Title; Hareru.
"I think it was a good idea to buy these!" Sakura said to Hinata as the two of them walked away from Chokai's Spiritual Stand.
Hinata opened up her little brown paper bag and pulled the Butterfly Crystal out. She was a little worried that her father would be angry at her for spending her allowance on something so useless, but she had been pressured into buying it from Sakura.
Sakura was happy because she wanted the crystal, but she didn't want to seem like a silly girl by being the only one buying one. So, with a little bit of helpful encouragement, she talked Hinata into getting one too. Besides, Hinata really looked like she WANTED one, she just didn't know it yet!
"Do you think these things will really make a wish come true?" Hinata asked as she put the crystal back in the bag.
"Sure!" said Sakura. "Why not?"
Hinata didn't exactly know what to say. Why not? Well…probably because those kinds of things didn't USUALLY work. But she wasn't going to say that because she's far too passive.
"So…" Sakura said. "What are you going to wish for?"
"I don't know." Sighed Hinata. She planned on hiding it for a little while and hoped that she wouldn't have to end up telling her father about it. Then again, she didn't really know why she was getting so worked up about something so small that her father probably wouldn't even care about. Well, not REALLY care about. A lot.
Hinata turned red with embarrassment. Why did she buy it? She shouldn't have bought it.
"I think I might return it…" Hinata said truthfully.
"No!" Sakura said, grabbing Hinata and preventing her from turning around. "No way! You can't return it! You have to make a wish!"
Hinata shook her head. "My father—"
"Forget your father!" Sakura sighed as she grabbed Hinata's arm and pulled her along. "He's not going to care!"
"He'll be angry that I wasted my money." Hinata said quietly.
"No way." Sakura said. "If he gets mad, you just call me and I'll come over and beat him up! Whaddya say?"
Hinata laughed nervously and quickly checked behind her in fear that her father might have been there and overheard that.
Sakura noticed that Hinata was still reluctant. "Look, Hinata." She said. "If your dad finds out and gets mad at you, tell him that it's mine and you just wanted to borrow it."
Hinata gasped. "Lie to him?" she practically whispered.
"Sure!" said Sakura. "It's not THAT big of a deal. I lie to my parents all the time."
Sakura obviously didn't know about Hinata's father's advanced Hyuuga ability that's able to tell how people are feeling… and if they're lying. No… there was no lying to Hinata's father.
"If it helps, I'll tell you what I'm going to wish for!" Sakura offered.
"Uh…" Hinata started.
"I'm going to wish that Sasuke was my boyfriend!" Sakura giggled.
Hinata smiled weakly. She should have expected that.
Then she looked up and noticed that she was now standing in front of the enormous Hyuuga complex.
"All right, I'll see you later!" Sakura said, patting Hinata on the back and then running off.
Hinata took a deep breath and walked up her front steps and inside. She looked around to make sure no one saw her and then sprinted to her room. After slamming the door behind her, she jumped on her bed and pulled the crystal back out of the bag.
It sure was a pretty little butterfly.
She set it down on the windowsill and, when the light hit it, rainbows reflected across the room. It was comforting for her.
As she looked up from the crystal, she noticed that her cousin, Neji, was currently training the backyard. She wondered how Neji ever learned the techniques he knew without anyone teaching them to him… and while also going completely unnoticed. He must have learned them very quickly. Even with her father training her extensively, Hinata couldn't do half the attacks Neji could.
Hinata sighed and turned around so she was facing in her room. She looked at the rainbows dancing on the walls and couldn't help but smile to herself. Then there was a strange sound… something going up and down… like the sound of a giant bird flapping its wings.
She spun around and looked out the window, and figured it must have been Neji doing some sort of new technique that she had never heard of.
She wished she wasn't such a frivolous person…she wished she could somehow evolve to change herself and meet her father's expectations…
There was that strange beating sound again…
She looked back out the window but Neji didn't SEEM to be doing anything that would call for a noise like that.
Her eyes wandered down to the Butterfly Crystal. Slowly, and hesitantly, with the strange feeling that she was being judged as she did so, she picked up the crystal. She now felt… compelled… to make a wish.
"I wish…" she began, her eyes darting back and forth between the crystal and her cousin training just outside her window. "I wish…I could be more like…" she paused and looked out the window just one more time. "I wish I could be more like Neji."
Almost immediately after she made the wish, she really did feel stupid. She quickly put the crystal back on the windowsill and lied down in her bed. Neji must have decided to move on to working on a new technique because she didn't hear those strange noises anymore.
As she lied there, she suddenly felt weird. She rolled over and looked up at the light above her, and then down at herself. Hm. That's funny. She certainly didn't remember putting on THAT outfit today.
But she couldn't ponder about her sudden change of clothes for very long because she heard the sound of footsteps coming towards her room. She sat up and waited for the arrival of the person who approached.
It surprised her when the door just flung open as opposed to someone knocking. And it surprised her even more to see who it was.
"Hey, are you coming or what?" It was Neji.
She didn't know what to say to him. Normally, she tried not saying anything at all just to be on the safe side.
"Hello?" Neji said. "We were supposed to start training twenty minutes ago. Are you coming or not?"
She stared at him blankly.
He gave an irritated sigh and went right up to her.
"Do you not hear me?" he said in a very commanding tone.
"Uh—sorry—" she started but then threw a hand over her mouth. Was that her voice? She cleared her throat. "Uh—" she tried again but once again, it sounded strange. Deeper and lower…not her own.
"You know what?" said Neji, backing off. "Forget it. If this is the way you're going to be then forget about it."
"Wait!" Hinata said as she stood up, and then cleared her throat again, unable to explain the situation to herself.
Neji stopped in the doorway and turned around. "So are you coming?" he said.
Hinata nodded, not wanting to speak with her strange voice anymore.
As she caught up to Neji, she felt that something was off. Usually Neji was a good half-foot taller than her but he looked somehow smaller today.
Or, she thought as she looked around, I'm somehow bigger.
It was then that the two of them passed by a mirror hanging in the hall.
Hinata walked by, instinctively looking the mirror as we all do, (and yes, Neji did too) and then had to backtrack to look again. The first noticeable thing was the fact that her hair was much shorter, but then she looked at the shape of her face. She rubbed her eyes and then looked down at her whole body.
Neji looked behind him to see that Hinata was entranced by the mirror.
"Hareru?" Neji said, stopping and turning around.
Hinata looked over at Neji who was watching her curiously. "Hareru?" she whispered, pointing at herself. "Me?"
Neji slowly nodded. "Maybe… we shouldn't train today…"
Before either could continue, Hinata put her hand to her forehead and collapsed. The last thing she heard was Neji calling for someone to come and do something.
When Hinata finally came around, she was lying in her own bed and it was dark in her room. Her eyes slowly opened and she looked back and forth in the darkness. Slowly, she sat up and turned the light on over her bed.
She pulled the collar of her shirt out and looked down.
"Oh no…" she started and put her hand over her mouth again at the sound of her own voice. Well, it wasn't her OWN voice, but it was definitely coming from her.
She let go of her shirt collar and swung her legs over the edge of her bed. What was going on? What had happened?
Why was she suddenly…
A boy?
Just when Hinata thought she was going to pass out again, she caught sight of the Butterfly Crystal sitting on her windowsill. She grabbed it and stared at it.
"Be…" she said quietly. "More…like Neji…"
Her eyes widened.
Well, she WAS more like Neji now…
She quickly put the crystal back on the windowsill and stood up. This wasn't right. This wasn't what she meant when she said she wanted to be more like Neji. Besides, it wasn't supposed to actually WORK!
She pinched her arm and waited.
No…still a boy.
That's when her door opened again.
"Oh—Hareru, you're awake." It was Neji again.
"What happened?" Hinata gasped.
"You passed out." Neji answered as if that sort of thing happened every day.
"I don't feel well…" Hinata stuttered, going back over to her bed and sitting down, putting a hand to her head.
"Well…you just passed out." Neji reminded her in a very matter-of-fact tone but also in kind of a…state-the-obvious tone.
"For how long?" Hinata asked.
"Just a couple hours." Neji shrugged. "I'll get your father."
"No!" said Hinata, standing back up, and she suddenly felt herself turning red again. For some reason, the thought of her father seeing her like this just embarrassed her. Then she looked at Neji who was raising an eyebrow at her and then she started to wonder… had he even noticed yet?
"You sure, Hareru?" Neji asked.
"Hareru…" Hinata repeated under her breath. "Why do you keep calling me that?"
Neji raised the other eyebrow, and then looked a little mad. "Why, what would you PREFER I addressed you as?" His tone certainly had elevated from the almost understanding one that he had been using previously.
Hinata gasped and shook her head. "No, nothing!" she said. "I mean, Hareru's fine…"
She trailed off and looked down nervously. As far as Neji was concerned, she had ALWAYS been a boy. She was in a different world where she had been born male instead of female.
Neji crossed his arms and leaned up against the wall. "Do you need anything else?" he said.
Hinata shook her head again, not wanting to make eye contact with him.
Neji turned to leave and then stopped. "Although I'm not your messenger boy, you might want to know that your friend stopped by." He said.
"What friend?" Hinata asked, looking up.
"I don't know your friends." Neji said. "He's on your team…and he's got an annoying dog."
"Oh…that's Kiba." Hinata said, standing up. "What did he want?"
"He came by to tell you that he and your other teammate will be over at his house and you should drop by." Neji said, shutting the door behind him as he left.
Hinata nervously twiddled her fingers as she stood there alone. She was so embarrassed for no reason. Well, actually, there WAS a reason, but it sure was a silly reason. Then again, not really, it sort of wasn't a silly reason. She didn't know what to think anymore.
After a few minutes of pondering, she decided to go and meet up with Kiba and Shino. Maybe they'd have some answers. How? She did not know… but they might.
She opened the door and cautiously stepped out. And, after standing in her doorway for a moment, she turned around and grabbed the Butterfly Crystal, putting it in her pocket for safekeeping.
Then she made her way to the front door only to come across her father.
"Good to see you up and about." Her father said as he approached her.
She instinctively took a step back. "Y-yes…" she agreed.
"May I inquire as to the reason for your collapse?" her father questioned.
"I don't know." She replied.
But there was no lying to Hinata's father.
He looked at her for a moment and then decided that it was not important to pursue the true answer. "Your teammate stopped by." He said.
"I know." Hinata said, reaching for the door. "Neji told me. I was going over there now. Is that all right?"
Her father nodded, still staring directly at her. "Is something the matter?" he asked. "You're not acting like yourself."
"Just a… little light headed…" Hinata said vaguely. "I feel a bit out of sorts…"
"Then maybe you shouldn't go." her father advised.
"I'd really like to…" Hinata began, pushing the door open a bit.
"Then go." he said.
She was a bit surprised that he was allowing her to, but then it occurred to her that maybe it was because she was not a she… she was a he, and therefore her father had more trust that she could watch over herself… himself.
Well, that was a nice feeling, she decided.
So she nodded to her father and left the complex. As she walked down the street, she felt as though everyone was staring at her. Even though… there was really no one about considering it was late in the evening…but Hinata's just paranoid that way.
She hopped up Kiba's front steps and knocked on the door, not knowing what kind of reaction to expect from him. Then again, he probably wouldn't have a weird reaction at all considering everyone seemed to find it normal that she was suddenly male. But… she was the only one who viewed herself as "suddenly male". As far as everyone else was concerned, she was ALWAYS male.
The door opened and Kiba was there, looking the same as always, with Akamaru on his shoulder, looking the same as always.
"Hey!" he greeted her the same as always. "We didn't think you'd show! Come on in, Hareru!"
Well, that wasn't the same as always.
"Uh, sure…" Hinata said, bowing her head slightly as she entered.
"Cut that out!" Kiba laughed, giving her a shove. Of course, the shove had been meant to be completely playful and out of good fun between two boys, but that was the last thing Hinata expected Kiba to do and she ended up stumbling halfway across the room.
Kiba watched her stumble and regain her balance.
He only stood there.
"Okay." He said finally, probably unable to think up an intelligent response to that.
"Sorry…" Hinata said, coming back over to where he was. "I'm a little… er… out of sorts…"
"That's okay." Kiba shrugged, obviously not caring. "We trained already but you can stay over if you want. My mom and my sister on a mission so it'll just be the three of us."
"Uh…" Hinata stuttered. Spend the night at a boy's house? With another boy? Her father would NEVER agree to that…
"Great!" Kiba said, grabbing her arm and pulling her into the other room.
Wow, Hinata thought as she tried to pry Kiba's firm grip off her arm, boys sure are rough with each other…
"Kiba, is that Hareru?" came a voice that, at first, confused Hinata. That certainly wasn't SHINO'S voice. As she rounded the corner, she was faced with Naruto sitting there in a spot she had expected to see Shino. "Oh, hey!"
Her mouth hung open for a moment or two and then she looked at Kiba who appeared completely unaffected.
"Where's Shino?" she asked.
"Shino?" Kiba said with a raised eyebrow. "Are you talking about that weird kid in our class?"
"Aburame Shino?" Naruto clarified.
"Yeah…" Hinata said quietly.
"I dunno." Kiba said as he hopped over the armrest of the couch and sat down. "I don't keep tabs on him."
Hinata looked around the room, making sure that Shino wasn't actually there… and just not making himself known. After all, it was sometimes hard to notice Shino.
But he was nowhere to be found.
"Now that Hareru's here, whaddya want to do?" Kiba asked Naruto.
Naruto shrugged.
"Don't just shrug all the time." Kiba frowned.
"Why is it MY job to think up the entertainment?" said Naruto. "It's YOUR house."
"Which is why it should be SOMEONE ELSE'S job to think up what we should do." Kiba argued.
"No, because I don't know what we can do at your house." Naruto pointed out.
"That's not true." Kiba said. "You've been to my house plenty of times. You know what we can do. You just don't feel like thinking."
"So what?" said Naruto. "It's your house. You have to think of something."
"I shouldn't have to." Kiba said.
"Yes you should." Naruto retorted with another shrug. "It's YOUR house."
"Is that the ONLY reason why you think I should think of something?"
"It's your only reason why you think I should think of something."
"How about you, Hareru?" Kiba said, looking up. "What do you want to do?"
Hinata got flustered and looked away, trying to avoid eye contact from anyone and everyone.
"Don't ask him." Said Naruto. "YOU have to think of something."
"Why are you so passionate about that?" Kiba said, sounding angry.
"Why are YOU so lazy?" Naruto said.
"I'm not lazy, I'm just not good at thinking." Kiba said as if that was something to be proud of.
"You are so lame." Naruto sighed.
"Fine, then let's train some more." Kiba said.
"Fine." Said Naruto, crossing his arms.
"Okay?" Kiba said, looking at Hinata.
"Uh—okay…" Hinata stuttered.
Kiba jumped up off the couch and Naruto did as well. As the two of them walked towards the backyard door, Hinata stood in awe and silence for a few seconds before finally gathering up enough strength to chase after them after hearing her "name" being called.
"Okay," said Kiba. "Me and Akamaru versus you two."
"There would be NO challenge in that at ALL." Naruto said.
"All right." Said Kiba. "You and Akamaru versus me and Hareru."
Naruto could only glare. "Yeah right." He said.
Akamaru barked at Kiba. "I was just kidding, Akamaru." He said. "Geez, you're such a whiner."
"Um…before we start… may I ask a question?" Hinata said, raising her hand.
Kiba and Naruto both stared at her.
"Yeah…" they eventually said.
"Okay…" Hinata said, feeling more awkward by the second. "Is this… our team?"
That definitely didn't help the situation.
"Wait, you mean for fighting against each other?" Kiba said. "Yeah, you're paired up with Naruto—"
"No, no." Hinata interrupted. "I don't mean that. I mean… are the three of us on a three-man team? With a teacher and everything?"
Kiba and Naruto looked at each other and then looked at Hinata with a very concerned expression.
"I take that as a yes…" Hinata said, shrinking to nearly half her size in embarrassment and awkwardness.
"You feeling okay?" Kiba asked.
Hinata shook her head. "Not at all." She said.
"If he's sick, I don't think we should train." Naruto said. "Great idea, Kiba."
"Hey, I didn't know he was sick!" Kiba defended himself.
Hinata didn't like being referred to as 'he'.
"It's almost ten o'clock." Said Kiba, looking up at the sky. "Maybe we should just call it a night. Are you guys going to stay the night? Naruto, I know you are, but what about you Hareru?"
Hinata shook her head once again. "I didn't bring anything." She used as her excuse.
"That's all right." Said Kiba. "You can wear some of my pajamas."
Frantically now, Hinata shook her head.
"Come on, Hareru, if anyone has germs, YOU do." Said Naruto, rolling his eyes. The three went inside, though Hinata was VERY reluctant to do so… but she was also afraid of hurting their feelings.
"So you can get a pair up in my room." Kiba offered to Hinata. "And could you grab a pair for me too?"
Hinata cleared her throat and nodded, quickly hurrying up the stairs, trying to push all the hesitant feelings to the back of her mind. She slowly opened the door to Kiba's room and glanced around as if there was someone there to see her, and crept in, as if there was someone there to hear her.
The first drawer she opened was the underwear drawer. So, her face turning bright red and while also letting out a little yelp, she shut the drawer. As she caught her breath, she tried the next drawer… shirts. The next drawer down was pajamas and, as she pulled two pair out, she wondered what kind of ludicrous order for a dresser THAT was. Who goes underwear, shirts, pajamas? Knowing Kiba, the next drawer probably had…shoes…or something equally nonsensical.
As she stepped down the stairs, ready to turn the corner and ask Kiba where the bathroom was so she could change her clothes only to find both Naruto and Kiba with their shirts off.
Now, while it normally isn't something that startles someone to simply see a boy with his shirt off, but to see TWO boys at once, both of which she didn't know in quite that way, simply overwhelmed her. Once again, she let out an embarrassed yell and darted around the corner.
"Hareru?" Kiba said. He looked at Naruto who shrugged.
"What's up?" Naruto called.
Hinata covered her face and slinked down the wall into a sitting position. She shook her head over and over again, and blocked her ears. That's when she felt a tap on the top of her head.
Though she didn't want to, she looked up to see Kiba and Naruto standing over her.
"What's wrong with you?" Kiba asked, grabbing a pair of the pajamas she was holding.
"N-nothing…" Hinata stuttered as Kiba pulled the top over his head. "W-where's the bathr-room?"
Kiba looked at her questioningly and pointed in the direction it was in.
"We were actually just talking about how it was best that we didn't have any girls on our team so things wouldn't be awkward." Naruto said. "Kind of like it is right now."
"Oh…why me?" Hinata whispered to herself as she turned her head away while Kiba and Naruto both changed their BOTTOM halves. She stood up and covered her face again as she ran to the bathroom and locked the door.
She leaned up against the door, as if Kiba and Naruto would try to break it down and expose themselves purposely to her. It's not like they were trying to embarrass her or anything…
She could hear one of them speak, and then get hushed, and then speak in a quieter voice. She couldn't hear exactly what they were talking about, but she had the sinking feeling that it was about her. Whatever strange world she was in, she supposed that she wasn't supposed to be acting like this.
She repositioned herself against the door and leaned up against something that dug into her side in her pocket. She pulled out the Butterfly Crystal.
After looking at it in every direction she could, no more answers revealed themselves to her.
"I wish I had never made that wish." She whispered.
With that, she closed her eyes, waited and then looked around.
"Did it work?" she said quietly, but she knew it hadn't because she still had a boy's voice. Once again, she closed her eyes. "I wish I was a girl again!" she said with a little more force, but trying to keep her voice quiet because she knew Kiba could hear her.
But still, she remained.
Was she going to be stuck like this forever?
"Hey, Hareru, are you all right in there?" came Naruto's voice as he pounded violently on the door. Hinata jumped with surprise. "Did you fall in the toilet?"
"That would be funny." Came Kiba's pointless remark from the other room.
"No, I didn't fall in the toilet." Hinata replied.
Honestly, she didn't want to change her clothes. What if she saw more of her new self than she wanted to see?
That's when she caught sight of the window. Without saying a word, she opened up the window and promptly climbed out as quietly as she could. She didn't care what kind of opportunities this new body would bring her, the last thing she wanted to be was a boy.
Cupping the Butterfly Crystal tightly in her hands, she ran as fast as she could back to where she had bought it. She had to find that old man—Chokai—and ask him if there was anything he could do to reverse the effects of the wish.
What an embarrassing situation! He would think she was so weird for wishing that she were a boy! Even though she didn't REALLY, it certainly appeared that way.
Luckily, the old man hadn't moved from the spot where his cart had originally been. She gave a heavy sigh of relief as she finally stopped her frantic running and caught her breath, slowly approaching the old man's cart. She looked over the counter to see that he was sleeping on the floor of his cart.
She bit her lip. Now she'd have to wake him up.
"Um…excuse me…" she said quietly. "Um…"
Well, that wasn't getting her anywhere anytime fast.
"Am I going to have to come back here tomorrow?" Hinata mumbled as she slumped up against the cart. She heard something break under her shoe and, as she moved her foot aside, she could see a shiny and delicate piece of what looked like glass.
She bent down and picked it up carefully as not to cut herself.
"Why do you suppose a broken Butterfly Crystal is in front of my cart?" came a voice above her. She jumped and quickly stood up to see that the old man was watching her.
"Oh—I'm sorry for waking you." Hinata said.
"Are you interesting in buying one of my crystals?" Chokai asked.
"I already bought one." Hinata said, showing him the crystal that she had.
"And let me guess." Chokai said with a sigh. "You want to reverse the effects of your wish?"
Hinata was extremely relieved. "Yes." She said with the biggest smile she could muster.
"Tell me, what went wrong?" Chokai asked.
"Everything." Hinata said. "The crystal granted a strange, twisted version of my wish. It gave me what I wished for, but not in the way I had expected."
"Isn't that everyone's story?" said Chokai. "Well, you've probably already figured it out by now, but all you have to do is smash the crystal and everything will be undone."
"Is that it?" Hinata said.
"Or you could buy another crystal and wish that you had never bought the first crystal." Chokai shrugged.
"Uh…" Hinata began. "I'll just…"
"Smash it?" Chokai finished for her.
She nodded. "Um…yes…"
She took one last look at the pretty crystal and, although she felt very sorry for breaking it, if it was the only way to put things back to normal then she was willing to do whatever it took.
Seconds later, the crystal was in pieces.
Hinata looked at her hands and felt the top of her head for her hair to find that it was back to the way it should be. She didn't even HAVE to check in those other places to know that everything was right again.
"Ahh…" said Chokai as he observed the sudden change. "I understand now."
"Thank you." Said Hinata, standing up and bowing her head. "Your crystals are very special, but my father would scold me for buying one, let alone two."
With that, Hinata made her way back to the place she lived, happy with the sound of her voice.
"Hinata—" she was immediately greeted by her distressed sounding father as she opened the door. It felt good to hear that name again. "Where were you? You know you shouldn't be wandering around aimlessly at this hour!"
"I'm sorry, Father…" Hinata said. "I lost track of time."
"Well, get yourself to bed." Said her father. "It's late."
She nodded and made her way through the halls back to her room. A door opened as she went by and Neji was standing there, apparently surprised that Hinata was walking around the house that this hour.
He turned his head away from her and continued on his way, not acknowledging her or offering to train with her.
And that was the first time Hinata felt actually a little glad that Neji disrespected her.
Because that meant that everything was back to normal. And, even though that meant having a less than perfect relationship with Neji, Hinata knew that no amount of strange crystals or wishing could ever perfect their relationship.
Still, she thought as she buried her face into her pillow. Maybe tonight wasn't all THAT bad. She saw more of Naruto and Kiba that night than she ever thought she would see…
Next chapter: Retracing
