The very first time that Hinata met Akihane wasn't that special. Akihane didn't swoop in like a hero and save her from bullies, nor did she yell at someone for downplaying Hinata.

In fact, the very first time that Hinata met Akihane they hadn't spoken to one another at all. Hinata, shy as she was at the time, hadn't wanted to face the intimidating girl with hair like snow and eyes like fire.

On the day that Hinata saw Akihane she had just finished a spar with her little sister and lost horribly. Her father was cracking down on her for not training hard enough and appearing weak to the elders when she desperately needed to show her ferocity.

Hinata sullenly walked through the woods with the intention to sit and think and maybe even train away from her woes. Her father's words cut into her soul like a jagged dagger.

There in the trees, she had spotted Akihane.

The Uzumaki stood on top of the rushing river, her eyes closed and her body still. Water droplets the size of small marbles hung around her in a gravity-defying display.

The girl had her long hair down and the droplets fell as she breathed in sharply and collapsed into the water below her. A flash of black swept over the area and a body dropped down beside her, black hair falling behind a porcelain mask as the boy caught the girl.

Hinata quickly turned to run away, only to pause when she noticed the boy's mask.

A crow formed out of red and black lines with the nose elongated to form the beak…

Karasu.

I~~~~I

Hinata wasn't certain what to think of her opponent, at first. She had witnessed the battle between the Kunoichi and that teammate of Kabuto's, but Hinata hadn't been able to tell much from that encounter.

The main info she had collected was that Temari happened to utilize wind Jutsu with the fan strapped to her back. The kunoichi was rather good with it too, more so than even Akihane.

Hinata allowed her body to fall into the loose stance from the prelims while Genma readied to back away.

Temari held her fan loosely in her grasp and looked prepared to jump back the moment the match was called. Afraid of Hinata's Taijutsu? Most likely.

Closing her eyes for a single second, Hinata pulled at the chakra in her core and forced it to spread. The energy came to her call and she opened her eyes just as Genma called out the start.

Without warning, she dashed forward and prepared an ax kick leveled at Temari's face as her body flashed in front of the kunoichi.

The Suna Kunoichi barely raised her fan in time to block the kick, grunting when the force of it pressed on her wrists.

Hinata barely halted and used the momentum to flip over the fan and land behind Temari. She then brought her arm back around to jab the girl in her back.

Continuous strikes nailed the Suna kunoichi while she struggled to get a grip on the situation. Hinata's style was like that. One hit gets in and more followed in such succession and fluid completion that it was hard to get out.

Temari wasn't new to this type of fighting, however, and she quickly pulled out with a swift swirl of wind that dropped her several feet away.

Without sparing a moment she sent wind jutsu at Hinata's form, each blast sharp and ready to tear into the Heiress.

I~~~~I

Hinata didn't know why Akihane had chosen her out of everyone else. She couldn't understand how the Uzumaki decided to make Hyuuga Hinata her friend out of everyone else.

Hinata wasn't popular, she wasn't the strongest or smartest. She had next to no self-esteem and stammered more often than she spoke correctly.

She didn't understand Uzumaki's reasoning.

Why would someone as beautiful, talented, courageous, earnest, and so much more, choose her?

She had tried asking, only to get a tight and sad smile from the girl as she told Hinata not to worry about it.

Sasuke seemed to understand it to an extent, yet he still gazed at her in wonder every time Akihane picked her for something important.

Even after they graduated and she fussed over the injured girl in the Hokage's office, even as she stared at the bright red body of her idol, hell, even as she watched Akihane dance alongside the Iwa Genin, she doubted the choice.

She wasn't important. She was simply the one in the background, the shadows that crept behind the light and saved it from all of the lethal forces trying to smother it.

Hinata was not a good person.

She would do anything for Akihane, just because the girl made an unreasonable choice.

I~~~~I

"Kai," Hinata whispered as she raised her hands into the seal. Nothing noticeable happened, even when she twisted on her heels and began weaving through the blasts toward her intended target in order to engage in taijutsu.

In an effort to avoid Hinata's prowess, Temari released her fan again and swept across the arena.

A harsh gale, one about four times the size of those before, pushed forward and slammed into the already destroyed arena.

Hinata gazed at the blast and pushed against the ground. A crater appeared and she launched directly into the gale.

Without warning, the wind split apart with a sharp crack.

Hinata landed gracefully on the ground in front of the shocked Temari, her gaze deadly calm even as she shifted and gripped several kunai, tossing them at her.

The curved blades sailed right into Temari's next gale. Unlike the previous fighters, Temari eyed the Kunai and jumped back several more feet. She knew better than to trust one of the three 'besties' weapons in the arena.

Hinata wanted to raise a brow, but instead, settled on the expression of humorous confusion mixed with a knowing glint in her eyes.

"Cautious?" Hinata voice after a moment. She stood calmly in the middle of the arena, between the crater she formed seconds prior and the one that Akihane had left after her assault on Shisui.

"Wary," Temari replied. She kept her gaze focused on the Hyuuga, her body tense and ready for an attack.

Hinata shifted again and tossed more weapons.

I~~~~I

Rage boiled below her skin. Rage at Sasuke, at the idiot who made Akihane doubt herself.

She wanted to hurt him, to make him experience the paint that Akihane was no doubt in.

His agonized eyes halted her thoughts.

She stood in the stairwell, gazing at the sagging shoulders of her friend, of the boy who had helped change her life completely.

'Jealousy.'

Her heart clenched even as she coldly recited the charges she laid on his person.

'Grief.'

She tried to tell herself the self-loathing in Sasuke's eyes weren't reflected in her own.

'Wrath.'

Hinata did not dwell in the current of emotions swimming through her and pressed forward viciously, appearing before the air with the intent to kill clear in her faded orbs.

'Pain.'

It was true that Akihane had chosen Sasuke before her. It was true that no matter Hinata's importance she would never reach Sasuke's level.

'Death.'

Her lungs burned exactly as they had that night and all the training sessions that inducted her newest technique into them. She felt blood seep up her throat but refused to let it up. She would drown before she showed weakness and gave in.

I~~~~I

The air flickered and the projectiles struck Temari's fan once more before falling to the ground. The previous reaction repeated itself while Hinata remained in place.

The wind parted in front of the Hyuuga, the force of it multiplying and ripping holes in the ground on either side of her. No outward reaction crossed her features, but everyone felt the tension. There wasn't any real reason for the wind to act the way it was, nor was there a conclusion to what Hinata was doing. They had never seen anything like this before.

Hinata stepped forward and Temari took another step back. Something passed between the Kunoichi before Temari readied her fan and Hinata vanished like she had before.

Purple chakra raced over her fingertips the instant she appeared in front of Temari. A Chakra Scalpel aimed at the girl's throat was barely dodged, while the harsh gust sent to Hinata sent her back a few feet. Another moment locked the two of them back together in an intricate play.

Hinata's chakra, barely visible along the surface of her fingers, gouged the metal of Temari's fan and nicked the skin of her arms enough to draw thin trails of blood.

The Suna Kunoichi grunted and glare at Hinata while she fought back the best she could. Despite her skill in ninjutsu, Temari did not seem to have enough skill in taijutsu to truly match Hinata's. At this point, the Heiress didn't think any of the Suna Nin did.

"What the hell are you?" Temari grouched unnecessarily, her elbow slamming into Hinata's chest. Hinata worked with the blow to lessen the impact while she struck at the arm digging into her ribs.

Temari cursed as blood poured and the two separated again. Her face swam with furry and she clutched at the limb as the wind about her began to grow. Hinata remained impassive and still the entire time.

Hinata then held up her hand, forming the same seal as earlier.

"Kai," She said again, and once more, nothing appeared to happen.

'Release my mind.'

'Release my body.'

'Release me from my prison, take my soul and free it from the binds.'

White specs of light shone above them. Silver halos that crested the arena and the blue sky above. Halos of feathery softness that descended and crested above the brows of many.

Nobles, children, and small threats all collapsed under the sickening weight as a dull thrull, the sound of silence, prevailed over the arena.

"You should never have betrayed Konoha," Hinata spoke in finality.

This time, she lit with a burning light that grew tenfold before swallowing her body in its violet blaze. Temari stepped back again and despite the fact that feathers, they were feathers, rained down on them, she could not act as she was supposed to.

I~~~~I

The moment that Hinata's body became surrounded by the violet haze, Akihane was forced to steady herself. She felt the edge of every emotion shifting under the surface of Hinata's face. She felt all of it, the sadness, the pride, and the happiness. She felt her churning heart and it nearly destroyed her balance.

She had only ever been able to feel Hinata's chakra once before. Back then the beautiful force had left her breathless in awe. The purity of Hinata's chakra was absolutely thrilling.

Her eyes slipped shut for a single moment. Her chakra spread out and she let it trace over every fraction, every single piece of nature and being that there was.

Her eyes opened to Hinata launching at Temari as the sky filled with feathers. Her skin prickled and her chakra pulsed in warning.

Her gaze lifted to Sasuke's as she allowed her muscles to contract and her fingers to graze her blade.

It was time.

I~~~~I

Yin's chakra thrummed under his skin and he turned to face those guards beside the Hokage with a passive gaze.

Feathers were spreading across the arena, the Genjutsu growing and encasing all of the members there even as the Hyuuga down below lit with chakra.

Purple chakra like Yin's. Interesting.

The air became tense and only Yin's quick reflexes kept his head from rolling as a Katana fell down over his head. To the side, Orochimaru appeared to have had a similar bout, only it was with his teammate instead of a rather familiar swordsman.

The swordsman appeared back at Hiruzen's side, his brown hair falling down over his headband while his scarred face twitched slightly in annoyance.

Yin opened his mouth to taunt them at a job not-well-done when the hood to his rather heavy gear split and red hair fell to the ground.

"Huh, not bad." Yin offered instead as the cloth fell away from his bare face, the scarf binding his mouth before falling in ribbons to the floor.

"Y-Yin?"

Hiruzen's voice struck him unpredictably, causing his head to pound while he looked up and angled his mismatched eyes to the normally warm brown ones of Orama's Best Friend.

"Long time no see, Hiruzen."

I~~~~I

And that's that. Sorry if it feels rushed, but I can't get much out. I may be coming down with a cold and it's really hard to write when your mind is fogged up. I have a lot planned for the rest of this month, however, I will be on break in two weeks or so. I can hopefully get some writing done, but I promise nothing.