Authors Note: Well, hi there again *waves* I hope I have a nice treat for you today. It's called "the next chapter" *giggles* okay, that joke was lame. Anyway, a few things to notice before the chapter will start:
- after getting feedback on the way I write (again, I blame the way I learned to write in German) did I try to change the format of this chapter slightly to make it easier for you to ready. Meaning my brackets are slightly more split when another person starts talking. If you managed to reach this chapter and worked yourself through the first ones, thanks. Hope you feel like this is slightly easier to read.
- speaking of talking I tried to correct the "speak" thingies while overlooking the chapter. In German it's down in the front and up in the back and it's auto-corrected in our writing programs. Never thought about it. But I tried to correct it into the English way this chapter.
- speaking of "speak" did I try to add some active 'thinking' into the text. It felt kinda right to me, but I'm still not happy all together with it.
- uhm... I hate to admit it, but I kinda felt insecure when I reached fighting scenes (yes, there is fighting scenes inside, more or less) and kinda chickened out of them. Please don't hate me for it. It's still my first story and with that my first tries on writing different things at all.
I think I promised you some surprises inside this chapter, some smaller and expected, some bigger. Hope you don't feel let down.
I think that's all I have to say for now. Oh, no, one more thing: I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish the next chapter by next weekend. This one turned out a bit longer then the ones before and I had it barely finished on Friday when my break was over. I'll give it my all, but I just can't promise to give you a chapter every weekend. Sorry...
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A Tale of two Sisters – Chapter 3: The First Day
Hinata was excited. Two years have passed since she made her bet with her younger sister and so far did her life become better for that. She was now 9 years young and had improved quite a bit due to her regular sparring with her sister. She still wasn't near the talent her sister possesed and far away from winning the second bet to release her from being her sisters slave, but that was okay. Cause til now was there nothing bad about it. If anything at all was she even closer to her sister then before and she made some friends she might have never met if not for the fact that she was accompanying her sister.
And today was the day she would start in the Ninja Academy. Yes, she was excited about it. During the past two years did she manage to reduce her shyness by a bit. Sure, she still wasn't as outgoing as her sister, but she was far away from where she started. Her stuttering was reduced to only be there if she had strong emotions of any kind and it's been months since she fainted the last time around Naruto. Yes, life was good to her so far.
Her body also had developed a bit and that's the only point she had problems with. She still felt unsecure when it came to her body and the fact that her breast were growing faster then other girls her age didn't made it any better. That's the only point her sister wasn't able to change her behavior til now.
When Hinata got dressed this morning did she put a huge grey-brownish jacket over her clothes in an attempt to hide her body. She knew her sister would scold her again for that, but it was her first day at the Academy. There was no way she wouldn't wear her jacket.
After biding her goodbyes to her father and sister at the door who told her to be safe and pay attention was she on her way to the Academy. However, she didn't made it far without incident cause as soon as she turned around the first corner on her way was she stopped by a boy with long brown hair and eyes the same as hers. "Neji-nii-san? What are you doing here?" It was her cousin, Neji Hyuga, son of her fathers brother. They kinda got along and he was family, but there were times she just couldn't stand him, whenever he started talking about destiny and how life already decided everyones path.
"You shouldn't go to the Academy, Hinata. You are too weak for it. You won't fit in there. Go back home." of course, he just had to ruin her day. Just because he was one year older and also was in the second year of Academy was there no reason to tell her something like that. After all, she was sparring with her sister and imrpoving. It's been a long time that she actually sparred with him.
"I'm quite capable of becoming a ninja, Neji-nii. And I will become one. You won't stop me, no matter what you say!" Neji was a little surprised hearing this but he didn't show it. When did she learn to talk back?
"Whatever. Just don't get yourself killed on the first day." he walked away toward the Academy, leaving Hinata behind. She stood there for a few minutes, trying to calm down and breath deeply, before returning her way. No, she won't be down because of her cousin. It was unpleasent, yes, but it won't pull her down. Not today. After all did she look forward to his day for quite a while now. She wasn't her old, unsecure self anymore which would be down by these words. She changed and in a good way too.
When she arrived at the Academy did she still have time left before the day would start. Once inside and getting information which room was assigned to the new starters this year did she aim for it, stopping in front of the door to the classroom. It was quite noisy inside and she took a deep breath. While she made quite some progress with her shyness felt she still uneasy with too many persons around her. But there was no helping it. She opened the door and entered the room. "Hey, Hinata-chan, over here!" the moment she entered was she spotted by her friend Ino, who called out to her and waved frantically. Hinata was relieved to see her friend in the classroom, at least one person she knew. Walking over to Ino did she take the seat next to her, smiling slightly.
"Morning Ino. I'm relieved you are here. I was worrying that I would be in class with noone I know." Ino gave her a reassuring smile.
"Well, it's not just me. Shika is here too, though he seems to sleep again that lazy ass." she was pointing to some seats away where a black headed boy was sleeping on his desk. Yes, that's definately Shikamaru. Hinata smiled.
"So, did you hear any rumours? Anything intresting about the Academy or the new students?" Hinata became slightly intrested to gossip by being friends with Ino for two years. And Ino always had the hottest informations.
"Well, actually, yes. There are some rumours going around. It's said that your blonde prankster, Naruto, will also start Academy this year. But I guess he isn't here yet or we most likely would have heard someone scream in anger already by one of his pranks."
Hinata blushed slightly, smiling at Ino's statement. "Naruto-kun will be in the Academy? I'm so glad."
Ino gave her a big smile. "It's just a rumour so far, but considering that he is our age is it quite possible. Hanabi told me that you got your fainting around him under control?" Hinata just nodded, still somehow distracted by the thought that her crush would be in the Academy as well and with this in her class.
"Yeah, anyway, there is another intresting rumour. It's said that there would be an early starter this year. I don't have any details, but it's not impossible to start being younger then 9 years. It happened a few times already." Now that got Hinata's attention.
"Really, someone younger then us will start this year? I wonder who this person might be. Guess it must be a super talented child from one of the big clans. Or maybe a lone genius from an unknown family?" she always had a thing for underdogs, trying to improve and show everyone what they are capable of. Being one herself and all and having a crush on Naruto, the number one underdog in the village for still unknown reasons. Seriously, why is the village hating him? She shook her head.
"Also, the last of the Uchiha clan is in our class too." She was whispering, trying not to catch the attention of said Uchiha. Everyone knew about the massacre that killed his whole clan. Since then was he silent and introverted, kinda in his own world, not paying attention to anyone. The girls seemed to be intrested in him though, but if you asked them couldn't they answer why, just saying things like "He's so cool!". Hinata acknowledged this information, but wasn't paying too much attention to it. After all, her eyes were set on another boy.
"I also got some informations on our teacher. Seems like we are getting a chunin who lost both parents 9 years ago when he was a child himself. I really wonder if someone like that can teach children..." Ino sounded slightly worried and Hinata nodded to this information. Really doesn't sound too reassuring to her. While they were wondering could screams be heard from the floor, before the door was quickly opened and closed and a blonde boy wearing a black t-shirt quickly entered the classroom and hid to avoid the wrath from his latest victims. "And here we have the number one prankster of the village. I told ya he would be here, didn't I?" Ino looked at Hinata just to realize that she indeed wasn't fainting, but spaced out with her thoughts on Naruto. Sighing did she slightly slap her cheeks, bringing her back to reality.
"You know, Hanabi told me to slap you painfully if you dare to faint or space out here in school. She doesn't want you to fall back to your old self. So... now that I informed you will the next time be more painful." She expected Hinata to be shocked by this information, or at least surprised, but the reaction she got surprised herself, when Hinata simply nodded.
"I understand, Ino."
Blinking her eyes a few times did she shook it of. 'Did Hinata just simply acknowledged that I will slap her whenever she tries to faint or space out?' She wondered if something was wrong with Hinata, but dropped that thought.
Naruto was on his way to the back of the classroom to take a seat in the last row, passing by Ino and Hinata. "Hey Hinata-chan, glad you are here as well. And that's... uhm... I know your name too. Let's see..."
Ino frowned. "Cut it, Naruto. You know my name just fine. But if you do something like that do I start to understand why the village is hating you." Naruto just grinned and walked on. It was so simple to tease Ino. But he made a mental note to not overdo it. He still hadn't much friends and he don't wanted to loose just a single one because of his actions. Hinata simply smiled the whole time, having blushed again being close to Naruto. But true to her words, she hadn't fainted at all.
After some while did someone enter the room. He was wearing the typical chunin outfit that could be seen quite often around the village, containing of green pants and shirt with a green flak west above it. The most noticeable about this ninja would be the scar slightly above and across his nose. "Alright everyone, settle down please. Good morning. My name is Iruka Umino and starting from today are you all officially students of the Academy and I'm your teacher. There are of course others who will teach you too, but we will spend most of our time together." Looking around the room did he recognize quite a few kids from different clans of Konoha.
'Okay, let's see what I got here. Blonde hair, blue eyes, must be a Yamanaka. That's a Hyuga girl next to her, hard to miss these pale white eyes. A sleeping black head? Nara I guess, Shikaku's son if I'm not mistaken. Chubby boy with brown hair, Akimichi for sure. Red face markings, dog atop the head, clearly an Inuzuka. And there, shaded glasses and a trenchcoat, guess an Aburame. Oh, seems like I got the last Uchiha as well. And the blonde prankster. This will be indeed an intresting class with nearly every important clan present'
"Alright, listen up. Before we are getting started do I need to announce something. Some of you might have heard the rumours already and I can only say that they are correct, we will have another student in our class, an early starter." Now that got the attention of the whole class, even the emotional cold Uchiha paid attention. Well, the whole class except for a sleeping black head. "Okay, you can come in now."
The door to the classroam opened and in walked a slender girl of around 7 years with slightly above shoulder length black hair and pale white eyes. Ino's and Hinata's jaws dropped, looking at the girl with disbelief. Most of the class seemed kinda curious about that girl, while some had angry looks and a few others simply stayed neutral.
"You must be kidding us. There is no way that a girl like this can be an early starter. Just look at her. No muscles, way too slim body, there is just no way!" it was the boy with dog atop his head who shouted out while the girl walked next to the teacher, looking over the class.
Iruka looked on a name list he had brought with him, before speaking. "Kiba Inuzuka, be quiet. You should have learned to never judge someone by their appearence." the boy growled but shut his mouth. "Now, do you want to introduce yourself?" he was addressing the girl at his side, who was bouncing up and down on her feet due to excitement.
"Uhu..." she nodded, smiling at the class and waving in the direction of Ino and the slightly blushing Hinata. "Hey sis!" getting quite some confused looks from the other kids, before she addressed the whole class. "Okay, I'm Hanabi. I'm seven years young and I'm starting Academy with all of you today. And while I think that the dogboy was rude do I like his puppy. It's so cute." she giggled when the boy growled again while his dog gave a happy bark.
"Good Hanabi. Now please take a seat. You can sit by your sisters side if you want." he pointed on the empty seat in the row where Ino and Hinata were sitting and Hanabi nodded before heading there, giving her sister a hug before sitting down, getting a few looks of the boys in the class. They couldn't believe their luck having two beautiful sisters in class.
After taking her seat did she lean over to her sister, whispering "Hey sis, I thought I told you to not wear that jacket. I don't like it if you are covering your body like that. That's a step back to your shyness."
Hinata was blushing, whispering back to her. "But... I knew here would be so many persons around me. I just... don't wanted..." she bit her lip, becoming silent. Realising that the mood was going down did Ino decide to enter the conversation, whsipering as well.
"Say, Hanabi-chan, why haven't you told that you would start with Academy this year as well?" she was totally curious. Hanabi was normally talking about everything, but this topic never left her lips. She looked over to Ino and grinned.
"That was Naruto's idea. He said it would be a great prank to surprise you two with that. And, honestly, you should have seen your faces when I entered." she stuck her tongue out at Ino, before turning her head to the front, finally paying attention to the things their new teacher were telling. Though most were boring things about how the Academy worked, so nothing important they missed with their conversation.
"Okay, we will now start with Academy for real." that were Iruka's words just now, so they really missed nothing important. "To start off will we go outside and hold a few sparring fights that we can judge how good your Taijutsu, or hand-to-hand combat, is. Since we have several kids from clans here in this class do we want to see, how far you got with your training, that we can better judge your progress and see what we need to focus on. This way can we also see how good or far the non-clan children are."
"This is so going to be fun!" Hanabi giggled, while Ino and Hinata looked worried. Evaluation fights on the first day? They weren't prepared for that.
The Academy's training field
"Listen up, each of you will get one fight. Only Taijutsu is allowed. If I stop a fight it is over. We won't allow any of you to suffer life threatening wounds, so nothing to worry about. Any questions?" Iruka looked around his new students.
"Yeah, me!" the boy with the dog, Kiba Inuzuka, spoke up. "Can I get the little girl as opponent?" he was grinning, seeing a possibility to proove that this girl don't belong here.
'Now that's what I would call a troublemaker. And here I thought I might get most problems with the prankster of Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki, oh well...' Iruka looked over to Hanabi, who was just smiling back at him, before sighing. "Well, I guess... I see no problem with this pairing. If none of you mind can this also be the first match."
Kiba grinned ferally while stepping forward. "Hey, Akamaru, I can handle this alone so get yourself a break, partner." His dog barked in confirmation before jumping of his head and walking over to where Hinata was standing, sitting down at her side. She smiled and petted his head.
Hanabi also stepped forward on the training field, placing herself opposite of Kiba, still smiling and started to slightly bounce up and down her feet again. She looked relaxed and happy. 'Heh, your expression will change really fast, little girl. I'll show you' Kiba's grin got even wider then before.
Iruka just sighed. This would end badly, that one was for sure. "Okay, if both of you are ready? Then begin." When he gave the starting signal did two things happen. One was Kiba suddenly charging forward with high speed, the other Hanabi closing her eyes. 'What is she doing? Guess I need to stop the match right away' Iruka was thinking fast, but before he could intercept did something happen he hadn't expected. The still bouncing Hanabi sidestepped Kiba's attack without even opening her eyes.
Hinata was shocked at first when her sister closed her eyes, but now knew what she was doing. She couldn't help but giggle, before taking the small white puppy up in her arm. "I'm sorry little one. But it seems like your friend will be beaten up by my sister." Akamaru barked in confirmation. "Huh? You knew that would happen?" she petted the dog who barked again in confirmation. "Poor boy. Being played with by my sister..." she giggled again and focused back of the match. Ino was also wondering what were happening there, having listened into Hinata's talk with the puppy and being not any wiser.
Iruka needed a moment to understand what was happening. But then made his head the connection. 'Cocky little girl. I hadn't expect her to have so much control. But it makes sense. She didn't told them she was a Hyuga, though it is noteable by these eyes of her. But who knows if these children know about the power their eyes possess. Smart move, but still cocky' he relaxed, watching the match further, expecting Hanabi to win without problems against Kiba.
Meanwhile Kiba had real trouble with Hanabi. It wasn't like she would attack or hit him, no, she was simply bouncing up and down on her feet with closed eyes and dodging each and every attack he tried on her. He was down on all four by now, pumping chakra in his limbs to further increase his speed. This fighting style was famous with the Inuzuka clan due to their similar traits to dogs and wolves. Another reason why they are fighting alongside dogs at all. But even with his increased speed was he still unable to hit Hanabi.
"What the...! Stop dodging you little..." Kiba became angry but all Hanabi did was grinning slightly, still bouncing with closed eyes. That enraged Kiba further and he decided to go all out against that girl. There was no way she could be this good. He grinned at her. "Okay little girl, last chance to give up... and over! Now deal with this! KAZUGA!" he shouted before sending his body in a spinning rotation, creating a kind of maelstrom around him, charging at Hanabi. The attack wasn't perfect yet, but it should be enough to finish off a seven year old girl.
Hanabi was surprised and finally opened her eyes, entering a fighting stance. She could tell that this attack was critical. There were only a split second of time and everything happened fast. None of the watchers even realized the change in the attitude of the girl. When Kiba got close did she again sidestep to dodge the attack, but also did one punch aiming for his shoulder cause this would be the first part of his body in her range and this was the part of the body she needed to hit in order to deflect the attack.
Her punch connected and Kiba startied struggling in his rotation, loosing direction and hitting face first in the wall surrounding the training field of the Academy. Relaxing and closing her eyes again did Hanabi breath deeply, to calm herself down. Yes, she was toying with this boy, most of the fight. But he was strong, she had to become serious for his last attack.
"Serves you right for insulting me, dogboy. Though I have to say, your last attack was something. Oh, hey little puppy!" she crouched to pet Akamaru, who jumped down from Hinata's embrace and ran over to Hanabi, giving her a happy bark. "I think he deserved it. You aren't mad at me, are you?" Akamaru barked again and snuggled into Hanabi's touch. "Thanks. Now go, your friend needs your care." She smiled, watching Akamaru walk over to the knocked out Kiba.
"Well done, Hanabi. I got to say your control over your Kekkei Genkai is quite something. And saving your energy by just dodging and not attacking was a smart move. Kiba got angry and made mistakes, leading to his defeat. This is a working way to fight, class. Now Hanabi, would you please show the class your Kekkei Genkai?" Iruka explained, before addressing Hanabi directly.
She pouted. "Why do you have to spoil all my fun by telling them? No fair, sensei..." her behavior more then a little childish, though she is only 7 years old. Talented and smart, yes. But still a young child. Iruka smiled gently at her before addressing Hinata.
"Well, Hinata, if you would be so kind to show the class? And maybe explain as well?" Hinata blushed with all this attention but then nodded slightly, closing her eyes and activating her Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan. Opening her eyes again was the first noticeable change the veins visible at the sides of her eyes.
"Uhm... you see, we from the Hyuga clan posess a Kekkei Genkai, or Bloodline. Our eyes are special and it's called Byakugan." despite the attention did she manage not to stutter so far. "We can see basicly everything around us within 360 degree when it is activated and... STEP BACK!" she shouted suddenly, surprising everyone.
Following her shout did a blonde boy in her back do a dodge backward, avoiding a punch of the black haird boy he sneaked up to. It was Naruto trying to pull a prank on the emotional cold Uchiha who in return sensed him and wanted to knock him out with one punch. It was Hinata's warning that saved Naruto for now, even so she normally wouldn't be able to see this situation, if not for her Byakugan. Naruto was grinning. "Thanks Hinata-chan."
Iruka rolled his eyes before addressing his class. "While I do not tolerate pranks during my classes do I have to say that this was quite a good demonstration of the Hyuga Kekkei Genkai. Naruto and Sasuke were in Hinata's back but she still saw what was happening there. Though, I never saw a Hyuga fight with closed eyes. Hanabi, care to explain?"
Hanabi was still pouting, but nodded. "I'm not an early starter for nothing, sensei. The vision is blurry if you use the Byakugan with closed eyes. That's why basicly all Hyuga fight with opened eyes. But with enough feeling for your own eyes can you overcome the blurryness and clearly see even if your eyes are closed. That's quite useful if the area or opponent is threating to hurt your eyes. But it's rare that one of us has enough feeling, or so my father said at least." she shrugged. "Anyway, the dogboy deserved that for insulting me."
Iruka nodded slowly in understanding. "I didn't knew that about the Byakugan. Even as teacher can I still learn new things." he smiled, but mostly got annoyed looks from his students. "Anyway, there should be a few more Kekkei Genkai's in our class. Or at least things that come close to them, so called clan traits. The beast traits of Kiba over there for example. They aren't a real Kekkei Genkai, but they are close. It's something only the Inuzuka clan inherits here in Konoha."
He wasn't really planning on starting with Kekkei Genkai on the first day. In fact wanted he to postpone the start for teachings in general til next week and use the first week to learn more about his students and their talents. But since it came up with the first sparring right away, at least were his students listening to this topic.
"Anyway, there are lots and lots of different Kekkei Genkai's existing. Some are more common then others, some became super rare or even vanquished because whole clans got killed during the past wars. Sometimes does it need time before it awakens inside a host, sometimes it's active from birth. It's a complex topic and we might cover it later, but for now..." he smiled at the attention he got from his students. And that right on the first day. That's a new and unbeatable record in the Academy.
"I think we went a bit away from our topic at hand. I remember starting with sparrings to see how good all of you are with Taijutsu." A part of his class was frowning. They hoped he might have been distracted enough by the topic change to forgot about the sparrings. It's easier to just listen then being active themself and kids tend to be lazy these days. Iruka knew that as well and he was teacher for quite some years now. He knew how kids minds worked – at least on a general basis.
"Alright, since you two already tried to start something, will you be the next ones. Naruto, Sasuke, please step forward for your match." Naruto was grinning while stepping forward, getting several glances and glares, some whispering as well. His reputation as prankster was well known and the fact that basicly the whole village hated him also transfered to his classmates, with a few exceptions of course.
He became good friends with Hanabi and Hinata during the last two years and even befriended Ino who was often around the two sisters. Shikamaru was okay as well. He started sometimes hanging out with them after Hinata nagged him about becoming friends for some while – okay, honestly all she did was ask him just once about becoming friends, but that was enough for him to be considered nagging. It was always troublesome to him to spent time with others. At least did they got along.
"Why should I bother? You won't land a single hit..." Sasuke's voice was kinda bland and cold, while he stepped forward. Many of the girls watched him with love filled eyes.
"I'm so going to beat you!" Naruto was grinning at Sasuke and charged forward as soon as they got the starting signal. He tried to end it quick, aiming a punch right at Sasuke's face. Sasuke on the other side simply waited for his approach, sidestepping the punch and in return delivered a kick into Naruto's stomach who went down to the ground. Sasuka placed his knee at Naruto's back, pinning him to the ground.
"Okay, that's enough. Sasuke has won. Quite a display of speed and strength. Well done, both of you." Iruka noted the results and called the next few spars. Naruto walked back toward his classmates and stood next to the two sisters and Ino.
"Not bad, huh? I was close to winning!" he grinned at the girls, getting some weird looks in return.
"You call that close to winning? He kicked your ass without even trying!" Ino answered, glaring at Naruto.
"Well, either did Naruto hide his power, or he really is bad in close range." Hanabi pondered about what she observed just now.
"You okay, Naruto-kun?" Hinata was worried, but he just smiled back at her and nodded.
After a few more spars was it now Hinata's turn. She was paired against Shikamaru, which both weren't too happy with. Hinata doesn't want to hurt a friend and Shikamaru found it troublesome being paired against a girl. Both stepped forward and Hinata entered her fighting stance, while Shikamaru looked lazyly in her direction. "Troublesome... do I really have to fight now?" Iruka rolled his eyes and nodded, before giving the sign to start.
Hinata was still worried, but charged forward to attack. She knew that her sister was watching and that she should show how she improved so far. However, what then happened was unexpected for every watcher. Shikamaru did a step backward, most likely to avoid Hinata's charge, and tripped over his feet, falling to the ground. "Troublesome... hey, sensei, I can't move my ankle. I'll give up." Hinata stopped mid-charge and looked worried at Shikamaru how gave her a small smile.
Iruka sighed and nodded. "Alright. Winner is Hinata. Just you know, Shikamaru. If this was just a ruse to avoid the battle will this have consequences." Shikamaru nodded and was thankful when his close friend helped him up to escort him to see a nurse.
"Well, we don't have time left for today, so I'm closing the day. The remaining spars are postponed til tomorrow. You can go home now." Iruka left his new class and thought about the things he saw today. There were clearly some surprises and he was sure that this years starter class would be an intresting one.
Outside the Academy
"Well, guess this was an intresting first day. See you tomorrow Hinata-chan, Hanabi-chan!" Ino waved her goodbye and headed in the direction of her home and Naruto left as well having a grin on his face, leaving the two sisters by themselfs. They realised that he wasn't going home yet. Both of them started to walk back to the clan compound after this first day at the Academy.
"Hey, sis." Hanabi started speaking, her voice total sweet and Hinata started sweating, fearing the worst. "I think I told you that I don't like you wearing that jacket. And then did you spoil my fun and talked about our Kekkei Genkai. That wasn't nice at all." Hanabi was smiling at her sister, but Hinata could feel that this was just show. She knew that she will be scolded once they reach their home and are away from prying eyes.
"S-sorry Hanabi... but Iruka-sensei asked me to explain. So I answered. And it seemed like he knew about the Byakugan so if I hadn't answered would he have simply explained." Hinata looked down at her feet while walking. "And it was the first day of Academy. I was worried. That's why I took the jacket..."
Hanabi sighed. "We'll talk about that once we are home." she was now smiling honestly. "Did you see what I did with that dogboy? Served him right for insulting me!" she couldn't helpt but giggle and Hinata also started smiling a bit. Yes, all considered was this first day not too bad. They also talked about the other matches which weren't that intresting at all. "It's just too bad that Shikamaru threw your match. I would have loved to see how you would did against somebody other then myself, sis."
"He... gave up? I thought he really hurt his ankle..." Hinata looked confused at her sister, a bit worried but also a bit reliefed, if Shikamaru really wasn't hurt.
"Yeah, he sure did. Tripping while backstepping? Not really believeable. He is just too lazy to fight if there is no good reason. Plus I don't think he wanted to fight you." Hanabi pondered the situation and nodded. "He faked that injury, I'm sure about it."
"Oh, I really didn't notice. But I'm glad that he is okay." Hinata smiled. When they finally arrived at home did Hanabi motion for her to follow and they headed straight at Hanabi's room. Once inside sat Hinata down on a chair while Hanabi walked up and down her room in thought.
"You see, sis, I'm really disappointed. How often have I told you to not wear that jacket? It's a step back to your shy self, if you hide yourself behind that jacket." Hinata looked at the ground, but could feel that Hanabi was concerned about her. And really disappointed.
"Uhm... quite often, Hanabi..." Hinata answered quietly. Hanabi sighed before nodding slowly. She touched her lower lip in thought and looked at her sister, thinking about what to do.
"I guess I should scold you again, but... since that doesn't seem to help..." she walked over to where she hid the books she got from Naruto two years ago, grabbing the one about punishments and sat down on her bed, flipping through the first pages.
She looked into the book from time to time over the last two years. That had two reasons. One was that she was just curious, reading over the possible punishments again and again. She still was disgusted by the extreme ones written down in the second half of the book, but growing up got she more and more confortable with the minor ones in the first half. The second reason was that Hinata wasn't improving too quick to win their second bet, meaning she wouldn't be released from being her slave too soon. So she needed to be prepared, just in case her sister would need something more then a scolding, like today.
She found the page she was looking for and read it over, while Hinata wasn't too comfortable right now. 'I hope Hanabi won't be doing anything too bad to me. We are family, but... I know I disobeyed her by wearing the jacket over and over again...' Hinata sighed and waited for Hanabi to speak up.
Finishing the site did she motion for Hinata to come over to the bed and Hinata followed, standing next to Hanabi. "See, sis, I really don't want to do that, but... well, we just talked about it. I told you over and over again to not wear that jacket but you are still wearing it when going outside. All family connections aside is our relationship different then others, so..." she sighed and pulled Hinata down to her, laying her across her lap.
Hinata was surprised by that action and didn't reacted. "I'm sorry, sis..." Hanabi whispered before bringing her hand down on Hinata's ass. It didn't hurt much, considering she was wearing all her clothes, but she was totally shocked by that action of her younger sister. Hanabi continued to spank her a bit more til she reached 10 hits before laying her hand flat on the spot she just hit.
"I want you to think about what happened today, sis. What you did and what I had to do because of you. Don't disappoint me again, okay?" Hinata got slowly up and nodded, still shocked from the action, before sitting down next to Hanabi on the bed. "You can stay here to think or go back to your room. I don't mind. I'm going out again, sis. Alone..." Hinata nodded again while watching her sister leave, staying on the spot of the bed. She not only had to think about today, but also about the last two years and the future that will come...
Early evening in the village
Hanabi was sitting on a bench near the park, thinking about what had happened today as well, just like she told Hinata to do. 'I... I really spanked her. I know I had the right to do that, but... she's still my sister... what was I thinking?' her mind was really troubled by her actions and she was unsure how she should handle this situation, or if she could look her sister in the eyes again after that. She felt guilty and she knew that this feeling was legit.
While she was thinking about it did she hear shouts and screams that seemed to get in her direction. When looking up did she see the source for it: Naruto was running down the street and was followed by some angered shinobi, most likely Chunin. When he spotted her did he change direction, running down the street she was sitting at, and tossed her something small in her lap while he was passing by. She waited til the pursuers had passed her as well before picking up the small thing. Looked like an earpiece of a radio.
Placing it in her ear did she hear Naruto's voice. "Hey, Hanabi-chan. Where's your sister? You are rarely out alone and... argh... they are serious this time. Mind if you could help me out here? I'm having trouble to get away this time." Hanabi shook her head to get out of her thoughts, realising what Naruto just asked her. She got comfortable on the bench and closed her eyes, activating her Byakugan and keeping her eyes closed. She started to whisper, for an onlooker would it seem like she was sleep-talking or something.
"One group is coming at you right in your front. They even put an ambush to the left. Turn right at the next crossing." Naruto was following Hanabi's directions, trying to get away. "Uhm, you see, I... had an argument with Hinata after Academy, and... I don't know... I might have done something bad to her... next crossing left."
Hanabi was trying to get Naruto's opinion on the matter that troubled her without giving him too much information, while still watching his surroundings and giving him directions. Naruto turned left at the next crossing. "Don't worry, Hanabi-chan. You got along well all the time. She will surely forgive you. You are so close to your sister, I even envy that. Wish I had siblings, or a family..."
"But still... I wasn't nice to her today... I fear she might hate me now..." Hanabi sighed before being at full attention. "They are waiting at the next crossing and the way you ran is closed as well. Into the next alley on the right side. Inside turn left, right, then double left and right again to get out without hitting a dead end."
"Thanks for the warning. I would have ran into them if it weren't for you. But I will repeat myself, whatever you did, she will forgive you, I'm sure of that." Naruto was running through the alley, following Hanabi's direction and he was totally thankful that she guided him right now.
"I... Uhm... I might have... hit her..." her voice got quieter from word to word and Naruto could hear her doubts about what she did, but couldn't really place it. "Uhm... once you are out turn right and the next alley on the left."
"You hit her? That happens all the time during sparring. Nothing to worry about, believe it!" Naruto left the alley he was currently running through and quickly crossed the street to disappear into the next alley.
"It... wasn't during a spar..." Hanabi whispered, her voice barely noticeable anymore. "Seems like you got away. I'm not seeing anyone on your tail anymore." Hanabi deactivated her Byakugan, put kept her eyes close, still thinking about what she did to Hinata. Would she really forgive her?
"See, girl, here you are wrong." a third voice entered the conversation, startling both Hanabi and Naruto, before Naruto let out a muffled noise and the voice spoke again. "I'm not sure who you are girl, but it seems like you know where the boy and I are currently, considering you just guided him to get away. So you better get over here now."
"O... okay..." Hanabi sighed and got up from the bench, heading toward the alley she guided Naruto through. 'I'm sure there was noone around him anymore. I haven't seen anyone. He should have been save. Now we are both in trouble I guess...' Hanabi sighed again, entering the alley.
There stood a shinobi with white spikey hair and a mask covering half of his face and his headband was lowered to cover one of his eyes. He held Naruto in front of him, having a hand over his mouth that he wouldn't scream. Something Naruto wouldn't do anyway, since nobody would care to help him. That much he learned during the years.
"Now that's a surprise. You are a Hyuga. No wonder you were able to guide him via radio. However, you made one major mistake. Oh, if you don't try to flee will I let go of you now." he smiled down at Naruto who just nodded. He was used to being beaten all the time so he thankfully accepted that offer. Even so he was caught wasn't he beaten yet, so anything was fine to go along with that.
"And what mistake was that?" Naruto asked, stretching his body a little after being held tightly. "All I did was snatching the two radio earpieces and telling the shinobi that their training wasn't enough to catch me. I don't see any mistake in that." Hanabi just stood at the side, listening, waiting to be addressed, waiting for her judgement.
"Well, your mistake was to only take two of them. It's common that four of them are put together on the same frequence that a normal team of four can communicate over greater distances. So once I heard what you did, is all I had to do get one of the remaining earpieces and listen on your conversation. As you can see, I caught you by that." he white haird shinobi was still smiling. Naruto was unsure what he should think about him.
It was Hanabi speaking next, looking shocked. "So... you heard... what I told him?" she blushed and tried to hide her face.
"Uhu. And I do recognize you, Hanabi Hyuga. Iruka told me about your match at the Academy. Really impressive. But what was that about hitting your older sister? I couldn't exactly place that information." he was still smiling, sending a shiver down Hanabi's spine. What was wrong with this guy?
"I... don't really want to talk about that. I can't..." Hanabi shook her head.
"So I shouldn't tell Hiashi either? Not sure if I can, after what you just did by helping this little prankster over here." Hanabi was shocked by that. If her father would knew...
"Hey! She had nothing to do with it. Leave her alone!" Naruto shouted, sending an angry glare in the direction of their captor. He was ready to protect his friend, no matter what. The man just smiled at that declaration.
"Well, I honestly just wanted to see how the prankster is like and who his friend might be, that's really all. And don't worry girl, Hinata will forgive you. She is just a kind hearted nature. No matter what you did. Anyway, I got to get going. We will meet again, that I'm sure about." he gave them a small wave before pulling out a book and walking away, reading.
"What... a strange guy. Hey, Hanabi-chan, you alright? Common, cheer up. Everything ended fine and I'm sure Hinata will forgive you." Naruto pulled Hanabi into a hug who slowly got out of her shock.
"I hope you are right, Naruto. I really do..." she breathed deeply, calming down. "Well, thanks for listening to me. I should go home now. See you tomorrow at class." she gave him a wave and headed home while Naruto went in the direction of his appartment. Both of them were not aware, that the white haird shinobi was still watching them.
"So that is Naruto Uzumaki, the prankster king of Konoha. And he is at least friends with the younger Hyuga. That might get intresting. I'm looking forward to their improvements." he mumbled to himself before placing his nose back inside his book.
Hinata's room late at evening
Hinata was sitting at her desk, reading a book. Some hours had already passed since what happened between her and her sister and she took the time to think about it, just lika Hanabi told her to do. She was mainly shocked when her sister gave her the spanking. It hadn't hurt at all, but it was a shock either way. She had never guessed that her sister would do this to her.
On the other side is she her sister's slave since two years. It was her right to do this because she disobeyed many times by wearing the jacket even so she was told not to do so. 'I'm not improving fast enough. I'm not even close to being able to win against Hanabi. From what she showed today is it more like I'm getting farther away from catching up to her. I maybe need to accept that whole situation. I need to accept that I became a slave. But...'
She got out of her thoughts when she heard a knock on her door. "Come in, it's open." she said turning to watch the door open, seeing Hanabi enter her room. The girl looked kinda distressed and Hinata walked over to her to give her a hug.
"I'm sorry sis, for today I mean..." Hanabi whispered. "I shouldn't have done that to you. I... don't know what I was thinking. Can you forgive me?" she looked her older sister in the eyes, tears forming in her own.
"Of course, Hanabi. You did nothing wrong. I... thought about today, just like you told me. And you were right to do so. I should have listened to you. I should have obeyed your order to not wear the jacket. It's all my fault." Hinata held Hanabi close to her, gently stroking her back. "And I realised that I'm not even close to your level. I'm far away of winning my freedom back, so..."
Hanabi pulled herself back a bit, looking at her sister with slight surprise in her eyes. "Sis... do you mean..." 'She can't be saying what I'm thinking she is going to say. There's just no way!'
Hinata nodded. "From now on I'm going to accept every order I get from you. Every punishment you see fit if I disobey. I'm... accepting being your slave. It's two years already but you went easy on me. Your rules were nothing hard and I appreciate that, I really do. I also hope that we will still be sisters. Just like we used to be. We always got along so well. But I now fully understand the situation I got myself into with my bet and I will take my responsibility on that."
Hanabi was shocked and didn't knew what to say. Not only that her sister was not stuttering a single time during that announcement, she wasn't even blushing. She must have thought about that quite intense and made up her mind. "Okay sis, I understand. I will... take care of you. I love you, sis."
"I love you to, Hanabi." they hugged each other.
"No big jacket tomorrow!" Hanabi smiled.
"I understand, no jacket tomorrow" Hinata smiled back at Hanabi. "Good night."
"Good night, sis." Hanabi left her sisters room, heading toward her own. What both didn't knew was that just til half a minute ago a boy stood at the door and listened into their conversation. He actually wanted to appologize to his cousin about his behavior in the morning but stopped when he heard the sisters talking. Neji wasn't sure what to do with these information he just heard...