Naruto obviously isn't mine. English is not my first language and one I don't really frequently use so apologies in advance for any grammar/spelling/word choice mistakes. If anyone is triggered by anything in this fiction work (pairing choices, topics and what-not) I urge you, please, please do us both a favor. Stop reading and turn away instead of continuing, hurting yourself and hurting others to make yourself better. That's not a good way to live. Let's all just chill and share our love for the fandom.

…..

The moment Sasuke stepped out of the portal, he immediately knew a fight was happening close to where he was based on the chakra bursts he easily detected. And though he didn't possess Karin's sensory talents, he could sense enough to know that there were about six combatants.

Curious to find out what exactly was happening, he made sure to keep a tight hold of his chakra to avoid detection and then with great speed, leapt on a tree branch and headed to the direction of the fight.

It didn't take him long to find the location. Just a few moments and he stood on a branch looking down at a five versus one fight: a petite-looking female Hyuuga against five men who looked like rogue ninjas from Iwa and Ame based on their slashed forehead protectors.

The Hyuuga has just finished doing a rotation which rendered three of her enemies unconscious but she clearly detected his presence based on the slight turn of her head in his direction—something that can be attributed to her all-seeing byakugan, of course.

The two remaining rogues appeared hesitant, what with three of their comrades down on the ground. But the Hyuuga gave them no choice. In a blink of an eye, she had blown away one of her enemies with something like an air attack then the next, her hands were covered with blue chakra which took the shape of great lion heads and she went on to take care of the last one remaining.

Sasuke activated his sharingan to observe better but the fight, to his disappointment, didn't last long. The Hyuuga was faster and her technique proved to be dangerous. She only had to touch the enemy with her lion head chakra constructs and he was out. The lions seemed to have the ability to rapidly drain the chakra of whatever it touched. It was certainly an interesting technique for someone coming from a clan known mainly for its taijutsu-based fighting style.

He would have liked to see more. The byakugan has been compared to the sharingan for so long and he's never had the opportunity to watch it in action, much less fight a Hyuuga. He also has an interest with the dojutsu for its connection with Kaguya.

The Hyuugas may have not distinguished themselves as overwhelmingly powerful players during the Fourth Shinobi War but there's no denying their bloodline limit is connected to the Otsutsukis like the sharingan and the rinnegan. He hasn't forgotten that Kaguya's main eyes possessed byakugan powers.

The thought of more creatures like Kaguya from dimensions and worlds away, watching the human world with their all-seeing eyes, biding their time to launch an attack—it's enough to make shivers run down his spine.

"Uchiha-san," the Hyuuga said softly by way of greeting, face turned in his direction.

Sasuke dropped down from his perch on the tree to the ground but made no other attempts to approach. "Hn. Hyuuga."

The Hyuuga's lips twitched minutely before she gave a simple bow then approached the prone forms of her enemies. She methodically struck their chests with her chakra-coated hands one after the other, killing them all before attaching explosive tags to the bodies.

"Assassination mission?" Sasuke asked with a flat voice, not really concerned with the answer.

"No. They're bloodline hunters and stealers though so better to get rid of them" the Hyuuga answered with the same soft voice he could barely hear.

Sasuke scoffed in distaste and moved forward. Any other answer and he would have just shrugged and walked away to let the Hyuuga finish the job by herself. But bloodline stealers, the bane of limit holders like himself—Sasuke was more than willing to extend a helping hand.

"Hn. Then stand back Hyuuga, I'll do a better clean-up job than your tags."

The Hyuuga turned to face him with pursed lips, pale eyes staring intently at him before nodding her head. She then quietly moved several paces to give him room to do what needed to be done.

Sasuke quickly performed five consecutive katons and watched impassively for a while as the corpses burned before turning to observe his fellow Konohan. The Hyuuga looked familiar with her fair skin, dark blue hair and lavender-tinted eyes. He tried to recall her but frowned when he could not remember her name.

The Hyuuga gave him a side-eye and her lips twitched again before she spoke softly, "It's Hinata, Uchiha-san. We were on the same year in the academy. Not that it matters."

Hinata. Hyuuga Hinata.

Like lightning, the name struck and brought forward memories of a frail-looking little girl with short hair wearing a thick jacket that dwarfed her small frame even more. A little girl who refrained from interaction as much as possible, spoke even less than the Aburame, stuttered a lot when spoken to, mostly exhibited her evasion tactics instead of combat abilities during her taijutsu spars, blushed a lot and stole glances and followed Naruto at times like a lost puppy. That Hyuuga.

"Hn. Naruto's fangirl," Sasuke said with a faint smirk.

The Hyuuga didn't seem to appreciate the comment. She winced and her lips tightened before she gave him a perfunctory bow, "Thank you for your assistance Uchiha-san but I have to go now. I wish you safe travels."

Sasuke shrugged at the obvious avoidance tactic and turned around to continue on his path but paused after just a step, "Hyuuga, you better learn some fire techniques. Exploding tags are bloody messy."

"Duly noted Uchiha-san" she said before turning around and disappearing in a swirl of leaves.