Night had fallen over Konoha, darkness creeping into every area not touched by the flickering orange torches. A few Branch women walked her from the hot spring to the hall for an exchange with Kō. He waited in the hallway and bowed, first to Hinata and then in gratitude to the women that had taken care of her. She whispered soft goodbyes to them and then followed her protector.
"Did you enjoy your visit with young Lord Sasuke?" he asked when they were further into the compound.
"Yes," Hinata said shyly. "Except for Big Brother Neji..."
"Don't mind him, Lady Hinata. He will soon get used to the dignity and privilege of his station," Kō replied. He was smiling, reassuringly as always.
"Okay," Hinata said. "I-I still want to apologize for how he treated you. It wasn't nice."
"Think nothing of it, my Lady. I'm fine."
"Okay." The calming quiet that followed during their walk allowed Hinata's mind to wander back to Sasuke's promise and Kō's story and if they were somehow connected. It was just the two of them now in front of her door. If she asked and he spoke quickly, maybe she could hear the rest of the story. She lived in a world of all-seeing eyes but if anyone saw Kō speaking to her, they would think nothing of it. So long as she didn't reveal anything that he said. That would be no problem.
"If you're alright, I'll take my leave, my Lady," Kō said as he opened her door.
"No, wait," she whispered. It was now or never. "The story you were telling me before...can you finish it?"
There was a brief moment of hesitation before her bodyguard dipped his head and followed into the room behind her. After he closed the door, he turned and knelt in front of her, his gaze facing the ground. She thought she could hear him faintly praying. She clutched at the sun medallion and waited until Kō looked up at her and began to speak.
His words tugged at something inside of her. Something she'd hidden away deep within the recesses of her mind. But, Ko's words triggered it. A memory, one that came to her like a lucid dream.
It had been snowing on her third birthday. She hadn't needed escorts yet. Her mother, Lady Harue, was alive then, the last spark of warmth in her father's heart. Hinata was attached to her day and night, often receiving instruction and etiquette training after her daily baths. By the time she was three, her polite and quiet nature was the talk of the clan and the village. They'd all loved her once.
She remembered when her father had appeared, interrupting a lesson that her mother had been teaching her about the Hyūga. Before, she'd thought that she had never seen Lord Hiashi smile but when he looked down at them, his lips curled slightly and his eyes softened. He greeted his lady wife with a small touch on the shoulder and then walked towards the little girl.
"It is time, Hinata," he said, extending his hand. "Come, very important people have come to pay tribute for your birthday."
Her hand felt so small in his and her little legs worked hard to keep up with him, even as he walked methodically beneath the awning. She could hear people talking and from the layer of the voices, it was a large gathering. She remembered feeling her heart sink and her little fingers dig into her father's palm. He looked down at her and gave her a quizzical glance. He didn't, however, ask if she was alright before he had Branch members open the main hall.
She didn't remember every guest, just the rattling of her heart against her ribs as everyone spoke to her, looked her over, then left. She did remember seeing her uncle Hizashi and Neji alongside him. He'd called her pretty and this had been enough to make Hinata cower behind her father.
After everyone had greeted her, her father instructed a few maidservants to change her into a training uniform.
"You are the future of our clan, my child," Lord Hiashi said. "I must prepare you to be strong and courageous."
Strong and courageous.
They had done basic combat drills before when she had first begun to walk, but it had been nothing more than teaching her how to properly square herself for an attack. In this session, things were much more intense. Her father began teaching her general chakra control before proceeding to teach her how to activate her Byakugan in order to fully utilize the Gentle Fist.
She felt the veins expand on her temples as she followed her father's instructions. The world became crystal clear to her. She could see behind walls, below the floor, and beneath her father's skin. His calmly beating heart and skeleton were terrifying to behold. She closed her eyes, but even that didn't cause the images to subside. There was too much.
Tears warmed her cheeks before her father's touch froze them. "We'll continue another day," he said icily before grabbing her hand. The next thing that she recalled was walking back to her room, her father's pace slower than it had been earlier. She felt his white-hot gaze on the side of her head that was diverted when her mother met them in the hallway. She approached them quickly, dropping lower to rub Hinata's face. Her fierce gaze softened, and she looked up at Lord Hiashi only briefly before spiriting the girl away.
When they were alone in her mother's quarters, Hinata sat in her lap while she hummed a soft song. It was one of her favorites about a little girl that danced beneath a waterfall until she was blessed by a moon spirit. When she did dream, oftentimes it would be about the song, but the little girl was her.
After her mother had ended the last verse, she lifted Hinata from her lap and placed her on the ground. Her milky eyes were gentle but seemed to be searching for something. "What happened today, Hina?"
"Father made me...use my eyes."
Her mother hadn't seemed concerned by that. "And?"
"It hurt," Hinata whimpered. "I saw Father's chakra and h-his b-bones. It was scary." She felt Lady Harue's hand caress her cheek and pull her into a hug.
"I see. Such a sweet child..." Her mother sighed. "What we as Hyūga are blessed with are eyes of insight. We can see the physical truth of a person." She looked down. "Like right now, if I wanted, I could see your little heart beating so hard in your chest. It is an invasive power that we possess, my sweet one, but it is your birthright. One day, you may use those eyes to see the truth about someone that you love." Her finger softly tapped Hinata's nose. "Do you understand?"
She didn't then, but would later. "Yes, mama."
"Good. Would you like some tea so you can take a nap?"
Though she didn't remember being tired, she knew that her head had been hurting from activating the Byakugan so she nodded. The tea had been a chamomile, lavender, and ginger mixture that was strong and warmed her chest and sinuses as she drank it. Her mother had food brought to her as well and made her perform a tenet of the etiquette training she had begun.
"Itadaki-masu," she said, clasping her little hands together as she dipped her head and then waited for her mother to give her permission to eat. Lady Harue smiled and with a nod, bade her to proceed. Only when she was finished eating the red bean dumpling, rice, and vegetables bowl the Branch servant had provided did her lady mother speak.
"I know that your father has requested that you be 'strong and courageous, but you do not have to lose the heart of who you are to achieve that. You are sweet and kind, Hina. All you need to do is add to that," she said.
"Yes, mama," Hinata replied. She was sleepy now, full of food and the quick settling of the pain in her head. She rubbed her eyes and fought back a yawn. Her mother reached out to touch her face, tracing her fingers down her cheek before scooping Hinata into her arms. She carried her through the hallways. Through heavy eyes, the young girl saw a few Branch servants rally to her mother's side and walk with her. She heard their footsteps grow quiet as her eyes shut, and she was drawn into the welcome embrace of sleep.
"You brought her here? No, that wasn't the plan."
"You are free to have your plans, but I do not serve you."
"Who do you serve then?"
"One who doesn't need to ask such a question."
The exchange roused Hinata slowly from her sleep. Her head and eyes were heavy. Lifting both proved hard but the Hyūga princess did. She saw two men standing near the entrance of a room, moonlight peering through. Bathed in the silver glow, the two men wore uniforms that Hinata had never seen.
One of them stepped into the other man's face. "Might I remind you we are both foreigners here. These Konoha shinobi are frothing, waiting for an excuse to kill me." His headband covered the right side of his face and bandages wrapped all but the left side of his head. Hinata noted the odd symbol on his forehead protector that looked like a carving of clouds.
"And here you are," the other man said, his spiked blue hair near white beneath the moon. "Providing them a reason." He turned and Hinata remembered freezing under his gaze. He only had one eye too, a left one that was blue as the summer sky. When he walked towards her, Hinata tried to scream. Only a muffled squeal came out. When she tried again, the blue-haired man put a finger to her lips. "Silence, little lady."
"We need to leave," the other man said. "My guards will be waiting for me outside of the walls. If we're quick..."
Hinata heard the sound of feet landing in the room and the sudden appearance made the Cloud shinobi and the blue-haired man close in on each other, placing themselves between the new arrival and Hinata. The little girl could barely see past their legs, but her ears worked well enough to hear the conversation.
"Why are you all here?"
"Our lord wanted a message delivered before you departed," one voice said, surprisingly younger than Hinata expected to hear. "It was too urgent to be delivered by bird."
"Then speak it," the bandaged man said.
"As hard as the cloud tries, it'll never fly high enough to see the sun."
The Cloud shinobi gasped out a "Wha–" before the shadow became three. Larger than the first, they dashed forward and struck him squarely in the throat, and he fell to the floor. The smaller shadow dropped his stance and drew a short blade. In the darkness, Hinata watched as the shinobi's eyes turned a bloody red. He dashed in front of the blue-haired man in a blur too fast for the young girl to follow. They clashed a few more times around the room, switching their positions until finally they landed. The one-eyed man dashed for the door and the small shadow followed, stopping short of the exit.
"He won't make it far," one of his companions said. He turned his scarlet eyes towards Hinata, and she remembered how cold she felt.
The feeling washed away when the smaller shadow, a young teenage boy with wavy black hair, knelt in front of her and extended his hand. "Are you alright, Lady Hinata?"
I remember now...
The main perpetrator had been Kumo's Head Ninja but his accomplice was still a mystery. A man with an eyepatch and spiky blue hair... She didn't remember seeing any headbands signifying the village that he was from. He could have been a Kumo shinobi as well, but his clothes were distinctly different. Whoever he was, the Uchiha had rescued her from her captors but had been unable to capture or kill them both. The Head Ninja had been brought to her father by Lord Fourth, and they'd made the decision to bind her and Sasuke, as well as their clans, together because of it.
"My lady..."
Hinata blinked and realized that Kō had been looking at her. "I'm fine, Kō," she said. The moonlight that peered into her room disappeared and the little girl turned to see clouds rolling through the dark sky and covering the moon. She remembered the lullaby her mother had sung and how she imagined being the little girl in the waterfall, awaiting the moon spirit's blessing. But, the clouds were obscuring the light now like the doubts that crept into her heart.
Mother, the little girl thought, staring into the star-speckled black void. Help me be strong, courageous, and kind...like you.
