Damn, I hated that last chapter. Oh well, it can't be helped. And I will try my hardest not to add in Author's Notes. Point taken. I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter- I'm going to introduce one of my all-time favorite characters!

Nearby, Hatake Kakashi, for the first time since becoming the Jonin assigned to Team 7, was about to be early for their daily practice session.

What he didn't know was that Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura, after 4 years of training under the Copy-nin and being fed-up by his constant tardiness, decided to sneak into his apartment the day before and set his clocks ahead one hour. Uchiha Sasuke was asked to come along (by who else?), but he could care less about his teammates' dumb antics.

Today most of Konoha had been bewildered by his all-too sudden respect for punctuality, and yet Kakashi was somewhat oblivious to that fact. Asuma and Kurenai even stood shell-shocked seeing Kakashi reading "Icha Icha Tactics Vol. 32" at their regular table before their arrival, and Gai… well, Gai wept and pointed and really hadn't said much, other than "yada, yada… eternal flame of youth power… the score is tied at 2,344 to 2,344…you truly are my eternal rival, Kakashi... for my loss today I shall run around the village 500 times backwards while carrying a 100-lb sack of rice on EACH of my shoulders… " (Insert 1000-megawatt smile and the sparkle sound.)

And as always, Kakashi simply responded by saying, "Did you say something?" as he continued perusing the contents of his book and Gai wondered why Masashi Kishimoto had to make Kakashi so damn cool…

Poor Gai...

So, after Kakashi came up with an excuse about why he didn't have any money with him and was satisfied with stiffing his (appalled) friends with his bill, he walked through the streets of Konoha and headed towards the memorial where he liked to pay homage to his fallen comrades, but for some reason he decided to take a different route to get there…

…And found himself near a place where he heard screams. Blood curdling screams. And one Amazon-ified yell (Hinata, but he didn't know), all emanating from the Hyuuga compound.

He decided to investigate, jumping onto one of the large walls surrounding the largest estate in Konoha. He leaped even further into the compound to get closer to the action.

What he saw was a dusty blur. He activated his Sharingan eye and paused, blinking in uncertainty. A young woman who looked like Hinata was beating the living shit out of a team of Hyuuga guardsmen.

Looking underneath the underneath, he saw a large handprint embossed on one of the woman's breasts. 'Someone grabbed her inappropriately.' He turned to look and saw that one of the men was already down for the count, having been that way for quite some time. The blood that pooled from Nezumi's crotch had dried into a crusty reddish-brown color. 'And by the looks of things, it was that guy. And it appears she gave him what he deserved,' he concluded, grimacing and crossing his legs unconsciously.

'She looks like Hinata, but Hinata's not the type of person who would go around stabbing men in the balls,' he mused. 'Anko and Hokage-sama, maybe even Sakura, yes, but a sweet girl like Hinata…no…' Whenever her name came up, all he could remember was the timid girl with the speech impediment that tried her best in her match against her cousin. Somehow, the girl seemed too... delicate to be a ninja, despite her impressive blood limit. Rather, it was easier for him to envision our favorite kunoichi frolicking through a sunny meadow, making friends with the animals of the forest. Bunny rabbits, baby deer, cute little mammals of all sorts would gather around the girl as she sang songs and made daisy-chain necklaces for each and every one of them...

Oh my...

His thoughts were broken when the unidentifiable woman yelled her battle cry while executing the Hakke Rokujuyon Sho on one of the guards cleanly. When the other two men saw they had an opening, she anticipated their reaction, Kaiten-ing them to kingdom come. Their bones buckled from the sudden impact. Kakashi was most definitely impressed.

When all the dust had settled, all that remained standing was Hyuuga Hinata. Kakashi was stunned. He had seen her practicing briefly with her teammates the day before, but that was totally different from what he had just witnessed. It was as if she turned into a completely different person overnight… and Kakashi had a knack for telling if someone was using Henge no Jutsu or not… Hinata... Hinata was definitely the real McCoy.

Black Hinata was about to place seals on each of the men (who were all barely alive) when she felt a presence. Looking up, she was relieved to see a familiar friendly face. She bowed respectfully.

"Kakashi-sensei!" she said smiling, as she wiped the dirt from her clothing. Finding herself decent, she jumped up to the rooftop where the Jonin instructor was perched.

"Yo," said Kakashi. 'This is shy, timid Hinata? Damn... She certainly has changed since the Chuunin exams,' thought Kakashi, feeling a little hot under the collar. Of course, that was years ago and Hinata had already attained Chuunin status along with most of the Rookie 9, but these jutsus she performed, and the tactics she used… well, they were pretty amazing. They seemed nearly effortless, and Hinata hadn't even broken a sweat.

"You've certainly come a long way in your training, Hinata." And he meant it, too. Kakashi gave praise when praise was due. Plus, leather was a nice look for the Hyuuga heiress.

Black Hinata bowed at the compliment. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

He continued to smile at her, wondering why she had been attacked and why none of the other members of her family had been there to help. He vaguely remembered hearing what Rock Lee had to say about the separation of families in the Hyuuga household, but this… this was wrong.

Black Hinata began to laugh softly. She could read the questions in his eyes. She was touched by his concern.

"Kiba-kun says my family sucks." She shrugged her shoulders. "It's true. They hate me, they don't want me here…"

Black Hinata gave Kakashi a sideways glance.

"But I don't care anymore," she continued, as she pointed her finger in the general vicinity of the Main and Branch Houses. "Because I don't plan on leaving this place until all the mo-fos who have made me miserable get what's coming to them," she said vehemently.

Kakashi just stared into the courtyard taking all this information in. Hinata had easily taken down four strong men by herself in a very short amount of time. 'Was she implying…'

She noticed the strange look he was giving her. She laughed, waving her hands in the air. "Don't get me wrong, Kakashi-sensei, you won't see a repeat of what happened to the Uchiha family happening around here… I mean, I'm not going to kill off the Clan, it's not my cup of tea…"

Kakashi relaxed his shoulders.

"But I will make them very sorry they messed with me," she said with steely resolve, cracking her knuckles.

At that same moment, Neji had run (actually, waddled- diapers, remember?) out into the courtyard, having seen the bodies of four Hyuuga guards lying in pools of their own blood from his window. (He didn't hear the screams because he was still bawling over the things that had happened to him, namely the goofball haircut.)

Kakashi was at a loss for words. Bruised and battered Neji plus bowl haircut plus dumpy looking pants...

He rubbed his visible eye. No... freakin' ...way...

Black Hinata pointed to Neji. "See, Kakashi-sensei? I did that," she stated proudly. "Niiiiiiiii-kuuuuuun!" she cried, flailing her arms wildly. "Over here! Come say hello to our guest!"

"Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka..." Neji mumbled incoherently. His palms began to sweat... "...shi-" He wanted to die. Neji wanted to DIE!

"Yes, Nii-kun, Kakashi-sensei. Don't be so rude!" she said tauntingly.

Neji's spirit nearly left his body- he was so mortified that someone as awesome as Hatake Kakashi saw him in his current state. He dashed back to the Branch House, locked himself in his room, flung his body onto his bed and cried into his pillow. Of course, he hadn't cleaned the hair off of his pillows and bed sheets, so they'd be stuck to his face later on…

'Ooh, I never knew Hinata could be so... cruel...' Kakashi's eyes crinkled in amusement. But there was a stark difference between what Uchiha Itachi did and what Hinata wanted to do.

Itachi tortured and killed his family. We know this all too well.

Hinata was going to torture her family… but by keeping them alive there was always that lingering fear the rest of the Hyuugas would have: whatever happened to them could happen again in the future. Hinata wasn't the type of person who would give up easily.

The young woman sitting next to him was more intelligent than she let on. But then again, he really didn't know too much about her, other than the bits of information he picked up from Kurenai.

Thinking back on the Hyuuga Genius, Kakashi felt really, really, really bad for Neji. But nowhere near as bad as he felt for Hinata...

For someone to be pushed so far as to resort to violence of any kind against her own family… It wasn't any of his business what went on with the Hyuugas, but he'd certainly make it his business. As long as it didn't interfere with his training. Oh, who are we kidding here? As long as it didn't interfere with his reading he'd get involved.

He would eventually have to tell Tsunade about this new turn of events. Something going on in Konoha's most oldest noble family was something she would want to know about as well.

As he waved goodbye to Hinata and thanked her for the laugh, he wondered several things:

1. Where did her skills come from? She was a pretty talented fighter.

2. Wasn't Hinata a terribly inhibited person? Body-tight leather was a far, far cry from the loose-fitting furry anorak she wore…

3. In a match between Sakura and Hinata, would Sakura stand a chance? (Ficcy spoiler perhaps?)

4. Wasn't Morino Ibiki looking for someone to fill the newly vacant spot in his ANBU Torture Division?

After seeing what Hinata was capable of doing to Neji and the other Hyuugas… anything seemed possible.

She could be a likely candidate, if she were interested in the position...

And lastly,

5. He was fairly sure that the village hadn't seen the new Hinata. He would've heard something by now.

Gossip traveled quickly in Konoha. He ought to know, having spread a few key rumors himself.

But that was beside the point. Kakashi had a gut feeling that things would get very interesting around here.

Stopping to give a brief visit with Rin and Obito, he strolled past a few trees, making it to his final destination. There he saw two familiar silhouettes charging up to him and one sitting still at the base of a large oak.

Naruto and Sakura pointed accusatory fingers at their instructor. How was this possible? They had everything mapped out so perfectly! It was hopeless! Truly and utterly HOPELESS when it came to Kakashi-sensei!

"YOU'RE LATE!"

Author's Note: Every time Hinata says "Nii-kun" I can see Hinata sporting some cute kitty ears and a kitty tail… it's just me, I know, I know… but she's so cute!