Tick. Tock.

The hands of the clock never stopped ticking.

From the start of the test, roughly thirty minutes had passed. As she watched over her new pupils, Yuuhi Kurenai let out a sigh.

Kiba had fallen on the ground as he clutched his head. Shino was still standing, but his body was shaking uncontrollably. Hinata was crouching down with her head buried between knees. All three of them had empty, dazed eyes. From time to time, they would make incomprehensible noises.

They had been caught in Kurenai's genjutsu.

She had planted a disruption in their chakra flow when she had hit them at the beginning, but the illusion itself hadn't started until she said the word 'begin'.

She was a bit worried that she wouldn't be able to affect Shino, but it turned out that the Aburame boy still lacked training. He had innocently fallen to her trap.

Kurenai had no intention to test their teamwork or their ninja skills. After all, those things could be taught. Nothing wrong with starting a bit behind the line.

What she wanted to test was their willpower.

At the moment, the genjutsu that she had cast upon them was trapping them in a state of illusory dream. The suggestions she had put on them were tailored to show their worst fear.

She re-read the paper containing her analysis of their personalities.

"Inuzuka Kiba. A troublemaker, but ultimately good at heart."

The worst thing that could happen to him was to watch his loved ones suffer while he was powerless to do anything.

"Aburame Shino. Quiet, solitary, showing admirable skills from a young age."

For a subtle planner like him, the encroaching feeling of failure, that moment when you slowly lose control over the situation as your opponents kept on outwitting you again and again could prove fatal to his stability.

"Now, Hyuuga Hinata..."

An extreme aversion to confrontation. Not to mention, she was also suffering from a severe inferiority complex.

She couldn't help but feeling bitter about the girl's situation.

When she got the news that she would be overseeing Hinata, she had made a personal visit to the Hyuuga residence. At that time, Hinata's father, Hiashi, was in the middle of an intense training with her younger sister, Hanabi.

"Are you sure about this? Hinata is a member of the main family. Working as a Genin might subject her to various danger. She might even end up dying."

"Do as you wish. The clan doesn't need that failure who can't even measure up to a girl five years her junior."

Hiashi coldly replied without sparing her a single glance,

As she left the training ground, she found Hinata leaning on the entrance. Most likely, she had heard her father's remark just now.

Her heart ached for that girl.

Even if Hinata ended up failing the test, Kurenai still wished that she could take the girl under her wing. At least, she wanted to help relieve her burden, even if just for a little bit.

She looked at the clock. An hour had already passed. The kids were looking more and more pitiful as time went on, especially Kiba and Hinata. The two of them had tears streaming down their cheeks.

"Maybe thirty more minutes... if they still can't break out of it, then they'll have to repeat."

Woof.

A small whimper caught her attention. When she looked down, she was surprised to see Kiba's puppy staring at her.

"Huh? Weird... I thought I had put you to sleep back then. Akamaru, was it? What are you doing here?"

The puppy wagged his tail while leaning forward to lick her legs.

"Awh, aren't you a cute one. Don't you need to wake your master?"

Of course, she wouldn't allow that to happen. However, the dog himself didn't seem to be interested in doing so. Instead, he was busy rubbing his head on her legs.

Feeling rather carefree, she pulled him into a hug. The pup seemed to get more excited as he licked her hands and cheeks. She petted him in return.

Woof!

The dog climbed onto her shoulder. He playfully licked the exposed skin on her neck. While it was cute, it felt a bit ticklish.

Just then.

She blinked. The kids were no longer in sight. In fact, it was no longer morning. The ground was dark and cracked, while the sky was dyed in blood-red color with a gigantic moon looming above.

A freezing chill invaded her body, forcing her to huddle up.

"What... is... this...? Genjutsu?!"

As a genjutsu user herself, she could tell that her chakra flow had been tampered with. However, she couldn't understand when did it happen. Not to mention, who had done it?

No, more importantly, why couldn't she break free of this illusion?

"Foolish mortal."

A ghostly feminine voice whispered on her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

A pair of skeletal arms enclosed her from behind as a shadowy figure crept closer to her. Paralyzed by the sudden dread, her body was refusing to listen to her command. She knew that she had to escape, but somehow, she was hopelessly trapped in this illusory world.

"To cast such a disgusting spell at me, Daji, the master of Illusory Forest Sect... do you not value your life?"

"A...aaa...."

What? What was this person saying? Kurenai couldn't understand a single word that she'd heard. She couldn't understand. She didn't want to understand. The fear that was assaulting her was so intense that it was going to tear her apart.

Daji traced the trembling woman's cheek with her fingers before retracting back her hands.

"Fine. I should not make a little girl cry."

Kurenai could finally take a breath. The pressure crushing her was slowly dissipating.

"Worry not. That boy is stronger than you think. Have more faith in him."

This time, Kurenai could finally understand what the figure was saying.

"Wait-!"

When she turned around, the scenery had returned to normal. The sky was bright and clear, and the ground was covered in fresh layer of grass.

"Uwah-!"

She nearly jumped in fright when she felt something touching her legs. However, she soon relaxed when she noticed that it was just Akamaru.

"What... what was that? Was that just a dream?"

Possible. She had been overworking herself for quite a while. She might need to take a short break after this.

'That boy is stronger than you think.'

She was reminded of the mysterious figure's parting words. Somehow, her gaze slowly moved toward Kiba.

---

The scenery changed times and times again. The academy. The village. His home. Every single time, he tried his best to save his friends and family, but he always failed.

Why would he even try anymore? It was useless.

To the despairing him, Kurenai's figure appeared from beneath the shadow. The kunai on her hand was still dripping wet with blood.

"Have you given up?" She asked with a cold voice.

Yes, he had given up. Just go away.

"Everything that you do is useless. You can't do anything."

She was right. He was powerless to do anything. Just a sham who couldn't protect even a single person.

What becoming a shinobi? What becoming a Hokage? He was all talk.

For the first time in his life, he felt helpless.

"Accept it. Do not bother trying anymore. Just give up."

However... was that really what he was thinking? Just giving up?

A part of him screamed out, refusing to yield with all his might.

"It's useless. Just give up."

"Shut..."

"There is no point anymore. Give u-"

"SHUT YOUR TRAP!"

The Kurenai in front of him flinched as Kiba rose back up to his feet, a brilliant flame blazing in his eyes.

"I might be useless, I might not be able to do anything, but SO WHAT?! As long as I'm still alive, I won't stop trying!"

Clenching his fists, he ran toward the figure, throwing her a haphazard punch.

"Everything will end if I give up! That's why, I'll never give up! NEVER!"

It was a punch that contained the entirety of his undying will.

Hitting her right on the cheek, Kiba tackled her forward as they descended together into the gaping darkness.

---

"Kiba!"

The boy opened his eyes.

His vision was filled with Kurenai's worried face. After making sure that he was fine, she helped him to get up. He quickly scanned his surrounding. Upon noticing that Shino and Hinata was nearby, he sighed in relief. He then turned his attention back to Kurenai.

"Miss Kurenai, what just happened? I-I saw you killing Hinata, and Shino, and-"

"That's just an illusion. Also, congratulations, you've passed the test," Kurenai smiled at him.

"Heeh?!"

"Teacher, that was cheating," Shino remarked as he strutted over. He had also managed to break out of the illusion around the same time as Kiba.

"Shino, just because you can use your insects to detect and break genjutsu in advance, doesn't mean you can afford to lower your guard. If someone tricked you the way I did, no amount of detection will help you. Enemy shinobi never play fair. You still have a lot to learn."

Shino lowered his head in shame. He was indeed careless at that time. Even though his insects had reported a disruption in chakra, he didn't bother to check whether it was a genjutsu or not, seeing that Kiba and Hinata was fine at that time. Him putting a blind trust in Kurenai was also one of the contributing factor.

She patted the boy's head.

"Don't look so down. You've also passed. As long as you can break out of that genjutsu, that means you're strong enough to face the weakness in your heart. That's what I wanted from my pupils."

"Wait, Teacher, what about Hinata?" Kiba asked, pointing at the girl.

She was still crouching down like before, but this time, she was trembling. She was clutching on her arms so hard that the tip of her fingers had turned white.

"Oi-!"

"Hold it, Kiba," Kurenai grabbed him by the shoulder, stopping him from going any further.

"But, we have to help her! She's clearly suffering right now!"

"If you touch even a strand of her hair, then I'll have to fail her."

"Wha-? Tsk!"

There were two ways to break out of a genjutsu: either the victim themselves become aware that they had been caught in one, or an ally could break them out by infusing chakra or physically hitting them.

While doing either of them were fine during an actual mission, what Kurenai wanted to see right now was for Hinata to do the former. That was the only way that she could test the girl's will.

Within the illusory world, Hinata was assaulted by countless mocking glares.

Her clan saw her as a failure. Even her own father had given up on her. The clan members might be polite in the surface, but Hinata knew that everyone had been gossiping about her behind her back.

She didn't dare to look up anymore. By keeping her head down, she wouldn't have to deal with their judgmental stares.

It was fine this way, right? If she kept to herself, then it would be fine, right?

Drowned in this pool of self-hatred, Hinata should had suffocated since long ago. However, she had somehow managed to stay awake, refusing to give up completely thanks to a tiny flicker of light in the distance.

She was reminded of that yellow-haired boy who had never given up, even when everyone was hating him. The image of him standing tall in front of his adversaries was the last thing that had barely kept her afloat.

Under this darkness, she faintly heard a voice. A familiar voice.

"Hinata! Don't give up! You can do it!"

This voice...

...Kiba?

"Hey, stop yelling!" Kurenai smacked his head.

"But Teacher, you only said that I can't touch her. You never said that I can't shout out to her, right?" the boy grinned.

Kurenai narrowed her eyes, but ultimately didn't rebuke him. She just let him do as he pleased.

"Oi, Shino, you call out to her, too!" Kiba said, dragging Shino closer to him.

"W-what... fine."

"Heheh. Oi, Hinata! Hurry up and get out of there! We're already bored here waiting for you!"

"Hi-Hinata-" Shino stuttered on his words. He was too embarrassed to speak out loud. In order to help him, Kiba send a loud smack to his back.

"H-Hinata! Let's pass the test together!"

"That's more like it!" Kiba laughed. "Hinata! I'll pay for your lunch if you come out! Don't make us wait any longer! Quickly!"

Those voices... were they calling for her?

Her hands slowly rose up, grasping toward that light in the distance. The light was getting brighter and brighter, shedding away the coldness enveloping her.

Slowly, she felt warmth.

'Have I finally find someone who could accept me?'

She took a step forward, breaking out of that shell of solitude. The only thing in her mind was to follow the light, toward the direction of those voices.

Everyone had given up on her. Even she had given up on herself.

But, she had decided to put her trust on those voices.

If it was for their sake, perhaps she could give it a try...

"Ah..."

When she came to, she was laying on Kurenai's lap. Kiba and Shino stood at the side, watching her with a frown. They soon brightened up when they noticed that she was finally awake.

"Hinata! You did it!" Kiba abruptly pulled her into a bear hug.

"F-fuwee?"

"Well, you guys ended up helping her a bit, which messed up the test, but that's fine. She also passed," Kurenai shrugged.

Nevertheless, Hinata did come out with her own strength. What the two did was just giving her a small boost. For now, it was fine.

If she stayed together with these two, perhaps she could one day regain what she had lost.

Kurenai told the kids to line up once more.

"The heck? Only an hour and a half had passed?" Kiba couldn't believe his eyes. The sun had only climbed halfway, so the clock wasn't lying.

"That genjutsu acts like a dream, so you'll feel a faster passage of time during its effect," Kurenai explained. "Anyway, let me say this again. Congratulations on passing the final test. We'll start tackling actual missions starting tomorrow."

Shaking with excitement, Kiba flung his arms around Shino and Hinata's shoulders, pulling them closer.

"Alright!"

Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Hinata.

That was the day when Team 8 was born.

---

Kiba and the rest of the team were having a celebration party at a restaurant, so Akamaru went home first. He found Hikari in the kitchen making the steak that Kiba had requested this morning.

Since nobody else was around, they could converse freely.

"You seems confident about the boy's result, Huang'er~"

"You're back, Daji. How was it?"

If he failed, this congratulatory meal would be really sad...

"Well..." Akamaru snickered. "It's quite fun. I made a little girl cry, that's about it."

He sauntered away after leaving that bomb.

"..."

The heck, what was that about? So, which was it? Did he make it or not??

Because she was too distracted, the steak ended up getting slightly burned.