AN: I own nothing
Naruto stood across Hinata and after a while they charged at each other, Sasuke's words ringing in his mind, 'I can't let her hit me once she's activated her eye technique, Sasuke said I'll know it when I see it.' His eyes were narrowed as the gap closed then he saw it.
'Byakugan!' Hinata shouted in her mind as she closed the gap to Naruto, she didn't need any hand signs for it, she'd practiced so much that activating her kekkei genkai was as natural as breathing to her. The veins around her eyes popped out she looked more vicious especially with the scowl on her face, she knew it was intimidating, she'd seen it on her clansmen as well. The world expanded all around her and she could see almost three hundred and sixty degrees, the colour changed, became more dull and gray, she could see Naruto's chakra flow, she could see through Naruto, she could even see Sasuke on his branch watching them intently and his chakra as well.
Hinata saw Naruto's eyes widen and noticed him immediately lift his left arm so his palm was facing left, she was so close all she had to do was touch him and that would be it. She saw Naruto's chakra cycle itself in his system and go down the out stretched arm to his palm like he was doing a jutsu without hand seals, but what jutsu could he know? She was centimeters away from touching him when he was blasted to the right.
'Damn it I missed' She grit her teeth, what was that? How had he done that? It didn't matter, she was going to win this fight not him. She calmed herself down and at that moment she remembered Sasuke's words, '"You already have all the information you need. Right now she's the one at a disadvantage." Is this what you meant, he knows that he can't fight me up close?'
She watched as Naruto moved quickly from place to place from her spot, barely moving just turning her head a little every now and then. She couldn't believe he had that much chakra, more than some chunin she'd seen in the village.
Naruto was moving quickly and almost erratically, trying to confuse Hinata. She seemed unable to keep up she was still looking to the right when Naruto decided to strike from behind. She turned suddenly, Naruto's eyes widened in shock, 'How!?' he thought as he quickly attempted to change direction. "Argh!"
Hinata turned quick and struck at him she heard him shout in pain, she narrowed her eyes as he flew away with that technique of his again. 'Damn he's too fast when he uses that technique, I could only get his leg.' She thought with a frown.
Naruto landed on the other side of the clearing, his leg was feeling really sore and kind of numb, 'That was just a light tap too, no wonder most of her regular strikes don't have much power, doing that with a light touch must mean she doesn't have to focus much on the actual force behind her hits.' His brow creased, he was kind of worried now.
He needed to stall for time to think, "How did you know I was coming from behind you?" He asked trying to put on a carefree grin, it just came out as pained.
Hinata just smiled a little, she could see what he was doing, stalling and gathering information, with his leg the way it was right now, she understood, "I guess I just got lucky." She said cheekily. She was certain she'd slowed him down even though she'd just hit his leg.
Naruto performed a single hand seal, 'Ninja art: Clone.' He made sure that there would be excess smoke to cover him, he used the Propelling Winds jutsu to move himself into a bush, he noticed that he wasn't as fast or as efficient with it, 'That technique of hers is very dangerous, I have to avoid any more hits or I'll be in even more trouble.'
Hinata stood there and watched as the clones came at her. She could see Naruto in the bush he was hiding in. That confirmed that even if he did have some knowledge of her Byakugan it was beyond basic or he wouldn't bother with clones. It was worrying though that he was able to blind her for a second with that chakra smoke. No matter he didn't know that and she'd take him down before he did.
As Hinata stood there she witnessed something incredible, she paid no mind to the clones that ran through her, she watched Naruto perform a few hand seals and then two clones with chakra systems come out of the ground. She kept track of of all three Naruto's as they circled her. It was good practice in focusing on different parts of her field of vision. Two of the Naruto's came at her timing their attack with the normal clones.
When they were close to her on opposite sides clearly attempting to make her choose which side to defend she spun, it was incredibly quick, she became a blur for a second.
From behind a tree Naruto watched, he swore he saw a bit of chakra come from her for a second. His eyes widened as his clones were blown away and they turned to clumps of stone as they flew away. 'That's incredible, but why do I feel disappointment coming from her' Naruto thought with his brow furrowing.
'Damn it, I still can't do it.' Hinata thought to herself gritting her teeth. She took a deep breath calming herself, it wouldn't do to lose her cool in battle. She could still see the real Naruto, by now he had for sure realized that he couldn't take her on in a taijutsu match, she hadn't expected him to know any jutsu, he wasn't a clan kid after all, 'Maybe Sasuke helped him learn some jutsu, they spend an awful lot of time together.'
Naruto behind his tree was wracking his head thinking of what to do, Hinata clearly wasn't surprised when the two clones went for her from different directions, she wasn't even confused. Maybe her eyes had something to do with that. He would have to test a few things, he grabbed one of the few shuriken he had, came out of his hiding spot and threw the shuriken at her and did a single hand seal.
Hinata stood and watched as a large cloud of chakra smoke temporarily blinded her as it covered the shuriken. Her eyes widened, she was surprised to see the shuriken come out of the cloud with about fifty clones, she stood calmly though, she could tell which one was real.
Naruto caught her reaction, 'She wasn't surprised to see me come out of my hiding spot, my solid clones didn't surprise her either. So why is she surprised by the shuriken clones.' Naruto's eyes widened as he had an idea, he just needed to test it.
He grabbed another shuriken while running around Hinata, circling her he threw shuriken from behind her and once again used the clone jutsu, this time while there was smoke, he used his Propelling Winds jutsu to push himself behind the shuriken, when he burst out of the cloud he could see her eyes widen she clearly wasn't ready for him but adjusted herself to strike and Naruto simply changed direction.
Training with Sasuke had made Naruto a lot more observant, if Hinata can see chakra then the chakra smoke most likely blinded her or disrupted her vision a little, her surprise at seeing him confirmed that. He had an idea, if it didn't work he'd lose this spar. He stood by the tree line with a huge smile on his face, "You know, it's quite refreshing to have a challenge that's not Sasuke for a change."
Hinata said nothing but Naruto could feel her mirror his emotions. Naruto took a deep breath and did the signs for the Clone jutsu, performing all the hand signs helped him focus now that his control was a bit shaky since Hinata had landed a blow on him.
There was a huge amount of smoke that took a while to disperse into the wind, Hinata looked at the clearing in front of her filled with Naruto's, some she could tell were illusions others seemed to be solid clones like earlier, she counted four, just how much chakra did this guy have? She couldn't tell the real Naruto from the solid clones, he seemed to have used quite a bit of chakra using the two techniques together, she was sure her hit on him earlier was also playing a role.
She counted up to fifty Naruto's around her, but only four mattered, she would take them down. The Naruto's charged, two of the solid ones stayed back a bit, while two came at her and would reach her at slightly different times. She waited until the first one was in reach and struck out. Just before she connected she felt hands grab her by the ankle and pull her with quite a bit of momentum backwards, so she was falling on her face.
As Hinata was falling she struck out at the closest Naruto and he or rather it burst into rocks, she felt herself get hit from both sides, the other Naruto's were there capitalizing on her falling. Once she was on the ground face down she understood what had just happened.
There was one Naruto on her back holding her down one on each arm so that she couldn't move them and there was a Naruto half submerged in the ground holding her ankles, that was probably the real one. He had beat her again, she felt herself grow bitter.
From up in the tree Sasuke was surprised too, 'He's getting better at thinking things through even though he's still thinking on his feet, he's more observant too, he noticed how to blind her almost at the same time as me, impressive, it's going to be tough beating him now.'
In the clearing below Naruto got off Hinata and helped her to her feet as his clones crumbled into piles of stone. Hinata accepted Naruto's help and struck him exactly where she had hit in before.
*Ow, what the hell?" The blond cried in outrage, anger clearly showing on his face.
Hinata let her Byakugan disappear and kept her face void of emotion despite her inner turmoil, "I was undoing what I had done, it would have taken hours for you to heal naturally." She said as calm and as neutral as she could.
Naruto could feel everything though, "Oh thanks, it kind of stings a little but I can feel it getting better slowly. Are you okay?"
Hinata couldn't hide her anger at that, she snarled, "You think I can't take a few hits? I'm not weak!" That was the closest thing to a shout she'd done in years.
Naruto put his hands up in the surrendering motion, "I didn't mean to imply that, it's just that sometimes I get the feeling that your angry at the world you know? I don't know how to explain it but I think whatever it is that has you feeling like that also makes you sad."
Hinata grit her teeth and tried to calm herself down, "I don't know what your talking about."
Sasuke jumped down from his tree and looked at Hinata impassively, "He's right you know, you do seem kind of angry especially when you lose, but I can get that, being a Hyuga and trying to be the best clan head your clan has ever seen."
She looked at Sasuke angrily, "You know nothing about being a Hyuga, Uchiha and you should consider yourself lucky that your clan isn't as barbaric." Her hands shot to her mouth and her eyes widened, she couldn't believe she'd let that slip out.
Naruto's and Sasuke's widened, the blond being the bold one asked, "What do you mean barbaric?"
Hinata sighed and looked down.
Sasuke looked at Hinata, "Look I'm not going to pretend like I'm any good with feelings or anything to do with them. I only agreed with what Naruto said about you because he's really good at telling how people are feeling, he's like a feeling ninja or something."
Hinata giggled at that, though she still looked unsure.
Naruto glared at his friend a little before looking to Hinata, "Look maybe talking about it might just help you." Naruto said softly, 'Maybe I should take my own advice'.
Hinata sighed again and sat down prompting the two boys to do the same, maybe talking about it even if it was just once would help her, she nodded to herself and took a deep breath. "You see, in the Hyuga clan there are two distinct factions, the main house and the branch house. I belong to the main house and those of the branch house are like attendees to us… One day almost two years ago… "
Flashback
A five year old Hinata was walking with one of the branch members, Ko, he was one of her favorite he was always kind to her and never gave her the dirty looks she got from some other branch members, she could tell that he really cared for her.
They were on the way home when Ko remembered that he left something behind that he had to fetch and asked if Hinata would go back with him to the park or if she wanted to carry on going home, Hinata opted to go home, she was a big girl after all and Ko would definitely catch up soon, he was a ninja after all.
She was walking not really paying attention to her surroundings when she bumped into something, she heard the sound of something drop when she looked down she saw an ice cream cone. She tried to apologize but felt herself being grabbed by the arm and being pulled to woods near by.
She finally looked up at the people around her it was three boys all older than her by at least four years, they all had sneers on their faces. One of them was wearing a cap and a vest another was a bit fat and had a gray shirt on the other had a on a beanie and seemed to be the ring leader.
"You're one of those noble brats, aren't you?" Beanie head asked, his eyes narrowing. "You know you guys are looking down on us." He continued shoving her into the ground.
Hinata was frozen even though she'd been trained to defend herself since her attempted kidnapping that ended in her uncle's death. She was scared though, she couldn't do a thing, the kids pushed her face into the ground. She cried out when she felt a kick connect with her ribs. She felt tears come to her eyes.
"Get away from Lady Hinata!" Hinata heard Ko's voice and felt extremely relieved. Soon after she heard the boys run away. "Are you okay Lady Hinata?" Ko asked her in a gentle voice. He looked at her worriedly, no doubt because of the scratches she felt on her face, he hugged her "I'm sorry Lady Hinata I should have never let you out of my sight." At that she let herself sob into his arms.
After a while they made their way to the Hyuga compound, they entered and on the way to the bathroom to clean Hinata up, they passed by some elders of the clan, all of them belonged to the main house.
"What happened to Lady Hinata?" one of the female elders asked causing the other four to turn their heads and look at what she was referring to.
Ko was quick but hesitant to respond, "There was an incident, I intended to report it to Lord Hiashi after getting Lady Hinata cleaned up my Lady."
One of the male elders narrowed his eyes, he was old, his hair already gray, "What kind of incident?" he spoke in a smooth deep tone.
Ko swallowed, "Well you see, I left something behind at the park and went to retrieve it, Lady Hinata said she would walk on ahead…"
The elder who spoke first a graying woman who seemed even older than the man interrupted in a screeching tone, "You let her walk alone?! You know that this child is a weakling!"
Ko noticed Hinata's hurt face, "With all due respect my Lady, Lady Hinata is not weak, she is just a little gentle, I think that's a strength rather than a weakness. If that is all, we really need to get going and meet with Lord Hiashi." Ko said bowing.
Another of the female elders slightly younger than her counterparts cut them off before they could leave, "Lord Hiashi has left to meet with the Hokage. You can tell him what happened later. I do believe however that a punishment is in order. You cannot leave Lady Hinata unattended, what if she'd been kidnapped? You were fortunate that this was not the case this time."
Before Ko or Hinata could say anything the eldest female made a hand sign, Ko fell to the ground screaming holding his head. Hinata screamed for them to stop it, the male elder who had spoken before pressed on a pressure point of hers and she went numb, he held her and made her watch Ko screaming in agony, "This is happening because you're weak." He said in her ear.
"Enough." The male elder who hadn't spoken through out the whole ordeal finally said, "He has learned his lesson."
That was the last thing Hinata heard before she blacked out. She woke up in her room, in the dead of night haunted by the screams she heard in her mind. She frowned, and got out of bed and went where she knew Ko's room to be.
She knocked and heard a weak "Enter." When she did, she was met with a pale Ko and she gasped. "Lady Hinata." He said with a weak smile.
Hinata felt tears build up in her eyes she hugged him as tight as she could, "I'm so sorry, it's all my fault, please forgive me." She cried into him.
"No Lady Hinata it wasn't your fault, I should have been more attentive." Ko said still smiling that weak smile.
That broke something in Hinata, he had to pay for her weakness? How was that fair? That damn seal was the real problem. She made up her mind right then, she would be strong so that no one ever got punished because of her again, she'd be so strong that she'd be the obvious choice for clan head and then she'd get rid of that seal.
She wiped her tears and looked at Ko bowed and said "Thank you so much Ko, I promise that you'll never be in pain because of me again."
Flashback End
The boys looked at Hinata in a new light now that they knew why she was the way she was. Sasuke had some questions still, "Why don't those in the branch house just rebel?"
Hinata looked down, "They do not have access to all of the Hyuga techniques, the main house does this in order to have the upper hand always."
Naruto could tell that Hinata was holding back but it wasn't his place to pry.
Hinata looked to Naruto, "Losing to you made me feel like what I've been doing isn't enough."
Sasuke glared at Hinata for a bit, "Naruto isn't weak." Naruto could feel his friend getting angry on his behalf at the unintended insult and it touched him.
Naruto smiled, "Don't worry, I know you didn't mean it like that. You're strong, I was just lucky I knew to stay away from close distance fighting, you know. Maybe if you used more jutsu you'd have had me."
Hinata looked away, "Hyuga don't use jutsu, just our clan techniques."
Sasuke just looked at her deadpan and put his hands in his pockets, "Well aren't you trying to change your clan? What's the point of sticking to tradition? You should just find what suits you best and fit it in your style."
Hinata looked at Sasuke with wide eyes, she smiled at him, "Thank you, Sasuke. You're a nice person despite acting cold all of the time." She bowed in front of them as Naruto burst out laughing and Sasuke just glared again. She left waving to them.
Sasuke looked at Naruto, "Finally, now let's start training, I came across a certain activity I want us to try."
AN: Sorry for the delay, life has been life. Hinata didn't tell Naruto and Sasuke about the seal, that's why Sasuke asks why the branch members don't rebel. Thanks for reading and for the reviews any positive criticism is appreciated.
