Dutiful Eyes

By Stormlock

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. (Who reads these anyways?.)

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AN: Took longer than I expected, but I came up with some good ideas so it's all good.

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Team 7 arrived at Tazuna's home without any further interruptions. Fortunately, nobody had been seriously injured, with Neji being arguably the worst off out of the group by chakra depletion. Kakashi was nearly as exhausted, but hadn't used his sharingan too much; and aside from that the only really big technique he had used was his counter to Zabuza's dragon at the end of the fight; all the other techniques were mid level ones that didn't expend too much chakra on their own. Still both Kakashi and Neji would spent most of their first few days at Tazuna's home resting. Kakashi had told Tazuna to stay with them; after all, a man like Gatou could afford to hire an endless number of missing nins. Even if they weren't all of Zabuza's caliber, Tazuna would be just as dead if caught unaware.

At the end of their first day in town, Naruto picked the less than stellar opportunity of dinner time to ask about hunter-nins. His teammates mentally reminded themselves to inform him to avoid topics such as body dismemberment while eating in the future.

". . . so that's why that hunter-nin we encountered finished off Zabuza; to protect the secrets of the village." Naruto shuddered at Hinata's explanation. Would he be destroyed like that if he died in battle, to protect the secrets of the Kyuubi?

"Well, I suppose it'd be a hard job to stomach but I guess it's pretty easy to destroy a defenseless body with a jutsu anyways huh?"

Naruto's question caused Kakashi to be startled with an uneasy revelation. He hadn't been allowed to read his book at the dinner table, so he'd just been sort of daydreaming. That ended when Naruto inadvertently pointed out that the hunter-nin child had not, in fact, simply destroyed Zabuza's body with a jutsu. Kakashi had been too exhausted and concerned about his team to pay much attention at the time, but it seemed like the child had actually ran off with the body.

"Hinata, check our surroundings. Now." A suddenly alert Hinata complied, activating her Byakugan and scanning the area near the house. Neji became alert as well and shot his teacher a questioning look. Naruto gaped and shot him a question.

"Hey! What's the deal? Did you notice something??"

"I just remembered that the 'hunter-nin' I saw didn't actually destroy the body while I was looking. I made a mistake in not paying enough attention, so it's quite likely he actually carried Zabuza away to safety, and hadn't actually killed him in the first place." Kakashi's mellow tone of voice served to irritate the boys sitting at the table, and Naruto, Neji and Tazuna replied simultaneously with a furious "What?!?" as Hinata finished her check.

"There's nothing suspicious nearby Kakashi-sensei. Are you certain Zabuza is still alive? Maybe destroying the body in private is part of their customs."

"Well, I can't exactly be certain, but I've got a bad feeling about the whole thing. Especially since Zabuza was 'killed' by a weapon like those needles. Those aren't actually very deadly, and even apparently vital spots can be missed by a very small degree and actually cause almost no damage at all."

Hinata nodded at her sensei's assessment. She knew a fair amount about vital points like that and even had some training with acupuncture needles like what Kakashi had described. While it was entirely possible to produce deadly results with a weapon like that, it was also entirely possible to only seem to do so, or to produce other effects entirely.

Kakashi waved his hand like the whole thing was about as important as a nickel of change on a dinner bill. "At any rate, he was still severely injured after our battle, so I don't think he'll be coming after us this soon anyways. I just wanted to make sure we weren't being spied upon. He will be back though, make no mistake, that man has an ugly reputation. He killed more people than most chunin ever do before he was even a genin. He's also known as the 'Demon of Hidden Mist'. We were lucky to have gotten off without anyone being injured."

"Nobody injured my ass! My head felt like it was going to fall off after he threw me into that tree!" Naruto wasn't very happy about his injury being written off as just a little bump.

"That didn't even leave a bruise you wimp. Quit whining about that." Naruto was about to respond to Neji's dismissal with some choice insults he'd thought up that afternoon when Inari spoke up. Only Hinata had noticed him coming home.

"Hey mom, who are these guys?"

"These are the ninjas who protected your grandpa on his way back here Inari. They defeated that scary guy they were just talking about, so you don't have to worry."

"Next time they'll probably all die. I bet Gatou will just get a dozen guys like that."

"Inari! That's a horrible thing to say!"

"It's a total load of crap too! We're heroes kid, we'll beat whatever some stupid rich old geezer throws at us!" Naruto's confident expression just made Inari angry.

"You're more of a kid than I am if you believe in things like heroes. You should all just leave if you want to live."

"That's not true Inari, real heroes do exist. My father was a hero; he saved our whole country from a war." Everyone's eyes moved to Hinata when she said that. Kakashi only knew the official generic story of how her father had died nobly protecting the village somehow, but hadn't heard that he had saved the whole country. Neji was just surprised she was talking about her father. For all the time she spent thinking about him and trying to live up to his legacy, she almost never mentioned him, to the point that it was unofficially considered a taboo subject around her. Everyone else in the room of course had no idea who her father was at all, aside from Naruto having a vague idea that her family was important.

Inari narrowed his eyes at her. "Was a hero huh? So, he left you all alone didn't he?" With that, Inari went up to his room. Nobody said a word. After a moment, Hinata got up and quietly announced she was going for a walk. Neji looked torn, but decided to leave her alone. After a minute a chagrined Neji heard Naruto tell everyone he was going to go keep an eye on her. I'm supposed to be protecting her, why am I leaving that to Naruto all of the sudden? He couldn't come up with an answer, but neither could he come up with the will to go after her. Somehow it just seemed like he'd end up hurting both himself and his cousin.

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Naruto caught up to Hinata just after she reached the woods nearby. They were much more lively than the woods around Konoha, with more trees and wildlife. Hinata stopped and waited when she noticed Naruto was coming up behind her, looking around at the forest. She couldn't quite manage to keep up her usual steely resolve, and seemed frail somehow.

"Naruto, why is it that you're always alone when you're not with us?" The question stopped Naruto in his tracks just as he was about to come up alongside Hinata. He sure as hell wasn't ready for a question like that.

"Well, because nobody wants me around I guess. Everyone seems to think I'm useless or out to get them. I don't have a family either, so I'm just left alone."

She nodded and turned to face him. "I'm alone for a different reason."

"But, you never seem to be left alone! Neji's always with you, and other people seem to like you as well, you're more popular than most girls I think."

"But aside from Neji, those people don't like me. They like the girl they imagine I am. I'm the heiress of the Hyuuga clan, you knew that right?"

Naruto merely nodded.

"You probably don't really understand, but the Hyuuga clan is very famous in Konoha, so we get a lot of attention. Especially me. However, it's not the kind of attention you'd pay to someone you like or care about, but the kind of attention you'd give to something you're afraid of, like a dog that might bite you. Everyone in the village knows about the powerful 'Gentle Fist' technique of the Hyuuga, but those Hyuuga who were brilliant doctors are forgotten. People avoid us unless they want to manipulate our power, in which case they quickly flee after failing. I don't think I've seen anyone outside the clan besides you genuinely get to know me as a friend. Everyone else learns about me behind my back, without ever asking me what I care about, or what I like to eat, or what music I listen to. Nobody cares about those things because they don't see me as a person, but as an heir; a piece of the clan. I think it is like that for my father too. All they know is that someone who led the clan did something important; his own name wouldn't mean anything to them. As a person, everything he did belongs to the clan, and he'll never be recognized for any of it. Since he died, everything he did partially belongs to me now, since the head of the clan is the vessel for it's prestige. I find myself acting as the heir to the clan more often than as myself, so maybe people are justified in treating me that way. But it makes me wonder if my father was like that too, if he did things because that's what the clan should do, instead of it being what he wanted to do."

"From what Inari said. . . did your father die saving everyone?"

"Maybe. I don't know if it's my father that died to save everyone, or the head of the clan. If it's the latter, it's as though the clan killed my father for it's purpose."

"But, you knew how your father really was right?"

"Yes. I was only 3 when he died, but I'm sure he cared about me very much."

"Then he'd both want to be with you and to protect you, so why wouldn't his intention and that of the clan be the same if he can't do both?"

"But, he could have done both. My father could have only protected me and kept himself alive."

"But, then you wouldn't have a family or village right? It's not the same for me, but I notice everyone in the village has a lot of friends, and their families too. He probably thought that having all that was more important than just having him right?"

"Maybe. But my father was the head of the clan, so he must have known what it's like to have the position, that nobody would really be my friend. And besides-" Naruto cut her off as she was about to explain that her father could have lived and protected both her and the country by sacrificing someone else.

"Then, maybe you're wrong about that."

Hinata looked for a moment like she'd had a bucket of water tossed in her face. Nobody ever told her she was wrong.

"Maybe your father knew how to escape being controlled by the clan. Or maybe he just didn't care, and acted however he wanted, and made the clan follow him. That's what I always thought being a leader of something meant; whatever you're leading belongs to you, not the other way around."

"But I know my father always made the clan happy, and did things they wanted him to do. You can't just behave however you want and make everyone agree with you automatically."

"Are you really sure? Maybe they just pretend to like whatever he did because they are the ones being controlled by the clan that your father shaped. Maybe that's the secret to being a leader; making people follow your example despite themselves. Of course, a bastard would make a really rotten clan if he did that, but someone could turn a rotten clan into a nice one too."

Suddenly Hinata remembered her first autonomous act as heir to the clan: Her insistence of Hizashi's position as temporary clan leader and her guardian. She hadn't thought of bowing to the clan at that time, only what she had wanted, no- needed. There had been no unwanted repercussions to what she had done; the clan had bent to her will, when she was only three. I've had that power all along and not realized it, letting the clan push me around on all but the most important matters. I've never realized my true responsibility is using that power to guide the clan. My father must have assumed I'd have known that all along. Hinata suddenly felt ashamed, she'd taken this long to realize her true duty wasn't to be a figurehead for the clan, but it's true head, guiding it and protecting it with all her will.

"But then again, I guess even if you control the clan if people still don't know the real you, then it doesn't matter, so I guess what I said doesn't make much sense anyways."

"No, you're absolutely right Naruto. I've been as blind to my true self as everyone else. I can control the clan, instead of the other way around. I spent so long trying to be the embodiment of the clan my father made, I didn't realize that I could make the clan the embodiment of me. And if the clan is a reflection of myself, rather than the other way around, then I can happily accept being thought of simply the same as the clan."

"I don't think I could ever do something like that. I mean, I'd probably screw something up and turn the clan into pranksters or something, hehe."

Hinata smiled at Naruto with a confidence in her eyes that hadn't been there since she was three. Her own confidence. "I'm not afraid. After all, my father and his clan believe in me."

"Me too."

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When Hinata got back Neji noted she seemed to be feeling better than she had in years. He couldn't actually remember the last time she looked so strong. Everyone had finished eating and cleaned up by the time she had returned with Naruto, and they were talking about Gatou and the bridge. Hinata however, had something she needed to do, and so derailed their conversation.

"What happened to Inari's father?" She moved her pupiless eyes to the torn picture on the wall as she asked.

Tazuna told them the story of how Kaiza had met Inari and become Tsunami's husband, and how he had later saved the town from and flood and then gotten killed by Gatou. Hinata's teammates noted how much more alive she seemed to be as she listened to the story, showing much more emotion than her usual empty mask.

"I need to talk to Inari, where is he?" Hinata didn't intend to let the kid live on the way he was. If nobody else could make him feel differently, than she'd do it herself.

Tsunami spoke hesitantly. "He's probably upstairs in his room. He sometimes likes to watch the ocean from the balcony there. But he usually asks to be left alone. . ."

Hinata just nodded and left the room to go see him. She found him where his mother had said he'd be, staring out at the ocean with a picture gripped in his right hand.. She came up right behind him without being noticed.

"Your father was a hero too Inari." Hinata could tell he had been crying when he turned around. He was startled too, but too angry about his father to let that faze him.

"I suppose they told you some lame story about how he was brave and saved people huh? Did you know he was a dirty liar too? He told me he'd protect us, that he wouldn't let Gatou bully us around. Then he gets himself killed and leaves his family all alone. Just so he didn't have to live with any regrets!"

Hinata slapped Inari, hard, and took the photo from him, turning it so he could see it.

"This man saved your life! He saved this entire town. Twice. First from a flood that would have wiped out countless homes and people, and again from Gatou. You wouldn't have a home if your father hadn't stood up to that monster. This town would be nothing more than a slum for Gatou's criminals to lord over right now. And now your grandfather is risking his life too, to build a bridge that will protect this city from that man. Other people are fighting back too, all because of Kaiza. You're a disgrace if you can't respect your own father for doing these things. I won't let you dishonor such a brave man by saying such things about him!"

Inari was awestruck. Hinata couldn't have been more imposing if she were seven feet tall and on fire. He knew some people, like his grandfather, believed his dad was a hero even though he'd died, but he'd never seen anyone defend him so passionately. And she wasn't even from here! She'd never been protected by him. She was just defending someone she thought deserved respect. Defending a 'hero'.

Naruto had entered the room a moment ago, unnoticed by either of them, and now spoke himself.

"She's right you know. That's the kind of guy everyone should try to be. I'd fight alongside a man like that any time. Maybe not everyone can have the guts to fight with everything they have, but anyone who does, for the things he needs to protect, that's a real hero. That's a person worth recognizing. The only reason there isn't a statue of that guy in the middle of the city is because of that scumbag Gatou. A whiny selfish brat on the other hand; that's a person that might as well not exist. That kind of person doesn't even deserve to be recognized at all."

"So what? You guys think it's ok to just abandon people to be respected?"

Hinata replied to that first. "If he really died just to be seen as a hero he'd be lower than dirt in my eyes. But he wasn't trying to be a hero or get attention, he was just trying to protect his family. And even though he died, his actions and the memory of them have protected this city from Gatou better than anyone else has this entire time."

"Besides," Naruto added "Aren't you the one who's abandoned your father, and even your grandfather, just to be pitied? What makes you think you're worse off without him than he is without you?"

"But I didn't choose to have him die!"

"Neither did he. That was Gatou's choice. Your choice is whether or not to remember him well."

Hinata handed the photo back to Inari and left with Naruto. Inari turned back to the ocean, but could only stare at the photo in his hand.