Hinata: Byakurenden

The Hyuga Clan's Predicament

After Hinata's declaration to attain victory, the gathered Shinobi had been dismissed from Itachi's office.

To her disappointment and simultaneously to her relief, Naruto had gone out the way he came, apparently heading off to meet with Sasuke. Hinata described it as disappointing because she so desperately wanted to speak with him again after all this time, yet it was a relief because she knew exactly what kind of expectations she had from such a discussion.

For now, it was better for her to put such hopes behind her and focus on what else she had to do while here in the village. Certainly, her upcoming spar against Naruto tonight was something she needed to prepare for, but there was also the matter of her clan.

So Hinata set out for her clan compound. Meanwhile, her traveling companion for the past two years, Yugao, decided to go visit the old members of her Anbu unit to let them know she had returned. It was a strange feeling as the two of them parted and Hinata walked down the street by herself. They had been practically joined at the hip for so long, that no longer having Yugao by her side felt kind of lonely.

As she walked through the village by herself though, it finally gave her time to take in the atmosphere of her hometown. While walking together with Kurenai, she had been so engaged in their conversation that she hadn't really gotten the chance to do so earlier. Now there was only her and her thoughts, so she turned her attention to the streets and people around her.

Despite the damage caused by Amaterasu and Uchiha Obito two years ago, it would seem the destroyed parts of the village had been rebuilt and the people's hearts were at ease. It would be easy to forget the goddess wasn't even here if one were to only look at Konoha.

The truth of the matter was that the rest of the world wasn't as lucky. Visiting the Eighty-Eight Shrines guarded by the Hinoshita Clan had brought Hinata to the outskirts of the Land of Fire, the areas where Konoha's military might wasn't as all encompassing. It was in these places where she heard the rumors: Of the new religion that was spreading through other countries. And like an insipid miasma, it threatened to take hold in their homeland now too.

Itachi's concerns were well-founded, as was his haste to assess Hinata's abilities. She needed to be up to the task and they all knew it. For a clash with Amaterasu wasn't a matter of if, but when. And when was only all too soon.

That was why Hinata had to resolve everything as soon as she could. Starting, of course, with her family. The crowds of people gradually began to thin out, Hinata getting closer to the familiar streets that led to her clan's district. While the area she had been walking through was new for her, having undergone recent restoration, this was all exactly as she remembered.

Memories of the past came at her so quickly that they began to overflow. She remembered when she was a little girl, always escorted out of the compound by members of the branch family. Until she was stripped of her title as heiress and Kurenai became her official bodyguard. Every morning they walked this same road to the Academy together. And every evening they would walk the same path Hinata was on now. After graduating, Kiba and Shino joined them on these walks. All the conversations she had- even the small, seemingly pointless ones- stood out in her mind.

She was truly home.

That was what she thought as the gates to the compound came into view. She approached the gates almost timidly, unable to hide her trepidation at what she might find on the other side of the gate. When she left, she had given Neji the Moonfire Elixir, a powerful medicine capable of burning out the Caged Bird Seal- at least, theoretically.

It worked on the prototype seal created by Kali which had been placed on Itachi. However, there was no guarantee it would work on the perfected final seal that the Hyuga clan used. The fact that Neji was alive seemed to imply that it had worked, but that was only assuming he took it in the first place.

If the elixir failed to remove the seal, it had an equal chance of killing him instead. Had Neji been ready to accept that risk? The answer to that was on the other side of the gate that Hinata was just about to cross. Swallowing the lump that had formed in the back of her throat, Hinata steeled her nerves and strolled around the corner, entering the compound.

"Hinata-sama! You're home, welcome back." And she was immediately greeted by Hyuga Natsu. She was a maid of the Hyuga clan and was Hanabi's primary caretaker after the passing of their mother. And it went without saying that she was a member of the branch family. Yet her forehead-

It was clear of the Caged Bird Seal.

Natsu no longer wore her Leaf Headband on her head, instead having taken to wrapping it around her neck. A choice that was clearly deliberate in order to show off her now unmarked forehead.

"Natsu-san…" Hinata felt her breath catch, tears brimming on the corners of her eyes, but not falling. "Natsu-san!" She didn't know what else to say, the confusing jumble of emotions too much for her to comprehend.

"Yes, Hinata-sama." Even so, Natsu understood exactly what it was she wanted to convey. Her overflowing joy must have been contagious because even she began to slightly tear up as she beamed at her. "This is all thanks to your and Hanabi-sama's efforts. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you." She bowed to her, bending over to a near ninety-degree angle.

"P-Please don't bow." Hinata shook her head, quickly attempting to wipe the tears from her eyes before they fell. Taking several deep breaths to collect her emotions. "And I'm not 'Lady' anymore, right? Just call me 'Hinata.' After all, we're no longer the main family and branch family. We're just… family." With that, she could go forward confidently knowing that her family was on the right path. Or so she had wanted to believe.

As Natsu stood up straight, she wore a complicated expression. "What's wrong?" Hinata asked, all her previous elation brought crashing down as she returned to reality and tried to understand the maid's feelings through her expression alone.

"It would be wonderful if things were so simple, Hinata-sa… Hinata." Natsu corrected herself, but it was clear she felt uncomfortable not adding the honorific. "Having said that, I don't believe it is my place to say anything further. If you would like, I can escort you to your father." She turned herself slightly, gesturing further into the compound with an extended palm.

"Thank you, that would be helpful." Hinata nodded and then began to follow after Natsu. The two of them walked side by side, no other conversation happening between them. Natsu walked with her head bowed, hands held together in front of her, still in the role of a maid despite her mark having been cleansed.

As they walked through the compound, they passed numerous other members of the clan. Many of them stopped what they were doing when they realized it was Hinata, turning their attention to her and bowing deeply. She nodded in acknowledgment to them, but didn't otherwise stop walking. She noticed it was a mix of marked and unmarked foreheads.

"Have some refused to take the elixir?" Hinata asked, eyes lingering on the caged bird seal of one elderly clan member.

"…Only a small few of the most elderly." Natsu admitted after several moments of thoughtful silence. "They lived with the seal their whole lives and seem content to die with it." It was hard for Hinata to gauge Natsu's exact stance on the subject, but she got the feeling the former branch member was slightly frustrated.

"I see." Hinata said only that, not daring to add her own thoughts without knowing more about the current political structure of their clan. "Then what about the younger members still bearing the mark?" She asked, noticing it wasn't just the elders as Natsu implied.

"The elixir takes time to make." Natsu answered more readily this time. "We can only pick the flower on a full moon and we dare not take too much of it at a time. So even after two years, we still have branch members awaiting their turn." These were things Hinata was all too well aware of already, although it saddened her to know so many still had to wait for their freedom from their clan's curse.

"…and there has been one other complication." Natsu added under her breath. Hinata thought about asking her to clarify that statement, but she got the feeling it hadn't been something she was meant to hear. So she would wait patiently for her father to explain.

Natsu led her not to the main head's household- where Hinata, her father, her sister lived- but instead to the clan dojo. It was a large building, perhaps the largest in the entire compound, and consisted of multiple wings, each of them full of rooms used for training in the clan's infamous Jyuken style. Under no circumstances were outsiders allowed here. It was also a place Hinata rarely ventured- not after she lost to Hanabi and subsequently lost the title.

No- that had been a fake memory. Hinata hadn't lost to Hanabi, but had actually awakened to the Nichiren Byakugan for the second time. After the first time, her father had tried to force the awakening by pitting sister against sister. It had worked, but Hinata had been a child, and her body hadn't been ready for such power at the time. She had nearly killed Hanabi.

That was why she didn't come here. Now she knew the truth of her trauma. Which was why she felt like she could face it. She entered the dojo sparring room with Natsu, but no one was there. The sounds of the ongoing spar could be heard from outside. They went out to the inner garden and it was there they found Hinata's father and sister.

They must have known Hinata was here by now. After all, their Byakugan was active, granting them a near complete three-hundred-sixty degree vision. However, neither of them stopped their match. Hiashi stood in the center of the garden, his stance unrelenting even against Hanabi's vicious onslaught.

Like Hinata, Hanabi's hair was completely different from when she left, only in reverse. Where she once had long brown hair, now it was cropped shorter, only slightly longer than Hinata's used to be. It must have been easier for her to move this way without her hair flying in her face, for Hanabi wasn't employing the refined, standard Jyuken style that most of the clan employed.

Instead, Hanabi was bouncing around the whole garden, using the environment to her advantage. She bounced off trees, kicked up dirt, and threw together haphazard traps while on the move. Anything and everything to get even a slight rise out of their father. Of course, none of it worked. Hiashi calmly and meticulously stopping every attack with nothing but his two open palms.

Finally, he seemed to have had enough of her tricks and his stance changed. Hinata recognized what he was going to do immediately- a technique she had never mastered, even now- The Hakke: Rotation. He spun his whole body, expending chakra from every pore and unleashing it in a tornado. Ordinarily this technique was used as a barrier, the clan's prized ultimate defense. However, in the hands of the clan head, it didn't necessarily have to be limited to that.

Instead, Hiashi used it offensively, the whirlwind of chakra powerful enough to lift Hanabi into the air and send her spiraling out of control. She spun helplessly through the air, slowing only as she reached the peak, before hurtling back towards the garden like a meteor. Her father made no move to stunt her descent and it seemed Hanabi was incapable of regaining control of her senses in the time before she hit the ground.

A mere split second before she would have crashed head first was when Hinata made her move. Perhaps just as her father predicted she would. Too fast for anyone to track, even Hiashi, and Hinata had crossed the distance from the deck around the garden to the center, catching Hanabi and holding her bridal style in her arms.

Hinata let out a breath of relief, just thankful she had been fast enough. It was only when she noticed Hanabi grinning snarkily up at her did she realize she had been had. Hanabi hadn't been in any trouble at all, and had tricked Hinata into leaping out to catch her.

"Nee-sama! Welcome home!" Hanabi called out in a sing-song. She leaned up, wrapping her arms around Hinata's neck to pull in her a hug. It seemed that in the past couple years, Hanabi's demeanor had loosened up significantly, which explained her less sophisticated style of combat she had just been employing.

"Yeah, I'm back." Hinata smiled glumly, wishing she could have seen Hanabi's growth over these past few years. All the same, she was just thankful to hold her again now, leaning into Hanabi's embrace. "I missed you." She whispered, just loud enough for only her sister to hear.

"Me too." Hanabi whispered back, before finally shifting her weight to be let down. As Hinata let Hanabi to her feet, their father approached them. Despite Hinata's growth-spurt, he still stood a full head taller than her. She noticed a few more wrinkles than before, as well as some slightly graying of his hair, but he still appeared as strong and self-assured as ever.

"You've grown beautiful, Hinata." He praised her, soft smile on his face and in his eyes. "And certainly more powerful. I am-" He stopped short as Hinata stepped forward and wrapped him in a hug. When was the last time they had physically come into contact with one another that wasn't for a spar? Hinata certainly had no memory of any such moments.

A regret she intended to rectify now that she was back. Even after learning of the truth of why her father had been cold to her- having felt ashamed for the suffering he put her through- and forgiving him, they hadn't made it back to this stage of their relationship. This was in part Hinata's fault, as she wasn't someone ordinarily able to take such bold steps. However, she didn't have the luxury of time anymore to remain as she had been.

"I missed you too, Father." She said, taking a step back and smiling at him. He appeared stunned speechless, something which amused Hanabi to no end, who was now unabashedly snickering while standing next to her sister.

"Y-Yes." Hiashi cleared his throat and took another second to calm himself. "Shall we head inside then and have some tea? I imagine there is much for us to discuss." He started to lead them away from the garden, stopping as he passed Natsu. "Could you prepare it for us?" He asked her.

"Of course, Hiashi-sama." Natsu acknowledged with a bow. As the two sisters followed their father, Hinata stopped next to Natsu for a moment too.

"Please join us for tea." She added to her father's request, resting a hand on Natsu's shoulder as she extended the offer. Natsu looked surprised for a moment and almost seemed to consider refusing. However, after a moment's deliberation, she gave a small, but genuine smile and nodded in agreement.

They returned to the main house, the four of them settling in an old tatami room. As Natsu prepared the tea, Hinata and Hanabi sat opposite of their father at a small table.

"You must have questions about the state of the clan." Hiashi started, glancing over at Natsu for a brief moment before returning his gaze to Hinata. "As you've no doubt noticed, we've been slowly working at removing the Caged Bird Seal on all those that desire it."

"Yes, I've heard a bit from Natsu-san already." Hinata admitted as the person-in-question placed a cup of tea in front of her. She then placed the rest of the cups before taking her own seat next to Hanabi. "…I've also heard there's been some kind of problem?" Hinata continued only after she was seated with them.

"Indeed," Hiashi agreed readily enough, but didn't offer any further information right away. The silence went long enough that Hinata thought she was going to have to ask him again. Finally, he let out a frustrated sigh. "I didn't wish to trouble you directly upon your arrival, but I suppose there's no getting around it." Having said that, he still looked troubled on how to continue.

"Father, allow me." Hanabi offered, raising her hand slightly. She didn't actually wait for his permission, before turning to Hinata. "You saw it earlier, right? The move that Father used." She could only be referring to the Hakke Rotation, so Hinata nodded. "And who is it that is taught to properly use such techniques?" At the question, Hinata felt like maybe she was catching on.

"So you're saying there's still a rift between the main and branch families because of the techniques only passed down the main line?" Hinata asked, but was surprised to see hesitance in Hanabi's gaze now.

"Strictly speaking, no." Natsu continued where they left off. "You could say it's more of an unintended side-effect." She paused now, seemingly out of courtesy to give Hiashi or Hanabi a chance to continue. When neither of them did, she reluctantly poised a different rhetorical. "What was the proposed purpose of the Caged Bird Seal?" She asked.

"…To keep the Byakugan from being stolen by outsiders?" Hinata asked, tilting her head slightly as she tried to parse what everyone was getting at. Why were they all beating around the bush? No, she was thinking about this wrong. In the first place, what linked the main clan techniques to stealing the Byakugan? When she thought about it like that, her eyes once again widened in sickening realization.

"It seems like you've finally understood." Hiashi, in contrast, had closed his eyes and lowered his head. "The Byakugan had never, to our knowledge, been stolen before. This was due to a combination of things, but basically even if one from the main clan was put in danger, their training in our clan's most powerful techniques was more than sufficient enough. A luxury not originally granted to the branch family… because speaking plainly, even if they did die, the secrets of the Byakugan were still safe."

This was, of course, all in the past.

"…How many?" Hinata was clenching her fists so tightly now that her knuckles had turned white. It couldn't be true. Had her good intentions for the clan unexpectedly led them to harm?

"No less than four members of the branch clan have been slain and their Byakugan stolen." Natsu stated bluntly now. "It would seem a bounty has been placed on all members of the Hyuga. For the time being, the branch members are forbidden from going on missions of high rank, except for those with exceptional skills, such as Neji." It was hard to tell if Natsu blamed her for this, but Hinata got the feeling that wasn't necessarily the case.

"…Do we know who put out the bounty?" Even so, Hinata didn't apologize. The old her would have, but she knew such a thing would only be an insult to everyone that had been given their freedom, even if it led to their deaths. So instead, she focused on what she could do about it.

It wasn't like she didn't have ideas for who put out the bounty either. If the pattern followed like in the past, then it was almost without a doubt the Village Hidden in the Cloud. After all, it had been one of their Ninja trying to kidnap her for the Byakugan that led to the first incident where she awakened the Nichiren Byakugan. However, it wasn't Kumo that her father named.

"Orochimaru." Hiashi said instead. That single name caused a burning sensation deep in Hinata's gut. One she immediately placed as hatred. Although it wasn't an emotion she experienced often, he was the one that caused her to experience it before- back when he stabbed Kurenai with that poisoned sword. Now it was him again, taking something she had tried to do for her clan and turning it into something sinister.

"I thought his interest was in the Sharingan?" Hinata asked, barely managing to hold onto rational thought. After all, the Snake Sannin had originally been after Sasuke, and had planted an impurity on him that eventually became the catalyst for welcoming Amaterasu into their world.

"Orochimaru's whims have always been hard to keep track of." Hiashi spoke as if he had some personal experience with the Sanin, which he might have for all Hinata knew. After all, irregardless of what he was now, he had once been their ally. "It's likely something piqued his interest in the Byakugan… and rumor has it he joined Akatsuki, which means he works under that Amaterasu. It might well be that."

"…I see." Hinata supposed that this changed nothing in the end. If Orochimaru was really working with Amaterasu, then he was something she would have to deal with before the end anyways. That was good, because now she had additional reason to settle the score with the Sannin.

"I do wish to be clear." Natsu said with a voice far more gentle. "We're grateful to you and Hanabi-sama for freeing us from the curse of our clan. If I were to have been one of those killed, I would be satisfied knowing that I died free. And I believe that I speak for the majority of the branch clan when I say that." Finally, it felt like her true feelings had become clear for Hinata to see.

"Thank you, Natsu." Hanabi said on behalf of her sister. She then turned back to Hinata and grinned glumly up at her. "Father and I didn't want to worry you with this kind of heavy stuff from the moment you got home. We wanted to hear about your adventures first." She said, offering them a chance to change topics.

"You're right." Hinata returned the smile and took her little sister up on the offer. The rest of the time they spent together was talking about lighter things, such as Hinata's journey to the Shrines, their cousins in the Hinoshita Clan, as well as things back in Konoha such as Hanabi's entrance into the Ninja academy.

After some time, they moved the discussion to the dinner table. Once dinner was complete, however, Hinata had to excuse herself so she could meditate. There wasn't much time left before she would have to face Naruto in their promised bout, and she needed to confirm something with Kali beforehand. That, and it would help get her mind off the Orochimaru business, something she didn't need distracting her now of all times.

Hinata entered her room, taking a moment to just be at peace. It had been so long since she'd come here, and being in her room after all this time made her want nothing more than to crawl into bed and go to sleep. Unfortunately, there wasn't any time for that. So she sat cross-legged on the floor and closed her eyes.

When she opened them up a moment later, she was somewhere else entirely. It wasn't even their world, let alone her bedroom. This was a world of pure darkness, save for one source of dim green light. This light came from the etching of an eight trigrams marked onto the darkness at her feet. And floating in the center, above a yin-yang, was Ōtsutsuki Kali. As Hinata got older, she looked more and more like Kali to the point that they now might have been mistaken for twins. Like Kali, Hinata was also dressed in the attire of a Shrine Maiden, although Kali wore the traditional red.

"You've had quite the eventful day." Kali said in the form of a greeting, smiling at her ruefully. It was exactly as she said, Hinata's homecoming filled with all kinds of events and meetings already. However, it wasn't over yet.

"The toughest part is yet to come… What do you think about my chances?" Hinata decided to throw all her thoughts into the fight to come. She couldn't afford to do anything less than that, because she knew Naruto was doing the same. No- he had been preparing for this much longer than she had. "Is there anything you can tell me about Asura?" She had heard plenty of Asura as a person, but no little about his powers and tool-kit as a fighter.

"Asura wasn't exactly strong when I knew him in life." Kali said along with a small breath of laughter. "It wasn't until after I died and he formed bonds with many people that he truly became powerful. His reincarnations are usually similar. I would say that had you fought him two years ago, victory would have been assuredly yours."

"...But now?" Hinata knew this wasn't two years ago. And Naruto had been training together with Sasuke, who had Indra's spirit. Supposedly transcendents could undergo explosive development when together. It was under such a principle that Kali originally had Hinata seek Asura out. And while it was true that Hinata had more power than both Naruto and Sasuke before, it was highly likely they had leapt far beyond her if they had been working with one another this whole time.

"Frankly speaking, there's no way to know for sure until you fight him." Kali admitted, rarely unable to provide some kind of answer or solace. "As I've mentioned before, there are just way too many unknown variables this time around. Not only did Asura's nature manifest uniquely, but his host is also a Jinchuriki. On top of that, he and Indra's reincarnate did the impossible and settled their millennium-long-blood-feud. I wouldn't be surprised no matter what he was capable of at this point."

"...I see." Hinata tried not to let it get to her, but in the end she couldn't help but feel crest-fallen. All her life, she had been chasing after Naruto's shadow. And when she originally awakened the Nichiren Byakugan, she wanted to believe she had finally caught up to him. However, it seemed more than likely that he managed to pull away from her again. How could she be expected to stand by him as an equal if he just kept running ahead of her?

"Hey, it's not all bad." Kali waved her hand in an attempt to dispel Hinata's worries. "It wasn't like you were just sitting on your ass this whole time. I've been training you to be powerful enough to slay a god. Fighting Asura will be a good barometer to see how close to that goal you've truly gotten." That was all true. It wasn't like Kali had been saying Naruto was unbeatable, just that what they were going up against had too many unknown variables to say anything for certain.

The only thing she could do was try her best.

"Thank you, Kali." Hinata smiled at her previous life. "You really do know how to always make me feel better." It seemed like no matter how much time she spent here in the interstate, she always had more to learn.

"Hey, I've been doing this for nearly a thousand years." Kali admitted with a shrug and a bashful laugh. "You tend to get pretty good at anything with that much experience." That was really saying something, coming from the self-professed brute in her mortal life. While Kali hadn't been able to give Hinata the information she hoped for, talking to her did have the effect of calming her nerves.

"I guess the only thing I can do is head out there then," Hinata couldn't fully throw aside her reluctance, but she would face this challenge all the same. No matter what result waited for her. That was how she decided to live upon her return to the village, after all.

"Good luck, just don't overdo it." Kali smiled at her, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. They hadn't talked in detail what their plans for Amaterasu were, but they were both aware of where the path likely led them.

That was a discussion for another time.

Hinata closed her eyes and when she opened them she was back in her room. Taking a deep breath to once and for all calm her nerves, she decided it was time to set out.

At the entrance to her home she found her father and sister waiting for her. Upon hearing about the upcoming spar, Hiashi had insisted that he and Hanabi would also come along as spectators. They both wanted to see with their own eyes how far Hinata had come, and she didn't have an adequate reason to refuse them. So they set out as a family.

It wasn't just them, it would seem, and upon arriving at the Gates to the Forest of Death they found a larger audience than Hinata had expected. In total, she would say there were around a dozen people in attendance. Some of them were expected, such as the Hokage. Itachi stood with his predecessor, the Third, who despite having retired once again, his experience was still vital for the village. Behind the Third were his two students, the remaining members of the Sannin.

Hinata recognized Tsunade, as it had been her that healed Hinata's broken body after her clash with Amaterasu. The other one she had never met, but she knew by his appearance that he was the one Naruto had been training under. Near the Sannin was Yugao- once again wearing her Anbu mask- and her old squad, the four of them standing silently by as bodyguards.

A short distance from this group was a much more casual gathering of individuals. Kurenai had also come and it seemed Asuma had escorted her here, the two of them catching Hinata's eye and giving a nod in her direction. And just next to them was Naruto, who was joined by Sasuke, and their squad captain, Hatake Kakashi.

She saw no sign of Sakura, but had also heard from Kurenai that recently she had been assigned to Team Gai, along with Tenten and Lee. Hinata was surprised to hear Lee was back on the field, but it seemed that Tsunade had been able to do the impossible and repaired his destroyed leg and arm too.

As Hinata made her way over to that group, Naruto caught sight of them and started waving in their direction excitedly. "Yo, Hinata! You ready to finally do this!" Unlike her, it seemed like he wasn't the least bit nervous about what was to come. Was that confidence in his victory… or something else? She had no idea.

That thought made her a little sad. She used to know how Naruto felt just by looking at him. Now, it felt like she was less sure of even simple things like right now. Something she silently resolved herself to rectify.

"I'm ready." Hinata answered him quietly, only after she had entered ear-shot with the small group. She nodded in acknowledgment towards Sasuke and Kakashi, and they returned the gesture, but no other words were shared between them.

Instead, things started to move quickly as Itachi took notice of them thanks to Naruto's excited exclamation from earlier. He led the two of them into the Forest of Death, away from everyone and eventually out of sight.

"Not much point in having an audience," Naruto noted dryly as they walked deeper and deeper into the forest.

"Worry not. They're watching." Itachi responded cryptically, and it was only then that Hinata truly took notice of their surroundings. Toads, slugs, crows, hawks, dogs, and other manners of summons appeared to be watching them intently. Meanwhile, her own father and sister could watch with their Byakugan alone. It would seem everyone had come prepared… but for what?

"How far do you expect our battle to reach?" Hinata couldn't help but ask. The Forest of Death was huge, big enough for Genin from multiple villages to spend five full days in here and fight to the death. Yet they kept going deeper still.

"It's just a precaution." Itachi remarked simply, before seeming to think better of it. "If either of your attacks should reach outside the bounds of the Training area, the match will be over and the perpetrator will be deemed to have forfeited." So even in this huge arena, he expected their fight might stretch beyond its bounds.

"That's no fun…" Naruto whined, but nonetheless seemed ready to comply. Which would imply he was confident in his own ability to easily make attacks big enough to reach outside the forest. Hinata was starting to question her odds more than ever.

"This should be far enough." Itachi finally stopped walking, having seemingly chosen the spot at random. He turned to look at them, the two standing side-by-side, having been following behind him obediently until now. Hinata took in her surroundings, but it was exactly like any other part of the forest, impossibly tall trees all around them, blocking out the last rays of the evening sun and covering them in darkness. As she took it all in, Itachi continued with the rules. "Aside from what was established earlier, we'll use traditional Chunin Exam regulations; That means you fight until someone forfeits or I come in to stop it. Otherwise, anything goes."

That was how it had to be.

After all, this spar was just that- The continuation from the Chunin Exams. Hinata had beaten Gaara in the first round, and while it hadn't been official, Naruto had taken on Sasuke and won. That meant this fight was the long-delayed conclusion to what should have taken place over two years ago.

This was the culmination of the promise they made to each other.

"Are you both ready?" Itachi asked them, not that there was much point. Naruto grinned giddily, giving an enthusiastic nod. In contrast, Hinata steeled her resolve, feeling the strength fill her eyes as she gave a small, barely perceptible nod of her own. Itachi gave the smallest ghost of a smile in acknowledgment to their resolve.

"Then you may begin," He finished without any fanfare. The moment he spoke and his body burst apart, turning into a murder of crows that fled into the trees around them.

There was a moment's hesitation, neither one of them ready for the sudden signal. They still stood side-by-side, having not taken a stance or even setting an appropriate distance with which to begin their fight. And there would be no time for such luxury now.

Their long awaited fight had already started.

Chapter End

AN: Welcome back to the second chapter of the next part!

Thanks to everyone that checked out the first chapter, I was glad to see there's still so much interest after the long break between parts. I really appreciate it, and please look forward to the next one as well!