Let's start this from the beginning

The Hideout

III

Hinata suppressed a yawn as she slowly walked through the dark corridors of the Uchiha Hideout, absently rubbing her arms. She liked her sleeveless blouse, of course, just as she liked pretty much every present Hanabi ever got her, but she had to admit that something warmer would have been more appropriate at the moment. It rarely ever got cold in the Land of Fire, with the temperatures not even falling below freeing in most winters, but in the middle of the night and deep within the hideout where the sun never shone, it wasn't exactly warm either.

I really should have put on something warmer…

Frustratingly enough, it wasn't as if she hadn't brought anything suitable with her. Clothes weren't the most essential thing to bring with you on a mission unless it brought you to a region with a drastically different climate, but everyone would prefer a change of clothes after a few days on the route, so as long as the mission didn't dictate to keep the luggage as light as possible, it was normal to bring some with you. Hinata wasn't an exception to that.

Unfortunately, she didn't think about that earlier. Once she arrived at her post, she couldn't just leave, so she had no other choice but to endure it for the time being.

Yesterday, the two Jōnin instructors that were with them had told their two teams that they would take over guard duty as it was their first night. That offer was only valid for that one night, however. Therefore, it was up to the six of them to take care of it tonight. Hinata had been on the first shift together with Shino and Naruto, and her position had been located in the very heart of the hideout from where she could keep an eye – she allowed herself a small giggle at that wordplay – on everything inside the building, even if only just.

Should she spot something suspicious, all she had to do was release a short burst of chakra. Shino had left a few of his Kikaichū with her and in the corridors between their two positions as well to have them form some sort of pipeline, and as soon as they felt her releasing her chakra, they would do the same. Shino would know what was going on in less than a minute even though he was at the other end of the hideout. Similarly, he could let them flare up their chakra, and Hinata, due to her Byakugan, would immediately notice that something was wrong too.

Naruto was on the opposite end of the building from Shino with a bunch of his clones – and on that note, Hinata really wanted to know how he managed to learn a clone technique she was reasonably sure was restricted to Jōnin or, at the very least, talented Chūnin – which in turn carried some of Kikaichū as well. Should one of them get killed, they would immediately release a short burst of chakra that the rest of their kind would then relay to Shino and Hinata.

All in all, she was pretty proud of what they had come up with, and while she didn't know what Kiba, Sakura, and Sasuke had up their sleeves, she liked to think it couldn't keep up with their own strategy. She had seen their competitive looks earlier that day when they heard what Hinata's team had planned, though, so she had no doubt that they had come up with something good to match them.

Yes, she would certainly sleep well tonight without having to worry about any nasty surprises.

However, that was something that would have to wait until later. While her shift was over, she was not currently going back to the room she shared with Sakura. She couldn't even pretend to be lost considering she could literally see the entire interior of the fortress with all its corridors and rooms if she wanted to. No, she had actually a very specific destination in mind.

"Sensei?"

He stood next to the throne on the elevated platform with his eyes presumably fixed on the poster on the wall behind it when she entered, but even though he only turned around to face her after she called him, Hinata wasn't fooled. He had definitely noticed her much earlier than that.

"Hinata," he greeted her with a small smile as he slowly walked down the platform. "Your shift should be over by now, shouldn't it? You're not usually the type to forgo sleep the night before a day of training."

She almost pointed out that he himself was clearly still awake as well even though he didn't have to keep watch at all, but she managed to restrain herself just in time. "I'm not, but I was hoping to talk to you for a bit...?"

Hinata half expected him to ask her what this was all about, but all he did was raise a curious eyebrow before sitting down on the steps beneath the throne and gesturing for her to join him just like their group had done when they first arrived here and he told them about the history of the Uchiha. Even when she sat down to his right, he didn't speak up, deciding to give her some more time to collect herself and start whenever she was ready rather than make her explain herself.

That was probably a good thing, too. She had been thinking about what she wanted to speak with him about for a while now, but it was hard to decide how to best bring it up, so every bit of extra time was much appreciated. But then again, if she couldn't decide on an approach even after several days of consideration, what good would a few minutes more or less really do?

Maybe it was best to just be blunt and get it over with?

"Are you proud to be an Uchiha, Sensei?"

She immediately regretted opening her mouth. It was bad enough to ask such a loaded question in the first place, but she also had blurred it out far too quickly and mumbled! The realization that she had probably been barely comprehensible made heat rush to her cheeks.

Itachi-sensei seemed unfazed, however. "I admit this is not the topic I was expecting," he said with a hint of humour in his voice. "Whether I'm proud to be an Uchiha, hm…"

It caught Hinata off-guard that he actually took some time to consider his answer. Asking someone from a clan if they were proud to be part of their family wasn't exactly a question they were supposed to think about. Even if they weren't, it was expected from them to always reply with 'yes, of course!' or something along those lines. The only reason she had even bothered to ask him – although admittedly much more bluntly than she could have imagined even just five minutes ago – in the first place was that she knew he wouldn't judge her for it and more importantly, well… If she couldn't ask him, then who else was there? Certainly no one in her family. No matter how much she loved Neji and her uncle, she wasn't stupid enough to bring up this topic around them, and Hanabi was obviously too young. Why her father wasn't an option went without saying.

She supposed she could have talked with Shino and Kiba about it, but it was unlikely that they would have the answer she was ultimately looking for, so they were out as well.

"I am," he said after a minute or so, jolting her out of her thoughts. "I don't necessarily agree with everything my clansmen say, and I strongly oppose some things the Uchiha have done in the past, but in the end, I'm still proud to wear the name and have its emblem on my back. For all their faults, they're still my family, and while that does neither absolve them from all their shortcomings nor me blind to them, it makes me at least want to give them a chance and move forward with them at my side."

Her brows furrowed. Wanting to move forward with them despite their shortcomings because they're family, is it? That was pretty much the exact same answer she had arrived at herself. Unfortunately, that realization didn't solve the problem that was at the core of her current predicament…

"May I ask what brought this up?"

Hinata averted her eyes, but when she responded, her voice was steady. "Do you remember what Akihito-dono said when we first arrived at his mansion? About him being a descendant of the Hyūga?"

He simply nodded before silently motioning for her to continue. However, there was another problem:

She really couldn't continue any further.

The thing that had bothered her for a while now was the realization of just what would have happened to Akihito and, maybe even more importantly, his daughter if they had actually awakened the Byakugan. Nezu was just a little bit younger than Hanabi, and the thought of her either being forcefully adopted into the clan or disposed of made Hinata feel sick to the stomach. It had been relatively easy to just not think about it during their mission, to push it to the furthest corner of her mind and forget about it, but listening to her sensei speaking about his clan's past at such an imposing place brought the memories back to the forefront. The thing was that she couldn't say that out loud, though. As much as she respected and trusted her sensei, this part of her clan was very much a secret she couldn't just share on a whim. I shouldn't have brought this up in the first place, she chided herself, unconsciously clenching her fists. How stupid!

"There are similar cases with descendants of the Uchiha," Itachi-sensei suddenly spoke up, distracting her from her rapidly spiralling self-doubt. "Not very many, and none outside the village these days, but my family doesn't have quite as strict restrictions on who to marry as the Hyūga do, so it happens with some regularity that members marry people from outside the clan. One of my close friends' family is such a case, for example."

"But what about the Sharingan?!"

The question blurted out of her mouth before she even knew it. She immediately clasped her hands over her mouth, but it was too late to take it back. All she could do now was apologize for being rude, well-aware of how frowned upon it was to meddle in another clan's affairs, especially if bloodlines were involved, but before she had the chance to do so, he began to chuckle.

"The Sharingan is a very prominent trait," he told her good-naturally. "It usually awakens even if one parent isn't an Uchiha – and thankfully so! With some of the losses our numbers have taken over the years, our Kekkei Genkai likely wouldn't exist anymore if it took two Uchiha to awaken. However, children of unions between an Uchiha and a non-Uchiha are still strongly encouraged to find a partner within the clan to make sure they pass on our bloodline."

For a few seconds, Hinata didn't know what to be the most surprised about: the fact that he was so openly revealing information that wasn't necessarily a clan secret but definitely something that was no common knowledge, or at the comparative freedom the Uchiha apparently had over who they could marry. Both of these things were quickly forgotten when she realized the reason why he had brought this up, though:

He knew what she was getting at.

While he hadn't outright said it, the implication of the Uchiha having had descendants not only outside the clan proper but the village as well right after she broached the topic meant that they must have treated these families the same way as the Hyūga. He tried to tell her that he understood what she meant and that she didn't have to disclose her clan's secrets to continue.

Maybe Hinata should have felt distressed at being so transparent to his eyes or the fact that she indirectly admitted that his suspicions about the Hyūga were indeed correct, but all she could find within herself was gratitude.

"Do you think that's okay?"

The question might sound vague, but within the context of their conversation, she was sure he would understand what she meant.

"Of course not."

Her head spun around. "Then-"

"However," he interrupted her almost immediately, "I can understand why they acted as they did." Then, upon noticing her shoulders slump at his words, he gave her an understanding and somewhat sad smile before continuing. "There are many things that I don't approve of, things that might even be called evil, that are done out of necessity every day. At the same time, many such things are done with the claim that they are a necessary evil when they are in truth just the easiest solution and people are too lazy or too comfortable with the current system to think about a new, better approach.

"While I don't think the approach of our ancestors was right, I can understand their thought process; if they didn't take care of the situation, someone else would. This wasn't a problem that they could just leave alone. Even taking into account the different mentality of their era, they could and perhaps even should have thought of a better solution than either killing or abducting them. I understand why they did what they did. That doesn't excuse their actions or all the pain they caused, of course, and it doesn't need to. What it does, on the other hand, is explain them. Make sense of them.

"I think this is important because we can only learn from the past if we understand it. Regardless of whether our ancestors' actions were ultimately right or wrong, it's only when we understand them that we can make sure to not repeat their mistakes and change things for the better."

Unconsciously, she found herself nodding along to his words. The sentiment of not letting only her ancestors' actions shape her opinion of her clan was nice and much more positive than anything she had thought of on the subject since she had started to think about it. However…

"And what if their actions still have an impact even today?"

He gave her a knowing look. "You speak about the Caged Bird Seal, I suppose?"

She nodded, leaning slightly forward in anticipation of his reply without realizing that the conversation had just turned much more specific than she should be comfortable with. Unfortunately, it turned out his answer was rather disappointing.

"I think you already know the answer to that question, Hinata."

She gasped. "B-but I don't!"

"Then tell me, do you think branding the members of every branch family with that seal is the right thing to do?"

"Of course not!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide. "It's wrong! They don't deserve to be brand marked like that, or to be treated as they are! They're just as much members of the Hyūga Clan as I am and should be respected as such!"

"If that's the case, then why was the seal introduced in the first place?"

Hinata didn't even have to think about it before replying, having learned the answer to that question years ago in one of her father's history lessons and kept hearing it over and over ever since. "Because one of the clan heads during the Warring States Period thought of it as an effective method to stop others from stealing our Byakugan! But-"

"And why did they think that?"

"Because the Hyūga Clan was weakened and greatly depleted in numbers at that time! They were constantly under attack, had lost all their noble backers, and…" Her voice became slower and slower the longer she continued before fading away completely at last, realizing what Itachi-sensei was trying to tell her. Or, to be more precise, what he was trying to make her realize to figure out herself. "There were a lot of attacks and kidnappings at the time, and the clan was too weak to defend themselves against all of them. There were constant losses. The previous head thought the seal might be a way to make sure no one would be able to steal our eyes any longer. Maybe even discourage people from attacking because they wouldn't get anything out of it anyway."

"And did it work?"

Hinata thought about it for a second, and she really didn't like the answer she arrived at. "The attacks ultimately stopped and the clan survived, so…" She let out a shaky breath. "I suppose it did work, yes."

She didn't even notice that Itachi-sensei didn't reply. Instead, her gaze was locked on her feet as she thought about that revelation.

Was the Caged Bird Seal maybe not that bad after all? But she couldn't have been this wrong all this time, right?

Hinata remembered her father telling her that the branch members who got the seal should be honoured, that they were following a tradition that had existed for countless generations and that it was this seal that allowed them to be the protectors of their clan. That they should be proud to bear it on their foreheads.

Being as close to her uncle and cousin as she was, Hinata had never really bought into that. She remembered Neji's dismay and her uncle's pain when he got branded at the mere age of four, noticed the way with which many members of branch families looked at those of the main family in disdain, and had even witnessed her father using it to subdue her uncle when she was still young. How could anyone think that seal was a good thing after having seen all of that?

However, maybe things hadn't always been that way. Maybe when it was first introduced, it had been something to be proud of.

Their clan had been in a time of trouble, with its members being kidnapped or killed and their eyes being stolen. However, those with the Caged Bird Seal could fight to protect their families without being afraid of eventually being used against them in one way or another. Their eyes would automatically be destroyed upon their death, and even if they were captured and unable to either free or kill themselves while held at a faraway place, their clan head could still release them from the fate that would have awaited them in captivity. Therefore, they were safe to fight with all they had and without any restraint.

There had been a head family even back then, of course, but had there been main and branch families as well or had that system only come later because of the seal? Had they once upon a time been protectors and honourable members of the clan rather than servants? Heroes that were to be honoured rather than people to be looked down on?

Was it maybe the way the seal was used rather than the seal itself that was the problem?

"No," Hinata whispered, not even quite aware that she had spoken that out loud at all. "Even if the creation of the seal came from a place of good intention, it doesn't justify its continued use."

At the end of the day, shinobi were tools. Just as they had been tools for their clans in the past, they were tools for their villages today, but that didn't mean they weren't also humans. Even if their profession meant they had to serve as weapons, as an extension of their village's will, they still deserved to be free. Regardless of what the initial intentions might have been, a fundamental part of the Caged Bird Seal was the ability of the head family to seal the branded person's eyes and even kill them with nothing but a single hand seal. If it only activated upon death to destroy the Byakugan, it maybe could be a force of good, but as it was now, it was a tool to – and there was no other way to put it – enslave their own kinsmen.

It was then that she remembered her sensei's earlier words.

"I understand why they created it, but I still think it's wrong and needs to be abolished."

Then, suddenly and before she had any more time to think about this, she jerked back with a little yelp as something flicked against her forehead.

"Well done," Itachi-sensei said with a warm smile, hand still extended without even trying to hide what he had just done. "I told you that you already knew the answer to your question, didn't I?"

Hinata opened her mouth, but no words came out. She could feel a blush sneak up her face, his gesture so similar to how she treated Hanabi that it left her speechless, and after another futile attempt to speak up, all she could do was avert her face and look literally everywhere but at him.

Mercifully, he didn't address her behaviour. "Do you want to stick to your goal of abolishing the seal, then?"

"Yes," she nodded, grateful for the distraction. "I'm not sure how to do it yet, but I will not give up!"

While she tried to hide it, she didn't feel as confident as her reply might imply. She would become clan head one day, yes, but even that didn't guarantee that she could succeed with her goal. After all, the Hyūga were one of the few clans whose elders had a lot of influence on clan matters. The clan head was still the highest authority, of course, and they couldn't be pushed around even by the elders, but they had a lot of influence that could be used against her nevertheless.

There had never been a case where a clan head of the Hyūga Clan got overthrown and replaced, but that didn't mean that such attempts hadn't been made at all.

The elders were usually the heads of the various main families, being second only in standing to the head family, and none of them would be happy about losing their standing and power over those they thought of as lesser. Considering Hinata's strongest – and possibly only – supporters in her quest to abolish the Caged Bird Seal were the branch families who were the ones being branded with it, that was certainly a problem.

After all, while only the head family could use the seal to kill or permanently destroy a branded person's Byakugan, every head of one of the main families could use it to hurt and temporarily incapacitate them.

Should they decide to take action against her, she would be left without support.

The only way she saw right now was seeking help from the Hokage, but that was a risky move for a wide variety of reasons, so if anything, that was an absolute last resort.

Then, as if he was reading her mind, Itachi-sensei spoke up again:

"I can't promise that they will be able to help, but I know a few people who are very well-versed in both Fūinjutsu and Juinjutsu. If you wish, I can introduce you to them."

Hinata's head whirled around, her previous embarrassment all but forgotten. "Really?!"

"Of course."

She was so caught up in the situation that she didn't even notice the odd look that flashed across his face – a slip-up he wouldn't usually do.

Her excitement quickly diminished once she realized that no matter how skilled the people he knew might be, she couldn't take the risk.

"Thank you, Sensei," she said softly, trying and probably failing to hide her disappointment. "However, I can't take you up on that offer. The risk is too high. The Caged Bird Seal is set to activate the moment anyone tries to mess with it, you see, so..."

Hinata could most likely find someone willing to play guinea pig quite easily if she wanted to. There were more than enough of her clansmen that were desperate enough to risk their lives for even the slightest chance of freedom, and even many of those who weren't too bitter about their lot in life might be willing to take the risk if it meant their children and grandchildren would have it better than them.

But just because they might be willing to do so didn't mean she was as well. Even if it was ultimately their decision, she would always feel guilty for every death that occurred because she gave them hope – potentially even false hope! She just couldn't justify that to herself.

It would probably be better to just abolish the system by forbidding any more children to be branded and avoiding using the seal against those that already are…

"So there's no sealing formula, then?"

Hinata blinked. Then, "T-that's right!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together in front of her. "There is!" The sealing formula was used by the clan head to teach their heirs how to apply the seal, so while her father hadn't taught it to her yet, she knew it did in fact exist. "So if I show it to your acquaintances, they could decipher it and find a way to release it?"

"Again, I can't make any promises," he said with a soft chuckle, but Hinata was too excited to feel embarrassed about his apparent amusement about her mood swings. "They might find a way, but they just as well might not. It's impossible to say."

"But there is a chance, right?"

He nodded, and that was more than enough for her.

It was more hope than anything she had ever had before.

They sat in silence after that, both of them lost in thoughts. Or maybe that was just her and he was merely giving her time to sort out her mind. Regardless, it didn't really matter. Hinata was just happy for the short respite.

It was when she began to calm down a few minutes later that she realized how utterly ridiculous their conservation was.

For all that the different clans had ultimately the best interest of Konoha in mind, there was obviously still some rivalry between them. These rivalries were mainly about who could produce the most powerful and accomplished shinobi, and who could get the most influence within the village.

This influence was mostly unofficial, of course, like being able to influence public opinion due to their reputation, but also included having their members hold important positions in the village's administration. Being close to the Hokage to the point where one could potentially serve as an advisor was also one way to gain influence. The more established, old families like Konoha's Four Noble Clans were a bit more relaxed in that respect as their standing was pretty secure with their clan heads being automatically part of the Hokage's closest council, but even they still tried to keep their reputation high by producing strong shinobi and having their members take important positions.

If Hinata remembered correctly, a civilian Uchiha had become the head of Konoha's Merchant Guild not too long ago, for example. Her father had been in a bad mood all week when that had been announced.

Some other clans like the Inuzuka, on the other hand, didn't participate in any power games, partly because they didn't really care as long as they weren't put at a disadvantage and partly because they knew their unique skills were too useful to risk antagonizing them.

However, other clans that were only recently founded, had relatively small numbers, or just didn't have any outstanding members were much more aggressive. All of them wanted to become more prominent and influential, and for that, they were ready to even sabotage each other. The village strictly forbad actual infighting, of course, and even the slightest suspicion of things like assassinations was thoroughly investigated and, eventually, harshly punished.

That didn't stop them from trying to snatch the best missions for themselves or slandering each other, though, although the latter had to be done with great care because the village's leadership didn't want too much discontent towards its shinobi among the population.

A good example of one clan that had become significantly more influential over the last twenty years was the Yamanaka Clan. They had a relatively long history, spanning nearly a century before the hidden villages were even founded, but they had never been particularly numerous or powerful. They were clever, however, and stayed out of most of the power games played by other clans until they attained the reputation of being a reliable and neutral party. This, together with their generations-long friendship with the Akimichi and Nara clans as well as their outstanding results in the field over a long period of time, was enough to make them one of the most well-known and most established families in Konoha.

Anyway, what she was trying to say was that for all that both the Uchiha and the Hyūga were much more relaxed due to their secure standing within the village, they were still rivals of sorts – especially because they were both overly prideful of their respective Dōjutsu. Talking about the darker parts of their families and planning on working together to put an end to one of her clan's oldest traditions was definitely not something people like them should do.

After all, the two were not just anyone but the heirs of their respective clans.

And yet Hinata didn't feel guilty at all.

Maybe it was foolish of her, but it was the first time she had real hope of actually achieving her goal! For all that she had wished to abolish her clan's practice of brand marking nearly three-quarters of its members, she had never had any real idea of how to do it. It seemed only more and more impossible the more she thought about it. She trusted Itachi-sensei, so if speaking with him about this was what it took to finally find a potential solution, she was happy with it.

And if she one day came to regret it… well, she could still worry about that if it ever actually came to that.

As you may have noticed, I took some liberties with the structure of the Hyūga Clan. Canon never really explained in detail how the whole main and branch family thing is supposed to work, so I took that as my permission to just do as I please. I will go into more detail about it as the story progresses.