Author notes

This is part of my time-traveling fix-it series only because Amaya exists because Hizashi is still alive. It does not involve impacts of time-traveling in this, that's why my fic is called "Slice of life" and not "Mission: something to change". I just had that idea about Neji's little sister and wanted to write it for my own fun. I wanted to explore the idea of Neji having a sibling, as well as blindness within the Hyuuga clan, especially someone closely related to the main family.

The story starts when Amaya is young, so before Preventing a Massacre part of the series, but since there is a time-skip in the middle of the fic, I preferred putting it chronologically with the end, so I don't spoil something of a previous part by mistake.

Thanks to my Beta reader Feiris for correcting mistakes I made.

Shortly after Amaya was born, her parents noticed her eyes were shaking. Worried, they went to the hospital, where they met with a Hyuuga clan mate that specializes in optometry. That doctor did not seem very concerned about Amaya. She told them it was nystagmus, and assured them after a few tests that baby Amaya would see just fine. Hizashi felt reassured, he trusted that eye doctor more than any other one. If she feared issues with the Byakugan, she'd have let them know.

Hizashi's father, on the other hand, couldn't help but point out the issue every time he saw his granddaughter, like it was the worst thing that could happen to her. After the elder expressed his worries for the billionth time, Hizashi sighed.

"We were told she will see clearly still. She'll just experience a bit of shakiness but she'll get used to it and it will be normal to her. Her optometrist, a Hyuuga, told us Amaya will have her Byakugan and it should work just fine. I wish I could stop her eyes from shaking, but I can't. She has it for life."

Hizashi was starting to get annoyed. He knew his father's only concern was the Byakugan, the child's ability to become a ninja and how they would be perceived by other clansmen and other Konoha inhabitants. It was never how the kid felt. The elder never asked if it was painful or caused problems for Amaya. But Hizashi was used to it. The man had used the same strictness with his sons when they grew up, and to Neji and Lady Hinata as well, now. Family pride was the most important thing in this clan after preserving the Byakugan intact and exclusively within the clan.

"Hopefully, Hiashi's baby won't have that eye issue."

Hizashi was taken by surprise. "What are you talking about?" Lady Hinata was six years old, she wasn't a baby for a while.

Neji approached, he was coming back from a training session with his cousin and came by to grab a glass of water, showing respect to his grandfather while walking by. The elder almost completely ignored him, continuing his adult conversation as if Neji wasn't even there.

"I assume Hiashi didn't tell you yet what he told me last night. His wife is expecting, she's due for late March or early April."

Neji stopped in his tracks before Hizashi could express his happiness. "Lady Hinata will be a big sister? Why didn't she tell me?"

Hizashi had an amused look on his face. "She probably doesn't know yet, son. I think it would be best that you wait for her to talk about it first, so that her parents get the chance to be the ones to tell her."

Neji nodded. "I can keep it secret."

Neji left the room, looking very happy and mumbling something about fireworks. Hizashi didn't know why, but Lady Hinata and Neji sometimes talked about fireworks (1), even when there were no such activities planned out in the village. But the man shrugged his thought out, realizing his brother was going to have another child. Hizashi felt very happy for him. Having a second child changed the family dynamics, but the man had no doubts his twin and his wife would manage. And Lady Hinata had a big heart, she'll adore her new sibling instantly. She loved spending time with Amaya already.

A few years passed, and Amaya and Hanabi loved spending time together for playdates. They grew as close as Neji and Lady Hinata were. It was the heiress who chose her sister's name. Hizashi wasn't surprised with the choice, and for some reason, his niece couldn't find anything more fitting. Hanabi was very energetic, nothing scared her. For now, she was very impulsive, but she was two years old, it could change. It just clashed with Amaya's clingy and unconfident personality.

With Neji slated to start the academy in a little over six months, Hizashi decided he and his wife had to get Amaya to work on her self confidence more. The man knew his elder would start training Amaya by the time Hinata entered the academy next year, and with how strict the man was, if things didn't improve, Amaya would feel crushed by her grandfather. While Amaya was very obedient, there were times when Hizashi wished she'd run in front of them with Hanabi when they walked in the village. Showed some tenacity. While the man wouldn't trust his niece not to lead both toddlers into danger, he wished Amaya was more confident in following Hanabi around instead of staying back most of the time.

Lady Hinata and Neji came inside running with a bright smile one afternoon.

"We heard there were fireworks tonight above the Hokage's stones. Can we go watch it?"

HIzashi had heard of it, and he, his wife, as well as his brother's family had planned on going and surprising the children. Hizashi didn't know who told them, but it didn't matter now.

"Sure! It's a bit after your bedtime so I suggest you take a nap before dinner," his wife said.

Neji nodded, before turning to his sister. "Are you excited to see your first fireworks?"

While there were those types of activities every year, Amaya tended to be a little bit scared of noises, so they hadn't brought her yet. Now she was three years old, Hizashi thought she was big enough to not make a fuss in public.

The night came, and Hizashi took his daughter from her bed to have her in his arms, trying not to wake the toddler up. He knew they'd wait a while, standing around, before fireworks started, and wanted Amaya to sleep as much as possible before. Hiashi was waiting for him on his porch, his wife holding Hanabi similarly to Hizashi. Hinata was holding her father's hand, a big smile on her face, ready to go.

Minutes before the fireworks were due to start, Hizashi woke his youngest up. She immediately started fussing.

"It's okay, Amaya," Hizashi whispered into her ear. "We are going to see fireworks, there'll be pretty lights in the sky. It will make a bit of noise, but don't worry, it's all safe and you're in my arms."

The child was looking around, like she was lost. Neji took her hand to reassure her. Hizashi started wondering if it was the crowd noises making her scared, or the dark. She was in a phase where she hated the dark, and no matter if Hizashi put a nightlight in her bedroom, it didn't help her. His wife wondered if the nightlight made things worse as it created more shadows, thus making the toddler even more scared than she would be without the light provided.

Fireworks started and Amaya started crying because of the sound. Hizashi tried to hush her as his father was looking at him frowning. "Make her stop Hizashi."

"Hey, it's okay, darling. Look at those pretty lights there," Hizashi pointed up. "This one is heart-shaped, see?"

Amaya still had an unsure face, whining. Neji, who was sitting on Hizashi's shoulder to make sure to have a great view, tried encouraging her, but she didn't stop crying.

"Hizashi, people are looking at us now!"

"Father, please leave him alone. You see he's trying. She's just a child, calm down. People are not looking at us that much," Hiashi said, sighing.

Hizashi looked at his twin, while grateful, he didn't need him to defend himself. He was busier trying to soothe his child, rocking her, and trying to block the sound with one hand on her ear. "Do you see the lights and how amazing they are?" Hizashi tried looking as enthusiastic as he could, in case that helped.

Amaya shook her head no. Hizashi frowned, looking at his wife. His daughter had her head up looking in the right direction. Hizashi noticed she was squinting her eyes, like someone who needed glasses. "Don't see lights daddy."

"I'll take her home, then," his wife said. If the noises made Amaya scared and she didn't even get to enjoy the show, it was best to just put her back into her bed, Hizashi agreed. They'd investigate Amaya's eyesight later. Maybe her vision had declined a bit and she just needed glasses.

The next morning, Hizashi called at the hospital to get Amaya's eyes checked, but there was a waiting list. Since it was not an emergency, Hizashi had to wait six months. There were no optometrist, and only one ophthalmologist for the whole village, and she was on maternity leave for a few months still, which made the list only get longer. They had to be patient, then. His wife thought it could be useful to note anything weird down, like the previous day's issue.

Hizashi put his worries aside as he went to the training grounds with Neji. He spent a lot of time with his son, trying to take advantage that the boy still had free time. Soon, he'd be sitting in school all day long. His kids grew up too fast to Hizashi's liking.

Hizashi came back to Amaya chasing Hanabi in his house, screaming. Hanabi seemed to hold her cousin's favorite toy and take pleasure in keeping it away from Amaya. Hizashi didn't know what happened exactly, so he preferred not intervening. His wife had an amused look. "Some rivalry could do her good for once."

HIzashi bursted out laughing. It was one way to see things. That was until they heard a sudden loud "bang" sound immediately followed by gasping and crying. Hizashi rushed into the hallway, where his daughter was lying on the floor, holding her head with both hands. Hanabi dropped the toy from her hands and slowly approached her cousin, with unusual unconfidence as if she was scared to see blood.

"You okay, 'Ma-a?"

Amaya didn't respond, and Hizashi rushed to see if there was a cut in his daughter's forehead. Hanabi started crying because her cousin started crying.

"Hanabi, don't cry, Amaya will be okay, darling. Why don't you go play with Neji while I make sure Amaya is fine?" He then turned to his daughter, trying to calm her down by rubbing her back. He couldn't do much for her pain and felt powerless. There was no blood, but surely a bump would appear soon. "You were so busy running after Hanabi that you didn't see the table?"

Amaya nodded, tears falling down her cheeks. Hizashi looked around him. The hallway wasn't very large, but it was standard, and Amaya was so small she shouldn't have had to bump into that side table. While Amaya could really just have been running head down to catch up to her cousin, Hizashi still wondered if something was wrong. He took notice of the windows bringing a bit of light, but not a lot because the clouds were quite dark outside. The lamp on the side table Amaya bumped into was turned off as well, which didn't help to brighten the hallway. Hizashi couldn't help but look at his wife with worry. Was Amaya's vision deteriorating this fast? How strong would her glasses need to be? She was likely too young to verbalize a loss of vision, or thought it was normal. Poor kid.

Author Notes

1) Hanabi means Firework. In the previous part about Neji, I mentioned that Hinata and Neji used the code "Meet at Hanabi" when they wanted to talk about things from their previous life. They'd go into Hanabi's future room to do so. Hizashi heard the code at some point, but is far from having figured it out.