Author's note: Reviewers opinions of where this story is going or where it should go or whom it should involve are not appreciated. Otherwise, thank you for reviewing!
The Naruto franchise does not belong to me but to Kishimoto, even if he's taking his sweet time about it.
Prologue: From the Ashes
Even if I drop in fatigue,
I'll drop towards Heaven
Even if my wings are torn and broken
I'll collide against the sun
Scorching my body
'til I become a bird
By death from fire
'til all my weakness turns to ash.
Bring it on -
I will never die.
Soul – Epik High
With head bowed down, long ink-black hair covering her pale face, she looked into the compact mirror she held and slowly released the anchors that bound the subtle blanket of chakra woven across her pupils in tiny strands. With the anchors dissipated, the genjutsu quickly fell apart.
Looking closely into the mirror, her reflecting image revealed the truth that she'd denied and kept hidden away for the last three years: the prized, milky-white pupils characteristic of the almighty Hyuuga were quickly metamorphosing into the dark gray pupils of an outsider.
Only mere flickers of milky-white remained here and there among the irises but even they were starting to fade.
She stared blankly as ice began to form in her belly and spine.
Still in a state of denial, she quickly formed the seals that had been drilled into her from birth. Activating her blood-line, the Byakugan, she again looked into the mirror and instantly recoiled back from shock.
Instead of the familiar enlarged white pupils she expected to see, dark gray eyes stared hauntingly back at her. Instead of the engorged blood vessels on her temples, only a slightly raised vein or two that quickly molded itself back into her skin as she watched the mirror.
Even her vision had not been left untouched.
The black-and-white, 359-degree vision that was an integral part of her blood-line had been reduced to a mere 180 degrees with color seeping in at the far edges. She could barely see more than 15 feet ahead of her as the suns' last rays died in the encroaching twilight.
Numb with the realization, she automatically turned off her Byakugan before slipping a hand into her hip pouch to remove the container that held the anchor balm she used for her genjutsu. Lavender, rosemary, and heliotrope had been carefully ground into a fine paste along with yarrow root oil to create an herbal anchor that would hold long after the mixture had been washed off. It provided an extra layer of insurance in case the worst happened.
Kurenai had given her the idea many years ago when she'd shown a newly-formed Team Eight a low-level genjutsu that lit up her red eyes and gave them a slightly hellish glow.
She had not only taken the idea but she'd broken it down and refined it to a degree that for all the power of the Hyuuga, they could not sense the infinitesimal amount of chakra that she used in her disguise.
If anybody noticed, not that anyone had, who would be fool enough to question the build-up of chakra around the eyes of a Hyuuga? Not even Sakura-chan or Tsunade had noticed during her past yearly physical exams.
It was a small blessing that allowed her to frantically look for answers while avoiding the attention of her clan and people of higher authority.
But now, particularly with the absence of the blood vessels, what was she to do? She couldn't hide her face with her long hair forever.
Her mind churning frantically, she formed the seals she needed with her left hand as her right hand popped open the cap and dipped into the tiny pot of balm. The calming smell of lavender, rosemary and heliotrope steadied her trembling hands as she smeared minute amounts onto the inner and outer corners of both eyes.
Drawing barely visible strands of chakra from the fire inside her, she nudged them with her will to expel from the tenketsu in her right palm. Once she had enough to work with, she cut off the rest and rolled what she had in her palm into two balls of thread. Rolling the threads into balls allowed her to both gauge the correct amount of chakra and were easier to place. Assured that everything was just a hair thicker than the last disguise she'd made two months ago, she finally placed one into each eye.
Immediately, she could feel the tiny balls of chakra unraveling back into threads. They began to knit together, forming a thin layer of warmth over each eye, as she completed the last of the seals needed with both hands. The process was quick, the ends taking root into the herbal anchors at each temple and inner eye much like a plant setting down roots, and checking her compact revealed the end result - perfectly pale, color-less pupils.
Checking for any imperfections and finding none, she slowly put both compact and jar into her pouch. Berefit of anything else to do, she suddenly felt light-headed and dizzy, leaning back against the giant tree trunk that cradled her in its' roots.
Her long lashes fluttered shut in disbelief as for the first time, in three years, she stopped lying to herself and fully acknowledged the reality of her situation and the bleakness of her future.
"I'm losing my blood-line," Hinata whispered hoarsely.