediately thereafter, Hinata came swooping in with her wingsuit, her face slightly flushed as she exclaimed, “Sorry for showing up so late, everyone. I kind of lost track of time…?”

Seeing everyone staring at her with stupefied expressions, sans the ever stoic Shino, Hinata gave herself a quick once over as she asked, “Did I hit a bug or something while I was gliding over…?”

Though it wasn’t noticed by anyone, Shino’s brow twitched slightly as he asserted, “You didn’t collide with any bugs…how do I know? Because my kikaichū would be able to detect any stress pheromones…”

Prompted by Shino’s words, Kiba attempted to smell Hinata, earning a light smack as the latter narrowed her eyes slightly and remarked, “You shouldn’t go around smelling girls’ bodies, Kiba-kun…”

Instead of taking offense to the fact Hinata had slapped him, Kiba just touched his cheek before commenting, “You smell like Wu-kun. Did the two of you-”

Before Kiba could finish speaking, Hinata silenced him with a piercing stare. She had made it transparently clear who the strongest member of their Team was, so Kiba immediately backed down, prompting Kurenai to tease, “Is that what you were doing? Getting in some last-minute training with Wu-kun…?”

Realizing she hadn’t informed anyone on her Team of the recent changes in her life, Hinata paused for a moment before revealing, “Naruto-kun and I broke up. Shortly after that, Wu-Kun and I got married. Hanabi-chan and I have been living at the Senju Clan Compound since two days ago…”

If they were surprised by her sudden arrival, Kurenai, Kiba, and even Shino were utterly gobsmacked by the revelations Hinata had just thrust upon them. However, as there were only a few minutes until the start of the Chunin Exams, Kurenai quickly composed herself, saying, “Once the Exams are over, I’ll take you out to celebrate. For now, the three of you need to head up to the third floor of the exam building, Room 301. Don’t tarry because you’re already one of the last Teams to arrive.”

Acting as the de facto leader of the three, Hinata responded with an enthusiastic, “Right! Just leave it to us, Kurenai-sensei!” before turning to Kiba and Shino, appending, “Let’s all do our best!” in a cheerful tone the group hadn’t heard in months. Had they not seen how she behaved during their days at the Academy, Kiba and Shino might have thought the smiling girl in front of them was an imposter…

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After racing up to the third floor, bypassing a small group of people that were standing outside the incorrect room, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino found themselves in a spacious examination hall filled with well over a hundred examinees. Most appeared to be in their late teens to early twenties, but a few within the crowd stood out from the rest, particularly near the room’s entrance.

Though they were far from the only Teams participating on the side of Konoha, most of the ‘rookies’ that had graduated alongside Team 8 were gathered in one large group. This included Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Choji, Ino, and Shikamaru, alongside the previous year’s graduates, Tenten, Neji, and Lee. A bespectacled, white-haired boy was standing with them, but Hinata didn’t pay him much attention to him as her eyes immediately met with Naruto’s.

Noticing the tensions abruptly becoming palpable, a confused expression appeared on Ino’s face as she approached Sakura, leaning close to her as she asked, “Did Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan finally break up…?”

Shaking her head, Sakura responded with an equally faint, “Not that I’m aware. I noticed that Naruto was acting strangely, but I thought he was just getting psyched up for the Exams…”

Interrupting the group’s tensions, the white-haired boy pushed up his glasses and asked, “Is that it? No one else you want to ask about? This could be your last chance to gain free information before the Finals…”

Catching Hinata a little by surprise, Naruto was the first to break eye contact, turning to the boy to ask, “Do you know if there is anyone other than me with the surname Uzumaki participating in the Exam…?”

Narrowing his ebony-black eyes, the white-haired youth questioned, “Uzumaki, huh…?” before quickly flipping through the deck of faceless white cards. The moment he tried to select a card, however, the entire deck abruptly caught fire, startling everyone present.

Not expecting his precious cards to catch fire, the boy, who had moments ago introduced himself as Yakushi Kabuto, exclaimed, “What the…!?” with a visibly confused expression on his face. There hadn’t been any attacks or any notable oscillations in the Chakra of anyone present, so he couldn’t fathom how the cards had simply…combusted.

Before Kabuto could hope to uncover the truth, everyone in the hall was startled by a smoke screen erupting at the front of the hall, accompanied by a loud voice shouting, “Silence! Degenerates…!”

Looking toward the direction of the smoke, Hinata and Neji both activated their Byakugan’s while everyone else strained until the outline of a group of people gradually took shape. When the smoke eventually cleared, they were greeted by the sight of a tall man wearing a black cloak, his battle-hardened face covered in multiple scars. Behind him stood twelve other Shinobi, each wearing similar uniforms and forehead protectors denoting their affiliation to Konoha.

With all eyes focused on him, the scar-faced man cracked a vicious smile as he said, “Sorry to keep you waiting. I, Morino Ibiki, will be your proctor for the First Stage of the Chunin Exams.”

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While resting comfortably between Hinata’s still-developing breasts, Wu softly remarked, “How boring…” in response to the rules being listed off by the proctor. The First Stage of the Chunin disguised itself as a written exam but was closer to a ‘test of courage’ than anything else. You had 45 minutes to answer nine progressively more difficult questions, but even if you answered none of them, you would pass so long as you didn’t simply leave the exam hall.

With nothing better to do while Hinata easily aced the test, Wu sent out his clones to spy on various participants. He found it somewhat amusing that Naruto and Hinata had been made deskmates, but that was far from the most interesting pairing within the room. That distinction belonged to the three delegations from Kumo, the first groups in more than a decade to grace Konoha’s Chunin Exams.

Though Wu ordinarily wouldn’t care about some random Genins from a foreign village, one of the Teams consisted almost entirely of people he had encountered. This included the dark-skinned, red-headed girl with eagle eyes, Karui, her overly cautious tag-team partner, Omoi, and a final Genin Wu had only learned about during his investigation, a boy with peculiar orange and black hair who had way more Chakra than anyone his age ought to.

Including the Jonin and Chunin overseeing the Exam, the only people who had more Chakra than the boy were Naruto, the red-headed girl named Karin, and a creepy, eyebrowless boy with short red hair and the kanji for love etched into his forehead, Gaara. In other words, except for two Jinchuriki and someone Wu suspected to be a member of the defunct Uzumaki Clan, the boy had the most Chakra present. Quite literally, Jonin levels.

Sneaking a peek at the boy’s paper, Wu confirmed that his Chakra wasn’t the only thing exceptional about him. While most people present needed to cheat to answer some of the more difficult questions, the orange and black-haired kid was penning the answers confidently. He struggled a bit with the ninth question, but that was something only Jonins, and over-achieving individuals with incredibly large foreheads were supposed to be able to answer.

Speaking of Sakura, Wu was unsurprised to find she was the first person in all three exam rooms to complete her paper. In fact, it had only taken her around fifteen minutes, leaving her half an hour to stress over whether or not Naruto would be able to pass.

Deciding to lend the girl a hand before she did something remarkably dumb, Wu’s clone dropped from her head, startling her a bit as he landed on her ear and whispered, “It’s me, your conscience…I know we don’t talk much, so let me make it up to you by giving you some good advice. Never make assumptions or compromise to protect the dreams of others. This is a test of will as much as it is a test of the mind. Remember that, and don’t fuck up…”

Since she clearly recognized the voice as Wu’s, Sakura flipped her paper over and wrote, ‘What are you doing here?’ before quickly erasing it and asking, ‘Have you been sitting on my head?’

Instead of answering the girl’s questions, Wu’s clone politely excused himself to spy on a few others. If anyone from his training group ended up dropping out due to the ‘trick’ of the tenth question, he was going to beat them until they pooped blood for an entire week…

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(A/N: I, Your Father, am also Your Conscience…)