Meteors continued to fall and the risks had never been higher.
The council of the Five Kage ordered a massive evacuation across the Great Five Nations. Since then, monitoring parties spearheaded by each Kage were put in place, keeping a close watch over their respective aerial territories, while running discussions through communication channels with staff on high alert.
They wait for the moment the moon draws near the Earth's atmosphere, anticipation and adrenaline running thick in the air. Although the Raikage's Chakra Cannon is capable of blowing the moon to pieces, fragments produced from the explosion thereon still poses a great threat.
In three days, it will happen. The world will witness a thrillingly close encounter with its end.
Three days is the new estimated time of its impact. Scientists who previously declared a span of three months before the actual happening turned into nervous wreck employs when an unanticipated relevant deviation occurred in their astronomical observations. It was as if the force keeping the moon in its course had mercilessly ceased its hold. Implausible was the theory, utterly unsound, but the Earth's lone satellite, unfortunately, had this sudden urge to hasten its imminent destruction like a Shinobi on a suicide mission.
Inside Konoha's evacuation shelter were clans and families cuddled together, uncertain of what tomorrow holds, whether it would still come and they'd get to live another day with eyes set on the rising sun. It had been so sudden after all. The moon's threat was formerly not made public and before the meteors hit with alarming frequency, the regular citizens had thought they were pretty spectacles traversing the sky, though, news about destroyed small villages had rooted subtle fears in their hearts. They find grateful security in the fact that it hadn't been so affecting and the forces employed within the Great Five Villages are on a different level as compared to outside their borders. Some awaited the return of their members who were involved in the committee outside protecting Konoha against meteor impacts. It was fortunate that the shelter was well-maintained, stocked with rations to last thousands for days but fear was evident in their unrest, their murmurings swirling around the clustered rooms.
The Hyuuga who were supposed to be a bulwark of the village since at the time of its foundation, are unrepresented outside. Hinata is physically able despite her pregnancy and is more than willing to help but Naruto decided strongly against it saying she and Sakura can stay and tend to the injured in case of need. Her Shinobi instincts were screaming at her. The sense of duty imbued since she was a young girl was making her chest throb, sending prompts in her brain to do something contributory to Konoha's safety. But as she glanced at Hanabi—the younger Hyuuga blind and helpless, clad in a vividly colored yukata with painted flames dancing on the hems—they cease, their simmering allayed.
Hanabi is still so young, fast becoming an impressively skilled Shinobi in her own right, but she'd be devastated when she wakes up. Pity clenched Hinata's heart and her only respite is soothing her belly with circling caresses, reminding herself with every stroke of a hand of the one she must never fail to protect.
Sakura's voice emerged from behind the whitewashed walls, comforting a group of troubled elderly people with assurances of people working hard to ensure the safety of the village—of Naruto watching over Konoha. Nervous gulps of hot tea boiling in the hallway proceeded intermittently over chatters in raspy, tiny voices mixed with Sakura's indulgent laughter. Hinata wished to know how to comfort her sister but no words came to mind. Hanabi is the Hyuuga clan heiress, yet she is without the Byakugan now.
Upon arriving home back from the Uchiha compound, Hinata found several injured men attended by the maids. Some parts of the outer veranda were smashed and burnt holes stabbed the shoji doors. Kou and her grandfather, along with other Hyuuga men had been sent to the hospital and soon as she heard, a massive evacuation was already set in place. She tried to stay calm throughout while she packed necessities until she remembered to call for her younger sister who instead of helping was nowhere to be found. After a frantic search of branch members scourging the whole village for the young heiress, in the most unlikely place, Hinata saw Hanabi inside her room, lying on her bed as if asleep. Hanabi's Byakugan had been skillfully taken out of its sockets and her lower lip, torn.
If Hanabi's chakra had been drained a bit further, it could've been lethal and she is yet to wake up about eleven hours past she was found. Hinata remembered almost fainting at the sight. It only got worse when upon her arrival at the evacuation shelter, the hospital staff led her to a separate room where her father was. Kou told her as he logy laid in bed—sedated with pain killers because he couldn't be tended to just yet—that it was all Toneri's doing, the same person who almost cost her father his life.
To Hinata, the village has always been her priority. Before her marriage, whatever was important to Naruto, she held it with great treasure in her heart. Her clan was subordinate. It wasn't that the value of family was negligible. Her father was always strong and infallible, Hanabi was the better heiress, the women reverently obeyed her grandmother and though Neji died, but when he was alive, he was this tireless, steadfast pillar of mettle in the house. No one was as reliable as him. The world didn't have to be about her but she had solely found great purpose in serving the village where she could be needed.
Matters are different now.
Necessity is not what drives her; it's not what propels the storm inside her. If only she could be more capable and more powerful, enough to protect the village and family without risking her son's life. All that shows is a placate veneer as she sat on a stool beside Hanabi's bed, opposite of which was their recovering father, but what she'd give to have such potency—the turmoil of her state, of not being able to do anything a mere firm grip on Hanabi's unconscious hand.
The small hand slightly moved and Hinata's breath rose in anticipation, preparing herself to be as calm as possible in explaining to Hanabi the current situation. The youngest Hyuuga slowly reached for her eyes, as if she already knew, tracing her fingers on the surface of the bandage, or maybe she was confirming it as she took a bated breath, her inward gasps in stops.
Then she cried like a child lost from its mother.
"Oh Hanabi," Hinata said, taking her sister's body into a hug, running soothing caresses on the young girl's back as she blinked back her tears. "Sshhh."
"It's gone! It's gone! It's gone!" Hanabi's arms dropped, unresponsive and hopeless.
Hinata saw Sakura peeked in from the door with eyes eager with concern above hands forming a mount over her mouth and she could only bite her lip as she loosely swivelled her head, looking back at the pink haired woman who turned to foggy vision. Sakura took a few steps back. The people resting near them turned their heads at Hanabi's outburst but none could truly understand.
To a Hyuuga, the Byakugan is not just doujutsu. It's an emblem of pride but with that pride is duty; the duty to protect the power vested solely upon their clan. The Byakugan is a great responsibility rested upon the shoulders of each Hyuuga; one that their ancestors had perceived the need of sealing family members in order to protect. However, Hanabi is not just any family member. She is the designated clan heiress but the burden had not been hers in the beginning. Hinata could feel her younger sister blame it all on herself upon the way her cries turned to silent screams, digging, hollowing her insides.
"Hanabi, stop crying," a voice interposed.
It was their grandmother but instead of the usual aloof on her face, she was misty-eyed and forlorn from where she stood at the entrance next to Sakura, the harsh wrinkles on her forehead and around her eyes made less severe.
The old woman walked closer to Hanabi's bed and her kimono rustled as she sat. Hanabi curled up in shame and the force of her grip on Hinata's hand was telling how deeply chagrined she was. Their grandmother placed her cold, bony fingers on top of the young girl's fist.
"There's nothing that we can do about it now. Stop crying over spilled milk."
She gazed at Hanabi's knuckles, sliding her old fingers on the hard skin.
"I am sorry, obaa-sama… for being such a disappointment." Hanabi spoke, her voice overwhelmed and barely able. It wasn't gentle. There was loathing, but this time, it wasn't for her grandmother.
Hinata opened her mouth to disprove Hanabi. That's not true. She was never a disappointment.
"No, no," Hisoka answered in clear enunciation. Her ashen lips bobbed before a wisp of air sneaked out of them. "It's not you, dear child."
Hisoka reached for Hinata's hand. Her thin forearm was like a wooden beam where the sleeve of her kimono hung loose and Hinata could feel goose bumps flaring on her skin where her grandmother's chilling touch grazed. She could remember as a child that the elderly woman always had cold hands, even now. But her palm, Hinata found, has a softness to it. The kind that goes unnoticed as she barely touches people.
"It is said, the older a person is, the wiser they become. Better. Sadly, I didn't. I always followed what I thought was proper, even at the expense of people's volition." Hisoka's coreless eyes, frosty off-white with grey smudging along its edges, became more delineated to Hinata as they lingered a bit longer at her. "But I was blind… You poor children. My granddaughters... The eldest without her husband. The husband mocked, incriminated… and the youngest, without the Byakugan. These unfortunate things happening to our family. I always try to think that everything is under control… but the truth stays at the back of my mind."
She modestly turned away, wiping her tears with a neatly pressed handkerchief.
"The truth is I am always overwhelmed that I cannot do the right thing, that I cannot lead people to do the right thing. And my incapacity has brought us great misfortune. At the cost of your eyes, Hanabi. What I did… trusting that young man was unforgivable."
Although Hanabi had her face buried on her knees, she gruffly said: "No, obaa-sama. It was all his doing. He used some mind controlling jutsu on everyone. He told me he needed someone to introduce him to Hinata-nee and he used you. He also—" Her shoulders shook. "He was controlling ojii-sama!"
"But even so… it had all been me." Her eyes seemed to look at the wall behind Hinata or maybe to nothing in particular. "It was I who wanted Hinata to divorce the Uchiha. I even walked to the Hokage's office with my own two feet, imposed at the highest office of the village to press his seal on the divorce papers I prepared. The day after, I went back and the Hokage refused. I censured his leadership in front of his subordinates."
For the first time in her life, Hinata saw her grandmother slouch with her head in a semi-bow and there was something elegiac in the manner she did it. She wasn't asking for forgiveness and Hinata wasn't expecting her to, but her grandmother vaguely resembled a withering flower at that moment.
"They presented facts... Your husband was not involved in any of the heinous crimes associated to him by the rumours. But I didn't believe. Something—perhaps, a voice was telling me not to. That I should be more demanding about setting the two of you apart."
Hisoka paused, the curve of her mouth falling down irredeemably.
"No… It was all me. I can say with certainty. I am myself right now." She slid down the bed, brushing the fabric over her thighs to smoothen imaginary creases. "I shall go look after your grandfather."
Her grandmother's slow steady gait reminded Hinata of a majestic crane but the white haori hung on her thin shoulders swayed like teru teru bozu—ghost-looking dolls with painted smiles dangling outside windows to wish for rains to stop.
"Obaa-sama," Hinata called.
Hisoka's gray head tilted a bit. "Tend to your father when he wakes up."
It was moments later that Hiashi opened his eyes and no one noticed except Hinata.
"Otou-sama." Hinata poured water from a plastic bottle into a small cup. She hurried to his side and helped him up. "How are you feeling?"
He refreshed his dry throat with small sips of water. "Better. I've been awake long enough to know what happened." As he handed her the cup, Hiashi glared coldly at Hinata in forthright scrutiny. "I am relieved that you are safe. That Ootsutsuki's persistence was all just to get to you."
The cup's rim fell loudly on the table by Hiashi's bedside and she fumbled to keep it from falling to the floor.
"O-otou-sama, are you… are you saying Toneri-san is an Ootsutsuki just like that Kaguya?! A-and he did… he turned our family upside down b-because of me? I don't understand."
Hinata could feel her heart skip a beat, by leaps and bounds, from one side onto the other, falling helplessly midway down a chasm.
"Our early ancestors belonged with the brother of the Sage of the Six Paths, Ootsutsuki Hamura, who later dwelled on the moon. Though they do come to Earth from time to time, they had never interfered with the affairs of the Hyuuga. Until now. That man was seeking to be married to you." He minutely moved his head sideways. "No, seeking is too soft a word. He insists on marrying you."
"B-but otou-sama, he knew I was married, didn't he? Even before he approached obaa-sama, he must've known." She had the urge to bite on her nails but stopped herself.
"He came to me first. Autumn the past year when Sasuke was away. As if by chance, he suddenly appeared. Puny. Meek. Cowardly. That was how he seemed. Oh, how wrong I was. He had the audacity to ask for your hand in marriage and talk about the end of the world, and fate and the Byakugan. Have mercy."
Hiashi winced as he tried to lay back down before it registered on Hinata's overwhelmed mind to help him back to bed.
As soon as he was comfortably positioned, he said, "I'm tired of this. Help me up."
Her father was always stubborn and even if she were to voice her protest he wouldn't listen anyways. Thankfully, a nurse approached Hiashi and told him they have to do some tests which irritated him and Hinata could clearly see it in the dark pleat between his brows.
After the nurses had finished he was given a wheelchair which he didn't want to use at first but yielded to the demands of his body when his legs wobbled before he could even get out of the improvised clinic. When Hinata offered to push, he declined with the dignified bidding of his hand. As Hinata understood, her father didn't want to be seen imposing on his pregnant daughter.
She followed behind him as his quivering hands pushed on the wheels to check on bedridden clansmen especially the trusted Kou. Afterwards, with a simmering anger on his face, he directed a course past the rooms. Hinata caught glimpses of Genta and Kou on their mother's lap and also Kurenai busy sorting supplies with some Genin and her young daughter clumsily rummaging piles of blanket, offering her help.
Hiashi stopped at the corner near a dump of boxes and tapped his hand on a monobloc chair, urging Hinata to sit. He didn't talk for a while and rubbed in between his eyes, a dark mark of a recovering burn on his left hand.
Hinata, knowing her father to be deep in thought, was silent herself, darting eyes at his direction every quarter of a minute as she waited for him to continue about Toneri.
"Min was some help." He snorted. "Pathetic."
Her father seemed angry at his guards who were with him to Suna and Hinata was sure that had they been there, the true words behind "pathetic" would make them wish they died fighting instead.
"If Sasuke had gone with me instead, things wouldn't have ended this way. The Ootsutsuki would've meet his end then and there. But that man's plans just succeeded… Terribly. It went terribly for us."
Hinata knew her father to value strength above all else. Because duty must be kept. It made her wonder if Hiashi only valued Sasuke's presence because of power.
"What were his motives?" asked Hinata.
"As I've said, he wanted you as his bride. Absurd!" Hiashi gripped strongly on the arm rests of the wheelchair, his knuckles turning white. "I clearly told him in spite of his threats to destroy the world, you will never love him as you love Sasuke. At first I thought that would remedy the issue but he did not understand.
"He approached me a second time and scorned me for consenting your marriage to Sasuke. I should've known then that he was more capable than he looks. He told me I was wrong. That you couldn't possibly love Sasuke and he will prove it. He's a peculiar fellow to begin with who spoke of paradoxical notions. Sasuke's mission had been part of his plan. And the rumors that came after, I knew they were his doing.
"A few days ago, he had the gall to ask if everything about Sasuke so far had not been enough proof that he is unworthy of you. I felt the injustice of his deeds and daringly attacked an Ootsutsuki but it worked against me. When I had come to, there was this incessant command in my mind to just walk, without stopping through the desert. Anywhere away from Konoha. To think that he did the same to your grandfather and grandmother. Shame that I am regressed to this state!"
If Hinata was in a keen state of mind, she would've told him to calm down but the questions kept flowing and she didn't know where to place herself.
First of all, her father never talked about love but after his ardent recount, it appears that he had defended her love for Sasuke. Secondly, she never knew her father could feel such passion for her and Sasuke's marriage. Is that something explainable by the fact that he has the spare key to Sasuke's shed?
"Otou-sama, I hope you don't mind me asking."
"What is it?" he replied, gruff hinted in his speech.
"I never thought you'd feel so strongly for Sasuke and me. Why?"
The scowl on his face mellowed out. He clasped his hands together and his head leaned slightly forward, thinking.
"I'm going back to rest." He reached for the wheels and trimmed his vehicle to the rooms.
Hinata blinked at his father's behaviour. That was unprecedented, almost juvenile. At the best of her understanding, she did not ask anything offensive.
"Otou-sama, wait."
The middle-aged man stopped as he tilted his head at her direction.
"I was just a bit curious, that's all. You even have a key to the shed in Sasuke's garden. I just don't understand why it's a secret."
What she said seemed to amuse him as he briefly chuckled even in the midst of a crisis-stricken citizenry. Glum infused the air but as he skimmed to her side, there was a youthful gleam in his cold, white orbs.
"So you already knew about that. I'm guessing Naruto. Sasuke worked hard to hide it from you." He glanced at her and did the most unexpected thing. Hiashi patted her shoulder for comfort. "I just felt relieved and grateful for him, in a way. I'm grateful towards you. That you made him fortunate. Because you've come to love him back."
Florescent lights clicked as they blinked when someone had switched the ones lining over the hallway. She can now see her father's face clearly, the crow's feet as he smiled.
"I believe it had been three years since then," Hiashi continued. "I saw him planting flowers and asked if it was for a woman. He answered in affirmative. It reminded me of my young self and the things I did."
Hinata wanly smiled. "I guess Sasuke reminded you of things you did for okaa-sama."
"Sasuke is very fortunate Hinata. Not many people are. He's fortunate that you inherited your mother's heart, who loved wholeheartedly without asking for anything in return. Even if others didn't do the same for her."
For some reason, she felt aversion from her father's statement. "What did you plant for okaa-san?" she asked.
A smirk tugged the corner of his lips and he had this peculiar expression in his eyes as he looked away.
"I never planted anything for her. And though it doesn't do well for any Shinobi to be as kind as she was—she wasn't a Shinobi in the first place, your grandmother favored her at first because she wasn't… I am proud that you're as kind as her and you worked hard to possess a strength of your own."
"You had an arranged marriage..." Hinata slowly said, finally connecting pieces together.
It seemed more earth-shattering than the falling meteors. Memories of her mother were vague but she could remember her always smiling, warmth seeming to percolate through her kimono which was always soft to touch and her elegant hands, how she'd remove her garden gloves and tenderly cup the growing tomatoes they planted and she'd refer to them as babies—how Hinata understood babies are endearing then. She was the most beautiful person.
"And it seems to me that you're saying… You didn't love her as you should have."
"I wasn't a good husband. That's why Sasuke is fortunate." He said it again but it wasn't clear to Hinata if he referred to Sasuke in comparison to him or her mother.
"I can't blame you if you think I'm a terrible father too."
"No, I never…" Hinata muttered.
They didn't have that sort of closeness. Hiashi has always been otou-sama. His love were thoughts like dust motes swept under the rug and at every stern look of his eyes, she'd sweep them further underneath.
That must be the reason why it took her so long to confess to Naruto. She didn't feel worthy of him—of who he was to her. Not until she felt she proved herself enough.
Love, then, was a thing she had to earn.
"Maybe I'd afford myself some of your pity, dear daughter. I remember I was seventeen and there were already talks in the clan about getting me a wife. But none of them really knew, that the heir—that their future clan head would… I planted cherry blossom saplings and looked after them for a few good months because someone asked me to. That person from another clan asked me to plant a row so there'd be a nice view come spring in front of somebody else's window. The three of us were a team and I did everything she'd ask even if I knew it was all for some…" Hiashi swung his head as if searching for the right word, uttering it with mild distaste, "cantankerous fellow… Well, he was my friend. But I was always jealous of him… Funny that I can openly admit it now after he's long dead. And she." He paused at recall, pressing his lips together. "To me, no one was as stupendously determined as she was, possessing the sheer perspicacity that she had. And she was always wonderful. To me, that person was unforgettable no matter what."
Her father's words were familiar. In fact so familiar she could remember the bitter taste of grief. Naruto was unforgettable too. "You can't forget her because you decided you won't forget her."
"That's why I told that Ootsutsuki. Love is not that simple. It's not always about being worthy."
"E-even if I don't know a lot about Sasuke-kun," she paused momentarily and thought, shame that that was the truth. "I… I never thought of whether I was worthy of him or if he was worthy of me." Hinata's voice wavered looking straight at her father because it was something she never did. "He made it simple for me. And I feel sorry for you. That okaa-san's heart couldn't get to you… Because I was sure she loved you."
The wheels made a sound like bones rested from work and Hiashi pulled over then move forward obliquely so he'd see Hinata without straining his neck.
"It was too late when I realized, Hinata. Back then, you can't expect anything from the Hyuuga. The women did everything out of duty, and that was all it was to me."
"Okaa-sama was kind and beautiful and smart." Hinata could feel her eyes burn. "… A-and caring, and." She was sure not running out of adjectives.
"Yes she was, and you possessed everything she had."
"She was perfect." Hinata brought her head low because her father just skilfully deviated the subject. It didn't matter what he thought of her and she could never be like her mother.
"And Sasuke loves those things about you… Only after he married you did I see the irony of it. You and Sasuke. What it meant to me."
Hinata couldn't get Hanabi to eat the spoonful of warm porridge she's been dabbing over the young girl's mouth. Hanabi didn't speak and just stayed huddled on the bed, drowning in a depressed state of mind.
Her mother's last words, she remembered, was to look after her younger sister and she was increasingly feeling useless. Hanabi wasn't a difficult child but at times like this, she realized that she isn't doing a very good job being a stand-in mother when she should be more than capable enough.
Deep inside, there's faint resignation emerging but she can't afford to submit to that sentiment. She thought of things to do and she had this idea that maybe, if she brought carefree children to Hanabi the smallish teenage girl would feel a bit happy.
"Onee-sama," Hanabi said flatly, not even caring to face where her elder sister stood with Genta and Ken, "I'm tired."
The cold voice that came out didn't even seem to belong to her but Hinata saw it as a slight progress. She hadn't heard anything from her since their grandmother left the room.
"Hinata-sama, what happened to Hanabi-sama?" asked Genta as he jumped up, his arms leaning against the bed. "Did she hurt her eyes?"
"Hanabi, it's just Genta-kun and Ken-kun."
"I said I'm tired!" She twisted and pounded her fists, scaring Genta who hid shaking behind Hinata's back. "Can't you understand?! Stop being so annoying! Leave me alone!"
Genta was going to cry and his little brother tugged at Hinata's skirt sniffing with white beady eyes. She pressed Ken's head to her leg and whispered to Genta that Hanabi wasn't referring to him showing him her most tender smile. She lifted Ken into her arms.
"I'm sorry if I don't know what to do for you."
"I didn't—that's not what I—" Hanabi stuttered.
Hinata exited the room with the children, gazing at a far-off direction and her feet turned heavier with every step.
"Hinata-sama, why did Hanabi-sama get angry?" Genta asked, frowning as he held Hinata's hand.
"I'm sorry, Genta-kun. Hanabi snapped at you because of me. Please forgive me, okay?" She smiled sheepishly but she couldn't hide her sadness very well.
"I don't like Hanabi-sama anymore. She made you sad."
"Nnn. Hanabi… Hanabi wasn't really feeling well. Please don't hate her. There are times when sisters make each other sad. Isn't it the same for you?"
"No. Ken never made me sad. He only smiles at me."
Hinata made a slight giggle, peering at Ken in her arms who was sucking on his thumb. "What a good boy you are, Ken-kun. Your onii-san is very lucky to have you. Perhaps, it's the other way around? No?" Ken shook his head, teary doe eyes melting away some of her misery.
"I guess. I do make Ken sad sometimes," Genta answered. "Like when he cries because of me or when I scare him with spiders."
"You like spiders?"
Genta's bald head nodded.
"You're not scared of anything, are you?" Hinata beamed at him.
"Nope. I'm gonna be a powerful and strong Shinobi!" His small fists boxed furiously in the air. "That's why if anything scares you, Hinata-sama, just tell me in the future, okay?"
"Okay, I promise." Hinata let Ken down as they now stood in front of the room where the children's mother stayed. "You're also going to protect Ken-kun, right?"
"Un!" He nodded firmly. "I'm gonna protect him no matter what."
"Yes, indeed." She gently patted Genta's head. "No matter what."
The determination on Genta's face remained on her mind the whole evening, hoping that she'd come to wear the same face too.
The black circles around her eyes as she brushed her teeth reminded her of how Sasuke looked the last time they met.
"You're still here, Hinata?"
She turned around at the woman lodged, peeking in between the door.
"Kurenai-sensei, good evening."
"I'm actually switching off some lights now. You should hurry and rest, alright?"
"Hai."
"Just wondering." Kurenai moved close to her and whispered, "Why are there Hyuuga men outside the women's toilet?"
"Otou-sama…" It's difficult to try to explain what happened inside their clan. "He wanted to make sure I'm safe." He ordered a couple of able branch house Hyuuga to guard her closely, certain that Toneri would persist at taking her away.
"The shelter's security is tight plus we're under a mountain. What's he trying to protect you from? I feel that he's being a bit paranoid on this one." Kurenai shook her head. "I'm going ahead. I still have to check on other areas."
After rinsing, she briefly glanced at herself in the mirror while putting the toothbrush back into her satchel.
… Byakugan Princess…
Her eyes widened at the voice sounding like a whiff of air. She scanned her surroundings through the mirror. Just like all the other times it happened, there was nobody there.
Though the voice ceased, she wondered if it was it her tired, anxious mind slowly getting to her, when she's fighting hard against it, feeling as though submerged in water and she'd be paddling her arms and legs, desperately trying to keep herself afloat, her neck stiffening as she holds it up.
She lay on a futon she fixed for her self beside Hanabi's bed. The others in the improvised clinic were fast asleep and it's probably past midnight already but she was suddenly feeling so alone. Her father demanded to change rooms to where most of the Hyuuga were so he could easily talk with the elders.
Her mind swirled with thoughts of her deceased mother and her unrequited love, her father and his unrequited love, then Hanabi turning blind and her friends probably sleeping in turns outside just to protect the village—all at once. Then she thought about Sasuke and the last kiss they had.
She rearranged her pillow and lay back again.
Hinata touched her lips and tried to imagine him beside her.
It had been six months since they last shared a bed.
Come next month and it will be their first wedding anniversary.
The months they spent together can be counted with only one hand. Blaming it all on Toneri would not bring back the lost time and she hated herself more because she couldn't do anything about it. All she did was wait which was becoming harder to do especially at times like this.
Hinata let out a shaky sigh and dabbed her palms over wet eyelids, reminding herself that if she doesn't sleep, it will be harmful for the baby. She forced her eyes shut and made an unbreakable promise not to open them up again. Hinata focused on the sound of her breathtill it evened out and she could feel her senses beginning to shift relaxingly into a mode of slumber.
She opened her eyes into consciousness but the first thing she heard was an old man's voice.
"Byakugan Princess…"
Hinata lifted her gaze and there stood in front of her a robed being in the form of man but his skin was the color of pale clay. He has two small protrusions on his forehead resembling horns and though his face was crinkled with old age, his eyes sparkled candescent, glowing like white embers with strong blue hue like lighting which flickered and oscillated smoothly. His white robe and long white mane, which reached past his knees, overwhelmed his scrawny frame.
"Byakugan Princess…"
No words came out of Hinata's mouth. There was absence of strength at the column of her throat and all she could feel was the power surrounding the elderly man. Her hands quivered a bit and though she wasn't feeling threatened in anyway, her impulse was to activate her Byakugan which, much to her disappointment, seemed to be defunct at the moment.
"Byakugan Princess," he called again, "No, in this lifetime, I should address you as yourself… Hinata Hyuuga."
She tried to speak and her voice finally came out. "Who are you?"
"I am Hamura Ootsutsuki, kin and brother of the Sage of Six Paths."
"I-it's an honor to be graced with your presence." According to what her father said, she is now facing the first forefather of the Hyuuga Clan.
"My will has called and appeared before you, to speak to you as you understand, because a great task must be accomplished no matter at what cost. My people had been led astray by their crooked ideals and the last of them is thoroughly set on destroying the world my brother created."
Hamura turned and waved to his front where an image appeared, surrounding them.
Suddenly, Hinata was in a midst of a battlefield and as she looked to her right, there stood a horde raising a banner of a golden sun with rays like arrowheads spreading around it. In the front were rows of iron knights, soulless and armed, and standing behind them were people possessing Byakugan with brows taut in full concentration and their index and middle digits held out rigidly to the level of their chests like onmyouji casting away spirits.
Hinata looked to the other side and her eyes widened upon seeing their banner. She had seen it before. It's unmistakably the emblem engraved on Toneri's jewelry box that he was meaning to give her. And in the midst of a blind throng—for just like Toneri, they did not have eyes—on her left was a colossal glowing orb like the iris of an eye with a flower-shaped illumination at its core, mounted on intricate circular frames above a towering four-pillared structure, all of which made of gold. Then she saw the knights which Toneri had brought in the room of the women's council of elders. They were numerous and each held on their metal palms a ball of light similar to the light emitted from the glowing orb.
"This is what happened to my people on the moon," Hamura said. "They hypocritically loathe wars waged on Earth when this war had almost wiped out every one of their kind."
"What brought this conflict, Hamura-san?"
"My will had witnessed the progression of events that led to this. It was ultimately because the branch house decided by themselves that it was my intention to make it our duty to judge the world my brother had spurred. They were overcome by greed after realizing that the Tenseigan," he pointed at the giant orb of light, "the energy vessel used for generations, had become powerful enough to destroy planets. The branch family was the Tenseigan's caretakers and because of their greed, they gained perverted sense that they could play gods."
The surroundings suddenly darkened and as Hamura waved his hand again, Hinata found herself in the center of a grassy lawn. She looked at Hamura and asked:
"What does it have to do with someone like me, Hamura-san?"
"Hinata Hyuuga, what do you see?"
She looked around her and at first she couldn't see anything except the endless grassy expanse fleeing into the blue sky horizon. But then later on, a water fall emerged and flowers began to grow. Where the waters pooled in the middle emerged a sheen stone platform where stone steps from three directions led. Her breath got caught in her throat when she saw a statue made of marble or ivory bearing a face so similar to hers.
"My daughter… She is fondly called the Byakugan Princess."
Hinata took two steps back in astonishment. She gulped a lump of burning spittle as she wrapped her arms around herself. Toneri called her Byakugan Princess because of the giant statue in front. More infuriating was the thought that people precious to her got hurt because of a mistaken identity she has nothing to do with.
"The people on the moon loved my daughter who chose to stay behind in Earth because she couldn't bear to leave the people close to her heart. She loved them dearly. The poor more than the affluent; the helpless humans more than our own kind who could wield power unknown to man. My daughter also supported my brother's life mission of ninshu and it is for this reason that she was highly respected and beloved by the first dwellers of our kind—her image idealized to embody love.
"Soon after my people began to forget what love is but they idealized it still, though, not truly knowing what it is. Perhaps it was because we lived in the moon, looking down to the Earth that deep in their hearts, they begin to feel this as well—that our kind was above everyone else. How they treasure notions of virtue and love and perfection. But over the millennium my will closely guards over the moon, none… there can never be any of it there. We were too distant, sequestered. Lofty but isolated."
"Hamura-san, this is a dream, am I correct?" Hinata felt like pinching herself. There was too much information all at once.
"This is my will speaking to you. A substantial remnant of my chakra resides in my will and it latched onto a meteor which fell to Earth so I could come to you. My hope lies in your answer, Hinata Hyuuga." Hamura's glowing eyes steeled. "Do you desire to stop the destruction of your world?"
"Yes."
"Then I have a mission for you. Do you unconditionally accept?"
"If it stops the meteors, I do, Hamura-san. But what does it take for me to do as you command? I don't have enough… And I'm pregnant. I cannot allow harm to befall my child."
"About the child in your womb, its chakra. I dearly know its chakra. After all, it grew with me in my mother's womb."
"You don't mean to say…"
He reached out to touch her stomach.
"Poor child. Your grief awakened its Sharingan. My brother awakened his own Sharingan at an age where we were already capable of intelligent thought. You must steadfastly guide this child to wield his power for the right just as my brother did. I will teach you a seal to make it safe."
And then, with flashes of imagery and passage of thought, Hamura imparted knowledge to her.
Hinata breathed in sharply, her eyes wide to its full extent. Sweat drenched her back and chest. She panted and the pulse of blood raved thunderously inside her ears. She slowly got up but as she raised her hand to wipe her wet forehead, it subtly glowed with purple light, spreading across both her arms.
"It wasn't a dream." She really did accept Hamura's mission and receive his chakra. It flickered and bubbled inside her chakra pathways, the pulse and surge of power coming alive with every beat of her heart.
Remembering what Hamura taught her, she got out of the blanket and began executing the hand seals, step by step, her memory as guide. Then she laid chakra-coated palms flat on her swollen belly and it slowly diminished in size until it turned to what it once before she had the baby.
She couldn't feel her son anymore. The hint of warmth inside her, reminiscent of Sasuke's chakra, is gone and she suddenly felt a disturbing emptiness, a twinge of listless desolation like she's been severed. However, to protect the baby she needed to trust Hamura. The jutsu sends the sealed in a dimension opposite her existence. The baby is inside her and at the same time, it is not. The Ootsutsuki women, accordingly, had used the technique to pass through the gateway of the Earth to the moon since it puts a great strain on their bodies.
She briefly marvelled at the renewed ease with which she got to her feet. Her maternity dress felt like it billowed out of her frame. She pulled the skirt above her knees but gave up on the idea finding it slovenly and she doesn't really have a choice because she didn't pack shorts or pants. Stealing isn't an option and borrowing… is a good idea but she doesn't know how to do that while explaining everything that happened without attracting too much attention. This will be the first time she's going on a mission in a dress—which didn't sound like a good idea. Well, it wouldn't count as stealing if she returned the pants later, right? It was for an important mission after all, she reasoned. A mission that is not sanctioned by Konoha.
Before she proceeded to steal someone's clothing—which she will absolutely return later on—Hinata climbed on Hanabi's bed and caressed the young girl's head repeatedly before placing a kiss.
"I can finally do something, Hanabi-chan," she whispered. "I will save everyone and get your eyes back." She gave her younger sister another kiss and just as she was getting off the bed, a small hand gripped her arm.
"Are you going somewhere?" Hanabi asked and Hinata couldn't see her face because she was lying the opposite side.
Hinata lay beside Hanabi, draping an arm over. "Yes."
They younger Hyuuga turned sharply and whispered with agitation. "Are you out of your mind?! You're pregnant, onee-sama! And just because I can't—" She stopped when Hinata pulled her hand and she was sure that what she felt was a stomach. "Where is the baby?" Her words sounded choked, beginning to cry.
"t's still here… but I sealed it."
"W-wha- Are you sure you're not kidding right now?"
"Hamura-san taught me."
"Who's that? Come to think of it, that evil bastard mentioned something about the will of Hamura. What is going on?"
"Ootsutsuki Hamura-san."
"Hinata-nee,"—Hanabi didn't whisper then—"I swear, stop this nonsense."
Hinata shushed her. There are Hyuuga guarding out the door. "Do you feel this?" She held Hanabi's hand and channelled a small amount of chakra.
"Hinata nee-sama… what…"
"It's amazing, isn't it?"
Hanabi nodded slowly. She turned speechless.
"The will of Hamura-san gave me its chakra and he gave me a mission to go to the moon. There is a portal in the Land of the Rivers which will lead me there."
"I am confused by a lot of things but why are you going now? Shouldn't you tell anyone about this first? I mean aside from me."
"There's no time," Hinata answered. "I must destroy the thing that Toneri-san is using to control the moon. Hamura-san revealed it to me but it is hidden in a secret place and I need to find it."
"You can't defeat him alone." Hanabi pursed her lips tight. "I hate to admit it but he's powerful, onee-sama. I hate him. He can read minds too,"—she halted, drawing a grimace before whispering again—"I hate him."
"Don't worry. Hamura-san told me about their ability to read minds. It won't work on me since I have his chakra."
"Still, you can't go by yourself, onee-sama. I won't let you. I know I said hurtful words but that doesn't really mean—"
"Wait. I hear something… I can feel it."
The sisters listened with bated breath at the nearing sounds of softly pattering footsteps and clanging metal on the floor alternating with squeaks like a raw twist of hard surfaces grinded against each other. Soon after, a green light illuminated overhead and Hinata slowly got up to turn and look at the source of it. A twinge of anger rushed when she saw his eyes.
"Byakugan Princess."
At the sound of the man's voice, Hanabi jerkily turned out, grabbed her pillow and threw it towards where she felt was the origin of the sound. The pillow couldn't even reach Toneri from where he stood by the door.
"Why are you here?!" Hanabi intentionally shouted at him to rouse attention. Much to her disappointment, nothing moved and nobody made a sound. "What did you do this time?!" She jostled against something invisible and Hinata held her back before she leads herself to fall off the bed.
"Greetings, heiress." The sisters could hear him swallow a lump. "I came here for the Byakugan Princess who is to be my bride."
"No one's coming with you! Why don't you just die, Toneri?!" Hanabi's voice turned hoarse, shuddering through heavy breaths. "Curse you! Curse you and your clan! May all of your family die so that you'll know what you did to me!"
Nothing made Hanabi like this and Hinata began to realize how betrayed her sister must've really felt.
"They are, heiress. All dead… I am alone."
The plain, honest way he said it like it was a natural truth made Toneri's words sting like pins pricking in the air and for a while no one said anything and all that could be heard was Hanabi's puffing who at that moment was too surprised to respond.
"I will go with you, Toneri-san," said Hinata.
"No, no, no!" Hanabi blindly grasped for Hinata and when her arms found her, she embraced her by the midriff. "No! Don't go Hinata-nee! I-I'm sorry if I said y-you were annoying." She was breaking down to tears. "I-I'm s-sorry for all the times I upset you. P-Please…" Hanabi squeezed tighter and Hinata found it a slightly difficult to breathe. "You can't. Don't leave, Hinata nee-sama…"
"Hanabi, this is something I chose to do. I do not go back on my word. This is my nindou."
"You're always like this!" She shook Hinata's torso with crippling assertiveness, not caring if snot had ran down her nose as she looked up. "You don't have to do this. You don't always have to obey rules and duty and nindou… Just this once, don't. Please, I beg."
When Hinata didn't respond, she whimpered despondently that it almost sounded like a high squeal. "Hinata nee-sama-a-aa…" The Hyuuga heiress bellowed, her open mouth pressed hard on Hinata's dress. "Haaaa-a-a—"
Hinata could feel the dampness from her sister's wet bandage and saliva. She bit on her lip trying her best not to laugh. It's the first time she saw Hanabi acting like a total baby and she found it very cute. Too bad it'll have to end shortly.
Hinata hit Hanabi's vital chakra points and the teenager's body turned limp in an instant. "I will go with you but on one condition. Return Hanabi's eyes."
"I cannot do that, Hinata. I merely await the third pulsation and by then, the Byakugan is completely transformed into the Tenseigan." His eyes widened when Hinata began removing her right eyeball and offered it to him as dark red blood trickled down her cheek.
"Byakugan Princess, I can't possibly…"
"Accept mine in exchange for my sister's. I will heal your eyes."
Only Toneri can lead her to where the Tenseigan, the energy vessel, is located. Her plan has changed but she will stop at nothing to accomplish her mission.
"Heal my eyes?" He walked closer to her and on his face was a gentle smile. "How it gladdens me, Hinata, that in time we were apart, you have learned to love me," said Toneri.
•••
Hanabi shook awake and she knew instinctively that something was very wrong. She could open her eyes and as she got up, she could see the dim lights left open inside the clinic. She looked around and saw other patients but Hinata wasn't beside her and her heart began to pound loudly. Her Byakugan activated and she frantically tumbled out of bed, almost stumbling on another patient when her foot slipped on the futon which glided upon the concrete floor. Hinata isn't anywhere. She ran down the hallways, running into one dead end after another because she couldn't thinking clearly then.
Hinata had gone with Toneri.
"Hey, are you okay?" asked a stranger who was probably guarding the shelter's entrance. "Do you need a medic?"
She didn't notice herself hyperventilating. Hanabi gripped on her chest as she shoved against the door.
"Hey!"
She ran on bare feet towards the mouth of the mountain, following where the stony path would lead her and though the guards were calling as they chased after, she just went straight ahead until she could see the lurid stars glaring against the perilous night sky.
Stones and gravel scraped her skin and the roots of the trees bumped against her toes. Her bones drummed hard on the cold, mossy ground but she didn't care anymore because there was no trace of Hinata anywhere.
"Where are you going? Hinata's sister."
She looked up and the canopy loomed in monstrous, somber silhouettes. Hanabi licked her coarse lips upon seeing Sai from the Yamanaka clan, running a quick judgement whether he'd be help or hindrance.
"Sai-san, did…"-she took a moment to catch her breath-"did you see Hinata-nee?"
In a flash, he landed in front of her from where he perched. "No. You should be in the shelter."
"How could you have not seen her?!" She shouted at a mere acquaintance but she didn't care anymore. "Toneri took her! He's got puppets and I'm sure he passed the borders! How could you have not known?!" She paced back and forth with a hand against her forehead. "What were you guards doing?! Huh?!" Hanabi growled, showing her grinding teeth.
Sai cocked his head and asked: "Hinata was taken?"
It irritated Hanabi that the dark haired man was utterly calm when Hinata is missing. "You know what, make yourself useful and help me go beyond the border," she imposed, trying to intimidate the tepid person as she balled her fists on her hips.
"No. We must report to the Hokage first."
"You can fly right?" She glared deviously at Sai, aggressively tugging at his turtleneck. "Help. Me. Find. Hinata-nee. Do as I say, or else…"
"You are aware that there are meteors, right? If someone took Hinata, we must tell the Hokage before making a move."
She immediately released her hold and crouched in front of him, sinking a loud sham of a cry in the cradle of her arms. "You don't understand… Someone took Hinata-nee and you won't help me. You heartless!"
Sai sat at her level observing her for quite some time. "I know you understand that there are protocols. It's not safe for you to be out here." He noticed that she went out without shoes on.
She sniffed a couple of times before a sigh escaped her lips.
"I'm done with child's play."
In a brisk instant, she stood up with a firm expression in her eyes. "Sai-san, an enemy took Hinata nee-sama and I plead earnestly for your help. You know she is pregnant… Even as we speak, I do not know what is happening to her. And I won't forgive myself if she is harmed in any way. Every Shinobi has someone they must protect no matter the cost. You understand me, don't you?"
They rode on Sai's chakra-infused ink drawing bird and flew past thick forests. Hanabi sought for any signs of movement, and wherever her Byakugan strayed, she couldn't find Hinata or Toneri and his Knights.
"I must've been unconscious for too long." She spoke calmly but fear was scrambling her insides. "Wait… Hinata nee-sama said something about a portal in the Land of Rivers."
Just then, a bright orange light trailed above them.
"It's another meteor," Sai muttered.
"Let's head to the Land of Rivers! As fast as you can, Sai-san!"
For some reason, Sai couldn't say no to Hinata's younger sister. Her eyes glinted against the dark and her presence overwhelms her smallness.
"Alright. Hold tight."
Her hair flung away as they sped up to their destination and even if her eyes were closed, her Byakugan continued to scan the surroundings and she strained it more and she could feel the skin on her cheeks puckering at the weight of swollen nerves underneath it. She focused all of her chakra to her eyes to widen the scope of her vision, way past her capacity that it began to hurt. Hanabi felt a jolt of pain in her head and steadied herself with her arms.
"There!" she cried as she caught a glimpse of Toneri's puppets but then they were disappearing to where they walked in and her Byakugan couldn't see past that area.
"Hurry before it's too late!" She was betting on the chance that the puppets always went where he goes so the possibility of Hinata still within reach is high.
•••
Sai's jutsu glided smoothly and soon as he landed, Hanabi jumped off without hesitation and headed straight inside a small cave. He tried to call to her but she didn't seem to have heard. He looked around, trying to get a feel of the surroundings before following inside. There was a glimmer of light up ahead but it was gradually getting darker and he saw Hanabi jumped down. Then, it became totally dark. He blinked a few times before he got accustomed to the lack of light, his hearing and other senses made more acute to compensate for his lack of vision.
"Are you there?" he asked, his voice echoing throughout the whole cave. Bats. He could hear some wings flapping coupled with bat noises—he could also tell from the smell of feces. There was no response but then he knew Hanabi was there. He heard her sniffling.
"What's the matter?"
She groaned and soon after, Sai could hear the sound of rocks slipping down. Hanabi was climbing up and he began to feel her presence more clearly, the outline of her form emerging a shadow from what seemed to be a dried up underground river. She staggered.
"I couldn't catch up to them… They're… The portal disappeared."
She rubbed her face with her arms and Sai wasn't really sure what to do at that point because Hinata's sister was beginning to cry for real with her body hunched, sauntering in despair.
"It disappeared…"
Sai didn't need to see to tell that the young girl's eyes were red with grief. Gone was the heiress of the Hyuuga clan with the air of authority.
"Hinata-nee…"
Her arms swung lifelessly in front of her; her legs tottered with every step. Sai perceived that instant as an expression of someone who just lost their soul. Hanabi stumbled and a muffled clang was heard.
Sai neared her but she immediately sat up fumbling on her sleeves. He watched her energetically rummaged inside her sleeves dropping hidden weapons carelessly on the cave's floor.
She gasped. Hanabi held two metal rods and looked at him.
"The meat skewers!"
It baffled Sai how some skewers would help with the situation at hand. They should head back to Konoha immediately and ask for help. That was what they should've done in the first place.
"Stand back," Hanabi said and Sai didn't really know what's going to happen but he followed anyway. Much to his astonishment, Hanabi pierced her forearm with the rod, grunting painfully as she did.
"What are you doing?!" The former Root Anbu swore he could hear perturbation in his usual nonchalant voice. Small girls shouldn't skewer themselves so easily like that.
"Stand back," the Hyuuga heiress reiterated. Sai could see her form familiar hand signs.
Slapping her hand heavily on the harsh, rocky floor, Hanabi said in a half shout: "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Her left eye dazzled with a burst of sharp purple piercing the darkness.
Tremors rattled the ground and Sai spread his feet to maintain balance. The disturbed bats lammed out and screeched when thunder boomed and Sai shielded his eyes when a billow of smoke jolted out of nowhere. As the cloud dissipated, there was a figure of a man whose equally flaring violet sclera irrepressibly unnerved.
Hanabi clutched bloody hands at the man's cloak from where she kneeled.
"Sasuke nii-san, nee-sama is… nee-sama is gone!"
つづく
Daifuku Mochiin Corner! 田
Can People Without Eyeballs Cry?
I researched and the answer is yes, as long as the tear ducts aren't damaged.
Hiashi's Old One-Sided Love
See Red Poppies-Part II and Bosom Carnations-Part VII (Sasuke and Hiashi's scene). Some of you might wonder why I disturbed Hinata with this instead of focusing on defeating Toneri. There are things after the climax which I have to set up.
Toneri's Powers
I don't really want to put everything here but on his mind reading jutsu, canon anime demonstrated it in a different manner. He could read minds only by using his green orb of light but in FLGW, I modified it to a jutsu which he can use as he desired so as long as you trust him, like how conmen are able to con people, and you didn't have Hamura's pure chakra, because Hamura is a superior being than Toneri. I don't know why he was able to read Sasuke's mind and I don't want to admit it's a plot hole so let's just say that our beloved Uchiha got severely depressed, mulling over how he misses his wife and didn't keep his thoughts guarded. Or, since Hagoromo took his Yin chakra back from when he gave it to Sasuke during the war in canon, let's just assume that Sasuke's chakra isn't really inferior or superior to Toneri's, the last of the Ootustsuki on the moon. He is also capable of breaching the security in Konoha. The Ootsutsuki are like celestial beings and though Toneri's powers weren't extensively discussed in the movie, the fact that he's the last one standing is telling something.
Sasuke and Hinata's son
I would like to credit guest reviewer 'Yvonne Parks' for their speculation. I used it in FLGW! I borrowed their idea. Though Sasuke's chakra isn't really Hagoromo's per se, I guess it's identical in a way since Sasuke is Hagoromo's son, Indra's re-embodiment.
The Tenseigan
From canon, Tenseigan is Hamura's doujutsu just like his brother was the originator of the Sharingan. In The Last: Naruto Movie, the Ootsutsuki on the moon kept Hamura's Tenseigan like a treasure and enshrined it into a religious object. The Energy Vessel which is also called the Tenseigan contained Hamura's Tenseigan eyes in its core along with the Byakugan of the Ootsutsuki Branch Family. Toneri experienced a series of pulsations in his eyes before it turned to Tenseigan.
Hanabi's Meat Skewers
They are actually Black Receivers which are peculiar to those with Rinnegan. We see them used by Madara, Obito and most notably, Nagato through the Six Paths of Pain with their eye-catching piercing throughout their bodies. What it basically does is to act as "high-frequency chakra demodulators, allowing users to transmit their chakra into these receivers, and by extension, into those whom the receivers have been embedded in." (fandom. wikia. com)
Six Path Powers
Sasuke didn't really use all the six paths in canon anime. Through the Deva Path, Sasuke in canon anime (which I also used in FLGW) used Chibaku Tensei to trap the Tailed Beasts. There's also the Animal Path which enables the Rinnegan user to summon any animal or human. There is no need for summoning contracts since the animal summons are usually under the total control of the user. In FLGW, Hanabi was able to perform the Animal Path by receiving Sasuke's chakra, and summoned him using a summoning contract. She wasn't in any way under Sasuke's control just like the Animal Path of Pain was. Other details will be revealed in the next chapter,
… which will be posted most probably January next year. Help my singularity—that is in quantity.