A/N: *checks my notifications* *chokes at 860 faves and 1k follows* Within three chapters? I'm really flattered guys. So as thanks, I give you this extra-long chapter. Now, I might get some criticism from this about Hinarry's power levels, but I am struggling to make her as non-Mary Sue-ish as possible right now (which is ironic because what I plan to do with this story will make her… well. You'll just have to wait and see.) But she's just a kid right now. She's not going to create hurricanes or summon gods in her jammies. But that doesn't mean she can't make changes at her non-superpowered state.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto. They belong to J.K. Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto respectively. Thank you.
CHAPTER FOUR- Colorful Sun
…
At the heart of the Hyuuga compound, one little girl sat in a seiza in front of a solemn young man. There was a long black cloth spread out on the floor between them, weapons littered on top.
A hand pointed at several black daggers with a small ring attached to the end of it.
"Kunai. Good for both throwing and in melee combat."
An approving nod. Then a gesture at a pouch filled with four-pronged metal stars.
"Shuriken. The circle in the middle balances the throw. Long-ranged weapon."
A thoughtful hum. Then a wave at a tangle of innocent-looking threads.
"Ninja wire. Used for trapping, binding or restricting the movements of an opponent."
"Very good. Hinata-sama. Full marks." Hyuuga Ko said approvingly at the little heiress sitting in front of him. He then pointed at another batch of weapons aligned with the others. "And these?"
"Er…" Hinata blinked. Long, needle-like projectiles. Firm, but looked malleable. "I haven't seen that one before."
"Senbon, Hinata-sama." Ko said, eyes crinkling. "It is a long-ranged weapon, clearly, and can only be used if you have great accuracy. A good hit with a senbon can paralyze a pressure point."
"Oh. Senbon." Hinata nodded, taking one and testing the weight on her hand.
"This concludes your introductory lesson on basic ninja weapons." Ko said, pulling out a scroll. "I shall be writing a letter to Hiashi-sama about your progress. By the end of the year you might be doing practical lessons with shuriken and kunai. Wouldn't that be fun, Hinata-sama?"
"Yes," Hinata said absently, palming the senbon. She stared at the other weapons laid in front of her. Sharp, deadly weapons… "Fun."
This was the fifth lesson she had with Ko. At three years old now, Hinata was being trained in the shinobi way. And while she still continued to show prowess in everything she did, there was always a sliver of doubt at the back of her mind.
It has been three years since she started her identity as Hyuuga Hinata. It had been a strange three years since then, and she knew it was going to get even stranger.
After her second birthday, Hinata realized that the world she lived in now was as unforgiveable as the world she lived in before, even more so actually.
She knew she should have realized it earlier, back when Death told her that this world was interesting. Interesting things for Death usually involved the dangerous, gory, decapitating kind, so Hinata should not have been surprised that she was reincarnated in this crazy world.
Like the killing intent. It was nothing new to Hinata.
She experienced it before. The feel of the cloying, suffocating, murderous resolve was something that Voldemort perfected. By her fourth year in Hogwarts, she was familiar with killing intent already. She was even more exposed to it when she began to explore the world and met vicious magical creatures intent on making a snack out of her.
That was why when her father Hiashi began to emit killing intent while he stared at her from her crib, she tensed in surprise but continued to meet his pale eyes in the dark.
That was the first sign.
Then at eight months, she was introduced to chakra by her grandfather, who described it to her as something real and powerful. Chakra that felt warm and encompassing, but had a lethal edge to it just begging to be used. Unleashed.
That was the second sign.
Then of course, her last sign. The Byakugan.
She supposed that she might have been too caught up with having parents again and being too fascinated with the world with a baby's eyes that she didn't even pause to think what it all entailed.
Well she had an idea now.
Her father had brought her to a training area one day and she watched with shock as two of her distant cousins began to spit fire and fling earth boulders around, battling each other with a complex fighting style that was too fast for her eyes to follow.
And that was when her father told her that she would be doing the same someday. She would serve the village as a shinobi, as a tool for their Kage, as the heiress of their clan.
"See this, Hinata? One day the honor of leading the Hyuuga will be yours, just as it is mine for now."
The world she lived in was dominated by ninja. Shinobi. Mercenaries for hire.
And Hinata was reborn in one of the most infamous shinobi clan in the Elemental Nations.
At first she had been speechless. When Death told her that her new life would be interesting, she didn't expect this at all. The rush of curiosity flooded her body and she didn't sleep that night, her mind going through everything she saw and learned.
"Ko-nii?" Hinata said in the silence. She gripped the senbon in her hand. Her elder cousin was still writing his report.
"Yes, Hinata-sama?" Ko said, looking up from his scroll and darting curious pale eyes at her.
Hinata hesitated, thumbing the edge of her yukata. "What's outside of the village? Is it dangerous?"
At once, Ko's smooth face turned grave. "Yes, Hinata-sama. Outside is dangerous. You are not allowed to go outside without someone with you, alright?"
Hinata bit her lip. "But when I'm older…"
"When you are trained, Hiashi-sama will undoubtedly let you go on your own." Ko reached out to pat her head. "But for now you are just three, Hinata-sama. You must not leave on your own. Enemies may take you from your bed and never give you back to your parents."
It was obvious that Ko was trying to scare her, but Hinata understood his underlying message.
This world was violent. Her clan was combat-oriented, which meant that there was conflict somewhere outside. And children like her were going to be trained in battle at a young age, just as how her cousins were furiously sparring against each other on the training field.
It was…
Well.
She didn't know what to think. She didn't know how to react.
"Ko-nii?" Hinata piped up again.
"Hai, Hinata-sama?"
"Are there kids like me that are being trained too?" Hinata probed. "Like tou-sama trains me?"
There was hesitance in Ko's eyes this time. "Well, you are a special case, Hinata-sama. You are being trained early because you grasp the basics brilliantly."
"Because I'm a prodigy." Hinata said promptly. "Tou-sama said so."
She was cheating, she knew. They look at her and see prodigy, because that was the most sensible conclusion. But a hundred year old wizard in a three-year old girl's body was cheating, no matter how you look at it.
"Yes, that's right Hinata-sama." Ko agreed absently, unaware that the tiny girl in front of him was having an existential crisis. "Children from families like ours are usually trained at age five or six. But you are a genius in training, Hinata-sama. Hiashi-sama knows that you can handle it already."
Hinata had drowned Ko's words the moment she heard the typical ages children were trained at.
Five.
Six.
Five and six-year olds were being taught to fight and handle sharp weapons.
She didn't know that.
Hinata closed her eyes. It was one thing to let her fight, seeing as she wasn't really a three-year old, but to think that actual five and six year olds were getting instructions on how to kill…
There was a tiny voice inside her head screaming about the morality of it all, how barbaric it was to let children fight. A tiny voice that sounded like her three-year old self; soft-spoken, young, and girlish.
But then there was another voice in her head, drawling about how this was the way of the world and if teaching children to fight would let them survive another day, then she should let it be. This voice sounded like her apathetic, hundred-year old self, the one that had seen even more atrocious things done in the course of her lifetime. A voice that couldn't care less.
She silenced both of them.
Hinata did not want to dwell on it for now. She decided on a wait-and-see approach.
Hinata didn't know everything about this world yet. It was too soon to jump into conclusions. If her whole family could dedicate itself to the way of shinobi, it meant that it had a deeper meaning than killing and fighting. She was going to find out what, and when that time comes, she would make a decision.
"Ko-nii?"
"Yes, Hinata-sama?"
She opened her eyes, staring at her cousin solemnly. "I'm going to do my best, Ko-nii. I'm going to be a great shinobi, kind like mama and strong like tou-sama. I'll be great, I promise."
Ko smiled at her. "You don't have to promise anyone that, Hinata-sama. Just do your best and I'm sure everyone will cheer you on."
Hinata nodded, taking a deep breath.
She was not going to overthink.
For now, she was just Hyuuga Hinata, daughter of Hiashi and Hiyori, heiress of the Hyuuga clan. She was a child determined to learn and be the best to prove to everyone that she could be strong on her own.
She could do this. This was her life now and she was not going to be beaten.
She'll make her mark in this world and this time, it'll be her choice to do so.
…
"Have fun, Hinata-chan. And I made you some snacks just in case you get hungry." Hiyori said with a smile, handing her daughter a neatly wrapped paper bag.
"Thank you, mama. But I'm just going to out to play." Hinata said as she put on her sandals. "I won't be long."
"Oh, but what if you make some friends? You can get to know people better with food in front of you." Hiyori said sagely, kissing her cheek. "Now make sure you follow Ko's instructions. You're a good girl, Hinata-chan so I know you'll behave yourself."
"Yes, mama." Hinata said, fixing her wrinkled sleeve. She observed herself in the mirror. Her mother had decided to outfit her today and so she was wearing a plain, light blue jinbei. A yellow headband was stuffed on her short hair.
Her mother had convinced her father to let her out of the compound. Her father agreed despite the elders' nagging, citing her progress in her studies as a reason for a reward. Hinata was looking forward to a day of freedom. She loved her parents and the time they dedicated for her to learn, but she liked the idea of exploring outside with less supervision.
"Ko-nii, faster!" Hinata called, laughing when her caretaker scrambled to bow at her parents before exasperatedly following her out of the compound. "You're slow for a shinobi."
"Am not, Hinata-sama." Ko said, firmly taking her hand before she could ran off. She pouted at him. "Now where do you want to go?"
"Park!"
"Park it is, hime." Ko said with a smile.
Hinata beamed at her caretaker. She was very fond of Ko. At eighteen, he was the youngest person she constantly interacted with. Hinata knew there were children in the compound, but she never got to meet them for some reason and spent most of her time being tutored by Ko instead.
While the eighteen-year old acted too formally to be a big brother figure to her, he did have the scholarly nanny vibe going for him. He was like a nicer version of Percy. Or a stricter Bill.
Hinata hummed as they walked, staring at the village. She knew she was in a completely different world, but that didn't stop her from observing her surroundings to compare it to her old one.
Konoha seemed to be a combination of time periods. There were modern places such as restaurants and movie theatres, but they seemed to be far more expensive and limited than she expected them to be. The cameras and radios she could spy inside shops looked clunky and old-fashioned. There were no vehicles and people seemed to rely on carts and wagons. It was confusing Hinata on how people could have one type of technology without having the other.
They found a nice-looking park a few streets away from home. It was shady and had a playground for children to scamper about, with a small sitting area for guardians to look after their kids.
"I can play on my own, Ko-nii." Hinata said, pushing her reluctant caretaker towards the sitting area. He didn't budge one bit. Stupid grown-up ninja…
"I am supposed to watch over you, Hinata-sama." the chunin said stubbornly.
"And you can do that while you sit on your own." Hinata said, giving up on physically herding Ko. She can persuade him with words, however. "I'll be good. I won't wander away."
Ko hesitated for another second before acquiescing. He knew that the little heiress was fairly reasonable despite her age, and so he sat behind and watched her ran away.
The other children paid Hinata no mind, either too caught up in playing with their own friends or looking wary at the sight of her pale eyes and the calm way she carried herself. She ignored them as well, content in her lonesome.
Hinata plopped on the sandbox happily, squishing the gravel beneath her fingertips, relishing in the laughter and screams of the children around her. It felt good to relax, to feel like a normal kid without the thoughts of a clan heiress or a reincarnated wizard burdening the forefront of her mind.
She stretched out her magic, letting it sink through her pores. She was pleasantly surprised that she had an easier time calling it to her today. It had been very difficult for her to pinpoint the magic inside her. When she first found it, it was very faint to her senses. Her chakra easily eclipsed her magic in terms of power.
Her control over it was horrendous. Worse, she didn't have a wand or any kind of focus, so she had to make do with attempting wandless magic. The first time she attempted a spell, she accidentally hit one of her mother's ornate vases and felt magically drained for days. Hinata didn't want to take a chance with any kind of accidental magic while she was growing up and so she tried to keep in under wraps while she was inside the compound.
Right now she doubted that she could perform a full-fledged spell. A small confundo maybe, but anything else was out of her grasp.
She could perform mild stinging hexes though, flicking it with her finger.
She knew that if she asked, Death would give her her full magic back in a heartbeat. But the idea of gaining it so flippantly just sounded disrespectful. And Hinata doubted that it wouldn't have any drawbacks. She knew her lack of control over her magic came from the fact that she was just three. A tiny body would not be able to handle that much magic. And if you factor in how much chakra she had, she might just spontaneously combust like an overcharged mini-battery.
Still, she could feel her magic and was content with just knowing that it existed within her.
Hinata snuck a fleeting glance at Ko who was immersed in a book he was reading. Then she looked up at the clear sky.
She found it a little funny that her family, the All-Seeing clan, could not sense magic. There was irony in there…
"Hm?" Hinata cocked her head as her senses alerted her to something interesting.
There was a cheerful ball of warm chakra a few feet away from her. It felt like a large bonfire crackling away endlessly and Hinata's brows went up to her hairline when she realized that the chakra's presence felt bigger than her father's.
She looked up from her position in the sand to spot where the warm chakra originated. It brought her sight to a little blonde boy sitting on the swings, alone.
Curiosity peaked, Hinata stood up and dusted herself before heading for the little boy. The other children gave the swings a wide berth for some reason, shooting disgruntled looks at the area.
Hinata frowned at the scorn in their faces. What was up with that?
"Hello," she chirped when she was a few feet away from the blonde boy. He looked up at her. Hinata noticed that he had really blue eyes and strange lines on his cheeks, like whiskers. He looked adorable, and she smiled at him openly. "My name's Hinata. Want to play?"
…
Naruto was having a sad day again.
The matron at the orphanage kicked him out this morning and his tummy was growling because he hadn't even got breakfast yet. He stayed put outside the orphanage instead of wandering away because jiji told him that he could get lost and bad people might take him. Like, the last time he went out on his own, some drunkards almost hit him with a beer bottle during his third birthday, but one of the ANBU nii-san scared them away.
The same ANBU nii-san found him outside the orphanage today and told him nicely that he was free to go out because he would follow Naruto around. Naruto wanted ramen from that stand with the nice man jiji took him to, but he forgot his frog wallet and so ANBU nii-san snuck inside the orphanage to get it for him.
His ANBU nii-sans were cool. When Naruto becomes Hokage, he'll make sure they'll get com-pen-sa-tion. He didn't know what com-pen-sa-tion was, but since Jiji said it was something nice, Naruto decided that all of his friends should have it.
Except… he didn't have any friends.
He had Jiji and his ANBU nii-sans, and maybe the awesome guy in the ramen stand, but he had no friends. The orphanage kids didn't like him and the matrons always wanted him to leave them alone, so Naruto had no friends.
So when he saw a park on his way to get ramen, his eyes brightened at the kids playing there. He asked them if he could play with them too. He asked nicely, because jiji said he should be polite even if people were mean, because they might become friends if they weren't mean anymore.
And maybe Naruto can treat them to ramen if they became good friends!
But they didn't want to play with him. They called him names and threw rocks at him and called him monster. He ran away quickly after that, because even if jiji said he had to be polite to mean people, Naruto couldn't stand the aching hurt in his chest and the tears pooling in his eyes. And so Naruto just ran because he didn't want to say something mean in return because that would just make them meaner.
So he sat on a swing and ignored his rumbling tummy. Today was a sad day, and so he stared at the kids avoiding him and having fun on their own.
Then, he heard the patter of feet.
"Hello. My name's Hinata. Want to play?"
Naruto looked up from his swing in astonishment. There was a girl in front of him, with short hair and weird eyes and a pretty smile. He stared at her for a few seconds before realizing what she said.
"P-play?" He stuttered, eyes wide. "With me?"
He pointed a finger at his chest because maybe the nice girl was blind and she wasn't really talking about wanting to play with Naruto. All the other kids didn't want to play with him so maybe she didn't either.
"Yes!" she bounced, nodding her head. "What's your name?"
"Uzumaki…" he said slowly, flinching. "Naruto."
He waited for her to frown or get mad, because people in the market always got mad when he said his name. But she just smiled and nodded, and Naruto eased his shoulders.
"Naruto." she said, sitting in the dirt in front of him. "Like the fishcake?"
He flushed. "No! Jiji says my name means maesrom!"
"Maelstrom." She corrected and Naruto blinked in surprise because that sounded the way jiji said it.
"Yeah! That's it." He crowed before coming up blank. He scratched his head sheepishly. "Uh… what does it mean?"
"It means a powerful whirlpool." the pale-eyed girl said, grinning as she opened her arms grandly. "Like chaos, strong winds and rain and waters storming the sea."
"Haha! That sounds awesome!" Naruto said, jumping up his swing. "My name's sooo cool!"
"It still means fishcake." Hinata deadpanned and Naruto gave her a sour look, kicking his feet on the ground.
"And what does your name mean, huh? You er— Hinabi?" he guessed wildly, having forgotten her name already.
She burst out laughing and Naruto reddened in embarrassment.
"Hinata. My name is Hyuuga Hinata." she said, taking his hand to shake it. "And remember it, okay?"
"Hyuuga?" Naruto said in surprise, shoving his face near her. "Ah! You're one of those with the weird-eyed guys—er… uh… I mean—"
Hinata looked at him amusedly. This one doesn't have a filter.
Naruto was panicking. He didn't want to scare away the only person who seemed to like him other than Hokage-ji, even if she was a girl and had weird eyes! She was nice and she didn't hit him or chase him away.
But instead of getting angry, she just smiled and ruffled his hair and Naruto felt relieved that she didn't hate him for saying something bad. Then he realized that she had been talking to him for hours now and it was so long already but she hasn't been mad at him yet!
Maybe Hinata could be his friend?
"Um…" he hesitated, feeling a bout of shyness. "Do you like ramen?"
Hinata blinked at him but before she could open her mouth to reply, a growling sound echoed between them. Naruto flushed and covered his stomach.
"Oh. You're hungry, then?" Hinata asked, cocking her head.
Naruto flapped his arms and burst out in rambling. "Yeah! But that's why I wanna ask if you wanna get ramen 'cause I wanna be your friend and friends eat ramen together and I wanna—"
There were a lot of 'wanna' in his sentence.
Hinata tugged his sleeve to make him calm down. "My mama made me snacks. If you want, we can share."
Naruto beamed at her, blue eyes sparkling. Sharing snacks was a friendly thing to do, right? "Okay!"
Hinata smiled at his enthusiasm, but before she could drag him over to where Ko was, her caretaker had appeared before them with an impassive face.
"Ko-nii!" Hinata said happily, a little baffled at his blank expression. "This is Naruto-kun. He's my new friend."
The boy looked bewilderingly happy at being addressed as such and stared at the tall teenager standing in front of them. Hinata frowned at the suddenly cautious look on Naruto's face. It was like he was preparing to get hit.
"I see." Ko said politely. "Hinata-sama, I have the food Hiyori-sama had prepared for you. You may take them if you wish to have a break."
He handed her the brown paper bag and Hinata didn't miss the way Naruto flinched when her caretaker's arm passed him. At the sight of the cringing boy, Ko's eyes softened minutely.
"We will leave in half an hour, Hinata-sama. Until then, have fun with your friend." he said, heading back to the sitting area.
After Ko left, Hinata turned to Naruto with a faux smile on her face. "Ne, Naruto. What would you like to have first? Dango or mochi?"
They played by the swing set after eating, trying to see who could swing up the hardest. Hinata decided not to venture out of their little area, and it seems like Naruto didn't want to either, happily rambling about ramen and his jiji. Hinata smiled and nodded as he talked, but as time dragged forward, she was beginning to realize that there were something not right with the boisterous little boy.
She approached him out of curiosity at first (and she still wanted to know where his ginormous chakra came from) but as she got to know him, Hinata decided that Naruto was as warm as the chakra he exuded. He was a little loud and brash, but all little boys were like that anyway. He was very nice and likeable, and Hinata could not understand why Naruto was all alone in the first place.
The children's attitude, Ko-nii's almost hostile demeanor... Hinata didn't want to believe that a whole village could scorn an innocent child, but judging by how Naruto talked about how people didn't like him and would even throw cracked bottles in his direction like it was a normal thing, Hinata was beginning to believe that there was something more going on than just simple dislike towards an orphan.
Her head shot up and her eyes flickered to one of the trees, confusion etching her face.
"Hinata-chan?"
"It's nothing, Naruto-kun." Hinata said, turning back to the boy. "What were you saying about moyashi in ramen?"
For a moment there, she thought she felt someone up in the branches…
…
Half an hour came and went. Some older children had approached them to heckle Naruto, and Hinata proceeded to glare at them with as much Hyuuga haughtiness she could muster, overwhelming them with big words that made them fumble and leave. Naruto had looked at her with such awe that made Hinata painfully deduce that not many people stood up for the little blonde.
Ko appeared to gently remind them that it was time to leave. Hinata sighed and smiled at Naruto weakly, knowing that she couldn't promise to meet him again tomorrow. She could not circumvent her parents or her elders with the level of power that she had right now.
She'll certainly try though.
If only she could apparate again…
Of course, discounting the fact that if she could apparate, she would go missing and her clan would undoubtedly freak out at her sudden absence.
There were downsides in living with ninja. The constant paranoia made them wary of any kind of new power. She doubted her clan would take the fact that she had magic well.
Naruto looked ready to tear up and cry, and he clutched her hand so tightly that Hinata feared it would break. Hinata fought the urge to wrap him up and smuggle him inside her house. Naruto was unhappy in the orphanage, but Hinata knew she couldn't take him with her and hide him in the compound. There was no way any Hyuuga could miss his chakra.
Naruto was now valiantly trying to hold back his sniffles and Hinata, having vaguely experienced her godson's teary fits, dug out a pouch from her pocket.
"Here you go, Naruto-kun. To remember me by." Hinata said. It was the best thing she could think of right now.
She dropped the pouch in his hands. It was a small silken bag, barely big enough to fill his palms, and contained star-shaped candies of different colors. Children like sweets and colorful things, right? Hinata lost count of how many times she appeased a crying Teddy with candy.
"It's konpeito." Hinata said, ruffling Naruto's fluffy hair. "Sugar candy. Very sweet and has a lot of flavors. Don't eat them all at once though, or you'll get an upset tummy."
"Oh." Naruto said in awe, eyes wet as he peeked at the tiny candies inside. He'd never had a present this pretty before. "What does this mean?"
He was looking at the front of the pouch, where neatly embroidered words were sewn in yellow thread.
"Oh, um… that's my name. Hyuuga Hinata." she said sheepishly. "That's my konpeito pouch, see? My mother got it for me in a festival. But I'm giving it to you now." Then she brightened up. "This way, you won't ever forget my name or call me Hinabi again. And if you learn to read someday—"
She didn't get to say anything else because Naruto flung his arms around her in a tight hug, tears and snot getting all over her shoulder. Hinata blinked and hugged the sniffling boy to her. While one part of her tried to comfort her newfound friend, the other part of her brain dragged her attention to something…
Something on Naruto's stomach. Something burning that felt suppressed—
"I won't lose it, Hinata-chan." Naruto blubbered, rubbing an arm over his eyes. "And… and I'll learn how to read so I can use big words too like you do, and I'll become really smart—"
"You don't have to promise that to me, you know." Hinata said, Ko's words echoing back to her. She shoved every other though away from her mind as she comforted the blonde boy. "Just be yourself and try to do your best with a big smile on your face, okay? Smile, Naruto-kun."
Instead of smiling, Naruto sniffled into another round of tears and Hinata sighed in quiet fondness as she petted the boy who reminded her painfully of who she was before.
…
Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, glared daggers at his long-time enemy, wishing it would spontaneously combust. Unfortunately, save for firing a katon jutsu at it, there was no way for paperwork to be incinerated by the glare of an old man alone. So he sighed and began to fill up the forms, resigned to another day of singing monotonous documents.
An ANBU appeared inside his office, kneeling respectfully in front of his desk.
"Report, Sparrow." The Hokage said without looking up from his paperwork.
"Hai, Hokage-sama. At approximately seven this morning, Uzumaki Naruto was forcefully evicted from the orphanage. He remained outside for about an hour until I arrived."
"Again." Hiruzen sighed, internally enraged at how the village continued to demean Minato's son. He rubbed his face tiredly. "I'll be having… words with the matron today. At least Naruto-kun didn't wander off this time. Continue."
"He decided to eat but stopped by a park to… urge the children to play with him, Hokage-sama." ANBU Sparrow said, a trace of frustration seeping in his voice.
Hiruzen winced, imagining Naruto's crestfallen expression. "And?"
"As expected, he ended up alone." ANBU Sparrow said. Then he paused in slight hesitation. "About fifteen minutes later, he was approached by a child with the intention to play."
"Oh?" The Hokage said in interest. Not one child approached Naruto before. His features, blue eyes and bright blonde hair, were too distinct that it was frustratingly easy for people to tell their children which little boy to avoid. "A child played with Naruto-kun?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama." ANBU Sparrow inclined his head. "It was the Hyuuga heiress."
Hiruzen paused in surprise. Hyuuga?
That particular clan had been grudgingly neutral towards Naruto. With their dojutsu, they could see through Naruto's chakra coils and determine the two chakra signatures flowing through the boy. They could see how the seal was suppressing the Kyuubi's corrosive chakra. The Hyuuga knew—more than any other clan did— that Naruto was the jailer and not the Kyuubi himself.
However, this didn't mean that they went out their way to be openly kind to Naruto. The Hyuuga had lost family members to the Kyuubi and as such, they found it hard to be around him when they knew he contained their family's murderer.
Hiruzen was saddened by this, but he understood grief. He was just glad that the Hyuuga had never been purposely cruel to Naruto, just mutinously indifferent at worst.
And there was the matter of the Hyuuga heiress. Prying information from Hiashi about his daughter was impossible, it was like forcing a clam to open with a twig. But his clansmen were not as secretive, and gossip about the little heiress's genius flowed through the village like running water. The Hyuuga elders were just as vocal, mentioning how the clan head's firstborn had activated her dojutsu at ten months old, at how brilliantly focused and intuitive she was at her studies and training.
A Hyuuga version of Itachi-kun, some people jested.
It certainly had tongues wagging.
And so Hiruzen was naturally wary to hear that a child lauded for her genius had approached Naruto-kun. Several people were aware of Naruto's origins, and that included most of the clan heads.
But for the life of him, Hiruzen could not see how Hiashi could benefit having the Kyuubi jinchuuriki near his clan. Unlike their suspicions on the Sharingan, the Byakugan did not have any capabilities of mind control or hypnotism that could subdue a bijuu.
Nor was Hiashi the kind of man that would exploit Minato's son for his own benefit. The Hyuuga twins had been Minato's acquaintances at the Academy and they had respected the Yondaime as their Hokage when he had still been alive.
"Tell me about the Hyuuga child." Hiruzen ordered, taking a puff of smoke from his pipe.
"Hai, Hokage-sama. She appeared at the park with her handler, chunin Hyuuga Ko. She showed high levels of maturity for a child her age and was completely aware of her surroundings. She did not approach Uzumaki-san at first and was on her own before she noticed him by the swings."
"Hmm…" Hiruzen lifted his pipe in contemplation, tapping his gnarled fingers. "Your assessment, Sparrow?"
"Hokage-sama?"
"I'm asking what you think about the Hyuuga child, Shiranui-san."
ANBU Sparrow, also known as Shiranui Genma, paused in deliberate thought behind his mask. "She was not cruel, Hokage-sama."
And the Hokage knew how important that aspect was to Genma and his squad. He, Raidou, and Aoba had served as the Yondaime's private guard when he was alive. Along with Kakashi, the four of them were Naruto's constant watchers, aptly named by Naruto as his 'ANBU nii-sans'. They cared for the boy and honored their continued service to the Yondaime by watching over his son.
"She was indulgent of Uzumaki-kun and did not seem to have any underhanded or malicious intentions." Genma continued. "She was patient with him and judging from her expression, she was smart enough to connect the children's dislike of Uzumaki-kun with her own caretaker's reaction to him." Then he paused, slowly choosing his next words. "She sensed me briefly while I was on duty."
Hiruzen raised his wrinkled brows. To pinpoint an ANBU in the shadows was a commendable feat.
The Hyuuga elders' bragging weren't just hot air, it seemed.
"A sensor, then." the Hokage said.
Genma nodded. "It would seem so, Hokage-sama. I believe it is the reason why she approached Naruto-kun as well."
"She sensed his chakra." Hiruzen hummed. After all, if she could briefly sense an ANBU who was suppressing his chakra, then Naruto's chakra would be like a honing beacon to her.
"Jiji!" The office door slammed open as a blonde blur darted inside.
The Hokage waved his apologetic secretary away and smiled at the bright-eyed boy who was almost vibrating with excitement.
"Hello, Naruto-kun."
"Jiji! Guess what! Guess what!" Naruto said eagerly, before spotting the kneeling, unmoving figure with them. "Ah! ANBU birdie nii-san!"
"It's Sparrow, Uzumaki-kun." Genma said in exasperation. "Sparrow."
It was humiliating being called 'birdie nii-san'. Kakashi, the bastard, never failed to call him birdie-kun because of that. Just because Uzumaki got his inu title right…
"What brings you to my office, Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen said indulgently, although he already had an idea of what, or rather whom, had placed such a big smile on the boy's face.
And sure enough, Naruto went into a rambling speech about his Hinata-chan, about how she was so nice, so smart, and how she was his very first friend ever.
Hiruzen smiled at the boy's enthusiasm. It was refreshing to hear Naruto this vibrant again. His spirit hadn't been completely dampened, it seemed. Hiruzen had feared that the villagers' hate would slowly overwhelm the boy's sunny personality but clearly, Naruto continued to persevere. He reminded him of Kushina right now, both mother and son had the same excitable way of babbling when they were particularly happy.
He supposed he had to thank one little Hyuuga girl for this.
"—and she gave me this!" Naruto waved a small pouch in the air. "It's filled with candy with lotsa flavors."
Sure enough, Hiruzen could spot the small, star-shaped sweets inside the semi-transparent silk bag. "It looks very nice, Naruto. But don't eat them all at once." he chided gently, knowing Naruto's penchant for inhaling food.
"Yeah, Hinata-chan told me that too. I'm eating them one by one, see?" Naruto groused, taking one pink candy and exaggeratedly popping it in his mouth with deliberate slowness, much to the Hokage's amusement. "She said I might get a tummy ache and throw up."
"She must be very smart, then." Hiruzen said. "If she knew eating lots of food at once makes you sick."
"Yeah. She's really, really smart." Naruto pouted. "Ne, Jiji. Can you teach me readin' and ninja stuff? I need ta learn so I can be as good as Hinata-chan when I see her tomorrow!"
Hiruzen exchanged a look with his silent ANBU. Sparrow shook his head.
Well now. This was problematic.
"Of course, Naruto-kun. But it takes more than one day to learn how to read. It might take you months of studying."
"Yeah, but I'll do my best! Hinata-chan said that it doesn't matter if I'm not super smart, just that I do my best!" Naruto beamed.
Hiruzen softened at Naruto's words but couldn't find the heart to tell him that his new friend wouldn't be able to meet him tomorrow. Or at all, if Hiashi's shut door habits were still in place. There was a reason why Hiruzen was surprised to hear that the Hyuuga heiress, of all people, had approached Naruto. The Hyuuga were only second to the Uchiha in terms of keeping their clan issues as private as possible.
Their heiress was apparently considered a clan issue since no one outside of the Hyuuga has ever seen her.
Until now, that is.
Which was why Hiruzen doubted that Hiashi would allow his only child to play with Naruto. The clan head wouldn't keep his daughter away because of personal prejudice against Naruto; rather, it would be a political decision. Hiashi would not want to draw attention to his clan by letting his daughter associate with the village jinchuuriki, a considerable asset of the village.
Hiruzen rubbed his forehead. Damn politics.
"Naruto-kun—"
"Ne, jiji. I wanna give Hinata-chan a gift too. I didn't treat her to ramen today so maybe we could get the ramen in one of those box things and send it to her place!" Naruto said, digging out his frog wallet. "I've got money for it. Ah, but I dunno what kinda ramen she'd like—"
Hiruzen bit back a chuckle at the thought of sending takeout to the Hyuuga compound.
Still, as he listened to Naruto's happy rambling, he decided that it wouldn't hurt to ask Hiashi if Naruto could see his new friend sometimes. Away from prying eyes, if he wanted.
And maybe one of these days, Hiruzen might accept Takahiro's standing invitation for a drink at their compound. His old friend still owed him a few favors after all.
...
OMAKE: Little Pranking Steps
Hinata sulked as she faced the wall, counting the minutes until she was allowed to leave. Behind her, her parents conversed quietly, her mother knitting a scarf and her father reading through a scroll.
Hinata thumped her head on the wall. She knew she deserved the time-out, but that didn't mean she had to like it.
Blinking, she slowly gathered chakra to her eyes—
"Do not activate your Byakugan, Hinata." Her mother's voice was stern. "Or it's another hour of punishment."
Hinata scowled at the wall and endured the indignity.
It was her fault anyway. Trying to sneak around a clan that could see through everything was a stupid plan, now that she thought about it. And since she was just three and her parents' only child to boot, it was logical that she had eyes trailed on her every movement.
The downside of having parents was the constant scrutiny. The Dursleys certainly didn't care where she disappeared to. She bet they even hoped that she rammed her head on a wall and died.
"Careful, Hinata. I can sense your killing intent." Hiashi said mildly, amused at his daughter's pitiful attempt to show them her displeasure.
Hinata turned her head slightly to pout at him. Her father caught her in about five minutes of leaving the house. The only reason he didn't snag her earlier was because he was mildly curious on her destination.
She didn't really have a place in mind, she just wanted to explore.
"I don't even know where you found that bag of itching powder." Her mother said in exasperation.
Right. And she may have wanted to prank an elder or two. They deserved it anyway, especially that old hag Masaki. Who was she to reprimand her mother on how to raise her?
And Hinata might have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for her meddling father.
She sighed. Oh well.
Her marauder years had to wait until she grew older.
In the meantime, she'll try to get sneakier so she won't get another round of time-out.
…
A/N: So, yeah. Naruto. In canon, Hinata saw Naruto at three years old as well, although she had no reason to go near him. Hyuuga Ko is also a canon character, and he was Hinata's caretaker.
So, my sister asked me; why doesn't Hinarry get help or more power from Death? Like, she can't do magic, why not ask Death to give it to her? Some of you guys might be wondering the same thing. And my explanation is this; Death's first reason for reincarnating Hinarry was for her not to gain power but to live again, and not just in a literal sense. And Hinarry herself is not aiming for more power right now; she just want to experience living. She does not have a goal for gaining a lot of power and doesn't want to think that she is technically a hax character with the ultimate mod in her possession, which is Death (sorry for the game ref, been playing Skyrim).
And so, she's putting limitations on herself. She wants to blend in, be a part of her family, experience being a kid again. She wants to be human. She want to do it on her own pace because technically, there's no reason for her to go too fast. Yet. But she is curious and will grow stronger.
Read and review.
Memory out.