Chapter Five
"Hanakiri. Yamanaka. Hyuuga."
The three girls looked around, frowning, on the Academy schoolyard playground during lunch. Sasuke was standing there, looking dark and serious.
"Sasuke?" Ino frowned. "What's up?"
Sasuke got into a stance, his eyes hard. "I wish to test myself against you," he said simply.
"Eh?" Ino returned eloquently, raising an eyebrow.
"He means that we have been beating him in class," said Hinata matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, and he's butthurt!" Tenten grinned; she clearly found this idea highly amusing. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and a scowl took over his face, but all of a sudden he seemed a bit more pathetic.
Ino threw her head back and laughed, long and loud. "Sasuke feels like his manhood has been threatened?!"
"I wish to test myself against someone strong to see how far I have come!" Sasuke protested, blushing. Ino laughed even harder. All of a sudden, her former crush was on her level, and had none of the glamor of before.
"Ino-pig, stop laughing at Sasuke-kun!" said Sakura fiercely.
Ino stopped laughing. She wasn't sure which irritated her more - Sakura's fangirlish habits, or the fact that she called her former friend a "pig." Name connotations or not, there was no excuse for calling another girl a pig in body-positive Ino's book.
Perhaps this is why she snapped out with an instinctive: "At least he's paying attention to me!"
Ino was immediately appalled - she had sounded, for a moment, like her old, immature self - but Sakura was too busy getting angry to notice. She stormed over to Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun, forget about them," she said sweetly, tugging at his arm. "Why don't I treat you to lunch?"
Her simpering seemed to be going for the little-girl effect, as if she thought Sasuke had a thing for younger kids or something.
"I have no interest in you," Sasuke snapped, pulling away, making Sakura look rather hurt. "I wish to fight someone of my level!"
"Come on, Sakura-chan, forget about that asshole -!" Naruto called, and now he was coming over, too -
At last, Tenten got fed up. She threw a kunai - Sasuke dodged - it landed on the ground behind him - the seal trap tag worked and a scythe-like weapon suddenly swung toward Sasuke's feet. He jumped away - right into Ino's range.
"Body transfer complete," said Ino smugly, in a hand seal, as Sasuke's body literally froze up, and turned slowly around to face them.
Hinata sped at Sasuke, knocked him over in a faux Jyuuken strike, and put a cool, collected foot on his stomach. Sasuke was still frozen, the weapon looking deceptively harmless behind him. The entire playground was silent with terror. Ino and Tenten walked over beside Hinata.
"That's how you compare to the three of us," Ino sneered.
"Get it?" said Tenten brightly.
Sasuke was released and he sat up immediately. Sakura and Naruto had watched in silent disbelief and horror.
The girls turned, and left the playground. The story spread around the Academy, until it was widely known that Hanakiri Tenten, Yamanaka Ino, and Hyuuga Hinata were some of the best up-and-comers the Academy had to offer.
Their training had progressed to the final stage - they learned how to integrate genjutsu in with their other skills, by tricking the enemy with a genjutsu and then really attacking them from another area.
Hinata made a genjutsu and then attacked from a hidden place with Jyuuken strikes. Tenten with weapons. Ino with mind and body control.
It took a lot of work to get down forming a genjutsu while moving around and attacking at the same time. The practice for this section was heavy. But the returns were definitely worth it. They either attacked each other, or Kurenai clones.
Meanwhile, Hinata mastered the Hyuuga high arts of One Body Blow and Kaiten. She became a master, not only at impenetrable dome shields, but at cutting through prisons and ties of all kinds and through incoming ninjutsu. Neji learned these same arts, something she knew he would always be grateful for.
Tenten mastered the weapons barrage ninjutsu from a sealing scroll, as well as - on her friends' and Kurenai's recommendation - the well timed use of explosive tags hidden on long distance throwing weapons toward people who were hard to reach physically.
Ino mastered multiple person mind and body control, from increasingly long distances and from any angle. She could now do what she had promised - force entire squadrons of soldiers to kill each other.
"Father." Ino came to stand before him, determined, one day at home. Her parents looked around in surprise. "I would like to fight you. I want to prove myself as a true Yamanaka. If I win… you have to give me my clan earring."
It was a ritual. Each Yamanaka got a single ear piercing and an earring showing that they were a true ninja and a Yamanaka.
"You know," said her father, puzzled and amused, "I was going to give it to you if you made Genin rank anyway."
"I no longer want to be a true Yamanaka by default," said Ino firmly. "I wish to become one by strength!"
Her father paused, and smiled.
"Very well," he said. "Let's go out back and have our spar, shall we?"
They faced each other out there in the back courtyard, every Yamanaka gathering around to watch. They stood, tensed, across from each other… Ino avoided looking into her father's eye and instead concentrated on the lower half of his body. If her father looked her in the eye, he could read her mind. He could sense all the minds in his area, too. But -
And here something within her clicked. But he could only sense the general area the minds were in.
Inoichi saw his daughter suddenly dart off to the side. He paused, made the hand seal, and dispelled the genjutsu, sighing in disappointment. "Ino, it is all too obvious you would not really make that move -" he began, and then paused as he felt his body freeze up.
All of a sudden the genjutsu was revealed, to gasps, and Ino was standing there, making a hand seal, smirking. She had not moved.
"Double layer genjutsu," said Ino. "I knew you wouldn't be able to sense the difference of a mind moving or not moving a few feet."
"I didn't know your range was this long," said Inoichi, frowning. "I purposefully moved into a range I thought you couldn't handle."
"I have improved," said Ino. Then she grinned. "Haven't you wondered," she asked, "why your Kage Bunshin haven't come out yet?"
Inoichi's eyes widened. The Kage Bunshin shuffled purposefully out of hiding as Ino flicked her fingers. She was controlling all of them at once.
"I searched with my body bind ninjutsu for every being with your chakra signature in the area," said Ino. "A true Yamanaka would try to win by trickery."
"As you have done." Inoichi smiled warmly. "You pass."
Ino released, and started cheering. She ran to engulf her father in a bear hug, and he laughed. "Very well," he said, as his wife watched on, smiling. "You get your earring."
And so, the following night, in a clan ceremony, Ino received her ear piercing. She smiled as she felt the new weight of the earring in her ear.
"I am proud of you, my daughter," said Inoichi, hand on her shoulder. It brought her a kind of satisfaction she didn't think popularity or acknowledgment from Sasuke would have.
Tenten's friends helped her move into a brand-new apartment.
"I can't believe I get to decide where everything goes!" she cried, stars in her eyes, zipping around the apartment. "Put that here! No here! No here!"
Her friends watched in exasperated amusement.
Tenten at last came back over to them. "Congratulations," said Kurenai warmly, "clan founder, Hanakiri Tenten."
Tenten blushed and beamed proudly. No more orphanage. No more matron.
The matron hadn't looked sad to see her go with her boxes. "Goodbye," Tenten had told the matron simply. She'd turned away, and hadn't looked back at the rundown old building as she left.
Hiashi at last commanded one day at the clan spars, "Hanabi. Hinata. You will face each other in battle."
And it all came to a head.
Hinata stood, and went calmly out onto the mat in her bare feet. Hanabi paused, staring at Hinata with resentment and - perhaps - fear, from her place sitting.
"Father, I am not feeling well," she announced.
"And will a ninja mission wait until you are feeling better, Hanabi? Enough of this," their father scolded her. "Face your sister on the mat."
Hanabi at last went reluctantly to face her sister, glaring at Hinata all the while. Their Byakugan activated and they got into stances.
"... Begin!"
Hanabi flew at Hinata, and for a beginner, she was good. It was obvious she had been practicing. Hinata backed up and backed up a few steps, letting her sister and everyone else think Hanabi was winning - then she pulled a Neji, and smashed with speed and power through Hanabi's guard, touching her heart in a faux tenketsu "death point."
Hanabi froze, her eyes wide.
Hinata winced in apology, though she wasn't sure if Hanabi had noticed. "You got arrogant and stopped paying attention to your guard," she observed. "Your defense could use some work."
They stepped back from one another, and Hanabi stood there, shell shocked.
"Hiashi-sama, if I may, this is ridiculous," one of Hinata's clan elder supporters spoke up. "Neji can barely defeat Hinata, let alone Hanabi. And he is the eldest! Hinata carries herself with more professionalism; it is obvious she should be clan heiress."
Hanabi looked around and gasped.
"Hiashi-sama, I would agree. If it were a choice between the two, I feel it would make more sense if Hinata-sama were to lead me," said Neji, carefully neutral. It was a bold thing to do, taking a side as a branch member. And then suddenly branch members all over the sparring room were agreeing with Neji's statements, as were several clan elders and higher-ups.
"This is ridiculous!" said one of Hanabi's greatest defenders, horrified. "With all due respect, Hinata-sama is a radical, and Hanabi-sama has already been chosen as clan heiress!"
"So we Hyuuga are unable to adapt with the current times, is that it?" the original clan elder demanded. "You base your accusations off of wild theories and refuse to accept that Hinata-sama is the older, stronger, and more diplomatic of the two sisters. Having been trained at the Academy, she is also an expert in the feminine arts, and having grown up Hiashi-sama's daughter, she does of course have elegant formality in manners.
"It just makes more sense. She may be a late bloomer, but she has bloomed. She is capable of fighting where she wasn't before, which, if you might recall, is where we found fault with her in the first place."
Hanabi's face had slowly reddened in alarm. She made to say something, and then Hiashi barked, "Silence!"
Quiet fell in the Hyuuga clan sparring room.
"I have heard all arguments already," Hiashi sighed, sounding slightly exasperated, making Hinata think this had been brought up in private Hyuuga council meetings before. "And… I agree. It would make far more sense for Hinata to be clan heiress. Hanabi shall henceforth be relegated to second in command, and shall release all rooms she had under her title as clan heiress."
Hanabi looked totally floored. Hinata wanted to tell her it was alright - that she would never seal her sister, that her sister could have her old rooms - but Hanabi had already rushed, upset, from the room.
Hinata suspected that in this matter, her sister would never really forgive her. But it was better, she thought, for Hinata to be clan heiress and neither of them sealed, than it would have been for Hanabi to be clan heiress and the other one sealed.
Her resolve had not wavered. She would do away with this branch family business - once clan head. Neji and she exchanged a wary eye.
He knew as well as she did it would have to be done carefully.
"Father," she said, "may I make Neji my formal branch guard in command?"
"You may," said her father, nodding his head.
Hinata smiled. This, on top of everything else, gave Neji-nii-san a better set of rooms just conjoining her own.
Kurenai stood at attention in the Hokage's office.
"Yuuhi Kurenai," the little old Hokage rumbled. "You are hereby made a Jounin of Konoha."
Kurenai smiled proudly.
She walked outside and found Ino, Tenten, and Hinata standing there. They jumped up and down and started cheering in excitement.
"Yes, yes, I've been made a Jounin," said Kurenai patiently, cheerful. "Now shall we all go to our favorite seafood restaurant? I'll buy Ino and Hinata something sweet, and Tenten some dumplings -!" she offered.
The cheering got louder, and the mass of women flooded toward the seafood restaurant. Sarutobi Hiruzen, Third Hokage, watched from a high window.
They were, he thought, practically a team already.
Author's Notes: One more chapter and then we'll be done with book one.