Hiashi watched the Yuuhi girl enter his tearoom, not rising from his seiza by the low table to greet her, merely inclining his head. If she cared about the subtle disrespect, she didn't show it, bowing her head demurely and making her way over to the opposite side of the table to him, dressed in the standard jounin blues and flak jacket.
Less ornate than one would expect for a one-on-one meeting with a Clan Head, but an improvement to the excuse of a dress he'd glimpsed her in once or twice before.
"Hyuuga-sama, thank you for making the time for this meeting." She greeted, folding into a seiza opposite him with far more grace than he would've expected of her outfit and rumoured disposition.
She bowed then, bending forward until her face was almost parallel to the table between them, hair falling like a curtain around her, and when she half-straightened, she glanced up at him through her lashes and he suddenly understood the origin of the grace in her movements and what sector she'd probably gotten her training from.
Except, instead of what could've, in another context, been a seductive look, the Yuuhi's oddly familiar eyes were filled with thinly-veiled contempt, the smile twisting her red lips not reaching her eyes.
"I admit curiosity as to what you believe needs my attention so urgently." Hiashi admitted, eyeing the woman evenly. "Particularly as my daughter spent the last month in the hospital."
"It is precisely the circumstances around her hospitalisation that I wish to discuss with you, Hyuuga-sama." Yuuhi confessed earnestly, and Hiashi fought the urge to scoff.
"My daughter's incompetence is one of my personal failings, I agree, but since she graduated and was placed on a genin team, making sure she is not a burden falls within your realm of responsibilities, Yuuhi-san."
The woman blinked, seemingly shocked at his rebuke, and then her lip curled downwards in what could barely avoid being called a scowl. "Forgive me, Hyuuga-sama, but I must disagree with your word choice. 'Incompetence'? 'Burden'? Hinata is one of the most competent genin I've ever had the pleasure of working with."
It was Hiashi's turn to pause, because surely, the woman wasn't implying that Hinata had learned how to be a shinobi in the three months she'd been under her tutelage prior to ending up in hospital.
"On our last mission, she comported herself with more sense and strategic thinking than some chunin I've worked with, not to mention that she took out four of the Iwa shinobi who had attacked us, two of whom had had bounties on their heads. Incompetent is about the last word I'd use to describe your daughter, Hyuuga-sama." Yuuhi continued, staring at him as if she was genuinely baffled by his words.
Hiashi studied the woman for a few seconds, and he didn't need the Byakugan to know that the veneer of deference and respect she'd shown at the start of their meeting was just that. Still, when he spoke, his voice remained even and inflectionless, though his tone was a touch sharper than before.
"Then I must admit that I do not understand what you could possibly want from me, Yuuhi-san."
Yuuhi studied him right back, meeting his gaze freely, those eerily familiar eyes of hers so close to the Sharingan it was almost uncomfortable, before she spoke.
"I want to ask you something. And, actually, your assumption about the possible reasons I could have for wanting an audience with you are a good segue into the problem I'd like to address." She frowned, not even pretending interest in her tea when Hiashi finally reached for his, and he made her wait until he'd finished his drink and put his cup down before he gestured for her to continue.
"On top of emotional maturity beyond her age and ability to remain rational in high-stress combat situations which I've already mentioned, Hinata exhibits some more worrying habits." She began, eyes trained on his face, cataloguing his reactions. "She has very good aim and a dangerous startle reflex, which, when combined, is somewhat concerning for my other genin's survival. Beyond being very quick to react to perceived dangers, she also unconsciously does perimeter sweeps and struggles to relax even when in-Village."
Yuuhi paused then, giving him time to interrupt should he wish, but Hiashi stayed silent, not reacting to her words beyond a quiet thought given to the comment about Hinata's supposedly excellent aim.
"A few years ago, such habits might have had her noted down as an experienced albeit young field-nin. But Hinata has been a genin for four months and she was born in times of peace. There is no reason for her to share the habits of war veterans and career shinobi."
"What is your point, Yuuhi-san?" Hiashi asked when the woman fell silent, still quietly studying him, because it was evident that she was building up to something, but Hiashi was a busy man.
Clearly reading his impatience, Yuuhi smiled.
It wasn't a nice smile.
"My point, Hiashi-sama, is whether you can tell me why Hinata has been diagnosed with severe CPTSD that predates her ever leaving the Village, as well as cripplingly low self-esteem despite being one of the most talented genin I've ever met?"
Hiashi stilled.
Diagnosed.
"Who did you allow near my heir to give you any such diagnosis?" He asked calmly, coldly, while inside, his chakra was urging him to activate his Byakugan and take out his frustration on the presumptuous wench before him, but he resisted.
For now.
"Three Psych therapists have worked with Hinata since she woke up after our return to the Village, though the majority of her sessions have been with Kagane Natsume, who is also the one to provide the official diagnosis. Before my audience with you, I also got independent confirmation from Sarutobi Asuma and Inuzuka Hana, and both of them can confirm that Hinata's behaviour predated our mission." Yuuhi explained calmly, sitting back on her heels, meeting his gaze without fear.
"You had no right." Hiashi accused quietly, coiling his chakra tight and down, stifling his signature so the infuriating woman wouldn't be able to read the anger he felt at the disrespect. "I did not consent to outsider involvement in my daughter's recovery."
"Luckily, you did not have to." Yuuhi replied, and she wasn't even bothering with politeness anymore. "Hinata is an adult in the eyes of the medical professionals and can make her own choices. And, as you helpfully pointed out at the start of our meeting, making sure she is not a burden, or burdened, as the case may be, falls within my realm of responsibilities."
"I advise you to be very careful with your next words, Yuuhi-san." Hiashi murmured, cold fury creeping at the edges of his consciousness, but the woman's smile merely widened, more sharp teeth and vicious bloodlust than the earlier full lips and quiet grace.
There was a reason Hiashi always disliked non-Clan kunoichi.
"Thank you for your advice, Hyuuga-sama. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll heed it." There was a slam as the woman slapped her hands to the surface of the table between them, a seal-tag appearing where one of her hands had been, and she rose up on her knees, putting her face closer to Hiashi's, any pretence of respect abandoned.
"The only reason I'm not making a public scene out of this is because bruises are par the course for active shinobi. But if I ever, ever, find bruises on Hinata that she can't explain away, or find a concerned note in her medical file, or if Kagane ever tells me precisely where and who Hinata's CPTSD stems from, you can rest assured that I will hold you responsible." She hissed, ruby eyes blazing almost as if they did contain the Sharingan, and Hiashi had a moment of dawning realisation at what the seal she'd likely stuck to his table might have been. "The Council of Clans during the Founding may have allowed your ancestors to keep their slave seal, but it's been a century and times have changed since then. Luckily, even in a Village of ninja, people still frown at child abuse, Hyuuga-sama, so I want you to think long and hard about whether your Clan can take another blow like that after the scandal with Hizashi-sensei."
And, suddenly, Hiashi knew why the red not-Sharingan had seemed familiar.
It had been almost two decades since, but Hizashi's happiness when he'd received his genin team had only ever been eclipsed by the birth of his son. 'Yuuhi Kurenai, Sarutobi Asuma, Namiashi Raido. Team Six, nii-sama, my team!'
The woman – his brother's old student – pushed to her feet, peeling off the silencing tag as she did, her tea untouched, her face familiar in its apathy and disdain if only because she wore the same expression his brother had the day Neji had been branded with the Caged Bird seal.
"Thank you for your time, Hyuuga-sama." She bowed, exaggeratedly deep, though her eyes never left his. She didn't take back any of her accusations, didn't leak so much as a drop of Killing Intent, but her eyes assured him of the strength of her conviction and her complete lack of fear of any retribution from his side. "I'll show myself out."
She was gone not ten minutes after she'd arrived.
Hinata was on her way back from Kiba's house, having taken a detour and walked Shino to the gates of his compound despite the latter's assurances that he could make the journey himself, when she spotted a familiar ponytail a few meters down the street.
Kurenai's comment from the previous day rang through her mind as if on cue: You're lucky Shikamaru didn't choose to escalate.
Sensei was right, of course: Hinata was lucky. Shikamaru would've been well within his rights to press charges or demand she be officially reprimanded for lashing out at him in the hospital, especially if she had actually managed to injure him.
She flash-stepped the few meters between her and the two Nara, and when she deemed herself close enough that she wouldn't have to shout, she called out a quiet; 'Nara-sama, Shikamaru-san!' that nonetheless got their attention.
Father and son stopped and half-turned, glancing back, eyes searching until they landed on her with a small degree of surprise on both their faces, and Hinata momentarily wondered what she looked like to them.
She was still in yesterday's clothes, parts of her covered in dog hair after their morning D-Rank cleaning the kennels. Her own hair was in a messy top-knot, the rest of it brushing her shoulders, and she was aware that the pink scar on her nose from their last mission was still stark against her pale skin, her appointments with the med-nin tasked with breaking down the scar tissue only half-way done.
Still, she told the self-conscious voice in her mind to shut up for the moment and bowed politely, first to Shikaku, then Shikamaru.
"I apologise for disturbing you." she began once she straightened, squared her shoulders, and made herself meet Shikaku's eyes. "My name is Hyuuga Hinata. I would like a m-moment of your time to apologise to your son, if you'd allow it."
She felt proud of herself that her voice only shook one time during her introduction. She maintained eye-contact until Shikaku obligingly nodded and waved a hand in a vague gesture she hesitantly interpreted as 'go-ahead'. Hinata took a deep breath and turned properly to Shikamaru, inclining her head again.
"I am sorry for hurting you, Shikamaru-san." she said quietly, and the remorse in her voice wasn't fake in the least. "I appreciate you t-taking the time to play shogi with me. I want to assure you that I did not mean to h-hurt you, and I am very sorry that I did. I am...still recovering after my team's last mission, and am, um, working through certain triggers with those in charge of my recovery."
She decided not to say 'Psych' because there was still, no matter Kurenai's approach to it and the good they did, a certain stigma around the institution, but she knew from the glint in Shikaku's eyes that he understood precisely who was charged with her recovery.
"That is the explanation, but I do not mean it as an excuse for my behaviour, as there is none. Please accept my sincere apology." She added, and then, hoping against hope that there were no Hyuuga in the vicinity who could see her next move, she bowed 45° to Shikamaru, who made a distressed noise in the back of his throat.
"Wha- what the hell are you doing- get up- what are you- stand up, Hinata, oh my god." Shikamaru stammered, visibly embarrassed, and Hinata slowly straightened up, shooting a quick glance at Shikaku, but the man was studying her oddly, appearing a mix of surprised and amused.
"She's trying to apologise to you, brat." Shikaku offered at last, gaze still on Hinata and his expression thoughtful. "Like you're supposed to do in these situations."
"We were classmates." Shikamaru shot back, throwing his father a disgruntled glare before turning it on Hinata. "You didn't need to do that."
Hinata kept her opinion on that assertion to herself and merely waited, but when Shikamaru didn't seem to realise she was waiting for him, she shot another glance at Shikaku, who sighed.
"Do you accept her apology?" he prompted his son, and Shikamaru blinked, then finally seemed to realise what, precisely, was going on.
"I-yeah. I accept your apology, Hinata." He said, then paused, eyeing her strangely. "Even if I think this was a drag."
Hinata blinked, a little bemused, then turned to Shikaku and bowed again, a little shallower. "I apologise to you, too, Nara-sama, for hurting your son and heir. I can only assure you that it did not come out of a desire to cause harm."
Shikaku sighed again, but he didn't seem angry.
"I thank you for your apology and hereby accept it." He said, not quite the script, but closer to it than Shikamaru's fumbled acceptance. "The Nara Clan is not going to be pressing any charges against you. The heiress to your Clan you may be, but you are only a genin, and going by what people are saying, you've had a rough couple of weeks. There is no ill will between me and mine and you, Hyuuga-chan."
But not my Clan? Hinata wondered, but once again chose to keep her musings to herself.
"Thank you for your understanding, Nara-sama." She murmured, inclining her head, then turned to offer Shikamaru a hesitant half-smile. "I meant it when I said I enjoyed playing with you, Shikamaru-san. I would like to do it again at some point, when our schedules permit."
And then, when Shikamaru just stared at her, she turned to Shikaku for the final time, who, recognising her goodbye for what it was, inclined his head, effectively dismissing her. Hinata nodded back, gathered her chakra, and flash-stepped a block away until she was out of sight and hopefully out of their range, and proceeded to lean against the wall, breathing raggedly and feeling all her muscles unclench now that she was finally done with that social interaction.
God, but she hated her anxiety sometimes. She should not be shivering like a leaf and sweating more than she did after some workouts from a simple conversation.
Then, the realisation that while she may have survived the exchange with the Nara, she still had to go through the Hyuuga Compound hit, and Hinata suddenly had to bite back a whimper. It was barely noon – her chances of slipping into the Compound unnoticed were slim to none, and she knew that she had to at the very least greet her Father after a month in hospital.
(a month during which none of her Clan came to see her, a voice in her mind – the one that had survived having her chakra network burnt nigh-irreparably by her cousin, survived being disinherited, survived a War and the End-of-Times and a goddess and come out bitter and ambivalent about her 'family' – whispered, she didn't owe them anything.)
Hinata pushed the thought to the back of her mind, forced it into a cage and threw away the key, then stood up straight, took a deep breath, and squared her shoulders.
She survived a War. She could survive Hiashi's disappointment.
"Why did she do that?"
Ah.
Shikaku had been studying his son since the Hyuuga girl had left them – in a suitably impressive Shunshin for a fresh genin, mind – and Shikamaru had had a face like he'd bit into a lemon for most of the way back to their Compound, so Shikaku was glad he'd been right on the money as to the reason behind his son's sour mood.
Keeping his posture loose and relaxed, Shikaku shrugged.
"Clan politics." He offered, because Hyuuga. "Her shrink's impact, likely." He added, considering the subtle hints she'd dropped at just what sort of trigger Shikamaru had stomped on in the hospital. "And probably a part of your Hyuuga friend not wanting to burn whatever bridges there were between the two of you."
"Could we have pressed charges?" Shikamaru asked, eyeing Shikaku oddly, and Shikaku hummed, noting with idle curiosity that Shikamaru didn't argue the word 'friend'.
"It would've been a bit of an overreaction, but yes. If she'd actually broken bone, I'd have suggested it to you." He admitted, and Shikamaru frowned, apparently not liking his answer. "Causing harm to another Konoha shinobi outside of sparring is generally frowned upon, no matter the personal circumstances."
"Is it true, then?" Shikamaru switched tracks instead of pursing the avenue of just what the girl was reportedly going through that Shikaku had conveniently left open for him. "That she killed four chunin?"
"That," Shikaku huffed, shooting Shikamaru a frown, "is not for genin ears."
"There are rumours, and Ino refuses to drop it." Shikamaru grumbled, giving Shikaku the stink-eye. "You're the Jounin Commander, can't you just tell me?"
"And you're on an intel-gathering team." Shikaku shot back, unrelenting. "Learn how to gather intel on your own."
Shikamaru grumbled, but he looked thoughtful, likely noticing that Shikaku hadn't outright said no.
A few more minutes of silence passed between them, then Shikamaru asked; "Can you teach me about Clan customs again?"
Shikaku bit back a smirk.
Finally.
"Nee-sama."
Hanabi, freshly seven – and god, but Hinata had missed her birthday, hadn't she? – greeted, too old and 'serious' now to throw herself at Hinata in flying hugs and exuberant affection.
"Hanabi." Hinata sighed, feeling suddenly old, despite only being in her early twenties mentally. "Tadaima."
"Okaeri." Hanabi replied immediately, slipping quietly into the room when Hinata didn't chase her away, sliding the door closed behind her. "Otou-sama said you were in the hospital."
"I was." Hinata agreed, swallowing to wet her suddenly dry throat. "I apologise for missing your birthday, Hanabi-chan."
"Can we celebrate now that you're back?" Hanabi asked shyly, still a child in a way that Hinata didn't remember her being from her first memories. She wondered how much her hurt at being disinherited had impacted her relationship with her sister.
Hinata bit back a sigh. She wanted nothing more than to draw herself a long bath, find herself some comfort food, and get into bed, but-
But.
Hanabi was…reaching out.
They could have a relationship untainted by one sister's failure and the other's genius.
"Of course we can." She assured after what was apparently a few seconds too long, because Hanabi's hesitant smile had slipped almost entirely off her face, replaced with the beginnings of a dejected expression. "Let me just grab a quick shower, okay? We had a D-Rank cleaning the Inuzuka kennels today and I would rather not smell of dog when we celebrate."
Hanabi let out a startled giggle, then raised a hand to her mouth and stared at Hinata, seemingly baffled at the sound, and Hinata wanted to simultaneously laugh and cry.
"How would you like to celebrate?" Hinata asked instead, when she was sure her voice wouldn't come out wet, and Hanabi looked a step away from pumping her fist in the air in victory.
"Dango!" she cheered, grinning when Hinata laughed quietly, then she stilled and tilted her head. "Then…can we spar? Hyogo-sensei has been teaching me some new kata."
"It'll have to be light, as I was only released from the hospital yesterday, but we can certainly try." Hinata assured, resolving to not bring any of her pouches with her to avoid the risk of her putting a senbon through Hanabi's eye should the girl startle her. "Maybe, since we're sparring anyway, I can hold off on the shower for now. Lead the way, Hanabi-chan."
Hanabi cheered quietly, then cut herself off the moment she slid Hinata's door open, her smile fading to a dignified frown as she stepped out onto the corridor, mindful of the fact that they were Hiashi's daughters and a sense of decorum was expected from them always.
No matter that Hanabi was seven and Hinata twelve, that they were children still, that Hanabi hadn't been allowed toys in her room since she'd turned five, that Hiashi had only ever looked through Hinata until their spar before her Graduation Exam, her appearance too close to that of his late wife.
[There were times, late at night, when Hinata doubted her resolve to change the Hyuuga Clan. She doubted her conviction, her ability to beat her Father, the Branch Family's ability to forgive and forget even in the unlikely scenario where all goes according to plan.
But there were other times, times when she looked at Neji, at her sister, at the little children, not yet sealed, running around the Compound, at the Branch House elders, some with cloth tied over missing eyes, others with faded Caged Bird seals on full display on their foreheads and secret, bitter smiles quirking their lips, and those were the times she knew that she would not stop until she reformed her Clan.]
She took the memory of Hanabi's smile from that moment and tucked it close to her heart, knowing, deep down, that she'll need it to buoy her onwards when the path she'd set out for herself gets tough.
(and knowing, even deeper down, that Hanabi hadn't yet realised that, should Hinata succeed and become the Head of the Hyuuga Clan, her younger sister will end up getting sealed. Sealed like Neji, sealed like her life was never hers to begin with, always intended as protection, as insurance, for that of Hinata's. Sealed like she never mattered, despite her genius.)
Hinata will bring the Hyuuga Clan to its knees before she allows that to happen.
Their first week back to team training, Kurenai had them running through kata and stretches, testing their mobility and reflexes with soft foam balls she threw at them as they went through the motions, then ending the day with slow, controlled spars.
Not for speed, or strength, or winning, but to visualise how the motions they practiced could change in actual combat, overlap, connect.
For that final stage, Kiba and Hinata had ended up with blindfolds after the first day, both more familiar with combat kata than Shino. Kiba's had been thrown at him, Kurenai's insistence that Kiba 'focus on using his nose more' ringing through the clearing, but Hinata had opted into it.
God knew she needed more spatial awareness, and she didn't want to fall into the trap of over relying on her Byakugan in combat.
Ergo, blindfolds.
Then, after that first week, their schedule changed slightly – in the morning, Hinata, Kiba and Shino would meet, just the three of them, and run through chakra-less sparring, but with consistently increasing speed. Kurenai would come pick them up around ten in the morning, two or three D-Ranks in tow, then they'd grab lunch and return to 'their' training ground near the Inuzuka Compound, where Kurenai would give them time for their individual projects and assist however they needed her to.
All the while pelting them with low-level genjutsu they had to identify and break as soon as they felt them, Hinata felt the need to point out.
A challenge which, considering that Hinata wasn't allowed to use her Byakugan, Kiba was more often than not buried nose-deep in a scroll on medical-ninjutsu, while Shino was trying to speedrun building four years' worth of muscle memory when learning the basic combat taijutsu style Kurenai had found for him, was often far longer than they wanted to admit.
Kurenai, meanwhile, had taken Hinata aside that first day, and given her simultaneously the best and worst news of the month.
"You said you wished to improve your speed and genjutsu." She'd began, a secret smile on her face. "And while I could give you weights and tell you to run circles around the field, I feel like there are better ways to use our time. Speed doesn't have to be how fast you can run, after all."
When Hinata had simply stared, not quite understanding where Kurenai had been going with her point, her sensei had grinned, all sharp teeth and schadenfreude.
"I planned on waiting until you make chunin to teach you, but you're already capable of using it, so I feel somewhat less like I'm leading you to your death." Kurenai had hefted a bag of colourful toy balls, and from the ground next to her, another Kurenai had emerged. "We're going to get you so proficient in using the Shunshin that people won't be able to tell that it's the Shunshin. And we're going to make sure that you can break all the genjutsu I throw at you before I teach you how to properly weave your own, not the preprepared, cookie-cutter nonsense they pass as genjutsu in the library. What do you say, Hinata?"
And Hinata, feeling warm and cared for and excited, had nodded, smiling back hesitantly.
Now, three weeks since getting discharged from the hospital, she wouldn't say that she regretted agreeing to Kurenai's insane plan, but she ached in places she didn't know she could ache on a daily basis. Kurenai had to pretty much peel her off the grass by the end of the day, Hinata's chakra reserves almost empty and her head spinning more times than not, the feel of illusionary spiders crawling over her body a phantom memory she could not quite shake.
At the beginning of the fourth week, Kurenai had Hinata spar with Shino. Only Hinata couldn't fight back – she had to dodge out of the way using Shunshin, while Shino had to land as many hits on her as he could.
On the second day, about ten minutes into her spar with Shino, after having already spent an hour dodging Kurenai's senbon – because yes, the foam balls had only been there at the beginning to give them all a false sense of security, and Kurenai was actually evil – Hinata tiredly twisted her chakra not into the shape for a Shunshin, but a replacement.
The sound of Shino striking a branch instead of her shoulder was satisfying, but almost moreso was the fact that Kurenai didn't say anything.
And that was when Hinata realised that Kurenai had said she couldn't fight back with taijutsu.
Ninjutsu, however, was apparently fair game.
Just to test the waters, Hinata formed a water clone and sent her to Shino's blindspot, and when Shino moved to sweep her feet from under her, Hinata hopped up, only to have to replace herself with her clone when Shino suddenly burst up from his crouch, knife hand intent on her throat.
The strike took out her clone, but Shino didn't lose his momentum, merely redirecting it to where Hinata had replaced to, and she Shunshined out of the way and to his other side, dropping a water clone, then flash-stepping again, until she had a clone on three of the four cardinal directions and she stood on the last one.
Kurenai was rather conspicuously silent.
Hinata smiled.
Judging by Shino's tiny flinch, it was their sensei's smile that they had all unconsciously adapted over the last three weeks, the one with too many teeth and the promise of retribution.
Hinata blurred.
Afte that day, Hinata started coming to their training grounds even earlier than before and set to practicing the Academy Three.
She remembered a day after the War, after they were back in Konoha and people had grieved and buried their loved ones and recovered as much as they could, when Kakashi's upcoming appointment to Hokage was announced.
She had been one of the few who'd been in the Hokage Tower when Naruto and Sasuke had expressed their reaction to the news; Naruto in loud, mostly teasing complaining about Kakashi just being an 'old man in disguise' and clearly 'more interested in his porn than Hokage-ship' and how it should therefore go to him instead, and Sasuke in some quieter, albeit more serious and no less obvious doubts as to Kakashi's suitability for the position of Hokage.
Kakashi, in what Hinata had later found out from others was par the course for his apparently particular brand of 'pain in the ass', had offered a spar.
Him against Sasuke and Naruto. Ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu – all but Sage Mode and Rinnegan was fair game.
And then he proceeded to - using Kiba's words - whoop his old students' asses using the Academy Three and Chidori. The three jutsu every Academy graduate had access to, and a technique of his own creation.
Watching him fight like that, watching him humiliate Sasuke and Naruto with every hit they failed to land, Hinata had felt more awe at Kakashi's mastery of E-Rank techniques than Naruto and Sasuke casually throwing around A and S-Ranks.
Learning to fight using Shunshin, combining her Jyuuken with bursts of unexpected speed and the handful of elemental ninjutsu she'd learned, Hinata couldn't help but wonder whether she could learn to fight like that.
So, she trained.
About five weeks after their discharge from hospital and a month before the first stage of the Chunin Exams was set to begin, Kurenai stood before her genin with three of her friends behind her and three owed favours lighter.
"Shino, you get Ebisu." Kurenai gestured to Genma and Gai's teammate, getting introductions out of the way at the same time. "He's probably the most well-rounded shinobi I've ever encountered, and he was also on a genin team with Maito Gai, so his knowledge of taijutsu is beyond impressive by association alone."
Genma snorted from her other side while Ebisu preened, and Shino inclined his head at her description before bowing a shade deeper to his new trainer, and even though she couldn't see his eyes, she knew he was scheming how to best take advantage of his new sparring partner.
"Kiba, you've been making progress in your med-ninjutsu but I hope you haven't forgotten you're a tracker. Genma's also annoyingly well-rounded, but he was primarily a bodyguard, which means that he can-" as if on cue, Genma's scent, chakra, and any sound he was making disappeared, and Kiba gaped, "do, well, that. Your task is to track him and tag him with a tail before sundown."
Kurenai chucked Kiba the tail, a kid's toy she'd nabbed from her civilian cousin's house purely to see the look on Kiba's face at the fake fur and his task. But then he grinned slowly and eyed Genma consideringly, and Genma waved back cheerfully, easy-going till his last breath.
"And Hinata, for you I got Yugao. Yugao is the person I personally hate sparring with the most. She's a kenjutsu mistress, and she's fast, resourceful, disproportionally fond of sharp things, and was trained by Kakashi, so she's a bastard to fight." Kurenai introduced, and Hinata listened intently while Yugao snorted.
"I'm really feeling the love, Yuu." Yugao snarked, shooting Kurenai a fondly exasperated look.
"Nice to m-meet you, Yugao-san. I'll be in your care." Hinata greeted, bowing to the other kunoichi, before glancing at Kurenai. "Rules, sensei?"
And Kurenai grinned, feeling Hinata and Yugao shrink back a little, though Yugao likely moreso because she had run missions with Kurenai before and knew what that expression meant. Hinata and the boys had just realised that that was Kurenai's 'fuck about and find out' grin.
"Survive."
Sparring with Yugao was challenging.
Hinata didn't know how Kurenai got three tokubetsu jounin to volunteer their time to train her, Kiba, and Shino three times a week, but she found herself grateful. Yugao was everything Kurenai had introduced her as and more, and when the other kunoichi had learned that Hinata a) wasn't embarrased by losing, and b) was also somewhat proficient in elemental ninjutsu, the last of her hesitation had melted away and Hinata could tell that she stopped holding back.
Hinata had thrown her entire arsenal – considerably more varied than it had been when she'd died, but less developed in her Hyuuga techniques – at Yugao, multiple times a week for the last fortnight, but she had yet to win a single of their spars.
She'd come close when she'd first used her Shunshin in combination with her Jyuuken, but Yugao had merely whipped out her katana and demonstrated just how quickly she could swing that blade, and without a chakra shield around her limbs, Hinata would've gotten quartered if she hadn't retreated.
The constant sparring also helped with getting Hinata used to her body once again, and she was now even more flexible than she'd been the first time around, and far stronger and faster.
And then, a week and a half before the first stage of the Chunin Exams was set to begin – Exams in which Team 8 would not be participating, and Hinata couldn't help but feel relieved – something changed.
After a month of practicing the Academy Three to the point that she'd whittled them down to only one seal each, Hinata was sparring with Yugao, occasionally flaring her chakra to seallessly 'kai' and throw off one of Kurenai's hundreds of genjutsu, not even giving the illusion enough time to build before she shook it off.
She'd been pressing Yugao with her Jyuuken though she'd kept her Byakugan off, having memorised enough tenketsu locations not to need it in a spar, a kunai in one hand and chakra sharpening the fingers of her other. Then Yugao swung with her katana and Hinata Shunshined back, spitting a water bullet at the other kunoichi and pulling up a Water Clone when Yugao slashed at the bullet with her sword and the subsequent spray momentarily obscured her view of Hinata's hands.
Hinata launched the kunai she'd been holding into the air above Yugao and replaced with it, her clone catching the kunai and rushing Yugao while Hinata was already dropping, another knife in hand. But then Yugao's sword hit clone-Hinata's side and dispelled it, and Hinata knew Yugao realised the ruse. Instead of letting herself continue to fall, Hinata threw the kunai in her hand to the ground in Yugao's blindspot, replacing with it again, knees bent to absorb her momentum. She kicked out at Yugao's sword-hand, dislodging the katana from her grip, then turned sharply, her crouch putting her low enough to be well within Yugao's guard, and she surged up, Jyuuken in one hand, motion intent on Yugao's midsection-
-and then there was a searing pain in her right shoulder as Yugao startled, the tanto she'd frantically whipped out lodged firmly in Hinata's trapezius, her right arm still extended towards Yugao's central tenketsu.
There was a moment of silence as both of them froze, then a single drop of blood slid off Yugao's blade and hit the ground, and it seemed to be what they needed to break the spell.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Hinata!" Yugao apologised as she let go of the handle of her tanto as if burned, taking a step away from her and covering her mouth in horror.
Genma was suddenly next to them, as was Kurenai, and Genma's hands glowed green as they carefully assessed the area of her shoulder Yugao's tanto was still cutting into, and he frowned.
"Yeah, she needs the hospital. It's not life-threatening, but it cut a bit too much of the muscle for me to feel comfortable healing it here." He glanced at her briefly, face apologetic. "Sorry, kid."
Hinata shook her head, finally dropping her arm, and the pain that came with jostling the sword in her shoulder made her wince. "Don't worry, Genma-san. I-I'll go to the hospital."
"We'll take her!" Kiba called, appearing at her side and pulling Shino with him. "I need a break from Ebisu anyway, guy's a slavedriver. Let's go, Hinata, and you better not remove that sword!"
Hinata, despite the situation, felt a smile pull on her lips as she fell into step between Kiba and Shino, letting Kiba's chatter about 'how much of a dick Ebisu was to fight' and Shino's acerbic grouching of 'you've only had him for the day, I've had him a month, how do you think I feel' fill her hears. Neither boy complained that she wasn't really participating in the discussion, but when they got to the hospital, they both dutifully settled to wait with her in the waiting room of A&E, and Akamaru hopped down from Kiba's head to curl up in her lap, offering silent comfort as Hinata carded her fingers through his fur.
She may have been sent back through time, but in this moment, she was home.
Back in the clearing, Yugao eyed Kurenai guiltily.
"Sorry, Yuu. She startled me; I didn't expect her to do that." She apologised, eyes trained on the patch of dirt Hinata's blood had dripped on.
"To get in your guard, or to do it like Kakashi?" Genma asked, eyes on Kurenai even as his words were clearly intended for Yugao.
"…Both." Yugao admitted quietly, and Genma snorted, but Kurenai just patted Yugao on the shoulder.
"It's fine. Our resident medic and mother hen said she'll live, and I trust him." Kurenai assured, jabbing her thumb at Genma. "And Hinata's only become more of a pest to fight since she started sparring with you, so I'm not surprised she got one over you."
"I thought you were teaching her to fight like Uchiha Shisui." Ebisu joined the conversation, pushing up his glasses. "Not Hatake-san."
Kurenai shook her head, squeezing Yugao's shoulder a final time before letting go. "I didn't teach her that move."
She let her words hang, getting an eyebrow raise from Ebisu and a thoughtful hum from Yugao.
Hinata's fighting style, when broken down to its core elements, was almost laughably simple, and not at all chakra intensive, which was their goal. They were a tracking team, yes, but out of the four of them, Hinata was the designated combat specialist, though Kurenai didn't think the girl had realised it yet. Her Jyuuken, her aim, and her agility and reflexes were her strengths; speed, strength, and ninjutsu less so. Having her repeatedly fight the boys, as well as Yugao, who was taller, stronger, and with a greater reach, had already done her wonders in the two months since they'd gotten discharged. Supplementing her speed by focusing on Shunshin instead of traditional methods had probably comforted the part of Hinata that still believed she was a coward, if Kagane were to be believed.
The fact that Hinata had seen the style she was developing, and thought to add the Academy Three into it wasn't that surprising, if you knew Hinata like Kurenai knew the girl and not just as the Hyuuga heiress.
Kurenai's only wish was that she could be there to see the look on Kakashi's face if he ever sees Hinata fight and realises that her Hyuuga student, a genin who has never met him, at that, fights like him.
"Never thought I'd see a Hyuuga who chooses not to use Jyuuken." Genma mused, staring thoughtfully at Kurenai and snapping her out of her thoughts. "Or an Aburame who invests time and effort into taijutsu. Or an Inuzuka willing to sit down and slog through reading on medical ninjutsu, of all things." He eyed Kurenai up and down, smiling slyly. "Just what sort of monsters are you raising here, Yuu?"
Kurenai smiled, batting her eyelashes and tilting her head innocently at Genma who paled considerably at the sight, much to Kurenai and Yugao's amusement.
"You know where the next Chunin Exams are gonna be held, Gen?" She asked lightly, the question entirely rhetorical, then let her smile and voice drop when she answered. "Kumo."
Genma and Yugao stared at her for a few seconds, processing that, then-
"Fuck."
Team Eight's comforting routine of meet-do D-Ranks-spar-crash-repeat got broken three days before the start of the first stage of the Exams, almost two months after getting discharged from the hospital.
"We have a C-Rank." Kurenai announced when she came to pick them up, carrying a single scroll instead of the usual two or three. "Escort to Hidden Grass. Pack for two weeks."
Hinata exchanged glances with Kiba and Shino, eyes wide and anxiety clawing up her throat, which she saw reflected in the boys' eyes. But then she turned to Kurenai, who looked grim but confident, and she forced herself to take a deep breath and assess the situation more rationally.
Frankly, she was surprised they got almost two months in-Village, but the sheer volume of D-Ranks they got through in that time might've spoken to their favour. Or the fact that Kurenai had looked like she'd burn the whole Village down if anyone had tried to push them to do anything before they were ready, in those first few weeks.
Now, though, Kurenai didn't look worried. Calm and quietly expectant, yes, but not worried.
Hinata saw the moment that same realisation dawned on Kiba and Shino, and almost felt the anxiety wash off them. Releasing a sigh of relief, Hinata turned back to Kurenai and smiled encouragingly, at which Kurenai nodded.
"Meet at the gates in twenty minutes." Kurenai announced, and right before they all split off, she called out. "For the record?"
When they all turned around to face her, Kurenai smiled. "I have the utmost confidence in all of you."
Hinata blinked, and then, feeling as if she could walk on clouds, ran to the Hyuuga Compound. Despite the anxiety she was feeling not even five minutes ago, a part of her was almost excited to be getting out of the Village again. Not to mention that with Kurenai's words, all her lingering doubts and concerns were rather effectively forgotten.
(The fact that this mission would conveniently get her team out of the path of Gaara and Orochimaru was also a nice bonus, but she tried not to think about that.)