Chapter 36

A long, red scar brightly contrasted the pale skin across Hanabi's stomach. It reached across her stomach and part of her chest. The sound of her even breathing comforted Hinata as she sat motionless at her side.

Hanabi had suffered numerous deadly blows to her chest, mainly the area around her heart. Not only did the blows hinder her body's ability to heal itself, but also its ability to pump blood properly. The chakra channel that wrapped around her left coronary artery had been nicked. Because of this, a blockage began to form between the left anterior descending artery and the circumflex branch. It was a miracle in itself that the artery itself had not been hit. Her body would have been incapable of delivering oxygen to the different parts of her body, and she would have died within minutes.

Hinata studied the scar again, already turning pink around the edges. She took comfort in the fact that it would not leave a scar like her own. Within weeks, Hanabi's skin would be smooth and unblemished. No one would ever be able to tell what had happened to her, yet alone how close she had come to leaving the world.

Hinata tore her eyes away when she felt a flare of a familiar presence flicker near the door. The door opened, revealing a somewhat bloody and sweaty Uchiha.

"Sasuke!" Hinata jumped from her seat and into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his torso and her arms around his neck, squeezing him close to her.

Sasuke tried not to grimace at the pain such an action caused.

Hinata noticed.

She jumped down immediately and began inspection his torso for injuries. "Did they hurt you? Are you okay? What happened? IwassoscaredIthoughtIhadlost youforeverandIdidn'tknowwhatIwoulddowithoutyoub ecauseIloveyousomuch!" She spoke so quickly that her sentence became one long string of words. Sasuke took a moment to make sense of it. Hinata took that moment to pull him close again, being much gentler.

Sasuke decided to ignore her first question. "I am fine. The real mole was found and captured."

"T-that bastard!" She cried against his chest. "Setting you up the way he did."

"Konoha can cease its worrying now."

Hinata went from angry to sad. "The Hokage was so quick to judge you, even after all you have done to rectify your past transgressions."

"She was not wrong to do so. The only two people she shared her information with were Naruto and myself."

Hinata pulled slightly away to look at Sasuke's face. "Then how? Naruto would never…" would he?

"The mole targeted me specifically to spy on. He overheard our conversations as I explained them to you." So this whole situation was all her fault, in a way. Had Sasuke done as was expected of him and not shared the information with her, then the spy would never had the chance to learn of their plans.

"I'm so glad you're safe. I was so worried and Tsunade-sama refused to let me see you."

"Protocol," Sasuke defended, even though he was still peeved at the old woman who had caused him so much trouble—nearly had him killed. He would have to learn of the so called 'evidence' they had gathered against him to be able to warrant an execution.

Hinata held Sasuke close as she cried her tears of joy, effectively soaking his already ruined shirt. She would never know that her mother sat in the dungeons beneath the HokageTower, awaiting her execution that was scheduled for sixty days from that day. She would never fully understand the circumstances in which Sasuke would be given an unofficial apology, an official promotion, and a second chance—eyes wide open now.

She would never know that her mother took the love of her life's place. She would never be able to find her, no matter how hard she looked. She would forever remember her strong and compassionate mother. The woman who lessened the world's pain. The mother she wished someday to be.

"Promise me, Sasuke. Promise me that you will not tell Hinata the truth. She needs someone to look up to, someone to seek approval from. She needs a role model who will never waver in their conviction and never break her trust. Let her hold on to the few good memories she has, even if they are an illusion."

Hinata believed that justice had been served.

Sasuke would never tell her otherwise.

There were many casualties on both sides of the civil war. The Council Members activated the caged bird seal. The branch members would ambush the Council Members, the former only able to activate one seal at a time. The Main House were better trained shinobi, but their numbers lessened to a frightening degree. In the end, several gave up right before a final blow could be landed.

Palms connected, bodies fell.

Swords clashed, kunai sung.

It was a sad day for such a promising clan. Kumogakure's goal in having the Hyuuga clan destroy itself had worked, but it had not succeeded

A plan that was years in the making—ever since they demanded the head of a future heir so many years ago—had not succeeded in killing its targets. It had been brought to fruitation, but the spores did not last amongst the thorns of hope. The Hyuuga clan—no, the Hyuuga family—was proud and resilient to change, but not impervious to it.

One simple act had lighted a flicker of hope—a flicker that might well become the will of fire.

Hideki was a natural when it came to the gentle fist fighting technique. He had minimal proper training in it due to his branch house heritage, but his genius mind was able to put together what he lacked in knowledge. Also, burning deep in his eyes was the will of fire. He would never let the clan mark his little sister the way they had marked him. He would die first.

Masao was an elder on the Clan's Council. He had years of war experience and training under his belt—formal training from his father and sensei, experience that he had gained during two of the Shinobi wars. He was also known for being the only elder that would retrieve and return Lady Hinata's colorful little bird to her. He was also one of the few on the council who fought for the young heiress' right to lead the clan.

Where Hideki's body was ripe and strong, Masao's was old and failing.

Where Masao's mind was schooled, Hideki's was inexperienced.

They met on the battlefield, each willing to die for his cause. They met prepared to fight until the last breath. Masao was ready to land the final blow when a dancing flame floated across his vision, capturing his attention.

"Aniki!" The five year old darted across the field toward the older brother that she had not seen in days.

"Maika!" Hideki yelled back. "Leave! Someone take her out of here!" A young man nodded and picked up the screaming girl, taking the girl as far out of harm's way as possible.

Hideki's mind immediately went back to the issue at hand. He glanced at the elder in front of him, amazed to still be alive. Surely, the man could have already landed the final blow. His world should be nothing but black.

Masao watched as the little girl with the red dress was taken to safety. He looked at the girl and then back at the young man in front of him, barely old enough to be considered such.

Their eyes met, both looking for the answers to their silent questions.

Masao suddenly dropped to his knees, ignoring the toll that such an action took on him. He bowed his head low to the ground. Hideki froze in shock.

"I have wronged you," the old man spoke. Hideki paused only for a moment before reacting.

He reached down and helped the elder to his feet, their right hands remaining clasped even after Masao had gotten to his feet. Hideki's eyes lit up before the smile found its way onto his face.

"We are equals, brother."

The many spectators around them had ceased their fighting to watch the odd exchange. They had thought Elder Masao dead when he dropped to the ground, but had not seen a killing blow. When Hideki reached out his arm to offer help, all fighting ceased among them.

They looked from the scene to the person they had just been fighting. They shared the same eyes, the same skin, the same blood running through their veins. There was no blood test that could prove whether or not they were Main House or Branch House. The only testament to the sort was the green seal that was etched across their forehead. A label saying that their life was not as important. A label that had been etched there by none other than the very ones that deemed themselves more worthy.

In a wave of movement, the various Hyuuga members dropped their arms to their sides. The sun was beginning to set in the distance and one could look at the ground to see his shadow. Their shadows held no differences. They were the same color. None held more power or more worth than the other. They were truly equal.

Hideki and Masao walked across the large open field, helping support the other's weight.

Several heads looked skyward as they spotted a small rainbow colored bird being set free from its cage, from its confinement. Maika stood at the window of Lady Hinata's room, the bird's cage still in her hand. She set it gently down on the windowsill and turned her head to thank the man who had given her a boost so that she might reach the window.

The rest of the clan was enthralled by the sight of the bird going higher and higher into the sky before flying off to new and unfamiliar territory.

Lady Hinata had once kept the feathers of the bird's wings clipped to ensure that it would never fly away, to ensure it would remain safely in her care. But feathers grew back.

The flight would be dangerous. Other animals would surely seek to devour it. Food would be hard to find, resources would be limited. It might die of hunger before it could even finish its journey.

Remember we're not talking about a clan here, we're talking about a bird

Or are we?

After all, the Main House would have to remove their hold on the Branch House to let them sour with their newly found wings.

"I know you're awake," Hinata spoke after Sasuke excused himself to get them something to drink.

Hanabi popper open one eye. "I still don't like him."

Hinata sighed. "He has a name."

Hanabi opened her other eye and sat up to a more comfortable position. "Yeah—Duckass."

"I prefer bedhead, but yours is much more original," said Sasuke as he stood with his back leaning against the doorframe. If it were possible, smoke would have been shooting out of Hanabi's ears.

"You're supposed to be getting juice or something!"

"Nurses are delivering food in ten minutes."

"Sure, make them do all the work."

"I'd planned to with or without your permission."

"You're talking to the Head of the Hyuuga clan!"

"I'm Head of the Uchiha clan."

"Psh, clan of one!"

"Two." Sasuke and Hinata's eyes met, the prior smirking and the former turning a dark shade of red.

"What?" Hanabi gasped, looking between the two. "Since when?"

"The official documentation has yet to be processed."

"You were spying on us the entire time?" Her voice rose in volume.

"You thought I would just let them execute me without a fight?" Sasuke scoffed, even though he felt quite smug at having caught both Hyuugas off guard. "I had my summons keep a watch on the Hokage's office."

"Well, you're welcome for me swooping into save the day. I could have just left you there in that cell to rot but no, I fought the Hokage and lived to talk about it. So if anyone in this room deserves—"

"Thank you." Sasuke was proud, but in the last months he had matured. He would not let the thirteen year old in front of him affect him the way she first had. He was the bigger person. He was the adult in the situation.

Although, that didn't stop him from reciting "she's Hinata's little sister" in his head over and over again.

She's Hinata's little sister. She's Hinata's little sister. She's Hinata's little sister. She's Hinata's little sister. She's Hinata's little sister. She's Hinata's little sister. She's Hinata's little sister. She's Hinata's little sister. She's Hinata's little sister. She's Hinata's little sister. She's Hinata's little sister. She's Hinata's little sister. She's Hinata's little sister. She's Hinata's little sister.

At least he was getting better at prioritizing.

Hiashi was on death's door. He couldn't even move to dust off the plaster from the wall he had gone through. He could not believe that Hinata had absorbed all of his chakra with one blow. Where had she learned a technique like that?

He was proud of her. Proud of the woman that she was turning into, proud of the woman he knew she would become.

Hiashi had never been an affectionate man. He was born into a clan that favored the cold and aloof. He had not been openly affectionate, but he had loved. He had loved the strange girl that his parents introduced him to. Years later, he would love both of his daughters.

Hiashi had known love.

Haruka's soft touch on his temples, telling him to relax. The soft words she would whisper in his ear, telling him her dark secrets. He would run off with her and pull her into his arms, forgetting about his responsibilities for a short while. He had never expected a love-filled marriage. He had never expected the opportunity to marry someone that was not a complete stranger. Haruka coming into his life had been a gift.

And he's known heartache.

He did not expect it to hurt so much when Haruka told him she could never be happy with him, that the whole thing was just a plan for her to bring power and honor to her family. When she told him all of it had been a lie.

"You disgust me! You are weak and vulnerable and yet you try to hide it away from everyone else like they can't see it!"

Hiashi recalled all of the times she comforted him when he had not told her what was wrong, when he had not shared with her that something was wrong.

"If you are so miserable with my presence, then leave."

"I hate you!" Footsteps could be heard in the hallway just beyond their room. Haruka worked to school her face, patting down the hair that she had previous pulled in frustration.

"Okaasan? Otousan?" Young eyes looked up at them from her hiding spot behind the newly opened door.

"What's wrong, Hinata?" Haruka spoke as she bent down to pick up the girl in her arms. She smoothed her hair and pushed her bangs out of her eyes, pulling her close to her.

"I had a nightmare, Okaasan. You were playing dolls with me and you stood up and left…a-and you didn't come back."

"Sh, I'm not going to leave you, Hinata honey. I promise. See? I'm right here." Haruka and Hiashi's eyes met, both knowing that was a promise she could not keep.

Finally came the day when Haruka came up to him to tell him her decision. Her face glowed and her locks had been brushed several times, the color seemed to shimmer in the sunlight. He had missed his wife. They had not even slept in the same bed for three months. He inspected her to make sure no harm had befallen her. The bulging lump on her stomach looked odd on her slender body.

"I want to leave."

"I know."

"I will bare your second child. I owe you that. But after that I will be gone."

"I understand."

"I wish to have Kurayami performed on me."

"I can arrange it so."

"I wish for only one thing from you, Hiashi." Was she not already taking enough?

"Speak." The outward mask of hate on Haruka's face lessened until all that was left was sorrow.

"Please do not tell Hinata the truth about me. She needs some form of light in this never ending darkness."

"You have my word." She lifted her hand. For a moment, he thought she might cup his cheek with her hand. After a second of hesitation, it dropped back to her side.

"Goodbye, Hiashi."

She gave birth to a second child—another daughter. He couldn't bare to look at her and what her existence would mean. He told Hinata to take her sister before he locked himself away in his room. Haruka was prepared for her surgery.

Hiashi looked through each book, hoping to find some way out of his predicament. For all that Haruka had done to him, he still could not hurt her in such a way. He could not take away her means of survival. He could not take away her eye sight. He would not be able to live with himself.

In his frustration, he threw books across the room, knocked over book shelves, and screamed about a world where wars were not fought with blades but words. He screamed of a place where nothing was fair, but everything was permitted.

He managed to find a loophole in the surgery. He performed it himself, to ensure that it would go as planned and that no one else would ever know that it had not worked. When Haruka first saw him enter the room, her eyes widened in shock. She covered it up quickly with a snarky attitude—her defense against facing whatever was bothering her.

"It will hurt," he warned her, whispering into her ear so that the others in the room could not hear.

"I know. I am prepared." He activated his Byakugan and laid his hand on her forehead.

"When I say the word, scream."

"What?" He pushed just enough chakra into his palm to break the surface of her skin.

"Scream," he told her—and she did. She screamed until her lungs felt as if they would collapse from lack of air. He kept his hand over her forehead before he wrapped it. He made sure to position himself between her and several of the elders that were there to witness.

"It is done," he told them. Haruka stood unsteadily on her feet. Blood mixed with tears stained the bandaging covering her eyes and forehead. The elders gave her one look of utmost loathing before becoming disinterested and leaving.

"Why?" she asked as she dropped the act she had been putting on. Her byakugan was activated so she could look into his eyes.

"Because the world does not play fair. You need every advantage you can get."

She left shortly after. It took weeks before he could bring himself to look at his second born. As he looked at his first born, he realized that he would never be able to look at her the same again. She was the spitting image of her mother.

The anger inside Hiashi grew and grew, festering like an open wound.

Hiashi kept his promise.

He told his daughters about the death of their mother, even going as far as ordering the elders to never speak of the truth. He told them that what Haruka had done was dishonorable and that she were better of dead. Such dishonor should not be brought to them.

It was getting harder and harder for Hiashi to see properly. He was nearing his end now, he could tell. Good, he thought. My pain will finally be over.

Hiashi had painted Haruka's story as that of a hero, even though he came to know the truth—the truth that Haruka was a spy. He never spoke this knowledge to anyone. What was in the past, was passed. That is why he painted his own story as that of a villain.

He represented all that was evil—hate, injustice, pain. He instilled these into his daughters. He made sure that they would never turn out like him.

"Weak, Hinata!" He yelled, rain pouring from the clouds above. Hinata's side was bleeding from a blow that he had caused, but he had made sure to not leave any permanent damage. "You're weak. W-e-a-k…weak."

"S-stop!" She cried to her father.

"Why, Hinata? Too weak to handle the truth?" He could not have her be weak, not when she needed to lead the clan into greatness. If she could not even prove herself to the clan, could not even become the Clan Head, then how would she bring about this change?

"I-I'm not t-too weak," she whispered. He appeared behind her and landed a kick to her face, her body smashing into a tree behind her.

"Tell that to the elders!" He appeared in front of her and pushed her back further into the tree. She coughed up blood. Had he gone to far? "You're as weak as your mother."

Don't listen to me, Hinata. Push back. Thrive. Attack me! Hurt me like I have hurt you! "No!" she screamed. "My m-mother was not w-weak! She was s-stronger than you'll ever b-be!" He laughed cruelly even as he rejoiced inside.

"You're just like her, you know. It sickens me to look at you." He turned his back on her, unable to see her in that much pain and not ruin everything he had been working so hard for. "You're an heiress that will never live up to the title. You, Hinata, are the black sheep." He turned to her, fast enough that he could not change his mind, and threw a set of kunai in her direction. "I will die before being proud of anything you do."

Prove me wrong, Hinata.

Prove the elders wrong.

Prove yourself to be the leader that I know you will become.

He had been expecting it when Hinata had come to him asking for the same procedure. He had spent years finding a better way to fake the surgery. He would take the blame for the surgery not working properly, and the clan would be none the wiser. He made sure that it temporarily caused blindness by only sending a small amount of chakra into the chakra coils around her eyes. That pathways around her eyes would be able to heal. She would even be able to use the byakugan again, in time.

Hinata's fists connected with long wooden table that the Elder's sat around. Splinters dug into her hands. "I w-wish to leave the H-Hyuuga Compound."

"No," she corrected as her words came out ten times stronger. "I do not w-wish. I am going to. I w-will not become what you have always w-wanted me to b-be! I want you t-to perform the surgery on m-me."

Her speech had certainly gotten everyone's undivided attention. "A-and if you don't, I will leave this compound w-without it." People were murmuring now. Hiashi watched carefully as she grasped at her ribs, looking very much in pain.

"The surgery? Done on the eyes? You know that it is very dangerous and few—" Masao spoke quickly, always coming to Hinata's immediate defense.

"I do understand. I k-know the odds. I know I w-will probably not make it. I do not c-care." Hiashi felt Hinata's eyes on him and did not hide his disappointment. This would definitely make appointing her as Clan Head much harder.

"So be it," Hiashi spoke. After all, he had been prepared for this day to happen ever since Haruka had done the same.

Hiashi could vaguely hear footsteps approaching rapidly. He didn't bother opening his eyes, everything was foggy now anyways. One cannot survive with no chakra. His body couldn't even gather enough to heal itself.

"Otousan!" It was Hinata's voice. He would have recognized it anywhere. Hands searched his body for bleeding wounds, but there were none. "Father, open y-your eyes. D-don't fall asleep on me."

What a woman Hinata had become that she could feel sympathy for him after all he had done to her. She had become the woman that he and Haruka had worked so hard for, that they had given up so much for.

For the first and only time in his life, Hiashi broke a promise.

"Hinata."

"Sh, don't speak. We're going to heal you, just open your eyes for me."

"Your mother is alive." She deserved to have someone that cared for her, she deserved to have her mother in her life.

"W-what?"

"I lied to you. She did not die in childbirth. She needed to leave. She did so for yours and Hanabi's safety. She was last seen near Kumogakure."

"W-why Kumo?"

Because that is where her true allegiance lies, he did not say.

"So she could be free of me. She chose a place free of the Hyuuga's grasp," he said instead.

He heard more people talking in the background and someone saying, "Keep him talking!"

"Did I…d-did I do this to you?" He could hear a sob tear through her throat and could vaguely feel her tears against his skin. No, he had done this to himself.

"No, Hinata," he lied through his teeth, easily. He would not let her live with that guilt. "Kumo shinobi—the same ones who kidnapped you when you were little—snuck in while the clan was fighting. They are the ones who used the tension between houses to start a war. They had been given outdated information. They thought I was still Clan Head."

"He's dropping fast!" The same person yelled in panic.

"I'm sorry, father, for not being able to live up to your expectations." His hand in her own was slowly drooping. His heartbeat was slowing to a crawl. There were only seconds left.

"You and Hanabi have made me the proudest…the p-proudest…fath…"

His heart stopped.