Chapter 3

Black Butterfly

It was five in the morning when Hinata woke up from her sleep. She wasn't fully awake at the moment, but even she could figure out that she did not get enough sleep. Still not fully awake, she stared at the ceiling with a blank expression and after a while, the memories of what happened yesterday rushed into her mind, reminding her of the seal marking on her upper back. Hinata instantly sat up with a horrified expression, her hair was all tangled and messy. Her feelings were all mixed up, but mostly she thought of Neji and his sorrow of bearing the cursed seal. With her thoughts and feelings still jumbled, she raised her hand and rested her palm on her shoulder as if trying to reach her back. She then let out a deep sigh.

'No!' Hinata couldn't believe she remained in the same position for a good minute and got all depressed early in the morning. She quickly shook her head, causing her messy hair to flutter in response. She then raised both of her hands toward each side of her cheek and slapped them hard enough to bring her back to her senses.

'I can do this, I can figure this out!' Hinata thought, trying to hold herself together. Feeling much better, she got up from the bed and walked into the bathroom.

Starting from the top, Hinata put on her mission clothes and gear carefully. She looked into the mirror and began brushing her hair, then she continued with tidying her front bangs by slightly tapping on it. 'Mm! That should do it,' Hinata thought while still looking into the mirror, her face showing determination. As Hinata opened the door from her room, she spotted Shino in the garden right in front of the porch.

"Good morning, Shino-kun," Hinata greeted with a smile, while walking to Shino.

"Good morning, Hinata," Shino replied. "Kiba and Akamaru are still sleeping, probably because they haven't got any good food and sleep since the mission."

Hearing those words made Hinata imagine how Kiba had endured those days traveling with Hisao, it made Hinata chuckled.

The morning was indeed beautiful. The sunlight gave color to all the beautiful flowers and plants in the garden, and the wind grazing their skin wasn't hot nor cold, it was the perfect breeze which brought the scent of morning freshness. They could also hear the sound of the fluttering leaves and birds chirping in harmony, it was peaceful.

"Oh?" Hinata turned her head to the right when a butterfly suddenly landed on her shoulder. She wasn't startled at all but once she saw the butterfly, she was awed. Hinata raised her left hand and put her finger near the butterfly, hoping it would climb onto her finger, and the butterfly did. She then brought her hand forward and to the front of her chest to have a better look at it.

"A black butterfly, what a rare sight," Shino said while adjusting his glasses.

After a while, it flew away. Hinata looked up and stared at the butterfly that was going further and further into the light. Still looking up, she was silent the whole time and didn't notice that Shino, who was right beside her, had been staring at her for quite some time.

"Is there anything wrong, Hinata?" asked Shino.

Upon hearing Shino's concerned voice, Hinata lowered her head. Everyone knew that Shino was a quiet person, at the same time, he cared deeply for his friends. He always knew what his friends were feeling just by observing them. Knowing this, Hinata then turned her head to Shino and calmly answered him, "Nothing, it's just.. this place is really peaceful, don't you think, Shino-kun?"

Shino then turned his head to the front. The Aburame clan was known to always wear dim glasses for various reasons. It might not look like it, but behind those glasses, Shino was quietly observing Hinata's gestures and expressions from the side of his eyes. Her answer just now could not deceive him. He knew Hinata was keeping something from him, but even knowing that, Shino did not force it, nor demanded her to tell the truth.

"Mm, it is indeed peaceful."

An hour had passed and a noise could be heard from Kiba's room, there was Akamaru's barking and the sound of heavy footsteps. Kiba immediately burst out of his room followed by Akamaru, startling both Shino and Hinata who had been sitting on the porch for quite some time.

"Kiba-kun?" asked Hinata in a concerned voice.

Shino looked at Kiba for a second with one of his eyebrows raised before realizing what Kiba was probably thinking. "You're not late, it's only seven."

The moment Kiba heard Shino's words, his worried face immediately changed into a relieved expression. Akamaru, who was standing beside Kiba, let out a small whimper, feeling second hand embarrassment. Akamaru then turned his gaze to Hinata and trotted toward her with joy beaming on his face.

"What's that? And here I thought I overslept and was sure I'll be lectured along the way, by you." Kiba said while tidying his bed hair and gazed briefly at Shino. Meanwhile, Akamaru wasn't moving an inch from Hinata's lap, it seemed like he enjoyed Hinata's petting. It was a moment of silence when suddenly, the sound of a growling stomach broke the quietness. Kiba then let out a nervous laugh.

"You ate the most last night and now you're hungry again?" Shino said with a judging tone, implying it was not exactly a question.

"C'mon, you do know that half of my share was eaten by Akamaru right?" Kiba shrugged.

Akamaru immediately perked up his ears and got up in disbelief. He barked in disagreement with Kiba's statement. Both Shino and Hinata could only watch without knowing who exactly had eaten the most. The loud argument between Kiba and Akamaru was suddenly interrupted by the manager of the inn.

"Dear guests, my deepest apology for interrupting your important meeting."

Kiba's eyebrows twitched at the word "important meeting".

"We have prepared breakfast for all of you. It's the last thing the inn can offer as a token of gratitude before you leave," the manager continued.

"Thank you for informing us, Mako-san," Shino said as he and Hinata got up, and the manager nodded. The team then followed the manager from behind as she led the way, and the moment they stepped into a room, the wonderful smell from all the food caught them off guard. Knowing that it would be their last meal from the inn, they took the time to slowly savor and remember the taste of all the luxurious foods.

The time was nine in the morning when the team bid farewell to the inn. Both Kiba and Akamaru looked a bit down, but at the same time, Kiba was glad that he did not have to escort anyone along the way. The team could now move at full speed.

"Right! Let's go back to Konoha, everyone!" Kiba shouted and everyone excitedly agreed.


"No! No no no no! This is the mission I get after two weeks of waiting? It's lame! I don't want it! Hmph!"

A loud voice echoed from the red building at the center of Konoha village. Standing in front of the hokage's desk were Konohamaru, Udon, Moegi, and Raido. Behind the desk was Kakashi sitting with both his hands clasped together above the desk, and his soul about to leave his body from Konohamaru's loud scream.

"So, as I've said.. help building a bridge is not a lame mission," Kakashi said with a sigh, he then continued, "In many cases, there will be enemies who aren't fond of having a short route connecting one point to another. There's a high chance they would do anything to obstruct the construction of the bridge. If it happens, this mission may as well be considered a B-rank mission. It has considerable risks and that's why I choose your team," explained Kakashi in an asserting tone.

Somehow, Kakashi's explanation had Konohamaru half convinced that the supposedly C-rank mission could very possibly turn into B-rank. Though the other half was Konohamaru still doubting if the mission was any good for him, who had been eagerly waiting for a new, challenging mission for two weeks.

Meanwhile, on the far left of the team was Raido, standing clueless on why he was chosen to babysit those three kids and even worse, in a C-rank mission. Ebisu was currently assigned to a special task and would be away for some time. As a result, Raido, one of the special Jonin from Konoha who was currently not in any missions, was called by Kakashi to become the temporary leader for team Ebisu.

"Geez, that's enough Konohamaru! At least we still got a mission, and besides, what the hokage said is true!" Moegi chided.

"Alright! Fine! I'll take the mission! You better not lie, Kakashi-sensei!" Konohamaru yelled once again while storming out of the hokage office when suddenly, the door opened right at the moment when Konohamaru was about to grab the doorknob. A loud bang was heard, and the startled Kiba immediately looked at the other side of the door just to find Konohamaru covering his possibly broken nose.

"Okay, I take that everyone has understood what the mission is about. Let's go," Raido said as he saw that Kiba and the others were about to have a meeting with the hokage. He was not going to let Konohamaru throw another temper tantrum in the middle of the hokage office. Konohamaru and his friends immediately followed Raido and left.

"Hah.. I feel like I understand the fifth hokage better now, it was like talking to a second Naruto," Kakashi sighed in frustration. "Oh? Kiba, Shino, Hinata, and Akamaru, you all just returned from your mission? Everything went smoothly?"

"Yes, there was a sudden ambush by a group of mercenaries, near the village." Shino answered, "it was confirmed that the group was hired by Hisao's younger brother. But we took care of them immediately and safely brought Hisao-san to the village."

"Well! They're all small fries anyway, except for their leader. He can use mud release jutsus and his mud dolls were annoying!" Kiba stated.

Hinata remained silent as usual. She was hesitating whether or not she should mention the seal marking. She knew very well that the seal marking on her back was a result of her own carelessness, and because of that, she was having an internal conflict within herself.

"I see, mud release huh? That was quite unexpected. Well, all of you did a great job nevertheless!" Kakashi praised the team. "Shino, I'll be waiting for the written report tomorrow."

Shino nodded in return. Since they were not assigned to any other mission, the team immediately left the hokage's office after the brief report.

While they were walking together in the village, they came across their former team leader, Kurenai. She was holding Mirai in her right arm, and a bag full of groceries in her other hand. Kiba instantly called out to Kurenai from afar and ran toward her. Meanwhile, Shino, Hinata, and Akamaru casually followed from behind.

"Kurenai-sensei!" Kiba shouted, followed by the others who also greeted her.

"Oh, Kiba! Shino, Hinata, and Akamaru too. Did all of you just return from a mission?" Kurenai asked.

"Yes, we had just finished giving our report to the hokage," Shino replied while nonchalantly letting Mirai play with his fingers.

"I see, it's great to know that all of you have turned into splendid shinobi," Kurenai smiled and turned her gaze at Hinata. "How have you been, Hinata?"

"Ah, I'm doing great," Hinata reassured. "How about Mirai and sensei?" she continued.

"Well, we're doing good. Mirai's becoming more active and sometimes I just can't keep up with her."

Kurenai and Hinata chuckled at the statement, but for Shino, he was seriously considering whether he should visit Mirai everyday just to play with her. Kiba then looked at the bag of groceries Kurenai was holding all the time while talking.

"Sensei! Here, let me help you with the groceries! We'll walk you back to your house too!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Oh, it's fine. Our house is not far from here and we're heading back now, besides, you all need some rest," Kurenai said. She paused for a while as she gave everyone a reassuring and comforting gaze before continuing, "If any of you need anything, I'll be here, alright?"

Hearing that, Kiba, Shino, and Hinata answered with a smile before they parted ways with Kurenai. The team continued to walk together after that, but along the way, they split up and returned to their own homes.

Hinata went back to the Hyuga compound. Inside the compound, she was greeted many times by the members and servants of the Hyuga clan. It was still an appropriate thing to do even though she failed to be the heiress, and more than that, ever since she came back from the war, everyone in the clan had been showing nothing but care and respect for her.

"Sister?" A faint voice could be heard coming from behind Hinata.

"Sister! You're back!"

Hinata turned around and saw Hanabi running toward her with joy beaming from her face. It had been almost a month since they last saw each other. Whenever Hanabi was home, Hinata would be out on mission, and the same thing happened when Hinata was home.

"Hanabi!" Hinata called out to her little sister with a bright smile and gave her a short hug.

The two sisters started to talk about their days on missions and how tiring it was. Hanabi especially would complain about a lot of things. They were like two sides of a coin. Hinata was a quiet and composed sister and Hanabi was the loud and cheerful little sister. Hinata did not mind that, instead, she found it comforting listening to all the stories Hanabi was talking about. It made her forget the reality for a while and enjoy the moment she had right now with her little sister.

The day had come to a night. Unbeknownst to them, it was already dinner time. Hiashi suddenly appeared in front of them and both sisters immediately stood up and greeted their father.

"So, both of you are here after a long time."

Hinata looked at her father for a short while and started remembering how much he had changed after the war. It was a good change. Hinata then replied softly, "Yes, father."

"Father! That means it's the first time after so long we could have dinner together!" beamed Hanabi.

Truly, the last time the whole family could have dinner together was months ago. In the end, they all walked together to the dining room. The food might not have been as delicious as the one served at the inn, but for Hinata, any food could taste wonderful when eating with her family.

'It's nice to be home', she hummed in her thoughts.

The family went back to their own rooms once they had finished their dinner. Hinata had just taken a warm bath and was now drying her hair when her thoughts shifted to the seal marking again. She knew she had to figure out a way to break the seal, in case it was something harmful. Fuinjutsu was never her specialty, so all she could think about was finding the answer herself. 'Right, I'm going to the library first thing tomorrow morning,' Hinata thought, and just like that, she went to sleep after her hair had fully dried.


The night sky was dark and the stars were nowhere visible. Somewhere near the fire temple, among the trees, there was a small flaring red light. Sasuke was sitting in front of a campfire he had made to keep himself warm. He was leaning on a tree with his eyes closed and his right arm holding his katana. The forest was quiet, there was only the sound of the leaves and crickets at night.

The silence did not last long. Sasuke immediately opened his eyes and shifted to alert mode. He sensed fast movements and lots of people at that. After a short while, he sensed those chakra signatures moving further away from his place. They made it clear that Sasuke was not their target. But something did not sit right. A thought suddenly hit Sasuke as he realized the direction those people were heading.

The small flaring red light from afar was nowhere to be seen anymore.