Shadow and Wind: New legends
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Disclaimer: Everything that isn't Kishimoto's is mine. There's not a lot left, now is there? -_-'
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21. The First Mission: The Hyuuga Tragedy
What's this? Will they really complete their impossible task!
The morning after Kohaku and Shikamaru's talk, Naruto decided to resume his training. According to his partner, he couldn't hope refining his chakra control past the point he was currently at, which was between intermediate and expert chuunin level. Shikamaru thought it was more than enough for the genin considering the ridiculous amount of chakra he had at his disposal. He didn't have new jutsu to learn either, so all that remained was his focus on taijutsu.
Learning from Shikamaru that Kohaku was once some sort of instructor, Naruto asked him to help him train. At first he refused: he only knew gentle fist techniques and only a byakugan user would be able to use them to its full potential. To what Naruto argued "I don't care about those moves; just spar with me and teach me how to move as fast as you do!" Having nothing to say against that, the Hyuuga agreed. He only sparred with him and pointed the various flaws and improvements the genin should take note of, but that alone was more than Naruto could have hoped for.
Shikamaru occupied his time with the study of seals. He had found them useful and fun, so he wasn't against furthering his own knowledge on the subject. He also noticed his body retained more and more of the "white chakra" as the days went by. It was also easier to produce now; that sounded promising. He hoped that within a couple of months, he'd be able to lessen the time he had to spend in "Absolute Control" state, if not erase the need to use the Jutsu altogether.
Three days passed and by that time Shikamaru was once again able to walk. He was glad the Gentle fist user hadn't attempted to attack a particular chakra coil. Because of his spread out attack, his chakra system took less time in order to recover. In fact, the reason they had to wait until the third day to leave was more because of his broken ribs. He still hadn't fully recovered, but according to the Hyuuga, he was still able to spar a little and even defend himself if the need presented itself.
The group decided to move out at that time. They couldn't travel at full speed because of the chuunin, so the trip back would take another two to three days. That was fine by Naruto; that gave him more time to train with the Taijutsu specialist. Still, getting beat up day in and day out frustrated the blonde genin a little, so he decided to "spar" – read: take out his anger – on his partner. Of course the chuunin was quite reluctant, even if they weren't full fledged fights. But since it was either that or a moody Naruto, Shikamaru decided to take one – or in this case several of them – for the team.
In one of those spars, and after a particularly humiliating training session, Naruto thought it would be beneficial for Shikamaru's training to face a group. Of course he thought of going easy on him, so they were only three clones. Shikamaru however, thought he wasn't physically fit for such a demanding exercise. He jumped back and tried using the Body Flicker technique; only he used the other type of chakra instead of the regular one. As a result he didn't move a foot. He cursed his lack of attention and prepared to defend himself, since one of the clones was already upon him.
This Naruto threw a punch which, to the amazement of Shikamaru, was incredibly slow. He thought this was his friend's doing and tried to punch the clone, but his own arm had been slowed down as well: everything was in slow motion. Seeing his attack wouldn't reach his opponent in time, he parried instead and jumped back. Still in midair, he felt a sharp pain in his head; meanwhile, time seemed to flow back to normal. The simultaneity of these events threw Shikamaru off balance and he fell down, hard. He sat up, head still throbbing and was quickly rejoined by Naruto and Kohaku, who had been supervising the little bout.
"Shikamaru, are you okay?" he grinned sheepishly. "Maybe it was too early to pull that one on you."
"Gee, you think?" he let out accusingly. "But I'm fine, I guess… besides this troublesome headache."
As for Kohaku, he seemed to have something else in mind than the Nara's fall. "Shikamaru… for a moment, your arm…?"
Shikamaru played dumb. "…Yeah?"
"…never mind. Forget it, I must have imagined it."
The Hyuuga walked away. Had his byakugan been active, he would have noticed the genius was smiling; Shikamaru knew exactly what he was talking about. He knew now what happened, and more importantly, how to make happen again.
I think just found out something very useful.
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T he next morning, Kohaku announced his departure. Naruto was most displeased.
"You said you were going to Konoha with us!" he whined.
"And I did… to a certain extent. If I entered town with you two and were discovered, you would be called either traitors or incompetent: neither are very flattering."
The blonde genin was disappointed. He had hoped he would have more occasions to spar with the Taijutsu expert but he realized asking him for one last bout would kind of ruin the mood.
"Well," said the Hyuuga "I'm off. We probably won't meet again."
He leapt onto the nearest tree and disappeared from the sight of the two younger shinobi.
Naruto sighed. "Oh well. It's just you and me now; so what now?"
"I guess we just head back and abort the mission." Replied his teammate
Naruto said nothing. He still felt like it was too soon to give up on their mission, but now that he had met their target and that he had saved Shikamaru's life, he wasn't so sure about what to do. He decided he simply had to accept this outcome. At least he knew he wouldn't be alone to face whatever waited for him back in Konoha.
Besides, it wasn't like Naruto was coming home empty-handed; he was now much stronger than when he had left. New Jutsu, better control, a better grasp of hand to hand combat… a new friend… all around he was coming back a whole new Naruto.
"Man I can't wait to show everybody what I've learned;" he bragged, "Sasuke's going to be so jealous when I—"
Shikamaru cut him abruptly. "You won't be telling them anything."
"What!"
The chuunin felt that came out wrong and tried again. "Well, you can, if you want, but hear me out first. Naruto, what do you think is your greatest strength?"
"… my chakra?" answered the blonde a bit unsure. "Maybe the Shadow Clone technique? Or is it my wind element chakra nature? Kohaku did say it was a very good type for close range fighters…"
But the genius shook his head. "Those are all good, but what I'm talking about is better than that. Your best weapon is creativity."
Naruto cocked his head. "I don't get it."
Shikamaru couldn't blame him; this wasn't something flashy or that people looked out for. "You probably haven't realized this but there is one thing in common with every opponent who lost against you so far, in fact I think it was the reason with were able to get a draw out of our match against Kohaku: they all underestimated you. You have a gift Naruto: I don't think anyone is able to predict what your next move might be, not even me." And for Shikamaru, that was basically unheard of.
Naruto slowly began to see the direction his partner was taking. "You're saying, the more they underestimate me, the easier it'll be for me to surprise them, right?"
"Yep, that's it: the most effective attack is the one they'll ever expect. Of course I'm not telling you to hide your potential forever or not to tell anybody; I'm just suggesting you be careful with whom you share your new moves."
"Also," this time, the chuunin's expression was bit more grave, "it would be wiser to wait a while and see who your friends and enemies are when we get back; the less the council knows about this the better."
Shikamaru had been somewhat vague, yet Naruto knew exactly what he was talking about: Genta. Considering his predicament, this precaution was wise advice. Of course, since Naruto and Shikamaru didn't know who worked under the council member, they had even more reason to keep their progress a secret. The less "they" knew about their current abilities, the less dangerous would be the measures taken against the duo.
That point served to remind him he had another problem waiting for him when he got home in the shape of his "teammates". The moment was soon coming. Had they missed him? Were they worried? Did they even care? Apprehension was building steadily. To take his mind of all his worries, he started to think about things he wanted to do when he got back home.
About an hour after Kohaku left, Naruto noticed that his partner was looking around, acting like he was making sure they weren't being followed.
"Uh, Shikamaru, what are you doing?" he asked, a bit perplexed.
"Naruto, I have a serious question to ask you: What do you think about this whole mission?"
"Well you were right: it was suicide." He answered mockingly. However, he gave the question some thought. "Something's wrong." He finally stated. "I don't understand why a guy like Kohaku would become a missing nin. Actually, if I didn't know better, I'd say this was some kind of big joke…
Shikamaru didn't comment on what his friend had just said, but he agreed. To him, a missing nin returning to his own country was beyond stupid. It definitely pointed to suicidal tendencies. From what he had heard from Kohaku he concluded he probably was in a kill or be killed mentality. Not good.
He continued with his inquiry. "Let's suppose he needed our help; if you had to choose between completing the mission and helping him, which one would you pick?"
Naruto didn't hesitate a second. "Both, of course!"
Shikamaru sighed. "Naruto, you can't—"
"Don't care! I'll find a way to do both!" he declared.
The chuunin shrugged; Naruto was crazy. Then again; they say there's only one step between genius and madness. "Fine then: let's come up with something. First things first, we need to find out what he's going to be doing in Konoha."
Shikamaru told Naruto about his little dialog with their target in detail before taking out the scroll containing the mission that almost killed him and read it meticulously. He then froze.
"What is there something wrong?" asked Naruto.
The chuunin handed the scroll to Naruto. "Take a look for yourself."
According to the briefing, he had only one reason to be wanted by Konoha: he had broken into the main branch residence and taken the Hyuuga heiress hostage.
Naruto paled as he re-read the last part. "'Hyuuga heiress'… They don't mean…"
Shikamaru nodded. "It was about six years ago, so I'm pretty sure they are talking about Hinata."
Naruto silently gave the scroll back. "I guess there's something more to do then. We've got to finish the mission, help Kohaku, and I have to punch him in the face!"
The Nara heir smiled cynically as he looked at the cloud. And he says those things like they were actually possible to do, he thought. Still, he answered "Good, then let's get a move on."
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Three hours later the duo arrived in their village. They could have been there sooner, but Shikamaru suggested they take a detour. For Shikamaru's plan to work, they needed to move incognito; so they made their way home through the Nara Forest. At the end of the maze of trees was the deer field Shikamaru was so familiar with. He couldn't help but sigh in relief when he saw his home. He was wondering if his mother was home when he suddenly heard someone moving behind them. He turned at the same time as Naruto in order to face… Shikaku.
"Shikamaru!" he asked, pleasantly surprised. "And you're Naruto?"
"Hey dad." He answered after a sigh of relief.
The Nara grabbed his son by the shoulders. "Where the heck have you been! You've been gone for almost two months. Do you have any idea how mad at me your mother is at the moment?" He then remembered his son had come from the forest. "Are you okay?" he asked quickly scanning for injuries.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just needed to get back home with the least people knowing, that's all."
"So, I guess this means still something you have to do?" he noted. "But let's talk about that when we get home: if your mom found out I held you out there too long she'd kill me."
Shikamaru smiled: he was most definitely home.
"Oh! And of course you're also invited Naruto."
The genin smiled and accepted the invitation. He took the opportunity to comment about the forest.
"There's no wall protecting this part of Konoha; enemy ninja might try to attack through the forest."
"They already did" simply answered Shikamaru, and seeing Naruto's surprised looked he added "they all died."
"All of them?"
"All of them."
"How?"
"Nobody knows." he answered mysteriously. "But our clan claims it has something to do with the deer and the guardians of the forest."
Naruto gulped. He was glad he never thought of ever going there by himself.
When they entered the Nara household, and after Shikamaru was hugged, then thoroughly chewed out by his mother, the three shinobi sat around dinner in order to discuss team Oblivion's current mission. Shikaku was brought up to speed and the chuunin exposed his plan. They concluded they needed two things: First, the help of the head of the Hyuuga clan, Hyuuga Hiashi, preferably unbeknownst to him; after that, they needed a way to prevent the branch family seal's activation. Luckily, Shikamaru's father could provide both rather quickly.
"Just leave that to me." said Shikaku. "I suppose you'd want to put your plan in motion as soon as possible so I'll prepare everything for tomorrow evening. How does that sound?"
"Perfect." Shikamaru then turned towards his teammate. "Naruto, tonight you're staying with us: we'll need to go over our plan again."
Shikamaru's mother looked like he wasn't going to let him leave either way; Naruto agreed. Besides, he had just been invited to his first sleepover ever; he'd be nuts to want to leave now.
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The next morning, when Choji woke up he noticed someone by the widow of his room.
"Hey."
"Shikamaru!"
"How have you been?"
"Overworked." he replied casually. "You…?"
"I'm a chuunin, now."
Choji nearly choked on his food. "You're a what now?"
Shikamaru smiled; he was really enjoyed this moment. His best friend was the first person he had told about his promotion: Naruto had been none the wiser during this mission. All was well in the world.
"I'll explain everything. Hope you're comfortable; this might take a while. …"
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"Lord Hiashi, This came from Nara Shikaku." said a shinobi. Of course, he was a Hyuuga.
The current head of the Hyuuga clan snorted; Nara Shikaku wasn't a shinobi he particularly liked, but he had earned his respect. The man was considered by all to be The strategist of Konoha, that and he was also the head jounin, making him his superior in a way; Very few were above him in position. Hiashi took the scroll from his personal guard and dismissed him. He took a seat in his study room and carefully observed the unsealed missive before opening it. He had barely begun to read it when the scroll almost slipped out of his hands. He finished reading the scroll and, after burning it, sat down thoughtful. He remained in this state for about two hours, the silence of his reflections only broken by a name.
"Kohaku Hyuuga."
A few hours of solitude later, he called his guard.
"I am leaving…" he stated
"Of course, Lord Hiashi. I will gather the rest of—"
"Alone," finished the imposing jounin.
"Ah… y-yes, of course, lord Hiashi." stammered the man. "Your orders, sir?"
"Keep a close eye on my children while I'm away."
The guard left. Hiashi changed clothes and left for the place mentioned in the note. He was surprised by his own calmness; maybe the prospect of finally closing the part of his life linked to Hyuuga Kohaku was more of a weight off his shoulders than he had imagined. He didn't understand why he had to meet with Shikaku alone – he usually was a more cautious man – but at moment, all that mattered to him was the result. And he would make certain he would have the one he wanted.
The meeting that happened wasn't quite the one expected. The first thing he noticed was a kunai aimed at his head, followed by explosives. He evaded all them with the graceful movements attributed to his clan. Finally, his foe appeared, cloaked. He threw some more projectiles and mixed it up with some long distance jutsu. Hiashi was ready to engage in close combat when he remembered the scroll he had received just then. He silently thanked Shikaku: He might have played right into his opponent's hand if he hadn't known better.
Instead of using the byakugan, the leader of the Hyuuga clan simply made use of a special seal. As expected, the opponent staggered before falling on one knee. The look on Hinata's father at this moment was a mix of hate and fascination.
"So you really did come back, Hyuuga Kohaku."
"…How?" asked the man visibly in pain.
"I was informed that you were in the vicinity. Though I'd like to know how that Nara was able to find out so soon."
"Nara…" the man quickly understood the implications of that name.
"Any last words?"
Kohaku said nothing; his eyes spoke for him.
"So be it." replied the Hyuuga, ready to break his mind.
Suddenly, the whistling of yet another kunai came to the ears of Hiashi. He dodged instinctively. Quickly realizing he had lost his hold on Kohaku, the jounin turned around to see two more shinobi kneeling besides him. For a moment he feared they were trying to help him. A second look informed him they were actually restraining him. Maybe they were trying to capture him. It didn't matter to him. He simply had to use the seal and everything would be dealt with. He did just that, yet the other man did not react the same way as last time.
"If you're trying to use your seal on him, that won't work." Said a voice he quickly found annoying.
"Do not interfere;" he warned, "this is Hyuuga business."
"Actually," replied the same voice, "you're the one who's actually interfering:" he said taking out his official scroll, "this is our business."
"I'm the one who requested this mission." He argued back, recognizing the scroll.
"Then you're free to do whatever you want to him after the mission is finished; in other words: once we get paid. And since our reward is at the Konoha tower…"
The Hyuuga clan leader flinched. How could someone have the gall to talk back and even try to put him at his place – and succeed? It was then he recognized the familiar raven hair tied up in such a ridiculous fashion.
"Nara… and Uzumaki?" he added after identifying the Kyuubi host.
The chuunin simply smiled; so far everything went just as planned.
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Naruto was glad they had interfered at just the right moment. He had expected the fight between the two Hyuuga to last a little bit longer, but Hiashi had been quick to identify his foe. Thanks to the special tag Shikaku had given them, they were able to prevent Kohaku's mind from being permanently damaged, but that wouldn't last for long, So while his teammate was arguing with the clan leader, he warned his captive against attempting anything stupid since, he lied, the effects of the tag had already worn off and he would likely be found out. This was only a precaution however, since the handcuffs the criminal now wore were made to prevent one from using his chakra.
When he saw that Hinata's father had visibly resigned himself not to interfere, Naruto thought it was now time to go ahead with his to-do list. Upon a quick revision however, he concluded he had to proceed in a different order, so the first thing he did was punch Kohaku in the face. He didn't know if it was because of their first encounter or due to their subsequent spars, but he felt something extremely gratifying from finally being able to connect a blow and making the Hyuuga bleed.
"This is for Hinata," he simply stated as he towered over the culprit still on his knees.
Hiashi said nothing but secretly thought if that was the kind of relation they had with Kohaku, leaving him in their care wouldn't be such a bad idea. This was enhanced by the fact that they supposedly knew about what the man had done to his daughter.
"Now," Naruto said, calming down, "tell us why you tried to harm Hinata."
The one called to answer simply glared at Hiashi without saying a word. The one being glared at also stayed silent; deep down the genin's question was his as well. Next to Naruto, Shikamaru watched each of their expressions thoroughly. Naruto frowned. Stupid silence, he thought.
"Come on, I don't know you that well but even I can see you're not the kind of guy who would do something like that," argued Naruto, " so why—"
"I didn't!" cut Kohaku sharply. Then he took a deep breath. "I would never—"
"Don't you dare lie in front of me!" shouted Hiashi, apparently ready to activate the seal again.
"I'm not lying," he answered sharply. "I'd never stoop to killing children," Shikamaru noticed he had said that last part with barely tamed animosity, "especially not her!"
"And who'd believe you after what you did?"
"Why don't you ask your own daughter then?" He asked cynically.
At that time the familiar voice of a girl interrupted everyone present in their tracks.
"Uncle Kohaku!"
None of the four boys had recovered from their surprised before the Hyuuga heiress had time to run and hug her uncle, oblivious to the fact that he was on his knees. Hiashi was particularly shocked: how had she found her way here? Where were her guards? And most important: why was she so happy to see the one who almost murdered her?
"You've been gone so long I thought something bad had happened to you. I missed you."
Seeing such a sweet and innocent expression on her face, Kohaku couldn't help his lips curving into a small smile. "You've grown, Lady Hinata."
Her bright smile almost made him forget his current state. Leave it to Hiashi to save him from such a mistake.
"Hinata!" snapped Hiashi.
"Father…?" the girl was surprised by her father's harsh tone.
"Step away."
"But…" It was only then that Hinata noticed the current state of her uncle. "Uncle Kohaku…? Why are you...?"
"Because he tried to murder you." answered her father, subtly softening his expression
"That's…" Her pleading eyes looked at the accused. "Uncle Kohaku…?"
Then man averted his eyes. "No… not you."
"Uh… excuse me?" The Hyuuga family reunion came to a halt. The byakugan users then looked at Naruto, who seemed upset at being ignored for so long. "I think now would be a good time to answer my question: if you didn't try to kill her, then why the hell does it say so there!" he asked, pointing at the scroll he had taken from Shikamaru.
"I think I can answer that." It was now Shikamaru's turn to be the center of attention. He didn't like it. "Maybe then he can fill in the blanks." He said, pointing at Kohaku. "I don't think he is lying: he wasn't after Hinata. Judging his character, it would have been very hard for him to harm her, considering he was her instructor and all."
The three Hyuuga all looked at him in surprise. How did he figure that out? However, that meant almost nothing for Uzumaki who still tried to understand the situation.
"So it was just a misunderstanding then?"
"Yes and No; he wasn't after Hinata, he was after her dad."
Once again, Shikamaru had dropped a bombshell. Oblivious to their awestruck faces, Naruto continued his inquiry.
"So he was after Hiashi then. I guess it makes more sense now."
"Yeah, it does; revenge was the reason he came back, right? Hiashi must have done something to one of his loved ones."
Kohaku took a deep breath. Those two had already figured so much, so might as well 'fill in the blanks'. Besides, Hinata was also there: he didn't want her to think he was just some cold blooded killer.
"Not 'one of them';" he said, looking at the evening sky, "all of them. I came from a mission one day to find my home in ashes. I was told my wife and child were still in there when it burned to the ground. They also said…" he paused, visibly shaken by such an awful memory, "that their cries were heard by everyone in the vicinity; they were long and agonizing."
"It was an accident." simply stated Hiashi.
"'An accident'!" sneered Kohaku. "Kaede was a trained shinobi; there's no way she would have died if that fire was truly 'an accident'."
The head of the Hyuuga clan remained silent. Kohaku continued.
"When I was told Hiashi was the one behind this I couldn't believe it, so I went to confront him myself."
"…and?" nudged Naruto.
"I never got to him; I was welcomed by the Main house guards. I naturally defended myself… next thing I knew I was branded a traitor and running for my life."
Shikamaru was in a bind. From the information he had just gathered, he had pretty much figured out the whole incident, but how to share his findings with the ones directly involved when they were at each other's throat like that? From what he had seen between Hinata and Neji, the internal strife between Main and branch families were very delicate, especially since one false move and their target would have his mind permanently fried.
"Truly a heart wrenching story," commented an unimpressed Hiashi "but you seem to forget one detail: you trying to kill my daughter."
"I would never harm Lady Hinata!" shouted Kohaku.
It was Hisahi's turn the flare up. "Then why did my guards find you in the garden with her!" he questioned.
"Because I found her there! You knew I would never do anything to her; for all I know you probably sent her there so you could frame me."
"How dare you even insinuate I would even think using my own daughter as a mere pawn! First you accuse me of plotting murder and now this! Simply breaking your mind would be too light a punishment! I will make sure you spend the rest of your life in a living hell!"
"You already did when you killed my family!"
Naruto watched in disbelief as the story had degenerated in to threats and insults being volleyed back and forth between the two men. What were they trying to achieve by bickering? It seemed painfully obvious to him that something was wrong in their story. Couldn't they see nothing good was coming from this? With a glance he could see that all they were doing was breaking Hinata's heart. Tears were streaming down her face as she desperately looked from one family member to another. This was more than the blonde genin could bear, and since his partner was keeping quiet, it was up to him to put a stop to this.
"Gah! Shut the hell up!" said Naruto.
This outburst guaranteed he had everybody's attention, and so he proceeded with what was on his mind at the time. "I can't believe this! Do you even realize what you're doing! If you don't, take a good look! Look at what you're really doing." Naruto pointed at Hinata, who was still crying, and became almost white when Kohaku and Hiahsi were looking in her direction.
"You're not only driving your lives miserable, but you're pulling Hinata into it as well! First Neji, and now Hinata…" Naruto raised his hand in a dramatic way. If this is the way this clan behaves "then I swear on my nindo that when I become the Hokage I will destroy the Hyuuga!"
"Oi, Naruto," cautiously interjected Shikamaru "you realize you're talking about one of the most ancient and powerful houses of Konoha, right?"
The blonde simply snorted as he folded his arms. "I don't care! I don't need a clan who is harming its own family as much as its enemies."
There as heavy silence. Kohaku and Hiashi suddenly felt very childish and just ashamed enough that they couldn't go on with their debacle, or look at Hinata, who lowered her head in order to hide her tears. Even Shikamaru felt bad, for neglecting to take his fellow shinobi's feeling into account when he made the two men clash against each other.
At that moment, Shikamaru had an epiphany. That's it! Hinata! She's the key to all this! I totally forgot to ask her for her version of the incident. Heck, I think pretty much everybody forgot to hear her side of the story.
The chuunin patted Naruto's shoulders "Thanks Naruto, you're a genius."
"'Course I am!" nodded the blonde gravely, before asking a little sheepishly "Uh, could you tell me why, though?"
Ignoring his teammate entirely, Shikamaru focused on the Hyuuga kunoichi. "Hinata, I know this must be painful for you, but me and Naruto are about to get to the bottom of this: could you lend us a hand?"
The fact that they could need her help surprised the girl a bit, considering the matter made no sense to her, but she timidly nodded anyway.
"Do you remember the day… they were talking about?"
There was a brief pause, then another light nod.
"Can you tell us why you were in that garden at that time?
She appeared thoughtful before answering "I was told to go there."
The older Hyuuga suddenly became very attentive to the ongoing interrogation. Shikamaru was hiding a smile; his speculation had appeared to be spot on: there was someone else involved in this mess. Furthermore, he now knew that this third party had close ties to the Hyuuga Main family if Hinata had obeyed so easily. It was a time to put an end to this little mystery. He asked his final question.
"Do you remember who asked you to go there?"
"Uncle Fusashi." She answered confidently.
Shikamaru looked at Kohaku and Hiashi; both looked like they had been struck by lightning. Hiashi staggered back and fell on the bench he was sitting on moments ago; the convict looked like he had died on his knees.
The chuunin grinned. Checkmate.
"It can't be…" stammered Kohaku, the first to awake from his stupor.
Hinata's father still couldn't believe it. "No, this would mean…?"
Hinata looked at both of them quizzically. "What? Is something wrong?"
"He's the one who told me Hiashi had caused the fire." confessed the runaway shinobi.
"He… convinced me you were after Hinata." Added the Hyuuga head
"So this was a set-up." concluded Naruto triumphantly. "But why would he do that?"
"Power:" replied Kohaku, more to himself than to Naruto. "He's trying to get rid of all potential Hyuuga successors to secure the position for himself."
Hiashi suddenly shuddered. And to think: lately Fusashi had been suggesting a training trip for Hinata and Hanabi… the thought was enough to make him sick.
It took another while before the two adults finally faced each other, but this time in a whole new light.
"Hmph… I guess we totally made fools of ourselves." concluded Hiashi.
"Ha! Hizashi must be laughing at us from the grave right now." replied Kohaku, a bitter smile on his lips.
Naruto looked at the two men and beamed: It seemed like a heavy burden had been lifted from both their shoulders. This was obvious because even Hiashi was smiling, which was something Team Oblivion had never seen before. Hinata was wiping her tears and was smiling as well; things had gone behind his expectations.
"Mission accomplished?" he smugly asked his partner.
Shikamru replied with a fist bump.
"Definitely!"
Mission Accomplished!
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A/N: Alright! Mission accomplished! Only one Chapter left for the end of the ark.
NB: when Hinata says uncle she means uncle, as in Hiashi, Hizashi, Fusashi and Kohaku are all brothers.
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