How's everyone doing? I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired of staring at my computer all day for stuff I have to turn in. I'll be honest, I just finished typing up all of this a few minutes ago, so sorry about the crappiness that's to come. Thanks for the favoriting and following! Also, cooommmeee ooonnnnn! Tell me what you think, I'd love to know!
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LB Cat: believe me, I know all about the struggles- especially the part when you need to find toilet paper but there isn't any anywhere. Luckily, my family knows a guy who works at a store, he gives us a heads up for when supplies are coming in. Don't worry about reading late, I'm glad that you still bother with this fic :) I hope you feel better!
Turns out the brilliant idea was to have him drag around his brother anywhere that wasn't facing the Hyuuga pair until Hinata could finally decide what she wanted to pick out. It wasn't too hard, even if Itachi did check on their cousin often enough to give away what she seeked, both of them enjoyed looking around for trinkets too much to notice (even if the Uchiha heir denied it, he was almost as much of a spendthrift as Hinata).
"We're done!"
"Finally!" Sasuke sighed in relief. "How hard was it to find what you wanted and pay for it?"
Hanabi glared. "Aneki will take as long as she pleases."
"It's okay, Hanabi-chan," the heiress laughed. "I only need to make one more stop."
"A jewelry shop, I imagine," Itachi muttered drly.
The younger Uchiha raised a brow, ignoring Hanabi's scowl. "Since when are you interested in that stuff?"
Hinata shrugged, "Takeshi wanted something shiny for his mother."
"You're actually helping him?"
"He's nice."
Sasuke shook his head, "nuh uh, he hates me and Nii-san- actually, I think he hates everybody, he's always complaining about everything."
"The barbarian is right," Hanabi surprisingly agreed with zeal, ignoring his disbelieving glower. "His brother's bird is annoying- he never lets me touch his feathers!"
"How come?" Hinata looked utterly lost. "Takeshi has always been nice."
"You give him expensive food," Itachi muttered drly. "I think it's his rebellious phase… I hope, anyway."
"It's just that you guys look so serious all the time," the heiress defended as she started walking to the next store. "It's a bit intimidating sometimes."
The Uchiha brothers glanced at each other, assessing their expressions before scoffing in unison, "nah."
Standing on her toes, Hinata looked over the glass case that protected a variety of gemstones. If she remembered correctly, the crow matriarch was fond of the color red, so maybe she'd like a ruby?
"Don't bother, they are my summons and my responsibility," Itachi said as he inched away from the salesgirl's line of sight with no success.
The girl quickly made her way over the group, though her eyes were only on the heir. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"We were just leaving."
"No we weren't," Hinata propped herself in front of her. "I want something shiny."
The girl shook her head. "Why don't you try the vending machine, little miss? Everything here is a bit… expensive."
"I know," the heiress pouted. "But I still want something shiny for a friend of mine."
Biting back an amused smirk, the salesgirl tapped the glass. "I see, your brother is kind enough to indulge you, but you should think more about him," she gave the heir a dreamy look.
Hinata coughed out, "Itachi's not my brother."
"Then with even more reason, you shouldn't be so wasteful!"
"Can I just pick out something, please?"
"He must be killing himself on every mission just to please you…" she sighed.
"I want that one," the heiress pointed to a ruby necklace.
"You do see the price?"
"Of course," Hinata sniffed with a stiff expression. "The Hyuuga Clan will cover it."
And with that, the rag tag group left with stunned looks. Hinata never lost her temper, much less flaunted her wealth so blatantly.
After moments of walking aimlessly Hanabi spoke up. "That was cool, Aneki."
The heiress felt her face go red. "I shouldn't have done that! Maybe I should go apologise for acting so- so snobby!"
"You were great," Sasuke patted her back. "Don't let anyone talk you down."
"I agree," Itachi smiled slightly.
oOo
She was running late. Sachi would kill her.
Quickly shoving on the first traditional robes she touched, Hinata hurried over to her library where the elder was waiting with a neutral expression. Neutral was better than a frown. It was a good sign. Probably.
"How is your calligraphy, Hinata-sama?"
"I believe it is adequate."
The woman nodded. "I take it you've gone over the books I sent you?"
"Yes, Elder Sachi."
The first step in learning juinjutsu such as the one the Hyuuga Clan employed was to understand how fūinjutsu works and to do that, the council decided to task their youngest member, Sachi with teaching their heiress everything there is to know about the subject. It was only fair, she supposed, being the newest member and all.
"Perfect," she conceded a small smile of approval as she unrolled a scroll and placed a quill on top. "Now watch closely with your Byakugan."
With practiced grace, the elder raised a hand over the scroll and covered it with her chakra, that Hinata noted seemed to shine a bit more brightly rather than the standard dull blue she saw in most of her classmates. After a few seconds, the quill was pushed within the scroll with a small 'pop' and its kanji appeared in the center.
It didn't seem too hard to the heiress, only a bit tiring considering the amount of chakra that was required to seal a mere quill. Her chakra pool was considerably larger than most of her agemates thanks to Tsubaki's efforts when it came to pushing her to master the fire jutsu, but she estimated that she could only seal an object about ten times. It was just a quill, after all; fūinjutsu couldn't be that hard!
Sachi pushed the scroll towards Hinata and placed a kunai on it. Getting the hint, she placed both hands above the scroll and with a deep breath released a burst of chakra over it.
Nothing?
Sighing, the girl stopped channeling energy and looked up at the elder, asking hesitantly, "what am I doing wrong?"
Sachi tapped the scroll and unsealed the quill without a sound. "Watch again, focus on how the chakra is spread."
Pouting, she watched once again how bright blue energy extended across the paper. There was nothing special about it, Hinata concluded with a frown. But there had to be! Elder Sachi was not amongst the portion of the council that was against her, she had no reason to make a fool of her.
"Could you… could you do it again? I-I think I got it."
"Of course, I can do it as many times as you wish."
"Thank you," she whispered, still taking in the sight of the quill and kunai appearing and disappearing before her eyes. It took a total of five times until Hinata realized. "Is it the chakra? I notice that- that it's always evenly spread and it takes more chakra to seal the kunai and less for the quill… right?"
"Good observation, Hinata-sama," Sachi dipped her head. "Why don't you test your theory?"
Gulping, the girl stretched out slightly trembling hands and summoned her chakra over the parchment as evenly as she possibly could praying in her mind, please please please get sealed, I don't want another 'you're useless' discussion from anyone! Luckily, her prayers were answered and the quill disappeared with a 'pop' in a small puff of smoke.
Next came the kunai.
Nothing.
"Try again, Hinata-sama."
Nothing.
Risking a look at Sachi, the heiress found her wearing a neutral expression. It was better than annoyance or disappointment, so she wouldn't ask for more help. The councilwoman could get fed up with such incompetence and leave. Hinata didn't want that; Tsubaki would think she's not worth it.
After some time she knew she was reaching desperation. A bead of sweat ran down her back. Her chakra was no longer even and her breath was going short. What was going on with the kunai?
Unwilling to ask for help, she took a deep breath and summoned her chakra once again as evenly as possible. Much to her relief, the blade disappeared with a 'pop'.
Sachi nodded and pushed a tray towards her student. "You're making good progress, I believe a snack break is in order."
With a brighter semblance, Hinata gulped down a glass of water. "Will I always get tired when I do this?"
"It is a matter of chakra reserves, Hinata-sama. Being a girl, gives you a smaller natural pool, but with enough training, that should be fixed."
The girl hummed and took a bite of her cookie as she looked over the kanji on the scroll.
"Are you ready to continue?"
"Yeah, I'm done."
