***
Chapter 18: :Hitotsu to shite
as one
***
No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.
C.S. Lewis
***
Present Day
: :ANBU HQ, Konohagakure: :
1313 Oct 7th
ANBU Headquarters was a labyrinth. Designed from the inside out and meant to keep people in as much as it was meant to keep people out. The brainchild of Senju Tobirama and Uchiha Takahashi, who, despite his miraculous return from within the wall, still hadn't been allowed inside.
Unofficially, he was giving them another week, and then he was coming in whether he was welcome or not.
Taka had only requested no permanent damage to the facility.
It was a miracle the main building had been standing as long as it had already when the training grounds had to be redone almost every week. ANBU spent half its budget on repairing the damage its own personnel did to their training areas.
And her thirteen Captains were the prime culprits.
They stood assembled now. Watching and waiting. It was rare they were this patient, this docile, but they must have sensed something was happening.
Unless it was the quarterly budget meetings, which usually ended up being a battle in and of itself, Taka never summoned all thirteen of them at once. It was unnecessary chaos and required a massive amount of planning, as all thirteen of them in one place guaranteed at least five were not overseeing active missions involving their people.
Leaving ANBU unsupervised was…. ill-advised.
But this meeting would be quick, and Taka could point them at a force that would let them burn off all that chaotic energy and buy him the time to get them reorganized and refocused after.
And out of the line of fire of the public when they realized that there was a war going on inside their own government.
The population never took it well when they realized their leadership was falling apart.
Which was understandable. Taka wasn't all that pleased with it either.
But you could either wallow and whine or do something, and Taka had always preferred action to thought.
Even if it meant deploying ANBU within the village against its lawful residents and fellow shinobi.
"Your squads will deploy starting with First Squad to Sector 1, Second Squad to Sector 2, and so on."
No one moved. With their expressions hidden behind their famous masks, only the minute changes in their chakra alerted him to their surprise.
And wariness.
"Your target is Root. Any and all members are to be captured, alive if possible, dead if not. Everyone was briefed on the seal on their tongues. You know what to expect. This will not be an easy fight. Your enemy is dug in and prepared and far more willing to allow collateral damage. You must be swift and unyielding. Prepared for anything. There will be…others involved. Watch out for your fellow shinobi if you can. Do not get in the way of the Uchiha."
He waited until each of them had nodded in turn and chakra spiked with adrenaline filled the air.
"You have until sunrise tomorrow to prepare."
***
Present Day
: :Hyuga Compound, Konohagakure: :
1530 Oct 7th
Hinata was waiting for an audience with her father when the notification came.
Her mother had always waited for her father on this same engawa, a graceful figure cloaked in the pastel blues and white of the clan. There were numerous paintings of her hanging in the main house, and even the one that hung above her memorial depicted her sitting underneath the weeping jasmine and hyacinth.
Her favorite flowers.
She'd cultivated them in the gardens of the main house, unquestionably her domain and one not even Hiashi had dared enter without her permission.
Hizashi, though, had had free reign, and Hinata had often sought him out among the flowers to play hide and seek when she was still too young to attend the Academy.
Those memories made up many of the few fond ones Hinata had of this place, and she was loathed to risk them, but an hour ago, one of the Uchiha wolves had caught her at the training area with Kabuto and passed the announcement that had just reached her father.
Hinata hadn't been planning to confront him so soon, but for Shikimaru's plan, the Hyuga had to vote against the Senior Council, and she doubted her father was willing to put them in the line of fire like that. The Hyuga had always benefited from the Council's favor due to the fact that they were rivals of the Uchiha. Hinata hadn't noticed it when she was a child, too young to know better, but now that Naruto and Sasuke were back and all these secrets were coming to light, Hinata was beginning to put things together she hadn't noticed before.
In particular, she'd been unable to forget an argument she'd heard between her mother and father just before she'd begun attending the academy. The only time she'd ever heard her mother raise her voice to her father.
How could you? Her mother had asked. How could you turn your back on them?
Hinata hadn't wanted to know what she was talking about then. She'd already been a disappointment to her father and didn't yet understand why.
And that day, Fugaku had visited the compound to speak to her father and that always left Hiashi in a terrible mood.
***
12 years ago
One Day Before the Uchiha Clan Massacre
: :Hyuga Clan Compound, Konohagakure: :
Hinata had only been five, and Hiashi had already been disappointed that she wasn't at the Academy with Neji, but that young, it hadn't bothered Hinata.
Not like it did years later.
Then, she'd spent all her free time following her mother around or playing with Uncle Hizashi when he wasn't on a mission.
That day, it had been raining for most of the morning, and the mist was still clinging to the forest and mountains surrounding the village. It had inspired her mother to paint, so Hinata had dragged out her small easel and set it up next to hers.
She'd been trying to mimic her mother's steady brushstrokes when he arrived.
Uchiha Fugaku.
In full regalia as the leader of the Uchiha Clan. He looked like some conquering war god-made flesh, and Hinata had splattered paint all over herself in fright.
Her mother had swept her up and whispered at her to be silent as Fugaku bowed respectfully.
"Welcome, Uchiha-sama." Her mother's voice had always been soft, but it had been filled with affection when she spoke to the Uchiha Clan Leader.
"Lady Hyuga, I apologize for interrupting."
"No apology is needed, but I'm afraid Hiashi is out."
A forlorn look had flashed over Fugaku's face, gone so quickly Hinata had never been sure it was there at all. "Do you know when he will return?"
"Soon, I hope. He had a meeting with the Senior Council." Her mother's voice had gone cold then, and the expression on Fugaku's face had matched.
A heavy silence had fallen, and Hinata had looked back and forth between them, afraid to interrupt.
"We are practicing our painting. Please join us."
Fugaku had hesitated, glancing back towards the gates.
"I'm sure Hiashi will be back soon. The Council of Elders asked to meet with him today. If you don't catch him before, you will not have an opportunity to speak with him at all today."
Hinata had watched, fascinated, as the huge Uchiha had carefully taken a seat next to her mother. He'd looked at Hinata's canvas and given her a small smile.
"It's very good. It looks just like your mother's."
All reserve had vanished at that. Hinata had climbed out of her mother's arms and excitedly picked up her brush again, telling Fugaku exactly what she was painting with each stroke. Fugaku had listened seriously, interjecting with questions and advice and Hinata had basked in the attention she rarely received from anyone but her mother and uncle.
They'd spent almost an hour like that until her father had strode through the gates and stopped dead at the sight of them.
Her mother had spoken before he could. "Fugaku needs to speak with you."
"I have a meeting with the Elders." Hiashi had been fully prepared to brush the Uchiha off and had even started walking past them until her mother had used a tone Hinata had never heard before or since.
"Husband." Hiashi had frozen. "Fugaku needs to speak with you."
Fugaku, wisely, had kept his mouth shut as he stood and stepped out onto the path to join Hiashi.
Her father had looked pained when he'd turned to him, "Walk with me."
They'd left under her mother's hard eyes, and she hadn't moved, not even to paint, until Fugaku returned less than an hour later.
Hinata had rushed out to meet him with her completed canvas and tripped, only to be saved from ending up in a puddle by Fugaku, who'd carried her back to her mother's arms while she showed him her completed painting.
A jumble of colors Hinata still couldn't make sense of years later.
Her mother had worn a soft smile as Fugaku tucked Hinata into her arms and even adjusted the light blanket over her mother's shoulders.
"Fugaku…"
His face had fallen, just for a moment at her voice.
"We've come to the end of our days, Airi. Danzo has ordered the execution of the Uchiha Clan."
Her mother's grip had left bruises on Hinata's arms that lasted for days.
"Sandaime-"
"Did not object."
"How dare he." Her mother's venom had terrified Hinata, who'd frozen in her arms. "Hiashi?"
"Will not risk his clan. It is understandable."
"It is unacceptable." Airi had hissed.
"Tsume and Shibi are oath-bound and at risk themselves. There is no one left to fight."
"I will speak to Hiashi."
"No, I have another favor to ask."
"Ask."
"Sasuke will be spared, as will Iruka. Itachi…Itachi will carry out the execution and then leave the village." Her mother had let out a wounded sound that made Fugaku turn away. "Please look after Iruka, Sasuke, and Naruto. I've set aside money for all of them.
Airi had grasped Fugaku's arm so hard her knuckles went white. "I will look after them all, Fu. As long as I breathe."
Hinata hadn't understood the depth of her mother's oath then.
Fugaku had left and Hiashi had appeared minutes later.
But he hadn't come close. Hinata hadn't looked up to see the expression on her mother's face, but it had stopped her father from coming close.
From ever coming close again.
He'd actually looked ashamed when she thought back on it when she was older.
He's never been allowed in the gardens again, a banishment he maintained even after her mother's death.
He'd never been allowed in her mother's bed again either, and not even the loud threats of the Elders had been able to move her. Hiashi had always defended her, but none of his silken words had been enough to move her.
When she had died several years later, it had been months since the last time Hiashi had spoken to his wife, a short conversation concerning the Hyuga finances she managed.
She hadn't even allowed him into her sick room.
Hyuga Airi had never forgiven her husband for his cowardice that day.
***
Present Day
: :Hyuga Compound, Konohagakure: :
To this day, Hiashi never entered the Hyuga Clan gardens, though he paid astronomical amounts to keep them lush and healthy.
His office looked out over those gardens, a forceful reminder he faced every day.
Hinata was old enough now to understand that her father and mother loved one another deeply, but they had encountered a crevasse they could not cross. A part of her knew her father had to feel some level of regret about his decision, if for no other reason than that it had lost him the regard of his beloved wife.
Her mother had cared for Fugaku's children from the shadows, funneling Hyuga funds when Iruka needed money because the Uchiha accounts were being watched. She'd been close friends with Tsume despite her clan's opinion of the Inuzuka. She'd paid to have groceries delivered to Naruto every week in secret.
She'd never allowed the Sandaime or the Senior Council inside the Hyuga Compound after that. She hadn't even allowed them or, after a while, the Hyuga Clan Elders an audience no matter what they offered.
She'd been a powerful figure in the village, even after her death, and her displeasure towards certain people, including her husband, was well known and frequently discussed in the gossip pages.
Hyuga Airi had taken her revenge the best way she knew how.
Not too long ago, Tsume had pulled Hinata out of training for a day, poured her a cup of sake, and told her just how much her mother was missed.
It had been the first time someone had openly talked about her mother to her since her death.
Hyuga Airi, she'd said, was listed in the Hanta's Roll of Honor. A warrior who had excelled in her chosen war on her chosen battlefield, no matter how different it looked from the one most shinobi faced.
Hinata still had that canvas tucked away in her room, one of the few things she'd fought to take with her when she'd moved out of the compound. She still looked at it sometimes when she was missing her mother.
She had debated her chosen course of action in front of it many times over the last few weeks. She's not entirely sure what her mother would think of the way she's chosen to go about it, but she knows she would approve of the allegiance she has chosen.
Airi could never abide hurting children.
It only takes a few minutes for her father to appear. Despite his usual perfectly put-together outfit, always in the clan colors, always expensively simple to display the clan's humility, he was walking at a clip that betrayed his anger.
No Hokage had called a Council of Clans since Hashirama's time. And Hashirama had called it to exile one of the first clans from the village. Regardless of the dozens of other reasons they could be called, it had always been considered an ill omen. A display of the Hokage's power over the clans and their submission to the village.
Hiashi would be particularly insulted to receive the summons with the implicit understanding that he might have to justify his clan's actions to outsiders.
It took him a moment to notice Hinata. By law, she had to request permission to enter the compound since she'd moved out, regardless of why, but Hiashi had never enforced it.
There was a part of him, she knew, that wanted her to move back, but he took his position as Clan Head too seriously. Not even his own children could be exceptions to the rule.
He stopped when he did notice her.
"Hinata. Did we have an appointment?" Because she only ever came to see him, Hanabi, or Neji.
"No. I-"
"Then I must be on my way. I will speak with you when I return."
"No."
He blinked and turned to her. "What?"
"No. We will talk now."
"Excuse me? Who do you think you're speaking to?"
"Father-"
"That's correct-"
"Father, I am issuing you a challenge for leadership of the clan."
"What?"
Hinata had never seen her father that surprised. For a moment, even the birdsong echoing from the garden fell away.
And then Hiashi managed to recover himself and snarled, "Enough nonsense."
"It's not nonsense. I am issuing you a formal challenge."
Hiashi started to storm past her, "I will deal with you later."
Kabuto, Kiba, and Shizune stepped into view, and Hiashi stopped.
Shizune, who wasn't pleased at all to be dragged into serving as an official witness, was practically vibrating with fury. "Clan Leader Hyuga, I have been asked to bear witness. You have been issued an official challenge. Please respond."
Hiashi paled, "This is ridiculous. Hinata, withdraw."
She stopped picking nervously at her fingers and managed to clench them into fists at her side, "No."
"Challenges are fought to death or surrender, Hinata. Do not be foolish." Hiashi hissed and then something like vulnerability crossed his face, "You are my daughter. I do not want to hurt you."
Hinata shook her head and tucked her hair behind her ears nervously. "You are already hurting me."
Hiashi jerked like he'd been struck, and it occurred to Hinata that she'd never told him that before. She'd never argued, never fought back, though she withdrew and became distant. Maybe if she'd had the courage to speak up years ago, things would be different.
But there was only so much time you could spend worrying about the past. At a point, you had to just look forward and go.
A few clan members gathered, word spreading through the compound like a wildfire.
Neji and Hanabi rushed out, and Neji nearly tripped over a rock lining the footpath when he saw his cousin.
"Hinata?"
But no amount of Neji's confusion and Hanabi's rage could move her. Hinata moved to stand with Kabuto and Kiba, who was representing his mother in an official capacity because there was no way Tsume setting foot in the compound wouldn't result in a bloodbath. She'd asked Itachi to witness as well, but aside from being concerned about a Uchiha presence, he'd been working on something else with Tsunade that Hinata was afraid to ask about.
The Hyuga Elders gathered. A ridiculous group that was mostly useless when she compared them to the elders among the Inuzuka and Aburame and Akimichi and pretty much every other clan.
And then the rest of the clan. The active shinobi, the civilians, the children.
It hadn't occurred to her that they'd all be there, watching.
She started picking at her nails again, and then warm hands landed on her shoulders, kneading away the gathering tension. Kiba had always run hot, and his warmth at her back and Akamaru at her feet helped her nerves settle.
"Take a deep breath," Kiba coached, used to calming her down. "Let it out slow." The amount of time he'd spent comforting her in the years that they'd known one another probably added up to years itself, but he was the greatest rock she'd ever had. "You've got this." And he'd always had faith in her.
Hinata took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm ready."
Shizune looked like she was sucking a lemon, Kabuto was purposefully ignoring an entire clan glaring at him, Itachi's husband seemed to delight in making people uncomfortable, and her father was incandescent with rage.
And he still wasn't as angry as Hanabi.
She couldn't look at Neji.
She hadn't been able to since he'd returned.
….
Well, if she was honest, she'd had a hard time looking at him before that.
Beloved Neji, who suffered more than anyone under the chains of the clan. He may have embraced them, but choosing how you died was not the greatest choice. It was not something to say with pride and every time he did, Hinata felt a painful knot tighten in her chest, rage and fury and hatred and all those things she wasn't supposed to feel.
Arrogant Neji, who was the pride of the clan.
Protector Neji, who had to act in the shadows.
Brilliant Neji, who was always second.
Kind Neji, who could never exist in the light.
Happy Neji, that didn't exist in the clan at all.
And all the others in the branch families who carried the weight. And those in the main house who never looked happy, never smiled as freely as Naruto or acted as passionately as Sasuke or laughed as loudly as Kiba or was as peaceful as Shino.
Hanabi who had no friends among her peers.
The Hyuga that had sacrificed their eyes in their desperation to be free.
Utatane Koharu entered, features twisted in rage, and what little doubt vanished with Kiba's growl.
Kabuto managed to bow perfectly and greet Koharu like a proper elder, "Senior Councilwoman Utatane, welcome."
But Kabuto was a psychopath, so it was no surprise he could fake it so convincingly.
"What is this nonsense?" Koharu demanded.
"Lady Hinata has issued a legal challenge to her father for leadership of the clan."
"That is preposterous."
"It is law in Konohagakure that a challenge must be answered." Kabuto continued smoothly, having helped Hinata research for hours in the law library. "The three required witnesses are present, one of which is Lady Kato, First Assistant to the Hokage."
Koharu glared at Shizune, who glared right back.
"Lord Hyuga can choose to accept or surrender."
Everything about Hiashi had turned to seething fury as Hinata took her place across from him.
The Elders's complaints grew louder. Apparently, it was embarrassing to have their clan leader challenged in public.
Hinata ignored them.
Hiashi's fury seemed to dissipate for a breath, "Hinata, reconsider."
She shook her head and watched it come back, "No."
"First match of three or death," Kabuto announced, and he sounded way too cheerful.
"Go, Hinata!" Kiba cheered, ignoring the scowling Hyuga around him.
Hinata fell into one of the opening stances of Gentle Fist. It had never been her specialty. Neji and Hanabi had always been more naturally inclined to taijutsu, but Itachi and Kabuto had been teaching her how to counter it.
Hiashi fell into his preferred stance, a far more advanced form, but Itachi had explained that advanced styles were only as good as the basics they were built on. A skilled master of the basics could defeat a master of the advanced styles if they maintained a better understanding. Itachi and Kabuto had drilled her for days on the strengths and weaknesses of Gentle Fist and taught her enough of the Uchiha's Shunko to counter it as long as she maintained control of herself.
Her father was one of the greatest taijutsu masters in the village, so it was also a bit of an experiment to see if Shunko had maintained its superiority to Gentle Fist.
Shunko fell into the Hap Ki Do family of taijutsu styles, the Art of Coordinated Power.
Gentle Fist fell into the Mu family, whose philosophy was the state of emptiness—no fear, no anger, no thoughts, no distraction from the battle at hand. In a way, this was similar to the battle calm that the Uchiha practiced, but it lacked the natural aggression they embraced.
Shunko was an attack form, Gentle Fist a defensive form.
Shunko was meant to be unleashed in waves of coordinated attacks that continued in one long burst; Gentle Fist was meant to be contained in rapid attacks but in short bursts.
Hinata's chance for victory lay in pressing her father out of the established attack patterns of Gentle Fist.
Kabuto waited for a nod from both of them and then announced, "Begin."
Hiashi blurred, and Hinata found herself on the defensive before she could even move.
The first round was over quickly; Hiashi landed an open palm strike against her chest that knocked her through a wall of the compound.
"Round one to the challenged," Kabuto announced as Hinata crawled out of the debris.
Hiashi walked back to his starting position, and Hinata felt a spark of fury at the sight of her father's back. The Elders were smug, even Hanabi was loudly praising their father.
She still couldn't look at Neji.
They reset, but this time, Hinata folded into the Shunko starting form Itachi had shown her.
Hiashi eyes had narrowed. He was one of the few shinobi in the village who'd probably had the opportunity to see Shunko practiced by a master, Fugaku, and he no doubt recognized it.
She could hear some of the clan muttering, confused.
"Round two," Kabuto announced, "Begin."
Hiashi blurred, but Hinata blurred faster. Pushing chakra into her feet and legs and launching into an attack focused on a series of spinning kicks that gathered momentum the longer it went on.
Hiashi managed to block most of them, but he stumbled once, and Hinata launched herself into the opening, landing a kick to his side that launched him through a nearby house.
Silence fell.
"Round two to the challenger," Kabuto announced.
Even Shizune looked stunned as Hiashi lifted himself from the broken boards and brushed himself off.
He returned to his starting place. "It is not too late to turn back, Hinata."
Hinata returned to her starting place. "We are too far gone on the current course." And she wasn't just speaking of this confrontation and the Hyuga clan. She was speaking of everything: the fate of the Uchiha, the fall of Konohagakure, the rise of Kaguya.
Zetsu had set them on a path against their will, and now, because they had been too blind to see, there was no stopping it.
Not without significant sacrifice.
"End this nonsense, Hiashi," Koharu ordered.
"Don't give my father orders," Hinata snapped, and it was a toss-up which one of them, Koharu or Hiashi, looked more surprised.
"Round three," Kabuto announced, and before anyone could say anything, "Begin."
They blurred.
***
A Week Prior
: :Uchiha Quiet Room, Uchiha Compound, Konohagakure: :
In addition to her training, Itachi had been open in teaching Hinata the truth about the Sharingan. Understanding it was sentient, that it had its own will and desire to survive, was nothing short of terrifying.
How did you co-exist with someone, something, else like that?
Realizing that the Byakugan and Sharingan came from the same origin, yet the Byakugan had fallen silent was terribly sad. Those first generations of Hyuga had smothered the Byakugan, whereas the Uchiha had embraced it.
Hinata hadn't had much hope there was any chance of reviving it, or even if doing so was the right choice, but she had known she needed every advantage possible. When she hadn't been training, she'd been meditating in the quiet room filled with plants, candles, and waterfall fountains, all designed to silence the world to awaken the mind.
Each night Hinata had spent hours searching for the Byakugan in her mind and her chakra.
But it wasn't until the seventh night, lost in the dark expanse of her mind, at the edge of the dark ocean, that her chakra had manifested -she'd been walking in the shallows every night, following a never-ending coastline that she couldn't seem to escape- that she finally heard it.
It was too low to understand at first. She'd chased the whisper deeper into the water until it was at her neck and then her chin. She couldn't swim in this realm, the weight of the water pulling her down.
But it was there, calling. She took a deep breath and let the water pull her under.
There was no life in this ocean, just a murky darkness that pulled her deeper and deeper and deeper.
And then, so quiet she thought it was her own mind, so desperate to find it, but it grew louder.
And louder.
A voice whispering, " Hello, Hime."
***
Now
: :Hyuga Compound, Konohagakure: :
That voice had gotten louder each day, carefully crawling its way out of silence. It still fell quiet for hours, unable to maintain itself without draining Hinata's chakra.
But it spoke now, prying open chakra lines in her eyes that had never been opened before.
Hiashi's Byakugen was still stronger, sharper, and more experienced. Hiashi himself had years of combat experience on Hinata and an even more valuable edge in his willingness to cause pain. Hinata felt bad stepping on bugs on accident.
But the Byakugen was whispering to her, and she remembered what Itachi had taught her: to see through the flash to the basics underneath.
To see the openings people forgot the more advanced they became.
Too confident in their own ability.
Her Byakugen pulled on her chakra. "There!" it hissed, and she could see it—a gap in her father's defense.
Small, but there nonetheless.
It would only ever be there once. Hiashi never failed to learn his lesson.
Shunko was an inherently unstable art. Hinata had no interest in learning the full measure of it that the Uchiha strove for, but she had the control to master it in a smaller form.
She gathered her chakra in her hand.
"Guard left!" The Byakugen whispered, and she brought up her arm just in time to deflect the strike.
She pulled her chakra over her hand, thin as the finest sheen of silk or sweat, just like Itachi showed her.
Shunko was stunning to look at when you weren't the one it was trying to kill. The technique turned chakra into a glittering, twisting veil of iridescent color and light. When she truly concentrated, she could almost feel it slipping across her skin like a cool mist.
It was refreshing amidst the heat of battle, a moment of clarity amid the terror.
Just enough to steady her hand.
Just enough to strengthen her resolve.
Just enough to land the blow. Her chakra-encased hand sliding neatly into the opening her father had left.
Into the fleshy part of his abdomen, right above his stomach and below the rib cage.
A vulnerable place.
Hanabi screamed.
The world became quiet as Hiashi fell. Collapsing to his knees and clutching his stomach as the blood began to pour over his fingers.
Abdominal wounds were dangerous. Second only to head wounds in their ability to cripple and bring on a slow, painful death.
It was a wound he would have fought through on a mission.
It was a wound that might have even seen him left behind, depending on the mission.
"Round three to the challenger," Kabuto's voice was calm, almost empty, as Hiashi collapsed. Several members of the clan rushed to his aid, only to be shoved aside by Shizune. Neji grabbed Hanabi before she could launch herself at Hinata. "The challenger wins."
Kiba cheered, grabbed Hinata, and swung her in a circle. He'd never liked Hiashi and didn't feel the least bit upset that he was bleeding out on the ground.
Most of the Hyuga clan was still in shock, though one or two remained cognizant enough to aid Shizune as Hinata stared at the blood on her hand. Bright red and dripping but quickly darkening.
Blood rotted quickly once it left the body.
Koharu sniffed, flicking invisible lint off her sleeve and ignoring the fight to save Hiashi, "Very well then. We will abide by the ruling."
"The law," Kiba snipped, but she ignored him.
"Clan Leader Hinata, a word." And her smile was not pleasant.
Hinata turned her back on her. "No." She heard Koharu's infuriated intake of air, "You may contact my assistant and schedule a meeting."
"Do you have an assistant, Hina?" Kiba whispered.
"No."
She didn't plan on hiring one, either.
Kabuto ducked his head to hide his smile, but Kiba didn't bother, his laughter ringing out over the compound.
And then she reached up and removed her hiate, revealing the smooth skin of her forehead. Only branch members bore the visible mark of the cursed seal, but Hinata had always sworn she could feel the burn of it under her skin.
She pressed two fingers to her forehead and felt the connections from the cursed seal awaken.
"Lady Hinata-" Elder Emi, one of the senior elders of the clan, a woman of singular focus but surprisingly gentle in nature. One of the few elders who hadn't cursed Hinata's weakness. She'd just ignored her instead, focusing her attention on trying to curb Hanabi's pride and Neji's rage.
"Hinata, wait-" Kabuto and Itachi had shown her how to break the seal, but they'd thought she was planning to wait. Give the clan some time to adjust.
But as she stood with her father's blood on her hands, the clan lost and a war on the horizon, the Byakugan whispered, "Now, Hime."
And she pressed her fingers to her forehead, summoned her chakra, and said, "Kai!"
And the cursed seal shattered.
***
Present Day
: :Akimichi Compound, Konohagakure: :
1545 Oct 7th
Shikamaru hadn't expected much resistance to his plan. By law, he and Ino were the clan heirs and would take over as Clan Leaders as soon as they were ready. Both Yamanaka Santa and Nara Yoshino had already been clear on this. His mother had wanted to step down after his father's death to mourn in peace, but Shikamaru had been too young and too angry after the loss of Asuma and his father to take over.
Ino was in the same boat. Santa was her uncle and doted on her, but he was only a placeholder and made sure everyone knew it. It was unlikely he'd even retain command of Third Division once she took over as Clan Leader.
Only Choji was not expected to take over soon, as Choza was still strong and healthy and eager to rebuild his clan before handing it over.
All of it left Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji in an awkward position in this meeting, as the three clan heirs wanted a specific vote in the Council of Clans without revealing the entire truth about why, and all three Clan Leaders apparently wanted a different vote.
"Shika, if you can't tell us why you want this-"
"I told you," Shikamaru's frustration was boiling over. Otherwise, he'd never dare interrupt his mother. "It's part of the plan."
"What plan?" And now his mother's frustration was boiling over, too. "You cannot expect people to follow you blindly, Shikamaru. It is a disservice to you and insulting to them."
"Do you know what is behind this Council of Clans?" Choza asked. "The Hokage gave little indication."
Choji couldn't meet his father's eyes. He'd never been able to lie to him.
"We assume it has something to do with the Uchiha," Santa murmured, studying Ino, who glared defiantly back at him.
"It doesn't." She snapped.
"Like the notice said, it's about the Senior Council."
"What about them?" Yoshino demanded. "They are a lawful body of the government."
"They're traitors," Choji hissed.
"Do not speak of treason without proof," Choza's rebuke echoed.
"They are traitors," Shikamaru persisted, "There are things they've done that…"
"You are referring to the accusation that they framed the Uchiha? And instigated their massacre."
"Accusation?" Ino seethed.
"Where is your proof?" Santa snarled.
"Why do you care so much about the Uchiha?" Choza's question silenced everyone else. "The Ino-Shika-Cho alliance has stood for longer than this village has existed. For far longer than the ties that bind us to the Uchiha. Why now, do you put your concern for them above the concern for your own people?"
"We are all the same people. We all belong to Konohagakure," Choji argued.
"Sasuke is our friend. His entire family was murdered, and then he was driven from the village and abandoned." Ino hissed, "Did you think we would just turn our backs on him?"
"The Uchiha have always been emotional; it is what led to their downfall, regardless of the role of anyone else." Yoshino sighed, "You only know Sasuke, and he is barely a Uchiha."
"How dare you-" Ino snarled.
"He was not raised as one. Most of his life, his beliefs have been learned from others," Yoshino continued without pause. "Yet you are willing to sacrifice the safety and stability of your own clans for theirs?"
"You know nothing of the Uchiha or of Sasuke," Ino snapped, temper flaring.
"I know more than you, girl. I've fought beside them-"
"Have you?" Shikamaru broke in, studying his mother.
"Of course I have. I was a mission nin for a long time before-"
"Mission don't count."
"Excuse me? How do you figure?"
"Missions are ordered by the Hokage for the village. For money, for intelligence, for influence. They are not battles of ethics and morals and philosophy. They don't change the way people think. You have worked alongside the Uchiha, mother. But you have not fought alongside them."
"Then do you think that everything I have done, all the missions and sacrifices I have made, are nothing?" Yoshino's eyes hardened.
"No. But that was merely your job. It is not the same as standing up for someone's rights. The Uchiha did not deserve what happened to them. The Senior Council executed a clan that belonged to this village inside its walls, and no one did anything."
"Hyuga Hiashi knew it was going to happen," Choji added quietly. "Hinata said Fugaku asked him for help the day before, and he refused. Did you know?"
Choza's sharp intake of breath was the only indication of how deeply Choji's question cut. Yoshino and Santa both paled.
"You think we knew and did nothing?" Santa asked.
"The Hyuga did." Ino crossed her arms, defensive and defiant. "Hinata is challenging her father as we speak."
"What?" The three clan leaders looked stunned. "And you encouraged this? She will die. She is no match for Hiashi."
"Hinata is stronger than you think," Shikamaru muttered. "We believe you didn't know, but we had to be sure."
That didn't seem to assuage any of them.
"The Senior Council has kept the clans of Konohagakure under their thumbs for decades. Why are you still supporting them?" Shikamaru demanded.
"We are not supporting the Senior Council," Choza snapped, his own temper finally rising, "We are supporting the village. Both the clans and the Senior Council are part of the village; to damage either harms the village."
"I can't imagine how much damage the annihilation of the Uchiha caused then. Do you think we will ever know?" Ino asked.
"And yet, you are asking us to vote in support of the Council?" Yoshino stated, "For some plan that you will not disclose so that we may judge for ourselves what damage it may do to the village."
"Your judgment is in question," Ino said quietly, but her voice was firm.
Shikamaru braced himself and felt Choji do the same next to him. They had talked long and hard about this when Hinata had first disclosed what she'd learned about her own clan. None of them believed their families had known before, and even now, that belief was strong, but there was no question that they had known after, in some way or form, that the Senior Council had played a significant role. Their actions to sequester their own clans in the days that followed the massacre proved that.
And then, for over a decade, none had spoken of it. No one had done anything to try and find the truth, to try and curb Danzo, to try and help Sasuke.
They had used the same justification to leave Naruto starving on the streets, to leave Sasuke in a place where his family's blood stained the walls and floors.
Had repeated that the Uchiha had deserved it for charges no one could prove.
It wasn't just the judgment of Choza, Yoshino, and Santa that was in question. It was the judgment of every adult in the village at that time who had stayed silent.
And all those who had stayed silent in the years that followed.
"There is a plan in place to deal with the Senior Council and Root," Shikamaru said, trying to placate.
"An insurrection," Yoshino argued, though she seemed very, very tired now.
"A legal operation," Shikamaru corrected, "Well within the law. But you must vote in support of the Council tomorrow. If they realize all the clans are against them, they will act before we are ready. If they feel corned, there is no telling what they will do."
"We are on a precipice," Choza agreed. "But there is a time for strategy, and there is a time for honesty. How will your plan help to show the world the truth that you seek?"
"The truth has already been revealed," Naruto's words were echoed daily in the news and the papers. The popularity of the government and even the clans was at an all-time low with the public, "This is about proof."
"And justice," Ino added. "Aren't you afraid they will do the same to us someday?"
"That concern has never left our minds," Yoshino stated, not since the day word had come of the fate of the Uchiha. Every clan leader in Konohagakure was at least wise enough to realize that if it could happen to the Uchiha, it could happen to them.
"We will consider your request," Choza announced then. "But we will not make any promises."
Shikamaru frowned, and Ino geared up for another argument, but Choji knew his father well enough to know there would be no moving him from his decision now and managed to convince his teammates to leave. Pulling them out the door to leave the three clan leaders to their discussion.
An hour after they had left, word of the challenge and its outcome spread to the clans of Konohagkure, announcing Hyuga Hinata as the 22nd Leader of the Hyuga Clan and the End of the Caged Bird Seal.
***
Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.
Barry Goldwater
***
~tbc~