C's Scouting Report: Topic pending
*the first line is carefully scratched out*
C's Scouting Report: The Dark Side of Konoha
"Yo boss, I'm bored. I mean, I get that you aren't having jobs for me all the time. But honestly, I need something to do. You don't want someone like me wandering off to do 'who knows what', right? Just think of the things I could do...
Anyway, with my favorite girls now being into the slavery business and with me having too much free time, did I decide to dig a bit into the history of Konoha. And the things I found, really intresting. I'm going to call it 'The Dark Side of Konoha'. Oh, that's good, just let me change the title... done. Alright, moving on.
Did you know that the first Hokage was big into slavery? Konoha was called the slave capital during his time. In fact did he even invent several torturing methods from which some are even known by today and still used at Konoha's T&I to break prisoners. Wish the first Hokage would still be alive... I would thank him for giving us the ultimate tool for breaking women, the Wooden Horse. He really made my previous job pretty easy.
Though the second Hokage was something as well. Seems like he kept a handful of slaves for his personal amusement. Wasn't the Second your own sensei? Wonder if you knew that about him, boss. And it doesn't stop there at all. I looked into some of the clan's histories as well. I tell you, these are great stories!
For example the Inuzuka clan. You know, these beast like looking shinobi with all their ninja dogs? Clan businesses are great, aren't they? You are not allowed to interfere. Do you know what happens to females from outside the clan that get close to the clan's males? They are taken in and trained to become the respective males bitches. And that's still happening, even today. But you are not allowed to interfere with their businesses, right? Wonder if you even knew that?
There is just one thing they aren't doing anymore. Actually, it's kinda sad and I would have loved to see that... Back in the days did the former mentioned females end up in the kennels of the clan compound. That must have been a sight.
Or take the Hyuga clan. After looking into that am I not really that surprised about the girls anymore. I mean, they are from the clan with the highest number of slaves inside this country. I was kinda shocked when I dug that out. Thought that Konoha was slave-free and not intrested at all. But there was this one clan, the whole time, holding so many slaves at once. And all of them are there own clan members. They call that 'branch family' to the 'main family'. Nonsense. It's simple slavery. They even brand their slaves like cattle. How was that called again? Caged Bird Seal? Something like that.
Got to say, I'm happy that I ended here inside the village. It does have an intresting history and intresting things are even happen today. I'm sure I won't get bored if I start to dig out more of these things..."
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A Tale of Two Sisters - Chapter 20: Dreams aren't dangerous, right?
Hinata was the first to wake up this morning. Opening her eyes was she looking around her room, confirming that it indeed was her room. In all honesty was she afraid that her father would do something stupid at night, considering the way the girls parted from him after that loud discussion they had in the hallway.
"The hallway, right..." she spoke to herself, shaking her head. "Hanabi shouted out that I'm her slave... I don't want to see anyone from our clan today.". Her face turned red by the thought that this information might have spread through the whole clan already. How might they treat her, now knowing that she was a slave to her own sister? And that she entered that state by her own will? That is, if these small details weren't lost while being spread.
Sitting up was she noticing the sleeping form of her sister laying next to her. She was surprised for a short moment before she remembered that she brought Hanabi to her own room. After all was her little sister exhausted, completely out of energy and most likely traumatized by the events of the day before. That was a situation in which she just wanted to comfort her as good as possible and wouldn't let her sleep all alone.
"Well, I should get myself ready for the day either way. I wonder when Hanabi will wake up though..." she still spoke to herself and left her bed, aiming for her bathroom. It took her around 15 minutes for a quick shower and to brush her teeth before she entered back into her room. She smiled looking at her sleeping sister, hoping that the events from the day before would be forgotten by today.
Opening her drawer did she pick out a pair of loose baggy pants in grey and a matching t-shirt and dressed herself. Taking the headband from atop the drawer was she thinking about how she should wear it. That was when she remembered the day before, that she simply had it hang loosely around her neck. "Right... my neck. I have to wear the collar starting today..."
Walking over to her shelf did she pick up her collar, letting her fingers trail over the playing kitten etched into the leather at the side of it, before placing it around her neck. It was that moment when she had an idea that might save her some embarassing moments. She placed her headband around her neck as well, letting it hang loosely there like she did the day before, walking over to her mirror to check it out.
"Not bad, I guess." she spoke to herself, checking out her own image in the mirror. "If you aren't looking for it or doesn't know that it is there could you miss it." she smiled at herself, being thankful for having this idea. It could really save her some awkward moments or explanations.
"Trying to hide your collar, huh?" Hanabi spoke quietly, surprising Hinata who quickly turned around to look at her sister.
Hanabi was sitting inside the bed, currently rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "It's not like that..." Hinata started, fishing for words. "It's just... you see... I'm..."
"You thought you would be a smart girl by trying to cover it up with your genin headband." Hanabi finished for her, checking out her sister from head to toe with her eyes. "Well, I'll allow it for now. But that's all of freedom you get today, understood?" her voice got cold at the end and she was glaring at Hinata, who gulped visibly.
'So much for my hopes that she would be over the events from yesterday...' Hinata thought before nodding slightly. "Yes mistress, thank you very much. I understand." she replied obedient, not wanting to anger Hanabi. She wasn't sure how her sister could react if she did something wrong because her sister never was in a state like that before.
"Glad you understand." Hanabi smiled slightly, but there was a hint of evil within it. "I'm not intrested in meeting father or anyone from our clan today. Let me get ready and than will we sneak out of here and meet with Ino."
Nodding again kept Hinata silent this time, simply watching Hanabi getting out of bed and heading toward the bathroom. Each of them always kept some spare clothes of the other sister in their respective bathroom to avoid needing to sneak across the floor in nightwear, or worse half naked, if one was sleeping in the room of the other. A situation that wasn't happening too often anymore, but was quite common just few years ago. Either after a nightmare room switch or just for fun.
Hanabi was nearly as fast as Hinata was before for getting ready and left the bathroom fully dressed after slightly above 15 minutes. She simply put her headband in her pocket, not really bothering to put it on just yet, eyeing her sister. "We are leaving. Out the window and away from this stupid house." she stated before doing exactly that, quickly jumping out the window.
Knowing that Hanabi wasn't expecting a reply at all but giving her an order was Hinata quickly doing the same, following her out the window. She was desperate to avoid anything that might anger her sister today, not wanting to find out how a mad Hanabi might act towards her in her current state, with the latest trauma being most likely the most intense one and more importantly being totally fresh.
They were gone for half an hour already when a knock could be heard on Hinata's door. It became silent again for a full minute before the door was opened and Hiashi entered the room. He first tried Hanabi's room but found that none had slept there this night and was now entering the room he expected both of his daughters to be. He slightly calmed down over night and only wanted to talk with both of them, though still planing to show his authority.
Finding the room empty however with visible signs that the bed got used this night was his anger raising back to the same level it had the evening before. "Sneaking out to avoid confrontation? How old are you?" he shouted angrily, scanning the room for any kind of sign where his daughters might have gone to. When his eyes landed on Hinata's shelf did his temper snap however. "The collar is gone... She is... wearing it. In public. Unbelieveable!". He took a deep breath. "Okay, that's it. Hiruzen, you got a pissed off father wanting some answers on the way to your office. I hope you are ready for this..."
Yamanaka Flower Shop
The walk towards the flower shop was in complete silence between the sisters. Hanabi didn't feel like talking and Hinata was smart enough not to talk without being adressed first. Nobody was paying attention to them either. The villagers weren't caring or probably used to the sight of the two sisters together. No matter the reasons, they reached the flower shop without incident.
To say that Ino was surprised seeing her friends that early in the morning would be an understatement. The Yamanaka's were sitting together for breakfast when the doorbell rang. Ino was the one to answer it, smiling at the sister. "I know that we are appointed, but I wasn't expecting you that early."
"We... had an argument with our father after coming home and sneaked out this morning. Don't wanted to see him..." Hanabi answered quietly, not giving any details.
"Oh, that's too bad. Want to come in? We are at breakfast currently." Ino suggested, guessing that the sisters hadn't eaten if they snuck out that early in the morning.
Hanabi shook her head. "No... let's go somewhere where we won't get disturbed. As I said, I need your help with something..." when her stomach rumbled was she looking down, before her eyes went to her sister and back to Ino. "But if you could snatch us something to eat on the way?" she asked, a weak smile on her lips.
Ino had a hard time to supress her giggles. "Alright, I'll get you something. And how about our storeroom?" she shouted over her shoulder to the sisters while already being on the way back inside. A few minutes later was she coming back, carrying a bag containing some food. "I told my parents that we are going to the storeroom. And there's some food for you too."
The sisters thankfully took the bag and started eating right away while Ino closed the door behind her. The first minutes of their walk was in silence again, this time however because the sisters were eating the food Ino offered them. When they were done was she speaking up. "So, what is that thing you need my help for, Hanabi-chan? And why are we needing a quiet place for that?"
"I'll... tell you when we are there, okay? Here are too much people that might hear us..." Hanabi stated, not saying anything more.
Ino couldn't remember having seen her friend that distant before and was wondering what might be going on. She threw a questioning look at Hinata who simply shook her head in return, not saying anything either. There was a feeling inside Ino telling her that something was totally wrong, but she just couldn't point it out. That's why she simply followed her friends in silence. They would tell her eventually when they arrived.
Yamanaka Storeroom
Taking a look around was Hanabi noticing that there were some supplies inside the storeroom this time, but there still was a table and some chairs at the side of it. Walking over to them was Hanabi pointing on one chair while jumping up on the table to sit on it's edge. "Sit down, sis."
Simply nodding was Hinata walking over to the chair Hanabi pointed at and sat down, neither saying a word nor questioning her sisters commanding voice. That was something that confused Ino, making her speak up. "What's with you two today? You are totally different from your usual selfs... did something happen? And what do you need my help with?"
"We just had a big disagreement with our father, as I already told you." Hanabi replied, again avoiding any details. "Nothing you need to worry about. Anyway, I'm worried about Hinata here. She is having terrible nightmares for a long time by now and I would like to ask you to enter her mind and check that out for me. When she is talking about them is it quite... disturbing."
Ino looked from Hanabi to Hinata and back. "I guess I can try that, but... you sure that this is a good idea? I mean, I'm able to use my clan's jutsu and all, but I never really got to practice it on anyone. And it's more thought for possessing the targeted person, not for exploring the mind. Though I guess that this should work if the person isn't fighting it..." she pondered aloud, thinking about her jutsu before focusing on Hinata again. "You okay with that, Hinata-chan?"
Not answering that question was Hinata staying silent, Hanabi speaking up for her. "She's fine with it, don't worry. Trust me, you would want to get rid of these nightmares as well if you had them. So, you gonna do it now?"
"Sure... if I can help my friends that way will I try my best. Uhm..." looking around was Ino walking over to another chair, sitting down on it. "Hanabi-chan, would you please look after our bodies while I'm in her mind? Mine will be helpless and she won't be able to do much either I guess. I don't think that anyone will come here at all, but still..."
"Yeah, leave that to me, no problem." Hanabi gave Ino a wink to go on. She wouldn't go anywhere, leaving her property behind. So she could look after her friends body as well while waiting.
"Okay, thanks. Hinata-chan, you ready?" Ino asked, getting a slight nod from her before forming a circle with her fingers, pointing it at Hinata. "Well, hope that will work. Mind Transfer jutsu.". Just a second later was her body falling back limply in her chair, not moving anymore. Hinata's body had a barely visible spasm for a moment, before getting slightly limp as well, not moving either.
Figuring that it must have worked was Hanabi watching both girls for a moment, before spaceing out, her mind wandering astray and focusing on other things. She lost sight of her surroundings pretty quickly and probably might not realize if anything would happen inside the storeroom.
Inside Hinata's mind
Ino was standing in the middle of a room that had neither a door nor windows. Turning around was she also checking the area behind her just to realize that there wasn't any kind of furniture either. "Did I do something wrong?" she pondered aloud, not being able to make much sense of the place she currently was.
"I'm not happy that you are here..." a voice stated, hitting Ino by surprise. Turning around again to face the direction the voice came from did she saw Hinata leaning against the wall, her arms crossed below her chest. Next to her was a closed door that wasn't there before and Ino's eyes switched from Hinata to the door and back.
"You are... looking different..." Ino said in surprise, her eyes fixed on Hinata now. True to her words was Hinata dressed differently than she normally does. She had a mesh kind of fabric running from her knees up to her neck with only black shorts above it. Also wearing black high heels with not that high of heels and a collar around her neck was she rolling her eyes.
"Who would have thought? Your eyes seem to be able to be working. Not bad, Ino-chan, really, not bad." Hinata replied with a cold tune in her voice, her eyes fixed on the blonde girl in front of her.
She wasn't reacting to the insult but instead focused on the thing around Hinata's neck. "Is that... a collar?" she asked confused, her mind trying to make sense of the situation she found herself into right now.
"Just a collar? No... it's the one collar Hanabi-sama gave us to our 10th birthday. If I recall correctly were you there when it happened.". Hinata was mustering Ino for a moment before smiling and pulling out another collar out of nowhere. "Actually, I think one would look great around your neck as well. Care to try it one for me?"
Looking at the collar that was offered to her did Ino need some time to react. Her mind was overflown with information and she had trouble to process them all. So much for being heiress to a clan of mind walkers. "No... I don't want to try..." she said unsure, before her eyes went wide. "Wait a moment! Hanabi-sama? Why are you calling her that?"
"Really now?" she rolled her eyes again. "Seems like your brain isn't working at all, huh? What does a collar stand for? Ownership. And if you are owned by someone will you adress this person the way they deserve it. Easy, isn't it? So..." a grin entered Hinata's face. "You sure you don't want to try this fine collar here, Ino-chan?"
"Totally!" Ino shouted, making a step backwards. "And just who are you anyway? You are not acting like Hinata-chan at all!"
"I am Hinata!" she shot back without missing a beat. "Or more precisely her dominant side and you intruded into my realm just now. If it weren't for Hanabi-sama allowing you to be here right now would I just trap you and make you my pet for the simple fact of trespassing!". There was ice in Hinata's voice and she was glaring at Ino, making the girl gulp.
"Uhm... I'm sorry?" it was a weak try to calm the person in front of her down and it wasn't working at all.
"Oh, you will be, that I'm sure about... if you are going to waste my time." watching Ino shiver at her words brought a smirk on her face before she continued. "You are here because of her nightmares, right? Follow me, I'll lead you there.". Finally moving away from the wall was Hinata opening the door next to her and leaving the room, waiting in the hallway for Ino to follow.
Afraid of angering Hinata - or more precisely her dominant side - even more was she quick to follow her through the door, Entering a hallway that went left and right. Right in front of her at the wall was a map of this complex, showing that this mind was well structured. The hallways were straight and each room on the map was labeled with the memories or thinking processes inside.
Taking a look on the map was Ino quickly scanning it. "So, according to this map is the room I need to the left, second door down the hallway. Huh, that's pretty easy." she said to herself, starting to walk down the hallway before being stopped by Hinata's voice.
"Sure, just wander off all by yourself after I said I'll lead you there." her voice was shockingly calm and bored, which alerted Ino to the fullest, making her stop and turn around. "Ah, second thoughts? Just go ahead, I don't mind. But once you ran into the trap down this corridor will I not let you go anymore, permission for being here or not. And then will you be all mine..." an evil smirk entered her face, making Ino shiver again.
"Why would you place traps in your own mind?" Ino asked confused, finally wondering if it was a good idea to agree to help Hanabi with finding the source for Hinata's nightmares.
Simply shrugging was Hinata replying still bored. "It wasn't me who placed them. Though I must say they are useful at times."
Seeing that Ino wasn't answering anymore and clearly seeing that the blonde girl tried her best to make sense out of the things spoken was Hinata rolling her eyes yet another time. "Jup, your brain is useless. Thought as much. I wonder if I can break you if I confuse you even more?" she pondered aloud before grinning. "Well, it's worth a try. The traps were placed by the mischievious Hinata."
"There... is more of you here? Is that even normal?" Ino asked worriedly, suddenly feeling even more uneasy than before. It really was a bad idea to come here, that much was clear to her now. She was starting to wonder if her father ended up in similiar situations like herself right now.
"Uhm, I don't know?" Hinata answered while critically eyeing Ino. "Tell me if that's normal. After all are you the one supposed to understand how the mind is working... Anyway, yes, she is here as well. Hey!" she shouted suddenly at the end. "Show yourself, Kitty!"
"You are no fun..." another voice could be heard that sounded like Hinata too but had a playful touch to it. Just a moment later was a second Hinata having a pout on her lips appearing out of the wall, wearing a simple t-shirt and loose baggy pants both in grey. However, there was a prominent difference on that one: she had purple coloured cat ears and a matching tail. "You called, mistress?"
Not answering at all was the dominant Hinata simply pointing at Ino who just stood there with her jaw wide open in disbelief. When the mischievious Hinata turned around and saw Ino was her pout quickly replaced by a playful smirk. "Oh, is that the real Ino-chan?" she chirped happily, bouncing up and down on her feet. "Can I play with her, mistress? Please, can I? Pretty please?"
"Sorry Kitty, but she got permission to be here from Hanabi-sama." the dominant grinned at the mischievious one and enjoyed the disappointed pout of her before continueing. "But you can show her what you like to play."
When the cat-like Hinata saw that the dominant one was pointing down the hallway was the pout quickly replaced by a happy smile. Ino looked in amazement when the girl quickly darted down the corridor she was about to walk down before. Her eyes went wide when chains suddenly shot out of the walls and ceiling, snatching the limbs of the cat-like girl and suspending her in the air, holding her in position with the limbs spread to one corner of the corridor each, letting her hang there like a cross.
Watching Ino for some moments was the dominant one sure that her mind just broke by that show. At least wasn't she moving at all anymore. "So, you ready to follow me now?" Hinata whispered into Ino's ear, her fingers trailing down the shoulder of the blonde girl.
Ino simply nodded in reply and followed Hinata down the hallways. Her brain was having problems to process all the informations she got since entering into Hinata's mind and she really wondering if it was a good idea to agree going into it.
They walked like that for around ten minutes in complete silence within in the hallways before Ino finally got her thoughts straight again. And she simply spoke out the most prominent question she got on her mind right now. "Are the minds of everyone that weird?"
Turning around was Hinata raising an eyebrow at Ino. "Really now? I think we had that topic three times already. How the hell should I know? Why aren't you telling me if that's the case? You are the mind walker after all. You could watch into your own mind to check it out."
"Sorry..." Ino said quietly, looking down at the ground. "It's just... I don't know... There is you, there is the catgirl, there are these..." she pointed at a picture on the wall where they were standing. "What is that thing anyway?"
"Your father is working for T&I and you don't know what that is? It's a torture device, silly." The dominant one replied kinda bored like it would be the normalest thing of the world.
"But that's the point... Why are here pictures of torture devices? It's not what I expected from Hinata at all... Thought it would be full with pictures of Naruto..." she shrugged helpless.
"Oh, there are as well. The traps Kitty placed are all in corridors with pictures of Naruto-kun. You know, she's kinda obsessed with him." Hinata gave Ino a wink to follow her and moved on. She continued to talk while walking, pulling out books out of thin air and letting them float in front of Ino. "And you would have torture devices on your mind as well if you read these kind of books for years."
Checking the titles of these books was Ino paling. Some of them were familiar to her because her father had them in his personal library. He always told her that they weren't suitable for kids. Other titles sent a shiver down her spine, just because of the names. "Maybe I'm not knowing Hinata-chan as good as I thought..."
"Guess so. Anyway, we reached our goal." Stopping the walk was the dominant one pointing on a room they could look inside but had no visible entrance for them. Inside was Hinata in the same state like in her nightmares: down on all fours and naked except for her collar. Kiba was kneeling next to her, petting her head. "That's the original one and the nightmare she is stuck inside for a long time now."
Ino's eyes went wide, seeing the scene in front of her. "That's the nightmare? I know that I would totally freak out if I would dream something like that... Do you have any idea what the reason could be? Or when it started?". She wasn't sure if she could be of any help seeing that scene. But on the other side did she simply agree to find out the reasons for Hinata's nightmares. And since she had another Hinata at her side she could ask about it...
"Actually, yeah, I do." Pulling out another book out of thin air was she showing the title 'Raising Pets' to Ino. "The reason is most likely this book we read countless times for five years by now. We were rather fascinated by it. And the nightmares started the night after our 10th birthday, after we got our collar from Hanabi-sama, which kinda sums up. But these aren't the problems. It's him." she pointed at Kiba. "I have no idea why he is here and he's the one Hanabi-sama is upset about. The problem is, we haven't found a way inside to help her or anything..." the cold facade of the dominant one was crumbling for a moment, sincere worry hearable within her voice.
"So..." Ino started to think about the informations she got and quickly came to a conclusion. "Hanabi-chan actually isn't worried about the nightmare itself but the fact that Kiba is inside, right? I know that she hates him and all, but that is..." she shook her head.
"You are basicly right. But can you imagine how we freaked out the first night? It's just that the original was surpressing it after that to not anger Hanabi-sama more." the dominant Hinata sighed. "Look, since none of us is getting inside is there not much we can do. I have an idea however, but I would need your help for that."
"Uhm... okay?" Ino was unsure how to react. On one side did she want to help her friend Hinata. On the other side was wary of any idea that dominant version of her friend might have. She simply decided to listen for that moment.
"Okay, look, you realized that Hanabi-sama was somehow different today, right?" waiting for Ino to nod in confirmation was she speaking on. "But you haven't heard of anything that happened yesterday yet, right?" Ino thought about it for a moment and shook her head. "Fine. So, you see, Hanabi-sama is pretty traumatized if you ask me. There is so much that happened to her the last years... it's not nice at all. I guess the whole situation could be solved if she is getting back to her old self. And that's the point I need your help for."
Tilting her head to the side was Ino looking at the girl in front of her with confusion. "I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to tell me..."
"It's simple. All I want is that you enter her mind once you are out of our and pull her out of the despair she is most likely in. The original us would never ask you to do that, so I'm taking the chance I have right now. I can only imagine that her trauma is way worse than that nightmare we have here..."
"But... I can't just enter her mind. That would be... wrong!" Ino protested, but got silenced by the glare the dominant Hinata send her.
"Right..." she pulled the word into length. "If I recall correctly had you no objection when it was about entering here. I suggest that you are leaving now before I change my mind and really keep you as my pet. Hanabi-sama is kinda spaced out right now, she won't even realize what you are doing, so just do it. If she... if we are your friends, than just do it and help us. All of us..."
Before Ino could answer anything was she hit by a punch from the dominant one straight to her stomach, being forced out of Hinata's mind that way. Waiting a moment to be sure that Ino wasn't there anymore was Hinata sighing. "I hope she goes... I'm afraid about Hanabi-samas mental state..." she shook her head for a moment to get her thoughts clear. "Kitty?"
The head of the catgirl Hinata was poking right out of the wall next to the dominant one, a worried look on her face as well. "Yes mistress?"
"Please tell me you finally found a way inside that stupid nightmare... we need to save the original..." the dominant one said desperate.
The mischievious one shook her head. "I'm sorry mistress, but there is just no way. It's like the original built a mental barrier around it, blocking us out... We can only hope that you are right with your guess about Hanabi-sama being able to help, somehow..."
Yamanaka Storeroom
Ino was blinking her eyes, getting used to the light in the storeroom before looking around her. In front of her was Hinata still sitting on the chair, slowly opening her eyes as well. Hanabi sat atop the table at the side, not paying much attention to her surroundings, her eyes kinda spaced out, focused on nothing. It was Hinata who broke the silence first.
"How was it?" she asked quietly, looking at Ino.
"You don't know? But... I met you there. I mean... I met a Hinata. It was... strange." she shook her head. "What's with Hanabi-chan?" Ino pointed at the younger girl who still hadn't realized that the other two girls were back in the real world.
"I fear she is trapped within a trauma..." Hinata said quietly, looking at the ground. "It was horrible what happened to her yesterday."
Nodding in understanding was Ino thinking hard about doing what the dominant side of Hinata asked of her. Her state really seemed to be serious when even the original Hinata told her that something terrible happened. "Hey, Hinata-chan, keep an eye on my body, okay?" she asked smiling.
Before Hinata got a chance to reply was Ino already making her clan's signature jutsu handsign again, this time pointing at Hanabi. "Mind Transfer jutsu." she said, falling limp in her chair again, this time entering Hanabi's mind. Hinata just watched the scene worried and waited.
Inside Hanabi's mind
Standing in the middle of a forest was Ino noticing one thing right away: it was totally different compared to the mind of Hinata. And while two minds weren't enough to actually come to a conclusion was she sure that every mind will look different. She was wondering how her own might look like, but she hadn't time to think about that right now. Her attention got drawn to a quiet sobbing she could hear somewhere in front of her, though she weren't able to see anyone.
Deciding to follow the sobbing, the source must be Hanabi for sure, was Ino walking deeper into the forest she was in. She knew that she went in the right direction because the sobbing became louder with each step she took and it wasn't long before she reached a clearing in the forest. However, what she saw there shocked her to the core.
In the middle of the clearing sat Hanabi, her legs drawn to her body and her arms slung around it. She was clearly the source of the sobbing and crying, not paying attention to her surroundings. And that was something Ino understood quite well, when she looked around the clearing, or more precisely towards the outer corners of it.
To the right side of Hanabi was an inferno consuming the forest. Thinking about the words of both Hinata's was she sure that this must be a trauma from back when Hanabi got her burn scar. She did knew of these stories of course, but she never thought that Hanabi might have had problems with that. She always seemed so happy to her.
To the left side was thick mist inside the forest, something Ino couldn't place. The one thing she noted about that mist was that it must be ice cold because the trees and grass touched by it were covered in ice crystals. On a second glance was she guessing it must be related to the kidnapping, if the ropes that were wrapped around and hanging down from the branches were any indicator.
Lastly in front of Hanabi was a huge shadow lurking between the trees. It seemed to carry a large scythe with it, always glancing at Hanabi whenever the sight was clear. Ino couldn't place that one either, but had shivers running down her own back whenever she got a look on the featureless face of the shadowy figure. Again remembering what both Hinata's told her was she guessing that this one happened recently the day before. Taking another look in that direction was she also seeing that there was a body laying on the ground. She couldn't make out any details, but she could tell that it was wearing the typical green Konoha shinobi clothes.
She herself reached the clearing behind Hanabi and was glad that there was nothing like the stuff she could see in the other three directions. Though she figured that, if she was correct and each of these things was a trauma of Hanabi, that girl must have been through way more than she could imagine. Not wanting to think about if she was in danger if she got in contact with something of these things was she slowly stepping forward towards Hanabi.
"Hey, Hanabi." Ino called out to her friend, but the girl sitting there wasn't reacting. Closing the distance completely was Ino placing her hand on Hanabi's shoulder, talking to her again. "Hanabi-chan, hey, you okay?"
Not looking up at all, her head buried between her legs, was she quietly talking between sobs. "Go away..."
Ino couldn't help but sigh. It seemed like it would be harder than she thought it would be. She decided to enter Hanabi's mind to help her friend. But truth be told, she had no idea how to talk to someone being traumatized. "But I came all the way out here to see you, Hanabi-chan." she said calm and friendly, hoping that it would work.
"Just go..." Hanabi was still not looking up. "Go... or you will be trapt as well..." her sobs increased.
"Trapt?" Ino asked surprised, some worry inside her voice. "What do you mean with trapt?"
Hanabi wasn't answering to that. All she did was move her right arm, the one with her burn scar Ino noted, away from her legs and pointed first towards her left, then to the front and lastly to her right. Once finished with this movement snaked her arm back around her legs, pulling them even closer to her body.
Following the movements of Hanabi's arm with her eyes was Ino once again realizing that her friend must have went through a lot of things already. But she wouldn't give up that easily. "You aren't trapt here, Hanabi. Just look behind you, there is a way to get out. That's the way I reached you."
But the girl wasn't reacting to her anymore, not paying any attention to anything anymore, being completely back inside her despair. Ino tried to get her attention again by talking to her, by touching her, but Hanabi wasn't reacting to nothing.
After a good five minutes of trying to somehow get through to her was Ino giving up. "I will come back to help you. That's a promise." were the last words she spoke to her friend before turning around and walking back the way into the forest she came from. Once she neared her entry point could she sense the way out of Hanabi's mind and focused on it, leaving it for now.
Yamanaka Storeroom
Opening her eyes was Ino seeing the worried face of Hinata in front of her. Her eyes lit up hopefully when she realized that Ino was back, but the blonde girl only shook her head no to the unspoken question of Hinata. "If I had to guess is she trapt within three different traumas... It was... scary."
"I understand..." Hinata said quietly, before smiling weakly. "But thanks for trying, Ino."
She stood up and walked over to her sister, gently grabbing her shoulder and shaking her lightly. "We are back, mistress."
Blinking her eyes a few times was Hanabi trying to figure out for a moment where she was. She totally spaced out shortly after Ino entered Hinata's mind and hadn't realized anything that happened inside the storeroom. Not even that both girls came back to reality and Ino entering her own mind shortly after. Looking into the smiling face of her sister was Hanabi slightly nodding. "That's good. Tell me about it later, am not in the mood for it..." she said coldly. "We are going now to meet Naruto for lunch. Want to tag along, Ino?"
Ino wasn't paying that much attention, still being surprised by Hinata adressing Hanabi as mistress. It seemed like the dominant Hinata was telling her the truth after all. When she started to feel the glare of Hanabi on her was Ino quickly snapping out of her thoughts, looking into the waiting and slightly angry face of Hanabi. She wasn't sure what Hanabi might have ask her, so she just nodded. "Uhm, sure..."
"Fine, than come along." Hanabi said before walking towards the door, expecting the other girls to follow her.
Said girls started to move a moment later with Ino giving Hinata a questioning and slightly worried look. Having seen the scene that just happened was Hinata smiling reassuringly back at Ino, starting to whisper. "Don't worry. You only agreed to join us at lunch with Naruto-kun.".
Ino sighed in relief after hearing that. After all the things she experienced within the minds of both her friends was she worried that she might have agreed on something she could regret later. Like placing a collar around her neck, like the dominant Hinata suggested to her... she shook her head to get it clear again. It was just lunch with her friends.
Hokage Office
Hiruzen was just starting to read some papers when an angry Hiashi entered his office. Raising an eyebrow at his friend and the way he charged into his office was he placing the papers back down on his desk, mustering the head of the Hyuga clan. "You look kinda upset, Hiashi. What can I help you with today?"
"Don't play dumb! I know exactly what you did and I want to know why. Why have you approved that nonsense between my daughters? Show me the papers and let me destroy them at once!" Hiashi shouted, glaring angrily at the head of the village.
Pulling his pipe out of his desk was Hiruzen igniting it and taking a deep and calm inhale. "Ah, I guess they told you then?"
"Told me? They told me? They came back late at night, looking like shit. And instead of explaining anything did they yell at me, telling me a story about you having given them some official papers for enslaving each other. I won't tolerate such nonsense!" Hiashi slammed his hands on the desk, trying his best to look intimidating at the Hokage.
Said man simply said in his chair, radiating and aura of complete calmness. "Ah yes, that really was an ugly situation. Have you heard already? Mizuki tricked the Uchiha heir into stealing the Forbidden Scroll. Your girls were there by chance to stop him from getting away. If it weren't for one member from our scouting network might Hanabi-chan have ended abducted with an unknown fate and Mizuki might have gotten away with her and the scroll."
Hiashi's eyebrow was twitching. "Enough of that nonsense already! I don't care about that! I want to know why you approved the slavery between my daughters and to cancel it right away!"
Hiruzen was thinking for a moment, before smiling slightly. "Ah, sure, I can tell you that much if you wait a moment. Cat?" he said, waiting for his ANBU to appear in front of him. "Would you please go and get C for me? I think we might need his expertise in this situation."
"As you wish, but... I'm not sure if he will be able to come here at all. Knowing Anko might he be occupied at this moment." Cat replied politely, glad that none could see her smirk behind her mask.
"Ah, I see. Tell Anko that I will compensate her for her time and that she can come discuss the terms later. That is if she really is involved right now." Hiruzen replied still completely calm.
Cat simply nodded and disappeared with a puff of smoke. Hiashi was getting more angry from moment to moment, clearly unhappy that he was ignored right now. "Are you trying to make a fool out of me? I want answers and I want them now! And who the hell is this C person?"
"You will meet him soon enough. As for your question is the answer pretty simple. They came into my office and Hanabi requested a slave holder license. After confirming that she fulfilled all requirements did I do the only correct thing and granted her one. And when she told that she wanted to register Hinata as her slave, well..." Hiruzen simply shrugged.
"Stop playing with me! Tell me what happened or I'll forget that you are the Hokage!" Hiashi grunted, his patience nearly gone completely already.
"I again confirmed that everything was legit and prepared that as well. If you want to have a look on it?" he pulled a copy of the information sheet about Hinata out of one desk drawer and handed it to Hiashi.
Grabbing the sheet was Hiashi quickly scaning over it, raising an eyebrow. "Hinata Hyuga, heir of the Hyuga clan. Rank: genin of Konoha, cleared for active duty. Slave status: clan internal." he read out loud before glaring at Hiruzen again. "And what the hell does that suppose to mean? Would you please explain that to me?"
"It means that the village is recognizing her slave status and that her owner has to follow the villages slavery laws. But since the slavery itself is counted as a clan internal thing is she not handled like property by the village, how it usually would be, but still as kunoichi of the village and with that cleared for active duty. That is as long as the owner is allowing that which is the reason why in such a case slave and owner are usually on the same team." a voice explained from behind Hiashi, letting him turn around. Leaning inside the doorframe was a blonde man, his arms crossed over his chest. He gave a quick wave towards the Hokage. "Yo boss, Kitten said you had something urgent?"
"Who is this guy?" Hiashi demanded to know. "And why does he sound that calm and bored while talking about my daughter?"
"Ah, C, glad you could make it that quick. You know Hiashi Hyuga here, right? The father of Hanabi and Hinata, clan head of the Hyuga? Well, he seems to have some questions on which we could need your special knowledge." Hiruzen was still calm, ticking off Hiashi even more.
"A pleasure to meet the man that brought so much entertainment into my life." C stated while still standing inside the doorframe, not bothering to move or if anybody would hear the talking outside the room.
"Entertainment? Are you saying that my daughters are entertaining you? What do you have to do with them anyway?" Hiashi's focus was completely on C now. The Hokage took the opportunity to pick up the papers he was going to read prior to the disturbation again.
"I suppose he's cleared for these informations, boss?" C asked loud enough for the Hokage to hear who simply nodded without looking up from the papers he was reading. "Well, my name is C and I assisted with the registration of the first slave in ages. I'm also hoping to lent the little one a hand in training her slave and am still expecting a reply from my boss whether or not I'll be put in charge of all slavery related matters. Guess that would kinda kill my boredom whenever I'm not tasked with scouting and information gathering."
"What? That doesn't explain anything!" Hiashi shouted out loud. "Tell me what you have to do with my daughters!"
C sighed out loud. "You want to know the truth? That's fine. I was one of the people who kidnapped them around 3 years ago and tried to sell them on the slave market. I got found and beaten by Spooky, moved into the village some time later, made amends with your daughters and became friends with them. I'm also responsible for the latest trauma the little one most likely fell into which honestly was an accident. If I hadn't pulled drastic actions against that creep Mizuki might he have gotten away with Hanabi-chan as breeding stock. And that would have been worse. Happy now?"
He was watching Hiashi who kept silent after hearing these informations. Realizing that he most likely didn't knew much about his daughters life's up until now was Hiashi thinking hard about what he would do and say next. If the informations he just got were just the short form of the things his daughters went through so far...
"Wait... you did say earlier that this stupid slavery thing was clan internal, right? That means I can nullify it as clan head..." he pushed his current thoughts aside, not wanting to think about the new informations right now. There was still this slavery problem he needed to solve. The one his daughters must be obsessed with if they even registered officially.
"Nope, you can't. While it indeed is a clan matter of some sort is slavery the one exception were the village laws have priority over clan rules. The owner does have full responsibility over the slave and none can interfere with it." C explained calmly, watching the grimace Hiashi was making. "That is by the way an agreement the clans and the first Hokage came up with."
"Sometimes I worry about the things you are intrested in..." the Hokage spoke up, putting a report to the side. "You really dug deep to find these things in our villages history, haven't you? It's way more than I know about."
"Ah, I take it you just found time to read my latest report?" C was grinning like a madman and Hiashi was watching the scene totally confused and lost for words.
"I did indeed..." Hiruzen took a deep inhale of his pipe. "And I must say that I support Hanabi in her decision of registering her slave.". That got Hiashi's attention back to the matter at hand and he was about to speak up but the Hokage was quicker to continue. "Say Hiashi, when are you planning to register the hundreds of slaves you own?"
"What?!" now was he lost completely and his jaw hung wide open. He came to the Hokage to get this nonsense about his daughters right and was now accused of owning hundreds of slaves? That was too much for him to take.
"It was recently brought to my attention that your 'Branch Family' system is basicly just a huge way of slavery. So, planning to go with the village laws and registering them anytime soon?" Hiruzen asked friendly, watching the clan head carefully.
His mind was lost completely now and he started stuttering. "I... you... they... you said something about a recent trauma, right? I'll go and see if I can help my daughter... Hanabi was it, right? Right..." he moved like he was in trance and left the office, pushing C aside to get past him.
He was watching the clan head leave before turning back to the Hokage. "I would suggest to create a new law. Every new slave from now on needs to be registered. Existing slaves may be an exception." he shrugged slightly. "So, about the job of being in charge of all slavery related things..."
Hiruzen shook his head. "The last time I saw him that spaced out was when his wife, the mother of the girls, died. I'll think about your position soon... I fear we might need someone in charge there. So..." he relaxed back into his chair. "Do I need to compensate Anko for letting you come here?"
"Not really." shrugging his shoulders was C turning to leave the room. "She already created her own conditions and kept Kitten in exchange. I wouldn't plan with her for the next three hours or so." he gave the Hokage a wave back over his shoulder and was gone as well.
"When did managing a whole village became that crazy? Is anyone left that actually is following rules?" Hiruzen asked himself before sighing and getting back to his paperwork.
Ichiraku Ramen
The girls were nearing the ramen stand where they agreed to meet Naruto for lunch to celebrate the passing of the genin test. They could see him waiting in front of the stand already and when he spotted them approaching was he waving in their direction, shouting out their names. "Hey, over here! Hanabi-chan, Hinata-chan!"
"Great, just what I need today..." Hanabi mumbled to herself. "Draw the attention on us..."
Hinata was keeping quiet and Ino was thinking about doing the same, when something catched her attention and she couldn't help but to blurt out her thoughts. "I guess entering your minds must have had a drawback on me... I don't see any reasonable explanation for why I see Naruto twice..."
"Uhm... I can see two Naruto-kuns as well..." Hinata said quietly, her eyes focusing on the three raised hands that waved in their direction.
When they got close to their target could they clearly see that there were indeed two Naruto's standing in front of the ramen stand waiting for them. Both of them had a wide grin on their faces and one of the two spoke up when the girls reached him. "Huh, didn't knew that Ino-chan would join us for lunch. Want to celebrate passing the test with us?"
Ino nodded in reply. "Yeah, Hanabi-chan asked me to come along when I was finished helping her. But, uhm... Naruto? When did you manage to create a clone? I thought that was something you just couldn't do?"
The second Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. "Hey! I'm no stupid clone! I'm the real deal, believe it!"
Hanabi wasn't in the mood for games and decided to simply act on the situation, throwing a quick punch towards the Naruto claiming to be something better than a clone. Her eyes went wide for a moment when the supposed to be clone grabbed her wrist, effectively blocking her punch with that. "Funny... that just means that the other is the clone." Hanabi spat out, her bad mood clearly visible to everyone.
"You think so?" the other Naruto asked before walking past her to Ino and Hinata, walking in the middle between them and placing one arm over the shoulder of each girl. "I would say we go inside and enjoy our lunch, celebrate our passing and I'll tell you something great!"
He pushed the two girls forward into the ramen stand and Hanabi watched in disbelief that the other Naruto was no clone either because a clone wouldn't be able to touch anybody physically. The other Naruto let go of Hanabi's wrist and motioned for her to walk inside as well. "I think he got a great idea there. Let's get inside and eat something, Hanabi-chan." a grin back on his face was he leading her into the stand.
Once all of them were seated at the counter and ordered their meals did the three girls look over at the Naruto who was leaning at the wall of the stand, not having ordered anything. Seeing the looks was he just shrugging. "The boss said he don't want to pay for two of him and, honestly, I can understand that. Have you ever seen how much I can eat?"
"Hey, just because it's true doesn't mean that you have to call it out loud!" the sitting Naruto replied kinda upset, glaring at the standing version of himself.
"You would have done the same if our positions were reversed. I am you, remember?" the standing Naruto replied kinda bored.
"So... this is a clone, right?" Ino asked carefully. "But not a normal one, right? So... what kind of clone is it and more importantly when did you learn that?" she looked at the sitting Naruto who she supposed to be the original one.
A wide grin entered Naruto's face. "That's a Shadow Clone! The old man gave me instructions to learn that jutsu after C and I brought the scroll back to him yesterday. Was up all night to practice it and there you got the result!"
"Wait, the Hokage gave you instructions for a forbidden technique?" Ino asked in disbelief, before another information hit her brain. "Woah, wait, what scroll? What happened yesterday? Hinata-chan mentioned that something happened?". She looked from one friend to another and saw the most different reactions. Hinata was looking at the ground, not daring to speak a single word. Hanabi was turning her head away, crossing her arms over her chest. And Naruto, with his carefree nature, looked at Ino with disbelief.
"You mean the Queen of Gossip hasn't heard it yet? That's rare. Mizuki-sensei tricked Sasuke into stealing a Forbidden Scroll and we encountered them, trying to get it back. Mizuki-sensei is dead by now and Sasuke ran away." Naruto explained the events of the day before in short, like they were nothing, before digging into his ramen that was brought while he talked.
The sisters were trying to avoid the gaze of Ino which eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. "What? You mean you killed one of our teachers? Are you crazy?" her eyes landed on Hanabi. "Is that the reason for your mood? What happened?"
Naruto was focused on his ramen, not bothering to answer and Hinata started to eat her ramen as well, hoping that she didn't need to answer either. Hanabi was still turning her head away, pretending to not realize anything and it was the standing Naruto clone that spoke up instead. "I wouldn't push the girls for details, if I were you. That was... just awful. And it weren't we who killed Mizuki-sensei, it was C who came to the scene after us."
"That sounds bad..." Ino nodded slightly before picking up her cup of ramen and standing up, walking over to the Naruto clone. "You can fill me in on the details, right?" she smiled sweetly at him before starting to eat with the clone gulping before nodding in return. There was nothing wrong with informing their friend about what happened, right?
Hanabi, realizing that she didn't have to add anything to the conversion finally started to eat as well, keeping quiet and to herself all the time. Naruto on the other side was at his third cup already, a happy smile on his face all the time. He still followed the advise he got from C, to give the girls time to get over the events. He was smart enough to not try to push them to speak about it.
Hinata, while still eating, leaned her head on Naruto's shoulder and simply enjoyed him being near her. It was one of the few freedoms she had right now and she intended to take advantage of it. Plus the contact really felt calming to her.
Teuchi looked at the kids and shook his head, speaking quietly to himself. "Hadn't Naruto told me that they wanted to celebrate their passing of the genin test? Doesn't look like celebrating to me... the whole scene is so awkward..."
Walking down the street was Kakashi, actually looking for the kids he would teach as jonin-sensei starting the next day. He expected them to be at the ramen stand for lunch and decided to wait with his search til noon that he could go there as first stop. If he was wrong could he still search somewhere else afterwards. "Look after Hanabi he said..." he mumbled to himself. "She is most likely traumatized and might need someone to talk to... I mean, she went through a lot, no question, but I went through worse when I was her age... Ah, guess I won't get around it, being her sensei soon." he went through his talk with the Hokage again, who asked him to look after the girl.
Reaching the ramen stand was he poking his head through the curtains, having a smile on his face. "Yo!" he said to no one in particular and got no reaction on it at all. However, the scene he was seeing shocked him the most. On one side of the ramen stand were Naruto and Ino standing - with Naruto talking like crazy and Ino eating. That looked totally wrong to him and should be reversed. Hinata had her head on Naruto's shoulder, a sight that would go as cute were it not for the fact that he could clearly see that both of them were kinda tense. Considering the informations he recently got about these kids and the event of the prior day was it no big surprise to him. Though he was wondering why there were two Narutos.
And lastly was there Hanabi, sitting all alone for herself, just eating her ramen and not caring about anyone in her surrounding. 'Huh, I guess he was right when he told me about her state. If none is going to help her in a way might she get lost in her despair' he thought to himself. 'Well, gotta try my best then.'
He was entering the ramen stand completely, giving Teuchi a quick wave before approaching Hanabi. "Hey Hanabi." he called out to her when standing next by her side, hoping that she would react to him when he talked directly with her.
Sensing someone in her near surrounding and barely hearing her name was she not looking up, just replying on instinct. "Leave me alone..."
"Huh, why so cold towards me? We know each other for how long now? Just wanna talk. You okay?" he tried again, placing his hand on her shoulder.
Needing to react to the physical contact was she turning around and glared at the one touching her. Realizing who it was did she the first thing entering her mind, pushing his hand away with her own and yelling at him. "I said to leave me alone, Spooky!"
That outburst grabbed the attention of the others inside the ramen stand, watching Hanabi and Kakashi with different expressions. Hinata had worry and fear written all across her face, not wanting to see her sister become even more mad than she already was. Both Naruto's were looking at Kakashi with an expression that wanted to tell 'You are an idiot. Even I am aware that you shouldn't approach her currently.'. Ino was looking shocked at Hanabi, not being able to remember that she ever had such an outburst. Sure, she could have a bad temper and all and Ino was partially aware of what happened to Hanabi, but that outburst was scaring her to the core.
Kakashi was still smiling at the girl and tried it one more time. "I just want to help you. Common, we are friends, aren't we? Let me help. You know, I experienced a lot during my life as well and am sure that I can help you."
Hinata let her head hang in defeat, knowing that he just made it worse. Ino got to the same conclusion and faceplamed, shaking her head in disbelief. Both couldn't really understand how men could be that stupid and approach a girl at a time it would be way better to leave them alone. Grabbing the ramen cup she ate from before was Hanabi throwing it the short distance at Kakashi, who easily catched it. When Hanabi started to do handsigns was he making a step backwards, which turned out to be a mistake. "Earth Style: Stepping Stone." she said grinning, raising a single stone out of the earth, right behind the foot Kakashi was moving, resulting in him falling backwards over it and on his ass.
He wasn't trying to avoid the fall or anything, realizing that he brought her reaction on him by himself. Not looking at Hanabi was he laying on the ground, still holding the ramen cup he had saved from sure destruction if he had let go of it. Hanabi wasn't looking at him either, simply getting up from her stool. "We are leaving, sis..." she said coldly before stepping over Kakashi and leaving the stand.
"Yes, Hanabi-sama." she replied before getting up herself. Pulling some money out of her pocket did she put it on the counter to pay for her and Hanabi's meal before quickly following her sister.
It got quiet after that and seconds passed, before Ino made a step forward, kicking at Kakashi's leg. "You know, Spooky, all your experience and you fail to realize when to leave a girl alone? That's just sad."
Still not moving and laying on the ground was Kakashi thinking it over and nodded slightly. "I guess you are right. Well, I'll most likely get enough time starting tomorrow to make up for that..."
It got quiet again before the Naruto clone spoke up, drawing the attention of all others on him. "Uhm, wait a moment... did Hinata-chan just called Hanabi-chan Hanabi-sama?"
Ino was biting on her lower lip and Kakashi kept silent, both not wanting to say anything. It wasn't their role and not the time or place to talk about that. The real Naruto looked back at his clone and shrugged it off. They would tell him, if there was something to tell. That was something he was sure about.
Hyuga Compound
It was getting dark when the sisters finally got home. After the incident at the ramen stand did Hanabi wander around the village aimlessly before heading to the outskirts of the village, simply laying down on a patch of grass, letting the time pass. Hinata was following her the whole time, not wanting to upset her any more.
Hinata was fearing that their father would be waiting for them again, trying to catch up on the conversation of the evening before, but to her surprise was he nowhere to be seen. At least wasn't he going to make the situation worse for everyone. She was wondering the whole day how she might be able to help her sister get out of this mood, to get away from the things making her act that cold and distant towards everyone. It frustrated her that she wasn't able to come up with a solution.
On their way to their rooms could they hear whispers between other clan members they passed. The events from the evening before must have made the round around the clan compound, sending a shiver down Hinata's spine, fearing how she might be treated starting now. Hanabi on the other side wasn't paying any attention to the whispering. She wasn't in any mood to even care for her other clan members.
Beside of the whispering did they reach Hanabi's room without problems and went inside. Hinata closed the door behind them and stopped right next to it, unsure what to do right now. Walking over to her bed was Hanabi climbing in and laying down, looking at the ceiling of her room. "Say, sis, what did Ino-chan find inside your mind?" she asked absent mindly, not looking at her sister.
Hinata was surprised by that question, not having expected it at all. She was under the impression that her sister wouldn't care about anything today and would keep to herself. "Uhm... I have no idea..." she answered quietly, getting a look from Hanabi who turned her head to watch her sister. "You see... when she was inside my mind didn't I see her or anything... I was basicly just stuck inside my nightmare and only got out of it when she left." she shrugged her shoulders helpless. "You need to ask her about it..."
"I would have done that if it weren't for that stupid Spooky... Couldn't he just leave me alone?" Hanabi asked no one in particular before sighing. She came to the conclusion that she wanted that day to end, also having in mind that they needed to be at the Academy the next morning for the team assignments. Still laying in bed was she getting rid of her clothes, stripping out of them down to her underwear. She let them simply fall next to her bed and pulled the blanket over her body, turning her head to her sister who was still standing next to the door. "You'll stay with me tonight, Nata-chan..." she said quietly. "We both know that I will be haunted tonight..."
Nodding was Hinata finally stepping away from the door and moving over to her sisters bathroom. When she got out of it again was she wearing light blue pajamas, carrying her clothes over to a chair to lay them down, before moving to the bed to slip under the blanket to her sister.
The first thing Hanabi did was moving closer to her sister and cuddling into her before slightly smiling. "It wasn't too bad wearing your collar in public, was it?"
Again was Hinata surprised by that question but she was glad that her sister at least now was a bit more open towards her and not as cold as she was the whole day. "I guess... I mean, nobody seemed to have noticed it because I hid it under the headband. But the whispering of our clan members was kinda bad." she replied honestly.
"Yeah... and we have to deal with father tomorrow as well." Hanabi yawned. "He will surely be there to see us off for the assignments..." cuddling at her sister even more was she closing her eyes. "Don't leave me, sis... ever..." she mumbled before falling asleep.
Hinata was smiling at her sister, holding her close to her own body. "How could I? I am yours, remember?" she whispered into Hanabi's ear before falling asleep a short time later.
True to her fears was Hanabi having a nightmare this night, having her sister close to her not helping at all. Hinata too was caught in her nightmare this night, finding herself in a position she experienced so many times during her dreams...
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Author's Note: Okay, I know I went a bit crazy this chapter. Like, totally. But hey, it's about dreams and the minds of individuals - if you aren't going crazy there, when do you? I actually also wanted to put the nightmare scene in this chapter too, but it already is the longest chapter so far, so... cliffhangar, again. I'm sorry. Plus I ran out of writing time this week and don't wanted to postpone the release til after the weekend.
But hey, now do you have something to look forward, knowing that the next chapter will start with exactly that scene. And it will be different from Hinata's usual one. I mean... no point in doing the same thing over and over again, right? And am having both girls at the same time. Am sure it will be a nice scene. At least does it look like one inside my head. You'll see...