Ultimate Ninja Storm

"Anger is the enemy of non-violence and pride is a monster that swallows it up."
~Mahatma Gandhi

Chapter 5: Pride

Hiashi never used to be fond of his eldest daughter. He usually openly preferred Neji and Hanabi over Hinata. But as of late, the preference scale went from imbalanced to balanced. How she managed to think of showing up to the banquet dressed as her game counterpart was really something. He had expected her to chicken out, not work her way around her predicament. He was impressed. Maybe his deliberate concealing of her identity was worth the hassle.

Hiashi sipped from his glass and stared at 'Solice' along with the rest of the room. Unlike him, the rest of the room didn't know Solice's true identity. That meant his fellow Gamemakers were livid with Solice's evasion from their plan.

Hiashi merely took another sip. How exactly would his daughter get herself out of this one?

"Great, they're staring. Now walk over to your seat so they can get a splendid view of our fabulous ass."

Hinata smiled smugly as she sashayed over to the dinner table, aware of the gaping reactions she was receiving from people. She quickly spotted her seat which was located in between Naruto's and Sasuke's seats.

As Hinata made her way down to her seat, she made sure to make eye contact with every seated gamer she passed by, remembering how, where and when she defeated each and every one of them. It fueled her with a confidence she never knew she had, an arrogance she never thought she'd experience, and a certain fulfillment she never thought she'd lacked.

"Is this what it feels like… to be you?"

"Che… give a shy brat a little bit of confidence and she suddenly feels like she knows everything."

Hinata mentally rolled her eyes at Solice's sarcasm.

"And no. This isn't what it feels like to be me. This is but a mere… fraction of it. But if you're really that curious, stop doubting yourself and keep following me. I'll make you feel something you've never experienced before, something you've kept locked away ever since childhood."

This made Hinata even more intrigued. Had she always been hiding something like this from herself? If Solice knew how to get it, she would follow her. Maybe this alter-ego thing could be great after all.

Hinata took her seat agonizingly slowly. She could feel every little piece of Naruto's and Sasuke's intimidation and she loved all of it. She'd never had this kind of power before. Usually it was always people intimidating her. Now the roles were reversed. And she liked it this way.

"I know you're feeling really awesome and whatnot but right now we sorta have a big ol' problem to deal with like, I dunno, maybe it's the Gamemakers being pissed off."

Hinata had to forcibly stop herself from flinching when she felt the animosity being directed towards her from the stage.

"Keep calm and don't falter."

With newfound determination surging through her veins, Hinata shot the Gamemakers a heated glare that could rival the Sun's intensity. Kushina looked especially pissed off but Hinata kept her aura of malevolence standing and her glare blaring.

Before Kushina could unleash hell, Hiashi took the microphone and for a second, the entire table looked towards him. "Well, now that everyone's here," his gaze lingered on Hinata. "Let's begin, shall we?"

The room erupted into small and harsh whispers. Hiashi whispered something towards his fellow Gamemakers that made them seem to calm down. They proceeded to quietly argue something amongst themselves.

The entire table had taken to openly staring at Hinata while whispering about her to their comrades. The only people who didn't blatantly discuss Hinata's presence were Naruto, Sasuke and Itachi. Itachi was directly before her, staring intently at her with a slight smile on his lips. Naruto was clenching his jaw and staring down at his food. Sasuke, however, took to brooding and staring at the wall.

"Weird, I thought they'd be more vocal."

Hinata didn't care. She was too high off everything going on with her body. She'd never felt so self-assured in her entire life. She was euphoric.

"Solice… It's a pleasure to meet you."

Hinata looked to the voice that called her. Itachi.

She was about to speak but Solice interrupted her.

"You can't speak like you regularly do, remember that. Itachi's smart. He'll match your voice with who you are and our cover will be blown. Try to sound more like me. Sort of like you did when you came in."

"Alright."

"Hello, Itachi." It felt weird addressing him with such familiarity. She was used to attaching the honorific to his name. "The pleasure isn't mutual."

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmnnnnn!"

Hinata could hear Solice cackling at her snarky comment. Itachi recoiled somewhat at her rudeness but was back to being composed a second later. A small twitch tugged at the corner off Hinata's lips. This was fun.

"It's nice that you know my name," Itachi said smoothly, ignoring her previous rudeness. "…considering we've never crossed paths before now-virtual wise of course. It's as if you know me."

Hinata knew exactly what he was hinting at but she refused to buy into it. "How could I not? You're very known throughout the virtual world… I wish I'd encountered you before we met. That way I could have defeated you beforehand and reap the satisfaction of your intimidation… like nearly everyone else."

She could feel Naruto and Sasuke flinch, knowing they fell into the intimidated category. She realized the entire table had become entrapped in her and Itachi's conversation. Even a few of the Gamemakers were paying attention.

Itachi continued to smile and simply nodded. "You have pretty eyes," he noted. "They look familiar."

Hinata forced herself to not stiffen.

"Shit".

"Really? Were you looking to invest in clear contacts as well? Jacque's sells them at quite a cheap price." Hinata nearly sighed with relief. She was able to make her story somewhat truthful considering the fact that she did wear contacts.

Itachi briefly frowned, knowing that she had countered all of his advances.

"I don't think he knows… He just has an idea."

"Still… it's too close for comfort."

"We just have to keep our guard up then. Itachi's smart. He'll figure us out if we make any sort of minor slip."

Hinata virtually nodded. This was going to be hard, especially now that she had Naruto and Sasuke breathing down her neck. That intimidated comment had really made them loathe her more.

Before Itachi could inquire any further, the tapping of a microphone turned all heads to the stage. "As Hiash stated, we will begin now," said Mikoto with a small smile on her lips.

Hitomi took Mikoto's place before the microphone. In her hand was a small box with some kind of lever on it. She grinned lovingly. "I hope you all enjoyed your meal!" she exclaimed. Her grin faded from loving to something more devilish. "To make this ranking process faster… we want to get rid of the unqualified 70 as quickly as possible."

Hinata felt the entire table stiffen.

"Now, take a good look at the players around you," said Hitomi. "Smile if you like! Greet if you must!"

Hinata was able to tell her mom had something far from pleasurable up her sleeve. The tone she used usually indicated restricted evil intentions.

"Now say goodbye."

The table was confused until Hitomi pulled the lever in her hands. Instantly, holes opened up in front of exactly 70 seats and the chairs of the 70 people they seated tilted forward, throwing their screaming occupants down into oblivion. The holes closed back up and the chairs moved back in place. The remaining 30 was scared shitless.

Tobi was in Deidara's arms wailing loud cries of 'Senpaiiiii! Senpaiiii!' Deidara was too bewildered to kick Tobi off. Many of the remaining 30 wore horrified looks on their faces as they eyed their own chairs suspiciously. Itachi was unnerved but managed to visibly conceal it. Sasuke was more irritated than horrified. Naruto was doing his best to not piss his pants.

Hinata remained calm.

"Your mom is batshit crazy…"

"She's your mom too…"

"Tch."

Hitomi laughed eerily. "Now that we've gotten rid of that issue, it's time to reveal your rankings!"

Fugaku took the microphone as Kushina leisurely gestured towards the large screen beside her.

"Number 30," Fugaku began. "Sarutobi Konohamaru!"

Everyone watched the called brunet appear on the screen with his face displayed next to his position. Konohamaru sighed sadly when he realized he had only been the cut off. Moegi and Udon, his friends, were probably right behind him.

"Not bad for a brat."

"He is friends with Naruto, after all."

The room began to tense up.

"Number 29," Fugaku continued. "Zetsu!"

Beside his number was a picture of his face, just as it had been for Konohamaru.

"Na, 29?" repeated Tobi. He looked to Zetsu. "Does this mean Tobi is stronger than his second senpai?"

The rest of Tobi's friends snickered while Zetsu began to plot how he would murder Tobi.

Fugaku continued to call out the ranks one by one until he reached the top 20. The list went as followed:

28. Hyuuga Hanabi

27. Akimichi Choji

26. Rock Lee

25. Sabaku no Kankuro

24. Aburame Shino

23. Sabaku no Temari

22. Minori

21. Inuzuka Kiba

Hanabi was furious but kept her cool. Choji was indifferent and continued to eat. Lee had been excited as usual. Shino was accepting. Kiba was flaming because Tenten ranked higher than him but was secretly rejoicing that he had beaten Shino. Temari and Kankuro took to conversing with themselves and their brother. Hinata had noticed them seated together and only conversing quietly amongst themselves as they usually did at school. The Minori person was the only odd one. He was blonde and had slicked back hair. He also wore sunglasses and a grotesque Hawaiian get up. Oddly enough, he sat beside two other men who dressed in a similar fashion except the other two had pink and red hair. Weird.

"You really aren't that sharp, are you? Obviously they're Sakura, Ino and Karin in poor disguises."

"What?!"

Hinata watched them closely and realized how the redhead's moustache was crooked. Hinata twitched in embarrassment but Sasuke caught her small movement. She quickly steadied herself.

"Considering they're pros at makeup, you'd think their disguises would be better..."

"I agree."

Hinata turned her stare away from the odd 3 and watched Fugaku hand the microphone to Minato. "Now it's time to announce the top 20!" he said enthusiastically. "Number 20…Sasori!"

Sasori nodded calmly.

"Number 19… Tenten!"

"Yes!" Tenten exclaimed as she watched her name and face appear beside her number. She quickly taunted Kiba and rubbed it in his face and then calmly regained her composure with a small smirk of triumph playing on her lips.

Minato continued to read out the list as follows:

18. Kakuzu

17. Hidan

16. Rin

15. Deidara

14. Nara Shikamaru

13. Neji

12. Kisame

11. Karui

Kakuzu, Hidan, Shikamaru, Neji, Kisame and Karui hada ll been accepting of their positions. Rin who was really Karin in disguise looked odd with her moustache still crooked but still accepted her position without complaint. The only one to make a scene was Deidara.

"NANI?" Deidara exclaimed. He grabbed Tobi and pointed at him. "I'm ranked below this idiot! How?!"

"Konnichiwa!" Tobi greeted happily to the Gamemakers.

Minato laughed nervously and just continued to read.

"Ne… how is it that the masked guy hasn't been called yet though… He does look quite dumb."

"I have no idea."

"I don't like him. He's shady."

"As shady as cosplaying your own character so that your identity doesn't get figured out?"

"Tch. Whatever. You always just have to kill my fucking vibe."

Minato handed the microphone to Hiashi`. "It's time to announce the top 10," he said darkly.

The entire table tensed once again. It was time to see who number 1 was.

"Number 10… Hikari."

"Sakura looks weird with her hair like that."

Hinata silently agreed.

"Number 9… Omoi"

The said boy was currently trying to appease the jealous Karui.

"Just 2 spaces apart!" The redhead flared. "That should have been me!" she sobbed.

"Number 8… Konan"

Konan simply nodded in approval.

"Number 7… Sabaku no Gaara"

The redhead remained silent.

"Number 6… Nagato"

Nagato simply nodded.

"Number 5… Tobi"

"Yosh!" Tobi exclaimed. He quickly turned to Deidara. "Ne, sempai! Do not fear! Tobi will always go easy on you and protect you because Tobi will always protect the weak!"

Deidara promptly tackled Tobi to the ground and attempted strangling him. "Weak? You fucking bastard!"

"Sempai!" Tobi yelled. "This is no way to treat your superior!"

Deidara had evil glints in his eyes. He let Tobi go and sat back down. "I will finish you later," he murmured to himself. "With a bang!"

Annoyed, Hiashi went back to the list.

"This is it."

Hinata remained calm despite the strong tension around the four of them. Sasuke was tense as hell, Naruto was visibly sweating and Itachi idly watched the screen.

"Number 4… Uchiha…"

Sasuke was alert.

Itachi was calm.

Naruto felt relieved.

"Itachi."

Itachi simply nodded. Sasuke's eyes rose in surprise for a small while but then he began to smirk triumphantly. Somehow, he had managed to defeat Itachi.

"Well this is different from what I expected."

Hinata agreed. She always thought Itachi was better than both Naruto and Sasuke. Maybe she was wrong.

"Number 3… Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto was happy but somewhat dismayed. He had lost to Sasuke and Solice. He stared at the screen with determination in his eyes. He was going to surpass them no matter what.

"Number 2…"

Hinata felt her heart racing. She could tell Sasuke was anxious as well.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke frowned.

Hinata smirked triumphantly.

"And number 1 is Solice."

Unlike the others, an anonymous face appeared next to her number.

The entire table stared at her. She was #1. And unknown.

"How does it feel?"

Hinata smirked visibly through her mask.

"Great."

"Now that we have that settled," said Kushina. "We must propose a deal."

The entire table shifted their gaze from Hinata to Kushina.

"We will allow you all the option to form an alliance or remain solo."

Everyone began to murmur.

"An alliance will not only strengthen your characters, but also make it easier for your ranking to increase thanks to your new-found combined powers," Kushina explained. "Alliances will also unlock new specialties for your characters. I, personally, would definitely consider it. New specialties include new developed dojutsu, techniques and bijuus. But it's all up to you."

Hinata stiffened. She wanted to remain solo but if everyone teamed up, she would be at a disadvantage.

"What do we do?"

Hinata watched as Itachi and friends decided to team up and become what they called 'the Akatsuki'. Hanabi and Konohamru did the same, as did Shino, Choji, and Lee, Kiba, Tenten and Neji, Gaara, Temari and Kankuro, and Karin, Sakura and Ino.

"We have to group up."

"But with who? It might jeopardize our secret!"

"Teme!" Naruto called, grinning devilishly. "Let's group up!"

Sasuke smirked, quickly catching on to Naruto's plan. "Sure. As long as Solice here joins our team."

Many of the table's occupants pretended to be busy with their own teams but they were actually waiting to see what Hinata's answer would be.

"No. No. No. No. A million times no. I swear to Kami that I will smother you in your sleep and murder your firstborn if you dare say-!"

"Fine," Hinata answered.

Unknowingly, she just possibly signed Solice's death sentence.

Author's Note: Well hey there haha... I've sort of been gone for like a year... I've been busy with school and all that jazz but most importantly writer's block since I lost my computer that had all my stories on it. I may not update for quite awhile. This school year is killing me. As for my other other stories, it really depends on how much I can remember, my writing inspiration and of course free time if I am to update. If I could just get my data off my hard drive you all would have so many chapters to read lol. Sorry :/ It's nice to be back. I hope you all liked the chapter :) And if you want to keep up with my progress, you can check my profile from time to time.