"Many people believe that my power is over the mastery of flame, but that is a lie." ~ Naruto
Hiruzen sighed as he leaned back in his chair, his narrowed gaze sweeping across the occupants of the council room. On each of his sides, he knew, he would find the two elders, and his former teammates, Homaru and Koharu. Directly to his left, Danzo sat like a hawk, watching the proceedings with prejudice, waiting for his moment to take control. The remainder of the seats were filled by the numerous clan heads of Konoha, with the exception of two seats towards the middle of the table, which housed Mibuki Haruno, Sakura Haruno's mother, and Toshiro Gakinjo, father of Aimee Gakinjo.
"For the third and final time, I will not force the Hyuuga clan to pay reparations for their clan heiress putting your daughter into a coma. It was a sanctioned fight monitored by several Jounin, as well as myself. If we thought she was being unfairly brutal, we would have stepped in." Sarutobi replied yet again, the salt-and-pepper haired civilian frowning at the repeated refusals to avenge his daughter.
"Now then, unless some new evidence arises, such as the cause exactly of Aimee-chan's coma, then consider this matter dropped." The Hokage's voice was terse, cutting off any and all resistance rising in Toshiro's throat.
Despite not being able to give a sharp retort, the civilian still made his displeasure known as he shoved his chair back, storming from the room, and slamming the door begin him. The majority of the remaining occupants didn't even flinch as they turned their attention to their leader.
"If I may be permitted, why have we been called here, that insufferable man especially? Several of us have to get back to training our children for the Finals." Hiashi questioned as the other shinobi looked at the Third expectantly.
"I needed to speak to several of you about the Preliminaries, but I also wanted to say to all of you that I have high hopes for the coming generation. Given a few years, I can see some, if not all, of your children leading the village into an era. The Will of Fire burns strongly in a few, stronger than is customary for their age." Sarutobi informed the gathered parents, Danzo glancing at his rival through a single, half-open eye.
"That said; I need to see several of you in my office. If Hiashi, Inoichi, and Mibuki would follow me to my office." Hiruzen said, rising from his seat, his aged body protesting the motion. He gave a low chuckle as the three requested rose as well, making their way into his office as he followed them, an ANBU dropping from the rafters to block the door.
"Now then," He began, sinking into the cushy chair behind his desk, "I guess I'll begin with Haruno-san." He finished, the woman nodding as she stepped forwards.
"I suppose I don't have to say that whatever is said inside this room must remain here, you may speak of it to anyone, not even each other. This applies to all of you." Sarutobi added, gesturing to both Hiashi and Inoichi.
"Yes, Lord Hokage." All answered in unison.
"Now, Mibuki, during your daughter's match, she was subjected to more mental strain than physical, although she was thoroughly beaten. However, why I requested to speak to you is that she seemed 'broken' during the match, and shortly after this, she began to express inky tears, and became much more maniacal than should be healthy. I would like to know if you have any idea what she may have done?" The Hokage asked, leaning back in his chair as he adjusted his hat to cover his eyes.
However, any hope he had of getting answers was cut off as Mibuki looked at him with distress in her eyes. "No, no, I had no idea she was capable of such a thing. As you know, both I and my husband are civilians, not trained in the shinobi arts beyond knowing what chakra was, or what our daughter mentioned to us during her schooling." Mibuki said, and although she was obviously upset, her voice didn't waver or crack.
"That's what I was afraid of. I'd like to request that she be placed under observation, and that she go to an appointment with a Yamanaka to have her mental welfare assured." Sarutobi replied softly, then waving the civilian council member out.
"Inoichi, step forwards." He ordered, the blonde man responding silently, his hands behind his back.
"If you'd like to request that I perform the check on Haruno-san's, I'll do it. Considering Sakura and Ino's relationship, it may help ease her to have some familiar faces." Inoichi said, his only answer being the hardening of his Hokage's face.
"If by that you're asking to have your daughter at the check-up, I'm afraid that would only make things worse. Judging from your statement, I'm going to assume you are unaware of your daughter's fight in the Preliminaries." Hiruzen said, Inoichi tilting his head in confusion.
"What do you mean? If you're referring to my daughter's hair, I'm already aware, and while I find it more befitting until she learns to fight properly, it's hardly reason to forbid her from being with her friend during such as troubled time." Inoichi retorted, his face growing harder as suspicions flew across his head.
"I dearly hope you don't fully believe the words coming out of your mouth, or else I'm going to have to order that the entire Yamanaka clan report for mental welfare checks." The aged man spoke, and despite the tenseness of the conversation, the platinum blonde gave a low chuckle.
"No, I was afraid of having this conversation one day, Lord Hokage." Inoichi said, sinking into a chair as he began his explanation, Sarutobi watching stony-faced.
"From a young age, Ino was always different, very possessive of her toys and such. We finally decided to have her checked when she was 7. My late wife, she took Ino's favorite stuffed toy to wash it. Perfectly normal, right? Well, apparently not to Ino, she felt that my wife had stolen the toy, and called her a… well, Ino called her a list of things. Kami above, I didn't know a little girl could say such things with such venom. My wife, she withstood the berating by Ino, considering it was her own child, but things became worse when Ino began starving herself, refusing to eat anything until her toy was returned." Inoichi paused, taking a deep breath to calm him before continuing.
"Naturally, my wife gave in, caring only for her daughter's wellbeing. It was the next day that I got a day off, and delved deep into Ino's id, that is, her inner dimension. There I discovered the problem, like a worm eating away at an apple from the inside, my sweet daughter, my dear Ino, possessed a spirit of avarice unparalleled by any other mind I have ever had the chance to enter. I found in my little girl's memories, recollections of tormenting other children, girls she had called her friends purely out of jealousy. So, I did something that I regret dearly." Inoichi said, pausing once again to rub his eyes, preventing any tears from leaving as he finished his story.
"I used a forbidden jutsu known in our clan to plant a seed of hope in her fragile mind, in desperate hopes that it would, in time, grow to consume the festering darkness in my daughter. I know now that this was the wrong thing to do, but I had no other choice." Inoichi finished, looking at the floor in disgust at himself.
"You should have mentioned something to someone, anyone. That little obsessive behavior has turned into cult-like behavior centered on Sasuke Uchiha. She nearly killed her proclaimed best friend over a petty spat of who Sasuke liked more. Kami knows what she could, would do to others, and if it comes to it, the blame will rest squarely on your shoulders, Inoichi." Sarutobi admonished the pennant father, who rose suddenly, the chair clattering to the ground behind him.
"Shut up, you would have done the same if it was your child!" He yelled, a hand clamping on to his shoulder as he stopped, a thunder-struck expression taking the place of his furious one. "I-I'm sorry, Lord Hokage, I spoke out of turn. I shall rectify the mistake made." Inoichi reported, turning and leaving, not daring to look at his Hokage's face again.
"Hmm, maybe I was too harsh on him. Inoichi has been loyal for as long as I can remember, and I suppose his accusation does have its merits." Hiruzen thought aloud before shaking his head out of the thoughts as he addressed the final member called to his office.
"Hiashi, I wished to speak with you about both your nephew and your daughter. During the preliminaries, Neji and Hinata were forced to fight each other, with Neji prevailing. However, during the fight I noticed that Neji-chan seems to have quite a grudge against the main branch. He seems to hold them in contempt for that incident." Sarutobi spoke, reclining in his chair as he awaited Hiashi's calm response, assuaging his fears.
It never came.
"And well he should. The main branch is, after all, to blame for my brother's death, myself in particular. It only makes sense that he would use my child in place of myself. However, I seriously doubt that he would go so far as to use lethal force against Hinata." Hiashi said evenly, his head shifting to the side as an image of his late brother passed through his mind.
Suddenly, the Hokage leaped from his chair, a frown on his face as he stopped inches away from Hiashi, a kunai held to the Hyuuga's neck. The clan head started as he noticed the close proximity of the sharp edge to his neck.
"Hokage-sama!" He started, only for the Fire Shadow to pull his hand back, hiding both the kunai and his hands within the voluminous sleeves of his robe.
"That was how close Neji came to finishing off young Hinata. In fact, I doubt we would've been able to stop him in time had Naruto-chan not stepped in. That said, I don't think you should keep the truth of the matter hidden from him. I'm not going to order you to tell him anything, as it is technically a clan matter, but I'd recommend you tell him soon." The wizened man said, taking his seat back as he reached under his desk, pulling out a saucer and a small sake bottle.
"I will… take it under consideration, Lord Hokage. However, I fell that telling him during the training session would be counter-productive, the same as telling him during the Finals. But, if I feel that he can hear the truth and it won't worsen his skill, I will tell him." Hiashi said, and turned to go, only for the door to open as a young Chunnin barged into the meeting.
She immediately found her life in danger as the presiding ANBU placed the tip of his katana at the sweating Chunin's neck. However, she didn't seem to be afraid for her life as she extended a file to the Hokage.
"This…this just in…Lord Hokage. Mera-shisho confirmed the results herself!" The young female said both excitedly and fearfully, if that's possible. However, as the manila folder of notes left her hand, she looked at the Hokage expectantly.
"Oh yes, umm, Beaver? Let Orihime-chan go, she was under my orders, I suppose." The aged Hokage said; his hand stroking his beard as the occupants of the room sweat dropped. The ANBU, however, still relented, letting the girl go as she fled the room, her lab coat fluttering behind her.
"I was meaning to also speak with you about this, Hiashi-san." Hiruzen said as he opened the folder, fingering through several documents. "As I'm sure you noticed earlier, Gakinjo-san was rather furious due to his daughter's condition. I lied when I said there wasn't any evidence as to her diagnosis. Medics on scene examined her, and said she had little to no wounds on her body, which makes sense considering she fought a Hyuuga, your daughter. However, they also reported that they were unable to use medical jutsu to see what was wrong with her, something which did confuse me, so I had a specialist examine her." The Hokage said as he pulled the correct papers free from the mess, single-handedly tossing the folder on his desk as he skimmed the paper for information.
"Mera-chan is clinically blind, with no hope of ever receiving a cure, which posed a major problem considering she dreamed of being a great shinobi. However, my student, Tsunade, you remember her, helped her through the difficult time. At the time, we assumed that if anyone could fix Mera, it would be Tsunade; we were wrong. But the two bonded, and Mera found that despite a disability that prevented her from ever fighting, she could still help defend our blessed village." The man said; turning the page as Hiashi listened raptly. Hiruzen was infamous for rambling when he was preoccupied.
"Since she obviously couldn't learn Taijutsu, or Ninjutsu, she devoted her life to Medical jutsu, becoming a prodigy in the field, acknowledged by Tsunade herself. While Tsunade was famous for being able to fix any problems with the body, like a master puppeteer fixing his puppets, Mera was unparalleled in diagnosing patients." Hiruzen finished, his eyes slowly rising from the sheet of paper as he handed the page to Hiashi, leaning back in his cushy chair, his arthritic fingers steepling in front of his face.
"Now Hiashi, I'm going to ask this one time, and don't take my rambling as the early onset of some mental disorder. Do you know of any technique in the Hyuuga repertoire that can do what is listened on that page? Because one of two things await us depending on your answer. If so, I would like to applaud your clan's skill as the perfect assassins. If not, then I would like you to find out just how Hinata-chan came to create such a technique, and if possible, replicate it, given the potential damage it can do." The Third said, turning his chair around to look out the window over his village, admiring the beautiful landscape surrounding them. He didn't need to see Hiashi's answer, the dead silence, sounding of fluttering papers, and the sharp slam of a door were all the answers he needed.
"Team 7, one of you has the ability to make fires with his mind, but I have a feeling it goes far beyond that. Your second member is the last of his clan, although the same applies to the first, as well as a dark hatred growing inside of him, like the seed of darkness that once blossomed in Master's rival. And now I discover that your final member has the potential to utterly obliterate those! I fear for Konoha's future should even one of you snap.
A/N: Hey guys, so what did you think? This is actually the third try I made of writing this chapter. The first one just didn't flow right, and the second was too disjointed, but I feel confident in this one. Also, I almost revealed what Hinata did before I thought, 'nah, let these guys wonder'. However, just because I am a benevolent author, should one of you guess correctly what she did, I will reveal it. Now, I don't expect you guys to get it with no help, so I'll give you a hint.
It's directly connected to the phrase used with all the Hyuuga techniques. There you go, no more hints, unless I feel that you guys are really struggling with it.