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!)

31. Chapter 31 - Winds of Change

Hello Yello!

I want to start by thank everyone who decided to share a little of what they felt about the last chapter. I was feeling that the reception would be positive, but I didn't predict just how positive it ended up being! Both in how much you guys seem to have liked and how many reviews the chapter got. That's 53 reviews for a single chapter! Amazing stuff, really. Thanks again, everyone!

Now, this chapter. Took me two months to do this one, but I lost a full month to college. I'm back on that grind, and it turns out that getting all the bureaucracy dealt with when one can't physically go to the institutions is a PAIN. And it resulted in me struggling to keep up with deadlines that expected I had a full extra month of time to deal with. That's been dealt with, thankfully, so here I am.

This will be, essentially, the prologue to this arc. The first of three chapters from my predictions. Hope you guys enjoy it, it has been a while since we had Naruhina goodness right? Right!?

No sandwiches this time. It's just 14K words! ...Yeah I know that's not small, stop judging me!

---

The Chunin Exams Finals arc

Chapter 31: Winds of Change (v1.0)

---

When Hinata opened her eyes only to find herself on a bed, in an unfamiliar place, it hardly fazed her anymore.

It helped that, unlike during the trials she endured inside the Firewater Mines, she recognized almost immediately that she was in an unremarkable hospital-like room not too different from the one she had been when giving her testimony on Orochimaru's actions to Ibiki. The room was tinted in shades of brown and orange, thanks to the setting sun Hinata could spy from a nearby open window.

Similar to her awakenings during the second exam, however, she woke up sore and tired. Her body needed more rest. Nonetheless, she pushed through the lethargy to sit up, displacing the thin bed sheet that had covered her.

In this, Hinata noticed that her bulky jacket was gone, revealing the plain black shirt she wore underneath. Or it would be plain, if not for the bloodstains on her collar, chest, and around a tear on the right shoulder.

A yawn overpowered her, and Hinata stretched as the hazy mist of sleep began to wear off… and her brain quickly supplied her with much-needed context.

She could remember everything that led her to that bed. The monitor showing she was to fight her cousin in the exams, his relentless psychological assault meant to break her… how that failed, and her decision was only affirmed by Naruto's uplifting protests. The way Neji still sought to make her crumble not by overwhelming power but by dismantling her strategies in combat until she had nothing left…

How the fight ended. The proctor trying to stop Neji from doing something while she was down. The medics moving her to a stretcher and asking her questions to gauge her condition… and then…

"Hey! You! You're going down. You hear me!?"

Hinata jolted from the sharp metallic sound of a doorknob turning. A moment after, a woman walked into the room.

"Hinata! You're awake…!"

'Kurenai-sensei…'

The woman quickly rushed over, crouching beside the bed.

"How are you feeling?"

"I… I'm better now," Hinata settled for, her tone dulled by sleep.

The reply didn't exactly please her teacher, however, who scanned her like a hawk.

"Does it still hurt anywhere? Can you breathe normally?"

"I can. And… um, it… hurts still, b-but not that much. I think I could move around normally if I tried to."

"You won't," Kurenai's said, wearing a stern expression. "You are still in observation. The medics believe they have healed most of the damage you took, but they need more time to be sure the internal wounds have healed properly. Your body also needs to rest."

"I… understand." Hinata nodded. She did feel too tired to be moving about. Being healed in such as forceful manner as using ninjutsu also takes a toll on one's body when it is done on a larger scale and Hinata was definitively feeling it. Pushing herself might even make the simple act of breathing more problematic than it had any right to be.

"We'll be here for a few more hours, then you'll be examined again and we can leave if you're cleared."

"Okay."

"…"

"…"

Silence brew between them.

A dense, uncomfortable one, only stiffly broken once when Kurenai offered her a glass of water, which she had downed eagerly as soon as she realized how thirst she was.

She could sense that Kurenai wanted to tell her something yet struggled to find the right words. A glance revealed a most troubled expression on her sensei's face… and Hinata empathized with that, especially right then. For she knew what her sensei wanted to talk about.

"Hinata," Kurenai finally began. "You… you really had me worried during that fight."

The girl lowered her head. An apology almost slipped past her lips if not for Kurenai being faster.

"There were multiple times I wanted to step in there to forcefully stop the match. I was very close to doing it… but I knew that I couldn't."

Hinata craned her head up to meet Kurenai's eyes, and to her shock, the woman was smiling.

"I knew I couldn't steal that moment from you. Not after your words to your cousin, right before the fight began. Perhaps even Hayate saw that this fight was something you really needed to do, even if it went a bit too far for my liking. Am I right?"

"…Yes," Hinata nodded, resolute.

"I see you don't regret any of it," Kurenai remarked with slight humor. "And you shouldn't."

Her hand then went up to stroke Hinata's cheek. A simple gesture that left Hinata warm and weightless.

"I-I'm sorry for worrying you," Hinata apologized, her voice heavy. She had never once considered the impact of her selfish actions during that fight beyond herself and Neji. That to anyone without the Byakugan, perhaps their final clash looked like she suffered a lethal wound…

Yet, as if to contradict her thoughts, Kurenai shook her head, still smiling. "You shouldn't be sorry, Hinata. I'm proud of you."

She almost choked. "P-Proud?"

Kurenai nodded.

"B-But I lost!"

"That depends. The physical duel, yes, unfortunately you lost. But there was more to that fight than just blows being traded. I… remember your words to Neji moments before the fight began."

And so did Hinata. Her declaration still burned inside her throat, hours later. She'd rather have kept her motivations entirely to herself, but Neji had riled her up badly enough that the words spilled from her mouth before she could stop them, even after Naruto interrupted Neji.

Kurenai's hand slipped from Hinata's face to her own hands, which sat crossed on her lap.

"I could tell what he was trying to do. He wanted you to admit defeat, that's why he fought reactively and let you set the pace."

She clutched Hinata's hands. "But you held on, denying him down to the very end. In fiction you can sometimes read about characters battling, not only to physically beat their enemies, but to prevail in a clash of ideals. In real life, things are seldom that romanticized, but in your fight I saw it playing out like that. And from that perspective, Hinata, can't we consider that you won in a way?"

The question bounced inside Hinata's head. Her body still stung from her defeat, but… at the very end…

"More importantly, you won against yourself. Your old self." Kurenai began to stroke Hinata's hair. "That was what that fight was truly about to you, wasn't it, Hinata?"

Sniffles began to bubble out of her as her vision became wet. "K-Kurenai-sensei, d-do you… do you truly think I changed?"

The reply came in the form of a laugh, the kind of laugh that only happens after someone is asked something silly.

"Of course you have, Hinata. You've changed so much and so quickly at that… I can barely recall that the girl I saw that day at the Hyuuga compound was you!"

The exaggeration provoked a bit of laughter from Hinata, but as it faded, so did Kurenai's expression.

"I just wish I had realized sooner that you still felt stuck in the past. If we had this conversation sooner, maybe you wouldn't have gotten this hurt."

"…It's alright," she shook her head. "I-I'm all better now, anyway."

Physically? Still sore. But mentally, emotionally… she did feel lighter. Hinata knew there was a long, long road ahead of her until she felt happy about herself—if such a thing was even possible—but she didn't want a repeat of her conversation with Kiba back in the mines. His words had been harsh, but truthful.

Perhaps had he not used her mindset against herself, she'd be upset instead. Unable to take the progress she made just because her ultimate goal was still far or because she had lost the fight.

Yet now she could embrace it, even if not as fully as she probably should.

It was a start.

She felt Kurenai's appraising eyes on her.

"I see," the woman nodded to herself, satisfied. "I have a question though."

"Yes?"

"Were you doing this just for yourself?"

"…Eh?" Hinata tilted her head a bit to the side, frowning. "I… I'm sorry? I don't understand."

Kurenai held her gaze for a few seconds instead of explaining, until settling for a more peaceful expression as if taking Hinata's confusion for an answer.

"You heard what Naruto said, didn't you? After the match ended."

"Oh."

She realized Kurenai's angle. That despite the shaken declaration Neji had forced out of her, Kurenai must have thought her… feelings for Naruto were part of why she stood and kept pushing herself during her fight.

…One small, not-insignificant part of Hinata was indeed hoping she had impressed him somewhat. She would not confess that much to Kurenai or ever ask Naruto, but she could be honest with herself about it.

Yet as much of an impact he might have had on her, Hinata knew her fight with Neji would have ended the same way regardless of Naruto's intervention or him being there at all.

After the fight, however…

"What Neji nii-san said to me… I could tell it affected Naruto-kun as well."

"It did. So much that before his fight he swore—on your blood—that he'd beat Tenten so he could then defeat Neji himself during the finals."

Hinata gasped, one hand over her heart. "H-He did what!?"

…She knew Naruto. Keeping his word, be it to himself or others, was the core ideal he valued above all else. It defined what kind of ninja he wanted to be.

If he said those words, that was a promise he was going to give his everything to realize. A promise to him… and herself.

She could feel blood rushing to her face, and almost physically shook those thoughts away.

'Do that later!' Hinata scolded herself. 'There's more important things to focus on!'

Hoping her expression was neutral enough, she faced Kurenai as if nothing absurd was going through her mind.

"How… likely is it that they going to fight each other in the finals?"

Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "You're not even asking if he won his fight?"

Of course she wasn't. She knew he won. Her faith in him was unshakable.

'Sorry Tenten-san.'

The older woman seemed amused, yet only for a brief second. "Naruto will fight Neji in the opening match of the finals."

"… I see."

There was a lump on her throat, and that was about the only thing Hinata could pinpoint for sure about how she felt. Never mind how she should be feeling…

No. There was one thing she knew she should be feeling. She should be cheering for Naruto. The only person she would've been conflicted about cheering him on against would be Shino, maybe Sakura.

But why did she also feel something else? Something unpleasant… perhaps worry? No, she was too used to that to mistake it.

She shook her head—she'd have time to decipher her feelings later.

"And how is Neji nii-san?"

Kurenai's gaze turned sharp, and Hinata almost regretted her question. But she had to know.

"Your last attacks did quite the damage on him, but unlike you, that was the only time he took that kind of blow. It took some time but he is healed, and I imagine he was already escorted back to the village with orders to take it easy for at least a full day."

"That's… that's good," Hinata muttered, shoulders sagging in relief.

However much Neji's words and actions hurt her, however physical their clash of ideals became, she did not wish him harm. That her blows left no lasting impact on a physical level was the result she aimed for during their fight, regardless of victory or defeat.

'Not that I was in any condition to do that kind of damage to him,' she reminded herself.

The two spent a couple more minutes chatting about the aftermath of her friends's duels. She was glad Kiba was fine, and apparently so was Sasuke. Lee, however… the fact there was nothing concrete about his condition was disheartening, especially considering what she saw.

But Kurenai didn't give her time to dwell on Lee and how much she wanted to be wrong about him.

"As for you, Hinata. I'll notify the medics that you just woke up. I don't think we will be spending more than a couple hours in this place, then I can get you back home."

Hinata tried not to, but she wilted at that last word.

'Home…'

"…Or we can have a sleepover instead?" Kurenai offered with a warm, understanding smile. "What do you think?"

Hinata just thought she wanted to hug the woman, yet settled for a smile and a nod. "That'd be wonderful!"

Kurenai rose, her hands clapped together. "Excellent! Maybe you can even help me go over my plans for Sakura's training after we eat, hmm?"

"Ah! So you'll be training her for the finals, sensei?"

"I will. Surprisingly," Kurenai's frowned, dissatisfied. "I was sure she'd refuse…"

Hinata shook her head. "I'm not surprised. Sakura wants to become a better kunoichi, she knows her best option is you."

The woman let out a small sigh. "At least for now, yes. At any rate, I really should be going to get the medics to look over you one more time," Kurenai said as she rose. "The faster they act, the sooner we leave. Hopefully before it gets dark. We are quite far from the village after all."

Hinata offered her a small wave as she left, but then frowned.

She still didn't know where to stand regarding her teacher's surprisingly extreme methods during Team 7's first meeting with her. While Kakashi's psychological pressure with the bell test had been nothing to sneeze at, it didn't involve making people relieve life-shattering traumas.

In the end, Hinata knew Kurenai had accomplished what she had sought: Sakura found the drive to improve herself beyond what just book-smarts could get her to. Sasuke became more open to the idea of forming and maintaining bonds, which ultimately gave him something beyond just revenge to keep him grounded. The team as a whole became much better at handling each other on an interpersonal level by—mostly—pushing aside any thoughts of budding romance or stupid rivalries, both of which Naruto was guilty of doing.

The intentions behind her dear sensei's methods were genuinely good. But did the ends justify the means?

Should they?

…Hinata didn't know. And perhaps, it wasn't her place to wonder about such things. All she could do was have faith that Sakura wouldn't let her personal opinion of Kurenai take away from the training she'd receive so she could take the most out of it, and perhaps even forgive her.

What was Hinata's place to wonder about, however, was the mess she unwittingly caused between her cousin and her hero.

Her cheeks began to burn from just thinking about it, and as if it could make her blush die out, she grabbed her pillow and clutched it tightly in front of her chest and face, curling up until only her eyes were peeking out above the pillow.

A blood vow… because of her?

'No, no no! Hinata, stop being stupid! Why are you so stupid!?'

Neji's words just hit way too close to home for Naruto. And how could they not, when he has spent his entire life being looked down by others, struggling to overcome his weaknesses and people's perception of him? Or challenging fate itself, if she were to borrow some of her cousin's wording.

What Naruto had done after her loss had nothing to do with her. It couldn't have… right? Surely he would have done the same thing for any of his friends, if it had happened to them… right?

Right. Obviously. She knew that… but… then why was her heart pounding so fast?

It was ridiculous. They were ridiculous.

Him, because… she knew he was earnest and usually just followed what his heart told him to do without putting much thought on things, but what could have possibly possessed him to do something as intense as that, as if it had been a normal thing to do for a friend? It was all too easy for people to take it the wrong way!

And she obviously was also ridiculous, because a part of her was weak and idiotic enough to do exactly that: take it the wrong way. She was not special. There was no deeper meaning to what he had done. She knew as much for sure. But a not-insignificant part of Hinata wanted to fool herself.

Except her poor heart couldn't handle the idea at all.

'How could you do this to me, Naruto-kun!?'

Hinata could only hope Kurenai wouldn't return until she was done screaming into her pillow.

It's not like she needed a medic to tell her she was doomed beyond salvation, anyway.

---

"And this is where we will be spending most of the month. What do you think?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Kakashi's question as he readjusted his backpack's straps over his shoulder.

They had spent the past half hour hiking around the outskirts of the village, beyond the cliffside of the Hokage Monument, to reach Training Ground #12. It was a craggy, canyon-like area with little to no wildlife in sight. Flat terrain that stretched wide, dotted by occasional tall rock formations that Sasuke might have found to be somewhat intimidating climbs, if not for how his second exam had begun.

That, however, was not what Kakashi's question was all about. Since reaching the area they had spent, perhaps, fifteen minutes silently walking under the early morning's sunlight until Sasuke caught sight of an oddity.

A small house sitting in the middle of nowhere, seemingly made entirely out of wood. Not a shack or a cottage, but an actual two-story house. The closer they got to it, the better Sasuke could appreciate the details in the construction, and the more out of place its existence felt like.

"Why is there a house here?"

"Hmm… why am I reading this right now?" Kakashi shot back, his nose buried in one of those disgusting porn books he always carried around.

The non-answer made Sasuke scowl. "Because you clearly have too much free time in your hands."

"Exactly. That's your answer."

"…"

Shaking his head with a grunt, Sasuke decided his question was useless and simply followed his teacher inside.

The first room they came into was an awkward hybrid between a living room and an office. There was a small desk and a chair in a corner by a window, a couple cabinets… and two benches. All made of nothing but wood just like the building itself. There was also a set of stairs leading to the second floor, but Kakashi instead took a door to the left, from where a strong herbal aroma flowed.

"Yo, Cap! What a surprise, you're actually on time for once!"

'Huh?' Sasuke stopped, frowning at the feminine voice that came from beyond that door

"There's a first time for everything."

The woman laughed. Sasuke knew to whom the voice belonged, but why would she be there?

He walked into the other room and confirmed his suspicions. Unsurprisingly, the second room of the first floor was fashioned like a small kitchen, and it too was full of wooden furniture. A big table with three chairs, a small cabinet, as well as a countertop with a sink and a slab of stone in which a portable oven was placed.

These last two seemed to be the only objects around that weren't made of wood… besides maybe the cups and the colored utensils on the table. Sasuke didn't know the exact name of those things but recognized them as part of an expensive tea ceremony set similar to the one his mother used to have. It also explained the herbal scent from earlier.

"And there's your little brat. Sasuke, was it? Sorry if I got your name wrong, but I hope you still remember me. There were so many kids around last time, you see," she said with a bit of an embarrassed laugh.

Sasuke nodded as a reply. It was really hard to forget a woman that wore form-fitting chainmail under an unbuttoned coat.

"Anko, right? The proctor of the second exam. What're you doing here?"

"Whoa, straight to business huh?" Her eyes drifted to Kakashi. "How much have you told him?"

"Basically nothing."

"Pff. Figures…" she muttered, both amused and unimpressed. "Come on kid, sit. Do you like tea?"

"I don't mind it," he said, obeying. "It smells nice."

Anko wore the widest self-satisfied smirk as she poured a steamy cup for him and Kakashi as well, after pointing to a small container with sugar in case they needed it. She was all too content to going back to her own cup as Kakashi finally decided to explain himself.

"So, Sasuke. First of all, why here? The training I'm going to give you could have been done anywhere, even at our usual place. But the reason I picked this training ground was so we could be isolated but close enough to the village in case of an incident. Plus, this is a wide area with plain terrain. It's easy for our trackers to monitor."

Sasuke nodded. If Orochimaru decided to come back, even if he's strong, he couldn't cover enough area without something catching wind of his presence now that he was on everyone's radar. He was not surprised that there were people guarding him after such a high-profile criminal had targeted him.

"Now, our plan for this month will mainly revolve around getting you in shape to fight Gaara on your second round fight, and at least not get yourself killed or maimed in said fight."

"What about Shino?" Sasuke then frowned. "And my other fights…?"

"You haven't lost to him during training yet. Shino… he's clever and I'm sure he'll have some tricks prepared just for you, but I'm confident you'll prevail. We will go over some strategies for that. As for other fights? Eh…"

"You'll be lucky if you'll have chakra or stamina to spare for a third fight, really," Anko commented between tea sips.

"Basically," Kakashi agreed. "I expect that fight to take a lot out of you. If you win, you'd fight Naruto or Neji next, and they will have had a full round of rest. You haven't come close to beating Neji the few times you sparred and his style already revolves around wearing the opponent down. Meanwhile, Naruto… he's always had a big advantage over you when it comes to stamina and chakra. It doesn't usually make a difference, but in this scenario, it should."

"Are you saying I can't beat Naruto?"

That thought struck a nerve.

"Keep in mind you'll only fight him if he beats Neji. And if that happens, then it means he'll be a much tougher opponent to face than the Naruto you're used to. You could still beat him, but if you're tired and wounded and he is not, he might just outlast you."

Anko nodded at Kakashi's analysis. "That kid's good at making clones, yeah? He's not winning his fight without improving at taijutsu some. And if he does, dealing with waves of clones will need firepower. Plus remember the bracket? Whoever you'd fight on the third round would have a lot more rest than you."

Sasuke crossed his arms. He didn't like it, but he could see their point.

…And it sparked something inside him.

"We will see when the third round comes. I'll show you, and him."

"Oooh, fighting words," Anko clapped happily. "I love it!"

"Now now. Let's focus on the one opponent we know will be out for blood first, shall we?"

Sasuke drank a bit more of his tea. "Sure. What exactly will we be working on?"

"There are two main things, which we will be alternating between. The first and most important is building up speed. This includes pure physical training, as well as polishing your chakra control to reach the speeds you need to work around Gaara's sand. Accomplishing that, we will work on honing your taijutsu and Sharingan so you can effectively fight someone at these higher speeds."

"You mean like Lee."

"Yes and no. I do mean like Lee, but not the one you're familiar with."

Sasuke lowered his head, pensive. On the way to the training grounds, Kakashi had filled him on the details of all the matches he had missed. The speed Kakashi wanted him to be at, so far, was just in the boy's imagination.

"Speed, alone, will not be the key to your victory," the jonin warned. "I don't expect you to match the level Lee was at after almost two years of intense training. Your Sharingan will help, but you'll not get that far in a single month and that, as Lee unfortunately proved, isn't enough. Hence we will keep working on your elemental ninjutsu as well, to give you the extra power, range and flexibility that Lee lacks. If Gaara can put up better defenses than he showed in that fight, you'll need to be destructive yourself to get past him. That's the second thing."

"Right. Sounds like a decent plan." His eyes darted to Anko. "That doesn't exactly explain you."

Considering her past behavior, Sasuke expected the woman to proudly explain whatever Kakashi needed her for, in that annoyingly energetic manner he'd come to expect from people like Naruto.

Instead, she looked somber as she drank the last of her tea and put her cup down.

"I'm here because of this," she said as she craned her neck to the side and pulled at her coat's collar, exposing something that almost took Sasuke's breath away.

"A cursed seal!?"

"Yup."

The seal was shaped almost exactly like his. The sole difference came from how Sasuke had a second suppressant seal laid on top of it ever since he woke up after his fight, courtesy of Kakashi.

"You're not the first person Orochimaru has left this seal on, Sasuke," she explained as she turned to stare at him.

He could see her light brown eyes burning with something Sasuke had only ever seen when he looked at the mirror.

As such, he couldn't stop himself from asking: "What happened to you?"

The two adults shared a brief look of surprise, as if neither expected Sasuke to care about matters beyond his training, but with a shaky smirk, Anko shrugged at Kakashi and began to talk.

"I imagine that even thought they taught you at school that Orochimaru betrayed the village and was chased out by the Hokage, they never explained what led to that, right?"

Sasuke nodded.

"…You see, before that went down, Orochimaru had been training his own genin team. I… I was one of the three unlucky bastards that were chosen to train under his wing. Hah! If only I knew at the time," she chuckled with zero humor in her voice. "I was so hyped to be training under one of the legendary Sannin! He was so… cool, mysterious, and knew so many jutsu. I gave my all during our time together to learn as much as I could from him, especially once he found out I was kind of a science nerd like he was."

The pained fondness in her voice… Sasuke felt unable to look Anko.

"Our team spent, what, almost two years together until we took and passed out second chunin exams, here in the village. Remember that, Cap?" she nudged him with her elbow.

"Of course. Your fight against Kurenai was impossible to forget."

Anko looked pleased with that. "Hehe. Good. So yeah, though many teams stick together after becoming chunin, my teammates wanted to do their one thing. One wanted to become a teacher at the academy, and the other was giving his all to apply to the ANBU so we kinda split up… I didn't really know what path to take. That's when he offered to take me in as his pupil, full time. I was supposed to learn everything he knew, and help with the research he did for the village about new jutsu, poisons, medicine, among other stuff, all of which I needed to be chunin to get the clearance to be involved with. How could I have said no?"

The woman's shoulders sagged, then, as she placed her hands on the table.

"It started out innocently enough. Training, research, experiments, the odd mission here and there. He even let me sign his Snake Summoning Contract after a few months. Until the day he showed me his personal, secret lab. An underground facility. He said he needed help for a few projects that he couldn't trust the other people in our department with, and obviously, the idiot kid trusted her idol and went along with him instantly."

Sasuke briefly turned his attention to Kakashi, who took Anko's cup and began to refill it.

"That's when I began to see the more questionable stuff he was looking into. Studies into bloodlines, techniques exclusive to certain clans, body modification and… legends, about immortality. I was told the village sanctioned everything, heck, he even got me to write reports with the official forms to sell the lie. I knew the shinobi world was grittier than it looked like, so I just kept going. It was just research and theories after all, but… then… began the experiments."

Anko swallowed dry. Her hands were shaky and Sasuke was amazed that she could hold the cup of steamy tea that Kakashi offered her.

He, then, took over the explanations.

"Around that time, the village began to notice a few suspicious civilian disappearances. Homeless people, or children from orphanages, but sometimes normal civilians too. There was no meaningful link between the disappearances, and while they weren't considered important targets, people vanishing from inside a hidden village… it didn't escape the Hokage's notice. An investigation was launched, but thanks to what I now suspect to be interference from one of the higher-ups, there wasn't much progress."

He heard Anko set down her cup again, and saw her exchange a thankful glance with Kakashi before she cleared her throat and continued.

"During those months, I basically lived in the lab. The things I saw… the things I did. The more time that passed, I was feeling more and more scared about what was happening. The experiments were proving to be lethal. Sen… O-Orochimaru's behavior began to change as well. He grew colder, harsher and… I tried my hardest to keep up, but eventually I realized I couldn't. So I… gathered my courage and asked to leave. He agreed, and even apologized for overworking me."

Sasuke almost dropped his cup. "Wait. He… did?"

"He did. But he said he needed help with just one more quick, unrelated experiment, then he'd give me a week off so I could think about what I wanted to do with my life. I felt such relief, I didn't even see when it happened."

Her hand went up to her neck.

"When I woke up, a week later, I wasn't myself anymore. This… abomination, is Orochimaru's will. I don't know how he did, I was never allowed to mess with that research, but he found a way to put himself into other people's bodies. His voice was inside my head, pushing me to not question his orders, to remain with him. It fed my insecurities, my fears… have I told you I'm an orphan?"

Sasuke closed his eyes. He knew where this was going.

"No."

"Yeah. I am. And during all that time, before the lab, I began to think of him as my own father. As my family. And that voice!"

Her fist slammed against the table, loudly rattling every single object on it.

"It used that against me! When I thought I wanted to stop, that I wanted to run away, that voice exploded inside my mind telling me I was betraying him, that I should trust him, that I shouldn't hesitate, that I should obey! That there was nothing wrong with that ugly thing on my neck! It insulted me for even considering leaving the only person I had behind, it pushed my friends away from my thoughts, and soon enough I was living just for him. The experiments continued… and we finally found a lead."

Kakashi was the one who spoke next.

"What led to Orochimaru's downfall was his greed. He kidnapped an entire orphanage."

Sasuke's eyes went wide. "Without anyone noticing?"

"The orphanage caught on fire, and we at first thought all the kids had died along with the caretakers. But the incident was suspicious, and moving a large number of children left traces behind and, ultimately, we managed to connect the incidents to the perpetrator. The Hokage himself was with the team that was meant to apprehend Orochimaru, as almost no one could hope to duel him if it came to it. But on the day we went to make our move… the laboratory exploded."

The man went still, his sole eye darting to Anko. She was struggling to maintain her composure.

"That day… it's still fuzzy to me. I don't know if I pissed Orochimaru off, if something happened to one of the other kids or if he just realized I was supposedly compatible… but I was one of the people he was experimenting on. He wanted to awaken a bloodline limit on people that weren't born with one… and after months of failure, that day, he succeeded."

"It was you, wasn't it?"

A shaky chuckle escaped her. "Yeah. Me, and only me. And my newfound powers went out of control, in part because of the damn seal. If the experiment didn't kill the other kids, then I did. That incident exposed Orochimaru, led him to fight and lose against the Hokage and be branded as a missing-nin… and I was left behind with poison in my veins. Like you."

Her eyes met his, tired, angry, vengeful… but also sad, numb. Sasuke wanted to look away, but couldn't.

"I spent a few months after I woke up under the influence of the seal before a strong enough suppressant was made. As long as I wasn't extremely distressed or abused my chakra, the suppressant held the cursed seal at bay. The voice finally shut up… and only when it was completely quiet in my mind that I realized how active it had been all that time. How little control I had over my own thoughts."

Sasuke took a deep breath as memories of assaulting Kabuto's teammates in the mine came to mind. "…Abusing chakra, you say." Sasuke turned to Kakashi. "Like in my match?"

"Similar. I'm famous for knowing a thousand jutsu, but fuuinjutsu isn't my forte. What I did was the equivalent of giving you a crutch. A temporary and partial solution."

Anko nodded emphatically. "I was given a really strong suppressant seal, but even then I was forced to avoid using any jutsu that took too much of my chakra. For my fighting style, that really wasn't a problem even on extended fights. But for you it's gonna be an issue. The Sharingan is very draining, and when you add other ninjutsu you might use alongside it... you could damage the suppressing seal, and let the cursed seal poison your mind."

"And… this is why you're here, then? To help me fight back, if… or when, I lose control?"

"For the most part, yeah. I want to be here so you don't have to deal with this shit alone like I had. I… know we just met, ki—I mean, Sasuke. But thanks to that snake bastard, we're connected now. I can't just let someone go through this without being there to help, even if I can't do all that much, or be here every day even."

"I… I see."

Sasuke closed his eyes and leaned back on his chair, in an attempt to close himself off to process all the information they had just dumped on him.

Things were starting to make sense. Kakashi was there to push him to his limit, while Anko was there to pull him back once he pushed too far.

One detail jumped at Sasuke… however, first things first.

"Thank you," he nodded at Anko. He couldn't really express his gratitude all that well, but from the weary, but happy smile she wore, she understood. Perhaps by the end of the month, he would be able to offer something more meaningful.

"I have a question though. Our cursed seals are the same, but our suppressants aren't. When am I supposed to get one like yours?"

"We've already contacted a sealmaster. He should be coming over early during the evening," Kakashi replied. "He's already in the village, but there are some… urgent issues for him to take care of."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and took a shot in the dark.

"You mean Naruto."

He spoke with far more certainty than he had, at least until he saw Kakashi and Anko both taken aback by his guess.

"How did you know it was him?" Kakashi asked

'Because you just said it,' Sasuke thought, but instead said: "He told me and Sakura that Orochimaru did something to mess him up, and it involved a seal."

The answer seemed to satisfy the jonin, until he continued.

"Naruto also promised us that he'd tell the entire truth about it sometime after the preliminaries—"

Anko gasped loudly making Sasuke stare at her as he finished.

"— and hopefully before the final exam itself. He didn't clarify that part."

"H-Hey, wait a sec, can he do that!? What about the law!?" Anko gesticulated wildly at Kakashi, with a distress that befuddled Sasuke.

'Law?'

"…I believe he can. In fact, if I'm not wrong, he has told someone already."

"Yes. Hinata knows. He only promised us because she pushed him to do it."

How the girl that couldn't even talk to Naruto at the time managed to pry something out of him, Sasuke would never understand.

"Kurenai's girl?" Anko crossed her arms. "Huh. Ain't this interesting…"

Kakashi coughed. "Well, I'll get in contact with Naruto about it later this week, and then Sakura if needed. For now, let's focus on our own training and let him do his, alright?"

"Sounds good to me."

They'd have more to chat about that way, which for someone like Sasuke was not a bad thing.

"When do we start?"

"As soon as you get your things to your room upstairs."

Nodding, Sasuke rose and left the room. As he was making his way up, he overheard the adults chatting.

"So… what do you think about the place, Cap?"

"I forgot how convenient having you around for missions was."

Anko huffed loudly, indignant. "Convenient, he says! That's all I get for setting this stuff up ahead of time? Wow."

Kakashi laughed. "You've outdone yourself."

"Now that's better!"

Sasuke just shook his head. 'I wonder what's the story there…'

---

"That's right, brat! I'm the one and only Sage of Mount Myoboku… Jiraiya!"

Hiruzen shook his head and took a long drag on his pipe as he was forced to watch his student, a grown man of almost fifty years, strike dramatic poses during and after his bombastic introduction as if he were a child the same age as the one sitting across from them.

That was followed, obviously, by booming laughter at said child's complete confusion.

Why had Hiruzen expected anything less?

"No. Way."

Naruto rose from his chair across from Hiruzen so fast he almost knocked it over. "You're kidding, right old man!?"

Hiruzen suppressed a smirk. "What reason would I have to lie about this, Naruto?"

"I-I dunno, it's just… he doesn't look anywhere as crazy as Orochimaru!"

The laughter ceased. "Wait what? Oh come on kid, we were teammates, not siblings! Orochimaru only wished he looked this handsome. Besides, I thought the academy books had at least one photo of us in there?"

Hiruzen rolled his eyes. "Jiraiya, focus."

After heaving a sigh, Hiruzen went for his pipe again. Some things never changed.

"Okay, wait, run that by me one more time," Naruto spoke up, pointing at the other man. "You are Jiraiya? One of the actual, real, loyal Sannin?"

"That I am!"

"The same guy who trained the Fourth Hokage?"

"He is."

"And you are also the same guy who will fix my seal and that will train me this whole month. Is that it?"

"Yup, you're stuck with me, kid."

Naruto's jaw fell, again, and he sunk back into his chair.

"No way… okay, okay, what's the catch?"

Now Hiruzen let out a laugh. "There is no catch, Naruto!"

That was probably the biggest lie Hiruzen had ever told. There was a massive catch, but he was going to let his student have his moment before that was made clear to poor Naruto.

"THIS IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!"

Hiruzen's ears rung. "Naruto, I would rather not be going deaf for at least another decade, thank you," he frowned at the boy.

Perhaps because of the legendary figure standing beside Hiruzen, the boy had the decency to look at least a little ashamed as he scratched the back of his head.

Because whatever renown Hiruzen might have had for the boy has long since vanished completely...

"Sorry old man, but come on!" he motioned wildly to Jiraiya's direction before leaning on Hiruzen's desk with both hands and a blinding smile. "Can you imagine how many strong jutsu I'm going to learn? I'm gonna take that exam by storm next month!" he said with a boisterous laugh.

"Now wait just a second, let's not get ahead of ourselves kid." Jiraiya said with a hand up. He then moved around the desk to approach Naruto, while Hiruzen chuckled. "Before we can get any sort of training done, I've gotta take a look at the mess that snake made on your gut."

"Oh. Oh yeah, there's that."

One minute later and Naruto was standing shirtless in the middle of the office, with Jiraya crouched in front of him. The two were angled sideways to Hiruzen's desk, allowing the old Hokage to examine their expressions carefully.

Naruto was merely holding back laughter as Jiraiya brushed his fingers at the seal formulas.

Jiraiya, however… his eyes betrayed the pain and guilt he still felt for not being there when his student needed him the most.

'Looks like we will have this conversation again, and soon,' Hiruzen thought wearily.

"Typical Orochimaru," Jiraiya eventually grumbled. "No respect whatsoever for the art. Did you see this sloppy shit of a seal, sensei?"

"I did. Yet however crude it might be, it works as intended. Do you think you can remove it?"

Jiraiya gave him a look, and Hiruzen knew why.

The seal was not really beyond Hiruzen's abilities to undo. Though not with absolute confidence that there would be no negative consequences, unlike Jiraiya, he'd still be relatively confident if he were to dismantle that seal himself.

But this was as good as an opportunity as ever to force this encounter to happen. Jiraiya had been running away from this for far too long.

"Of course I can! Who do you take me for, sensei?"

Hiruzen noticed blue flames on Jiraiya's fingers, but Naruto's eyes were still closed to endure the tickling.

"You sure you won't set the Fox loose, right?"

Jiraiya grinned at the unsuspecting boy. "I guess we will find out now!"

"Wait wha—YOUCH!"

Hiruzen winced at Naruto's scream. The boy doubled over with Jiraiya's hand still buried on his gut, and almost fell if not for the older man supporting him.

"What the hell was that for…?" he coughed, out of breath.

"What the hell did you come here for?" Jiraiya shot back with a huge, smug smirk. "Look at your stomach!"

"…It's gone!" Naruto poked and prodded at his belly for a few seconds before shooting a blazing glare at his newest teacher. "Could at least have warned me, you know!?"

"Bwahaha!" Jiraya pulled away from the kid, feeding on his anger like a leech. "I've been told you wanted to be Hokage, yeah? Well, being Hokage isn't just power, it's brains, it's speed! How'd you expect to become the top dog if people can catch you sleeping like that!? Consider that my first lesson to you," he then nodded to himself, sagely, impressing no one.

"Hmph." Naruto put back his clothes. "So… when do we begin for real?"

"Let's see," Jiraiya scratched his chin. "Did you have breakfast before coming here?"

"Not a lot, I rushed it to get here fast."

"Then let's a bite to eat first! Just wait outside the office for a minute, I have one last thing to talk to sensei here."

"Okay!"

And soon after, it was just Hiruzen and Jiraiya in the room.

Jiraiya slowly walked to the door, closing it, but otherwise not moving, or talking, until he felt Hiruzen activate seals that would soundproof the room.

"…He's just like them," Jiraya practically whispered, with humor and grief making his voice quiver. "A perfect mix of them both, in looks and personality. Incredible."

Hiruzen closed his eyes. Memories of friends long since gone flowed through his mind. "Yes. Yes, he is."

"Sensei, I… I don't know if—"

Hiruzen's hand slammed his desk, almost sending a stack of papers down.

"Jiraiya. Stop. You are ready. You always were. After finally meeting him, face-to-face, are you still going to run away from everything again?"

Slowly, Hiruzen rose and made his way to his student.

In his long years, Hiruzen knew loss. He knew guilt. He knew that this deadly combination could dominate someone, bringing the worst in them as it dragged them to rock bottom.

But life stopped for no one. They had to endure and keep moving forward. Not stagnate and rot.

He placed a hand on one of his student's broad shoulders, patting him.

"Go, Jiraiya. Bring him to that ramen joint I told you he loves and treat him, for once. Get to know him. I know you can do it… but just in case, that was an order."

"Ha! Pulling that card on me, huh? Guess I deserved that one..."

At least Jiraya had the decency to look ashamed. A rare occurrence for the man.

"Yes, and you don't want me to arrest you for insubordination do you? Now go on. I have a village to run."

"…Here goes nothing then. But don't forget to keep me on the know about that snake."

"I'm old, not senile. Stop stalling and get out of my office already."

With a push that was strong enough to move even a stocky man like Jiraiya, Hiruzen threw him out.

And as expected, Naruto was right there.

"That was fast," the boy remarked in surprise.

"Yup, but still confidential, sorry," Jiraiya laughed a bit as he walked away from his office. "Now let's go. It's been a while since I ate something out in the village."

"Sure! I know just the place! We're gonna eat, then you're gonna teach me something cool! Right!?"

"Uh… so. About that."

Hiruzen could feel Naruto's smile crumbling away, and chuckled quietly to himself as he turned back to his desk, yet one that soon turned melancholic.

He should've done that a long time ago.

---

With a frustrated sigh, Neji admitted defeat. He could not meditate at all, just like in the morning. Even in the privacy of his modest bedroom, he could not find peace of mind, and having lunch didn't change that at all, nor did helping out with chores around the manor.

He rose from his mat without difficulty and headed to the bathroom to splash his face with cold water.

Yet in order to do that, he had to take off the wrappings around his forehead, letting the blight upon his skin taunt him through the small mirror above the sink as it always did.

This time, however, his reflection morphed into someone else. The one person that could aggravate him almost as much as his own shackles.

"In the end… you're just like me!"

Stomping down the urge to smash the mirror took far more of Neji's self-control than he was comfortable with.

Neji had won their fight. He had proved to Hinata that defying the roles they were born into was impossible. That she was wrong.

But why was he still so angered by what happened?

Initially, he had thought it was just because he was ordered to not exert himself for at least the rest of the day, leaving him restless as his body finished to recover from his wounds. Wounds that existed not because of how Hinata struck him in their battle, but from how he allowed the fight to escalate to that point to being with, deliberately giving her a chance to fight back when he could've annihilated her in less than a minute if he had treated her as an actual threat.

Even if she never had been, and would never be, he could recognize his mistake. Had he done that on the main exams it surely would have doomed his chances of promoting.

…But no.

His unrest came from his cousin's sheer audacity. Of how she twisted his ideology in her refusal of reality, of how she threw his own words back at him as if they meant something else entirely.

To bring him to her level.

That, he could not accept.

A sharp noise cut through his musings just as dried his face on a towel. Someone was knocking on his door.

"Neji-kun, you've received a summon!"

He recognized the voice as belonging to Natsu, Hanabi's retainer and one of the rare servants that lived on the clan head's manor like himself yet belonged to the main house instead.

"It's from Hiashi-sama himself! He's asking for your presence in his office."

He felt his body temperature drop and rushed to dress in more presentable clothes

"Understood!"

The walk to Hiashi's office was chilling.

During the earlier portions of his fight with Hinata, him holding back was, partially, fuelled by fear of the main house retaliating in some manner if he damaged her too much, even if the girl was its black sheep.

He had forgotten all about it at one point during the match and the thought had completely escaped his mind since then, almost a whole day later.

Even with the glacial treatment he had seen Hiashi give to his eldest, he knew that the man would still want to be informed of his daughter's state and there was zero chance of him being unaware of how badly she had been hurt at the end of the exams, and who had she faced.

Taking a deep breath and accepting that such punishments were, too, part of his fate… he knocked on Hiashi's door.

"Enter."

"Excuse me, Hiashi-sama," Neji said as he walked in, then faced his leader and bowed deeply.

"Close the door and sit," Hiashi motioned to one of the two unoccupied chair in front of his desk.

Neji obeyed.

He had never been in his uncle's office, but resisted the urge to glance around to take in the environment. Instead, he kept his gaze down, awaiting further instructions.

"I was hoping you'd arrive first," Hiashi began. Confused, Neji raised his head and saw…

A small, subtle smile.

"Congratulations for qualifying for the finals. I am sure you'll make our clan proud with your performance and, most likely, your promotion."

"I…"

Neji hesitated—this was not what he had expected. But he regained his bearings and bowed once more.

"Thank you, Hiashi-sama. I'll do my utmost to not bring shame upon our clan."

"Indeed, and I'll be making sure of it."

Another confusing statement, yet one Neji failed to react to as soft knocking on the door behind him drew his attention.

He almost missed Hiashi flashing his Byakugan for an instant.

"Enter."

The door opened almost noiseless, which made the small, sharp intake of breath that she took as soon as her eyes fell on himself.

"Hello, my daughter. Take a seat as well."

Neji's eyes, primed to find weak spots even without his dojutsu, locked on to the girl's neck as she swallowed and silently complied without even greeting either of them.

Hinata seemed to be well, physically speaking, given how she moved normally and was wearing her usual mission clothes. Neji did not know how to feel about that.

"I have called you two here to discuss the results of your battle in the exam and our plans for the coming month. As it concerns both of you and because I'm frankly quite strapped for time today, I thought it best to have both conversations at once."

Hiashi drew their attention to two folders in the center of his desk. One was white, wide and seemed to hold much more inside than the normal-sized brown folder beside it, which Hiashi tapped twice. Neji noticed that its seal was still intact, meaning Hiashi hadn't read it.

"In here I have the report about your performance on the final portion of the exams, Hinata, which you must have seen in your sensei's hands when you arrived today," he said to the girl, who nodded, and then he shifted to Neji. "And I would have a second separate report for you as well, Neji, but I was informed about the circumstances that have delayed your sensei's report. Thus I sent someone to gather information about your teammate's condition, as I imagine you'd want to know about it as soon as possible."

Hiashi offered the white folder to Neji, who took it with trepidation. He had been unable to meet with Guy before departing back to the village, and the volume of the folder was but further evidence that Lee's condition was very serious.

Not that he had needed more than his Byakugan to predict that. He only hoped he was wrong about what his eyes led him to think of his teammate's future…

"Thank you, Hiashi-sama," he bowed again. His eyes darted sideways and he caught Hinata stared at the folder with a crushed, worried expression. She must have seen the same thing he did.

…He supposed that there was no harm in letting her access its contents later, once he brought them to Tenten.

"Now as for the exams report, I haven't read it. I was notified yesterday that you two battled each other and the result of said battle. That you both required medical attention afterward was all I needed to know it must have been a fierce fight. I don't see a need to bother with this report, especially not when I can get information directly from the source."

That small smile resurfaced in Hiashi's face, and Neji dared to wonder if that was pride in his eyes as he looked at them.

Neji and Hinata, for their part, glanced at each other almost in shame.

Despite everything that lingered between them from before, during and after their fight… at the moment their eyes met, Neji and Hinata were nothing more than two kids silently agreeing not to tell anything to an adult that could give away what they had actually done lest they be punished for it.

Almost like normal cousins.

"Now," Hiashi briefly cleared his throat. "Hinata, tell me. Did you make use of the altered Gentle Fist forms we've created?"

"Y-Yes… it was key to my victory against a shinobi from the Sound village in the second exam…"

Neji's eyebrows rose. 'She fought one of those guys? And won?'

"And… and it also led to a big opening I'd not otherwise have been able to exploit during my fight with Neji nii-san," she explained.

"Ah, interesting… Neji. Are you aware of what we are talking about?"

"I… no, Hiashi-sama," he admitted. "Not completely."

"Then, allow me to explain."

He had wondered about those final moments of the fight. How Hinata had managed to do so much damage with most of her arm's tenketsu closed, or why his final attack hadn't been anywhere as strong as he had intended it to be.

Neji had felt those two events had to be connected… and they were.

'The rumors about her had been true after all,' he realized.

"Now that you understand and have experienced it yourself in a real fight, Neji, tell us. What do you think of the potential of Hinata's variant of our style? …Please speak freely."

The boy turned to meet Hinata's gaze, and as he suspected she was looking down and away from him, as if awaiting harsh judgment.

He decided to be sincere.

"If my understanding is correct, this variant is almost always inferior to the traditional style. It requires more commitment per blow, making it slower, and it also has a lower damage potential which showed clearly when she used against me... however—"

He caught the girl beside him stiffening.

"—the way Hinata-sama used it during our fight shows that it has a niche. If she's low on chakra or has her tenketsu blocked like what I did to her, as long as she can muster a chakra needle she has the potential to use the enemy's own chakra to fuel her attacks. That is an undeniable advantage."

Hinata's brief gasp echoed loudly in the silence of the room. It gave away that she hadn't expected any sort of positivity from him, but Neji had to give credit where it was due. There was merit to knowing the style, as long as it was not relied upon, and Hinata seemed to be operating like that already. The only reason she had brought that style so openly midway through their fight was to throw him off.

Hiashi was similarly, visibly shocked. A rarity for the otherwise stoic clan head. "You… can see the tenketsu? Already?"

Neji nodded. "Yes, sir."

The older man shook his head, and in another surprise, he had a fond smile. "Ha… Hizashi would have been overjoyed at this."

It took everything in Neji to force his face to remain still. He could not speak, could not glare at the clan head… that was not his place.

It never had been.

It never would be.

Hiashi moved on as if he had not poured a bucket of salt on someone's open wounds. "Do you feel the same, Hinata? It was your first time using this variant in real fights after all."

"I… I… agree."

Her eyes darted away from Neji, focusing on her father.

"If we had not created this variant, the fight would have been over when my arm was mostly sealed. And I was able to use it in the second exam to disrupt the Sound genin's offensive jutsu and create a big opening. With the normal style, I'd have hurt him more but his technique would have come out just the same and… w-well…"

"You'd be defeated. I understand."

Neji too understood. He knew now who she had defeated… ironically, Dosu was on the finals while she was not.

"So it seems we have learned more about your potential. This ability to use your opponent's chakra against them might seem too situational now, but as you grow older and begin to take longer and more dangerous missions you might want to be on the lookout for chances to safely use that style on enemies and conserve your reserves. Especially now that you're broadening your focus to cover other technique branches."

The girl nodded resolutely.

"Now, let's move on to more pressing matters—your schedules for the coming months."

His attention was now on Neji as he drew a slip of paper that had been hidden below the brown folder on his desk, and offered it to the boy.

He saw a list of dates and times, mostly set to very early in the mornings or coming quite close to midnight.

"I will be overseeing your training personally for this next month, Neji. It brought me many headaches but I was able to secure quite a few more hours for us to meet and train, in addition to the time I already had set aside to educate my daughters on clan matters which I'll be spending with you instead."

Neji's white eyes went wide when numbers on the paper suddenly began to make sense.

Was that really happening? Hiashi Hyuuga himself, one of if not the strongest Hyuuga of their clan, would be teaching him?

He looked up at his uncle incredulous, but the man had already turned his focus toward Hinata before he could even thank his uncle.

"As for you, my daughter, I had already prepared for this specific scenario. I've been remiss in yours and Hanabi's teachings with a few lessons that are important but aren't complex, such as historical matters or the dynamics of the Hyuuga clan with its associates. That was intentional. These don't particularly require a teacher present to be explaining things, or at least that's how I felt when learning them years ago. The idea is that you and Hanabi will be able to spend a few hours each week going through the material I've separated and study together without my input."

He then passed another slip of paper to the girl.

"I expect that as the eldest you'll have a better understanding of the concepts that Hanabi has less knowledge about and will be able to help her to a degree, as well as keep her in line. However, I will not ignore you two completely this month. Once a week I'll arrange a meeting between us three so you may clear up any doubts you might have, and so I can gauge if you've understood the content I gave and if this idea of mine is truly worth pursuing."

Neji was left bewildered as Hinata asked a couple questions about their arrangement.

There had been rumors circulating among the branch that Hiashi had been personally training Hinata for some unique applications of the Gentle Fist, but nothing about training to be the clan head. Hiashi hadn't said it outright but it was the impression Neji had.

It brought to mind the words he had used in his attempt to dismantle Hinata before they fought. He had questioned her worth as a potential leader, be it of a squad or their clan. And he still stood by most of it. But if Hiashi himself had disagreed and was instructing Hinata to be his successor—in some way—then he could see why his plan backfired and only galvanized her instead.

He had never taken Hiashi for such a fool, but if he was simultaneously teaching Hanabi as well there might be hope for the clan yet.

Or as much hope as a travesty of a clan like theirs could have at any rate.

"Ojii-sama?"

The surprise in Hinata's words brought Neji back to their conversation.

"Indeed. He has been very interested in the possibility of others like you existing in our clan's past, especially before Lightning affinity became as common. It would be useful for the clan if we could provide better support to such people if more cases happen in the future as well, yourself included, so he has been researching our archives. He's not done yet but he already found a lead of some sort, so do expect to hear more from him later this week."

"Understood," she nodded eagerly.

"And this is my plan for this coming month. Of course, once the exams are finished we will return to our normal schedules... in fact, I am hoping this extra time I've managed to set aside this month will become the norm for us from now on, Hinata. But enough of that. Do you two have any questions?"

"No, Hiashi-sama."

Hinata merely shook her head.

Then, almost as if on cue to end their meeting, someone knocked on the door. Once more he saw Hiashi's dojutsu come to life for but an instant before he replied: "Enter."

"Hiashi-sama, excuse my interruption!" Natsu said as she quickly hurried into the room and bowed. The miad's shaky posture betrayed her nerves, however.

The clan head made a pacifying gesture. "Worry not, we were done here. Has something happened to Hanabi? You seem unsettled."

"Well… it would be more accurate to say that Hanabi happened," she muttered. "You see, Hiashi-sama, we have a… guest, of sorts. For Hinata-sama."

"M-Me?"

The plain shock on Hinata's face made it clear she was as lost as Neji himself, which Hiashi probably noticed as he didn't question her.

"Of sorts? Not one of her teammates then I take it."

"Oh no. It's that child, Hiashi-sama."

Neji frowned. '…What?'

"T-There was an altercation at the gates between him and the guards. He was seeking Hinata-sama, but they refused to let him enter. Hanabi-sama and I stumbled upon their argument as we were returning from the academy. She ended the discussion herself… before I knew it she was shoving the boy inside and yelling for me to bring Hinata-sama to the gardens," Natsu admitted, her demeanor shifting to meekness, as if she was sure her actions would have consequences.

Yet when Neji's curious gaze landed on Hiashi, he found the clan head's stoic posture blemished by the amusement sparkling in his eyes.

"Ah, I see. Well, Hinata. It would be rude to keep a guest waiting, would it not?"

When Neji looked back at Hinata, the girl's face might as well have been on fire from how red it was.

"Y-Yes!" she agreed as she got up from the chair and her pitch rose to match. "E-Excuse-me!"

A quick bow later and Hinata had hurried away from the room as fast as she could without actually running off.

Not even three seconds after she left his sights, he heard a crash outside the office and a feminine yelp-like noise.

Natsu was out in a flash. "H-Hinata-sama! Are you alright!?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine!"

The maid just stared for a couple moments before quietly stepping back into the office.

"Hiashi-sama should I… follow?"

"Hmm, no. Leave them be. Actually, do follow her and bring Hanabi somewhere else if she's still with our guest. Say I ordered it so if needed."

"Understood."

…Finally, it was just Neji and Hiashi again.

"I must say, it's fortunate that there was a preliminary event," the clan head confessed. "Teaching just one of you is much simpler, especially considering you'd be fighting each other in the finals otherwise."

"…We would?" Neji asked with a frown.

"Oh, absolutely. Neji, if you thought those matches were all decided at random, you're mistaken. Some, if not all, are planned in advance, and this should include the preliminaries. You were just unable to see the trick behind whatever method they said they were using to decide the match-ups."

Neji brought a hand to his chin. "If that's true… then why? Isn't our clan considered to be the strongest in our village?"

"Indeed. But think of it like this: do we really need more than one Hyuuga to show our clan's potential? Doesn't the village show its genin's potential more efficiently if a wider variety of shinobi is fighting? Furthermore, if there had been no preliminaries, what better way to display the deadliness and the nuances of the Gentle Fist than a mirror match? Most genin are entirely outclassed against a Hyuuga."

"Ah… I see. So I presume if there would be more foreigners in the finals, then…"

Hiashi nodded.

"Exactly. Then the exam planners would have gone for the opposite approach and tried to not let you two meet each other unless you made it to the finals, to demonstrate that our clan and our village are superior."

Neji frowned.

"Then do you presume there is a reason I was matched with the weakest opponent in the finals? Was this one of the legitimately random matches?"

Neji knew that fate worked in mysterious ways, but many times there was a logical reason behind people's destinies as well.

Yet he was surprised when Hiashi crossed his arms and closed his eyes, becoming silent for an uncomfortable stretch of time.

"Your opponent, Naruto Uzumaki… there's a reason you might have been matched against him, yes. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to tell you about it."

The word allowed rung inside Neji's head. With the culture of the Hyuuga clan it was hard to remember it at times, but Hiashi Hyuuga was not the biggest authority in Neji's life.

Yet the only thing that could be bigger than a clan head…

'The Hokage. But why?'

Hiashi opened his eyes. "I will prepare you as best I can. I can promise you that much."

"…I see." Rising, Neji bowed deeply to his uncle. "Thank you for the opportunity you've given me, Hiashi-sama. I will not disappoint you or our clan."

Soon after his dismissal, Neji found himself outside the manor, clutching the folder with Lee's medical records in his arms.

As he made his way toward the compound's exit, hoping to meet with Tenten at her father's armory, he couldn't help but wonder about his opponent.

"That fool… is there something special about him that I can't see?"

Perhaps listening to Tenten's account of how she, somehow, lost, might enlighten him. He knew fate brought them together so he could show him his place, as was with Hinata. That much was obvious.

Yet if there was another reason tied to the mortal plane as well...

"Well. Color me intrigued."

---

Naruto was speechless.

All his anger at the guards threatening to throw him out because the idea of him being friends with Hinata was so unfathomable… it was gone.

He stood in the middle of a garden. Not the same humble gardens he had seen during D-rank missions across the village such as his sworn enemy, the weeding missions.

It was big, wide, and there were flowers everywhere. Some in full bloom, painting the garden in a wide variety of shapes and colors, while others were but small bulbs. Some were in fancy pots put either on the floor or shelves bolted to the walls, while others rested freely on the ground but carefully isolated by tiny metal fences.

Despite the sheer amount of plants all around, it was neatly organized with plenty of space for one to walk and look up each plant. All plants were strategically placed as to not to overshadow another plant, giving each a chance to shine if one's eyes fell on them.

As he scanned the area, Naruto even noticed there were also herbs, vegetables and fruits being grown on the side farthest from the entrance he took with Hanabi before the girl left—and with a stern warning to not break anything or else she'd break him, no less.

Hinata's descriptions in their past conversations did not do the place justice. He didn't know how much of its upkeep was her responsibility or just done by servants, but it was worthy of praise for all involved.

But if there was one glaring omission by his friend, it was what his nose was eagerly discovering with each second he spent. The fragrance in the air was enchanting. A sweet aroma that was strong yet no overpowering, and… rich, if he were to say the first word that came to mind. He imagined it was because there was more than one plant responsible for the smell.

Ramen worked like that, at least.

He closed his eyes to take in the scent in full… not noticing the right behind him…

"Do you li—"

Naruto screamed like a little girl in a way that words could not describe.

"—ke then…?"

He whirled around to find none other than Hinata herself, looking as startled as he was after that outburst.

"…"

"…"

"Snrk."

The girl's hands went up to cover her mouth and her shoulders trembled.

'Oh no.'

He pointed at her, scowling.

"If you tell anyone, and I mean anyone!"

Hinata broke, doubling over as her hands became unable to muffle her laughter anymore.

"…Dammit," he grumbled to himself, feeling his lips twist as if wanting to laugh with her. He refused to.

But looking at the girl wiping tears from her eyes, he couldn't stay upset for long.

"Geez Hinata, warn a guy next time you come up behind him at least. I can't see behind my head like you."

"S-Sorry Naruto-kun! B-But I did! I called out to you as I entered, I thought you heard me," she explained.

Her expression was mirthful. Naruto couldn't find any evidence of what had happened to her just from looking or listening to her.

'Good.'

He scratched his head.

"Yeah… I guess. This place made me distracted." He turned his back on her, walking a couple steps toward the garden once more. "You really undersold how awesome it is, you know?"

His eyes took in the whole garden once again.

…Rich people were on a whole other level. It was scary.

He felt Hinata approach him, until she stood right by his side.

"Mother poured so much of her into making this a reality, according to the servants that help me and Hanabi to take care of it. I don't remember much of those times… but she was always so happy when we came here."

He caught her looking down, her previously joy becoming bittersweet.

"It… it feels like it's keeping her memory alive somehow. As if as long as this garden is still standing, being cared for, she's still here protecting us."

Hinata shook her head.

"Ah… Sorry Naruto-kun, I'm being silly. You probably didn't want to hear things like that either..."

That left him confused, which confirmed to Naruto that it truly was Hinata there.

"Nah… I think it's sweet."

Oddly, it kind of reminded him of the Will of Fire as well even if it wasn't really the same thing.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." Despite the rosy shade of her cheeks, Hinata seemed pleased at his words. "But… u-m, please sit," she motioned to a wide bench nearby, which faced the gardens.

When they both sat, with a fair distance between them, she asked: "What brings you here so suddenly? Is everything alright?"

That made him frown. "I dunno, you tell me."

He watched her confused face until it dawned on her.

"…Oh! M-Me?" she asked, to which Naruto nodded emphatically. "Umm… w-well, I'm fine, Naruto-kun. Just a little sore, but nothing that a day of rest won't fix. I, uh… I'm sorry to have worried you," she said, facing away from him with her head lowered.

"Yeah, between you, Lee and Sasuke even a guy like me gets worried, you know? But you're the only one I could visit right now since Sasuke is away from the village with Kakashi-sensei and… y-you know," he stumbled, suddenly unsure if he should've even mentioned Lee.

As expected, Hinata did not look very happy to be reminded of the result of Lee's duel with Gaara, but as she processed his words, realization flashed across the girl's lavender eyes.

"Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-sensei are away? But… what about your training? I know Kurenai-sensei is helping Sakura but…"

"Oh, that?" Naruto couldn't hold back his smug grin. "You're never gonna believe just who is gonna help me this whole month!"

…He oh-so enjoyed seeing Hinata's jaw hit the floor after he told her all about Jiraiya.

"A-Are you pranking me, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto laughed. "It's the truth!"

She gasped behind her hands. "Wow… Naruto-kun, that's incredible! I… I know our sensei are all renowned and famous shinobi, but Jiraiya of the Sannin… i-it's on a whole other level!"

Hinata's hands returned to her lap, revealing a wide smile that so openly expressed her joy for him. Naruto had never seen her so gleeful, as her smiles were usually small and more controlled.

It wavered as her curiosity grew.

"What about your seal, Naruto-kun? He's a sealmaster, right? Was he able to fix it?"

Without an ounce of hesitation he pulled his jacket and shirt halfway up. "Yup, as good as new," he patted his bare belly, which no longer showed either Orochimaru's or the Fourth Hokage's seals. Without the snake's venom, his original seal would only be visible if he was borrowing the Kyuubi's power.

"G-G-G-Good!" she squeaked out in a very high pitched noise

When he looked back at Hinata she… was facing the complete opposite direction, and closely resembled a blue-haired cherry from how red her face was.

He let the shirt drop. "Hinata? You okay?"

She let out a shaky breath before mumbling something he maybe thought could've been an "I think I'm okay."

…Probably. He shrugged.

"Anyway, he fixed me, but Hinata let me tell you, we had to undo all that work we put on getting used to my messed up chakra! You know, around lunch yesterday?"

Her head turned, and gone were all traces of… whatever had happened earlier.

"You mean to say, you had to relearn your techniques again?"

"Yeah! Not exactly fun, but Jiraiya helped me figure things out. I can already do all my stuff again, and about as well as when before the exam happened. Hah, too bad you weren't there! I bet that with your eyes, you'd have some hot tips to get this all wrapped up real quick! Not that it took long anyway, even though we had a lot of techniques to go over." Naruto frowned. "He thought it was real funny that I couldn't do the normal Clone Jutsu, even when I can do better."

That brought a soft giggle from Hinata, too. "Looks like you're off to a good start then. Has he told you your plans for… the month?"

Naruto crossed his arms. "More or less. He said Kakashi-sensei has approved of me learning another Wind jutsu, and he has a technique of his own he wants me to learn too. Besides that… Jiraiya said he wants me to try to use the Kyuubi's chakra—"

"He what!? T-That's crazy!"

Naruto laughed at the face she made. "Yeah that was my reaction too! But he said that as long as I draw very little, it should give me a good boost without being dangerous. Well it is dangerous if I mess up, but that's part of why he was called. He's a Sannin! If something happens like it did in Wave, he can handle me and he can strengthen the seal if he feels I'm not ready."

His eyes darted down to his hands, which were wide open in front of him. He closed them into a fist.

"I'm not sure how to feel about it. The Kyuubi… oh, I didn't tell you! I talked to him!"

Hinata giggled a bit, but her expression fell when she realized he was not joking.

"Really!? But how!?"

He shrugged. "Beats me, it went all over my head. But it was when Orochimaru knocked me out and you and Shikamaru were watching over me and Sasuke.

The girl looked apprehensive. "When you were unconscious…? A-Are you sure it wasn't a dream or something, Naruto-kun?"

"It was totally real… he told me about what the snake bastard's seal was doing, you know?"

"Just like that?"

"Well, no," Naruto replied with a scowl. "He threatened me, insulted me, ranted at me… heck, for all that power he's supposed to have, he's just another annoying, grumpy old man. Get off my lawn!" he said, clawing at the air with his teeth bared.

"Pfffft!"

Hinata burst out laughing again, not even bothering to hide her mirth anymore.

'All as planned,' Naruto thought, satisfied, as her laughter provoked his own.

"Only you could make a comparison like that, Naruto-kun!" she eventually said, drying her eyes with her fingers.

"Heh…"

His good mood eroded.

"But… being serious. He did help me. What he said about the seal was all true… well, what he said without trying to make fun of me anyway," Naruto grumbled. "He's a jerk. But… it feels wrong to just take his power, you know? Even if I can control it. He lives inside me, but he's not me."

"I see… that makes sense. He is his own individual, after all. Perhaps there's a way to talk to him again? Maybe ask for help?"

"Hmmm maybe? I didn't get the stuff he said about how our seal works all that well but if he can pull me in to chat, I guess maybe I can go to him somehow." He nodded to himself. "Jiraiya should know! I'll ask him tomorrow."

"Oh? Tomorrow? You're… not going back to him today?"

"Nah," he shook his head. "Jiraiya's mostly gonna train me in the mornings. Sometimes a while after lunch too but he said he has to spare time to do research," he said while making quoting motions with his fingers.

"Research?"

Naruto shrugged. "Beats me. But he's a sealmaster and a Sannin, right? Must be something really important and cool! Top secret stuff!"

Hinata looked at him in amusement, but said nothing.

"He did say he was gonna visit Sasuke to get a look on his seal today though. Didn't look too happy about it…"

The girl's amusement faded. "I hope he's well. I… was really scared when he went out of control back in the mines."

Naruto decided to shift the conversation away from that, as he didn't want to think about that either.

"So. Since I had the rest of the day free, I thought of seeing you. I was told you were fine but… you know."

"I'm sorry…"

"Huh?"

His head tilted sideways. Why the hell was she apologizing? It was just to show that Hinata was as good as ever at throwing him off his game.

However, Naruto decided to leave it be. This was as good a chance as any to cut to the chase.

"Well, I was gonna come here even if you hadn't gotten that hurt. Cuz… I have something to ask you. Something important."

Her cheeks were dusted pink, and her hands rose to obscure her mouth and nose from his eyes.

Naruto sensed a shift in Hinata's demeanor. Her eyes were fixed on him, and somehow he could feel the anticipation on her lavender gaze.

"…Go on."

She was expecting something—no. She was… hoping for something?

But what?

It was oddly intense. It was easy to forget that she could give that kind of intense look like her other clansmen…

Then again, that was exactly what he was there for.

"Would you be okay in training with me for the finals in your spare time after I'm done with Jiraiya?"

"…C-Come again?"

He repeated himself.

Hinata's hands fell to her lap.

"Me? Train… with you?"

"Yeah!"

The conversation died, with Hinata looking completely caught off-guard. For some reason. Naruto thought he had been pretty clear and his question was simple, so why would she be so visibly confused?

"But… but Naruto-kun… I lost to Neji nii-san. You saw it. I… why me? I don't understand…"

'Oh.'

So that was the problem.

"Because you're the perfect choice?"

The way her face was set alight instantly suggested his wording was off somehow.

He coughed. "You see… we've fought a few times already. Right?"

She nodded. Most of the time those fights were in team brawls, sometimes with the usual squads and sometimes mixed. Yet a few times, they were one-on-one fights like the one before their first joint mission.

And those few fights made him realize just why the Hyuuga were so feared. He had to rely a lot on the environment, trying to exploit openings when she used ninjutsu at a distance and/or attempting to distract her while his clones did trickery elsewhere to set him up. More often than not he had failed.

She only needed a few very fast hits to dismantle him completely. It had been… rather demoralizing to go up against her, if he had to be honest.

Yet she didn't see it that way.

"Naruto-kun, even so… he's stronger than me. He's faster, more skilled, more experienced. His eyes can do much more than mine in a fight, too. I… I don't see how I could possibly help…"

"Hinata, come on… think about it! Yeah, you lost to him, and he does have a lot of advantages over you… but if I can't even fight you normally, then there's no way I can pull off the win against the guy. Right?"

His argument threw her off completely. "I… I guess?"

"Yeah! So, that's why I asked. I need to get used to how you guys fight, even if you changed the style some. The basic idea is still the same, isn't it?"

"I… suppose so," she said, still seeming slightly stunned.

He began to scratch the back of his head. "Look, Hinata. I know you do a lot for me already. You cook lunches for me, you helped me with control issues many times already, you pushed me to open up to Sakura-chan and Sasuke… and I'm really grateful, you know? Heck, I-I'm starting to feel about guilty about asking one more thing like that, hahaha…"

Images of an angry, screaming Sakura appeared in his mind.

"No, no!" Hinata waved her hands frantically. "I-I'ts fine, Naruto-kun! Really it's… it's my pleasure to help you. It's the least I could do after all…"

"…So is that a yes?" he wondered. Her wording bothered him for some reason.

"…"

There was another long pause before Hinata answered. He watched her fidget, her face shifting from fear, confusion, panic… only to finally settle for the same thing he saw during her fight with Neji, even from afar.

The fire burning within her eyes was unmistakable.

"I'll do my best to help you, Naruto-kun."

"Yes!" he jumped away from the bench and pumped his fists in the air.

His cheer brought a shy little smile from her.

"So… your team's usual training ground tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yeah! After lunch! Is that cool for you?"

Her nod was emphatic.

"Great! I could come pick you up then and… wait. No." He scowled. "Maybe that's not the best idea."

"Oh… ah! Natsu-san did say something had happened at the gates!"

Naruto crossed his arms and looked away, pouting. "Yeah those stupid guards… I get not letting me in, really, I do. But not sending someone to see if I was telling the truth about being your friend? Come on!"

Hinata massaged her brow and got to two feet. "The exact same thing happened to Kiba-kun when he came over for the first time… Naruto-kun, let me show you the way out. If they see us together, there should be no issues in the future."

"Oooh, are you gonna scold them? Please say yes!"

"What?" she giggled cutely. "No, Naruto-kun! Don't be silly, they are just doing their jobs…"

His pout resurfaced. "Yeah, well, they're doing too good of a job."

That led to another bout of giggles, and Naruto knew right then and there that he had truly picked up the best training partner possible.

'This month is gonna rock!'

---

A/N:

And that was all, folks!

As you can tell this chapter was mainly a set up for a lot of things in the future. Selecting a destination is, after all, an important part of any journey.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that most of you must have expected something more... bombastic, perhaps, for Jiraiya's introduction. My idea here was a more professional take, as Naruto didn't end up stumbling on Jiraiya while his pervert mode was at max level. So currently with a less comical intro, Naruto is thinking very highly about his new sensei.

That, of course, will change in the coming chapters.

You can expect more progression on people's training, to meet a few of the other genin such as Shikamaru and Gaara (who really needs more spotlight, I know), and the adults handling more serious things too.

I'm not quite sure if the dreaded Team 7 reunion will be next chapter or in 33. I'm leaning more towards 33 right now but we will see.

So... that was all from me! I know the last chapter is a tough act to follow upon, but I hope this was enjoyable nonetheless. I've been dying to write some solid Naruhina scenes for months now, getting that out of my system was good. Hearing your thoughts on the chapter and especially that scene, would be simply lovely so... please drop a review! We gotta reach the 1000 reviews threshold eventually and the random doses of encouragement are always welcome!

Thank you all for coming this far with me!

---

Guest review answers

Guest (Feb 07): Aww, I'm glad you liked the fight scenes! Thanks for the review!

Guest (Feb 08): Shorter chapters and more frequent updates, funny stuff ain't it. : ( lol... About the Hyuuga duel, I'm glad it kept you guessing this much. Hinata was never meant to win but the sheer amount of tricks she managed to pull off kinda gives you hope, right? When push comes to shove she's actually pretty clever, but she doesn't really see that. Typical Hinata, haha. Thanks for the review!

10/10 Guest: Oh no... "Team Dead Last" was very enjoyable but it's been dead for a while. And I had no read the other fic, but I recognized the author from "For Love" which is absolutely amazing. A pity it, and the fic you rec'd, are also very, very slow to update. It's been so long I'd say they are dead too, but you never know. I'm flattered that's the kind of fic you've stacked mine up against, haha.

aGE: You see, the mirror trick works because our eyes are still sensitive to light. The Byakugan let's one look in the sun's direction at all times, but they don't directly stare at the sun to get that done. So shining light at a Hyuuga works, especially if they like Neji don't associate the sensory overload with light since the Byakugan means their sight lines would be unaffected. Plus I've heard that light-colored eyes are more sensitive, but I don't know if that's a mere myth. Also, Chekhov's Gun, anyone?

guest (Feb 09): One sided fights are so boring! I hope Jiraiya's debut wasn't as underwhelming as I think it is... there will be more of him from this point forward, I promise!

guest (Feb 10): A TV tropes page? Oh my... a TV Tropes recommendation, that I can see happening, but so far my fic has strayed too close to canon to truly merit a page, I think? I would die if either happened!

guest (Feb 22): Yeah... you can stack power on top of power for any character, and it makes them stronger. But imo, that usually doesn't make for a better character. In fact it usually makes the character worse if you ask me... thanks for the suggestion though!

guest (chapter 1): Not that you'll ever see this but... I don't see it as a dictatorship and am not writing it as a dictatorship. In fact I don't believe the systems we see even support such a thing. How would Hashirama convince other clans to completely drop their independence like that? It doesn't work. Well not for the lead anyway, you can certainly call Yagura's Land of water a dictatorship, and the other countries are open to that interpretation.

Suryam Gangwal: 2 to 3 months per chapter currently.

Guest (chapters 2/20/25): Glad you liked the fic!

Stuff to Ask: Oh, Simple Potato has been gone for a long time now. He's gotten too busy to give me feedback when I needed it quickly (mostly at the final scenes of the chapters). I'd love to go back to a monthly update schedule... currently I'm lucky if it's bi-monthly but that's not working out well either.

TheLateReader: I can only hope the future chapters will match your high expectations after chapter 1!