caged bird

by Lazydaily

Uploaded for TTS. Hinata back in time to the start of the series.

11. Chapter 11

Hinata wasn't sure how to react to Kakashi walking into the café her and Yugao were sitting in, though it seemed like Yugao didn't know how to react either, considering the way she was eyeing Kakashi suspiciously.

Seeing the man again, for the first time in this life, when the last memory of her previous life was dying to protect him wasn't actually as…impactful as Hinata had thought it would be.

Either her psyche had already moved on from the circumstances of her death, or her mind recognised that the man she was seeing now was practically a different person to her Rokudaime.

Either way, she was glad she didn't have to worry about trying to explain any potentially 'weird' reactions at the sight of the jounin she, for all intents and purposes, had no right to know personally right now.

"Yo." Kakashi greeted, coming to a stop by their table, and Hinata bit back a smile at the familiar expression and inclined her head in a wordless greeting.

"Kakashi-san," Yugao replied tensely, frowning at the man openly now, "hello."

"What happened to the girl who called me senpai, hm?" Kakashi asked lightly, rapping his knuckles against their table and tilting his head at Yugao, eye-smile in place.

Yugao drew back at the question, and Hinata watched regretfully as her senpai's walls went back up, whatever light and laughter she'd been able to draw into her face disappearing without a trace.

"She grew up." Yugao shot back sharply, balling the hand she still had on the table into a fist so tight her knuckles turned white. "Anything we can help you with, Kakashi-san?"

When Kakashi hummed neutrally, Hinata reached out and touched her index finger to Yugao's white knuckle and tapped it twice, prompting the kunoichi to relax her hand and shoot her a wry look.

"I'd actually like to speak with Hyuuga-chan, if you don't mind." Kakashi informed them after a beat, his tone not changing, as if he hadn't noticed Yugao's rude reply.

At the words, Hinata stilled, raising her gaze from Yugao's hand to Kakashi's face, certain that her expression reflected her surprise. She didn't expect to find Kakashi already looking back at her but luckily, Yugao up spoke before the silence grew too awkward, giving Hinata the time she needed to remember how words worked.

"What for?" Yugao demanded, turning her hand so Hinata's finger rested over her palm, and Hinata saw Kakashi's eye track the motion, an eyebrow rising at the contact.

"Internal matter." He brushed Yugao off, his tone light like he was talking about the weather. "Nothing dangerous or illegal. I'm not going to corrupt your little friend, Yugao-chan."

"Don't call me that," Yugao hissed, her hand spasming shut and crushing Hinata's finger. Yugao seemed to notice her wince of discomfort and released her grip, though her pinched expression didn't fade. "…please."

A silence fell between them, and Hinata sighed, having a suspicion as to the nature of the 'internal matter' Kakashi wanted to talk about and knowing that the man was unlikely to give up now that he'd gone through the trouble of seeking her out.

'it's okay, senpai' she signed to Yugao with her free hand, shooting what she hoped was a reassuring smile at the other kunoichi, 'i'll see you tomorrow?'

It had become habit for her to ask that since she'd gotten out of the hospital. Most people wouldn't think twice about the habit, because Yugao was an active kunoichi, so tomorrow was never guaranteed. But for Hinata, there was another reason: Yugao was also still grieving.

Though she was less volatile than she had been when she had appeared in Hinata's hospital room after the altercation with the Elders, Hinata could tell that Yugao's grief was still lurking just beneath her skin, waiting for the slightest trigger, the barest sign of weakness in her defences.

Grief was not a linear thing, as Hinata had learned from her own experience, and it manifested in different ways. If she'd had the opportunity to do so after Neji's death, she'd have liked to hide away from the world, to grieve in peace, to lick her wounds and cry her heart out in solitude, not be forced to continue fighting as if nothing had happened.

Though her own grief had been quiet, whereas Yugao's appeared as a vicious, violent, volatile thing, Hinata was intimately familiar with what hid beneath that anger.

Helplessness.

Neji had been killed by Madara and Obito, but Madara had been defeated and Obito had turned to their side and then died as well, so Hinata hadn't had anyone to direct her anger at. Not just because the two immediate causes for her cousin's death had died, but also because, despite being the literal trigger for the events of the War, some people still claimed Obito had been a hero at the end.

As if that erased all that he had done beforehand.

Yugao, she supposed, felt much the same. Her fiancé had been killed by unknowns even before the Invasion, but it was soon understood that they had been unknowns acting for Sand and Sound, which were now considered enemies of Konoha. Still, nobody cared to pursue the death of one man in the face of the death of the dozens that had been caused by the Invasion, and that left Yugao in a position Hinata understood intimately, though she could not explain how she understood.

(And Yugao was, if nothing else, incredibly devoted to her fiancé. And Hinata, selfishly, didn't want to see whether that devotion would result in her senpai following her fiancé in death.)

So she made herself a fixture in Yugao's routine since her release from the hospital. A single, tiny anchor that she prayed would nonetheless manage to withstand the storm of Yugao's grief.

At her question, Yugao sighed, some of that fight and anguish leaving her, and smiled wryly.

"I'll find you." She promised, a knowing, weighted look in her eyes, and Hinata didn't bother worrying whether her senpai had realised the reasoning behind her insistence to spend time together.

She wasn't ashamed of trying to offer whatever support she could, nor of nominating herself as Yugao's unofficial suicide-watch. She would much rather see the woman live long enough to heal and move on than throw herself mindlessly at danger, and if holding her to an appointment was the way to do it, then that was what she would do.

So she nodded and stood, shooting the woman one last, tiny smile, and waited for Kakashi to lead them out, which he did after one final look between her and Yugao.

She fell into step with Kakashi, though she kept herself a few inches behind, letting him lead the way. They walked in silence for some time, going from the busy main streets to the quieter side alleys, until the roads emptied to the point that only cats and the occasional merchant crossed their path.

"I wouldn't have thought Yugao would be good company right now." Kakashi mused after a good five minutes of silence, his hands in his pockets and his gaze on the road, though he glanced at Hinata from the corner of his eye. "How did you meet?"

Hinata stifled a sigh at the dig for information, though obligingly answered regardless. 'sensei assigned us trainers. senpai was mine.'

"I didn't realise dango doubled as training." Kakashi replied, and though his tone was light, it was also phrased in a way that Hinata had no doubt was intended as bait. But she just tilted her head, not in the mood to explain herself unless asked outright.

Kakashi eyed her briefly and Hinata had no idea what he was thinking, but eventually, he sighed and dropped the eye-smile, his posture slumping even more, as if weighed down. When he next spoke, it was quieter, more serious than he'd been in the café, and Hinata made herself pay attention.

"Yugao has many people looking out for her. You don't need to take her wellbeing onto yourself."

Her suspicion that Kakashi had realised what she'd been doing was confirmed, but Hinata could only smile at the warning, surprised at the genuine concern that lurked beneath the seemingly chastising words.

'it's not obligation. i enjoy spending time with her.' she signed, glancing over at Kakashi to make sure he saw the honesty in her gaze. Then, when he just hummed and continued walking, she couldn't resist adding, 'did you need anything, sir?'

Kakashi visibly twitched at the honorific she'd tacked on, and then the eye-smile was back and Hinata was biting back a sad sigh. The man really didn't need the cloth mask to hide his face, considering how reflexively he hid his emotions, she mused.

"Kurenai calls your team her 'kids'." Kakashi announced, a propos nothing, shrugging a shoulder absently when Hinata frowned. "Figured I should make a point to meet my nieces and nephews."

When Hinata just blinked, not sure how to respond to that, nor to the implication that Kakashi was apparently close enough friends with Kurenai to consider her a sister, he turned to face her fully, expression serious once more.

"Especially if they're going to make the habit of hanging out with strange men who demand their time without so much as a question as to their identity, destination, or motives." He held Hinata's gaze, and she found herself momentarily frozen in place, her foot freezing inches above the ground between one step and the next. "You shouldn't be so trusting, Hyuuga-chan."

And then Kakashi turned away, and Hinata felt like she could breathe again, so she shook herself off and hurried forward to catch up, making sure Kakashi could see her hands when she signed a reply: 'i know who you are. and senpai and sensei trust you.'

Kakashi huffed at that, raising an eyebrow at her. "Do you not care where we go, then? Or what I want?"

Hinata found herself shrugging uncomfortably, not sure how to reply to that. 'the Village is my home.' she signed slowly, hoping it explained why she wasn't worried about their destination, then glanced at Kakashi consideringly, feeling a half-smile curl her lips, 'and if you wish to tell me, then you will.'

Kakashi actually laughed at that, short and quiet and rough-sounding, but it was still a genuine laugh. "You really have been living with the Nara, hm?" he asked rhetorically, throwing Hinata off briefly, and she floundered, not sure how to reply.

But, before she really needed to, Kakashi sighed and there was suddenly a hand on her shoulder, whisking her away in a Shunshin before Hinata had the chance to react. As soon as her feet touched the ground once more, there was a senbon in her hand, but the hand had already let go of her shoulder and as Hinata whirled around, her mind registered that the hand had been Kakashi's and she hesitated, torn between following through on the reflexive defensive action and recognising that the moment to do so had passed.

Kakashi just studied her quietly, then flickered through some signs of his own: 'Say hello?'

And as Hinata frowned, not following, there was a crunch of leaves to her left and then-

"Hinata?"

The decision to cover the distance between her and Kurenai in a Shunshin and wrap her arms around her sensei in a hug was less a conscious decision and more the work of instinct. To Kurenai's credit, her sensei barely tensed before returning the embrace, wrapping her own arms around Hinata's shoulders and squeezing her to her body, a relieved sigh escaping her.

When Hinata pulled away from the hug, she belatedly realised that Kurenai wasn't alone.

Uchiha Sasuke stood next to her sensei, a few paces behind and to the left, his eyes wider than usual as he glanced between Hinata, Kurenai and Kakashi, though when he noticed Hinata looking, he smoothed his expression, offering her a single nod of greeting, which Hinata returned.

She wanted to ask what he was doing with Kurenai of all people, but then again, she had just appeared out of nowhere with Kakashi, so perhaps it would be better to leave the curiosity be.

"We're having genjutsu lessons." Kurenai announced, apparently reading the silent question in Hinata's eyes. "This training ground was marked as free to use, so that's why I brought Sasuke here."

"You weren't the only one to do that." Kakashi replied suddenly, and, as if on cue, Genma emerged from the treeline, Sakura, Ino, and Kiba on his heels.

Kiba barrelled forward, wrapping his arms around Hinata and trying to spin her around, startling a laugh out of her, then he released her and sidled over to Kurenai, curling into her side for a half-hug before he went back to Genma's side.

Hinata and Kiba's exuberant greeting of their sensei threw into stark contrast the fact that neither Sasuke nor Sakura had done any more than nod at Kakashi upon spotting him.

"Alright, assorted genin," Kurenai addressed the newcomers, drawing Ino and Sakura's eyes. "If you want a crash-course in genjutsu-breaking, now is the time."

Being more than familiar on what Kurenai considered a 'crash-course', Hinata stayed away from the group that gathered in front of her sensei, keeping closer to Kakashi and Genma, Kiba following her.

"Not a fan of genjutsu?" Kakashi asked idly, drawing a snort from Kiba.

"Nah." Her teammate replied, grinning as he stretched his arms over his head, "Not a fan of sensei's methods of teaching it." And, as if on cue, Kurenai caught Sakura, Sasuke, and Ino in a multi-layered illusion, not even needing hand-signs for the technique. "Though, I could probably do with a refresher."

And he ambled away, leaving Hinata alone with Kakashi once more. But, before either of them could acknowledge the situation, Hinata sensed movement, and she was moving before her brain could fully process it or remember that there were literally three other jounin around her. Just then, logic was eclipsed by her senses, and they were screaming danger.

Kakashi wasn't the only one to startle inwardly at Gai's sudden appearance. But, through years of familiarity with the man's ability to sneak up even on him, he had also forgotten, over years of hiding behind the ANBU mask and effecting the easy-going laziness, that some shinobi's startle instinct manifested outwardly.

The little Hyuuga was twisting with a speed he hadn't thought her capable of, metal glinting at her fingertips, and the expression on her face wasn't that of a child jumping at a loud noise but a soldier preparing to eliminate a threat.

Fortunately, Gai had been trained by Kakashi's own startle reflex when they'd been younger and also had over two decades' experience with people coming at him with sharp things. He caught the girl's wrist in a tight grip and sidestepped her momentum, effectively nullifying the danger of her sudden reaction.

"Quick reflexes!" He praised, unsurprisingly reacting to a genin trying to maim him with his regular good humour. "I have a feeling you would get along with my own kunoichi student!"

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to gouge my friends' eyes out, kiddo." Genma rebuked idly, suddenly at Gai's side and plucking the senbon neatly from the Hyuuga's frozen fingers. "I'm kinda fond of this one."

'sorry' the girl signed with the hand Gai wasn't holding, glancing between Gai and Genma anxiously, her face having grown even paler than before, 'startled'.

"No harm done." Genma waved her off, sticking the senbon he'd plucked from her between his teeth and prompting Gai to release her wrist with a blinding smile and a thumbs-up. "Wanna go help Kurenai bury your old classmates in genjutsu?"

The little Hyuuga offered a hesitant smile and nodded, inclining her head more deeply to Gai with a hastily-signed 'my apologies' at which Genma huffed. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, squeezing briefly before he let go and rested his hand on the crown of her head, bending down so they were at eye level.

"Gai's not the type to hold a grudge, are you, Gai?" he explained, addressing Gai despite his eyes never leaving the girl's, and getting a vigorous headshake from the taijutsu user in response.

"Tenten has nearly stabbed me many a time!" Gai grinned, as if letting his genin almost hit him was a point of pride. "As my friend said earlier, no harm done, Hyuuga-chan!"

This time, the girl's smile was a little surer, and then she was gone, Genma's hand falling to his side when there was suddenly no genin head for it to rest on.

Then, Genma's gaze flickered to the side and caught Kakashi's, and Genma was suddenly next to him, pulling Gai along with him.

"That was an example of positive physical contact." Genma pointed out idly, senbon clicking against his teeth. "It's something kids need to grow up well."

Resisting the urge to leave a Shadow Clone in his place and ditch the oncoming social interaction, Kakashi hummed absently.

"I'm not exactly a cuddly teddy-bear." he replied, watching absently as the assorted genin slogged through the illusions that had been thrown at them.

"And I'm a walking bioweapon." Genma shot back, rolling his eyes. "But I can give out a hug or two if a kid needs it."

"Good for you." Kakashi retorted dryly, surprised to find that Sakura was the first to blink back to lucidity, having succeeded at breaking through Kurenai's genjutsu.

"Your kids are literally touch-starved, Kakashi." Genma snapped, losing some of his signature affability at Kakashi's nonresponse. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, glancing at Genma briefly then back to Sakura, a retort on the tip of his tongue, but Genma cut him off. "Yes, Sakura too, before you ask."

When he properly turned to Genma, hoping his face conveyed his scepticism, Genma scowled. "Don't look so surprised. Hidden Village civilians may be more chill than the entirely civilian populations, but they don't really deal well with living under the same roof as trained assassins. Even if those assassins happen to be their children."

Kakashi let the words wash over him, watching as Sasuke broke through the last layer of whatever Kurenai had put them under, almost a full minute after Sakura.

"I want them to fight." he found himself saying almost unconsciously, watching as Kurenai translated whatever pointers the Hyuuga was offering Sasuke.

"Hinata-chan and the Uchiha?" Genma clarified, his feathers still a little ruffled if the bad-tempered huff he let out at Kakashi's change of subject was any indication. "Why?"

"Call it a whim." Kakashi shrugged, not sure he was able to put his own jumbled thoughts into any sort of sensible order much less vocalise them, but he knew the desire was genuine.

"Well, go ask then." Genma waved him off, and Kakashi levelled him with a bland look then let the whirl of Shunshin take him, covering the distance between him and his students in under three seconds.

However, when he presented his idea to his resident sourpuss and the Hyuuga revolutionary, he was presented with two blank faces, though Sasuke's soon morphed into a grimace.

"I don't want to fight her." he replied, throwing Kakashi off somewhat. "I'd rather learn about genjutsu." He elaborated, gesturing at Kurenai, and Kakashi watched with no small degree of bafflement as Sakura paused where she was explaining the technical intricacies of genjutsu-breaking to Ino and came to stand at Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke glanced at her briefly, wordless communication passing between Kakashi's two students, and if he was surprised at the fact that there was not a single trace of Sakura's once-crush in her eyes as she gazed at the Uchiha, it was nothing compared to his surprise at what Sasuke did next.

Levelling Kakashi with a raised eyebrow and a challenge in his eyes, Sasuke asked: "Unless it's an order?"

And Kakashi had nothing to say to that.

"You can fight her yourself." Kurenai interrupted the stare-down, not leaving her post next to Kiba, though she shot Kakashi a reassuring half-smile which eased a knot of tension in his shoulders he hadn't even realised was there. He knew he was still going to get interrogated about what he'd been doing with her precious student the moment Kurenai could get him alone, but for now, Kurenai's empathetic nature was winning over her potential annoyance at him. "Hinata could do with a challenge."

The little Hyuuga made a quiet noise at that, not quite a disagreement nor alarm, and Kurenai sighed, before she shot her a fondly exasperated look and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, squeezing lightly. "There are three other jounin here who can and will step in if needed, but I want you to know that I have full confidence in you."

Kakashi knew it wasn't intended as an indirect accusation at him for his inability to keep a spar genin-level without being an asshole about it, but the comment stung nonetheless. Still, it seemed to be what the Hyuuga needed to hear because she nodded and seemed to relax, then turned to Kakashi expectantly.

Kakashi turned on his heel and headed off to the centre of the clearing, creating distance between himself and the collection of fragile genin. He came to a stop once he reached the middle and turned around, the Hyuuga stopping a good ten feet from him, then gestured grandly.

"Ladies first."

And Kakashi settled in to wait, watching the Hyuuga take a few deep breaths. Her muscles were loose, a clear contrast to the tension that had gripped them when Kurenai had proposed she spar with Kakashi. Her posture was surprisingly relaxed despite the apprehension he could still see in her gaze, though he was absently surprised to note her eyes were still free of the Byakugan-

-Kakashi found himself stepping back, his reflexes screaming at him to move, and he missed the kunai swiping at his abdomen by a scant few inches, the genin suddenly right in his space. He thwacked the spine of his book hard against her wrist, making the girl to release the kunai she'd tried to disembowel him with, but she just caught it with her other hand and threw it away, not even trying to press her advantage.

Instead, when Kakashi kicked out with his foot, aiming for her centre of balance, she flashed away, appearing a few metres to his left. Interestingly enough, Kakashi did not see her use hand-seals for the movement, so either she was Lee-level fast, or she'd gotten Shunshin down to Shisui levels of-

His thought process was cut off as the girl sprang back at him, and he had to twist out of the way of a two-fingered Jyuuken coming for his chakra core. Still, Kakashi wasn't expecting the small water bullet that the girl spat at his hip from point-blank range and, more importantly, with no hand-signs.

Lashing out with his chakra, he latched onto a nearby broken branch and substituted, watching from the treeline as the water bullet drilled a fist-sized hole into the wood. He'd have been disabled on the spot if he'd let that hit him.

Hmm.

Then, no sooner did he manage to catch his balance on the branch he ended up on, he was substituting again, neatly avoiding the three blue-tinged senbon that came flying at his new location, but when he chanced a glance at the girl, her Byakugan was off.

Either she hadn't needed it to locate him, or she was turning it on and off as and when she needed it. The first was an interesting thought and raised the question of 'how?', while the latter was closer to the paranoid side of chakra conservation tactics.

Alright. Maybe it was time to fight back.

Switching location again at the same time as he called up a Shadow Clone and sent it underground, Kakashi blew a medium-sized Fireball at the Hyuuga, curious to see what she'd do. There was a subtle sense of wrongness niggling at his senses and he flared his chakra, but it wasn't a genjutsu, so he pushed it to the back of his mind and concentrated on the fight.

Again, the girl used that same high-speed displacement, which he was starting to suspect was, in fact, a sealless Shunshin instead of the Lee-level speed he'd initially thought. The more analytical part of his brain was telling him that the girl wasn't bending her knees nearly enough to produce the level of spring needed for the speed she was exhibiting.

Morbidly curious to see what she would do when the ground she was keeping to stopped being 'safe', Kakashi cheerfully commanded his clone to send a few earth spikes to the Hyuuga's new location.

Another few flashes, one, two, three, her temples bulging with the veins of Byakugan, and then the girl was on the opposite side of the field to the tree he was hiding out in, having managed to avoid getting skewered by his clone's earth spikes. He watched as she flashed again, closer to him but with seemingly no intent to come to him, then whipped around and struck out at the air in front of her with a palm hand.

Kakashi had a split second to feel somewhat baffled at the move, then he was hastily reaching for another branch as the tree he'd been hiding in exploded under his feet, blown to pieces by whatever technique the girl had used.

In the little genin's mind, coming at him with lethal force was apparently fair game.

Interesting.

Still in the tree, he watched as she switched the Byakugan off and faced him again. Kakashi threw a Wind technique at her this time, ignoring the protest his coils gave at the usage of a technique so opposed to his chakra nature. Wind would never be his best element, but even a C-Rank elemental jutsu should be enough to trouble a genin, especially since wind would be harder to dodge or outrun than fire and earth.

But the little Hyuuga simply reactivated her dojutsu and flashed outside of the technique's range, accidentally ending up much nearer to the location of Kakashi's clone that was still underground. It was the work of a second to direct his clone to use the headhunter technique and grab the Hyuuga's ankle, much like he'd grabbed Sasuke's during Team Seven's bell test, deciding that he'd tested her enough.

He left his tree and flashed to the girl's blind spot, but instead of his clone dragging the Hyuuga underground, Kakashi himself was suddenly forced to jump away when the ground shook with an explosion. He felt his clone dispel, getting a split-second memory of the girl's ankle turning into a kunai with an activated explosive tag around it, the weird sense of wrongness returning along with the whiplash of the double-memory and the explosion, and the overload of sensation took a moment to shake off.

(how did Naruto spam clones in every fight without getting overwhelmed?)

And then Kakashi was whipping up a kunai of his own, slashing down at the hand that came straight for his chakra core and would've probably meant an end for his career as a shinobi if it had connected. He felt a flicker of guilt when he managed to draw blood, his blade cutting across the meat of the girl's palm, but the Hyuuga barely seemed to react, seemingly determined to press the opportunity of having managed to get into his guard, jabbing her other hand at Kakashi's elbow.

Kakashi felt a spasm go down his arm, from the place the girl had hit to the very tips of his fingers, and the shock of it made him drop his book and lash out with an instinctive kick, managing to clip the girl's side before she flashed away again.

Opening his mouth to call the spar, Kakashi instead ended up relying on wind again, elongating his fingers with wind-edged claws to cut apart the smaller water bullets that the girl shot at him, half a dozen now instead of the earlier one. In the water spray that followed, he didn't see the chakra-sharpened senbon the girl threw until one dug deep into the meat of thigh, too close to his groin for comfort.

He'd let a genin hit him.

Alright, that's enough.

The worst thing, Kakashi mused as he pushed the irritating sense of wrongness to the back of his mind and prepared to end the spar, was how methodically the girl was fighting.

He covered the distance between them as he thought, moving faster than he'd been moving during the spar, clearly startling the Hyuuga, and her reactive step back was second too slow to actually prevent him from getting within striking distance.

She wasn't using killing intent. She didn't radiate blind arrogance like Naruto had during Team Seven's bell test, wasn't glaring at him with the desperate need to prove herself against a jounin like Sasuke had and wasn't shaking like a leaf and trying to pretend that a single kunai would be enough to hold him off like Sakura had.

She wasn't even looking at him like he was an enemy. Just... an obstacle to overcome. A chore.

And yet, had Kakashi been a chunin, she might have sent him to the hospital, each of her close-range attacks deceptively dangerous.

He suddenly remembered Kurenai telling him that her kunoichi student had killed four Iwa chunin on Team Eight's first cursed C-Rank and barely batted an eye afterwards. He could see it, he reckoned, meeting focused lilac eyes with his own bullshit eye-smile and taking in the frown between the girl's brows and the flat line of her mouth.

He struck out, batting away the hand she instinctively raised to take advantage of his sudden proximity, catching her wrist and twisting it, using her forward momentum to wrench her arm behind her, pinning her wrist to the small of her back. He huffed a quiet laugh when she reacted to the restraint with a blind backwards kick and shifted out of the way so her heel barely clipped his thigh instead of smashing his kneecap like she so clearly intended for it to. He expected for her to recognise the end of the spar and subside, so he didn't react in time to her redirecting her motion and stomping her foot on his open toes. He bit back a curse and threw gentleness out of the window, reaching roughly for the girl's other arm and wrenching it to join her other captive wrist, hoping such a thorough restraint would serve to reinforce the message that she'd lost and it was time to relax.

And then he did curse when the fingertips of the Hyuuga's right hand suddenly started sparkling with lightning.

Acting on instinct and absently hoping Kurenai wasn't watching, Kakashi kicked out at the back of the girl's knees, making her legs fold and forcing her to the ground; as she was falling, he caught a wrist in each hand and twisted her arms more properly behind her, probably more forcefully than strictly necessary and rested his foot between her shoulder blades, preventing any sort of further motion.

Then, almost as an afterthought, he channelled chakra to the girl's right wrist and disrupted her concentration enough for the fledgling Lightning jutsu to fizzle out.

"I'm a Hatake." he found himself saying quietly, barely loud enough to be heard over her panting breaths, the admission not stinging as much as it once would have. "You picked the wrong element."

She nodded in acknowledgement of his words, though even as she was nodding, he felt her test the strength of the restraint he had her in and almost laughed again.

"Forfeit." he advised instead, pulling on her arms a little to reinforce his point.

There was a moment's pause, almost like she was considering the order, but then she sighed and sagged in his hold, all the fight leaving her, and she nodded again.

Kakashi took his foot off her back and released her wrists one at a time, letting her catch herself instead of face-planting into the dirt. He held out a hand to help her up, reasoning that he might've been rougher than necessary in that last bout, but the girl shook her head and got up by herself, inclining her head to him once she was steady on her feet.

'thank you' she signed, bowing properly, and before Kakashi could reply, she was reaching up, wiping her forehead tiredly, and he only just realised that she was practically dripping with sweat, her hands shaking with what he reckoned was leftover adrenaline.

Unfortunately for her, her move to wipe her face resulted in her pushing her fringe up, enough so as for her forehead to become visible, and Kakashi felt the moment Kurenai's chakra roared when the motion revealed the pale green seal on the girl's skin.

The girl must've felt it too, because there was a moment's panic on her face, then she was gone, suddenly by Kurenai and Genma's side, a hand wrapped around each of the adults' wrists and seemingly keeping them in place.

Kakashi chanced a glance at the assorted genin, but it seemed that Gai had had the foresight to step in, keeping prying preteen eyes away from a Village secret and Kurenai losing her cool.

Deciding that it would probably be beneficial to his friends' continued wellbeing to calm down enough to hear the Hyuuga out, Kakashi flash-stepped over, stopping a few feet away from Kurenai, but keeping her, Genma, and the kid in his line of vision.

From this close, it was much easier to see the way Kurenai was shaking with anger, a look of horror mixed with fury on her face, her rage seemingly making her forget that she could just kawarimi out of her student's grip.

"-my choice!" the girl said hoarsely, her voice barely louder than Kakashi's speaking voice and decidedly not the shout she'd probably intended for it to be. Kakashi had no doubt that it was physically hurting her to speak after so long in silence, but he reckoned that if anything was able to break through whatever trauma had prompted her mutism, Kurenai starting a feud with the Hyuuga Clan over something that they hopefully didn't know yet was high on the list. "It was my choice!"

Kurenai stopped fighting against the grip the girl had on her wrist though it seemed the Hyuuga knew better than to relax, keeping her fingers clenched tight around Genma and Kurenai's arms and, if Kakashi's hunch was right, using chakra to stick her feet to the ground.

Still, he didn't expect the almost desperate look the girl shot him over Kurenai's shoulder, so at odds to the calm warrior she'd looked like when fighting him not minutes previous, and Kakashi was speaking up before the decision even fully registered.

"It's true." he said, stepping closer and drawing both Genma and Kurenai's eyes. "She asked Jiraiya to seal her."

"And how do you know that?" Genma demanded sharply, and Kakashi was surprised at the depth of concern in the brunet's eyes.

"I spoke with Shikaku." Kakashi replied, noticing the way the girl's shoulders tensed briefly, and Shikaku's assertion that she'd kept him out of the loop intentionally was suddenly more than just conjecture.

"That's why you wanted the meeting with Jiraiya." Kurenai breathed, staring at the girl as if hoping she'd deny it. "I thought you were just curious. Or wanted to pick up another skill. If I'd known, I wouldn't have-"

Kurenai cut herself off, but Kakashi had an inkling that they all knew what she was going to say; 'I wouldn't have organised it'.

"I-" the Hyuuga started, but her voice cracked and she winced, hand releasing Kurenai's wrist and flying instinctively to her throat, and Kakashi has the fleeting thought that she was going to heal herself. But she just grabbed onto her throat for a second and swallowed, then dropped her hand and signed 'i'm sorry.'

"You're not." Kurenai sighed, and Kakashi wondered how she could tell. Still, she didn't look as angry as she had before the girl revealed that it had been her decision. Instead, now she just tired and resigned, and when she looked at Hinata, there was a rarely seen helplessness in her eyes. "Just- give me a reason?"

'Kumo' the Hyuuga signed immediately, and Kurenai's eyes widened before she hung her head and went to pinch the bridge of her nose. But, before she completed the motion, she must've caught the same thing Kakashi did – the Hyuuga's fingers twitched again, as if wanting to add something. Kurenai pinned the girl with an expectant glare until she finished the thought, though not without hesitating between the signs. 'and- public domain.'

Kurenai didn't seem to understand the addition, but judging by his face, Genma did, because he paled and twitched.

"The scroll I gave you-" he began, and the Hyuuga nodded, quirking an almost sad smile at the man.

Kurenai switched the focus of her glare to Genma, and the brunet sighed, though clearly saw the wordless order to elaborate.

"If a seal is planted on an individual and they are within the means to, they can commission a sealmaster to remove it, after which, it becomes public domain." He waited until the light of comprehension dawned in Kurenai's eyes, then added, "Which is why Anko has been able to commission Jiraiya now that he's back, but Yamato can't get his-!"

Genma caught himself, clearly catching the warning glare Kakashi shot him, and he quickly switched tracks, turning to briefly frown at the Hyuuga before he addressed Kurenai again. "I'm guessing she put the seal on herself because of the whole torture element, and what could've happened if a Branch House member had tried the same trick and someone had found out. That right?"

He addressed the last question to the girl, and she nodded, finally releasing Genma's wrist, looking relieved.

"I still don't like it." Kurenai declared, still frowning at the girl as Genma stepped forward with his hand glowing green, probably to heal her throat.

Despite her tone, Kakashi could see that – no matter how grudgingly – Kurenai recognised the logic in her student's actions.

Still, she wouldn't have been Kurenai if she had just given in like that.

"Next time you plan to pull a stunt like that, I want you to tell me beforehand." She ordered, and Kakashi fought the urge to snort at the idea that she expected there to be a next time. "I don't care about plausible deniability or whatever reasoning you had to not tell me immediately. Your Father already knows what I think of him, and I'm not scared of your Clan, Hinata."

The girl nodded and opened her mouth to speak once Genma's hand fell away from her throat, but Genma's sound of alarm cut her off and Kakashi's gaze snapped to whatever had caught the tokujo's attention.

The part of his forearm that the Hyuuga had held onto to keep him from running off and starting a riot now bore a bloodied handprint, and Kakashi winced at the distant memory of his knife cutting into the flesh of the girl's palm.

"What the hell did you do, Kakashi?" Genma demanded, snatching up the Hyuuga's hand and turning it over, revealing a surprisingly deep, still sluggishly-bleeding gash that stretched across her palm, all the way from the webbed skin between her thumb and index finger to the crease of her wrist.

"I-it's not his fault, Genma-san." The Hyuuga denied before Kakashi could think of a reply that wasn't callous or petty, and he did a slight doubletake at the girl coming to his defence.

"Was it his knife? Then it's his fault." Genma shot back pragmatically, calling up healing chakra with a concentrated frown and setting to closing the cut on the girl's hand. "He could've cut a nerve, and then we'd have been due a hospital visit."

"To be fair," Kakashi began, because his foot was starting to throb unpleasantly, not enough to hurt, but enough to be irritating, "I think she broke my toe."

He went to take a step to allow Genma to inspect said foot, but when he put weight on his left leg, it buckled under him. He just about caught himself on Kurenai's shoulder and stared first at his foot, then at the Hyuuga girl in not-insignificant bafflement.

"And doused you with one of Kiba's needles, it looks like." Genma added, laughter in his voice, and he let go of the Hyuuga's hand in favour of stepping over to Kakashi's side and plucking the senbon he'd managed to forget about from his thigh. "How did you not notice this?"

"I thought only one of Rei's kids was poisonous." Kakashi shot back flatly, drawing a snort from Kurenai.

"Hinata." She spoke, addressing the Hyuuga who, despite Kakashi's acknowledgement that she'd gotten one over him – him, a jounin, with multiple flee-on-sight orders – didn't seem inclined to gloat. Or speak at all, for that matter, even after having had her throat healed. "Kiba was talking about it earlier; dinner's at the Inuzuka Compound tomorrow."

The Hyuuga sighed, apparently seeing where Kurenai was heading, but Kurenai continued nonetheless, as if needing to drive the message home. "I think it's about time you talked with Shino, don't you?"

There was a flash of- fear, Kakashi was pretty sure, or at the very least, very apparent apprehension – at the notion, the girl's shoulders going up before she seemed to forcefully relax and took a deep breath, the tension leaving her along with the exhale. "Yes, sensei."

"Six, tomorrow. Then the day after, we're resuming proper team training." Kurenai added, softening slightly at the girl's acknowledgement. She reached out, smoothing the Hyuuga's fringe back down and tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, the gesture shockingly-

-Kakashi wasn't sure of the adjective. Familial? Maternal? Either way, it's not like he would know what that looked like.

'Shockingly tender for a field commander', he finished mentally, but then again, Kurenai had always been tactile.

Still, the Hyuuga smiled and inclined her head, then turned to Kakashi, the smile dimming slightly.

"The senbon was tipped with lidocaine. The effects should fade in a few minutes." She informed him quietly, gaze darting away briefly before she forced herself to meet his eye. "I apologise for not informing you earlier. I…didn't expect it to hit you."

And yet she had still thrown it, used a probably limited-supply weapon if it had indeed been a gift from her poison-practicing Inuzuka teammate. Had committed to and orchestrated a distraction in the form of the Water jutsu to hide an already difficult to spot weapon just on the off chance that it might connect.

'Extremely dedicated to the long game' Shikaku had called her.

Kakashi was starting to see that.

"Maa, no harm done." He drawled, borrowing Genma's expression from earlier in the day. Then, he did a double-take when the girl faced him fully and inclined her head.

"May I be dismissed, Hatake-san? I'd like to pick up my sister from the Academy." She requested formally, causing Genma and Kurenai to pause in their quiet conversation and shoot her slightly baffled looks, but Kakashi-

-Kakashi had pulled the same shit on Minato, once upon a time, then on Jiraiya, then on his ANBU Captains; demure, obedient, deferential, all the while screaming underestimate me. Go on. See how it ends for you.

His first red flag had gone up when Shikaku had detailed a political power-play and informed him that it had been pulled off by a fresh genin.

His second had been finding the girl with Yugao of all people, grief-stricken and jagged around the edges as the kunoichi now was, yet his old subordinate still looking like she not just tolerated but enjoyed the Hyuuga's presence.

His third was caused by the fact that his toe was still throbbing and he was only slowly regaining the feeling in his thigh.

Underestimating this particular genin was one of the last things on his mind.

Fuck, but he was going to have to do what Shikaku asked of him, wasn't he?

"You may go, genin." He replied, belatedly realising that the girl was still waiting for him to dismiss her. No sooner were the words out of his mouth did the girl disappear, not a leaf or a gust of wind to betray her.

Still somewhat baffled, he turned slowly to Genma and Kurenai, wondering how to word his thought process in a way that wasn't going to get Kurenai jumping for his throat.

"Now, are you this thrown by the fact that Hinata-chan actually hit you," Genma began, glee and schadenfreude brewing behind his eyes, and even Kurenai looked vindictively satisfied, though Kakashi didn't know why, "or because she fights like you?"

Kakashi stilled.

Finally, that subtle, nagging sense of wrongness that he'd felt throughout the fight had a name.

The Shunshin, the seal-less, wordless casting, the penchant for kawarimi, the contained, stifled, yet nonetheless present viciousness, the insane choice to use lethal force in a spar-

But-

"-how the fuck-?"

Hanabi made her way out of the Academy, chatting absently with Hitomi about Midorima-sensei's latest assignment, when her eyes fell on an unexpected sight.

She blinked, raising a hand to rub at her eye, but when she looked again, Hinata-nee was still there, a small smile on her face as she raised a hand in a tiny wave when she caught Hanabi's eye.

Hanabi felt a grin split her face, completely ignoring what Hitomi was saying, and threw herself ahead.

"Nee-sama!" She called gleefully, not slowing her run even as she got closer and barrelling into Hinata, wrapping her arms around her sister's shoulders. To her surprise, Hinata barely stumbled at the impact, catching Hanabi around the waist and lifting her off the ground in a hug and spinning them around.

"Hello, Hanabi-chan." Hinata greeted quietly once she set Hanabi back down, and there was a soft smile on her face and warmth in her eyes as she gazed down at Hanabi, but, more importantly-

"You can speak again!" Hanabi exclaimed, grabbing onto Hinata's hand in her excitement, drawing a quiet laugh from her sister. "Now I won't have to learn the sign language!"

"You still will, when you make chunin." Hinata pointed out, and Hanabi puffed up with pride because Hinata had said 'when' not 'if'. "But for now, I suppose you're off the hook."

Hanabi pumped her fist in victory, then felt her smile dim slightly. "Do we- do we have to go back to the Compound right away?"

Hinata's face shuttered briefly, something cold passing through her eyes, and the expression sent shivers down Hanabi's spine. But then her sister was back, smiling that same soft smile as she shook her head.

"We can do whatever you want, imouto." Hinata replied, pulling on the hand Hanabi was still holding, but instead of pulling away, Hinata instead shifted her hold so they were properly holding hands. "Where would you like to go?"

"Dango!" Hanabi cheered immediately, but whatever she was going to say next was cut off by another voice.

"I don't think I've ever seen you this enthusiastic, Hanabi-chan." Hitomi observed, having finally caught up, a tall brunet man at her side. "Nice to properly meet you, Hyuuga-san."

"Likewise." Hinata added slowly, gaze flickering between Hitomi and the adult at her side. "Your friend, Hanabi-chan?"

"Yeah, Yamanaka Hitomi." Hanabi introduced, then squinted at the man next to her friend. "And Hitomi's…parent?"

"Brother, actually." The man grinned, "Yamanaka Tetsuya. Nice to officially meet the honorary Nara."

"Nee-sama's a Hyuuga." Hanabi corrected reflexively, frowning at Hitomi's brother. That was a weird thing to say, and the man had made Hinata lose her smile, so Hanabi was double-miffed.

"For now." Weird-Tetsuya-san replied cryptically, putting a hand on Hitomi's shoulder and pushing her along lightly. He raised the same hand in a lazy wave, his green eyes weirdly cat-like if not for the lack of pupil. "Well, catch ya later."

From where she was still holding her hand, Hanabi felt the way Hinata twitched at the farewell. She sent her sister a concerned look, but Hinata's gaze was focused, bizarrely, on Hitomi's annoying-brother's feet, a look of dawning realisation on her face.

"Nee-sama?" She prompted when the look didn't fade even once Hitomi and her brother disappeared from sight, and Hinata startled, glancing down at her with wide eyes as if she'd forgotten Hanabi was there.

"I- sorry. Dango, yes?" she apologised distractedly, though slowly, her focus returned, and her smile, when she directed it at Hanabi, was warm and genuine.

Testing her luck, Hanabi tilted her head and pulled her best puppy-eyes, though according to Hitomi, she still had a way to go. "Can we spar after?"

Hinata huffed a quiet, tired laugh, but she nodded obligingly, letting Hanabi pull her along. "We can. It's been a while."

Almost giddy with happiness, Hanabi grinned, tugging Hinata along to her (their) favourite dango restaurant.

(Though she'd never admit it out loud, Hanabi thought the dango shop by the Academy did better dango than the one she was leading them to, but their favourite had something the closer one didn't.

It was on the other side of the Village to the Hyuuga Compound.)

Hinata walked Hanabi to the gates of the Hyuuga Compound, then headed back towards the Nara grounds, deciding to give herself one more evening of peace. She'd have dinner with her team as an escape tomorrow, so she could leave in the morning, drop her things off in her room at the Hyuuga Compound, then go to train, and hopefully, she'd come back from dinner late enough that she'd miss the Elders' lecture that she knew was coming.

She had dinner with the Nara, played a game of Go with Shikamaru, and had a good night's sleep. Then, in the morning, she packed up her things and set about cleaning the guest room that had become her room over the month and a half that she'd stayed at Shikamaru's house, determined to leave it spotless.

She was surprised when she found Shikaku in the living room as she came down the stairs, dozens of papers spread around him on the dining table, the man clearly having chosen to work from home for the day.

"Leaving so soon?" Shikaku asked when he noticed her, pushing up the glasses that had slid down his nose, and Hinata felt her lip quirk up at the remark. It sounded sarcastic, but she'd spent enough time around the Nara family to hear the undertone of genuine curiosity in the man's voice.

"I've already exploited your hospitality." She murmured, ducking her head in apology, and Shikaku sighed as he pushed away from the table and stood, leaning back against it instead.

"You can't exploit something that was freely offered." Shikaku replied, frowning lightly at her.

"If you say so." Hinata allowed, pushing up the strap of her backpack. "Regardless, thank you for your kindness. I greatly appreciate you allowing me to stay at your home these last few weeks, Shikaku-san."

"Kindness does not absolve me and mine from the fact that our actions put you at odds with your Clan." Shikaku retorted, a somewhat alarming note of self-deprecation in his voice. "But you are welcome nonetheless."

Not liking that tone on a man who had been nothing but kind to her over the last few weeks, Hinata smiled wryly, allowing a hint of bitterness to show.

"I have been at odds with my Clan long before Shikamaru asked me to train with him." She confessed, but instead of relaxing or laughing, Shikaku just looked sad now, and Hinata was baffled.

"I wish it were not your burden to bear." He sighed, and Hinata was thrown at the genuine regret in his voice.

"It isn't." she corrected quietly, voicing the thoughts she hadn't admitted to outside of the privacy of her mind. "The burden belongs to the Branch house. I chose to bear it."

"So I am learning." Shikaku agreed, and though he was smiling now, there was something not unlike wonder in his gaze. Maybe even confusion. "Yet for all my apparent genius, I still haven't been able to figure out why."

Hinata studied the man, wondering whether to admit to the full extent of her motivations behind her drive to abolish the seal.

Finally, after what was probably a minute of silence, neither her nor Shikaku willing to give in, she sighed, a wry smile quirking her lip.

"It's entirely selfish." She murmured, drawing a raised eyebrow from Shikaku, his expression telling her that he disagreed with her assessment despite not yet knowing her full reasoning. "When I become Head, my sister will get sealed."

Shikaku blinked, and Hinata wondered whether he had known the Hyuuga's 'there can only be one' rule. Still, Hinata continued before he could cut in.

"Any children of hers, if she chooses to have any, will bear the seal. Any children of Neji's will bear the seal. I love my sister and cousin too much to allow that to happen, Shikaku-san."

For a moment, Shikaku just stared at her.

Then, finally, when Hinata was almost tempted to escape out the front door just to avoid the silence, he hung his head and laughed quietly.

"Your uncle would be proud of you." he said simply, and Hinata startled, eyes widening, but Shikaku didn't seem inclined to elaborate.

But Hinata could only stare, frozen in shock. She hadn't thought of Uncle Hizashi since his death, but now, the claim, simple and sure, that he would be proud of her was threatening to bring tears to her eyes.

Shikaku, apparently understanding the reason for her silence, just tilted his head and stretched, his gaze idle once again when he focused back on her, the earlier attentiveness gone.

"Yoshino wanted me to tell you that you're welcome to our house any time. And I'd like to officially invite you to the fortnightly dinners my Clan hosts with the Yamanaka and Akimichi." He informed her lightly, glancing over his papers almost lazily, giving Hinata the time to compose herself. "Who knows, Shikamaru might actually socialise if you come."

Startled at the claim, Hinata snorted, hand flying up to cover her mouth as she felt her cheeks warm. But Shikaku just smiled, pleased, and nodded at her. "So I fully expect to see you around, Hinata."

Hinata nodded back, incapable of proper words, and headed for the door.

She caught sight of Shikamaru lounging by the treeline of the Nara forest, Chouji at his side, and the two looked so tranquil that Hinata decided against disturbing them, heading for the gates to the Clan grounds in silence.

She got within ten metres of the gates when Shikamaru seemed to melt out of the shadow cast by the guard post, eyebrow raised when he regarded her, the resemblance to his father in that moment almost startling.

"Leaving without a goodbye?" he asked idly, and Hinata finally understood why Kiba hadn't gelled well with Shikamaru their first time. Much like with Shikaku, while on the surface Shikamaru's words sounded pointed, almost sarcastic, Hinata now knew the boy enough to detect the hint of real hurt beneath, and the dichotomy was startling.

"You looked peaceful." She replied apologetically, knowing how little opportunity Shikamaru had been getting to actually relax since his promotion. "I didn't want to bother you."

"You're not a bother." Shikamaru shot back, frowning at her, and Hinata didn't bother pointing out that that wasn't quite what she'd said, more surprised at the vehemence behind Shikamaru's words. "Why are you going back if you clearly don't want to?"

Hinata did a double-take, staring at Shikamaru wide-eyed, a hint of that familiar irritation she only ever felt around the Nara resurfacing. More mature than before or not, less sharp around the edges than before or not, Shikamaru was still far from tactful.

"Because I have responsibilities." She retorted, sharper than she wanted, and Shikamaru seemed thrown at her tone, so she took a deep breath and wrestled with the irritation bubbling under her skin and reminded herself that Shikamaru was still just a twelve-year-old boy.

"Sorry." She breathed, looking down to collect herself before she met Shikamaru's gaze again. "But please be more careful with the assumptions you make."

"…Alright." Shikamaru replied after a beat, and while it wasn't an apology, it was a much easier concession than Hinata had expected. "Don't be a stranger, Hinata."

"Alright." Hinata echoed, feeling her irritation dissipate, and even managed to smile at the other boy. "I'll see you soon."

And then, before the exchange could get awkward, Hinata pulled on her chakra and left in a swift Shunshin, appearing a few dozen meters outside of the Nara grounds, well out of Shikamaru's sight.

All in all, leaving the Nara Compound wasn't as bad as she had feared.

Now to face her Clan.

"Hey, dad?" Shikamaru greeted, strolling into Shikaku's office in Jounin HQ, a bookbag over his shoulder and what looked like a history book in hand.

"Hmm?" Shikaku hummed, scanning through the last recommendations for Jounin promotions and wondering whether the ANBU Commander would grouch at him again for snatching potential recruits from right under the man's nose.

"Is Naruto the son of the Yondaime?"

Shikaku's hand twitched so hard that he nearly ripped the page he'd been about to turn.

"What makes you ask that?" He asked sharply, wondering whether he would be lucky enough that nobody would've overheard Shikamaru's question through the thin door. Activating the silencing seals would be as good as admitting Shikamaru was right, though Shikamaru didn't seem to realise the political minefield he'd jumped into with his question.

"Something Hinata said about assumptions." Shikamaru waved him off, and Shikaku was tempted to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. While he was glad that Hinata's presence had encouraged Shikamaru to actually use his intellect, the Hyuuga possessed a degree of subtlety and political acumen that Shikamaru had not yet learned. "And he looks a lot like the Yondaime did in his graduation photo."

Shikaku sighed, knowing that if Shikamaru had bothered to go through the Archives to get to Minato's graduation picture, there was likely a ton of other research that his son had done that he simply wasn't inclined to share.

"Yes, he is." Shikaku gave in with a sigh, pinning Shikamaru with a tired glare. "But don't go sharing that around. Anything else?"

"Is he also the Kyuubi jinchuuriki?" Shikamaru pressed, and Shikaku gave in and raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, raising his other to rub at his temple and the tension headache he could feel building at the thought of the lecture he was going to have to give Shikamaru once he got home.

"Yes, he is." He repeated, then channelled all of his authority and presence as the Jounin Commander into his voice when he added, "Do not, under any circumstances, go spreading this information around. Understood?"

"Understood." Shikamaru returned easily, the gleam of satisfaction not leaving his eyes as he inclined his head. "Thanks, dad."

"Get out of my office." Shikaku huffed, no heat in his voice as he reached for an incident report template and began filling it out. "I'll see you at home."

Heeding the dismissal, Shikamaru turned on his heel and left, not even two minutes after he waltzed in and ruined Shikaku's perfectly good morning.

And while Shikaku was glad that his son was starting to reassess some of his assumptions, couldn't he have started with something less headache-inducing?

The dinner at Kiba's house had been a welcome return to normalcy. And as much as Hinata hated to admit it, Kurenai had been right; her talk with Shino that happened before they even sat at the dinner table had indeed been long overdue.

She had suspected, when she allowed herself to think about it, that Shino had simply misspoken as a product of being exhausted, stressed, and terrified after their encounter with Itachi, but having it confirmed had felt like a weight off her shoulders that she hadn't even realised she'd been carrying.

They returned to training regularly as a team, taking D-Ranks to help out with reconstruction efforts and a couple of short duration, close-to-the-Village C-Ranks to bring in the much-needed funds for the reconstruction efforts. Hinata also reckoned that Kurenai was a lot more affected by their last mission than she let on, because she refused to take the C-Ranks without another team or jounin accompanying them, and Tsunade was either a lot more accommodating than Hinata had realised, or her sensei was a lot more terrifying than they already suspected.

But an even more unexpected routine had established itself in her team's first few weeks back on the mission roster. Back when Kurenai had first introduced her team to Yugao, Genma, and Ebisu, Hinata had started the habit of coming to their training grounds around seven or eight in the morning to get in some individual training before the team session. Since she'd been dismissed from the hospital, Hinata had resumed the routine, but after the dinner at Kiba's her routine had been interrupted by the most unlikely of individuals: Kakashi.

On random days, but only ever in the mornings, Kakashi would appear on her team's training grounds and throw jutsu at her.

It had started by the man appearing from the treeline one morning, not long after Hinata herself had arrived at the training grounds. He'd regarded her critically and very bluntly and unapologetically announced: "The Byakugan won't always save you, and you won't always be able to dodge ninjutsu. What will you do then?"

And so Hinata had explained that, while she wanted to learn more elemental genjutsu, none of her immediate mentors would be of help, barring maybe Ebisu, but the man had very clearly taken Shino under his wing.

Kakashi had looked blank when she'd mentioned wanting to learn how to counterbalance ninjutsu, and almost peeved when she'd explained why she wasn't able to.

And then, he had given her the cryptic advice of 'watch my hands' and proceeded to blow a Fireball at her.

A full-sized one.

At point-blank range.

From then on, Kakashi made a point of turning up in the early morning, sometimes for fifteen minutes, sometimes for half an hour, sometimes even more, and would direct a multitude of elemental ninjutsu at her. Never announcing his techniques, never calling out their names, never giving her so much as a word of warning as to what element he was going to use that day.

After the first two times, when Hinata realised that she wouldn't be able to dodge a spray of half a dozen small Fireballs and called up the equivalent jutsu but using Water and felt Kakashi's chakra hum with satisfaction, she also realised that he didn't want her to dodge, but to counter his techniques.

And so it went on.

On the way back from a two-day C-Rank, Hinata stopped off at the library and refreshed her memory of which element countered which.

Then, she sought out techniques.

She got instruction for the Earth Wall from Genma, a D-Ranked Wind technique from Yugao, a simple Fireflower from Genma's friend Aoba. After that, it was simply the matter of practice.

And then, about a month and a half after moving back to the Hyuuga Compound and around a month after the start of her weird routine with Kakashi, the whole of Team Seven approached her with the most bizarre of requests.

Genma dragged Kakashi to the roof of the shop on the opposite side of the street to the café the kids had headed into, their watchpoint granting them a perfect view of the genin's booth. He pointed meaningfully at his ear, squeezing Kakashi's arm warningly and waiting for the man to get the message and get on board with, essentially, spying on his genin.

Genma had a feeling that the subject of the conversation that was about to take place between Hinata and Team Seven wasn't about to be pleasant for his friend, but if his hunch was right, it would be something Kakashi would need to hear sooner rather than later.

"Kiba said that you've been training with Kaka-sensei." Minato's son began, no subtlety to him despite Raido's best efforts, though at least he'd substituted his obnoxious orange jumper for a green one paired with brown trousers.

"And learning from him." Sasuke added, a note of bitterness in his voice, though it wasn't anywhere near what Genma had gotten used to hearing from Sakura when the girl talked with Ino.

"And we just want to know," Sakura took over, shooting her teammates a quelling look before she turned to Hinata with a slightly desperate expression, "how?"

"I don't…understand?" Hinata replied, blinking at the surprisingly united front Team Seven was presenting, and Genma heard Kakashi sigh quietly.

"How did you get him to actually teach you?" Sakura demanded, forgoing subtlety, and oh, there was the bitterness Genma had grown to expect. He resisted the temptation to shoot Kakashi a look, letting him free his arm from his grip but keeping his hold on Kakashi's belt loop just in case the man tried to pull a runner, tightening his grip when Sakura opened her mouth to add: "Everything he's taught us, we had to practically fight him for. How did you ask for him to agree?"

That was definitely a flinch from Kakashi, but to the man's credit, he hadn't made any move as if to run away yet. Frowning, Genma found himself reconsidering his conclusion that Kakashi was intentionally ignoring his team's needs.

Perhaps he simply didn't know what they needed and didn't know how to ask…?

"I didn't ask." Hinata replied quietly, and Genma was glad he could read the girl's lips, because even augmenting his hearing with chakra as he was, her voice was still too quiet for him to catch every word. "He showed up when I was training a few days after our spar and said that I won't always be able to rely on the Byakugan or outrun ninjutsu attacks."

Genma didn't bother hiding the way he rolled his eyes at that, shooting his friend a disbelieving look. The alternative to running away was ninjutsu counterbalancing, and that was a jounin-level skill.

Genin were seldom expected to produce ninjutsu, much less know how to counter it.

"I knew that." Hinata continued, her eyes going momentarily distant, and Genma didn't want to know what she was thinking. Going by Kurenai's account of the kids' encounter with Itachi and the Kiri-nin and the forest-levelling techniques they'd come across then, he doubted it was anything good. "But Kurenai-sensei is a genjutsu specialist, Yugao-senpai knows mostly Wind jutsu, and while Genma-san knows a bit of everything, he's busy enough already. It made more sense for me to focus on what I could actually work on with my team, and I said as much."

"Kakashi…volunteered to help you, then?" the Uchiha asked, a note of disbelief in his voice, the lack of honorific conspicuous.

"I…suppose?" Hinata hedged, looking at Sasuke oddly. "He shows up sometimes when I'm training and…throws ninjutsu at me."

Genma turned the full force of his disbelieving expression on Kakashi at that, getting an awkward shrug in return.

"How do you learn, then?" Naruto asked with a frown, tilting his head at Hinata. "Raido-san always walks me through every new thing we do, and Sakura-chan says her poison guy talks a lot during their meetings."

"Genma-san, Naruto." Sakura corrected with an exasperated roll of her eyes, and Genma huffed a quiet laugh at the put-upon tone. "Kiba and Ino learn by doing, but I told him I like to have things explained beforehand, and he respects that."

"You need to know what jutsu is coming to counterbalance it, but Kakashi doesn't call out his techniques." Sasuke added, his focus still on Hinata, seemingly ignoring his teammates' back-and-forth. "It's a valid question."

"He lets me see his hand-signs." Hinata informed the trio, and Genma stilled momentarily. "There are…patterns. Sequences I can learn to recognise." Hinata's gaze went distant again, and something wry and pained twisted her lip briefly before she added: "Few elite-level shinobi call out their techniques, Sasuke-san. The sooner I learn to stop relying on that, the better."

"We're genin." Sakura pointed out, something horrified in her tone, and Genma reckoned she'd been spending too much time with him because that would've been his point as well. It didn't seem like she planned to develop the argument, no other counterpoint forthcoming, and Hinata shrugged awkwardly in response.

"Not many of the enemies my team has faced have been genin-level." She replied softly, a fact instead of a brag, and Genma winced, wondering when the girl had last seen her shrink.

That was a scarily utilitarian reaction to meeting enemies that outclassed her, not too dissimilar to Shino's own hang-ups, if what he'd managed to pry from Ebisu was any indication.

"So you don't know any better than us, then." Sasuke concluded, exchanging a tired look with Sakura. "Great."

"Know what?" Hinata asked, suspicion and confusion both evident in her tone.

"How to make him be a teacher." The Uchiha spat, and Kakashi flinched again, prompting Genma to let go of his hold. If the man wanted to pull a runner now, he wouldn't begrudge him. But, to his surprise, Kakashi stayed where he was.

"Have you considered just…talking to him?" Hinata asked slowly, looking between the members of Team Seven with a frown pulling at her brows. "Jounin don't get taught how to teach. A lot of them are made sensei because of serious injury or a way to refamiliarize them with the Village after difficult field missions."

Genma blinked, surprised at the astute observation and the fact that Hinata seemed aware of the fact that the position of sensei was hardly a desirable one among the active forces.

"Your and Ino's sensei seem to know what to do." Sakura huffed, still a bitter note in her voice, but Genma could practically hear the cogs in her mind turning, her big brain turning over the information Hinata was offering and likely filling in the gaps in what she hadn't known.

Hinata laughed quietly at that, a deep fondness in her eyes that seemed misplaced on a child her age.

"I love Kurenai-sensei." she confessed quietly, the admission falling from her lips freely and without a hint of hesitation. Kakashi twitched at Genma's side, and Hinata paused briefly, then shook her head and continued. "She cares for us and protects us and, whenever she can't help us herself, she gets us people who can. But she had no idea what to do with us at the beginning."

"How'd she learn?" Naruto asked, blinking confusedly and tilting his head, and Genma distantly commended Raido for managing to impress the value of an 'inside voice' on the boy.

"Trial and error. Talking to us. Setting boundaries and expectations." Hinata offered, shrugging at the end, and Genma found himself smiling sadly, simultaneously proud of Hinata for recognising that the adults around her were also figuring things out as they went and sad that she already had the maturity to realise that.

"You asked me how I learn from Kakashi-san." Hinata sighed, speaking up again when none of Team Seven seemed to know how to reply to her earlier assessment. "And the truth is that I don't know."

"I am not his student. I don't have any expectations of him." She explained, her tone sharper now, as if urging Team Seven to listen. "Yet, he is trying to help, in the way he knows how, and it is my responsibility to make the most of anything he is able and willing to teach me."

Genma glanced briefly at Kakashi, but the man was frozen, his visible eye wide.

Then, Sakura opened her mouth again, and Genma despaired inwardly, because what came out of the girl's mouth brought on Flinch Number Three from Kakashi; "Trying to kill you with ninjutsu is not teaching."

Hinata, however, looked almost insulted at the comment, though Genma reckoned none of the members of Team Seven knew her enough to notice; "He'd never kill me."

"Then why'd you try to kill him?"

Genma blinked, startled, certain that his expression mirrored the absolute bafflement on Hinata's as she turned to Sasuke.

"Excuse me?"

"When Yuhi-san was teaching us genjutsu. In that spar." Sasuke elaborated, though he looked like he'd bitten into a lemon, clearly annoyed at having to explain himself. "Your hits could've been lethal. Why'd you fight like that?"

"Because I was fighting Kakashi-san." Hinata explained, adding stress to Kakashi's name that Genma understood intimately, but, it seemed, Kakashi's genin didn't.

"That's not an answer." The Uchiha huffed, Sakura nodding at his side.

But Hinata just sighed, pointing at something in Sasuke's bag.

"Is that a Bingo Book?"

The Uchiha blinked, glancing from his bag back to Hinata, though he did obligingly pull it out. "Yeah. Mitarashi-san gave it to me to study."

Hinata held out her hand wordlessly, waited until Sasuke bemusedly handed it over, then flipped through it with alarming familiarity and turned the book around so Team Seven could see.

Unsurprisingly, Genma felt Kakashi still when his own face stared back at him from the page.

There was a moment of silence as Kakashi's genin took in the information on the page, and then- "He graduated the Academy at four?"

Hinata smiled, and it was more sad than anything else.

"For some jounin-sensei, a lot of time passes between when they were on a genin team to when they have to lead one." She explained quietly, and at Genma's side, Kakashi was tenser than a bowstring. "Talk to Kakashi-san. He's one of the best jounin in the Village, and he was a genius even before he got his Sharingan. You could have a lot to learn from him when you go into Sabotage."

Oh no.

Like hounds on a trail, all three members of Team Seven tensed.

"What do you mean by that." Sasuke asked, but it was too flat to be a question.

Hinata looked taken-aback, glancing between the trio with increasingly wider eyes, seemingly only just realising that Team Seven didn't know about Kakashi's lesser-known specialisations. "Um…"

"Hinata. What did you mean by that." Sakura repeated and there was urgency in her voice that seemed to startle Hinata.

"Does she know-?" Genma asked, trailing off and shooting Kakashi a thrown look, but Kakashi was frowning at the four genin, something unreadable on his face.

"I don't know." He replied honestly, and that was almost worse than a confirmation would've been.

"Your dojutsu." Hinata explained, staring at Sasuke oddly. "It allows the user to copy any technique. Kakashi-san has had it for over a decade."

It was…a reasonable explanation, all things considered, but Genma had a niggling suspicion that Hinata knew about Kakashi's ANBU designation, somehow. That had been too pointed an observation for it to have been just about Kakashi's Sharingan.

"He could've copied a lot of techniques." Sasuke mused, exchanging a thoughtful look with Sakura, and even Naruto seemed considering. "Sabotage too."

"So are you finally gonna admit that I was right?" Naruto demanded, though he sounded more satisfied than grumpy, grinning in a way that reminded Genma painfully of Kushina at her smuggest, and he could tell by Kakashi's quiet breath that the other jounin noticed it too. "We do gotta talk to Kaka-sensei."

"Shut up, Naruto." Sakura and Sasuke chorused, but they, too, looked more amused than annoyed, and there was a thoughtful expression on Sakura's face that Genma had learned to be cautious of.

"Thanks, Hinata."

Hinata had been relieved to be able to slip out of the booth and escape from the bizarre conversation Team Seven had trapped her in, but she hadn't expected to be followed as she made her way to the door.

"Hinata, wait up!"

She turned, shocked to find Naruto running after her, and the boy grinned as he skidded to a stop in front of her. Hinata had been surprised at the change from the characteristic orange to the much more shinobi-appropriate combination of green and brown, but now that she looked at him on his own, Naruto didn't seem as…loud as he had as a genin in her first time, and not just because of his outfit.

"So, uh, this is gonna sound weird, I know, but, um, do you wanna get ramen with me?" Naruto asked, almost shyly, raising a hand to scratch at the back of his neck sheepishly, and Hinata froze.

She reckoned she probably stopped breathing, too.

It- He- But-

She shook her head, more to try and dislodge the thoughts than as a response. She only belatedly realised how it might look to Naruto and held up a hand to cut him off, trying to remember how to form words before his face fell any more.

In the end, all she managed was a rough, disbelieving "Why?" that sounded like it had been wrenched out from the deepest parts of her being.

"Oh, uh, cause I think you're cool!" Naruto exclaimed, apparently buoyed by the fact that she wasn't rejecting him outright.

Hinata though, was still firmly submerged in her disbelief-fuelled hysteria, and she felt like she was hearing Naruto's words from underwater.

"You barely know me." Slipped out before she could keep it in, keep it as a quiet thought that never left the bitter depths of her heart.

Naruto now had even less reason to know her or know of her than he did in her original timeline. There was no explanation for this. She didn't think Naruto cruel enough for this to be a prank, nor was there anyone else in the boy's vicinity that could have put him up to it when she looked around, but she distrusted so much.

"No! I mean, well, yeah, but I that's why I wanna get to know you!" Naruto explained, then grinned as if his logic was undeniable. "Plus, I know a lot about you, dattebayo!"

Hinata...stared.

She'd spent years fantasising about a moment like this, before. All the way from the Academy till the end of the War, wondering whether she had a chance, wishing, dreaming to be noticed.

But now that it had come, that it was within arms' reach of her, she felt...nothing.

'I think you're cool!' It was a compliment, undoubtedly so, and ten times more than what she'd heard from Naruto in her first life.

But it also threw into stark contrast two things: how childish the compliment was, and that Naruto, freshly thirteen, was a child.

And she had a decade's worth of growing up over him.

She'd noticed it in the Academy too, when she'd walked in for their test that first day, but now, it was almost easier. Easier to take a deep breath, and, with the exhale, let go of the last remnants of the crush she'd once harboured for the boy in front of her.

Naruto, apparently taking her silence as her angling for more information, launched into an animated explanation.

"Kiba said he's only alive because of you! And he might be annoying sometimes, but he's still my friend, so I'm glad you saved him!" He smiled then, something more vulnerable flashing through his eyes, and Hinata had a moment's realisation that nearly threatened to break her heart all over again:

Naruto was one of Kiba's friends. But for Naruto, Kiba might have been one of his only friends.

"Plus, Shikamaru called you smart! Smarter than him, even, I think!" Naruto continued, the earlier expression wiped clear from his eyes as if it had only been a trick of the light. "I've never heard Shikamaru compliment someone! So you must be really smart for him to do it in front of all the people at the arena!"

Hinata blinked, completely thrown.

Shikamaru thought she was smart?

"And you're, like, really really pretty, so, uh, whaddaya say?" Naruto finished, suddenly bashful, and Hinata had a moment's panic.

This had been Sakura's role in her first life. The smart, pretty girl Naruto had kept hounding for dates despite the other girl only ever seeing him as a friend. Hinata couldn't help but worry about what had changed to make Naruto shift that attention onto her.

And then, with a jolt that threatened to make her sick, she realised that she had been Naruto, once. 'You barely know me' she'd accused, but how much more had she really known about the boy when she'd decided he was her crush and inspiration?

"I'd like to get ramen with you." She managed after far too long of a pause, though she held up a hand again when Naruto's face lit up at her words. "But as friends, please."

"Friends?" Naruto echoed and Hinata watched as his face dropped, but then he smiled and wiped his expression, nodding enthusiastically. "Friends, yeah, sure! Does, uh, tomorrow at nine suit you?"

Hinata frowned, trying to decide whether she could manage ramen before team training at ten, but decided that she didn't want to disappoint Naruto anymore.

"It does. I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto-kun." And then, before she could start hating herself for the old honorific slipping out, or before she could see what Naruto's reaction to it would be, she let the whirl of Shunshin take her away, getting her out of the conversation without any more awkwardness.

She landed in an alleyway on the other side of the road to the café, feeling hot all over as her heart started to race, her ears ringing as the absurdity of the situation started to set in. She stumbled on shaky legs till she could hide behind the dumpster, sliding with her back against the wall as her knees gave out.

She sat there for a second, staring sightlessly ahead as her heart raced and her breaths came in quick, desperate gasps. Over the ringing in her ears, she heard someone land at the entrance of the alleyway she was hiding in, clearly making an effort to announce themselves.

Hinata didn't move, but she did twitch her fingers in greeting when Genma came into her view, the man taking one look at her and sighing quietly, crouching down a few feet in front of her so they could be on eye-level.

"You alright, kiddo?"

Hinata shook her head, trying desperately to draw breath still, tightening and loosening her grip on her knees to get some feeling back in her fingers which felt like they'd gone numb.

Genma simply sighed and shifted into a more comfortable crouch, heels fully on the ground as he settled in to wait until Hinata calmed down.

Finally, when her breathing had returned to normal and her ears stopped ringing, Hinata took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then tried to explain what had landed her in the alley.

"Have you ever-" she began, then had to pause and clear her throat when her voice cracked, "have you ever been noticed by someone you used to- to idolise?"

"Noticed?" Genma echoed, frowning and tilting his head thoughtfully. Then, comprehension dawned and he smiled, and when he spoke, there was laughter in his voice, though it didn't sound malicious. "Oh, like asked out noticed?"

Hinata could feel her face heat up, but Genma just chuckled fondly, reaching out slowly until his hand rested on the top of her head in what was slowly becoming a familiar, comforting touch.

"Yeah, princess, I have." He admitted easily, then pinned her with a serious look. "You're wondering whether it was a prank?"

Hinata's head snapped up, nearly dislodging Genma's hand from her head.

She wasn't that transparent, was she?

But when she met his gaze, the look in Genma's eyes was knowing and tinged with sadness.

"That's the low self-esteem talking, kiddo." He sighed, smiling sadly. "You're impressive even for some adults, so no wonder your peers are taking notice."

Genma removed his hand from her head and pushed to his feet, and when Hinata glanced up at him, he held it out to help her up.

"Come on, let's go to the Inuzuka." He offered, changing his expression into something more akin to his usual easy-going mien. "I haven't bothered Tsume in a while, and you look like you could do with petting some puppies."

Letting him haul her up, Hinata shook off the last of her panic attack and tried for a smile, once again eternally grateful for the extra support network she had in this life.

"By the way," Genma began once they started walking in the direction of the Inuzuka Compound, "when did you realise Kakashi was there?"

Hinata hesitated and briefly considered lying or pretending ignorance, but it was Genma asking. And it wasn't like anything she said to Team Seven was said specifically because she suspected Kakashi had been listening.

So she sighed and smiled sadly; "When I said that I love sensei."

To her surprise, Genma just nodded, as if he'd expected something similar, though he didn't comment beyond bumping her shoulder lightly. "Now come on, puppies await."

Hinata's original teen self's dream came true the next morning: she had a full hour of chatting with Naruto over ramen.

Or, moreso listening to him talk about his many adventures and prank ideas, but it was still fun. Cathartic, almost, to listen to simple teen problems and drama, since Naruto didn't seem to share in the bitterness of his teammates, though he surprisingly seemed to understand where they were coming from.

Learning that Naruto was being tutored regularly by another one of Genma and Kurenai's friends had been a surprise, but then again, neither Kakashi nor Jiraiya had managed to instil the importance of shinobi-appropriate attire on the blond originally, so perhaps she should've expected that there was someone else influencing him this time. The green and brown combo was a welcome change to the loud orange she remembered, as was the discovery that Naruto now seemed to understand the concept of an 'appropriate volume', something that had taken Kiba a few weeks to grasp upon being assigned to Team Eight.

They parted amicably, heading to their respective training grounds with full stomachs, and Hinata was glad that Naruto didn't once push her for a promise of a 'next time'. She had a feeling it would be a while yet before she could spare the time for it again; Kurenai was looking more stressed with every passing day, and Hinata suspected that the day of their departure for Kumo was closer than any of them were prepared for.

Her theory was confirmed three days later when Kurenai held out packs of paper to the three of them as soon as she arrived at the training grounds.

"Consent forms." She explained, sitting cross-legged on the ground with little fanfare and pulling her own folder open, raising an eyebrow until the three of them joined her on the ground. "We're going to go through them, and if there's anything you don't like, we're waiting until the next round."

"Would we be allowed to wait?" Shino asked sceptically, flipping through the pages carefully. "I was under the impression that the Village needs our participation to shore up its reputation after the invasion."

"I don't think anyone in the Village is stupid enough to try and tell sensei 'no'." Kiba replied, swinging an arm around Shino's shoulders, which Shino rather tellingly didn't try to shrug off.

"Thank you, Kiba." Kurenai replied, but she was smiling, more fond than offended, and Hinata found herself silently agreeing with Kiba's assessment. "While your participation will certainly be useful tp the Village, if you choose not to participate, Tsunade-sama will probably give you a field promotion soon anyway."

Hinata wasn't the only one to startle at that, staring at Kurenai in confusion, and their sensei sighed, smile growing a little wry.

"This…might have been my mistake for not having you spar with your peers more." Kurenai admitted slowly, and she seemed almost sheepish. "But you're actually a bit too skilled for genin."

"Huuuh?" Kiba demanded, exchanging baffled glances with Hinata and Shino, but all Hinata could do was shake her head, similarly confused. "But Genma-san regularly kick my butt in spars, and taijutsu isn't even his specialisation!"

"Yes, Kiba," Kurenai explained patiently, though she now seemed amused more than anything else, "but Genma is also a jounin. As are Yugao and Ebisu. I would've been somewhat alarmed if you were regularly winning spars against my friends."

"So, because we're used to fighting jounin, our perception of our real skill level is…skewed?" Shino posited hesitantly, staring at Kurenai as if waiting for her to deny it.

"Precisely." Kurenai agreed, smiling softly. "Which is why I don't think the Exams are going to cause you any trouble, but I want you to be comfortable with participating."

In the end, all three of them signed the consent forms, though, with Kurenai's permission, Hinata signed hers as 'Hinata of the Leaf'. On her list of concerns, Kumo trying something during an event as public and well-known as the Chunin Exams was quite low, but she could still remember the heart-stopping fear that had gripped her when she realised the man carrying her wasn't anyone familiar to her, for all that her attempted kidnapping had been almost two decades ago.

Kurenai had also taken her aside after she'd collected their consent forms and handed her a slim box that Hinata only vaguely recognised.

"It's from Yugao." Kurenai informed her quietly, prompting Hinata to shoot her a concerned look. "She was sent out on a mission yesterday, but asked me to pass it on before we get to Kumo. I probably shouldn't be surprised that you think on a similar wavelength at this point. Go on, open it."

Hinata obligingly slid the box open and nearly gasped at the contents: the sleek box contained dozens of individually packed, disposable contact lenses, all the colour of the clear-blue sky.

"I promise that I will not let Kumo even think of trying anything." Kurenai swore quietly, and Hinata believed her sensei instantly. "But extra precaution never hurt."

Hinata simply nodded, momentarily speechless, and tucked the box into the inner pocket of her jacket, managing a shaky smile for Kurenai.

From there on, their sessions became about drilling team formations and polishing off the individual skills they'd been working on since being charged from hospital.

And then, a week after signing the forms, they were off, one of three Konoha teams Tsunade had decided to send, though the members of the other two teams had a good decade over Hinata and her team at the least.

Surprisingly, Hinata found that she wasn't nervous. Instead, she was – and she could barely believe it herself – almost excited.

One step closer to her goal.