Neji couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing.
He'd been able to gather a dozen Branch members he trusted, two Elders, four jounin, two couples, one of whom with their recently-sealed child, and a civilian.
And, in front of them all, Hinata, her presence negligible under the scrutiny of the Elders and the jounin, but the fear that Neji would've expected to find in her expression was absent.
"Thank you all for coming." Hinata began quietly, and immediately, any chatter died out, all their attention on the young heiress. "And I apologise for the secrecy."
Hinata looked around the gathered group, then seemed to falter, as if not having expected to get this far and uncertain of how to proceed. Body moving before his brain could catch up, Neji took a step so he was by his cousin's side, hand twitching with the reflex to comfort, or reassure, despite how uncharacteristic the action would've been from him.
But it seemed his mere presence at her side was enough to propel Hinata onwards, because once she stopped gazing at him with wide, awed eyes, she turned back to their clansmen and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before she spoke again.
"I hate the Caged Bird seal." She confessed softly, and that got a reaction, though Hinata didn't allow it to cut her off. "I decided a long time ago that my first act as Clan Head will be to do something about it."
"What can you do?" One of the jounin, Masahiro, demanded, his words flat but his eyes narrow. "Respectfully, but I've had it longer than you've been alive, Hinata-sama."
"Not to mention that what you speak of is treason." The other jounin, Kise, continued, his own suspicion far more obvious than Masahiro's.
"It is." Hinata agreed simply, and Neji could tell how her easy agreement startled the gathered crowd more than any loud denial. Was this why Hinata did it? "And I would understand it if you chose to report me."
"But you called us here anyway." One of the Elders murmured, similarly calm to Hinata herself, though there was a barely-perceptible quirk to his lips. "Why?"
"Because I do not want to wait until I am Clan Head." Hinata confessed, and Neji understood why she'd wanted to break the news to a smaller group first.
Hinata didn't seem to believe in breaking the news gently.
"What can you do, before then?" the civilian, Makoto-san, asked quietly, and Neji only belatedly remembered that Makoto hadn't started as a civilian.
The empty sockets where his eyes should've been spoke for themselves.
"I can start removing it." Hinata confessed, and that, more than anything, garnered a reaction.
"Hinata-sama, forgive me, but…we are not interested in false hope or false promises." Izuki's mother asked, her hand on her son's newly-covered forehead, her expression pinched. "What can you actually do for us? Removing the seal is impossible."
And Hinata, instead of replying, lifted her fringe.
The hush that fell around the group was instantaneous.
"There are laws about seals, and what individuals can do if they find themselves sealed against their will." Hinata explained quietly, though her voice sounded loud in the startled silence. "I commissioned Jiraiya of the Sannin to remove my seal, and he succeeded."
"Then why do you still have it?" Izuki demanded, his high, childish voice piercing through the quiet and making Hinata flinch.
"Because it is still the same seal you have, but without the torture element." She took a deep breath, then met each of the Branch members' expectant gazes. "There is logic in taking steps to protect our dojutsu. But the practice only makes sense if all Hyuuga do it."
Silence again as the words sank in, before Masahiro spoke again. "You mean to make the Main House wear the seal, too, once you're Head?"
"Yes." Hinata confessed, and Neji swallowed the instinctive surge of vindictive satisfaction that washed over him at the mental image of Uncle Hiashi with the seal on his forehead. "But before that, I mean to remove your seals. No Clan can ever be united if half of it lives in fear of the other."
"And what have you to say, Neji?" Kise questioned, and Neji startled, foolishly not having expected his presence to be scrutinised. "Do you believe this?"
"Hinata-sama told me of her plans weeks ago." Neji revealed, intentionally not looking at Hinata, meeting Kise's gaze evenly and making sure his expression was devoid of any emotion. "I'll believe in any future in which my children do not have to bear the seal that dooms them to spend their lives in servitude to others."
"The seal. How would you remove it?" one of the Elders asked, his expression contemplative, though whether at his question, or Neji's answer, Neji wasn't sure.
"I have been studying fuinjutsu, and Jiraiya-sama was kind enough to write out detailed instructions." Hinata revealed, not bothering to address the murmur at the news that she had studied fuinjutsu.
"But…there is a catch." Hinata continued, her voice sad now as she revealed what she'd told Neji the previous evening. "The seal interfaces with the central nervous system. It's how it causes pain. Jiraiya-sama informed me that sometimes, there may be complications to the removal process. Particularly in the older seal-bearers, or if the seal itself had ever been used. I need you to understand the risks."
"Paralysis is preferable to servitude, Hinata-sama." Masahiro murmured, answering the question for all gathered. "We understand."
From there, Neji almost couldn't believe how quickly things progressed.
Izuki had been chosen as the first to have his seal removed, by virtue of his seal being the newest and the risk of paralysis being the lowest.
When everyone watched Izuki's forehead, Neji watched Hinata. Her chakra was so carefully stifled, he'd have struggled to believe she was there if he wasn't looking right at her. neji knew, because hed seen her in the morning, that Hinata was far from relaxed at the prospect of the meeting with the Branch members, yet her hands when she painted the seal matrix on Izukis forehead, were steady, and her expression perfectly smooth.
And then, what could've been minutes or hours into the silent process, Hinata's chakra flared, the seal on Izuki's forehead burned white, then begun to unravel until his forehead was unmarred once more.
Izuki's mother let out a sob then swept the boy into her arms, her husband coming around the lay a heavy hand on Izuki's head, his eyes glassy for all that he maintained his silence.
"I understand that you want him to accept the new seal now?" Izuki's mother asked, her hands over her son's ears, her gaze bitter but resolute.
"It would be safer for him, yes." Hinata agreed quietly, drawing the first sound from Izuki's father – a bitter snort.
"Safer, should any Main House see him with his forehead bare?" he jeered, but Hinata wasn't the type to be intimidated by that sort of behaviour; she nodded.
"Yes."
And so Neji watched as Hinata painted the seal, the pattern the exact same as the original, though the colour differed ever so slightly, edging more into cerulean than teal.
He had no doubt that the change was intentional, knowing Hinata as he did now.
An hour later, the impromptu meeting had dispersed of all but the two Elders, and Neji found himself trailing after Hinata when the two Elders had gestured for her to come further into the treeline at the top of the Hokage monument, their expressions inscrutable.
"Hinata-sama. A question." Atsumu-san murmured once they stopped, sizing Hinata up thoughtfully.
"Hideki didn't put that seal on you." Osamu-san continued, and Neji felt himself pale. "Did he, child?"
But Hinata just took a breath, her expression betraying nothing, and Neji had never thought that there would come a time when he would be more expressive than Hinata.
"What makes you say that?" she finally asked, her words even, measured, her chakra stifled to the point of nonexistence.
"The fact that we are old, Hinata-sama." Atsumu-san replied, his words a statement, an indisputable fact of life.
"Old enough to have witnessed the evolution of your esteemed Father and Grandfather." Osamu-san carried on, his words softer than Atsumu's, his voice wispier.
"How does that fit in with your accusation?" Neji demanded, finally finding his own voice, his hackles up for all that he had been the one to bring Atsumu and Osamu to Hinata.
This wasn't how this was supposed to go, they were meant to have more time before anybody found out about the lie, it was supposed to protect them not discredit-!
"I find it curious that you are getting defensive, Neji." Atsumu remarked, and Neji immediately quietened, his mouth snapping shut so sharply that his teeth ached.
"You probably think your Father strict, do you not?" Atsumu addressed Hinata then, as if his exchange with Neji hadn't happened. "Deeply entrenched in Clan values and traditions?"
"He didn't use to be this way." Osamu mused, his voice sounding far away, as if deep in thought. "Him and Hizashi-sama were rather progressive, in their youth."
"So progressive, in fact, that your Grandfather was worried about the survival of the House system following your Father's succession." Atsumu added, something that once may have been a snort at the end of his words.
"Forgive me, but I do not see how my Father's…past relates to your accusation." Hinata murmured, and Neji wondered whether her choice of words was any indication of her waning patience.
Even Hinata had to eventually reach her limit. Neji wondered whether he wasn't about to witness it happen.
"The reason we know that Hideki didn't put the seal on you," Atsumu began, his gaze sharpening, "was because he was there when your Grandfather made you the anchor for the Caged Bird seal when you were born."
The silence that fell in light of that declaration made Neji's ears pop.
Then, Hinata's famed control faltered and he was treated to a split-second of soul-crushing, paralysing fear mixed with freezing, suffocating fury before Hinata snuffed her signature out once more.
Though it did little to erase Neji's fear at what that split-second had revealed.
"W-What?" Hinata finally asked, seemingly as lost as Neji was, the words on repeat in his mind yet refusing to make sense.
Impossible.
"Before Hizashi-sama and your mother's deaths, your Father was on the path to do away with the House system," Osamu told them in that same, almost dream-like voice, as if completely unaffected by the gravitas of the news that him and Atsumu had dropped on them, "largely due to his brother's influence, I believe."
"Your Grandfather, in a bid to prevent that from happening, anchored the existing seals to his newborn granddaughter's fledgeling chakra system." Atsumu carried on, meeting Hinata's gaze squarely. "Your chakra system, Hinata-sama."
When neither Hinata nor Neji spoke for long seconds, Atsumu sighed.
"Normally, the anchor is inherited upon succession. By sealing it into you when your chakra system was barely developed, he ensured that removal would be nigh-impossible without causing extensive scarring to your chakra core, operating under the assumption that, should your Father try to act on his revolutionary leanings, he would choose to continue the tradition rather than cause permanent damage to his then-only child."
"Your difficulty shaping chakra when you were younger, and your smaller-than-average reserves were likely due to your coils having been overloaded by the anchors." Osamu added, for the first time looking straight at Hinata, the fog in his gaze clearing slightly.
"So Hideki didn't put that seal on you, because he knew that, even if you had been disinherited, you would have never been sealed." Atsumu summed up, shooting a brief glance at Neji. "Because you, yourself, are the anchor for over a hundred Caged Bird seals."
"So, child." Osamu sighed, and Neji fought the ridiculous instinct to offer the Elder a chair. "How did you come by the seal on your forehead?"
Hinata took a quiet breath, held it, then let it out slowly. Neji couldn't see what she was thinking, her face inscrutable and her face even more stifled than before, but he reckoned she was deciding whether to maintain the ruse or come clean.
"I commissioned it." she finally admitted, and Neji lost some of the tension in his shoulders.
"Why?" Atsumu inquired simply, as if it really could be so easy.
"My Chunin Exams were in Kumo. I wanted the protection." Hinata explained bluntly, and Neji stifled a wince. "And I want to end the power imbalance between the Houses. Neji-nii-san is proof that being Branch or Main House doesn't dictate our ability as shinobi, only the opportunities we get."
"And finding a way to remove the seal factors into that…how?" Osamu asked quietly, seeming genuinely interested for once.
"Protecting the dojutsu shouldn't involve torture." Was Hinata's only response.
"Good to know we're on the same page." Atsumu muttered, and with those words, the tension that had been in the air since they'd come to a stop finally broke.
Hinata swayed, and immediately, Neji was at her side.
"Hinata-sama-?" he checked, alarm and concern at the forefront of his mind, but Hinata waved him off after he stabilised her.
"I-I'm sorry, I need to talk to a med-nin." She whispered, and it was only then that Neji noticed the white tint to her skin, how pallid she suddenly seemed.
"Child." Osamu addressed, and Hinata slowly, reluctantly, turned her attention to the man. "We've lived half a century with the seal. You need not worry for us."
"Your seals are not the only ones I am apparently an anchor for." Hinata shot back, sharper than anything she'd said so far, her worsened physical state apparently impacting her ability to remain her usual politeness. "If you'll excuse me."
She straightened, stumbling only slightly once she was no longer leaning her weight on Neji, then, with a backwards glance at Neji or a bow to the Elders, she disappeared in a sealless Shunshin.
"And she doesn't need to do any of this." Neji pointed out after a beat, even though Hinata was no longer there to need his defence. "She chose to."
"That she did." Osamu mused, staring into the distance, as if he could see where Hinata had headed to. "Let us hope she doesn't come to regret it."
Hinata didn't go to see a med-nin.
She kept her panic at bay long enough to slip into the Nara forest, write a message to Jiraiya on the very paper she'd stolen from Shikaku's desk, write another to Shikaku, and dropped both off with Yoshino with a quiet request for the woman to pass them on to her husband.
Then, Hinata headed in the direction of the Inuzuka Compound, needing comfort and stability and knowing that, unlike the Nara, Kiba's family wouldn't ask too many questions.
She managed to stave off the panic-attack she could feel building for almost the whole way, but her knees gave out before she reached the side gates of the Inuzuka Compound and she hit the ground just before she made it out of the treeline, her breath rushing out of her in a gasping sob.
And then, it was as if the floodgates had opened, and Hinata lost it.
She was already an anchor. Has been since she was a child; a newborn, if the Branch Elders were to be believed. And her Grandfather had been the one to do it.
If the Elders had told her the truth, then there would be no way for her to free the entire Branch House from the seal without risking irrevocable damage to her own network.
As she shook and shuddered on the ground, trying desperately to quiet her heaving breaths to something that could be passed off as breathlessness instead of a breakdown, a thought made it through the fog of helpless frustration that had been clouding her mind since the Elders had dropped the bombshell on her, and she understood why she hadn't been sealed even after being disinherited in her first life.
"Hinata-chan?"
Hinata's stuttered breath caught in her throat at the sudden call of her name and she jumped, whirling around at the same time as she tried to hide her reddened face and wet eyes.
"H-Hana-san." she choked out, trying not to flinch when the other girl came closer and crouched in front of her.
"Just Hana." Hana reminded her patiently, reaching into her chunin jacket and pulling out a packet of tissues that she held out to Hinata.
"I- yes, sorry." Hinata murmured, taking the tissues and trying her best to pull herself together. "T-thank you. again."
"Apology and thanks neither needed nor accepted." Hana replied cheerfully, taking back the tissues and offering her water bottle instead. "What happened, Hinata-chan?"
"Just-" Hinata hiccoughed after taking a sip, wondering how much to tell the older girl, "-upsetting news."
Hana regarded her calmly, her eyes sympathetic, though luckily lacking pity. "Anything I can help with?"
"No." Hinata shook her head, momentarily overwhelmed by the wave of nausea that followed the movement. "But thank you for o-offering."
Hana hummed, smiling at Hinata crookedly. "Judging by where you are, I'm guessing you were on your way to our Compound."
"I-I apologise if it was presumptuous of me." Hinata said, handing back the water bottle and feeling a bit more like herself. "But yes, I was."
"Not presumptuous. You're always welcome." Hana corrected, an unusual vehemence to her words that surprised Hinata so much that she briefly forgot to be embarrassed about her state.
Then, Hana was rising to her feet and holding out a hand to help Hinata up. "Come on, I'll give you a piggyback."
"I-what?" Hinata stuttered even as she accepted the hand, then found herself being swung onto Hana's back, reflexively wrapping her arms and legs around the other girl before her brain caught up with her body. "Hana!"
"Hey, you got my name right!" Hana cheered, even as she set off towards the Compound, looking completely unbothered at the prospect of Hinata clinging to her back like a monkey.
As Hinata could've, and probably should've, predicted, after so much time spent with the Inuzuka, the rest of the day went much the same way; she played with the puppy ninken once Kiba got home and released her from the spinning hug he always seemed to catch her in, actually managed to gather her courage enough to ask to spar with Hana, then helped with dinner.
She found out that, in the end, Kiba hadn't given Genma-san a fruit basket, but a carefully-collected and preserved collection of poisonous plants that he'd found, traded, or bought on his mission to Suna.
"I thought he was gonna start cryin'." Kiba told her with a sharp grin, but the look in his eyes more fond than mocking as they both lay on Kiba's large mattress, Kiba starfishing and staring at the ceiling while Hinata was curled up, cat-like, with her back to the wall. "I think he cracked my rib when he hugged me."
The next morning, Hinata and Kiba headed to their morning practice, Kiba grumbling all the while that he 'wasn't surprised no more that Hinata had become scary if this was the time she always started training', which Hinata was both entertained and embarrassed by.
And then, half-way through morning training, Hinata's routine was interrupted by an unexpected arrival.
/
"Hinata. Could you come with me for a moment?" Shikaku requested as he made eye-contact with the girl, and Hinata was moving before he'd even finished speaking, though there was mild alarm on her face.
"You're not in trouble, I just need a favour." He clarified, lowering his voice when she neared, and some of the tension bled out of her frame even as she turned to sign a quick explanation to Kurenai.
"How can I help?" she inquired as soon as Kurenai gave her assent, and Shikaku couldn't fully hide his slight double-take at the girl's easy agreement.
"Just like that?" he asked, unable to help himself, and when Hinata merely shot him a ghost of a smile, he huffed a quiet, tired laugh. "Are you familiar with the concept of a Shadow Clone?"
"Yes." Hinata confirmed, though Shikaku wasn't really surprised by the admission. What did surprise him was what she added afterwards; "But I've never tried to make one."
"Given that it's a forbidden technique, you shouldn't even know how to make one." He replied, not quite snidely, but definitely pointedly, but he continued before Hinata had a chance to panic about what she'd said. "But that's not what I wanted to ask. Is there a way for the Byakugan to distinguish between a clone and the original?"
"N-no." Hinata murmured, and though Shikaku had been expecting a similar answer, it was still disappointing to be proven right. "Clones are identical copies of the caster."
"I thought you might say that." Shikaku sighed, running a hand down his face, though right before he closed his eyes, he saw Hinata fidget, almost as if- "Is there something you want to add?"
"It's- just a theory." The girl hedged, and Shikaku's attention sharpened immediately, curiosity piqued.
Hinata, in the year and change that he'd known her, had proven herself to be meticulous, so careful it verged on paranoid, and very, very discerning with her words. He knew that she wouldn't be even mentioning any theory if it was what passed for 'theory' for most people.
"But it might be possible to differentiate the clone from the caster if I could see the caster with their chakra at full capacity."
Shikaku stilled, stopping mid-step in the forest. "Explain."
"Clones are copies of the caster." The girl repeated carefully, her gaze darting down and a small frown twisting her brow as she tried to do what he'd asked. "And the caster's chakra is perfectly split between the original and the copy. So when the volume of the caster's chakra is halved, the volumetric flow rate of their whole network changes."
Shikaku…stared.
"The…volumetric flow rate." He echoed blandly, staring at the girl blankly, understanding her words on the semantic level but struggling to reconcile the message with its source, particularly with 'respectfully, I am a child' still echoing in his mind from time to time.
The first time she'd come up in conversation, Shikaku had dismissed Kakashi's assumption about the girl being a hidden genius.
But, over the last few months, Shikaku has had to admit that the Copy-nin's suggestion that the Hyuuga heiress had been intentionally hiding her intellect after what had happened to the other heir-genius of a Noble Clan, had begun to have a lot more merit.
"Shikaku-san?" The girl called, and Shikaku snapped back to alertness, absently musing that if Hinata had had a smidge less composure and noble upbringing, she'd have been waving her hand in front of his nose. "Have I- have I said something wrong?"
Shikaku sighed, feeling a no-longer uncommon spike of frustration towards one Hyuuga Hiashi.
"No, not at all." He assured Hinata quickly, offering her a small but genuine smile to support his words. "So, the volumetric flow rate. What about it?"
"If I can calculate it on the caster's full reserves, then I would know if they've been halved on the clone." Hinata explained quietly, and Shikaku paused, pinning her with a thoughtful look.
"You said it's a theory, but you sound as if you've done it before." He pointed out, keeping his tone carefully free of judgement, but Hinata's cheeks still coloured at the gentle accusation.
"O-on myself only." She replied, and Shikaku couldn't quite bite back his curious; "How?"
"When I meditate," she began, sounding as if she didn't quite understand Shikaku's bafflement but was too polite to say so, "sometimes I measure the time it takes for a unit of chakra to leave and re-enter my central reserves."
Shikaku blinked. "You can track a unit of chakra around your pathways?"
He was certain that keeping his disbelief from showing on his face would've been far more challenging a task if he was talking to almost anybody else.
"I meditate a l-lot." Hinata admitted, a wry quirk to her lips now, and Shikaku huffed a laugh himself, too, before he sobered.
"I want you to know that when I walked up to you today, I only wanted to ask you a question." He told her seriously, noting that the girl snapped to attention at his change in tone. "But now…I'm going to have to involve you further, and for that, I'm sorry, Hinata."
The girl just looked at him for a few seconds after that, seemingly assessing him just as thoroughly as he'd done it to her, time and time again, before she sighed. "What do you need, Shikaku-san?"
"I have a suspicion that someone has been using clones in circumstances they shouldn't have been using them, and I need proof." Shikaku explained, offering as much of an explanation as he dared.
"Your proof will still only be my word." Hinata pointed out, an observation that Shikaku couldn't help but smile wryly at, resisting the urge to ruffle the girl's hair the way he'd seen Shiranui do.
"I happen to trust your word." He replied, starting to walk again to allow Hinata a few seconds to collect herself, his admission seemingly striking her speechless. "Are you free right now?"
Tsunade was having a normal afternoon.
A calm, almost quiet afternoon, all things considered, even with Inoichi and Ibiki going through the list of registered Intel and T&I agents who had been declared MIA or AWOL over the years yet who still, somehow, appeared on the sign-offs in Intel documents.
Then, the door opened and Shikaku slipped in, an unnatural quiet settling around the room as the man closed the door behind himself, the look on his face was viciously satisfied.
"I have something we can bring Shimura in on." He declared, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms.
"It's barely been a week." Ibiki pointed out flatly, dark shadows under his eyes, and Tsunade appreciated and shared the man's dry disbelief.
"I'm efficient." Shikaku shot back, sounding like he'd been spending too much time around Hatake, for all that it had been Shikaku's decision to keep the Copy-nin out of most of their proceedings. "Remember how we were going through the notes of the Council of Elders? How Shimura hasn't been signing the documents with his blood in almost a year?"
At their confused but agreeing hums, Shikaku huffed wryly, though the light of self-satisfaction hadn't yet faded from his eyes. "I had a theory that he'd been using Shadow Clones."
"Sending a Shadow Clone to the meeting in his stead?" Tsunade checked, throwing the idea around in her mind.
"Yeah. Which was why he couldn't actually cut his thumb to sign the documents." Shikaku confirmed, and Tsunade frowned.
"Except Shadow Clones can sustain damage" She pointed out, remembering her granduncle's lectures all too well. "That's their whole point."
"Yes." Shikaku agreed, and Tsunade appreciated the man's sense that he didn't try to argue the matter with her. "But their tolerance decreases in proportion to the distance to the caster."
"What are you getting at?" Inoichi asked after a beat of silence passed between the four of them, clearly more than used to having to prompt Shikaku into sharing his thought processes.
"I couldn't figure out how his information was so up to date." Shikaku confessed, an edge of frustration to his words even after, apparently, having succeeded in figuring it out. "Especially since the moment he steps out onto the street, he's immediately recognisable."
"Alright, I'll bite." Ibiki rumbled, sounding like he'd have rather been anywhere else. "How do Shadow Clones factor in?"
"He's been sending Shadow Clones to the Council of Elders meetings." Shikaku declared, and he sounded almost impressed by Shimura's scheming. "And you know what's on the opposite end of the Village to the Hokage tower, and underground? Intel's mission records room."
Distantly, Tsunade wondered whether the stereotype of the Nara Clan being lazy wasn't a self-cultivated one to begin with. Because the shiver of pure fear that crawled down her spine at the realisation of just how much Shikaku saw was concerning, and she was the Senju Princess. She didn't doubt that the average shinobi would react far more volatilely when confronted with proof of the same.
"That would explain why his clones would be susceptible to even minimal damage." Inoichi mused, seemingly the only one to have taken Shikaku's words at face value.
"And how he's so annoyingly well-informed." Ibiki added with a grunt, and Shikaku offered the man a quicksilver smile.
"Mmhm. I also found out yesterday that the mission records room is accessible from the old evacuation tunnels." Tsunade snapped to attention at that, her eyes widening as they wordlessly pressed the Nara for an explanation. "I thought they'd all been filled in after the Kyuubi attack, but it turns out that some had remained intact."
"This is all still conjecture though." Tsunade couldn't help but point out, her own mounting vendetta against Shimura not stopping her from evaluating Shikaku's claims objectively.
"Not quite." The Nara murmured, and for the first time since walking into the office, a glint of something other than sharp self-satisfaction passed through his eyes. "I found a way to tell a clone from the original. Or rather, I asked a Hyuuga who doesn't ask questions and she figured it out."
Tsunade took a second to absorb that, but Inoichi beat her to the realisation; "You asked Hiashi's kid?!"
"I only wanted confirmation that the Byakugan couldn't differentiate Shadow Clones from the original." Shikaku explained, and Tsunade thought she saw the man wince at his friend's tone. "What I got was a teachable method to tell them apart that doesn't even necessarily require the Byakugan."
"So the theory's no longer a theory? Bastard's been using Shadow Clones in the meetings?" Tsunade checked, staring at the Nara expectantly.
"And going to raid the mission records room at a time when you, the other Elders, and most in-Village ANBU would be centered around the Hokage tower." He confirmed, that odd mix of frustration and reluctant regard permeating his tone once again. "He even has one of his Intel ROOT plants guarding the door from the outside to make sure nobody comes in while he's there."
"How did you find this out? This would've required more than just your brains, especially if you're willing to use it as proof." Ibiki demanded shrewdly and Tsunade wondered whether the man would be interested in sticking around the Tower more often; it was rather liberating to have someone voice the thoughts she shared but couldn't say.
"Hinata was training with her teammates. They were understandably upset when I took her away to have her study real Shimura's chakra pattern the morning before the Council of Clans meeting." Shikaku explained, back to his usual droll tone now that the news had been delivered.
"They're trackers. They found us, and Aburame-kun put a bug on Shimura. Unprompted, don't look at me like that, Ino." Tsunade huffed a tired laugh at the fact that Inoichi seemed to be the only one capable of instilling the sense of shame into the Nara Head. "So when Hinata was figuring out whether it was a clone or the real one at the actual meeting, Aburame-kun and I retraced the path his kikaichu had taken."
"Do you realise how dangerous that was? If you'd been caught, you wouldn't have put just yourself, but Shibi's son in danger too!" Inoichi exploded, apparently no longer satisfied with judging in silence.
"Yeah, Ino, I realise." Shikaku returned dryly, sounding like it wasn't his first time having an argument along these lines. "But we weren't caught, and Shibi's son has a grudge the size of the Land of Wind against our esteemed Elder."
"How are we going to use this against Danzo, though? I think you missed the most important part of the plan." Ibiki pointed out just as dry, but Shikaku shook his head.
"This is where the 'teachable method' to tell Shadow Clones apart comes in." He replied, releasing his ponytail and running his fingers through his hair, before retying it again as he finished, "We'll need to stage it so that the next Council of Clans meeting has a sensor ANBU guard."
"On a scale of one to ten, how insane is what you're about to tell us?" Inoichi asked on a sigh, settling more comfortably into his seat, fingers already pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I'm not too familiar with chakra control mechanics, but on my scale, an eleven." Shikaku said bluntly, the corner of his lips twitching up briefly at Inoichi's muttered curse.
"Fantastic." The Yamanaka sighed, with the resigned acceptance of someone who's been dealing with similar bullshit for decades, and Tsunade felt a brief flicker of kinship with the Yamanaka. "Out with it."
"Hinata can track a single unit of chakra around someone's network, allowing her to calculate the volumetric flow rate of their reserves. Since a Shadow Clone is half of the user's chakra, the flow rate changes with every clone created."
Tsuande blinked, trying to make sense of the info-dump as best as she could, but, once again, Inoichi beat her to the question.
"Which is why you had her look at Shimura's full reserves."
"Precisely." Shikaku nodded, visibly pleased at how well Inoichi had followed his explanation. "And it'd be teachable for the sensors. They wouldn't be able to see the chakra as well as the Hyuuga can, but they'd still have better chances of tracking it than non-sensors."
The full implications of what the Nara was saying finally registered, and Tsunade put her face in her hands, fighting the surge of hysterical, disbelieving laughter that threatened to escape.
"Tsunade-sama?" Inoichi checked, the concern in his voice touching but misplaced, and Tsunade shook her head.
"Volumetric flow rate." She repeated, a few stray chuckles escaping her despite her best efforts. "Calculating the volumetric flow rate with the naked eye?"
She snorted, shaking her head as if the action could dispel the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. "How desperate would I look if I bumped the kid up to Tokubetsu barely three months after her chunin promotion?"
In the silence that fell, Tsunade had her answer, but it didn't stop the fact that she fully intended to do something about the Hyuuga's rank situation.
The kid had practically reverse-engineered her granduncle's Total Dark technique. That alone was worthy of merit, and that was all without taking into consideration her prowess in other areas.
The question of her promotion was one of when, not if.
Yugao wasn't sure how she'd be welcomed by Hinata.
Or if she'd be welcomed at all.
Despite the less-than-ideal end to the spar, she hadn't intended on avoiding the younger girl. It had just…happened. And knowing Hinata the way she did, she wasn't surprised when the girl didn't try to seek her out afterwards.
But seeing Hinata's name on the list of those approved for the skill assessment necessary to compete in the Jounin Spar had blindsided Yugao. It didn't matter that the spar wouldn't be for another ten months, nor that it was only one of the requirements for jounin, and Hinata still had to meet the mission requirements and amass enough superiors' recommendations.
Finding herself so left out of the loop had…stung.
So here she was, back at the training grounds she knew the girl frequented, early enough in the morning to hopefully catch the Hyuuga before any of her teammates, or, Kami-forbid, Kakashi showed up.
When Hinata arrived, she noticed Yugao immediately, and Yugao tried not to take it to heart when the girl stilled, clearly unsure of the reason for her presence at the training grounds.
"Good morning." Hinata greeted after a beat, and Yugao didn't miss the omission of 'senpai' from the greeting.
"Morning." Yugao returned, the word stilted, the dynamic awkward in a way it had never been before. She sighed explosively, frustrated with herself, and took a step towards Hinata, keeping her hands in the girl's line of sight.
"I wasn't avoiding you intentionally. Kimiko is fine and doesn't hold the spar against you, and neither do I. As far as I'm concerned, there's no ill will between me, my friends, and you, and I'm sorry if my absence the last few weeks made you think there was."
"I-I… I'm sorry, too." The girl murmured, dropping the eye-contact in favour of gathering herself to say what she needed to. "I lost control during the spar, and then I panicked. I didn't mean to- to hurt Kimiko-san."
"You didn't." Yugao reassured. If anything, the only thing that had been hurt on Kimikp after the spar had been her pride. "And she's had much worse, trust me."
"I do." The girl murmured, and it took Yugao a moment to realise she was referring to Yugao asking her to trust her. "It's good to see you, senpai."
"It's good to see you, too." Yugao replied, grateful they had aired out what had been weighing them down, but hating the uncertainty still floating in the air.
She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. Right. She was the adult here. She had to initiate the communication, if she wanted something.
Inhale. Exhale. Swallow pride. Try for a smile. Then-
"Can I get a hug?"
It was telling, the way Hinata barrelled into her as soon as the words were out of her mouth, deceptively strong arms wrapping around Yugao's chest and squeezing, showing Yugao just how much Hinata had needed the embrace.
Wrapping her own arms around the younger girl's shoulders and allowing herself to sink into the hug, Yugao tried to put the last few weeks of back-to-back, soul-staining missions behind her. it never got easier, and Hayate's absence always showed itself at the worst moments, bug Yugao was learning to ask for the comfort she needed.
It was…a process. She didn't begrudge Hinata the same hesitance.
So they stood like that for minutes, until finally, Yugao couldn't help herself – puling away only enough for her words to be heard instead of disappearing into Hinata's hair, she arched a brow at the girl.
"I saw your name on the list for skill assessment for the Jounin Spar. I know that's been the goal, but I didn't know we were talking this soon." She pulled the girl in again, pressing a kiss to the crown of Hinata's head and the certainty of her next words surprised even her. "But I have every faith in you."
But Hinata pulled away, meeting Yugao's gaze with wide eyes and an expression that didn't shine with pride or satisfaction, but utter bafflement. "…What?"
Realisation dawned slowly, but when it did, Yugao cringed.
Ah, shit.
"Uh, congratulations?"
Hiashi closed the door to the Hokage's office behind himself and turned, frowning once he realised that the private audience he'd requested with the Godaime wasn't actually private.
"Hokage-sama." He greeted, choosing to ignore the presence of Nara Shikaku and the Toad Sannin. "I have been going through my Clan's registers recently. I have found fourteen unaccounted for shinobi from the last five years."
"I have no input on how you run your Clan, Hiashi, you've made that clear." The Senju Princess responded, her amber gaze sharp and weighted as she met his eyes.
Hiashi didn't quite manage to restrain his frustrated scowl.
"Unaccounted for children." He clarified, ignoring the way Shikaku's attention seemed to sharpen at that tidbit. "Shinobi children, who either never completed the Academy or were never signed up."
"Have you found a common thread beyond that?" the Godaime asked, exchanging an unreadable glance with the Toad Sage, and Hiashi's scowl morphed into a frown as he regarded the woman suspiciously.
"What makes you think there is one?" he demanded, feeling off-balance by the question.
"Because there always is." The Toad Sage revealed, then gestured at Shikaku, who had extended his arm in a silent request for the files Hiashi had brought to the office.
A part of Hiashi, the part that itched to point out that he'd requested a private audience, wanted to refuse the request, but he held it back and handed the files over with minimal fanfare.
It didn't take the Nara long to find the common thread, but Hiashi was surprised at how unsurprised Shikaku appeared at his discovery.
"They were all orphaned." He announced on a sigh, exchanging another unreadable glance with the two Sannin. "Eleven Branch, three Main House."
"That shouldn't have mattered." Hiashi defended, indignation rising like a tidal wave at the perceived insult. "The Clan takes care of its own, regardless of House."
"Not everything is a personal attack, Hyuuga." The Toad Sannin told him tiredly, and if not for the haunted look in the man's eyes, Hiashi would've taken offense at the tone. "Calm down."
Shikaku waved the files, bringing Hiashi's attention back to the reason behind his visit.
"Can you find out how much time passed between the children becoming orphaned and their disappearance?" The Nara asked, his expression back to his usual bored mien. "The more recent ones should be easier."
"You know something." Hiashi accused, no longer willing to be taken for a fool. "What are you not telling me?"
"Aaand I've had enough. We'll look into your concerns, but you've exhausted my goodwill, please head for the door." The Toad Sage declared, rising from where he'd been leaning back against the windowsill and all-but towering over the rest of the room.
Hiashi stood tall, not going to allow himself to be intimidated and not understanding how the Hokage allowed her ex-teammate his behaviour. The Sannin seemed to notice Hiashi's defiance because the earlier fatigue shifted into something closer to fury.
"I'd recommend finding out what your darling father hasn't told you, particularly in regard to what he did to your daughter, before you start pointing fingers at your Hokage." The man advised, his eyes cold despite how much his chakra was raging, then added an acerbic "Good day, Hyuuga."
And Hiashi found himself unceremoniously booted out the door, though his mind was, for once, less on the indignity of his treatment at the Toad Sage's hands and more on the man's words.
What his father had done to his daughter?
What? And when?
And most importantly, how did Jiraiya of the Sannin know about it before Hiashi himself?
Back in the office, Tsunade sighed.
"We'll need to keep an eye on that." She announced, wondering how long Shikaku's task would actually manage to occupy Hiashi for.
"I'm just surprised he came to you." Jiraiya huffed, throwing a tired glare at the door. "Man seemed too stuck-up before to even consider admitting to something like that."
"What had his father done to Hinata?" Shikaku demanded, earning himself a warning look from the Toad Sannin, but before the man could press, there was a knock on the door, and, at the bid to come in, Kamizuki stuck his head through the small gap between the door and the frame.
"Tsunade-sama. Apologies the interruption, but we found a Kiri messenger at the Gates." He announced, and Tsunade understood why he'd been sent to break the news instead of Kotetsu.
She managed to exchange a raised eyebrow with Jiraiya before the door swung open further and a tall, baby-faced shinobi made his way into the office, a large sword strapped to his back.
"I carry Mizukage-sama's o-official response to the proposed treaty." He announced, inclining his head to Tsunade but not bowing beyond that, drawing a gruff huff from Jiraiya.
"Any reason your Mizukage did not see it fit to inform me that she'd be sending one of her shinobi to my Village?" Tsunade asked archly, pinning the boy – because for all the height and muscles and her suspicion as to just what group his sword belonged to, the shinobi before her couldn't be older than sixteen – with a sharp look, but he didn't cower.
"I am just a messenger, Hokage-sama, I cannot speak for Mei-sama's reasons." He replied evenly and Tsunade barely stifled her amusement at the politely worded don't shoot the messenger reminder.
"Alright. Let me see the message, messenger-boy." She ordered, holding out her hand for whatever missive the kid had been charged with bringing.
She probably should've been less surprised to find an actual treaty draft in the sealing scroll, along with a more personal note with the explanation.
"It's the official treaty she's drawn up." She muttered, feeling Jiraiya's gaze on her, for all that the man seemed to know not to read over her shoulder. "Looks fine, but I'll need you to have a look at it later. And an addendum-"
She scanned the other note, finding the explanation she'd wanted about Chojuro's presence in her office, as well as- "…Well, fuck."
In the back of her mind, she couldn't help but appreciate the woman's sheer nerve, wondering whether, in another life, the two of them would've gotten along.
"Kamizuki, can you show our Kiri guest to the visitor lodging?" she asked absently, barely sparing the chunin and their foreign guest a glance before she raised a hand to massage her temples, healing chakra at the ready, and huffed an exhausted laugh.
"Tsunade?" Jiraiya checked quietly, tone far more serious than she'd expected, and she shot the man a measured, assessing glance.
"The Mizukage agreed to the Hyuuga's request to have the stolen Byakugan back." She revealed, drawing a raised eyebrow from Jiraiya, her teammate clearly thinking along the same lines as she had: seems too easy. Tsunade grinned wryly, the expression devoid of humour. "Provided she beats its current owner in combat."
A beat of silence, before Jiraiya, too, snorted. "Are you going to allow it?"
Tsunade sighed, shooting a curious glance at Shikaku who'd been suspiciously silent since the Kiri-nin's arrival.
"It'll get her out of the Village for the first big move against Danzo." She replied, having learned her lesson to not look gift horses in the mouth. "You're going to Kiri, by the way."
"What?" Jiraiya startled, shooting her an incredulous look. "No, you called me here to help with Shimura!"
"And you are." Tsunade shot back, frustration mounting. "I can't go myself. I can't send Hatake because he's needed here, and frankly, I don't trust his diplomacy skills. Shikaku's out, too, so the questionable honour falls on you, Spymaster."
Jiraiya met her gaze, his refusal to accept the assignment warring with his realisation that Tsunade was right. "I'm no diplomat, hime."
"No, but there's no one better for reconnaissance." She replied, knowing her words to be true. "Shikaku. Ideas for the rest of the team?"
She wasn't surprised when the man seemed to have a response already prepared.
"Shiranui would be a good idea. He was Minato's guard and should worse come to worst, him and Namiashi can do the Hiraishin. Namiashi himself is a good fit for the parameters as well; he's reliable, jack of all trades, in a sense. They're used to working together and fairly sensible, all things considered."
"Two Tokubetsu, a Sannin, and a baby chunin?" Tsunade checked, almost amused by the notion. At least until she saw Shikaku's expression. "I'm not going to like what you have to say, am I?"
"Send Hinata's whole team." He suggested, a wry smirk twisting the corner of his lip, as if he, too, didn't like his suggestion. "I'm worried about Aburame-kun's grudge against Shimura, particularly now that he knows that something's being done. Getting him out of the Village removes the risk he'll try something."
Would he try something? Tsunade almost wanted to ask, but she'd learned, since assuming this post, that some questions are better left without an answer.
"And Kiba's is familiar with Genma, if Inoichi is to be believed." Shikaku finished, and Tsunade didn't miss who he'd left out.
"And Yuhi?" she pressed, not even surprised when Shikaku pressed his lips together, his expression saying all that his words hadn't. Still- "It'd be better optics to send another kunoichi."
"Do the Elders leave the Village?" Jiraiya asked after a beat, and Tsunade didn't bother holding back her incredulous glance, surprised at the mix of amusement and resignation on Jiraiya's face. "Send Koharu."
Tsunade wanted to ask if Jiraiya was sure, old memories of Jiraiya and Orochimaru always butting heads with their sensei's old teammates, but she could see, as much as she didn't want to, the logic of the suggestion.
"…Alright." She agreed, wondering when Jiraiya had gone and grown up. Then, another thought occurred to her. "Remember to tell the Hyuuga kid she's there to beat the guy and that's it. I don't want her particular brand of persuasion anywhere near the actual diplomatic proceedings."
Shikaku chuckled quietly, closing his eyes briefly, but Jiraiya just nodded, more than aware of what a headache the girl had been for Tsunade. "Her teammates?"
"Noses out of official business." Tsunade insisted, already aware that, even with that restriction, Team 8 would still manage to cause her a headache.
She was almost curious to see what they were going to do.
Needless to say, Hinata was more than a little shaken at the prospect of being part of the diplomatic mission to Kiri.
Kiba, however, was ecstatic.
"Mom and Hana have never been to the Village! Do you know how rarely I get to be the first to do something?" he crowed as they made their way out of the briefing, "And Genma-san's coming!"
"Stop making it sound like a vacation, kid." Namiashi-san chastised, though his words, despite their content, radiated the same relaxed amusement as Genma's often did. "We won't be welcomed."
"You ever done something similar, Namiashi-san?" Kiba rounded on the man, clearly sensing the same thing as Hinata had: that the brunet was speaking from experience, not arrogance.
"Once." He admitted, exchanging an unreadable glance with Genma. "To Iwa, with the Yondaime."
They fell silent for a beat, the sheer insanity of the concept of going to Iwa to guard a man who had singlehandedly wiped out hundreds of Iwagakure shinobi slow to sink in.
"I must also admit…a degree of excitement." Shino broke the silence, drawing Kiba's gleeful gaze onto himself. "Kirigakure is famed for their swordsmen, after all."
"Hell yeah!" Kiba cheered, holding out a fist to Shino which, to Hinata's never-ending surprise, Shino actually bumped.
Despite her dread, Hinata managed a smile for her teammates' antics as they walked ahead of her and fell into their usual light-hearted bickering. Then, she startled when a hand dropped to the crown of her head, though the touch was so familiar at this point that she only twitched for her weapons pouch.
"Nobody will let the Kiri-nin actually hurt you, Hinata." Genma murmured into her ear, his words too quiet for Kiba or Shino to overhear. Then, he straightened, though his hand didn't leave its post on her head. "You actually could stand to treat it like a vacation."
Hinata glanced up at the man, once more completely awed by how transparent she seemed to be to the man. Am I this obvious?
"No, far from it." Genma laughed, as if hearing the thought, the ever-present senbon clicking against his teeth as he flicked it to the side. "Call it a lucky guess for where your mind might've gone."
"Thank you." Hinata replied, appreciating that Genma's first instinct had been to comfort her once he'd noticed. "I-"
But, before she could finish, Hinata caught sight of the gates to the Hyuuga Compound, and her words left her in a shaky breath. Instead, she felt a longing for Yugao's hug from a few days back, and the feeling of complete safety that had swept over her when she'd been in the older kunoichi's arms.
She looked at Genma thoughtfully, heart in her throat, and twitched her hand, forcing herself to ask for what she didn't dare say out loud: 'can I get a hug?'
Genma seemed surprised for all of a second before he stopped, his hand shifted from the top of Hinata's head to the nape of her neck and he pulled her in, his other arm coming around her shoulders in a gentle embrace.
Hinata let herself soak in the warmth of the touch, one of her hands loosely fisted in the fabric by Genma's hip, the other hanging limply by her side as she simply breathed.
Then drew away with a shuddering breath and tried for a smile.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Genma-san, Namiashi-san." she bid, then, not letting herself think too hard on the raised eyebrow Namiashi-san had levelled at Genma, she twisted around and flash-stepped towards her Compound, slipping through the house on silent feet and disappearing into her room to pack.
What she hadn't expected was for the door to her room to slide open less than an hour after she'd arrived and to find her Father on the other side, a contemplative expression on his face as he took in Hinata's room.
"You're leaving." He observed, and Hinata nodded, putting aside the pyjamas she'd been folding.
"The Mizukage approved my request for the return of the Byakugan." She told her Father through a dry throat, her eyes trained on his eyebrow. "But I have to b-best its current owner in combat."
If Hiashi was surprised by the news, he didn't show it. "How do you see your chances?"
Hinata swallowed.
"I don't know how he fights." She confessed, having never been deployed to the frontlines with Ao of the Mist, only ever seeing him in passing at the Kage Summits. "But I believe that my best chance will be the element of surprise."
"Then we are in agreement." Hiashi replied, surprising her when he didn't immediately refute the notion of her having any sort of chance at all. Then, she watched as his eyes swept over the sealing scroll Hinata had spread over the floor, her project from one of her many hospital stays, its design pulled directly from the Yondaime's journal.
Hiashi's eyebrow twitched, his gaze thoughtful as he no doubt noticed that the seal wasn't shop-standard. "You're interested in seals?"
"It was a skill no-one in my team was proficient in." Hinata admitted, leaving out the main reason behind her interest in seals.
"And would you consider yourself proficient, now?" he inquired, and Hinata scrambled to think of what could have prompted her Father's sudden interest.
"For certain things." She replied after a few seconds, not expecting her Father to pull a scroll from his sleeve and hold it out to her.
Baffled, Hinata took it slowly, her own packing abandoned as she levelled her Father with a curious look.
"I would like you to open it." he told her simply, slipping into her room fully and closing the door behind himself.
Hinata studied the scroll and the seal that held it closed, surprised to find it old and frayed at the edges, but saturated with chakra. She laid the scroll on her floor, carefully rolling up her own sealing scroll, and pressed her finger to the seal, a pulse of chakra letting the seal matrix spider out across her floor.
"It…requires blood." She told her Father after a few seconds of trying to make heads or tails of the matrix, her suspicion mounting.
"I tried mine. It rejected it." her Father informed her flatly, prompting Hinata to shoot him a startled glance before she could reign the reflex in, but he just met her gaze calmly, not disclosing any more.
Hinata took a breath. "May I see?"
Wordlessly, her Father stepped further into her room and dragged his nail sharply over the pad of his thumb, letting a few drops of blood hit the seal matrix before he took his hand away and tucked it into the sleeve of his kimono.
Hinata studied the seal's reaction, a frown creasing her brow when half of the matrix seemed to activate before it rapidly shut down.
"What is it?" her Father queried, startling Hinata, who had forgotten that she wasn't alone in her contemplation of the seal.
"It's- almost opening." She said slowly, because that was what she had seen. Curious, she nicked her own finger, and the process repeated, though it stopped earlier than it had for her Father's blood, almost as if-
"But some things aren't…right?"
"Hyuuga blood, but not our blood?" her Father asked, following her vague assessment far more confidently than Hinata had expected.
"It's very similar to yours." Hinata replied, then frowned, a thought striking her as she contemplated the age of the scroll and the chakra radiating from it now that she was studying it closer. "Could this be grand-?"
"If you are to beat Ao of the Mist, I propose you train." Hiashi cut her off, an oddly fragile expression in his eyes for all that his words were cold. Hinata barely had the time to scramble back before Hiashi was bending down and snatching the scroll up, hiding it away once more. "I believe your grandfather would be good practice."
Hinata stared at her Father, unable to believe what she thought she was hearing. Surely, Hiashi wasn't implying that she get her grandfather's blood under the pretext of the spar.
Surely not.
…Right?
"And if I…wound him?" Hinata checked, the concern valid even if she hadn't been talking about the unique circumstances in which her Father was suggesting that she bleed her Grandfather to open a chakra-charged scroll.
"Then I'll confiscate the weapon and remind you that it's a chakra-only spar." Her Father replied evenly, meeting her gaze and holding it, but Hinata still couldn't quite believe her ears.
"Father…" she murmured, rising to her feet, her eyes, for once, trained squarely on her Father's, "you want me to-?"
"Yes." Hiashi confirmed, a trace of…something in his voice, but no regret, no hesitation.
"And it's- this is- important?" Hinata checked, wondering what could be so important that her Father felt like he had to bring her into his machinations.
Machinations against his own father.
"I believe," Hiashi began, and it seemed only then that he realised what it was he was asking of her, because a ghost of a wry smile seemed to twist his lips, warming his eyes ever-so briefly. "I believe that it will answer why Hideki was able to hurt your cousin."
Hinata wasn't able to fully stifle the flash of pure rage she felt at the reminder of what the Elder had done prior to his demise, but instead of chastising her at the show of emotion – show of weakness, her Father's eyes warmed further, looking almost like he'd expected the reaction from her.
"You'll be a fine Head, Hinata." He murmured, the most acknowledgement he'd ever given of his recognition of Hinata's position.
"Father, I-" she stumbled over her words, feeling tears spring to her eyes unbidden. "I-It honours me that you think so."
Hiashi's warm regard cooled, but didn't quite ice over when he nodded. "Prove me right."
And Hinata, for all that she hadn't actually want to fight anyone, much less a member of her own Clan, remembered her own anger at her Grandfather, remembered what the Elders had told her, and remembered the fragile look in Hiashi's eyes when she'd asked whether the scroll was her Grandfather's.
In the end, her answer was obvious.
"Yes, Father."
Danzo had expected to spend his free day in his office in ROOT HQ, with silence and mission reports as his only companions, yet he found himself pulled away almost before he'd fully risen by an 'urgent' summon to the Hokage's office.
Far from amused, he made his way down the main street, having learned after all these years the value of hiding in plain sight.
Yet he wasn't expecting to be joined by Hyuuga Hotaru, the old Hyuuga Head falling into step with him with the ease of old acquaintance, though the man did not seem inclined to break the silence.
"To what do I owe this visit, old friend?" Danzo inquired, familiar by now with Hotaru's frustrating tendency to keep silent until prompted.
"A word of warning." Hotaru murmured, his pale eyes and greyed through hair lending the same illusion of senility and helplessness as Danzo's cane and bandages. But it was merely that: an illusion. "Hiashi suspects something."
Danzo scowled. "I thought you'd handled your boy's revolutionary leanings a decade ago."
"I had." Hotaru replied evenly, his eyes never once straying from the path before them, their mouths barely moving as they spoke, their words too quiet to be overheard. There was a jagged cut highlighting the sharp cheekbone, the wound standing out starkly against the papery skin, and Danzo wondered. "Something's…motivated him again."
"I'll deal with it." Danzo dismissed curtly, plans already forming in the back of his mind.
At that, Hotaru finally slanted Danzo a look, though his expression didn't change. "Will my son survive your 'dealings'?"
"Do you want him to?" Danzo merely asked, willing to grant his old friend the extra effort.
Hotaru seemed to consider the question a moment, then, wordlessly, inclined his head.
And that, Danzo mused, was that.