-)(- The Princess Destined to hold the Sakabatou -)(-

Hinata Hyuuga was not having the best of days, her father had informed her in private that the Clan's elders were getting aggravated by his refusal to place the juin jutsu on her. Her day had been further worsened by the departure of her hero and crush Naruto Uzumaki with Jiraiya on a three year training mission. Although her cousin Neji now cared for her, and she knew deep down so did her father, she couldn't help but feel that she was letting her family down. She frowned to herself as she sat at the small table of a cafe that served cinnamon rolls, she couldn't think about that now. She had to find a way to get strong, for Naruto. She never wanted him to have to fight for his life because of her ever again. She nibbled on one of her sweet pastries and sighed; now that Naruto had left for a three year training trip with Jiraiya, how would she prove herself to him now? So engrossed in her mental battle was she that the ANBU who had appeared next to her could feel the tumult like a cold aura. The Spec Ops ninja spoke to break the tension and make her presence known.

"Miss Hyuuga, Hokage-sama requests your presence at the tower with all possible haste, I have been told to offer escort."

Hinata dropped her dessert in surprise and looked up at the purple haired ANBU looking down at her from behind the porcelain mask. "Ano, why does Tsunade-sama need me?"

The Woman tilted her head to one side, much like a cat, before answering, "I am not privy to that information Hinata-san, please come with me."

The Tower had, by the time the two arrived, become a flurry of activity that made the young heiress dizzy. Crowds of villagers outside muttered amongst themselves about a mysterious swordsman in town, while groups of shinobi whispered about some form of deal made for a trade of techniques and knowledge. Walking into the third floor lobby behind the unknown female ANBU, Hinata was surprised to see her cousin Neji sitting in one of the waiting chairs near the Hokage's office door. Neji nodded to the ANBU and bowed to Hinata, "Hiashi-Sama is already with Tsunade-Sama, they are waiting in the office."

The ANBU nodded and opened the door for the now almost terrified young Hyuuga heir. Tsunade looked up from her deliberations with Hiashi and a man Hinata did not recognize and smiled, "Ah! There she is! Come in Hinata, Yugao thank you for bringing her."

Yugao bowed and left silently as Hinata timidly approached the desk under the gaze of her father and the unknown man. She took in her Father's expression first, it was not what she had come to expect from him, he was smiling slightly at her, and a hint of self-satisfaction was evident in his eyes. The other man's eyes were more passive, she could tell he was estimating her skill from the calculating look, but he bore no hint of scorn or disdain towards her, she liked it better than the way the Clan elders sized her up, but it was still unsettling. Tsunade was the last one she examined and as usual the woman was grinning as only she or Naruto could... really Hinata believed that they must have been related.

Hiashi spoke first, his voice weighted heavily with sadness that Hinata had never heard in it before, "Hinata, I have not done as a should to you as a father, I should have done more for you and for Hanabi." He paused as look of steely determination set upon his face, "you are not weak daughter, you are merely... disposed to a different type of strength. I became frustrated in your training because as a teacher I could not teach that strength, and the strength I possessed was not yours."

Hinata blinked back tears of shock, "Tou-san... whats going on?"

It was Tsunade however not Hiashi who answered, "What is going on Hinata is that you have been selected, because of your personality and physical and mental peculiarities to receive instruction in a dying style of ken-jutsu. Himura-san here will be training you away from the village for an indeterminate time. As this is his clan's secrets he is offering to the village of his own free will, the Hyuuga elders have agreed to this. Free gifts of clan secrets are rare and hardly ever refused." Tsunade took a small drink from a tokiri and continued "Your father has agreed to this arrangement as he believes that it will help you unlock your potential in ways the juuken training has not. Himura for his part was very particular as to the type of pupil that he would agree to teach, and you," here she poked the flustered heir on the nose with a smirk, "Are just what he asked for. Now go and get prepared to leave Himura will accompany you, I need to speak to your Father a while longer" Hinata nodded dumbly and left hurriedly.

Waiting a few minutes to ensure the exit of the young kunoichi and her new tutor before continuing, Tsunade leaned back in her chair and glared at Hiashi "Now that thats done with, mind telling me how you knew about that piece of information you were flaunting around before your daughter got here. S class secrets cant be thrown around like that, Hyuuga."

Hiashi smirked back at the hokage, "which secret would that have been Hokage-sama? The one concerning the fact that the Yondaime was your son? Or was it the fact that Naruto is your Grandchild, Minato's and Kushina's son? Or Was it the arrangement Tsuki and Kushina had concerning Hinata and Naruto?"

Tsunade sighed "The second one - I know you knew that Minato was Dan and mine's son, you were, after all, genin teammates. As to the Arrangement, my daughter-in-law never discussed it with me, so I had no knowledge of it and it hardly counts as a S-rank secret, though I'm sure your daughter will enjoy that surprise."

Hiashi nodded "then it is how I knew Naruto was a Namikaze? That is quite simple, I helped with the sealing of the Kyuubi, the suplamentary sealing system is a Hakke-Shiki after all. So to answer your question Hokage-sama Minato entrusted me with the truth from the start."

Tsunade leveled a steely gaze on Hiashi that made him quite uncomfortable, remembering that same look from a much younger Tsunade as she berated her son and himself for their latest escapade through the village. His mind snapping back to memories of punishments and brutal training sessions under Jiraiya once he got wind of the fiasco from his old teammate. He was suddenly glad his Sensei was on a three year trek far away from the village.

"I dont like that you were left out of the reports, but I suspect my Sensei had a part in that." Tsunade groaned out while draining her tokiri, "Very well, go then, you have a daughter to see off" Hiashi bowed and left, grateful to have escaped intact.

Hinata walked slowly through the streets next to the man who would be her teacher now, or so Hokage-sama had said. Suddenly she thought of team 8, how would this effect them? "A-ano... what about my teammates?"

Seijuro stopped and looked at her with a strange childlike expresion of confusion, "Oro?"

Hinata blinked back at the strange man, did he not know about her teammates? "K-Kiba-kun and Sh-Shino-kun, my teammates in team 8, and K-Kurenai-Sensei."

Seijuro adopted a thinking pose and then smiled at her speaking for the first time since she had seen him. "this one thinks we should go tell them about your mission that he does."