Heya,
Thanks for tuning in for the eleventh chapter of my story.
I planned for this chapter to come out nearly a month ago now, but work hit me with the 3-piece combo, then Covid came with the clean right hook and knocked me clean on my ass for a bit. Whatever, I'm back again, if a bit out of sorts. Bear with me while I get back into the swing of things.
The website is bugged and not displaying view count so it's hard for me to gauge retention right now with the recent long stretches without updates. Even still, I've been reading all of the wonderful reviews you guys have been leaving as they've been coming in and they've really warmed my heart. Seeing how much you guys are enjoying this story of mine is really humbling, and really supercharges my motivation to keep at it. It uh- it does come with some concerns though; all of that can wait until after the chapter though.
As promised I'm trying to keep pre-story ANs from getting too lengthy so I won't keep you guys much longer; I'll leave any of my more lengthy notes for the end.
Enjoy
"Hinata, if Shika and I buy you an opening, do you think you can paralyze it with your gentle fist?"
Hinata's mind whirled at the request. Her byakugan pulsed to life, veins engorging themselves with blood and chakra as she took the measure of the sand-clad monstrosity before them. Every metric that came back to her, from the intensity of its chakra to the density of its sand… All of them were screaming a single response back to her.
No. God no, she absolutely could not!
There was no way she'd manage; she doubted she could even get halfway! Hell, even if she could bypass its defenses, there wasn't a chance in hell she'd be able to deal any lasting damage. She sure as hell had no chance of fully paralyzing something that monstrous. Why would Naruto even ask such a thing of her? Her, of all people! Everyone knew Hinata was-
… What? She was what, exactly?
Ah, that's right… She was Hinata.
Weak, fragile, useless, Hinata.
Hinata's heart ached, her own emotions rising unprompted as she inadvertently battered her own ego. Reminders of her own impotence were at the forefront of her mind.
"Ah, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come meet me, Lord Hiashi," Iruka-sensei greeted her father with all of the deference demanded by her father's station. His deep bow was met with little more than a short nod from Hiashi Hyuga. The young man didn't even get to offer the Hyuga clan head a seat before he had claimed one of his own accord.
Of course he did… 'A Hyuga does not ask for permission, nor do we require anyone's forgiveness.'
"Tea please," Hiashi's frigid voice commanded, his tone causing Hinata and Iruka both to wince, instinctively. "Lemon and ginger, for both my daughter and myself."
Hinata did not bother to remind the man that she hated the taste of ginger, for Hiashi Hyuga hated being corrected. She caught the sympathetic eyes of Iruka and felt a rush of embarrassment.
How was it that her school teacher seemed to know her better than her own father?
Repressing a sigh, Hinata offered a shaky smile to her teacher, bidding him to serve her the same nasty flavor that her father preferred, because 'Hyuga do not beg, and they do not ask twice.'
Hinata did not at all doubt that her father was petty enough to take her sensei's job over a cup of tea.
"I am here under the impression that my daughter has failed to meet the meager expectations required of her to succeed within your class." Hiashi collected his tea from the tray Iruka had hastily deposited before them, not even bothering to wait or blow on it before he'd downed half the cup.
A Hyuga chakra control exercise. By lining the inner walls of the throat with a protective layer of chakra, one could strengthen their resilience against the burning effects of hot tea. It was one of the lessons taught to young children, seeking to master the gentle fist.
Hinata knew from experience that failure was as painful as it looked.
"Well? Explain yourself, daughter."
Her father's words were a whip across her spine, and her first instinct was to rush to pacify the man; to stammer out an apology in hopes that it would deter some of the man's wrath. A pointless act, she quickly amended. Hiashi Hyuga did not care for excuses or apologies. She'd only make her situation worse.
"Ah, perhaps I may have miscommunicated, Lord Hiashi," Iruka cut in, hastening to clarify for his student's sake. "Your daughter is not at all in danger of failing any of her classes… Rather, I called this meeting to discuss her potential and what can be done to help her reach it."
Hiashi glared at the man, the faintest hints of a sneer threatening to spill across his face. Iruka and Hinata both paled, the latter knowing that her father hated to be interrupted.
"I may not speak for the standards of other parents, but my daughter is a Hyuga. If she is not within the upper percentile of your class, Umino-sensei, then she may as well be failing." The assertion was pushed with a decisiveness that the teacher did not dare to contradict. Turning his glare his daughter's way, Hiashi added, "Do not be rude, daughter. Drink your tea."
It was still scalding hot, a fact that every person in the room understood. Hinata did not dare to remind her father of this fact. For she understood well enough what this was.
Punishment, and a test.
'Pain is a wonderful teacher; it often teaches you exactly what not to do.'
Without a word, Hinata choked down the steaming drink. Her control slipped, and tears welled up in her eyes as she scalded the inner walls of her throat.
She hated lemon ginger.
When she had tearfully downed the entirety of the cup, Hiashi finally spoke again. "You disappoint me again, Hinata. Are you perhaps ungrateful for the opportunities that you have been given?"
Hinata could not quite form words, the muscles in her throat still spasming under the shock of her burns. Instead, she simply shook her head, begging the tears in her eyes not to fall. She tried her best not to look at the horror-stricken Iruka, knowing the pity she would surely find in his eyes would no doubt send her over the edge.
"Perhaps I should remove you from the ninja program. You have rather delicate hands; do you think you would do better as a seamstress?"
A trap. Hinata had only fallen for it once in her life. As far as her father was concerned, her only fate was ninjutsu; if she could not become strong enough to lead the clan, then she was worth nothing to him. Again, she shook her head.
Looking from her to the stunned silent Iruka, Hiashi nodded his head. "Forgive my daughter for her rather disappointing performance, thus far. She will improve."
The threat in his words was clear as day.
"Where is she currently placed among your class?"
"A-ah, she is placed twenty-first, lord Hiashi." After a moment, Iruka added, "Out of- out of twenty-nine students, that is."
Hinata bore the heat of Hiashi's glare, knowing well the shame her father felt in her. A moment passed as she continued to wilt under his eyes without a single word being said. Then, "She will place in the upper third of your class before the year is over."
Without another word, Hiashi stood, politely depositing his emptied teacup onto Iruka's table and offering a shallow bow. "Thank you for the tea, Umino-sensei. Hinata, I will see you at home."
Translation: Make yourself scarce until I can bear to look at you again.
Hinata did not move from her spot, instead staring blankly into the corner of the room. She did not look up as her father strode toward the door, or even when he'd loudly shut the door behind him as he exited.
"Hinata I-" Iruka stopped as Hinata raised a palm to the man. Her face was ghost-white and stained superfluously with tears and snot as the dam began to break.
"T-thank yo-ou for the t-t-tea, Iruka-s-sen-sei," she choked out, a hiccup ripping through as she hastened to cover her unsightly face. "I-I… Sorry f-fo… Sorry for t-t-the incon- for the inconve-" Finally, she gave up on trying to get the words out, instead bolting for the door and leaving her horrified sensei alone.
The memory wasn't unique. The Hyuga clan had no place in it for weaklings, as many within the clan had been all too happy to remind her, time and time again. Neji in particular had always been rather eager to tell her that it was only a matter of time before she was branded a slave like the rest of the branch house.
"Perhaps Lord Hiashi will even boot you from the compound. At least then you'll be free to chase mediocrity at your own pace."
Her father had never mentioned it, but Hinata knew the man had at least pondered the choice, what with the laundry list of disappointments she'd repeatedly brought to his feet.
Oh, she'd tried to prove her worth to him time and time again. In her youth especially, Hinata had wished for little else but a chance to make her father proud; a chance to make him love her again like he had when she was young.
Back when he still smiled at her.
Back before he'd taught her to fear his wrath.
Unfortunately, as Neji yet again was always so eager to remind her, "Wishes are for the impotent; for those who lack the ability to turn their will into reality. Keep wishing, Hinata-sama."
He was right. Time and again, Hinata had managed to squander every opportunity to earn her father's love. She failed, because that's what she did.
She failed…
She failed to prove her value as heiress to her clan.
She failed to make friends amongst her peers.
She failed to make her crush notice her.
"Face it, Hinata-sama. You are destined to fail."
Neji's words sent a deep ache through her heart.
He was right. She believed him… Or rather, she had. She'd believed his words every day until her blonde-haired crush had stood up from the stands and told her cousin off for everyone to hear. She'd believed Neji until Naruto had encouraged her, urging her to fight when not even her own sensei had dared to.
"I'm most curious, daughter. Did you perhaps hit your head one too many times while your team was off making poor time in that blasted forest? What else could have possessed you to raise your hand against your cousin?"
Hinata kept her eyes firmly on her hands, both balled tightly against the fabric of her hospital gown. She knew well enough that her father did not actually care to hear her defend herself. No, it was just bait; anything and everything she said in her own defense would be turned against her; just another drop in the bucket of reasons that she was foolish or weak and couldn't do anything right…
No, Hinata knew well enough by now that Hiashi Hyuga just liked to hear himself berate her for once again failing to meet his expectations. Better to remain silent; let him tire himself out screaming himself hoarse, then move on with her life as she always did.
"Neji told me you allowed that foolish Uzumaki boy to convince you to enter the arena. Tell me, when, at any point in your life, did I raise you to trust the advice of imbeciles!?"
"That's-" Hinata snapped her mouth shut before she could get far. As much as it pained her to allow anyone -yes, even her own father- to insult Naruto, she knew better than most that defending her crush against him wouldn't serve any purpose. No, if anything it'd just make him an even bigger target.
Unfortunately, she'd already slipped up. Her father smelled blood.
"That's what? Go on, daughter, I'm dying to hear what you have to say."
Hinata did not say another word. From the corner of her vision, she could see Hanabi's wide eyes staring between her and their father.
Ah, that was right, her father rarely spoke like this in front of Hanabi. Most times, he at least had the presence of mind to do such a thing behind closed doors. She was the buffer between her father's wrath and her baby sister. She failed so that Hanabi could thrive. She bore the abuse so her sister could smile…
Hinata did not blame Hanabi for that. She laid the blame exactly where it belonged.
"Open your mouth, girl. Speak up." The threat in Hiashi's tone spelled out his intentions, clear as day. Hinata knew a hopeless situation when she saw one.
If she spoke up, he'd punish her for saying something he didn't like; if she didn't speak at all, he'd punish her for her disobedience.
God, he could be such an ass, sometimes… But if she was screwed either way, "A-actually, I'm ra-rather tired, father. The -um, well the doctor s-said I need m-m-my rest to re-recu-recuperate. P-pl-please leave me be, so t-that I can rest."
There was a long silence, and Hinata stalwartly kept her head down, refusing to meet the undoubtedly rageful stare of the Hyuga clan head as she attempted to effectively kick him out of her room.
Hiashi Hyuga was not dismissed. He was the one who did the dismissing. Were she not mere days out of an open heart surgery, Hinata had no doubt that the man would have struck her for such defiance.
Another several moments passed and Hinata set her jaw, fearing that he would do so anyways. Then, to her surprise -and relief-, he simply sighed, sadly.
God, was he really that ashamed of her?
"As you say… Rest well, daughter. I suppose I will see you once you have been discharged." An awkward silence passed between them, as if her father expected her to say something else. Then, "Come, Hanabi!"
Hanabi glared at their father, a protective rage simmering just behind her eyes that she was just too young and meek to properly voice. Nonetheless, she obeyed, following behind Hiashi to leave her sister as alone as she felt.
But something had been different, then. Yeah, very different; as her father left her, his shame a well-worn cloak across his back, Hinata found that she felt none at all. No, if anything, she'd been prouder than that she could ever recall.
She'd stood up to Neji. Oh sure, the condition he'd left her in for doing so was hardly enviable. He'd humiliated her; he'd beaten her down and tried to kill her, all for the unforgivable crime of defying him. But she'd stood her ground, and she'd stayed standing until he'd struck her chest and ruptured her heart with their shared family taijutsu.
But there was more. She'd stood up to her father as well. For the first time in her memory, she'd found the spine to do something, and it was all because of him.
Naruto Uzumaki.
She'd been enamored with him from the very day they'd met, when a little blonde boy had burst into their shared class two hours late, covered head-to-toe in bruises and grime and announced unprompted that he would be Hokage.
Back then, it had been little more than a morbid curiosity.
Who was he?
Why was he so injured?
Wow, he was really loud. Was he allowed to be that loud? Was that legal? Like, logistically speaking, would the Uchiha police force break down the door and chuck him in a cell if he got any louder?
Well, whether it was legal or not, Naruto Uzumaki didn't give a damn. He did what he wanted and he was who he was; if you had a problem with it, you could fight him or let it go. Whether he'd win that fight was its own thing, but as many would quickly find, no amount of daily ass-kickings were going to stop the future Hokage from shouting his dream from every single rooftop.
It didn't matter that he was parentless.
It didn't matter that he had zero talent in ninjutsu.
It didn't matter that most people thought he was dumb as a brick and twice as dense.
Day in and day out, Hinata watched that same little blonde boy come to school, often clad from head-to-toe in his regular adornment of bruisers; some from late nights of fruitless training; some from running afoul with one of the many souls who wanted to see him fail. Everyday he showed up, this tiny, scrawny orange mess of a boy, and he bore the derision of his own teachers and peers with a shameless smile on his face.
He smiled. Every single time, he smiled wide and proud, like there was nothing on this planet or the next that could bring him down!
He was so damn perfect, it was no wonder Hinata had fallen in love! Even when the world seemed dead set on being his enemy; even when the very village he called home seemed to reject him at every turn, he still found the strength to smile.
And he'd succeeded! In spite of it all, he'd succeeded.
He'd been dead last in their class, but managed to graduate by the skin of his teeth through little more than pure grit and a will to succeed! He'd made it to the finals in spite of all of the people who had called him a liability to his team. Hell, he'd beaten Neji, a once in a generation genius even among the standards of the Hyuga clan, which was known for producing ninja elites of the highest caliber.
No, Naruto's performance against him deserved more credit than that. He'd thrashed Neji; he'd made a fool out of him. Despite all of the preparations Neji had made to seize the win, he hadn't even landed a single hit on Naruto!
Whether he realized it or not, Naruto had become the source of her strength, pushing her forward at times where she truly thought she had nothing left to give.
She loved him more than anything else in the world. More than her clan; more than her own pride; more than her own father.
Because in her eyes, he was the very icon of victory.
"Hinata, if Shika and I buy you an opening, do you think you can paralyze it with your gentle fist?"
She hesitated for only a moment. Were it anyone else asking, she might have stammered up some lame excuse and scampered off with her tail between her legs. Better to let someone who was actually worth a damn handle it instead of letting the Hyuga fuck up find some way to get them all killed.
But it was Naruto who asked. Whether she could or couldn't had become irrelevant the moment the boy she loved told her he needed her. She'd make it happen even if it killed her/
"I'll make it happen."
"Enough standing around with your thumb in your asses," Shukaku howled at the genin before it, stretching its arms out in a gruesome invitation. "Come at me!"
"I'll lead," Naruto announced, clasping his hands together in a tiger seal. "Wait on my queue and back me up!" His piece said, Naruto rushed forward. His chakra welled up like water in a boiling pot, suffusing his body and pulsing visibly as he flew into motion. "Go!"
Kicking off with speed, Naruto accelerated into little more than a streak of color as he rushed to press Shukaku. He zigzagged in his approach, quickly weaving around several blinding fast pillars of sand. Sliding underneath a heavy punch from Shukaku, Naruto crossed his fingers together in a plus formation. "Shadow-clone jutsu." His form blurred, briefly obscured by a cloud of smoke, then six duplicates of him manifested around Shukaku, their stances low and predatory.
Shukaku laughed "So that's the best you can do then, huh?" Crossing its massive arms against its chest, the Tailed Beast threw them both up, its eyes wide with mania as a wave of sand burst from its surroundings. The wave attempted to tear the clones asunder, but found resistance; two clones were slaughtered almost immediately, but the rest quickly adapted, pulling back with grace to survey the now orbiting streams of sand before once again beginning their rush. Shukaku's sand closed around them, forming a multitude of horrific-looking spikes that attempted to skewer them all to death; however, the lethal mass could only destroy one before the final three adapted yet again, now confidently weaving through it all to enter melee range.
As the final three copies entered touching range, they were suddenly impaled by a burst of sand spikes, formed directly from their foe's own body. A tense moment passed, then they all disappeared with a poof.
"So you managed to replace your main body with a clone during the casting, huh? Not bad," Shukaku complimented, its eyes roving quickly over the scene to scan for the real Naruto. "But my sand isn't just for show, dumbass! I can still feel you skulking around on it!" With a laugh, it whipped around in an instant, clotheslining Naruto just as he unshrunk, having transformed back from a small insect. There was a crunch as the massive limb collapsed the boy's chest and throat under its weight, then that Naruto also disappeared in yet another cloud of smoke.
"Wha-" Shukaku had no time to even fully voice its confusion before a rattling of chains sounded from above. It glanced up in shock, spotting one final Naruto, hanging upside-down in the air. From the blonde's back had jutted a single lengthy chain, which he had wrapped fully around his forearm; it spun rapidly in his hand, letting off thick plumes of purple flame as it rotated threateningly in his grip. Twisting in mid-air, Naruto slung the weapon in a wide arc, the sharp, ghostly prongs of the weapon intent on cleaving cleanly through Shukaku's dense armor and embedding into its host's vulnerable flesh.
"Not so fast!" Shukaku threw up its guard, intending to use one of its massive arms to intercept the attack. As it did so, Naruto grinned, suddenly snapping out with a kick near the base of the chain which warped its trajectory in mid-air. The chain shifted its path at the last moment, now aimed to take Shukaku's eye right out. Only its keen reflexes allowed the Bijuu to adapt quickly enough, just barely catching the weapon around its bicep. Purplish smoke rose into the air as the weapon scorched Shukaku's limb, and it winced before disregarding it. Strengthening its grip around the chain, Shukaku swung with great force, clearly intending to implant the blonde into the ground with lethal force.
But Naruto was ready for it.
Twisting his fingers into a now familiar hand sign synonymous with his transformation technique, Naruto grinned and announced, "Adamantine Formation: Thorn!"
The mass of chains wrapped around Shukaku's arm exploded outwards into dozens of ghostly spikes, each impaling themselves into and even through Shukaku's arm and even a good chunk of its upper torso. Shukaku roared with fury, staggering as the Uzumaki chains worked to suppress its chakra. Taking advantage of its stunned state, Naruto worked quickly, twisting and landing on his feet before pinning his end of the chain underneath one knee. Holding it tightly, he called over his shoulder, "Shikamaru, you're up!"
"Troublesome!" Shikamaru hissed, dropping to one knee, himself, and forming a rat seal. His shadow snaked out with speed and precision like he'd never managed before, snapping forth with intention to capture Shukaku's own.
Shukaku tried to detach its sand limb to free it up to scramble away, but found the chakra in that limb to once again feel sluggish and unwieldy; its main source of protection had become a liability. The burning binds were quickly creeping up past just its arm and torso, now attempting to ensnare themselves around its neck, which meant it was now on a time crunch. "Fine then! Sand shuriken!" It slammed down its other arm, creating multiple asymmetrical globs as it collided with the ground; they hovered in place for just a moment before shooting toward the shadow user, and Shikamaru's eyes widened as the projectiles approached. He needed to deactivate his shadow and get out of the way. He needed-
Shikamaru cut off that line of thought in an instant.
No. This thing was already adapting to their methods. The longer things went on, the more tricks they tried, the deeper its own bag of tricks would get. What's more, if Naruto's observations were right, then it was only getting stronger as its chakra continued to cannibalize Gaara's own. Shikamaru considered this all in the fraction of a second it took for the sand shuriken to begin their trajectory toward him; they careened forward, singing a warning as they sliced through the air with intent to kill.
Shukaku definitely thought it had Shikamaru clocked; it expected the shadow user to abort his task and scramble out of the way, giving it a chance to overpower Naruto and break free. If that happened, it was questionable whether they'd be able to catch it again.
"Predict this, asshole," Shikamaru growled. The young man set his jaw, thrusting his arms in front of himself to intercept the attack. "Gahh!" He howled in pain as the sand slammed into his exposed arms, piercing through his flesh like a knife through butter; one particularly sharp projectile tore right through his firearm, deeply slicing along his cheek and taking a chunk out of his ear. "Stupid fucking sand village and their stupid fucking sand monsters! Fuck you guys and your culture!" Even as he continued to rage, Shikamaru's shadow continued its course, not so much as slowing even as Shukaku's attack damaged his body. It didn't so much morph into Shukaku's shadow as it did smash into it, causing the sand demon to stagger as it did so before the paralysis set in. Shukaku attempted to flex its chakra to break the connection like before, but found that this time, Shikamaru's shadow held strong.
Shikamaru's nose began to run, leaking equal parts snot and blood; a vein in his forehead throbbed painfully as his chakra strained against the ocean of power that was Shukaku. He tried to steady himself and stand but found he could do no more than hold himself on one knee. Even still, his two bloodshot eyes never left the struggling form of the monster before him. His shadow flexed, thickening to reinforce its hold as Shukaku made just the slightest twitch, once more locking it down with absolute authority.
This was easily the most troublesome thing he'd ever done, but he'd be damned before he let this thing run free to hurt his friends. Call him lazy, unmotivated, or whatever else.
But when the chips were down, Shikamaru would always deliver.
"Wha- How are you-" Shukaku had no time to marvel at the feat as Shino's insects made their entry, each and every one of the boy's hive leading a suicide charge to devour the One Tails' caustic chakra. Almost at once, they began to die en masse as the runoff of Shukaku's malicious energy destroyed them from within. But their host's orders had been clear, and the insects continued their path of self destruction, hovering around the miasma and thinning it considerably.
"Hinata!" Naruto needn't have even called for her, for she was already well on her path, trailing just behind the cloud of dying insects.
From Shukaku's main body, several flimsy streams of sand whipped out to impede her progress. They were sluggish, weakened by all of the binds that were working to keep Shukaku subdued, and Hinata took advantage. She tilted her head to dodge a round bead that threatened to tear through her skull, then lunged forward, curling her body and rolling twice along the ground to avoid a laceration to her throat. Planting her hands into the ground, Hinata kipped up into a handspring to launch herself just over a wave of sand. Her byakugan's vision swiveled about, analyzing the threat of the various sand tendrils seeking to impede her progress. Hinata's feet touched the ground, but not for long as she pivoted on her heels and cartwheeled; she twisted in mid-air to slip just past a strike aimed to take out her eyes. A thin line of blood trailed from her forehead as a near-miss scraped her face, but she paid it no heed in favor of the build up of sand seeking to disrupt her footing.
Hinata's thoughts flashed back to her first encounter from Gaara and, focusing a steady pane of chakra to maintain her footing, she glided along the rush of sand to remain upright. Two more streams of sand hardened into sharpened spears, and Hinata squeezed her body close together, slimming her profile and taking a low slide to maneuver between the two attacks, which slammed down in an 'x' formation just above her. Her skin burned as she finally slipped into the now thin miasma that was Shukaku's chakra, her palms glowing.
"This technique is a cornerstone of our esteemed gentle fist, daughter," Hiashi's voice resonated in her ears. "It is one of our most iconic taijutsu forms and is built on all of the lessons which I have sought to teach you, until now."
Hinata had attempted it many times. Tens, dozens, hundreds, even. Not once had she ever managed to pull it off in full.
"To pull it off, you cannot just strike the enemy. You must do so with exact precision, both with your body as well as your chakra. At the exact moment of contact, you will let your chakra 'spark' by raising your output to its maximum. You must follow up by grasping this spark and matching it with your next output. By doing this, you continually push yourself past your physical limits. That is the nature of the Sixty Four Palms."
Hinata recalled her father's disappointed face, multiplied a thousand-fold over all of her attempts as she tried and failed to even get halfway there with their clan's prized jutsu.
"You hesitate too much. You limit your potential by letting doubt cloud your rationale. Cast away your shackles and embrace the strength that courses through your blood! If you cannot do that, then you are no Hyuga at all!"
"Eight Trigrams: Two palms!" Hinata slid into Shukaku's guard, the veins in her eyes bulging painfully. Two simultaneous strikes slammed into the sand demon's gut, causing it to reel. Sparks flew, visible only to her own eyes, and Hinata lashed out with absolute focus, catching them.
More.
"Four palms! Eight palms!" Hinata chased Shukaku down like a predator on the prowl, raining blow after blow down on the creature. Every strike that followed was quicker and mightier than the last, and her body complained as she pushed well past her natural limits. Sparks flew yet again, larger and more potent than before, and she caught them again. Her bones creaked and her muscles swelled painfully, but she ignored it all.
"Sixteen palms! Thirty-two palms!" Shukaku's body rocked and shuddered as her chakra slammed into its body, hammering away at its central chakra point. Each strike climbed higher and higher, and Hinata choked down a cry as the sparks threatened to tear her apart from within, forcing it all down in favor of absolute focus.
She'd been told her entire life that she was weak. She was small, even among those within her own age group. Her skin ran cold and burned easily. Her speech impediment had only gotten worse with age, making her an easy target for taunts by strangers and even within her own clan. She struggled to even pass at her family's taijutsu, and seemingly had little talent to speak of with either ninjutsu or genjutsu, much to Kurenai-sensei's own disappointment. Her classmates thought she was gloomy and weird-looking. Her chakra was weak and often slipped from her grasp like water between open fingers. She was clumsy, foolish, and ugly, and…
And she was sick of believing that. All her life, she'd let people tell her who she was and how she lacked. She'd simply accepted it all with a bowed head.
"Enough of that." Jiraiya cut in, bluntly. "If he says you're strong as shit, then you're strong as shit. Just take the compliment, kid."
Lately though…
"You're amazing, Hinata! I really love you, ya know!"
Lately, she'd been feeling like there was more to herself than she'd ever realized.
With her byakugan, she could see Naruto's eyes fixed firmly on her back as she pushed forward.
Yeah, for the first time since she could remember, someone was relying on her to do something that no one else could do. Naruto needed her to be as strong as he thought she was. Naruto, the one person who had always believed in her; the one person she absolutely could not afford to fail. She'd die a hundred deaths before she ever let him down.
Her core swelled, her chakra spasming painfully in her body as she dug into it relentlessly, clawing well and above beyond every limit she'd ever dared to challenge, and even more still. Every cell in her body burned like they'd been encased in molten metal, but she dug even deeper, still; the sparks she'd built up seemed to ricochet through her body, colliding with each other continually and growing to create something far greater within her. Hinata grasped it with all of her being and grit her teeth, feeling a terrible heat build up in her chest like she'd been lit aflame from within. The power within had grown so intense that they breached her own body, sparking on her skin and numbing her flesh.
Her byakugan zeroed in on her target with absolute focus, the veins in and around her eyes engorging with so much blood that scarlet streaks leaked from her own tear ducts and stained her face. A line of drool slipped from her ajar lips as her focus stole every drop of her in favor of her target.
"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-four palms!" She was a storm, and Shukaku's body was caught in the middle. Blow after blow rained down on it, each so fast and powerful that they carved smoking divots into the creature's torso. It lost its footing entirely, its body lifted into the air and carrying backwards as she continued to press forward. Hinata felt the muscles in her arms tear and one of her shoulders dislocate. She tasted copper on her tongue as her body finally gave out on her, but not before a final palm strike deformed Shukaku's gut and cracked the ground beneath them both.
Shukaku's pupils shrunk until they were nearly nonexistent and its body went slack, a frothing mix of bile and blood spewing from its mouth and splashing across Hinata's face.
Ew.
Its body slumped like a puppet without its strings, and Hinata followed, managing to stumble back two steps before all of her strength left her entirely. She hit her back, spasming as the pain she'd ignored for so long finally forced her to give it its due. Her adrenaline bottomed out and her own stomach groaned as she went into shock. Hinata scrambled onto her chest and dry heaved before curling inwards.
Was this what Neji felt every time her did this? How could he endure such a thing without so much as a wince?
Another thump sounded close by, and Hinata noted with some delirium that Shikamaru had also collapsed, falling bonelessly into a pool of his own blood.
"Shit, shit! Change of plans! Shino, grab them both and get them out of here, ASAP!" Naruto ordered, rushing forward to capitalize on the moment his friends had given him. He tackled the now comatose Shukaku to the ground and slammed an open palm onto its forehead. Blackened smoke rose from the point of contact as he pinned its torso under his body, then several chains burst from his back to encircle the Tailed Beast and burrow into its flesh.
Shaken from his own stupor, Shino nodded, quickly heaving a pale-looking Shikamaru over his shoulder and making his way for Hinata's spasming form.
There would be time to mourn his hive later, once he'd gotten his friends their needed medical attention.
Crouching down, Shino locked eyes with Hinata and gulped. "You are suffering from acute chakra exhaustion. Please try not to exert yourself in any way until I've gotten you to a healer."
Hinata's eyes lolled sightlessly before settling distantly on Shino. "I punched the bad guy," she giggled absently. She broke into a coughing fit just moments later. "Ribs hurt. Soul hurts more."
"That would be the shock of your physical and spiritual energies bottoming out. I do not envy your position," Shino informed her, finally finding a good position to haul Hinata up too.
"I am leaving," he announced to Naruto. The blonde looked his way for just a moment, concern etched onto his face as he looked at Hinata. As if sensing his stare, Hinata weakly looked his way. Her heart sang as the boy she loved mouthed four words.
"I'm proud of you."
Her vision went black.
The village was in chaos. Enemy ninja swarmed from all directions, wreaking havoc against ninja and civilians alike. Hiashi watched a sound ninja with what looked like a twisted violin for an arm chase down a pair of boys, each clearly no older than twelve. The sound ninja tensed two of his fingers, the pair lengthening into something akin to the bow of a violin to match his arm, then ripped the tool across his other limb. There was a high pitched screech as thin, almost imperceptible blades of sound began to approach the children.
Truly despicable.
In an instant, he crossed the distance, interposing himself between the attack and the children. Then he pivoted, taking a short three-hundred-and-sixty degree turn and molding his chakra with an expertise befitting of his station; from each of his chakra points, a stream of chakra was loosed before twisting into a domelike shape, effortlessly deflecting the blades.
"Hanabi," Hiashi commanded, dropping the little girl from underneath his arm. She righted herself, unsteady, but attentive all the same. "Continue with those boys to the academy. Do not stop, and do not look back; should anyone attempt to stop or stall you, take them down without hesitation… Am I clear?"
Hanabi gulped, and without seeing her face, Hiashi knew her fear. Still, she nodded. "Yes. Will you be-?"
"Good," Hiashi interjected. "I will be fine." Measuring the ninja before him, Hiashi nodded back. "This should only take a few seconds."
"A few seconds huh?" The sound ninja echoed, sneering at the placid face of the Hyuga clan head. "My squad and I are gonna play kickball with your head, you old bastard. Above, three more ninjas landed around them on various rooftops. "Still feeling confident?"
"Father, I-" Hanabi started, then abruptly stopped herself. "Understood." Without another word, she turned, hefting the two older boys to their feet and dragging them along.
That was yet another of his children out of his reach. Would she remain safe while he took care of his ninja duties? Hanabi was strong; she had to be, for that is how he'd raised her to be. She was a prodigy in ninjutsu, scaling above even the typical standards for Hyuga children bred within the main house. Another few years and Hiashi had no doubt she'd stand head and shoulders above the rest within the clan; she was already far ahead of her own peers within and even somewhat above her own age group.
But she was still a child, and however hard as he may have been on his children, his heart still ached to watch her go somewhere he could not follow. His thoughts flitted to his other daughter. How he wished he'd defied her wishes and dragged her along with him.
"The village is under siege. Come, daughters! We must regroup!" Hiashi's orders were clear. He needed to get his children to safety; he'd take them to the manor where they could be protected. From there, he could rally his clan to push back against the invaders.
Hanabi rushed to her father's side, withholding a scream as a stray wind jutsu whizzed over her head, detonating against a nearby wall and pelting her with trace amounts of rubble.
"Hinata!"
"Go on without me," Hinata retorted steadily, not so much as looking at her father.
Really? She chose now of all times to grow a backbone? "I will not repeat myself, daughter!"
"Good, because neither will I." Hinata finally looked back at him, and for the first time in his memory, Hiashi saw steel in her eyes. "I am needed here. Take Hanabi and fulfill your duties." She pointed a thumb at the Leaf forehead protector secured around her neck. "I must see to my own."
Hiashi saw the fear in Hinata's eyes. She was terrified, as she damn well should be! But above all that, Hiashi saw resolve creeping to the surface, swallowing her hesitation as she watched the chaos below. Her eyes were set firmly on the Uchiha, Nara, and Uzumaki boys, who were stuck playing cat and mouse with a sand-clad monstrosity.
Hiashi knew she would join them, whether he wanted her to or not.
"Very well then… Be well, daughter."
Hiashi did not watch Hanabi go. If he did, he did not think he could stop himself again. No, he needed to trust her to handle herself, at least for long enough to abscond to the academy for shelter. In the meantime, he had a job to do. As a ninja of the Leaf village, his people needed his protection. Speaking of which…
"Wait, you're one of those stick-in-the-ass Hyugas, huh? The ones with the freaky eyeballs… What a catch! Lord Orochimaru will definitely reward us when we bring him your hea-" The violin-armed ninja didn't get to finish his sentence, suddenly choking as Hiashi pointed at him with two fingers. He wobbled, then threw a hand to his mouth; blood spewed between his finger tips, and his wide eyes panned around to his comrades above, as if begging them for support. Their own confused expressions did little to soothe him before he collapsed to his knees, an excruciating pain building in his chest.
"Eight Trigrams: Air Palm," Hiashi intoned, lowly. Just a simple application of the gentle fist, projected over a distance. The mouthy enemy ninja's aorta was ruptured without fanfare.
Without sparing the dying man another glance, he turned his eyes to the three above him. A young woman with poison-green scales adorning much of her skin and an elongated face; a man with mostly bland features, save for a protruding, bloodshot, third eye poking out from between his lips; lastly, a boy, younger than the other two, with what looked like the upper half of a goat straight out of hell, grafted to the boy's back.
Certainly a freakshow befitting of the Orochimaru's preferences.
Hiashi sighed. "Would anybody like to flee or surrender before I send you all the same way?"
"The reptilian girl spit his way. "You think we're scared of you? We still have you outnum- Gah!" She was cut off midway through as Hiashi pointed her way next. His aim was off, courtesy of her surprisingly good reflexes, and so he only severed one of her lungs instead of her heart.
No matter.
Hiashi's chakra swelled as he stepped forward, fingers primed in a one-handed tiger seal; his efforts were indicative of the casting of a body flicker. Immediately, he'd crossed the distance between them as if in one long step. The girl was still recovering, looking at where he'd been with wild eyes which quickly twisted in a mix of confusion and horror before he pressed a finger to her temple. By the time she fell dead, he'd already disappeared from the spot, intent on keeping his word to his youngest.
"You lot were foolish to raise your hand against our village," Hiashi chided them, now sliding into position behind the youngest. The boy's goat head saw him first, its horizontal pupils catching him in its peripheral before it lunged at him; the goat's body extended like it was barely even solid, stretching a good double its previous length as it opened its mouth to reveal dozens of needle-like teeth. Hiashi raised an eyebrow at the creature before tensing his palm like a knife's point and jabbing forward. As his fingers collided with the snout of the creature, he twisted his hand and watched in satisfaction as it was torn apart in a spiral fashion and blown outward, leaving Hiashi completely unmarred by the shower of gore. The boy snarled in pain before turning on him, lashing out with a palmed kunai; however, he didn't get far. Another instant passed, and Hiahsi had already stepped past him, having pressed two fingers to the back of his neck and severed his spine with an imperceptible flare of his chakra.
That was three. Hiashi's pale white eyes stared soullessly at the final threat, who had only just begun to understand the danger he was in. "We Hyuga are the strongest clan in the strongest village, and we have a duty to protect all who call it home… Your fate was sealed the moment you stepped foot in our territory uninvited."
The three-eyed man rapidly looked between his fallen comrades before silently throwing his hands into the air in clear surrender.
"A bit late for that," Hiashi bit out with a roll of his eyes.
Really, just once he'd like it if they surrendered before he had to start killing people. Another moment passed, and there were four dead. As the final corpse dropped, Hiashi took a breath. Looking back toward the arena, he focused his byakugan and pushed. The veins around his eyes bulged as he focused his sight, then he smiled. "Perhaps there's hope for you yet… Be safe, Hinata."
With that, he refocused his eyes to his surroundings, spotting several more clusters of enemy ninja, all in one conflict or another.
His children would be fine; he had to believe that. In the meantime, it'd do well for him to remind the world why the Hyuga called themselves the strongest.
Shukaku's eyes snapped open, both bloodshot and wide with panic as it became aware of its position; it began to thrash about, bucking its body so hard that Naruto had to fight tooth and nail just to stay on top of it. The beast's sharpened canines snapped out, drawing blood as they closed painfully around Naruto's forearm. Naruto cursed as he was lifted bodily off the Tailed Beast and heaved through the air by its jaw strength alone. Shukaku found its feet and began to thrash about with a growl, slamming Naruto into the ground once, then twice more.
Sasuke rushed in, planting a solid kick into its face, trying to weaken its grip on the boy's friend, but Shukaku barely even budged. Two more kicks cracked across its jaw before Shukaku once again lifted Naruto with a snarl, slamming the blonde directly into Sasuke's torso. Then one of its massive arms followed, crashing into both of them and sending them airborne. They both smashed painfully into the ground in a tangle of limbs, then Shukaku slumped, its stolen body worn down by the constant attacks.
"Ow," Naruto groaned, sluggishly divesting himself of Sasuke's body. Wasting no time, he looked for Shino, intent on ensuring that the Aburame had managed to clear the area with their other two friends, safely. Seeing no sight of them, he grinned.
"What the hell are you smiling about, loser? We're getting our asses kicked!" Sasuke staggered to his feet as he raged. "Your bright idea has gone straight to shit and now we're all by ourselves against this thing!"
Naruto rolled his eyes. "We're going to be fine," Naruto shot back, lackadaisically. He began slowly forming seals that Sasuke did not recognize. " Now quit bitching and help me jump this guy. In order for my plan to work we need to-"
"Your plan sucks!" Sasuke cut in, his sharingan swirling in his frustration as he glared at the blonde. "Every plan you've had so far as failed spectacularly!" The curse mark on his neck throbbed painfully as his emotions began to spike.
"Get that hickey of yours under control and listen," Naruto snarled at Sasuke. The latter fell silent, his own irritation briefly quelled by the blonde's tone. "Look, I'm not gonna pretend to be some kind of turbo genius like Shikamaru, but all of my plans have more or less done what we've needed them to, so far. Hinata's attack paralyzed its chakra well enough for my contract seal to kick in!"
And god, did he adore her for that. With his chakra sensitivity, he could already see the seal doing its work. The conditions of the seal were plain, deliberately made so as to be easier to activate:
So long as Gaara resists, expend additional chakra.
With Hinata's paralysis in play, he'd been able to set it to set the metrics rather high; Shukaku would need to expend nearly triple its chakra to maintain its form. Even accounting for its massive chakra yield, its reserves were far from limitless.
"So long as we can keep up the pressure, It's now gonna be hemorrhaging chakra faster than it can build up. If we can keep this pace, it won't be able to fight us and continue manifesting itself by consuming Gaara -er, so long as he keeps fighting back, that is. But that was the whole point of this, making sure it couldn't just turn into a 100 meter tall sand monster and wreck the damn village!"
"What does any of that matter if it still just kills us and goes slaughtering people as it is? And for that matter, what guarantee do we have that he won't just give in and let it?" Sasuke fired back. His tone was more even though, as he began to consider Naruto's words more carefully.
"Gaara has a vested interest in fighting back if he wants to continue living, for one. For two, did you think taking down one of the fucking Bijuu was going to be easy? This is something that a team of jonin would struggle to do, dumbass! We've been fighting an uphill battle from the very start!" A sigh, then, "But everything will be fine if you just chill out and trust me. If you can't do that, then piss off and go help with the evacuation effort."
Sasuke only hesitated for a moment. "What do you need?"
"I've gotta get this guy out of the village. Once I separate it from all the sand that it's built up, we'll have a much easier time taking it down."
"How?"
"I've already set the stage for that. I just need about twenty seconds uninterrupted to prepare it- actually no, it's done," Naruto cut himself off, sheepishly. "I've been preparing it since we started talking… hehe"
"Idiot." Sasuke huffed. "So what, then?"
"Stay close to me. I'm summoning us away the second I get my hands on that bastard."
Sasuke sighed, his tone resigned. "You'd better not screw this up, Naruto."
"Less talking, more helping me beat up the big bad sand demon, asshole." The two boys shared a grin before once again turning to face the drooling, exhausted form of Shukaku.
"You know, you twerps are really starting to try my patience," it grumbled at them, taking a deep breath before standing up straight.
That's a real shame, "Naruto hummed, thoughtfully. "Because I think I'm just starting to hit my stride, ya know." A pause, then, "We're going to beat the dog-shit out of you… You know that, right?"
Shukaku cackled. "Boy, I'd like to see you try-" It paused as Naruto blurred forward, nearly snapping into its personal space with an audible crack. "I would like to apologize for my earlier words and actions."
"Wait, really?" Naruto blinked rapidly, surprise etched clearly across his face.
"Pffft, NAH!" Immediately, Shukaku reared one of its massive arms back, the sand-clad limb bristling with dozens of sharpened thorns. It swung the arm forward, intent on impaling the blonde onto the limb. "Die!"
Naruto sighed. "I thought not." Then he leaned back and rotated, steering clear of the attack. "Sasuke, we're going now!"
"Going to a morgue, more like!" Shukaku braced the thorny limb as a kick from Naruto threatened to crash into its own weakened torso. The thorns extended outward, but Naruto saw the attack coming and aborted the attack. Several chains burst from his body and encased him, shallowly deflecting the sand spikes in favor of a typical evasion. Shukaku attempted to pull back to gain some space, but found that Naruto would not allow it any reprieve. Instead, the boy stayed close, even as he began to form hand seals.
'Boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram…'
Naruto tilted his head to the side then leaned back to avoid a backhand into jab combo, courtesy of Shukaku. He slammed a high kick into its bicep, then followed up with another that was absorbed by its shoulder. As Shukaku attempted to swing its other arm forward to smash the annoyance into the ground, Naruto ducked and flanked to the side, giving the limb a wide berth. Shukaku attempted to follow up by swinging its arm in a wide arc, stretching the limb a great deal to collide with its opponent. However, Naruto leaned all the way back until his torso was parallel with the ground, just barely evading the backhanded clothesline. He allowed the attack to fully whiz just over his head, then with great core strength rocked back to an upright standing position. Naruto jumped forward, slamming a knee into Shukaku's face before kicking off and flipping loosely through the air.
Shukaku had effortlessly tanked the initial attack, but was somewhat caught off guard as Naruto thrust a palm in its direction from a distance. A glint of metal was its only warning before a metal thorn was ejected from the boy's palm at high speeds.
"Hey, I thought they had to come from your back, asshole!?" Shukaku raged, moving quickly to protect its vitals. The thorn managed to implant itself shallowly into its shoulder. A thin chain connected the thorn to Naruto's palm where it had been fired. "Hey, what gives!?" it growled as it all began to faintly glow.
"Why the hell would I give away all of my tricks right away, dumbass?" Naruto bit back. "Sasuke, where the hell are you- oh, there you are, Sasuke." Naruto grinned tiredly at his teammate, whose now onyx eyes glared daggers back at him. "I'm all set. Hold on."
As Sasuke wordlessly placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder, Naruto formed a ram seal. "Reverse-summoning jutsu."
Shukaku had only just enough time to process his words before it felt the pull. "Oh you motherfuc-" Its words were lost to the wind as all three disappeared in a large puff of smoke.
Alright this chapter wasn't quite as long as my usual ones, but I think I prefer it that way while I get back into the swing of things.
It was initially this 20k word behemoth that was just short of 70 pages while I was writing it out. But that was not only a pain in the ass to edit but also had a lot of filler that I wasn't really happy with. I decided I wanted to focus more on Hinata in this chapter and give her some special focus, since the proceedings that are to come are going somewhere that she can't really follow, in her current state.
Good news being that the next chapter shouldn't take long to come out, since it's mostly just a bunch of editing that I gotta find time to do.
Bad news being that I gotta get something off my chest:
The positive reception that I've been getting from you guys has really been a truly humbling experience. This is probably the most motivated I have been to write in a long while, and I'm really happy about that.
But this story is quickly growing into something bigger than I originally planned for it to be. I initially just planned for it to just be some thing I worked on when I felt like it. I always had every intention to finish it (and I still do), but it was more something I just did whenever I could be bothered, between work and other gigs that I might need to work on to make money.
This is time consuming though, and hard as hell to find time to write when life is busy giving you the 3-piece combo, no biscuit.
Things are stressful right now, and I'm really not about to get into it, but the TLDR here is that writing is getting hard. So bear with me if you see any stretches between chapters. I have not abandoned it and have no intentions to; things are just rough right now and sometimes I'll need to step away for a bit. Hopefully though I'll be able to keep at it, because I really do enjoy writing this and getting to interact with you guys.
Speaking of which, I'm currently looking into what means are available to create a more open dialogue with you guys. Some of you may have seen that I occasionally respond to comments you guys give. I enjoy having discussions and getting to dig for deeper feedback whenever someone drops a particularly insightful comment/review. Some people have mentioned stuff like discord, and I'm not against it. But let me know what you guys think about all of that. If reception is high enough, I could see about making a dedicated discord for the story where a dialogue can open up and I can keep communications more open on my end. Let me know in the reviews.
Last thing on my agenda is a very short post-chapter analysis.
My goal with this chapter was to further flesh out Hinata. I want her issues, which are most notable in part one, to be outlined more thoroughly beyond just "oh she's shy."
She's clearly got a lot of baggage that needs unpacking and I always thought that her adoration of Naruto could've been further expanded. The canon story definitely makes it clear that she admires Naruto and why, but with how much she seems to practically worship the dude, I felt like tying it closer to her own deeper trauma and pain makes more sense. My goal is to give it more substance, but not necessarily change too much. More than anything, I want their relationship to feel like there's more to it than just her crushing on him from afar. There's a lot we don't see between Naruto and his friends in the academy growing up and I'd especially like to tackle that to create a foundation for how they interact with each other. For being classmates for like 4 years in a village that's super big on teamwork and personal bonds between ninja, Naruto really doesn't interact with any of his classmates beyond them going "oh Naruto's such an idiot haha."
All of this to say that's a thing I'll likely be happy to work on once this arc is over.
Expect next chapter (honestly the next few) to be really packed tight with action. I want this arc to feel super hectic since it's basically just a huge invasion where a lot of different people are fighting all at once. Expect me to touch on a lot of those conflicts further, but Naruto and Sasuke vs Shukaku is obviously gonna be the main course and what I'll be focusing on a lot.
Let me know what stuff you'd like to see, fights you're interested to see my take on, all of that. If there seems to be any kind of consensus for stuff you guys would like me to give any special attention, I'd be down to try my hand at it.
I'm rambling though, thanks for reading. I'm gonna get some rest and play some games before I get back on that grind.
