Chapter 15
It was a sunny day, way too hot for her liking. Yet today was the day of the tournament and the evidence of it could be felt in the tense, energetic air. She was happy she hadn't bought her jacket with her. Instead, sporting a red shirt, black shorts and fishnet leggings, completed with black high boots.
She thought she looked good, she usually didn't wear red but she wanted to honour her mentor, she knew he liked that colour. Hinata hoped he was around, but she couldn't know for sure.
She activated her byakugan and searched the stands. There were so many people and besides, were he to be there, he certainly would be in the guise of someone else. The arena was impossibly huge, enormous in fact. All eyes were on the nine aspirants, standing around in a fine line. Well, there were only eight of them at the time, Sasuke had been strangely absent.
Naruto, on the other hand, had been late but thankfully he arrived just in time to hear the Hokage's speech, enhanced by some sort of jutsu, so that all could hear him loud and clear. The kazekage was by his side and she was once again thinking about Sasori. He was still a shinobi of Suna right?
"Everyone, thank you very much for coming to Konohagakure's chunin exams. We will now begin the final round of matches for the nine individuals who made it through the preliminaries. Please watch until the end!"
A loud roar of cheers erupted at that and Naruto, who stood by her side, was buzzing with so much energy that he literally had to jump around. She exchanged a look with Shino and managed a laugh at the boy at her side. Though she was distraously nervous, hoping a forced laugh would ease her up a little. It did no such thing.
"I thought, purple was your favourite colour. Why are you wearing red?" Shino asked, his voice muffled slightly by his collar.
Hinata gave him a smile.
"I guess I was just feeling up for a change today…" she replied, resting her hand on her scroll holster.
"Red suits you!" Naruto said, grinning at her.
Her heart leaped in her chest and she gave him an even bigger smile, about to reply in kind when...
"Hey yo!" a deep voice could be heard and they turned around at the sound.
The voice belonged to one of the sand siblings, Kankuro if she remembered correctly. The burly boy walked up to her, his eyes fixed on her small form.
"It's a pity I won't be fighting you, little girl. It would have been interesting to see how your puppet would fare against mine after all," he said with a leer on his painted lips.
Hinata didn't take kindly to being called a little girl, but she could actually glimpse genuine curiosity in his eyes as he went on.
"That puppet you used… It is advanced, designed and built perfectly. How in the world did you get your hands on such a puppet?"
Hinata, bit her lip in thought. She knew she couldn't expose too much.
"It was a gift, the person who gave it to me said it was easy to manage and suitable for beginners…"
Kankuro barked out a laugh at that.
"You cannot be serious?! That's insanely stupid. That thing is too complex, it has too many abilities for it to actually be called "easy to manage". A spider puppet is not suitable for beginners, a normal puppet would be," Kankuro explained, creasing his brows in intrigue.
"Well, then he obviously meant it would be easy to manage by his own standards. He's an expert puppeteer, he would obviously know more about this stuff than you," Hinata retorted, a bit irritated at his arrogant attitude.
She knew she had said too much though and placed a hand over her mouth in mortification. Kankuro's grin grew to reveal white, pointed teeth. His eyes thinned into shapes of almonds.
"So it is a he then? What's his name? Where did he come from?"
Naruto then decided to chime in.
"It must be your secret admirer right? I overheard Ino and Sakura talking about all the gifts you've gotten," he commented, curious as well.
"What makes you so sure that he's an expert puppeteer?" Shino said as well, peeking at her over his sunglasses.
Hinata had started to sweat by now and she noticed that the rest of the contestants had all turned their attention to their conversation.
Temari grinned much like her brother, leaning on her giant fan. Gaara, looked bored but amused at her obvious discomfort. Haruko just looked thoughtful.
"W-Well it's n-not like I don't know a thing about him… He mentioned in a letter that he was an expert in the field of puppetry, second to none, I-I don't know his name though…" she stammered out, nervously clutching her collar, why was it suddenly hard to breathe?
"He must be from Suna right? All who's worth their salt in puppetry come from the desert," Kankuro said proudly.
"I don't know where he's from…" Hinata muttered out.
To her great relief, the conversation was halted by Genma.
"Everyone please get back in line and shut it," he said, taking out the stick from his mouth. "In case you haven't noticed, Uchiha Sasuke still hasn't arrived. If he doesn't get here when it is his time to battle, he will lose by default."
Naruto looked very much alarmed by that and Hinata would be lying if she said she wasn't worried as well.
"I refuse to accept a hollow victory like that," the seething, chaotic voice of Gaara snapped through the air. "If the Uchiha isn't here on time, I will simply wait until he is. Even if I have to wait until after Temari."
Genma massaged the back of his neck and sighed deeply. "I suppose that can be arranged, though I will send someone to talk to the Hokage about it."
Then Genma fixed them with a serious stare.
"Now listen up! The terrain is different but the rule is that there are no rules, the same as the preliminaries. The matches will continue until one or the other dies or acknowledges defeat. However, if I judge that it has been settled, I will stop the match there. Arguments will not be allowed, Understood?"
None objected.
"Good," the jounin continued. "So the first match is Uzumaki Naruto and Nara Shikamaru. You two will remain here and the rest of you will go to the waiting room."
Genma motioned for an opening in the arena. They all started to leave, though the sand siblings were the first to walk away.
"Good luck, Naruto-kun," Hinata said to the blonde boy at her side. "And you too, Shikamaru-kun," she directed her eyes to the Nara who gave her a small smile.
"Thank you Hinata," Naruto replied with a big grin on his face.
Their eyes met and she fought off the blush that threatened to spill unto her cheeks. Soon, she joined Shino as they walked away with the others.
They all walked up a flight of stairs to arrive at one of the platforms closer to the terrain.
"Let the battle begin," The Hokage exclaimed and cheers erupted from the stands.
Hinata stood tense with a lump in her throat. She wasn't going to play favourites but she hoped Naruto would win this one.
The battle was on and Hinata took a seat to Shino's right. There was movement in the corner of her eye and she witnessed Haruko, sitting down on her other side, her green eyes fixed on the battlefield. It was the first time in years, she had been this close to her and a bang of nostalgia hit her as he took in her freckles and messy, red hair.
She was wearing green clothes, it had always been her favourite colour.
"Haruko-san…" Hinata hesitatingly said, hoping her former friend would turn around and look at her.
She did. Her face remained passive though, aside from a strange glint in her eye, making the green look more vibrant and intense.
"Do you still play with dolls? Or maybe you would much rather call them puppets by now," Haruko asked and it was hard to tell if her tone had been mocking or just plain neutral.
"I have moved on to puppets yes," Hinata answered.
A grin stretched across Haruko's lean, red lips. Hinata couldn't help but to mimic the gesture. They both turned their attention to the unfolding fight before them. Naruto had summoned a bunch of clones and to counter it, Shikamaru had as well.
"That Nara kid is smart," Haruko suddenly said, her grin only growing.
This peaked her interest and Hinata briefly looked over to the companion she had at her side.
"How so?"
Haruko gathered up her fiery locks into a messy bun at the back of her head. Some bangs hung loose and covered her eyes. She promptly blew them away and pointed towards the battlefield.
"See how he is constantly advancing, keeping Naruto on his feet and making him move into the trees?"
Hinata followed her gaze and nodded.
"As soon as Naruto steps into the shadows, the battle will be over," Haruko continued, looking excited.
"W-What do you mean by that?" Hinata blurted out in confusion, looking away from the battle to stare at Haruko.
Haruko met her stare with a wicked look on her face.
"The Nara clan has an infamous jutsu. They can stretch and shrink their shadows at will and connect their shadows to other people's shadows. They will simply bind their shadows together and steer their movements. It's impossible to break free from it once you're in it. It's called shadow imitation. So just imagine what would happen if Naruto decides to seek refuge amongst those trees, it's a place full of shadows."
Hinata took in her words with a dawning realisation.
"So that's why he's slowly steering him towards the treeline…" she got out, looking back at the battle.
Naruto didn't seem to take the bait though, staying clear of the trees. He was always moving though, outrunning Shikamaru's shadow jutsu.
"See how the Nara always stays inside the shadow casted by the wall, he is utilising that shadow to increase the range of his jutsu," Haruko commented again.
"But he needs to make more shadows in order for it to reach Naruto," Hinata said, watching as Shikamaru jumped around within the shadowed area, avoiding Naruto's kunais and shurikens.
"He just needs to drag this out and wait for the sun to set a little bit more…" Haruko said, leaning her elbows on her knees, never taking her green eyes off the battle.
Time went by and that's exactly what happened. As the sun moved just a tiny bit, the shadow caught up to Naruto and she could hear his curses all the way up to their platform. He lost the fight with Shikamaru but no bad blood seemed to be between them as they joked around with the fact that Naruto was stuck under the jutsu.
Shikamaru started doing funny gestures and Naruto mimicked them with a laugh, though he couldn't control his movements.
"The winner is Shikamaru of the Nara clan!" Genma judged loudly and cheers erupted from the crowd.
Shikamaru broke off the jutsu and both he and Naruto shook hands. They disappeared then into the opening in the wall, leading up to their platform.
Since Sasuke hadn't arrived yet, the match went on straight to five and six. Kankuro and Shino. She briefly hugged her teammate and wished him good luck. Shino and Kankuro made their way down towards the arena and met Naruto and Shikamaru by the stairs.
"Good luck Shino!" she could hear Naruto cheer as they passed by each other.
"Naruto-kun," Hinata said as the blonde boy sat down where Shino once had been. "It's too bad…"
"It's a pain but worse things have happened, no use being moody about it," he said to her, the grin on his face still present.
Haruko scoffed at that and shook her head. Hinata ignored her, her white eys glued onto the rhapsodic boy by her side. She admired him for his strength, his strength to withstand and not give in to negativity.
Then the match began. Kankuro summoned his puppet and Shino, his bugs. They rose up from him like an ominous black cloud, like dark wings sprung forth from his back. The battle was on. Kankuro's puppet came at him with a vigor and Shino ducked out of the way, jumping back and avoiding the senbons that spilled out of the puppet's mouth.
The puppet was a fast one, keeping Shino on his feet and not giving him the time to use his bugs. Or that's what she feared. But the tide was about to turn in their favour. Shino was holding back for a reason. He danced around with the puppet some more, until he unleashed a tidal wave of bugs from his arms. It lunged at the puppet and completely engulfed it, smothered it. Creeping into its joints and making it unmovable.
Kankuro bellowed out curses as he tried to get his puppet to move but it was futile. The bugs started to climb onto the blue chakra strings, chakra were their food after all. Kankuro quickly cut the strings off before they could reach him.
That brief distraction was all her teammate needed. Shino appeared behind him armed with two kunais, out of nowhere it seemed. Without wasting time, he plunged the weapons deep into Kankuro's arms. It was absolutely brutal to watch and his screams cut into her ears.
Temari drew a sharp gasp as she gripped the railing and stared hard at her brother. Hinata couldn't help but to feel a bang of remorse as she took in the distraught face of the older girl. No matter how cruel she thought the sand siblings to be, Temari still seemed to care deeply for her brother, just like she herself would care so much about Hanabi. The same couldn't be said for Gaara though. The pale redhead rolled his eyes at the scene, devoid of any emotion aside from annoyance.
Gaara then glared at his sister, as if he was taking offence at her being so worried over their brother. Kankuro's screams suddenly increased and Hinata looked back down to witness bugs, coming out of the kunais in his arms. They spread all over him and he fell to the ground, unable to move as the bugs feasted on his chakra.
"The winner is Shino of the Aburame clan!" Genma shouted and loud roars echoed across the stadium.
"Pathetic" muttered Gaara, staring at his elder sister as she ran towards the stairs, no doubt wanting to check on her brother.
"Whoever wins between you and me, will fight Temari," Haruko suddenly whispered in her ear.
startled, Hinata stared at her, green met white.
"I intend for it to be me," the freckled girl continued. "I will do whatever it takes to win this Hinata."
"As will I," replied the byakugan wielder, watching intently as the taller girl stood up and strode away towards the stairs.
Haruko passed by Shino, who had just gotten up the stairs. He walked up to her, a small smile on his face.
"Congratulations," Hinata told him, giving him a quick hug.
"Likewise," said Shino, ruffling her hair.
"But I haven't won yet…"
"Doesn't matter, I know you will beat her."
Hinata's eyes softened at that and a graceful smile adorned her face. She didn't want to disappoint him, or anyone else for that matter.
"Hinata! Take this home!" Kiba's loud roar could be heard from the stands above them and she craned her neck around, activating her byakugan.
Upon those stands, she easily recognised her teammate's fired up face, little Akamaru perched upon his shoulder. He sat there amongst her former classmates, they were all smiling and laughing amongst themselves. Her eyes took in Ino, Sakura, Tenten, Choji, Rock Lee and Neji-niisan, as well as Kurenai and the other jounin teachers.
Some stands above them, she spotted her own clan members. Reiko-san sat with Hanabi at her side, eating out of a noodle box. Her father was of course nowhere to be seen. He had been sick for the past week or so, ill enough to be unable to leave his room. She was happy about that. She didn't want him here either way.
Suddenly her eyes widened as she took in who was seated on the stand right behind Reiko-san. It was the Hyuga that Sasori usually disguised himself as. The dark brown, braided hair, the slender face and the thin lips. She would recognise those features anywhere, they were so closely associated with Sasori by now. Their eyes met and she wasn't sure if he could see her or not but it didn't matter. What mattered was that he could see the match.
"Hinata," Naruto suddenly said and she was ripped back to the present.
Turning around she took in his handsome face with a blush.
"You will win this. Believe it!" he exclaimed, his eyes so wide and so full of life, his grin likewise.
Without further ado, he gave her a big hug, laughing in her ear. Her eyes became wider, the roots of her byakugan flexing slightly. Butterflies made her stomach tingle and chest had never felt warmer before, just like her cheeks which were sure to bloom even more crimson.
"N-N-Naruto-kun," she got out, breathless since he had stolen her breath away with his affectionate display. "Thank y-you."
She knew she needed to get going. So she reluctantly untangled herself from the boy and ran towards the stairs, avoiding Naruto's blue eyes. Her face burned so much she could hardly stand it, does this mean he liked her too? At the bottom of the stairs, she could see a wounded Kankuro being healed by a medic, his sister at his side.
"I fucking hate bugs…" she heard the puppeteer mutter under his breath, his dark eyes hoovering over her passing form. "Good luck, you'll need it," he said to her then, making Hinata crease her eyebrows.
"She will use your trauma against you," Temari suddenly cut in, looking away from her brother to meet Hinata's white eyes.
"I've met Haruko before, in Suna once. Underestimate her at your own peril," Temari snidely continued, her eyes cold and serious.
This made Hinata stop in her tracks. She had no idea that they knew each other.
"In Suna?" she asked, curiously so.
Temari nodded.
"She was there with her teammates on a mission some months back. She gave me a good fight," a sharp grin stretched across her lips, in an almost mocking fashion. "You'll see what I mean in due time, when I tell you that I would much rather have you win this fight…"
Quickly looking away from Temari's cold, jade eyes, Hinata swallowed thickly as she entered the arena. She had wasted enough time already. In the distance, she could see Haruko and Genma waiting for her. She made her way up to them with a tense look on her face.
…
Haruko was fast and agile. Avoiding Hana to the best of her ability. She pumped chakra to her legs and feet and ran upon the walls of the arena, outrunning the poisoned weapons the puppet fired in her wake. Though it was only by the hair.
Her mandarin coloured threads flew around wildly, getting loose from her bun as she jumped back down and disappeared into a cloud of smoke. A teleportation jutsu.
Hinata knew she shouldn't be stuck in one place for too long and so, she pumped chakra to her feet and ran around the Arena, her activated byakugan spotting her in one of the trees. The legs on Hana morphed into great, poison dipped blades, spinning around in a blur of grey metal. Hinata's lips grinned widely, revealing her white teeth. She was going to cut these trees down.
And so she did. Her puppet cleaved through the tree trunks, making four of the great trees hit the ground in a horribly loud boom, forming clouds of dust in their wake. Haruko jumped from tree to tree avoiding her puppet's onslaught.
Hinata, whose eyes had been focused on the fleeing kunoichi, briefly looked over to her puppet and stopped dead in tracks. Her puppet wasn't her puppet anymore. The terrified face of Hanabi stared back at her, her small form writhed in pain. Her lips blue as she salviated by the corners of her open mouth. Her face, red and bloated.
Hinata's chakra strings were tied around her neck in a tight noose and the little girl clawed at her contorted throat helplessly. Her white eyes, glossy in tears as a gut-wrenching scream left her.
"HINATA STOP, IT HURTS, IT HURTS!"
Hinata drew a sharp breath in pained alarm, petrified at the scene. Her fingers twitched and tensed up and as a result, Hanabi's little head was lopped cleanly off her shoulders. Decapitated by her chakra strings. By her own hand. Blood exploded out of her and now Hinata screamed in anguish.
"HANABI!" she shrieked, her shrill voice raw with emotion.
She promptly severed her bloody chakra strings and reared back, her feet buzzing with chakra.
She continued to jump backwards as Haruko appeared before her, Kunais drawn. Hinata looked back to see her fallen puppet where Hanabi had just been. It had been a genjutsu, of course it had. Yet that horrifying picture of her sisters decapitated head, flying off and spitting blood, would probably never leave her in peace.
A depraved smile coated Haruko's lips as she brutally slammed her boot into Hinata's chest. She flew away and landed on her knees, coughing madly. Her eyes stared at the person in front of her, taking in the chakra pathways that she would surely close down. If she aimed at a pathway near an organ, the damage would be critical.
Hinata raised her hands, the gentle fist making her hands crack to life with chakra. She lunged at Haruko with no warning, not caring as the tip of her kunai left a cut on her arm. Hinata was fast, her hands a flurry of movements as he landed hit after hit on her opponent's torso.
Then a sickly smile spread once more over Haruko's lips and she disappeared in yet another cloud of smoke. A shadow clone!? Suddenly the ground beneath her feet scattered apart and vile scorpions crawled out and up her legs. She wanted to scream but instead, she took a deep breath and formed a hand sign.
"Katsu!"
The genjutsu dissolved into nothingness and Haruko came at her again, from behind. Her byakugan had detected her a long time ago. She turned around just in time to bury a poisoned senbon in her throat. She forced Haruko down on the ground and placed a foot at her chest, keeping her in place.
Haruko's bloody lips opened and her Hyuga Hana's voice flowed out.
"Y-You would really do that?"
The freckled face started to distort and deteriorate. Soon her mother's sickly face could be seen, her white eyes staring up at her in utter betrayal. Hinata immediately threw herself off of her and reared back, tears now running down her cheeks.
Her mother's ghostly figure rose up and, senbon still stuck in her throat, blood coating her white skin. The ground became blackened with kohl, sticky with blood. The terrain became nightmarish. The sky bled red and Hyuga Hana started to weep blood from her eyes.
"It's your fault that I grew sick, It's your fault I died! I should have let your father beat you to death. You bring disgrace and dishonour upon my name. I should have never had you," her ghastly voice boomed out, monstrous and grim and deep and totally unlike her.
It was like a banshee's wail, distorted, horribly so. Hinata shook her head in disbelief, in petrified fear, in corrosive dread. She walked backwards and her mother followed her, floating above the ground. Her eyes were ringed with black lines, her dark hair flying around her in wild frenzy. Hinata remembered how it felt when she died, it came rushing back to her with a vengeance.
Her late mother reached for her, her fingernails broken and yellowed, her hands blue.
"NO!" screamed Hinata, tripping over her legs to escape her mother's embrace.
She had to dismiss this somehow, but she couldn't form words, she had to recharge her chakra flow, she had to, she had to… The word "katsu" got stuck in throat and her tongue felt suddenly too big for her mouth. Could you choke on your own tongue? Was this choking sensation a part of the genjutsu?
Crying, sobbing, she fell to her knees. Emotion building up inside of her. Her real mother would never say such cruel things, but Haruko certainly would. This was Haruko's creation. Haruko would use her own mother against her, her own sister...
Her fear turned to icy cold tendrils of hate, climbing up her insides, squeezing her heart. Hate, mixed in with a boiling anger, a scalding fury, a seething rage. It grew and grew, colouring her vision red with bloodthirst. She was going to kill her.
With a harrowing and vile scream, Hinata drew a kunai and stabbed her arm. The weapon cleaved through her flesh and she dragged it deep down into her muscle, inflicting more pain upon herself. She continued her hoarse screaming, watching the genjutsu fall away completely. Game fucking over.
She stood up, her byakugan taking in Haruko's shocked face. The redhead stood where her conjured up mother once stood.
"Raito," Hinata hissed out and with a crackling boom, lightning sprung forth from her clenched fists, climbing up her arms, encircling, entwining.
Her white eyes glowed lucid blue in the light and she lunged at Haruko, the chakra in her feet making craters in the ground. Haruko hurled herself backwards, her kunais raised. Hinata disappeared then into a cloud of smoke.
She reappeared behind Haruko and ruthlessly slammed her to the side. Her electric fist, burning a hole in her shirt and scorching the flesh there. She dropped her weapons and flew away with a horrid scream, coaxing a smile from her attacker. Haruko had enough dignity to try to get up from her grumbled position, standing bent down and holding her wounded side. Hinata ran after her, her fist raised.
The gentle fist, coupled with lightning release, sure was powerful. She hit chakra pathway after chakra pathway, shutting them down one by one. At each punch, blue sparks engulfed her body, cooking her flesh and giving way to the grisly images of her white skeleton, going off like flashes from a polaroid camera.
Haruko flew away once more, crashing into the wall behind her. But this time, she didn't make any sound. A scream could be heard from the stands, though it was drowned out by the other noises coming from the public. Hinata ignored it all.
Her chakra-enriched feet left the ground in yet another crater as she jumped towards the motionless form of Haruko. She grabbed the bloody, scorched girl by her collar and lifted her up, pushing her up against the cracked wall. Her hands, crackling with blue energy, lightning, electricity.
Haruko flinched suddenly, her bruised eyes, slowly opening. Her facial muscles would be the only part of her body she could move. She was at Hinata's mercy and Hinata was eager to finish what she'd started.
"You said you would do whatever it takes to win," she hissed out. "You would even use my own family against me!" that last part she screamed into her face, her voice breaking off like a strained guitar chord.
Right now, Hinata wouldn't recognise the brutal, merciless and cruel look her face had donned. She wouldn't recognise the venom that dripped from her words. But right now, it didn't matter to her that a small part of her was frightened beyond belief at what she had become. Her docile, timid and compassionate nature, had been smothered by the shadow she had repressed throughout her life.
Anything you try to hide, comes back with a vengeance. And her anger grew each time she was trampled on and didn't do anything about it. Now it exploded out of her, years of spite coming to the surface.
"You should have stayed loyal! You should have stayed as my friend and maybe we wouldn't be here today," she spat in Haruko's face, her green eyes wide and aghast, her heart in her mouth.
"Tell my mother, I said hi."
With those dreadful words, she raised her fist high, lightning twirling around her knuckles. The rush of adrenaline, the rush of having instilled such fear in someone else, it had her on cloud nine, cut off from her moral convictions.
"Someone stop her!" someone shouted somewhere.
More voices rose around her, chaos erupted. Hinata could care less and her fist started to descend. It was promptly stopped mere centimeters from Haruko's nose.
Genma, whose presence she had completely forgotten about, stood there. He held her arms with both his hands, the lightning burning through his gloves, yet his face remained stoic.
"Hinata, I'm doing you a favour by stopping you," he said.
Kakashi and Kurenai appeared by his side.
"Hinata…" Kurenai breathed out, she couldn't believe her red eyes.
To see her teacher look at her with such a shocked, crestfallen face, such sad eyes, it shattered the illusion. Completely so and almost reluctantly, she dropped Haruko to the ground. Her anxious eyes didn't dare to look anywhere but her own feet. Shame hung her head low.
The lightning dissolved from her but her byakugan stayed put. She moved out of the way as medics rushed to heal Haruko.
"The winner is Hinata of the Hyuga clan!" Genma judged but any cheers that would have erupted from that, got drowned out by the already rising shouts from the stands.
Hinata couldn't bear to be in the arena anymore and promptly disappeared in a puff of smoke. She reapered by the trees and dismissed her puppet, putting the scroll back in its holster. Then she dissolved into smoke once more.