"So much time has passed since we last met, Kakashi-kun. I heard you were dragging those kids everywhere with you, especially the little fairy hiding behind you. Worried, aren't we?"
"Don't talk to my sensei like that," Hitomi growled despite the fear strangling her.
"Don't talk to your elders at all if you don't want to eat your own tongue!" Orochimaru snapped. "You're lucky I'm not here for you, little fairy, but for the boy behind you."
"What do you even want with him?" Kakashi asked, his voice hard.
"Come on, Kakashi-kun, you're in the best place to understand what I want. You don't really want to keep the powers of the Sharingan all for yourself, do you? It would be so selfish of you."
"What are you preparing this time?"
"Oh, Kakashi-kun, if only you knew… I founded Otogakure. And I see you understand now…"
"Those damned ambitions again."
"Of course! And for them to become reality, I need several pawns… Including your precious little Sasuke."
"You won't have him," Hitomi managed to hiss. She was terrified, her shallow and itchy breath burning her lungs like acid, but she would have damned herself a thousand times rather than leaving Sasuke to fall into Orochimaru's net. She met his eyes, cold and mocking, then fell to her knees under the violence of the killing intent he focused on her, still smiling as if murdering her was as easy as batting an eye. And it was, for him – that thought filled Hitomi's mind with despair.
"Step back!" Kakashi ordered the deserter when he moved towards Hitomi. "You might be one of the Sannin, but I'm strong enough to fight you now, and I won't let you touch my students."
He tensed, falling into a fighting stance, and the piercing noise of the Chidori tore through the air. Inside Hitomi, the voice buckled and screamed, begging her to let go, promises of devastation, suffering and protection filling her thoughts like drugs. For a moment, she staggered on the edge, her eyes filled with panic. Kakashi's silhouette, standing in front of her like a shield, stopped her from falling into the abyss.
"Ooh, poor little hound. Everything you do is so pointless. The seal you put on the boy won't help him at all. He craves revenge, you see. His heart darkens which each step he takes towards his goal. He's perfect…"
"Do you really think you can play him? Sasuke isn't…"
"He'll come to me. You can't change that. He'll come seeking power."
As if everything had been said, the deserter turned around, took a few steps towards the door, then, as if he had just remembered something, he stopped. "You were saying you could fight me, Kakashi-kun… Would you want to try? Do you really think you can, and could you bet your students' lives on it?"
Suddenly, the killing intent he had allowed to drop came back, wrapping around Hitomi's neck like barbed wire. She collapsed on her belly, unable to inhale even the smallest breath, her body twisting in pain. Long, long after the deserter was gone, she continued convulsing on the ground, despairingly searching for air. She barely noticed Kakashi kneeling next to her and tearing the sword away from her grip before she could hurt herself with it. She felt like she was drowning, her heart thundering in her chest – each beat was an explosion of panic and agony.
It took Kakashi several minutes of genuine comfort and subtle genjutsu to have her back to her senses. She was drenched in cold sweat, her clothes clinging to her skin uncomfortably, and she felt like she had been through a week of unyielding fever. A hand against her back, he helped her to sit up, carefully avoiding her eyes. He was ashamed, she realised. When she was again able to speak, she put a soft hand on his shoulder to get him to look at her. "Thanks for being there with me, Kakashi-sensei," she said, her voice hoarse and tired. "I was terrified but, thanks to you, I… I didn't want to die just upon seeing him."
He stared at her in silence for a long time, his black eye stopping a few seconds on the scar she hadn't had before the exam. After a moment of hesitation, he brushed his fingertips against it, as if to estimate the damage and the pain that had come with it. "You'll learn to resist by yourself. You have no idea how lucky you are to be alive… But luck won't be enough in the future. I'll tell Ensui about it and see what we can do to seriously step up your training regimen."
"K-Kakashi-sensei. I didn't tell you everything about what happened in the forest. I didn't… I didn't want to have to repeat it after telling Naruto and Sasuke, but I think it's gonna be necessary after all." Her voice subdued and full of hesitation, she told him about the voice that was haunting her regularly since the battle on the bridge in the Land of Waves, and how she had given in when the Otojin had attacked her in the Forest, desperate to save her teammates and friend. She added the observation Shikamaru and Gaara had given her, especially the one about her meridians visible under her skin. He listened to every word without judgment nor anger and, when she was done, he smiled under his mask to appease her.
"I'll research this, Hitomi-chan, I promise. If we can turn it into an advantage, we will, and if we can't, there's still the option of sealing it away. Maybe Ensui-san will know something…"
"I hope so, sensei. I-I don't want to be afraid of giving my best in a fight because I could kill my teammates. I really thought… I thought the thing would attack Shikamaru, when the Otojin fell and he left the thicket to help me. For a second, I…" She closed her eyes, pale and horrified. There was blood on her lips, where she had bitten down to try and resist Orochimaru's killing intent.
"I understand. I'll do my best to find what it is and what we can do with it."
The girl nodded after a second. She had to admit her teacher had reassured her a bit. Unlike her, he knew what to do, and wasn't intimidated by the pure power and violence that had emanated from her during that ordeal. He had, besides, planted a seed that could maybe help her. If the voice could be mastered…
As he stood up, Kakashi created a clone that took Sasuke's inert body in his arms and started to walk out, while the original explained to Hitomi he was taking her brother home and would request an ANBU team to watch over the boy. The girl would have preferred for him to refrain on that point: she didn't trust the secret organisation, not with Danzō scheming in the shadow, his puppet scattered all over the village. The only two clans he hadn't ever dared touch directly were the Inuzuka and the Nara, the former because they were too fierce and wild and the latter because their intellect alone made them too dangerous to cross in the face of the village. Having one or several of their sons killed away in secret missions was fine – it was a shinobi's duty to be ready to die for their village, after all – but the Councilman seemed reluctant to have any kind of direct confrontation. How long would that protection against him even hold?
They went back to the other Genin just in time to see Kankurō break his opponent's bones. Since the man was Kabuto's last teammate, Hitomi didn't in any way feel sorry for him. It was supposed to be Ino's turn after that, if the canon was to be trusted. Yet, her name didn't appear on the screen. After all, they were an uneven number. She would probably be the one to go on to the next round: she wasn't very impressive as far as ninjutsu went yet, but the audience would like her.
Hitomi stepped next to Gaara and pressed her arm against his, greeted in return by a nod. The Sunajin obviously realised Sasuke wasn't with her anymore but he didn't say anything, and she was thankful for it. She didn't want to tell anyone about what had happened in the Seal Room yet. Anyway, her friend looked more interested in the fight that was going to start, opposing Temari and Tenten. She understood. He was worried for his sister, even if he didn't know how to show it.
That match ended quickly. No matter how strong Tenten was as a Genin, she was still too focused on using her weaponry, and Temari could make it all go away with a swipe of her giant fan. However, the Sand Princess was gentler with her opponent than she had been in the canon, settling with a gust of wind that slammed her against the wall hard enough to knock her out. No bragging or cruelty, just the quiet assurance of a kunoichi who was conscious of her own worth. In a respectful – and probably disappointed from Lee's side – silence, medics came to pick Tenten up as Temari climbed the stairs to go back to her brothers.
Before the next match was called, Hitomi heard that Shino had won his match against Chōji by methodically draining him of his chakra through his insects. Before collapsing with chakra exhaustion, the Akimichi heir had shown surprising tenacity according to Kankurō. Hitomi knew how her friend hated fighting against his comrades, even for a friendly spar. He was too soft and gentle for that. He had become a shinobi to protect and serve, not to kill. As for Shino… Shino was a good soul too, but inside him was a mix of hardness and detachment that made him a redoubtable ninja despite his grade. He was the only one in the Fellowship, except for her, to have already killed.
Then Kiba and Naruto were called. Both let out enthusiastic exclamations, making Hitomi smile. They were friends, of course, far closer than they would even care to admit, but they were rivals as well, and so similar, with their energy and sunny behaviour. Akamaru yipped happily, a wolfy grin on his cute face. Soon enough, the two boys were face to face, beaming at each other with anticipation. Hitomi was surprised she couldn't guess the way this fight would end. She believed in her brother, of course she did, but she had seen Kiba fight. He wasn't to be brushed off lightly.
As soon as Hayate gave the signal, Naruto unsheathed his titan-like sword, the one Sasuke had given him years ago. He had become very proficient with it, and his taijutsu skills weren't lacking either. Kiba and Akamaru seemed to take a moment to estimate how long his reach was with the blade, the time it would take him to strike with it. Without even looking at each other, they rushed towards the blonde boy, one at his left, the other at his right, so fast their silhouettes became blurs of white and grey.
The crash would have been painful, if Naruto hadn't jumped to dodge it. Master and dog had to change directions in extremis so they wouldn't bump against each other and the jinchūriki took advantage of the very brief gleam of panic and surprise in their eyes to create seven clones amongst whom he hid himself. It was at that moment that Hitomi saw her mother, standing on the balcony at the other side of the room. Their eyes met, Kurenai's going wide when she noticed her daughter's scar, but she seemed to see something new in her daughter's demeanour, a kind of steel that stopped her from rushing to her side. She focused on the fight below again and Hitomi did the same.
"Do you think Naruto will win this fight, sensei?"
"He could. He's not as fast as Kiba, but he has stamina and strength in abundance and he doesn't know how to quit. Those are good qualities for a spar against an Inuzuka."
Down there, Kiba had just found the true Naruto. His nails, turned into claws, dug lines of fire in his shoulders. The jinchūriki shook his opponent off before his wounds became too serious and slashed a circle around himself with his huge sword, forcing both master and dog to step away from the deadly-sharp edge. Suddenly, Hitomi wished he had at least one elemental jutsu. Clones and swords could only take him so far.
But Naruto was even more clever than she gave him credit for. In just a second, the arena was full of a thick dark grey form that she identified as a dozen of her homemade smoke bombs, probably planted there by clones. It was still the best way to get rid of an Inuzuka's senses, and Naruto knew how to navigate mist, Kakashi had made sure of it after the battle on the bridge.
For a few minutes, Hitomi couldn't see anything happening down there. She ended up closing her eyes and focusing on her meridians instead. Then, she discovered Naruto had already handled Akamaru, who was lying still and seemed exhausted, unconscious. The jinchūriki was now targeting Kiba, who was trying to fend him off. Hits landed on both sides, but Naruto was the last one standing.
She opened her eyes, a knowing smile on her lips. Gaara smiled back at her and she leaned against him, comforted by his presence, by the quiet power laying in his chakra brushing with hers. Finally, the fog cleared up, the dark grey smoke pushed away from the arena by a weak explosive seal, another gift from Hitomi. The blonde boy was beaming harder than he had in days, since they had gotten into the tower. Kiba was lying unconscious, at his feet, and Akamaru was a bit farther away, just as still.
"Uzumaki-Yūhi Naruto wins this match!" Hayate announced.
The boy's friends clapped warmly – even Kakashi, looking immensely satisfied, joined in for a few seconds. Naruto was still smiling when he came back to the balcony and hugged Hitomi, as sunny and bursting with energy as ever. She let out a gentle laugh next to his ear, put her head on his shoulder for a few seconds, then let him go. "Congratulations, Naruto. You have progressed so much since the Academy, it's impressive!" She would have loved complimenting him endlessly, but the screen's buzzing stopped her. She turned her eyes to it and whined with anxiety when she saw the two names written there. Hyūga Hinata vs Hyūga Neji. She didn't want to see this. She had to but didn't want to, because she knew what was going to happen. Hinata was too kind and gentle to go at her own cousin with the intention of crushing him. He would have no such hesitations about her.
"Our paths meet once again, Lady Hinata," Neji said, his voice almost gentle.
"Neji-nii." Her own greeting was quiet, respectful. Naruto, who had been Hinata's friend since childhood, had learned, through lengthy discussions, about the complicated history of her family and the worsening gap between the main and secondary branch of the clan. He even knew about the way the Byakugan worked. His lips a thin line, as if he knew, too, what was going to happen, he didn't say a word, looking down in the arena.
"Hajime!" Hayate demanded.
Neji immediately started to talk, trying to convince Hinata to yield, to let him win. Shame spread in Hitomi like wildfire, because she, too, wished for her friend to step down from this fight. She didn't want her best friend broken by the boy who had been raised to protect her. Far above the ground, powerless, she bit on her lower lip so hard she tasted blood.
"You're wrong, Neji-nii! I-I really want…" Hinata choked halfway through her plea as Hitomi felt the characteristic buzzing of a Byakugan activating. She clenched her hands on the railing so hard the steel protested then started to bend, slowly, a millimeter after the other. The thing inside her, suddenly interested, stretched and whispered in her ear, using its sweetest words to say how killing Neji would protect Hinata, that they could make the girl safe, together.
"Don't listen to that jerk, Hinata!" Naruto yelled. "You're talented and strong, you can kick his ass! Don't yield!"
One after the other, their friends joined in, even the Children of the Sand who barely knew the young heiress but could see how important she was to the Fellowship. Hitomi's voice soon mingled with her friends' and, if her encouragements were hoarser, more desperate, no one seemed to really notice. Hinata, as if strengthened by her friends' support, slowly straightened up, her posture getting as fluid and precise as the Hyūga had taught her it had to be.
Her Byakugan appeared too, which Neji seemed to take offense to. Even from where she was standing, Hitomi saw the teenage boy's face twist with distaste and anger, as he mimicked her by falling in the opening stance of the Gentle Fist, the taijutsu form their clan had mastered. Furious, Hitomi made sure to observe his every move, the thing whispering promises of revenge and rivers of blood in her ears.
The first clash wasn't decisive, the two teenagers separating before they could land a real blow on their opponent. Hinata wasn't the most aggressive kunoichi, but her dodges were a true masterpiece for her level. She wasn't that fast, when compared to Sasuke and Kiba, but her defensive instinct was flawless and she only moved as much as she needed, not a centimeter more, for a hit to go past her. When they had still been recurring sparring partners, there were whole days when Hitomi couldn't touch her even once, no matter how hard she tried.
The second time, though, rather than accepting a mutual retreat, Neji pushed her to continue defending herself and pushed his advantage by picking up the pace of his blows. Hitomi could feel her friend's tenketsu shutting down one after the other. The sensation was horrible, as if Hinata was slowly dying. She could see how brave and proud she still was, a fierce fire lit in her eyes by their friends encouraging her. Hitomi had no choice but to resist the double calling of her instinct and the voice, both pleading for her to stop that fight, to step in.
"We believe in you, Hinata, continue!"
Hitomi was torn between the compliments that endlessly rushed to her lips and the truth of what this fight was, the ending she foresaw for it. She started shaking with anger, the voice growling and roaring in her mind with all her might to push her to violence, to revenge, to a litter of blood to soak the ground for each injury on Hinata's vital points. Coming from her cousin, her shadow, it was… Even if he hadn't chosen this position, he had no right to put the blame on Hinata, who hadn't had any say in the matter either.
She let out an anguished cry when Neji's open hand slammed against Hinata's heart, the fingers of his left hand shutting down the tenketsu along her brachial artery. Hinata's lips parted and, even from where she was standing, Hitomi could see the blood staining her chin. The Hyūga girl staggered, found inside herself a new energy and hit, slamming close points on her cousin's shoulders. With a brief look upwards, Hitomi prayed the unknown strengths above to grant her friend a different result for that fight.
The hits inflicted on the tenketsu with the Gentle Fist were ten times as concerning as normal impacts, and yet Hinata straightened and got back in a fighting stance. Hitomi couldn't hear what the two cousins were saying now that her friends were roaring and cheering, but she didn't need to. Those words were carved into her memory, in a book of her Library. She had reviewed that damned book so many times in hope of changing this whole debacle. In vain. She couldn't stand against a whole clan alone, especially one so close-minded.
"You can do this, Hinata!" The words escaped her as half a sob, half a cry. She wasn't ashamed of her emotions, for once so obvious, wasn't ashamed of the tears on her cheeks, wasn't ashamed of the way her hands were crushing the railing that stood as a barrier between Hinata and her. She heard Kakashi sigh, as if he too, understood how this fight was going to end, as if it was too late already. She didn't dare wonder how right he was.
They went at it again, Hinata managing to close shut several minor tenketsu until Neji hit her under the chin. The thing screamed in answer, so loud Hitomi's ears were deaf for a second – maybe she had screamed too, maybe it was the cause of the torn gleam in Shikamaru's, Gaara's and Naruto's eyes. Without even noticing it, she was weaving around herself a killing intent that was perhaps even more intense than what she had managed to produce facing Orochimaru. Terror had fuelled her then, but terror for herself was nothing compared to the anger blooming in her heart on Hinata's behalf. That feeling alone, as scorching as lava, could take a life.
Then Neji managed to make Hinata collapse by hitting her on the heart again. She stood back up, like she had done every time, her eyes sometimes gazing to the balconies. What did she hope to see there, if not her friends yelling their support? Did she even hear them? Hitomi's heart broke, she clenched her teeth and the railing snapped, useless. Now she had nothing concrete to stop her. She needed something, though, anything, or she would…
Hinata articulated something, her lips barely moving, and everyone felt the killing intent Neji emitted at that moment. The Jōnin acted so quickly they were invisible to the eye, Hitomi just behind them as chakra exploded in her limbs, allowing her to reach an impossible speed. In less than a second, she was down there and, if the adults were focusing on Neji, she ran straight to Hinata.
When the Hyūga girl staggered, she rushed to stop her fall, laying her down on the ground as gently as she could. The teen's half-opened eyes were foggy, filled with exhaustion and unbearable pain. Like everyone, Hitomi heard the wet sound of a muscle tearing and the words exploded on her lips before she could even think them, making her beg for a medic in a voice filled with despair. She had no medical jutsu, she had sworn to learn and pushed it back to the next day again and again. Maybe she could have done something, maybe, maybe…
The Jōnin let Neji go, Kurenai rushing to her student's side as medics took her away on a stretcher to attempt to save her life. Slowly, Hitomi stood up, her hands drenched in her friend's blood. Her eyes were as hard and sharp as the edge of her sword, but it wasn't the most worrying thing about her demeanour. No, the most worrying thing about her was the killing intent exploding around her, so strong and merciless it had Neji uttering a choked sound. She took advantage of his surprise to hurl herself at him, pinning him to the closest wall. He tried to defend himself but already she was there, her shadow stealing away any control he had on his movements. He was struggling, but anger made her so much stronger she was almost another ninja altogether. The thing screamed inside her, furious and thirsty for the boy's blood, ordering her to make it paint the whole arena red.
The two Genin were staring at each other. Slowly, Hitomi unsheathed, her right arm keeping him in place. She could have killed him there, now. It would have been so easy. He was mimicking her movements, yes, but he wasn't armed, and she had watched him enough to understand he was right handed. She snarled like a furious cat. If possible, her killing intent grew stronger.
"You dare," she growled, her voice terribly low and her nose almost against his. "You dare take it out on her, even though she suffered just as much as you did in her father's hands. In another world, I'd have forgiven you, I'd have understood, but hurting her, when talking to her would have been enough for you to understand…"
Neji had turned white, his widening eyes allowing her to see several burst veins in them. The fight hadn't been that easy for him, Hinata had fought back, so brave, so strong, so sweet. The edge of Hitomi's tantō pressed against the Genin's throat, leaving a thin, thin line of blood on his pale skin. One dark red drop rolled to his clavicle – the voice inside her screamed for more.
"Hitomi-san!"
The girl turned her head towards Lee, who was now standing next to her. He stepped closer, put a hand on her left forearm and slowly forced her to take her blade away from Neji's throat. She resisted for a few moments then gave in, her eyes never leaving the teenager's. His face was grave, almost severe.
"I understand your anger, trust me, I do. But Hinata-san wouldn't want you to kill her cousin, you know that just as much as I do."
She breathed deeply once, twice, then took a decision. Her hand tightened around the tantō's guard, the blade inched a bit more towards the fragile skin, then she let go, stepped back and sheathed the weapon again, without separating their shadows. Slowly, the killing intent around her dissipated. "If you raise your hand on her again," she whispered in a terribly sweet voice, "I'll come back for you."
On those words, she took her shadow back and spun around, Lee by her side. She would have liked to follow Hinata, to run to her and hold her hand, to pray to the gods to let her heal, but she couldn't. Kakashi wouldn't have allowed it, not in her state, not when he knew about the thing inside her. With the eyes of every Jōnin in the room digging in her back, she went back to her friends, her expression hard and still thunderous.