First I
Hyuga Hiashi definitively knows when everything went downhill. His firstborn daughter, Hyuga Hinako, was the perfect heir – smart, beautiful, powerful. She learned quickly and efficiently, she was merciless and confident in her decisions, she inherited every trace of her mother's beauty. She has her mother's fair skin and her dark navy, almost black really, hair. Her mother has a particular fondness for styling it for her each day.
Hyuga Hiashi definitively knows when everything went downhill. His firstborn daughter, Hyuga Hinako, was three years old. She was the perfect heir, even at such a young age – curious, quick to learn, inquisitive, quiet, strict. She adhered to the laws of the Hyuga clan with every fiber of her being. She was filled with light and smiles, especially when she learned that her mother and father were planning to have more children.
Hyuga Hiashi definitively knows when everything went downhill. His firstborn daughter, Hyuga Hinako, was three years old. She, as the firstborn, was named the heiress to the clan, his successor. She didn't carry the curse mark that would erase her Byakugan from her body upon her death. During the dead of the night, she was stolen from her bedroom. He definitively remembers the chaos and panic that coursed through and around him. His beloved wife was in tears, sobbing inconsolably as one of the elders comforted her. Hiashi had deployed teams to search for her, and he would have gone with them if it weren't for the death grip his wife had on his hand. Dear God, he can still remember his brother's cheeky smile and pat on the shoulder.
"Take care of the missus, we'll find her!"
Hyuga Hiashi remembers Uchiha Fugaku slamming his fist on his door just as dawn began to arise and how fear and panic tired his wife into slumber. He remembers Uchiha Fugaku's grim, but relieved, expression.
"We've found her. Mikoto is looking after her."
Hyuga Hiashi remembers racing to the Uchiha compound, leaving Fugaku just steps behind him, and slamming the door open. Decorum, formalities, and pleasantries forgotten as he raced through the Uchiha compound, locking onto his daughter's chakra with ease. He remembers slamming the rice paper door open to see his daughter, three years old and far too young, clutching onto Fugaku's son's shirt. Her eyes were wide open and unfocused and the once-white towels were splattered with red. He barely registered that Mikoto had a kunai out and a fiercely protective look on her face as she crouched by the two children. Once they both registered the identity of the other, the two parents relaxed.
"Hinako is uninjured, she's just in shock."
Hyuga Hiashi remembers how his daughter, Hyuga Hinako, three years old and far too young, clutched tightly onto Fugaku's son's black t-shirt. He remembers how Fugaku's son held onto her just as tightly, the boy's frail, skinny arms coiled tightly around his daughter in a protective embrace. He remembers how Fugaku's son's eyes snapped open when he took one step towards them. He remembers the three-year-old boy childishly glaring at him, as if he could pose a threat to the leader of the Hyuga Clan. He remembers how Hinako burst into tears when he woke her up. He remembers how Fugaku's son helped her sit upright and, with his tiny, frail hands, wiped the tears away from his daughter's chubby cheeks. He remembers how, with that one gesture, Fugaku's son soothed his daughter into peace.
Hyuga Hiashi definitively and definitely knows when everything went downhill.