Date: January 22nd, 13 years following the Kyuubi's attack
Time: 7:35 PM
Miho Hyuuga reentered the Hyuuga Clan compound shortly after her dinner date with Iruka. The meal had been filled with the teacher's humorous anecdotes and tales of what had been happening in the village over the last few months while she'd been away on a mission. A satisfied smile had been her only companion home that evening; Iruka had classes in the morning and so they had gone their separate ways from the restaurant they'd dined at. But as she approached the manor house of Hiashi Hyuuga, Lord of the Hyuuga Clan and head of the Main Family, even that companion departed her.
Miho sighed. 'Come on, now. Uncle Hiashi isn't exactly evil incarnate; he's just a hard man because he has to be.' Taking a deep breath to shore up her courage, she pulled once on the cable for the door chimes.
Almost instantly, the door slid open. To her immense surprise, instead of the normal greeter that she'd seen dozens of times in the past, Hinata Hyuuga, the Heir Apparent of the Hyuuga Clan seat and Miho's own cousin opened the door. "Welcome, Miho-itoko." She said her usual timidity at talking not visible for a change. "Tousan is currently in the dojo with Hanabi-chan, but they should be finishing soon."
"Hinata-chan, it's me, Miho-chan, why are you being so formal?" The recently minted Jonin asked her younger cousin.
Hinata Hyuuga fidgeted a little bit, the young lady so hated being put under pressure. "T-tousan said that you were coming for business tonight and that Hanabi and I were to treat you as business guest rather than family." A faint blush colored her cheeks as she talked.
Miho sighed and rolled her eyes. "Ah, geez... Ojisan's gotten snared by the authority bug. Hinata," the younger woman jumped slightly as Miho said her name without the playful –chan honorific that she normally included to put her cousin at ease, "Do me a favor, when you take command of the Clan, remember that you ARE allowed to mix business and pleasure. Uncle Hiashi seems to have forgotten that fact."
"H-hai!" Hinata said.
'She's way too tense... She's telling me what I want to hear.' Miho realized. She knelt slightly to be able to look Hinata in the eyes before lifting her right hand. Once it was raised, she extended her pinky finger. "Yakusoku?" Miho asked; a big, sisterly smile on her face.
It was a touchstone to the past for Miho and Hinata, a sign that they'd been sharing since Hinata was six years old and the timidity vanished again. Hinata linked her own right pinky with Miho's. "I promise, Miho-neesan!" A sunny smile flashed momentarily across her face.
'Good. I finally got through to the real Hinata.' Miho said as she stood up. "So, I hear from Iruka-sensei you're on Team 8 under Yuuhi Kurenai; I have no doubt that you will flourish under her guidance. As we walk to the den, why don't you tell me about your new team?" Hinata nodded as she gestured for her cousin to come in.
* * *
The den was Hiashi Hyuuga's informal meeting area. The walls were lined with books and scrolls that had been written by the previous leaders of the Hyuuga clan, their wisdom – and unfortunately, on occasion, their stupidity – preserved for all time. Hiashi Hyuuga was on his knees, reviewing yet another of the endless scrolls and documents that he dealt with on a daily basis to handle the operation of the Hyuuga clan. He looked up as the door slid open to admit Miho. Hiashi nodded. "Welcome, Miho." He glanced at Hinata. "That is all, Hinata. Leave us."
Hinata nodded, but paused momentarily. "Would you like me to bring you some tea before I turn in for the evening, Father?"
Hiashi thought briefly, "That would be acceptable, yes." Hinata bowed slightly and shut the door without saying another word. Lord Hyuuga rose to his feet in a smooth motion and gestured to the table. "Please have a seat, Miho-san." Miho took a seat and Hiashi took the chair opposite. "Your performance in your recent duties – at least the information I am privy to – has brought great honor to our clan, Miho. Well done, niece."
"Thank you, Hiashi-sama." Miho Hyuuga said. "I also thank you for acceding to my request for assistance in this matter. Since I was only recently promoted to become a Jonin instructor, I lacked an opportunity to review my Team's files prior to meeting them today. I received several surprises and believe that with your experience and advice I will be able to avoid disgracing our clan by accident."
Hiashi Hyuuga nodded. "'Great wisdom lies in knowing when you know nothing.'" He said, quoting his grandfather, the previous lord of the Hyuuga clan. "Tell me of your concerns."
"As you know," Miho began, "it is customary for recent graduates to undergo a training exercise designed to test their ability to form a cohesive team. If they are unable to do so, they are returned to the Academy for remedial education in the hopes that they simply require a bit more seasoning before becoming full-fledged Genins. There are several different tests that can be done, with the bell test first used by Sandaime Sarutobi being the most popular as it is designed to challenge the 'lone wolf' types the hardest as it is the rare Genin that is capable of besting a Jonin - I can only recall one time that it ever happened." Hiashi Hyuuga nodded in silent recollection of the black sheep of the Uchiha: Itachi the kin slaughterer.
"In the case of my Team 13," Miho said, "I've determined that the bell test is not a suitable option: Iruka Umino inferred as much before my initial meeting with my Genins and, based on that conversation, that status is, unfortunately, confirmed. In the case of my team, I have two close friends and a single lone wolf, but the lone wolf is the type that already knows how to knuckle down to work with a team."
"That's rather uncommon in a youth that normally exhibits lone wolf tendencies…" Hiashi mused.
"He's an Inugami."
The Hyuuga Lord nodded, but there was a slight tightening around his eyes that betrayed a slight surprise. "Ah, Kurando and Anastasia's son… A medic-nin. Yes, that combination of lone wolf / pack wolf traits makes more sense now..."
Miho Hyuuga blinked in surprise. "You know my student? Forgive me, Lord Hiashi; this surprises me – I knew the Inugami were important, but not enough for you to interact with them."
"Their family is even older than our own, which makes them socially powerful, but they lack the numbers to be socially prominent. I've met him once or twice in social circumstances on the rare occasions his parents needed to be present, but were unable and sent him as their proxy." Hiashi clarified. "He always behaved with a maturity of an adult… I assumed that he was already a full ninja; I didn't realize he was in the same year as my eldest daughter."
The fact that Hiashi Hyuuga had met one of her Genin – let alone remembered him – still staggered Miho. "So, the problem is that other two that are close are mutually antagonistic towards Inugami. Inugami returns their antagonism in kind. This means I need a friendship-building exercise – one that fosters trust between them – rather than a team-building one. Obviously, they're not going to become best of friends overnight, but if I can at least get them to the point where they know they can instinctively trust each other, they will at least be able to perform as functional Genins."
"I see…" Hiashi said. "Then the important point is to review the three ninja in question to see if we can find common ground that all three share. From that point, we can start developing a test that meets the conditions you're expressing."
Miho pulled three folders out. "I suppose we might as well start with the easiest one." She flipped opened the first folder, handing it to her uncle. "Nakahito Haruno."
"Hmm…" The first page of the folder was a brief synopsis of the hot-headed young man. Towards the bottom of the page was a pentagon that represented the ninja's attributes. The top point of the shape represented the ninja's skill in Taijutsu, Upper Left was Genjutsu ability, Upper Right was Ninjutsu, Lower Left was skill at Ninja Weaponry and Lower Right was a combination of both chakra stamina and manipulation. "A 3 for Taijutsu and Weapons, 1 for Genjutsu - but that's normal for all graduates, Genjutsu is the most difficult of the 3 types of techniques - 3.4 in Ninjutsu and a 2.3 for Chakra stamina." Hiashi read aloud. "Decent marks for an Academy graduate, probably towards the top of the class, correct?"
Miho nodded. "His file and what I saw of him tells me that he is the kind that will do anything to keep safe those he considers a friend. He's the son of two non-shinobi, was orphaned 2 years ago, and now lives with the family of his father's brother – who is a ninja – and their daughter, who's about the same age. Noble to a fault, willing to put his life on the line without a second thought, but seems to have the notion that dying for a good cause is better than dying pointlessly. His greatest liability is that he tends to be hot-headed when it comes to thoughts of physical or emotional injury to his friends - that could be a serious problem in the field."
The den's door slid open at that moment and Hinata walked in, carrying a tray with a pot with two ceramic cups. She set the tray down out of the way of the papers and poured green tea into both cups silently. "Excuse me; is there anything else you might need?"
A stray thought crossed Miho's mind, recalling one of Inugami's taunts of the other young man. "Hinata, what can you tell me about Nakahito Haruno? I understand he asked you out once."
"Reeehhhhh???" Hinata cried in frantic panic as her face turned reddish in embarrassment. The blush deepened in reaction to her father's disapproving look at her outburst. A normal girl would have been allowed such a reaction, but being a member of Konoha's nobility denied that to her - it was unseemly, especially given Hinata's rank in society.
"W-w-w-w-well, Na-nakahito's a good person, but I don't really know him all that well. He's really close to Kimiko-chan so I talk with him on occasion and so I trust him, but I don't know him well enough and there's someone I..." Her voice trailed off and her face flushed even further. If Hiashi disapproved of her shyness, her interest in a certain blonde ninja would probably be worse for her…
'Not the reaction I was expecting.' Miho thought to herself. 'I can practically hear her heart racing from here. It looks like there's someone Hinata likes, but she's afraid to let her father find out. That's understandable, Ojisan is more than a bit intimidating...'
She looked at her cousin with compassion. "I didn't mean to embarrass you, Hinata. I think this will be sufficient, won't it Hiashi-sama?" Hinata's father removed his gaze from the girl and nodded, allowing Hinata to beat a hasty retreat.
Hiashi sighed before he picked up one of the cups and took a silent sip. "I wish she could be a bit more like Hanabi at times."
Miho clenched her hands momentarily in anger, recalling her private conversation with her older cousin before the Hyuuga Lord had been ready to meet with her. "Hiashi-sama, may I speak candidly for a few moments? To you as niece to uncle, not as a junior member to the Head of the Family?"
A surprised look crossed the Hyuuga leader's face, but he nodded. "Ojisan, forgive my bluntness, but you need to cut Hinata just a bit of slack. You have to keep in mind that not only is she starting to become a woman. She remembers her mother's example and tries to be like her, but feels unequal to the task of filling Obasan's shoes and gets nervous because of it. Hanabi has only known you, so she acts more like a son than a daughter. Yes, Hinata's not as mentally strong as she could be, but I have a feeling she has a different kind of strength - if you would be patient with her it'll show up faster."
Hiashi's jaw tightened a bit. "How dare you question how I raise my daughter?" He asked coldly, but civilly.
Miho gave her uncle a placid look. "Ojisan - do you remember your conversation with Yuuhi Kurenai earlier today?"
"Of course I do. Do you feel I'm becoming senile, too?" His jaw tightened even further as he felt a momentary flash of anger.
"Did you know that Hinata was right outside the door when you said you could care less about whether she lived or died simply because she wasn't as strong as Hanabi?" Hiashi's jaw relaxed abruptly as Miho's words sunk in. "She mentioned it to me as we were walking when I asked about her day. Ojisan, she lives only to try to get your approval - you might as well have pulled her heart out of her chest and fed it to the Kyuubi!"
Hiashi frowned. "Hinata is the Heir Apparent, Hanabi is the Heir Presumptive, but she's the better qualified candidate."
"Uncle, are you likely to die in the next 5 years?" Hiashi frowned in confusion and shook his head. "Do you recall how much I changed in my first five years after graduating the Academy?" A wistful grin crossed his face and he nodded. "I submit Hinata with have a similar change. I'm not saying not to push her on occasion, but just keep in mind that no two people will be alike in their approach to solve a problem. Trying to forcibly shove her onto the path you think is the best one discourages her from thinking for herself and that could get her killed - or worse, captured alive.
"Now, perhaps as Lord Hyuuga you can accept that thought, but I know that it would destroy Hiashi Hyuuga, the man that was willing to offer his own life to the very people that tried to kidnap his daughter to save Konoha. That's the last thing Ojisan Hizashi would have wanted to have happen." Tears glistened in the corners of her eyes as she reached for her own cup of tea to take a quick sip.
Hiashi Hyuuga sat in silence for a few minutes, clearly mulling these thoughts over. "You've learned to become quite the persuasive speaker, Miho-mei. Your parents would have been proud - so would my wife. Very well, I will stop making such comparisons, at least aloud." A grin flickered momentarily into existence. "I swear I could hear my wife when you were talking just now." He took a longer pull from his cup of tea. "So, shall we continue?"
Miho nodded, pulling out the next file. "Kimiko Itou."
Hiashi's eyes widened in surprise at the name. "I knew she had graduated with Hinata, but I hadn't been informed that she was assigned to you. I'm glad that Hiruzen-sama is entrusting her care and the next stage of her development to a member of the family…" He fell silent in recollection. "I still remember that day all too well…"
"We all do, Uncle."
* * *
"That day" was an important day, nearly ten years ago, for two reasons: one, the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning had finally signed a peace treaty, so the Village Hidden in the Leaves was celebrating the arrival of the ninja delegation from the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Most of the village had been out in force and the city had a festival atmosphere.
Most of the village.
Despite the massive turnout, no members of the Hyuuga clan were in the audience for the Cloud Ninjas' arrival. That was because it was Hinata Hyuuga's third birthday. The entire clan had been within the compound to celebrate the fact that the Heir Apparent had proven that she was unlikely to succumb to any of the childhood illnesses that were likely to kill her.
But with the joy, there was also a heaviness to the mood of the core members of the Main Family; Hiashi Hyuuga had one duty to perform that day that he had been dreading... He needed take his twin brother Hizashi's son, Neji, who until that point had been a member of the Main Family and the Heir Presumptive (due to his father's disqualification as a member of the Branch Family as Hiashi's and Hizashi's claims for the leadership would have been equally fair otherwise,) and engrave the cursed seal of the Branch Family onto the four-year-old boy.
The process was completely irreversible - once marked, Neji would, like his father, be forever barred from claiming the seat of power for the Hyuuga clan. There would remain the possibility that Neji's future children would not be so marked, but that would depend on factors too numerous to easily contemplate.
The seal was placed and life continued as normally; for about one week. Shortly before the travel visa for the Cloud Ninjas' expired, the members of the "diplomatic mission" revealed their true intent behind their trip to the Leaf Village. A single intruder managed to sneak into the Hyuuga clan compound and into the manor house of Hiashi Hyuuga. He managed to successfully kidnap the sleeping Hinata and got as far as the walls of the clan compound before Hiashi himself caught up and killed the interloper… Who was revealed to be the senior ninja of the Cloud Village diplomatic party!
But that was not the sole tragedy of that night…
When members of the ANBU entered the building where the Land of Lightning delegation was staying, they found only the civilian diplomats. The 30 other Chuunin and Jonin of the group were nowhere to be seen. By morning, the mystery had been solved...
And the Itou clan had been found massacred.
The interrogations of the Cloud ninjas were fairly light - despite their violation of their diplomatic status, Konoha was not willing to put them to the full skills of the Torture and Interrogation unit. One of the Chuunin was fairly weak-minded and divulged the fact that they had been given orders to exterminate a specific clan family of Konoha, but had not been told exactly why. They had also been told to do so only when the head ninja of the expedition gave the order, so the Chuunin had assumed it was meant to be a bit of misdirection to allow him to carry out his mission; whatever that was.
The leaders of Konoha knew why the clan had been killed off, so that had been only a minor mystery. As the Itou clan had been one of the other major noble families, Hiashi Hyuuga himself, along with a contingent of other Hyuuga and Uchiha clan volunteers, had showed up at the Itou clan compound to begin searching for any survivors. The teams searched for the better part of the day, finding only the dead, when a little girl no older than Hinata Hyuuga stumbled out of one of the unsearched houses. Hiashi Hyuuga and the Sandaime were the first ones to spot her.
The little girl was dragging a strip of pink silk behind her like a tail with a star-shaped pendant around her neck. She rubbed her eyes sleepily as she looked at the two grim-faced men standing over her. "Where's Mumma? Nee-chan won't wake up..."
Lord Hokage knelt down and gathered the confused, tired little girl into his arms and just held her in silence. Hiashi stood there, not envying the task that was facing Sarutobi-sensei.
* * *
Miho Hyuuga frowned pensively. Shortly after that incident, the Land of Lightning threatened resumption of the state of war between them and the Land of Fire for the "unprovoked" attack that resulted in the death of a major strategic asset that had entered Konoha "in good faith." They demanded the body of the one who had killed their ninja as repayment to salve the wound.
And Uncle Hizashi Hyuuga volunteered to take the place of his brother as an act of defiance against the will of the Main Family. It would be the first of two major losses the Hyuuga Lord would suffer in the next few years; the other being the loss of his wife shortly after the birth of Hanabi, his younger daughter, now 7 years old.
Hiashi shook his head momentarily to bring his mindset back to the here and now. He looked at Kimiko's ninja record. Solid 3's in every category save for Genjutsu. Due to the long-standing alliance between the 3 largest noble clans in Konoha, Hiashi Hyuuga and his counterpart in the Uchiha clan had pooled their resources to see to it that Kimiko Itou's interests were protected.
Kimiko was unaware of the fact that as the sole survivor of the noble house, the assets of the entire clan were hers, held in conservatorship by Hiashi Hyuuga and the Third Hokage. Much like other wards of the Village, a modest monthly stipend handled everything that she stood in need of, handled in such a way that she was probably unaware that they were being done. The only difference was that her stipend came from her family's assets instead of the Village's.
It was only the beginning of a promise made long ago to Kimiko's family. The other items would be handled in due course.
"I know she and Hinata are close, but I rarely get to follow how she's doing." Hiashi finally said, ending the long silence of remembrance.
"Like Hinata, she tries to behave as a normal girl, despite her station, but in her case, she never learned those skills. In fact, she doesn't even recall the name of her elder sister. Do you happen..?"
"Reiko." Hiashi interrupted her half asked question. "Her sister's name was Reiko."
The tone of his voice also told Miho that it was a bit of a sore point for him and that any further questions about this Reiko Itou would go unanswered. 'Well, I can at least share that with her when we have a private moment or two.' Miho nodded.
"Anyways, she's got a very volatile personality and very much the tomboy at times. She's taken it upon herself to restore her clan, much like Sasuke Uchiha has. She's self-taught herself the basic kata for the Wusha Chain." She paused. "I also suspect that she might be on the verge of activating her Mizugan, but I can't be too certain - I have no first-hand experience in seeing it in action."
"Now that's a word that brings back memories." Hiashi said wistfully. The Mizugan was the main reason behind the slaughter of the Itou clan; not just to wreak havoc in Konoha, but to also give the Cloud Ninja a chance to escape the Land of Fire with Hinata.
The Mizugan was an ocular Kekkei Genkai, like the Byakugan and Sharingan, but unlike the other two, it originated from the Land of Water. The Mizugan was primarily an eye of insight, much like the Byakugan was. But where the Byakugan allowed one near 360 degree, telescopic X-ray viewing modes, the Mizugan allowed the wielder to expand their consciousness to see the viewpoint of any source of water they could detect within a 10 kilometer radius whereas the Byakugan reached its limit at 3 kilometers.
Any of the weather manipulation jutsu experts of the Itou clan would have been able to create a storm front that would have stretched from Konoha to the edge of the Land of Fire. Every single drop of rain in the storm would be an eye for a wielder of the Mizugan to peer through; had a single Itou survived, the Cloud Ninja would not have gotten very far with Hinata without being caught… Had he managed to make it out of the Hyuuga compound, that is...
The down side of the Mizugan, however, was that where a Hyuuga using long-range viewing along line-of-sight could remain aware of their immediate surroundings, the long-range scrying of the Mizugan left the Itou blind to their surroundings at their body if there were no open water sources nearby. It was one of the reasons the Itou had chosen the chain whip as the primary weapon for their clan; masters of the clan's combat skills were capable of an almost echolocation-type awareness of the surroundings at their body by having the whip moving fast enough to create a slight hum and then use the sound's echoes to know if someone was approaching, even if they were moving silently.
That particular skill, however, was likely lost to the ages... The Itou clan had relied - like most of the noble families - on a verbal history and training regimen. This prevented anyone from being able to simply steal a scroll to learn the secrets of the clan's Kekkei Genkai, Taijutsu fighting style, and so forth. There were records of what the Itou-style was capable of, of course, but nothing in the form of re-constructible training documents.
On that front, Kimiko would have her work cut out for her.
"I remember sitting with Kimiko's father one time to discuss our clan's respective ocular techniques; we served together on the same team in the Chuunin ranks. Where the Byakugan is typically apparent at birth, the Mizugan, much like the Uchiha Sharingan, only will emerge as the result of extreme physical or emotional stress. The stress forces chakra to flow through the tenketsu into the eyes, which in turn sparks the Kekkei Genkai into manifesting itself. After that, the process is apparently no different than using the Byakugan, what differs is merely the operation of the ocular jutsu, which will be something she'll have to rediscover in her own right." Hiashi said.
He gave her a stern look. "Make sure you keep a close eye on her in stressful situations, Miho… Apparently on the initial activation, the Mizugan will instinctively seek out the nearest sources of water. This means that if there is no open water near Kimiko at the time, she will be rendered blind and unable to see around herself. Had her family lived, when she turned 5 – the youngest age the Mizugan had apparently ever been activated – Kimiko would have undergone a "stress test" of sorts, in the hopes of sparking the initialization of the Mizugan in a controlled situation. Records show those who had it activate mid-mission typically did not SURVIVE to the end of the mission."
'Yet another reason for her to be placed under the supervision of a Hyuuga.' Miho thought to herself. 'If I monitor her ocular Tenketsu lines, I'll have some warning before she goes "blind" during her first Mizugan usage.'
"Thank you for that information, Hiashi-sama. In any event, she is very close to Nakahito Haruno; best of friends, in fact. That's one of the main reasons the bell test would not work - the two would start to work together immediately. I would, of course, be able to defend the bells against two Genin, but it would clearly become apparent that I'm waiting for them to work as a team before letting them win, which defeats the entire purpose of that exercise."
Hiashi nodded. "So the Inugami boy is the proverbial fly in the ointment, then."
Miho let out a slightly amused chuckle. "Actually, Uncle Hiashi, in this case, there is nothing proverbial about it…"
A slight smile creased his face. "Neither Kurando Inugami or his mother, Saki – rest her soul – were known for playing well with others. Anastasia is an unusual woman as well, but, then again, she is a Westerner from beyond the Samurai territories, so it's to be expected."
The kunoichi blinked in surprise. "Really? I've never even encountered someone from the Land of Iron, let alone someone from BEYOND it."
"At the outbreak of the Second Great Ninja War, Kurando was a raw medic-nin and was under-skilled for use in the war. As his father had just recently died, leaving him the sole link in continuing his family, Hiruzen-sama did Saki Inugami a favor and tasked Kurando as a special ambassador from Konoha to the Land of Iron to promote understanding of the Land of Iron. He spent about five years – from the time he was 12 until he was 17 – studying the combat style of the samurai and sharing what he knew of ninja medical techniques, which was more extensive than one would have expected in such a young man."
"So, an honorable excuse keeping him out of the war?"
Hiashi shook his head. "Only at first. Kurando returned from his 'mission' because he said that he had exhausted his knowledge of what he could teach. He returned with Anastasia, who is about two or three years his junior, whom he met while serving as a yojimbo – that's what the samurai call one of their men assigned to bodyguard detail. Apparently he was assigned to her, but then her family was killed when the two of them were away on some task."
Miho arched an eyebrow. "So he brought her to Konoha?"
"Pretty much." The older man agreed. "She was apparently love-struck and made an argument that his job was to keep her safe when she wasn't at home."
The kunoichi giggled. "Ah… 'My home is no longer safe, I'll stay with you until I find a new one that is.' Canny girl."
Hiashi shrugged. "So he brought her back and Saki became taken with her immediately. She assumed responsibility for Anastasia and Kurando was released to serve in the war with his samurai combat skills and ninja medic knowledge. Anastasia trained under Saki and Kurando's mother, eventually, permitted Anastasia to court her son. They married shortly before the war ended."
Miho flipped open the final folder and handed it over. "Ah, so that's why Sho Inugami is over a year older than the other two. He mentioned spending time in a coma when he was younger, but now the picture becomes clearer; thank you, Uncle."
Unlike the previous two, the third member of the team's levels were far lower, typically around the 2 range, the bare minimum to potentially graduate from the Academy. There were, however, penciled marks at higher points on all five points of the pentagon chart.
"Now that's unusual..." Hiashi said as he looked at the file and tapped the pentagon. "Low scores for such a seemingly exceptional young man… What are these marks for?"
"Apparently, Sho seems to have been doing a bit of sandbagging during his time at the Academy, causing his scores to be artificially deflated by not showing his true level of skill."
Hiashi frowned. "And did it well enough to go undetected until recently?"
"Until this morning, in fact!" Miho agreed. The Hyuuga Lord's eyebrow arched in surprise and looked at the data again. "According to Iruka, he gave a bit of a demonstration of his true talents in response to some antagonizing remarks by the other two. I caught the tail end of the demonstration, so when I met with Iruka earlier to catch up, I got the full details. I've made some notes to cause it to reflect his displayed level of talent and Iruka will be updating his official record in the next few days. "
"I see. So an actual score of 3.5 for Taijutsu, 1.5 for Genjutsu, a solid 4 for Ninjutsu, 2.6 in weaponry and a 3.75 in Chakra." Hiashi frowned to mask being impressed. "Sandbagging indeed…"
Miho nodded. "Yes. He apparently has already learned the Body Flicker and the Chakra Suture techniques and can use them extremely well. And, of course, Chakra Scalpels from the boar incident. There's probably more, he says he's completed a good portion of the Chuunin-level medical program."
The 'Boar Incident' was an item of minor folklore around the village of Konoha and one of the reasons Sho Inugami was also occasionally called the "gray sheep" of Konoha - whereas Naruto Uzumaki was the "black sheep" of Konoha.
"I remember that… Hinata came home from class that day looking particularly shell-shocked and I got the details from one of the instructors."
"Yes, being able to defend oneself against a physically superior opponent while unarmed at such a young age is impressive, though all we have are second hand reports from the boy himself."
According to the official reports on the matter, Sho – aged 8 to his companions' 6 and 7 – had lost his way and, though an over-channeling of his Chakra Scalpels had ripped apart a boar that had attempted to gore him. The action had left the boy covered in blood but without any means to clean himself effectively, so he hadn't cleaned up at all. The one of the instructors had taken the boy home to get cleaned up while the others tried to calm the traumatized children.
Kids being kids blew the story out of proportion in the retelling of the incident, becoming increasingly exaggerated along the way, until Sho had been rendered a pariah within his own class year.
'It's no wonder he's anti-social. And since he refused to tell the instructors where in the zone he'd left the carcass, having been what was the phrase he used…' She looked at the notes page. 'Ah, "embarrassed at his improper use of a normally refined technique" the imagination of the story teller was the limit on how it turned out…'
Hiashi Hyuuga nodded again. "Tell me some more about him… It seems like he will be at the crux of whatever test we need to come up with."
"According to Iruka, while his physical abilities were carefully concealed during his time at the Academy, he didn't bother to do so with his mental ones. He had top marks on every quiz, test and regularly did extra credit bookwork whenever he could. We estimate he's got an incredibly high IQ and a photographic memory - Iruka said that a number of Sho's responses in the tests quoted Iruka verbatim, right down to his tonal inflections on the odd oral quizzes. He's definitely a top-flight situational analysis; a great asset to any medical ninja. He's only been seen to be hanging out on occasion with Naruto Uzumaki or with both Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi, the other 'outcasts' of his year at the Academy."
The lord of the Hyuuga clan let off a grunt-like sound of contemplation. "This scenario has a lot of intriguing challenges: the genius that will aid his team without trusting them, the boy and girl that trust each other, but detest and fear the genius..." He paused as a stray thought crossed his mind. "Miho-mei, have you ever heard of the Yondaime's Gambit?"
"Yes. Kakashi-sempai mentioned during one of the inter-mission lulls that we had. It was..." Her voice trailed off as she recalled what Hatake had told her of Namikaze's idea for improving the Academy after the War. "Huh... That COULD just work, couldn't it?"
Hiashi Hyuuga merely nodded solemnly, closing the folder before handing all three back to her. "And my daughter's instructor is just the person to help you with it!"
Miho Hyuuga beamed at her Uncle as she accepted the reports. "You're absolutely right! Thank you for your advice, Uncle!"
"And I will take yours to heart as well, Niece."
Miho rose, her mind practically on fire as she began assembling the pieces of the Gambit together. She bowed to her Uncle. "Pardon my abrupt departure, Uncle; I need to speak with Yuuhi if I'm going to coordinate things for the morning…"
"Granted Miho-mei. Good luck."