A/N – This chapter takes place after the Third (Fourth in canon) Ninja War against Madara. Hinata is 16.
Hinata sat at the reception to the Hokage's Office, her hands on her lap, nervously tapping her thigh. Isao sat next to her on a chair, entirely unconcerned (it was a little comical, seeing a tiger in a chair. At least once you got past the tiger part).
It had been 7 months since the Third Shinobi War, and the Village was on the last legs of rebuilding. There was not much left that required Hinata's particular set of skills, and so Hinata had decided this would be as good a time as any to go on a training trip.
She would have gone immediately after she signed the Tora Summoning scroll, but with the Akatsuki hunting Bijū left and right and causing mayhem along the way, she had postponed her plans in favour of continuing to go on missions for the Village.
She had been hesitant though, when the time finally came.
Kurenai was pregnant, and Hinata didn't want to leave her to go through it alone. But Kurenai had spoken with her and convinced her to take the opportunity.
'We'll be here when you come back, Hinata-chan. I'll have the rest of Team 8 and Team 10 with me.' She had said, hugging her to comfort her. 'You have already put it off for so long, sweetheart. You'll regret it if you don't go.'
And so Hinata had formalized her plans, informed Obito ('Guess you'll be the one teaching me new jutsu now, Hinata-chan!'), and decided to leave.
But that was not what was causing the majority of her anxiety.
Hyūga Hiashi was here.
'Jishin. Jishin. I'll be fine. He has no control over me.'
Granted, he was inside, having a meeting with the Hokage, and more than likely would not know that she was here until his meeting ended. But once he came out, unless she was the next meeting (highly unlikely, given how busy the Hokage had been ever since the War, and quite a bit before that as well), she might be forced to make awkward small talk, which she absolutely did not want.
Neji had shared with her, in the middle of some rebuilding work, that there were whispers within the clan to try and bring her back.
Hinata had been more than dumbfounded when she had learned that. They had tried, time and again, to bring Hinata back into the fold, and Hinata had rejected them every time. She had (perhaps foolishly) thought that after all the rejections (and the losses from the War), they would be too busy to bother with her again.
Apparently not.
Neji had very kindly (and a little pityingly) explained that given her performance in the War (and out of it, on missions), the Hyūga were wondering whether bringing her back and reinstating her as heiress might be a better choice.
Which made no sense to Hinata! This entire plot made the Hyūga seem indecisive and humbled, two things they hated with a passion.
The true reason behind these considerations seemed to be that Hanabi was turning out to be more and more impertinent in their eyes (She was all of 12 years old, children are supposed to be like that!). She was disrespectful and hard for the elders to control, which was the exact opposite of what was expected from her when she became the clan head (or even the heiress). They hoped that bringing Hinata back in and reinstating her would make Hanabi worry about her position and fall in line.
The joke is on them, Hinata wouldn't return to the Hyūga for all the prestige and treasure in the world (she would for Hanabi, but it had become clear to her in the past few years that she was of more use to her outside the clan than inside).
As long as Hinata was outside the Hyūga clan, Hanabi was effectively immune from the Caged Bird Seal.
"Afternoon, Hinata-chan. What brings you here?"
Hinata's eyes focused back to look at Kakashi, his arms full of scrolls with a mildly harried demeanour. Said demeanour had been quite common to see since he had started working at the Hokage's Office (Hinata heard from Kiba who heard from Tenten who heard from Lee who heard from Chōji who heard from Ino who heard from Sakura who heard from Naruto that Kakashi was apparently the candidate for the position of the Godaime).
Hinata stood up to greet him, bowing.
"Kakashi-sensei, good afternoon. I was hoping for a word with Hokage-sama." Hinata noticed his curious gaze at Isao, and remembered that he was only acquainted with Katsumi. "Oh, please forgive my manners! Kakashi-sensei, Isao-san, First Commander to the Great Tora Sennin. Isao-san, Hatake Kakashi-san, assistant to the Hokage."
"Come now, Hinata-chan, you make me sound like an old stick in the mud!" Kakashi ribbed lightly, smiling at her. He nodded a little (bowing was out of the question, unless he wanted all the scrolls falling to the floor). "Pleasure to meet you, Isao-san."
"The pleasure is mine, Hatake-san." Isao rumbled casually, not sounding particularly pleased (but that was just him). Kakashi did not look entirely at ease, which Hinata could understand. It was not long ago that just Isao speaking was enough to activate her prey instinct.
His sharp (dare she say, predatory) gaze, which was par for the course for him, was not very good at putting people at ease.
"Well..." Kakashi trailed off. He apparently decided that this was enough socializing for one day, and turned his attention back to Hinata. "What did you want to speak to him about, Hinata-chan?"
"Well," Hinata waffled for a bit, then decided it couldn't do any harm to tell him. "I-I was hoping to get permission to leave for a training trip."
"Trying to show up my students, Hinata-chan?" Kakashi asked cheerfully, chuckling when she spluttered and tried to figure out if she had offended him (and how to fix it if she had). "I kid, I kid. I'll see what I can do for you. Hiashi must be boring Sensei to death in there." He finished with a... was that a wink?
Hard to tell, what with him covering one eye. Still, it did make Hinata giggle a little.
"Thank you so much, Kakashi-sensei." Hinata bowed again, knocking back against the chair she had been sitting on in her haste. "I really do appreciate it."
Kakashi waved off her gratitude (he really should put those scrolls down) and went into the Office, leaving Hinata to wait for a while longer. She idly watched Ebisu try to wrangle the Konohamaru Corps, and hid a smile when Konohamaru tried to perform a jutsu and was foiled by Moegi accidentally stepping on his scarf.
She heard the door open, and did her best to ignore the curious gaze Hiashi directed towards her.
"Hinata-chan, Hokage-sama will see you now."
Hinata thanked Kakashi and bowed, walking past Hiashi into the Office, Isao following behind her. She heard a low thwack, but unfortunately, curious as she was, using the Byakugan in the Hokage's Office was not allowed, and so her curiosity would have to remain unsatisfied.
"Good afternoon, Hinata-chan." Hinata bowed at Minato, looking up to see him smile a little tiredly at her from behind his desk. Said desk was piled high with scrolls, and there was inexplicably a vase stuffed with... plush toys?... next to it.
'Not my business'
"Good afternoon, Hokage-sama. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice." Hinata cleared her throat and made introductions. "Hokage-sama, this is Isao-san, First Commander to the Great Tora Sennin."
"A pleasure, Isao-san." Minato offered with a smile.
"Likewise, Hokage-sama."
"Hokage-sama, I was – I was hoping I could be granted a long-term leave for the purpose of my training." Hinata put forward, fiddling with her fingers behind her back.
Minato hummed, resting his entwined hands on the desk. "Would this trip take you outside Konoha?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"And am I to assume the training will be with you, Isao-san?" Minato asked, turning his attention to the tiger calmly sitting next to her.
"That is correct, Hokage-sama," Isao growled in answer. "Due to the threat of the Akatsuki, her proper training had to be delayed, but now that the threat is gone, the Tora Clan would formally request Yūhi Hinata be allowed to train with us."
Both Hinata and Isao bowed as the request was made, and waited for Minato's answer.
"How long will you be gone, tentatively?" Minato asked, pulling a scroll from a drawer (not the same one that he had opened when she had asked for her seal years ago, she noticed).
Hinata looked at Isao in question. He had said that there was no telling how much time it could take, but they couldn't really say that to the Hokage.
"No more than two years, Hokage-sama."
'Two years!?'
That... Hinata had not expected that.
Two years was not nearly as long as it could have been (Sasuke had been with Orochimaru for three years, and Naruto still shadowed Jiraiya out of Konoha, on and off). But it was also such little time...
Isao had told her little about what to expect, telling her that what would be taught to her would depend on her skills. This meant that it would definitely have to do with her eyes, and they shared a common skillset in seals (although she had learned that Uzushio seals and Tora seals were worlds apart in many ways).
She was not sure what she would be able to accomplish in two years.
It was a little exciting and incredibly nerve wracking.
"Very well." Minato wrote something in the scroll and handed it to her. "Have this stamped at the gates when you leave. Show it when you return. When will you be leaving?"
"As soon as possible, Hokage-sama." Hinata replied, taking the scroll and forcing herself to hold it normally as opposed to hugging it to her chest. "With your permission, I will likely leave tomorrow."
"Well, tomorrow it is." Minato smiled at her. "Good luck, Hinata-chan."
Hinata smiled back. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."
A/N – Isao whacked Hiashi in the leg with his tail, which was the sound Hinata heard (in his defence, Hiashi failed the vibe-check).
More Students and Mentors down below:
Team 7
Naruto – Kakashi (Commander); Kushina (Uzushio seals); Minato (Fūinjutsu and Ninjutsu): Jiraiya (Fūinjutsu, Toad summons and Senjutsu)
Sakura – Kakashi (Commander); Tsunade and Shizune (Medical Ninjutsu, Snail summons); Kurenai (Genjutsu)
Sasuke – Kakashi (Commander); Itachi and Shisui (Dōjutsu, Ninjutsu); Orochimaru (Snake summons); Anko (Espionage and Infiltration crash course before he went undercover)
Team 9
Neji – Gai (Commander); Hiashi (Taijutsu and Dōjutsu); Yamato (ANBU mentor)
Tenten – Gai (Commander); Kushina (Uzushio seals); Yugao (Kenjutsu)
Lee – Gai (Commander, Taijutsu)
Team 10
Shikamaru – Asuma (Commander); Shikaku (Ninjutsu)
Ino – Asuma (Commander); Inoichi (Ninjutsu); Anko (Torture and Interrogation); Shizune (Medical Ninjutsu)
Chōji – Asuma (Commander); Chōza (Ninjutsu)
I am aware that I didn't give Lee, Shikamaru and Chōji anything else, and that's mostly because they have specialties that you can't really add much to. Also, they seem to be doing pretty well with what they have.
