Metamorphosis - 変形

Hinata had risen early from a troubled slumber; weariness and anxiety filled her as she prepared herself for her new routine. She had dressed in a mauve and white yabane-patterned kimono with a white sash tied around the waist, instructions were given by her father to wear them until she finishes her training. She caught a glimpse of her own image in the mirror and felt strange on seeing the reflection before her; I look more like a miko than a shinobi. She heaved a deep sigh and went out.

It was still dark when she had started to move along the deserted corridor of the main house, a small garden loomed beside her, the scent of flowers sprayed the air of sweet fragrance faintly mingling with the smell of early morning breeze. She quickened her pace until she reached the west wing of the compound where the dojo was located. It was already alive with the presence of people; the light from inside had outlined the shadows of two men through the thin shouji screen. A feeling of panic came over her as she took her steps towards the entrance. Hinata bowed as she entered

"Gomenasai" turning her head to see the expressionless face of her father, arms tucked across his chest in typical manner while another person behind him, Ko Hyuuga, bowed to acknowledge her arrival.

"Never keep anyone waiting" was all her father said while he reached into the pocket of his kimono sleeve to produce a scroll; he motioned for her to come closer to take it.

"That will be your daily schedule from now on"

Hinata scanned the document handed to her Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Meditation, Arts. She had a full schedule ahead.

"You will strictly follow this program on time without fail. I will meet you later" Hiashi moved to face Ko, "I leave my daughter to you" the younger man bowed before him, the clan leader started to leave when he paused midway, his back against them "Do your best" his tone was expectant. Hinata heaved a deep breathe once her father was gone.

"We should start soon Hinata-sama"

"Yes… help me to be stronger… onegaishimasu…." she bowed formally before her old guardian, Ko smiled and placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder gently prodding her up to face him. He gazed at her softly showing his fondness for the young heiress which was akin to an older sibling.

"I will try my best Hinata-sama, we'll start our exercises now outside the compound"

"Thank You Ko-san"

The two went out together and began their training at a nearby area.

"Focus Hinata Sama" although Ko was kind by nature, he was by no means lax with his instructions.

The two were in stationary position, Ko directed her to time her steps with her chakra release while the young kunoichi diligently followed her instructor, focusing on each detail from his footwork to arm position. She was struggling to be in stride with him, her own movements came out stiff and lacking fluidity. Midway through their exercise, Hinata noticed Ko's expression, it was focused yet calm, she observed further, eyeing her guardian intently until realizing that his composure was the key which allowed him to execute his moves smoothly. She started to relax herself, emptying her mind of distracting thoughts until she noticed her body becoming lighter and more coordinated. The routine went on in repeating sequence until the two became like a mirror image of each other's moves.

Nearing to the end of their training, Ko proposed for a short spar in which Hinata attempted to do the Eight Trigrams Palm technique. Hinta's face was steady and with a relaxed concentration she started to attack Ko trapping him within her range, successfully striking him with sixty four palms without trouble.

Ko's defeated shadow clone disappeared in a wisp of smoke, her old guardian appeared before her with a satisfied look, he made some comments about her skills and told her to do more practice later. She slowly rose from her stance; her eyes suddenly flickered as an image of herself delivering the final strikes a few moments ago flashed in her mind. Ko noticing her reverie called her out.

"Hinata Sama?" a quizzical expression was on his face as he peered at her

"Gome, Ko-san" Hinata said sheepishly "I was thinking of an idea about our practice." Ko raised an eyebrow as he folded his arms.

"Oh? What is it?"

"I'll let you know later….I have to check on something first" without prodding further, he gave his final instructions to Hinata and the young kunoichi bowed and went to her next period leaving a perplexed Ko behind.

Hinata's mind was consumed around the idea that came to her during the session, it made her wonder about improvising on the clan's techniques but she had to wait until she could check on some information about Tenketsu. She was hurrying back to the Hyuuga district when she came across two familiar faces that she recognized as her teammates. Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame with a yelping Akamaru in tow.

"Oi! Hinata" said Kiba happily, "I didn't recognized you with those clothes, What's going on? Are you a shrine maiden now? The Inuzuka joked as Akamaru lunged at the newcomer while Shino merely stood in his place, observing the ruckus being made by the other two. Hinata shyly grinned at them, stooping down to rub the canine's ears.

"I've started training now with the clan" she said simply, it was enough for her to utter the word "clan" and the two already understood. They've grown accustomed to her family's devotion for traditions and they could only guess that this was one of those moments.

"How are you two?" inquired Hinata, Shino was about to reply when Kiba interrupted him

"We're training for the jonin exams; there aren't so many missions nowadays so we're taking advantage of this chance." Kiba's tone was full of enthusiasm while Akamaru gave a short yelp in support of his master.

"I wish you both luck"

"It will be an interesting exam though. I heard Tsunade-sama and the council required Naruto and Sasuke to also take the test" a pondering look came over the Inuzuka as he began rubbing the back of his ruffled brown hair, "I don't get it but imagine if we have to compete against Sage and S-level nins! That means I need to train harder than ever, I can't lose out to those two!" Kiba gritted his teeth in determination while Hinata received the news with mild surprise. It was indeed strange that Naruto and Sasuke needed to be a part of the exams despite their well-known reputation as being powerful shinobis.

"I heard .."Shino's voice came out of nowhere, finally able to speak after being interrupted

"Shikamaru said that they need to enforce the rules on everyone, but personally.. I think the council is trying to make it clear on Sasuke after his pardon that S-ranked nin or not, nobody is exempted"

"And you know, Naruto is more than glad to do it, he says he's giving support to his friend but I think he's more excited for a chance to have a match with Sasuke again" the Inuzuka added shrewdly.

"Well in any case, we all need to do our best" the we had caught the two male's attention, Shino glanced at her "Are you going to take the exams too?" while Kiba also showed surprise by her pronouncement.

"I will…" the young kunoichi's voice was quiet but even, Kiba and Shino exchanged knowing looks, the Inuzuka then proceeded to give Hinata an encouraging smile, "Do your best then" the sound of optimism was in his voice followed by a silent exchange of support among the three.

Hinata had dashed back to the compound to see Hiashi arriving at the same time; he was garbed in his training clothes instead of the usual dark Kimono. A weary-looking Hanabi came in shortly; she had just finished her own training before Hinata's arrival. The younger sibling mutely stood at the side as their father faced her older sister.

Hiashi immediately went and ordered Hinata to demonstrate her techniques to him which was followed by a spar, she managed to avoid most of his attacks but still ended up being thrown on the ground.

"Your skills are good but needs more force" her father said, regarding her intently for a while before returning to his stance.

"Be bolder! A fight will never end if your just on defense" Hiashi started to rush towards Hinata once more.

She stood up and clenched her chakra-filled fist which formed the twin lion heads. It was a close combat and Hinata vigorously threw punches at Hiashi who dodged them effortlessly, the clan leader then made a rapid motion and executed his air palm strike sending Hinata skidding across the courtyard, clouds of dust trailing after her. Hiashi had expected his daughter to be on the ground once the dust had settled except she was standing with her arms crossed against her forehead, a chakra barrier surrounding her.

The barrier quickly vanished and Hinata was panting hard as she tried to maintain her position. Neji had joined them by this time to observe the match. He went next to Hanabi who was watching on.

A small grin came to Hiashi's face, the memory of Hinata repelling one of Obito Uchiha's beast during battle abruptly flashed in his mind. The clan leader began to recoil from his pose.

"Our session is over…" but before Hiashi could continue, Hinata came swiftly charging at the clan leader, her gentle lion fist connected an uppercut to his jaw and a stupefied Hiashi was sent flying upwards from the force of her jab. He inwardly smiled while in mid-air; delighted with the surprises he had gotten from his daughter that day.

"You were good today" Neji said as he sat in front of the dojo's steps outside with his cousin that evening. Hinata smiled, blushing slightly from his compliment. They had just finished their meditation period which soothed Hinata after an exhausting day

"Thank you" she meekly replied, a maidservant bearing their tea had arrived, she noiselessly left after serving them.

"I'm impressed with your skills… I haven't really seen you in combat since the war" Hinata slightly winced at hearing her cousin's mention of the war, it was a sensitive topic because of his "death" during that time. Neji sensing her discomfort gave a light squeeze on her hand for her to relax.

There was an awkward pause that followed. The two quietly drank their tea while staring at the clear night sky, the stars were out and shone like tiny diamonds strewn across the velvety darkness. It was Hinata who finally broke the silence between them

"When you….died" she began slowly, "everyone was devastated, but your memory kept us going…. and you were in my mind as I fought the enemy" she placed the empty cup beside her without moving her gaze, Neji turnedd his head towards Hinata as she narrated her recollections, a feeling of guilt suddenly swept over him on realizing how she could be so forgiving, that even with all the pain he inflicted on her because of his frustrations with the main house, that even after the fact he tried to kill her during the chuunin exams, she still cared for him deeply without reluctance.

"If I was stronger that time…." sadness trailed in her voice, it was almost a whisper

"Then perhaps we wouldn't have lost you…or anyone else, I should be strong enough to protect the people I love and not just wait for someone else to do it for me" Naruto came to her mind at that moment, undoubtedly the Kyuubi continued to inspire her and although she has given up on her romantic aspirations for him, she still remains faithful to his belief that she can succeed in her goals just as he had succeeded with his own aspirations.

"You are strong enough for now" Neji said in an assuring tone

"But I didn't really expect you to attack Hiashi-sama like that…. it's unlike you" a small smirk came to his lips, Hinata catching on simply sighed

"Well…you and father had always berated me for not going on offense during sparring, and you're both right, I'd never be able to finish anything if I just defend myself" Neji thoughtfully regarded his cousin, he understood her cousin's gentle nature, it was by instinct that made her fight the way she did, she didn't want to hurt anyone if she had a choice, even in battle. It was somehow both her weakness and her strength.

"I have to accept the reality that I have to settle a fight, even if someone…. has to…. die….it's the better choice than giving the enemy the chance to harm others because I didn't try to end it…." there was an unusual coolness in Hinata's voice, it was again so unlike her. Neji was briefly taken aback, he pondered on her cousin's unexpected firmness, "Did he fail to notice something? Or was he simply underestimating her?"

"Nii-san" Hinata called out, softly placing a hand on his face as her silvery-white eyes tenderly stared back at him full of determination, a warm feeling came over Neji who averted his gaze

"Thank you for all your help. I promise, I'll be more than strong enough…" Hinata stood and took her leave taking the tea cups and tray with her, Neji looked on until she disappeared from view, recalling the conversation with Hiashi the other day, "the future of the clan rested on either Him or Hinata" but after that night, he found himself convinced that the only the next leader of the Hyuugas was Hinata.

Hinata was busy sifting through documents at the Hyuuga archive, scrolls on Tenketsu charts were spread across the table. She was on break from her training and decided to use the free time to check on the idea she had from her previous session with Ko.

There are many pressure points in the body which the Hyuugas were experts at incapacitating through the use of the Eight Trigrams Palm Technique in 32, 64 and 128 strikes, but it was highly systematic and requires subsequent blows to be efficient, she did however wondered if a powerful charge of chakra can be concentrated on her finger and delivered with just one strike. In this case, the chakra should be then aimed at an extremely weak point, which after careful study of the charts, turned out to be the heart.

Hinata thought it over and from what she learned from the documents, it was possible but required high precision, and then there was the remaining problem of controlling the strike from an incapacitating to a lethal one. She couldn't risk seriously injuring, or worse, killing someone in testing her improvised technique. She patiently read through the scrolls again and was almost giving up when she absentmindedly rubbed her neck to ease her soreness and suddenly it occurred to her

"Of course!" she muttered under her breathe, finally finding her answer. If the heart was the weakest point for a lethal blow, then the nape area connected to the spine was incapacitating enough to make someone unconscious! She quickly consulted one of the Tenketsu charts and her idea was confirmed.

She felt a sense of anticipation as she hastily cleared the table, she was due for her next training, and she can test it next time but only after a final inquiry just to make sure.

Hinata arrived at Kurenai Yuhi's home barely on time. The scarlet-eyed kunoichi was standing in front of her house with a warm smile, she was wearing her old nin clothes again, Hinata waved at her sensei as she approached her. Kurenai was in hiatus from the village scene due to her child rearing and almost semi-retired from being a shinobi, yet she was willing to come out of the quiet domestic life for her student's sake. Hiashi Hyuuga had personally sought her help to further improve Hinata's skills, and though she had already agreed inwardly, she became more willing after hearing the clan leader's sincerity on his hopes for his daughter.

"Gome, sensei, did I keep you waiting?" Kurenai waved her hand dismissively; she always had a soft spot for her student and had even become more indulgent now that she was a mother.

The older kunoichi positioned herself in front of Hinata and began explaining in her usual soft manner

"As a jonin you need to be able to manipulate at least two natural elements, you did some water techniques as a chuunin but this time it will be different" she made a hand seal and the surrounding air instantly became thick and humid.

"Now I was thinking just before you arrived if we can try combining the water and wind release by creating a vortex with your palm technique" Hinata's eyes widened, her sensei was teaching her a very advance skill.

The Hyuuga proceeded to activate her Byakuugan, perceiving the density of the air around them more visibly while seeing tiny globules of water merging together into a shapeless mass of water. She began moving her palms in a swift circular motion, creating a small vortex as Kurenai simultaneously directed the aqua into the swirling wind to converge the two elements. Hinata then with her palm air technique made one final thrust to aim the spinning mass of elements at some nearby trees, managing to knock them all down.

"Good!" Kurenai said, a triumphant Hinata grinned widely.

The next part was for Hinata to extract the water herself, and as Kurenai reminded her, water was everywhere. If by chance, there was no body of water nearby or there was too little from the ground, she can always try getting it from the air itself which could be extremely difficult.

She spent the rest of the period weaving hand seals attempting to remove water from the earth which turned out to be more challenging than she thought.

By the end of her practice, she had gotten quite exhausted from using most of her chakra allowing her only to produce a feeble duplicate of her sensei's water release. The two then retreated to rest in front of Kurenai's house and discussed the technique further while Hinata in passing also mentioned about the deviation she was trying on Tenketsu, earning praise from her sensei. Their conversation was abruptly cut short when an infant's low cries was heard from inside the home, Hinata took it as her cue to leave although her sensei had invited her to remain as a guest for dinner.

"Gome sensei, But I have to go now.. I promise I'll spend an evening with you later after training"

"You're always welcome here" Kurenai smiled and gave her a quick embrace which Hinata returned back.

After her student left, Kurenai went inside to attend to her wailing child, she felt optimistic about the young heiress and her instincts told her that great things were about to unfold.

The weeks that followed were equally if not tougher for Hinata. Ko, who wanted to strengthen her stamina insisted for her to practice on Eight Trigrams 128 Palms every day and in addition to this Hiashi had also started to teach her the main branch technique, Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven. Fortunately, Neji was willing to help her with the said techniques but even their meetings were getting rare as his ANBU exam was also nearing. She was however grateful for the free time during her cousin's absence, which she would instead devote on her Tenketsu research and calligraphy writing that Hiashi had assigned her.

It was one of those moments of her free time when she quietly worked alone on the strokes for "忍耐" (patience) when an unexpected visitor came to her.

A small set of white eyes had peered through the half opened door, Hinata called out the person's name without turning her head, her eyes remained fixed on the calligraphy she was working on.

"Hanabi"

The person at the door made her presence visible upon hearing her name, she went nearer to Hinata who knelt before a low table. The younger Hyuuga sat next to her older sister and watched the rich black ink as it blotted the surface of the white sheet with her graceful strokes.

"Onee – San" she softly called as Hinata made the final stroke in her work, she placed the brush aside and faced her younger sibling. A strand of brown hair touched her face, Hinata tried to brush the strand aside only for it to stubbornly fall back in the same place. A warm smile came in Hanabi's stoic expression as she started to speak in a low tone

"I…wanted to tell you…" Hinata made an inquiring look, waiting for her to go on

"I…know we aren't close and there was a time that I resented you for your….." she inhaled deeply, struggling to continue with her words but Hinata had understood, she didn't need to hear more, she felt the remorse in her sister's tone.

"….weakness" continued Hanabi, managing to say it out loud as her eyes gazed down

"I'm sorry if I was never there for you" her vision was becoming cloudy as tears began to spring in her eyes, Hinata moved closer, gently pulling her sister into her arms.

"Don't worry, no need to apologize" her eyes were also welling up

Hanabi raised her head and wiped the teardrops trickling on her sister's cheeks "Onee-san, I'll always be here for you" Hinata beamed and locked her into another embrace while unknown to them, a silent observer was watching the tender moment between the sisters. A smile played on his lips.

"Hinata…you're growing to such a fine person. I couldn't be more proud to be your father"

"Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment — that which they cannot anticipate."

― Sun Tzu―

誕生日おめでとう

ヒナタ

Happy Birthday Hinata

(27 December)