Rin doesn't know how long she's been here in this single dark room; its only light source being the tiny television placed directly in front of her. It's been hard to tell time much less string together a coherent string of thoughts.
Rin thinks they've drugged her. She just doesn't know with what. Although it must be something heavy considering her tenant is having a hard time flushing it from her system
(She has a bijuu in her. A tailed fucking beast. Sage, what has become of her life?)
"You are Root. You are the foundation that feeds the great tree of Konoha." The stoic figure in front of Rin drones on as images flicker on tv. "In Root, you have no name. You have no feelings. You have no past. You have no future. There is only the mission."
"... nooo …" Rin slurs before the agent can begin the whole speel again. She clenches her hands into fists and grits her teeth when the metal shackles rub against the welts on her wrist. "...you not...you wrong."
There is more to life than just the mission. There is strawberry dango, the feel of fresh grass tickling her ankles, and Hinata's sweet laughter and Obito's squeaks as they splash in the Nara river.
"Agent eight-eight-five, you have not been given permission to speak—"
"My name is Nohara Rin," she rasps, acidic chakra bubbling forth as her ire rises. It eats away at the metal and the seals placed on her. "And I will speak when I want!" She yells and begins thrashing against her restraints. The metal bolts groan and one of them pops out, a piece of the cement wall falling to the floor.
Her masked captor doesn't react other than to press two fingers to their ear.
"This is agent four-three-seven called from the education center, room twenty-five. Requesting assistance. The subject is resisting education."
Rin has managed to get one arm free, her chains wrapped around her teacher's throat, when the cavalry finally arrives. She screams in equal parts rage and despair when tree roots sprout from the ground and hold her in place.
"Please," the agent working on the seals to her new shackles says quietly. Rin actually stops, shocked at the first sign of emotion she's seen from these faceless shades. She stares at the painted swirls on his mask. "Stop. You are hurting yourself."
Her shock is replaced by anger at his words. How dare he!? How dare he tell her to stop, that she is hurting herself when these people aim to destroy her?!
Rin resumes her struggle even as the branches tighten and her bones snap inside of her. Gloved hands grab her head and Rin fights desperately, thrashing right and left. But another root simply branches out and encases her head at an angle and she whines in pain as a thick needle is stuck into her neck.
The drug's effects are instantaneous, her mind clouding over with a mist thicker than those she'd seen in Kiri. The fight leaves her as she's once again sedated into submission.
The Hyuuga are one of the few surviving noble clans of old. A time before hidden villages, a time long-forgotten where gods walked the earth, leaving mortals to kiss the ground in their wake.
But for all their pride, the Hyuuga have forgotten much of their honorable history, dismissing much of it as simple fairy tales told to keep their young entertained.
Hinami was chosen as Hiashi's betrothed long before either of them was conceived. From the moment she came into existence she had been groomed to complement Hiashi's rule. The gentle touch to his unyielding fist.
Hinami had known how to run a household before her third birthday. She'd known how to curtsy and bow before she'd taken her first steps. Her first words were 'thank you', 'how do you do?', and 'the rice harvest this year has been bountiful, yes?'.
Hinami has been raised to be the perfect ladywife. As such, her schooling was intensive. Her tutors versed her in all sorts of knowledge: economics, court etiquette, philosophy, warfare, and the steep history of her clan. It is her duty as the future lady of the Hyuuga to have a deep understanding of their family's extensive traditions and past. Because without it how could they ever hope to escape the pitfalls of their ancestors?
(Rousing success that has been, she thinks to herself bitterly, watching yet another branch member sealed into servitude.)
It is during her studies that she learns of the myths and legends surrounding the Hyuuga. That they are descendants of a great but terrible goddess who came from the stars. The story itself is mostly regarded as just that—a story. Hinami never thought it to be true. No one did.
Not until Hinata came along.
Conceived under the soft moonlight of a passionate night and born on a full moon during the season's coldest night, Hinami knew her child was born for more.
She remembers that night so clearly; she remembers the pain coupled with a mix of excitement and anxiety as she prepared for her daughter's birth. Hiashi, her precious husband, had fainted on the spot. Hizashi had rolled his eyes and readily took his place, holding her hand through it all, never once complaining even as his bones creaked and cracked.
It had all been worth it when at the end of the night Hinami was handed a small, pink bundle. She had never seen anything more beautiful. No treasure could compare to the one currently in her possession.
"My little princess," she whispers before succumbing to exhaustion, Hinata clutched securely to her chest.
To this day, Hinami knows the only reason she woke up that night is due to pure instinct; that of a mother for her newborn child. Nothing more and nothing less.
The first thing she registers upon waking is the distinct absence of her daughter. The second, after a frantic search with her byakugan, is the horned stranger standing at the foot of her bed with Hinata slumbering peacefully in his arms.
The moon's rays from the open window swath the stranger in shadow. And yet despite everything, Hinami feels no fear. Only a sense of calm and...familiarity.
"She is beautiful," he murmurs.
Hinami swallows thickly. "Thank you," she replies.
Hinata stirs, little arms breaking free from her swaddling. Hinami watches as the mysterious man moves to tuck her back in only to be stopped when Hinata grabs onto his finger. Her actions clearly startle him, pale eyes widening ever so.
"Strong too. Very good, very good...she will need to be." He gently wiggles his finger free only for Hinata to grab onto his long hair, fisting the silvery strands. The stranger sighs and carefully pries her fingers open.
Hinami watches it all, the sheer surreality of the situation catching up to her after a moment.
"Who are you?" She blurts. Hinami's breath catches when the man's gaze meets her own. It's like staring into the center of a burning star, intense and unfathomably ancient. It is the eyes of a god.
"I am Hamura," he intones, voice somber, "and you are my descendant."
"Oh," she exhales shakily, mind reeling because the legends are true and oh my gods, a god is holding my child. A god who we are kin with. A literal god is holding my baby.
Hinami clasps her shaking hands in her lap, "Forgive me for, ah, being so bold, but why have you chosen now to grace us with your presence, Hamura-sama?"
Why now? What do you want with my daughter?
"I sensed a great change, the future coming undone, and followed the threads here," he responds and his next words leave her more anxious, sweat collecting at her temples. "I believe a gift is customary for such occasions, is it not?"
He raises his brow and Hinami can only nod, her mind spiraling.
What does he mean, 'the future coming undone'? Are we in danger? What changed? Does it have to do with Hinata? Is my daughter in danger, does he mean her harm?
Hinami immediately dismisses that thought. She can't explain how but she knows with utmost certainty that the god is not a threat. Not to them, at least. Not right now.
Hamura raises a single digit and with a pulse of chakra, Hinami is witness to a miracle—a god bestowing a blessing upon a mere mortal babe.
Power washes over her in ripples, knocking her back against the bed, overwhelming all her senses. For a terrifying moment, Hinami is blind to all. But slowly, her sight, hearing, and touch come back. Hinata makes a sound where she lays back in her arms.
Her husband, brother-in-law, and a dozen clansmen burst into the room, their doujutsu activated and bodies coiled for battle.
She meets Hiashi's eyes. She blinks and her husband's fierce expression falters when he notes that all appears well.
"Hinami?" He walks up to them, his brother right behind him. The others fan out into the room and beyond. "Are you alright? Is the baby...is she okay?" he asks worriedly. Hizashi mirrors him, byakugan scanning them both.
"Ah," Hinami looks down. Hinata is asleep again. "Yes, we are fine."
Hiashi lets out a breath, "Praise the log."
Hizashi pushes past his elder brother.
"Now that we've confirmed you're okay…" He looks at her, expression deadpan, "...what the fuck, Hinami."
"Brother!" Hiashi loudly reproaches, waking up Hinata who then proceeds to cry. Hiashi flutters over her anxiously. He glares at his twin. "Now look at what you've done! You've made her cry."
"Me? You're the one yelling."
Hinami watches the two argue back and forth—Hinata crying in the background while their clansmen scurry around trying to find whatever triggered the security seals—and sighs.
Hamura floats above the frantic compound, observing his descendants scurry around like ants whose nest has been disturbed.
Doujutsu activated, he focuses all his attention back on the infant crying fitfully in her mother's arms.
His heart aches at the sight of her. She looks so much like his darling Hoshi-chan. The same midnight hair as his late wife and with his mother's powerful eyes. Although his daughter's have always been so much warmer; kinder.
Hamura had come as soon as he felt her soul leave the spirit realm. It's the first time she's ever done so and he admits he was curious.
Imagine his surprise when he caught up with her and found his daughter reborn in the world his elder brother created.
Hamura shakes his head, a satisfied smile curling the corner of his lip.
His nephews all have their reincarnations. It is time his daughter had one of her own.
He only hopes that this life will be kinder than her last. She had died so young, a bud torn apart by turbulent winds before it could fully blossom. He had had such high hopes for her and his nephews. With her gentle nature yet strong determination coupled with Indra's intellect and innate skill and Asura's charisma, he had believed that the trio would finally accomplish his mother's goal—peace and protection for all of humanity.
But then Indra and Asura had their messy falling out, seeding the beginning of a long and brutal feud between their families, one that his darling Hoshi—forever the peacemaker—got caught up in and lost her life.
Hamura pushes more chakra into his eyes and catches a glimpse of the gift he'd imparted to her. It will lie dormant for now until she needs it; a failsafe, of sorts. Though his daughter possesses great strength of her own, a father can never be too careful with his children. Hamura cannot bear to lose her again.
"I wish you good fortune, my little moonstar," he says softly, closing his eyes as he begins to fade away, "Perhaps you will succeed where so many have failed."
He casts his gaze to the side upon a much smaller compound. He shifts his attention to another bundle, this one with hair like starlight and the keen eyes of a greater predator.
"So you are here too..." Hamura grimaces and huffs, "...may you also succeed where you failed once, Wolf. For her sake."
"In Root, you have no name."
I do have a name! Rin thinks, biting down on her muzzle. It is Rin! Nohara Rin, first and only daughter of Nohara Kento and Nohara Miwa. Chuunin medic of Konoha's Team Minato.
I am me.
"Poor kid," the gate guard sighs under his breath.
"You think anyone's told him that he's not coming back?" The other guard whispers back.
"I hope so, man, I really do."
"You and me both, 'zumo."
Shisui pays their conversation no mind. He's heard it a hundred times before from a hundred different mouths. The logical part of him agrees with them. The odds of Obito not only surviving but making it all the way back to Konoha after all these months is so small that it's not even worth calculating.
(It's 1 in 7,305,238,681)
His heart, on the other hand, wants to tell them all to stuff it where the sun don't shine.
Shisui doesn't know how to explain it but he knows that his big brother is out there. Somewhere. He doesn't know where—knowing Obito, he's probably gotten himself horribly lost—but Shisui knows he's out there. He's sure of it.
After the war, he's going to go out and find him and bring him back home. Back to him and Hinata-nee and Rin—
Shisui's lips thin in determination.
Rin-neechan too. He'll find her and bring her back.
"Hey, hey, look who's here."
"...oh thank the sage."
"Shisui-kun?" A soft voice calls him.
Shisui turns to it and brightens, racing forward.
"Hinata-nee!"
He jumps into her waiting arms eagerly, arms looping around her neck. Hinata giggles when he rubs his cheek against hers affectionately.
Shisui knows he's too old to be doing this. He's already a genin with his own apartment and his own kill count. However, being with Hinata...it's like going back in time when he was really, really little. Shisui doesn't remember what his parents looked like—he'd only been a few months old when they died—but he remembers how they felt.
They felt a lot like how Hinata makes him feel. Warm and safe and oh so cherished; worth more than his bloodlimit or his ability to kill a man twice his size.
Hinata rubs her nose against his, making him laugh. She shifts him onto her hip and Shisui rests his head on her shoulder. He swings his legs idly, eyes drooping.
"Let's go home, Shi-chan." She says gently.
Shisui thinks of his lonely apartment located on the outskirts of the compound. He thinks of the empty one next door that used to belong to Obito.
He lifts his head, "Hinata-nee?" he asks.
"Yes?"
"Can we…" he swallows and his arms tighten. "...do you think we can get some dango? Before you take me home?"
Hinata smiles sweetly down at him. Shisui relaxes and feels a smile of his own begin to form.
"Of course. We can eat them at the park." She snuggles him close, eyes twinkling like the fairy lights Rin strung in his room to keep the nightmares away. "How does that sound?"
Shisui lays his head back down and sighs happily.
"Mmm, I'd like that."
Hinata makes a happy noise and they make their way to the dango shop that Hinata's loud-mean friend likes so much.
"You have no feelings," they tell her as her anger and fear grow and grow with each day she is trapped here.
"Is this all Hiashi's eldest is capable of?" elder Hisato sidesteps her jab and closes the tenketsu in her shoulder. Hinata jumps back, lips pursed as she re-opens the chakra point. She spies Kanami, the branch member tending to her today, watching her worriedly from the sidelines.
"How disappointing."
Hinata goes for elder Hisato's lower tenketsu, hoping to disrupt his chakra long enough to gain some ground in their spar and stop the vitriol spewing from her tutor's mouth. But she is too slow, night after night of fitful sleep having zapped her of her will and energy.
(Her dreams are a chaotic storm of foreign scenes intermixed with nightmares of Rin's death. She wakes each night in a cold sweat, her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest.)
Hinata's neck snaps to the side with the force of Hisato's blow.
She crashes to the floor.
Hinata stares at her reflection on the dojo's perfectly polished floors.
She looks terrible—dark bags under her eyes and sallow skin. Her reflection is disturbed by blood dripping onto it from her broken nose. Hinata watches, transfixed, as the red droplets fall one after another.
Drip drip drip
"What are you doing, girl? Get up!" Hisato snaps. "Get up this instant! Our clan's heiress must be able to withstand more than a simple tap."
Hinata barely hears him, her mind floating away from her body like a festival balloon.
Drip drip drip
"Fine. If you like the filthy floor so much I will make sure you won't be parting with it any time soon."
"...K—ka...kashi…" Rin stutters, the smell of charred skin thick in the air. Her eyes flick momentarily to Hinata and her bloodied lips twitch in a terrible, beautiful smile.
Hinata abruptly comes back to herself, Kanami's tortured screams forcing her mind back into her body. Kanami is kneeling in front of her, bent over and clawing at her head. Elder Hisato stands over her, holding up his index and middle finger in that damned seal.
"You dare to interfere!?"
Hinata's mind blanks and she moves.
Next thing she knows she is standing over a shaking Hisato, the man looking every bit his age as he looks up at her with wide, fearful eyes. Her hand is a ninja wire's breadth away from his fragile heart, her chakra dark and flickering around her like candlelight in the night.
"H—hinata-sama…" Kanami wheezes, her hand on her shoulder grounding her, "...please…"
What kind of mistress would she be to deny her servant's request when she has served her family and herself so faithfully? Loyalty should always be rewarded.
The crackling sound of her doujutsu powering off is deafening in the silence that has taken over the room.
"I think that is enough for today. Thank you for your time, Hisato-sensei." Hinata bows and smiles demurely at the elder. Hisato looks at her, at her face caked in blood, and recalls how terrifying it'd been when she'd knocked him back like it was nothing (him a retired jounin; one who inspired terror during the first war), her eyes holding a cold fury that chilled his heart and made it tremble.
He swallows, "...very well, Hyuuga-hime."
Hinata steps away from him and tilts her head ever so slightly towards Kanami.
"Come, Kanami-san, I think a trip to the infirmary is in order."
Kanami, still shaking from her ordeal, manages a perfect bow.
"Understood, m'lady."
With that Hinata sweeps out of the training dojo, Kanami following at her heels. Hisato watches them leave, his heartbeat slowing, his fear thawing as his heart begins to burn with something bitter and foul.
"You have no past."
"Hi! I'm Rin and this is Obito." Rin makes sure to keep her smile friendly and her voice soft as if calling a stray, frightened animal. "What's your name?"
The girl shrinks into herself, "M—my name is...Hinata."
"NICE TO MEET YA—mmpf!"
"It's very nice to meet you, Hinata-chan," Rin says calmly, ignoring the wide-eyed looks Hinata is giving her. She keeps her hand firmly over Obito's mouth as she continues, "I hope we'll be great friends."
"H—hai! Me too…"
Hayate leans his head back and takes in a deep breath of clean, fresh, air.
Gods, he's missed this, he's missed everything. He'll even go as far as to say he missed his little brothers—even his little shit of a sister.
"Sweet kami, if I had to spend another minute in that hospital I swear I would have lost my mind."
Hinata giggles at his side, hugging his sword to her chest.
He rolls his neck to face her. "Thanks for visiting me in there. You're probably the only reason I'm still sane."
Hinata pats his arm sympathetically, a fond smile on her face.
"I am sure you would have managed, but you are welcome."
"Maybe. Maybe not." Hayate shrugs, looping her arm in his. He starts the familiar trek back home. "I guess we'll never know," he says, waggling his eyebrows comically.
Hayate smiles in satisfaction when Hinata lets loose another laugh. The war has taken so much from her, so so much. It's a testament to her strength and will that she's still able to laugh and smile.
Hayate's expression softens. Seeing her smile like that really drives home how important she's become to him. That she's more than worth the effort because Hinata is something precious and rare.
He hopes that one day her clan will see that.
He hopes that one day she'll see it.
Hayate takes another deep breath only to sneeze. Hinata is quick to offer him her handkerchief. Hayate mumbles his thanks and blows his nose. He jokingly goes to try and hand it back to her but stops when he sees her face.
Her normally sweet expression is gone. In its place is something dangerously collected, her eyes glaring daggers at a pair of ninja walking just ahead of them and holy shit her eyes are glowing! Have they always done that!? And what's with this chakra?!
Hayate's a damn good sensor, their team on track for the hunter-nin core. He's known Hinata long enough to pick out her signature from a busy battlefield...and yet, he's never sensed anything quite like this. Not from Hinata. Its intensity is enough to give him a headache.
He slowly tucks Hinata's handkerchief into his pocket to hide the tremble in his hands. Hayate doesn't care what others might say or think of him, he's not ashamed to admit that Hinata really does scare the shit out of him sometimes.
He shivers, remembering the one and only time he tried to hide an injury from her.
Medics, Hayate has learned, are terrifying.
He sends chakra to his ears to hear their conversation; curious to what has evoked his teammate's rare ire.
"I can't believe I have a mission with Kakashi-kun!" A kunoichi around their age squeals. Hayate thinks she may have been in their class but he isn't positive. There had been a lot of fangirls and he didn't pay them any attention.
The guy she's with, on the other hand, Hayate does recognize. It's their old academy bully. The same one who took their spars a little too far and who (according to Anko) Hinata had beaten and sent him running away with his tail tucked in between his legs. He wishes he had been there to see it. Hayate remembers Ryoto hadn't come back to school for two whole weeks.
Best two weeks ever.
"Yeah, he's good n' all but I wouldn't trust that guy if I were you."
Hinata's chakra flickers ever so slightly. Hayate looks at her curiously.
"Eh? Why not, Ryoto?"
"Wait what?" Ryoto asks in disbelief. "You mean you haven't heard?"
"Nope," she replies simply, popping the 'p'.
"What!? It's all anybody is talking about!"
The girl shrugs her shoulders, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
"Not to me, they're not."
Ryoto scoffs, "Seriously, how'd I get stuck with you?" he gives her a once-over that makes Hayate feel dirty. "Thank kami you're hot."
"Thanks!" The girl chirps vapidly.
"Anyways," Ryoto drawls, eyes lingering on the risque cut of her shirt. "Tell me, does Friend-Killer Kakashi ring any bells?"
Hayate stiffens at the short but intense burst of killer intent.
Uh oh.
Not good.
He steals a glance at Hinata and yup, Hayate gulps, she's pissed. Hope you had a nice life, Ryoto.
"Wait," the kunoichi's eyes are as wide as saucers, "You mean Kakashi-kun is that Kakashi?"
Ryoto raises a brow, "Know any other Kakashis?"
"Um, no."
"I'd watch my back if I were you." Ryoto throws an arm over the girl's shoulders and leers at her, peeking down her shirt shamelessly. "Who knows? The guy might turn on you too." he leans in, conspiratorially, lips brushing her ear. "Maybe even the village ."
Hayate tightens his hold on Hinata's arm to stop her at the same time the kunoichi lets out a scandalized, "Ryoto! You can't just say stuff like that!"
"Easy, Hinata," Hayate says, voice low and steady, " Easy. Causing a scene will only make things worse."
Hinata's lips purse together like she'd eaten something sour but she gives him a curt nod. With one hand she grabs onto his upper arm, her fingernails biting into the fabric. The other clenches his sword tight.
Hayate breathes in and out slowly, willing himself to be calm enough for the both of them. He might be playing the voice of reason right now but that doesn't mean he's not upset by Ryoto's words. Hinata is his best friend, they've shed too much blood and seen too much shit to be anything but. Hayate knows how important Kakashi is to her. He knows how much it hurts and infuriates her to hear people talk about Kakashi like this.
Hinata is important to him. Anything that hurts her has an equal effect on him.
…
…
...and maybe, just maybe, Kakashi has grown on him. Like a particularly stubborn mold spot.
"Jeesh, relaaax, I'm just warning you. Stating the facts and whatnot." Ryoto shrugs and continues talking, unaware of the danger walking three feet behind him. "The dude obviously didn't have any problems murdering his own teammate. What's to say he won't go after you next?"
Hinata's fingers curl tight and angry and he knows he'll have bruises come tomorrow. And he knows Hinata will notice because nothing, and he means nothing, gets past her eyes and she'll heal him, and afterward, she'll be a weepy wreck for the rest of the week, and he'll feel bad and they'll both be miserable.
Hayate glares at Ryoto's back.
"—but, hey, he did fail to kill that Hyuuga screwup so maybe you'll be fine."
Okay.
That's it.
He tried.
Hayate comes to an abrupt stop, causing Hinata to stumble beside him.
"Hinata," Hayate says, voice as hard as steel, "hand me my sword."
Hinata hesitates, "I—I thought you said not to...for us not to cause trouble?"
"Yeah, well, I changed my mind." He holds out his hand. Hinata nods and untangles their arms before slowly placing his sword in his open palm.
Hayate marches forward.
"Hey, asshole," he hisses.
Ryoto turns around with a confused scowl.
"Who the fuck—" he stops, recognition lighting his face. "Hey, is that Booger Boy I see there? Jeesh man, you look like shi—"
Hayate doesn't let him finish the rest of his sentence. He deftly flips his sword around and slams the butt right in the middle of Ryoto's forehead.
"Ryoto!" The kunoichi with him screeches.
Ryoto goes crossed-eyed and falls unconscious onto the street.
Hayate nearly joins him, legs trembling under his weight from weeks spent bedridden (shit, he's going to have to recondition his body again ), only for Hinata to reappear at his side. She scoops him up in her arms like they're a pair of newlyweds. Hayate doesn't protest, too busy having a coughing fit.
"Thank you," Hinata says, as they flee the area, her byakugan activated to help them escape the two Uchiha police officers chasing after them.
Hayate wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and smirks weakly.
"The idiot... (wheeze) ..needs to learn... (wheeze) ...to watch his mouth."
Hinata smiles, warm lavender eyes looking down at him despite not needing to, before putting all her focus on ditching their followers. Coupled with their training, Hinata's doujutsu, and Hayate's sensory abilities, it's ridiculously easy.
"You have no future."
Rin thinks of Obito standing tall atop the administration building, fully decked out in the Hokage's robes and with an adoring crowd looking up at him. Minato and Kushina are on one side, her sensei struggling not to cry and Kushina grinning brightly. On the other side are her (director of the hospital), Kakashi (jounin commander), and Hinata (head of the Hyuuga clan), their hands firmly intertwined.
Yuu resists the urge to sigh as her peers squabble like children.
"She is an embarrassment." Elder Hotoke bites, her lips pursed like she'd eaten something sour.
Yuu notes the way their clan head's jaw twitches minutely and he opens his mouth to yell or argue. Yuu doesn't know which and will never know because the regal woman sitting seiza beside him places a dainty hand on top of Hiashi's own scarred one and stops him.
Yuu admires her calm, the ease in which she reels in the most powerful person in this room.
She has taught her well.
It is out of respect for her former student that Yuu interjects, "You speak too harshly," she scolds, "Young Hinata has shown remarkable progress. Her superiors have nothing but high praise for her."
"Progress? What progress do you speak of?" Hisato demands, "Nowadays the girl can hardly keep up."
"The girl is grieving," Elder Hideshi intervenes calmly.
Hisato scoffs, "Who isn't? We've all lost someone to this war and the last one and will continue to do so. It does not excuse her failings."
"Besides, none of her 'accomplishments' have any meaning if she cannot behave herself in public," Hotoke adds.
Yuu's eyes narrow imperceptibly. She has been responsible for much of Hinata's training. She might not have learned much in the way of combat but her manners are impeccable. Saying that they are not is not only an insult to Hinata but to her as well. Hotoke glances at her and gives her a mocking, simpering smile.
Hag, Yuu thinks and opens her mouth to argue but is beaten.
"I concur. What if the Uchiha believe we support the defense of the Hatake?" Elder Kouji says, looking around the assembled council. "What does it say—"
"And why, pray tell," a bitter voice to Yuu's left says, "should we care what those warmongers think? If they cannot protect their precious sharingan then what concern is it to us?"
"Don't be so arrogant—"
"Speaking of the Uchiha, the girl has been seen favoring one of their bastards."
"Bastard? Who—oh him. The one rumored to be Kagami-dono's—"
"—you accuse me of arrogance? Have you not seen how they flaunt their heir—"
Yuu suppresses another sigh, "Regardless, Hinata is the first—"
"—born out of wedlock, she was," Hisato cuts in. "A shame we kept our silence on for too long."
Hiashi's expression flickers between apathy and outrage.
"She was conceived—not born—out of wedlock" Yuu reminds him. "There is a difference."
Hisato raises a brow, "Is there truly?"
A rush of killing intent fills the council chamber, silencing them all. And then as fast it appeared, it vanishes. Yuu lets loose a slow breath, the icy grip on her heart relenting.
Hiashi levels a glare at them all. Yuu wants to fault him for the break in composure but can't.
"You are all entitled to your opinions. For that, I cannot fault you and it is why this council exists. However, I want to make one thing very clear, " his voice rolls around the room like thunder, "I will not allow such blatant disrespect to me, my wife, or my daughter. Am I clear?"
The elders gathered dip their chins in acknowledgment.
"She will not be sealed."
There is a smattering of whispers but no one dares to contradict their clan head, his tone making it very clear that he will accept no objections.
"Then what is it you intend to do?"
Hiashi raises his chin, "Worry not, I have a solution, one that will satisfy all present."
Yuu and her fellows listen and Yuu cannot stop the sadness that slithers past her defenses, striking the very center of her heart. Because while Hinata may not have been her best student she is still her student. And she cannot help but feel she has failed her somehow as her teacher.
Oh well, Yuu thinks, there is nothing to be done now.
Yuu consoles herself with the thought that if Hinata can make it this far then she can make it even farther.
Yuu smirks to herself.
She is her student, after all.
"There is only the mission."
I need to get out. Rin thinks, screeching as they cut into her skin with thin blades over and over. I have to get out of here.
Rin breaks her thumb and uses the blood dripping down her arms to wiggle out of her handcuffs, smearing the ink seals. She tries to blink away the blurriness blocking her vision and is unsuccessful. Shaking her head, she frees her other hand and stumbles over to the door. She tries the knob and to her surprise, it opens.
Rin flees the room and down the corridor, new hope blossoming in her chest.
I'm coming, guys, I'm coming. She thinks as she travels through the maze-like halls Just. Please. Wait for me. Please.
The same agent who'd spoken to her so softly before finds her collapsed, starved body a month later. Rin looks up at him and what hope she has left shrivels and dies.
Hinata kneels before her father and the council.
"Hyuuga Hinata, you have brought shame upon this house; this clan."
His voice echoes around the council chambers like a gong, reverberating deep inside her and making her heart tremble.
"Therefore the clan will have nothing more to do with you."
Hinata's breath catches in her throat, tears building behind her eyes.
"Hyuuga Hinata," her father's voice is unfaltering, each word striking her heart unhindered, "you are henceforth stripped of your title as heiress, of the Hyuuga name, and sentenced to exile."
There are tears shining in her mother's eyes but she does nothing because there is nothing to be done. Her father has spoken his piece. As clan head his word is law. His word is second only to that of the Hokage or even the Daimyo himself.
Hinata bows her head in deference, accepting her punishment with grace that the council grudgingly respects. They'd expected tears and maybe even a token protest. Not this humble display of quiet strength.
A branch member approaches her with a ceremonial blade. Hinata inclines her head, allowing her to gather her hair.
Out of the corner of her eyes, Hinata catches a sliver of movement. She tilts her head just so and the new position allows her to see Kou, her uncle keeping him restrained with a harsh grip on the back of his neck.
Hinata's heart gives a painful lurch at his fearful yet furious expression, teeth bared in a silent snarl so unlike his usual stoicism. She knows he will go to great lengths for her, has followed her through fire and brimstone, that he would defy the shinigami itself if it meant her safety, so it comes to no surprise that he is ready and willing to fight the whole clan for her.
But this...this is not a path he can follow her. She will not allow it. Hinata was warned away from this path many times, the consequences laid out before her, but she had set foot upon it anyways. She chose it. It is her path to tread and hers alone.
Hinata channels that inner flame inside herself, that fierce desire to protect those she loves, and lets it bleed into her gaze, lending it power and shaping it into the finely honed edge of a blade—deep and cutting.
Stand down, she commands through her eyes alone. Kou's expression wavers, brows scrunching in confusion and Hinata feels her eyes burn with power, her eyes glowing ever-so-slightly.
Kou's eyes widen and his face smooths back into the impeccable Hyuuga mask they are renowned for. He bows his head subserviently and her uncle's hand drops subtly from his neck.
By the grace of the gods, Kou's brief rebellion goes unnoticed, the whole interaction having lasted only a few seconds.
(Servants are so easily overlooked.)
Hinata flinches as the blade comes down. Her hair falls down around her.
"Your possessions have been gathered and sealed." Her father says, voice softer and his eyes mournful. "You are dismissed."
Hinata bows lowly again and, summoning every ounce of her training, she rises slowly, not a single crease to be found in her dark kimono, and exits soundlessly.
Hiashi watches his daughter go with a heavy heart though he makes no outward show of this, remaining stoic and regal as his position demands of him.
This is the greatest kindness he can give her short of death because to seal her like the elders had wanted would have truly been the death of her. To apply the seal so late would put too much stress on her already grown chakra coils and even if she survived the process she would be blind. And everyone knows a Hyuuga without their eyes in no Hyuuga at all. Death would have been a kindness.
And so Hiashi does the only thing he can do.
He opens her gilded cage and sets her free.
Hinami watches her daughter go and it takes everything she has not to scream and beg her husband to bring her back.
It is only the knowledge that Hinata will survive that keeps her from falling apart.
Because come what may, Hinami knows her daughter will prevail, she will live to see the next sunrise. Hinata is the blessed vassal of the gods, they will not abandon her.
Hinami hides her shaking hands inside her kimono sleeves, on top of the new life growing inside her.
However, she also knows that gods are fickle beings and what may seem like a blessing at first may later turn out to be a curse.
Hinami closes her eyes, tears slipping down her cheek, and prays that it will not be so.
Kinoto follows after the Hyuuga. Her eyes, usually so full of life, are vacant. An unsettling blankness has wiped her face clear of any emotion. It is unnerving to watch which is odd considering such reactions have been trained out of him.
(He really is due for a reconditioning...that is...if he isn't already too far gone.)
(It's too late for him, he knows, much too late.)
Kinoto makes quit work of a drunkard that attempts to harass his charge.
He leaves the man's body for the Keimu Butai to find.
Nothing will touch her.
Nothing.
Kinoto watches the Hyuuga walk through the village, making sure her passage is unhindered. If she does not find shelter by sunrise then he will intervene. There is a spot deep in the forest, one he found before he was taken from the orphanage, where a Hashirama tree stands. It is an ordinary tree by all appearances save for the hollow space underneath it where a large animal had once made its den.
The creature is long gone now and inside it, protected by seals of his own making, are the treasures and trinkets he's collected throughout his service. Things that his master can never know of.
It is the safest place Kinoto knows. He will take her there. Kinto can think of no better place for the Hyuuga is rare and precious; something to be coveted.
For a clan blessed with the old god's sight, they really are a rather blind bunch, unable to see what is right under their noses.
Oh well.
All the better for him.
Hinata walks the darkened streets of her village, the moon glistening off her dark tresses. A breeze blows past her and Hinata shivers, goosebumps starting on the back of her bare neck.
She does not allow herself to glance behind her because this is the path she has chosen for herself and she will follow it through to the very end, no regrets because it is hers— she chose it. Not her clan. Not the village. Not her father or her mother or the council.
Her.
And she will have it no other way.
Hinata lets out a shaky breath once she reaches her destination. The door opens before she can summon the courage to knock.
They stare at one another silently.
Hinata's hand tightens on the single scroll containing all her belongings. Kakashi's lone eye flicks down, his brows furrowing.
"That isn't a mission scroll."
Hinata blinks, "Ah, no, it isn't."
Kakashi looks back at her and raises a brow, prompting her.
Hinata reflexively bows, "P—pardon the intrusion, Hatake-kun, but can I...can I stay?" The words come tumbling out of her mouth one after another. "Just for a little while, I—I promise! I know it's sudden and I come uninvited but I didn't know where else—"
"Hinata," Kakashi interrupts, voice rough with emotion and his single gaze heavy with meaning, "you are always welcome here."
Hinata stares at him, heart in her throat and eyes watering.
Her voice trembles like a newborn foal when she speaks, "Yes, t—thank you,"
"You're…" Kakashi swallows visibly through his mask, "...you're pack, Hinata, you can stay as long as you want. I want you to know that."
Hinata's eyes widen at the admission. She is not ignorant of the inner dynamics of the Hatake and Inuzuka clans (she'd done extensive research when she'd first decided to befriend Kakashi), but never assumed she would ever occupy such a personal place in Kakashi's life. Not when everybody seemed so eager to get rid of her.
"Oh," she breathes and is overcome with fondness and gratitude for the boy who so readily accepted her after she had just been so mercilessly cast aside. "Oh, Hatake-kun, you are very p—precious to me too."
Kakashi exhales forcefully, pupils dilating, before stepping aside to let her in. They share one last meaningful look before Hinata ducks her head demurely and steps inside.
Yes, Hinata thinks as she lays atop Kakashi's bed, his ninken piled all around her, I made the right choice. I know it.
Kakashi walks over. He takes one look at her swaddled in his blankets, tucked into his nest-like bed and surrounded by his pack, and nods in self-satisfaction before handing her a cup of (oversteep) tea and settling beside her.
Bisuke blinks blearily before moving to lay across both their laps. With the smell of her favorite tea, the heat of several small bodies pressed against her, Kakashi's familiar staticky presence, and Bisuke's grounding weight she finally allows the night's events to sink in.
Kakashi doesn't say anything as she cries. He simply scoots closer and huddles close, comforting her in the only way he knows how.
Isobu likes his new jinchuuriki. Yes, she is small and her outer shell is much too soft and weak, but she is kind to him. She tells him stories of the world outside and keeps him company. She reminds him of his sister and of his first friend whose hair was as red as the sands of his home. Rin reminds him of better times when he was free and happy.
His jinchuuriki is different from the others who took and took until Isobu had no more to give and even then they found a way to take more. But his human never asks for anything. For the first time, Isobu is the one receiving.
When his heart yearns for ocean tides and the spray of sea mist on his shell, his jinchuuriki takes him and shows him her memories of dipping her toes in cool lake water, of her and her friends splashing in the water with the summer sun shining bright above them. It's not quite the same but Isobu loves it anyway.
He loves her warm voice, clear as a bell as she tells him all kinds of stories. He especially loves it when she uses different voices for each character. Her voice is the one that takes him by the claw and guides him out of his nightmares.
(Isobu lives in fear of the wood man who took him from Uzushio's coral reefs and stole his brothers and sisters. He hopes he never has to see him again.)
(His human promises him with a sad smile that he never has to.)
It is because Rin is so needlessly kind that Isobu decides that, if it is for her, he does not mind giving because the world outside is killing her slowly, chipping away everything he loves about her.
"They're hurting you," Isobu says to her. She looks up and smiles shakily.
"I'm fine, Isobu-kun."
Isobu squints at her, "You're lying. Saiken-niisan says that lying is bad so you shouldn't do it."
She hums absently, "Your brother sounds very smart."
His tails curl and uncurl happily. "Nii-san is very smart." He looks off to the side, his tails drooping low. "I miss him."
He takes a deep breath and looks back at her.
"I don't want you to hurt anymore."
Rin's eyes water, "Me neither," she confesses, her voice shaking.
"Okay. Then you won't."
Isobu reaches and pulls everything that he loves about her—good and bad—and nestles it deep inside himself. Her calming, mint-green essence curls tightly around his soul, safe from the world outside. He keeps a shade of herself to manage her outside body lest anyone suspect what he's done.
The resealing and then healing her has taken a lot of him. For now, he will rest, working on destroying the foul seal keeping her bound (he really doesn't like all these black squigglies) in between naps. And when that is done and the time is right, he will free his jinchuuriki from this dark, terrible place.
Because Rin—
"H—hello, um, my name is Nohara Rin." She bows, her whole body trembling in fear, but she has yet to scream which Isobu appreciates. He doesn't like to hear people screaming. Not after that one time Kokuo accidentally stepped on that horse when they were playing.
"Um, who—what's your n—name?"
Isobu blinks his one good eye. No one has asked for his name in so long.
"...I'm…" he inches further into his shell, "...my name is...Isobu…"
Her lips wobble but she smiles at him. Isobu blinks again in surprise. It's been so long since someone's smiled at him.
"It's nice to meet you, Isobu...kun."
Isobu ducks back in his shell quickly before peeking out once more when the girl begins speaking again.
"I hope," a shaky breath, "we can be friends."
Isobu hasn't had a friend in so long.
(Human lives are so short. He misses Chinami even centuries after her passing.)
All he's had is his siblings and the ocean's critters for companions. Isobu finds himself taken with the idea, tails curling around his legs in shy excitement.
"...me too…"
—is his precious friend.