It seemed, to Hinata, as she walked through the gale force winds that running away from camp had been a very stupid idea. Really her father had a point that she really needed to think about her plans before initiating them in action- like the fact that she was in side some place filled with snow, icy winds and a desperate need for spring. how did this happen to me? Where am I? its so cold and I sense no life in this desolate tundra of ice. shivering, she snuggled into her clothes- the were so threadbare and destroyed though, this didn't work in the slightest. She thought about how she managed to come to this place and shivered in a way that had nothing to do with the cold air.
Flashback.
It had been a nice morning when Hinata had woken up, the leaves where brightly reflecting the sun and best of all the wolf pack had disappeared. Making no doubt that she could feel them watching her. the only new difference though was instead of a hungered aura around them and new, protective aura seemed to have been put into place. With a small smile and giggle, she quickly got up-though it hurt like hell-and proceeded to look at any of the wolves she had slain. There were some drag marks which indicated that the members had already disposed of the carcasses, except for one.
It was a rather large and muscular male wolf, with dark reddish-brown fur and had a claw like scar going down the length of his right side. Moving sluggishly, Hinata walked over to the frozen body of the predatory animal, who still looked every bit as fierce and powerful in death as in life. With a odd feeling, she looked down at her arm and noticed that that her arm had several large cuts in it and at the end of the longest and deepest one there sat a broken off fang, looking as regal in her skin as a king on his throne. With a grunt that spoke of weariness and exhaustion, she pulled the object out of her ivory skin and contemplated it. Roughly about the size of her middle finger and about two fingers around in width, it shone with a blackened splendor, even as it dripped and mingled with the scarlet contrast of her own blood. Someday she might blame it on the exhaustion and blood loss, but she tore out a long piece of leather fro her pocket-one of the ones medics used to cut of the blood flow before binding a wound, and wove the leather around the fangs broken end and made it into a throng, she reverently put it around her neck and watched as it shifted to lay between her collarbones.
Looking back done at the wolf, she noticed that he was missing one of his fangs and instantly knew that this was the one to which she had finally broken free from her families hold. Hinata stood in front of the dead body-frozen in a mockery of existence and preservation and bowed her head in prayer and thanks.
It was thanks to this wolf, that she now felt she could hold her head up proudly in her village. No more did she have to fear her father nor the elders wraths now that she had unlocked her Byakugan, the "white eye" would be her guide through thick and thin. With a nod that symbolized finality, she got down to the gritty part. She was using an ancient practice not commonly used anymore, but one that still had its place in Konoha anbu division. The practice of carrying things of the dead that supposedly carried their experience in them. With a semi-sharp kunai she started to cut open the chest of the wolf, unused to this though, she gagged and felt what little she had eaten start to come back up. It had taken hours and many, many tears and trips behind a tree to finally have the complete pelt of the large wolf. With carefully laden hands, she walked over to the small stream and gently cleaned the blood off the fur and her hands.
It was the next moment when she let the pelt be covered in the salty banks of the stream to preserve it.
She looked down at her reflection in the calmly moving waters of the stream and couldn't help her small grimace at the sight she made. The Hyuuga ,known as one of the cleanest clans in Konoha, were naturally taught to oppose the will of dirt and stains, sadly for them, she was now a konoichi of her village and was taught to embrace the fact that she would be-on more then one occasion-come home covered in blood, dirt and unidentifiable.
With a ragged sigh of frustration, Hinata rolled up the ends of her tattered sleeves and started to wash her face in the cold water of the stream. Just as she was finishing a odd whistling sound cut through the air and only by luck did she manage to drop into the freezing water in time. A hollow thunk hit a tree in front of her, looking up she noticed a kunai that dripped with a whitish-oil like substance. She blanched as the oily acid ate at the weathered bark of the tree before turning around to face Ioku. The crazed women looked no better then she did, with leaves and twigs caught in her once smooth hair, scratches also littered her face-evidence that she had used the trees to get here. Her body seemed thinner and she seemed to be laboring for breathe. Hinata, being the compassionate person her family loathed, felt the twinges of pity for the insane women who wanted her dead.
Ioku snarled at the girl before lunging out of the tall pine-words seemed to have abandoned the elder women as she attacked like a wounded animal. Hinata ducked and slapped out with her smaller hands, with a desperation she activated her Byakugan-not even pausing when she used no hand signs to do this task- and went on the offensive, slapping out at Ioku's chakra points. 'Neji-san always made this look easy' she grumbled in her mind as one of the acid coated kunai sliced opened a wound on her chest, it stung and gave off a smell of burning flesh. Resisting the urge to gag, Hinata kept moving further back towards the shelter of the deep forest in an effort to get away from the Ioku.
As she was moving back, Ioku pressed forward, wanting-no needing to feel the last heartbeat of her victim, she wanted to tear the pretty girl into pieces and reassemble her in a new visage-her own deadly masterpiece. She wanted to watch the light leave those white eyes as one of her acid covered kunai cut the timid little mouse's throat, baring her forward into hell. But first, she would take little Hinata to her master and watch as she had everything she learned and kept true taken from her until she was truly desperate for death that she begged…only then would Ioku's hate be dissolved.
Hinata watched as the mad light in her enemy's eyes consume her and in error forgot to watch where she was going and promptly fell on her back, the terror grew when she felt Ioku lift her arm up high-a kunai poised to plunge into her rapidly beating heart, before a brilliant plume of grayish-white smoke surrounded her and a tug, thrust her into darkness.
She woke up to the frozen land and set out on her journey to find out what happened.
Flashback end.
Hinata shivered as she remembered Ioku and her vendetta against her. She hissed as her wound stung with growing alacrity and felt nauseas and disoriented. It was only a matter of time before she fell asleep out here and when that happened she knew she would never wake. What was worse though, was the fact that she wore no sandals and already her feat where turning a unhealthy blue. The pain in her body sapped the energy she desperately needed to heal it and with out a doubt knew she was so very alone-even seeing Ioku would have been better than walking around half dead in the middle of nowhere.
As she was walking, she tripped over a tree root half buried in the deep snow and fell to her stomach. Hinata groaned as her tired body refused to get back up, she strained her eyes forward and seemed to notice a shadow getting closer, may…be…Ioku has fina…lly found me…. with that one last tired thought, she welcomed the thick blackness.
0-0-0-0-0
One figure watched as the small girl slowly made her way across the frozen land and contemplated on how she had gotten here, as far as he knew, no mortal people who had not signed the contract could come here. Shrugging his soft black fur covered shoulders, he bolted closer to the small child and instantly grew frightened when she fell over one of the hidden tree roots. Getting closer he realized that the small girl with white eyes was still slightly conscious but the moment he was beside her, she had already passed out.
He felt conflicted. Nobody had ever truly prepared him for this and to be completely honest, he felt way out of his element. With a cautious look around, he gently picked up the small girl and placed her on his back before he turned and ran in the opposite direction from the one Hinata had traveled from.
The elders would get the answers from her, one way or another.
0-0-0-0-0
The first thing Hinata noticed when she returned to consciousness was that it was warm and dry. The second thing she noticed was that she had no idea where she was at.
Opening her eyes, she met a dark room that smelled of juniper and lilacs, it was a calming smell and did help her to un-tense her body-which had begun to stiffen up in anticipation for a fight. Looking down, Hinata saw that her wounds had been bound tightly with linen wraps and her torn and dirty clothes had been removed, instead she was wearing a clean, crisp dark grey nightgown that went to her feet. Feeling sluggish, she stumbled out of the comfortable bed and walked around the dark room trying to find a light or a door-whichever came first. When she felt that she had traversed the whole of the room, she quietly returned to the bed and sat down going over what she had learned- first, she was in unknown territory, second, she was stuck in a room with no doors or windows and third, someone had to be checking up on her if she could go by the new outfit and medical treatment to her person. With that in mind she sat and waited, sooner or later someone would come by and then she would finally get some answers.
Hinata didn't have to wait long, in fact it was only about thirty minutes before she noticed a smooth rumbling that seemed to be coming from the farthest wall from her bed. Intent on watching the wall, Hinata had unconsciously activated her Byakugan and was unprepared for the sudden fiery pain that erupted in them after a door had opened in the wall bringing a bright light with it. She did feel the breathe leave her lungs at the intense pain and instinctively knew would have a killer headache after this. Closing her eyes, she felt the raid pulsing of the veins going to her eyes and felt green at the notion that she might have just gone blind.
So in her own musings, Hinata jumped at the unexpected contact of someone touching her face. "doncha worry young'un, jus' keep ya peepers closed ya hear. Now let ma take a looksi, hm, ya have a little damage done to ya young'un." Hinata relaxed at the warm and aged feminine voice that cut through the haziness of her pain, though her worry that she was blind continued on un-heeded. She tried to remain calm but every time she attempted to not think about her dilemma her mind instantly conjured up the image of Hyuuga Hino- a branch house member who was assigned border patrol. She remembered all of the details even though she had been so young at the time. Hyuuga Hino had been seventeen years old when he became a jonin and was assigned a tour of one year border patrol. Of course being a Hyuuga he was obligated to fulfill this particular task, unfortunately he had only been on the job for several months before his team had been ambushed by a group of rogue shinobi. The fight had lasted two days and the outcome was worse-Hino had become blind when one of the other shinobi pulled out a high intensity flash bomb when Hino had activated his Byakugan rendering him blind. She cringed as she recalled the exchange between her father with the elders and Hino.
Flashback.
A little Hinata watched as her father and the 'scary' elders walked into a room, closing the door behind them. She was a naturally curious child as most children were and thought nothing of it when she stared to follow her betters around the medical wing of the Hyuuga compound, she was going to find out what was making her family members act so strange.
With a measure of stealth that usually was acquired of a join level shinobi on a high level mission, Hinata walked up to the door. It was nothing to hoot at-plain brown wood, with brass handles. The only thing of interest was some weird looking symbol on the door, it was mode up of some kanji and was connected with a spiral in the middle. Shrugging her small, thin shoulders she looked up at the door handle and hesitated before reaching up. What if she opened up the door and the elders noticed that she was there or worse what if her father saw that she had followed him. Feeling nervous but not knowing why nor having the adult attention span to think about it for a lengthy period of time, she reached up for the handle and gave it a slow turn and cringed when it gave a almost unnoticeable creak that sounded exceptionally loud to her ears. With a courage she suddenly didn't feel, Hinata peered through the crack in the door.
The room was filled with several people-her father, the elders and lastly Hyuuga Hino, who was laying on a crisp, white hospital bed. The room was locked in a uncomfortable silence that only her father and Hino seemed to notice, the elders though, looked as happy as a spoiled child on Christmas. Their white eyes slowly roamed the bedridden young Hyuuga, and though he couldn't see them, Hino stiffened up and tried to retain his nonchalant aura.
Hinata watched as her father gained a pained look and turned away from the blind young man. One of the elders, a man known as Hyuuga Hanato, casually walked up to Hino-the walk reminded Hinata of a lion who had stalked his prey into submission and said, "Hyuuga Hino…how do you feel?" to her young years, Hinata couldn't understand why both her father and Hino flinched at the seemingly simple question. Hino looked uncomfortable but simply nodded in the general direction of his better. "good, very good. We of the Hyuuga clan wish to extend our sympathies and our general condolences to your…situation. Truly we will never have another of your skills, truly a shame."
Hinata along with Hino both stared at the elder. What did he mean by that, what was going on here. Hino shot straight up and nearly yelled. "wait, Hanato-sama, what do you mean. surly with some special training I will be able to fight and be a ninja of Konoha and a asset to the clan." Hinata shivered at the sudden grin that formed on Hanato's face as he listened to the younger Hyuuga's claims, it showed clearly that he was enjoying the boys unease and fright. "oh, my dear boy, it just isn't that simple…you see, you have lost your sight and now will never be able to access the Byakugan again…in turn you have lost your usefulness to us and the clan." Hinata watched as Hanato turned around to talk to his fellow elders, "get him ready for his last treatment and then bring him to the 'chambers', I will personally see to this…development." with that the elders used some type of justu that made them disappear in a puff of smoke. In an instant it was just her, her father and Hino. Hinata watched as her father walked over to the distraught young man and laid his hand on his shoulder before using the same justu as the elders to leave.
Hinata ran away as the place became to sad to stay any longer. The next day life continued as always and she never saw Hyuuga Hino again.
Flashback end.
She refused to acknowledge the fact that she no longer belonged to the Hyuuga clan and thus would not suffer the same fate as Hino had, because she was already disowned and banished. "jus' open your eyes young'un , doncha be a feared of the possibility child, jus' open ya pretty eyes." with the sound of that same warm voice, she turned into the odd embrace, and slowly opened her eyes.
The room was blurred but-to Hinata's relief- it was the type of blurring one gets when they have clenched their eyes closed too tightly, with a sigh of relief the ex-heiress turned towards her companion and promptly screamed. "A MOUSE." the large "mouse" was about the size of a horse and covered in creamy grey fur, with large black eyes and a adorable pink nose. Hinata felt her heart pounding against her chest as the mouse leaned away from her loud shriek, its fluffy ears angled down to filter the noise away from it. "child ya don't need to yell." still freaked out, Hinata couldn't get her thought to focus correctly or else she would have smacked herself silly trying to be kind. "who are you ms…"
The mouse smiled, which puffed out the cheeks of her fuzzy face before answering. "my names Kimoko, and you be…?" it was Hinata's turn to smile. "I am Hyuuga Hinata, though I feel I have lost that right to my last name." Kimoko gave the girl a confused glance, before she was motioned to sit by Hinata as she was told the story of what have happened in the past months-everything from her best friends to the banishment of her from her family and lastly to ending up here after her attack by Ioku.
Hinata felt drained as she finished her story. It felt odd to be talking with someone who was not one of friends-though maybe if she learned more about the strange mouse, she might consider being friends with her. The atmosphere had turned silent as both parties considered the other, Kimoko, being older suddenly felt protective of the young girl. It wasn't Hinata's fault that the council members were corrupt to the point that they would willingly get rid of their biggest ally and Kimoko had no doubt that this child would become just that. well, their loss and our find. One day though Hinata, they will find out how strong you will become and do everything in their powers to sway you away from your friends-never forget what they have done to you but don't let it rule your life. with a gentle smile, Kimoko stood up and grabbed the girl and quietly motioned for her to follow.
Hinata felt the pull on her arm as Kimoko dragged her out into a hallway. The walls were decorated in beautiful tribal-like drawings that showed the life's' of countless mice and the seasons, above those, wall sconces held giant candles made of a sweet smelling wax that-surprisingly-gave off no smoke. Looking up at the ceiling, Hinata saw that it had been painted by a masters hand in the visage of a pale winter sky, with the viewpoint being painted as if the painter had been standing from the ground. With each new bend in the hall, Hinata gasped in shy delight at the wonder of Kimoko's home, nothing could compare to the sheer comfort that oozed from the atmosphere itself. But in her heart she knew it would never truly compare to the warmth and familiarity of her new home, she stopped when something wet rolled down her cheek-Hinata knew it was a tear but refused to draw attention to the fact that she missed Konoha and her friends.
"Hinata, what's taking ya so long, we must hurry if ya want to make it on time." Kimoko laughed silently as the small child hurried to catch up.
Panting a little, Hinata placed her hands on her knees and coughed when she inhaled too fast. "Kimoko…who are…we going to visit?" she felt a burning curiosity and mentally winced as she felt a deep sympathy for Naru and Lee, both of whom were naturally curios. A small smile was the only answer she got as Kimoko started to walk faster.
Hinata was deeply surprised by the sheer number of the halls that they walked through, it was the veritable claim to a well thought out plan. One main hallway branched out into several sub-hallways and from there those sub-hallways divided in many smaller halls that led anywhere from homes to small gardens to emergency exits. Truly these mice knew how to be prepared and they have no qualms about showing it.
Kimoko tugged on Hinata's arm in an attempt to pull the shy girl from her thoughts and grinned when she saw her face, all alight in suppressed wonder.
Two giant double doors blocked the females from going any further. They were heavy looking and appeared to have been made of some dull metal, with the hinges made up of a sparkling stone. Weird looking writing covered the whole expanse of the doors along with some more primitive looking pictures near the handles. Hinata noticed that some of these pictures didn't just have mice, but also people. They seemed to be accepting a gift-a huge scroll with a mouse profile burned into the thick paper, it seemed like a happy day to the parties of both mice and man, but Hinata sensed a melancholic sadness dwelling just beneath the carved grins on their cold, metal faces.
Without a word the large doors swung open from the inside, balancing on well oiled hinges with nary a sound. With a general nod at Kimoko, Hinata was ushered inside and didn't look back as the door closed behind her.
0-0-0-0-0
Hinata controlled her face as she was lead into a giant room. It was bare except for a few wall hangings and some several rows of hard oak seats. At the very end of the room, a long half circle desk reigned with several ancient looking mice behind it, all had their dark eyes on Kimoko and herself.
Within seconds they had crossed the grand space of the room and were ordered to kneel before the great council. It may have been minutes, but to Hinata it felt like hours before the council deemed the appropriate time fore questioning.
With a barely noticed nod, a grand ,white furred mouse stood from his seat and motioned for some guards-they must have come from behind when the door was opened- and looked down to the younger mouse. "Kimoko! Your work is done, follow the guards out and wait for this meeting to be done." with a rigid nod back to the mouse leader, she afford up one small smile to Hinata before she was led away. Once the doors closed again, the whole of the council turned back and started to regard the young girl. As they talked amongst themselves, Hinata realized that Kimoko spoke in a very different way then these mice-in a rustic dialect, then the uptight and cultured one that reminded her of the Hyuuga clan.
Her attention was torn when the council suddenly fire off question after question.
"what is your name?!" the leader narrowed his eyes when he talked to her.
"my name is Hyuuga Hinata, from the clan Hyuuga of Konoha."
"what is your purpose for intruding on our realm?!"
"I did not mean to intrude, if you kindly tell me where I am I could tell you more." the council ignored her.
"who sent you here? Are you a spy? You have no summoning to your name, tell all you know!" the questioning went for hours, one right after another and no matter how many she answered, Hinata knew they were unsatisfied.
She knew not how long she had kneeled before the council, nor did she even care, not anymore. Hinata clenched her teeth at the arrogance of those mice as they bickered and squabbled to decide her fate-do they let her go or do they kill her to preserve their own semblance of balance.
it is odd. All I ever wanted was to be recognized as a good person, one who was beautiful like mother and strong like father, but now I am in a political debate and I don't even know if I will survive. Hinata felt her eyes sting but refused to let any tears fall. she opened her eyes and made a vow as she watched the elders fight amongst themselves, she would never be weak again, she would survive this silent war, fight off Ioku and then return home to her best friends and then they would become a team. This was her promise to herself and she would never break it.