Hiroto closes the door behind her, leaving them without light.
"Are you scared of the dark, Nagi-chan?"
"Huh? Um... a bit?"
"It's alright, your father is definitely watching, he'll come if you need him, so please deactivate your Byakugan."
"Oh! Right. Yes."
Now she's left in the dark.
It reminds her the first time she activated her Byakugan. Just like any kekkei genkai, its activation can't really be taught. You'll have to do it on your own the first time. She can't talk for others, but for the Byakugan, its mostly instinct and something you'll find when you need it as long as you have the potential.
The Byakugan tradition is simple enough.
Raise the children under constant light, and then the first time they are left in the dark, their emotions will do the rest.
Knowing what she knows about how the one other dojutsu of Konoha, the Sharingan, works...
Okay, the Hyuuga has it easier. Comparatively.
"This way." Following his voice, he tells her stop in what she thinks is the centre of the room. She goes down in a seiza. She can feel the cool wood under her legs through the fabric of her clothes.
Her hands are fisted on her lap, and instinctively, she close her eyes, turning inwards to her chakra pathways to observe -or how much she can pin down clearly. It's more difficult than searching for other people's chakra.
"This will be quick."
This is it.
She doesn't know what will happen and that leaves her almost petrified, but...
A sharp tranquil has settled over her mind.
As ready as she's gonna get.
"Sealing art: Caged Bird Seal!"
Chakra flares beneath her, engraved into the very earth under the floorboards.
Her breath catches.
Then-
Pain.
Clawing up her insides until it reaches her heart then-
Nagi let's herself scream as her hands rises to clutch at her head, partly because that's expected of her but also because she's pouring all her effort in isolating the chakra roots/feelers to her forehead where the entire sealing formula has contracted.
Grabbing her chakra, she twists it into something more neutral, as close of an imitation as she can of the cursed seal.
Then she wraps the seals in it as securely as she can, trying not to let a single piece skip past.
One manage to wriggle out and makes contact to her brain-
She rips it out, not quite in the right state of mind to concern herself over what it might do to her.
Fortunately, nothing as far as she can tell, and she stuffs it all in her 'chakra sachet', securing it with a metaphorical tight bow.
She heaves a gasp and ends up on her hands and knees on the floor.
"There. All done."
... Did-
Did she succeed?
Did he... not notice?
Nagi looks up half in anticipation and half in dread.
Hiroto had lit a candle sometime ago, she didn't really... he's frowning at her in sympathy.
Not suspicion, or disapproval, or surprise.
"Let's get you to Hizashi-dono, then."
She nods weakly, astonished at how much that single action takes from her.
Hiroto lifts her up in his arm with the ease and grace of a not-really retired shinobi.
Isn't that a thing? That the older ninja are dangerous, either because of their power or guile enough to drag them on this long.
Nagi yawns and wince when he opens the door, flooding the room with suddenly too bright light.
Hizashi looks stressed.
In a very Hyuuga way, of course.
He accepts her from Hiroto.
"You go ahead now, Nagi-chan should rest."
"Thank you, Hiroto-sama."
She blinks tiredly up at her father.
Wasn't... Wasn't he watching? Did- Did he see it?
She poses her question when they have gone some distance from the shrine and she can barely hold on to consciousness.
"Tou-san... you were watching, Hiroto-sama said." She mumbles, her tongue stumbling on the words.
Hizashi blinks.
"Did he?... No, I wasn't. It's advised that no one use chakra in the area. That's why light is kept from inside and even the fire isn't lit up until the seal is already applied, so that nature chakra or any other chakra won't interfere." He adjusts her in his arms, so she's resting her head on his shoulder, "Though it's mostly more about tradition than anything else."
... so, she succeeded?
That's...
That's great. That's really, really great.
XxXxXx
Nagi sits in front of her mirror, examining her reflection with the green seal stark against her skin.
Activating her Byakugan, she ends up waiting for almost an entire hour, tilting her head occasionally to compensate for that one blind spot her dojutsu has, until she chances a split instance when no one else is channelling chakra to their eyes.
Tentatively plucking the corner, she stares in almost disbelief when she peels and she's now holding the curse seal between her fingers like a piece of sticker.
She slaps it back on.
XxXxXx
"Tou-san, let's spar!" She exclaims, appearing in front of his room.
His door is deliberately open.
Hizashi hums in consideration, putting down his papers, "Good morning, Nagi. Are you feeling better now?"
"Ah- Yes! Good morning!" She bows, not entirely successful in suppressing her bounce, "Please grant me a bit of your time, Otou-san."
"Alright."
Nagi trails after Hizashi like an eager duckling to their interior dojo. Hizashi watch her, his eyes briefly flitting up to her seal.
"Nagi. Remember not to push yourself, especially with the Byakugan." He slides the shoji open and motions for her to step in, leaving the door behind him open. "While it is true that the more you push, the easier it becomes, overexerting is an entirely different matter. Don't do it when you feel tired and stop when anything starts hurting."
"Yes, Tou-san." She chirps obediently.
"Alright. You've already done your stretches."
"Yes!" She has and he probably already knows. He was watching earlier, if he was specifically checking up on her is a mystery, but he definitely saw her.
He grunts, and she takes her position across him.
There's no actual way to tell where, exactly, a Hyuuga is looking at within their 360° x-ray vision, but she can almost feel the focus converging on her.
From what she can see, despite the Incident, there's actually nothing much happening within the clan (just waiting-).
Not to say this hasn't happened before, but it's not as if everyone is always appraising her.
The eyes of her clanmates... isn't as burdensome or irksome as she expected it to have become after her Recollection.
That didn't change, at least.
She hasn't withdrawn herself from them as much she'd predicted.
Nagi isn't sure to be relieved or... displeased with this discovery.
Well, she suppose that it just is.
Starting out with the basic jyuuken stance, Nagi propels herself towards her father with a strike to the stomach that he blocks. Vaulting herself off his arm, she aim from above. He parry with his other hand, and she creates distance between them to dodge the open palm.
She kicks off again when her feet touch the floor, making use of her father's limbs for her own lack of reach, trying to stick close to something to manoeuvre herself from such a height without having to risk getting caught defenceless in mid-air.
The sound of the impact between flesh against flesh, the way her hair trails behind her, her blood pumping in her body, turning and twisting without pause, hitting with everything she has with the utter confidence and security that she won't hurt anyone, not really, and yes that's an important part of it, are everything she loves about training.
Not fighting.
All those ugly emotions flying around, morals and responsibilities, bonds and who to side with. She never liked that, even from a lifetime ago.
Sparring like this is just... pure.