Chapter 1:
The thump of an arrow hitting wood echoed through the forest, followed in quick succession by three more on the same target. Takanome Hyuga nodded in satisfaction as he lowered his bow and moved to retrieve them.
He glanced up. The sun was setting above the thick canopy, meaning that he had to unfortunately cut his training short. Two months prior, the Hokage had instituted a curfew for minors. He knew it was to protect clan children like him, but there was no reason he should have to obey it at home. Especially since he was about to graduate and become a Genin.
He was going to be so bored after dinner. Uncle Himura always found him before he could even think about sneaking off to the dojo to get some extra training in. No, it was far more important that he listen to boring clan politics. He groaned, wiping the back of his hand across his forehead.
He cleared his mind of such rebellious thoughts as he entered the clan head's house. He removed his sandals silently and lent his bow and quiver against the wall. No need to declare that you were home in a Hyuga household. Takanome made his way to the dining room, where he found the rest of the household about to take their seats. He bowed and took his place at the end of table, with Hiashi on his left and Hizashi on his right.
"Nice of you to join us Takanome, how goes your training?" Himura asked, although his tone lacked the curiosity it normally did. The Hyuga clan head had his byakugan on, which Takanome guessed meant he was reading something on his desk down the hall.
"Very well sir, I am fully confident in my ability to pass the exam tomorrow," Takanome replied formally. "However, I would appreciate some clarification a few stances from forms 4 and 7" he continued.
"I am sure one of the twins would be willing to assist you after dinner," the clan head replied, giving his younger son a questioning glace, veins still bulging.
"It would be my pleasure, I remember having difficulty in those areas when I was your age as well," Hizashi gave Takanome a small smile, which was mirrored by the identical face across the table. Dinner continued mostly silently, with Himura concentrating on whatever he was doing and the others quietly picking away at their food with only the occasional burst of conversation.
A few hours later, Takanome was running through the last few steps of a gentle fist kata in the house's dojo, with Hizashi correcting him or offering advice when he saw something that could be improved upon. As he finished the last stance a frown marred his face, not escaping the notice of his cousin.
"Speak your mind Taka," the older Hyuga said, "what is troubling you?"
"Well, since that the village is at war right now, can we really afford to spare multiple Jonin to do something as unimportant as train genin?" Takanome answered.
"I would disagree that the training of genin is unimportant, but you are right, the village cannot spare a dozen Jonin, we need every trained ninja we have out fighting. Unfortunately, this means rookie Genin too. Instead of being assigned to a Jonin sensei tomorrow, you will be assigned to low risk jobs in the war effort instead," Hizashi confirmed, his facial expression betraying only a hint of anger at the unfortunate situation. Takanome nodded before dropping his head. He had expected as much, but it was still disappointing.
"Enough of such a depressing subject, I haven't seen your archery skills in action for a while, perhaps a demonstration is in order?"
Takanome face instantly lifted at the prospect and he quickly retrieved his bow and quiver from where he had left it by the shoji. However, as he began to notch an arrow, he realised something that might pose a slight problem.
"Hizashi, we're inside, I have nothing to shoot at," Takanome said, feeling like a bit of an idiot for not realising something so obvious. His cousin merely laughed, before gesturing towards himself.
"I'll be your target today Taka. I'll perform a rotation but leave a small gap in it. Try to hit me through that gap."
"But what if I injure you?"
"If you manage to get it through, I will be more than fast enough to stop it. Now, let us begin."
The mirth drained from Hizashi's face as he settled into the ready stance of gentle fist form three, legs splayed wide, knees bent, dominant arm in front, palm down. He took a single short breath, activated his byakugan and began to spin, slowly at first but speeding up slowly until he became a blur of motion. Then a line of sky blue chakra encircled him, joined by another, then another, then another, until Hizashi was completely covered except for a fist sized hole that raced around the circumference of the blue sphere at lightning speed.
The call of "Eight Trigrams: palm rotation!" echoed throughout the dojo.
Takanome took a deep inwards breath, its exhale accompanying the raising of his plain wooden bow. He reached back, drawing a single steel tipped arrow from his quiver. He nocked the arrow to the bowstring, feeling the subtle vibrations echo through the slightly frayed fibre, worn from consistent use. He would have to get it replaced soon, but now was the time to focus. His Byakugan flared, enhanced perception zooming in on his target. He slowly inhaled, using the additional force to gradually draw the bow as he had countless times, its limbs creaking slightly under the load as it reached full draw. He aimed at the height of the small hole and began to tap his finger against the arrows shaft each time it passed by, matching its rhythm.
Tap
Tap
Tap
Tap
Tap
Now!
With an explosive release of pent up kinetic energy, the arrow flew true, swiftly closing in on its target. Takanome willed it onwards, flowing each inch of its flight with bated breath. The arrow neared the wall of pure chakra as the hole spun around to meet it. The arrowhead entered the breach in the absolute defence of the Hyuga clan.
But it did not make it all the way through.
The edge of the rupture sliced into the arrow's shaft, splintering it and sending the shards flying across the room. Hizashi's rotation quickly slowed, then stopped. He looked over to where Takanome stood disappointed, head hung in shame at his failure. He made his way over to his younger cousin and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. The two's eyes met and Hizashi gave him a smile.
"Do not worry Taka, your performance was admirable," the boy gave a dejected nod before straightening up slightly.
"Now it's getting late, you need your rest for tomorrow. Hiashi and I are heading out on a mission early, so I won't see you until I get back." Hizashi continued, dropping his hand back to his side.
"Well next time you see me, I'll be sure to have one of these," a smile broke out on Takanome's face as he reached up and tapped Hizashi's forehead protector, before leaving and making his way to his bedroom.
He performed his ablutions and changed into his pyjamas. As he lay on his bed, he closed his eyes and activated his byakugan, allowing his point of view to drift over the moonlit village. He often did this before he went to sleep, it gave him a sense of peace after an eventful day.
Except it seemed tonight not all was peaceful.
As his perspective floated over the village gate, he spotted a cloud of dust coming up the main road that lead to the gates. He tried to move closer, outside the bounds of the village, but he was at the limit to his vision. As the dust cloud neared, he realised it was a squad of ninja running at full speed. As they passed through the gate, one of the arrivals disappeared in a body flicker in the direction of the Hokage's tower. Ignoring him, Takanome focused in on the group who had stopped just inside the gate. There were three people left behind, wait no, there were four.
One of the men had been carried on the back of his one of his comrades and he looked to be in horrible shape. His dark hair was wild, his skin was covered in what appeared to be chakra burns and his eyes were screwed shut in pain. The man's hands and face were covered in a layer of dried blood, as was his standard Jonin uniform. He seemed vaguely familiar to Takanome, perhaps he had seen the man around the village?
As he manoeuvred to try and get a better look at the man's face, the Hokage himself as well of a tall man who he recognised as Jiraiya of the Sannin body flickered into the square. Jiraiya immediately rushed to the man's side, seeming highly distressed and evidently speaking to the man's teammates. Takanome tried to get into a position where he could read the white-haired man's lips, but as his perspective dropped to ground level, the Hokage slowly turned and looked directly at him. The Hokage offered a sad smile to the shocked Takanome. His mouth formed the words "Run along little Hyuga, this is not your place," and he waved his hand in dismissal. Still stunned that he had been detected, Takanome reluctantly deactivated his Byakugan, eventually drifting off to sleep.
Hiruzen signed as he felt the tell-tale spacial distortion and accompanying chakra signature subside. He walked over to where his student was beginning to help the dark-haired Jonin up off the ground. As Jiraiya helped him stand up, the man groggily opened his eyes, which were extremely bloodshot, as if he had been crying heavily. They darted around the group, lingering for a second on Jiraiya, before focusing on the Hokage. The man gave a half bow, clearly causing himself pain, before speaking with a voice hoarse from screaming.
"I have a report for you sir," he said, coughing harshly as he finished the sentence, eyes glancing towards the storage scroll they had brought back, the kanji for dead body present on the tag on the front.
"You can give it to me in a hospital bed considering the state you're in, we'll have Tsunade take a look at you. Everyone else, you are dismissed, take a few days off, you've earned it," Hiruzen turned back to the man that some believed could be a candidate for his successor as the rest of his team disappeared, motioning that they should begin walking towards the hospital.
"Now tell me, what happened… Fugaku,"