Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, not only would the series be a lot different, but it would also mean that I have a smidgen of writing talent.
Rotting Thunderbirds
Prologue
Generally, stories start by describing a place of some kind. An action sequence usually follows, introductions are made, and the prologue is complete. If not that, it's probably a story told through the first person view, and the beginning is mostly the main character monologuing and introducing him/herself.
Sorry, I digress. Anyway, my entire life was anything but usual, so I'm not going to do either of those. Instead, I will start by talking about my parents, my clans (yes, clans), and why I think politics (especially clan politics) was such a despicable thing:
My mom's name had been Uchiha Sayako. My dad's – Hyūga Sarasu. He was of the branch house.
My conception was a pretty big deal. Not because the two clans were huge rivals, but because a baby between them would be a seriously disadvantaged child in the best case scenario. A kid with those two bloodlines mixed was like inbreeding on steroids, for some reason no one had ever managed figure out. So, in a way, my life was fated to meet a tragic end before it even began.
My birth, on the other hand, was a huge deal. Mainly because I was born more or less a healthy brat. My eyes were weird, and some people might've thought that I was blind, but we were in the Leaf, for God's sake. No one who'd seen a Hyūga even once would bat an eye. Not that I had the Byakugan, mind you. My eyes just looked a lot like it.
Take a moment to think about it. A military village, full of shrewd warmongers, and a helpless kid with a new, potentially powerful bloodline limit, or bloodlimit for short. Had I been intelligent enough to think when I was a baby, I'm pretty sure I would've worried for my future.
There was a big argument about which clan I would be raised in. My situation was no longer interclanatory (no, that's not an actual word, but if I say it enough, you may say it enough, and it could become one!). The Hokage and even various clan heads got a say in it.
In the end, the whole thing was decided when, not even a week after my birth, the Nine-Tails rampaged across the village and took my mother's life. I was to be raised in the Hyūga clan, but since I was just as much of an Uchiha as a Hyūga, the clan was forbidden from marking me with the Caged Bird Seal (if even luck obeyed the rule of economics that stated that, in order to receive something, you had to give something of equal value in return, I think that's where all my luck went).
That also meant that I spent more time with Hiashi, the Hyūga clan head, than with my father. Granted, it wasn't that big of a loss, since Sarasu wasn't going to win any Daddy of the Year awards anytime soon, but it was the thought that counted. Despite living with Hiashi, I wasn't his daughter, and the prick made that very clear.
Since my birth was an unprecedented event, and since I carried a crossover of two of the most powerful bloodlimits in the entire Leaf village, the expectations on my shoulders were very large and heavy ones. My preset goal in life was either being a powerful weapon or a lab rat (unfortunately, my child self didn't quite grasp the full meaning of 'lab rat' until it was too late, but that's a story for another time).
I was most certainly not a good kid. At least, not in Hiashi's books. I didn't like practicing taijutsu, and I definitely didn't like studying. In short, I didn't like anything that was pointlessly (in my opinion) exertive or boring. I was a tomboy and only really cared about having fun. Additionally, my dōjutsu (which half the village was awaiting with a baited breath) didn't seem like it planned on awaking/activating anytime soon.
My routine consisted of getting up at 5:30 AM, doing morning stretches that I didn't despise, and Jūken practice that I really did despise. I then was finally allowed to have breakfast, after which I headed to the Academy at 8 AM. I often skipped classes with others, which was the sole reason why going to the Academy usually lifted my spirits. In the afternoon, at around 3 o'clock, when the Academy ended, I went to the Uchiha district. Until Itachi slaughtered them, that is. Finally, at 6 PM, I could return to the Hyūga for dinner, and later, sleep.
Yeah, tiring and boring.
Since I didn't actually have the Byakugan, and didn't know if my own bloodlimit – if I even had one — would give me the same sight, I couldn't really learn Jūken. I learned the movements and all, even had expelling chakra correctly down to almost a pat, but that didn't really have much of a point if I didn't know where to aim that chakra.
That was why the Uchiha taught me their own taijutsu style. If my eyes turned out to be more like the Sharingan, that would come in handy.
If my eyes were completely unique, well, extra knowledge hadn't hurt anybody. According to them, of course. My sore body would vehemently disagree.
In the end, while I was forced to learn the basics, I didn't really get into the more advanced Uchiha taijutsu techniques, mainly because, y'know, there were no more Uchiha to teach me.
Obviously, I learned a lot more than just taijutsu — any ninja who wasn't called Rock Lee had to learn at least the basics of nearly all ninja fields — but that can wait for another time.
This, ladies and gentlemen, concludes the lousy prologue.
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Oh, almost forgot the most important part: the name's Setsuna. Hyūga Setsuna. Nice to meet you.