Prologue
Black filled the edges of her vision and though it had hurt, now all she felt was numbness and the chill of death. Blood smeared her lips and her clothes. Naruto had his arms around her, his grip strong, forged of iron. He found it hard to give-up, even against something as natural as the end of a life. Her body would stop responding to commands soon. Hinata took his face in her hands and smiled. This was their last moment together. He shouldn't think of her as a corpse. Not yet. "Listen to me, Naruto-kun." For once, her voice did not tremble. Hinata ought to be strong now for all the times she hadn't been. "Madara can't win. He won't win as long as you live. Fight for yourself. Fight for your dream. Fight and win for Konoha." She fought back tears and turned to face her cousin.
"I failed you, Hinata-sama."
When she placed herself in front of Naruto, Neji had been quick.
But Hinata had been quicker. The time they spent training together had seen to that.
She reached out for his hand and squeezed, shaking her head negatively. She gave him a weak smile. "I think it's the reverse." she paused. "Your father gave his life for my father's, Neji-nii-san. I couldn't let you do the same. Tell tou-sama I'm sorry I wasn't the heiress he wanted and tell him my last wish is for the main branch to lower your curse. I want it gone, destroyed." Hinata coughed, struggling to keep going. "Tell Hanabi-chan I..."
Neji's eyes widened as he bowed in deep gratitude. "Thank you, Hinata-sama." he nodded solemnly and squeezed her hand back. "I know, I will tell her."
"That's good." she whispered as she wiped a tear from Naruto's left cheek.
Hyuga Hinata closed her eyes to the world. I wish I had done more. I wish I was what you two had needed me to be.
"She wasn't fine, not even close. But she wasn't dead. And that was a start." - Sarah J. Maas
She doesn't expect to wake-up but she does and it's to a world she struggles to claim as her own. She is in Konoha, bright, sunny Konoha but it's not her Konoha.
It hasn't been in years.
A ghost, she muses as she looks at the Hokage Monument. Only four leaders stare back at her. Three she hadn't met and one she had barely served under. It occurs to Hinata that she shouldn't be alive but somehow is. Genjutsu? The Byakugan is a strong defense against those. She shakes her head and wonders whether Kami decided to punish her. Time travel should have been used on more capable people. Why her?
She stands and slowly starts walking. Hinata knows she is younger, she just doesn't know how much. Judging by what she is wearing and the length of her hair so short, she hasn't graduated. Years before the genin exams have yet to pass. She flexes her fingers, feels her chakra network, and huffs quietly in disappointment. Weak. Frail. Her past self is worthy of pity and Hinata has no one to blame but herself. Recognising her own shortcomings has been long overdue, however. I must rise above them. She sees no other alternative, no other option. People get stronger for all sorts of reasons. Hinata's though?
Hinata's reasons have names and she won't fail them this time.
But people don't change overnight and a sudden shift in her behaviour won't only come as a surprise, it will, without doubt, also raise some eyebrows.
Her tou-sama's most of all.
And shinobi are nothing if not cautious. So, there is that. Hinata taps her chin, thinks things through for a few minutes before she decides that there is little the Byakugan doesn't see and even if she manages to fool her father, she has no such delusions regarding Neji. Until she figures something out, standing silent and out of sight is the wisest course of action.
She has never been particularly tall but being reduced to her Academy sized proportions will take some time getting used to. Hinata drinks in the sight of her village, the one she had lost when Pain cast Shinra Tensei and vows not to let it happen again. How old am I? The question doesn't seem to give her mind peace so, she stops and asks a civilian, never mind the absurdity of asking a stranger the date.
22th May, year 678.
It takes her few minutes but when it finally clicks, Hinata stumbles a step backwards and quickly mumbles thanks, too informal for what's expected of her but she can't bring herself to care. She is eight again and The Uchiha Massacre is today.
Today.
All thoughts of going home get pushed aside and Hinata doesn't think. She just runs. She only remembers bits of several conversations her clan members had in hushed tones about the massacre. Those memories echo faintly at the back of her mind. What she can recall vividly is Naruto, cheerful, optimistic twelve-year-old Naruto confined to a hospital bed, so deeply starved for affection that he couldn't let go of his best friend even after said best friend nearly ended his life. She remembers waiting for Neji to come out of surgery and praying, that despite his faults, Tsunade-sama is successful.
Hinata can't stop Itachi, will probably never be strong enough to fight someone of his calibre and live but she can reach out to Sasuke in a way the Konoha 11 had been too young and naive to do it the first time around. She can't stop the damage but perhaps she can soften the blow. Otherwise why would she get sent back in time right before the massacre?
By the time she arrives, the sky has already darkened. Her lack of stamina ensured she won't be able to run for long. She walks past the gates of the compound, terrified and out of breath. Her stomach clenches with dread when she notices the blood. It's everywhere. On the walls, on the ground. She ignores the bodies scattered around. Sasuke. I have to reach Sasuke.
She finds him in the clanhead's house, his house and just when Hinata thought the sights greeting her couldn't get any worse, they do. There is Itachi with Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha, lifeless at his feet. Her arrival doesn't get noticed by Sasuke, not until his brother fires a kunai. Years of training kick in and she springs ahead. Her height and poor speed prevent her from dodging but Hinata pushes Sasuke out of the way, the kunai grazes her shoulder and she decides it's a small victory. Empty and hollow but still a victory.
She activates her Byakugan though little good does. Hinata picks up the kunai and grasps Sasuke's arm with her other hand. He doesn't move his eyes away from Itachi. "Let's go..." she demands, pulling at his sleeve.
"Hyuga-san, step aside." Under different circumstances, Itachi would have sounded polite. But his tone is flat and firm enough that it doesn't get mistaken as a suggestion. It's a warning. The or else needn't be voiced.
Hinata doesn't understand. He just destroyed generations of his flesh and blood. What else could Itachi want? How does he plan tofurther traumatize Sasuke? Anger burns hot in her veins and she grips the bloodied kunai. "No."
In this moment, she hates the shinobi system. She hates it for turning brother against brother, family against family, the village against an orphan. She hates it for Sasuke, for Neji, for Naruto.
For all the children whose innocence died before their age reached a second digit.
Whatever Itachi Uchiha had expected, it most certainly wasn't a refusal. Hinata's voice trembles but she speaks all the same. "Leave us alone."
He can't risk killing her, that much she knows. The Hyuga would raise hell if he did and not even a S-rank shinobi would willingly pit a clan of doujutsu wielders against him. Unlike the Uchiha who had their guard down because really, who expected him to betray them?, the Hyuga would be ready. Itachi isn't the kind to repeat himself and it shows when he advances towards them. Hinata holds her ground, standing in front of Sasuke.
"How can you be so cruel?" she whispers, mostly to herself but he is close enough to hear her.
His eyes narrow as he reaches out for her neck and slams her against the wall. Hinata can scarcely breathe but she still tries to stab him. She glances at Sasuke. Run. She would have screamed if she could.
"Sasuke, unless you get strong enough to kill me, people will suffer. Starting with Hyuga-san."
This combined with everything that happened before seems to strengthen the boy's resolve. He runs at Itachi, crying, and screaming. Hinata's heart breaks a little at the sight.
In one swift move, Itachi pushes Sasuke to the ground while maintaining his grip on her. "Now you are still weak. I will deal with you later."
His gaze moves back to her. The Sharingan starts spinning in a pattern that she had come to recognize as the Mangekyou.
And nothing she lived has ever been as terrifying.
.
.
A dark cloud looms over Konoha once more. Hinata recovers much sooner than Sasuke does and finds herself subjected to a gentle interrogation. The things she experienced come as a blessing in disguise. The once weak and fragile heiress died that night with the Uchiha. Nobody will suspect her of being a spy or smack any other label onto her forehead that doesn't begin with traumatized.
The jutsu that got used on her is titled Tsukyomi. S-rank. In cases like these, death is said to be kinder. Full-fledged shinobi have gone insane for less.
She is discharged from the hospital and sent home afterwards. Hinata walks inside the compound to find the Hyuga clanhead, her father, waiting. She falls into a respectful bow, nothing like the clumsy version he was so used to. Her eyes widen when Hiashi steps forward and grips her shoulder. It's the closest thing to a hug she and Hanabi ever got from him. They don't speak of the incident. They barely address each other at all. Her tou-sama is a man of few words and even fewer facial expressions. And Hinata has always been a quiet child.
She feels eyes on her wherever she goes. People that smiled at Hinata watch her cautiously now. Even Ko, her guard, acts different from what she is accustomed to. They are waiting for me to snap, she realizes. Or better yet, they are wondering how come I haven't already.
Now she understands Naruto's desire to bring back his best friend. Sasuke is a victim of circumstance and nobody should have to go through what he did. Hinata is still trying to wrap her mind around everything that happened but fails. None of it makes sense to her.
A few days later, Itachi Uchiha is officially classified as a missing-nin.
News of his betrayal have spread like wildfire all over the Elemental Nations. It isn't far-fetched for another hidden village to wage war on them now that they are left in such a vulnerable position. Their economy suffers because they lost fifty active shinobi and everyone knows how an Uchiha is worth at least three other ninjas.
Hinata demands to attend the funeral. She no longer stutters when she speaks. Instead, her voice is clear and firm enough to shock people into a strange, obedient silence. They are quick to fulfil her wishes and privately wonder where did their meek heiress disappear off to. Bearing a striking resemblance to her mother in everything from looks to personality, the clan members had agreed that there was almost nothing of Hiashi in her.
Oh, how wrong they had been! Hinata has her father's eyes now. Cold and calculating. Secretly, they miss the warmth they used to hold whenever she greeted them. It's fruitless to hope she would ever gain it back. The shinobi world takes. It takes your innocence, it transforms your childhood, it takes away the light you once so powerfully radiated. It makes a stranger out of the person you see when you look in the mirror. You either accept all these changes and shape yourself into a weapon or die.
There is no middle ground as far as a child born in the shinobi system is concerned.
Hinata dons a black kimono with a proper obi and black sandals. She stands behind Hiashi at the front of the row with Hanabi and Ko not too far behind them. She hears the Hokage hold a speech and for the first time in years, she finds herself judging the older man. Couldn't he have done something to prevent this? Had he been as oblivious to Itachi's intentions as the rest of them?
When he finishes talking, Sasuke is ushered at the front of the assembly to address them. Survivor's guilt eats at him and it shows. He clears his throat, capturing everyone's attention. He doesn't say more than a few words, however and Hinata doesn't know why people would expect more from a grieving child. "Farewell, tou-sama, kaa-san, Iona-san, Arai-san..." the list of names blend and smudge together as Sasuke walks and bows in front of each coffin respectfully. He says them from memory, having waved a hand in dismissal when they tried to give him several ink-drowned papers. He lingers in front of his parents; suddenly aware this is the last time he sees them. He takes two white roses and lowers them down. His eyes are downcast as he bows his head. "You burned bright for Konohagakure and now your flame has flickered away."
Everyone present repeats the words in a chorus, their heads mirroring his. Hinata grips her kimono as she says them: "And now your flame has flickered away."
As people take their leave, she remains rooted on the spot to the point Hanabi feels obliged to nudge her arm. Her sister is too little to fully grasp the meaning of death. Part of Hinata wishes that she never will. The other part is wise enough to know better. She turns to her father. "Tou-sama, can I stay behind?"
Hiashi voices his approval. "You can, but not for long." then he beckons Hanabi to follow him and orders Ko to stay with her.
The man bows stiffly and takes his place beside Hinata. She dismisses him as soon as her father is out of sight. "Don't come with me."
His jaw drops as he begins to protest. "But Hinata-sama...!"
"I won't leave the Byakugan's range." she cuts him off in a reasonable tone.
Ko has no choice but to resign himself and activate his doujutsu.
Confidence gets you far. she muses, feeling oddly pleased.
Hinata uses her Byakugan to search for the Uchiha heir and discovers he isn't far away, just out of normal peripheral vision. She finds him sitting under the shade of a tree with his back pressed against it. When he sees her, he blinks back tears. Hinata knows what he is thinking. Shinobi don't cry. Boys, least of all. Frankly, she believes such mindset is utterly ridiculous. They are only human and they have the right to cry. Sasuke regards her silently for a few moments. "He didn't kill you."
Hinata wrings her hands. "No, he didn't." she echoes under her breath and wonders how much he remembers of that night.
"He hurt you, though. The genjutsu..."
She stands a little straighter as her eyes harden. "You too...?"
Sasuke falls silent. It's the only confirmation she needs. Wordlessly, he scoots over to make room for her under the shade. Hinata sits on the grass and brings her knees close to her chest, tucking them under her chin. She doesn't know for how long they stay like that, watching the wind sweep away the leaves but she doesn't mind the silence and is surprised when Sasuke breaks it.
"What did he make you see?"
She stares down at the ground. All of it felt real enough to give her nightmares. "Death. I saw the people I love die." Over and over again. Something occurred to Hinata then and her eyes widened. Itachi has had access to her memories. Otherwise what she saw couldn't be explained. The Tsukuyomi is a mental induced torture and he chose to show her Naruto and Neji dying.
Their older versions.
Kuso. She barely refrains from cursing the man out loud. Kami knows just how much Itachi had seen. The future is pretty much doomed now. Whoever sent me here wasted a time travel jutsu on a foolish little girl.
Sasuke's voice interrupts her self-loathing. "I watched him kill everyone. Repeatedly. At least you can look back on your experience and consider it a nightmare." his voice breaks a little. "I can't do that." he looks into the distance at the graves of his fallen clan.
Hinata pulls out her handkerchief. Sasuke glares, seemingly insulted that she thinks him weak enough to cry. She insists, however. "Take it." she thrusts her hand out. "I won't tell if you don't." She can feel herself begin to cry as well.
That's how they spend the rest of the afternoon. Huddled together beneath a large oak tree, crying until they have no more tears left to shed. Such instances build bonds and now it's no different. Hinata feels weirdly close to Sasuke after having cried alongside him. In a way, they are both mourning. She can already picture the future, a future much more horrible than the one she came from. Before, they had a chance to win the war. Naruto would have done the impossible once more and saved the world. But now...
Even tomorrow is uncertain.
Sasuke takes her clenched fist, he pries apart her fingers and leaves the handkerchief there. She doesn't forget his next words: "That man won't hurt anyone ever again. I promise."
And Hinata believes him, the way she had once believed in Naruto and his ninja way. She believes in them and makes a vow of her own. It doesn't matter what Itachi saw. I will save the future, even if it kills me for a second time.
She grips her handkerchief and hands it back. "Keep it, so you never forget the promise you made Konoha." I won't let you go rogue this time.
Sasuke nods, determined and Hinata thinks that as long as his and Naruto's flames don't flicker away or darken, there is hope.