The sun was shining high in a cloudless blue sky and the air was warm that morning. And as usual Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu were standing in their usual spot outside the gate of Konoha.
"Hey Kotetsu." Izumo said after what felt like an eternity of silence.
"Yeah?" His partner asked.
"When was the last time we went on a mission, I mean like a real mission?" Izumo asked.
"Uhhh... I think back during the reign of the the Third Hokage. Why?"
"I just…I don't know I mean we are two talented ninjas, right?"
"I would imagine so." Kotetsu said, still not understanding what his friend was getting at.
"Right, don't you think it is a little weird that we two chunin level ninjas have to stand guard outside a gate while they send 12 year old genins on dangerous missions to foreign and hostile territories?"
Kotetsu thought about that for a moment and then nodded. "Yeah actually, it seems like it should be the reverse."
"Exactly, so why are we the ones who always seem to get stuck with the duty of guarding the gate? I mean honestly I don't think I have ever actually seen anyone else besides us guarding this gate."
"Yeah, why shouldn't we be off on daring missions that require skill, talent, and suave that only a veteran ninja like us could provide, missions that require us to go in and risk getting are asses burnt alive if we or any comrades screw up, instead of chilling here and getting paid well enough for it?" Kotetsu said, with clear levels of sarcasm in his voice. He thought they had a reasonably comfy job with little risk or burden, and while it might get boring at times there was really no reason to complain about it.
"Maybe because you both are terrible at your current job." A voice said, seemingly oblivious to Kotetsu's tone.
Both men turned their heads to see two people standing on the inside of the gate, waving at the two of them before turn around and continuing forward into the village.
Both Izumo and Kotetsu looked at them for a moment longer then at each other then at the exact same time. Izumo then facepalmed himself before returning to his in sullen silence, whereas Kotetsu shrugged it off and returned to the same duties, remaining rather nonchalant over this whole incident.
"We're finally back. It feels like it's been a long time." Jiraiya said to his student shortly after they passed the large gates of their beloved Konoha.
"I just hope it's been long enough. If it hasn't, then we're going to have a problem." Hinata said, sounding like she wasn't in the best of moods.
"Not that I fault your intentions, Hinata, but you know you can't just attack people here." Jiraiya advised.
The young Hyuuga gave him a 'try and stop me' kind of look. "If anyone here is still celebrating Naruto-kun's 'death' after all this time, then they deserve to suffer regardless."
"Just remember that Naruto wouldn't want you to become a bully."
Hinata looked forward again. "A bully is someone who doesn't need a reason to hurt others. If I hurt someone here, they will have been asking for it."
"Just remember Hinata, some bullies didn't intend to become that way. Sure they justified at first, rationalized, said the victim deserved it, but in the end bullying is bullying no matter what you call it."
At this point the two caught the attention of Kotetsu and Izumo.
"Welcome back Jiraiya-sama." Kotetsu said, holding out a clipboard. "Sign here and verify you are indeed you."
This was standard to keep track of who went in and out of the village on official terms as well as helping to identify possible genjutsu users. Genjutsu might mask appearances and voices, but not IDs or anything like that. Granted it wasn't a perfect system, but it wasn't meant to be. The system preferred to let the interior security system handle anyone that managed to get past the guards illegally.
After signing in and confirming their ninja IDs were genuine, the two continued into the village.
"I'm going to go inform the Hokage of our return. You don't have to go with me, so feel free to do your own thing for a while. I'll send a toad when I need to speak to you again. And try to behave yourself in the meantime, ok?" Jiraiya said, receiving a nod and then departed by rooftop.
'It's only a matter of time before words gets to my father that I'm back, so there's no reason for me to head back to the compound until then. And honestly, I'm not in the mood to go there first anyway.' The white-eyed girl thought. 'I want answers, and I know the perfect place to go get them.'
With that she headed off to her chosen destination, hoping no one would try to stop her before she got there.
"And that's the last of it for now." Tsunade said, pleased with herself as she set up the final stack of paperwork that she had finished that day. "Now I can-"
"Hello, Tsunade!" Jiraiya said enthusiastically, bursting in from the window per normal and inadvertently scattering the paper all over the floor completely out of order. "Did you miss me?"
Tsunade's response?
"Jiraiya!" Tsunade yelled angrily at the mess he had created, swinging around to slug him.
"Oh crap!" The toad sage said, ducking under the punch that probably would have sent flying to the center of town if not clear across. "Look, I'm sorry for whatever I did, alright? I wasn't trying to piss you off; I came here for a reason."
Most of her anger gone with the first strike, Tsunade didn't bother launching a second one. "Whatever, just know you're cleaning this mess yourself. Anyways, seeing as you're here. I take it you're here for the upcoming exams?"
Jiraiya nodded. "Yes, Hinata was very insistent in going to Kiri in the Chuunin Exams. I couldn't keep her away even if I got Bunta involved."
"Does she have a reason besides Naruto to do so?" Tsunade asked.
"I'm not sure. I like to think so, such as her wanting to test out what she's learned from me and maybe sticking it to her clan in the process, but yeah Naruto's definitely her main reason for going. I'd still like to know what the hell that boy did to earn the kind of devotion she shows him"
"Whatever it is, you sure as hell don't have it." Tsunade snapped.
"Sure women can't resist my charm." The tode sage laughed and then returned to serious mode. "Back to the matter at hand, I'm assuming you've reached the same conclusion I have on the subject?"
Tsunade nodded. "Yes. If we're right, he survived that ambush and ended up in Kiri thanks to the sea currents."
"He did survive, got to give him props for that, it is several hundred miles from the mainland to the nearest island. I knew the Uzumakis had a high endurance level, but I'm beginning to wonder if there's anything that can kill that kid. In any case, the contract for the toad summons proves that he's survived but it also shows that his connection to the toads as a summoner has been voided somehow. It acknowledges him as alive, but not an active summoner." Jiraiya told her, telling of what he had seen when he had looked at the list of summoners when he had gotten Hinata to sign the contract as well.
"Then Land of Water is the place he has to be. It's the only place he could have remained alive and hidden from us for this long. But that means Kiri has gotten a hold of him, and surely they know what he is." Tsunade worried.
"And that means getting him back here will be very difficult if they've managed to get him within their ranks. They can claim legal custody of him." Jiraiya added.
"So can we. And despite what the village wants Naruto was never legally pronounced dead on the records and so his citizenship and ninja rank here is still on the books. Let's just be glad no one has bothered trying to change this."
"True... but I'd choose caution in any course of action, Tsunade. On wrong move on either end and this tug-of-war over Naruto can easily lead to a war between us and Kiri and, besides the obvious problems with this, there are people on the council that will love the idea regardless of why it's happening. For some of them getting Naruto back will have nothing to do with it."
The hokage nodded. "I am aware. Which is why when I make my appeal I'm going to do it with the council unaware."
"Tsunade, what makes you think the Mizukage will do the same?"
"Nothing, but who said I'd be alone? I said only the council will be left out."
"That will help. Now with that out of the way, there's something about Hinata we need to discuss. Before we do, however, we need to have Hiashi to hear this as well." Jiraiya said.
"Why? What's wrong?" Tsunade asked.
"Nothing, per se. But something is going on with Hinata that I don't think even the Hyuga might fully understand, and it's something we need to address as soon as possible." Jiraiya explained cryptically.
"Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen, what would you like to order?" Ayame greeted when she saw she had a customer. Said customer was a young girl who was staring at the plaque permanently reserving a seat for Naruto.
'It's so nice to see someone show such respect for Naruto-kun.' The girl though to herself, looking to the ramen server, who was quick to respond to whatever thoughts were in the girls mind.
"We made that plaque out of respect for his memory. He loved this place. He was out best customer, and he was a good kid; he didn't deserve the treatment he got from the majority of the village. It hit me and my dad really hard to hear what happened to him and we couldn't let his memory die, no matter what those idiots who hated him might think of us." Ayame explained.
A small smile crept onto the girl's face.
"I'm glad... I'm really glad to see such affection was not wasted with you and your dad." the girl, one Hinata Hyuga, said.
"Have you been away for a while?" Ayame couldn't help asking. Most of Naruto's friends had come by once or twice since news of his death, Chouji being the most frequent, and while they did occasionally talk about the blonde it was more to reflect on what he had done, not his absence.
"No, I've been away for a while. Once news of Naruto-kun's death was going to be made public, I knew I had to get out of town. Had I stayed, there would have been a bloodbath for sure."
"Whose blood? Yours or someone elses?" Ayame asked.
Hinata didn't answer right away. "I don't know which would have been first, but in the end it would have been both. Tell me, how did people react to hearing it? As bad as I imagined?"
"Quite possibly worse." The ramen waitress replied, hoping to avoid recapping those events. They were not ones she liked to remember.
"I have a good imagination, so try me." Hinata said, getting comfortable.
Ayame sighed. "A lot of people treated the news like a new holiday had been announced. Several had to be executed under Hokage-sama's orders, and some people tried to stop her, claiming she was being unjust."
"What about those that weren't executed?" Hinata asked.
"They were interrogated, but from what I heard most of them claimed to not be aware of the reason for the festivities and were merely caught up in the mood. I'm willing to believe some of them really were, but if so then why did they keep participating once the reason was told to them? I highly doubt they felt there was no reason to stop."
"So they got away with it by blaming mob mentality." Hinata noted. "At least they didn't all get away scotfree."
"You're one of the Hyuuga right?" Ayame asked, and Hinata nodded. "From what I heard, your clan head was one of those that tried to stop Hokage-sama from executing anyone in the fist place."
"Did he now?" Hinata asked, looking like she was willing to break something if she had anything in her hands right there. "Then he and I are going to have a long talk about that."
Ayame would pity the man if she didn't support Hinata's reasons entirely.
"Man I'm be-whoa, is that you Hinata?" Kiba could be heard saying as he walked into the ramen stand, seeing his teammate after getting past the decorative flaps at the shop's entrance.
She turned around, but Kiba went back out. "Hey guys! Hinata's back! And she's right here!"
Moments later as anticipated, others came in. Apparently Kiba had simply gone ahead of the others to get inside the shop. Accompanying him was Shino and Kurenai.
"Hinata. I'm so glad to see you again." Kurenai said happily, engulfing the girl in a hug.
"I missed you too Kurenai-sensei." Hinata replied, returning the hug but then breaking away. "How have you guys been?"
"We've been progressing nicely, though there is the concern of our former teamwork no longer possessing it's prior integrity." Shino replied, looking over the white-eyed girl and noticing her physical changes since her departure.
Hinata no longer wore her trademark jacket, or for that matter anything from her usual attire. She wore a short-sleeve lavender shirt with black stripes on the end of the sleeves, collar, and bottom of the shirt, and red stripes going from the neck across the shoulders. Over that she wore a tan open vest that looked similar to a cloak without a hood, and had two vertical red spots on each breast. On her hands were black bands wrapped around the area between her fingers and thumbs. Her pants were similar to before, but black instead of blue, and her shoes were more like normal shinobi footwear than her sandals. Even her hair was different, currently cut to just above her shoulders. Overall, the only thing unchanged was the way she wore her hitai-ate.
At the same time, Hinata was looking them over. Shino was still the same appearance-wise save for a small growth in height, but aside from that she'd swear she had never been gone. Kiba was wearing something that looked like his old jacket, but without any fur or a hood. Akamaru was easily twice his previous size now, too big for Kiba to carry but not big enough to carry Kiba instead. Kurenai was like Shino in that she looked the same as ever.
"I can see why you'd be concerned. I've thought the same." Hinata said.
Kurenai was quick to catch some subtle changes in her student. 'She doesn't look like she's afraid of being judged. Months ago Hinata would have been more cautious, like she thought we might be disappointed in her once she came back. Now she's sitting and talking like she already knows we're proud of her. That's great, I always wanted her to realize she's not expected to impress everyone.'
At this time Neji also entered the stand. "Hinata-sama... so it seems Kiba-san wasn't lying when he ran up to us and was telling us that you were back." He wore a dark grey shirt with dark brown pants, and had black elbow bands on both arms instead of clothe wrapping on just one.
"No he wasn't, but I would have preferred to make myself known in a different way, one that wasn't as awkward."
"That reminds me, why didn't you come to us right away Hinata?" Kiba asked, wondering why Hinata would come to Ichiraku then let her own team know of her return.
"I had something else on my mind." Hinata said, closing her eyes and leaning against the counter. "Besides, Jiraiya-sama has me on standby for the time being. I didn't want to get involved in something that would be hard to get away from once he calls for me."
"You think we wouldn't let you leave if you had to?" Kiba asked.
"No, but I do know you'd contact the others and a larger group is harder to leave. Plus I was hungry."
"Speaking of which, you haven't actually ordered yet." Ayame pointed out.
"Oh, that's right." Hinata said, turning back to her. "I'll take some chicken ramen. And are you still doing that low-fat kind you were doing before?"
Ayame nodded, well aware of the kind Teuchi had created after she ended up gaining some weight. "Yep, it's still one of our best brands."
"I'll take it as one of those if possible." The white-eyed girl said.
Ayame wrote down the order. "And the rest of you?"
"I'll take a beef ramen." Kiba ordered.
"We weren't going to eat ramen, but I suppose we might as well, seeing as we were going to get some lunch anyways." Kurenai said, sitting down, with Shino and Neji following suit.
The shinobi all ordered something, ate their fill, and caught up with each other before, about half an hour later, the group left once Kurenai paid for the meal. The mood of the reunion was ruined, however, when Hinata and Team Eight stepped out of the ramen stand to find that someone was there waiting for them. Unlike her team and cousin, though, this was someone Hinata was not looking forward to seeing again... a certain father of hers.
"So you are back Hinata. I'm glad to see that... though I must ask.. why didn't you come directly home?" Hiashi asked, standing as if he were just another passerby on the street, but anyone who knew him knew that was nonsense. He hadn't just been walking by, he knew she was there and came to intercept her before she could go somewhere else.
'Some Hyuuga had to have seen me and decided to alert him.' Hinata thought, feeling rather annoyed by this forced meeting. "Why should I have been in a hurry for something so clearly inevitable?"
"Because you only got to leave on this trip because of my kindness and I'd expect you to repay it by telling me once you get back and showing the fruits of your labor." He told her.
"In other words, you wanted to see whether or not I've learned anything right away." Hinata replied, knowing what his real desire was.
"That was indeed a part of it." Hiashi admitted.
"I have no interest in performing a display for you in any foreseeable future. I have no reason to do so, seeing as how I'm no longer the Clan Heiress, not that I care for that title." Hinata said, dismissingly and yet forcefully at the same time.
This caught the clan head off guard, as it did everyone else.
"What... did you just say?" A stunned Hiashi asked.
"I said I'm not interested in showing you anything nor am I under any obligation to do so. I've got nothing to prove and we both know I'm not going to be rewarded for it but punishment sure is possible. My only motive for doing well in the clan is simply to be left alone, and I can get the same results from just rejecting you."
Hiashi frowned. "I'm the clan head and your father. When I tell you to do something, you can't reject me."
Hinata grinned. "Watch me." She then turned away and started to walk off.
Frowning, Hiashi came up to her. "Hinata you will come back with me." He said with full authority, putting his hand on her shoulder to make her stop trying to depart. Unfortunately for Hiashi, while he saw this action as a simple attempt to keep Hinata where she was, Hinata might as well have seen it as something between an attack and a declaration of war.
On pure reflex, and at speeds that neither Hiashi nor her teammates and friends thought were possible for her, Hinata quickly jabbed his hand with a juuken strike, giving him a jolt of pain making him release her. But she didn't stop there. She just as quickly formed a small rasengan in her hand and turned to face him, ramming the chakra orb into his stomach, knocking him on his ass.
"What... was that the...?" He asked, getting up on his elbows.
"The rasengan? Yes, it was." Hinata replied, giving him a harsh glare. "Still want a demonstration? I'll do it, but you better be ready to be the one on the receiving end again."
Naturally, Hiashi wasn't the only one surprised by either this reaction and display.
"What the hell was that?" Kiba asked.
"Did Hinata just attack Hiashi-sama... beat him?" Neji asked in disbelief.
'On the one hand, I'm glad she can finally stand up to her father. On the other hand, I'm not so sure I really wanted to see her attack him.' Kurenai thought, conflicted between her pride for the Hyuuga girl and her subconscious desire for Hinata to never truly change or, at least, change in the way she seems to be going.
'Apparently I had worried only about us surpassing her, without considering the possibility of her surpassing us. I guess that's my own fault for not believing in her enough.' Shino thought simply, reflecting on his prior concern that the change in training regiments would make their teamwork weakened. But apparently the Aburame had assumed if there were any power differences, it would be him and Kiba getting too far ahead of her in terms of strength; he hadn't considered the possibility she would surpass them.
Not to say Shino thought little of Hinata's chances for improvement as he had faith in her to grow stronger. That said, however, even he had no knowledge of what she was learning and Aburame's always put their trust in facts more than faith. Without any facts to support such faith, he could only imagine Hinata returning with skills he was familiar that were simply improved upon.
Hinata turned away. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find somewhere more peaceful to wait for Jiraiya-sensei."
"Hinata wait, I'm ordering you to stop! This is an order as the head of your clan and your father," Hiashi said before she could take three steps away, calling out in desperation. 'Please don't tell me Tsunade was right and all my planning for her is for naught.'
"So now you try to pull that on me? After all you've done? Forget it, Tou-san, that time has long passed. I care about Neji-niisan, Hanabi, and the people in the Hyuga clan and always will... but as for the clan itself... you and I both know that I lost my place there the moment I fought back. So condemn me, cast me out of the clan for all eternity, or do whatever it is you want, because I don't care what you think, not anymore... Hiashi." Hinata replied, not bothering to stop walking away or looking at him and feeling pretty good about herself, having finally gotten some much needed weight off her shoulder.
The head of the Hyuuga just stood there, not knowing what to do, with Neji and the rest of Team 8 looking on with the same shock. Even in his bewildered state, however, Hiashi knew that one thing was for certain. Hinata was no longer concerned whether or not he approved of her; she had decided to walk away from the Hyuga clan, or at least the system that was the clan.
'Hinata, does this mean you're going to start pushing back? Have you finally gotten full of yourself?' He thought before another thought came rushing to the forefront.
'No... that's not it. The look in her eyes earlier... they don't reflect those of a person too full of themselves. They're the eyes of someone who has simply moved on. She just doesn't care... everything I wanted from her, wanted for her, means nothing anymore. Is... Is this perhaps a punishment for what I've put her through... for my sin of letting my brother die in my place... or perhaps for both those and all my other mistakes?" Hiashi thought.
Hiashi's thought were interrupted when Anbu member appeared. "Hiashi, Hokage-sama would like to see you right away."
"I see. Of course she does." He said with an exasperated sigh, not believing it was any coincidence that Tsunade called for him right after he saw his daughter for the first time in months.
It didn't take Hiashi long to reach the Hokage's office. He opened the door and closed it behind him before he was greeted by the sight of Tsunade and Jiraiya, who was leaned back against the wall to the right of the Hyuga Clan head. While that didn't surprise Hiashi, the soundproof seal that enveloped the room did.
"Is there something I'm missing here? Why do you feel the need to use that seal, Hokage-sama?" Hiashi asked Tsunade, not bothering to greet either Sannin as all three people decided to drop the formalities and get right to the business at hand. though it was Jiraiya who responded.
"She didn't; I did, Hiashi. And I think you have at least an idea as to why, so don't try to act otherwise," Jiraiya said calmly.
Hiashi sighed and was about to acknowledge Jiraiya's point before his mind realized that something was off about Jiraiya's response.
"Hold on... an idea? Are you implying that there is something about my daughter abilities that I was unaware of?" Hiashi questioned, knowing that Jiraiya was already aware of Hinata's abilities so he didn't bother to explain that to the Sannin, to which Jiraiya nodded his head before he answered.
"Yes. When I started training Hinata, her chakra was clearly at the same level as my own at my prime. That alone would make her chakra among the strongest ever found in the Hyuga Clan and would've been enough to explain your treatment of your own daughter from what you told Tsunade... until about a month ago when something began to change," Jiraiya vaguely began.
"What do mean? What happened?" Hiashi asked the Toad Sannin.
"That's what I'm getting to, Hiashi. Anyways, starting a month ago, Hinata's chakra levels suddenly began to increase exponentially until the growth rate slowed down somewhat a week ago. I'm not sure why this is happening, though it's possible that it due to her body finally awakening, so to speak, to the fact that those mental barriers created by your clan's treatment towards her were gone, but her chakra has already reached a level comparable to that of a Tailed Beast, possibly high as the Sanbi at this point. And her chakra is still growing as we speak; not as fast as it has in the past month, mind you, but it's still climbing at a rate that shouldn't be possible," Jiraiya explained.
Hiashi's eyes widened at this revelation. He knew Hinata had a large amount of chakra, for sure, but nothing of this sort. As he tried to wrap his mind around this revelation, something from the back of Hiashi's mind begin to creep to the forefront of his thoughts.
'If what Jiraiya-sama says is true then could it mean Hinata... no, that's just not possible. But then again, that might explain what that night... which would mean she's...' Hiashi thought before he found himself unable to finish that last part.
The change in his expression during this train of thought was rather muted; unfortunately for Hiashi, it wasn't muted enough to escape the notice of either Sannin, if Tsunade's response was anything to go by.
"As I'm sure you can imagine, this was a surprise for me as much as it was for you and Jiraiya. It didn't make any sense to me, just like you if that expression is anything to go by, for Hinata to have this power, so I decided to look at both your and her mother's records twice. The first time, which was shortly before our little meeting a few months back, proved fruitless as there was nothing in those records that suggested that Hinata's power could've been inherited by either you or her mother based on what I could gather from either of your abilities or mission reports. A few days ago, however, I decided to use some of my free time to look at the records again, though I decided to focus more on the general background of either you or your late wife as opposed to just the parts about your missions and abilities. Again, I found nothing in your records, though that wasn't much of a surprise. Your wife, however, was a different story," Tsunade explained.
She then pulls out a file from inside a desk drawer and placed the contents of the file in on the desk for Hiashi to see. His eyes narrowed at the sight.
It was his and his wife's birth certificates, along with other documents that were found in both of their files, or at least the few that could be found in both given how few files were in his wife's dossier to begin with.
"Hitomi Hyuga, mother to Hinata and Hanabi Hyuga and your wife. For someone of such importance within the Hyuga Clan, there were very few documents in her file, especially from early on in her life. Those few documents, however, told us quite a bit when we made a few discoveries. You see, every single one of these documents details parts of both your lives before she was ten years old... at least they're supposed to, but there are a couple of things that don't add up. For starters, all of Hitomi's documents from that time are little more than copies of those in your file, minus a few words that were changed here and there. The most telling thing, however, are the certification seals on the documents. The seals on Hitami's documents looked a bit off and, after further investigation, I found out that the seals were drawn as opposed to being stamped on the documents, though they were similar enough to the real thing to fool anyone who didn't give them a second glance, which is almost always the case with these older papers. All of this points to the fact that every document from before Hitomi was ten is a forgery your clan managed to make and sneak into the village archives." Tsunade said, pointing to each part of the documents whenever it was related to a part of her explanation.
"And what does any of this has to do with Hinata and her abilities?" Hiashi asked, though he knew it was a futile gesture, both because he knew where Tsunade was going was this and because he already knew the answer... and Tsunade, based on her following response.
"You know the answer to that, Hiashi. Your clan clearly forged Hitomi's papers, or at least the earlier ones, which takes a lot of time and effort to do. The only reason that anyone would do that would be to hide some sort of scandal involving an illegitimate birth or to create the illusion that someone was also from Konoha when they really came from elsewhere. Since she was able to marry you, the man who would and did become the head of the most prominent clan in Konoha, without any incident it's clear the first possibility is unlikely. That leaves only one possibility: Hitomi Hyuga came from somewhere outside of Konoha, was brought here under the village's nose before, and was able to integrate into your clan and the village after you covered her tracks with measures like these. If that's the case then that means that she's a Hyuga who came from outside the village and, if there was one, then that means there were others and, if so, that means there's something in that little story with the all the answers I need... am I right?" Tsunade clarified, with the tone in the few words of her response changing as if to say 'Are you going to tell me what I want to know or will I have to force it out of you?'
Hiashi's response surprised both her and Jiraiya, though only briefly.
"It seems you've done your homework in investigating this paper trail. I honestly didn't think this old ghost from our past would come up. I might as well tell the truth, seeing as how you. So where should I start?" Hiashi asked.
"Why don't you start with Hitomi's actual backstory first and continue on from there?" Tsunade suggested.
Hiashi nods in agreement and takes a deep breath before he began his story.
"I was about 12 years of age when I first met Hitomi. I had been made a genin only a few months earlier when I and a group of ninja from our clan were tasked to verify reports of a powerful group of bandits that resided in the northern Land of Fire and, if possible, eliminate the threat The only reason I was sent on this mission was that our clan's manpower was limited for one reason or another and I was one of the few people available, which is why I know the details about what happened. Our task force, which numbered about 30 or so shinobi, reached a small village, which was located on the foothills of a foreboding mountain range that bordered the Unclaimed Lands, closest to where the bandits were last sighted. As we tried to gather intel on the bandits, some of the villagers that had reported the bandits said that they heard the ruffians talk about going to the mountains to locate a tribe that supposedly lived there. This tribe, according to the local legends, was a powerful group of warriors, with strange powers, and were very reclusive as they were almost completely isolated from the outside world. With all that in mind, our team went into the mountains to look for the bandits or, failing that, look for the tribe the bandits sought and wait for them to come to us," Hiashi began.
Jiraiya got off the wall he was leaning on and went to take a seat before Hiashi continued his story.
"After a few days of treacherous hiking, we came across what appeared to be the tribe's village... or what was left of it, which amounted to little more than burnt out houses and corpses strewn about. We never got the full details about what but we were able to learn the basics: the bandits had managed to find the tribe before us and tried to force them to join their ranks through intimidation and failed. The tribe didn't take too kindly to this and fought back. The bandits were more powerful than expected, however, and after heavy losses on both sides, they killed everyone in the tribe... except for one."
"That was Hitomi." Tsunade stated.
Hiashi nodded in the affirmative before he continued on with his story.
"Our team looked around to see if we could find clues as to what had happened when we found one survivor hidden in one of the burnt out homes; that survivor was a 10 year old Hitomi. We weren't prepared when we saw what she looked like, even after we had seen the appearances of the corpses of the other tribesmen, as it took as forever to come around to the inevitable fact. The eyes, the white pupiless eyes filled with fear and confusion at the time, was all the proof we needed, however, to see that she and her tribe, or what had been her tribe, were Hyuga just like us. After we managed to calm her down enough for her to tell us what happened, Hitomi also revealed that she had not been the only survivor as she says her brother had also survived the attack but was separated from her during the ensuing chaos. We looked for her brother for days before we finally gave up, having failed to locate either him or the bandits. Since Hitomi was clearly a member of our clan, the leader of our task force decided to bring her with us back to Konoha; given the fact that our village was at war with Kumo at the time, however, we figured bringing someone from outside the village, one who was a member of our clan whom we didn't even know existed, would raise several questions that we didn't want to be asked. Therefore, the task force leader contacted our clan elders who managed to pull some strings to have Hitomi brought to Konoha under everyone's noses and to cover up the fact through various means, such as the fake documents we produced. The effort was successful, Hitomi became part of Konoha with the village none the wiser, and the rest was history."
After taking a few minutes to absorb what they have heard, both Tsunade and Jiraiya had one thing on their mind.
"Well, that explains Hitomi's story... now how is she and this tribe connected to Hinata's growing power?" Jiraiya asked for both of them.
Hiashi let out a sigh before he responded. "I'm not absolutely sure about this, since I only have old legends to go on, but I do have a theory... one that, if correct, goes back long before any of us were born..."
"Kabuto."
The white-haired medic looked up from his book to see Sasuke. "Yes Sasuke."
"I'm curious about what you had been hinting to me not too long ago. Regarding it not being impossible to leave Orochimaru. Tell me, if I were to leave, how would I do it?"