3

"I'm fine, Hana, really," Haku smiled weakly at his sister.

"What was that move you did, Haku?" she marveled at him. "It was amazing!"

"It's called 'the Heavenly Spin'," he answered with a small yawn. "The kaiten. I'm surprised you didn't recognize it; Uncle Neji uses it all the time."

"Is that what it was?" she yelped. "I didn't realize! It looked kinda different from Uncle Neji's…"

"Because I'm not an expert like he is," the little boy gave his sister a sad, helpless smile. "I'm sorry I'm not stronger. I could have done a better job at protecting you if I were stronger."

"You did awesome, Haku!" she thumped her small fists onto her thighs, her face reflecting both anger and worry. "I'm just sorry I couldn't take care of them by myself."

"Hey," he shook his head and reached a small hand out from beneath the white blankets, touching one of her own gently. "I told you I'd never leave you alone, didn't I?" She nodded. "So, it's okay if you call for me. I did hear you today when you called, you know."

"I'm glad," she gave him a shaky smile, her fists relaxing, taking his pale hand in both of hers. "I hope you can call on me like that when you need me."

"I'll always need you, Hana," he whispered lovingly, squeezing her hands. "You're me, and I'm you. Do you understand?"

She nodded. "I'll come to help you too," she swore. "No matter where I am or what I'm doing. I promise."

"He performed the kaiten," Hyuuga Neji spoke from his position on the wall, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed in thought. "I couldn't do it until I was nearly twelve."

"Amazing," Haruno Sakura spoke, her eyes never leaving the crack in the door from which the adults observed the two children. "Aside from being chakra exhausted, he's absolutely fine: no burns, no broken bones, no strained or torn muscles at all." She glanced to Neji once for confirmation. He nodded.

"Those are all common injuries when practicing the Gentle Fist style of the Hyuuga Clan," he spoke more to his cousin than to the pink-haired woman. "Have you been teaching him anything?"

"I've trained with him once or twice," Hinata answered him, her pupiless white eyes also on the crack in the door. "And I have shown him the basics of the Gentle Fist style, but I've never tried to teach him the kaiten or any other Hyuuga technique." She thought to herself for a moment. "I don't believe I've ever performed one of them in front of him either."

"I've performed the kaiten several times in front of both children," Neji said in what was almost an apologetic tone. "And Haku once asked me the theory behind it. I told him, but I didn't think he'd apply it so early on."

"With the proper training, he can handle it," Uchiha Sasuke spoke from the opposite wall, his pose identical to his cousin-in-law's except his eyes were open. He frowned slightly, thoughtfully. "When Naruto and I took them training last month, he didn't use anything like that at all. In fact, he tended to avoid direct combat," he looked over at Sakura. "His defense is perfect, though. He's ideal for becoming a medical ninja."

"Mm," Sakura nodded. "But he should learn how to attack—to protect himself for the safety of his teammates."

"Hana does all the attacking for him," Uzumaki Naruto leaned back against the small padded chair in the hall beside Sasuke, his smile amused but his eyes grave. "It's like they're two halves of the perfect shinobi—absolute defense and exceptional offense. Like a sword and a shield."

"They can't be like that if they're going to survive in the ninja world," Sasuke bit his lip in concern. "They can't always be together."

"I don't think that will stop them from trying," Naruto answered him, a trace of humor in his words.

"Why don't we begin training them individually?" Neji offered. "Hinata and I can combine our abilities and teach Haku some offensive styles, and Sasuke and Sakura can work on honing Hana's defenses."

"That's a good idea," Hinata turned her eyes from her children for only a second to glance at her cousin. "Although I think it would just be better for you to train him, Neji-niisan."

"That's not true, Hinata," Neji shook his head. "Haku is almost identical to you when it comes to your personalities. Your personalized style will fit him perfectly, as opposed to my own style, which leans more toward aggression than pacifism."

"I suppose that's true," she spoke with a resigned tone, as if training her son was something she'd rather avoid.

"Hinata, I know you don't want to hurt either of your children," her cousin spoke to her in a gentle and almost reassuring voice. "But in order to make them stronger, it is a parent's responsibility to train a child's weakness. Besides, if it is you and Sasuke training them, Haku and Hana will try even harder."

"Why do you say that?" Sasuke asked him. "You'd think it would be the opposite way with how they look up to you and Naruto."

Neji's white eyes opened to look at the other man, his lips thinned into a serious line. "A parent is like a god in the eyes of a child," he explained. "Pouring your own efforts into them will in turn bear greater efforts from them in order to meet your expectations." He stood, turning from the group and starting down the academy hall, towards the exit. "Psychologically, they will not want to disappoint you and work tirelessly at reaching the goals you set up for them. It may be hard and sometimes painful to watch, to know what you are doing to them and what you're putting them through, but it is necessary. And they will only love you more for the attention you're giving them." With those words, he turned the corner and was gone. Naruto and Sasuke looked after him, unknowingly sharing similar thoughts. The blond's eyes were far away and the other man's were clouded with anger and pain. Sakura glanced back to her friends, a concerned look tugging at her face. Hinata put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head.

"Why don't we have them checked out, Sakura-san?" she asked the other woman. "Hana seems fine and all Haku needs is bedrest, so we can carry him home."

"Yeah," the pink-haired woman shook off her worry and grinned. "I'll start the check-out procedures. You can start getting them ready, okay?"

"Okay," Hinata nodded and moved into the room while Sakura turned the opposite way and went toward the nurse's office to get the early release 

papers done. Naruto and Sasuke were alone in the hall, left to the thoughts of their own parents.

Mom… Dad… the blond's eyes almost watered at the thought of them. Did you love me for that short time you had me? Did you put the Kyuubi inside of me for that reason? Did you know how hard my life would become and would you have still done it, even if you knew?

Mother, the tall, dark-haied man let his eyes slide halfway closed, as if he could see his memories better that way. You were always so kind, so loving, so ready to give me help and support when I needed it. Were you part of that plot to overthrow Konoha's government too? And my father… Now his amber-black eyes hardened and narrowed, giving him a fierce appearance. Was I just a tool to you, like my brother was? Were you using me—my feelings—and molding me into a killing machine that would do your bidding? Did you truly love me at all?

It was a rare occurance when the four of them ate together as a family. Either Sasuke was away on a mission or Hinata was pulling a night shift at the hospital, and at times even the children seemed to prefer the isolation and lock themselves away in one of their rooms. But on this night they sat around the table and ate their dinner silently, each one thinking their own thoughts. Hinata had been looking between her children and her husband, noting that all three of them seemed to be depressed but she couldn't figure out the exact reasons and she had no idea of how to go about addressing it, so she fiddled with her food and cast worried glances at each of them and fretted over what to say and how to say it. Haku was the first to notice her inner struggle.

"Mommy? Are you okay?" he asked from his place beside her. She jumped slightly and looked over at him.

"I'm fine, honey," she smiled and nodded her head. "I'm just glad you and your sister are alright after what happened today."

"It was their stupid faults anyway," Hana made a face from across the table, directly opposite her brother. "They're the ones who started it."

"Regardless of who started it," Sasuke spoke from his daughter's side, "your mother and I are both glad it didn't go any worse than it did."

"If only I were stronger," Haku mumbled, stirring his rice with his chopsticks and staring down into the bowl, "I could have fought longer, and protected you better." His shy white eyes rose to his sister.

She pointed her own chopsticks at him. "If it weren't for you, I would have been hurt real bad, Haku. I'm just sorry I couldn't do anything to protect you. I guess I'm not strong enough either."

"You two are still very young," Sasuke reassured, eating steadily as he spoke. "There's plenty of time to train, to hone your skills, to find your strengths and weaknesses and work with them."

"That's right," Hinata nodded to her children. "No one is expecting you to be masters right away. Everything good comes with practice and time."

"Speaking of practice," Sasuke put his bowl down and looked over at the twins, "your mother and I had a discussion with your Uncle Neji and we believe it's about time to train you both individually."

"But isn't that what we did with you and Uncle Naruto, Daddy?" Hana frowned up at him.

"In a sense," Hinata answered her. "This training is a bit different from what you two are used to. But I didn't want to begin this sort of thing until you were older."

Sasuke put his elbows up on the table. Hinata raised a critiquing eyebrow at his gesture but said nothing. "We thought it would be best to save this until you both became genin," he explained. "But your powers and techniques are evolving so rapidly that if your mother and I don't begin formally teaching you how to use your eyes you could really hurt yourselves."

"Our eyes?" Haku blinked.

"We're going to learn how to use our eyes?" Hana gaped.

"Yes," he nodded. "Starting next week after school—on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays—your mother and your Uncle Neji will be training Haku, and your Aunt Sakura and I will be teaching Hana."

"What about Uncle Naruto?" Haku asked instantly as Hana did a little wriggle of glee on her side of the table.

"Uncle Naruto has to worry about the Kazekage and the Chunin Exams," Hinata explained to her children, "so he'll be very busy. But I'm sure he'll make time to come by and see how you two are doing."

"Are you sure we can't just skip out on going to school?" Hana asked with a mischevious look on her face. "I mean, since we're going to practice real hard and we'll always be tired, and we'll learn more things here that the other kids won't. Isn't it kind of pointless to go to school?"

"Nice try, honey," Hinata smiled patiently at her child and shook her head.

"Aw, man!" Hana sprawled out onto her back, defeated. Haku giggled at her.

"No dramatics at the table, Hana," their mother spoke as she finished the last bite of her dinner.

"It's important to continue your schooling," Sasuke looked over at his motionless daughter. "A shinobi needs skill and power and technique, but they also need a strong foundation in the rules and regulations of the trade and the community. It's just as important."

Hana sat up with a pout on her round face. "But it's so boring!" she wailed.