This chapter also jumps around in timelines quite a bit (ie the perspective of each character takes them from when they return/awoke up to a few weeks thereafter), I hope it won't be too confusing to read.

Also for all content creators and content readers/appreciators — WE MUST FIGHT ARTICLE 13! It is an EU directive aiming to shut down a lot of fan-created content (which means sites like this one, ffnet, Youtube, Tumblr and others). We will be blocked from accessing or creating under the guise of protecting copyrights. This will also affect people who create original content and link their work by using these sites. If you enjoy fan fiction, you'll be down to only enjoying only your own works if Article 13 is passed! It will also affect things like memes, fan-analysis videos and other types of fan-related content. IT IS THE NET-NEUTRALITY DEBATE ALL OVER AGAIN, BUT IN THE EU THIS TIME. To everyone in the rest of the world, you will lose your EU/UK creators so please do not ignore this! Talk to your creators/bffs in the UK and EU and encourage them to talk to their MEPs and FIGHT THIS!

Those in the UK and EU — talk to your MPs/representative to STOP IT! I DO NOT WANT TO LOSE THE INTERNET or what the internet really stands for: creation and networking.

This chapter is a biggun' since you've all had to wait for so long — and please remember: life won't be divided into neat chapters, sometimes shit all hits you at once. But I completed NaNoWriMo (yay!) so you have another 50k of this story to go and then some (it still isn't finished lol . and depending on how the Article 13 vote goes, you might never get to read all of it T.T)

Whew okay: on to the chapter, for those actually reading this sorry it's taken so long!

Hakujitsumu XI

As soon as Sakura landed at the gates of Konoha and saw the industry of the civilians working to rebuild, she wasn't sure if she felt elated or exhausted. The battle might have been over, but the recovery was only just beginning and it would surely take many long years yet. The group of shinobi arrived with an odd scattering of whoops and claps, but it was hardly a welcome, many barely paused in their work to stop and look at the returning party of grubby and tired shinobi as they made their way towards the administration building.

"So everyone in the world really did wake up at the same time, huh?" Naruto said,

"Looks like it." Sakura quietly agreed, "Let's see what Tsunade-sama has to say first."

"Yeah! Then I want ramen." Naruto agreed, before adding quietly, "Lots of ramen." The group slowly climbed the stairs and filed into Tsunade's office which, in their absence, had become a fucking mess; it looked as if a hoard of Naruto clones had whirled through the place each brandishing a rasengan. Shikamaru could barely open the door for the stacks of untidy papers and files scattered about,

"Don't knock that—!" Tsunade shouted, but cut herself off as the stack scattered to the floor regardless of her wishes, "…over… Oh, you're back, good, come in."

"Good afternoon, Tsunade-sama." Sakura greeted as politely as she could, sensing now would not be a good time to poke the bear,

"So you were successful in defeating Otsutsuki and Hinata took down the tree which awoke everyone under the Infinite Tsukikomi simultaneously."

"H-hai, Tsunade-sama." Sakura replied, not entirely sure whether she was stating or asking,

"And are you aware that all the civilians have now woken up with chakra?"

"What?"

"What?"

"Ehh?" Shikamaru, Sakura and Naruto all replied simultaneously, Tsunade shushed them with a hand,

"I've seen everybody and even pulled their records to double check — every single person who had been under the Infinite Tsukikomi has awoken with their own innate source of chakra; for the shinobi who've woken up, seem to have only their original stores."

"So… what does this mean for Konoha?" Shikamaru asked slowly,

"We're not sure yet, I've been struggling to keep the peace, a lot of the former civilians feel a lot of entitlement and ego from the power they've suddenly gained and with all of the shinobi returning to the village, things might get messy. I'll be giving full briefs to all of the Jounins and Chuunins, who will in turn brief their respective teams to keep the peace, but I'll tell you this now: do not engage with any civilians who might be looking for a fight, do not provoke any fights and above all aim to dissipate any crowds or mobs before anything gets physical. Got it?"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." They all replied,

"Good, now first things first: well done, all of you; you saved, quite literally, the world." Tsunade smiled broadly and genuinely, "There won't be any major missions anytime soon, save for rebuilding the village, so I think you can all afford a week off at least, please get your reports written in the mean time and enjoy your time off."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," They replied and bowed low and left her office.

The rebuild of Konoha managed to, somehow, be both fast and slow at the same time; for many of the civilian population were eager to test out their new found chakra but their lack of discipline and control meant they destroyed more than they fixed. But for some, it meant a lot of the pressure was taken off the shinobi and the work had been more evenly distributed. The two months it took for the village to be brought back up to its full functioning capacity had, for some, been a lazy time — Kakashi and Gai were prime examples though had polar opposite opinions (much like their respective personalities). Kakashi had remained deeply under his rinnegan induced coma, though he was healthy and under the watchful eye of both Sakura and Shizune. Gai, however, had been truly heartbroken to realise the position that he was in: where days before, to his mind, he'd been enthusiastically training and growing in a happy Konoha but had awoken to a tense village with two useless limbs. Even his unfailing optimism seemed to have taken a hit, unable to bear the weight of the loss of the one thing Gai had always built himself upon. He'd spent many days alone in his hospital room and refused visitors often.

It had taken Ino five separate attempts before she could even so much as catch Gai awake, more often than not, she suspected that he'd merely been feigning sleep; it had been a galling sight to look down at the man who'd always been so strong and so positive now bedridden and bandaged. As desperate as Ino was to be there for her former, impromptu mentor and provide him with some semblance of support in his difficult time, it had been blindingly clear that he wanted no company so she'd left him be. Lee had been almost as persistent as Ino intruding to talk to Gai and they'd bumped into each other in the corridor outside his room about a week after they'd returned from the battle with Otsutsuki,

"Lee? You're awake!"

"Hai, good morning, Ino, how are you?"

"I'm fine thanks, Lee, but I'm worried abut Gai; have you been able to get him to talk to you?"

"Ah, no. Gai-sensei's heart is really suffering but I don't know what to do! Do you think he would appreciate dumplings?"

"Lee, I'm not sure what to do either, I don't want to leave him alone but he clearly doesn't want company right now." Ino replied, sliding down onto the bench lining the corridor, Lee took a seat next to her,

"…Gai-sensei was always so positive and encouraging, he never stopped believing in me and that even if things failed, I would still have a way of standing back up. I don't know how to do the same for Gai-sensei when he won't even talk to me." Lee said, his voice a good deal more sombre than Ino was used to hearing from him.

"Maybe we're trying too hard, too soon? Gai's only had a week to get used to reality, he probably just needs some time to get used to the position that he's now in. Perhaps we should just giving him a little time to get used to things?" Ino offered,

"You might well be right, even though it feels cruel."

"Let's give him a few days, Lee. What does Gai like to eat or drink best? You said something about dumplings?"

"Uh… well, Gai-sensei is very frond of fruits, mango in particular and he's rather fond of saké. And Gai had a recipe for special healing dumplings."

"Well, then why don't we put a basket together? Of Gai's favourite foods and a little bottle of saké, I think we should keep it simple and small, things that Gai doesn't feel he has to respond to or put on a good face for, if he isn't ready."

"Yes! That is a good idea! We should be gentle with Gai-sensei and let him recover at his own pace!" Lee's volume slowly increased along with his height as he rose up from his seated position, "We will help Gai-sensei, but we will also let him tell us how he needs to be helped! TAKE HEART, GAI-SENSEI! ALL IS NOT LOST!" He finally bellowed down the corridor, earning no less than four replies of "shut the hell up!" and Sakura's appearance from a distant room and she stomped down the corridor,

"Lee what do you think you're doing, screaming like that? We have patients who're trying to recover!"

"Ah, um, sorry Sakura-san, I guess I got a bit, ah, excited."

"No kidding." She deadpanned, clearly not appeased with his explanation,

"Ah, sorry Sakura, Lee and I were just talking about what to do with Gai, he clearly doesn't want any visitors."

"Then it is probably best to give him some space, this is all very new to him, after all, you should come back in a week or so… and stop it with the shouting." She fixed Lee with a serious look, "Even if Gai likes it, keep shouting like that and you won't get ten steps into this hospital before someone punches you."

"H-hai, Sakura." Lee sheepishly replied, "Sorry. I'll see you later, Ino-san."

"Oh, wait, Lee, I meant to ask you something: do you have chakra now?"

"What?" Lee asked, cocking his head to the side slightly,

"Didn't you hear, Lee? All of the civilians who were caught by the tree woke up with chakra." Ino explained,

Lee looked between them carefully for a few moments, "That is a cruel joke, Ino-san."

"No, Lee, she's being serious, all the civilians really did wake up the ability to knead chakra, that means you might be able to as well." Sakura said, nodding encouragingly at him,

"Then, I should go train! Bye Ino-san, Sakura-san."

"See you later, Lee, we'll raise Gai's spirits soon enough," Ino offered a grin and thumbs up,

"Hai!"

"Who were you visiting?" Ino asked as the two walked slowly down the corridor,

"Ah, I was just talking to Kakashi." Sakura replied,

"He's awake?"

"Of course not, he's still in the coma, but talking to him whilst I check his vitals kinda helps… even if he can't answer me."

"He always did seem a bit non-verbal." Ino replied,

"Ino!"

"I didn't mean it like that, Forehead, I just meant he's a pretty quiet guy at the best of times, right?"

"Sometimes, but that's mostly with people he doesn't know well."

"I thought you were supposed to be off this week, anyway?"

"I was, but I just wanted to see how Kakashi was doing. I'm not actually on shift."

"So how was the fight with Kaguya? It seemed like you guys beat her so quickly."

"Yeah, it was the Tree, I'm sure of it, with the tree taken down, she'd been cut off from accessing all that chakra which really gave us a vital edge — and thanks to Kakashi, we didn't waste it."

"Okay, but what was it like? Did she use any weird jutsu on you? She must have had incredible powers!"

"Yeah…" Sakura trailed off and it took Ino a moment to realise that she'd stopped walking,

"Sakura? Are you all right?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

"Sakura, we've known each other practically our whole lives, what's wrong?"

"Ah, it was just… a genjutsu she used on me. I… saw Misaki again."

"Oh-oh! What? What did she do?"

"You remember Misaki?"

"Of course I do! That little kid was the cutest!"

"I— I told her she didn't exist and Ino, she started crying and asking what she'd done, as if she'd done something to deserve it!" Tears were welling in Sakura's eyes at the memory,

"Oh, Sakura!" Ino pulled her into a hug, "I'm so sorry! But that was just a genjutsu, she was only manipulating your memories against you. Misaki loved you so much and you loved her! You had no control over the way things went and no one can change what's happened. She used her abilities to manipulate you and she paid for that with death… by Kakashi's hand no less."

"Yeah, I… intellectually, I know that right, but somehow, I just can't, I… seeing her stood by my leg, just the way she used to." Sakura took a deep breath, "When I was training with Mageruko-sama, it was like I was able to put the past and those feelings into a box, not forgotten or ignored, but just set aside not allowing them to cloud my mind or my judgement, but on that battlefield, everything just came right back, like the lid had been pulled off and all those feeling just came right back to the forefront again… I can't get that lid back on no matter how much I meditate."

Ino looked carefully at her old friend, "I think you need some time, too, Sakura, no one's really stopped since we were awoken, no one — and least of all you, I think — have had any time to really take in what happened, have you even talked to Kakashi about Misaki, yet?"

"No."

"Maybe you guys should, maybe it would help you both to talk about her and your memories of her. Are you guys together now, by the way?"

"Yeah, I think so, at least." Sakura replied, "We've already slept together."

"What?" Ino whipped her head around to face her friend, not expecting Sakura to come out with that.

"We were married two months ago, it's not that weird, really, is it? It didn't feel weird."

"I… I guess you have a point and making up for all that time you wasted before getting together the first time, by the sounds of it." Ino rolled her eyes slightly, "Did you hear Hinata and Naruto broke up?"

"Yeah, he sort of mentioned it. He didn't seem very happy about it though and I really thought they'd have been the first to rekindle things."

"I know, right? But I think a lot of things have changed and some things haven't, at least, not so much. If you still love Kakashi and like being with him, and he you, then why change that? That said, I still think you need to talk to him about Misaki and the things you experienced in the Tsukikomi."

"Yeah you always did give good advice, Ino, thanks." Sakura smiled, "Oh, I was just about to go and check on Hinata and see if she was ready to be discharged, you want to come and help her get home? She'll still be a bit sore from her injuries."

"Oh, uh, you think that's a good idea? I mean, wouldn't she have some of the Hyuuga clan to help her?"

"She's not joined at the hip to them, besides you guys are friends, right?"

"Well, sort of… I guess? Besides, I thought you said you weren't on duty today?"

"I think she'll be happy to see you, c'mon." Sakura said, "And I bumped into Shizune earlier, she asked me to discharge Hinata."

"Morning, Hinata, how are you feeling?" Sakura asked as she stepped into the room, leaving Ino waiting outside.

"Morning, Sakura, and pretty good actua—ow, well, good until I tried to sit up."

"Yes, you will be sore for a few weeks whilst your tissues heal, I'll give you a quick check over, then I can discharge you."

"Do you have to?"

"You don't want to go home?" Sakura asked,

"The rest of the clan will have woken up by now and I'm sure Father is back at the compound, ready to reinforce his rules with the clan."

"Ah well, I won't pretend like I ever actually knew Hiashi-san, but do you think it's in any way possible that he might have changed coming out of the Tsukikomi, like you did?" She asked as she gently pulled aside the blankets and pressed a hand glowing with chakra to Hinata's side,

"I suppose it is possible, but somehow I'm not holding my breath." She replied sarcastically, earning a sympathetic smile from Sakura.

"You're looking good and I think you're ready to go home. Ino's outside and she said she'd be happy to walk you home if you think you need any help?"

"That would be nice," Hinata smiled, "Please."

Lee left the hospital having failed in his primary task of seeing Gai-sensei, but had in fact discovered something interesting— he might now have chakra? It had been his life-long dream to become a ninja, from as early as he could remember, he looked up to and admired the shinobi he saw. But the realisation that he had no more chakra than the average civilian had been crushing and for the seemingly endless final year of the academy, he'd argued constantly with himself whether he should give up and stop fooling himself, though the taunts of his age mates rose in him a terrible stubbornness and one which eventually saw him achieve his Genin rank and then Gai had come into his life and taught him that he needn't see his lack of chakra as a failure but rather an opportunity to focus on his other talents and develop them into real skills. At this stage in his life, Lee knew his worth and didn't mourn his lack of chakra but some part of him was a little hesitant to test it. His identity had been built on being the master of taijutsu — what if he had only a little chakra? What if he was was too old to effectively learn ninjutsu? Or, worst of all he actually had no chakra?

He was being silly and he knew it, if Gai-sensei was beside him, he'd tell him to go and try calling his chakra with a simple henge and then move on from there, if he had chakra, then he should tackle learning ninjutsu with the same gusto he put into learning his taijutsu and if he had none then he still had his physical skills. There was nothing to lose and everything to gain.

"Oi! What d'you think you're doing?" An aggressive shout drew his attention from one of the nearby shops,

"I'm fixing your shop? Because apparently we all have absolutely nothing better to do! Unlike all the ninja!"

"Oh shut your whining! I'm taking over the repairs to my shop since you're doing it so badly! You can't just not put in the secondary supporting strut!"

"Oh and you're a construction engineer all of a sudden?" The first man rebutted, Lee popped hie head around the door to find the two stood in the middle of the half-repaired shop,

"Well I clearly know a damn lot more than you do! Get out of here."

"Hey! I'm still getting paid for doing this! I've already spent days working on this dump!"

"You want to get paid for this sorry excuse for work? Get out!" The older man grabbed the younger by his collar and flung him clean out of the door, narrowly missing Lee,

"Ah excuse me, please don't fight, if you need any work doing I will happily help you for free." Lee finally spoke up, as he helped the younger man to his feet,

"Get off! You ninja aren't so high and mighty now, we all have chakra!" The slighted younger was clearly trying to gather his own as he reached for Lee, but the trained shinobi was far quicker and evaded his grasp.

"You might well now have chakra, but since you aren't trained in its proper use, it is dangerous for you to carelessly wield it." Lee certainly meant well and his tone of voice was polite, but it had most definitely been the wrong thing to say. The younger man swiped at him several times, missing every mark which only served to make him angrier,

"Oh, leave him be, Shun, you're as worthless at construction as yer are at fightin'." The older man said, "And I don't need no help from some stuck up ninja, get lost, the both of you!"

"Have a good day," Lee bowed politely to the grouchy old man and continued on his way, tensions certainly were running high, the civilians must really feel that the playing field had been levelled with their gift of chakra from the Tree… but they had no training and no discipline and they would soon run into serious trouble. He'd stopped one fight at least and he did have a purpose to today! With renewed determination, he sprinted off to the training ground, which, it turned out was horrendously busy with milling civilians convinced they had somehow become jounins overnight and several grumpy shinobi trying to train whilst avoiding the careless, noisy civilians. After some minutes of trying to find a quiet area, he was eventually forced to move on to the more secluded training area atop the Hokage mountain. Today's search for chakra was not off to a good start clearly: but Lee was not one to take bad omens to heart and pushed on.

Eventually in the peace and quiet atop one of Gai's favoured training areas, he stood still, closed his eyes and paid attention to his body. Gai, for all of his enthusiasm and bravado, was a strong believer in meditation and understanding one's body: listening to what it needed, resting and activity were of equal importance. Throughout every meditation session, Lee had felt himself excluded from the conversation when Gai trained the four of them and he began speaking about how to sense the focal point of one's chakra, and to follow the pathways out to each of the fingers and toes. It had meant nothing to Lee, with no chakra to sense, but after such daily meditations and despite their grumbling, Neji's and TenTen's chakra control and jutsu usage had improved rapidly. And now, as Lee recalled Gai's calm, meditative words he searched for that same source of chakra he'd always heard about, he did feel a little bit different, but he followed the meditation through until his fingers tingled, he raised his hands together and tried the only jutsu he knew,

"Henge!"

Lee dared not believe it for a moment or two, as he saw the cloud of dust dissipate and he looked down at the blue trousers he was now sporting, the green flack jacket and the unusual scars he had on his hands. He lifted one to trace long board scar that crossed his face, cheek to cheek over his nose. He did it, he finally managed to transform himself into his old academy instructor in a feat that had been beyond him all those years ago. He let out a loud whoop and dancing around in his excitement, dispelling and re-executing the simple jutsu many times over, a different person each time. He had chakra. Finally! Now all he had to do was learn more ninjutsu!

If only he still had Gai-sensei to teach him.

For as sedentary as Kakashi's and Gai's recoveries had been, Hinata's had been radically different; even as Hinata and Ino slowly ambled back through the busy village, it would signify the last moment of peace for Hinata for what would turn out to be a good long while.

"You're back at last, Hinata." Hiashi had been waiting for her, "Are you fully healed?"

"Iee, Father, my injuries are healed, but my body still needs more rest until I will be back to full strength." Hinata replied, trying to remind herself to remain strong; something about her father just made her feel like she was four all over again,

"As expected. I was very surprised to hear that we apparently have you to thank for waking us all up and allowing Kakashi-san to strike the final blow."

"Hai, Father." Hinata replied as she regarded her father carefully, he had the same derisive line in his forehead and coldness in his eyes; his shoulders were squared and his feet close together: his favourite stance. It had always been a lie, a trick to fool any potential enemies into thinking that he was unprepared for an attack and, Hinata suspected, an attack was exactly what was coming.

"Then I assume you are well enough to explain exactly why you were in my study? Why had you gone through all of my private files? Did you think me dead?"

"No, Father, I did not; but at the time I was the most senior member of the Main House awake."

"And?" Hiashi demanded,

"Hiashi, please, Hinata has just been released from the hospital and she still needs rest, you can save your questions for later, I am certain she has a good reason." Hisako, Hinata's mother, interrupted as she walked across the entrance hall, "You can at least let her into the house, Hiashi. Hinata," Her mother smiled at her, "You are finally back home! I am so sorry that we didn't get to bring you home from hospital, you father thought it best we work on getting the clan compound repaired and our members briefed. Though, you look very well and I'm sure its nice to come back to the compound with it full of people rather than yourself alone."

Hinata found herself instantly relaxing at the appearance of her mother, though she carefully eyed the handful of branch house members scurrying through the main house carrying all manner of things from linens to cleaning utensils to pots and pans, clearly hard at work back in their old roles as domestic servants. "Ah, yes, I had Yiro-san and Ryutsa-san with me back then and they were a great help."

"Good, come and eat something, you must be hungry; I made you some onigiri, egg rolls and miso soup. I'm sorry it's not very exciting, but food supplies are still being rectified."

"It's all right, anything will be better than the ration packs they had at the hospital." Hinata laughed, slipping off her sandals and following her mother into the kitchen; she could feel her father's stare on her back but paid him no mind. She would eventually have to face Hiashi, but there would be an order to things. First: a good meal and then to go and find Yiro and Ryutsa.

…

"Ah, Yiro-san, how are you?"

"Hinata-sama! You're back from the hospital! How are you? I feel guilty that I wasn't on that mission to protect you—"

"Yiro-san, please, the teams had been decided by the Hokage and I am alive and well now. Do you have a few minutes spare to talk?"

"Of course, Hinata-sama, please come in." Yiro stood aside to welcome her into his modest house, "Would you like some tea?"

"Please. How has the clan been since everyone woke up?"

"Busy, Hiashi-sama has been keen to return the clan to its full functionality, as it was before the war."

"You don't sound too happy about that." Hinata replied, taking a seat on the zabuton,

"Oh, well, I understand it is expected, but… what you were saying, when it was just yourself, Ryutsa and I… well…"

"I understand, Yiro-san, and I still have every intention of changing the clan for the better."

"But… do you think Hiashi-sama will agree?" Yiro asked, his doubt clear in his voice as he carried the teapot and two cups over to the small table,

"I do not intend to give Father the option."

"Wh-what?" Yiro's tone lowered quickly to a whisper, "Hinata-sama, are you sure?"

"I've only been back a day, Yiro-san, and already I see Father has been resolute in his subjugation of the Branch House, I haven't seen any of the Main House members so much as lifting a finger; it has to change, the world isn't the way it was before and we aren't under any direct threat of war." Hinata took a sip of the tea Yiro had poured her, "Have you spoken to many of the Branch House members? Are they happy that things have returned to 'normal'?"

"Um, well, I think many people were very shocked, it seemed that they did not see themselves, under the Tsukikomi, as being so tightly bound—" Yiro's words were cut off by a knock at his door,

"Yo, Yiro, are you in?" Natsuki's voice called, Yiro looked at Hinata who merely nodded,

"Uh, yeah, come in."

"Hey," She slid open the door, "I was just coming to— oh, Hinata-sama, I apologise."

"Don't worry, Natsuki-san, please join us. How have you been?"

"Quite well, thank you." Natsuki replied, taking a seat at the table beside Yiro.

"It must have been a big shock, waking up. If you don't mind me asking, what did you dream about?"

"Oh, um… boring stuff… really, just being back in Konoha, with the, um, clan." Natsuki politely lied,

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. I dreamed I was free of many of the clan's responsibilities, but of course, it was also a time of great peace so I suppose it made sense." Hinata offered casually, finishing off the last of her tea, "Thank you, Yiro-san, Natsuki-san, but I should be getting back, so I'll leave you to your conversation." Hinata rose to her feet and bowed politely, prompting the other two to hurry to their feet and return the bow,

"Goodbye Hinata-sama, I am pleased you are feeling better." Yiro said,

"Thank you, we'll speak again soon, Yiro-san." Hinata let herself out and walked back towards the Main House pleased, with any luck, the seeds of displeasure had already been sewn and wouldn't take too much prompting to turn them into enough support that they might accept her as clan leader following a challenge to Hiashi. But it would not be wise for her to rush: she needed to train.

For much of the next three weeks, Hinata found herself more and more on edge, everywhere she went and every chore she tried to do herself, she found a young branch house member anxiously trying to take the job from her. Each one of them politely insistent, constantly referencing Hiashi in their need to do the job in Hinata's stead; always she told the ninja that they need not worry, they would not hear of it, their eyes darting cautiously around lest some more vengeful main house member was watching and would report them to Hiashi. And it was starting to grate on Hinata; she increasingly found herself wanting to snap at her immediate family for their insistence — or complicity — in such callous practices. The only way she found to keep herself in check was training constantly. She was desperate to reform the Hyuuga, to destroy the old ideas of a servant class within their clan, but timing would be critical and a misstep would spell disaster for the very people she was trying to help.

She walked slowly back into her house, her limbs aching from a long training session, and set the kettle to boil when Kiko hurried into the kitchen,

"Hinata-sama! I am sorry I was not here when you returned."

"It's fine Kiko-san, really, I rather like making tea myself."

"Hinata-sama, it is my duty to see to the needs of the Main House members. Please—"

"Kiko-san, this is not a test or a trick, I am not a child and I am quite capable of making myself to tea." Hinata kept her voice calm and gentle, "Do Father or Hanabi get angry with you for not waiting on their every whim?" Kiko's eyes merely darted to the doorway and back to the floor, "Kiko you are not a servant, I do not feel comfortable making you do everything for me. I'm not comfortable with the main house expecting you to wait on them hand and foot." She'd lowered her voice for the last part, stepping a little closer to Kiko, "It's wrong and I want to put a stop to it."

"B-But, Hiashi-sama is the head of the clan, he reserves the right to direct the clan in whatever manner he choses." Kiko didn't sound very confident in her assertion.

"Oi, Kiko," Hanabi poked her head around the door, "I want lunch ready after my bath and make sure you put enough lavender oil in the water this time."

"Hai, Hanabi-sama." Kiko snapped to attention and hurried out of the door,

"She do something wrong?" Hanabi asked, her face schooled in a cold look of derision,

"No and Kiko-san is not a servant, Hanabi, you're capable of drawing your own bath and making your own lunch. Stop being lazy." Hinata shot back at her sister before pouring out the boiled water into her tea pot,

"She wants to help, it's better to give them jobs to do so they won't cause trouble."

"You realise that Kiko is older than you, Hanabi? I think you're the one who needs to be kept out of trouble."

"Fuck off." Hanabi turned to stamp back down the corridor, though found Hiashi close behind her,

"We do not use such language, Hanabi." Hiashi spoke down his nose at her, "An you will draw your own bath, it is time for Kiko's training."

"Yes, Father." Hanabi replied shortly before disappearing off down the corridor.

"I am please to see that you have been training, Hinata."

"I have, Father, it is important to keep my skills sharp."

"Of course." Hiashi looked carefully at his daughter for a moment and it seemed to Hinata that he wanted to say something further, though refrained and instead walked out of the room.

"So what did Yiro say, is he still with you?" Ino asked, handing Hinata her water bottle,

"Thanks. And yes, he's spoken to a lot of the other Branch members, ones he thinks will support me and there've been some positive replies, but I've got to move carefully. The last thing I want is Father tipped off and letting him gain the advantage." Hinata replied before taking a long slow glup of water, "Thanks for helping me train, Ino."

"No worries. Do you really think it will come down to a fight?"

"Yes, I do. I'd like to think it won't but some part of me knows that it will… the way Father's been these past few weeks, he hasn't changed at all and he's been pushing the Branch House, training them like he's expecting a war." Hinata was about to take another drink but her thoughts were too eager to be verbalised and the bottle never made it to her lips, "He's reinforced the caste system with a vengeance, he doesn't want any of the Main House mixing with the Branch houses unless its for chores, missions or ceremonial duties… I've managed to speak to a few Branch members, to ask them about what they dreamed under the Tsukikomi and every single one of them mentioned that they no longer had the curse mark, every one still saw themselves as part of the clan, but not in their current subservient role!"

"Does Hiashi know that?"

"Pff! He hasn't asked anyone what they dreamed of, he apparently issued a decree for everyone to realise that they were just dreams and forget them, that they needed now to focus only on their reality." Hinata spat,

"What an asshole… no offence."

"Oh, none taken!"

The silence pervaded for a few minutes more, the two women catching their breaths from their spar, "Sorry, Ino, I've been rambling about my own problems. How are you? How've things been since we got back?"

"Me? Okay, really, my apartment's holding up — Chou and Shika did a good job, clearly! But I'm worried about Gai, he isn't taking realising the loss of his legs well."

"I'm sure, it must be crushing to lose such a vital part of his identity; but Gai has always been strong, I am certain that he will come to terms with it eventually, but I think he will need his beloved students by his side." Hinata smiled gently,

"Yeah, it's so horrible seeing him this way now, he still won't even see Lee very often, let alone me and its been over three weeks. I just wish I knew what the right thing was to do."

"Listen to him, he's telling you what he needs, even if he isn't talking. Just like what my clan are doing to Hiashi."

"Yeah." Ino agreed, rising back to her feet to begin stretching out her arms, "So when will the challenge happen?"

"Not sure, I need to balance it between growing strong enough myself and riding the momentum of what people dreamed about. I've been to library as often as I've been able to read up on past coups to try and get an insight into the power dynamic changes, but the more classic the signs of dissatisfaction…"

"The more of a head's up you've giving to Hiashi."

"Exactly."

"Maybe a better way is to plan out exactly how the challenge will go down." Ino nearly whispered, conscious of the fact they were out in the open of the training ground and potentially being overheard, "You can come over to mine and we can brainstorm later, if you like? I can even get Shikamaru to come over and help."

"That would be great, I think Shikamaru's brain is exactly what I need for this sort of planning and I need as much help as I can get."

"Good, I'll talk to Shika, the promise of home-cooked food will surely get him to come over, how about seven?"

"Sure, I'll be there."

"Then I'll catch you later, Hinata, I really should get back to work." Ino waved as she hurried away. Hinata remained seated for a few minutes, the puzzle turning itself into knots in her mind that seemed to have no clear answer.

"Hinata-sama!" The hurried call of her name drew her attention,

"Yiro-san? What's the problem?" She leapt to her feet,

"Hinata-sama! Hiashi-sama is interviewing the members of the Branch House, he didn't say exactly what for, but I am afraid that he suspects a challenge to his authority is likely." Yiro explained quickly, "I apologise if any of my actions have lead to this, Hinata-sama! I tried be a discreet and careful with my questions as possible!"

"It's okay, Yiro-san, it was highly unlikely that we were ever going to keep this hidden forever, but we don't know the full situation just yet anyway, let's head back to the compound for now."

"But, Hinata-sama—"

"Yiro-san, it will be all right, I will protect you and the other members of the Branch House if Hiashi makes any accusations. Let's go." They didn't rush, but Hinata could feel the anxiousness growing on Yiro with every step and by the time they saw the walls of the compound, he was outright sweating. "Yiro-san, please calm down, I won't let anything happen to you."

"Hai, hai, Hinata-sama."

They finally walked into the compound and found it eerily quiet, the entryway doors of the Main House were fully open, with the tapestries of clan symbol hung up and proud, a light breeze pulling at the bare branches of the tree.

"Where is everyone? I don't see any movement?"

"I don't know, but please go home, Yiro-san and act as normal, don't say anything inflammatory to anyone, not even Ryutsa-san and don't draw any attention to yourself."

"Hai, Hinata-sama." Yiro turned to her and bowed low, before turning to walk away towards the Branch House homes,

"I think perhaps you should stay, Yiro-san," The loud voice of Hiashi called across the courtyard, "I have some questions to ask you. Come here." Yiro paused mid-step, his eyes unconsciously glancing toward Hinata before he made another move, "Don't look to her!" Hiashi snarled, "I am your clan leader, you will do as I say!" Yiro obeyed and walked slowly over to Hiashi, "Hinata, you will remain there until I have finished speaking with Yiro-san. Hanabi will watch over you, to make sure that you listen to me." Hanabi herself appeared from seemingly nowhere, watching Hinata carefully from across the compound.

"You know, in that dream world, you seemed perfectly content to pass up leadership of the Clan to me to go off and become a brood-mare for that Uzumaki." Hanabi spat as she walked slowly down the three steps of the engawa and across the open space, in an indirect route to Hinata, "Why are you now causing trouble? Why have you suddenly decided that you want to claim your birthright and that the right way to do that is by throwing it in Father's face? By disrespecting everything that he stands for? Do you even have any idea how difficult Father's job as clan leader is?"

"Watch your mouth, Hanabi." Hinata shot back, "The only thing you've ever desired, having watched my failures, was to win Father's approval. You've never done anything for yourself not even thinking which played right into Father's egotistical hands; Cousin Neji often spoke of trapped he felt, bound by the strict rules of the clan, like being a caged bird, he'd called it and I think that Father has caged you, just as easily as if you also bore a cursed seal."

"How dare you!" Hanabi ducked into a fighting stance, her byakugan straining her eyes, "I think you're just jealous because I am the only child capable of living up to Father's lofty expectations for his progeny."

"There is more to being a leader than simply living up to expectations." Hinata calmly replied, refusing to get drawn into a petty side-squabble with her sister. As poor timing as this was and how the little voice in the back of her mind warned that she wasn't ready, though worrying about it was now moot; her father had found her out and a fight would be forced. All her attention must be focused on her primary enemy.

"Are you going to fight me, or are you too scared of loosing?" Hanabi snapped, Hinata kept her eyes trained on the entryway to the Main House,

"I am tired of you now, Hanabi, return back to the engawa." Hana opened her mouth to protest, but Hinata was losing her patience, "Or do you still lack the discipline to listen to your elders?" Hinata had never spoken that way to Hanabi before — or indeed anyone else — and it had been unexpected enough to silence Hanabi's retort, giving Hiashi enough time to interrupt them for good.

"Hanabi! Step away from Hinata." Hiashi stood beside a nervous and guilty looking Yiro, "Come here, Hinata." Hiashi did not look best pleased, but that wasn't saying much for a man who was little more than a walking frown. "I have had an interesting conversation with Yiro. Hinata are you really so foolish as to believe that I will accept this dissent from you? Has knocking over some tree addled your brain into thinking that you can challenge me? And win? You are a fool and you have always been a disappointingly weak child. It would appear that you, alone, are the one who did not awake from that genjutsu."

"You are wrong." Hinata rebutted, "I see more clearly now than you ever have; the clan does not need to retain it's tyrannical grip upon the branch house, we do not live in the dark years of the second and third wars any longer, the world is now entering an unprecedented era of unity and the strength of the ties between villages is stronger than at any other point in history. It might not mean we never face conflict again, but it does mean is that we no longer need a system of inherited slavery! It's wrong!"

Hiashi smirked arrogantly, "Even as an inheritor of the byakugan, you are very short sighted. The Branch House was not formed purely as a fighting force but to protect the byakugan. The integrity of the bloodline and the wielder, with their lives if necessary." Hiashi grabbed Yiro by the scruff of his neck and hurled him forwards, forcing the younger shinobi to stumble down the steps in search of his balance, "So here is your Branch House servant, he doesn't look like much from here but still, you rather send him off, out into the world to marry whomever he pleases and ignore his duties to the house, all the while sullying our genetic integrity and losing our unique katas and teachings? Of what benefit could that possibly be to the clan?" Hiashi laughed, "You think that is the way to run a clan?"

"I think the surest way to kill a clan is to keep it in a stranglehold. The clan members are still people and they deserve better than to be branded as little more than dogs. That is a relic of the old ways, before the villages were founded and it is time it died out, just like that endless war did." Hinata hadn't noticed at first, but their conversation had garnered quite an audience, though whether she'd get any true support with Hiashi and Hanabi still stood tall, she wasn't sure. The timing had just been so poor.

Hiashi, it seemed, was done with talk and in an instant he'd leapt from the engawa and struck out a Yiro, still trapped in the intense anxiety the directed derision from his clan leader tended to produce, just about managed to remember he was still a Jounin and a gifted dojutsu user. He ducked and weaved, evading the stabbing hands of Hiashi, but Hinata was not going to stand about and watch Yiro fight her battle for her and she leapt in, easily anticipating Hiashi's switch to her and his use of the eighth kata. In this battle, Hinata needed tactics the Hyuuga weren't familiar with, trading traditional moves and parries would get her nowhere.

She whipped a handful of shuriken from her pouch and flung them towards Hiashi as she darted back a few steps to refocus her chakra; Hiashi's years on her were not wasted however, as he deflected the projectiles with ease and follow up, darting between Hinata and Yiro and he threw a kick at her. She blocked it well, though it was clearly a distraction as he used the momentum to spin around and drive the kunai in his hand towards Yiro's chest. He just about caught up to the movement but his anxiety had him fumbling to sweep it clean away from him, the sharpened tip tearing through the tissue of his bicep. Hinata saw, as she swung her arm through the arc aiming for Hiashi, Hanabi chose then to make her move; whatever weights were slung around her arm had been ditched by her sister for she moved without so much as a blur. Hanabi was upon Yiro, her chakra charged fingers stabbing at his opening points, though she was not in the traditional stance and every defensive counter move that had made allowed Hanabi to slip right past them. His heavily bleeding arm was sluggish — only to trained eyes — and Hanabi used every opportunity to feign and parry and wear him down.

Hiashi, meanwhile, seamlessly returned his attention to Hinata, his own style reflecting his decades of clan mentality, he span into his absolute defence and Hinata darted around him, aiming for Hanabi; the two were an even match for the moment, their respective kicks and punches perfectly aimed and perfectly blocked. She swung her leg around, aiming a kick to Hanabi's chest her sister ducked just as she felt the stab of Hiashi's chakra charged fingers to her kidney. The force of his strike was enough to lift her clean off the ground, she was barely able to right herself before she landed. Hiashi followed up without a moment's hesitation and his punch connected cleanly to Hinata's jaw. Yiro's scream pulled her attention off Hiashi as she saw the blood soaked kunai in Hanabi's hand and the crimson blood pour from his neck. He stumbled backwards, his hand's vainly trying to stem the blood gushing from his wound and their eyes connected in a moment; she felt the white hot rage flush through her as she flew at Hanabi, her fists fuelled by her grief and anger rather than strategy and for a moment, she forced her back. Her chakra infused fingertips enough to slice through the flesh on Hanabi's neck and chin, though the wound was superficial and her blindness had allowed Hiashi to make his final move. He threw a well timed kick to Hinata's chest, his leg charged with chakra and that final strike from Hiashi sent her flying backwards, knocked clean off her feet and she slammed into the ground, skidding to a halt close to the clan gates; she swiped at the blood from her mouth as she willed her limbs to move and obey her and shakily she made her way to her feet.

Hiashi hadn't completely escaped injury, but he was fairing better than she, "As expected, you have lost, Hinata! You were ill-prepared, unsupported and full of foolish ideas, what hope did you ever have of challenging me?" Hiashi shouted, "You are banished from the clan, your birthright is rescinded and you will never again be welcome on clan property. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't take your eyes here and now?" He shouted though did not pause, "Even at full capacity, you were no threat to me, you were barely able to even scratch your sister… the eyes will be safer in your body until I am ready to collect them. If you really want to hurt the clan, you should put out your own eyes but a coward such as yourself would not dare. Get out of my sight before I change my mind." Hiashi turned his back on his eldest daughter, swiftly followed by Hanabi who, in turned, was haltingly followed by the observers of the clan. She saw her mother who remained staring at her eldest daughter until she was pulled around by Hiashi. Her eyes were drawn to the corpse of Yiro, haloed by the slowly growing pool of slowly coagulating blood; a good man who'd died in vain for Hinata's stupidity. With little more than the backs of her clan to look at and unwilling to risk any more deaths what option did she have but leave? The silence she stood in was deafening, her senses felt numb to anything and everything but the sensation of failure.

The streets were quiet and with but a few scattered people that Hinata barely saw as she wandered aimlessly, the aches and pains of her battered body felt well deserved for the sacrifice Yiro had been forced to give. She should have been more careful, spoken less often and taken more precautions. She knew Hiashi had been suspicious and had hardly embraced her back into the clan; Hinata had taken a stupid idea into her head and planned for it in no way, shape or form; she'd felt the rush of leadership in those few short weeks that it had been only herself, Yiro and Ryutsa and, like a dumb ass, had believed that the rest of the clan would follow along behind as easily and that radical change would not take all that much work.

Even under the Infinite Tsukikomi, she'd been divorced from the clan, though under less strenuous means, she'd stepped down from her position, endured Hiashi's derision and Hanabi's insults, but just as soon had been free to live her own life. In some ways not so much different from this point in time, but this time with the loss of an innocent life, from the one man she truly trusted in the clan. The one man who'd consistently stayed by her side and given her his undying loyalty at the drop of a hat.

"Hinata? Are you all right?" It was Shikamaru,

"Huh?"

"You look pretty beaten up… did someone attack you?"

"…" Hinata was not ready to talk or maybe she wasn't able, her tongue felt numb in her mouth as if someone other than herself was controlling it.

"C'mon, Ino's apartment is just over there, you were coming over tonight anyway, right?" Shikamaru clearly had better sense than to push, and he led them over to Ino's apartment building,

"Hey guy— Hinata? I wasn't expecting you until a bit later, are you all right?" Ino asked all at once as she stood aside to let them in, Hinata didn't reply as she wandered in, the words were on the tip of her tongue but they felt like a foreign language. They weren't ready to be spoken, they hadn't been digested enough, she hadn't fully accepts them and to speak them now would do a disservice to them. "Hinata? What's happened?"

"H-he knew, he was waiting for me… he killed Yiro."

"What!?" Ino almost shouted, "He knew? He killed Yiro? I… what?"

"Calm down, Ino, you're not helping; here." Shikamaru handed Hinata a glass of water, "Just start from the top, HInata." He said, as Ino guided her to a seat on her sofa,

"It's okay, Hinata, just tell us what happened."

..

.

A/n — Sometimes life really doesn't care if you're ready for something or not.