Walk on the Moon

by SixPerfections

A girl reborn into the world of ninja wants to escape the cycle of violence. Power is the only thing that brings freedom in the ninja world and she will have freedom... at any cost. However breaking the bonds she forms won't be as simple as she imagines. AU SI.

36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

000

It was something of a small miracle that a man like Kakashi Hatake didn't have at least one horribly self-destructive vice. In fact given his personal history many people would have had several just in case one coping mechanism wasn't cutting it on any given day. Still that didn't mean that what he did was healthy by any stretch of the imagination. Kakashi knew that he didn't train nearly as much nowadays as he probably should have… instead opting to brood for long hours whenever he could get away with it. There was some small passing comfort in brooding. He liked brooding. And reading. He liked doing that as well. Though mostly he just used the latter as an escape as opposed to taking the time to learn anything useful. Those two pastimes of Kakashi taken together meant that most of the time he acted like a massive introvert.

Life, however, had taught Kakashi that occasionally it was important to maintain good social contacts… if only so he could keep his performance as a ninja at an acceptable level. Information, it was often said, was the lifeblood of their profession after all. It was only during these social times he deliberately set that Kakashi allowed himself to indulge in the venerable and time honored pastime and escape of veteran ninja everywhere. It was a tradition for many and in some ways a veritable institution.

So Kakashi at times went into a bar that catered to ninja, talked shop and got as drunk as he thought he could possibly get away with.

That particular evening Kakashi found himself sitting at the counter instead of a table in a bar that was very popular with the upper echelons of Konoha's ninja forces. The sun had set hours ago and he had been drinking at a moderate pace for about that length of time as well. People had come to talk to him, people had gone, he'd kept himself up to date with all the happenings in the village that didn't end up in any official reports (that he read at any rate) and contributed a few bits of gossip himself. It was the unofficial information grapevine of the village and Kakashi could hardly call himself a Jounin if he didn't keep at least a casual eye on all the major happenings in Konoha. That was the reason he made himself socialize even if half the time he was sorely tempted to simply stay home, lay sleeplessly on his bed and lose himself in memories until he eventually drifted off to troubled dreams.

You know. The usual.

Now he was by himself, for the moment, enjoying a cup of the house sake while he allowed his mind to wander slightly. He was part way into slipping back into a good brood when he sensed someone approaching him. With a soft sigh Kakashi resigned himself to more socializing. He'd definitely be going home soon. For a long time Kakashi had found prolonged social contact to be mentally exhausting. The siren song of his books were already calling his name.

The man he had detected sat down in the stool next to him and Kakashi resigned himself to whatever was coming. Among exhausting people this one tended to be at the very top of the list. Not that Kakashi disliked the man. Quite the opposite, not that he'd ever be caught dead admitting such a thing. However this was an individual best taken in small doses.

"Hello my rival," said Gai in his deep baritone as he signaled the bartender for a drink. "It's fortunate that I found you. I was hoping to have a word with you."

Kakashi suppressed a put-upon sigh, only just. "If you want another 'challenge' I've still got another week before you're allowed to bug me about that. That reprieve was the prize when I won last time in case you've forgotten."

Gai turned to face Kakashi and grinned at him, wide and enthusiastic in a way Kakashi was sure the other Jounin thought was charming. Kakashi thought it was overdone and he found it vaguely unsettling.

"Never fear Kakashi, I haven't forgotten our deal and I'm a man of my word," he was quick to reassure. "I actually wanted to ask you about something else."

"Oh?" said Kakashi as he took another sip of his drink, finding that he was curious despite himself.

Gai nodded as his own sake was placed in front of him. He picked up the cup and took a small sip, making a humming sound of appreciation before continuing. "Yes. I wanted to get your opinion on the Yamanaka heiress. The word is, my friend, that you had a face to face confrontation with our littlest genius prodigy."

Kakashi blinked slowly at that before a small frown creased his forehead. Great. "I mentioned that to Genma in passing not even an hour ago. I swear that man is worse than a fishmonger's wife." Kakashi paused and took a drink thoughtfully before continuing. "He needs a hobby. Or girlfriend."

Gai laughed uproariously at that, the volume a bit painful to Kakashi's ears. "Indeed! And there is no better hobby than training. Maybe I'll suggest a few exercises to him when I see him next."

Kakashi decided it was time to move the conversation in another direction lest Gai devolve into one of his hour long soliloquys about the finer points of physical fitness and taijutsu training. Or worse tried to rope him into one of his ideas somehow. "So about the girl," Kakashi said cutting off anything further he might have said. "Why are you interested?"

Gai took his time taking a long pull from his drink before answering. "The Hokage approached me. He asked me to be a Jounin sensei again next year."

One of Kakashi's eyebrows rose in surprise. It was still very early for selecting what Jounin would have the dubious "honor" of teaching the next batch of students who showed the most promise. "So the Hokage just came out and told you he wanted you to teach that girl?" asked Kakashi, some skepticism in his tone.

"No nothing overt like that," said Gai waving his hand dismissively. "The way he phrased a few things and reading between the lines… then by process of elimination I deduced that is who he has in mind for me to teach."

Sometimes it was easy to forget that behind the form fitting green bodysuit and fitness obsession lay a mind as sharp as that of any Jounin… in fact Kakashi was fairly certain he was actually sharper than most.

"Are you going to accept?" asked Kakashi. While technically the Hokage could order any Jounin to act as a sensei tradition held that all Jounin should accept that position of their own free will with minimal arm twisting from their superiors. Not that Kakashi thought Gai would refuse. He liked teaching, having had two Genin teams he had lead previously, and saying "no" to the Hokage was always hard even if you were technically permitted to refuse one of his requests.

"Possibly," replied Gai noncommittally. "In the meantime however… I'd like to hear your impression of the young Yamanaka heiress."

Kakashi stared off into the distance as he contemplated how to answer. While his meeting with Rei Yamanaka had been short it had definitely left an impression. In the end the silver-haired Jounin gave Gai his honest thoughts.

"I think the girl might have a few screws loose."

Gai raised an eyebrow curiously. "Oh? How so?"

"Would you have attacked a Jounin when you were an academy student then taunted him with knowledge you shouldn't have?" said Kakshi dryly.

"Shouldn't have?" asked Gai in a hushed tone, leaning forward slightly with interest.

Kakashi made a dismissive motion with his fingers. "Nothing that isn't an open secret among Jounin, but nothing that an academy student should have known."

Gai made a thoughtful humming sound as one of his fingers tapped his sake cup. "Her family?"

Kakashi just shrugged making a noncommittal sound. It was certainly the most likely explanation.

"And the rest of it?"

Kakashi paused and took a long drink as he considered Gai's question. "From what little I saw she really is a genius. A genius at keeping herself concealed at any rate." Honestly someone that young shouldn't have the patience and discipline to be that stealthy no matter how much they trained. It reminded him uncomfortably of Itachi, the last 'student' he'd mentored while he was still in ANBU. At least the personalities of Itachi Uchiha and Rei Yamanaka couldn't be more different. Thankfully. For his peace of mind at least.

"Rash too," added Kakashi after a moment's thought. "Good luck keeping a leash on that one."

"I don't leash my students Kakashi," Gai said, his tone one of friendly admonishment. "I create conditions that allow them to flourish and grow. There's no greater joy than nurturing Konoha's young saplings to flower into the thick trees that will continue to uphold our village."

Kakashi couldn't help but roll his one visible eye at the flowery metaphor. "I'll be sure to leave all the teaching to you then." He certainly had no interest in teaching anyone, and certainly not that girl. Though he might not be able to avoid teaching forever unfortunately. The Hokage had already been dropping hints that he was going to try to rope him into teaching a team of Genin sometime soon. Which frankly seemed completely daft to him. Shouldn't what happened with Itachi be a loud and clear sign that he shouldn't be allowed to teach anyone at all? Ever? Kakashi's failure to see that Itachi was about to snap was just the latest failure in a string of long failures in his life.

Thinking about Itachi the silver haired Jounin couldn't help but add something else. A bit of unsolicited advice. "It pays to pay close attention to our prodigies. Especially given Konoha's recent record with them." Maybe someone else can do a better job than I did.

Gai made a noncommittal sound as he took a sip from his cup. "I believe the Hokage might be thinking along those same lines."

Kakashi didn't reply and the two of them settled into a companionable silence. While they sat there drinking Kakashi's mind went back to his encounter with the girl trying to see if there were any hints that she might one day go insane and go on a murder spree. She was cocky. Arrogant. Brash. Extremely confident but smart enough not to try to pick a straight up fight with him and to not resist him in the least until he'd determined she wasn't a threat. She was extremely talented. Almost scarily so. However… did any of that hint that she would one day go insane? Of course not. There's no way to say for sure. It's not like she was the first prodigy who was way too full of themselves. Kakashi himself would had been a poster child for that attitude back in the day.

"So tell me about when she attacked you. Any details would be appreciated."

Kakashi hesitated briefly before answering. "Oh you know. There's only so much you can expect from an academy student."

He'd never admit to how close the girl had gotten before he'd detected her. Really, she was just an academy student. It was embarrassing…

000

Several hours before dawn when Rei was already sitting on her small desk reading by lamplight. In front of her was a scroll that was technically restricted to Chunin rank or above that she had managed to badger and guilt the old lady who ran the clan library into "misplacing" it so it ended up in her hands. While Rei had read the scroll a half a dozen times already her obsessive personality prompted her to read it one more time just in case she had missed some crucial detail.

It was a scroll detailing everything that was known about training ground 44, the so-called and unnecessarily dramatically named Forest of Death. The scroll contained everything she could possibly need to know about the place. Geography. Diseases. Edible plants. Wildlife, especially the wide range of hostile wildlife that the training grounds were famous for. All of it information that Genin were never supposed to see since chances were high that their Chunin examinations would take place at least in part inside the forest. In a very real sense by reading the scroll in front of her she was gaining an unfair advantage when the Chunin exams came around in about two and a half years.

I'll try to somehow live with the guilt, Rei thought with a small upward quirk of her lips.

The Forest of Death was, Rei had concluded, extremely bizarre as well as something of an interesting anomaly. Why would such a relatively small area have such a huge concentration of incredibly large or horribly mutated animals? The scroll delved a bit into speculating that maybe there was some sort of special Chakra in the area that affected the animals but there was nothing that was conclusive. It was also a fact that those same giant animals very rarely tended to leave the area designated as training ground 44. In the scroll the phenomenon was ultimately written off as a mystery, even as it tried half-heartedly to make some kind of sense out of it.

Thinking about it further Rei had developed her own theory. From the story she remembered only one thing in this world that tended to produce severe mutations – Natural Energy. From the story she knew that uncontrolled usage of Sage Mode, Jugo's clan and the Cursed Seal users all exhibited a similar phenomenon. Perhaps there was an unusually high concentration of Natural Energy to be found naturally in training ground 44, leading to widespread mutations of the local wildlife? It seemed plausible. However it was only an unsubstantiated theory. Not something she could feasibly test out since she had no idea how to go about detecting the existence of Natural Energy.

Glancing at the clock on her desk Rei realized it was almost time for her to get going. Even though she had prepared her large backpack that she would be taking with her the day before Rei felt compelled to take everything out and repack it once again just to make extra sure it had everything she needed. Satisfied, Rei hefted her pack and made her way downstairs through her darkened house.

As she neared the bottom of the stairs however she was surprised to see a soft glow that indicated that someone had turned the light on in the kitchen. Curious she made her way in that direction. Rei was somewhat taken aback to find her father sitting at the table with two cups of filled with tea and a steaming teapot. It seemed that he had been waiting for her.

"Rei," Inoichi said giving his daughter a welcoming smile. "I was hoping I could talk to you for a bit before you left. Join me for some tea?"

Not seeing much choice – or reason to refuse really – Rei set her backpack down by the door and took a seat across from her father. Picking up the cup she took a small sip of the tea. It was still hot… the perfect temperature even. She looked up at her father a bit suspiciously. How had he known the exact time she would be coming down the stairs?

Her dad took a sip from his own cup before he began. "I commend you for your dedication Rei. When I was your age the Stoking of the Flames was an excuse for me and my friends to goof off and have reduced responsibilities. Instead you decided you wanted to use the time for an extended training trip. While I'm not entirely comfortable with the way you push yourself I want you to know that you have my support… so long as you continue to be sensible in how you go about it."

Uncharacteristically Rei felt a little bit self-conscious at the praise. She resolutely ignored the feeling however and instead gave her father a cocky smile. "Well being the best is hard work. I'm hardly going to get there if I start taking time off. But… thank you. For your support." Pause. "I definitely appreciate it."

Inoichi nodded his acceptance with a slight smile before his expression turned more serious. "Are you still perusing your goal of becoming an S-Rank ninja?"

Rei rolled her eyes. Sometimes she wished she hadn't told him about that. "Yes dad," she said, drawing out the words and sounding very much like a put upon child.

Inoichi looked for a moment like he might continue on that vein of thought before abruptly shifting tracks. "So Rei before you go I need to ask… what did Hiashi Hyuuga offer you in return for training his daughter?"

Rei thought that this conversation might come up eventually but all the same she didn't particularly like being interrogated. Or having her judgement called into question.

"Why would it have to be something like that?" Rei replied neutrally as she sipped her tea. "Maybe I'm just taking the girl under my wing. She certainly could use the help."

Her father gave her a deadpan disbelieving look. It made Rei's eyebrow twitch with irritation.

"It's not like it's impossible. I'm not that mercenary," Rei declared imperiously.

Inoichi just raised an eyebrow.

"It could happen," Rei insisted, feeling increasingly uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

Inoichi just stared at her. She fidgeted. After a minute of this she just looked away and threw her hands in the air.

"Fine! I just wanted to make sure Neji was on my team. I figured if both Toshiaki and Hiashi-dono were pushing for it then the Hokage would have a hard time saying no."

"I… see," said her father, somehow simultaneously looking relieved and vaguely unhappy. Rei was starting to feel irritated now and stared at him as if she could cut him in half with her gaze alone.

"So there you have it," she said curtly. "Was that all?"

There was a long silence from Inoichi before he finally spoke. When he did it wasn't in a direction Rei had been expecting at all.

"You're not… interested in this boy are you?" Inoichi asked with visible trepidation.

Rei looked at his concerned face with wide eyes… before she started huffing with laughter.

"It's really not all that funny Rei," Inoichi said, looking a little bit put out.

"Yes, yes it is," Rei insisted when she could take a breath in between huffs and giggles. Was he serious? "No dad I am not interested in Neji in that way," she said as she started to get some control of herself. Neji was so young… the thought would have been nauseating if it wasn't so funny. "Maybe in a decade or two I'll think about it," she told her dad eventually, her eyes dancing with mirth and a mischievous smile on her face as she brought the cup of tea to her lips once again.

Inoichi somehow managed to look both simultaneously relieved and suspicious at the same time. Is this what it felt like to have a concerned father trying to protect her virtue? She'd never had that in her past life. It was a novel feeling. Silently Rei wished him good luck with Ino. If the story was anything to go by that girl was going to become incredibly boy crazy.

Wisely Inoichi decided to leave the subject at that before moving on to something else. His posture straightened subtly and his expression became uncharacteristically solemn. Subconsciously Rei found herself becoming very still as she looked at her father. He was signaling that whatever he would say next was serious and likely the real reason for intercepting her like this so early in the morning.

"You should be careful making deals with powerful men Rei," Inoichi began, his tone somber. "Even with something as seemingly innocent as this. Drawing the attention of those who are politically powerful and influential… isn't always a good thing."

Rei narrowed her eyes at her father. She wasn't sure why he was picking now of all times to bring something like this up. Also, the way he'd said that… it almost felt like he was trying to tell her something without saying it out loud. Unfortunately if that was the case in that moment Rei couldn't quite figure out what it was.

"Don't worry," Rei began cautiously. "I'm not dumb enough to commit to anything I can't handle. Besides it's not like I have the authority to involve the clan in anything. The damage I can do to the Yamanaka is minimal."

"That's not what I'm concerned about," he told her gruffly.

"All right," replied Rei dubiously after a moment, a question in her tone. She wasn't quite sure how to react to his concern. She could handle herself just fine.

Inoichi didn't look entirely pleased with her responses but went ahead and subtly changed the subject.

"So I see you hired 'that person' to oversee your training with the young Hyuuga heiress."

Rei winced. She'd sort of been hoping that particular tidbit would remain her little secret.

"You found out about that huh?" she said sounding distinctly unenthused about the fact.

Inoichi gave her a cool disappointed look that almost caused her to flinch. He took the time to pour himself some more tea before continuing.

"The relationship between the Yamanaka and the Hokage is being… carefully managed of late. I think that you're smart enough to realize that associating in this way with one of his favorite agents might send the wrong signals."

"Favorite agents?" she asked in surprise. Rei couldn't completely hide her dislike. Her lip curled up in snarl without conscious thought, a loss of control that she would later berate and punish herself for. In that moment however she couldn't help but get her hackles up at the mention of that man. The Yamanaka might have been the closest thing to mental health professionals in this world but they were not mental health professionals. They had never really talked to her about her short stint in the tender care of T&I and frankly Rei didn't want to talk about it. The memory of the helplessness and injustice she had experienced in that time had never fully gone away. It had all just been swept under the rug and promptly forgotten about like most unpleasant things tended to be in the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

"What did she ask you for?" her father asked her. If the person she'd gotten to chaperone really did have a reputation now as one of the Hokage's favorite agents… Rei could see why Inoichi would be concerned.

"I paid her for a C-Rank mission. Isn't that enough?" she asked, her voice hard and unpleasant.

"No," said Inoichi flatly. "I'm asking out of concern for you and the clan both Rei. Don't make me make it an order."

Rei held on to her anger for a few moments longer before letting out a tired sigh. Inoichi wasn't her enemy... no matter how much she suddenly wished she had something or someone to hurt and fight in that moment. Until she was a Genin her father was also something like her paterfamilias under the law and it would be pointless to draw a line in the sand and fight him over this. Suddenly she wanted to go back to bed.

"Something I want too," she said finally, slumping down in her seat a little.

"What?" asked her father patiently.

"She wants to fight me."

Inoichi raised a slightly alarmed eyebrow at that. Rei waved his concern off and clarified.

"I think she genuinely likes me and is invested in my growth since I'm supposedly the only person she's ever taught. She wants to make sure I'm 'up to her standards', which probably means her plan is to eventually teach me something in between trying to beat the shit out of me," Rei said with an unconcerned shrug. Though in light of recent revelations... she began to wonder if she was being entirely too naïve in believing those were her main motivations.

One of Rei's fists tightened under the table. Extend and inch of trust, and what did she get for her troubles exactly? Maybe a better question was, why had she expected anything different? Rei had always known it was a possibility but... there was a big difference between being just a ninja working for the Hokage and being known as one of his personal dogs.

Goddamnit. She would get to the bottom of this, one way or the other.

Inoichi for his part didn't look especially pleased or reassured by the responses he had gotten from her. However at least he didn't voice any further objections. "Just keep in mind," he began carefully, "that everything she sees… none of it is going to stay private."

Rei closed her eyes. "I know."

"You should stay away from that person in the future," her father continued. "Just to be on the safe side."

Rei nodded absently at that. "I'll think about it."

And she would.

Inoichi gave a firm nod at that, apparently satisfied by whatever he had seen in her response. "Good luck then. See you in two weeks." Pause. "And Rei?"

"Yeah?"

"Give that woman hell," Inoichi said with a warm infectious smile.

Rei returned his expression, her own smile taking on a decidedly vicious edge. "Don't worry. I think she'll find that I have a few very special tricks for her up my sleeve."

000

Wearing her large field backpack Rei waited just outside of the Hyuuga estate in the twilight of dawn. The two Hyuuga guards flanking the gates stood firmly at attention, eyes forward with a straight and stiff backs as if the Clan Head himself were in front of them giving inspection. Then again this was the Hyuuga clan. For all those two Branch members knew their every move was being picked apart by their superiors at that very moment.

Certainly something to keep in mind.

It was only a few minutes later when the imposing gates of the Hyuuga compound opened enough to allow a small individual to exit. Hinata Hyuuga came out of the compound then, a heavy looking pack on her back and an expression on her face that made Rei wonder how much sleep she had actually gotten during the night. The clothes she was wearing was her standard 'academy outfit', including that peculiar hoodie that Rei had no idea how Hinata tolerated in the heat of Fire Country. When the girl spotted Rei she gave her a look that was somehow both guarded and conflicted.

Rei gave the younger girl a small encouraging smile and held her ground, waiting for Hinata to come to her. After a small hesitation the younger girl did approach until the two of them were only a handful of feet away. It looked like Hinata wasn't quite sure how to greet her if her slight fidgeting and awkward expression were anything to go by. Rei for her part kept her silence and just waited. She wanted to see what it was Hinata would do.

In the end Hinata fell back on the type of greeting that she felt was safest… the type that she knew best. The young Hyuuga folded her hands in front of her and bowed in a very formal greeting to her senpai. When in doubt you could almost never go wrong with formality in any kind of social situation.

Rei was pleasantly surprised by what she observed, her smile tugging upwards further just a bit as her eyes glittered in satisfaction. Hinata was bowing to her far lower than she needed to. Lower in fact than would normally be considered appropriate even with the nature of their senpai-kouhai relationship taken into account. Rei's eyes flickered briefly to the guards by the gate. A slight tightening around the eyes of the guards told of their displeasure and disapproval at seeing Hinata humble herself in such a fashion.

Rei realized she'd been looking forward to this. Something as simple as a low bow was suddenly stirring a violent maelstrom of emotions inside her chest. Was it a deliberate decision on her part I wonder? Or was it an unconscious act? It was perhaps a small thing but if on their third meeting Hinata already deferred to her this much… well. Then things might be proceeding in her favor faster than she had anticipated.

"Hello Hinata-chan," said Rei warmly, and not all of the sentiment was fake. "It's good to see you again."

Hinata rose from her bow, her expression tinged with… nervousness? Apprehension? Hesitantly her lips twitched upwards slightly. "It's good to see you again as well, Rei-senpai."

"I'm sorry you had all of this sprung on you so suddenly," Rei said as she scrutinized Hinata, taking in every little clue she could detect about her disposition and mental state. "However the Stoking of the Flames is a window of opportunity that won't come for another year."

"I understand," said Hinata in a resigned tone that reminded Rei that the younger girl was used to having all of her decisions made for her.

"Let's get going shall we?" With one last smug look at the guards Rei turned and began walking, forcing Hinata to catch up and fall in step with her.

They walked in silence for a short while, the tension Rei could feel coming from Hinata making the quiet between them a little bit uncomfortable. Rei waited until they were well out of conventional view range and had turned a corner before she began to speak. It wouldn't protect her from any Hyuuga who wanted to look but it gave her the feeling that the two of them were finally alone walking down the street in the faint light of the early dawn.

"What did your father tell you?" Rei asked. She could see Hinata twitch as the sound of her voice surprised her. Lost in your own thoughts were you? What are you thinking about Hinata-chan?

"Um," Hinata began hesitantly before settling into the cultured tones she had been trained in. "Otou-sama only said that I'll be going on two weeks of survival training with you during the Stoking of the Flames."

Rei noticed Hinata tense when the younger girl talked about her father. "Did he give you any more details?"

Hinata shook her head. "He only said that he expected me to… no, I mean, he didn't give me any more details."

Rei could guess easily enough what sort of thing Hinata was going to say before she cut herself off. More expectations piled on her and stern warning not to be a disappointment again most likely. You would think that after years of this the Hyuuga would have tried a new strategy by now since this way of 'motivating' Hinata clearly wasn't doing Hyuuga interests too many favors.

I guess I should probably fill her in on where we're going. Now how to best turn this to my advantage?

"We're going to training ground forty four," Rei began in a grave and serious tone. "More popularly known as the 'Forest of Death' due to the dangerous wildlife and harsh conditions."

Out of the corner of her eye Rei saw Hinata miss half a step and pale considerably. "F-forest of Death…?"

Rei nodded and continued speaking, pretending not to have noticed Hinata's negative reaction. "It's used primarily as a training ground for Genin aspiring to become Chunin. However all levels of ninja have been known to occasionally use the grounds for different training purposes."

Hinata was not a dummy and Rei could see she grasped the implication that even higher level ninja considered the grounds challenging enough to be useful for training. She tried to hide it but little tells gave away Hinata's increasing levels of apprehension. Normally most people would have missed it but Rei's training from her family allowed her to spot all the subtle little signs without too much trouble.

Rei then proceeded to give a basic rundown of training ground forty four with things such as it's size, geographic features, and some somewhat vague details about the dangers they could expect. Rei chose her words deliberately in such a way as to make Hinata increasingly worried and scared even as she spoke in a technical and almost disinterested way. It was also important at this stage to project to Hinata that she was completely at ease with any dangers they might come across. Which, truth be told, she by and large totally was. Mostly.

When she finished speaking she eyed Hinata carefully out of the corner of her eye as the girl digested everything Rei had told her. Truthfully it was probably a lot for the girl to absorb all at once. Rei scrutinized Hinata closely while the girl looked down at the ground as she hunched her shoulders and nervously bit her lip. The Yamanaka girl waited until she was fairly sure Hinata had lost herself in dark and emotionally unpleasant thoughts before bumping her shoulder playfully.

Hinata blinked up at Rei, startled by the sudden unexpected good natured contact. Rei gave Hinata a friendly and confident smile, her body language calculated to seem more trustworthy and dependable. "Don't worry. Just focus on the training. I'm going to be right next to you the whole time." In momentary loss of control she would later berate herself for, Rei couldn't help but let a trace of arrogant swagger slip into her voice… though it may have honestly enhanced her show of complete confidence. "I'll be there to protect you no matter what."

Hinata seemed momentarily dazed by Rei before looking away and blushing lightly. The younger girl didn't say anything. She just looked up at Rei through her bangs. There was a tiny very small smile on her face then, hesitant and grateful. Rei realized with a start this was the first real smile she had ever seen on the other girl. It seemed to make her face and eyes come alive. It looked good on her.

There didn't seem like there was anything more that needed to be said at that point so the two of them fell into a far more companionable silence as the continued to walk. Hinata still seemed nervous about what lay ahead but the nervousness was less now and there was a thread of confidence in her step to go with it. So far so good. Pleased that her plans were off to a good start Rei recalled the detailed map of the Forest of Death that she had memorized. She was busy refining a number of contingencies – not all of which had anything to do with the Hyuuga heiress herself – when she was almost startled when Hinata unexpectedly broke the silence between them.

"How… how was your party? Last night," the younger girl asked. Her voice was hesitant and unsure. For her part Rei was somewhat surprised the young heiress had spoken up at all. She'd figured Hinata would need a little longer to feel confident enough to initiate small talk.

Rei was also surprised by her question. "You heard about that?" She didn't think Hinata had even known about her birthday 'party'.

Hinata looked down at her feet and nodded. Rei hummed and took a moment to really think about the question. In the end she decided to simply answer truthfully.

"It was a waste of time but it did feed my ego to have so many sort-of important people gathered in my honor."

Too much honesty? Maybe. But Hinata was going to eventually have to like her for her. Rei couldn't see anything else working out long term.

Hinata, unsurprisingly, seemed surprised by her response. "Oh," she said, her voice slightly dejected and just a tiny bit wistful.

Hearing her tone of voice Rei had a sudden instinct. "Did you want to go?" she asked Hinata gently.

Hinata shook her head. Her expression smoothed into a fairly serviceable rendition of the impassive Hyuuga mask. "It's okay. I understand why you wouldn't invite me." Her tone wasn't the least passive aggressive either. If anything it sounded resigned and a little sad.

"I'm not sure I do," said Rei slowly. "Why wouldn't I invite you?"

Hinata shot Rei a vaguely irritated look. "You know," said Hinata, half somber and half accusing. "Just…" she began, before trailing off and then looking away, refusing to meet Rei's eyes.

Rei sighed. She thought she knew what was going on. When did I sign up to deal with melodrama? Still a part of her genuinely wanted to help Hinata who seemed to already have several truckloads of issues at such a young age. As long as it didn't get in the way of her plans... she might as well try to help where she could.

Rei stopped walking, prompting Hinata to do the same with a questioning expression on her face. The Yamanaka looked at the younger girl seriously, weighing how to say what needed to be said. Turning fully to face her Rei began in a soft, matter-of-fact tone.

"The first time I met you was literally just a couple of days before the 'party'. That's the only reason I didn't ask you to come. However now that we're getting to know each other a little better I can say with a hundred percent certainty that I want you there the next time. Which… probably won't be for a long time. But the point still stands. I didn't not-invite you for any reason other than that Hina-chan."

Hinata looked at Rei doubtfully which was a… curious reaction. Possible crushing self-esteem issues caused by her family? Check. Rei gave Hinata her best sincere look and smile, trying to put the girl and ease and to get her to at least partially accept her words. After a moment or two Hinata's skeptical expression cracked a little, causing her to duck her head self-consciously and her eyes to dart off to the side.

Seized by a sudden impulse Rei reached up and lightly ran her fingers through the hair on the side of Hinata's head. Hinata jerked her head back in surprise but Rei didn't let it disturb her, instead following the sudden movement like it was no effort at all. Rei grabbed a bit of Hinata's hair between her fingers and thoughtfuly examined it. It was incredibly thick and beautiful, and such a unique shade of blue too. With a small smile Rei privately admitted that she was at least a little bit jealous. Except for her sometimes annoyingly thick curls she was just another blonde in an entire clan full of blondes.

Her eyes slid from the hair she was holding in between her fingers back to it's owner. Hinata stood there frozen, looking up at Rei wide-eyed, reminding Rei so much of a frightened rabbit. A slow self-satisfied smile spread across her lips. It was nice to see Hinata so off balance like that. It made her feel like she was once again completely in control.

Sooner than Rei had been expecting Hinata began to relax as the elder girl continued to play with the bit of blue hair in between her fingers. A bit faster than before, Rei noted. There was a softness and vulnerability on Hinata's face as she looked up at Rei, almost looking lost.

We're very much alike in some ways, aren't we Hina-chan? Rei had always been a touchy-feely person in this life and the last because frankly… she needed it. If she was forced to go completely without she had no idea how she would handle it. Rei was almost completely certain by this point that Hinata was exactly the same way. She had in fact suspected that was the case from the very first day she met the Hyuuga heiress.

As she very lightly ran the tips of her fingers through Hinata's scalp Rei saw that tendency for what it was… another lever she could pull to get what she wanted. As if I didn't have enough of those already, Rei thought, inwardly feeling a satisfied and pleased glow. She couldn't help but wonder how much she would be able to get away with when all was said and done.

"Are you still going to grow your hair out like I told you to?"

It was a gentle question but her tone made it clear what the right answer was supposed to be. Hinata seemed to shudder and half close her eyes. "Yes."

Rei took that moment to pull her hand away from the young girl's hair. Hinata opened her eyes and looked at the hand as it retracted, the look on her face vaguely one of disappointment.

"Good. You have such beautiful hair. It will look much better, trust me," Rei said with a smile that was intended to be both charming and disarming. Hinata gave Rei a small hesitant smile of her own, though she still looked horribly off balance. The girl fidgeted and touched her hair self-consciously.

"Thank you Rei-senpai," Hinata said in a small but heartfelt voice.

Rei gave Hinata a roguish grin. "Come on. We have a busy day ahead of us."

Rei turned and led the way with Hinata following close behind. So far so good. Maybe even better than good. But Rei couldn't let herself get too distracted by how well things seemed to be going. In fact she needed to begin to focus and get her head in the game. Despite her somewhat flippant attitude, the training grounds had been nicknamed the Forest of Death for a reason.

She wouldn't let Hinata get seriously hurt. Rei doubted their 'babysitter' would ever intervene unless it was life and death. Most likely everything would be entirely up to her.

Rei could feel a smile creeping across her face at the prospect of a challenge. This was going to be fun.

000

The chain link fence around training ground 44 served the same purpose as the white picket fences that she remembered: more as a symbolic delineating of boundaries than any serious attempt to keep determined intruders out. They didn't even bother to put barbed wire at the top of the chain link fence. Even an untrained civilian would be able to climb over it and enter the forest if they felt properly motivated. No, what was truly foreboding to anyone on the outside of the fence was what they could see immediately beyond it.

The trees just on the other side of the fence were… huge did not even begin to describe them. They were covered in green moss and were so titanic with growing, sprawling roots reaching over the ground that it would take… fifty? One hundred? It was hard to estimate but one hell of a lot of people holding hands to wrap around even one of those behemoth trees. Sure there were probably some smaller ones further in but the trees that made up the outside barrier of the forest were almost indescribably large. Frankly… it was somewhat intimidating. And it also gave some idea of the scale that some of the creatures in the forest were likely to reach.

"Wow," Hinata said under her breath as she tilted her head all the way back to look at how high the trees went. They must have been at least three hundred feet tall.

"Impressive isn't it?" Rei muttered back. It was almost like speaking too loud would break a spell. "Like the huge trees that litter the village this forest was created by the First Hokage. How one human being alone could create things on such a colossal scale… it's kind of hard to wrap your head around." It was also frightening. And tantalizing, in a way.

Hinata nodded absently before slowly bringing her hands together. She went through a series of twelve hand seals before ending in a modified version of the Snake seal.

"Byakugan," she intoned softly.

Hinata's family dojutsu activated giving her eyes and face that eerie, almost alien quality that Rei had long ago become used to. It always looked vaguely reptilian to her in a way. Rei watched Hinata as Hinata watched the forest, her eyes flickering back and forth by instinct more than by need.

"What do you see?" Rei asked.

"My range isn't very good," replied Hinata, sounding almost apologetic. "But the roots go incredibly deep. There are signs of large animals having passed through here. There's nothing currently in my range though."

Rei nodded to that. The Byakugan really was very useful. "Most animals here will stay away from the edges of the forest since they don't like to leave. We'll have to be more careful the deeper we make our way in." Rei paused before giving the younger girl a small smile. "Good work Hinata."

As expected the girl blushed and looked uncomfortable at the simple and sincere praise. If Rei had to guess such positive reinforcement was extremely rare in her life, to the point where she didn't quite know how to react to it.

"It's nothing Rei-senpai," Hinata replied quietly.

Rei's first instinct was to argue with her but she reigned the impulse in. Getting Hinata used to positive reinforcement was not going to happen in one shot. It was better to be patient. She already planned to push Hinata way out of her comfort zone before the first day was over as it was. No need to add even more stress on top of it all. Not for the moment anyway.

"How long can you keep your Byakugan activated?"

Hinata looked uncomfortable when she answered. "Maybe about twenty minutes before I need to rest."

Rei nodded at that. It was probably something else she'd been found 'deficient' at. Neji could keep his on six times longer than that. "Go ahead and turn it off then. We've got a long day ahead."

Hinata made a small unhappy sound before turning her Byakugan off without protest. Rei couldn't deny that it gave her a little thrill when Hinata was so obedient. So far so good.

"Come on," Rei said, flexing her hands. A small spontaneous smirk spread across her face as she looked out over the forest. When was the last time she'd had any kind of real challenge that wasn't just training, training and more training? In the forest there were actual things that could kill her. The thought sent her blood pumping with excitement. "Time to go. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

000

Once in the forest Rei did what came naturally to anyone trained in Konoha: she took to the treetops, high up in the canopy where she would be able to move from a more advantageous position. Hinata was a bit slow to follow but at least she was able to follow. Though the younger girl didn't look all that comfortable using Chakra to climb so high at least she had clearly learned the tree climbing exercise, even if it didn't look like she'd used it all that much.

Works for me.

"We're going to be running for a while," Rei said to the young Hyuuga. "Keep up."

Rei took off like a bolt, slowing only enough to make sure she could hear her new kouhai following. Satisfied the girl was trailing her as she ran Rei took a moment to study her surroundings. It was both as she remembered from the story and not at the same time. They were generally speaking running along the lower branches of the trees which meant that pretty much all sunlight was blocked from above. Even though it was early in the morning it was dark enough to where it could have easily been mistaken for twilight. The branches they ran on were much like the trees themselves… ridiculously oversized, so much so that in places a single thick 'branch' could be large enough to build a good sized house on. In some ways the forest had a way of making you feel small. It was a spooky place filled with long dark shadows and a thousand places for something dangerous and hungry to hide. While Rei didn't feel particularly intimidated per se it did kick her senses into high alert.

Still after just a few minutes of running Rei decided that she quite liked the forest. It was like leaving Konoha behind for a whole different world. Rei quickly found that she could almost trick herself into believing that she was far out in the wilderness beyond the stifling walls and borders of Konoha. It was wild and untamed, and that in turn made her feel wild and untamed as well. The experience was bittersweet… a small taste of freedom perhaps, but at the same time she was inevitably haunted by the knowledge that it would still be years before she could have true freedom to do as she liked with her life. Konoha was claustrophobic. Living life as a prisoner was no life at all.

"When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw."

It very nearly sounded romantic didn't it? Rei never thought she would be experiencing the sentiment first hand. Her lips curled up in a snarl and her fists tightened until her knuckles popped. She had been waiting for so long. (And what exactly did she have to show for it?). Rei had a feeling that soon something was going to break. But it wouldn't be her. No, Rei would die before her resolve broke. But soon, probably… something was going to break.

So long as it doesn't interfere with my goals I could give two shits.

Rei was pulled out of her dark thoughts by the sound of Hinata landing heavily on a branch behind her. The Yamanaka took a quick peek behind her as she continued to run. Hinata was breathing hard, her face flushed a bright red. While she was managing to keep up with the fast pace Rei was setting it was clear that it was a struggle for her. Good. One of the main reasons they were here was to train Hinata both physically and mentally. Pushing her physical limits so she would improve was only logical.

However forcing Hinata to struggle to keep up with her also served another, more important goal. Rei needed to cement her superiority in Hinata's mind in every conceivable way possible. She needed to be larger than life in her mind. Someone who could do anything, someone who was always right. Was it silly to think of anyone that way? Of course it was, objectively. But Konoha had a collective culture of putting certain gifted people on lofty pedestals where they could do no wrong. Rei needed to become more than just a mentor to Hinata. She needed to become a veritable force of nature that was impossible to deny.

So when they finally stopped later on and Hinata was exhausted from their run and Rei appeared completely refreshed and unfazed? It would be another piece of evidence that Rei was simply Hinata's better in all things. Her single minded determination to her craft over the course of her whole life was finally paying off for something. She would have no trouble establishing herself as Hinata's superior in literally everything. Or at least in everything that matters at any rate.

Time passed as their swift lope quickly ate the miles as they ventured further into the depths of forest. For all its reputation for fearsome and dangerous creatures Rei saw precious little in the way of wildlife as they ran. She was on high alert, cognizant that she was pushing Hinata too hard for the girl to pay much attention to their surroundings. It would be up to her to detect and move to defend them from any possible danger. Still, they encountered no threats even as they neared their destination. Rei was almost disappointed that they weren't jumped by some slavering monster trying to eat them.

After what felt like quite some time they arrived at their first destination: the banks of the large river that cut right through the middle of training ground 44. There should be some clearings nearby where we can establish camp. The clearing she chose would have to be close to the water but not right next to it. There were things that lived in the river that came out at night to hunt the banks... things they were really better off avoiding. Rei was glad she'd had the foresight to research the place otherwise she might have been tempted to camp as close to the water as possible.

Rei came to a stop on a thick branch overlooking the river. The river was very wide, easily a hundred feet across, with a calm look that hid the deceptively fast currents near the center. She knew that somewhere beyond the river was the tower that resided in the center of the training grounds. However she had no plans to come even within sight of the tower. Maybe it was silly but Rei felt that even seeing a hint of civilization might disrupt the feelings of isolation and of a self-contained world that the forest seemed to invoke inside of her.

A moment later Hinata landed next to her with a heavy and uncharacteristic thud. Rei turned to look at her and had to suppress a smirk. Hinata was covered in sweat and struggling to get her breath back, her lungs working like bellows. Her hands went to her knees and she looked like she was shaking a little from the exertion she'd just been through. Still not a word of complaint escaped her lips. That at least was something that Rei could respect and appreciate.

"Are you okay there Hina-chan?" Rei asked, looking the girl up and down just in case she might have missed something.

Hinata shook her head, pushing sweat covered hair off her brow as she struggled to regulate her breathing. "No… I'm uh… fine senpai. Please don't stop… on my account."

Why do you say that I wonder? You obviously need a few minutes to recover. "You did fine Hinata. And don't worry, this is our destination more or less. Now all we need to do is find a suitable place nearby to make camp. We'll stay there for a few days before packing up and moving somewhere else."

Hinata nodded at that. "I can look with my Byakugan if you want… if you can just give me... a few minutes…"

A small genuine smile tugged at the corners of Rei's lips at how helpful Hinata was trying to be. "I'm sure we'll get some good use out of your Byakugan later but for now let's just look on foot. I want to get a good look at the area firsthand anyway since the plan is to spend a couple of days nearby."

"Oh… okay." For some reason Hinata seemed disappointed that Rei didn't take her up on her offer. Curious.

"Well I hope you brushed up on your trap making Hina-chan," Rei said with lighthearted humor in an attempt to brighten up her mood. "Because if we don't catch anything then we're both going to go hungry!"

By the look on Hinata's face her joke fell flat. Why though? It was beyond obvious that she could find enough food for them if she set her mind to it. Never mind that she'd never done it before. Rei Yamanaka could never fail at something so basic and elementary. Just who did this girl actually think she was?

Honestly. So little faith. Well, that would change soon enough.

"Come on Hina-chan," Rei said a tad more harshly than she had intended before turning away from her kouhai and looking towards their next destination. "Let's go."

000

Survival training was a lot more work than Rei had anticipated. Nothing she couldn't handle, of course, but it surprised her how quickly the daylight hours went by as the two of them worked. It took a surprisingly long time to find a camp site that she was satisfied with, one with few enough avenues of approach that it could be properly trapped and defended from wild animals. After finding a suitable spot they had gone to set the snares.

The Forest of Death, despite being famous for it's oversized denizens, still had a plethora of mostly normal sized wildlife of the kind you could find in just about any normal forest. The two of them spent a good portion of the day setting traps for animals hoping they would catch anything from a rabbit to a squirrel to some kind of badger she had caught a glimpse off scurrying off into the underbrush. Maybe even something bigger as ninja wire was strong enough to hold anything short of an elephant.

Hinata had not been too thrilled at the idea of catching and killing an animal for food… at least that's the assumption Rei made if the slightly green look on her face as they talked about it was anything to go by.

Afterwards they had to return to their chosen campsite and trap that so they could have at least some peace of mind as they slept at night. Not that those traps would be a completely fool proof defense but it was better than nothing. Then they spent an obnoxiously long period of time looking for wood dry enough to make a fire with… a fire burning all night, while inadvisable on a regular mission if enemy hostiles were expected, would go a long way towards scaring off a great deal of the wildlife that might come snooping around. Still dry wood proved harder to come by than she had expected in the dark and damp training ground 44.

By the time they finished with that it was already late afternoon. If they wanted anything to eat that evening they had no choice but to go check the snares they had set. To Rei's disappointment none of them had caught anything. They had no choice but to return to camp as darkness fast approached without any meat to fill their bellies.

Now they were back at their chosen campsite and Rei was feeling just a wee bit aggravated. Hinata was sitting on the ground leaning against a giant fallen tree that was at least ten feet tall on its side. It made for a nice natural "wall" at their backs so they would not have to worry about danger from that direction. The young Hyuuga had her eyes half closed, physically exhausted from the long day and lightly dozing almost against her will. While Rei didn't feel all that tired herself the day had been beyond exhausting for Hinata.

Rei was crouching over the fire pit they had made working the flint she'd brought with her in order to get the fire started. In a lot of ways their first day had not gone the way she had hoped. For one Rei had hoped she would be able to start right away working with Hinata as not to waste time. Instead she had to spend the whole day doing things that, while necessary, also felt like pointless busywork. She had miscalculated how long setting up on the first day would take. Annoying.

Rei was also starting to wonder if she should change the name of the "Forest of Death" to the "Forest of Disappointment." Everything she'd heard and read about it had made it sound like something would be out to kill them around every corner. That the forest was teeming with all sorts of dangerous wildlife that would look at a lower level ninja and think 'crunchy and good with ketchup'. Instead she had seen a great big fat load of nothing after an entire day. Except for some maybe bigger than average sharp thorny vines all over the place the most dangerous thing she had run across had been a few mosquitoes maybe ten times bigger than normal. Kind of freaky to be sure but hardly a threat to someone like her.

It was a gigantic disappointment. A part of her… ached for a fight. A fight where she wouldn't have to hold back. She could hardly do that with someone from Konoha now could she? At least not with someone she could realistically beat.

A fight where her life was on the line. Where it was kill or be killed. Why did she ache for that? Not that she wanted to kill a person… any person. Not really. But some wild and dangerous animal? Well… that would certainly be fair game. It wasn't really the killing she was after though.

More like I want to throw myself into a fight where I don't have to worry about hurting anyone, Rei thought as she continued to try to light the tinder. It was the struggle and the winning, and the possible danger of death that she realized she'd been hoping for. Kami I'm messed up, Rei thought with a wry grin.

Still the day had not turned out to be a complete waste. Hinata had shown herself to be almost uniformly obedient and eager to please, as well as being surprisingly competent. Rei snuck a glance at the young Hyuuga. Yes, Rei had spent the day getting Hinata acclimated to following her commands to the point where she would hardly do anything without looking to her for direction. The Yamanaka had also made sure to showcase her far superior competency in all facets of the ninja arts without being too obvious about it. Rei had no doubt that she had already starting to cement herself in Hinata's mind as someone worth admiring and as someone who always knew what they were doing.

They tricky part of course would be making sure that once the two weeks here were up that same mindset would translate to the outside world… along with establishing herself as the only person Hinata could rely on. Achieving that goal however also hinged on earning her affection, not just her admiration. Luckily Rei had a plan for that too.

She was distracted from her musings when the tinder she had been working on finally caught fire. Rei smiled to herself as she cradled the small flame and encouraged it to grow. While lighters in the Elemental Nations existed they tended to be expensive luxury items. Still she could have gotten one if she'd really wanted to. However she found an appeal in the act of nurturing a small spark out of nothing and helping it grow into a roaring bonfire.

It wasn't long before the fire pit had a nice fire crackling merrily away. Just in time too as the forest was quickly starting to darken. Rei sneaked another glance at the dozing Hinata. Poor thing was exhausted. And probably hungry too. Rei decided that she would let Hinata rest and see to their sleeping arrangements herself. She wasn't feeling all that tired anyway.

Rei rose to her feet when movement caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. It was quick, gone in a flash, but she caught a glimpse of a long naked tail and caramel fur. Rei's brow furrowed. She knew perfectly well who the hell that had been.

Worm.

Naturally, because why wouldn't she, Rei had brought some Rat backup with her. Together they had agreed that her Corgi-sized Rat liaison/companion/friend would stay hidden and not reveal himself. That is, stay hidden and not reveal himself unless he needed to warn her about something.

Incoming danger.

"Hinata," Rei said sharply, already scanning her surroundings like a hawk. Damn fire. It was messing up her night vision. "Wake up."

000

The intensity of Rei-senpai's tone was enough to fully rouse Hinata in moments. She looked at Rei who was very seriously scanning their surroundings with a tense posture and began to feel alarmed. "Rei-senpai? What's going on?" she asked with a hint of trepidation in her voice.

"Something's out there," Rei said in a voice so low Hinata almost missed it, the older girl never stopping her scanning of the dark forest all around them. "Trying to get the drop on us unless I miss my guess. Can you use you Byakugan to check?"

Things were moving so fast it took Hinata a moment to register the request. The girl swallowed nervously. She should have enough Chakra for that.

Hinata swallowed her trepidation as her fingers flew through the required hand seals with a speed borne of long practice and muscle memory. She brought her hands together in the final seal and allowed her Chakra to flood the special channels inside and all around her eyes.

"Byakugan!"

The world distorted, turning into what was a confusing overlay for the uninitiated. For Hinata it wasn't quite second nature yet but it was getting there. Being able to discern hundreds or even thousands of layers of matter and Chakra within her range individually was as much an art as it was a simple interpretation of what her newly expanded sense of sight was telling her. Hinata forced herself to look away from Rei's brightly glowing Chakra and to search the world around them for whatever it was Rei had sensed.

"There is a cat… a leopard," Hinata said swallowing nervously when she spotted it. "Black with spots. It's… really, really big. It's about ninety feet up in the trees. About fifty feet South-Southwest. It's stalking toward us slowly. It looks like maybe the fire caught its attention."

Hinata saw Rei frown at the information. For a second Hinata thought maybe she had said something wrong.

"How big is it?" Rei asked, now looking in the right direction without being too obvious about it.

"It's about… four feet at the shoulder. Maybe twice as long." Are we going to run?

To Hinata's incredulous disbelief Rei-senpai actually seemed to relax at the information. "Oh is that all?" she said with a confident smile starting to tug at her lips. "And here I thought it was going to be one of the really big cats around here."

Hinata just looked at her senpai in astonishment and awe. How can she be so confident?

"Uh, Rei-senpai," Hinata ventured hesitantly. "What are we going to do?"

000

What indeed? Thought Rei as she began to consider her options.

Her first impulse was perhaps predictable though the strength of it surprised her. The animal was large, a predator, and somehow Rei doubted it was simple curiosity that was prompting it to silently stalk in their direction. Her right hand slipped up her long sleeve gripped one of the kunai concealed there. She wanted to fight it. No, she wanted to stalk it. Could she get the drop on it? Who would be hunting who? Not that she would simply strike to kill from stealth. No, maybe just to hamstring. Just enough to where it couldn't run but where it could still fight. Really, would that be so bad?

Battle lust arose inside of her. She had almost made up her mind to pursue that before she remembered her current charge. Looking out of the corner of her eye she saw Hinata staring at her, her wide eyes swirling with a confusing mix of emotions. Why was she looking at her like that? well, Rei could sort out what it all meant later. For now she had a bit of a crisis that needed to be addressed.

In the end Rei forcibly reminded herself that first and foremost she had a mission to complete. Hinata. For the sake of completing her mission her personal desires would have to be pushed away for the moment. Her goals and responsibilities came first.

"Well…" Rei said, answering Hinata's earlier question. "We didn't catch any dinner today. How considerate then that dinner decided to come to us, wouldn't you say?"

Predictably Hinata paled and seemed positively scandalized by her implication. "You can't mean…"

"Why not?" said Rei with a shrug. "We need to eat. Does it matter all that much if it's a deer or a leopard?"

"I… I guess not…" said Hinata hesitantly.

Rei nodded her approval and smiled brightly at the girl. "Exactly right. So here's what's going to happen…"

Rei stopped looking up at the trees and locked eyes with Hinata. The younger girl froze at the sudden intensity that she saw there.

"… you're going to be the one to kill that leopard for us Hinata-chan."

000

"… you're going to be the one to kill that leopard for us Hinata-chan."

At first Hinata was sure she'd heard wrong.

"… what?"

"You heard me," said Rei, her tone slightly challenging. "I know you probably think it's too dangerous but don't worry: I'm going to be nearby the whole time. If things start going too badly I'll swoop in and pull you out of trouble. There's no way I'd let some overgrown furball maul my one and only kouhai."

No… apparently she hadn't heard wrong.

Hearing Rei promising to protect her was reassuring… a lot more reassuring than she would have thought actually. But… at the same time…

Using her Byakugan Hinata turned her attention back to the animal in question. It was now maybe thirty feet away and seventy feet up. By the way it was moving Hinata had no doubt it was slowly stalking them. The animal was huge, chorded with lean muscle and having claws that were longer than her fingers. It looked sleek and hungry. Dangerous. There was no way she of all people could fight something like that.

"Rei-senpai…" Hinata began haltingly, almost physically pained at having to admit yet another one of her many deficiencies to Rei. "I… I can't do it. I can't… fight something like that."

"Yes you can," Rei said, absolute certainty in her voice. And just a hint of exasperation. It almost made Hinata believe it.

But it simply wasn't true.

"No…," said Hinata, looking down as shame filled her. "I – I'm sorry Rei-senpai, but I can't –"

She was interrupted when her Byakugan saw Rei move. Her family's doujutsu managed to capture it all but her reaction time was almost pitiful by comparison. Before she could even breathe Rei was already standing just inches in front of her, one of her calloused hands tilting Hinata's chin up to look her in the eyes. Hinata froze, stuck like a butterfly with a needle through it's torso as those lavender eyes pinned her in place. Some distant part of her mind marveled at the startling intensity that Rei-senpai could bring to anything that she did.

"I know you're nervous about this but it's going to be fine," Rei began quietly, never breaking the eye contact between them. "I'm not going to stop helping you if you fail. In fact trying and failing to do something will never make me think less of you Hinata. However…" she said, tightening her grip on Hinata's chin until it was almost painful. "If you refuse to even try… if you refuse to even give it your very best effort… then I'm going to be very, very disappointed."

Oh Kami. Hinata could see it in her eyes. Rei was completely serious. One hundred percent serious. Would never think less of her if she failed? What had she ever done to deserve something like that? It was almost too much. How could someone even think of being that lenient with her? She almost wanted to call out Rei for being too soft on her… except she really, really didn't…

How could she disappoint someone like that? Looking into Rei's eyes she couldn't help but feel something would be lost if she backed down. When she probably completely screwed it up… at least Rei had said she would step in to protect her hadn't she?

"I… I'll do it… Rei-senpai," Hinata managed to whisper out as she was still locked in Rei's potent piercing stare.

Her senpai's answering smile seemed to take a weight off her chest. "Good girl. It'll be fine. Attack it from range and only close in when you have an advantage. I'll be looking out for you the whole time."

Hinata just stared for a long moment before she realized she was expected to answer. "Oh… okay Rei-senpai," she said, her voice sounding distracted and far away.

"Come on," said Rei, releasing her chin and stepping away from her towards the tree line. "Check your gear. It's either now or never."

Biting her lip nervously Hinata did just that as she followed Rei out of the circle of light their campfire provided.

000

Hinata followed Rei as she took the lead, the older girl climbing with an ease Hinata found she couldn't match as the older girl occasionally asked for the position of the leopard using the sign language they had learned at the academy. Slowly, and taking some peculiar routes for reasons Hinata didn't quite understand, the two of them gained altitude and circled around where the leopard was still inching its way towards their campsite. The black spotted leopard was moving with a patience and deliberateness that Hinata found unsettling. If Rei hadn't somehow sensed something was wrong the leopard could have snuck right up on them before they knew anything was wrong. They had trapped all the approaches to their camp from ground level but covering all approaches vertically would have been impossible. From above their camp had been more or less totally undefended.

Hinata had always thought animals had great senses so she was surprised when Rei managed to somehow get them twenty feet above and behind the giant cat completely undetected. Hinata swallowed anxiously and she could feel her hands starting to shake a little. They were now in a prime ambush spot. Hinata wouldn't get a better angle and or a better shot than this.

Rei touched her arm to get her attention. Hinata looked at her, even though the motion was mostly unnecessary due to her Byakugan, and gave the older girl what felt to her like a truly pitiful look… and she hated herself for it almost instantly. For better or for worse however Rei-senpai either didn't see the look in the darkness or she decided to ignore.

Long range. Engage. Rei signaled to her. Me. Conceal. Acknowledge.

Hesitantly, and less fluidly, Hinata signaled back. Acknowledge. Me. Long range. Engage. You. Conceal.

Rei smiled at her in the darkness before reaching over and giving Hinata's hand a brief squeeze. Hinata instinctively tensed and felt her heart speed up at the touch. However before she could do more than be surprised Rei was suddenly gone, circling around and moving to position herself at a different angle.

Hinata still wasn't used to how… affectionate her senpai was. It was one of the things that… well, now really wasn't the time to start thinking about that. Looking over with her Byakugan she could easily see where Rei-senpai had moved to position herself… and how she was now expectantly looking in her direction.

I can't back out of this, can I?

Trying to steady her shaking fingers Hinata drew four shuriken, two in each hand. They felt so small and pitiful compared to the majestic creature below her. I really don't want to do this. The alternative though… the alternative would be much worse.

Hinata was so nervous that she was almost positive she wouldn't be able to aim with any sort of precision. Instead she took aim at the center of mass. With one last steadying breath Hinata drew back her hands and let the shuriken fly.

The leopard was caught completely by surprise, letting out a shockingly loud animal cry of both pain and anger. The sound made Hinata freeze, her hands already half way back to her pouch to let another volley fly. Her heart skipped at beat when the leopard turned around and locked its yellow eyes with hers.

Suddenly it was moving in a burst of violent movement. The leopard ran, and it was fast. It shot straight towards a trunk that Hinata quickly saw would bring it up the oversized branch she was currently crouching on. That realization was enough to snap her out of her shock, and acting solely on muscle memory her hands dipped into her pouch and sent shuriken flying at the creature. Maybe a third of them found their mark as the leopard scrambled up the trunk with terrifying speed and agility. Before she knew it the huge animal was on the same branch as her and charging right for her, its bared white teeth seeming to gleam in the recently fallen darkness.

Hinata let out one last panicked volley of shuriken, hoping one of them would hit something vital. The girl wasn't even sure how many of them hit before the leopard that was nearly as tall as her was suddenly right in front of her. Hinata's mind completely blanked out for a moment as all she saw were claws and teeth pouncing straight at her with terrifying speed.

Thankfully her reflexes, painfully and painstakingly honed by her family over many years, kicked in in time to save her from a brutal mauling. Hinata channeled a violent surge of Chakra to her legs and propelled herself backwards, barely getting out of range of where the leopard had pounced. The animal roared at her again, it's body language furious, as it crouched down to leap at her once again.

Now however Hinata found herself nearly up against the trunk of a tree behind her… and there really wasn't enough room on the trunk she was on for her to dodge to the side. With panicky breaths and running almost entirely on autopilot Hinata drew and readied a kunai. Her mind had gone completely blank, relying now entirely on her body's honed instincts to see her through this.

The leopard surged forward, and suddenly one gigantic paw was coming down on her as if to crush her into the ground. Hinata anchored her feet with Chakra and stabbed upwards with both hands. Her kunai impaled the leopard's paw, weakening it's blow considerably as it instinctively tried to draw back and causing it to roar so loudly that for a panicked moment Hinata thought her eardrums had burst.

A crushing blow from a creature that weighed many hundreds of pounds, however, was not so easily stopped. The downward blow of the leopard still hit Hinata, albeit much weakened, but it was still enough to make her completely lose her balance for a moment. The leopard's other paw swung at her in that vulnerable moment, lighting fast, in a wild and instinctual attack. It was all Hinata could do to turn her body enough to only catch a glancing blow on her shoulder.

Hinata felt her skin tear as the blow knocked her off the branch she'd been standing on. The Hyuuga fell twenty feet, completely uncontrolled, and landed heavily and painfully on her back. Thanks to having reinforced her body with Chakra by reflex nothing had broken… but the fall had still well and truly knocked the wind out of her.

Hinata was still flat on her back, struggling to get her breath back when she heard a loud thud land maybe ten feet from her. Looking up she realized the leopard, even injured as it was, had jumped down twenty feet like it was nothing. It's too intelligent eyes promised murder as it limped towards her, the kunai that was still buried in its paw looking almost comically small when said paw was larger than her head. Now that she looked she could see that the leopard was bleeding from over a half dozen shuriken buried in it but it didn't look like they were inconveniencing the creature one bit. It growled as it approached her, a vibrating sound that was both rage and predatory violence in its most primal form.

There was only a fraction of a second telegraph of tensing muscles before it pounced. Hinata was still on her back, struggling to move, struggling to breathe. Her entire body tensed and her mind filled with panic as her perfect Byakugan eyes captured every possible angle of death leaping through the air to finish her off.

Somehow, even with her eyes, she was still surprised when Rei was suddenly there. A vicious flying kick from a blind angle connected with the leopard's head sending the vicious animal sprawling off to the side.

"Enough with the appetizers," Rei roared at the creature as she turned to face the predator, her body lowering into a battle ready stance. "Now you're fighting me!"

Hinata could do little more than watch as her body was still slow to recover. The leopard was almost instantly back on its feet, seemingly not troubled at all by a kick to the head that had just sent it flying. It bared its teeth at Rei and let out a low rumbling growl of challenge, almost like a dog, and began trying to circle the young Yamanaka in order to get a better angle. Rei matched it, moving around the leopard in order to gain some sort of advantage. Hinata quickly noticed that Rei was subtly leading the leopard away further from her.

Normally Hinata would have felt concern, or worry, or maybe even fear if Rei – or anyone else – were suddenly fighting for their life against a huge predatory beast like what was happen right there and then. But something about the whole situation left her feeling shocky and numb. Her emotions felt distant and muted and her whole body felt weak. Hinata could do nothing but lay back and watch as the scene unfolded in front of her.

When they were a good bit of distance away from Hinata the two started to circle each other as if by some unspoken agreement, the circle growing smaller with each revolution, both opponents looking for any sort of weakness or advantage. The cat was hissing in anger. Rei… Rei had wide dangerous-looking grin on her face that didn't seem quite right for the situation.

"Any time now," Rei said to the animal in a taunting tone. "Before blood loss makes you too weak for this to be any fun."

While it clearly didn't understand the words maybe it understood the tone. The leopard roared, loud enough to where Hinata thought she could feel her very teeth vibrating in her skull, before it pounced at Rei, paw and claws swiping at her face.

Rei took a single graceful step back causing the attack aimed at her face to miss by mere inches. The leopard instantly changed tactics and bull rushed Rei, trying to use its superior mass and strength to bowl her over. When it got close enough Rei almost gently put her hand on top of its huge ferocious head and used it to vault over the charging creature. The leopard instantly tried to turn and claw at Rei overhead but it's momentum was carrying forward too much for it to try anything more than a passing swipe. Rei twisted her body out of the way of the leopard's claws mid air and hit the ground in a perfect three point landing.

Some part of Hinata's mind that was still processing information was amazed. Rei-senpai was fighting that monstrous leopard unarmed and she was making it look easy.

When Rei rose to her full height she folded her hands in her sleeves and smirked, looking very pleased with herself.

"You really are nothing but a dumb beast, aren't you?"

000

Rei couldn't help but think about those documentaries she had seen about Masai warriors.

In order to be truly considered a man a young Masai male had to go out into the wilderness, unarmed, track down a male lion, and kill it with his bare hands. A popular method of doing the deed was to reach into the mouth of the lion as it charged them and ripping its tongue out.

The idea certainly had a primal, barbaric appeal to it as she faced the snarling leopard in front of her… even if she remembered being appalled by the practice when she had first heard about it. In a way finishing it off that way might even make her feel closer to her roots. But no, such a tactic was risky and she would almost certainly receive an injury or two in the process. It was hard to maintain an air of infallibility if you received even a small injury from a creature with no training and no great intelligence to speak of.

Still the leopard had some small bit of cunning that was keeping things a little bit interesting. Blood and adrenaline pounded hard through her as Rei felt truly alive for the first time in what seemed like forever. Had she ever actually felt like this before?

The leopard darted to the left, only marginally slowed down by it's injured paw, before coming at her again from an angle. Rei danced, flirting with the line of being inside the range of those deadly claws and just outside of it, causing the animal to continually badly overreach as it became increasingly frustrated trying to get to her. If the cat got on her, maybe even if it snagged her clothes well enough, the stupid beast might actually be able to kill her. Why did that thought actually make this otherwise simple "fight" all the better?

Not that this fight is all that great outside of the danger associated with it. As long as she had room to maneuver the dumb beast's simplistic attacks were almost pathetically easy to anticipate and evade.

"Come on pussy. You're nothing but a stepping stone to me," Rei said to the cat, suddenly growing irritated at it's inability to give her any kind of real challenge. "I'm going to gut you and eat you for dinner."

The cat roared again, the noise ear splitting, before it charged Rei more or less the same way it had the last half dozen times.

Enough playing around.

The giant leopard came in low, swiping at Rei's legs. Rei leaped diagonally and forward while twisting in mid air. Using the spinning force of her twist she lashed out with a back fist, connecting solidly with one of the leopard's eyes.

It gave it's best kitty impression of a howl as it backed off and covered it's eye with one paw, stumbling and completely stunned by the blow. The eye is a nerve. Even a dumb animal filled only with rage and hormones is still going feel that one. Still the leopard's pained disorientation didn't last long. Half blind, the creature once again opted for a straight forward charge.

Useless.

This time it swiped straight at her head, a blow that if it had connected might have straight up killed her. Rei simply gripped the trunk she was standing on with her Chakra and pulled herself down, flattening herself low to the ground in a feat of agility not many could match, causing the cat's attack to sail harmlessly overhead. Then, fueled more by Chakra than by muscles, she propelled herself up, shooting up like a cannon and putting everything she could into her next strike.

The heel of her hand connected with the underside of the leopard's jaw, forcing it closed with a loud snapping sound, breaking a few of it's teeth and forcing it to bite off the tip of it's tongue. Rei dashed out of the way as the creature lost it's balance and crashed right where she had been standing just a split second before.

Too easy.

It was entirely too easy. Here she thought she would get a challenge, something she could fight all out that would push her to her limits. How utterly wrong she had been on that count. In hindsight it had been foolishness to think that an animal could fulfill such a role, no matter how big or strong it was. What possible challenge could such a creature pose to someone as skilled as she was?

How disappointing. You are disappointing, my prey.

Prey. Heh. Very Orochimaru-eske. Though it did have a nice ring to it.

She was pulled from her thoughts when the leopard finally stopped whatever noises of pain it was making, rose a little shakily to it's feet and turned it's attention back to her again. Frankly she was surprised it hadn't tried to run yet, injured as it was. Not that she would have let it mind you. She did want to eat after all.

Rei pulled a clean kunai out of her sleeve and let it fall into her hand. Time to end this.

It seemed that the cat had finally gotten smart enough not to charge her recklessly again as it was now clearly hesitating. Rei decided to take the initiative this time. Trusting in her ability to outmaneuver the big cat Rei launched herself at it in a straight on charge.

For once the leopard did something unpredictable, trying to bite her, even with broken teeth and bleeding tongue, even though it has always attacked paws-first before… well, it caught Rei a little bit by surprise. She had to quickly dart backwards away from the leopard's teeth inadvertently putting herself in perfect range of it's claws. It swiped at her instinctively, forcing Rei to hastily jump over the strike. To her profound displeasure she could feel it when it's claws tore at the hem of her kimono.

Fuck!

Suddenly enraged Rei twisted in mid air and brought the kunai down, empowered by her Chakra and her sudden hot anger. However she wasn't in position to land a killing blow. Instead she was in the perfect position to stab her kunai deep into the leopard's shoulder joint.

The leopard screamed. This time it was purely, one hundred percent a scream of pain.

Music to my ears.

Rei landed and flipped gracefully away from the now-thrashing beast, putting a good bit of distance between them. When it looked up at her and their eyes met Rei knew in that split second that she had finally broken it's spirit. That look from the beast gave her a vicious thrill of satisfaction of a kind she had never felt before. I beat you. I won. I own you. I'm in control. And now you're going to be nothing but my dinner.

000

Hinata watched on, frozen, as the leopard and her senpai fought – if you could really a confrontation as lopsided as that fight. The young Hyuuga watched on numbly as Rei-senpai dominated the encounter with a grace, agility and strength Hinata couldn't hope to match on her best day. She knew that everyone called Rei-senpai a genius. However it was only in that moment that she first got to see it firsthand for herself. If Hinata wasn't still feeling somewhat numb from her fall and her near death experience the display would have probably left her feeling a mix of awe and intimidation.

Hinata tensed slightly when Rei-senpai suddenly and unexpectedly charged the embattled beast, a kunai now gripped firmly in her hand. There was a brief lightning fast exchange before Rei suddenly jumped and drove her blade deep into the shoulder of the leopard. In spite of the fact it had tried to kill her just minutes before Hinata couldn't help but flinch at the sound of pain the creature made couldn't help but feel a wave of sorrow and empathy for the animal.

Even though it was severely injured now the leopard proved that it still had some strength left. Though it was now very much crippled it still managed to move with surprising speed as it suddenly dashed away from them, darting away in a direction that would take it deeper into the forest and pushing it's way though some thick leafy branches in order to get itself out of sight. With her Byakugan Hinata saw the animal visibly struggle as it gave everything it had left in a mad sprint for it's life.

Hinata's attention was also focused on Rei. As soon as the animal took off Rei seemed to freeze for a fraction of a second in surprise before quickly moving to lean slightly forward and lower her center of gravity. Hinata realized then that she had a split second before Rei took off in an all-out sprint in order to run down the leopard.

She wasn't quite sure why in that particular moment but realizing Rei was a split second away from dashing away, leaving her on the ground, all alone… Hinata's slightly numb and shocky state gave way to a moment of pure panic. Hinata didn't understand it but suddenly she didn't want Rei-senpai to chase after that leopard, she didn't want to be left alone… the powerful feeling was as sudden as it was unexpected. Instinctively she did the only thing she could to keep her curly haired senpai from leaving.

"Rei!" Hinata cried out, her voice shamefully tinged with fear, pleading and desperation. It rang too-loud in her ears, especially when she had always been taught to speak softly and was very quiet by nature.

Rei's head snapped in her direction and Hinata could see that her sudden yell had surprised her. Her senpai's eyes looked… wild, brimming with hot emotion from the battle, and desperately looking for a target. Hinata's mouth went dry and her tongue suddenly felt much too big in her mouth. Those eyes locked on her and Hinata found that she didn't have any words. She hadn't even know what she was going to say when she called out. Now she found that she could do nothing but sit there and look up at her senpai like a simpleton while the older girl decided on what to do.

Rei quickly scrutinized Hinata's face and body, the Yamanaka's expression hard and utterly dispassionate. Hinata could see in every line of her body that she was still aching for a fight. Aided by her Byakugan Hinata could see that Rei-senpai she wanted nothing more than to leave her behind and chase down the wounded leopard. Hinata felt her heart drop. There was no reason for Rei to remain no matter how stupidly needy she was suddenly feeling. She wasn't in any particular danger. Her father would say that the correct decision would be to track down and eliminate the threat. No doubt Rei-senpai would reach the same conclusion.

Rei scrutinized her for what felt like ten minutes but in reality could not have been any longer than a couple of seconds. Then, to Hinata's utter surprise, Rei closed her eyes and balled up her fists. The young girl could see her senpai shudder slightly as she visibly fought to bring her emotions back under control. Hinata could see by her senpai's body's reactions that the effort was very nearly physically painful for her, enough so that Hinata almost called out for her to stop. Selfishly, however, she didn't.

When Rei at last opened her eyes again she looked like her normal self again, except for slight lingering wildness around her eyes. The older girl offered Hinata a very tiny wry smile before folding her hands in her sleeves. Rei began to walk towards Hinata and the young Hyuuga felt profound relief when she realized Rei-senpai wouldn't be leaving her after all.

"Hey," said Rei in a slightly hoarse voice when she reached her. Hinata felt a little self-conscious when the older girl started looking her over with concern. "Let's get you cleaned up. I think that's probably enough excitement for you for one night."

000

Back in camp both Rei and Hinata were now sitting in front of the campfire with the gigantic fallen tree behind them. Rei had made Hinata strip down to a sleeveless undershirt so that she could clean her wounds. Where the leopard had struck her shoulder Hinata had some bruising and three neat claw marks that were thankfully mostly superficial. Rei had been careful to disinfect and clean out the cuts thoroughly and was now in the process of wrapping them in a clean bandage.

Neither girl had said very much since they had returned to camp. Rei looked at Hinata out of the corner of her eye in the firelight as she contemplated what to say. Hinata looked… well the first words that came to mind were 'down' and 'depressed'. If Rei had to guess it was probably likely that Hinata was worried about some sort of reprimand. Most likely however was that she was beating herself up for her perceived 'failure'.

The analytical part of Rei's mind took in what she was seeing now and filtered it through all the training she had been recieving from her family. Right in that moment Rei was getting the impression that after that night's events Hinata's psyche was currently raw, vulnerable, hurting – and malleable. It seemed that the confrontation with the leopard had turned out to be much more traumatic for the girl than Rei had anticipated, something she did kind of feel bad about. However… it would be absolutely unconscionable for her to waste the opportunity that had been suddenly thrust in front of her.

Of course she would keep Hinata's welfare in mind. She wasn't some kind of monster. Rei was going to use this opportunity push for the changes that both Hiashi and Hinata had said they wanted to see in the young heiress. But there were also things that she wanted. Things she was starting to realize more and more she wanted very badly indeed.

Just how far will I be able to go with you, Heiress of the Hyuuga Clan?

"I'm sorry," Hinata said suddenly, her gaze planted firmly in between her feet. Her tone was both contrite and pained. Rei halted only briefly before continuing to bandage Hinata's shoulder.

"For what?" Rei asked, curious as to what Hinata had taken away from this.

"For messing up. For not k-killing… it like you wanted me to. And I… I'm sorry I didn't let you chase after it when you obviously didn't want to stay. That you didn't chase it down because of me."

Rei barely suppressed a wince as her adrenaline briefly spiked from the memory. Yes. Letting the leopard go had been… hard. In that moment she'd known staying with Hinata was the smartest thing to do but a part of her hadn't cared about that at all. She'd almost gone after the leopard anyway until she'd seen that Hinata's shoulder had been bleeding. That had been enough to snap her out of it and it had helped her to regain control.

"It's fine," Rei said in a gentle reassuring voice she had only ever used before with Ino and Tenten. "Next time you're in a situation like that you'll be more prepared now that you have some experience. You didn't do anything you need to feel sorry about today Hinata-chan."

Curiously her words didn't seem to reassure Hinata any. If anything they made Hinata turn her head away from her a little and made her even more tense. Rei frowned a little as she was finishing up wrapping Hinata's shoulder. Her words had seemed to distress Hinata further. Why? What had she said exactly? Thinking it through, and correlating it with what she had already concluded about Hinata's personality, Rei deduced what the most likely problem was.

This was a conversation that would need to happen eventually. Better now than later, when Hinata was even more likely to take what she said to heart. Rei put the finishing touches on her bandages and sat down next to Hinata, shoulder to shoulder, both of them facing the fire.

"You don't like violence do you?" Rei asked gently, her eyes on the flame as she kept her peripheral vision squarely on the younger girl.

Hinata seemed to hunch in on herself, almost as if trying to hide from her words. To Rei the young heiress looked ashamed.

That struck a chord in Rei. It just seemed so... wrong.

Rei turned her body until she was facing Hina-chan. "Hinata look at me," Rei said, her voice pitched in that moment to be both kind and authoritative.

Hinata hesitated for a moment before slowly, reluctantly moving to comply. When Rei saw her face she saw shame and pain and fear and a whole host of other things she couldn't accurately identify. Rei found that she wanted to do something about what she was seeing. When she spoke it was impassioned and genuine and showed a part of herself she would almost never consider showing to anyone. To her own surprise she didn't even have to fake it.

"You don't like violence," Rei began, quietly earnest and intense. "You don't like hurting people or even animals. And you know what? That's nothing to be ashamed of."

Hinata seemed shocked. Rei mostly ignored it, going on a roll as she enthusiastically went on.

"I don't think you can describe anything that we as ninja do as 'good'. It runs the gamut from 'necessary' at the very best to 'incredibly horrific' at the very worst."

At this point Hinata is wearing an almost comical expression of shock, open mouthed and wide eyed, except that this conversation was anything but a joke. Rei knew that she was walking a thin line in espousing beliefs that could perhaps get her in a great deal of trouble. She'd be careful not to take it too far. Yet at the same time she couldn't completely stop herself.

"If it were up to me I'd let you become something that came more naturally to you like a medic. Or maybe I would let you not become a ninja at all."

The incredulous disbelief on Hinata's face… made Rei think that maybe she had better stop before she let herself go too far. At least she had already said most of the important things.

"Point is," continued Rei, now sounding somewhat more subdued than she had just moments before, "that you don't have to be ashamed of what you are. If anything… it makes you naturally a better person than the rest of us."

Hinata didn't answer her right away and frankly Rei hadn't really expected her to. At least Hinata or some other ninja didn't immediately jump out of the woods and scream 'Treason!'. In hindsight Rei thought that perhaps she had been too reckless with what she'd said. Still… if she had an opportunity to go back and change any of it she wasn't sure that she would.

They sat there for a while, Rei offering silent support by lightly touching shoulder to shoulder. Hinata stared into the fire for the longest time, the young girl lost in thought as Rei allowed her to absorb and process what she'd just heard. While Rei didn't consider herself the greatest at it she could do patience well enough when the situation called for it. Here Hinata needed a bit of space to either accept or reject what she'd just heard. Rei however was willing to bet she knew which way the winds were blowing.

Eventually Hinata broke the silence. "Even if you're right Rei-senpai…," she said in a small voice, "being a better person isn't what my family needs me to be."

And wasn't that just everything that was wrong with this world? Where a soft and kind heart was a weakness to be expunged.

"You're right," Rei conceded quietly. "Unlike me they wouldn't find any value in that. That's just the way they are. But… I remember you telling me on the day we first met that you wanted to meet your family's expectations. That you were committed to it in fact." Pause. "Is that still true?"

Hinata hesitated for a few moments before indicating the positive with a small but decisive nod.

"Good," said Rei with a strong hint of approval. She might have reservations about what Hinata wanted to work towards but she couldn't stand people with weak resolve.

"I believe in you Hinata," Rei began. "And I'll help you. You and me together will make those crotchety old men back in your compound eat their words."

Hinata cracked a smile at that. Still the young girl didn't look completely convinced.

"If you can't believe in yourself believe in me," Rei continued bumping her shoulder gently. Then she grinned as she paraphrased something from her old world. "You don't have to believe in yourself. Instead believe in the me that believes in you. Have faith in me. If you can do that then everything will be fine, I promise."

Hinata looked at Rei then, scrutinizing her for a few long seconds. Then hesitantly she nodded, a small grateful and relieved smile blossoming on her face. A lot of the tension left her body and just like that Rei thought that Hinata suddenly seemed a lot better than she had just moments before. There wasn't much need to say anything after that. The two just sat in companionable silence looking at the fire for a little bit longer.

000

It was only when Hinata started nodding off a little that Rei remembered something important.

"I'll be right back," she muttered to Hinata who looked at her questioningly when the older girl got up.

She went to her backpack and gathered a handful of items that she had stashed in there earlier that day. Then she walked back over to Hinata and threw one of them at her. The girl caught the item without a problem, her eyes widening slightly as she examined what was in her hand.

"Is this…?"

"Yes," said Rei suddenly sounding smug again. "Finding flora to eat is precarious in this forest. A lot of things that look like they might be edible are poisonous and there aren't that many of those to begin with. However I found a small batch of these while we were scouting today. I decided to save them in case we didn't catch anything more substantial."

The fruits she had gathered looked like a cross between a pear and a tangerine with a black, waxy skin that smelled a little rancid. However she knew from all her research that it was one of the very few edible fruits that could sometimes be found in the Forest of Death. Supposedly it didn't taste too bad either, despite its suspect outward smell and appearance.

Hinata looked at the fruit suspiciously but in the end hunger won out over doubt. She took one small bite and chewed it thoroughly. After she tasted it and convinced herself that it was fine to eat Hinata tore into the piece of fruit with a ferociousness that was, frankly speaking, quite hilarious coming from the normally quiet and proper girl. Rei smiled in amusement as she gave Hinata over two thirds of the fruit she had gathered. The girl had worked her butt off and had not eaten anything since before leaving her compound early in the morning. Whatever her faults Hinata had turned out to be a trooper and tougher than Rei had expected.

As for Rei herself? Well, Chakra could be used to keep the body running at tip top shape and to stave off hunger… and Rei had a lot more Chakra potentially available to her than Hinata did. She sat herself back down next to Hinata and ate one of her fruits at a more sedate pace than her rather ravenous kouhai. The taste was odd but not unpleasant. It reminded her of sweet and sour sauce if somehow the sauce had the texture of a plum.

Eventually they each finished their respective dinners, enough to take the edge off if not exactly leave them feeling satisfied. With that it was probably starting to get late and both of them would be getting up with the dawn. Rei also had another important reason for wanting them to go to sleep early. It was time for them to turn in. Hinata was tired enough and deferred to her enough that Rei was sure she wouldn't have any complaints.

After throwing the pits of her fruit into the fire Rei rose and went to her backpack. From it she withdrew the small tent she had packed and began to set it up close to the fire. When Hinata saw this she got up and went to her own pack in order to set up her own tent. Good girl. It was nice to see that she could be proactive at times without being directed. However Rei had thought this over at length… and she had other plans about how their sleep arrangements were going to work.

"Don't bother setting up your own tent Hina-chan," said Rei without looking up as she worked. "You'll be sleeping with me in mine."

"I will?" asked Hinata with a slight squeak, seemingly startled and slightly alarmed by Rei's sudden declaration.

"Yes," said Rei decisively. "This forest is dangerous. If something else decides to show up in camp while we're sleeping I don't want us to be separated. I'll set up some things that will make that unlikely but better safe than sorry. I don't want you out of my sight just in case."

It was a perfectly reasonable explanation. Hell, when she thought about it every word she'd just said was also completely true too. But that wasn't her primary motivation for this arrangement.

The truth was that sharing a tent would give them the opportunity to grow closer. It would also be the only time of the day she could be one hundred percent sure they would be out of sight from prying eyes. The tent wouldn't do much against the White Eyes of a Hyuuga but the person 'babysitting' them for the next two weeks didn't possess that particular dojutsu. If they kept their voices low she would have as much of a guarantee of privacy with Hinata as she could reasonably expect.

Then there was… another reason.

It had been years since she had slept with Ino, like they had all the time when they had been kids. Rei didn't like to admit it - even to herself - since it felt like a weakness but she dearly missed sleeping next to someone. In her previous life she had made some questionable decisions with men (and the occasional woman) just so she wouldn't have to sleep alone.

Early on Rei had pegged Hinata to be like her in the touch department. Subsequent evidence had only cemented her suspicions. Rei knew how much she herself craved human contact, which is why she had conditioned Ino and Tenten to accept it without any complaints. She knew what Hinata's home life was like. She knew from her reactions to simple friendly touch what had been missing in her life. This was a fantastic opportunity. Firmly establishing herself as the only person in the world Hinata was allowed to have safe and pleasurable human contact with would go a long way towards putting her firmly under her influence and control.

Hinata would get to experience something that she had been desperately missing in her life. Rei would get what she was after. As an added bonus Rei would get something back that she had legitimately been missing for a long time. It was a win-win any way she saw it.

The tent was a tight fit since it was meant for one. There was just enough room for them to lay their sleeping bags side by side and not much else. Rei stripped down to her shorts and black shirt before crawling into her bag. Hinata, looking a little twitchy, stripped down to similar attire and got into her own sleeping bag next to hers.

In the end Rei didn't bother to be subtle. It was an undeniable fact she could do subtle but she much preferred the direct approach if it was just as likely to work. Instead of being awkward about it Rei just slipped an arm out of her sleeping bag and dragged Hinata, bag and all, closer until the girl's back was pressed against her chest.

"R-Rei-senpai?!" Hinata squeaked, going totally stiff as a board in surprise.

"Relax," Rei mumbled sleepily into her ear. "Me and my sister used to do this all the time. It's an affection thing. You'll sleep better, I promise. Just go to sleep, okay?"

Reluctantly Hinata gave a subtle nod of her head. Good. That much acceptance was all that was needed. Rei was fairly certain any lingering resistance wouldn't last that long. As she had predicted, not even five minutes later Hinata had already started to relax against her. Five minutes after that Rei heard a small sigh from Hinata that sounded like the whole world had suddenly been lifted from her shoulders. Not even ten minutes later the girl, already half asleep, was subconsciously pulling Rei's arm tighter around herself.

Rei could admit it to herself… Hinata wasn't the only one who was enjoying the skinship. When Hinata hugged her arm Rei just pulled the girl closer to herself. Kami, I'd missed this.

"Rei-senpai?" mumbled Hinata sleepily.

"Yes?" Rei whispered.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"I don't know, just… thank you."

Rei could practically taste the sincerity and emotion in Hinata's sleepy half incoherent words. The older girl allowed herself a Cheshire smile in the dark.

"You're welcome."

000

Of course Rei didn't sleep. She hadn't needed to for years and wasn't about to start now. The Yamanaka decided to wait for about an hour after she was certain that Hinata had fallen asleep. While her body relaxed and her body processes slowed down enough to properly recuperate her mind was still aware, going over the events of the day over and over again. Thinking it over Hinata might be more valuable to her than just what influence she might be able to give her politically… from a purely more… personal perspective. It wasn't like she was all that likely to find another sort-of trustworthy and relatively safe person who liked to snuggle. Still… like always, she knew that she could never let her guard down completely.

After she was sure an hour had passed Rei disentangled herself from Hinata… which was more challenging than expected because the girl refused to let go. First night as a snuggler and already a barnacle, eh Hinata? Pushing her amusement to the side Rei moved herself to the opening of the tent and stuck her head outside.

"Worm?" she whispered loudly. "Are you there?"

About a minute later the Rat materialized out of the darkness beyond the tree line. Deciding to be polite Rei moved aside and let him into the tent. With Hinata and Worm there it was a tight fit but since she was sitting up it gave them a good deal more free space.

"Yo," greeted Worm, aware enough to keep his voice low. He eyed the sleeping Hinata curiously.

"Hey," Rei greeted lazily back.

"So a pup pile is it?" the Rat said motioning at where Rei had been lying next to Hinata. "Those are always nice. Unless…" he said, trailing off and scrutinizing Rei suspiciously.

"A pup pile it is," Rei said firmly, cutting off anything else he might had said.

"Oh. Well, okay then. No need to get all defensive."

Rei just rolled her eyes and began to put her gear back on. The blonde girl motioned at Hinata with her head. "I need you to watch her, make sure nothing in the forest gets her while she's asleep."

"I'm not a babysitter Rei," said Worm, sounding less than enthused by his assignment.

"There'll be chocolate in it for you."

"Oh… well in that case, yeah I guess it's no problem," said Worm sounding much more chipper. "Where are you going anyway?"

"I'm going to go look for our 'babysitter'." Rei wasn't sure how the woman had managed to stay out of sight. Hinata had not caught a glimpse of her even once during the times she'd had her Byakugan activated. Then again Rei was fairly positive a great many people had come up with ways to work around the Byakugan… a student of that man would certainly had a trick or two up her sleeve.

Worm made a face of distaste and scratched at his nose with one of his forelimbs. "I smelled Snake in the forest all day today," he said with more venom than Rei had ever heard from the seemingly carefree Rat. Rei could clearly hear the capital 'S' in the word 'Snake'.

"I guess she got her summons to keep an eye on us all day," Rei mused out loud. "Smart if they can pass for regular snakes. Lazy as hell too." Not that I would have expected otherwise. "Any idea where I can find their summoner?"

Worm made an irritated sound. "The smell of Snake has been coming more strongly from the North for a while now. Their summoner is most likely that way."

North? Perfect.

"What are you going to do exactly?" asked Worm, looking at her curiously as she finished re-equipping all her gear.

"I'm going to go find that woman," whispered Rei as she slipped a final kunai into a holster hidden in her robes. "… and do my damnest to kill her." After all she did like to spout that 'come at me with intent to kill' crap. While toying with her no less. Not this time. It had been over a year since that woman had truly seen everything she could do. Rei was leaps and bounds stronger than she had been back then. This time she was going to take that sadistic pervert down a peg or two.

She was also going to be getting some answers.

"Oh good," said Worm sounding both surprised and cheerful, "best of luck with that!"

Rei debated telling Worm that she wasn't being literal before shaking her head and deciding it wasn't worth the effort. With one last short but longing glance at the space she had just vacated next to Hinata she stepped out of the tent and into the night.

No more distractions. It was time to put her game face on. Rei thought about the clashes the two of them had had in the past, of the bloody knuckles and flashing teeth, of the steel and insults and the glorious pain that she didn't really mind all that much anymore. It was enough to get her heart racing, her blood heated, her pupils dilating. She was going to need every advantage she could get if she wanted this to go the way she'd planned.

Silent as a shadow Rei took to the trees and began heading North. Despite her odds a grin that promised only pain spread across her face.

She had some snake skin shoes to make.