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Chapter 12: A Sunny Place Under the Moon

Hinata had been taken away from Team 8 for two weeks after Hiashi received an insulting letter from Lord third Hokage questioning his ability as a clan leader. Still, Hiashi didn't train his older daughter personally just yet. He allowed Hinata to watch the matches between Hanabi and himself. And assigned Neji to train with her during his free time because Kō Hyuga was gone on a mission. Kō Hyuga was assigned to protect Hinata after the event of her kidnap had taken place. Since Hiashi saw how soft Kō was towards Hinata, he thought the man would be ideal to oversee her training.

Hinata felt displeased that her father would take Neji away from what little freedom he had with his time. She could feel Neji's hatred towards her and the main branch family. It was almost palpable! And if she could see this, Hinata was sure her father could see it as well. Hence the reason why Hinata was overly displeased about the situation. It had been unclear to her as to how she ended up being trained by her family.

Hiashi never left Neji alone with his daughter. He would supervise every match, in the event Neji's hatred consumed him to the point of hurting her severely. The worst injury a Shinobi could receive is an injury that render them useless as a ninja; thus ending their careers. Some have committed suicide over this. So while Hiashi remained stoic on the outside, he was on edge. The Hokage was slamming him from one side, while the elders were pestering from another side. But nothing was worse than the demon sized guilt he carried inside. His actions towards Hinata had been a projection of himself as a failure as a husband, and older brother.

His wife died giving birth to Hanabi. And it had been his fault because he listened to the elders and didn't allow the Leaf Village's best medic to oversee the delicate C-section operation.

"Our medics are just as proficient." They said. "And we don't have the funds to overpay Lady Tsunade, that gambling drunk excuse of a kunoichi."

And his twin brother, Hizashi, believed that he had been making his own choice to die, when in reality he had been manipulated into it. Hiashi believed he deserved Neji's hatred.

Over the duration of each practice, Hiashi would speak in a robotic manner; telling her areas she needed improvement in.

"Hinata, stop retracting and don't let Neji overpower you." Hiashi commented. "Push forward, and block. And stop cowering, you're making the gentle fist look disgraceful."

During practice, Neji sneered at her openly and scolded her, under his breath, with verbal abuse. There were many variation of words he used which all implied that she was weakest Hyuga, and that she should just quit the life of a shinobi. After her defeats, Hinata retrieved inside her mind.

A sunny place.

It was a place where the sounds of birds chirping and wind blowing were noiseless. A place where Ino stood, with feet submerged in shallow river water which didn't make a sound. Ino held a clover in her hand. Mint blue eyes smiling along with her expression of happiness. In this place, she replayed Ino's words she once said; after she came and rescued Hinata from the bullies.

"I heard your name is Hinata Hyuga. I'm a clover bush, and my friend's a cherry blossom. Flowers needs a sunny place. No, not just flowers. Every ninja needs a sunny place because without it their hearts will get really cold and sad."

Ino, ever the confident, was there anything enough to break her? Probably not. Any mean comments aimed towards her, she shrugs it off, before turning the insult back to the verbal abuser. But Hinata wasn't Ino, and if she was, maybe Hinata would say to Neji she pitied him for all the anger and hatred he felt. That by the times he dies, he would already be dead and rotten inside. But that's only if she were Ino.

Hinata had learned to accept her role. If she were persistent enough, maybe she could become Neji's sunny place.

Before dinner, Hinata would pay a scheduled visit to the medic ward located inside the main branch mansion. She'll stand inside a room, reserved for patients, and would unwrap the bandages around her arms, legs, and chest. The medic was a female. And Hinata stood, almost bare, and allow for the Hyuga medic to heal her injuries and bruises so that it doesn't scar. It was a feat provided only to main branch member to maintain the appearance of perfect and superior bodies.

Dinner with her family was like having snacks at a funeral; all dressed in dark Hyuga training robes taking small bites, chewing slowly, while looking distant or thoughtful. One night, Hanabi was being very talkative. She told her father that when she becomes the clan's leader, she'll obliterate the division between the main branch and lower branch, and unite them by allowing marriage between the two divisions. Hiashi almost choked on his food, and his head snapped towards Hanabi's direction, wondering where she even got that idea from. No doubt from her oldest sister.

"I think I'm finished with my food..." Hinata said, although she had barely touched it; another reason why she had been unintentionally losing weight.

"You may not be excused. Come back and listen to this." Hiashi said at her retrieving form. His oldest daughter paused on her steps and turned to her father. "What is true strength? If you train a lot, why aren't you progressing? Should you quit, or will you keep going?"

"F-Father! What are you saying?! Are you asking big sis to quit?!" Hanabi yelled.

With the same vacant expression she shows when she's inside her sunny place, she said:

"I'll keep g-going...because e-every ninja needs a sunny place. Without it their hearts will get really cold..."

"Big sis…" Hanabi didn't know what to say. Her admiration for Hinata only grew. Hanabi felt astonished over her words. "Don't worry! I'll be the fireworks that will display on the day we accomplish your dreams!" Hanabi said, also using her name as reference, since the name 'Hanabi' translated to fireworks.

Hiashi was not very responsive to the desires and needs of his daughters, just like the elders were to him. Which is why he decided to be more mindful. He was giving Hinata the option to quit. He no longer wanted to push her to pursue this ninja life if she didn't want to. But he was pleased with her choice.

He turned back to his dinner. Quite frankly, he wanted to cry. His wife had named Hinata, and he never realized that such name would have an impact on their oldest daughter. Hinata was just Hinata. He never attributed any image to it. He wasn't a good father. And won't become a better one overnight. He still felt hatred towards himself, disgust, frustration. But he'll be more careful from now on, not to slip. Praises were deprived from him at such a young age. And it felt so foreign to praise another. But he'll try harder not to scorn at her. It was in his nature to want to control everything.

Hinata lay back on her bed, wondering if she had been too quick to decide if she wanted to continue this life. But if she were to quit, she'll be letting her sister down. And her sister was going to keep going and Hinata knew she needed to be by her side. But Hinata was scared. Up until now she had been doing anything she needed to get stronger. But her father brought to her attention that she wasn't getting any better.

But she wasn't going to give up! After all, it was a land of wars, hatred and demons. And Hanabi was a girl who grew up in a garden shrouded with toxic souls. She needed a beacon. She'll be that sunny beacon in her little sister's life. Putting that aside, she will have to have a talk with her. Hanabi needed to stop going through her stuff while she wasn't home! It must have been how Hanabi found out about Hinata's dream, since Hinata had messy drafts written on different places inside her diary.

'I'm over-training, but not in a way that gets me results.' Hinata mused.

'What is strength? And how can I measure it?'

She was gentle, cautious and uncertain. Traits which she shared with Kurenai, who happened to be the best at Genjutsu. So those traits didn't hinder Kurenai from becoming strong. So that perhaps wasn't an indicator to why Hinata was so weak.

'Am I genetically defected? Born to be weak?' Neji would go on and on about destiny. He almost had her believing in it too. But then if she was defected, why was she able to activate her dormant Byakugan?

Hinata got changed in the dark. She wrapped bandages around her arms and legs and chest. She slipped on dark pants and a dark shirt. Team 8 was training without her on chakra manipulation. And she promised Kurenai that she won't fall behind.

True strength, Hinata figured, could be a compilation of things. Not just the gentle fist.

After grabbing her ninja bag, she shoved a flashlight and a book inside and slipped outside through her window.

Kō Hyuga had just finished giving Hiashi a verbal affirmation that the mission was a success. Before he left the main branch mansion, he activated his Byakugan to make sure the young girl was safely tucked in bed. But what he saw was her trying to sneak outside. Much to his relief, she wasn't out this late trying to meet up with a boy. That is how he ended up shadowing Hinata.

He knew how far and wide her Byakugan's range was, and allowed himself to get caught within her range on purpose.

"Kō!" Hinata was weary. She feared he was there to take her back home. She was at the outskirt of the forest which belongs to the Hyuga family. Similar how the Nara had their own land.

"Lady Hinata. Let me assist you in training." He said as he walked forward, with his Byakugan deactivated.

"B-But you just got back…you should go home and rest." Hinata said, while she pulled out a book and a flashlight from her bag as she stood by a tall tree.

"My job is to protect you. If something were to happen to you..." Kō didn't finish his sentence, because the words already hinted at a dark consequence.

He extended his hand and she silently handed over her materials to him.

Kō sat on the grass, with the flashlight aimed at the pages of the book in his hands. He read the content on the book, since he himself had forgotten how to even explain to a genin how to just walk on a tree. It came natural to him now, to the point he forgot that he wasn't born with the ability. Walking on tree was like walking on land. He was such an expert that his mind didn't require much thought, as his body just performed the action.

"Climbing trees feels like a gravitational pull happening between my feet and the tree." Kō explained while shutting the book close, because putting it in his own words was better than using all kinds of confusing jargon. He sighed, when he saw the confusion in her eyes. "It works the same way like a magnet. Hmm…you're a genin, with genin level chakra reserves. Use your eyes to see how much chakra you're putting on your feet." He didn't tell her that too much chakra would will repel her away from the tree. And that is exactly what happened when she tried.

"Am I using too much?" Hinata asked, as she remembered Shikamaru explaining something to her about finding the right ratio pertaining to her body and chakra.

"Yes. Try again." He commanded, an authority he used because he was currently acting as her teacher

The same outcome kept happening, until hours later Hinata found the right amount to stand against the tree trunk.

"Kō! I did it!" Hinata said excitedly.

"We're Hyugas. This exercise comes easy to us." Kō should've chosen his words carefully since it was easy to break Hinata's smile without him intending to. "Er, what I'm saying is that you did a good job, Lady Hinata. I didn't expect any less of you, because you're a Hyuga." She smiled once again.

"W-What do I do now?" Hinata asked, as she stood unsure, with her feet on the tree branch.

"Now you have to try climbing to the top of the tree. And the way you do that is by maintaining complete control on each step that you take." Kō replied.

Hinata's chakra control was astounding. It was almost as perfect as Neji's. Kō wouldn't have known if he hadn't activated his Byakugan and witness her manipulate her chakra to make it to the top.

He'll have to let Lord Hiashi know that she was very adept at control. Perhaps this will help Hinata become more fluent in the ways of the secret fighting techniques that the main branch had to offer.

Once Hinata was at the top of the tree, she deactivated her blood limit to get a better colorful view of full moon, which decorated the dark sky. Her ears twitched upon hearing a noise. And her head shifted in time to see Kō leaped from the grass and aimed a kicked at her. Hinata dodged by back-flipping off the tree and landing gracefully on her feet.

"I'm glad you used the chakra to help you land perfectly on the ground." Kō said, as a compliment.

"Kō…why wasn't this chakra thing taught to me before?!" Hinata asked, while feeling amazed at the supernatural maneuver she had just performed.

The puzzle shifted into place, allowing her to see that this is what had been missing! When Hinata uses the gentle fist, her feet always felt weak and wobbly underneath her. But if she uses chakra on her feet, the same way she uses chakra to stay on a tree, than she'll be able to perform her gentle fist gracefully.

"The perquisite to chakra manipulation is a combination of many classes. Those classes were taught to you at the academy. It seems like an easy feat for you to understand now. But if you had been seven years old, your mind wouldn't have comprehended it, unless you were a genius." He explained.

"Neji…" Hinata murmured. "Did he already know this…?" Hinata asked.

"Aa. He did." Kō replied. It was apparent to him what Hinata's suggestions implied. Since Neji had learned this at such a young age, he had already started with an advantage over her. The negative feeling of inadequacy slowly peeled off her like a fallen petal in spring. She would never measure her accomplishment next to Neji's. It was just too unrealistic.

Hinata looked at the moon, while releasing a yawn. She wondered how her team was fairing, and if Shikamaru got to spend his whole afternoon with Asuma-sensei.

"Let's take the long way home, Kō." Hinata said thoughtfully.

The adult Hyuga chuckled to himself, because Hinata was such a tiny thing that barely reached the height of his upper body. She was only twelve years old, yet her mannerism tried to assimilate that of an adult. Like the way she stared off as she said those words, as though it had a deeper meaning when in reality it didn't.

Had a feeling that Hinata just wanted to spend more time outside, because she had been cooped inside the Hyuga mansion without access to the outside world for nearly two weeks.

At the same time, Hinata felt like her mind had mature just enough. That night had been there first night she hadn't cried herself to sleep. She'll be able to return to team 8 in a few days. And she couldn't wait to show them that she wasn't going to be easily left behind.

"Sunny place..." She murmured before she fell asleep.

Am in the process of editing this chapter. So far I caught like 10 typos.