THE TIGRESS' LANTERN - A HINATA HYUGA FANFICTION

CHAPTER EIGHT - UNWORTHY

Quick Note:

"Human Speech"

"Tailed Beast/Creature Speech"

'Human Thought'

'Tailed Beast/Creature Thought'

"Human Jutsu"

"Tailed Beast/Creature Justu"

- The Streets of Konoha: On The Way To The Testing Hall -
- Tigress' Point Of View -

The tip of my tail flicked to the rhythm of my footsteps as I walked down the dusty roads I've learned to detest with a burning passion. My fists were clenched and stuffed into the pockets of my black coat; my sword at my hip and my hood over my head, covering my head and ears. The familiar smells of this village only added to the rage I was feeling in my heart; I wanted nothing more to leave, but I had a recent development in a case I've working on.

As Head of the Hantei Clan, I operate a few splitter cells of spies: one of them told me of a dangerous alliance between the Hidden Sand Village & One of the Legendary Sannin: The Snake Sannin - Orochimaru. Orochimaru is a dangerous creature, obsessed with knowing and having everything that has to do with power and the evolution of his own experiments. My Spies informed me that he is somewhere in the Hidden Leaf Village, looking for the one of the Strongest Kekki Genki known to Humanity - The Sharingan, the Kekki Genki of the Uchiha Clan. Besides the one who slaughtered his entire clan - Itachi - there was only one other who possessed that power - Itachi's Younger Brother, Sasuke. If Orochimaru was after Sasuke, then he would need the perfect time to strike, what would be a better time that the Chunin Exams? With all the fighting and bloodshed, he would have the perfect time to attack Sasuke and possibly steal the Sharingan.

'I won't let that happen.' I thought with a growl.

'You must calm down, Tigress. You are sending dangerous waves of chakra out with your thoughts.' - Lady Hantei purred out through my mind,

'Right. Forgive me, Lady Hantei; I'm just so angry.' I explained to her.

'You don't have to tell me that, My Indigo Cub. I am one with you; we feel each other's transgressions. However, you should inform your beloved; he seems to be concerned about you.' - Lady Hantei advised me and sure enough, she was right; Haku looked at me with concern soaked in his beautiful chocolate eyes. I exhaled and reached out to grasp his hand, the moment our fingers touched, his hand clasped over mine and gently squeezed it in comfort.

"My Tigress, I am concerned for you. This place is causing you so many negative emotions and I do not like this. Are you certain you wish to go forward with this?" Haku asked as he pulled himself closer to me. I rested my head on his shoulder.

"I am sorry for worrying you, My Love. I am upset but I cannot cancel my mission; you know this." I looked in his direction; while he couldn't see my eyes, he has seen them before. We stopped and turned to face each other, his lips found mine and lost ourselves in each other's taste before we pulled apart and rested our foreheads against one another's.

"I would never ask you to do such a thing, My Love; I just wish there was more I could do for you at this time. I hate seeing you on edge, it makes me want to destroy the ones that caused such pain and anger to such a glorious creature such as you. Just give me the word and this entire village will be encased in ice." Haku swore with his eyes narrowed dangerously; I loved it when he got protective of me. I kissed him again before I looked into his eyes through my cloth.

"I know you would, Haku-kun. I'll be sure to let you know if I'm in the mood for a Hidden Leaf Snowcone." I said as I booped my husband on the tip of his nose. His chuckle brought warmth to my heart and the two of us continued on our way to the Testing Building.

- The Testing Building -
- Haku's Point of View -

This place disgusted me; it was the source of my lover's anger, thus I would love nothing more than to turn it into a giant snow globe for my darling for an anniversary present.

'Now that I think about it, our anniversary is coming up. I wonder if she would like to go to the hot springs...or maybe she will want to travel to another village. Hm. I must be sure to know what will please my wife for our first anniversary; it must be perfect for my wife!' I thought to myself with determination.

Tigress and I walked into the building; from what Master Zabuza told us, the testing was being held in room 302 of this building. We walked up the stairs to the 2nd floor and noticed a cluster of shinobi and kunoichi standing in front of a room that was guarded by two Chunin - or should I say - would-be-Chunin. I could easily see through that glamour and, judging by my lover's scoff, she knew too - Those 'Chunin' were the gate guards that stopped Master Zabuza, Tigress, and I from entering the village: Hagane & Izumo, I believe their names were.

Tigress removed her hood, allowing her indigo hair to wave freely and her ears to stand proudly, as we walked through the crowd of people that were standing before the room; people looked at us like we were unseen creatures, some whispering about what they would do to us if they could bed us, men and woman on my and my wife's account. Tigress moved out of the crowd just in time to place her hand up to stop one of the fake Chunin from causing a bowl-haircut boy in a green jumpsuit from getting knocked to the ground. The boy looked at my wife with his wide black eyes and brushy rectangular eyebrows, he looked confused as to why she saved him from falling. Tigress said nothing before she moved the boy to the side and walked up to the grey vested 'Chunin'.

"Is that honestly the best you could do?" Tigress asked in an offended voice; this caused everyone to look confused.

"What are you talking about?" The boy with a raised eyebrow and a bruise on his face. Tigress looked at everyone in with a glare over her masked face. A sudden pulse of pressure came from her body, causing her long jacket, ears, tail, and hair to wave a bit.

"If you honestly can't see this pathetic excuse of a Genjutsu that they are trying to us on us, then you need to leave because you are cut out to be Chunin and are a disgrace to this disgrace of a village." Tigress snarled at the students, who all slightly backed away when Tigress' Pressure increased with her anger. I walked over to her, moving behind her and placed my hands on her shoulders to calm her down.

"My Love, you are scaring your prey. It will be no fun for you during the exams if you scare them so early on." I whispered in her ear before I turned her face to mine and placed a kiss on her lips; I was addicted to the way my wife's lips tasted, I could never get enough of her. I felt her pressure decrease and pulled away with a smile, meeting her own smile.

"Very well, My Dragon. I will remain calm." Tigress promised me before she turned back to the 'Chunin'. "Hagane. Izumo. Please remove that pathetic Hajime and removed the Hajime over the room number. This is only the 2nd floor and this is room 202." Tigress purred before I felt her wrap her tail around my wrist and pulled me to the stairs to reach the true Room 302; leaving everyone else stunned behind us.

'Kami Above. I love my wife.' I thought with a smile.