As the morning of Konoha's brightened morning dragged on, Sin found himself resorting to the one beverage he despised but was glad to exist in the ninja world and continuously sipped on it: coffee. The bitter yet awakening powers of the beverage helped him rise to the world whilst following Naruto to a large compound with two pale-eyed guards standing at the ready for any sort of trouble to commence. This annoying early wake-up call was mostly due to his lack of sleep from the hours he spent last night thinking about how Sarutobi and Hiashi screwed him over and dropped another kid on him and basically made one of yesterday's women possibly hate him for it.
I hate mondays. He mentally sighed. He was currently tuning out the rest of the world and trying to jumpstart his spirit and eagerness to find out who this girl he was going to train, but the lack of breakfast and a grumbling stomach made it near impossible to grasp even a sliver of focus. Convincing Sarutobi was the hardest part of his new life and he assumed that was it, no more bullshit. But it seemed that fate decided to be cruel once more and start his second day with another pain in the butt probably going to give him trouble.
"This is so cool," Naruto exclaimed with a pumped fist. "Hinata is going to be on our team and go on missions with us."
"So that's her name." Sin said to himself before looking down to his student. "So who is she anyway?"
"She's like a princess," Naruto said with absolute certainty, raising his teacher's curiosity. "She's the daughter of the clan head and heiress of the Hyuga Clan when comes of age. She's really shy though, and for some reason she gets really red and faints when I try talking to her."
"Really?" Sin questioned with a growing smile, his mind already working on the details. "What do you think would make her do that?"
Naruto puzzled his chin and pondered the rest of their walk to the hyuga compound with various thoughts going through his mind, his silence slightly annoying the man when he was a boy and should have the answer already. However, it was clear with said silence that Naruto wasn't the brightest boy when it came to the actions of a girl, especially when that girl is supposedly a princess.
Finally they came to a halt with both hyuga guards standing silently, and Naruto answered the worst possible way.
"Maybe it's because she gets a fever from wearing her coat?"
Dropping the subject but very frustrated and shocked with boy, Sin shook his head and thumped the boy for his idiotic answer, receiving a few yells and how it was uncalled for him to whack the boy on his head.
"Hiashi live here?" Sin asked, receiving nods from the guards. "Tell him Sin Firestorm is here."
Both guards remained still for a moment to examine the two before one went inside and left them there in what felt like a few minutes of silence. Seeing as how he now had to wait, Sin decided to weave more orbs of light between his fingers and mesmerize both his student and the guard while having to wait for entry. Ignoring the demands from Naruto, Sin went to juggle them in one hand and produce more for his own amusement until the door swung open and the guard that left returned with a respectful bow.
"The clan head will see you now;" Said guard told them, turning to guide their way inside. "If you will please follow me."
Silencing one another, the student and teacher entered the compound and followed the guard throughout the vast halls with many other members of the clan walking past them and whispering to one another. Before he could stop to ask about the whispers of his taste in attire, the guard beckoned them to stop and enter into what they saw to be a backyard with Hiashi training a blue-haired child that was struggling to counter her father's strikes.
Seeing the slight cruelty to Hiashi's methods, yet resisting the urge to chew him out for it, Sin pushed the see-through sliding door aside and stepped in with Naruto to make their appearance in time to see the young girl get knocked on her back again after taking another strike at her father.
"Sin," Hiashi paused to calm himself, his frustration though not well hidden from the immortal's eyes. "I see that you are on time. Welcome to the Hyuga compound."
"Thanks for having us here," Sin replied with a cool demeanor, approaching the elder. "But I have to ask what you're trying to accomplish here?"
Hiashi remained still, but deep on the inside he was very surprised to have someone questions his methods of training his own child. Now wasn't the time to make it an issue when he could foresee his daughter becoming greater than what he could anticipate.
"I am training my daughter." Hiashi replied, folding his hands into his sleeves. "Here in our clan, we believe a strict and disciplined teaching is best for the younger generation in order to bring out their full potential."
"Okay," Sin drawled, confusing the clan head. "Now ask yourself this; do you really believe what you are doing is bringing out the best in your daughter?"
Many of the clan members that watched the training session watched in fear as Hiashi narrowed his gaze, but Sin wasn't backing down either and he believed that if he was to bring out the best in the girl then he needed Hiashi to be on his level of understanding before starting any sort of progress. The stare between both men went on for what felt like an eternity until Hiashi took in a deep breath and sighed in defeat, shocking his followers and his own daughter.
"You are very brave to question me, Sin." Hiashi said in a more polite tone, growing a surprising smile on his lips. "Not many in my lifetime have ever asked me such questions, but it is with that mentality I believe your methods would be better for my daughter."
"Which is why you and I need to have a quick discussion." Sin suggested, peeking Hiashi's curiosity whilst nudging Naruto to the grounds and turning his attention on him. "Naruto, go have a chat with her while Hiashi and I have a talk."
"Okay." Naruto said hesitantly before hopping off the floor to go greet the hyuga princess, only to have her turn beet red and begin her stuttering.
Hiashi saw that the two would be alright by themselves and decided the next course of action would be to find a more private room to discuss what was needed. However, with his experienced eyes, he noticed a small glow happen between him and white-haired jounin that snapped his finger. Everything and everyone around the two went as silent as the evening nights, and Hiashi was left with more questions than answers about his new friend.
"Nobody will hear us." Sin told him in a cold tone. "Now, from father to father, you need to stop what you're doing with your daughter."
Hiashi reluctantly remained silent, as there was something stirring in his mind that told him to remain quiet and listen to what Sin had to say about the way he treated his child with her training. Again, it wasn't the time to argue or grow conflict especially when the best his daughter needed was standing in front of him.
"I did the same thing to a few of my own and every single one of them came to hate me or run away. I let my life as a leader take over and it left me with nothing but a hollow heart that slowly filled with regret and self-hatred." Sin explained, putting a hand on Hiashi's shoulder. "And I'm telling you right now that she doesn't need a strict father. She needs you to love her and be proud of her."
Hiashi took his words into consideration and went to counter for his own defense, but Sin beat him to the punch and went on with his explanation.
"And don't point how young I look. I'm much older than you think and that will come to light when I feel I can wholeheartedly trust you."
Hiashi nodded his head and presented an item from his left sleeve for Sin to see, a picture he long carried wherever he went as a reminder to his reasoning for being so harsh to Hinata.
Sin noticed said picture and took to momentarily examine the person that was in it. He was beyond impressed that it was pale-skinned woman with dark-blue hair and the warmest smile any person could ever hope to have. His mind began to click as to who the woman was when he looked over to Hinata and saw the similarities she to the woman in the picture.
"My wife," Hiashi answered before the question could be asked. "Her name is Hitomi, and she is why I am strict with Hinata."
"Is?" Sin questioned with a cocked eyebrow.
Hiashi was a man of strong nature and believed by many to have an unbreakable willpower, but even the mightiest oak had to fall when the time came, and he released himself just enough to show that behind the cold eyes of a hyuga there was a loving father that wanted nothing more than to see his daughter be safe. It was all he wanted.
"I have another daughter, but you'll meet her in due time." Hiashi began, composing himself for the man. "At the time of her second pregnancy, Hitomi was poisoned by an unknown branch member and fell into a deep sleep. So deep that she gave birth to our second child without waking up, and now she barely lives thanks to the herbs we use to keep her body stable."
Sin came to grips with that story and looked back down to the beautiful woman in the picture, only to find that his hand was grasped by the clan head and his attention drawn back to find a deep sorrow in his eyes.
"I am strict so that my daughter will grow to have the power to protect herself." Hiashi admitted, fighting the tears of a desperate father in need. "She and Hanabi are all I have left, and I don't know what I will do if I lost either of them."
Sin, deep into the meaning of once a husband in his past life, willing to do anything to protect the ones he loved, understood exactly what Hiashi was getting at and called from inside himself the passion that once in his old life made him a respectable and feared man by many. He felt pity for the elder hyuga and regretted ever implying that he needed to be a loving father. Sadly, those brief moments brought back painful memories of the spouses he had, spouses he loved for their lifetimes before they were taken by death, and shared his own tears as Hiashi wiped his own.
Again the immortal paused and looked to Hinata who was still trying her best to speak with Naruto but was struggling to breathe a single word without stuttering or almost fainting in his arms. As a father, he saw and understood that he was not the best thing Hinata needed as a teacher. She needed the one thing in the entire universe that could do the impossible: Teach her daughter to be a strong and brave girl.
He handed the picture back to Hiashi and nodded. "Take me to her."
The pale-eyed man shook his head slightly and glared in confusion until the barrier Sin made disappeared. He was as still as a tree until the cold look he was given melted into determination and the hands that were once used for destruction began to glow a calm, green aura with Sin not backing down on his demand. Of course, Hiashi was unwilling and reluctant to take a man he just met into the compound's recovery room to show him where his wife was deeply sleeping.
"Take me to her now." Sin demanded again. "Let me try."
Sin had no idea if he could perform a miracle, and he was still in firm grips with magic and chakra being opposites, but he was a husband and a father and that was his driving passion in his old life, and he found that passion once again to help a man that desperate for a very needed miracle.
Hiashi's eyes widened as soon as he understood what the man meant, and the reluctant, unwilling persona died with him telling Naruto and Hinata to remain on the training grounds before leaving to guide Sin to recovery room.
The young immortal was so lost in his thoughts he wasn't able to react in time Hiashi suddenly grabbed his wrist and jerked him back inside the compound to a vacant hallway. The result was a long walk throughout the large home with Sin bouncing from direction to direction with little words shared between him and Hiashi until they came across a room that was heavily guarded with four guards standing in front of a pair of carved doors. It didn't miss Sin that something was strange about these when he sensed a sudden flair in their energy and pinpointed said flair to an intense concentration in their eyes. He could see as clear as day the veins were connecting and bulging almost grotesquely, but it wasn't a moment to ask or think about, as there was intense authority with Hiashi standing before them.
"Stand Aside!" He bellowed, his voice carrying down the hall and startling clan members to look from the doorways of their rooms.
The four men broke their focus, and the strange flair of energy disappeared as they stepped aside and allowed to the two inside. Sin, again, was jerked inside and found himself in the recovery room of the hyuga compound without a second to look around and take in his surroundings. He mumbled to himself about how set back medical technology was in the recovery room after getting a sideways glance of the machinery that was being used to draw blood from a willing clan member, but that glance was gone as quick as it was given and he was once more taken to the far end of the room to see a patient who was given her own private room.
Hiashi finally stopped and Sin was able to regain his balance. He looked around the brown colored room to see flowers of all kinds being tenderly moved around by more clan members and a single doctor appear from out of the curtains with a somber look about him. Finally, he was able to pass the curtains with Hiashi to see that it was Hitomi lying on a queen sized bed with multiple I.V'S in her arms, a tube running into her stomach and an oxygen over her face. He was surprised to see how well-taken care of she was. Her hair seemed to have not lost it's silken beauty and the pale shine of her skin still glistened in what little light there was. And to satiate his curiosity, she not in the usual patient robes but a cotton dress that fit perfectly over her goddess-like figure.
"If you can save her-" Sin turned to see just how serious Hiashi was, his eyes glistening on the verge of bursting. "Then please, for kami's sake, give me back the woman I hold dearest to me."
Strangely, those words hit Sin the night he was made immortal, except it hurt was than ever with the realization that he rarely used his magic to heal others. He was a weapon, a warrior with abilities he never desired but was forced to have, and now he put himself in a position where the life of a woman rested in his hands and he had no damn clue as to what exact poison it was that put her in such a state.
He swallowed the lump in his throat and breathed deeply to calm his nerves before approaching the slumbering woman, her heart beating steadily on the single monitor to his left.
Little did either know that Hinata used her father's name to sneak inside with Naruto to see what was happening.
"Okay," Sin exhaled, clapping his hands together. "No turning back now."
This was truly the dumbest thing he could have ever attempted in his life, but it was too late to change his mind since he gave hope to the elder hyuga. He wasn't ready to try saving a life, but dammit, he had to try and do something. If he could help her then he could help Hinata and Hiashi, he could help everyone, and he going to give it his everything.
Once again, Sin was left with silence and fear in the room as his hands went to work, pulling the blanket off her lifeless form and channeling a gentle wave of magic across her body. He focused intensely on his own eyes and painfully altered them to see the structure of her body, seeing past the skin to her bones, veins, and organs. Unfortunately, the moment he did so was a starting and growing pain in his eyes as the flow of her energy showed to be slowing down at a certain section of her body.
"Sin?" Hiashi grew concerned after her looked at the clock to find that fifteen minutes had passed, and the only result was Sin grunting with blood dripping from his right eye as it proceeded to change into a multitude of colors.
"Come on, come on." Sin whispered, narrowing his gaze where the problem was occurring, albeit with great difficulty from the pain.
"Sin?"
"I'm almost there. Shut up." Sin spat angrily, his hands getting shaky from the terror of possibly failing.
Finally he found the problem and sighed before taking a big risk with his magic and Hitomi's body. He saw that whatever affected the woman was constricting the main arteries of her heart and preventing her energy to flow through whilst letting just enough blood flow to keep her alive.
"Father?"
Hiashi spun around to find his concerned daughter watching Sin channel magic throughout her body and whisper in a strange language.
"Hinata, you need to leave now before-"
"Sensei!" Naruto yelled, directing everyone's attention to the man.
In one swift movement, Sin had risked Hitomi's condition by pumping enough magic through entire body and pressed his lips against hers. Everyone watched in horror as he and Hitomi glowed and the sparks of magic connected between them for a few minutes. Hiashi was too petrified to intervene, as well as the rest of the people in the room. But thank kami was he glad that he remained where he stood.
The end result came with the glows disappearing and Sin falling onto his knees and crawling on his hands and knees to the nearest trash bin, his body convulsing painfully as he gagged and coughed for what felt like being back in the cage as an experiment.
His eyes healed thanks to his magic but they watered profusely as Hiashi rushed to his wife and put both of her hands in his.
"Hitomi. . ." No response came and Hiashi was growing more worried. "HITOMI!"
Besides Sin's condition, silence ran throughout the room for a minute with Hiashi falling to his knees in despair. He'd thought his wife would return to him, but there was still miracle to come and he was still alone to tell his daughters that their mother would definitely never awaken.
However. . .
"Mother." Hinata gasped, breaking her father's despair to look up and find that his beloved wife was sitting up and looking around the room before meeting his eyes, the same beautiful blue eyes that brought out the best man in him.
"Hiashi?" Hitomi was confused and worried. "What has happened?"
Hiashi spared no words to the woman, but rather stood up and hugged her tightly with a long overdue kiss of passion and undying love. He sobbed and wailed in her shoulder while the clan members rushed to Sin to see if there was anything they could do to help him. But to their dismay, a condition like this required nothing more than his own body to expel what he just took away from the woman.
"MOTHER!" It was Hinata's turn to embrace her mother, and she did with the strongest hug a child could give.
"No. . . NO!" Sin smacked away the worried hands trying to help him, but he allowed Naruto to fetch him a towel before the worst of the situation happened.
He couldn't be anymore thankful that he his magic had a mind of it's own when needed. He targeted the trash bin in his hands and prepared himself until his strength left him. The bin fell out of his hands and rolled away before he could understand what happened, leaving him to show just what it was he took from Hitomi.
"Sin?" Hiashi released his wife and hurried over to Sin, and the worst came.
A final heave from his body, Sin was vomiting a black, steaming sludge from his body with no control or idea as to when it would stop. He barely caught his breath before the excruciating eviction of this substance continued with more escaping his throat and splashing all over the floor. Everyone watched in horror of this man's heroic action turning against him with vile results, but there was nothing they could do.
Fifteen solid minutes of vomiting, and Sin's body had cleaned itself of the sludge with him falling onto a cleaner section of the floor and coughing the remnants out of his throat. Naruto and Hiashi were quick to help him on his feet and put him on Hitomi's bed while the clan members got him water to drink and fresh towels dipped in hot water to clean him up.
"Fuck me." Sin coughed, letting a hyuga nurse wipe the sweat off his forehead.
He felt his hand grasped tightly, and turned over to find Hiashi bowing at him and shaking his head, tears running down his cheeks and choking on his sobs.
"Thank you." Hiashi cried repeatedly, bowing his head again and again with every time he thanked his new friend.
Sin just smiled and laid back on side to allow himself time to recover before resuming his day. Unfortunately, he now had the respect of the hyuga clan and word spreading fast that he cured the hyuga queen, and that rumor would soon spreading across Konoha.
It was long and excruciating for everyone to watch Sin suffer on Hitomi's bed with no knowledge as to when and if he would recover from whatever it was he did. The minutes turned into a full hour of family and friends finding the source of the incident and discovering Hitomi to be awake and thanking kami that she was with them again before realizing her hero had grown cold and sweaty with his body expelling more of the substance until there was nothing left. As the concern grew throughout the compound, Hiashi and Hitomi were greeted by an emotional Hanabi that had to see for herself if the rumor was true.
And she couldn't be any happier to see her mother alive and holding both her and Hinata in her arms.
However. . .
"Sensei?" Naruto put a hand on his teacher's shoulder, waiting for a response.
"Fuck me. . ." Sin rose off the bed, his color returning and all eyes expressing relief as he found his torso hugged tightly by the blond genin. It took him by surprise to look down at Naruto and see that he was probably happier than anymore that he was okay.
He smiled and pat the boy's back.
"It will take a hell of a lot more than that to kill." Sin chuckled, raising his gaze to the rest of the crowd that were shocked at his recovery.
He chuckled nervously and stood up to face the confused but serious look of Hiashi.
"I suppose I have some explaining to do."
Everyone, even Naruto, nodded at him.
The explanation came next, and through a long and serious conversation with all questions answered, after taking up a private room in the compound, Sin found himself waiting for a response from Hiashi and Hitomi while the kids and clan members tried to listen. Unfortunately, Sin was wise enough to put up a sound enchantment around the room and seal all doors shut before saying his piece.
He guzzled the water that was offered and snacked on the tray that was offered before having their private conversation, and he had to say he was impressed with the food and how calm the hyuga clan heads were to hear that he was sent from another to train Naruto and help him prepare for an upcoming war. Finished with his words, he resumed eating to occupy himself while Hiashi collected the new information with his wife.
"Minato really requested that of you?"
"Yeah," Sin nodded. "But it wasn't just him. It was that shinigami dude as well. They seemed pretty adamant about having come here."
"But if war is to come, then shouldn't we warn everybody and start preparing." Hitomi suggested, worried that the clan might not be ready when the time came.
"No, bad idea." Sin replied firmly. "I'm only telling you two because your daughter is now involved. And I'm already afraid that by telling you two I might have tampered with the timeline, and there's no telling what can happen."
"Agreed." Hiashi said, nodding at the man he just found out is immortal. "The best we can do is let things come full circle until the time comes for us to prepare for war."
"I'm wanting to prevent that though;" Sin's statement peeked their interest. "If I can train Naruto, and now Hinata, strong enough to help me, then we can eliminate this secret organization before the can happen."
As soon as those words were said, a new clarity came to the two lovers and felt some relief that their new, and now, best friend was thinking so far ahead as to prevent the upcoming events.
"What about the Hokage?" The female hyuga questioned.
"I don't want him to know until I feel Naruto and Hinata are strong enough to protect themselves and handle the dangers." Sin admitted. "Plus if they can grow with enough strength to strike first, then we won't need to inform the old man."
"And thus not have to worry." Hiashi added, coming to an understanding.
He became the serious man everyone knew once more. "Can you turn our daughter into a great kunoichi?"
"No," Sin answered, startling the two until he smirked. "I'll make her the best, but you have to let her solely focus on training with me. Sure, she can receive your traditional teachings, but I need her to take my teaching as serious as possible. If she can, I promise you that when I'm done with her, she'll be so strong that no one will be able to touch her."
Both lovers took those words to heart and nodded to one another before standing up with Sin to shake his hand.
Hiashi, however, refused to let go and tightened his grip. "Then by all means, do your best to make our daughter the strongest hyuga in our home."
"In existence." Sin corrected.
Another two hours later and both hyuga lovers and the entire main branch watched in shock and awe as Sin made progress with the shy hyuga coming to grips that he was now her sensei, and began training her the same way he started with Naruto. He assessed her abilities and pointed out her flaws. He gave new clothes that he remembered keeping and altered them to fit give her better range of motion. In just that little bit of time he found that the blue-haired girl had talent in combat but was falling behind in strength with her attacks. She had the speed, but he knew that would not be enough should the child come across an enemy with a tough exterior. She needed to build muscle, and he knew the best way to help her with that was to give her the same treatment Naruto was suffering.
Both children walked around the compound training grounds with both sweat and strain coursing through every muscle in their bodies while Sin pointed out how to move themselves without falling over.
"Come on, Hinata." Naruto grunted, following the shy girl step by step. "You can. . . do it."
"I'm. . . trying." Hinata replied, but unfortunately, she lost her footing and fell over with her body screaming in pain of the lactic acids. She tried to get up though and fell back over with her blond crush unable to help her up due to the increased gravity potentially pulling him down as well.
All eyes were on her and the pressure was overwhelming as she got up to her hands and knees and saw her father just standing there with her mother. She could not handle anymore disappointment from her father and was building tears in her eyes at the disdain he would always give her for failing.
However. . .
"Hinata," She looked up to him again, ready to hear his cruel words. "I know it's difficult and this is a new training regiment for you, but I know you can overcome the obstacle. You are our daughter and the heiress, so don't you dare give up."
Words, inspiring and kind words from her father with her mother nodding in agreement. Hinata had never heard such a gentle statement from her father and now the main branch was agreeing with him. Everyone had high hopes for her and she would always let them down, but now they were with her father, speaking altogether that could do it and to get up and try again.
The shy child was found a new reason to smile, and everyone, even Naruto, could see confidence blooming in Hinata's eyes as she pushed herself up and resumed the gravity training.
"They you go!" Sin cheered for her. "Keep going!"
Again, Hiashi was astonished at Sin's ability to bring out the better in others, and truly believed that he was going to bring more good to the village. Now he just had somehow tell his wife that he and Minato agreed long ago to bring their son and daughter together.
She's going to kill me.
"Perhaps we should find a way to thank him." Hitomi suggested, looking up to her husband. "Perhaps we could form a political marriage between him and one of the main branch."
"My love," Hiashi breathed. "You have to remember what he told us about his former wives. I doubt he will be ready for love for a long time."
Oh how wrong he was, for in their distraction of watching Hinata train, a certain female jounin was hiding on the rooftop and licking her lips hungrily.