A/N: cause i felt bad about the last one and apparently re-reading all this stuff in my junk pile is helping me write :3

this is non-canon as non-canon can be and rather spoiler-y of chapter 41 of WYCH... so... don't read if you don't want spoils... and stuff ._.

soooo... WARNING: SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! FEELS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

but yes, non-canon, obviously... i wrote this while writing chap 41 as it was helping me get through what i had to write for that, and it also helped me solidify why i NEEDED to do what i did, as i figured out that with Uenkai surviving things basically just go on track for the regular canon, only without Hinata in Konoha... i'm sure SOME things wouldn't happen the same but this is a 'what if' scenario and that's the answer i got, i dunno how it all works and didn't really care as i wrote this... i have enough time-lord shenanigans to consider with WYCH as is, don't need to be considering an AU of an AU now do i? XD

ENJOY!


In another life…

In another life a young man did not die during a Kiri ambush. In this time he survived and his partner managed to get him out of there without having to suffer the great rage and pain from his loss. He healed up in time for them to participate in the Chuunin exams in Suna, the same time a group of Konoha genin were receiving their headbands. In this timeline the pair won the tournament, much to the chagrin of their comrade who in a different time would have won. She swore vengeance on the teal haired boy and the two have been in a 'heated' rivalry ever since, much to a certain blind girl's amusement.

From here things followed along the original time, where Kumo did not get involved in a plot to destroy Konoha from Suna and Oto. The Raikage lamenting the lost opportunity to beat the 'pussy tree huggers'. Kumo did not get involved in any of the future events as they were far enough away from their boarders for them to not quite care. The Last Assassin kept tabs though of what was going on.

The next time something major happened to draw Kumo into the lime light was when Akatsuki revealed itself in its attempts to capture the Nibi. Due to the efforts of the Chuunin pair the container was salvaged but the demon itself was removed, Yugito only surviving thanks to a great sacrifice from Yorihi's own demon cat but her injuries kept her sidelined. Because of this the other Kumo Jinchuuriki Killer Bee went into seclusion to train harder, determined to pay those bastards back for what they did to his comrade.

Enraged by the attempt on his brother's life next, the Raikage called the Five Kage Summit, having his daughter and her partner, now jounin, be his guard. On their way to the summit the three Kumo-nin encountered a group from Konoha, a blonde boy begging for the life of his teammate, the one that had tried to kill the Raikage's brother Killer Bee. The Raikage's anger was palpable, but it was Yorihi who responded to Naruto's plea for Uchiha Sasuke's life, calling the infuriating blonde a coward and several rather unladylike things. Her partner Uenkai just laughed as they turned back to their journey, commenting at her unusually high hostility towards the boy, he was after all from Konoha, they were known to be meek by Kumo's standards.

During the summit Yorihi acted as Kumo's sensor, taking in their surroundings and measuring everyone involved. She gets angry during the meeting, calling Kiri out on its bullshit only to have Ao call her out on her own. Furious she pulls off her headband and reveals her eyes to the Kage, not giving a damn anymore, as both she and Ao actually use the opportunity to attack Danzo, both having noticed his subtle manipulations of Mifune. Danzo's Ne operatives try to kill Yorihi specifically, realizing who and what she was, but the conflict is quickly halted with the arrival of Uchiha Sasuke, whom the Raikage challenges to avenge his brother. By the end of the conflict Sasuke escapes, along with Danzo, the Raikage is named leader of the new joint army and Yorihi is angry at her father for doing something as stupid as losing an arm. When the three return home both the Raikage and his daughter receive GREAT reprimands from the Last Assassin, one for losing a limb unnecessarily, the other for revealing her eyes, and BOTH of them for letting their tempers get away from them. Uenkai sympathizes with the woman, having spent a number of years working with her 'daughter'.

By the end of it Yorihi's more annoyed at her father than anything as the now one-armed-bandit was milking his condition to run off and dump all his work onto her. If anyone commented it was usually a laugh and comment about how it was all great training for the future Raikage.


A stack of huge file folders slump onto his desk and the young man of 20 glances up them to find those annoyed tattooed eyebrows over still white eyes.

Yorihi was scowling down at him, it was funny to watch as expressions played out on her face so strangely. At a young age she'd been taught to never show anything, then raised by a man that expressed everything and a woman who you could only tell if you looked close enough. She inherited from both of them, wide open smiles and demon grins on the battlefield or with friends but when she was irritated, annoyed, or any kind of negative emotion it was all a muted blank wall with only little slips around her mouth and eyebrows. The bright cyan tattoos above her dark blue brows honestly gave more away about how she was feeling on a subject than if she told you flat out. He blamed her cat for that as well as the fact she'd hidden her eyes her whole life until about a month ago, taking after her father in a huge grandiose spectacle when that one-eyed Kiri-nin called her out on her bullshit.

She never liked Kiri-nin, ever since that one episode where he'd almost died, she never liked them. He couldn't blame her, he felt the same about Iwa-nin after his first partner.

It was still strange, getting used to the fact he could see her eyes now. Six years they'd worked together and while he'd caught the scars more often than not, he'd never seen the pale pupil-less, motionless eyes before that day at the Kage Summit. At first he thought that just proved she was blind, aren't blind people's eyes white? When the Kiri-nin showed a similar, if far more mobile pale pupil-less eye he knew that wasn't it. Six years and he never knew she could see, not just 'good' but 360 degrees around her, perfectly, at all times, and if she wanted she could look through things from miles away.

Uenkai thought the Genjutsu Master at the Academy worded everyone's response best:

"ARE YOU FUCKING SHITTING ME?! ALL THAT TIME I WASTED FIGURING OUT HOW TO DO MY CRAFT AROUND YOU! THINKING YOU WERE FUCKING IT UP AND YOU HAD IT DOWN THE WHOLE TIME!" all the while screaming and throwing papers around.

Most people just laughed, especially those close to her that knew her best. Many still treated her the same, like she was blind and the young woman seemed grateful for it. He knew from working with her for so long the only reason she'd done it was to throw everyone in the room off, she was like her father in that regard, always had to make a big show.

But somethings had changed, she didn't hide her eyes or her scars anymore and she didn't bother asking about colors or omitting such details in descriptions. She told him after the events at the Kage Summit that all the abilities she claimed to have were real. She could feel color, smell fear, read with her fingers, etc. in her mind there was no point lying about those, so she strove to come up with new abilities to compensate for her 'lost eyes'. Even now, with them revealed she still felt they were her most limiting aspect. Where before people thought she was blind making assumptions about her style and knowledge they were only going to be making similar assumptions about her eyes, and she already had the best defenses for being blind.

He thought it was cute she thought she could bullshit him and make her blunder sound genius. He knew for a fact she'd just gotten frustrated and exploded on the guy, the fallout being her damaged pride and exposing her eyes. But she was a Kumo-nin, they laughed with their pride, showing their weakness on their sleeves… even if they didn't have any.

Finally pushing the amused thoughts aside and smirking up at her, Uenkai acknowledged her frustration and obvious coming here to vent, "What's bothering you Yori-chan?"

Her tattooed brows lowered at the informal name but she didn't seem in the mood to comment on it, "I'm going to kill my father…"

"Already?" a teal brow rose on the young man's face. He knew, in serious terms, this was a delicate subject. It had taken his partner years to come to grips with the fact that some time in the future, likely soon, she'd have to kill her father and ascend the throne of Kumo. At first she had ignored the claim, dismissing it as something she never wanted. Uenkai now knew there was more to it than that.

He was probably the only person she could talk to about this subject after her reveal that didn't already know and basically raised her since she was a kid. Uenkai was her partner so she trusted him with the full 'real' story. How she hadn't lied to him before, just left a lot of things out. Her mother had died when she was young, not long after she couldn't 'see' anymore and was taken into the care of her father and teacher. That's what she'd told him and it was true. What she hadn't said long ago was that she was born 'Hyuuga Hinata', a name that both haunted her and meant nothing to her. She had been kidnapped on her third birthday to Kumo and by some whim of fate the Raikage adopted her and stuck to it.

She wasn't of the Oni blood of Kumo, she wasn't secretly an Assassin like Kemui or Reki's biological granddaughter. All the family around her she'd made up in her head as a kid to try and keep the life she had here. The adults just indulged her in that.

When they'd first met he'd threatened her father, verbally and she'd reacted violently to the potential loss. She'd never actually considered the throne of Kumo for herself as in her mind that's where the man she called father sat. But as she got older it was obvious the others of Kumo accepted her as the Raikage's child and a bloody history with a bloody tradition threatened all she'd made. It took his encouragement, and maybe A LOT of booze, for her to accept no one was holding it against her, any of it.

They were Kumo, the natural order had been for generations the Leader, be they bandit, monk or Raikage, died in combat at the hands of their child, earning the right to wear the proverbial crown. Everyone in Kumo saw her as their Princess, their next Leader, someone strong with for once a good head on their shoulders and a half-way decent poker face. They'd long forgiven her of a sin she'd yet to commit and didn't care about her origin.

Yorihi had sad it often enough to others that joined them but it seemed she was the one that most desperately needed to hear it that night, "You're Kumo, that's all that matters…" and while that'd been enough to quell the young woman's thoughts at the time, the teal haired man could tell that wasn't the case today.

A smug grin passed over the young man's dark features as he continued, "And here I'd thought you'd wait awhile, let the old man get his fighting strength back?"

She shoved him indignantly and he couldn't help but laugh at her response, "That's not what I mean and you know it!"

Uenkai kept that shit-eating grin in place as he held out his hands indifferently, "Of course, of course," he leaned forward on the desk, nodding to the stack in front of him, "You're just pissed he's still having you basically doing his job, huh?"

The pale girl groaned, crossing her arms under her ample chest and sitting down roughly in the chair across from him.

A smirk rose on his face as he remembered his rival, Gakushin Mei's response to the news her weird little cousin was not only not blind but in no way directly related to her:

"NO FREAKIN' WONDER YOU HAVE SUCH GODDAMN UNWIELDLY WEAPONS!"

Mei had been referring to Yorihi's large breasts. He knew Samui, Karui and Omoi's senpai and occasional team leader, that woman had large breasts for someone of Kumo heritage and they still paled in comparison to his partner's 'weapons'. For whatever reason Mei had pulled out a picture of the current Godaime Hokage and set it up next to Yorihi. He hated to admit it, but there WAS a distinct resemblance, at least in THAT aspect. Mei hadn't cared the younger girl had been lying the whole time about being blind or that Mei's own mother had orchestrated such a farce, she was just glad to finally understand why her little cousin had beaten her in that aspect since the tender age of 10, "Konoha genes, of course…"

In Uenkai's opinion he knew his younger partner was 'hot and all' but he preferred 'weapons' quite a bit less unwieldy. Maybe that was why they never dated. He knew their friends joked a lot about how he was the 'hot older guy' an she was the 'younger bombshell' and how since they spent so much time together they MUST have dated…

The truth was it never really crossed either's mind. He remembered a time when she'd gotten older, more obviously womanly and he'd got done with a growth spurt, she'd asked plainly if he thought she was attractive.

If he knew then what he knew now he may have answered differently, but at the time he just stared at her like she'd grown another head, utterly confused. She'd gotten angry and shoved him like normal, he'd laughed and things returned to what they were used to.

Staring at her now, all frustrated, big breasted, and obviously all grown up, he couldn't help but laugh.

She glared at him, more with her eyebrows than anything else, "What?"

He managed to tone down his chuckle as he scratched his chin beard, "Just had a funny thought," his smirk spread and her tattooed brow rose, demanding he finish, "Was thinking about why we never dated?"

"Ew," the look of uncontrolled bafflement and disgust that came over her face was all the more hilarious due to her blank white eyes, "Seriously? We work together too much for that to be possible…"

Again with that completely non-serious chuckle. He completely agreed of course, but where was the fun in telling her that, "You HAVE met Xiao and Oku right?" she snorted in annoyance and his grin grew, "Just sayin', there's enough UST between those two I'm surprised they're not married yet…"

"And people call me blind," there was just something special about the Raikage's daughter's sense of humor, "I'll bet Xiao drugs him, gets knocked up and has the kid before they even think about it…"

Uenkai chuckled, "And here I thought it was the other way around," The mocking glare she sent him was hilarious but he wave it off, "Watch, they're already secretly married with a family and just like the rest of us being in the dark about it all…"

"I wonder if Seichi-san knows," she ran a pale finger under her chin in thought, "Probably should ask him next time he's around…"

Uenkai just smirked. He knew a normal person would just say 'next time I see him' but despite the reveal of her eyes his partner still went out of her way verbally to discount her visual acuity. He just watched her a second, knowing she could see him, "Well that still doesn't answer my question, from what I can tell they're situation is kinda the norm…"

Again the oh-so-dignified woman snorted, "Don't tell me you buy into that whole breeding program theory?"

That had the older man laugh, "Oh I would totally not put it past R&D and you know it!"

Despite herself a smirk did pick at Yorihi's mouth, "Okay, I'll give you that," she leaned back in the chair, putting her feet up on his desk, arms still crossed under her ample bosom, and 'brow' glared him down her form, "I still think us dating is a terrible idea."

An honest grin form the teal haired man, "I agree, I'm just curious to your reasoning?" he'd give her the truth. It'd been a funny thought and it made for an amusing conversation. Plus he got to see her squirm and that was worth it enough.

The younger girl shrugged, on anyone else it would have been nonchalant but Uenkai had spent six years working with the woman, that shrug meant she was uncomfortable, "It just… sounds… weird?" her brows and lips grimaced, "You're my partner, we've risked our lives together, hell we've seen each other naked and broken," one of her hands went up in silent defeat, "if anything, we know each other TOO well to be anything other than partners…" her hands lowered as she faced him, something about the way her brows set and the fact she was putting in the effort to 'look' at him directly told him she was being extremely serious, asking more then what she was saying, "Right?"

He realized she wasn't just asking him, she wanted confirmation, assurance he felt the same. They were partners, they were as close as anyone could get but as much as that was neither could muster romantic feelings for the other. He loved her, he'd admit that because he knew he cared for her and would both kill and die for the little arrogant girl that had watched his back this long. But he could not, would not LOVE her in a romantic sense. He had loved his last partner like that he realized, but not Yorihi. She was his friend, confidant, perpetual annoyance and partner, but for whatever reason he could not see her the same as Sasayaki, could not see her as a lover.

He gave a small grin, hoping she could see all his feelings on his face, "I love you, Yorihi," the stricken look that came over her face at his admission made him bust out laughing, "But sorry to say, I don't think I could ever be IN love with you, haha!"

The dark haired girl gave a grateful sigh and slumped into her chair, "Oh thank god," she rubbed at her temple, cuing he was giving her a headache, "I DID NOT want to have to pay Karui for that bet…"

Gone was the chuckle as he glared at her, "You bet against me?"

The devilish grin he knew her father was proud of spread across her face, "Not me…" her brows made that motion they'd all grown accustom to attributing to her rolling her eyes, it was strange to see they didn't actually move, "Just… Xiao and Karui… I may have overheard a bet of theirs…"

Uenkai glared at her, honestly nothing to say.

"Heh," she gave him an honest smile, "Not to diminish your… not-confession," that garnered a snort from both of them, "But… yea," she looked thoughtful as her smile grew, "I feel the same," suddenly her brows glared as she leaned forward, "I'm not going to say 'I love you' but…" she punched him in the arm ridiculously hard and smirked as he winced, "I feel the same, you're important to me, as a friend, as my partner, but sorry," she waved her hands up vigorously, "The idea of dating or love-loving you honestly kind of creeps me out…"

That drew a boisterous laugh from the large man, "So glad we feel the same…"

Yorihi just smirked, leaning back in her chair, "So, that answer your 'funny thought'?"

He smirked at her raised brow, "More than I thought," that smirk grew as the younger woman looked suspicious, "But do you feel better now about whatever caused you to barge in to my office and attack my desk with two inch thick binders?"

The girl blinked. She ACTUALLY blinked, turned to the stack she'd brought in, to him and back before busting out a boisterous laugh worthy of her father, "Y-you bastard! HAHA!"

Uenkai just spread his hands as if innocent, "What are best friends for?"

"Ugh," Yorihi stood, running a hand through her bangs staring off at nothing, "I needed that," she turned towards him with her hands on her hips looking rather serious, like normal, "I have to go deal with a delegation from Konoha and I swear my father's doing it just to piss me off…"

A teal brow rose, "Oh? He wants to show off how he made a bigger, badder and better Hyuuga again?"

She made a swap for his head, "Don't even joke like that!" her brows were glaring again and the older man couldn't help but laugh. Yorihi just scowled, giving him a moment to calm down, "And for your information it's a party of the Godaime Hokage and apparently her potential candidates for next Hokage," she seemed to loosen up some, "And from what I've been told they're bringing their Jinchuuriki as well, to be trained under Oji-chan…"

Teal brows went up as similar colored eyes slyly watched his partner. He knew if she EVER looked relaxed it was because she was about to let loose hell. He was going to enjoy this, "It's that blond punk we met on the road right? The guy askin' your dad for mercy and Karui wouldn't shut up about?"

She crossed her arms and narrowed her features. It was all the confirmation he needed.

Uenkai laughed, he didn't know what it was but that blonde punk got under his partner's skin something fierce, so bad that after that meeting she'd been grumbling to herself the whole way to Iron in a manner only her cat could understand.

"Oh shut up!" she turned around in a huff, heading towards the door grumbling to herself.

"Haha, oh c'mon Yori-chan," he stood, reaching over the desk and grabbing her hand, smiling at her flawlessly as she glared back at him with her brows, "Its funny, admit it," the younger woman yanked her arm back but at least she was standing there glaring at him. Uenkai just leaned over his desk with that shit-eating grin, "That guy got under your skin and you said some pretty harsh things to him, even your dad was impressed, and now you gotta be nice and civil to him with a crowd of other high ranking members from his village?" the teal haired man had to stand up straight and hold his stomach as he started laughing again.

Yorihi just sent him a glaring pout, it made her look cute but deadly at the same time, "Damnit Uenkai it's not funny!" a swift punch to his shoulder did nothing to dissuade her partner's jovial laughter. Again the Raikage's daughter grumbled to herself, turning back to the door and the pout not leaving her face, "My father is doing this on purpose to piss me off…"

It took a moment but Uenkai finally got his laugh down to a decent chuckle, "You know that's not true," when she turned to pout-glare at him he smiled at her honestly, "He trusts you to give the best representation of this village, strong and proud with some decorum," he nodded his head towards the door, "I know you're going to do fine, even if that whinny punk is there," a teal eye winked at her causing her to scowl, "Sides, just show him up the best way I know you can right?"

"Tch," she turned back to the door and rolled her shoulder in a way he knew meant she was rolling her eyes as well, "Yea, of course I will," she turned back with an earnest smile, "Got any advice, oh great wise one?"

Uenkai smirked, taking a thinker's pose and rubbing his chin beard, "Hmm…" he eyed her up and down, taking in her outfit that did little to hide her adult figure and the number of obvious weapons she carried. A devious smirk grew on his face as he faced his partner, "Nah, I think you got this covered on your own," he crossed his arms as his smirk evolved into a full-blown grin. If anything she was going to knock them all dead with her looks and she was good enough in a social situation to be polite in the right amounts to be respectful to those that deserved it and able to put down those that didn't. She was going to be a deadly Raikage one day and he was happy to say he'd be right there to help her every step of the way.

"Heh," she reached out and gave him a light punch in the shoulder, it still hurt as it was in the same place as the previous ones but he knew this was her way of thanking him, "Guess I have to go face the storm huh?"

"Yep," teal eyes smirked at her and he knew she could see it even if she wasn't looking at him.

There was a long sigh as the younger woman stood in front of the door that left his small office, hands on her hips as she nodded her head ready to go face this new challenge.

… then she turned on her heel and stared at him sternly, "Oh yea," she pulled out a piece of paper and walked the few steps to shove it in his hand, "Almost forgot, Mei-chan's challenging you again…"

A sour look came over the older man's face as he unfurled the crumpled up piece of paper reading its rather straight forward message of challenge, "Ugh, what'd I do now?"

Yorihi just smirk, patting him on the shoulder, "My advice," there was something wicked about the look on her face that reminded him of her damn cat, "Show up with dinner…"

"To poison her?" teal eyes flatly glared at his partner as she kept that evil smirk up. He balled up the challenge and threw it haphazardly on his desk. Of all the damn things, he beat Gakushin Mei in that chuunin exams years ago and she still wouldn't let it go.

Yorihi just shook her head, patting him on the shoulder sympathetically, "Dinner, no poison," another sympathy pat, "You might be surprised…" and a smirk as she headed towards the door.

Glaring at her back and knowing full-well she could see it, Uenkai dropped back into his chair and watched his partner leave.

… but not before throwing out one last barb, "So this mean you're buying that punk dinner too?"

The way she nearly fell and hit her face on the floor was priceless and he knew he'd gotten her. she didn't bother looking back at him but he could tell by how ridged her shoulders were and how she was stomping away she was glaring at him and likely blushing down the hall, cursing his name all the while.

Uenkai couldn't help but chuckle, his eyes traveling from the way his partner left to the balled up piece of paper on his desk. With a lazy smirk he picked it up and unraveled it to read again, "Well, maybe it's worth a try," momentarily his eyes traveled to the door again, smirk growing, "You arrogant little brat."


In another life things took a different turn, in this one the young man had a chance to enjoy it to the fullest with the help of his closest friend.


A/N: i like the way these two interact, as kids and as adults, they truly became each other's best friends and inn WYCH that was obviously starting but plot-demands...

i like to think Yorihi may have developed a small crush on him in WYCH or some attraction but as they got older it just became a mutual appreciation of each other, a platonic love and care for each other as close friends, but in WYCH he died before that part could be established so with how traumatic things ended up her memory of him is a bit more colored, as strange as it to say this is the true feelings the two had for each other... it just never had a chance...

dunno if this helps or hurts more, but i'm just glad i got to finish this little 'what if' scene :3

Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury

Ps: sorry Ravy~