Alright, this is my first attempt at a Naruto fanfiction. I know Hinata might be out of character, but I want the picture of a confident Hinata, and I was waiting for final exams to come, so I did this. Comments and criticisms welcome.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I won't be writing fanfiction otherwise, nay?

When the Kids Take Over

In the Hyuuga household, there was a Clan Head, the Main family and the Branch family, but none of them held the real power. The Clan Head certainly did not.

The Council of Elders did.

Whatever decision the Clan Head wanted to make, it was always discussed with the Council, and they, the older, the wicker and the more convincing lot, decided to veto that or not. In the real rules (which had all been forgotten), if the Clan Head so wishes, he or she could do it without the Elders' knowledge or acceptance, but in a house where people can see through walls and deep into souls, that didn't happen often.

The Clan Heads do or say whatever they like, but they still had to do something when the Elders so wished. That seat at the top was nothing more than an outer face holding a powerful puppet controlled by a group of men.

For centuries, it had always been like that, and the Council of Elders could not be blamed when Hinata Hyuuga, daughter of Hiashi Hyuuga, stepped up to be the next clan head. They had observed the heir ever since she was young, they had seen her as the meek girl who always stuttered and did the finger thing, the one who never dared to speak, not because she didn't care, like Neji, but because she was too scared to.

They've settled with that image, and in the last six years, their observation on her had been a little more lax.

Well, the old snakes were in for a shock.

Nobody ever told them – and they never truly saw – that there was a gold-haired boy with wild blue eyes and a defiant, stubborn attitude who was, to put it simply, a change machine that mixed up everybody's mind and changed them, and the girl happened to be in love with him. Hinata was sharp in her own ways, and after hanging around that kid for awhile, encouraged by her teammates, she began gaining confidence. With Neji coaching and some words from her friends, she began wielding a mask around her family. More and more, she was better with the mask, and while her skills on the field improved (due to "proper training", the Elders agreed with themselves), she remained the meek girl in her clansmen' eyes.

In the last three years that led up to her inheritance of her father's place, Hinata had done her own researches and dug up some rights of the Clan Head that had been purposefully ignored, and she had worked to improve so that she no longer stuttered, so that she would be confident. By the time she held the title Clan Head, she was ready.

The Council of Elders, for the first time in many years, faced trouble with the new Clan Head.

Often, the leader began swelled up with pride and eagerness and they argued, but then they eventually softened under pressure or other things, but this one – this one was different. She was bred differently, she had lived a life of a loser once before and knew exactly how the lower members of the Branch family felt, so she wanted to improve that, and she did.

First week into her office, Hinata worked with clansmen that came from her generation and one or two back to put a veto on the Cage Seal. Of course, the Elders said no, but then Neji, her bodyguard and by now second-in-command, along with Hanabi, made some subtle mentions of the fact that the clan as a whole also had a say in it, and as the voting came down, with a few tweaks here and there, Hinata won.

The Council came out of that one sour-faced, and assassination attempts began.

First attempt was met by Hanabi, who used a 64 Strikes and a Kaiten to kick the man flying. It was a hired one, and the Elders sent men to clean him up before he was found out, so they got out of that one pretty smooth.

The next one wasn't so smooth. Neji intercepted the second attempt, used a 64 Strikes, a Kaiten and captured the man, alive and intact for questioning. He was then handed over for interrogation, and within a month, while the Elders tried everything they could to erase the piece of evidence, the proofs were handed over, and nearly a third of the Council was sent packing, so to speak.

After that, the assassination attempts backed off.

First month into her office, Hinata brought out the old rules long forgotten but never truly erased and slapped into the Council's face with a gentle smile with teeth underneath that really shouldn't have been the meek girl's that as Clan Head, she was supposed to be the one who make decisions, not the Council. They existed to give her insights and such, but the decision was hers, not theirs, as they have rightfully assumed all these generations.

Those rules were reestablished firmly, and even though nobody showed it outwardly in case of the Elders, who had spies everywhere scattered through the clan, there was a quiet cup of sake in cheers for Hinata's rule every now and then.

And so, Hinata pushed on and on, pulling out facts and getting support from most of her clan, winning them over if needed, until, by the time Uzumaki Naruto became the next Hokage, there was no need for him to change anything for the Hyuuga. They've settled things with themselves just fine.

While all this was happening, Hiashi Hyuuga, now old and retired, sat in his room, a cup of hot tea in his hands, smiling wider than he ever had since he was twelve, watching children run around on the porch and laughing, none of them bearing the Cage Seal, the same curse that had separated him and his brother and brought out an entire wretched tale of tragedy.

Now, they never will bear that curse again. Hinata made sure of it.

I might make this into a series of one-shots about how the Rookie Nine stepped up to take their senior's places. Depending on the response, I'll see if you want me to continue or not.

Don't forget to review!

~the Apprentice