When the doctor took the gauze off in the morning and she slowly opened her eyes as instructed, she was delighted to be able to see once again. The light was still too bright so the sunglasses were necessary for another day, but she could finally see her family again. Her father, although showing no emotion, felt his eyes soften at his daughter's smile.

He watched as Hinata packed two lunches, one for her and one for Itachi when he returns later that day, and took pride in her initiative. She was working hard to get closer to the eldest Uchiha and Sasuke; this gave him great hope for their generation.

"I understand Itachi is coming back today." Hinata nodded. "You will also be joining Neji's training. It's important that you learn to fight alongside one another."

"Yes, father. I understand," she replied. "I look forward to all my training today."

Hiashi patted her head haltingly. "Continue to wear your sunglasses, even throughout your training with Itachi and here at home. Protect your eyes." Hinata bowed to her father and left to meet Neji outside.

"Good morning, Hinata-sama," he said.

Hinata suddenly felt shyer than she thought possible. She'd already met Neji, but actually seeing him and making conversation suddenly felt impossible to do without retreating into her shell.

"Good…morning, Neji-san," she said. She looked up at his bandaged forehead and frowned slightly. One day, she hoped she was smart and strong enough to remove the seal hiding beneath. She didn't want her fellow clansmen to feel obligated to serve and sacrifice for the main house's sake. She wanted to earn their loyalty and respect, she wanted to earn the right to lead them to better things.

Neji tilted his head and then lit up. "Your sight has returned!" He exclaimed happily.

Hinata blushed deeper and nodded. She gave him a tiny smile as they waited for Sasuke in front of the compound. They were there for a few more seconds before Sasuke came rushing around the corner with a grin on his face.

"Can you see again?!" He asked immediately. Hinata giggled and nodded. "That's awesome!"

Even though she'd expected him to retreat a little once her sight returned, she was happy to be wrong. The walk to school was much better than yesterday. Neji and Sasuke didn't exchange words but there wasn't any tension like the day before, and Hinata was thankful.

Neji said goodbye at the school gate to rush for his class after exclaiming that he was happy to be training with her later today.

"I thought we were training with Itachi today," Sasuke said as they walked to their classroom.

"Yes, but I will also be training with my father and Neji-san once I'm home," she explained. She held back a yawn and rubbed her eye, clearly exhausted.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked. "You seem tired."

"I'm all right, thank you," she brushed off. "Also thank you for introducing me to all of your friends."

Sasuke shrugged. "They're good people so you never need to worry about them mistreating you," he assured her. He seemed to catch on well to the worries she wasn't outright expressing. He felt a little pride at being able to read a Hyuuga, even if she was very different from the other ones. She hid her emotions well despite her lack of leadership skills; he discovered this while she was in the hospital. She was like an open book but seldom shared anything personal.

Hinata smiled brightly when her new group of friends greeted her, Kiba and Naruto did so excitedly that Hinata blushed brightly. Sasuke scoffed at her reaction but smirked when he saw how happy she was.

This was seen by all the girls in the classroom who were crushing on Sasuke and their eyes turned to slits as they glared at the Hyuuga Heiress. She sensed their gazes and lowered her gaze when she saw the hate in their eyes. She quickly moved from Sasuke to her new group of friends.

"G-good morning, everyone," she said as she bowed politely with a warm smile on her face.

They all greeted her in different ways, aside from Shikamaru who was napping before class.


The Hokage sat at his desk, waiting for Hiashi Hyuuga to arrive—no doubt to ask what of the Kumogakure ninja. He was surprised Hiashi had held out this long, but he supposed it had to do with Hinata being in the hospital. Now that she was out, Hiashi was here.

"Hokage-sama, Hiashi Hyuuga," his assistant announced. Hiashi walked in wearing his standard traditional kimono covered by a haori. It was informally formal, so much so that the Third chuckled.

"Please, Hiashi, you didn't have to dress so formally for our meeting," he teased, chuckling still.

Hiashi looked down at his everyday attire, confused. "This is…what I wear every day, Lord Hokage," he said, unsure of what the Hokage meant.

Hiruzen Sarutobi waved off the comment and cleared his throat as he got to business. "What is it you'd like to discuss?"

Hiashi stood a little taller. "I'd like to inquire about the Kumo nin. Has there been a breakthrough?"

"Hiashi, I know this is not what you want to hear, but no matter what the nin tells us, we will not take excessive action right away," the Third explained.

The Hokage watched as Hiashi's fists tighten and loosen despite no facial changes and applauded the Clan Head for his self-restraint.

"What they did breaches the very contract they signed barely a fortnight ago. May I ask your reasoning?"

The Hokage took a puff of his pipe and adjusted his Hokage hat. "The war has caused many casualties throughout the years, for both villages, and this treaty is imperative to keeping the peace. I will negotiate with the Raikage to ensure Hinata and your clan get justice. You have my word, Hiashi."

Hiashi took in his words and exhaled deeply as he knew he had no choice but to accept. "Yes, Lord Hokage. Please keep me informed."

"Of course. Thank you for stopping by and I'm glad Hinata's sight has returned." Hiashi thanks him and bowed politely as he was dismissed and starts on his way home.

He felt angry and frustrated with the turn of events but he knew the Hokage was correct in his decision. If he were in the Third's shoes, he would make the same call. He knew the Raikage was difficult to deal with, but he trusted the Hokage to come out on top ultimately.


After going with his Anbu Captain to report their mission, Itachi all but trudged on. It was a strenuous mission where they barely got any sleep or food, and he still had to see what Sasuke and Hinata were made of. He stretched his tired muscles and looked at the sky to check the time, and quickened his pace as the academy was letting out for the day. He was dirty, sweaty, and smelly but he knew Sasuke would be happy to see him and Hinata would probably be happy to see him return safely.

He waited by the gate for his brother and betrothed and ignored the looks from other children running past him. He kept a polite smile on his face but otherwise didn't engage.

"Brother!" Itachi spotted Sasuke running towards him with Hinata walking with a group of boys not too far behind him. She still wore her shades but looked directly at him at hearing Sasuke call out to him.

Itachi's polite smile turned warm as he saw how happy Sasuke looked to see him. "How was school?" He asked.

"It was fine! Did you just get back?" Sasuke beamed.

Hinata bid goodbye to their group of friends and stood beside Sasuke. "Welcome home, Itachi-san. The mission was a success?"

"Yes, and yes," he replied, answering both of their questions. "I hope you don't mind, but I didn't get a chance to clean up."

"That's okay."

"We're just going to get dirty anyway."

Itachi smiled at their answers and patted their heads. "The Hokage had a message from Hiashi-sama waiting for me. It seems I am cleared to take Hinata-san under my wing, along with you, Sasuke. He informed me of the private Hyuuga training grounds on the outskirts of the village."

"Yeah! It's huge, brother, you have to see it!" Sasuke was so relieved and happy to have his brother home that he couldn't contain his excitement. He was thankful that most of the kids were already gone.

They took off walking and were joined by Ko when they reached the Hyuuga compound.

"How was school, Hinata-sama?" He asked.

"It was nice to be able to see," Hinata answered. "It made doing my classwork much easier."

"I'm happy to hear it. Itachi-sama, I wanted to assure you that I will not interfere with your training unless doujutsus are involved," Ko explained.

"Yes, I understand. Thank you, Ko-san."

Sasuke could tell that Itachi was impressed when they entered the training grounds and shared a smile with Hinata. Ko took his position near the entrance and paid no mind to the training despite keeping a watchful eye on Hinata.

"First thing, I want to see how well your accuracy with weapons is," Itachi explained. He moved closer to the targets and waited for Sasuke and Hinata to place their school bags down and join him. "I'll allow you to use my weapons."

He gave them each a handful of kunai and watched their forms as they threw the weapons with almost complete accuracy.

"Hinata-san, bend your knees a little more. Sasuke, you're putting too much strength behind your throw."

They both adjusted themselves and found their accuracy spot on, much to their pleasure. Itachi had them do this for another ten minutes before calling for a break.

Hinata immediately ran for her bag and pulled out a bento box and a pair of chopsticks. "Itachi-san, this is for you. I asked the cooks to prepare an extra box for you. I thought you'd be hungry when you returned," she explained, her cheeks a bright red.

Itachi took the box gratefully. "I'm really thankful, Hinata-san." He patted her head. "I'll eat this while you two spar."

"S-spar?" Hinata squeaked while Sasuke practically jumped for joy.

"Yes. I need to see how well you two fight at your age and then go from there," he explained as he opened the box and sat down on the ground to begin eating. "Begin when you're ready."

Hinata and Sasuke took their positions; Hinata in her family's Gentle Fist Style and Sasuke in a traditional Taijutsu stance. Hinata felt nervous and tried to steady her breathing and Sasuke was excited to get the opportunity to show Itachi his skills. She had never sparred with anyone without her Byakugan and she was afraid to hurt Sasuke. She had already memorized where the chakra points in the body were located but she was afraid to make a mistake and severely hurt him.

"Ready?" Sasuke asked.

"...Y-yes," she said.

Sasuke wasted no time in rushing for her with a fist drawn, Hinata dodged and brought her knee up causing Sasuke to quickly jump back. She made no move to rush him and forced him to charge at her once again. Rather than dodging, she used her family style to parry his fists by smacking them away from her. Sasuke then dropped down and kicked at her feet, resulting in her jumping back.

Itachi watched their clumsy sparring as he ate. He had his sharingan activated to watch more closely. He saw the hesitation in Hinata's moves and the frustration and anger in Sasuke's.

Hinata's flexibility allowed her to dodge a punch by bending her back parallel to the ground before coming up again and smacking Sasuke's other incoming punch rather than striking his shoulder as she could have. Itachi's brows furrowed but he made no move to stop the spar.

Sasuke growled and swiped at her feet, catching her this time and tripping her over. She quickly recovered by rolling and getting back up. Sasuke could see her hesitation in her moves and this angered him more than anything, as he thought she was going easy on him because she saw him as weak.

Neither moved for a few minutes before Sasuke ran for her again, this time flipping onto his hands and overwhelming her with spinning kicks. She could barely counter them with her palms.

"Enough," Itachi called out. Sasuke quickly retreated. "Hinata-san, you could've hit Sasuke numerous times and you hesitated. You're too afraid to hurt your opponents. This could get you killed on the battlefield. Sasuke, you're impatient and lack strategy. It is impossible to study an enemy's moves if you are the first one to attack. Do you both understand?"

"Yes, Itachi-san. I'll try again," Hinata said, her eyes on the floor.

"Yes, brother."

"Very well. Again!"

Sasuke and Hinata settled into their styles once again. This time Hinata attacked first, chakra charged in her hands. She thrust her palm out at Sasuke who quickly dodged it and retaliated with a kick to her side. Hinata barely managed to block the kick with her chakra-charged palm. Sasuke winced and jumped back. He moved his leg around and realized it was numb.

'Her blocks weren't like that before,' he thought. 'How did she do that?'

He studied her palms and they didn't look like she had any secret weapon. The feeling in his leg returned but it still felt off as he got into stance and took Itachi's advice to wait.

The hesitation was still in her eyes but they were more serious now. Hinata charged but rather than using her palms to hit, as Sasuke now expected, she dropped down and kicked at his legs. Knowing he was going to jump up to avoid the attack, she spun on her hands and landed a kick on his side. Sasuke, having caught it before it caused too much damage, held on and spun her by her leg before letting go and causing her to crash into a tree.

She gasped for air but quickly rose up and got back into her stance despite the wind being knocked out of her. Sasuke rushed her, taking the opportunity to land punches on her, some of which she blocked. Hinata, finally able to breathe again, put chakra into her hands and managed to slam one into Sasuke's thigh and another into his left shoulder.

"Enough!" Itachi called out. He'd just finished his bento and decided they sparred long enough for him to get an idea of where they were.

Sasuke dropped to his knees and clutched his shoulder, panting softly from exertion. Hinata came running toward him. "Sasuke, are you okay?!" She asked.

Sasuke smirked at her. "It took you long enough to not baby me. You're stronger than I thought you were," he admitted.

Hinata blushed deeply and got on her knees beside him to unblock the chakra pathways she's closed off. It was difficult doing it without her byakugan, but she managed just as well.

"Thank you. You're very strong as well," she said when she was done.

"Hinata-san. How is your back?" Itachi asked.

Hinata smiled. "It'll be fine," she replied. "Thank you." Both Sasuke and Hinata stood up, waiting to hear what they could improve on from Itachi.

"Sasuke, you have plenty of strength but you put too much behind your attacks, which is why you're out of breath. You will need to work on fighting strategically and building your stamina," He said before turning to Hinata. "Hinata-san, your stamina and durability are impressive, but your worry will only end up hurting you. You will need to work on overcoming your fear of hurting others. When you hold back during a friendly spar because you're too afraid to hurt them it is considered rude, and if you do that out on the battlefield…you die. I cannot stress that enough."

Hinata, feeling properly scolded, bowed. "I apologize, Itachi-san. I will work harder to overcome this obstacle as I want to protect my family and my village."

Itachi put his hand on her head. "You don't need to apologize. You did well," he assured her. "You both did. This is what training is for, to learn. For the next hour, I want you both to continue sparring. Thank you again for the food, Hinata-san. It was very delicious and much needed."

"I'm very happy you liked it," Hinata said.

"Ready?" Sasuke asked her. "Do you want me to check your back before we start?"

"Thank you, but I'm really okay," she reassured him. They moved back to their spots and continued sparring.


"Hiruzen, do you really expect for the Raikage to agree to those terms?" Koharu Utatane, one of Konoha's elders and his old teammate, asked.

"Quite frankly, A is a difficult man to deal with, just as his father was. We remember when the previous Raikage tried to kidnap Kushina Uzumaki when she was a little girl, and now this. If we don't find a middle ground, the Hyuuga clan isn't just going to sit still. We have to find a way to keep the peace outside the village and inside," he said.

"I agree, but how do you expect the Raikage to be okay with letting the Hyuuga clan deal with their head ninja?" his other old teammate and also Konoha Elder, Homura Mitokado, chimed in.

Just an hour ago, Fugaku Uchiha reported his findings. The Kumogakure ninja had broken after continuous interrogation and torture administered by Ibiki Morino, Head of Torture & Interrogation, and Fugaku Uchiha himself. He admitted the Raikage plotted everything with the hopes that either they would obtain the byakugan through the Hyuuga Heiress or, should the man be killed by Hiashi Hyuuga, they'd call for his death and the byakugan would be theirs by the Clan Head himself. It was well thought out, but no one expected Hiashi to spare the man, thus foiling their attempt at stealing another power from Konohagakure.

"We'll call a meeting to discuss negotiations. Should he prove too difficult, then we still have a card up our sleeves," The Third stated before taking a long drag from his pipe.

"Are you implying we announce who is next in line to be Hokage?" Koharu asked. "That would be pivotal in turning the negotiations in Konoha's favor. The Raikage not only holds respect and is indebted to this man, but he also fears him."

The Hokage hummed in agreement. "Let's hope we don't have to announce this news too soon, but I'm not complaining about retiring early."

The three people in the Hokage's office went silent as they thought about the next Hokage…

The Yellow Flash.


Hinata went to her room upon getting home. Her training with Sasuke and Itachi was harsh. She could feel Itachi's eyes on their every move and it made her feel exposed but the insight he provided made it worthwhile. While Itachi wasn't able to attend their training tomorrow, Sasuke and Hinata promised to work together along with Naruto since she wouldn't be using sunglasses anymore.

Hinata changed into her training uniform and went to her father's dojo. When she opened the door, a kunai flew her way and she instinctively grabbed it out of the air.

"That is what I expect from you in two months' time, Neji," Hiashi said. Hinata slipped into the room and looked over at Neji panting on the floor while Hiashi stood in the front of the room. "How did your training with the Uchihas go?" He asked her.

"It…went well, father. Sasuke-san is very strong and Itachi-san is very insightful," she responded.

"I see."

"Itachi-san will be unable to train us tomorrow but… I was hoping I could still train with Sasuke-san and Naruto Uzumaki-san. Would that be okay, father?"

"Naruto Uzumaki? He's Minato and Kushina's son…" Hiashi thought aloud. "Very well. Learn what you can from them. I expect you here every day for our training as well."

Hinata bowed, barely holding back a wince at how much her back hurt. "Yes, father."

"Neji, stand. Watch Hinata spar with me and focus closely."

"Y-yes, Hiashi-sama," Neji panted. He managed to sit in a perfect seiza as he watched Hinata get into the Gentle Fist stance. Her stance seemed lax, not rigid like the stance required. Behind her sunglasses, he couldn't see if her byakugan was activated but he saw the chakra built up in her palms as she charged her father.

Her speed was above average but Neji saw that he was easily faster than her. What he admired most was how fast she got to her feet after being knocked down, thrown, or hit. She never stayed down longer than a few seconds. Her stamina, which Hiashi had praised, was incredible. Neji vowed to get stronger so he may protect her, and so they may fight together as equals.


In the dead of the night, Itachi slipped late into the secret Uchiha clan meeting underneath the main hall at Naka Shrine. These meetings were only available to the clansmen who had become a ninja and was to be kept under wraps.

"Itachi," Fugaku greeted. "Now that you're here, we'll begin the meeting. First, I'd like to discuss the marriage contract between us and the Hyuugas. Since the last meeting, the contract has been agreed to and signed by Hiashi Hyuuga. Itachi will be marrying Hinata Hyuuga."

"Do we know that we can really trust these Hyuugas?" One clansman inquired. "We have always had animosity between our clans and they are much closer to the village than we."

"I've spoken to Hiashi personally and he is more than willing to bring about a better life for our future generations. Hinata is a naive girl and, should it come to that, easy to manipulate. We will have more power in our clan and within the village with this contract," Fugaku explained.

Itachi internally frowned at his father's reasons, but he knew he was trying to placate the clansmen. Fugaku firmly believed that both clans would benefit from the marriage. Not only would they get more power physically and politically, but they'd even possibly create a new doujutsu through his union with Hinata Hyuuga. Thus, garnering more strength in their clans.

"But, Fugaku-sama, you must know that the village thinks ill of us already and it has barely gotten any better! Underneath the Third Hokage's reign, while they've gotten better, circumstances have not improved as much as he promised us," another exclaimed.

Fugaku hummed and thought for a moment. "I've heard rumors of the next Hokage being announced soon. Itachi, can you confirm what I've heard?" All eyes turned to the young boy.

"I cannot confirm or deny these rumors," he replied. And while not a definite answer, they all knew what it meant.

"While the village is transitioning, we should attempt to strike the village and earn what is rightfully ours!"

Itachi nearly runs that man through with a kunai but holds himself firmly in place.

Fugaku hummed again. "We shall wait until the next Hokage is announced before deciding something that could very well lead to the end of our clan," he said. "It's something we will keep in mind, but we will make no moves."

Itachi felt extremely relieved and hoped that the next Hokage was someone they could trust.

After the meeting, when everyone went their separate ways, Shisui grabbed Itachi's arm and led him away to their usual training area. Shisui had been present during the meeting and sensed how uneasy Itachi was feeling.

"That was a tough meeting," Shisui sighed as he kicked a rock along the ground while they walked. "I know it was difficult to listen to, but staying on the inside is imperative to protecting the village."

"I don't understand how they could be wanting to plan a coup," Itachi admitted. "I know we're still looked at with scornful eyes, but we're trained to put the village first."

Shisui patted his arm. "If things aren't looking too well, then I hope you know that I will do what needs to be done for the sake of our village." When Itachi looked up into Shisui's eyes, his Sharingan was activated and he had a hard look on his face—a look that Itachi rarely saw.


Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! 3

-hina

NEXT UPDATE: 03/25/23