Upon reaching the front gate of the village, even Kiba stopped to admire the village in all of its beauty. It was built upon grassy hills that were surrounded by heavily forested mountains. It seemed almost like a piece of heaven. Pristine clear streams ran through the center of the town itself, which eventually joined together into a river that disappeared into a lake behind the village. The houses were all made of beautifully well carved wood that seemed to simply grace the hill tops with their natural looking beauty. On one side of the villages were training grounds where some men sparred physically, some sparred similarly to those she saw in the forest (although none of them matched the skill of those two warriors), some shot arrows into targets about three hundred feet away with great accuracy, and some simply meditated.
"Well, were here." Kurenai said softly, almost as if to protect the peaceful beauty of the town. Kiba was the first to come out of the daze so he started walking into the valley towards the largest and most beautiful of the buildings. Actually, it was unfair to even refer to the structure as a building, it was more like a castle. It stood as high as any building in Konoha, but still looked as majestic as the pine forest mountains surrounding it. It was behind the lake and the reflection could be seen as clearly as the original in this wind-forgotten valley. A large red bridge with two Shinto shrines (one at the beginning of the bridge, one at the end) connected the edge of the lake to the castle. The bridge must have been thirty feet wide and about a mile long, it was truly a testament to both art and engineering, but after seeing the beauty of the rest of the town, it seemed not to stand out but to instead fit perfectly with all of its surroundings.
Kiba was the first to move towards the center of the town, but even he moved slowly, admiring the pristine village. Gradually, the other ninja followed their abrasive ally towards the giant castle, Hinata took her time to mentally reflect by looking down into the lake for a good twenty minutes, but no one seemed to notice. It was almost as if the village had the ability to bring out patience and appreciation even in those who had none. And as she stared down into the calm waters, watching the reflection of the sky and the bridge, she saw the reflection of something she didn't expect. Naruto appeared next to her, and he was crying. He seemed to be alone again, but she began to hear voices. Some villagers were yelling demon at him from outside a wall.
She was so concerned for Naruto's safety that she turned and tried to hug where the reflection was, despite her extreme embarrassment, only to find to her horror that he wasn't there. She stared back down at the reflection but saw nothing. She began to wonder if she was dreaming, but it was so vivid. She could see him crying silently, trying to hide from the world, and the voices seemed so real. It couldn't be a dream, but what?
"You have the abilities of water." she was startled to turn to the man who she previously saw battling with the fire warrior. The odd thing was, he hadn't had a reflection in the water that she was so intently staring at. "It is very rare to find someone such as you. Water is an element that emphasizes wisdom, patience, and caring and can usually result in some psychic abilities. Find me after your mission, I will be in the bell tower to the right." She turned to look at where he was pointing, then turned back only to find he had disappeared as fast as he had appeared. There was truly something odd about this town, but at the same time, not uncomfortably so.
The next few hours passed in a blur, all of the negotiations went flawlessly. The town leader, an elderly bald samurai with flowing robes over his traditional garb, was extremely open and understanding. And after the meeting, Kurenai gave the young warriors some time to admire their surroundings before heading back to Konoha. Hinata didn't hesitate in going to the bell tower, she was so interested in the blind fighter that she ignored all of her impulses telling her to shy away. When she got there, she saw him sitting before a pool of water meditating. She waited for him to acknowledge her an allow her to sit across the pool and then asked her question. "Why am I here?"
"From the dawn of time, we have wanted to know the answer to this question, and the truth is, it is for you to decide. Why are you here now? Because you choose to take my advice, that was entirely up to you. But I assume that is not the answer you wanted." She nodded and turned red, he knew exactly what she was saying in her head. "I wanted you to come here to awaken your lament abilities, you have unbelievable potential. You did see that vision through the water, it was probably fate, or maybe our minds connected when you were spying on my training session." She was once again amazed at this man, She was at least fifty yards away when she saw them and he was engaged in battle. To be that aware of surroundings was inhuman even for Byakugan users of Neiji's capacity.
"But when you looked into our lake, you saw a vision. I witnessed that and I would hate to see a great element like water stay dormant any longer. Please stare into my reflection in the water." She did and saw him so clearly that it was almost as if there was another person sitting upside down in another universe. But what happened next was what truly incredible, the reflection began to move without its real-world partner. As his counterpart started walking on the underside of the water toward Hinata, the man explained. "That is my soul, I am cursed to live two lives. One below the water for an eternity of quiet, and one above the surface constantly searching to be reunited with myself." The reflection started to reach down, which was up to Hinata, and touched the surface of the water upside down. "Please touch his hand and He'll show you what to do."
Hinata timidly reached down towards where the hand rested and when she touched the surface of the water, she was pulled into the other universe.