Hinata Is Fine
~Five Years Before Graduation
Hinata was boooooooored.
She straightened out the dress she was wearing with a huff and looked around.
Some great big hall in central Konoha, and it was filled with people. Old people. Therein lied the problem.
Big important peace treaty between Leaf and the Lightning place that daddy-Father, had been shouting about for weeks. This was a 'party' in celebration of it, but it wasn't a real party. Almost everyone there was an adult, and the depressing kind of adult who'd been fighting wars their whole life and didn't know how to laugh anymore. There was the guy with the cool moustache who ran the lightning people, the Hokage (who at least smiled at her when he saw her) her father, some other clan heads...exactly the kind of people who didn't care at all about her. Most had been introduced to her, said exactly what they had been expected to say, she had said exactly what she had been expected to say back, and that was that.
She had spotted that Sasuke boy from the Uchiha who was her age and tried to go talk to him, but a sharp glare from her father had quickly put a stop to that. So here she was. Bored.
She wondered if Naruto was having more fun than her.
"Dull, isn't it?" Someone remarked, from her left.
She turned to see a youngish looking man smiling benignly down at her.
"Shinobi-sama." She curtsied. "I...uh..."
"Its fine." He chuckled. "The drudgery of politics is just as much a bore to us adults, I assure you. We simply aren't supposed to say so."
He chuckled, and Hinata giggled along with him. He seemed nice enough. "Are you...?"
"I am the head representative for Lightning." He told her, and smiled when he saw her brief panic. "Don't worry. We're allies now, are we not? I see no reason why we can't be friends."
Hinata thought about it, and nodded. "Friends. My name is Hyuuga Hinata."
"Hinata." He repeated, shaking her hand. "If I may say, my dear, you have beautiful eyes."
There was a ruffle of clothing, and suddenly a hand was laid protectively on her shoulder.
"Shinobi-sama." Came a very sharp voice from behind her. "I see you have taken an interest in my cousin."
Hinata's heart soared even as the adult blinked and stepped backwards, body language suddenly very worried. "Ah. You would be Neji, then. I was only-"
"Talking, I'm sure." Hyuuga Neji casually positioned himself between the man and Hinata. Only a few years into double digits and no higher than five feet tall, he still managed to look intimidating as he stared down the representative. "It's good to see such willingness to foster relations. Still, it would be good to try and avoid doing anything inappropriate, don't you think?"
"Quite." The man nodded quickly. "I'll take my leave then." He quickly scampered away.
"Neji!" Hinata huffed as her cousin turned to face her. "You scared him off!"
"Mmhmm." Neji nodded. "I didn't trust him. He had a suspicious beard."
Hinata couldn't help but laugh, and he repositioned behind her with his hands on her shoulders, looking out over the hall.
"What are we even here for?" Hinata asked him, glad she had someone she could talk to without any silly manners nonsense. "The war finished when I was three."
"It did." Neji replied. "But Lightning and us still don't get along. We've had a lot of little fights over the last few years."
"Didn't you say some of those were your fault?" She poked him.
"Some of them." Neji replied. "In our defence, we did have a lot of important things to do at the time. Turns out there's a guy on living on the moon."
"Ugh. Fine." She smiled, but then looked out again and sighed.
"Tired?" Neji checked.
"Very." Hinata attempted.
"Oh, not tired. Bored out of your skull?"
"...yeah." She sulked.
Neji chuckled. "Understandable. Uncle demands I stay and be rightfully apologetic to all the people I've annoyed over the last few years, and you're the clan head's daughter so you have to stay and look cute...aha! I know."
He led her on a sweeping wander through the hall, at one point taking her behind a pillar. When they emerged on the other side, there was one Neji, and two Hinatas.
"Cousin!" She hissed, worriedly. "Daddy will notice!"
"But the Lightning reps won't," her doppleganger told her, smiling a very un-Hinata like smile, "and he won't be able to say anything until they've all left. I'll take the blame, don't worry. Quick, retreat to the compound before someone notices! Ninja escape!"
Giggling, she did as she was told, hurrying towards one of the exits as Neji and presumably-also-Neji began mingling like nothing had happened. The nice Lightning man from earlier held the door open for her, and she smiled, thinking nothing of it.
It was only halfway home when strong arms grabbed her, a bag came over her head, and a knife went to her throat.
Present Day
Hinata trained.
Her palms flew through the air, striking at nonexistent targets as she flew through kata after kata, desperately trying to lose herself in the strenuous physical activity.
She wasn't sure how long she had been training.
Her Byakugan spotted Kakashi approaching, and she scowled, but didn't stop. She was training in the woods rather than her compound specifically so people wouldn't bother her. But there wasn't much she could do. He was stronger than her, after all, and power was all that mattered.
Kakashi stopped and leaned against a tree nearby, apparently content not to interrupt her. "Based on what we've seen, all your inheritance is still in place." He said. She didn't respond, so he continued. "Strangely, most of the scrolls have been scribbled on with hints, tips and assorted sass. Itachi came in to check and confirmed that it was, and I quote, 'definitely Neji, the sarcastic ass'."
Hinata tensed a little, but kept working.
"This adds to evidence we've previously collected suggesting that he has a jutsu capable of dismantling sealing techniques." Kakashi told her. "This 'Hiragekoma' he used against Sasuke. We think it's how he was able to remove his caged bird seal without dying."
"I worked that much out for myself, thank you." Hinata replied, politely, before continuing to practice.
There were a long few minutes where Kakashi stood there, watching her.
"May I ask you a personal question?" He said, eventually.
"You may." She acquiesced.
"Are you planning to do something incredibly stupid?"
Hinata stopped. "Like what?"
"I don't know." Kakashi replied. "But you have a look that I've only seen on...six people before you. Three of them I had to hunt down and assassinate. Two are in prison."
"The sixth?" Hinata asked, curious despite herself.
"The sixth." Kakashi continued, reluctantly. "Was a girl named Rin. Which isn't a story I want to get into."
Hinata nodded, and turned away.
"If there is anything you want to know, or you think I can help with, you're free to ask." Kakashi told her, in a voice a little too controlled for his usual apathy.
"You're not my Sensei anymore." She replied.
"No." He admitted. "But I have a lot of experience, and I do still care."
She thought about it. "Did you know Neji?"
"Professionally." Kakashi told her. "I recall I did a small mission with him and Itachi, once. Competent, efficient, intelligent."
"And he was stronger than I was? By this age?" She wanted to hear it.
Kakashi tilted his head. "By your age, Neji had already killed the entire Hyuuga clan."
There wasn't much else to say.
Hinata breathed in and asked the real question. "Is there anything in Konoha I can learn that he doesn't already know?"
Kakashi was silent. She turned to face him.
His body language was tense enough that she could see it without the Byakugan; eyes narrowed, fists clenched.
"Pedantically, of course yes." He told her. "But answering in the spirit of the question...no. The eight inner gates are perhaps the only combat technique you possess that he doesn't, he was never particularly robust, and those you can train on your own. But that doesn't mean you should leave."
Hinata didn't respond to that, turning away.
She saw him with the Byakugan becoming gradually more agitated with her non-response, before he eventually broke out into "Hinata-"
"What would you have me do?" She rounded on him. "Sit here in Konoha, ~trying my hardest,~ and watch him pull further and further away from me? Or just give my vengeance up as a pipe dream and relax? Play around and be happy with my teammates?" She shook. "I'd rather die, Sensei!"
"And if you continue like this you may die anyhow!" Kakashi shouted.
It was such a surprise to hear that tone from him Hinata actually stepped back, eyes wide.
Kakashi sighed, and took a deep breath. "Neji is alone, Hinata. And that matters. Many people will scoff at the power of 'friendship' or 'family', but it's one of the only strong motivators that doesn't tear you apart. If there's one thing you do have that Neji doesn't, then that's it."
"My family is dead, Sensei." She reminded him.
"Your old family, perhaps."
"You dare-"
"I am not blind, Hinata. Those boys care for you, as they care for each other; don't insult my intelligence by telling me you don't feel the same." He turned around, and began to leave the clearing. "I'm going to be away on a mission for the next few days, so you're free to do what you want. But know that there are plenty of worse places for you than Konoha. If you betrayed us for hidden Mist or Lightning in the hopes of some harsher training and nasty killing techniques, you'd just find yourself in the exact same situation as Neji, but weaker. Or perhaps you could hunt down a tailed beast to possess, and find yourself assassinated. Simple fact is that if you follow in his footsteps, you're never going to beat him."
With that, Kakashi vanished.
"Um, Naruto?" Hinata blocked a few punches. "Can...can I ask you a hypothetical?"
"A what?"
"A question about something that...isn't really happening, but might link to real world stuff."
"Oh, okay. Shoot." Naruto continued punching.
Getting Naruto alone was a piece of cake, all she had to do was offer a spar with 'no tenketsu cheating, I swear' and he had jumped at the chance to meet her alone on the rooftop. Washing fluttered on long strings as the two danced around each other, blocking and striking and dodging. The rhythm was comforting; the two were well used to each other's fighting styles, and it left Hinata free to think how best to phrase her questioning.
"Lets say you were...in a race. A marathon. And there's a person you're racing against. But the trick is that the moment you overtake them, you win."
"Kay, listening." Naruto replied, sweeping at her feet.
"But the problem is." Hinata continued, stepping over his leg. "He had a head start, and he's already a good distance ahead of you. How do you catch up?"
"Well, you gotta run faster than him, right?" Naruto answered, looking unsure if this was a trick.
"Obviously." She reassured, cringing at how he smiled at getting the right answer. "But what if he's too fast? What if you're running as fast as you can? Your legs are burning, you can barely breathe, you're in pain, and you're still not catching up?"
"Uh..." That one clearly had him stumped. Naruto's default response was always 'try harder, get stronger' but with that option cut off by definition...
"You...cheat? I don't think I would, but that's a pretty ninja thing to do, right?"
"But if you cheat, you might get caught." Hinata replied. "And what if the only way to cheat, all your friends know about it? What if cheating would make everybody upset with you?"
"Then you don't cheat." Naruto shrugged, a difficult movement while mid-combat. "It doesn't sound worth it to win some stupid race."
"But what if there's a reason for you to win the race?" Hinata pressed, pushing her attack harder. "What if it's a race you can't afford to lose? What if you'll be disappointed in yourself if you fail?"
"There's no honour in winning because you cheated." Naruto scoffed, then stumbled as Hinata's onslaught increased.
"But it isn't about honour!" She shouted, tripping and shoving him. "It's about justice! It's about that...that gaping hole inside that I'll fall into if I admit to letting him go!"
"Um-"
Hinata grabbed him by the lapels. "But that's the thing!" She second guessed herself, knowing she must have a hysterical look on her face. "Now there's something else! Now I have you, and Sasuke, and Kakashi, and I care, and now I'm afraid that I'll fall into the hole if I let you go! So what the fuck am I supposed to do?"
She panted, out of breath, and began trying to get control of herself again. Somewhere along the line she had ended up practically on top of Naruto, keeping him off the floor by the scruff of his neck.
At some point, his face had gotten serious. "Seems to me." He said, eventually. "You're not thinking crazy enough."
"E-Excuse me?"
"You think you have to win, but you can't win without cheating, and if you cheat you disappoint your friends, but you can't disappoint your friends." Naruto summarised. "You get both wins by breaking one of those middle two facts."
"I already told you, it's im-" Hinata paused. Then, at a whisper, "the universe doesn't care what we think is impossible."
Naruto grinned. "That's the spirit! So. You either win without cheating, which you don't think you can-"
"Or I find a way to cheat without betraying everyone." Hinata thought aloud.
She paused, looked down, blushed, and dropped him.
"Thank you, Naruto. You've given me a lot to think about."
She jumped off the roof and away, leaving a very confused Uzumaki alone with the fluttering clothes.
"Are you sure you're okay to fly?"
"I'm sure I'm sure!" Kudos shot back. "I've been sure for the last two weeks!"
Athena reached forwards and smoothed down his feathers, again. "I know, son. But Naga is a big summon, your father once got into a fight with him and-"
"Big Toothy wasn't that big. Or toothy." Kudos replied, huffing. "Besides, I desummoned the moment he got hold of me."
"Big too-is this more of what the humans are telling you?" Athena gave him a suspicious look. "You should always be respectful when-"
"Referring to other sage creatures, I know; but he was eating me!"
"Just...be careful." Athena sighed.
"Yes, granny."
"Athena."
"Yes, granny Athena." He dodged her playful peck with a laugh, hopping over to the edge of the current planetoid. Letting himself fall over the edge, for the first time in a month he let his wings spread, waiting for the wind to catch them just right so he could-
There was a poof of smoke, and he unceremoniously flopped onto wooden floor.
"That...went better in my head." He stood up, shook himself, and turned around. "Oh, mistress Hinata! Wassup!"
"Hey, Kudos. Glad to see you're alright."
His mistress looked...sad. Or was it just tired? There were visible bags under her pale eyes.
"Yeah, I'm good." He flapped his wings experimentally. "A quick trip in a snake's mouth is nothing for a summon with as much raw, untamed power as me!"
"Well, that's good to hear." Hinata smiled, and looked down. "Kudos...your people are known for their wisdom, correct?"
"Uh-huh!" He nodded. "All the oldies always go 'we attempt to curtail our natural irrationality' but I think they're just trying to be modest."
"I'm glad to hear it." Hinata played with her hands, which Kudos had been told was a human sign of nervousness. "Kudos, could you put me in contact with one of the senior owls?"
"Sure thing, why?"
"I have a plan I'd like to sound out with them. It's...just a little bit crazy."
That night
Konoha was a piece of cake to infiltrate. Tayuya snickered to herself as she bypassed the civilian (civilian!) police and made her way through the hidden village. Where the hell were the Uchiha police that Leaf was so proud of? Well, apparently, after the Hokage debacle her master had caused, Tsunade had had all the high end ninja working on missions to pay for repairs and prove to the world that Konoha was still 'in business'. Which allowed the sound five to enter without any issues. Tayuya, Jirobo, and Kimimaro made their way silently towards the main goal; a large compound relatively central in the village.
To Tayuyua's surprise, Kimimaro had them all drop to the ground, and walk into the compound at a perfectly normal pace.
"Best to make a good impression." He answered her unspoken question. "She knows we're coming."
As in most things, Kimimaro was proven right. Hinata was not fast asleep in her room. She was sat, perfectly relaxed, at a table in her living room.
"Good evening." She greeted them, with a smile. "Tea?"
Kidomaru, Sakon and Ukon split off towards the secondary objective. This building was much closer to the village's outskirts.
"Sure he won't be in his compound?" Sakon asked. "This doesn't seem like the place for a clan heir."
"Intel says he's in a pretty rough spot with his family, and the Hyuuga's not in the best of places." Kidomaru explained. "Meaning the only place for him to go is...oh, here we go."
They landed on the roof. After a moment, Uchiha Sasuke walked calmly out a window, up a wall, and onto the roof with them. "'Sup." He said, boredly. "I'd invite you in, but Naruto's still asleep. Need something?"
"Yes please." Kimimaro replied, acting like this was the most normal thing in the world.
Jirobo and Tayuya exchanged glances, shrugged, and moved to sit down next to him.
"I assume from your curse marks you're all Orochimaru's henchmen." Hinata began, pouring for them. "Delightful little thing, by the way, it's been very useful. I'll have to thank him when I meet him."
"I'm sure you will get that opportunity." Kimimaro replied, easily. "Our master has an offer for you."
"Is that so?" Hinata picked up her own cup. "I'm curious to know what he thinks I want."
"Let me guess..." Tayuya spoke up, grinning. "Hyuuga Neji's head. On a platter."
Hinata sighed. "Awfully unimaginative of you. If all Orochimaru can offer me is an assassination, then I think this meeting is over."
"Please ignore my subordinate." Kimimaro gave Tayuya a glare ladened with killing intent, and she dropped her head immediately. "Our master is quite understanding. You don't just want Neji to die, you want to be the one to kill him."
"So...?" Hinata eyed him.
"You want power." Kimimaro continued. "Orochimaru is willing to provide."
"There we go." She put down her cup and leaned forwards slightly. "Which leaves me curious as to what Orochimaru wants in return."
"Neji's Byakugan has stifled Orochimaru's attempts to kill him before. If you succeeded, it would be very helpful. Of course, he would expect your service for the duration of your training." Kimimaro replied, honestly.
Hinata paused and sized up the trio. "Where are your friends?" She asked, changing the subject. "The two (well, technically three, what a strange bloodline limit the second has) that split off in the other direction?"
Kaguya couldn't help but gulp. No wonder master wants those eyes so badly.
"They pursue a secondary objective." Kimimaro answered her. "We are making a similar offer to your teammate, the Uchiha."
Hinata rolled her eyes. "Perfect. You may consider your two teammates dead and the alarm raised; we are running out of time."
Tayuya snorted. "He couldn't-"
"Uchiha Sasuke has a fighting chance against me." Hinata interrupted, standing. "But he does not have motive to betray this cesspit of a village. So. I provisionally agree to your master's offer, and if you will excuse me, I need to loot my own vault. Meet you outside in ninety seconds?"
Kidomaru held the innocuous tablet out with a smile. "This here is what we call the mind awakening pill."
"Uh-huh." Replied a skeptical Sasuke. "What does it do? Last time someone tried to sell me a 'mind awakening pill' it was LSD."
"Not quite." Kidomaru chuckled. "This is the first of many things Orochimaru can offer you. Taking this pill will evolve your cursemark, allowing it to access its second stage, granting incredible additional power." He spread his hands. "We're both examples, but it would hardly be in the spirit of cooperation to activate them here, right?"
"Right." Sasuke drawled. "It's certainty a compelling gift..." As Kidomaru inclined his head, Sasuke continued, "But there's three things you didn't account for. First," He tugged his pyjama shirt down at one side.
Kidomaru blinked. "Where is your-"
"Gone. Neji did it." Sasuke shrugged. "I'll thank him later. Second, I have no motivation whatsoever to betray the Leaf, (why would you even think that), and third, NARUTO! Yeah he's awake."
The sound pair (trio) weren't so blindsided as not to react, but they were quickly surrounded by a few dozen Naruto leaping up to each side of the roof.
"Shit." Sakon summarised.
"Shit." Sasuke confirmed. "Naruto you sent a clone to the Hokage's office, right?"
"Shouting real loudly, yeah." One of the Naruto replied, grinning. "Hey, do you two wanna surrender or are we doing this the hard way?"
Kidomaru grimaced. The first stage of his curse mark was already active, but he doubted it would be enough for the Uchiha scion. His brain frantically looked for a way to even the odds, and it found one. Fixing a smile on his face, he said "Aww, but if you take the time to bring us down, you might not have the time to save your friend~"
"What now?" Sasuke replied, obviously trying hard to sound unconcerned.
"Little miss Hyuuga." Kidomaru drew out each syllable, watching Sasuke's eyes widen. "My teammates are over at her house now, making the same offer. I wonder what she'll say...Oh, and those mind awakening pills I mentioned? They literally iyou to upgrade the curse mark. Don't worry, she'll come back. Probably. Ten percent of the time, they survive..."
Sasuke glared. "Naruto, take them." He jumped off the roof, heading straight for the Hyuuga residence.
Two versus one, and the Uzumaki would never use the Kyuubi in his own village. Check and mate. Kidomaru grinned, looking across at Sakon and Ukon. "Call the kid's bluff. With this many shadow clones, there's no way they have the chakra to do anything seri-"
With a flash, over twenty of the clones launched golden glowing chains from their arms.
Shit.
The Sound ninja made evasive manoeuvres, but the chains crisscrosses the entire rooftop, wrapping both up. Sealing chains? Like the new redhead Master brought in?
Quickly reappraising the threat, Kidomaru poured more chakra into his seal.
Tapping into his spider physiology, he secreted a second skin that hardened into his armour of sticky gold. The sealing chains' effect was dimmed, and he was able to snap the ones restraining him.
"Sorry, punk." He laughed. "But my 'armour of sticky gold' is physical, not made of chakra. Your chains can't suppress it!"
"What is it with Sound ninja and explaining their gimmicks to me!" The Kyuubi shouted, exasperated. Across from him Sakon and Ukon had found their own solution, splitting into two to slither out of the chains' grip.
The twins were the key. Kidomaru was good for long range and single targets, but the twins were taijutsu monsters, and if anyone was going to successfully tear through a small army of shadow clones, it would be them.
Until, of course, there was a flash of light, and both twins were hidden within a hexagon of flat ice. A cute girl hopped up on the top.
"Haku?" The Kyuubi shouted. "Where did you come from?"
"I heard your screaming clone." Haku replied. "Also I was kinda watching you while you slept."
"Huh."
"Yeah...hold on, let me deal with these two." She dropped back down, and there was screaming from within the ice.
Kidomaru took a moment to try and understand where things had gone so wrong.
Then he activated CM2.
His form grew, his skin turned red, and four of his six arms grabbed a chain each and pulled, throwing several blond midgets off balance and into each other.
The remaining two arms drew his mammoth of a bow taught, as he did his patented weird-regurgitation-thing to materialise up an arrow from his gullet.
There was a chorus of "eeew!"s.
He took aim, not at one of the clones, but at the ice mirror. His bow's five hundred pound draw weight (plus curse mark bullshit) meant his arrow would smash right through the mirror and free his compatriots, ideally to then make as fast a getaway as possible.
Which was when, in the ice's reflective surface, he saw a pair of shadow clones ram a glowing blue sphere into his abdomen.
"Listen kid. Kakashi'll've taught you how to plan and strategise, which is all well and good, but always remember: If in doubt, make a bunch of shadow clones, wrap 'em up in chakra chains, and hit 'em with a rasengan."
-Jiraiya of the Sannin, to Uzumaki Naruto
Hinata held the pill up to the moonlight. An innocuous little thing. Her Byakugan didn't do chemistry; she knew only that it didn't contain any unusual chakra signatures. "A coma? Well if you were lying to me, you could certainly have chosen something more inviting."
"It's the only way to awaken the final level of the curse mark." Kimimaro explained. "If you'd prefer, we could make our escape first, then-"
"No." Hinata shook her head. "We do it now." If she was doing this, there couldn't be any half measures. She could see Sasuke now, sprinting up from behind her.
Had Neji stood like this, once? Was this the first step following in his footsteps? Or was it the first step to undoing what he had wrought, righting his wrong the only way she knew how?
In the end, such deliberations didn't matter. She was out of time. And she had made her choice.
Her mouth opened.
Faster.
Sasuke sprinted, leaping from rooftop to rooftop faster than he had even in that one training exercise with Gai, Lee and the fifty pound weights.
Hyuuga Hinata was many things. Intelligent, driven, talented, objectively beautiful. But on top of all that she was completely bat-shit Crazy.
Exactly crazy enough to try this.
He had opened up his Sharingan ahead of time, and as he jumped clean over the gate to the Hyuuga compound, he knew he was already too late. There they stood, in the front garden. Three unknown ninja he immediately memorised the faces of, wearing familiar Sound headbands. And a girl with short, navy blue hair and a thick, fur lined white jacket. Her eyes, white with no visible irises, flicked up to look at him. She smiled, briefly. Then she put the pill she was holding up to her mouth, and swallowed.
And Sasuke watched Hinata die.
"HINATA!" He screamed, absolutely fucking sick of his teammates doing this, desperately running towards her even as her legs buckled and she collapsed towards the floor. The big ninja got in the way and Sasuke slid between his legs, then booted the girl in the face as she made to grab him, why the hell were his eyes hurting the Sharingan didn't have anymore evolutions-
The white haired one roadblocked him, and no combination of frenzied taijutsu could break his defence and let Sasuke through, and then the fat one had grabbed his leg and slammed him to the ground. He twisted free of the grip, caught a punch from the girl, swept, missed, swept again and caught her then jumped to handspring over fattie's head get to Hinata-
The white haired one pulled his leg back, and snapped it out. Then Sasuke knew no more.
And here we go. I wonder if anyone can see ahead of time what I'm pulling here?
You'll notice that I've done a little more timeline meddling and moved the date of the Hyuuga affair forwards a few years, so I can have Neji's presence change things around.
In the present, Hinata's come to a decision, and the rest of team seven is wondering what the hell is up with her. Where do we go from here?
Well buckle up because we're going there hella fast.
