Obligatory Disclaimer: The series Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto; I only own the OCs, picture, and this story.

Chapter 9: Of Eyes and Bloodlines

Shisui and I stood across from each other, hands ready in the seal of confrontation.

"Begin!"

At the signal, my body moved into position, the regular stance of the Jūken coming to me automatically. I never sparred against anyone before, and had never been in a fight in my other life so I didn't know what to expect. Sure, I trained with Aunt Mei and whatever Main House lackey that was sent over, but generally I was shown the kata and copied them against a wooden dummy. I had all the forms down but never got the chance to use them in companion with the byakugan.

Shisui was careful as he circled me, not getting within striking distance. He must've learned from Noburu's failed fight or listened to the advice I had given the older boy. I wasn't all that confident in my skills in taijutsu; he was probably better than me given that he seemed a bit older, though probably only by a year or two. There was a slight mumbling on the sidelines as we continued to circle each other, trying to gauge the other.

"Just fight already!" Noburu shouted, but immediately released a yelp when he was presumably hit by Akane.

Shisui was the first one to move; with a speed unexpected from such a young child, he came close delivering a strike to my shoulder but I blocked it with a forearm, releasing a pulse of chakra as I did. He quickly pulled away before I could retaliate but the damage was already done. While the Gentle Fist style utilized the byakugan in order to manipulate the opponent's tenketsu offensively, I figured that the Hyūga's ability to manipulate any of their own could be used defensively, especially since specializing in taijutsu meant getting close and personal to an enemy. There was a slight sting on my skin where the boy had made contact with my arm but other than that I didn't feel a thing.

Maybe it was a good thing that the clan ran me into the ground every other day.

Shisui on the other hand seemed a bit off. He looked down at the fist that he had attacked me with, clenching and unclenching it bit before looking over to me with a perplexed look. It wasn't as controlled as a regular strike but releasing concentrated amounts of chakra allowed me to push things away, just like I did with my marbles, and acted as a rough barrier. The technique wasn't complete by any means but it was a start.

I rushed forward on the offensive, delivering a few quick blows which he managed to dodge. I hadn't thought I would be much of a fighter in this life, considering my past where I had avoided conflict like the plague. But being reborn in a world where people expected you to fight and danger came in a variety of forms, lurking behind each and every corner, it was a necessity. I couldn't hesitate on the field as that would mean my death.

And I couldn't let that happen before I changed things.

I had to see Shisui as the enemy, or else I would never make it. Steeling myself, I pushed forward, not giving him a chance to do much but block and evade. I was tiny but quick. I really didn't want to hurt him, though I really couldn't do much damage without my byakugan and the full extent of the Gentle Fist. I didn't want to rely completely on the dōjutsu in the beginning of the match anyways, and the boy was frighteningly quick. I wouldn't be able to get through the sequence of hand seals before the Uchiha came back with a counter attack.

It wasn't as though I wasn't taking Shisui or the spar seriously, I just didn't think it was all that necessary to go in with the big guns when I had other perfectly good skills. But that was probably just me being over confident in my abilities.

I guess it was the Hyūga in me. Possibly the Senju, but who knows.

Shisui knocked me away with a handful of thrown shuriken which I had to leap back to avoid, lifting a chakra pulsing arm to deflect one that came uncomfortably close to my face. I was sent even further away when he sent a barrage of mini fireballs in my direction with a series of quick hand seals that I almost couldn't track. Damn it, that was another thing I had to practice. I was surprised that he had enough chakra to sustain such a technique for such a long time, though I guess he wasn't in this class for nothing.

I let my hand drift behind me to my weapons pouch where I had my own shuriken, the other in an open palm in front of me as the fireballs cleared. I would have to end this match quickly, as I could already feel a stitch in my side from all the running and strain in my little legs. While as a child I found myself with an abundance of energy, much more than I had as an grown adult, I was subject to crashing as children do. My mind was strong but my body and stamina were unfortunately weak.

Channeling a bit of chakra into the tips of my fingers and to my legs, I flung the sharp stars of death with a flick of my wrist towards the Uchiha, running behind them as they flew forward. Shisui leapt back with an audible gasp as the shuriken came at him faster than he expected, the boy scrambling to get out of the line of fire, deflecting the ones he wasn't so lucky to dodge with a kunai. I steeled myself as I dashed to where he stood, the boy's eyes widening as I got close.

I could have sworn I saw them become the slightest bit red as my palm came into contact with his chest, sending him backwards and over the arena line. The field was quiet for a moment before Ikeda-sensei whistled.

"Winner, Junko-chan."

My breath came out in a whoosh as I let my arm come down from its striking position. Shisui let out a groan as he pushed himself up, looking at the ground where the line of the arena was set. I couldn't tell whether or not he was angry as he turned his eyes on me, dark as obsidian.

It must have been my imagination.

I offered a hand down to the boy who only spared a moment before grabbing onto it. My limbs groaned in protest but I focused on not being pulled to the ground as I helped him to his feet. How embarrassing would that be? I shifted away as Shisui brushed himself off so I could get control of my embarrassing panting. When he finished, he looked down at me with an analyzing look before a smile bloomed on his face.

"Good match, Hyūga-san," he commented, offering his hand in the seal of reconciliation. I completed the seal with a smile of my own.

"You as well Uchiha-san," I nodded, pulling away. I had depended way too much on my chakra to compensate for my lack of stamina but it had felt good. Training at home was like performing on a stage, especially when Hideyoshi or any of the other elders came to watch.

Ikeda-sensei clapped her hands together as we returned to the rest of the class.

"That was certainly interesting." Her eyes fell on me for a moment. No doubt that she had noticed my usage of chakra. I wondered if that would bite me in the ass later as she spoke.

"I have written down your strengths and weakness as a baseline. We will be having these kinds of spars every so often to check your progress."

I'm sure that everyone's stomach dropped when she looked at us with a smile that meant nothing good.

"You will improve."

"Yes, sensei!" We all chimed together, fearful for our lives.

This year was going to be rough.

We were soon released to lunch before the second half of classes came. I would've stayed in the classroom and eaten my food like the hermit I was but my new friends dragged me back out the doors before I could get comfortable. They pulled me to their favorite tree, and underneath it we sat and relaxed.

I managed to regain most my stamina after eating half of my overstuffed bento. Man, while a child body did have its limitations, they could spring back real quick, though I'd bet it had something to do with chakra as everything in this world did. I divided the rest with the civilians as I relaxed against the scarred oak of the tree. As usual, I had fallen to a semi-meditative state when Noburu poked me.

"Why didn't you use your special eye thing during the match?"

I blinked up hazily as I registered his question.

It had taken me a while to get used to the byakugan. Being able to see in near 360 degrees had left me disoriented when I first activated it. I couldn't see very far, only about ten meters or about thirty-three feet but it was still an amazing ability. I had to say, the byakugan was pretty awesome; I could see Mei in the kitchen even though she was behind me as I stood in the middle of the backyard. It was strange the amount of detail I could see with it. The series didn't do it justice; without even turning I could see her chopping up vegetables, the action normally quick, efficient, and invisible. I could see every single movement and every minuscule cut and slice on her calloused fingers.

It was crazy.

I tilted my head to look at him where he sat to my left.

"Just because I can doesn't mean I should." He frowned at me.

"Satomi always uses hers." He spat out her name like it was a bad taste in his mouth.

"Satomi-san is Satomi-san." I gave a helpless shrug. "And it is one of the treasures of the Hyūga clan after all; it would've been strange if she hadn't."

"You use it with your style of taijutsu right?" Akane asked. I nodded.

"Then why didn't you use it today?" Her face become solemn. Pity? "Can you not use it Junko-chan?"

Noburu's face fell at that as well. It was the first time they had looked at me like the four year old I was. Whether it was Hyūga pride or my own, I didn't like it.

Sitting up straighter, I ran through the hand seals one by one. I hadn't mastered it with a single seal yet like Neji does in the anime and I wasn't willing to activate haphazardly like I'd done yesterday in fear of a headache.

"Byakugan!" I whispered as my vision sharpened and range expanded. Akane and Noburu's chakra quickened with their surprised gasps.

I shrugged again, pleased by their reactions and the tiniest bit smug.

"The kekkei genkai of the Hyūga can be accessed from birth."

"Then why didn't you..?"

I let the dōjutsu fade as I put away my cleaned out bento. "It didn't seem necessary."

There was a tone of jealousy in Noburu's voice as he spoke.

"Didn't seem necessary?" he scoffed, crossing his arms across his chest with a pout. "Of course it wasn't for you. If I had a cool kekkei genkai I'd use it all the time. Then I could beat Satomi and those stupid Uchiha."

Akane looked between us worriedly as my eyes widened in surprise. I didn't realize he coveted such a thing. Satomi and the others must've really demolished his self-worth if that was the case. Next thing you know he'd be plucking eyeballs out of people's heads. One was more than enough.

At the look on my face, Noburu panicked.

"I mean, it's not like I hate people with them. I just- OW!"

He was interrupted by my finger flicking his nose. I gave him a deadpan look.

"While those with kekkei genkai do have certain advantages, without proper training and discipline it can end up being a hindrance more than a blessing," I explained, pulling from all the lectures I received regularly and my knowledge of the sharingan. The sharingan could literally drive their users into insanity; not good.

Noburu went to protest and I flicked him again. When he made no move to speak, I pulled away.

"I may have the byakugan but my proficiency in hand seals is weak," I said, glaring my tiny pale fingers. "Uchiha-san would've interrupted me in the middle of the sequence and the battle would've turned out in his favor."

I should really learn a shortcut soon because doing loads of hand seals were tedious and tough on my little joints. While my mentors had taught me all the necessary seals for activating the byakugan, with all jutsu, hand seals were just a way of concentrating and opening the correct tenketsu to perform a technique. But since I was a Hyūga and I already had an extensive awareness of my own chakra and how to manipulate it, it should be easy to do without the seals. And theoretically, one could use any one seal to activate the dōjutsu. Or none at all. I knew it could be done, and I had done it on accident yesterday.

In practice, I wasn't so successful.

"I'm sure if you train hard enough, you'll be able to develop a skill set worthy of defeating any kekkei genkai." I shrugged, standing and throwing my bag over my shoulder as the bell rang for class. I didn't know how much my pep talk would work coming from such a high pitched voice but I had to at least try.

Noburu blinked in surprise, and Akane did as well. They always seemed so surprised by the things I said, though I guess it made sense. I was physically four. The boy, at the very least, seemed sated by my explanation as he sprang up to his feet with a grin.

"You're a very strange kid," he grinned. Akane rose as well, smacking him lightly on the arm. That didn't stop him; if possible, his grin became bigger.

"You're alright Hyūga." He patted my head and I scowled at him, swatting him away with a quick jab. Maybe I shouldn't have given him a peptalk. How annoying.

Akane let a nervous laugh as she gave us a subtle nudge to get us moving.

This was certainly going to be an interesting year.

The rest of the day went without incident; I got a few more looks from the others but Noburu and Akane proved to be a nice distraction from their distracting glances. We were walking out of the academy, taking in the semi-autumn air as others ran and jumped through the gates in a hurry to get home.

"Do you have to go home right away Junko-chan?" Akane asked as we stepped through the gates. I looked around, and not seeing either of my cousins anywhere for any impromptu training, shook my head.

"Satomi-san and Kenta-kun aren't picking me up today so I don't think I'm needed at home right away." The girl visibly brightened.

"Do you want to go out for tea then? I know this place in the Akimichi district that has the most delicious cakes."

The idea of cake and tea instantly caught my attention; while I had a disciplined diet and schedule most of the time, sweets were always a large temptation. And the way Akane looked at me, I got the feeling that she didn't get to have girl talk all that often, seeing as how her best and only friend seemed to be the trouble-prone Noburu.

I nodded and she cheered happily causing a smile to spread across my face. She reminded me of someone from Before, but the name evaded me along with the face. Noburu sighed moodily, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"I can't; my dad wants me to help him out in the shop today," he huffed.

"What's wrong with that?" I asked. His face twisted.

"He wants me to carry on the shop after he's done because my stupid older brother doesn't want to inherit the business; even though he's a hundred times better than me. It's such a pain."

At my questioning glance, Akane piped up.

"Noburu's dad is a blacksmith," she added helpfully as we walked through the village. "He supplies a lot of the shinobi shops in the area, and he doesn't want Noburu to be a ninja."

"But why would he let him get this far in his studies if this was the case?" I asked.

"Mom's pretty much pulling his arm since she's already in the corps," Noburu shrugged. "She supports my decision, despite all the flak we get from our relatives."

I catalogued that information for later, as I did with everything. The ninja life was full of family issues no matter where you came from it seemed. It made sense though; you were essentially being taught to forego emotions to become a weapon of the village, at the beck and call of the Hokage, and to some extent the council. In my old life and my old world, no one would want that kind of future for their children.

But there was a certain necessity to it as well; I wasn't blind to it. The threats were consistent and heavy, from outside the village walls as well as inside, unfortunately. It was either let yourself fall to the will of other, stronger powers, or get stronger to protect yourself.

A rock and hard place, for sure.

Akane and I bid him goodbye as we walked by his father's shop, a location I made sure to remember for later. We continued into the Akimichi district, the air tinged with the scent of fresh herbs and a mixture of seasoning. If I wasn't a Hyūga I would've been drooling but I settled for taking in deep breaths to somehow forever ingrain the scent into my lungs.

It reminded me of Home, and my mom, and an onslaught of homesickness hit me. It wasn't like missing Mother and Father, Kimiko and Daichi; this was an empty pain, something hollow at the center of my chest that had been unearthed after being forgotten. I tried to forget it and focused on my companion as we entered a little café tucked away on the edge of the district.

"Hello, Aka-chan." A stout woman, an Akimichi no doubt by the markings on her cheeks and amberish colored hair, greeted us as we stepped through the threshold. There weren't many others in the shop, only a couple of shinobi sitting in the corner with their backs against the wall, watching us as we entered, and a few nondescript others talking quietly to each other.

The Akimichi's eyes drifted to me. "Who's your little friend?"

I gave my patented innocent smile and bowed lightly. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Hyūga Junko."

"Such a polite child!" The woman's eyes crinkled happily as she ushered us to a table.

Akane beamed as we took our seats. "Junko-chan is very smart and kind too Miho-san; she's in the same class as Noburu and me in the academy."

The woman's eyes widened and she looked at me with a critical eye. I, however, was more distracted by Akane's compliment. So openly earnest and genuine. A slight heat crawled up my neck and onto my cheeks before crawling to the tips of my ears.

"Akane-san," I hissed lightly, bringing a menu up to cover my face. "I think you have an exaggerated opinion of me."

She simply smiled in response as the older woman chortled heartily.

"And humble too! That's a surprise." There was a certain twinkle in her eyes as she stared at me. "Please enjoy your stay at 'Tsukuda's'."

My blush receded as the woman left to greet another couple who had just entered. I gave Akane a look which she ignored in favor of pointing out some of her favorites on the menu. I was surprised by the diversity of it all; they even had a variety of croissants and other more European deserts. The Elemental Nations were an enigma to be sure.

I ended up getting a cream cheese croissant because of nostalgia and a cup of sencha green tea, while Akane went with strawberry daifuku and jasmine tea. It was quiet and comfortable as we drank and ate our snacks. Between sips and bites, Akane talked about random things that had happened during her time at the academy and the orphanage, as well as embarrassing stories about Noburu, which I immensely enjoyed. We talked for a couple of hours, relishing in the cool afternoon atmosphere.

It was strange feeling this normal for the first time I had been in this messed up world. No thoughts of the future or regrets of the past. It was just me and a friend.

Normal.

But there was briefest whispering of doubt in my mind.

Would this happiness last?

Author's Note

Posted/Edited: September 21, 2016

Minor edits: January 31th, 2017

...

As always, thanks to all who have added this story to their favorites and/or have followed this story this far. I appreciate it!

Reviews

Thanks to k123, 372259, starthedetective, and Anseo for your lovely comments on the last chapter.

I hope this chapter was to everyone's liking. I wanted to use the Shisui fight to demonstrate some of the skills Junko has worked on in all of her training (even though she kinda cheated) and I hope that the explanations made sense. If it needs to be clearer, let me know.

-starthedetective: I always like to shoutout those who take the time out leave such thoughtful reviews that help me make this story better. I'm just happy that people like it enough to leave a comment.

-Anseo: Your memory isn't wonky, both of our little prodigies are in a senior class, but Shisui hasn't learn the flicker yet. He's working on it though.

I have made a deviantart account for posting concept art and other things for this stories and others. It is under the username Eirron, that's 'eiron' with two r's since that one was taken. I've only posted one picture but it's one of how I imagine our little trio here, so take a look if you want.

Also, a question: Do you readers like the fact that I respond to reviews in the author's notes? I like to answer them here just in case others have the same questions, but I don't want it to seem unfair if I don't respond to each and every one.

The next chapter is an interlude; it contains a bit of a recap of another chapter but it lets you get a better sense of our little protagonist from the outside, so I hope you enjoy it.

Next time on For a Chance at Happiness

Interlude: An Out-stretched Hand