Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
The rays of the morning sun filtered through the Hyuuga compound, announcing the breaking of a new day. The warm rays hit the central courtyard to find a young woman and a young girl facing off in the middle. Hyuuga Hinata looked across at her little sister Hanabi, who at the moment was in a basic Gentle Fist stance, however her face indicated extreme confidence and a little defiance. Hinata on the other hand showed simply a calm expression, not tipping her hand in anyway as to what she was thinking.
It was Hanabi who moved first, charging straight ahead, with a hand aimed straight at her big sister's stomach. She was about to connect when Hinata gracefully spun out of the way then launched her hand at her little sister who twisted her body just enough to bring her left arm up to block the attack. The two sisters jumped apart.
"Well onee-san, looks like I was right after all" said Hanabi as she renewed her assault on her big sister.
Hinata jumped up, performing a flip in mid-air and landed three feet behind Hanabi. She in turn charged and was again blocked " Right about what, imotou-chan?" Hinata jumped back a couple feet, only to be met by a chakra-laced hand coming straight at her, which she blocked.
Hanabi smirked up at her big sister "About who was behind the attack on Hikita-san." She swiftly brought up her free hand in an attempt to attack Hinata from the side, but was instantly foiled.
"If you mean that the attack was perpetrated by a branch family member, then yes, you were correct, however…"Hinata then shifted her position, her hands gripping her sisters arms, and threw Hanabi three feet away.
"You're not looking deeply enough, something big is brewing…" Hinata stated as Hanabi regained her footing.
" ' Something big is brewing?' nee-san, come on, this isn't some mystery novel, it's a clear cut case of assault on a main branch family member" Hanabi charged, this time catching her big sister in the stomach and pinning her against a tree " You're such a conspiracy theorist nee-san, you're thinking too deeply about this" Hanabi stated with a triumphant smile on her face.
Hinata just grinned at her little sister…before disappearing into a log in front of Hanabi's eyes. The next thing Hanabi knew she was dangling by one foot in mid-air; the other end of the thin rope was wrapped in her big sister's hand.
" And you're not thinking deeply enough, imotou-chan. Looks like I win this round"
"Fine, you win. Now let me down"
"Hinata-sama? Hanabi-sama?"
Hinata turned around to see a branch family member walking towards them, however her hand stayed where it was, holding her sister suspended above the ground.
"Yes, Hikari-san? What is it?"
" I have just come from Hiashi-sama, he has looked at the notes you left him after your meeting last night."
"and..?" Hinata inquired.
" The conclusions you reached worried him greatly, he wants you to be present at this evening's meeting."
"What about me?" asked Hanabi from her upside down position.
" Hiashi-sama has only stated that Hinata-sama is to attend, you Hanabi-sama are to train with Neji-san, your father feels that you need to work on…strategy while you fight".
"Is this about the 12.."
"15" Hinata corrected, Hanabi glared at her.
" Fine, Is this about the 15 times I've fallen for nee-san's rope trick?"
"I believe that was a factor…" Hikari began, when suddenly a shout ripped through the morning stillness.
"HIKARI!" the group turned towards the source of the noise, Elder Hanzaki.
" Uh-oh, this can't be good," thought Hinata
"Hai, Elder Hanzaki?" asked the young woman.
"My granddaughter has awoken, you will see to her at once. Instead of standing here gossiping, you should be attending to your duties."
"She wasn't gossiping Elder, she was delivering a message to my sister and I from our father." Hinata spoke up. A contemptuous "Humph!" came in response.
" And what did your little meeting last night accomplish, Hinata-sama? Another way to delay bringing my granddaughter's attacker to justice?"
" It accomplished more than the earlier meeting did, Elder, more than that I will reveal at the meeting this evening." Hinata replied calmly.
"Indeed! Well then, I shall be eager to hear what you've uncovered."
" Yes, Elder Hanzaki. I'm certain you will be" Hinata thought sarcastically, out loud she said " I'm eager to hear your thoughts on them Elder."
Elder Hanzaki gave a chuckle, then turned his face towards Hikari " Come as soon as you've finished your task, Hikari."
"At once sir"
"See that it is so" replied the Elder as he turned and walked back into the manor.
" You'd better go now Hikari-san, you wouldn't want to give him a reason to further his anger. Thank you for delivering the message"
"Indeed, Hinata-sama, and you're welcome." Hikari then bowed to the two heiresses and went swiftly in the direction Elder Hanzaki took a few moments before.
"Well, onee-san. Now that all of that is finished can you please…?" Hanabi began.
"Hinata-sama!"
"Yes, Sujiko-san?"
" I came to tell you that your breakfast is ready, and yours as well Hanabi-sama"
"Thank you Sujiko-san" With that Hinata let her little sister down, helped her to her feet and walked with her into the manor.
Elsewhere in the village, Hikaku and Hachico were holding an early morning conference to discuss two pieces of information, one of which could destroy their whole crusade.
"The White Lioness? Who could she be?" asked Hikara.
"Well, we know for a fact that its someone in the Main Branch of the clan, and we know that if she isn't taken out of the equation, then our crusade for justice will collapse before we reach our goal." Replied Hikaku.
"Well then, when we find out who it is, we give her a sound beating?" asked Hajiro
"No, if what Tatsuga-san said is correct and I have no reason to believe it isn't correct, then giving her a sound beating won't be enough. We'll have to kill her, whoever it is." replied Hachico
"What? Kill her? Kill a member of the main family? Hachico, do you realize exactly how much trouble that will cause? If we kill someone from the main house…"
"Enough Kajiko! There is no room in justice for a bleeding heart, so I suggest you put a bandage around yours" interrupted Hikara " Its not as if we're trying to kill the Hokage or someone like that."
"Hikara, you know as well as everyone else here, that if we kill someone from the main house, it's a death sentence for all of us."
"Enough you two!" shouted Furio " We'll tackle the issue of the White Lioness later, Hikaku, what was the other little piece of information you wanted to tell us?"
"Hyuuga Hikita has awaked."
"What? That little witch is awake already? She's tougher than I thought," said Hikara
"Yes, Hikara. And from what I hear, Elder Hanzaki is going to be on the war-path at tonight's meeting, looking to punish who is responsible for the attack."
"What? The old fart doesn't have any clue who it is does he?" asked Furio.
"No, more than likely he'll pick some poor random soul to torture" said Hikaku bitterly.
" But I heard that Hinata-sama held one of her meetings last night," spoke up Kajiko " maybe she's figured out the poem, and will convince the council to move cautiously"
"Really Kajiko, you think that the council is going to listen to the word of a mere girl?" asked Hachico contemptuously "No, even if she has managed to figure out the poem, no one on the council is going to follow her, she's too weak. Next thing you'll say is that she's this White Lioness we've learned about, which I don't believe for one moment for the exact same reason, she's too weak."
"But still!"
"Enough!" Shouted Hikaku. Everyone went silent.
" Whatever we do next, we can't move until we know what the main house's response is going to be" he looked around, meeting everyone in the eye " Which we will find out after this evening's meeting."
That evening, Hinata once again sat next to her father in the clan council chambers, but she wasn't going to be silent like in the last meeting. No, tonight she was on a mission, to convince the Elders of her clan that there was a hidden threat that was growing. To convince them that the attack on Hyuuga Hikita was just the opening volley, and rash action wouldn't solve anything. She looked at her father, who nodded and stood up to call the meeting to order.
" Good Evening, all of you. Tonight we will discuss what we shall do in regards to a response to the attack on Hyuuga Hikita, but first, before we get to that, my daughter would speak to you, in regards to the words on the scroll that was found at the scene of the attack."
Hinata stood up, bowed to her father and then the Elders, and began speaking.
" Clan Elders, thank you for listening to me, for I believe that the words on the scroll are connected to the attack on Hyuuga Hikita, Indeed I believe that they are connected to a hidden threat. The attack on Hyuuga Hikita was just the beginning, more will come."
"Just the beginning, Hinata-sama? There will be more attacks on the main branch?"
"Yes, there will be more attacks on the main branch. I believe that whatever we decide to do in response to the attack won't matter to the attacker, because whatever was blocking the attacker before isn't in his or her way anymore."
"So Hinata-sama, you're suggesting that we don't do anything?"
"No, Elder Hanzaki. I agree that action must be taken in response to the attack. However, rash action will only add fuel to the fire, and not accomplish anything."
" I believe you are confusing "swiftness" with "rashness" young one, swift action is the only way to approach this threat you speak of"
"How precisely can we attack a hidden threat swiftly? We don't even know who is responsible for the attack on Hyuuga Hikita Elder Hanzaki."
"She's correct about that Hanzaki" spoke up another Elder " Even though your granddaughter awoke today, we still have no clue as to who could have attacked her. Please Hinata-sama, tell us what you think we should do."
"Again I advise caution, we need to think through everything that we have learned thus far. We may need to gather more information…"
"Oh this is ridiculous! What information could we possibly need? My granddaughter was attacked; a branch family member was responsible. Now we need to remind the branch family who's really in charge here!" interrupted Elder Hanzaki.
"Elder Hanzaki, I don't believe it would be wise to punish the whole branch family for something only one person or even a few people did, that just shows that we didn't think this through and that we're just…"
"What do you know of wisdom, young one? You haven't been on this earth long enough to be considered wise. We have heard what you have to say, now please leave and let your betters decide what to do here."
"Hanzaki..maybe we should listen to.."
"No! I've heard enough conspiracy-mongering for one evening" He looked straight at Hinata " now then, I told you to leave, child"
Hinata felt a light tug at her sleeve, she met her father's eyes and a brief, silent conversation took place between them, at the end Hinata turned back towards the elders and bowed, thanking them for their time. She then walked out of the room.
" Now" Elder Hanzaki said, " lets get back to business"
Hinata sighed and turned in the direction of her rooms, her heart heavy. With one thought occupying her mind "I failed".
She suddenly found herself face-to-face with a branch member who had been assigned guard duty for the meeting, Hinata recognized him as Hyuuga Hajiku, Sujiko's father.
"Hinata-sama" he placed a hand on one of her shoulders, Hinata looked up at him.
"Arigato, Hinata-sama"
This took her by surprise, "For what?" she asked
Hajiku smiled " For trying your best"
Hinata gave him a small smile before continuing on her way back to her rooms.
A/N: Chapter 7 up! Thanks so much to everyone who read and reviewed. It's very much appreciated! Please continue, and if you see anywhere that I need to make a change please let me know.