My Eyes
By Shiranui the Brave
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 1: Awakenings
The program is simple enough, thought Hyuuga Hinata, as she brushed her long indigo-colored hair towards her ear. She was sitting by the shore of a river that formed a sizeable creek after the formation of a waterfall from a cliff that overlooked its path. The river had passed all the way through Konoha, and hence she could easily retrace her steps. Given that she had been trekking for almost three days now, she decided that she was a good distance from her home, and thought that this quiet and quaint little creek would make the perfect area for her training for the next few months or so.
The most important task ahead for the first year is to first increase my chakra reserves. Hinata looked at the waterfall as the vast amount of water it consisted of descended from a height of about 25 feet. Tree climbing and water walking should do the trick, and if I could combine the two together, even better though Kurenai-sensei herself wasn't too good at it. Hinata unzipped her dark blue and off-white coloured hooded jacket, revealing a tight fitting dark black chain shirt. She took of her headband bearing the Konoha symbol on its polished metal as well and tied it around her forehead, and then proceeded to braid her long silky hair so that it would cause as little interference as possible.
"Let's see," said Hinata, taking out a pen and paper. "I'll get up by 6 every morning and practice Jyuuken katas whilst standing on the water for about two hours. Then I'll take an hour's rest and proceed to practice with Tsumugari for about…hmmm….Three hours should be good enough. Then I'll take another break for about an hour…" Hinata snuck a peek at the numerous utilities in her oversized travel pack. There was an entire carton on soldier pills, for those times when she would run out of charka in the middle of her training and about three dozen scrolls, detailing the various techniques of every element possible. She manually checked them before she left: 5 wind scrolls, 3 fire scrolls, 4 water scrolls, 5 earth scrolls, 2 lighting scrolls (her father still hadn't forgiven the Hidden Village of Cloud for trying to kidnap her when she was young and completely outlawed the presence of any Raiton techniques or scrolls in the Hyuuga household, which led her to borrow them from Tsunade's personal library), 3 medical scrolls, 1 darkness scroll, 2 forbidden scrolls, 7 Hyuuga technique scrolls, and about 5 sword technique scrolls. A few sets of clothes, 30 shuriken, 10 kunai, about two weeks worth of eating provisions, a few books on strategy, planning, how to play shogi, the Hyuuga family history, the numerous jutsu that existed in the world (that was about 900 pages long), the various weaponry that shinobi utilized, and some utensils, personal hygiene tools, and cleaning detergent rounded out the roster.
"Right. Now…from 1 PM till 5 PM I'll spend time studying and learning about the different techniques that I need to acquire. And from 5 till 11, I'll spend time training my physical strength. This looks to be a pretty airtight schedule. Ah, before I forget…"
Hinata took out a blindfold from her pocket, which contained a seal in its center. Hinata pricked her finger and wiped some of her blood on the seal, and when it glowed blue, she smiled and tied it around her eyes. The blindfold was specially invented by her cousin Neji as a means for Hyuuga members to train their other senses rather than relying only on their Byakugan in a battle, stating that 'preserving you own chakra is just as important as cutting off the enemy's'. The cloth was made of a special fabric that absorbed chakra when wrapped around a specific part of the body, and combined with a slightly modified Hyuuga family seal, the blindfold would effectively absorb any chakra that would be used to activate the Byakugan, hence rendering it useless for as long as the cloth was secured.
Hinata tried to activate the Byakugan in the darkness but felt her chakra exiting her body without actually having the desired bloodline's effect. Satisfied, Hinata raised the cloth and proceeded to walk on to the surface of the water.
This exercise, along with the sword training, was not without any special terms. Taking a page out of Lee and Gai-Sensei's book, she made the following punishments list—if she fell into the water from chakra depletion, she was to take a soldier pill and then proceed to do 30 laps around the entire forest area. If she couldn't finish any of the sword-swinging exercises, she would have to do 200 pushups, first with both arms and then 100 pushups for each arm individually, 200 sit-ups, 200 palm thrusts on a tree, 200 kicks, 200 forearm shots, 200 kneeshots…the list went on and she would only be allowed to stop only if the time allotted for her Tsumugari was up. With all this in mind, Hinata began her training.
Good grief, Hinata thought, as she lay sprawled on the ground, panting for air and aching from exhaustion. It had already been two weeks since she started her training, and remaining steadfast in her desire to not become dependent on the soldier pills, she wanted to rely on her own body's chakra renewal capacities. She had fallen into the water quite a few times since she began, and then there were the times when she simply plunged the Tsumugari into the ground and leaned on it for support from the exhaustion. Hinata had passed out about three times since the 14 days had gone by.
I'm glad I added yoga and meditation to my training. I must thank Tsunade-sama for that book…This…This is so hard…And so tiring…But I won't give up… Since she didn't have amazing regeneration abilities, any bruises, cuts, muscle pains and overall tiredness that weren't cured from a good night's sleep would carry over to the next day. Not that they were as painful but it was compounded by the additional physical suffering she had to undergo. Thankfully, her hardwork was paying off. Her chakra control was already more refined than before—she now knew how to apply chakra to her ears, her nose (which, to her mortifying shock, was almost a punishment in itself, for unlike Kiba, she took in a hundred smells at once, causing her to cough and her eyes to water profusely; she still had a long way to go before she could get her nose to magnify a single smell), and even her skin. However, even without chakra, her other senses improved, as she could now sense various air-currents and detect enough sounds, both miniscule and large-scale, to navigate the forest, train, cook and even wash her clothes perfectly. She wasn't sure just how much her speed had improved, but she found that utilizing the Tsumugari was becoming easier as her sword strikes became more rapid and full power.
For food and clothes, she simply had to travel in the direction of Konoha and she would reach a small town where she could purchase basic goods (no ninja utilities, however). It was also where she sent various postcards to her family informing them about her health (she made sure to omit the 'I-think-Neji-will-kill-whoever-he-thinks-is-responsible-for-my-various-pains-and-sufferings-if-he-sees-me' part, though). Money was not much of a problem, since she could just withdraw as much as she needed from her personal savings when ever she visited the local accountant.
Hinata shifted her gaze to the Tsumugari and smiled widely, almost laughing as she panted. "This is pretty nice, though, isn't Tsumi? Living on my own, watching the stars without a care in the world, getting stronger and stronger…"She thought back to her training with her old team-mates, Shino and Kiba, about a year and a half ago as they partook of their second Chuunin exams.
"Hinata, there's no need to be strain yourself! Shino and I will protect you in the forest, just like we did before!"
Hinata stopped slapping the wooden post with her bare hands and looked over at her team-mate. "K-Kiba-kun…That's n-not the reason for my e-efforts…" She stammered mildly, more from her natural habit then from exhaustion and pain. "E-Eto…I just…just want to be s-s-stronger…Like Neji-nii-san and Naruto-kun…"
"That is admirable." The sentence came from Shino, who was sitting on a tree-stump, as he emotionlessly looked at her. "Though this is a team effort, we appreciate your drive to increase the effectiveness of your role."
"Hinata, don't worry," said Kiba, his voice turning more serious, "I won't let anything happen to you this time. Even if I break my legs, I'll stay by you to keep you from getting injured. Eh, Akamaru!" The white dog, who had grown to almost three times his original size since his last Chuunin exam, barked joyously. "Well, I'll catch up with you later, Hinata! Akamaru and I have gotta perfect our newest jutsu! Ja ne!"
Hinata smiled meekly and looked upon her two comrades. She was the luckiest girl in the world to have two powerful, understanding friends by her side. They would protect her no matter what. They would help her become a Chuunin like she always wanted, and fetch the acknowledgement she always desired. She would become stronger!
The thought suddenly froze in her head. Her smile disappeared. How? She asked herself this question again and again, and then proceeded to slam the post with renewed vigor. She felt her palms becoming stiff and ache. She stopped neither the palm thrusts nor her self-questioning.
A few hours later, it was night. She was all alone. Panting with exhaustion, Hinata looked upon her palms, which were now mixture of blood, black bruises, and internal crimson markings. They shook as she held them up to her eyes. She looked at the stars and asked herself once more: How?
How would she become stronger if all she did was rely on others?
She continued to look at her palms for a little longer and after a while, started to sob and she fell to her knees as the hot tears flowed down her cheeks. She hugged her knees to her chest as tightly as possible as she started to shake from her weeping. "It hurts…" she said weakly, with frustration apparent in her meek, maliceless voice. "It hurts so much…"
The next day, Hinata woke up and looked around inside her tent for a few scrolls. She decided to take a break from her usual routine at least once every two weeks or so she could practice the techniques she studied, as well go into town to restock her essentials. After brushing her teeth, eating her breakfast and taking a bath in the creek (with no fear of having to punish herself, it was unusually refreshing to her spirit), she came back to her tent and grabbed a couple of scrolls.
Katon: Great Fireball no Jutsu, Suiton: Water Wall no Jutsu, Doton: Inner Decapitation no Jutsu, Medical Jutsu: Healing no Jutsu…and finally… Hinata dropped all the scrolls in front of her and looked at the remaining scroll in her hands. A mix of fear, wonder and curiosity washed over her eyes upon looking at this ancient jutsu, as if not sure if she could do it or not, and yet, she smirked at the challenge.
"Eight Trigrams Ancient Technique," she said humbly. "Divine Valkyrie."
She made her way on to the water's surface and made the required handseals as quickly as possible. Over the past few weeks, she didn't use any Ninjutsu but this didn't mean she couldn't practice the hand seals. In fact whenever she was resting, her hands would unconsciously go through the various seals for each of the jutsus, again and again (and sometimes in her sleep as well, unbeknownst to her).
"Suiton: Water Wall!" The water slowly rose up from the creek and began to encase her. I must imagine my chakra forming in tides, and must visualize the currents and waves in them as they form a solid rectangular cage around my body. The water then surrounded her on all sides and remained steady until Hinata released the jutsu. She tried the technique once more, eager to improve the speed of its formation. After two more times, she had managed a perfect water wall, though the timing and formation speed were still a bit lacking.
Hinata leaped off the water and landed on the soft grass near her camp area. Taking out the scroll of the Doton: Earth Decapitation no Jutsu, she looked over its contents again. Imagine myself sinking into the ground. Feel the chakra exerting its own pull, from beneath the soil, and push, from the force of gravity. Envelop my body in this chakra and…
Hinata had managed to perform the technique after performing the customary hand-seals. Only she was shocked when she resurfaced. Did I just…She looked over at the hole which marked her entry into the earth's depths. It was a perfect spiral shape, as if a drill had just gone through it. The hole from which she popped out of was the same. Hinata looked at the spiral pattern intently. I didn't notice it, but I was spinning for sure…Is this an after-effect of learning the Kaiten? An idea suddenly came to Hinata's head. She assumed her Kaiten stance and emitted the requisite chakra while keeping her mind focused on the Doton jutsu.
"Hakkeshou! Kaiten!"
Hinata spun in a 360-degree motion as the angular momentum of the chakra pushed away a large amount of leaves, soil and grass, as she closed her eyes. However, when she opened her eyes again, she looked on in mirthful disbelief. She was watching the Kaiten from a third-person perspective, and in two to three seconds, it dissipated. Using the spiral movement of the Kaiten in tandem with the Doton technique even gives me a speed boost! Hinata climbed out of the hole and smiled confidently. If only she could show this combination of techniques to a certain Branch House member. He would never see it coming. She could use the Byakugan to keep track of her vision while performing the two tandem spins. I wonder if I could use other techniques together like that…Hinata giggled lightly and knocked herself on the top of her head softly. Of course I can. That's what being a shinobi's all about.
After a half hour of rest, Hinata took out the next scroll. She closed it immediately and then tried to perform the technique. And about five seconds later…
HOT!! HOT!! It's like having a pot of chillis shoved down my throat!! Hinata coughed out a bit of smoke as her eyes turned red with tears. Guess I'm not a fire-type…I'll need an instructor for that technique…So was the tale of the first technique that the young Hyuuga heiress performed unsuccessfully.
The medical jutsu wasn't difficult, and it required no handseals but its main drawback was that its user needed precise chakra control. Hinata made a small cut on her right forearm and as she concentrated on her left hand to make a small greenish glowing chakra, she brought it close to the cut. To say she was nervous was an understatement—Hinata received no training from any medic nin, much less from the great Tsunade-sama so she knew that the technique would not work on her first try. She immediately pushed those negative thoughts away and slowly slipped into a zen-like state where she focused on nothing but the chakra now flowing through her left hand and how it would slowly close her wounds, stimulate platelets to stop the bleeding and send the required stimulus to her nerves to halt the already existing feeling of pain. Hinata closed her eyes and concentrated fervently.
A few minutes passed. Hinata immediately snapped out of it and looked at her forearm. She sighed upon seeing the blood still trickling in a small thread from her wound and proceeded to bandage it after applying some antiseptic. This is the one I wanted the most to work, she thought as she lay back on the grass. Why? I focused so hard…She brought her wounded forearm on to the ground with a slight amount of force, as if absent-mindedly reprimanding herself. Several thoughts went through her mind as she continued to bring her forearm up and down. Maybe I should give up medical jutsus until I can gain better charka control…I'm pretty good in Doton and Suiton, so I shouldn't feel so down…I guess. Suddenly, she looked at her bandaged forearm more carefully. Wait…if I was pounding it on the ground shouldn't I feel a slight bit of pain? And…is that dust on my bandages?
Hinata immediately sat up and looked to her right. Her eyes turned wide with shock.
All the grass was gone. All the leaves were gone. Seven spiral-shaped holes, that looked to be about six feet deep, were left in their place.
Hinata continued to look for a few minutes, when a quiet "Nani?" finally escaped her lips. Hinata looked at her forearm and tried to remember what she was trying to focus on when she was molding that green mass of chakra. She once again focused it into her left hand but instead placed it on her right leg. Still no visible effect, though the chakra was absorbed into the appendage. Hinata looked at a tree, activated her Byakugan and then proceeded to perform an overhead kick. After the kick came down, she looked upon the tree. It was cleaved in half, but she was more surprised by her leg. Before it came into contact with the tree and just as it grazed its surface…In that time period…It became an axe…My leg became a green glowing axe, or at least it was covered by such…
Hinata didn't know what she did wrong while performing the medical ninjutsu. All she knew at that instant was that she couldn't care less.
Hinata's gaining some wicked powers, no? Trust me, it only gets wilder. Next! Chapter 2: Raven!
Author's Note: Don't worry about the explanations behind some of the techniques. It's not that I don't want to give them or I don't know myself. It's just that I want to save them for those moments when Hinata actually has someone to use them on, so please be patient for a while. I'd really appreciate it!
