"Neji kun."
Neji looked back at his cousin as she dangled her headband in front of her. Dressed in a loose kimono over her training outfit, she never lost her look of elegance, a far cry from her younger self. Compared to the old her, she was more confident now and carried herself in a manner befitting the heir to the Hyuga clan. Hiashi was proud and so was Neji; she had finally become someone worth protecting. And he would protect her, no he wouldn't need to, considering how strong she was on her own.
She was no longer the failure he thought her to be. She overcame her weakness through hard work and torture. She overcame her destiny, and it now seemed less likely Neji would need to die to protect her. With Naruto and Sakura already shielding her, he didn't have much of a role anymore. Hinata, however, saw him as her role model like she did when they were children. She never stopped looking up to him, wanting to be like him. She grew her hair out with this in mind. Her shoulder-length dark hair, was kept in a bun when she spared and hung loose otherwise. Neji thought she wanted to be like Sakura but assured he was her inspiration. He still didn't know how he felt about that.
"Yes, lady Hinata?" He responded. She fought a pout.
"As I've graduated, I believe I'm due praise," she responded without a hint of stutter. Sakura had beaten it all of her. There are days when Hinata would flinch if our fingers came too close together. She also now looked others in the eye to better determine their intention. Neji had always done this, reading people and predicting their next move. It was useful in combat but also in social gatherings of the Hyuga clan, though it was useless against her.
"You've done well as expected of the heir to the Hyuga clan." He couldn't help the smirk that dawned on his face at her pout. He couldn't feed her ego too much, or she would get cocky.
"There's more to come."
"What do you mean?" She asked, her voice soft, a trait Sakura allowed her to keep.
Neji could tell her about the team placement and the teamwork test that all shinobi had to pass. He could also tell her that; should she fail, she would find herself back in the academy. But he wouldn't. For no one had told him about it; it was only right that he return the courtesy. A rite of passage, if you will. Smirking deviously, he looks away from her.
"You'll know soon enough." He walked away with those parting words, stunned, Hinata didn't follow him. Neji turned the corner and almost tripped over something that should not be there. Neji glared at the unwelcome guest.
"What are you doing here, Sakura?"
"Don't mind me. I'm just hiding," said the unwelcomed guest.
"You can't hide at the Hyuga compound; it's impossible," he uselessly tried to reason with the pinkie. She sat in a corner of the corridor reading a large scroll. While she was tuck away, her leg was sticking out, threatening to trip anyone who came by.
"I've been doing well so far," she countered.
"Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?" Hinata asked, standing at the corner, her Byakugan activated.
"I'm hiding," Sakura explained again. Hinata's frowned.
"The Hyuga compound is not a place to play hide and seek," Hinata chastised.
"You sound like your dad," Sakura groaned. "What's next. he gonna show up and ask what I'm doing here too?"
"I was going to, but I've decided I don't care."
The three children turned quickly in surprise as Hiashi approached from the opposite end of the corridor. His face was as neutral, hiding any of his thoughts. He stopped a bit away from them as Hinata and Neji bowed respectfully.
"Hiashi sama," they greeted. Hiashi's eyes fixed on Sakura, who greeted him while still seated.
"Just pretend I did it right," she said, making no move to stand. She was only respectful when around elders; as they were alone, she wouldn't bother.
"While I have no issue with you being here, I would rather you not sit in the way of others," Hiashi said to Sakura. "Though if you are free, you should spar with Neji and-." Before he could finish, Sakura disappeared in a swirl of sakura petals.
"Oh would you look at the time," she said from the compound wall. "I have something that needs my attention far away from here." Waving, she leaped off the wall and disappeared.
"And that's how you get rid of unwanted guests," Hiashi said as he watched Sakura go. He turned to his daughter and nephew, who looked at him with wide eyes. He fought a smile and walked by them.
Dashing atop the rooftops of Konoha, I made my escape. The Hyuga clan had abandoned me, leaving me to the wolves. Was it so hard to turn a blind eye and just ignore my presence? They couldn't sense me, so unless they saw me, no one would know I was there.
"Traitors," I muttered. Even if they didn't know why I was hiding, the fact that I was should be good enough. I needed to get to another hidden place and fast before they found me.
An ear-piercing flute caused me to stagger. Reacting on instinct, I threw myself to the side and out of the way. The ground I stood on exploded on impact; debris rained from the air as the dust settled.
"Sakura chan~" her voice was sickeningly sweet and didn't suit her at all. "Where have you been, my dear." The smile that dawned on her face was more in line with a snake than a person. The water coiling around her didn't help. Orochimaru may approve, but it sent a shiver down my spine. The tempo of her flute was akin to boss music.
Miniboss 'Mama' has appeared.
Fight
Item
-Run.
"Substitution jutsu!" in a gust of sakura petals I vanished. I reappeared distance away and took off running. Substituting a great distance cost a lot of chakra, it was advised not to do it outside of an emergency, but I think this counts.
The ground shook with the beat of a drum, and I leap in time to avoid the hands emerging from the ground. Throwing a kunai connected to a wire string. I swang over the death trap and onto the roofs once more.
A beast of the earth with thick muscles and tan skin emerged from the ground like a walking dead.
"And here I thought I suppressed my chakra enough to sneak up on you," father said, his eyes locking on me. His body was covered in an armor of stone, making him look more like a golem than a person. The drums of battle beat loudly.
Miniboss 'Papa' blocks your path.
Fight
-Item.
Run.
I pulled out another batch of wire strings and kunai while eyeing my escape route.
"You will not get away!" Mother yelled, making an entrance with a dropkick. With a backflip, I managed to avoid the deadly kick. The roof tiling wasn't that lucky.
"Wow~" I mocked as I cat wheeled away from them while unwinding my wire string.
I stood using the wires to form a web shield in time to stop my father's attack. His arm became entangled with the wire as he threw a punch. He struggled against the wire to no avail. Smirking, I backed away from the two mini-boss. One hit from them may be devastating, but it's meaningless if it doesn't land.
Father disappeared in a poof a smoke, appearing beside his pair as they stared me down. The wires loosened without prey to insnare. As the strings fell to the ground, my body tensed, fingers moving to my kunai holster.
As the wire string flutter to the ground, we disappeared in a flurry of movement. The two attacked from both sides, trying to divide my attention. Closing my eyes to stop my reflexes from activating, I used my chakra senses to see.
Mother was father than my heavy hitter dad, and so reached me first. Like, she used her powerful legs to force me back. I leaped over her seep kick and under father's punch. Twisting my body, I used Father's forearm as a springboard to leap away before they could follow up on their attack.
"Water style," mother chanted. "Water whip."
A whip made of water sang through the air and right at me. I dodged to the side and the whip followed my movement. With each evasion, the whip chased me refusing to let me escape. Somewhere along the line, it looked like a freestyle jump rope.
Perhaps frustrated at the lack of results, Father attacked. Now the ground was also trying to catch me. Have you ever played dodge ball while jump roping? If you have you'll know that the ball often gets deflected by the moving rope. There was no such luck here.
The 'rope' was made of water and flexible in its movement, making a hole in itself to make way for the ground attacks. It didn't deflect the flying rocks, it supported them. I clicked my tongue. Pulling out a kunai attached to a wire string, I threw it past them. As I dodged I threw my Luna is all around my surroundings.
Mother was the first to notice. She stopped her attack when she realized I had them trapped in a web of wire strings. She clicked her tongue and threw a kunai at me only for it to be deflected by the wires. While they continue to attack they we're effectively, trapped. There was also the pressing issue of a few burning papers. I leap backward off the roof.
Boom! The paper tags exploded. It was a small explosion but it would keep them occupied, giving me time to escape. Landing distance away I body flickered away from them.
The trees zipped past me as I speed through the trees. I couldn't sense anyone's chakra nearby but I didn't slow down. The sun was about ready to set, once it did, I would have won. I had no clue where I was, surrounded by trees I couldn't see any buildings. That meant no one could see either. I would hide here and read the forbidden scroll, I had just gotten to the good part. I landed on a branch and leaped off again; there was no warning, no real way of knowing. While air born I passed through something. The border of their territory or perhaps where the chakra stopped spreading. Whatever the case, as soon as I passed that point, I dropped like a bad habit.
The world can be affected by chakra not only through jutsus. If a certain chakra is channeled into an area over a large period, the land begins to change. The surroundings absorb the chakra and spread it like plants spread oxygen.
This is good for the people living in the area that caused the change, not so much for the passers-by sensitive to chakra. In most cases, it's not a problem, the change would be chalked up to a new environment. It took an ungodly amount of time to get it to a stage where it's visible, but in this case. It's not the visual but the feeling that mattered.
To an outsider looking in, this was nothing but a normal forest, to me, it was a nest of yin chakra, molded to perform on specific jutsu.
Shadow possession jutsu.
The ground was fast approaching, as I fell from the treetops, reeling from the sudden change in chakra. More from reflex than any planning of my own, a wire string attached to a kunai was suddenly in my hand. With quick movements that sprained my wrist, the kunai was thrown. It lodged itself in a tree trunk, I swung myself down to safety. I fell to the ground unable to stand.
Breathing became increasingly more difficult the longer I stayed in the area, but I couldn't move, didn't want to. The apathy flowing through me was all too familiar. Towards the end of my previous life, it was all I could feel. I had no ambition, motivation, or drive. There was nothing, I, was nothing.
"You need to get up."
"It's too troublesome," I answered back with a groan, even speaking took too much effort.
"Will you just lie here forever?"
"Can't I?" Why was he bothering me?
"What about your family?"
Images flashed in my mind, it was too troublesome to try and decode them.
"What about them?"
"..."
Blinking was becoming troublesome, so I closed my eyes as my entire body relaxed. My hearing became distorted or was that my brain failing to compute. It didn't matter in the end. My breathing slowed to a halt and my body became still, say for the vibration of my beating heart. Though at too; became still. And I knew peace. A gentle breeze brushing my hair was the last thing I comprehend before I slept.
The world shook violently with the beating of a drum. Burning flames grew stronger with every beat. Suddenly a wave burst forth and douse the flames.
I gasped for air, when my lungs were filled I began to choke on it. I instinctively turned over and coughed violently. My heart as though making up for lost time raged in my chest so hard it hurt. I grimaced as my vision came into focus and my senses returned.
I was surrounded by several voids.
I body flickered to a place that did not reside, slamming into a tree in the process. My body was still numb and sluggish but the ban was better than feeling nothing. Looking up I faced the voids that took the form of humans. Thin eyes and black hair tied in a ponytail. Five Nara stood before me.
-Fight (body is still recovering.)
Item (Nothing useful)
Run. (Do you really think you'll escape?)
I grimaced as a headache made itself known. Gripping my head I glimpsed the seal spread across my body. I made the new seal to supply my body with stored away chakra in case I ran out. With Madara feeding on my chakra, I would run out even without using any jutsu., so I made a backup tank.
My chakra must have stopped flowing forcing my body to feed Madara my back up, the seal on my body proof the tank was being used. In a way, it was life support, not unlike Tsunade's Creation Rebirth, but vastly inferior.
I looked up at my fellow shining and cringed as the seal faded. I fell into the Nara territory and nearly died, again. And if the same cause too. Did fate have it out for me?
"If you can perform body flicker you must be fine," a Nara said, turning away. "How troublesome."
"I thought she was dead." Said another, lying on the ground. "To think she'd come back to life as soon as we left the forest." He muttered something as he fell asleep.
"I can't say it was a waste of time, but she really was dead when we found her," said the only girl among them. "
A tall and intimidating Nara with scares on his tan face, narrowed his eyes on me making me sunk deeper into the tree. Shikaku Nara current head of the Nara clan, stood before me, and he was more scar than I thought. He had an aura that demand awe, he hadn't even evaluated into the jonin commander yet. Just how badass is this guy!?
A familiar face stepped forward, passing his father Shikamaru approached me; his face showing his reluctance.
Though they all seem relaxed, except Shikaku, they were still shinobi, and we're ready for anything. With that in mind, the clan heir approaching the recently dead and suspicious girl, didn't seem careless at all. In fact, by coming near me, he was putting my life in danger. This is why I never liked him.
He stopped a bit away from me and sat down on the ground.
"What are you doing here, Sakura?" He asked in a tired tone.
The air tensed as they all awaited my answer. What was a civilian doing in a noble's clan grounds?
"Hiding," I answered meekly. It was the same answer I gave the other noble clan and it was true.
"Hiding?" Shikamaru's brow twitched as a vein throbbed. "Your heart wasn't beating." He all but growled. I winced. I didn't realize it was that bad, though that did explain a lot.
"Ahem, is that right?" I said lamely. What was I supposed to say to that? I didn't expect this and I didn't know their chakra would have this effect on me.
"Is that all you have to say?" Shikamaru seemed angry. "You must not care about Naruto very much if you dying means nothing to you."
Killing, no, murderous intent filled the clearing. The Naras stood on alert; weakens drawn. Shikamaru didn't move. I was indifferent when it came to Shikamaru, he may have been Naruto's friend, but they weren't close.
"Don't you dare question my love for him!"
In a fit of rage, I attacked him, tackling him to the ground. I pulled my fist back to give him a beat down, when it was grabbed and all my muscles suddenly relaxed, including the one needed to keep me alive. I saw Shikamaru's eyes widen as mine slowly closed. This time I fought against the void, wanting to get one punch in before I slept, but my body didn't obey me. Losing its strength, my body fell like a stainless puppet.
This was fun to write, I look forward to the theory this will bring up. Heavy foreshadowing in this thing. Like a LOT.
Night song~
Next chapter
May 25.