Sakura fumed as she entered her house, her parents avoided her at the moment. The pinkette stormed into her room and proceeded to vent her anger…by punching a pillow. Two minutes later, it really didn't help since it turned into a pile of mush. Calming down she thought about her team.
Hinata, she could work with. She was sure most of her classmates could work with the shy Hyuga, honestly because despite the sometimes annoying stutter she was a nice person –probably the kindest one in their batch. But she came with her own set of faults. The girl couldn't hurt a fly and had major self-esteem issues. Why else would she wear baggy clothes like those? She looked so fat.
Then there was the other 'teammate'. Sakura sighed thinking about her once former friend. Ino was…a fucking backstabber in her eyes. The Yamanaka knew that she liked Sasuke, despite that the blonde ended up garnering feelings for the one boy Sakura truly loved and cherished. Despite their friendship, love was stronger and more important. Sasuke was in pain, she would help him and then make him fall in love with her. She would heal him, she was the only one who could. Not to mention, Sasuke-kun only ever talked to one girl –HER! Kiba didn't count; she was more boy than girl and acted like a brute.
Finally, she thought about her sensei. Naruto Uzumaki, someone she didn't remember seeing in their batch and certainly not someone worth remembering. Though the question in her mind was…why was someone so young – of their age no less – a jōnin? Sasuke was the greatest shinobi she'd seen, the best of the best. Top of the Academy and potentially rivaled the Yondaime. The pinkette blushed thinking about him, her heartbeat slowly quickening.
It was ruined when a knock came at her door.
"Yes?" Sakura said, a bit disappointed she was taken away from her daily daydream therapy session. The door opened and her mother walked in. Mebuki was a seat holder in the Civilian Council who dealt with, obviously, the civilian side of things and one of the few was amorously respected by the shinobi side.
"So," her mother eagerly started. "How'd your first day go?"
"Horrible," the kunoichi replied. "Not only am I not on Sasuke-kun's team, but I'm with piggy and Hinata. The latter is okay to work with, but the former….ugh."
"Sakura-chan," Mebuki sat beside her daughter, who looked – for the lack of a better word – vexed. The complicated situation between Ino and her daughter was their thing, she was no one to interfere in that. But being this upset because she wasn't on the same team as Sasuke? "You need to understand something dear daughter of mine. Sometimes, things will never go the way we expect them too. Your father is a living example of that."
Sakura cringed a bit. Her father, Kizashi, an eccentric and quirky man was a chūnin. He was also active during the Third Great Ninja war and part of the platoon that was saved by the Yondaime appearing to defeat a thousand Iwa shinobi by himself. However, Kizashi had maintained other injuries that day. Injuries, that ultimately, made him walk with a slight limp and hindered his career forever. Still, her parents were happy. Her mother was happy he got 'crippled' otherwise they wouldn't have met.
"I know, and don't even get me started on our sensei," Sakura said, remembering how casually the blond treated them. A jōnin should've been more serious, calm and cool –like Sasuke. "I can't believe he's our age. I don't think he's a real sensei either."
"A jōnin? Your age?" Mebuki was surprised having never seen a jōnin of that age, she knew most of them but this one missed her memory. "I don't remember anyone like that."
Sakura beamed, her Inner cheered. "I knew it!" she nearly yelled in excitement. "Then all that stuff about a real test taking place tomorrow was a lie too."
"Actually, that's not a lie. All genin go through a second test after graduation."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Sakura asked, a bit shocked at the betrayal.
"That would be hand-holding, dear. You need to figure out a few things by yourself, being a kunoichi and all," Mebuki noticed how her daughter's hitai-ate was not with her. "Sakura, where's your headband?"
"That wannabe sensei took it from us!" Sakura nearly yelled. "He said we won't get them back unless we pass the test."
"Well that does seem to follow the procedure. What was your sensei's name again?"
"Naruto Uzumaki."
Oh dear. Mebuki internally winced a bit. The Uzumaki Clan head, the seat that was always empty during meeting yet decisions came through and given explicitly to the Hokage himself. She remembered him, back when he was…five or six. Mebuki would be lying if she said she didn't fear and loathe the child. He did house the greatest calamity she saw in her life. Hate? She didn't know. The Haruno didn't think she hated him, and he was the only one who had the name Uzumaki as far as she knew.
"I see," Mebuki said. "Well, Sakura do you plan to train?"
"I do, but not now."
Mebuki sighed and nodded, her daughter could be pretty stubborn. "Well, good luck then."
"Hey, Mom?" Sakura said, a bit of doubt seeping into her. "If I fail tomorrow, you wouldn't be-"
"I'd be a bit sad, yes." Mebuki answered. "But nothing I wouldn't be ashamed. Lots of genin fail each year and the person you're getting is a clan head."
"What?" Sakura, shocked at the words. She'd never heard of an Uzumaki clan. "A clan? In Konoha? How come we never read about them?"
"You didn't?" Mebuki was shocked. "Huh. Strange, they are related to the Senju clan. You'd think they would be mentioned."
"No way!" Ino couldn't believe what she heard. "The First Hokage's wife was an Uzumaki?"
"Yes, Ino; hand me the lilies," her mother, Kasumi, said. Her mother was…gorgeous in her eyes. Her long brown hair was tied in a loose bun, a full sleeved shirt (and necklace over her collar) and long skirt did little to hide the fact her mother's body was full and curvy. One day, Ino would rival that…in her mind.
"Here," the young Yamanaka did so and her mother placed them in a narrow jar. The fragrance of different flowers was always present in the Yamanaka Flower shop, along with several different poisons locked away. Couldn't let something like that loose. She started back on her point of interest, "Wait, so the Uzumaki were a clan and they were wiped out?"
"Yes, nearly all of them," Kasumi continued, now attending to her small Zen tree. "Although, I think I remember seeing one."
"An Uzumaki?"
"Yes," Ino aptly paid attention as her mother finished her work, flawlessly. "She was very beautiful and had amazing red hair. Most Uzumaki do."
"But this one's blonde," the young future kunoichi replied. "You think he's fake?"
"Blond you say," her mother seemed to be pondering something in her mind. Ino liked to think she was deductive - all Yamanaka naturally are - and seeing her mother's eyes widening for a while made her interest grow more. So, so much more. "Never saw one, maybe another one moved in."
"You're hiding something aren't you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," her mother killed her curiosity in the crib. "That aside, when are you going to start training? Tomorrow's your exam and more than seventy percent of students fail that."
Ino cringed a bit, but relented nonetheless. "I will, later."
"Ino," her mother removed her apron. "I'm beginning to wonder when you'll be serious."
"I will be, I did get the-"
"The academy scores don't matter out there in the real world." Kasumi cut her daughter off. "You have so much talent and you're wasting the time to improve so you can look better? For a boy who doesn't even look at you?"
"That's not true!" Ino nearly shouted. "You don't understand. Sasuke-kun is in pain. He needs someone to ease it for him."
"And that someone is you?" The blond couldn't believe how her mother snickered at her. "Ino, what that boy needs is therapy. An incident like that scars a person, and even years of comfort won't be able to fix it."
"Well, I'll prove you wrong," Ino said and walked out of the shop. Kicking some invisible rubble off her path, the blonde went to her room –angry. Mostly at how her mother shot down her feelings, and the fact that Sasuke needed comfort, her comfort. Her love was something nobody could understand.
Sighing to herself, the Yamanaka thought of what could happen tomorrow. Their so called 'sensei' was about young as them and that alone called for all sorts of suspicions. Nevermind the fact that Ino thought he was kinda attractive at first - not like Sasuke-kun, dear no - then he went on to shamelessly gobble ramen in front of them, while making slurping noises. Then there was Sakura, the last person she wanted to be on a team with. Useless, useless, useless. At least Ino had her clan jutsu, what would Sakura do?
Simply thinking about the pinkette brought back a few painful memories. Granted Ino wasn't any better at that age, but Sakura's poisonious words hurt back then. Haruno was the one who broke it off first, and Ino wanted no part of such a worthless friendship. All because they both liked the same boy, why couldn't Sakura simply see that Ino was a better fit for the Uchiha?
Lying around a bit more, the Yamanaka drifted off to sleep. Dreaming of white flowers, a small function, a wedding and Sasuke smiling –at her.
Hinata drank a full glass of water, quenching her thirst as her breaths steadied.
She'd been training for the last one hour, and much to her inner ire, her chakra reserves weren't up to the par she desired. The Jūken took a fair amount of stress on the body, exerting your own chakra into another person's body took lethal precision and one small mistake could prove tiny. The Hyuga's problem was her smaller reserves –in her opinion anyway. That and taking a small peek at Naruto did. When she ran up the stairs, she had used her Byakugan to look where he was sitting and saw his chakra network.
Big didn't begin to describe how massive his chakra reserves were, it was more than her father had or anyone she'd seen for that matter. How did he gain such a large amount of chakra?
"Hinata," the sternness in the word made her internally wince. She looked around and saw her father stand there. Stoic as ever.
"Father," Hinata bowed her head a bit. Manners were something that was drilled into her a long time ago. Hiashi stepped into the room and eyed her.
"You've been training."
"Yes, Father."
This was…strange. Her father was stern, very stern with her –even on normal days. Hinata didn't complain though. She believed she was weak, an opinion strongly shared by the Elders and most of the Hyuga clansmen, main and branch. So Hiashi Hyuga showing up without saying anything that pointed out her flaws – yet – was beyond the point of bizarre at the moment.
"I heard who was picked as your sensei," Hiashi said, catching her off guard. "I believe it's the same boy you once talked to your mother about…when she was still alive."
Hinata felt a pang in her chest, her lavender eyes slowly drifted off to a small picture. A woman strongly resembling herself, more mature and kinder, smiling with a baby in her hands as little Hinata stood with her father who smiled. A rare occasion. How she often wished Hitomi was still here.
"Yes." It was all she could say. Speaking about her mother, freely, was something she was yet to do.
"You should be on guard around him," her father continued. Hinata looked at her with widened eyes. "He wasn't made a jōnin at such a young age for no reason."
"Father, may I ask you something?"
"Speak."
"It's about sensei," Hinata mentally patted herself for not calling him 'Naruto-kun' by mistake. "H-He used to classes with me, did he graduate early?"
"In a manner of speaking," she could feel her father was holding information back. "It doesn't matter, what's important is you can't fail tomorrow. As a Hyuga you have to keep our pride up, regardless of the fact that you will not be the heiress anymore."
Those words hurt her more than she thought. Being Heiress was…a complicated matter for her. For one, she wanted to be Heiress not because she was the firstborn, no. Abolishing the Caged Bird Seal was more important, and her once, sweet, younger sister had been indoctrinated by the Elders. She had to find a way around it.
"Do not underestimate him," he carried on, wringing her from her thoughts. "He is strong, incredibly strong and he can teach you many things."
"I…I want to learn how to increase my chakra," Hinata said, a bit loudly. Growing nervous at her father's raised brow, she clarified. "M-My chakra reserves are still lower than where I want them to be. If you have any advise-"
"Outlasting your sensei in a battle is impossible," Hiashi cut her off. "For someone young, he has incredible chakra reserves. Then again, all Uzumaki are born with large chakra reserves."
"T-The Uzumaki were a clan?"
"Did they not teach you anything about the Uzumaki clan at the Academy?" She shook her head. "Strange, that place must be worse than I thought. I'm considering training Hanabi strictly in the clan given how droll the standards seem."
Of course he had plans to train Hanabi in the clan, it made more sense. Hinata knew that at this point she was nothing more than a bargaining marriage chip Hiashi had on his hands, one day off to be shipped with some Daimyo's son or other rich noble. She'd seen several instances of this before, Tsume Inuzuka's older daughter Hana was an example of this –now wife to the ruler of Land of Fangs.
The truth was…Hinata didn't want to be used as a brood mare, for her heart had always, always, belonged to someone else. Someone she thought had disappeared given how he isolated he was. But by the grace of whatever god that existed, he was still here and Hinata could get closer to him. Tell him how important he was to her, prove to him how his one small moment changed her beliefs.
"I-I see," Hinata bowed her head. "Is there anything in the Library that can help me tomorrow? Against sensei?"
Hiashi looked at her for a complete minute before he replied. "You intend to fight him."
"I b-believe that's what sensei intends to do."
"Strange," her father moved towards the door, slowly. "I wonder what it is about that makes you so confident."
"W-what?" Hinata blushed, not believing how quickly her father caught on.
"I am many things," the clan head explained. "A fool, however, I am not. I remember when you came in running talking to your mother about him. Then there was the time your skills slumped considerably after he disappeared, yet you refuse to give up the pursuit of being a kunoichi."
"I…" Hinata breathed in. "I don't want to give up. Not again."
"Good," her father quickly said, for a moment Hinata thought she saw her father smile. "You'll find a few scrolls on the Uzumaki clan in the Library, be careful they're old and delicate. Might want to keep them for yourself, nobody as any use for them."
"Y-Yes!" she bowed her head, like any daughter would.
"One last thing," Hiashi opened the door, he wasn't looking back. "Do not put your guard down tomorrow. Use anything to beat him –anything. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes."
...
Read 30+ Advance chapters on Patreon !
Patreon.com/XanaxODD