Because I Love You - Chasing After You

by The Flare Blade

Hiruzen knew that Tazuna's request was much more dangerous and important than it first appeared to be. He needed experienced ninja for the mission, but his hands were tied because of politics... until he sees a loophole. Using an educational project as cover, he will send two teams to Wave! A Naruto retelling with Hinata as a main character but with canon teams. (Ch1-5 revised!)

11. Chapter 11 - Unexpected Tides

Hey... anyone still there?

Sorry for the delay, people. College blew up in my face and suffice to say that a 6-man project done solely by two people takes a huge chunk of time (and for nothing, since the damn thing had been wrong from step 1, and I only found out about it at the last minute. Time absolutely wasted...). That, and my beta had some problems too so there was a delay on his end for almost a week...

With that said, I have something important to ask of the people that reviewed my fic after the last update: check if your reviews actually got in if you were an anonymous guest reviewer. If you were a registered reviewer, simply see if I answered your reviews on your inbox. There's a chance they might not have been actually sent to the site, since it derped one time between the updates and I'm not sure how badly it truly was or how long it lasted.

I'm hoping some reviews actually failed to get through... going an entire month with just a single review (which I asked for since I was familiar with the reviewer) was a new, and not exactly thrilling experience. Karma for the delay, maybe? Yeah.

Also, two small responses to the guest reviewers that left actually understandable reviews and that I don't have contact with in Gamefaqs AND that have reviews that I actually can answer at this point.

Areving: Thank you for the great reviews! I'm glad you are liking the fic so much!

Guest that asked about more SasuHina interactions: Their schedules don't really coincide for most of what I have planned, but I will see what I can do.

And lastly, I just wanted to note that this chapter focuses more on plot/side-plot development than character interactions like the previous chapter.

That's it. Hope you guys enjoy!

---

Land of Waves Arc

Chapter 11: Unexpected Tides (Current Version: 1.0.1)

---

After making a contract with Zabuza, Gatou temporarily lent to the jonin and his men a small hut deep within the forests of the Land of Waves's main island, which would serve as a small base for the band of missing-nin. The former Mist jonin didn't intend on staying for long, but the wounds he suffered during his fight with Kurenai and Kakashi, in addition to the stress of being put in a near-death state to fool both of them, forced him to spend more time than planned on the little house.

Zabuza was currently sleeping on a bed in one of the few rooms of the hideout. The room was completely empty, save for the aforementioned bed and a chair in which a girl was sitting, patiently waiting for her master's recovery. She had waited a full day already, knowing that this was around the time her brother had brought Zabuza "home" in the previous day, and it seemed she would need to wait much more.

The girl had long black hair flowing freely down her back, and wore a simple pink kimono decorated with purple swirls and a long white obi. Her chestnut-colored eyes were firmly trained on the slumbering form of her master, guarding over him as he slept.

Suddenly, the door opened. It barely made any noise, but it was enough to make Zabuza awaken and focus immediately, as if he had never been asleep at all. His eyes quickly scanned the room around him and, committing it and who the newcomers were to memory, he then kept his gaze firmly trained on the ceiling.

No threats were detected.

"Some jonin..." a middle-aged man muttered disdainfully as he entered the room, flanked by two katana-wielding bodyguards. While the bodyguards were dressed as common thugs, the man wore a sharp suit and accompanying pants, both of a black color that matched his sunglasses, but contrasted with his messy, medium-length graying blond hair.

He was none other than Gatou, Zabuza's client.

"This is the second time you have failed me, Zabuza," he stated calmly, yet with a clear edge of anger and annoyance beneath his tone. This didn't go undetected by Zabuza's companion, and the girl immediately rose from the chair to glare dangerously at the businessman when she heard his footsteps coming towards her master.

Immediately on guard, both bodyguards went for their swords, and the girl made sure to keep perfectly still in response. Gatou, however, continued walking on as if he owned the place. Which, incidentally, he did.

"Two days ago, it was because of your lousy subordinates, but now you went to do the job yourself and the bridge builder is still alive," Gatou spat. "Is this the fabled might of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist!? Feh! Simply pathetic..."

The insult yielded no reaction. Zabuza continued almost as still as a corpse, which also meant that he didn't spare a single glance to Gatou beyond the instant after he entered.

The mere idea that a lowly nobody ninja was ignoring him—dismissing his presence—angered Gatou, and on a whim, he moved even closer to Zabuza, intent on making the supposedly incapacitated shinobi pay attention to him... by force, if necessary.

"Now, what excuse do you have this time!?" The businessman demanded, outstretching his hand towards Zabuza. "If this is all you are capable of, then you will earn not a single coin from me!"

Just as the magnate was about to reach Zabuza's bandage mask, the girl caught his wrist, gripping it tightly with a strength and temperature that matched furious blizzard

"You will not sully Zabuza-sama with your dirty hands!" she hissed, only barely restraining herself from breaking the hand she held. Gatou screamed, not just from the pain, but from fear. The ferocity in the girl's eyes made him want to escape her grasp as fast as possible lest he risk a certain, painful death.

But she didn't budge an inch, no matter how strongly he pulled.

With their charge in potential danger, the two swordsmen that entered with Gatou went for their blades... but just as they were almost drawing the katanas from their sheaths, both felt the cold edge of each other's weapon on their necks.

"Unless you want your throat to be slit, I recommend not moving," someone warned from behind them. The voice was somewhat feminine, but it clearly belonged to a male. Had the two bodyguards had the courage to look behind them, they would have seen a boy strikingly similar to the girl currently assaulting their employer.

"Zabuza-sama is only like this because YOU failed to give us the proper information!" The girl shouted, not budging an inch even though Gatou tried his hardest to get away from her. "The bridge builder hired two teams of genin, and that meant two jonin were protecting him as well!"

Following that sentence, Gatou's screens intensified as he felt his an intense sensation of blaze and frost on his hand. "R-release me at once! Unhand me!"

"Haru."

At her master's unspoken command, the girl begrudgingly released the man, but the fury her eyes refused to go away. Gatou, fearing for his life, took more than a few steps back while resisting the urge to cradle his wounded hand. The burns it got from the exposure to extreme cold would just become even more painful if he did that.

"In addition to the faulty information," Haku spoke up, letting go of the two katanas he held and throwing them to the floor, "the Konoha-nin had among them a group of genin capable of detecting ambushes from a safe distance, and one of the strongest jonin Konoha currently has is part of that team. Incidentally, he is also one of the few people in the world that would have been able to counter Zabuza-sama's silent killing style and is an accomplished tracker on his own right."

Having said that, the boy disappeared in a mist of leaves and reappeared beside the girl. Seeing them side-by-side told Gatou and his men that the two were closely related, only diverging in height and hairstyle (beyond gender differences, of course). But none of the three men paid enough attention to the siblings to register that much, and they promptly ran away... though Gatou had a few last things to say before getting out of there.

"Listen, I'm giving you one last chance! If you mess up again, you're out!" After saying his piece, Gatou left the room and used his good hand to slam the door of the bedroom. Two seconds later, he actually opened it again and decided to give the missing-nin another order.

"And if you are at such a disadvantage, bring those two stupid brats of yours to the battlefield! You clearly are too weak to kill those bastards on your own, so use your brain this time!"

Once again, the magnate slammed the door on his way out, leaving the three shinobi on their own.

"You shouldn't have interfered, Haru," Zabuza chastised, gripping a kunai he had hidden beneath the covers. "I am more than capable of handling business by myself."

Even though he was technically her superior, Haru still crossed her arms in front of her chest and confronted Zabuza head-on. "You said the same thing when you went alone to fight those Leaf ninja, and look how that played out."

"However," Haku intervened, knowing that Zabuza would have started to argue with her, "it would not do well to upset our clients, Haru-chan. Never mind trying to freeze his arm..."

"Hmph!" the girl looked away, clearly still feeling like she was in the right. "You didn't expect me to let him touch Zabuza-sama, did you?"

"No," the boy admitted with a sigh. He knew that Haru could get quite overbearing when it came to Zabuza, but he wished she were less violent about it. Still, that wasn't the only problem with his younger sister's actions. "But remember that he is the one paying us for this, Haru-chan. We will need a substantial amount to fund a mercenary force and later dethrone the Mizukage; you know this."

"Yeah... I'm sorry, Zabuza-sama, Haru-nii," she apologized, looking at the ground, and a small moment of silence followed before she spoke up again.

"...I still don't agree with this."

Zabuza narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"This whole "revenge" against the Mizukage, what else!?" she spat, glaring fiercely at the swordsman, and then glancing at her older brother. "Come on, you two! Why can't we just forg—"

"This is not up for discussion," Zabuza cut her off. He already had heard that same speech quite a few times already and he had no wish to hear it once again.

"...Understood, Zabuza-sama." The girl gave up, and just sat down on her chair again, staring glumly at the floor. "I... just don't understand why you two can't let go of this..."

And in her ignorance Haru continued, as Zabuza simply closed his eyes again to signal the end of their conversation, and her brother decided to leave the room.

Once he was out, Haku firmly closed the door and leaned against it, sliding down until he was sitting on the floor. Releasing a breath of regret and with a heart heavy with guilt, he searched the inner pockets of his green robes and drew the mask he usually wore during missions.

The piece of chakra-enhanced steel stared back at him, reminding the boy of just why he kept fighting.

"I'm sorry, Haru..." he whispered to himself.

While Zabuza trained both of them, even if sometimes differently given their skillsets, Haru didn't often go out on missions thanks to her struggles to fight in a battlefield affected by the Kirigakure no Jutsu. As a result, she was usually left behind in whatever place Zabuza had them staying at for the night, waiting for her brother and master to return... despite knowing that there was a chance they might not.

Particularly notorious was one incident, almost a full year beforehand, when Haku and Zabuza were ambushed by a big squad of hunter-nin while both were out during a mission. The two managed to kill every single one of the Mizukage's ninja, but both were gravely wounded as a result. Thanks to their injuries, the pair took over a week to make their way back to the hideout, with some wounds partially healed and others in worse condition thanks to infections, and ever since their return, Haru kept trying to convince Zabuza and her brother to simply give up on their plans to usurp Yagura.

Haku merely though this was a result of her being worried for their safety after the incident, and while the girl had indeed been extremely worried... it was only a month later, when they were preparing to move out from that hideout to the next, that he discovered how deeply the event had affected his sister.

He really didn't intend on invading her privacy like he did; it was by complete accident that he dropped Haru's backpack and her diary stumbled out of it, opening in the process. But he had given in to the temptation and read a bit of the random page, figuring that what Haru didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

Now, Haku could barely stand the irony of that thought, because the pages he read were from that one week they were gone. His first finding was a bittersweet one, when he discovered that the girl wrote her diary entries as if she were writing simple letters to their departed mother. It brought a sad smile to Haku's face when he began reading, but it soon disappeared as he flipped through the pages.

The first two days or so, she only expressed her worries just as she usually did in person, and hoped that they would return soon between rants over some of the more annoying household chores... but as the days passed, the girl started to consider the possibility that they had truly gotten themselves killed. Had everything gone smoothly, the mission wouldn't have lasted more than a couple days, but more than a full week? It was impossible not to think that something happened to them.

Haku knew his sister had been crying over their absence. He and Zabuza actually caught her in the act when they returned, and as such, he wasn't terribly surprised when he noticed the last entry prior to their return had a few spots smudged and wrinkled from the tears that fell on the paper and eventually dried. But the contents of the last two pages are what truly got to him. He could still remember, even now, exactly what his sister had written that day...

---

Dear mother,

Another day has passed, and they still haven't come back. It has been nine days since they left. Nine! I don't know what to do anymore!

Something truly horrible must have happened to them... those bandits that Zabuza-sama was contracted to slay must have had more than a few missing-nin on their side. There's no other way to explain why such incredible shinobi like him and nii-san would take this long to come back.

I don't want to think about. I really don't want to think about it... but I'm starting to think they aren't going to return. That either they lost the fight or their wounds were too grave for them to return...

Maybe it's the lack of sleep that is getting to me. I mean... I know you wouldn't be happy with me, but yesterday I couldn't sleep too. I've cleaned the hideout thoroughly everyday, and I definitely feel tired but I simply can't fall asleep. I know, this is the third day that this happened, but I want to be there when they come back. No, when they come back! Right? They will be tired and hungry... and they will need me to be there. You understand, don't you?

...But I shouldn't have been here! I should've been there with them! I should've tried to get better at fighting in that stupid mist... and I know I'm not that good at this Ice Release just yet, but I still should've been there! I know that my powers could've been useful... but Zabuza-sama said I would only get in the way because that mission was too hard for me.

If only I was stronger... if I was as talented as nii-san is, then I know I could've been there to protect them. But no, I'm stuck here! I don't even know if they will be back! At least... at least if they died, I could've known it. This feeling of not knowing whether they are coming home is horrible...

If they return, I will pester Zabuza-sama until he trains me harder. I know I can get the hang of my powers... and if I can get good enough, I can start to go on those harder missions to make sure to protect them. That's why I was born with this ability, right? I refuse to believe that I inherited you and dad's powers for no reason... but...

But none of that will mean anything if they don't return. If... if that's the case, then what should I do, mom? What can I do?!

I've always followed Zabuza-sama's orders without question, but... this means I don't know where the nearest village is. There's quite a lot of food in here, maybe enough to last me a few more weeks until the Demon Brothers return from their own mission. We could figure out what to do, then.

I... am not sure I will last that long, though. I'm hungry... it's been a couple days since I have last eaten anything. This is news to you, isn't it? Sorry, I didn't want to talk about it... but these past three days I simply can't enter that room. The kitchen... the one time I tried, I saw a knife on the counter and... I don't think I could stand to tell you what I thought at that moment. I know you wouldn't be pleased to hear it... I'm sorry, mom.

It's late. I just had the idea to try to sleep near the entrance so that I can maybe hear them coming. Maybe sleep will come to me this time... or maybe they will.

I'm not sure for how long I can still wait for them...

---

After reading those two pages, Haku found himself unable to face his sister for quite a while. Merely looking at her hurt.

The only reason he and Zabuza had been so wounded, was because Haku took a nasty hit rather early on during the fight, forcing Zabuza to fight defensively to protect him. The jonin later argued that he would have needed the help to fend off the enemies, but was quite harsh in pointing out his apprentice's mistakes afterwards.

Haku knew Zabuza's methods well; the former commander of Kiri's assassination squad had little patience for mistakes, but he made sure that when one was made, that the lesson behind the error was well-learned. As such, Haku did his best to forget about his blunder as soon as he could... but then came the diary.

The thought that his actions almost caused his sister to kill herself was enough to make sure the shame and guilt would still haunt him for a long time. Nightmares where he and Zabuza returned home only to find Haru's bloody corpse, either with a nasty gash on the throat or a knife buried in her heart, would guarantee it.

Still... as much as it tormented the girl, even after she grew strong enough to take care of most missions they got, Haku knew that her wish for a peaceful life as far away as possible from the Land of Water couldn't be realized.

'As long as that madman still lives, there will always be hunters pursuing us.' Haku clenched his fist. 'The only way to find peace is to liberate Kiri... and to avenge our clan,' he reminded himself.

He, too, wanted to give up on this lifestyle. Neither Zabuza nor Haru had any remorse when killing people, but Haku detested it with all of his being, perhaps as a result of the incident that led to the first time he took lives.

The only thing he hated more than killing... was the Mizukage itself.

'For our clan... for mother... I won't stop. Not until that bastard dies. Not until I ruin him in the same way he ruined our family...!'

And that, was a promise. An old promise, which he made to himself that day, many years ago, when everything changed for them.

They were just children back then... when their father discovered Haru's powers and killed their mother in cold blood, fearing the Ice Release bloodline. The girl witnessed their mother's death and fainted, but not before screaming as loudly as she could, which was the only reason Haku managed to arrive in time to rescue her from their terrified father.

They fled, but it wasn't long before their once-loving father rallied the other villagers and cornered them. Desperate, Haku called upon the power that his mother had advised him to keep hidden... and in an uncontrollable burst of chakra, killed all of the people that were after him and Haru.

The event traumatized him deeply, but his sister didn't come unscathed out of it either. The mental shock of seeing her mother's murder was too much for the young girl's psyche, and the innocent child didn't remember a single thing about the incident after she woke up.

Haku was immensely glad for that, but it meant the burden of telling her what happened fell onto his shoulder. It was painful, recounting his mother's death... and at the time he did not name who her murderer had been.

But at the end, while crying desperately over the death of their mother, the young girl asked two simple questions that almost destroyed him on the inside.

'Nii-chan... where's daddy? H-he's alright, isn't he?!'

He simply didn't have the heart to tell her the truth. Haru and their father had been extremely close, almost to the point where Haku felt jealousy towards her. The man had been her hero... and as much as he ended up dying as a villain, Haku couldn't find it in himself to crush the girl's beliefs like that, not when he had to live with the guilt of having killed their father personally.

Instead of the cruel truth, he managed to tell her that their father also had special powers. In his lie, their father gave his life to protect them from the villagers, later elaborating that he died from chakra exhaustion after summoning gigantic ice spears to save them from certain death. What really happened, though...

'Monsters! I'll kill you... I will kill all of you!'

The reality behind him throwing away his father's surname to, instead, be called Haku Yuki—in honor of the persecuted clan that his mother had been born to—was something he'd bring with himself to the grave. His sister followed without complaining, thinking that this was her father's last wish...

The irony never escaped Haku.

He didn't want his sister to be taken over by the same bitterness that kept him going forward, every day. The same emptiness that took upon him ever since that incident, that now didn't even allow for a single tear to fall down when he remembered his father's final words.

The last thing the man had ever said, beyond the strained, bloody gurgle after his whole torso was impaled by a spear of ice.

Perhaps, in the end, he had been right to call them monsters...

---

It was about eight in the morning when Kakashi and the genin that composed Teams 7 and 8 arrived in the same clearing they had spent the entirety previous day in. It was the same as they had left it, with multiple trees sporting kunai marks and a few small craters, and a thin line of dried blood on the grass where a certain Naruto Uzumaki accidentally cut himself in a training accident.

Had Kakashi decided to end their training session only a couple minutes earlier, however, there would be a small but significant difference between how the area would have looked like then: a single slash mark, found at the very top of the tree one Hinata Hyuuga had spent the whole day climbing.

Unlike Sasuke Uchiha who (almost) always easily succeeded at whatever he set out to do with relative ease, Hinata wasn't used to this feeling of success. It was enough to keep a small, silly smile plastered on her face throughout the remainder of the day, even though she could barely move given how tired and sore she was.

(It did help that if Sakura's words were to be believed, she wasn't doing as badly as she thought when the subject was Naruto, though...)

An entire night of rest greatly alleviated the pains of the previous day's training, but it did little to quell her happiness. Kakashi had given her a look of approval, one that she had seen a few times but never directed solely at her... and Kurenai also looked distinctively impressed that both herself and Sakura were able to complete their training within a single day.

Now, one day later, the girl stood before her training partner. She felt a little bad for the tree—many forms of life would make use of the kunai wounds the plant endured—but it didn't manage to make her any less accomplished and, oddly, proud of herself. Tree climbing was, after all, supposed to be difficult even for an experienced ninja.

But... was that enough for one supposed to be the heiress of the Hyuuga clan? Would her father be proud too, or at the very least satisfied with her performance? Or perhaps she, as a Hyuuga, was supposed to have been able to conquer that exercise much faster than she did? Maybe the fact that a mere civilian had beaten her would make her own performance irrelevant to his eyes...

"Alright kids, here's how we are going to work today," Kakashi started speaking suddenly, snapping Hinata out of her thoughts. "Shino, Sakura, Hinata. You three already have a good understanding of how to use and control your chakra, so you will get a more advanced lesson on ninjutsu from me."

"So, no more spars?" Sakura asked, remembering how she essentially spent three hours fighting Shino with barely any breaks, with kikaichu and genjutsu banned to simulate what they would be able to work with when Zabuza returned. It was a pure physical workout, and Sakura was still a bit sore even after a nice rest.

"Not until after the lunch break," the jonin answered, and then motioned towards the three genin he hadn't named yet. "As for you three, same thing as yesterday. Any questions?"

Naruto's hand rose immediately. "What are you going to teach them, Kakashi-sensei? Is it going to be a cool jutsu!?"

The genin's eagerness made Kakashi eye-smile at him. "Get to the top of the tree and you will find out!"

Naruto's pout, Kiba patting the miffed blond on the shoulder and Sasuke snorting in fake disinterest were the last Hinata saw of the three before Kakashi ushered herself and her colleagues towards another part of the forest, though she still heard Naruto's whine about how it was "totally not fair".

They did not go very far away from the other "team", just enough to hear the few swears and groans of annoyance that the more outgoing boys of the trio let out now and then. As it turned out, the area where they stopped was a smaller clearing, with a lone tree stump that Kakashi made good use of as a chair, albeit with some difficulty due to his crutches.

"Well then," Kakashi began motioning for his students to sit on the grass in front of him afterwards. "My previous lecture on chakra ended on a very interesting point that I'd like to continue talking about now."

'YOUR lecture?! How dare you?! It was MY lecture on chakra, you lazy good-for-nothing teacher! I'll sue you!' Sakura raged internally; the small twitch of her eye being the only evidence of her inner anger.

As the pinkette took a second to regain her mental composure, Shino replayed the end of her lecture on his head and quickly understood what the jonin referred to. "Do you perhaps intend on teaching us about nature transformation?"

"That's exactly where I was going, yes," Kakashi confirmed. "Mastering the process of transforming your normal chakra into elemental chakra is not easy, and is something most ninja only ever attempt after they become chunin. However, as my classes deal with ninjutsu, part of the program includes teaching you techniques that you would be able to make good use of. Determining your elemental nature is the first step towards it, in my opinion, so this is why we will be broaching this topic so early in your careers."

"I guess Naruto got it right for once," Sakura commented with a smirk. "We really will be learning "cool justu", huh?"

"Hmm... not exactly," Kakashi denied. "Considering our current circumstances, unless one of you turns out to be a genius at nature manipulation, you won't be managing to learn any jutsu from me while we are still in this country. It would certainly be a blessing, since you three specifically will be greatly hindered by Zabuza's technique... but the focus of your training during the week will be in taijutsu, not ninjutsu."

"T-then... why teach us this?" Hinata questioned timidly; sheer curiosity easily winning over her shyness in this case.

"To tell the truth, this is mostly to ensure the Hokage's project won't be canceled when we get back..." the silver-haired man confessed. "But you will be taking turns sparring with each other throughout the next few days, so this will give you a productive thing to do during breaks. Physical spars won't require you to use any substantial amount of chakra and this will help to take your chakra control to the next level."

"With all due respect, Kakashi-sensei," Shino interrupted, "if the intent is to further improve our chakra control, wouldn't it be far more productive for you to teach us the water walking technique?"

"A fair point," Kakashi conceded. "That technique is generally what shinobi move on to after learning to walk on trees, but our little lesson here also doubles as a little extra incentive for your other teammates to finish their task." The jonin sported his usual eye-smile as he said that, but it quickly vanished as he continued to talk. "That, and just working on chakra control won't do any good for you three specifically. Zabuza's Kirigakure no Jutsu will strip you of your greatest abilities, or in Hinata's case, greatly impair them. Training an element to master a jutsu can have a relevant payoff to our team if you succeed, but just chakra control will not."

Finding the man's logic to be sound, the Aburame nodded at the leader of Team 7 who then continued to talk. "I believe that this is enough about the "whys", so let's actually get to the lesson."

Seeing his students were all playing attention, Kakashi cleared his throat and began. "Nature transformation is one of the two ways to change the properties of chakra and allow you to access all sorts of techniques of a level that normal chakra would never allow you to achieve. The learning process, though, requires a lot of time, effort, and patience until you are able to find the desired results... but before we begin talking about our training proper, I want to teach you about the five basic natures, their advantages, disadvantages, properties and relationships with each other."

"B-but, there are more than j-just five elements... right?" Hinata interrupted, albeit a bit reluctantly given her unfamiliarity with the man. "O-our Shodaime... he had the wood release ability, if I'm not mistaken."

"Indeed, but elements such as those are very much like your Byakugan: bloodline limits" Kakashi explained, pointing at the young Hyuuga's eyes. "The basic elements can be learned and mastered by anyone that puts in enough time and hard work, but there are other elements that combine two kinds of elemental chakra... which can only be used if you are born with such a rare kind of chakra."

Kakashi knew, however, that this was a lie. The rogue student of Sarutobi Hiruzen, Orochimaru, had managed to cultivate and experiment with the Shodaime Hokage's genetic material and successfully implanted the bloodline in one test subject. Ultimately, it proved that it was possible to circumvent your body's limits... and also proved that the process is extremely unreliable, as the experiment killed off all but one of the many children the deranged sannin had used.

"So, back to what you three could actually make use of. Which one do you guys want me to talk about first?"

"Fire!" Sakura blurted out, before sparing an embarrassed glance at the two members of Team 8 that sat beside her. "Err, if that's alright with you guys..."

"I have no objections," Shino stated, drowning a mumble that was probably Hinata's soft-spoken "okay". Not due to Aburame's being loud, but because he was sitting between the two girls

"Fire it is, then." Kakashi agreed. "Fire is one of the three offensive-oriented elements and is the most common of them all—in particular in our homeland. Katon techniques are very all-around, having good speed, good range, good strength and reasonably low chakra cost while being simpler in execution when compared to other elements. Its attacks are debilitating, burning skin and melting chain mail to cause constant pain and to ensure the victim's chances of survival are lowered even by glancing blows... but there's also a pretty big risk in sticking with Fire. Can any of you three guess what it is?"

The genin spent a few seconds thinking, but ultimately came up without an answer, so Kakashi took pity on them and proceeded.

"The downfall of Fire-specialists is in how their attacks are at a disadvantage when facing the other kinds of elemental ninjutsu. Fire has a natural weakness to Water, generally doesn't manage to overpower Earth, has less speed and strength than Lighting, and while they do have an advantage against Wind, that one is the rarest of all five elements. Many seasoned ninja outside of the Wind Country have never fought a Fuuton user"

"So Sasuke-kun is in danger if he doesn't learn any other techniques..." Sakura muttered to herself, ignoring the last bit about Wind completely. Suddenly, learning about one of the things that made her crush special wasn't as cool as she had initially presumed.

"Fire is still a good element, but yes, Sasuke can be outmatched by other ninjutsu specialists," the jonin confirmed. "My plan for Sasuke is to train him on a second element once we return... and what element do you think that will be?"

This time, an answer came right away.

"You will teach Sasuke how to use the element that overpowers his current weakness," Shino said confidently. "As Fire can be defeated by Water, he will be taught the element that defeats Water... and in this case, it could be either Lighting or Earth."

"Exactly," Kakashi confirmed. "Lighting is also my specialty, so that's what I was planning to teach Sasuke. Lighting is the most offensive-oriented element, with techniques that have a superior speed and strength to any other element, and a combination of piercing and paralyzing effects in its jutsu that makes it the most dangerous kind of ninjutsu you could be up against. However, it's also the most difficult element to use, requiring both an excellent chakra control and big reserves to do anything significant with it. In regards to other elements, it is in the exact opposite case of Fire: It's offensively superior to it, can easily overpower Earth, makes using Water an extremely dangerous risk due to its conductive nature, and its one weakness is the rarest element of them all."

'Hopefully none of us have that element,' Hinata thought, dreading the possibility. Given the apparent difficulty in using Raiton jutsu, it was practically certain that they wouldn't be able to advance in their training fast enough to contribute to their current mission if that were to be their affinities. Still, despite that, there was another thing nagging at her as she listened to the explanations so far.

"And... what about Wind?" The fact that it was supposedly so rare made the blunette wonder what kind of secret the Fuuton techniques could be hiding.

The jonin faced her and began his speech. "Wind, the last of the three offensive elements, is focused on range. Its techniques are extremely hard to dodge due to the area they cover and their modest speed, but their damage output is generally lower than the previous two types, even if the cutting properties of Wind chakra can come in handy now and then. In compensation, it's the most effective element at close-quarters combat, having quite a few potent short range techniques. Chakra-wise, it has a versatile array of techniques that can focus either on control or on output, but learning how to use wind to begin with requires good control. It has mild difficulty in beating the defensive types, and being beaten by the most common kind of elemental ninjutsu isn't a great thing but... Lighting is almost just as common, and having an advantage against that is nothing to sneeze at. The unfamiliarity people have against Wind is also noteworthy."

"And if Lighting, Fire, and Wind are the offensive elements..." Sakura began, "Then Water and Earth are the defensive types, right?"

"Right. Unlike the others, these two elements don't usually work on pure chakra: they manipulate solid forms that are hard for physical attacks to break through, and they have unique properties that give them slight chakra-resistant effects... to the point where the combination of these two natures—the Mokuton we previously mentioned—can drain chakra even without contact. But talking about them individually... let's begin with Earth.

"Earth techniques are generally the superior ones in defense, while possessing a reasonable power behind its attack techniques. Doton jutsu does have a glaring weakness against Lighting, but it can be counted on to protect you against all of the other elements with ease. The problem with it is that Earth jutsu are comparatively slow, so to make up for that, there's a variation of Doton manipulation lets you use mud, trading some of its power and resilience for faster techniques and giving you a range of support abilities too."

"Wait, mud?" Sakura interrupted. "Don't you need water to do that?"

"Yes, and that's the key. Mud attacks are nothing more than a person using Earth chakra to manipulate liquids. The resulting mud is much thicker than normal water, so it requires more chakra and control from the user, but if you need the speed and can't use Water techniques to begin with, it can be worth it."

"...If manipulating water with Earth chakra creates mud, then what happens when manipulating earth with Water chakra?" Shino inquired.

"You'd just extract whatever remains of liquid there are on the surface you chose or nothing at all." Kakashi explained. "Though now that we are on topic, well... Water techniques don't depend as much on a substance to be formed, as one can convert chakra into Water just from taking a little of water vapor present in the air or a minimal share of water from our bodies. Sometimes even from urine."

"Ew," Sakura held her tongue out, and Hinata failed to hide the expression of disgust on her face. Kakashi wanted to remind them that a ninja must use every tool at their disposal in order to survive, but his lecture was getting long enough already, so he simply overlooked it and proceeded.

"Though Suiton techniques lack in power when compared to other natures, that weakness can be rectified when the user has plenty of water around them, allowing one to greatly increase their technique's power and range while keeping the advantages of Water: flexibility, low chakra cost, and speed. All in all, Water can be weaker offensively but it has the widest range of techniques of a support and defensive nature when compared to other elements, allowing the user to perform a great variety of roles within a squad. As far as interactions with other elements go, Water almost never is able to overpower Earth without having a natural source such as a river or lake to increase the technique's strength. Raiton techniques simply use the water's conductive nature to boost themselves, so it's a bad match-up too. Wind and Fire, on the other hand, can be counted to fail against Water most of the time."

'Well, I hope I don't have THAT affinity,' Sakura mused. Being so dependent on the environment in order to provide enough offensive power when necessary didn't appeal to her, despite how the element seemed to be the best fit for a support role. That, and being potentially forced to use her own urine...

Shino, however, was considering the unique benefits he'd have with that element. 'Fire and Wind are the biggest threats to my kikaichu, but Water could help me cover for them when I require an opening. Perhaps there is merit to learning Suiton regardless of my affinity...'

"Lastly," Kakashi continued, "there are two specific cases where an elemental weakness can be useful to the ninja: Wind's weakness to Fire and Water's weakness to Lighting. While the enemy can exploit your weakness, these same elemental interactions can be used among teammates to increase the strength of the stronger element, be it by fueling the flames of a Katon jutsu or expanding the range and changing the direction of a Raiton jutsu. Also, it is worth nothing that a Wind user paired with an Earth user could make a perfect defensive formation given that Doton stops all but Lighting, which can in turn be countered by Fuuton. And... that's it"

Yawning freely behind his mask, Kakashi was truly glad that he got stuck with these three specifically. All of them liked to learn new things, even if just in theory, and they paid attention to his every word. Sasuke probably would have lost his patience by now if given the same lecture, and Kakashi wasn't sure if he'd ever get to say all of it with Naruto or Kiba around, given the amount of things he wanted to cover and their restless personalities.

Still, that didn't change the fact that the same lecture would need to be given to those three one day. Being aware of how each element interacts with the others and what to expect when fighting ninjutsu specialists was something the academy didn't teach, given how genin almost never dabble in elemental jutsu. The students were expected to do their own research after promoting to chunin, but nothing would beat the hands-on experiences of someone that spent many years fighting against and using all five kinds of elements.

Finally, the jonin drew three small slips of paper from his breast pocket and walked with a little difficulty towards the genin, handing two of the thin white squares to Sakura and Shino and keeping the last one for himself

"These papers here are extremely sensitive to chakra, and they react to the element your chakra is naturally attuned to. That element is called your "affinity", and manipulating it will come easier than the other four elements, both in terms of control and chakra output," the jonin explained. "It burns away for Fire, become completely soaked if Water, crumbles if Earth, splits in half with Wind, and crumples with Lighting. You just need to focus a bit of chakra on your fingertips and the paper will react after a couple seconds—watch."

Kakashi held the paper between his pointer and middle finger and sent his chakra through it. Instants later, it crumpled completely. "Like I said, Lighting. Now do it yourselves and let's see where we can go from here."

'Amazing...! Now, let's see what I can get out of this,' Sakura thought to herself, feeling the familiar spark of curiosity that needed to be sated that always accompanied an interesting lecture. She, however, didn't even manage to send her chakra to the paper before Shino spoke up.

"That was enlightening, but might I ask why haven't you offered a piece to my teammate?"

Turning her head, Sakura noticed that Hinata didn't have a slip of her own, and sported an expression that reeked of indecisiveness. The young Hyuuga didn't know whether she should have voiced her concerns, given that Kakashi always seemed to have a reason for the things he did, and as it turned out, she was correct.

"Because it's pointless," Kakashi clarified flatly. "Hinata's affinity is Lighting just like me and everyone else on her clan."

"...It is?" said girl blurted out without thinking, surprised. She knew that her clan has a few Raiton scrolls in the clan libraries, given only to the Hyuuga's strongest warriors. Some of them were also required to be learned by the clan head's first child, as part of the rituals that happen when the title is passed from parent to child. However, she thought it was just a tradition, much like Katon was—or perhaps had been—for the Uchiha.

"I've had the pleasure of working with many ninja during my career, including your parents, and I know that both of them had the affinity for Lighting, much like your entire clan," Kakashi said, remembering how Hiashi didn't take well to his usual three-hour delays. Also, it was hard to not forget Hikari, Hinata's mother, excitedly commenting about how she couldn't wait to master that element to apply it to her arrows.

She had been having trouble with the process and asked him for some tips, since she didn't want to make the clan think lowly of her because of that weakness and thus couldn't ask anyone in her clan for help. As she had been courting Hiashi at the time, and as one of the few Hyuuga ninja that took up a different path than the Gentle Fist, she couldn't afford such a thing.

Kakashi had thought it was an interesting coincidence that he'd also end up assisting Hikari's daughter with the same subject, but as it turned out...

"What!? I-Is this true?"

Kakashi regarded her with a "were you truly unaware of this?" look he usually reserved for Naruto. "Your father told this to me myself. And it is a necessity for you Hyuuga after all—Gentle Fist strikes glow a bright blue to my Sharingan, just like Raiton jutsu. Much like your dojustu, this affinity is in the blood of your entire clan."

"I... see..." Hinata muttered. This discovery practically ensured she'd remain useless in the coming fight, and that fact worried her... but being honest with herself, a more childish part of her was also looking forward to seeing how the paper would react to her chakra.

Kakashi easily saw the disappointment on the shy Hyuuga's face, and on a whim, decided that there was no harm in letting her see it out for herself.

"But here," the jonin said, handing the girl a slip of the chakra-sensitive paper. "I have a few spares, so feel free to use one if you wish."

Accepting the offer despite not seeing much point in it, Hinata took a moment to examine the paper. Exerting a little pressure on it, she found out that the paper was very hard and inflexible, and that it was unlikely that it would crumple so much without a decent bit of force.

'Why didn't anyone tell me this?' she wondered. Given her position as the heiress of the Hyuuga clan, this detail about the Jyuuken should have been taught to her at some point. 'But... father never even bothered.'

"Oh, look! It crumbled!" Sakura exclaimed excitedly, showing a small amount of brown powder on her hand.

"As did mine," Shino stated, displaying his hand and a similar quantity of dirt on his palm.

"Well, looks like you two got lucky," Kakashi smiled at them, a fact only barely evidenced by how his eye accompanied the motion. "Both myself and Kurenai use Earth, so getting to learn it will be much easier than the other affinities. So, let's move on to... what?"

Though Kakashi was looking at Sakura and Shino, his peripheral vision allowed him to see Hinata holding a little something that shouldn't be possible...

A piece of paper completely drenched in water, which was dripping a few bits of water on her lap.

"...Water?" The girl whispered to herself, shocked.

"Wasn't it supposed to react like yours, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura questioned, eyeing the once dry paper Hinata held.

"It was... I don't understand this," the man muttered. 'Could that have been a defective paper? Hell, can this thing even be defective...?'

"If Hinata's parents truly had Lighting affinity, then this shouldn't have been possible," Shino commented frowning.

The rest of the group turned to the Aburame in confusion, who found himself forced to elaborate. "As you all might have guessed, genetics is an important field of research for my clan. As such, I was required to read books on this and other subjects, and according to them, a person cannot be born with Lighting affinity unless that trait was present in both inherited genes. Thus, if both father and mother have that affinity, it is statistically impossible for their child to be born with any other affinity."

And yet, despite his words, the living exception to the research found in his books was there, with the evidence to contradict what years of breeding bugs and testing humans yielded. It was a fascinating mystery for Shino... much like the expression of utter terror that the boy saw on Hinata's face when he looked up from the paper the girl held.

'This... can't be!'

"Hinata?"

'Does... does this mean I'm not my father's child? I mean, here's no way my mom isn't my mom given how rare my hair color is in the Hyuuga clan but... or... is this a mutation? Kakashi-sensei just said the Jyuuken used Lighting... but if my affinity is Water then—!'

"Hey, Hinata!"

"Ah!? What? W-what is it!?" she stuttered out in confusion, not knowing why Sakura was calling her.

"You didn't respond when Shino called you..."

"Is everything alright?" Shino questioned after Sakura trailed off, all while Kakashi watched the interaction cautiously.

"I'm sorry, and... I'm fine," Hinata mumbled, averting her eyes to the ground.

Sakura frowned. "You didn't look fine."

"B-but I am!" The Hyuuga insisted, reestablishing eye contact as a bit of panic seeped into her words. "There's nothing... wrong with me. I'm fine."

Shino and Sakura shared a glance, feeling as if Hinata had been trying to convince herself rather than them.

"Indeed, there's nothing wrong with her... and in fact, it's the exact opposite," Kakashi confirmed, drawing the attention of the genin to him. The man was staring at Hinata with his single visible eye, and there was a hint of disappointment on the look he was giving her. A bit too subtle for Shino or Sakura to catch, but Hinata had far too much experience with that kind of situation to miss it.

Still, his last words were curious enough to make Hinata question him. "W-what do you mean?"

"Trying to convert normal chakra into an element takes a big toll on your reserves if you haven't undergone the proper training. This strain is reduced if you have an affinity for that element, but this wasn't the case with you. Remember what happened during the bell test?"

Hinata's pale eyes widened as she understood the meaning of his words.

"So, if I understand correctly, you mean to say that the cost of the technique Hinata attempted was multiplied because she hasn't an affinity for Lighting?" Shino spoke, testing his theory.

"Exactly," Kakashi nodded. "And the fact that what she attempted cost a decent amount of chakra to begin with is what made her fall unconscious The process of converting that much chakra to an element she didn't have the affinity for was a bit too much for her reserves, hence the fainting."

Grabbing a scroll from his breast pocket, Kakashi continued. "Luckily, this shouldn't get in the way of practicing the Gentle Fist, so this is nothing we need to worry about until we return home. And before we arrive in Konoha, there's still a lot to be done, so let's get started."

'...He's right,' Hinata realized, barely absorbing the explanation she had been just given. 'This is not the time to think about this.'

Dwelling on her fears was not going to help her survive this mission, so she'd need to forget her worries for the time being. They'd only be relevant if she returned to Konoha alive and healthy, after all.

The scroll Kakashi carried had the materials need for the Lighting and Water elemental training equipment. As it turned out, the other three elements could be practiced with just with things they had around them: leaves for Fire and Wind, and a patch of soil for Earth.

While Kakashi explained to Shino and Sakura how they were supposed to mold soil with just their chakra, Hinata opened the scroll Kakashi gave her to unseal the items she would be using, as instructed. To do so, she placed her hand over the painted kanji for "water" and sent a burst of chakra into it, much like she had done for the paper before.

'Let's see. Two small bowls, a big bottle of water and a wider bowl that can fit both of the smaller ones. Hmm... what could this training be?' Hinata asked herself, staring curiously at the plastic bottle and the brown ceramic of the bowls.

She had to remain in doubt for only a minute, as Kakashi approached her as soon as he was done with the other two.

"Alright, as for you," the jonin said as he got closer. "First, put the smaller bowls inside the bigger one, with a little distance between them, and fill one of the small ones with the water on the bottle".

"Right." Nodding once, Hinata quickly did as she was instructed, taking care not to spill the liquid. "Is this okay?"

"It will do. Now, your actual training is to transport the water from one small bowl to the other. Your training will be complete only when you can transfer all of it in one go. Activate your Byakugan and watch." The man waited for the girl to activate her dojutsu, and once all seals were done, he started the demonstration.

Hinata watched carefully as Kakashi focused his chakra on his right palm, and then released it towards the bowl. The chakra soon made contact with the water and spread through the liquid, until it covered the entire bowl. He then moved his hand upwards, and the water followed his command wholly.

'Incredible! It even retained the bowl's shape!' Hinata thought, awed. An observer would not need to be a mind reader to understand that, however, as her gaping mouth and wide eyes told the entire tale.

A straight motion to the side carried the floating water in the same direction until it was hovering above the second bowl. Slowly, Kakashi broke the connection between his chakra and the water, pouring the latter on the previously empty container.

"It looks like you just swapped them!"

"Doesn't it?" Kakashi smirked beneath his mask. "If you check the bowl you filled, you will see there is not a single drop of water on it.

Hinata could not resist it and zoomed in. "A-amazing! It's completely dry!"

"In short, just place your hand above the water, fill it with chakra, and move said chakra to the other bowl by using your hand. Just don't expect to get more than a few drops in your first tries, and place your hands as close as you can to the water's surface. You are also probably going to drop most of it while trying to move between the bowls, but that's why we have the bigger one. Refill the bowl when you need to."

With the explanations done, the jonin walked away to catch up with his book and Hinata began her training.

'Alright, first I send the chakra into the water and fill it,' she instructed herself, placing her hand as close to the water as she could without actually making contact. After a few seconds, her chakra consumed the entirety of the bowl, and slowly, the girl moved her hand upwards.

Only a single drop of water obeyed her.

Discouraged but not defeated, she attempted to move the lone drop to the other bowl... but her control over the chakra within the liquid slipped, leaving that drop to fall on the edge of the ball. A fraction of the water slipped back into the small bowl, while the rest ultimately ended up sliding on the outside of the bowl until it reached the surface of the wider one.

'Hngh... this will be harder than I thought.' The girl frowned. 'But I mustn't give up! I managed to reach to top of the tree yesterday so... I just have to keep at it!'

And thus Hinata tried again and again, unaware of the furtive glances Sakura and Shino shot at her as they eventually begun conversing between themselves, keeping their tone low as to not be overheard.

"Something is up with Hinata," Sakura whispered as she practiced the exercise Kakashi had demonstrated. The thick block of hardened earth that sat between them was not at all similar to the small, almost triangular patch of earth that she had managed to push from the ground with the power of her chakra. "That expression she had... I don't know what that meant, but it worries me."

"Agreed," Shino concurred, frowning at his equally pathetic manipulation of the soil. It wasn't even 5% of what Kakashi had shown them. "I believe it would be prudent to inform Kurenai-sensei of what is happening."

"...I'm not really sure about that," Sakura retorted, remembering how awkward her conversation with Kurenai had been.

"You might be unaware of this," Shino began, "but Kurenai-sensei had already been training with Hinata for quite some time prior to our graduation. I think if someone can get the truth from Hinata, it is her."

"...Okay, fine. It's not like we have any other choices" the pinkette backed off. 'Maybe I'm just being biased,' she thought, remembering the care the older kunoichi displayed when tending to Hinata the other day. The Genjutsu Mistress had started on the wrong foot with Team 7, but she had a much closer relationship to the small Hyuuga.

"Perhaps then she might be willing to talk to us..."

And while Hinata was just a few feet away from the duo, unaware of her fellow genin's conversation, Kakashi sat at a much farther distance. Still, his trained ears and eye were more than enough for him to understand what Sakura and Shino were planning.

'I guess she will learn this the hard way... well, I did warn her.' Shooting one last look at Hinata, who was fully immersed in her training, Kakashi went back to his book. "Now, where were we...?"

---

The sun had been close to setting when the trio of genin under Kakashi's guidance returned to their temporary home. Their sensei wasn't with them, since he had the hard task of convincing the other trio of genin to stop climbing trees for the day.

With that in mind, even though they were a bit sore from all the time they spent sparring with each other after the lunch break, Shino, Sakura, and Hinata decided to make use of their crippled sensei's absence to rush home as fast as they could. The promise of a hot bath and a warm plate of food was worth the pain.

As it turned out, Tazuna and Kurenai were already inside when they arrived, conversing with Tsunami in the kitchen while the latter was busy preparing dinner.

This was a conclusion Hinata arrived at merely by hearing the voices and noises coming from that room. At first, she had intended on going inside to greet the adults and take a peek at what Tsunami was cooking, but Sakura quickly stood between her and the doorway, effectively blocking her path.

"You know, you spent the whole day with that bulky coat, so why don't you go have a bath first?"

Not really having any reasons to object, besides sheer confusion, the bluenette decided to accept the weirdly worded offer and went upstairs right away.

"Besides, she has a point," Hinata conceded to herself once she was alone in Tsunami's bedroom, as she rummaged through her backpack in search of her bathing supplies and clothing. Her coat did a good job of protecting her from the cold, but the moderately warm weather added to the constant physical exercise she went through... made wearing it become very unpleasant as time passed.

It would be simple to take it out before it became an issue, but walking around with sweat stains was uncomfortable enough when nobody was there so see them... which didn't matter much in the end, as a bath and a fresh set of clothes (even if it also had another tan coat) solved that problem easily.

Roughly twenty minutes after she entered the house, now fully clean, Hinata made her way down and once again tried to enter the kitchen.

"Excuse... oh!" The girl froze in surprise, not really expecting a change in the room's occupants. Tazuna and Tsunami were still there, the former sitting by the table and the latter working near the sink. But instead of Kurenai, Shino and Sakura... the only other people in the room were the three male members of Team 7.

"Oh hey, it's Hinata! Hi!" Naruto exclaimed, waving in greeting.

"Afternoon, girlie," Tazuna called out to her, while Sasuke and Kakashi just glanced at her. The Uchiha did nod at her once their gazes met, though.

"H-hello," Hinata said, shyly approaching the table and sitting beside Sasuke, who in turn was sitting beside Kakashi and across from Naruto.

"Dinner is almost ready," Tsunami informed her while searching for a small towel to dry her hands. "I'm going to tell the other girl—Sakura-chan, was it?—that the bath is free. Though I guess she might as well eat first at this point..."

Hinata was just about to offer to go in her stead and maybe apologize for not being brief enough in the bathroom, when she remembered a key fact. "Um, where is everyone else...?"

"Your sensei was practically dragged by pinky and the bug boy; dunno where they went," Tazuna stated with a shrug. Obviously, he didn't know, and he didn't care.

"That happened right when we got here," Naruto added thoughtfully. "Shino had Kiba tag along for some reason. I think they are in our room..."

"I wonder what they could be talking about..." Kakashi said in a tone that implied he knew what was going on, all while giving Hinata a rather unnerving glance for a couple seconds before turning away and resuming his conversation with Tazuna.

It left Hinata feeling that perhaps she should have known what was happening with Sakura and the rest of her team, too...

---

It didn't take much longer for dinner to begin. Inari arrived from school almost at the same time as Tsunami brought back her other guests for dinner.

Hinata felt a little guilty about Sakura's situation. The pinkette hadn't had time to take her bath and was going to end up eating her dinner while sweaty and dirty. Perhaps, if her newfound ability to manipulate water hadn't childishly distracted her, she could have finished bathing fast enough for Sakura to have her turn, but... well. She didn't seem to mind, so Hinata just focused on her food.

For the most part. It was pretty hard not to stare at how the genin she didn't train with that day were inhaling their dinner as fast as possible, spilling food carelessly and making a huge mess. Hinata actually expected this behavior from Kiba and Naruto already, but seeing the usually composed and stoic Sasuke Uchiha swallowing his dinner like a starved ogre was certainly surprising.

Another surprise was that the other adults didn't seem to mind. Well, Kakashi obviously wouldn't have cared at all, and it would be a little hypocritical of Tazuna to complain—or perhaps hippo critical, the girl remembered with a small smile—but Tsunami and Kurenai both were also ignoring how the boys were behaving.

Their host seemed actually flattered by how much her food had been well received, but the bluenette only understood the reason behind her sensei's silence when she saw the woman's expression after Kiba started choking.

The Inuzuka had the misfortune of sitting right beside Sakura, who also hadn't been too pleased with the boys's lack of manners, but seemingly opted for silence as nobody else objected to it. The way she "helped" Kiba by hitting his back told enough of the pinkette's opinion, but Sakura still felt the need to verbalize it.

"See? That's what happens when you eat that fast. Slow down—and that goes for both of you as well!" She snarled, pointing at her teammates. Her anger was mostly aimed at Naruto and Kiba, as her gaze shifted merely to a vibe of disappointment when her eyes landed on the Uchiha.

The silent "I expected better of you" was enough for Sasuke to stop completely. Hinata had the impression the boy even flinched at that time and broke eye contact almost immediately. Even though she had watched the whole exchange mostly just with her peripheral vision, it reminded Hinata of how conversations with her father usually went.

'Perhaps... he has been through something similar in the past? Well, he wasn't the heir, but I suppose his father had high expectations for him, especially having a brother as talented as Itachi Uchiha. Hmm...'

Beyond that, dinner had been uneventful until the very end, when Tsunami served tea to everyone after their meals. Sakura ended up finishing it first, and after she brought her used cup to Tsunami, on the sink, the girl only had one thing in mind.

'Well, off to that sweet, sweet bath!'

Just as she happily started crossing the kitchen, though, she noticed Inari looking morosely at the wall behind her. She had caught him doing that many times throughout their meal and, unable to contain her curiosity any longer, followed the boy's gaze.

Hanging on the wall was a picture of Tazuna's family, all of them smiling cheerfully. Even Inari had a wide, happy grin on his face... but as odd as that was, what was even weirder was how the top right corner was ripped out. Part of what she assumed to be a man's torso and arm could still be seen behind a crouching Tazuna, but the man's face and identity were complete unknowns.

"What is up with this picture?" She asked before thinking about the situation. As she was facing the wall, Sakura failed to see Tazuna and his family tensing and thus she continued to voice her thoughts innocently. "Part of it is torn out... and Inari-kun was staring at it throughout dinner. It looks like there was someone else in here, but I can't see their face."

Hinata's eyes widened once she and the rest of the ninja present looked at said picture. 'This picture...! It's the same one Tsunami-san had been staring at yesterday!'

"...He was my husband," Tsunami conceded, desperately hoping that her guests wouldn't pry any further.

Her wish was useless, as her father decided to unveil the whole truth.

"His name was Kaiza. He... was known as a hero in this country."

Before Tazuna managed to even complete his sentence, his grandson pushed his unfinished dinner away and immediately walked out. His mother worriedly rushed to follow him right after, only stopping for a brief moment as she opened the door to the living room.

"Father! We don't talk about him like that around Inari! You know that!"

Sakura watched the whole exchange guiltily, not expecting that he innocent question could blow up on her face so magnificently.

"What's wrong with the squirt?" Kiba asked, suspiciously. 'I thought he was just a moody brat, but I guess there's more to it than him being Sasuke. Jr...'

Naruto, on the other hand, did not care much for the boy's well-being. What caught his attention was a completely different part of what Tazuna had just said.

"A hero!? Inari's dad was a hero?"

"No... Kaiza isn't his father by birth; he came into our family merely four years ago," Tazuna answered, shaking his head. He stopped for a moment as his throat tightened, but at Kakashi's prompting the old man continued his tale.

"He was the man that taught the people of this country the meaning of the word courage," he began, and from that point onwards he didn't hesitate to continue telling the behind Kaiza and Inari, even as tears began to fall from behind his glasses.

It was the story of a simple fisherman, who ended up on the shores of the Land of Waves in pursuit of a dream... and of a young boy, whose cowardice held him back from trying to save his precious dog from drowning after a group of bullies threw the pup to the sea, and as punishment, was also thrown to the waters and left to die.

Their fates intertwined in that day, when Kaiza rescued Inari from drowning and made sure to scold the kids for almost killing the boy and his dog. And whereas the dog, scorned, abandoned his master, Inari forged a new bond that day with the stranger that risked his life to save a kid he didn't even know.

It was the story of a man that believed that, no matter how painful or hard the situation might be, one needed to do their best to protect what they held dear to them, even if with nothing more than just their own two arms.

Though he and Inari parted ways not soon afterwards, it was only a few days later when Kaiza stumbled upon the boy's mother being robbed in the middle of a street. The dinner he was offered after dealing with the pair of knife-wielding thieves brought about the re-encounter between the boy and his savior, and the two became inseparable from that point onwards. Kaiza frequented Tazuna's household frequently, and he and Tsunami eventually fell in love during that time. Since Inari's real father had abandoned Tsunami after hearing about her pregnancy, it fell to Kaiza to fill in the role of the paternal figure that the boy never had while growing up, and their life was one of much happiness.

It was the story of a man who bravely challenged Mother Nature and came out victorious.

In a rainy season that was much stronger than the Land of Waves was accustomed to, the town's floodgate simply couldn't support the amount of water that was raging behind its closed doors, and it broke, leaving the overflowing waters to rush towards the lower districts of their island. Undaunted, Kaiza had a rope tied around his waist and bravely swan through the currents, bringing his rope with him to the other side of the river so that the other villagers had a chance to close the floodgates before a tragedy could happen.

It was the story of a hero, who wouldn't bow down to the will of a man consumed by greed, and whose courage inspired many to stand with him.

When Gatou showed up two years after Kaiza and Inari met, his thugs ran freely on the Land of Waves as if they owned the place. Rallying the villagers to fight for their country, Kaiza formed a resistance, and he and his men fought against the invaders, weakening Gatou's hold over the islands. Inspired by the one they called a hero and armed with not much more than some knives and wooden clubs, they eventually located where Gatou resided and sought to liberate their home from the tyrant before it was too late.

It became the story of a man that could not accept being opposed, be it by one local hero or by an entire country.

During his life, if there was one thing Gatou learned was that money solved all of his problems. When the people of the Land of Waves revolted, united under the command of the one they called hero. Gatou reluctantly invested in more mercenaries and bodyguards. The investment paid off when they suppressed the rebellion, and the "insurgency" had their leader captured.

It was the story of a boy who came to believe that, no matter how painful or hard the situation might be, his father would always protect what he held dear, even if with nothing more than just their own two arms.

The day following Kaiza's defeat, the people of the Land of Waves were told by Gatou's men to come to the town square. Curious, Inari followed the masses and stumbled upon a sight that would haunt him for the rest of his days. Strapped to wooden cross was the beaten and bloodied form of Kaiza, surrounded by Gatou and his mercenaries. The man's arms, which were meant to protect everyone he ever held dear... were purple, broken and swollen. Useless.

Inari then watched the unbeatable hero he came to idolize and love die in front of him, executed mercilessly with dozens of stabs to his torso; his blood leaking out of his body just as fast as his life did.

It became the story of a boy that came to realize that all the things he had ever believed in were no more than lies.

"Let this be a lesson to anyone that ever tries to go against me again: there are no heroes in this world!"

"...Ever since that day, everyone changed," Tazuna continued, trying to keep his voice and tears under control with little success. "My family... our people... they all lost the will to continue forward and the strength to smile and keep walking in the face of adversity. You two saw it with your own eyes," he affirmed, looking at Kurenai and Shino, who had accompanied him to the marketplace on the day they arrived.

Misery was the only word the two could possibly use to describe what they saw. But it wasn't merely a physical misery, coming from people who lacked money, food, and other belongings... but a spiritual misery. The aura of defeat that the whole city exuded was almost as overwhelming as Zabuza's killer intent had been.

"This... this is why the bridge you all are helping me build is so important! It's not just about the country's economy, but our people's lives! Our souls! Gatou took everything away from us... and this bridge—this chance to free ourselves from his grasp—it is the only way to restore the Land of Waves to what it once was. It's the only way to make everyone believe again... and," he faltered, removing his glasses to wipe his eyes.

"And... it is the only way that I could ever see my grandson smile again..." Tazuna finished in a whisper.

Taking a moment to recompose himself, he met every ninja's eyes with his own to see if they truly understood now what they all were fighting for. That this all was much more than just protecting his old drunken ass. Seeing a mix of sadness, anger, understanding and shock in each of them was what he expected and for the most part it, was enough for him. But when his tired, moist gaze fell on a certain someone, he saw the one thing he had been longing to see the most.

Scowling, Naruto shoved himself away from the table and made his way to the door, only to trip on his feet and crash to ground.

"What are you doing down there, Naruto?" Kiba questioned as Akamaru stood right in front of the fallen genin's face and barked at him, almost as if encouraging the blond as he struggled to get up and continue walking forward.

His legs were aching, and he felt more tired than when Iruka forced him to clean up the Hokage monument after his last and greatest prank, but if there was one thing that Naruto knew for sure it was that a little pain and discomfort would not stop him.

"I'm going out to train," he growled out.

"Naruto, you can barely stand," Sakura pointed out with a scolding edge to her tone.

"You have more stamina than the average people but even you have limits," Kakashi lectured. "If you keep using your chakra like that you might end up dead."

"Heh, don't underestimate me!" Ignoring the warnings, the boy left the room, but not before saying one last thing:

"I'll prove it to him that heroes still exist!"

After that declaration and the subsequent noises of Naruto opening the house's door and leaving, it was no surprise that those still in the kitchen fell silent from shock.

'...Man, what a figure; trying to look all badass like that even though he can't even walk straight,' Kiba thought, with an amused smirk. He had always admired Naruto for his guts (even if he would never admit it), but this was something else. And, as his eyes scanned the room and saw his female teammate's expression, the Inuzuka couldn't help but grumble to himself. 'And even dorks have an audience to cater to, apparently... why do girls never go for the guys in the middle of the mark like me? I mean, it's always either the losers or the stoic bad boys!'

"That fire..."

Tazuna mumble snapped Kiba from his thoughts. "What fire?"

"His eyes," The bridge builder answered, rising from his chair and slowly walking out of the kitchen. Despite the mood he previously was in, the old man couldn't help the smile forming on his face.

"I could see his determination burning in them as clear as day. The kid's will is a lot stronger than a disrespectful little brat of his age ought to have... and it's precisely the kind of strength of the spirit that this country and its people need to feel once again."

Drowning out the good night that Tazuna wished to everyone as he retired to his room, Sasuke got up from his chair with a loud noise as its feet scratched against the floor. The Uchiha heir also went to leave the room, but not before Kakashi called his attention.

"You aren't planning to climb trees with him, are you?"

"Yes and no." The boy turned around partially to face his sensei. "I'll go with him to make sure the idiot won't end up killing himself," Sasuke affirmed, taking note of how pleased both jonin were with his decision.

This, however, meant he didn't notice a certain blue-haired girl fidgeting as she also decided to interrupt him before he managed to get out.

"W-wait, Sasuke-san! Can... can I talk to you for a moment?" Hinata pleaded, also getting up, doing her best to ignore how everyone was looking at her.

Sasuke minutely motioned with his head for her to follow him, and the Hyuuga quickly hurried after him, catching up within the living room.

"What is it?"

"I, um... Naruto-kun still has my ointment with him, and... he's a bit forgetful sometimes, s-so I was thinking—"

"If it comes to that I will mention it to him," Sasuke interrupted her, and leaving the house. He and Hinata had reached an understanding ever since their first conversation, but it still stood that he didn't have much patience for her hesitation.

"Thank you, Sasuke-san," Hinata managed to say before he closed the door, having her slight bow answered with an even slighter nod and a door closed on her face.

Left alone, the girl sighed. 'I hope they stay safe out there...'

Neither of the two had tracking or sensory abilities, so they were very vulnerable to ambushes and a healing ointment could only do so much, even when you healed mysteriously and unnaturally fast.

"Stop worrying," Kiba said, making Hinata jump slightly as the boy placed his hand on her shoulder, near the flame-like symbol of the Hyuuga clan. "If they get rowdy out there, it's fine. That's how we men settle our issues and bond with each other, y'know?"

The bluenette frowned in confusion, the statement being complete nonsense in her opinion. "I-is that really true?"

"Trust me, they'll be okay," he assured the girl, with Akamaru backing him up with a bark down by their feet.

The Inuzuka completely missed why she had been apprehensive, and as such, Hinata's worried expression barely softened instead of going away completely. It made the boy remember what Shino and Sakura had told him and Kurenai earlier while the Hyuuga had been bathing, bringing a frown to his face.

"I do hope this doesn't mean you will be forcing me to fight unnecessarily on the pretense of deepening our friendship," Shino announced his presence as he entered the room with Sakura in tow.

"Between Kurenai-sensei's illusions and Shino's bugs, I know that they are safe out there," Sakura moved on to a more pressing issue. "Sasuke-kun basically said he'd keep Naruto away from the trees and I know he has enough common sense to not go too far away on his own."

"... I guess you are right," Hinata conceded half-heartedly. The girl then decided to start some small talk with her friends but her plan was put on the backburner as Kurenai also left the kitchen.

"Is everything okay over here?" the woman gently asked, shooting a significant look to the genin as she approached them.

It went all over Hinata's head, but the others quickly caught on.

"Everything WILL be okay once I finally have my bath, so if you'll excuse me..." Sakura quickly said before rushing upstairs.

"I believe you were curious about how our training went today, weren't you?" Shino spoke as he faced Kiba and motioned towards the guest room they were staying at.

"Oh yeah, you did say something about learning an element! So which one you got?" The Inuzuka asked eagerly, despite already knowing the answer. Akamaru merely followed his master, oblivious to the confused stare that the youngest human member of Team 8 was giving them as they left.

"This reminds me of something," Kurenai began, thanking Shino for leaving such an obvious hook. "I have been told that you didn't react too well to learning your affinity is Water, Hinata. Do you perhaps have a problem with the element?"

"N-no. I-It's fine, Kurenai-sensei...um, my affinity, I mean," the girl mumbled, slightly displeased. 'Why did Kakashi-sensei had to go and tell her about it?'

"Hinata, please don't lie to me," the woman scolded gently.

Sighing, the Hyuuga lowered her head but relented. "It's just that... the chakra strikes of the Gentle Fist seem to be Lighting-element attacks. Kakashi-sensei said so and... I am scared of what m-my father might think of me having the w-wrong affinity for... our clan's techniques."

"But you can always learn to manipulate another element later," Kurenai countered.

"Y-yes, of course... b-but I had more difficulty than most Hyuuga in learning how to use chakra in combat and... there are some very important and complex techniques that t-the heiress would need to know," Hinata explained, fiddling with her pointer fingers without even being aware of it.

The pressure of spouting half-truths to her sensei was what brought her nervous habit back.

The future head of the Hyuuga clan would indeed have to prove themselves worthy of being worthy by displaying mastery of the three greatest Gentle Fist arts: the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, the Rotation, and the Mountain Crusher. All of them are extremely hard to execute, requiring great chakra control and reserves to perform, among other things.

But as someone that would lose the title upon returning to Konoha, that mattered very little to Hinata. And despite not knowing about that circumstance, Kurenai still saw through the girl.

"That's not all of it, though. What aren't you telling me?"

And at that moment, Hinata realized there was no escaping this conversation. It took her a couple seconds to find the words she needed to speak, but eventually she confessed.

"It's... g-genetically speaking, I shouldn't have been born like this. With this affinity. I'm either n-not actually m-my father's biological daughter or... defective. And I—"

Hinata's words stopped with a gasp as Kurenai crouched to her level and hugged her, tightly.

"Please, Hinata! Don't ever think of yourself as defective! There is nothing wrong with you..."

The girl sniffled to hold back her tears and answered the hug. It had been so long since the last time she was hugged like that. The pleasant, comforting warmth that seemed to have been gone with her mother's death was something she had yearned to feel once again... however...

Even that was not enough. Kurenai knew that there was no possible way to deal with her student's first theory. She could still say it was not Hinata's fault, but it would do very little for the girl and her family... which Hinata was painfully aware of as well.

"B-b-but even so! I... know he hates me," she whispered painfully. "He hates me for not being the daughter that he wanted and... he might disown me or, or even banish me from the clan when he hears about it."

As much as her clan disliked her, they were still her family. The last thing Hinata wanted was to have that take away from her... and yet, she knew that this would be the last straw for her father. He had already basically given up on her attempts to become a better user of Jyuuken when he delegated her training to Kurenai half a year prior, but there was only so much failure he could tolerate before drastic measures would need to be taken—or so she believed.

"...Even if it comes to that, Hinata," the older female loosened her hug to face her student. "Know that I will always have my doors open for you," Kurenai offered a smile, knowing that was as far as she could possibly go if that worst-case scenario came to pass.

"...Thank you very much, sensei." Somehow finding happiness within sadness at that moment, Hinata reflected the smile with one of her own.

It would hurt to have to part ways with her sister or her bodyguard and retainer, Ko, and the many other members of the branch house that treated her with so much kindness... and the knowledge that she never ended up having the chance to prove her father and clan wrong would always be haunting her.

But she at least knew not all would be lost. Not while Team 8 still existed.

Sniffing once again and rubbing her eyes for good measure, Hinata broke the hug entirely. "I'm better now. Thank you, sensei..." she repeated shakily, this time with a bow.

"I'm glad you are feeling better... but there's something rather unpleasant that I need you to do."

"...What is it?"

"Do you remember what our first team activity was after you passed my test?"

The girl tilted her head to the side. "We had lunch at that restaurant..."

Kurenai smiled approvingly, if a bit hesitantly. "Yes. But if you think a little harder, you will remember that I wanted for us all to share our stories with each other, to know the people we would be working on for years to come. And... I know that you have problems socializing and that your childhood wasn't a good one, but I believe it is time for you to open up to your teammates, Hinata."

The bluenette looked away for a moment, glancing at the closed door far on the end of the corridor, which led to the guest room Kiba and Shino were in. Kurenai had let her minimalist, generic description of her everyday life, hobbies and past slide beforehand; the excuse that life within the Hyuuga clan was just training, tea ceremonies and other boring activities wasn't hard to buy given her family's infamy, but...

"You have been worrying them, you know? Kiba, Shino, and even Sakura don't have an idea of what you go through, they just see you wavering and don't know how to possibly try to help. I can be here for you, but having more people that you can truly rely on would not hurt you," Kurenai advised.

"But... w-what if—"

"If they reject you?" The jonin shook her head when the girl's lavender eyes widened before they guilty directed themselves to the floor instead. "Hinata... you've spent enough time around them to know neither will judge you for not living up to your clan's demands. Shino comes from a similar environment... far less abusive, but just as pressuring. And Kiba never criticized you for the times you made mistakes during our missions, didn't he?"

"Yes, but... still. A-are you sure, sensei...?"

The chance of pushing away the few people that accepted her was something Hinata did not want to gamble with. The risk was simply too great.

"Trust me." Kurenai placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, prompting her to look up once again. "And trust them as well; they would be sad to hear you think they'd turn your backs on you for things that were mostly beyond your control."

"..."

'But... perhaps it is a risk I can take,' Hinata ultimately decided... if only to make her friends aware that they shouldn't bother with her problems because they can't fix them no matter what. Kurenai had been right; she knew both of her teammates enough to know neither would resent her for her failures like she was expecting.

But everyone else besides Kurenai did. No matter how illogical, what could she possibly be expecting?

"I... will try," she promised. And as someone inspired her to, she'd keep her word to the end. 'There's no going back now.'

Kurenai's only response was a gentle, but proud smile. The little girl she had first met six months ago—who seemed even smaller in the face of the harsh criticism of her father, who basically threw her away as if she were trash—would have never tried to go out of her little shell-shaped comfort zone like this.

"I will wait for Sakura-san, though."

"Sakura?"

"Mm," Hinata bobbed her head. "Sakura-san has been very supportive lately and... she shared some of her past with me. I... I think it's only fair..."

'What an interesting development,' the woman mused. Having a female friend of her age would be excellent to help Hinata grow. Some things wouldn't be comfortable to discuss with a person of over twice her age, after all...

"Very well. Would you like to drink some tea while we wait? I think there's still a bit in the teapot if Kakashi hasn't drunk it all."

The next few minutes passed, with student and teacher silently enjoying some nice, warm tea, until eventually...

"I hear someone descending," Kurenai commented, motioning with her chin for Hinata to go check.

Spying undetected from near the doorway with the skills developed from years of... people-watching... allowed her to see Sakura. The pinkette was also in a fresh and clean variation of her usual garments, but with a long white towel wrapped around the top of her head to help dry her wet pink tresses.

With one last glance at her sensei, who merely winked as a response, Hinata took a deep breath and walked forward. She had made her decision, and as a certain someone had taught her to, giving up was simply not going to happen.

'It's all or nothing!'

---

A/N:

And... we're done here for now.

I am considering opening the next chapter with the beginning of Sasuke's interaction with Naruto outside (as in, 99% chance of it happening unless the scene doesn't work), but Hinata's conversation with her teammates/Sakura won't make the cut, I'm afraid. The details she will talk about will pop up now and then when they are relevant, if they haven't already.

...The plan for the next chapter is for it to end right before the battle on the bridge starts, so please hold on for a little while longer. Remember that there are more things I have to cover in this Land of Waves arc compared to the original: character interactions, friendships, and even some world-building. Naturally, the arc would end up bigger.

On a related note, I went a bit deeper on the Kaiza/Inari plot line than most fics. Sorry if it bored you guys, but I feel like the arc's impact is severely dulled when said side plot is skipped like how most fics seem to operate (At least on the naruhina side of the spectrum).

Stay tuned for the next chapter! There shouldn't be any delays but... there are some cool games releasing by now. I could get sidetracked. Sorry if it comes to that, but when college comes up again I will have no time for that so... yeah. I am also taking some time to revise the previous chapters with some much needed typo hunting and minor fixes.

Shout-outs to SimplePotato, who beta'd this despite a troublesome week!

Hope you all enjoyed it! If you can tell me your thoughts about this chapter, I'd be really thankful... my beta really liked this, so I wonder if you guys think the same or if its total crap and the dastard was just lying to me cuz he is a jerk sometimes. Between using an elemental affinity for drama and the new character introduced here, as well as my shody attempt to explain the Kaiza/Inari plot, I think there's enough stuff to talk about...

---

Changelog:

1.0 to 1.0.1 (03/07/2016)

Fixed two instances where Haku and Haru's names were mixed up. Thanks to gio08 and marimo08 for noticing this!