Hiashi watched as Hinata followed him to the dojo, absently wondering whether he wasn't making a mistake.

Hinata had become chunin, yes, in her first go at the Exams even, but she was far from heir-favourite.

But him teaching her the Kaiten would cement her as such, at least as far as his own opinion went in the eyes of the Elders.

Wordlessly, Hiashi activated his Byakugan and turned it on his daughter, disappointed but not surprised to find her reserves barely larger than Hanabi's.

"Concentrate." He began, cutting to the chase and noting bemusedly that Hinata's focus had never once strayed from him, even when his own mind had wandered. "You're going to-"

And then he cut himself off when he looked closer at Hinata's chakra core and noticed what could've only been described as a false bottom to her main reserves.

"…You're suppressing your chakra." He observed flatly, and Hinata startled, then had the grace to look abashed.

"S-Sorry, Father." She apologised, the dreaded stutter making a reappearance. "Habit."

Hiashi tried not to think too hard about what sort of missions his daughter had been running for her to develop the habit of stifling her chakra even in-Village.

Then he couldn't quite stop his eyebrow from climbing up his forehead when Hinata released her chakra and suddenly her reserves were larger than Neji's.

"…You've been working on your reserves." He stated, trying to keep the surprise out of his voice.

But Hinata had never been the boastful type, so her gaze skipped from his briefly before returning as she admitted; "I-I meditate."

Hiashi didn't say that passive meditation didn't actually grow reserves– they both knew that. Which meant that whatever style of meditation Hinata now practised involved using her chakra in such a way as to nearly double the size of her reserves in the space of a year.

"Concentrate." He repeated instead, going back to the original reason he'd called Hinata to the dojo and shelving any thoughts of his daughter's progress for later. "You're going to release chakra from every tenketsu in your body you can at the same time."

Hinata nodded, a frown of concentration appearing between her brows, so Hiashi went on. "Most non-Hyuuga shinobi only ever master expelling chakra from their hands and feet. Our Clan is largely hailed for our chakra control, but even we are not born with the ability to expel chakra from every tenketsu. I want to see how much you need to work on your control before we start on the basics of Kaiten."

Hinata nodded again, and when she realised that no more instruction was forthcoming, Hiashi felt her begin to release her chakra.

…And promptly realised that he really should've been paying more attention to just what sort of training his daughter had been doing.

Because on her first attempt at an exercise most jounin never mastered, she managed to release chakra from every tenketsu in her arms – from the tips of her fingers to her shoulders – and from her feet all the way up to the upper thighs. She didn't manage to release anything from her torso and abdomen, but Hiashi had expected as much. What he hadn't counted on was the girl succeeding activating the tenketsu in her throat, mouth, and cheeks.

"…Good." Hiashi commented after a beat, and Hinata cut the chakra flow immediately, her face clear of pride or arrogance, merely showing idle curiosity and a hint of surprise at the praise.

Then, his own curiosity getting the better of him when he reached the inevitable conclusion to what he'd just witnessed, Hiashi added, "Have you been training in elemental ninjutsu?"

"Yes, Father." Hinata replied simply, once again ignoring the opportunity to gloat at having snuck this development past him.

"Which?"

This time, Hinata was a little less sure in her answer, but Hiashi quickly understood why when she murmured, "Um…all?"

Hiashi kept his face carefully blank. "Since when?"

Hinata took what she probably thought was a discrete breath, released it slowly, then said; "Since I found out that the Chunin Exams my team would be attending were being held in Kumo."

Suddenly, the admission, along with the reveal of having used contact lenses while in Kumo, clicked into place.

"You didn't use the Jyuuken." Hiashi said, and it was too flat to be a question, but Hinata answered regardless.

"No, Father."

Hiashi frowned. "Did you use your Clan name?"

"No, Father."

"And nobody found out?" Hiashi pressed, an uncomfortable feeling making itself knows in the pit of his stomach.

Hinata hesitated, just briefly, but with how closely Hiashi was watching her, he noticed. "Nobody from Kumo."

Which meant that Hinata had not only successfully made chunin in Kumo, but also infiltrated the Village and left none the wiser as to her real identity. "…You're wiser than I gave you credit for."

There were more words he knew he probably ought to say, words he could almost hear Hizashi's voice yelling in his head: Apologise! The voice demanded. She deserves it. Apologise, goddamnit.

But they just wouldn't get past his throat, and Hinata's open surprise at the acknowledgement he'd already given her didn't help matters any.

"You'll need to learn to control the tenketsu in your chest and abdomen before I can teach you the mechanics of the Kaiten." Hiashi ordered, and Hinata's face fell back into the unassuming mask of idle curiosity, though her eyes were marginally wider than before.

Hiashi forced himself to utter one more admission:

"But know that…this time last year, I didn't think that I'd be teaching it to you at all." He managed, then turned on his heel and walked out of the dojo.

You've come far, daughter.

Dear Hinata-san,

I am sorry that you had to deal with the conflict but I am glad that it has been resolved.

I hope it is not too forward to say this, but if we are ever in the same place again and circumstances allow it, I would be happy to go for a 'small' celebration with you. My own promotion also went un-celebrated, but through my own feelings of inadequacy more than anything else.

While it is true that most shinobi become used to the startle-reflexes of others, if you believe that apologising is the right thing to do, then it is worthwhile to apologise. For your own peace of mind, if nothing else.

My favourite food is onigiri. For how simple they are, yet how varied they can be. Yours?

Who would you be if you weren't a shinobi?

Stay safe,

- Haku

"You!"

Kiba startled where he'd been perusing the food market, jumping to see a vaguely familiar teen stalking up to him, the cat-eared hood and purple makeup making Kiba have to bite his cheek to keep from laughing.

He wondered what Ino would have to say about the teen's fashion sense.

"Are you the kid who fought Akari-senpai, counteracted her poison and vomited all over her puppet?!" the teen demanded, stopping about three feet from Kiba, a wild look in his eyes.

"I mean, I disabled the puppet first." Kiba pointed out, wincing only slightly at the idea of his fight in Kumo becoming his legacy in Suna. "But yeah, that would be me. Who's asking?"

Though, given that the kid had said Akari-senpai, Kiba had a pretty good idea. He reckoned he'd have been similarly outraged if he'd heard that some kid had managed to sneak up on Genma.

"Kankuro." There was something familiar about the name, but where exactly he'd heard it from was escaping Kiba right then. "The same person who's been trying to find an antidote to senpai's poison since she started teaching me, so how the hell did you manage it?"

Ooh. There was more in Kankuro's tone than just outrage, and Kiba narrowed his eyes, appraising the other teen carefully.

"Are you more annoyed that someone managed it, that I managed it, or that a Leaf-nin managed it?" he asked at last, and Kankuro huffed, though he looked reluctantly amused.

"A little bit of everything." He admitted after a beat, and Kiba grinned.

"Oi, Akamaru!" he called suddenly, snickering inwardly at Kankuro's startled twitch and the way the teen's eyes grew wide when Akamaru left the shaded spot he'd been lounging in while Kiba strolled around the market and wandered over to where they were standing.

With the slow but steady growing he'd been doing since Kiba's Graduation, Akamaru's head was now comfortably at Kiba's mid-thigh, far from the puppy he'd been a year ago. Outside of Konoha, where the population was used to ninken, Akamaru easily classified as a big dog, and Kiba noticed Kankuro's immediate recognition of the fact.

"I'm an Inuzuka." Kiba divulged after a beat, grinning when Kankuro's eyes snapped over to him from where he'd been eyeing Akamaru warily. "Inuzuka Kiba. My Clan's had ninken partners for generations, so there's been some trait transferral."

He let that sink in for a few seconds, letting Kankuro puzzle over what 'trait transferral' could imply, before he carried on. "Which means that with a heightened sense of smell and a passing familiarity with common poisons and their ingredients, I can pretty much sniff out what I'll need for the antidote. Does that answer your question?"

Kiba didn't doubt that it did, especially since Kankuro looked briefly like he'd been struck by lightning, then his expression turned triumphant. "That's why you're here!"

Bingo.

"You're sharp." Kiba complimented, startling the other teen, then, when he knew he had the other's attention, he grinned, wider and wilder than before, sharp canines on full display in a move that was only partly intended to intimidate. "Now, since I gave you the information you wanted, can you give me some information I'm after?"

And Kankuro froze for a second, then, seemingly realising that denying anything would be pointless, grumbled his acquiesce. "Fine. Turnaround's fair play I guess."

"Glad you agree." Kiba cheered, then dug in his pocket and pulled out the list he'd been compiling whenever Genma grumbled about ingredients he was running out of and wasn't able to restock, even with access to the Yamanaka greenhouses. He thrust the list at Kankuro, grin dimming to something more genuine. "I want these ingredients."

He watched as Kankuro scanned the list, delighting in the way the other teen's eyebrow was hiking higher and higher up his forehead the more he read. Then, when Kankuro finally looked up at him, mirth in his eyes, though also a hint of suspicion.

"Only a passing familiarity, you said?" he asked, and Kiba raised a hand and scratched the back of his neck, not even feigning repentance.

"I might have lied a little."

Kankuro snorted, the reaction seemingly startled out of him, then, still holding Kiba's list, gestured for him to come along. "Alright, let's go, dog-boy."

But Kiba snagged the other boy's sleeve before he could get far and tugged him back, his grin turning into a frown as he regarded Kankuro seriously, the other teen's guard visibly going back at the quick change of mood.

"I don't think the dude in cat ears and makeup has any right to be calling me names." Kiba told Kankuro honestly, perhaps sharper than deserved, but his mother, Hana, and Kurenai had taught him to stand his ground, so he planted his feet and stood.

And Kankuro, while initially taken aback, slowly grinned, pulling his sleeve out of Kiba's grip though not turning around just yet. "Never said you can't call me anything back."

And Kiba barked a laugh, the reaction similarly startled out of him, and obligingly fell into step with the Suna-nin when he started walking again, patting Akamaru absently on the head to call his partner off, the situation resolved for now.

"Turnaround's fair play, huh?" he mused, getting an agreeing hum from Kankuro.

This could be fun.

"Kid, you really should take a break, you don't need to master everything immediately." Kotetsu huffed when Shino refused to take the break they'd ordered, exchanging a concerned glance with Izumo.

"Respectfully, I know my limits." Shino replied as he ran through another kata, twirling the practice bokken around his head. "I can keep going."

"Maybe you can, but should you?" Izumo took over from Kotetsu, smoothing the feathers Kotetsu might have ruffled with ease of long practise. "There's no need to burn yourself out."

"I'm fine." Shino insisted, but the dripping sweat and pissed pinch to his mouth, visible thanks to the trademark jacket having been long discarded, told a different story.

"Now you are, but what about when you need to run missions?" Kotetsu pushed, losing his patience a little at the teen's refusal to see the full picture.

"There's a reason I requested the apprenticeship through the official channels." Shino shot back, not quite snidely, but losing some of that trademark Aburame cool. "I won't be sent on any missions outside Konoha until we complete it."

"You Village-bound yourself?" Kotetsu demanded, dodging the quelling elbow Izumo tried to jab into his side. "Why?"

"I need to catch up to my teammates."

"Shino." Izumo tried again, tone still patient, though finally showing an undercurrent of disbelief. "You're an Aburame. That already makes you fucking terrifying."

Kotetsu snorted, startled at Izumo actually cussing for once.

"More than that, you're a taijutsu-specialising Aburame. That doesn't happen." Izumo continued, gaining steam now, and Kotetsu didn't want to see the moment Izumo's famous patience finally ran out, so he took over.

"And now you're adding bukijutsu." Kotetsu cut in when Izumo took a breath, giving his partner the opportunity to take a minute and remember which one of the two of them was usually the confrontational one. "Your teammates would have to be the freaking Sannin for you to need to do any 'catching up'."

Shino finally stopped, smacking the bokken into the ground so hard the tip buried itself in the dirt a few inches and freed his hands so he could reach up and pull his glasses off. Izumo and Kotetsu watched as he carefully wiped the lenses before slipping them into the pocket of his shirt, then pinned them both with a sharp, tired gaze that had no right to belong to a thirteen-year-old kid.

"Kiba is a poisons-specialising Inuzuka who taught himself medical ninjutsu and rejected the offer of an apprenticeship from the Godaime because he didn't like her tone." Shino explained cooly, the earlier annoyance nowhere in sight, his tone instead ringing with determination and cold resignation. "And Hinata regularly spars with Hatake Kakashi and survives."

Izumo and Kotetsu exchanged a look.

They'd heard, of course they had, being friends with Genma and all, but to have it put so frankly…

"So, what do you wanna work on next?"

Hana was not liking the mission brief.

A five-man team was already sizeable for a locate-and-return type of mission, not to mention that sixty percent of said team was ANBU. From Tsunade's explanation of what was being asked of them, the odds didn't sound favourable to her team's continued wellbeing, what with the last sighting being so close to Kiri territory, and worst of all, the Godaime refused to say why it was so important that they take the mission in the first place.

And then the door opened a smidge, just enough for a familiar figure to slip in, and Hana felt dread pool in her stomach.

"Am I late?" Hinata asked quietly as she closed the door behind herself, scanning the room with a far too perceptive gaze, though Hana didn't miss the flash of apprehension in her eyes when the girl spotted Kakashi.

"No, you're just on time." The Godaime replied, gesturing Hinata further into the room. "You've been requested for this mission, but the brief wasn't for preteen ears."

"Requested by whom?" Mibuchi asked gruffly, eyeing Hinata appraisingly.

"Hatake, actually." Tsunade responded, and Hana wasn't the only one to start in surprise at the news.

"Respectfully, Kakashi-san, but surely there are other Hyuuga we could bring with us." Mibuchi huffed, and for once, Hana didn't actually disagree with the man.

"There are other Hyuuga." Kakashi agreed, his voice mild as anything, then added, "But this Hyuuga can disappear, and we'll need that where we're going."

At the disbelieving silence that greeted his words, Kakashi addressed Hinata directly for the first time since she walked in. "Go on, Hyuuga-chan. Show him."

And then, right before Hana's eyes and nose, after a moment's hesitation, Hinata did just that. There one second, then gone the next, completely invisible, chakra stifled, and, most surprisingly, scent-less.

A shiver of unease ran up Hana's spine, cresting at the nape of her neck – she knew only one other person capable of disappearing so completely, and Tetsuya, despite him and Hana being similar ages, had been ANBU back when Hana had still been an Academy student.

There was no way Hinata should've known how to do that.

"That's enough." Kakashi called, and, as if a switch had been flipped, Hinata reappeared, a few feet to the right of where she'd originally been standing.

Displacement, Hana realised with a start, or Shunshin, to disperse her smell as she disappeared.

She knew that, out of the gathered group, only her and Kakashi were particularly sensitive to smell, but that didn't change the fact that Hinata had stifled her chakra, silenced her breathing, blocked her scent, used some sort of notice-me-not genjutsu and a Shunshin, all at the same time.

What Hinata had just done could have easily gotten her a Tokubetsu promotion, had they been at war-time.

She wondered if the girl realised.

"Does that explain Hinata's presence here, Mibuchi?" Kakashi asked rhetorically, still mild, but Hana didn't miss the fact that the question was performative at best.

"Yessir." Mibuchi confirmed stiffly, seemingly also aware of the fact that Kakashi wasn't going to be changing his mind on Hinata's presence on the team.

"Now that that's been handled," Tsunade spoke, bringing their attention back to the fact that this was a mission briefing and they were still the Hokage's office, "as I said earlier, your targets were last spotted around the borders between the Land of Fire, Land of Water, and Land of Whirlpools. Mission duration estimated at a week. Live capture preferable, but if worse comes to worst, they don't need to be alive to be useful to the Yamanaka."

Hana didn't miss the way Hinata's face smoothed out of all expression at that summary. She found it difficult just then to remember that the girl was the same age as Kiba; there was something older in Hinata's eyes in that moment, a grim determination and steel in her gaze that told Hana that Mibuchi's doubts were unfounded.

"Questions?" Tsunade asked idly, and when silence greeted her words, she waved them out. "You leave ASAP."

"Meet at the western gates in half an hour." Was all Kakashi had to say to that, and as one, the team dispersed.

Hana only hoped that they would all get to come back to the office for the post-mission debrief.

Kakashi wasn't blind, even though he frequently pretended not to see certain things, for various reasons.

And since the rather forceful wake-up call he'd gotten about his students courtesy of Genma and Iruka, he tried not to not-see things when they pertained to his subordinates, particularly if those subordinates happened to be half his age.

So he didn't miss the fact that the little Hyuuga refused to make eye-contact with him. Didn't miss the fact that she hardly spoke, unless it was to reply to something Hana had said to her. Didn't miss the fact that she didn't flag, didn't stumble, didn't complain, even when Kakashi made them run at top-speed through the night and only let them stop for two hours right before dawn. Didn't miss the fact that she didn't hesitate when he'd asked her to disappear again and assassinate two unaffiliated shinobi they'd heard talking about their targets.

Most of all, he didn't miss the fact that the girl didn't so much as flinch when things inevitably went to shit.

If he hadn't been so busy trying to protect Iwashi, who'd taken the brunt of the trap that had been sprang on them and, though he'd managed to remain conscious, was all-but useless in the battle that broke out immediately after, he'd have tried to pay more attention to how his other teammates were faring.

Mostly, he'd have wanted to see what a Hyuuga that fought like Uchiha Shisui could do in a melee battle.

As it was, he was peripherally aware of his teammates. Aware that Hana and the Haimaru had shot off after the two shinobi who'd tried to escape with their surviving target, the other one having been decapitated the moment they'd triggered the trap. Aware that Mibuchi wasn't limiting his ninjutsu's range to be considerate of his teammates, trusting them to get the hell out of dodge whenever he broke out the large-scale techniques. Aware that Hinata still hadn't released the genjutsu that hid her from view and was using the lethality of the Hyuuga Jyuuken to its full potential as she darted around the battlefield, finishing off the enemies her teammates had knocked down but hadn't managed to kill.

And then, as quickly as it had began, it was over.

"Hinata. Perimeter." Kakashi called, and the girl's disembodied voice floated over to them from far closer than Kakashi had expected.

"No hostiles in the vicinity."

"Hana?" he checked, getting a mild 'on her way back with the other target secured' in return.

"Good." Kakashi nodded, still tense, not daring to relax just yet, then addressed the team at large, "Everyone alive?"

He got two grunts and a muttered affirmative, and some of the tension left his frame, though the resentment he felt towards Tsunade for not sending a medic with them stayed.

Now that the immediate hyper-focus of the battle was fading and he could have a proper look at Iwashi, the man wasn't looking good. And his arm was likely unsalvageable.

Just then, a warning bark sounded and Hana burst from the treeline, their surviving target swung over her shoulder, unconscious from the looks of it. Hana herself looked roughed up and harrowed, but in one piece, and that was all Kakashi could hope for on missions like these.

"Frisk the bodies, seal the head. Hana, check on Iwashi, I'll secure the target. Hinata, keep watch." Kakashi ordered, falling into the flurry of movement his words caused with a single-minded focus.

A dozen unaffiliated shinobi this close to the Land of Fire wasn't normal. That, and they had worked well together, covering for each other like a team, yet there was no distinctive technique or style they'd used that would've identified them as shinobi of a specific Village.

"Hatake-san."

Kakashi startled, head jerking up even as his fingers twitched towards his pouch.

Hinata must've broken the genjutsu since he'd last looked because she stood before him now, visible and bloodied and with a growing bruise on her cheek, but conscious and whole.

And holding a boot-clad foot in her hands.

Her face was pale, but now Kakashi wondered whether it was due to the battle, or whatever it was that she'd discovered that she was now bringing to him.

"Found something?" he asked archly as he finished tying the unconscious man's hands together with ninja wire and plastered a chakra-sealing tag on his forehead.

He studied the girl's expression more closely and…was that fear in her eyes?

But not of him, he realised after a beat. Fear of whatever she'd found.

"What is it?" He demanded, sharper now, and Hinata extended the foot towards him, and, with the other hand – shaking, Kakashi noted with mounting concern – pointed at the spot where the toe of the boot had been ripped off.

There, on the naked, charred flesh, on the webbing between the big toe and the rest, small, but just about identifiable-

-lay the ROOT seal.

Kakashi froze.

Then, his body moving on autopilot, reacting to what it was seeing faster than his brain was processing the information, Kakashi reached for a sealing scroll, snatched the foot from Hinata's loose hold, sealed it away, then shoved the scroll back into his pouch and activated the safety seal on that, too.

"Tell no-one." He instructed Hinata sharply, his mind running a hundred miles a minute, trying desperately to make sense of what he'd just seen. "No-one, understand? Not until I tell you it's safe."

Speaking either to her shellshock or comprehension of the gravitas of the situation, the girl just nodded and turned away without a word, going back to the task he'd originally assigned her as if nothing had happened.

"Alright," Kakashi called after he did a quick sweep of the battlefield and found nothing that would indicate that the dozen dead bodies on the ground were Konoha's doing, "let's head back to the Village. Hana, take point, Hinata, take the rear."

And so they ran, taking a different route to the one they had taken out of the Village, running north along the border of Hidden Hot Water instead of straight back east in an attemot to lead any pursuers they may have picked up away from Konoha.

But two hours into their run, when Kakashi was just about to order for them to turn south, not having felt anyone following them, Hinata caught up to him, her expression oddly urgent.

"Hatake-san, requesting permission to assist an ally."

Kakashi's focus sharpened at her wording, reading between the lines, and, though he already suspected what the answer would be, asked, "Is it a Konoha-nin?"

"...no."

"But it's an ally?" he pressed, wondering what the Hyuuga was going to reveal next.

"Yes. A personal one." Clearly sensing that she wasn't winning herself any trust. "A…friend."

Eye still narrowed contemplatively even as half his focus was on not-falling on his face, Kakashi pushed for more information. "How far?"

"About two kilometres north-west."

He studied the girl as she spoke, noticing the straightness to her spine and the steel in her gaze. He had the oddest impression that the request for permission was a performance, that the girl had made her mind up and his word didn't actually matter to her.

Kakashi sighed.

Shikaku had warned him of a revolutionary, but nothing in the girl's file indicated that he'd have to watch for insubordination, too. "You may go, but I am not ordering the team to turn back to support you."

Instead of taking it as the warning it so clearly was, the girl seemed to take it as permission, because she nodded with a curt 'understood', then blurred.

Kakashi let her get some distance, then left a Shadow Clone in his place in the team formation, and followed.

It quickly became apparent that once she'd gained his permission, Hinata had also gained a sense of urgency, because she had given up the steady pace she'd been running at for the last two hours for a dozen bursts of Shunshin that would've made her difficult to track if she hadn't given Kakashi the vague direction.

Maybe that had been the point of the change, Kakashi mused, then pushed the thought aside. Hinata seemed determined to restructure the Hyuuga Clan. She wasn't defector-material.

Nevertheless, Kakashi followed, not making much of an effort to hide his presence from the girl, but she never once slowed until she reached her goal.

And then, as Kakashi finally caught up and stopped in the treeline, pulling up his forehead protector to reveal his Sharingan, an uncomfortable feeling made itself known in the bottom of his stomach when he noticed the forehead protectors of the battling shinobi.

Kumo and Kiri.

And the little Hyuuga had jumped straight into the battle without a moment's pause, sliding into the Kiri-nin's personal space and covering his back like it was second nature, like she'd done it a hundred times before, blocking a Kumo-nin's sword with her bare hand and stopping his heart with the other.

Kakashi had a bad feeling about this fight, and that was before Hinata flashed to a branch only a few metres to his left, three Kiri genin in her arms, clearly aware of his presence for all that she didn't even acknowledge him, and didn't so much as pause before jumping back into the fray to assist her Ice-Release wielding friend.

Kakashi regretted requesting the girl for this mission.

Not because of her behaviour, or even the choice to get into battle with Kumo-nin in defence of a Kiri-nin she had no reason to know, but because of what he will have to put her through once they get back to the Village.

Her and Kurenai both.

Hinata probably should've paused, should've thought more about her actions, should've evaluated pros and cons, should've at the very least acknowledged that Kakashi had decided to follow her.

But she didn't.

Instead, she jumped into the battle, slid into Haku's space, blocked the flat of a Kumo-nin's blade with the palm of her hand and struck out with her other hand to stop the man's heart, letting him drop to the ground at her feet.

"Hinata-san," Haku panted as he manoeuvred around a rock-covered fist and slapped a hand to another Kumo-nin's shoulder, freezing and immobilising the joint, then blew a gust of wind into the man's face. "I have never been more glad to see anyone."

"I saw your distress signal." Hinata murmured back, weaving the completed form of the first original genjutsu Kurenai had taught her around two of the meanest-looking Kumo-nin and releasing it in a net of concentrated intent, along with two poison-dipped senbon Kiba had gifted her before he'd left. "How can I help?"

Haku executed a complicated-looking taijutsu move and sent a Kumo kunoichi flying into one of the trees. "Do you remember what we talked about that first day on the cliff?"

Hinata remembered.

"If I wished to, I could freeze my enemies' blood right in their veins."

She also noticed that Haku was flagging, his chakra reserves lower than they should've been, clearly drained from the fight and from maintaining the protective ice-dome around the genin under his protection. So, much like she had to Kiba after their fight with the Akatsuki, she pressed her hand to the middle of the other teen's lower back, to the big chakra-point just above the tailbone, and adjusted her chakra as well as she could to his wavelength.

"A boost." She murmured when she felt Haku tense beneath her hand, "To do what needs to be done."

"You are far kinder than I deserve." Haku replied, a weight behind his words that Hinata chose not to read in to. "Will you take the genin a safe distance away? I can't afford distractions with this. I promise I won't let you get hurt by my technique."

Hinata chanced a glance at the ice dome that was keeping the genin from harm, startled to realise that she recognised one of the girls on the team. The girl that had reminded her of Hanabi, whose team she'd left alive after murdering their sensei, back when her and Shino were making their way back to Konoha after having miraculously survived the Akatsuki.

"On three?" she asked instead of contemplating that thought any further and felt more than saw Haku nod.

"One," Haku counted as he batted away a volley of shuriken with the flat of his tanto, "two," Hinata lashed out with a kick and threw a Water Bullet when she saw one of the Kumo-nin make the signs for a Fire technique, using the resulting steam to hide the three kunai she threw at his groin, "three!"

Hinata jumped towards the genin just as Haku released his control over the dome. She grabbed all three children as well as she could and flash-stepped one-two-three to a branch not too far from where Kakashi was hiding, depositing the children there and bringing a finger to her lips even as with her other hand she wove a notice-me-not genjutsu over them.

She knew Kakashi must have noticed her or at the very least sensed where the genin had landed, but she didn't let herself get anxious about it, hoping that Kakashi's moral compass wouldn't allow him to hurt the genin or allow them to get hurt even if they were not genin he was directly tasked with protecting.

Then, Hinata jumped right back down to where Haku was, feeling the temperature difference significantly as she touched down, though Haku kept his word and kept her out of the range of his technique.

Although Haku hadn't mentioned it, after a few seconds it became clear to Hinata's eyes that, while having their blood frozen in their veins was painful, it wasn't immediately fatal to the Kumo-nin, particularly not for the two who seemed more stone than human, a thick coating of rock covering their skin.

Haku, even with the boost of chakra she'd given him, was pale in the face and panting, teetering on the edge of chakra exhaustion after pulling off this final technique, so Hinata weighed their options and decided to take matters into her own hands.

Summoning her Twin Lion Fists technique, she flashed to where the one of remaining Kumo-nin was still standing and drove her chakra-encased fist into the man's chest. She didn't wait around for him to fall, well-aware that the second Kumo-nin had noticed and was already moving; instead, she flashed again, meeting him half way, and drove her fist into his abdomen just as his rock-covered fist sank into her side.

Hinata coughed, her lips and lungs burning with the icy air of Haku's technique, but she remained on her feet while the Kumo-nin toppled to the ground, his technique dispersing as he lost control of his chakra, the skin revealed by the crumbling rock beginning to turn black from the extreme cold.

Hinata waited a beat, but the clearing was finally still, the Kumo-nin dead or dying, but no longer a threat.

She deactivated her Byakugan and slowly turned to face Haku, an apology on the tip of her tongue-

-only to find herself being pulled into a rough hug, Haku's hands cold even through the layers of her thick jacket, his hold around her shoulders tight and desperate, yet his embrace was solid, comforting.

"Thank you." Haku whispered into her hair, his voice soft and thin but the gratitude in it genuine.

Not trusting her own voice just then, Hinata merely wrapped her own arms around the boy's waist and squeezed briefly, wondering why she didn't feel any discomfort in doing so.

She didn't really know Haku, she hadn't known him in her first life, she'd just witnessed him kill five Kumo-nin with one technique, yet she didn't fear him. More than that, she felt safe, even though they were still in the middle of the battlefield, Haku's genin and Kakashi mere feet away.

Kakashi.

Realising with a start that they weren't alone, Hinata let go and stepped back, prompting Haku to do the same. The smile he directed at her when she dared meet his eyes was warm and grateful, and Hinata couldn't stand it.

She took another step back.

"G-get back safe." She managed, the only acknowledgement that Haku had spoken she was able to give.

Haku's smile fell back into the placid, polite expression he'd donned when she'd first met him, and Hinata realised that he, too, had remembered that their friendship wasn't a normal one.

Konoha and Kiri weren't at war, but they weren't allies.

Yet Hinata had just helped eliminate a small platoon of Kumo shinobi to save a Kiri team.

"Likewise." Haku murmured, then, with a final glance that she didn't dare meet, disappeared, and a moment later, Hinata felt the three genin's chakra signatures disappear as well.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, glancing briefly at her hands. By the way her heart was still hammering in her chest, she felt like they should've been shaking, but they were still.

Scraped and bloodied, but without a single tremble in sight.

A moment later, she felt more than saw Kakashi touch down beside her.

There was a sigh, then she felt Kakashi touch the back of her neck, and a moment later, she stopped being able to feel her chakra.

"I want you to understand that I really don't want to do this." Kakashi told her when she rounded on him, alarmed, and if she was reading the look in his eyes right, he was genuinely apologetic. "But I have to take you in to T&I."

Then, Hinata's world went dark.