Once, there was a boy.
He may have been born first, but he was second in many ways to his younger relative.
Although he was of Hyuga heritage, he did not possess the Byakūgan.
However, his cousin did.
'Look, Sensei!' When he was seven, he could make lightning dance around his palms and flicker on his fingertips. But his cousin did it at four, and with more lightning, and more control.
'Watch this!' At the humane age of six, he could use chakra to jump very high into the air, do a backflip, and hit twenty targets with kunai without looking.
But his cousin went and did it at five, and did a better flip, and hit twice as many targets.
He tried for years to gain the Byakūgan. Every day he would practice three times - before breakfast, after lunch, before dinner. His cousin, however, at the age of six, gained the Byakūgan on her first try.
Kumokagure adored her. They dubbed her the Byakūgan Hime. She was to 'lead them to a shining new future with those blessed eyes'.
The boy grew bitter of her abilities. He turned his back, and failed to see the weight of responsibility on her tiny, fragile shoulders. Responsibility that turned into fear. That turned into pain.
He ignored his cousin, and sought a new path.
'What a spoiled child.' The crowds would whisper as he ran through the streets, boasting loudly about how he was to be the youngest Raikage ever.
The boy looked up to the sky and swore on the stars that he would surpass his cousin.
So be it.
X
Hinata picks up her mission and stares at Raikage-Sama.
"Okay..." She said dubiously, raising an eyebrow at Ai. "And you're sure that you want to pair me with Yosōchi?" She asked, frowning at the thought of a mission with her cousin. While he wasn't hyper or mean or stupid or anything of the sort, he was just simply annoying.
The Raikage glared at the Nisezoku (fun fact- Nise means false and Zoku is part of the word Hozoku which means family, Which means hinatas surname is false family) "Are you questioning me?' He said, frowning. The Raikage was famous for his anger, and Hinata could feel a temper-tantrum about to be activated.
'Of course not.' She said hastily, biting her lip. She bowed reluctantly and rushed out of the room.
It takes her a short time to find her cousin's apartment - 716. Without bothering to knock, she pushes open the door and steps inside.
'Disgusting,' she murmurs, staring in horror at her cousin's living room, and leans down to pick up a shirt, still stained with blood and a kunai tear in it, 'Oh Yosō. Honestly.'
He's so crude. No wonder he doesn't have a lady friend. She shakes her head and walks down the small hallway, looking for him. Hinata hears a soft noise, so she pushes open his bedroom door, looking for Yosōchi.
And he's... Currently engaged with a girl. So much for the no-lady-friend comment earlier. Thankfully, the blankets covered the... Would be exposed body parts.
'Oh. Gross. Yosōchi. That's disgusting.'
Yosō jolts in surprise, and whips around to see who it is. He probably gets a good look of his cousin (whom he hasn't seen in a year, by the way) He almost falls out of his bed in his haste and glares at her. 'What the hell are you doing here?'
'Long story... Just... Oh, kami, please cover your body.' Her relative looks down and his face twists up in a grimace. She shudders, turns around swiftly and walks out the door, leaning down to sit against the wall.
Oh, yuck. She shakes her head as if this will rid her of that awful image. She hears soft murmurs and other noises coming from the room.
Yosōchi appeared a few moments later, still tightening his belt buckle. She looked up at him and made a face. He didn't look much different. He still had Byakugan look-alike eyes, mousy-brown hair that flopped and covered these eyes, and his well built figure, not too slender but not too muscular.
'Oh kami...' She gagged, 'I thought I raised you better than that.
Yosōchi punched her on the shoulder, 'Two things,' he said, 'first of all, you didn't raise me, I'm twenty five. You're like nineteen. And we didn't even live in the same house. And I didn't even live near you until I was, like, ten. And, secondly, what the hell do you want?'
She rubbed her shoulder indignantly. 'Rude.' She muttered, shooting her cousin a well disguised glare. 'The Raikage had sent us on a mission.'
His eyebrows shot up. 'Us?' He asked, disbelief coherent in his voice. 'The two of us? Alone?'
'Yes.' She clarified. 'The two of us. On a mission. Alone.'
There was a comfortable silence. Hinata could hear Yosōchi's finger nails tapping the metal of his belt buckle. He licked his lips and glanced down at his feet.
Then suddenly, he locked his jaw and yelled, 'That's a stupid-ass idea!'
Hinata raised her eyebrows, amused. 'Come again?'
'That's just... That's... Wha-...'
'A stupid-ass idea?' She repeated, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. 'You're normally not this crude.'
He gave her a disgusted look, one that said, I'm so disappointed in you. 'What's the mission anyway?'
'Multiple things. I'll explain on the way.' She fiddled with her naginata hanging from her nin-tools. The sharp edge of the blade pricked her palm, and blood began to drip slowly from her hand. Unconsciously, she began wrapping her hands in the drapes of her shirt.
Her cousin took a deep breath in. 'All right, then!' He leaned forward and offered his hand. She rolled her eyes and grasped it, pulling herself up. 'Lets get going.' He declared, 'but first I need to make an announcement to a special friend.' He wiggled his eyebrows at Hinata and marched into his room.
She stood there with one eyebrow raised. One minute passed. She tapped the heel of her foot against the floor. By then two minutes had passed. Feeling rather apprehensive, she opened the door, 'Yosō... We don't have time- Oh, Yosōchi, gross!'
X
She sat on her bed, checking her nin-bag.
'Kunai...' She murmured, 'check. Naginata... Katana... Shuriken... ANBU mask...' Hinata was feeling rather nervous about the mission she and her cousin had been sent on. Things never went well when she was just with Yosōchi. She hadn't been on a mission with her cousin in ten years. The last one... Had been a horrible blow to Kumokagure.
She breathed in, her breath ragged. Tears streamed down her face as she clutched the dead body. She could hear the other people screaming and felt Yosochi's warm figure, sticky with blood, at her side. A horrible taste - like metal and rust - built up in her mouth. She spit it out and saw her own blood. The ground seemed to spin in front of her eyes-
She shook her head. Now was not the time to revisit that memory.
Standing up, Hinata swung her bag on her shoulder and headed out the door. She wasn't surprised to see Yosōchi standing there.
'Whassup?' He said, winking.
'You're an idiot.' She shoved him out of the way and headed down the hall.
X
She pulled on her mask - a black one that covered everything except for her mouth and put her hair up in the ponytail. She was already wearing her black leggings and brown overcoat. The disguise was to blend in with the common people in Suna.
She turned to look at her cousin and was greeted with a raising of his palm. Yo.
All of her life, she had learned to read her cousin's body language. It was very plain and simple.
She shook her head in exasperation, and whapped her brother upside the head. He yelped and cradled his skull, 'Owwwwww!' He whined, pouting. 'You're a freaking jerk!'
'Shut up.' She shoved him with the sole of her boot, and he collapsed, letting out fake groans of pain.
'She's hurting me!' He screamed in an imitation of panic. 'She's a monster! On Kami it hurts! Please, help!'
Karui and Omoi walked in. They both slowed to a stop and watched with confused and afflicted expressions as Hinata continued to kick her cousin (more lightly than it looked) as he let out mock screams of pain.
There was a long pause as both Hinata and Yosōchi looked up with identical expressions of sheepish embarrassment. Yosō jumped to his feet and saluted. 'Uh... Ready for orders... Sirs - I mean, uh, lady and gentleman...'
Hinata smiled worriedly. The more he did this, the more likely that he was going to get them in trouble. Technically, they hadn't done anything wrong, but when panicked, Yosōchi said ridiculous things.
She remembered once, when she was nine, and he fifteen. They had been caught stealing treats from the pantry. Her father gave them a lecture, and Yosōchi suddenly yelped, 'We only did it 'cause we saw a -uh - dead body!' A lot of paper work had been filed and people freaking out had ensured. Eventually, Yosōchi got a lecture on not letting panic run his mouth.
Brought back to earth by Omoi and Karui staring at her, she punched her cousim on the shoulder, 'Do me a favor and shut up.' She whispered out of the corner of her mouth.
His facial expression took one of a wounded animal. Yosōchi put his head in his hands and sobbed. Omoi's eyes widened, "Stop crying, Yosōchi! What if you don't stop crying and your tears form a river and the river drowns the whole world and the whole world smells like salty tears and a bitter end?'
Yosōchi lifted up his head and stared at Omoi with an expression of disbelief. Hinata giggled, shook her head, and shrugged at Karui. Karui smiled back. Considering that Hinata's face was covered, this was a very acceptable reaction on Karui's part.
Karui took a deep breath in. 'So! Uhhh... Here's how the mission will work. You and Yosōchi will travel to Suna for some infiltration on the Fourth Kazekage. You will meet up with Team Samui there.
"Then, uh, we head down to Konoha. Since Hinata has the Byakūgan and Yosōchi pretty much looks like a Hyuga- he's got the eyes, just not the Byakūgan, right? - anyway, you two will pretend to be Branch Hyuga. After we gain information, we come back home. Report all to the Raikage. And stuff... So yeah! That's it.'
Hinata shook her head and glanced at Yosōchi. He put his hands at his sides like, What'cha gonna do 'about it?
She sighed, turned to Karui, and said, 'All right. When do we leave.'
'Right now.'
'Okay.'
'Wait, what?!'
Ok, couple of things.
-Yes, yes, I know, flashbacks flashbacks. Blah blah blah.
-I hope you're getting a good idea of what Yosochi's like. The more I write him the more I realize that I made him a lot like my middle brother. (I've got three little bros - I dub them the older one, the middle one and the baby to keep things simple). He even looks like my bro. Middle has hazel green eyes and dirty blonde hair that's short.
-and yes. Beginining is Yosochi's point of view. Yes, that is on purpose. I will continue that throughout the story. Hinata's flashbacks will happen in the chapter itself, whereas Yosōchi's will happen as epilogues.
-I actually rather enjoyed writing from Yosochi's point of view. He is honestly my first OC ever, and will continue to be the only one along with their dad throughout the story. For teammates or Senseis or friends I will use noted Kumokagure characters from the manga/anime.
-I kind of put Yosōchi in canon Hinata's position on purpose. Like, not being as naturally talented as the younger.
-Hinata's personality is different in this story. This is because she was raised differently. Got it? I think that the Hyuga environment just kinda broke her.
thats it for now.
please review! Coffee and Reviews are my inspiration! (Along with the new Naruto episodes on Thursdays!)
-Empj.