The Girl Who Spun Through Time

Chapter 5

My apologies, lost one. It's time to set the board.

"What on earth is it?"

Hinata stared up past the lip of the roof, her eyes narrowed in confusion. Her father, standing next to her, crossed his arms. They weren't the only ones there; Hizashi had joined him, his face mirroring his twins. Both he and his brother wore identical looks of mild curiosity. All of their Byakugan were active. It was the only way to see the thing.

"It's where you arrived from," her father said. He stirred, tapping his arm with his index finger. "Rather peculiar, isn't it?"

Hinata didn't know what to call it. A rip? A hole? A tear?

She settled on that one. That's what it was. A tear in space: a distortion in the air, beyond which something was invisibly rippling. Looking directly at it was making the hair on Hinata's neck stand on end. It was only about two meters tall and a foot wide, somewhat resembling her proportions. Colors that Hinata had never seen before flickered across it like lightning, occasionally pushing into the ordinary air around it before snapping back into the tear. It wasn't making any noise, but Hinata almost wished it were. The silence was more disconcerting than a sound would have been. Her fingers involuntarily twitched.

The tear was sitting just above the roof she'd fallen off of. It was a surreal anomaly against the cloudy blue sky. Everything about it was simply out of place.

"Was there something like that with my… predecessor?" Hinata asked, taking a moment to decide on the word. Her father shook his head, and Hizashi glanced at him.

"No," he said. "When she arrived, there was no residue. She simply snapped into existence. This must be due to the Rinnegan."

Hinata peered more deeply at it. Something about the sight was tickling her conscious. It almost seemed familiar.

"Is it dangerous?" she asked distantly. Her father's lips creased: his equivalent of a shrug.

"We don't know," he responded. He shared a look with his brother, and Hizashi idly drew a kunai from his sleeve. Without ceremony, he tossed it up into the tear.

Hinata flinched, expecting an explosion or something equally dramatic. Instead, the knife slipped right through the distortion. A single arc of purple-green light snuck along the blade, and then it was through, sailing deeper into the compound.

It landed directly on an oni figurine a couple feet from the Branch Houses barracks, a figure that was all ragged teeth and oversized ears. The knife dug deeply into the stone statue's forehead and settled there, eating up the sun's light. Hiashi cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh come," his brother said without looking at him. "We both know that thing was already hideous." Hinata stifled a giggle. She'd been too young to remember much of her uncle when he'd died, but her father had mentioned his sense of humor before. He hadn't been lying.

Hiashi snorted. "Well," he said, moving on. "It doesn't seem to have any effect on metal." He put his hands together in a familiar sign, and Hinata cocked her head. It almost looked like-

A shadow clone popped into existence, and Hinata started. Her father glanced at her.

"What?"

She blinked back. "I didn't know you knew that jutsu."

Hiashi frowned. "It's relatively simple, though not especially helpful in the field. Far too much of drain." The clone set off, leaping up onto the roof. "It's exceedingly useful for recon, though. Particularly in situations like this."

Hinata nodded as the clone reached the edge of the tear. It stopped, slowly reaching a hand out. More oddly-colored light played across his fingers, and then Hiashi's double stuck its hand fully into the tear. The distortion twisted the clone's hand, making it look as though it were underwater. The kage bunshin clenched his fist, and then withdrew, shaking its hand out. It popped a moment later, and Hiashi frowned, looking down.

"Hmm," he muttered. "Cold." He looked up at his daughter. "It didn't seem to do the clone any harm though. Whatever it is, it's not dangerous."

"Hmm." Hizashi made the exact same noise. "Have you told the Hokage yet?"

"Of course. I sent him a messenger." Hiashi's mouth twisted. "Though he still may be dealing with Itachi. We'll see, I suppose."

"Wait," Hinata meekly spoke up. "This wasn't here when we went to meet with him?"

Her father shook his head. "Precisely. It came into being while we were there; I was only made aware afterwards."

Hinata turned back to look at the tear. "That…" she said uncertainly. Hizashi picked up her thought.

"That could just be coincidence," he cautioned. "But it also implies certain things. It's possible someone, or something, has activated this from the other side."

Hinata paused. 'The other side.' The words resonated in her for a moment.

"You mean the present," she said. Her uncle nodded.

"Exactly." He hesitated. "This may be your way back, Hinata."

Hiashi turned to his brother in surprise. "It didn't react to me," he said. "Why would it-?"

"She's the one who was thrown through time," Hizashi stated, staring at Hinata. "And I'm sure you've noticed by now, Hiashi. Her chakra is different. There's something about it that's simply off. I always expect it to be a step or two behind her."

Hinata started, and more so when her father grimly nodded. She hadn't been aware of that. Maybe Itachi Uchiha had been pursuing her for reasons more than what he'd revealed after all.

"I believe," Hizashi continued, "it would have a different reaction if she were the one to touch it."

Hiashi stared at his brother, his brow creased in thought, and then he shifted his gaze to Hinata.

"What do you think, my daughter?"

Hinata looked away from her father and back up at the tear. It seemed to swell in her vision.

A way back?

Back to the present: to Naruto, and probably to Pain. Away from all these familiar unfamiliar faces and too young blonds. Back to the familiar, though she might be stepping into just as much danger as when she left. Her body wasn't hurting anymore; she was nearly healed. Could she undo her mistakes? The gap between her and Pain was far too high, but if she were able to free Naruto-

Hinata shook her head, blowing the thoughts away. A new one crept in, a freezing ice in her heart as she watched her father await her answer.

'She didn't exist anymore, thanks to certain circumstances. Yet, she appeared anyway: a clear indication that after her time was up, she returned to her present, though it had been drastically altered by her actions.'

Her present was gone. Her Konoha was gone. Her Naruto was gone. It had vanished, replaced by whatever village had been crafted by her actions here. It wouldn't be her home she'd be returning to. She'd be just as much a stranger there as she was here; a girl out of time.

Hinata fell to her knees. Her father took a step forward, his hand reaching out. "Hinata?"

"Why should I go back?" she whispered. Her father stared at the back of her head. "Why should I go back?"

"Why?" her father asked, confused. "It's-"

"It's not," Hinata said quietly, shaking her head. "It's not. You said my predecessor appeared even though she'd never been born." Her father's eyes narrowed. "She didn't go back to where she'd come from. It was different; she'd changed things."

Hiashi's daughter looked back at him, her lip trembling. "I've changed things." She nodded towards her uncle. "I saved your brother. I told the Hokage everything. I told Danzo about Pain, Orochimaru..." She lowered her head. "I can't go back. I erased my home. There's nothing to go back to."

Her father didn't respond. Not immediately. Hizashi didn't make a noise. He just silently watched Hinata kneel. A breeze rushed through the compound, carrying with it an ozone tang.

After a moment, Hinata's father stepped to her side, and dropped to one knee. He rested his hand on her shoulder.

"Stay, then," he said. Hinata looked up at him.

"Father?"

"If there's nothing for you to go back to," he said assuredly. "You simply stay."

Hinata blinked. "You'd… let me? What if I-?"

"Of course I'd let you." Hiashi almost seemed affronted. "And I don't believe you'll be disappearing like your predecessor. She had no such tear appear for her; that leads to the conclusion that your travel was fundamentally different from hers, aside from your undamaged eyes." He gave her a hard smile. "It's entirely possible you'll never travel back at all, unless you step through that tear."

"But… w-what if you're wrong?" Hinata asked. Her father shrugged.

"Then I'll have been wrong. But better you be sent back accidentally than purposefully, if there is nothing for you there," he said confidently. He squeezed Hinata's shoulder, rising to his feet. Hinata stayed on her knees for a moment, and her father stuck out his hand. She looked at it as though it were an alien object.

A new home, amongst the familiar unfamiliar faces. A chance to make real change, instead of watching it happen.

A chance to make sure Naruto wasn't alone.

The ice in her heart crept away. Hinata reached out and took her father's hand. He pulled her to her feet.

"Come," Hiashi said. "Let's go inside. We need to talk about what comes next."

Hinata nodded, and her father smiled. Behind him, Hizashi grinned, a much more unrestrained motion. Then, his eyes went wide.

"Hiashi!" he shouted, and Hinata's father looked up and away from her. He blinked, veins spiraling out around his eyes, and his mouth went wide. Without hesitation, he spun, not releasing Hinata's hand, and threw her back towards her uncle.

Hinata tumbled into Hizashi's arms, her mind reeling.

'What?'

"Go!" her father shouted. Hinata finally activated her Byakugan as Hizashi turned and sprinted away, still holding her. He set her down mid-sprint and suddenly they were both running. The world expanded, the tear becoming visible again, and Hinata choked as she saw what had made her father throw her away.

There was a thick snarl of chakra protruding from the tear, moving towards her at ludicrous speeds. Hinata recognized the pursuing chakra: it looked exactly like the ribbon that had engulfed her in the endless and lightless void she'd been thrust into by the Rinnegan. Before, she had needed to touch it. Now, it seemed happy to try and consume her regardless.

Her father sidestepped the bolt of lavender light, chopping down with a hand lit with Jūken chakra. He sliced clean through the ribbon, and the chakra past his cut wilted and vanished, no longer sustained. But before Hinata could draw another breath, more arcs of light shot from the tear, all the same lavender color. They went over and around her father, a shoal of sharks slicing through the air, intent on their target.

Hiashi didn't say anything. He just immediately spun into a Kaiten, cutting several of the ribbons and driving a deep divot in the ground around him. More Hyuuga were bursting from their homes across the compound, at least half a dozen. Drawn towards the commotion, their Byakugan flaring, they leapt onto the scene and began cutting the ribbons apart without question, following Hiashi's lead.

It was impressive, but it wasn't nearly enough. Hinata was nearly fifty meters away, nearing the compound entrance. Distance was the only safety here; the ribbons were too agile, and fast, to evade. Hizashi was still beside her, his lips set in a grim line.

"What is it?" he asked her. A dozen more ribbons died, and two-dozen replaced them. The tear looked like some sort of many-armed monster, reaching out to devour her, heedless of the damage her clansmen did to it. Hinata bit her lip.

"I saw these," she said. "When I was travelling. It's how I-"

Three of the ribbons broke through the Hyuuga assault, speeding towards Hinata. She and Hizashi turned, striking out; Hizashi's blow severed two, and Hinata's split the last clean in half lengthwise.

But instead of withering as the other ribbons had, the two Hizashi had struck down tied together, remaining functional. Neither of the Hyuuga had time to react before the reborn ribbon punched through Hinata's chest.

"Guh!"

Hinata looked down at the ribbon transfixing her. There wasn't any blood, or pain. The chakra had transfixed her, pinning her in place, without harming her. Hizashi stared in horror. Fifty meters away, her father echoed the look. The ribbon pulsed.

She didn't hesitate. As soon as she realized she wasn't dead, Hinata brought her arm up to chop the impaling chakra in half. But as she did so, it retracted towards the tear at insane speeds, the acceleration dragged her arms back, and her attack was neutralized before it began. She covered the distance to her father in the blink of an eye, and then shot past him without a sound. She struggled the whole way to attack the ribbon, expel chakra, do anything, but it was all in vain.

Her father's hand shot out, just half a moment too soon. Instead of piercing the ribbon, his hand just brushed his daughter's.

Then she was gone. She hit the tear like a cannonball, and the rippling light swallowed the world. The last thing she heard was Hiashi's voice, raised like she'd never heard it before: a bark that propelled her out of time.

"Hinata!"

She was adrift in the void once more.

Hinata stared around at the nothing, her father's cry echoing through her head. All she could think of was what a cruel joke it was to be taken away at that moment. It almost made her think something out there in that colorless emptiness was out to get her.

"Heh."

The Hyuuga couldn't tell if she were laughing or crying. The ribbon in her chest was gone; she was utterly alone, and blind.

Blind. Why blind? The last time she had been here, the nothing had hurt to look at. Her head had felt like it was on fire. All she'd wanted to do was shut off her…

Ah. Her Byakugan wasn't active.

She switched on, bracing for the pain. The sense of being lost was far worse. Like she had flicked a switch, the void was no longer a void. Colorful ribbons, just like the one that had dragged her here, swirled across every space, impossibly overlapping yet distinct. Each was a unique shade, though some were undeniably the same. It didn't make sense to look at, didn't make sense to think about, and Hinata winced.

She wasn't able to find her feet, kept afloat in the place between times. Last time she'd been here, she'd simply reached out and grasped the closest ribbon before being drawn into the past. Here, they were all an infinite distance away, though they were right in front of her face. Hinata could never have reached them, would never, could not…

Hinata shook her head. The pain was getting worse with every moment. She had to escape this place; she wasn't supposed to be here. It was wrong all wrong going to be wrong was wrong-

Suddenly, she was moving. Not under her own power; Hinata glided through the vibrant abyss like a ship without a sail. One of the ribbons, no tears, they were tears, one of the tears was drawing closer and closer. Unlike the lavender one, it was an ugly gray color, the color of burned dirt or decaying moss. Hinata flailed her arms to no avail. She was going to crash right into it. Or was it moving towards her? In this place, it was impossible to tell.

The ugly ribbon-tear reared up over her. Hinata stared at it hopelessly. This was the future she had made for herself; the future she'd cut herself out of. She probably deserved it.

The Hyuuga closed her eyes, though it didn't hide a thing, and the rip in time swallowed her whole.

It was extraordinarily cold. That was the first thing Hinata noticed as she plummeted through the air. It almost nevergot this cold in Konoha: the Land of Fire was a rather temperate place. It rarely rained, and it had only snowed once in Hinata's memory. The chill was entirely shocking to her. If wherever she had ended up was so cold, it definitely wasn't The Village Hidden in the Leaves.

The thought wasn't exactly comforting. Neither was the fact that the jump through time had once more deactivated her Byakugan and shocked her chakra system. All Hinata could see was the sky, sleet grey and empty of stars. She was falling blind. The Hyuuga cringed. This was probably going to hurt.

The impact came without warning. Hinata crashed to the ground, all the air expelled from her lungs in a single harsh grunt. The landing wasn't soft, but it hadn't been as bad as she'd imagined it. She lay still for a moment, staring up at the starless sky. Slowly, she began to realise it wasn't the only thing above her. Buildings, colored red and green and other vibrant shades, loomed all around her, reduced to grey by the dull night.

They looked oddly familiar. Groaning, she levered herself up on one shaking arm, trying to clear her head. The pain in her head was fading, banished by the chill air. She looked around, her hair sliding over her shoulder.

Her mind hiccupped, resetting after a moment. Hinata frowned.

This was Konoha. She recognized this place; she'd been there earlier today… no, just earlier, no longer today. She was only a street or two away from the teriyaki shop Itachi Uchiha had tracked her too.

This was Konoha, it was cold, and Hinata had no idea where anyone was. The streets were as quiet as a graveyard. Usually, there was some sort of sound emanating from deeper into the village: people having parties, ninja training in the dark, late night restaurants doing business. But there was none of that. The air was still, and most of the lights that should have decorated the streets were hanging unlit.

Hinata pulled her under arm under her. Why was everything like this? What possible change could she have made that would result in such a… dead place? Was this even her present?

The sound of rushing feet drew her attention. Attempting to activate the Byakugan just drew a twinge: the Hyuuga had to resort to turning her head.

She found herself looking down the length of a gleaming steel sword. Hinata blinked, scrambling backwards with sudden strength, and the sword followed her, staying right before her throat. She looked up the blade, finding a featureless gloved hand holding it. Above that, the arm was completely wrapped in bandages.

After a moment of eternity, her eyes found the face of the man holding a sword to her throat. She started, a small gasp escaping her. She knew this face. The last time she had seen it, it had been healthy and wrinkled, though covered in bandages. Now, it was horrifying and alien. The man's skin was pale as parchment, and run through with cracks. Ruptures ran all across his face, bisecting his lips, marring his cheeks… and driving directly through the glaring Sharingan in his right socket. Its sclera was black, harsh against the gleaming red, and as Hinata watched, it twisted, transforming from its three-tomoe configuration into a harsh four-pointed star.

"And who," Danzo Shimura, teaming with cracks and peering down with an impossible Sharingan, asked, "are you?"

AN: Well, I suppose there's no going back.