Chapter 7 - Academy part 2
Hinata ran down the hall at a sprint trying to make it to Mizuki's room as fast as possible. When she got there, he was in the middle of going over math equations on the board. As soon as Hinata walked in, his face lit up like a Christmas tree, before giving her a dirty look.
"Hyūga, I know you may be used to doing whatever you want back at your clan, but at the academy you're expected to be on time to classes. Take your seat and don't let it happen again, or I'll give you detention."
What Hinata was feeling at this moment was probably the same thing he felt when he woke up in the nurse's office after getting his ass kicked by an 8 year old girl. Pure, unadulterated, loathing.
"I apologize Mizuki-sensei. I was talking to Iru-"
"I don't need excuses Hyūga, I need you to be better." He spit out. "Take a seat."
A lesser girl might cry right now, but Hinata managed to hold back the tears of frustration, kind of. She just didn't let anyone see them, quickly rubbing the corner of her eyes with her sleeve before getting her notebook out to take notes.
"Is everything ok?" Kiba, who she was sitting next to asked her.
Hinata just glanced at him and nodded.
"Are you sure? Cause you look like you're crying a bit." He asked her again.
Hinata gave him a pleading look and shushed him.
"Hyūga!" Hinata covered her face in her hands as Mizuki rounded on her.
"Late to class and now this!" he hissed out. Mizuki was enjoying every bit of this. Of course he knew she wasn't saying anything, he just hated the girl and people like her. It was fun to watch them break down.
"I don't tolerate talking in my classes!" He said in a loud voice.
"I wasn't tho-"
"ENOUGH with the excuses Hyūga!" He raised his voice even louder.
"Mizuki-sensei, I was-" Kiba tried to interject on Hinata's behalf.
"Silence Inuzuka." Hissed Mizuki.
The rest of the class was watching the scene with pity in their eyes as they saw Hinata was on the verge of tears.
"Mizuki-sensei ple-"
"DON'T MAKE ME GIVE YOU DETENTION!"
"DON'T MAKE ME KICK YOUR ASS A SECOND TIME!" Hinata snapped and instantly covered her own mouth with her hands.
The class collectively gasped. Naruto looked like he was going to start yelling at Mizuki too. Sasuke looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't know what. Kiba just wanted to hide his face cause this was all his fault, and Mizuki's face contorted in rage.
"TO THE HEADMASTER'S OFFICE! NOW!" He roared out. "I'll meet you there after class is over."
Hinata picked up her bag and stormed off.
'I didn't even do anything… I was late because I was talking to Iruka… It was Kiba trying to talk, not me… the fucker just wouldn't listen. He LIKED yelling at me…'
Hinata had never been good with people yelling at her, especially when it was uncalled for. She wasn't what you might call "emotionally mature". Which is ironic because she teases her father about him being emotionally immature all the time.
Hinata actually desperately cared about what other people thought of her. She didn't let people know she cared, she pretended not to care, but she did. Even in her past life she did her best to get people to like her; enjoy being around her. She didn't handle situations like this well at all.
Which is why she was crying, and not in fact headed towards the headmaster's office.
Hinata did what she did most of the time she was in trouble: blow the whole thing out of proportion in her head, cry, and cry some more.
She left the academy building in tears, running into the woods outside of the training ground. At times like this, she liked being up somewhere high so she climbed a tree and took refuge on a branch.
She stayed in the tree branch with her arms curled around her knees for about half an hour just sobbing into her knees. Eventually she heard a noise next to her and looked up to see Kō standing on the branch with her.
"Hinata-hime…? What's wrong?" Kō asked her, as he awkwardly sat down next to her. Kō had finished up his work for her father a while ago and had been doing patrols around the academy. He was passing by when he heard crying and came to investigate. He wasn't expecting it to be his little lady.
"Kō... " Hinata hugged him and cried harder.
Kō awkwardly let her cry into his shoulder as he had no idea what to do. What he did know however, was that someone was going to pay for making her cry. He'd been looking out for this girl for over 3 years now, and while this isn't the first time he'd seen her cry, it was the first time he saw her crying this hard, and on his watch no less. He was just 16 years old and Hinata was the closest thing to a little sister he ever had. He hated seeing her like this.
They sat like that for a few minutes before Hinata had calmed down enough to tell him what had happened. She had just gotten to the point where Kiba started whispering to her when she broke down into tears again.
Kō's first thoughts were: 'An Inuzuka huh? Difficult, but if I got to him on his way home…' He stopped his thought about killing Kiba there though, thinking he should wait to hear the rest of the story. Murdering clan heirs was tricky business after all.
Hinata sniffled some a bit later and got through the rest of the story.
"And now I look like a fool… Acting like a little girl and crying over nothing… and I still have to go back inside and go see the headmaster before Mizuki realizes I left the building, or everything is just going to be so much worse…"
"Wait, wait. Slow down there. What do you mean by "kick his ass a second time"?" Kō asked her in genuine confusion.
"We were sparring and he started attacking me. If I even let one of those attacks hit, I'd probably have broken a few bones, I couldn't find a way to hit back, and it was a spar so I obviously couldn't run, so I did what otousan said and waited for an opportunity. Eventually he overextended on a kick and dodged it and kicked him in the head and knocked him out…"
Hinata shared what happened so casually that Kō was stunned into silence.
"He was already out to get me, and I don't know why. I didn't do anything except knock out Kiba and kick Sasuke's ass, but that was different. Sasuke kept coming back for more. Eventually he forced us to stop so that he could fight me instead. That bastard didn't even say "start" he just attacked."
Kō was just listening to this in shock.
"The bastard should be grateful. I didn't even use my byakugan cause I wanted a fair fight. He should be thanking me."
Kō just had to interrupt at this point. "Wait what? You fought a Chūnin and won, without using the byakugan?"
"Yeah… so?"
"So!? It was a Chūnin!"
"It was only taijutsu, if we could use techniques he'd mop the floor with me. Besides, I spar with otousan and shishou all the time without using the byakugan and they're Jōnin."
Kō looked down at her and just said. "Hinata-hime. That isn't the point. The point is you fought a Chūnin shinobi, one that wasn't even going easy on you from the sound of things, in a straight up taijutsu match, without the use of the byakugan, when you're not even a genin. And you won."
Kō, despite everything, laughed. And he laughed hard. Tears were coming out, he was laughing so hard.
"Kō! Stop laughing, this is serious!" Hinata lightly punched his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He said, while wiping his tears. "It's just that you don't seem to realize what you pulled off here. If your father knew… Oh my god I need to tell your father."
Kō picked Hinata up, slung her over his shoulder, and ran off towards the Hyūga compound.
"Wait Kō! What are you doing! Put me down! I still have classes!" Hinata was pounding on his back with her fists. Not enough to hurt him, she'd never do that, just enough to make a point.
"I apologize Hinata-hime, but your father would want to hear about what happened as soon as possible." Kō said while continuing his path using the rooftops.
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"A Chūnin? And you beat him?" Hiashi asked her in surprise.
"Why do people keep asking me this? Yes I beat him!" Hinata cried out in exasperation.
"I see. It seems like this Mizuki might not be suited to teach you if you're on your first day and he already can't defeat you in a spar." Hiashi said, rubbing his chin while thinking.
"Very well. Come along." He walked out of his office and through the front door of their house. "We're going out Kō, you come too!"
As they were walking Hiashi asked his daughter a question. "You said it was the Inuzuka runt that was talking to you in his class right?"
"Yeah, but what's that got to do with anything? He didn't mean to get me into trouble, he was just trying to see if I was ok, cause I looked upset, and he tried to tell Mizuki-sensei that it was him talking, but Mizuki-sensei didn't let him speak."
"I see. Looks like we have a stop to make before we get back to the academy." Hiashi picked Hinata up in his arms and jumped up to the rooftops before setting off in a new direction, with Kō following close behind.
'At least I'm not slung over a shoulder like a bag this time.' Hinata thought to herself bitterly.
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They arrived a short while later outside of a residence that had a massive amount of land around it. In front of the house, laying in the shade was the largest wolf Hinata had ever seen. And it was wearing an eyepatch.
Hiashi put Hinata back down and greeted, of all things, the wolf. "Good afternoon Kuromaru. Is Tsume-san here? Can I speak with her?"
"She's inside. Go ahead." The wolf spoke back in a gruff voice.
Hinata just blankly stared as Hiashi pulled her inside.
'That wolf just spoke. I mean I know ninken can speak, but… Seeing it in person is different.'
They walked inside of the house where they saw a woman who was sitting on a couch reading a book. She had short, spiky brown hair, vertical pupils, canine-like teeth, and the same clan markings on her cheeks that Kiba had.
She didn't even look up from her book when they walked inside. "Well, well. If it isn't Hyūga Hiashi himself. I thought I smelled you coming. Who's the pup?" She had a harsh voice that almost sounded like she was growling out her words.
"This is my daughter, and the Hyūga clan heiress, Hinata."
Inuzuka Tsume finally looked up from her book to study Hinata. "Shouldn't she be in class? Why'd you bring her here? Did Kiba do something?" She actually looked as if she thought that might be the case. "I'll kill him."
"Ah, nonono. It's nothing like that!" Hinata said, waving her arms.
"She's right. Kiba is involved, which is why we're here, but only so that I could ask for your help. She'll tell you the story." Hiashi explained.
So once again, for the third time in about 2 hours, Hinata found herself explaining the story of Knocking Kiba unconscious, kicking Sasuke's ass, knocking Mizuki unconscious, having a conversation with Iruka (Hinata left out the topic of the conversation), and then getting yelled at for being late, and then also getting yelled at for listening to the lecture quietly.
By the end of the story, that Hinata had decided to start charging people money to hear, Tsume was doubled over laughing, asking to hear the part about her knocking Kiba out in a single exchange again.
"So?" Tsume asked, wiping a tear off the corner of her eye. "What do you need my help for?"
Hiashi just smirked and told her what he wanted to be done.
"Seems easy enough. I'll head out, and meet you there in like… 2 hours?" Tsume asked.
"That will work, we'll be there." Hiashi said, picking Hinata up again and leaving.
'He didn't even wait til we left the house this time before picking me up… Also, they were talking in a lot of whispers. I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling.'
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Hinata found out why she had a bad feeling pretty soon after. Hiashi carried her first to Akimichi Chōza's food stall in the market. When he heard the story and what was happening he just nodded gravely and patted Hinata on the shoulder saying he'd be there.
They then went to the Uchiha police headquarters, where they found Uchiha Fugaku. Hinata thought he'd be more difficult to convince but apparently Hiashi using words like "dereliction of duty" and "reckless child endangerment" really work when talking to a police officer.
Hinata knew what the plan was at this point, and even though she thought the words "reckless child endangerment" coming out of Hiashi of all people was completely ridiculous, she had just decided to enjoy the ride. Literally. Hiashi didn't even bother sitting her down during the talk with Fugaku.
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The students had just finished classes for the day and were headed towards the academy entrance to go home.
"I wonder what happened to Hinata-chan… She was pretty upset, and she never came back to class. I hope she's ok." Ino said, talking to Sakura, Chōji, and Shikamaru.
"I know… Mizuki-sensei had a really creepy look on his face too when we saw him for science. He was happy about something but I don't know what." Sakura added.
"Man, he really laid into Hinata." Shikamaru said while stretching "She might have just left. I probably would have."
The students were all about to make it to the doors when they suddenly got kicked in. The faces of Sasuke, Chōji, Ino, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Shino were priceless and they stopped in their tracks. As did all of the other students. Naruto had his mouth opened so wide he could fit his fist in there.
Hyūga Hiashi had kicked the door open and strolled in with a look on his face that just dared anyone to say anything, and carried Hinata like a princess in his arms. Hinata was doing her best to hide her face in her hands and try not to die of embarrassment.
Behind Hiashi, Inuzuka Tsume, Akimichi Chōza, Uchiha Fugaku, Aburame Shibi, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Nara Shikaku walked in fanning out to either side behind him.
They didn't say anything as their kids watched in a weird mix of confusion, awe, and horror, and instead followed Hiashi up the stairs towards the office of the headmaster.
"Dad…?" Sasuke just said to nobody in particular. No one had any answer for him either. It was perhaps the strangest show of dominance they'd ever seen. In their minds they were all thinking almost the same thing: 'How much did Hinata hate the man, that she went and got the clan heads of every major clan involved.'
It wasn't too long before they heard someone yell "MIZUKIIII" through the school loudspeakers. None of them liked him at all, but even they started to feel a pang of sympathy. The children watched as a confused Mizuki came down the hall, climbed the stairs and went to the headmasters room.
The students just waited in silence for about 5 minutes before they started to hear muffled shouting coming from upstairs. Not long later they saw an enraged Mizuki come back down and leave the academy. It was long after that Hiashi and the other parents also came back downstairs with Hinata in tow. The parents, not even acknowledging their confused children, just walked out and left a dazed looking Hinata with them.
"Hinata-chan… What just happened..?" Ino asked as she watched the back of her father disappear from her sight.
"Mizuki will no longer be teaching at the academy…" Hinata answered back, looking at the ceiling as if it held all the answers. "They'll be finding a replacement for him as soon as possible."
"Is..is.. Everything alright?" Naruto asked her, looking a bit worried.
Hinata looked at them for the first time and registered the mixed looks on each of their faces.
"Huh? Oh yeah. Also, Kiba, your mom said you'll be taking supplementary taijutsu lessons with her every evening now, and something about only getting dinner if you don't lose consciousness."
"Huh!?" Kiba's face turned green.
Hinata talked with her peers for a while before they started to head home. Before she left for the day as well, she actually stopped Sasuke and pulled him off to the side. "Hey Sasuke-kun."
"Hm?" Sasuke stopped and turned to look back at her.
"I was wondering if you'd want to spar after school lets out. Out of all the students in our class we're the closest in terms of ability. I thought… If you would help teach me shurikenjutsu, I could spar with you and help you refine your taijutsu. Your father already gave us permission to use your clan's training ground in the evenings…"
'This also gives me a convenient excuse to be in the Uchiha compound. I don't know when exactly the massacre happens, but if I go there with Sasuke after the academy lets out everyday, I should get there with him when it does happen.'
Sasuke gave her a measured look. "You want to tell me first why you got my otousan involved in, whatever that was?" He waved vaguely in the direction of the academy.
"Ah, well apparently having the chief of the Uchiha police with them gave them some legitimacy. Also, apparently Mizuki has been on a watch list for a while now? I'm not sure too much about that, but your father agreed that it wasn't the best idea to have him around children."
As Hinata thought back to what happened, she got a bit more excited. It was embarrassing as all hell, but it was pretty cool to see the clan heads working together to fuck over someone she absolutely hated.
"I see…" Sasuke just sighed. "Sure, that's fine. We'll start meeting here after classes are over then."
He didn't ask why they needed to use his clan's training grounds, when they could easily use the academy's or the Hyūga's as well, but Hinata was glad. She needed to make sure he'd eventually make it to meet Itachi, but also she needed to be there to do damage control.
"Alright then!" Hinata gave him a small bow. "I'll be in your care starting tomorrow! Have a nice evening Sasuke-kun." Hinata split up from him and left with a nearby Kō to head back home.
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The next day arrived and the academy hadn't found a replacement for Mizuki yet, temporarily assigning a substitute to teach math and science for them. Today had been a much more pleasant experience for Hinata. With no Mizuki you ruin her day, she rather enjoyed going to the academy. Apparently Iruka had yet to get permission for Naruto to teach him the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, because Naruto was still struggling in the ninjutsu classes, but Hinata believed that it was only a matter of time.
Currently she was waiting in a classroom with Sakura, Ino and a bunch of other girls, for Suzume to arrive for their first day of "Kunoichi Tactics" class.
"So what do you think this is going to be about?" Ino asked the two other girls.
"I'm not sure." said Hinata. "I hope it's interesting though." She highly doubted it would be considering they were still too young to learn about certain aspects of being a kunoichi, but she remained hopeful.
"I asked one of the older girls earlier." Added Sakura. "Apparently it's things like how to blend into a crowd, using makeup and civilian clothes to change your appearance, and how to use things like flower arrangement to leave coded messages."
"Ughh, flower arrangement." Hinata sighed.
Sakura and Ino both look almost offended. "What's wrong with flower arrangement?" Ino said. "Flowers each have a different meaning, and some meanings change depending on what flowers they're paired with! It's really amazing."
"I guess… But honestly I'm just not that interested. Give me a good fight any day, but flower arrangement?" Hinata still looked rather forlorn at the idea of having to learn how to arrange hundreds of types of flowers and their individual meanings.
"Has anyone ever told you that you don't really act like a girl?" Ino pointed out.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hinata said rather sharply.
"She didn't mean it badly Hinata-chan." Sakura said quickly, trying to keep the peace. "It's just you seem to fit in more with the boys. If you're not training, you're talking to Sasuke, Naruto, or Kiba about training."
"Well it's my hobby. I want to get stronger. How does that make me not a girl?"
"I didn't say you weren't a girl." Ino sighed. "I said you don't act like one. You know, picking flowers, talking about fashion, gossiping, shopping for cute clothes…" She started listing things off on her fingers while Sakura nodded.
"Well I'm sorry I don't fit your standards on what makes a girl a girl." Hinata was kind of annoyed at her friends right now.
"I wasn't saying it's bad. I was just making an observation." Ino said.
"And you're wrong about something." Hinata pointed out.
"What?"
"I love shopping for cute clothes. What do you think I spend my free time on Sundays doing? Ah- teacher's here." Hinata said, quickly quieting down.
"Good afternoon children." A kunoichi dressed in pink robes, glasses, and curly black hair walked into the classroom. "I'm going to be your teacher for kunoichi tactics while you're at the academy. We'll be meeting twice a week and learning about several different subject that will be of use for infiltration and espionage missions after you become a kunoichi. We'll be starting on flower arrangements."
"Told you." Sakura said, while Hinata just groaned.
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The day passed and Hinata was currently standing in the Uchiha clan training grounds with Sasuke, as he showed her the correct way of throwing multiple shuriken at once. Hinata was getting better but still nowhere near as good as she had to be in order to prove she was ready for senbon.
They had just finished sparring for an hour, and Sasuke still hadn't landed a hit on her, so they we're both pretty depressed with themselves.
"So what's your deal?" Sasuke asked as he watched her throw shuriken.
"What do you mean?"
"Why are you pushing yourself so hard? I haven't met anyone else our age that can keep up with me with training, except that Naruto brat, even if he's slow, his endurance is just ridiculous. Whether it's running, strength training, sparring, you're always trying to do more than what Iruka-sensei tells us to do."
"Ah.." Hinata threw another shuriken. "I just need to get stronger."
"Why though. What's so important?" Sasuke asked while readjusting her posture for a throw.
"When I was three." Hinata threw another and managed to hit the target finally. "My oniisan was abducted. We aren't sure who did it exactly, but we suspect it was Kumogakure."
Sasuke looked a bit surprised. "Why would Kumo want your brother?"
"Kumo has always been interested in the byakugan." Hinata explained. "It happened on the night of my birthday. It was the same day that Kumo head shinobi was in the city to sign a peace treaty. It just matches up too well to be a coincidence."
"You think they'd really risk war again?" Sasuke asked, looking a bit skeptical.
"For a chance to get their hands on the byakugan? Yes, I do. And so does my otousan, even though we can't prove it." She hit the target again. "I need to get stronger so something like that doesn't happen again. And if I'm strong enough to take missions outside of Konoha then I might be able to find some clues on where he is."
"Do you… Do you think he's still alive?" Sasuke asked tentatively.
"The side branches have seals that activate on death sealing the byakugan. So yes." She threw another shuriken and got a bullseye. She looked at Sasuke and smiled. "He has to be."