The Girl Who Spun Through Time
Chapter 13
Well, that took longer than it should have. You did not learn all you could… but it was sufficient.
###
Hinata began screaming.
She thrashed, something heavy draped over her body, holding her in place. With a terrified grunt, she flung it off her, leaping to her feet. Her body automatically slid into a combat stance, adrenaline buzzing through her brain and banishing all but the most basic responses.
Someone approached her, their features a blur. Hinata blinked, and where there had been nothing grim cracks and papery skin became apparent, a patchwork mannequin of a human being coming right for her. She hissed and struck out, her flat palm slamming into the thing's solar plexus. It tumbled backwards; Hinata could not discern whether the sudden scream that had accompanied the strike belonged to her or someone else.
The Hyuuga blinked again, feeling the world drip by. Barefoot. She was barefoot. Someone had removed her shoes, and now she stood on cold hardwood, her feet unprotected. The flak jacket she had borrowed (stolen) was gone as well. She'd been stripped of her weapons, all protection. Hinata felt naked.
More mannequins approached her. Edo Tensei? Surely: there was nothing else left. She lowered her stance. It felt like there was a vice around her head, squeezing, squeezing-
"Hinata." One of the mannequins spoke in a familiar voice. Her vision blurred again, and she shook her head. Her whole body trembled.
"It's okay." The figure stepped forward. The cracks along its body, the parchment skin, retreated, evaporating before Hinata's eyes. A wave of nausea slammed her down. A hand, unblemished and alive, warm and capable, reached out. It settled on her shoulder, unshakeable. Her vision cleared.
Her father looked down on her, his face stone. No. Not her father. It was the same as last time: little details, facial expressions, miniscule musculature movements.
Her father's twin, Hizashi Hyuuga, alive and well.
"It's okay," he repeated, and Hinata's head spun. "You're safe."
Right. Hinata fell over, buried alive by her exhaustion, and the people surrounding her moved in. Right. She was here. She was-
As suddenly as she'd awoken, Hinata passed out.
###
Hinata slept for twenty-six hours after her third sojourn through time.
She learned afterwards that her father had been concerned that she would vanish again in that span of time, but ultimately the decision had been made to allow her to rest. It hadn't been enough. She'd fallen asleep once more while debriefing the Hokage, which was several hours after she'd woken up for the second time. Even now she was still in bed, barely able to lift her head.
It was more than physical exhaustion and something deeper than mental fatigue that left her so unequivocally drained. Even after having had some time to think it over, Hinata couldn't believe she'd been practically unable to function for two days straight. She hadn't suffered any grievous injuries in the other time, the world of ash and death. Madara's final Shinra Tensei had broken several bones, but even the aggravated injuries had been nothing truly serious. It didn't make much sense.
Hinata did have a persistent suspicion that she was loathe to acknowledge. The memory of drowning dragged her down even now; ever since that moment of recollection, her limbs had felt leaden, her head heavier. Madara had told her she'd devoured the chakra of her other self, some sort of grim parasitic karma. Integrating foreign chakra, even one familiar as her younger self's, was a dangerous, even potentially fatal process. Usually, specialized jutsu like the Lion's Fist was required to carefully regulate chakra consumption and processing; her system had doubtlessly been overloaded by the sudden influx. In Amegakure, adrenaline and terror had kept her running, but at home, or at least as close to home as she could reach now, she'd dropped like a rock.
It would have been almost impossible to detect the foreign chakra in her system as well. After all, it was technically hers. It was the only explanation as to why her father hadn't asked her anything about it.
There'd been many things to come to terms with, and Hinata was still gripped by the cold dissociation she'd felt since being drawn into the portal in the Hyuuga compound.
The present and most jarring was that more than a year had passed since her departure. Both her family and the Hokage had still been convinced she would return, even after such a span of time; though her time in the past had only been a couple days ago for Hinata, it was a peculiar year-old memory for everyone else. Hinata wasn't sure why a year had passed, but with all the other questions consuming her, that one seemed less than pressing.
Hinata had been sitting in the room assigned to her in the compound for the last hour or so, doing her best to order her mind and organize her questions. It had been extraordinarily difficult. Even controlling her breathing, setting a steady tempo that would refresh her and help keep her calm and focused, had been a struggle.
One at a time. That's how it went.
'Why was I drawn back here?'
Impossible to know, at least right now. She'd been looking for something familiar to latch onto when she was adrift in time, but Hinata was all too aware that in the end she hadn't found the curl of space-time that had swallowed her. It had hunted her, not the other way around.
There was possibly some sort of resonance there, then. The familiar time had been drawn to her. But if that was the case, why hadn't she gone back to her home? Back to her Konoha, her time?
Her brow twitched as a grim thought interceded.
'You were ripped away. Maybe it's not your home anymore.'
Conjecture. Pointless guessing. All she was doing was worrying herself for no reason.
Hinata was good at that.
'Why did a year pass? How does time pass in relation to other 'ribbons?''
Impossible to know.
Hinata's lip curled.
'What drew me into the tear in time?'
Impossible to know. Whatever had… attacked? Captured? Whatever had come after her out of the tear, it had clearly been a chakra construct, though completely unlike anything Hinata had ever seen. It had been a very distinct shade of lavender.
That was it. That was all she had. Hinata balled one of her fists, taking a deep breath. Her eyes burned.
'Impossible to know.'
She hated that. There was no worse feeling than helplessness, and at that moment Hinata Hyuuga felt that her life was entirely beyond her control.
She hadn't had much to tell the Hokage, in the end. She'd been unable to put across the horror of the other 'time': Hinata was certain that place could only be believed if it were experienced. Nevertheless, what little she had had been of great interest to the Sandaime.
The two most crucial pieces of information were everything involving Madara, particularly his resurrection at the hands of Orochimaru and his access to the Rinnegan, and Pain's apparent true identity of "Nagato." For Hinata, both of those things were interesting, but they also felt beyond her; she was so overwhelmed by the events of the last several days that it was difficult to function beyond simple necessities. Eat, sleep, breathe. Anything else was exhausting.
"Hinata."
Hinata jerked upright. She'd been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed her father enter the room. She drew her blanket up self-consciously.
"Father," she said, her tongue thick. Hiashi Hyuuga sat down at the foot of her bed, expressionless.
"How are you recovering?" he asked, and Hinata stared at her blanket.
"Slowly," she eventually said, and her father chuckled.
"You endured an unbelievable trial," he said. "We can't blame you for that."
They remained in silence for nearly a minute; Hinata had no idea what to say. Eventually, she gave voice to the only thing she could think of: her fears.
"Do you think I'll be taken again?" she asked quietly, and her father sighed.
"Who knows," he said. "However you ended up here, you've broken the few rules we were aware of."
"I don't understand what's happening," Hinata said, mostly to herself. "I'm not even traveling back and forth through time, like my predecessor. I'm traveling between time. I can't even do anything..."
"It's a shame that you cannot change your past," her father murmured. "Avoiding the fate of your Konoha… I would have liked nothing better."
"It's impossible," Hinata said, resisting the urge to curl up and fall back asleep. "No matter what… the village is going to be flattened. Already was." She felt a prick in her eyes, the beginning of tears. "It's not fair. It doesn't make sense."
"None of it," her father agreed. "We're in completely uncharted waters." He scratched his chin. "But we may be able to secure a navigator."
Hinata looked up. "What do you mean?"
"Soon after you departed," Hiashi said, "Konoha received an emissary from the Land of Demons."
"The Land of Demons?" Hinata asked, and her father nodded. She felt something push back her tears: her father looked sincere. He'd thrown her a lifeline.
"I doubt you've heard of it," he said, and she shook her head. "It's a minor country to the northeast, beyond the Land of Lightning. Their emissary was aware, somehow, of what had happened to you."
Hinata felt a dull shock run down her spine. "How is that possible?" she asked, and her father shrugged.
"The Land of Demons has always been secretive," he said. "Insular. As close to Cloud as they are, they've maintained their independence for decades, even while Lightning was expanding. It's always been assumed they had some weapon, or highly trained shinobi, that kept them independent." He smiled a little coyly. Hinata felt herself waking up in response to the humanity of her father. "But perhaps that's not the case?"
"What are you saying?" Hinata asked.
"The emissary asked that you visit the Land of Demons," Hiashi continued with a patient gesture. "She requested you by name. 'Hinata Hyuuga, who has been lost but will be found,' was what she said. She requested that you seek out a 'Miroku' there. We weren't sure how seriously to take her, but that was why we expected your eventual return."
Hinata mulled over her father's words, feeling some strength return to her body. Maybe lying in bed hadn't been the secret to recovery; she just needed something else to think about. Something productive.
"You think that they have some sort of prophetic power," she said, and her father smiled. "That's how they knew I'd come back."
"Something like that," Hiashi said. "It's the most logical conclusion; whatever the Land of Demon's secret is, it is no doubt tied up in time, the same as our clan's."
He stood up. "You don't have to leave right away. In fact, you should not. Before you were stolen, I told you that this would be your home, and I don't intend to break that promise."
That brought back the tears that Hinata had suppressed. She shuddered, cursing her weakness, but her father knelt at her side.
"My daughter," he said, wrapping her arms around her, and Hinata's shuddering only grew worse. "Rest. The tear has vanished." She froze: she hadn't known that. She hadn't even thought to check if the hole in time over the compound that had dragged her into it was still there. "The clan will keep vigil. If it reappears, we will find a way to keep you safe from it."
He stood up. "I promise. So please, rest at least one more day. Tomorrow, we'll decide what to do."
Hinata watched her father leave the room, and closed her eyes, trying to banish her growing headache. When they slid closed, she found them too heavy to open; against her own will she slipped back to sleep and dreamt of ash.
###
The next day, Hinata was out of bed, but had no idea where to go.
She still felt fragile and hollow, but resting no longer provided any recuperation, and so she was pushed out into the sun. She sat in the entryway of the building that she'd been resting in, a guest apartment in the midst of the clan compound, and looked around taking in the living world. There was a vitality to the wind and light that had been missing in the time of the dead, and Hinata sat basking in it for well over an hour, feeling more and more human as time went by.
She received several visitors in passing; two younger clansmen, gawking from a distance until they were chased off by their apologetic aunt. Soon after them, her father came with food.
He also brought her.
Hinata Hyuuga, seventeen years old, regarded Hinata Hyuuga, four years old, and came to an embarrassing realization. She was absolutely adorable. Her younger self huddled behind her father, peeking out from behind his legs with wide eyes, and Hiashi gave Hinata an apologetic bow as he laid down a platter of rice and tea next to her.
"She wanted to see the visitor," he said, and Hinata nodded, transfixed by herself. The younger her was the same way; now that they had locked eyes, they couldn't seem to look away. "Is it-?"
He paused, looking between the two of them, and snorted. "Alright then."
Hinata tilted her head, and the other her did the same. "Do you know who I am?" she asked, and Younger Hinata finally averted her eyes, staring down at her feet.
"I think so," she said tremulously. Hinata couldn't imagine how strange this experience was.
No wait, she absolutely could, she was going through the exact same thing. She just had a bit of extra context to make it seem less absurd.
"We didn't really have time to talk last time," she said, and her younger self trembled.
"Thank you for helping me," she said, blushing intensely. "Father says you saved me from the Hidden Cloud."
Right. Falling off a roof. That was perhaps the least graceful way to save someone, but Hinata at could take thanks with grace. She nodded her head, looking back to her father. After being outside, the world was clearer and less dark and filled with terrors, almost enough to forget everything she'd seen and the feeling of her own death. "What happened to him, anyway?" she asked, and her father shrugged. "I was… preoccupied."
"Well, that was only natural," Hiashi said, sitting down next to her with a soft groan. Younger Hinata plopped down on the other side of him, peering past him with curiosity and trepidation. "You had just experienced the impossible, after all. He was sent off with a stern warning. And the broken bones you gave him, of course."
"That's all?" Hinata asked, and her father grimaced.
"It was most likely the same in your time, Hinata, but the Hidden Leaf is in no position to make war on the Hidden Cloud," he said, and Hinata nodded along, bitter memories resurfacing as he spoke. "We are still recovering from the last war, after all. The Land of Fire got some trade concessions out of returning one of Kumogakure's ninja after such an insult, but there was little else to do." He looked at both of his daughters with a grim look. "As ever, ninja are seen as bargaining chips, to be traded and stolen by the whim of the strong."
Hinata didn't have an intelligent response, so she remained silent. She'd known it, of course, but only in her mind and not in her heart. When that man had been killed by her father in her own past, Kumogakure had threatened war until they were satisfied by her own uncle's corpse. But here, with the man alive, all Konoha had managed by sparing his life was a trade deal on behalf of the Fire Daimyo?
The Kyuubi's rampage and the Fourth Hokage's death had weakened the village even more than she'd known. Hinata reached down for her chopsticks, wanting to drive away the grim thought with some food.
"Hinoka was instrumental in the negotiations, of course," Hiashi continued, and she froze, the wood warm against her fingers. "I must apologize that she's not here, even on your second visit. I'm sure you're familiar with how busy she is in the capital-"
Hinata started laughing, and Hiashi finally stopped speaking, giving her a perplexed look. "Daughter?"
"I forgot," Hinata said, not sure if she was giggling or on the edge of crying. It felt somewhere in-between. "I forgot that mother was still alive."
Her father went cold and Hinata shook her head, trying to compose herself. "It didn't come up," she said. "With the Hokage… I'm sorry, father."
"Your mother is dead?" Hiashi asked. He sounded stiff, colder than he had before. But that was it, wasn't it? Hadn't her father changed after her mother had died, grown more rigid? "When?"
"When I was six," Hinata said. "My sister, Hanabi… mother died giving birth to her. I don't remember exactly why." She glanced at her other self. "I was too young."
Even with chakra-enhanced medicine, childbirth was dangerous: it didn't matter how great a ninja you were, though Hinoka Hyuuga had not been particularly known as a 'great ninja.' Hinata remembered her mother's gentle smile, her kindness, her constant good humor. She'd been one of the Hyuuga who spent most of her time out of the village in the court of Daimyo, representing Konohagakure's interests and fighting for the village in her own way, but according to her father she'd never been a warrior.
Wasn't a warrior. Was in the Daimyo's court. Even if this wasn't her original world, Hinata's mother was alive here. The notion almost knocked her over.
"Well." Hiashi looked away towards the southern horizon, in the direction of his distant wife. "That won't do. I appreciate the warning, Hinata."
For a brief moment, Hinata wondered if she'd just kept Hanabi from existing, but the thought was too exhausting to seriously consider. She'd already changed so much; her sister wasn't even born yet. If she appeared despite everything else at this point, it would be fate. There was nothing worth worrying about there.
"I have a lot of questions, I suppose," she said. "I didn't think I'd be gone for a whole year." Younger Hinata watched attentively as she spoke; Hinata could practically hear her father's lessons about strange visitors and strong ninja echoing in her mind. Right now, she was both. Pay attention; catalog everything. That is the strength of your clan, your all-seeing eyes. No matter how young you are, you may notice something that no one else in the world could have.
"Then ask them," her father said with a private grin. "Perhaps sating your curiosity will help you recover."
"How is Naruto doing?" she asked, and Hiashi tilted his head. "Is he still in the orphanage?"
"He is," her father confirmed, "though he'll be departing next year. The Hokage will likely gift him an apartment of his own."
Hinata remembered Naruto's apartment: she'd never been inside, but she'd observed it out of curiosity before. It was small, safe, and full of life. It wasn't ideal, but he'd lived there in her own time and come out just fine; she imagined it would be just the same here. It being under reliable observation by ANBU certainly helped.
"I'm glad," she said. Her father was obviously curious, but he didn't press.
"What about Itachi Uchiha?" she said, and Hiashi snorted.
"Please don't overreact," he said, his quiet sense of humor shining through, and Hinata blinked. "The Sandaime has taken him as his sole apprentice."
What? She was too surprised to say it out loud at first, her throat drying up. Itachi Uchiha, mass murderer, was the Hokage's apprentice? What the hell was he thinking? Hinata licked her lips, narrowing her eyes.
"What?" she asked out loud that time, and her father chuckled.
"I had a similar thought, yes," he said. Younger Hinata was looking between the both of them now, trying to divine her father's reaction. "At first, anyway. The Hokage and I argued about it. It was not my finest day." He turned to his younger daughter with a mild smile. "Hinata, could you fetch us some more tea?"
His own was untouched, but Younger Hinata didn't question it. She popped off the porch with a half-practiced bow to both her father and Hinata. "Of course, father," she squeaked, before rushing off; not running, but fast enough to make it obvious she was in a hurry. Both Hinata and her father watched her go.
"She's… I'm so cute," Hinata muttered, and Hiashi smirked.
"Yes you are. You're lucky to take after your mother. Can you imagine if you had my brow?" he said, obviously trying to get a laugh out of her. It wasn't quite enough.
"How could the Hokage train that murderer?" she asked, keeping her voice low, and Hiashi leaned in. "He's a kinkiller."
"Your Itachi Uchiha was a kinkiller," Hiashi said plainly. "This one seems to be a perfect ninja in all respects. The Uchiha Clan see the Hokage's personal attention as a tremendous honor, and knowing the truth we are happy to let them have that delusion. The Sandaime was determined to make sure the future you experienced never comes to pass." He finally picked up his tea and took a drink, giving Hinata some time to collect her thoughts. "He believes that under his tutelage, any hidden nature would come to light. He has had experience with traitorous students, you know."
"Then maybe he is only going to be disappointed again," Hinata whispered, and her father locked eyes with her.
"Yes," he said after a moment. "He is taking that risk. Do not think he is acting blindly, Hinata; we all took your warning to heart." He set his tea down without a sound. "Itachi's parents were informed as well, that much I know. The situation is being handled with all the care in the world."
"They were told about me?" Hinata asked, shocked that the clan would let loose such a secret, but her father shook his head.
"They were told that someone from the future had brought news of their son murdering their whole clan," he said. "The source is a mystery to them."
Hinata couldn't even conceive of how Itachi and Sasuke's parents had reacted to that news. What could you say to something like that? She knew Fugaku Uchiha was a famous war hero, but she didn't know anything about his wife. Maybe a great shinobi like him could compartmentalize that sort of thing… but still, how could you live with someone who you knew had murdered you in another time?
"I guess it's not any of my business," she eventually conceded, and Hiashi nodded.
"Correct," he said, reaching out and laying his hand on her shoulder. Hinata flinched, and then relaxed into his rough palm. "But I'm glad you can show concern for it. I was certainly worried after your… horrific experience."
"I'm feeling better," Hinata said, and she wasn't lying. Even just this conversation had restored her humanity, she felt. She heard the scuff of shoes on dirt, and her younger self reappeared with a carefully held cup of tea. "I'm sorry I was in such a state, father." She paused, considering her next words carefully as she watched her younger self draw closer.
"I've had a lot of time to think since I woke up again," she said. "I have a theory as to why I ended up where I did, and why I took so long to recover." Younger Hinata was looking at them both now, a shy smile on her face, but she was still far enough away that a whisper wouldn't be heard. "It was something I didn't tell the Hokage."
As Hiashi stiffened, Hinata bent over and whispered to him. "I was dead in the other time. I'd been murdered by the Edo Tensei. And I remembered it. The chakra of my other self was still present; I think when I arrived, it began to leach into me."
Hiashi was silent as Younger Hinata arrived and formally served him his tea, placing it right next to his other cup.
"How awful," he muttered, and his younger daughter looked up at him with a frightened look.
"Father-?" she asked, and Hinata snorted.
"No, no, not you," Hiashi said in a rush, faking a smile. "Thank you, Hinata. I'm sure it's perfect."
His younger daughter backed away, clearly not sure if her father was telling the truth, and he sighed. "Will you take another errand?" he asked, and she nodded, looking uncertain. "Fetch your uncle. I need to speak with him."
Younger Hinata looked away from her father, and Hinata was surprised to find her eyes landing on her. She glanced at her father, and then back at herself. "It's okay," she said gently, and the other Hinata relaxed. "I promise. I've just given him some bad news, that's all. Go get Uncle Hizashi."
Younger Hinata blinked, nodded, and turned away.
"Strange," Hiashi said as his daughter departed again. "You put her at ease. She… you, I suppose, were always nervous."
"She does the same for me," Hinata mused. "It's part of what I was talking about, I think. Our chakras are compatible. We're drawn towards one another."
If I died, she thought, I wouldn't be surprised if she took in my memories and my chakra. Maybe that will be for the best, if I really can't get home.
The thought surprised her, enough that she actually shifted and her father took notice. I'm not suicidal, am I? Hinata wondered. I've survived so much already. I know so much already. I saw the impossible, met legends. I punched the First Hokage in the back of the head!
No, she didn't want to die. She was just being maudlin. How could she not be, after all the death she'd already seen, even feeling her own? Drowning had been awful; she had no interest in anything like that happening to her. It was only considering contingencies, that was all.
"Hinata?" her father asked, and she sucked in a breath.
"I was just thinking," she said, looking deeper into the compound towards the roof that she'd gotten to know better than she'd ever wished to. "I'll probably be taken away again soon. I just have a feeling, I guess."
'I'm not going to help you create your paradise, but I could stop this!'
It might have been an unintentional lie, but it had good intentions. Hinata looked to her father. "But maybe that's not a bad thing? If I'm pulled somewhere else again, maybe it will be a place I can actually make a difference. I've already made this world better; why not others?"
"Sorry?" her father asked politely, and Hinata stood up, not sure if she was in denial or onto something.
"I have to think there's a method to this madness," she said, because if there wasn't then surely she'd have no choice but to go crazy. "Even if it's just physics, like gravity, me being drawn to places where I'm not, that wouldn't explain me coming here in the first place." She looked down at her obviously perplexed father. "I know a lot now, father. About the threats facing Konoha, about the Akatsuki, about the Uchiha, and about the kind of things our village will do if it's pushed to the brink. When I arrived here, I saved my uncle; I changed the future right away without even meaning to, just because of where I'd been put. Do you think all of that can be a coincidence?"
Hiashi looked up at her, realization dawning. "You think you're being drawn through time with intent?" he asked, and Hinata shrugged.
"I don't have a clue," she said earnestly. "But I almost hope so. If this is happening for a reason… it'll be easier for me." She bent down, taking her father's hands. "Father, if or when I'm taken again, I may not be back for another year. Or longer! This is all a mystery to us now, right? If I go somewhere else again, perhaps I'll learn more."
"But daughter," Hiashi said seriously. "Consider the other side of your hope. If you are being placed with intent, what is the motive?"
Hinata faltered. "I… I don't know," she admitted. "It's just a thought."
"A frightening thought," Hiashi said. "I do think you came here for a reason, Hinata. Destiny or something like it has a hand in it. If you are drawn away again…"
Hinata pulled back, releasing his hands. "I'll be ready," she said, not sure where this determination was coming from. No, just not wanting to admit it. If Naruto had been hurled through time, would he have curled up in a ball and cried and slept like she had the last two days? No; he would have been pushing forward, trying to figure out a way back home, taking every challenge with a smile. If she was going to be a ninja she could admire, she could never turn and run away.
That was their Nindō, right?
"If the Tear comes back, I'll go willingly," she said, sure that her father thought she was crazy. "Maybe it will be just as horrible as last time, but…" She laughed. "It's hard to imagine a worse place! I'll go there, I'll try to find out more, and then I'll be back again, I'm sure of it. I'm pulled to this place; it's where I belong now, my home. And when I come back, I'll go to the Land of Demons, and face whatever is there!"
Hiashi's face twitched, cycling through several different expressions before settling on what Hinata could only call bemused pride. "You'll accept your misfortune that earnestly?" he asked.
"I don't have a choice," Hinata said, "so what's the point in crying and complaining about it?" She stomped off the deck, feeling the mud in her toes, and laughed. "If I just lie in bed feeling sorry for myself, won't I just get stabbed and drawn into the Tear eventually anyway? It's all…" She shook her head, conflicting thoughts burning in her mind. "That world of the dead, father, it was so awful that I think it broke my fear of whatever comes next. Like I said, it's hard to imagine something worse."
"I pray that you have a brilliant imagination then, Hinata," her father said, rising with her. He still looked proud, but there was sorrow in him as well. "Do you want to go for a walk?"
"Very much," Hinata said, feeling her heart beat in her chest. She was alive; she could surpass this.
How will you get home, though? The thought gave her some pause. Even to this home, not your original, which seems beyond your reach. It doesn't seem like you are drawn back into the void once you're in another time; you've had to be struck with the Shinra Tensei both times. Will you just keep tracking down Nagato, or Madara, or someone else with those legendary eyes and asking them to kill you?
Maybe enough time didn't pass, Hinata thought. But even if that's not the case, if that's what it takes, yes. If the only way back and forth is to have someone try to kill me, then I'll do it as many times as it takes.
To get home, there's nothing I wouldn't do.
###
The Tear opened late the next day, when the sun was already beginning to set. By then, Hinata was beginning to think that her gut feeling had been wrong, but the revelation didn't grow much new fear in her. She marched to face it with a good amount of the clan at her side. She had become a legend while she was gone, even if the majority of them didn't understand the exact nature of who she was or what was happening. It made her incredibly uncomfortable, but she wasn't bold enough to ask for privacy.
This time, she had a pack ready, and a proper flak vest befitting her Chunin status. Enough food and tools to last some time, no matter where she ended up, though Hinata felt sure that she would arrive in another Konoha. Her headband lay heavy hanging from her neck; considering the circumstances, she felt about as put together and prepared as possible. Three days ago, she never could have dreamed of facing the Tear with anything but dread in her heart, but now…
She was almost eager. She hadn't visited Naruto again this time around, but maybe that was for the best.
(maybe it was better to keep the brave version of him she'd known that had nearly defeated Pain fresh in her mind rather than the vulnerable and lonely child he was now)
She turned to her father. "Thank you, father," she said, and he gave her a surprised look. "For your patience, and for sheltering me. I know it wasn't simple."
He laughed. "Of course," he said. "For my daughter, what else could I do?" His mirth faded a little. "There's one thing to keep in mind, Hinata. For when you return."
He didn't have a doubt she would. Behind her, Hinata could see the Tear burning; there was a cry of alarm and fascination from her clansmen as a ribbon of chakra emerged from it, bright red and filled with the light of the setting sun.
Hiashi spoke more quickly, seeing the chakra quest forward as Hinata turned to face it. "Danzo Shimura has been trying to arrange a meeting with you," he said, and Hinata rocked back. Now? Why tell her now? "I didn't allow it. Perhaps because of what you told me happened on your first journey. When you come back, he will likely be frustrated."
"Isn't this a little late?!" she asked as the ribbon quested forward, striking out towards her. It wasn't the same attacking motion it had done last time; this one was more gradual, and Hinata found herself stepping forward to meet it more as a dancer than a ninja.
"Sorry," her father said with a shrug. "Things were busy."
She reached out and the ribbon wrapped her hand, almost like a handshake. It was hot to the touch, like boiling steam, but Hinata didn't flinch; she closed her hand firmly around it, feeling a light but insistent tug towards the Tear.
"It's fine." She stepped forward. "Well… I'll see you later, father."
Then she was yanked off her feet, rocketing towards the Tear, and was sucked into the void beyond time and space.
