A/N: For the last 4 days, I was at camp and only came home at around 6 pm. Half the time, I had classes straight after and only ate dinner at like, 10 pm. So I didn't really have time to update as frequently. Sorry about that.

Last time:

She and Neji immediately get off the bed and run to the room's window. Half the village was in ruins and three giant snakes were causing even more chaos.

'What the hell's going on?'

Now:

Neji's eyes narrowed and he ran outside his room and into the hall. Scared, Hanara followed him.

"Do you hear that?" Neji asked.

Hanara listened carefully and heard nothing, "The crowd! They've gone silent!"

Neji nodded.

"Byakugan!" the cousins said in sync, activating their dojutsu.

"It's a genjutsu..." Neji whispered, "Someone's cast a genjutsu on everyone in the stadium and is attacking the village. There's fighting in every corner no matter where I look! It's like-"

"Yeah, I know. It's like a war," Hanara said gravely, "The village needs every shinobi it can get, we have to help. And it looks to me like the stadium is the weakest point."

"Right, let's help at the stadium," Neji nodded.

When Neji and Hanara got to the top of the stadium to understand the situation better, they saw one of the Hyuga Elders, Kiba, and Akamaru down.

'I think Hinata was with Kiba, wasn't she? Someone could've taken her, I need to wake him up.'

She rushed over to Kiba and began shaking him, "Kiba! Are you okay! Get that lazy ass up already! Where's Hinata?" Getting fed up, Hanara slapped him, "Get over whatever the hell happened and wake up!"

Kiba groaned and opened his eyes, flinching when he saw Hanara's face over his.

He got up and looked around the stadium in shock, "What happened?"

"Short version? The village is under attack, we don't know much more," Hanara told him, "Now what the heck happened to you? Don't you usually, I dunno, Fang Over Fang someone before they touch you?"

"I was with Hinata because she collapsed from some injuries that Neji gave her. An ANBU Black Op was healing her and then he knocked me out after he finished. I don't know what happened after that, but she must've been kidnapped."

"Shit," Hanara swore. Another Hyuga stereotype that she broke was the overly formal nature bit, "Well at least your wound wasn't fatal."

She looked over to Lord Elder and saw that he was fine as well.

"Does he know what happened?" she asked, walking over to Neji and the Elder.

"We were attacked and our assailant kidnapped Lady Hinata," Lord Elder told them.

"Do you know what village they were from?" Hanara asked.

"They were two ninjas from the Hidden Cloud that were here as spectators assaulted us and made off with her. They no doubt saw the confusion as a means to take the Byakugan and took advantage of it. I attempted to stop them but..." he closed his eyes and sighed, "Hanara, Neji, the Byakugan is a prized clan secret that Hizashi protected the with his life, we cannot simply allow the Hidden Cloud to take it. Go bring Lady Hinata. It is your duty to protect the Byakugan, no matter the cost."

'I'm not going to get them for the Byakugan, you idiot. I'm going because I care about the well-being of my sister. I honestly don't care if other villages get a kekkei genkai or not if them getting one does not involve harming the owner. It doesn't really matter to me. Although, if I remember right, didn't Tenten go with Neji in canon? I'm not sure anymore, it's all so hazy now. What happened to that? Butterfly effect? Eh, we need all the able ninjas we can get here, I'm not complaining.'

Despite her thoughts, she nodded, "Yes, Lord Elder."

"Woah, hold your horses! I'm coming, too." Kiba interjected.

"No, this is a matter for the Hyuga," Neji denied.

"Hinata is my friend," Kiba argued, "I know you both don't have a high opinion of her so what if you don't put in all of your effort."

Hanara nodded, "Stop being so stubborn, Neji. The Cloud will have sent their best ninja after their last fail. We'll need all the help we can get."

Neji sighed, "Fine, I suppose the Inuzuka can come. His nose may be useful."

There was a puff of smoke and everyone went on guard. Once it cleared, it revealed a phoenix with gold and red plumes and a golden beak. It was larger than Hanara but smaller than what she assumed a boss summon thing would be.

"Lady Hanara, you have fulfilled the requirements. I am Pho, your personal summon," said the phoenix.

"But I didn't..." she trailed off. 'Does me thinking 'screw canon, I just wanna do this' count as doing something for me? Man, I'd have done that a lot sooner. Wait, did they read my mind or something? That would be so useful!'

"You can summon phoenixes?" Kiba exclaimed, "That's so cool!"

Hanara ignored him and turned to Pho, "I'm sorry we couldn't meet at a better time, but I need a favour."

"I am happy to serve, my lady," Pho smiled.

'Ooh, he's so respectful!'

"We need to find my sister and Kiba's nose is perfect for tracking people down. Could you allow him and my brother to fly on you and listen to his instructions?"

"Of course, Lady Hanara," Pho said, leaning downwards to allow Neji and Kiba to climb onto him/her.

"Oh, and are you a male or a female?" she asked.

"I am a female, my lady," Pho responded after both Neji and Kiba were on her.

Hanara nodded, pulled out a fan, and enlarged it. Once she got on, she turned to Kiba, "Lead the way!"

Kiba started sniffing and said, "Fly to ten o'clock, Pho. That's where they're heading."

"Right!" she responded, lifting her large wings and flying to where Kiba had told her to.

Hanara followed.

They had been travelling for around 10 minutes when Hanara realized where they were going, using her Byakugan to see ahead for a moment.

"They're taking the quickest route to the Land of Lightning. Once we get out of the Land of Fire, we won't have the home-field advantage anymore," she said.

"It makes sense," Neji nodded thoughtfully, "They have to get out of here before Lord Elder wakes up.

"Ugh," Kiba groaned, "Can you go faster, phoenix?"

"I apologize, this is the fastest I can fly."

"They must be at least higher than Chunin, based on the speed they seem to be running. It seems like we have no guarantee of winning," Neji stated.

"There's always a way, like surrounding them to take them off guard," Hanara responded, but it seemed like she was trying to convince herself more than the boys.

A few minutes later, Hanara saw some mud dogs that were attempting to climb trees and attack them. Their barks attracted Kiba's attention.

"What are those?" he asked, disgusted.

"Seems to be a trap the Cloud ninja left behind that's activated by chakra," Neji commented.

"It must have taken a lot of time to set that up though, which means that Hinata might not be as far away as we thought," Hanara said optimistically.

Neji nodded and scanned the area with his Byakugan, "Found them! They've stopped and are crowding around Hinata, who is unconscious. They aren't letting Hinata out of their sight. I think that they know we've set off their trap."

Hanara nodded to Pho and she stopped moving forward to let them plan.

"If they're crowding around her and know someone's coming, what are we supposed to do?" Kiba exclaimed.

Neji's eyes widened and he told them his plan.

"-Byakugan, it doesn't matter if the user is alive or not." the Cloud ninja with brown hair smirked.

Hinata's eyes widened in fear but before the Cloud ninjas could do anything Kiba intervened.

"Tunneling Fang!" Kiba yelled, jumping off of Pho (who was hovering in the forest), spinning rapidly, and then landing right in front of Hinata.

"Looks like I arrived just in time," Kiba smiled, showing his sharp canines.

"Goddamn brats," the bald Cloud ninja snarled, "I'll kill them!"

He moved to attack Kiba and Hinata, but Kiba set off a smoke bomb. Growling, the other Cloud ninja set off some explosions and Kiba had to roll out of the way while holding Hinata in his arms so she wasn't caught in it.

The smoke cleared revealing the Cloud ninja to be right in front of them. The bald Cloud ninja pulled out a kunai, "We don't have any time for friendly chit-chat."

He Body-Flickered in front of Kiba but Kiba blocked it, using his palm in a very unKiba-like way.

"Gentle Fist Art: 8 Trigrams, 64 Palms," 'Kiba' said, slipping into the Gentle Fist stance.

"8 Trigrams, 2 Palms! 4 Palms! 8 Palms! 16 Palms! 32 Palms! 64 Palms!" 'Kiba' yelled, striking 64 of the bald ninja's chakra points rapidly, not giving him any time to counter until 'Kiba' was done.

Once 'Kiba' finished all 64 strikes, the Cloud ninja was sent flying back into a tree and 'Kiba' released his Transformation, revealing that it was Neji, not Kiba.

"It's you," the other Cloud ninja snarled, "The Hyuga kid that lost to the dead-last in the Chunin Exams."

Back when Kiba set off the smoke bombs:

Neji and Hanara jumped from the trees and Transformed into Kiba and Hinata respectively while they retreated into the trees. The cover of the smoke made it easier for them to escape undetected.

Hanara released her Transformation from where she lay at the Cloud ninja's feet and hastily jumped back to Neji, knowing that any ninja with brains would know 'Hinata' was just a decoy.

The Cloud ninja scoffed, "Tch. You made me follow a decoy, I should have known."

Neji and Hanara slipped into their Gentle Fist stances, turning on their Byakugan, "We won't let you pass," Neji snarled.

Neji ran towards the brown-haired ninja while Hanara stayed back, knowing that she would be able to handle the Cloud ninja should he use long-ranged techniques.

"Earth Style: Soil Flow!" the Cloud ninja said triumphantly.

'Huh, a Cloud ninja with an Earth affinity is rare. Of course, we have to go against one. Of course.'

The Cloud ninja controlled the soil around them, creating hard rock-like spears and forcing them to make Neji go back while he raised himself above the ground. Hanara started to put her hands in the Bird hand-seal but the Cloud ninja made some soil harden all around Neji and Hanara's limbs from behind them, effectively trapping them.

"Damn it!" Neji muttered.

'Huh, I'm rubbing off on him- not the time, Hanara! Maybe I can release Wind Natured Chakra from my chakra points and cut the rocks... Yeah! That'll work! But I should wait and see what that ninja's planning.'

"A ninja who can't move their limbs is like a bird trapped in their cage," the Cloud ninja said, smiling sadistically.

Neji glared at him while Hanara simply kept her face devoid of any emotion, trying not to tip off her plan to the enemy.

"What a pitiful fate you both have," he mocked, putting his hands in the snake seal, extending the piece of rock into a spear and shooting it towards Neji, "You're both going to die right here!"

Hanara closed her eyes and focused, releasing extremely sharp Wind Natured Chakra from all her chakra points, causing the rock around her to shatter. She whipped out her fan and swung it.

"WIND SCYTHE JUTSU!" she screamed, aiming a mini-tornado towards the rock.

At the same time, however, someone Body-Flickered in front of Neji and yelled, "ROTATION!"

The combined force of both their attacks caused the spear heading for Neji to shatter. The Hyuga that Body-Flickered in front of Neji stopped spinning, revealing that it was Hiashi. The Cloud ninja paled and immediately jumped into the trees behind him in an attempt to get away.

"Air Palm!" Hiashi announced, extending his right arm with his palm open, releasing a gust of air that forced the retreating Cloud ninja to fall into the trees.

"Lord Hiashi, what are you doing here?" Hanara asked after pocketing her tiny fan. If she had scanned her surroundings, she wouldn't have bothered using a tiny fan to attack and risk it breaking. She would have used an Air Bullet to break the rock in half instead because he would have done the shattering for her.

"What about Lady Hinata?" Neji questioned, "Is she okay?"

"I was told of the circumstances by Elder-Sama and rushed here," Lord Hiashi said, turning around to face the two cousins, "Hinata and Hanara are my precious daughters and you are a memento of my precious younger brother. I will not allow the Cloud to take any of you."

Hanara glared at Hiashi, not bothering to release her Byakugan 'What happened to 'I am not your father' huh? I'm probably being petty, but you are the clan head, not the Elders! They are there to advise you and nothing more! Removing the Curse Seal or the Elders from their position may put the clan in a bad spot for a while, but it would inevitably make it stronger in the long run. I know that I am being selfish in hoping that you would keep me as your child, but at this point, I don't care.'

"You are no father of mine," Hanara snarled, "You stopped being my father nine years ago, don't you remember?"

Hanara bit her thumb and formed the hand-signs necessary for the Summoning Jutsu and slammed the bloody hand on the ground.

Boar

Dog

Bird

Monkey

Ram

"Summoning Jutsu," Hanara muttered. Kiba and Hinata were probably sitting on Pho, but she wanted to go home alone. If they couldn't deal with a fall from that height, they shouldn't be a ninja.

Pho appeared in front of her, but Hanara didn't give her any time to speak, "We're going back to the Leaf Village."

"But, uh, m'lady, will your friends be okay going by themselves?" Pho asked hesitantly.

"There is no longer an emergency and Lord Hiashi would not be here if the village was in trouble. They should be fine walking." Hanara said, climbing onto Pho, "Let's go."

"R-Right!"