SEVER
Chapter 32
Neji was the first person who showed up at her door that morning. Even before Obaba-san. He knocked firmly, but quietly. Hinata knew it was him. She told him to come in, so he did. He was stern and unyielding; everything opposite to what he had been last night, but she expected that. "Good morning, Hinata-sama."
"Good morning, Nii-san." She was in the process of tying her hair up. It had gotten a little long, and the last thing she wanted was for it to be swinging in her eyes during battle.
"The duel is in three hours. Are you ready?" Hinata looked at herself in the vanity mirror.
"I suppose I am." Neji closed the door behind him, something he had never done. He came to stand behind her, looking at her face through the mirror's reflection.
"Forget about everything except the duel. Forget about your team, forget about Naruto, and forget about the Uchiha. Do not think of him or anything else. Your entire future will be determined today. Whether or not you want to lead the clan one day, do not enter this duel with the intention to fail, do you hear me?"
"I hear you, Nii-san." He touched her shoulder, bringing her attention directly to him. She had never seen his eyes look like that, as if they were red instead of white.
"I will not see you with a curse mark, do you hear me? The juinjutsu is . . ."
"Unpleasant." She smiled up at him.
"Hinata-sama . . ." He spun away from her and stood at the window. His back was to her. "I used to hate you. I used to wish that you had been cursed with this mark and not me; that your father had taken the place of mine and I would be heir. If my father had only been born a few minutes earlier, it could have been. But that's just not what happened. No matter how much I want I can't change the past. I don't even know if I would. Thinking of you suffering under the juinjutsu . . . it doesn't bring me any pleasure. It . . ." His shoulders were squared and trembling, and he was shaking his head. He needed a moment to calm himself.
He turned around swiftly. There was a hard wrinkle between his eyes, and his white eyes were ablaze. "Protecting you is more than a duty. It took me a long time to realize that. You are my family. In my eyes, my only real family. I don't know how I'll react if I see your father do to you what he did to mine. What he did to me."
"If I have to receive the cursed seal, I will," she said, standing up. "I used to wish the same thing you did." She looked sideways, smiling still. "I used to wish that you were born as heir, and I . . . Not because I don't want to be heir, but because I know you would be better for the clan. If the Hyuga's did things differently, this is probably how it would be. We won't be kids forever, the two of us. Whether or not I succeed, maybe changing the clan is something we can do together."
"That way of thinking is too naïve."
"But it's true. I love Hana-chan, but I promise I won't go into battle just to lose. I owe everyone more than that. And I would not want to disappoint you."
"Hinata-sama . . ." Some of the fire left his eyes. He looked around, seeming to contemplate something, and went to the door. He opened it, hesitating for just a moment. Hinata waited for him to say something, but he only walked off, closing the door behind him. She listened to his footsteps die away and turned back to the mirror. Slowly she closed her eyes, and when she opened them her Byakugan was activated.
The courtyard in the main estate had been cleared for the duel. Only a few Hyugas were present: Hiashi and Neji of course being some, and her tutor. Every Hyuga on the estate was aware of what was happening—had been aware of it for years in fact—and were no doubt transcending walls with their Byakugan. It didn't sway Hinata. This duel wasn't about them. It wasn't even about her. It was about the future of the clan.
When she approached the dueling area she was shocked to see one other person there. Kakashi-sensei. He noticed her before she noticed him, and nodded in her direction. There was a lift in his mask—a smile. He was standing beside Hiashi, who was watching over the area with a look of deceptive indifference. "Are you ready?" He said to Hinata. Hanabi was already present, standing like a totem pole in the middle of the circle with her Byakugan activated. If she was nervous she didn't show it. How different she was from Hinata at that age.
"I am ready." Hiashi nodded toward the dueling ring. Neji was standing a little ways away from Hiashi toward Hinata's end, looking as if he were all iron parts underneath that pale skin. When Hinata was standing opposite to her sister she bowed.
"I never asked you, Hana-chan . . . What is it you want for the clan?"
"This isn't the time for that, onee-chan."
"I think it's the perfect time. We've both trained hard for this day. The future of the entire clan will be determined within the span of several minutes. This is the only time."
"I . . ." Hanabi's stony expression softened as she took a moment to think. She caught herself at once and squared her shoulders. She fell into battle stance before Hinata did. "Prepare yourself, onee-chan. I will not lose." Hinata also assumed battle stance.
"That's my little sister."
Hiashi's voice sliced through the courtyard. "Begin!"
They both darted forward. Their palms met with a blue spark. More clashes followed, each hit like a crack of lightening. The sound echoed throughout the entire estate, so intense that even birds flew from the trees. Hanabi was quick. After a few seconds it became obvious that she only intended to go for the soft spots. If even one organ was hit, Hinata would be down. This was the beauty of the Gentle Fist. With speed and accuracy it was every bit as dangerous as a lethal injection.
Hanabi went for every organ except the heart. Hinata noticed this. She herself went for none of the organs, only concentrating on the major joints and pressure points. Were the right ones hit, it would render Hanabi motionless by evoking a temporary state of paralysis. One thing it wouldn't do was cripple any vitals. This method was much harder to execute than the primary one. Even though Hinata had promised to enter into battle with no intention to lose, this is what she chose. Obviously Hanabi had made no such claim.
The exchange went on for all of seven seconds before Hanabi broke her pattern by going for the chest. Hinata was caught off guard and barely managed to doge. The blow didn't strike her heart, but it did land on the ball-joint of her left shoulder. Pain erupted in icy shards. It rippled all the way to her fingertips, and in one final spark the needle in her palm disappeared. The chakra flow to her entire left side was done.
Luckily it did not impair mobility. She could still deflect oncoming blows with her left hand, even when the pain numbed. She's going for blood, Hinata thought. She is desperate to win this fight.
Hanabi's motivations were clear. There was a point in Hinata's life when all she had was her father. The insatiable urge to please him had consumed her—made her desperate as well. Nearly every day of every week for two years Hanabi had trained for this moment. She had to go for blood. But there was an egregious flaw in this.
The Gentle Fist required an acute knowledge of anatomy and chakra flow. Hanabi was acting on the most basic level of this. That's why it was easy predicting her moves. Speed was her forte, and quite an advantage it was. Her accuracy was not quite up to par, something Hinata would not have noticed herself without consistent training with Neji. It was difficult to perform any kind of accuracy with her left hand, which meant that every attack had to be made with her right. It made the transition from defensive to offensive beyond difficult.
No one except the very few who had been invited were allowed to enter the courtyard. That's why when a door opened up from the west wing, everyone was surprised. No one broke their focus from the fight, however; Hiashi and Neji especially. Appropriately so, since it was Kakashi who was being summoned. A servant called for him. Someone came looking for him, but the visitor had been too impatient to wait at the gates.
Underneath the blaring exchange Hinata could make out a familiar voice. It was Sakura's. In the back of her mind she was incredulous. It was enough of a surprise that Kakashi was there, but Sakura too? Something was wrong.
Her foot slid and Hanabi's hand went whizzing passed her face. She tried to force herself to concentrate. Her speed picked up. Even though she was slower with her left hand, she was able to dive into the offensive rather abruptly. Whatever was happening with Sakura and Kakashi she didn't want to hear. She didn't want to listen, and didn't intend to, but there was a fragment in particular that managed to consume all other sound in the courtyard.
"Sasuke's gone! I think he left the village!"
For a flash of a second Hinata ceased all movement. Kakashi and Sakura disappeared into the west wing and the door shut. "Hinata-sama!" Neji shouted.
Hanabi's hand darted forward, but for all her speed time may as well have stopped completely. Hinata caught her under the elbow—one joint severed. Next the abdomen, followed by the shoulders, the core, the left elbow, and the chest—all severed with one hand. It went so fast that it registered as a single movement.
Hanabi froze mid-attack with her arm still suspended. There was not even enough sense left in her to blink. She tilted like a weight, falling with agonizing slowness until her side hit the ground. She lay there with her eyes stuck wide open, drowning in her own shock. Hinata gave her a look of intense pity before turning to her father. His mouth had dropped part-way open as he stared at his youngest daughter.
"Please take care of Hana-chan. She needs you." Hinata bowed to him. "Excuse me." She flew passed him to the doors, moving too fast to hear if anyone was following. Kakashi and Sakura were already at the gates. Hinata called out to them before they left. When Kakashi saw her zoom passed the guards he was more than a little surprised. Beads of sweat touched her forehead and neck, and the movement in her left arm had gone limp.
"Hinata-san," Kakashi said, "did you abandon your match?"
"I won." She quickly wiped her mouth with her sleeve, panting. "Please, why did you come to the estate?"
"I had been hoping to talk to you about Sasuke. I had no idea your match was today—I'm sorry. It was my intention to talk to you afterwards, but I see I was too late. Sasuke has defected. We have to go."
"Please let me come with you!" For the first time in her life she was prepped for an argument, but it was unnecessary.
"Let's hurry," he said. They flew.
During the move Hinata was able to shrug out of her jacket to make a sling for her arm. "Are you sure you can travel like that?" Sakura asked skeptically.
"I am fine," Hinata said. "Sensei, did you come to talk to me about Sasuke-kun?" Kakashi nodded.
"Something's wrong with him. I sealed the curse mark away and had medical nins wipe his system of poison. He recovered physically, but I knew there was something else going on. I was hoping you might know something about his whereabouts when he disappeared this morning."
"He was supposed to meet the team at seven," Sakura interjected, "but he never showed up. That isn't like him."
"I could tell the curse mark was bothering him," Hinata said regrettably. "Did the seal not work?"
"It did work," Kakashi replied, "but if Sasuke was determined enough he could break it of his own will."
"Why would he do that?" Sakura asked. The question came out despairingly. Kakashi's brow formed a wrinkle.
"I can only speculate."
It's his brother, Hinata thought. It's Itachi. She remembered what he said last week right before he drew away from her.
What have I been doing all this time, Hinata?
"He can't wait," she said unconsciously.
"What?" Sakura demanded.
"He can't wait for his power to grow. He wants it now." Sakura looked down with a harsh twist of her pretty face.
"Sasuke . . ."
"It's not just that," Kakashi said ominsouly. The girls looked at him for answers. "Something happened during the invasion that the Hokage neglected to make public. There were actually two Sanin who appeared—not just Jiriya."
"Sanin?" Sakura exclaimed. "You mean one of the legendary shinobi?"
Hinata had heard about them too. They were indeed considered legends in the village of Konoha, bred right under the Hokage's thumb. Her father had talked about them on occasion. Well, only two of them. A horrible churning sensation suddenly took hold of her insides.
"He was the one who gave Sasuke that mark," Kakashi explained.
"A Sanin did that?" Hinata said breathlessly. That snake in the forest—they had been facing off against a Sanin the entire time? Suddenly she felt like passing out.
"Orochimaru," Kakashi said harshly. "I was a fool. I did not think he would show up again; not this early after Suna's retreat. We received news from a shinobi sent to infiltrate their village weeks before the invasion. The Kazekage who initiated the attack is a doppelganger."
"Then where's the real Kazekage?" Sakura asked. She looked faint.
"Dead." Sakura and Hinata blanched.
"Why are you telling us this now?" Hinata asked. "The Hokage couldn't possibly have—"
"Because this was never about war," Kakashi answered. His one visible eye was set with determination. "Whatever's going on, Orochimaru is the one behind it. And I fear that Sasuke is somewhere in the middle of it."
"What do you mean?" the girls asked.
"Where is Naruto?" Kakashi asked Sakura. Her eyes widened in confusion.
"He's already gone after Sasuke."
"Then we have to move faster. I fear for his safety!"
"Sasuke's?" Sakura exclaimed.
"No," he said, making a tremendous leap. "Naruto's."