She didn't mean to push things this far. She didn't mean to push down so hard. She didn't mean to fall back on old habits. She didn't mean to ignore them so completely. She didn't mean to go against everything she meant to do. But, at the end of the day, she had.

There were no marks out of the ordinary. She had been careful, so very, very careful. She felt as though she had a handle on her own strength and the limits of the human body. However, if that were indeed the case, how had she failed so unceremoniously?

As big of a game as she spat towards whoever occupied the room with her, she could not describe herself as more than inexperienced. She was a chihuahua barking at the harmless doberman towering over her from the other side of the yard. And she was ruthless too, struggling and pulling against the rope latched around her neck and stopping her from doing what it thought it was that she wanted to do.

In this rare circumstance, the rope came loose. She was set free. Nothing was holding her back. And she assumed, being the chihuahua she was, that she could do nothing to topple the gentle giant. And now that same giant lay lifeless beneath her.

"Huh?"

The confusion did not wane for even a moment. She second-guessed herself a million times and wasn't sure if she truly believed what she saw. Was he really….

"Hey… HEY!" At first, it was quiet, then a loud shout followed by an even more audible slap on the cheek. Then, another slap, another slap, and another slap until the palm of Yasu's hand was sore, and the man's face was bleeding from her fingernails.

She would scuttle backwards, falling onto her backside as she fought to capture the breath that refused to stay in her lungs. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. Something about the image before her, the results of her actions, sent a shockwave of nausea up her throat. She had a good idea of why this was.

This was the first and only life Yasu had ever taken.

Yasu had been complacent thus far. She knew what Orochimaru was doing to those who left the cells and never returned; Yasu wasn't an idiot. When Orochimaru came to wisen Sasuke about how the research had been going, Yasu was only pretending not to listen. In reality, she hung on every word. It wasn't until Sasuke sighed upon Orochimaru's departure that Yasu would pull her attention away from the two of them. And even then, sometimes Yasu would hear a faint whisper of "what a fucking psychopath." coming from Sasuke.

Is that what Yasu was now? A fucking psychopath? Yasu turned her gaze to the arm left limp beside the lifeless form, the hand that was horridly disfigured from Yasu's doing.

Above all else, there was a strong sense of fear and injustice within Yasu's gut. There was a fear of how Sasuke would react upon seeing that Yasu had choked the light from the man's eyes. Playing around and stomping on his hand had given rise to robust criticism from Sasuke; there was no telling what an actual death would entail.

Yasu questioned why she was so drawn to this man when she knew not even his name. He was one of the few prisoners who had managed to last a few rounds of Orochimaru's experimentation without steep harm to themselves.

He came from a large village and had a soft, friendly demeanour from the moment he first arrived. He was so lovely to Yasu. Their first interaction had been offering her his food, which Yasu would accept with little more than a nod in the man's direction.

"If you're just going to offer anyway, why even wait for you to say anything?"

"I guess you have a point!"

He would laugh heartily as he placed his still-warm bread onto Yasu's plate. Yasu would not smile in response; she wouldn't even give the man the pleasure of eye contact. She took what she felt she was owed and left without another word.

She eventually learned that the man had two children and a wife despite how young he looked. Yasu was curious why he chose to join Orochimaru, especially with how rare volunteers were. It seemed like he had a loving family at home. Was he somehow foolish enough to think he would be leaving this place alive at some point?

"I bring trouble to my family with my past as a ninja," He had confided in her one evening. For the record, Yasu had elected to join the man for a meal only when her curiosity reached the point of actively preventing her from sleeping. Another thing to put on the record is that she did not ask him a single question before he started rattling off about his personal life. How uncouth. "Orochimaru promised safety for my family, so I couldn't think of any reason not to join him."

Yasu didn't even offer a nod or indicate that she was listening. She continued biting into the slice of bread the man had given her a few minutes before.

"You know, you're the one that I'm concerned for. Being in here and all. Even if you look like you're handling things pretty well. Not a scratch on you." The man must have been feeling particularly bold this evening, offering an unasked-for opinion to a person he hardly knew. Too bad his comments were completely baseless, as Yasu was here as a guest, not an experiment. Again, Yasu wouldn't indicate that she was listening to the man.

"You look a bit like my daughter, you know?" Yasu could only roll her eyes. This was beginning to feel like the script of a soap opera. Was this man really getting Stockholm syndrome this soon after coming here? Yasu was under the impression that things like that took months and months to develop.

"Her name is Olivia. She's the most beautiful girl in the world. She's smart, stronger than I was, even at the peak of my ninja career. She takes more after her mom than me, which is a blessing. It feels like she took the best parts from her and only the good parts from me, however few those parts might be. We named her after her grandmother, who came from a foreign land."

"I'm no fool when it comes to Orochimaru. I know what being here means for me. I don't think I would have been able to make the decision that I did if I didn't have her and her sister. Don't get me wrong, I love my wife, but it's different from having two children who you are directly responsible for, you know?"

'You know'? Yasu had spent the last however many minutes in complete silence, and he thought she would reply to 'you know'?

As if taking the hint, the man lowered his gaze and continued eating his beans. It was the last thing he hadn't scarfed down on his plate. He must not be too big a fan of beans.

Despite how silent and uncaring Yasu was during the entirety of the conversation, she couldn't deny that it stuck with her for a long time. Olivia, huh? What a strange-sounding name, unlike any she had heard before. It lacked drama; it lacked purpose. It sounded like the kind of name a woman would have that was tasked with painstakingly planting flowers on the side of the road. It was a name that held no power or merit.

There was a morbid curiosity within Yasu that made her question what the girl looked like. Did she really look like Yasu? It was difficult to imagine the man creating offspring that looked ANYTHING like Yasu. She could only imagine an exact replica of the man at ¼ the size running around acting like a child. The thought alone offended Yasu. Still, a part of her wanted to meet the little girl and see for herself just how truthful the man was. Little did she know that opportunity would come sooner than she could have imagined.

A few days after Yasu's chat with the man, she stumbles into the viewing area of the holding cells and peers into the faces of the countless prisoners. She wondered which of the prisoners would be led away and never return. She unconsciously listed the prisoners she hoped for safety and the ones she least desired to see again.

Where the man usually sat was instead a large clump of contorted limbs and fabric. The man had company? Yasu would turn her head in confusion as she went to get a closer look.

Lo and behold, Olivia did look like her. They shared the same coloured eyes and hair and the same physical build, though Olivia was obviously smaller. Olivia would pull away from her family's hug and meet eyes with Yasu with the same level of confusion as Yasu had looked at her.

But what was more surprising to Yasu, what truly caught her attention, was the older woman in the center of the family embrace. The man was right. Olivia had taken most of her characteristics and traits from her mother. And following that line of logic, it only made sense that Olivia would look just like her mother. And following that line of reasoning a step further, if Olivia looked like her mother and Yasu, it only made sense that her mother would also look like Yasu.

Yasu daydreamed about what it would be like to grow into her older years. 30, 40, somewhere around there. She wondered what it would be like to have her own kids if that was even a possibility. She wondered what kind of man would help create those children. Would it be someone who looked like the man in the cell? Hopefully not.

"Yasu! Yasu!" The man pulled away from his family nearly the millisecond that Yasu came into view and called out to her. He gripped the bars of his cell with a firm grip that would have mercilessly bent the metal had they not been infused with chakra. The look the man was giving Yasu was unlike any form of desperation she had ever seen. "You have to open the gate. Please!"

Yasu wasn't thinking clearly; she was too transfixed in the image of the man's wife and daughter. She was in a fantasy world of her own creation, a fantasy in which Olivia was her younger self and Olivia's mother was her older self. What kind of advice would she give to her younger self? What kind of advice would she want to hear from her older self?

"Yasu! Listen to me! Please!" Yasu didn't listen.

And from behind came a shadowed figure that, although Yasu was used to having around, she was never comforted by. The way he entered rooms was creepy. The way he talked to his prisoners was creepy. If Yasu hadn't been personally connected to Sasuke, Orochimaru would have creeped her out even more.

"Yasu!"

There was one last desperate shout from the man as Orochimaru stepped out of the shadows and flashed a toothy grin at him and Yasu. "Out of the way, girl."

Yasu had never second-guessed a request from Orochimaru, and she surely wasn't going to start now. Without a second thought, Yasu stepped to the side and allowed Orochimaru access to the gate of the cell, which he opened without another word.

"Yasu! Yasu! Yasu! Yasu! Olivia!"

Desperate, constant cry until… did he just call her Olivia?

With a snake-like hiss, Orochimaru took hold of the three prisoners, the man with one arm while the daughter and wife were lifted with the other. The man's constant cries for Yasu's help didn't stop until he was out of sight. And as they passed, the mother and daughter gave Yasu looks that she could not quite understand.

They weren't looks of desperation like Yasu assumed they would be. They weren't looks of fear either. If Yasu had to describe the deep gazes that she took into the eyes of the young girl and the older woman, she would describe them as the gaze of someone who realized that they had earned death over freedom. They refused to show their proverbial belly.

The screaming was dulled from the room across the hall, and Yasu could only make them out if she listened carefully. The man's screams were the loudest. They sent shivers down her spine. She was too stunned to move an inch. But if his screams were the loudest of the trio, why was he the only one to return with not a single scratch on him?

As quickly and unceremoniously as Orochimaru had entered, he returned the man to the cell and went off. The two women were nowhere to be seen. And now, the man refused to meet Yasu's eyes. Yasu wasn't stupid enough not to realize what had happened.

Something changed after that day for both of them. The man stopped addressing Yasu as if they were familiar, which is precisely what Yasu wanted from the start. The change in Yasu was one that she couldn't quite explain to herself.

It wasn't until much later that Yasu became aware of the growing frustration she was festering inside herself. She was frustrated at the man for being unable to protect his wife and daughter and for being stupid enough to believe any promises Orochimaru made to him. Did he genuinely think some sense of honor would stop Orochimaru from doing whatever he wanted? Was the man five years old?

It wasn't until the frustration evolved into a wave of crimson anger that Yasu began actively seeking a reaction from the man. But no matter what Yasu did or how much harm she placed on the man, he didn't say another word. She was beginning to forget what his voice even sounded like.

He was disgusting. He was a bug.

But no matter how disgusting she thought he was, she didn't mean to push things this far. She didn't mean to push down so hard. She didn't mean to fall back on old habits. She didn't mean to ignore them so completely. She didn't mean to go against everything she meant to do. But, at the end of the day, she had.

It wasn't until she heard the door creak open that she moved again.

"We're getting dispatched. Get up and get dressed. We leave in 20." After realizing how rude she sounded, she added, "Please."

It was ungodly early for both Yasu and Tenten, especially given that yesterday was the start of the weekend, and they had gone out celebrating accordingly. Tenten was off work, and Yasu was still living without obligation. Hence, they safely assumed that they'd be able to sleep in this morning. Apparently, this wasn't the case.

Yasu moaned painfully, only half awake. Her head was pounding, and she was inwardly cursing Tenten for ever introducing her to the beautiful yet miserable world of alcohol consumption. She mentally promised herself that she would never ever ever drink again, no matter what. "Why?"

"I dunno." Yasu could hear the sound of fabric scuffling around in Tenten's room as Tenten threw on her usual outfit and some spare change of clothes in her bag. "We just got summoned a few minutes ago. Pack for two weeks away just to be safe."

Yasu finally dragged herself out of bed and almost immediately felt the urge to vomit. She was supposed to pack and be ready to leave the village for a week in 20 minutes in THIS condition? It was almost laughable.

Nevertheless, Yasu dragged her feet along the carpet and approached her closet, only halfway hesitant. She packed three outfits that she would wash as needed: a sleeping bag, a few calorie-dense meal bars, kunai, ninja stars, and scrolls. Yasu threw on her jumpsuit and tied back her hair. She checked herself in the mirror to ensure nothing was out of order.

If there was one positive thing about the news being handed down so abruptly, it was that Yasu didn't have time to think about how nervous she was. This was her first mission, the first obligation she had been given since coming to Konoha. She didn't have time to wonder what she was being asked to do, didn't needlessly contemplate what kind of punishment would be handed down if she failed, and didn't have time to think about her responsibility over herself and Tenten. She couldn't hold herself or Tenten back.

"We're meeting two more people at the gate. They have more info about what we're gonna be doing." Tenten clarified. Yasu couldn't hold any of the 4 team members back, Yasu corrected her earlier thought. "It better be good, with how little notice we got."

Yasu nodded herself, though she didn't fully grasp what Tenten meant. As she wasn't aware of how things usually went, Yasu didn't know how unusual this was. She also wasn't aware of how much of a red flag this mission was giving.

Yasu and Tenten exited the apartment with an annoyed tsk from Tenten, followed by a comment about the food that would most likely go bad in Tenten's fridge before they had the chance to return to Konoha. Yasu similarly frowned, thinking about the leftover meal from last night that would undoubtedly be covered in mold by the time she returned.

The two made their way to the village gate in comfortable silence, neither feeling quite awake enough to fully lead a conversation. A far cry from the night before when the two of them happily and unabashedly discussed life, love, and all other kinds of things that their sober mind cared a lot less about, openly at least.

From a distance away, Yasu could spot two figures ahead. One of them was easily recognizable, a considerable relief to Yasu, who wanted her first mission to at least be surrounded by people that she knew. The second figure was someone Yasu vaguely recognized, but where she recognized her from and even her name were slipping her mind. Where did she recognize her from…?

Tenten waved towards the newcomers when she and Yasu were within eyeshot. "Shikamaru! Sakura!"

Shikamaru was even more tired than Tenten and Yasu; he practically fell asleep while standing. At the sound of someone shouting a greeting at him, he perked up slightly and offered a light raise of his hand as hello, nothing more. Sakura, on the other hand, looked like she was ready to run a marathon if it were asked of her. For all intents and purposes, it was probably about to be asked of her. Her clothes bore no blemish, and she stood firm and confidently, bowing slightly towards the two women as they approached.

That was her name, Sakura! She was the person Yasu had eavesdropped upon when she went to the bar for the first time! Sakura was the one who had been told Orochimaru's name and was looking for Sasuke for whatever reason. Yasu already didn't like her.

"Mornin'. You guys sure do look happy this morning," It was obvious Sakura was poking fun at the two women's disheveled state, dripping each word she spoke in a thick layer of sarcasm. They were too fried in the brain to think of a clever comeback. Yasu, for one, was still fighting the urge to vomit periodically. Tenten was too sore in the arms to raise them above her head and style her hair as usual, much less put effort into a response. Instead of the buns she wore atop her head, her hair was down over her shoulders. She had the decency to brush her hair, though, a far cry from Yasu's hair, which went as far as to still have cowlicks sticking up from the spot of her head that touched her pillow as she slept. They were about to travel for however long; who cares if they looked fashionable right now? Needless to say, the two of them were in no condition for clever back and forth arguments.

"Can it, and tell us what we need to know about the mission." Tenten deadpanned, lightly poking at Sakura's ribs. Sakura retreated. Ticklish?

"I guess that's my job." Shikamaru perked up lightly but still looked like he would rather be anywhere else at that very moment. "What a drag."

He brushed the wrinkles from the sleeve of his shirt and addressed everyone. Sakura only half paid attention, assumingly having been briefed earlier that morning. "There's a village near the border of the land of fire and the land of wind that had a run-in with Orochimaru. We need to provide support where needed and sniff up what happened."

Simple enough, and not something that would have brought too much anxiety to Yasu had she not heard the dreaded 'Orochimaru' word. "What are the odds we run into him?"

"Close to zero, Yasu. No reason to freak out." Sakura piped up at Yasu's questioning. Yasu quickly noticed that she knew Yasu's name without her having to introduce herself. Why was that? Without being asked, "Tsunade has told me about your… past with Orochimaru."

Yasu bit her upper lip and swallowed a liquor-flavoured vomit before it could go up her throat. She reminded herself that she would never ever ever drink again.

With that out of the way, the four ninja nodded to themselves and made a quick equipment check before departing. Among the four, they could easily carry a couple weeks worth of travel provisions. Shikamaru was tasked with bringing the bulk of the camping gear since he was 'such a strong, muscly man' as Sakura and Tenten had eloquently put it. Shikamaru clearly wasn't falling for the gag but took the gear without protest. Tenten, Sakura, and Yasu were in charge of carrying just their own personal bags. Yasu's was relatively light, as was Tenten's. Alternatively, Sakura looked like she had packed her entire apartment into the fabric hanging from her back. Sakura didn't seem phased by the weight. She must have been stronger than she looked.

"Everyone ready? We won't return for a while once we leave, so take care of any business now or forever hold your peace." Shikamaru announced to the group as he finished attaching the camping gear to his pack and latching it to his back.

"Time to grab a coffee real quick?"

"Nope."

Shikamaru took Tenten's only half-serious response as an indication that they were ready. Yasu fell to the back of the group. Her heart was racing at a thousand beats per minute. She was still fighting back a strong urge to vomit. She reminded herself that she was never ever ever ever going to drink again.

Hinata could only flicker between lucidity and unconsciousness as she lay on her futon. She wasn't quite asleep, but she wasn't quite awake. So when Neji entered her bedroom as soon as the sun began to rise, Hinata quickly threw her sheets to the side and sat up to face Neji's furious eyes.

"You didn't."

Neji's declaration was more of an accusation than anything else; Hinata could easily pick up on that. She could also easily pick up on what she was accused of.

"Didn't what?"

"Don't play a fool with me! Where is the Bufula?!"

Neji barked immediately, and Hinata unconsciously withdrew into herself, a sudden panic setting in as she was reminded of all the years when Neji would mercilessly mock and pray for the opportunity to beat upon her. Hinata had to quickly remind herself that the Neji she remembered and the Neji standing in front of her at this very moment were not the same person. Hinata took a deep breath.

"I did do it, cousin. I put the Hyuuga first and saved my father." Hinata put on the most confident-sounding voice as she met Neji's gaze, fighting against herself the entire time as she refused to break eye contact.

"Bullshit!" Neji was shouting now, surely to be heard by everyone else in the house if anyone were awake. Hinata hoped it was too early for the average person to be out of bed and listening for Neji's shouts.

"You didn't put the Hyuuga first. Above all, I won't let you lie to me. Admit to your actions with humility if you have any left." He was now speaking barely above a regular voice, electing to communicate through a clenched jaw to keep himself somewhat in control. It had been a long time since Hinata had seen Neji this bothered.

"Do my motivations matter?" Hinata questioned softly, "Am I not a Hyuuga? Is father not a Hyuuga? Is saving him not putting the Hyuuga first?"

"Of course it isn't! He was going to be fine either way!" Neji spoke what, deep down, even he had to know wasn't entirely true. Hinata took the opportunity as it arrived.

"You don't know that. Everyone knows Father's conditioning was worsening day after day. There was nothing to show that this disease wouldn't eventually take his life."

"And tell me this, Hinata." Neji matched Hinata's tone, a fake and condescending mimicry of Hinata's phony confidence. "Would he have wanted to be saved if it meant leaving blood on your hands?"

Hinata looked down at her fingernails, for a moment almost seeing the red tint that now extended across her palm and fingers. Still, Hinata held firm.

"You can decide what shade of red the blood on my hands will eventually become, cousin." Hinata met Neji's gaze again, but this time did not radiate an air of confidence. She gave the feel of an animal begging to be set free from a trap, an abused animal facing the loving embrace of its new owners for the first time.

And Neji knew she was right. The ball was in his court. He was the one fated to decide whether or not Hinata would face retribution for what she had done.

"I gave the Bufula to Tsunade when I first returned to the village and asked for it before I left. Tsunade agreed to give it to me. I was free to do what I wanted with it." Hinata further defended herself to Neji's silent reply.

Neji wasn't stupid. There was no way Tsunade knew the extent of what she was giving up. Hinata, for the betterment of the village as a whole, had an obligation to explain the more substantial implications that Tsunade was clearly overlooking. But she didn't explain, instead quickly confirming her own victory as she brought the Bufula back to her home.

It was no surprise that Tsunade had no knowledge of the Bufula. It was different from the kind of thing that could be identified with only a passing glance by someone who did not fully utilize the focus and keen awareness

towards small details that only came with the possession of the Byakugan. It was a random feather to the unknowing eye and an exaggerated fairytale to the ignorant mind. And Hinata had clearly taken advantage of this unknowing ignorance.

At the end of the day, this wasn't something he could decide at this very moment. There was so much more to unpack before then. For now, "Your father is awake. Go speak to him."

Hinata's eyes widened. The Bufula had already taken effect? Hinata's father had been bedridden and unconscious for months, and the Bufula was already getting him to a point where he was lucid enough to speak?

Suddenly unable to adequately meet Neji's eyes, Hinata furiously scampered from her bed and offered Neji a slight bow as thanks for coming to inform her of the good news, even if it was preluded with an aggressive moment between the two. Hinata didn't even think to change out of her sleepwear.

Neji lingered in the room for a few moments longer. He took a deep breath to calm his furiously beating heart. As naturally as his anger seemed to have come as he directed his vitriol at Hinata, this wasn't the case. He was a changed man, no longer seeking the satisfaction of his cousin's displeasure. He wanted nothing more than to hug Hinata tightly as he informed her of her father's improved state. But no, he couldn't feign an ignorance to something he was well aware of. He lingered for a moment longer before turning the lights off and shutting the door as he stepped into the outside hallway.

Neji wished he had been put in a better position, but this was where he was. He held a power that he didn't desire. An ability to either let the Hyuuga clan continue to thrive or send his own cousin to face justice. He took a deep breath to calm his furiously beating heart.

Holy moly, my longest chapter yet! This one flowed right out of me like blood from a paper cut! Or, to use a more family-friendly comparison, it flowed right out of me like milk from a pregnant woman's… You know what, let's just move on.

I think maybe 1 more chapter before shit really hits the fan, and I'm excited to finally get some action going. Coming up on the second anniversary of this fic is the perfect time to start the second arc, right?

Speaking of the anniversary, it was actually one of my New Year resolutions at the beginning of this year to finish this fic before the year ended. Another New Year's resolution was to have this story be 100k words. Cause for some reason, the idea of having a piece of writing be 100k words is super cool to me. It shows commitment! Commitment that I couldn't give to my ex! (Yikes.) I don't think I'll be able to write the 70k words necessary to finish this guy before the end of the year, but imma give it my damndest.

Anyways, please look forward to more of this :) I really, really, really hope you're enjoying things so far. If you are, let me know! Your kind gestures really do make it easier to motivate myself. A kind review or a fav on the story always makes my day :)

Sorry for the long author's note, got a bit sentimental there. See you all soon!