Snow on the Treetops
Hinata stares out her window with a mug of tea in her hand and her legs tucked under a blanket. Sasuke’s latest letter is clutched in her other hand, but she's scared to open it. She’s scared to read the answer to her question.
The entire day she’s been getting gifts delivered to her. Jerky from Kiba. A new, beautiful kunai from Tenten. A lovely portrait of Team Seven, including Yamato and Sai from the talented painter himself. An aloe plant from Ino. A cactus plant and a hand-written letter from Lee and Gaara. That one made her laugh. Lee wrote all about Hinata’s hard work ethic and her refusal to quit jogging with him, even though she was much slower. She also got a hand-carved songbird from Captain Yamato. Plus, Kakashi visited her this morning with fresh fruit. And of course, a bag of deluxe ramen from Naruto.
Lastly, a letter and a bouquet of the sweetest smelling wildflowers from Sasuke.
Hinata’s birthday has never been a big deal to her. Most of the time, her father and Hanabi would gift her dresses, stationery, or hairpins. Then, they’d all sit down together and divulge something sweet that Hinata was rarely allowed to eat. So, when Hinata’s door was flooded with gifts from her friends, it made her feel extra special.
Neji and Sakura had already banished Hinata to her room while they prepared a lavish dinner. She’s nervous about the results. Neji is not a cook. And Sakura is a much better healer than she is a chef. But either way, the thought had already brought her to tears.
Hinata sighs and begins to peel open her letter. It’s now or never.
Hinata
I know I took a while to get back to you. I’ve been staying at Orochimaru’s strange cave for the past couple of months, and I couldn’t do a single thing without Karin practically being attached to me. I’ve hurt her in unforgivable ways. I don’t know why she still “loves” me, let alone likes me. But she does. So, I decided to make it up to her, Jugo, and even Suigetsu by spending time with them. Even now, Karin keeps walking past my table. But I had to write because this week is your birthday. I already missed enough of your birthdays. I refuse to miss another one.
Hinata looks up from the letter as she recalls Karin. A small girl with glasses and brilliant red hair. She remembers healing her after confronting Sasuke. And she has heard plenty about Suigestu and Jugo from Sasuke himself. She’s glad he’s spending time with all of them. They’ve all been through so much together, possibly just as much as she, Sasuke, and Naruto have. She looks down at the letter and continues reading.
I bribed the hawk summon to pick the flowers for you. I hope he did a good job of it. I’m sorry I couldn’t do it myself, but you deserve something on your birthday. I know the stuck-up cousin will do something for you, and that dobe Naruto probably got you something as ridiculous as ramen. But I wanted to give you something beautiful, like you.
You’re not selfish for not wanting the responsibilities of your clan. And you shouldn’t hate yourself for it. Please go easy on yourself, Hinata. You have people willing to help. I’m willing to help. And tell your idiotic clan elders to shove it, sincerely from Sasuke Uchiha.
I’m coming back soon, Hinata. I promise. My question is also difficult, so feel free to not answer it. Do you miss me? Because I miss you.
Happy Birthday Hina
Sasuke
Hinata grips the letter tightly in her hands. He misses her. He’s coming back soon. This birthday gift is her favorite one yet.
A soft knock on her door interrupts her happy daze and Sakura pushes open her shoji.
“Dinner’s ready!” She pauses when she gets a view of Hinata’s blushed cheeks and wide smile. “What’s got you so happy?“
Hinata stammers over her words as she tries to find an answer, but Sakura smiles knowingly. Hinata’s stutters have been far and few recently, but there’s always one common causality between them.
“I-I was just reading a birthday letter.” She says as she quickly stands from her spot on the windowsill. She folds the letter carefully and tucks it into her pocket. “Smells good.” She says quickly as hurries past her friend.
Their usual neat kitchen is a complete mess. There are pans everywhere, flour is spilled on the floor, and the entire counter is covered in different plates and dishes. Even the overhead oven light is on. Hinata immediately burst into a laughing fit.
“What happened here?” She says as an overwhelming number of different smells bombards her.
“Sakura insisted on making dessert while we made dinner,” Neji says crankily.
“No, you insisted on making dinner while I made dessert!” Sakura retorts.
“Who eats dessert first?” Neji says as he playfully pulls Sakura against him. Neji looks ridiculous in Hinata’s light pink apron with a strawberry print. Sakura must’ve tied his hair back because he wears a sage green bandana and there’s sauce smeared all over his cheek. For once, he doesn't look neat and perfect. It makes Hinata happy to see.
“I do!” Sakura says as she sticks out her tongue playfully. “Anyway, sit down Hinata! We’re going to serve you up.” Sakura breaks away from Neji’s grasp and ushers her friend to her seat.
Hinata giggles as she sits at the table. Sasuke’s flowers are in a vase in the center of the table and her heart warms.
“Are you sure you don’t want to invite anyone else to dinner?” Neji asks as he sets a plate down in front of Hinata. She stifles a laugh. After everything, all the pans and the trouble, their dinner actually looks decent. They’ve made her slow-roasted beef over white rice and steamed vegetables. There’s a basket of pork buns and even a side of zenzai, Hinata’s favorite dessert soup.
Sakura calls for Hanabi and she comes from her room with a yawn. Hinata glances between her sister, her best friend, and her cousin with a smile. She already had breakfast with Kakashi Sensei, plus Naruto paid her a visit around lunchtime. “No, this is perfect.” She responds happily. Sakura jumps up and down excitedly before sitting next to Hinata, wrapping her in a quick hug.
Hanabi is the first to take a bite and her eyes almost protrude out of her face. Hinata bites her lip to stop herself from laughing as she can audibly hear Hanabi swallow.
“What’s wrong with it?” Neji asks with an eyebrow raised. “It’s homemade and edible.”
Sakura takes a bite and begins to giggle. “Neji, did you use a single seasoning?”
“Salt and pepper. I didn’t want to make it too spicy.” He responds coolly. He takes a neat bite of the vegetables and makes an exaggerated noise to prove how good they are.
“You’re right, it’s not spicy,” Hanabi begins. “It has no flavor at all!” This time, both Hinata and Sakura laugh.
“Try the pork buns. I oversaw those.” Sakura says with pride. Hanabi takes a hesitant bite of the pork bun, but in the end, she nods her head in acceptance.
“I like it, Sakura-chan. But Hinata is the best chef there is! If you’re to marry my cousin, you’re going to need some lessons.” Hanabi teases. Sakura begins to blush, and Neji almost chokes on a piece of beef.
“Don’t be rude, Hanabi-chan.” Hinata lectures as she chews on her pork bun. “Sakura can cook just fine,” Hinata responds with a wink. “When she marries Neji,” She exaggerates, “she’ll have plenty of time to practice.”
The four all discuss their lives like a true family. Sakura tells them that she and Tsunade are another step closer to curing the disease they’ve been working on for over a year now. Neji says that Lee is happy in Suna with Gaara and that Guy has made himself busy by promoting himself to Kakashi’s personal assistant. In other words, Guy Sensei follows around Kakashi all day, despite the white-haired Hokage’s constant protests. Hanabi talks about the annoying little chunin by the name of Konohamaru.
“Sounds like somebody else I know,” Neji says as he thinks of Naruto. This makes the table all laugh.
Eventually, Sakura stands up from the table and hurries to the kitchen. She grabs a pan from the stove and sets it on the table. Hinata’s eyes widen, and her mouth begins to water.
“You made me cinnamon rolls?” She squeaks out.
“Well, they’re your favorite, aren’t they?” Sakura says, immediately concerned that maybe that idiot told her the wrong thing.
“How did you know?” Hinata asks as she reaches for her first one greedily. Both Sakura and Neji sigh in relief at her reaction.
“We had to send a letter out to your broody teammate.” Neji answers. Hinata stops herself from taking her first bite at the thought of Sasuke. She’s always known that he loves tomatoes, but one of his earlier questions was what her favorite food was too. He’s the one that relayed the information to Neji and Sakura? Hinata begins to twist the single bead she wove into a dark blue bracelet with a slight smile on her face. Then, she takes a huge bite of her birthday dessert.
Nineteen has never felt so good.
—---------------------------------------------------------
Konoha is blanketed in snow and the moonlight reflects off the white ground, creating a sliver illusion across the entire Hyuga compound.
Naruto and Hinata sit in the sunroom huddled beneath a blanket. They both have a cup of instant ramen in their hands and the two take turns grabbing a chopstick full of noodles and seeing which one comes out longer. Naruto always wins. It’s like he can read the ramen.
It’s been a month since Hinata’s birthday, and she thinks at long last, her heart is finally healing. Sure, she still has nightmares at least once a week. She’s still terrified of waking up one day and walking out of her room to find both Hanabi and Neji dead. She’s still nervous that she died in the field of battle and the Hinata that lives in this world is just a ghost of her former self. But she thinks it’s getting easier to turn her thoughts off.
“You always win,” Hinata grumbles as she slurps up her ramen. Naruto cackles and stretches his long legs out from the blanket.
“I was going to go to Ichiraku today, but this is so much better!” He exclaims. “I love hanging with you, Hinata-chan.” He says with his typical smile.
“Me too, Naruto.” She responds gratefully.
Naruto had a demonstration at the academy today, and Hinata spent her day knitting. Her thoughts make her straighten in surprise. Her eyes land on Naruto’s green and white-striped scarf. “That reminds me!” She says as she jumps up. When Hinata and Naruto were children, he had a beautiful red scarf that he used to wear. Then one day, Hinata was getting pushed around by a couple of nobodies and Naruto automatically ran to her aid. The bullies damaged his scarf beyond repair and Hinata took it on herself that day to somehow repay him. But lately, he’s been sporting a new one. Naruto told her it was from someone special, and she automatically assumed Ino. And she didn’t want to replace Ino’s gift! So, Hinata quickly reworked her original idea and made him something else instead.
She rushes to her room and grabs the gift delicately in her hands. Then, with a smile, she brings it over to him in the sunroom.
“What’s this?” Naruto asks and his entire face lights up. He quickly unwraps Hinata’s perfect silver paper to reveal a green hat with a white pom-pom on top. Naruto’s eyes immediately swell with tears, and he places the hat over his spiky blonde hair.
“I wanted to make you something. And since your scarf is so important to you, I figured it could match it.” She tells him softly. He stands up and picks Hinata up in a crushing hug.
“My mother made this scarf, Hinata-chan.” He says with his cheek pressed against her forehead. “And now, I get to wear something from two people that are so special to me.” He pulls away from her, his face shining like the sun.
“I’m glad you like it.” She replies. Hinata spent the entire day working on it. It’s a gift of love.
“It’s one of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten!” He says, throwing his arms out wide in exaggeration.
“Well, it can’t be as good as that deluxe ramen you got me on my birthday.” Hinata teases. Naruto laughs and rubs the back of his neck. His hair sticks out every which way from his new hat.
After another hug, Naruto bids Hinata farewell. She quickly goes to her room and changes into a thick pair of flannel pajama pants and a baggy sleep shirt with the face of a bear.
Before she makes her way over to her bed, she grazes a hand down the other gift she’s been working on. She knows Sasuke’s not one for colors or wearing anything that isn’t practical, but she had to make him something too. After debating her options, she finally settled on a pair of gloves. They’re leather on the outside and knitted midnight blue on the inside. She made them light so he could use his blade while wearing them.
Hinata hasn’t heard from Sasuke since her birthday. But she isn’t upset about it. She knows that he wants to come home, and that’s all that matters.
And of course, she couldn’t retire her scarf idea. So, she made one for herself. It unintentionally matches Sasuke’s gloves with dark blue wool and black fringe. Or maybe it was intentional. Hinata doesn’t care either way. She wraps the scarf around her shoulders, just for the comfort of it.
Hinata wants nothing more than to crawl into bed and fall asleep, but her anxious instincts kick in. She feels as if something is off.
Neji left on a diplomatic mission a few days ago. Did he return home? Maybe it’s her trauma, or maybe it’s her instincts, but Hinata activates her Byakugan.
She gasps in horror as she sees at least a dozen men entering her home. Hinata grits her teeth and focuses. Neji isn’t here, but Hanabi is in her room. She must get her sister somewhere safer, like Naruto’s or Sakura’s. Most of the Hyuga fighters left with Neji, so the compound is not safe for them.
Part of her wants to warn Hanabi, but the other part of her knows she can use the element of surprise to her advantage.
Hinata’s dojutsu narrows down on the first enemy and she rushes toward him, her palm extended. She quickly executes her Gentle Fist and moves to the next person in her hall. By the way these people are spread out and positioned, it’s likely they didn’t know she was here. This means that their target is her younger sister. Did they think she was away with Neji on clan business as well? Or are they just intentionally trying to avoid her? Either way, Hinata will not let them take her.
“Hey.” She whispers to the next person in her range. He turns around and she blasts him through the wall with an Air Palm. Her element of surprise is gone and Hinata prepares herself for the next attacker. She gets a closer look at the masked man and frowns. He wears a strange hat with a star and moon on it, but the rest of his body is covered in wrappings. He’s practically identical to the man Hinata already took out. Are they clones? They have chakra signatures. Maybe puppets of some kind. She doesn’t have time to debate as she runs into the living room.
“Hanabi!” She cries out as she gets a view of her sister. Hanabi stands defensively with her Byakugan activated. She has lightning chakra emitting from her body and it zaps anyone who gets too close. Hinata immediately calls upon her own lighting which merges with her sister’s.
“Hinata!” Hanabi pants as she fends off her attackers. Her sister wears a mere sleeping robe. She must’ve been dragged out of bed. Hinata snarls and grabs her sister tight against her while beginning a powerful Rotation. The men are thrown around the living room and Hinata takes their distraction as time to escape.
The Hyuga sisters are bound by lighting and their hands as they run through the streets of Konoha. How did these people get in here?!
“Help!” Hanabi screams to any ninja that may be able to hear them. But night has fallen on Konoha. Since the village is at peace, Hinata doubts any elite shinobi are wandering about. Hinata grabs her sisters in her arms and launches them onto one of the nearby roofs. They are quickly met with more attackers. The two of them stand back-to-back as they fend off every person who gets too close.
Hinata’s hands begin to shake and before long, the people in front of her are not people, they’re Zetsu clones. It’s not Hanabi against her back, but Neji. She’s back in the war and her breath hitches.
The enemies begin to bombard them with some type of explosions. She focuses on one with her Byakugan. These men don’t want to kill them…they want to capture them. They must be after their Byakugan. But Sakura lifted the seal. They could have anyone in the Hyuga! Hinata wishes she had time to think through it.
One gets too close to Hanabi and Hinata attempts to push him away. But her thoughts have distracted her and Hanabi gets stuck in the green trap that seems to completely freeze her in place. Hinata unleashes her lighting on anyone who is near, but it doesn’t matter. Her sister gets yanked away from her. She loses her footing in the scuffle and claws to get a grip on the roof of the building.
“Hanabi!” She screams as she begins her descent towards the ground. Her own life doesn’t matter. But her sister! If she dies here, she can’t save her sister! She unravels the scarf from her neck and it catches on a nearby overhanging rod. She cries out as her arms are jerked to a stop. Hinata needs to get back to Hanabi. Brilliant yellow bombs fill her vision and Hanabi is finally released from the trap. She hears another scream from above and a strange bird creature appears from nowhere with her sister on its back.
“NO!” Hinata yells. She already lost her father. She won’t lose her sister too.
Hinata uses all her strength to swing herself from the overhanging rod towards the wall of the building. She plants chakra into the balls of her slippered feet and begins to ascend towards her sister. Another man begins to descend on her and she readies her free palm that’s not attached to the remnants of the scarf. Puppet or person, Hinata will kill him here and now.
But before she can reach him, a blur of dark hair and lightning takes him out instead. The body explodes into a blast of light. The surprise causes Hinata to lose her balance and she begins to fall towards the ground again. She gathers the scarf in her fist as the ground grows closer. Maybe her Rotation can break her fall. Or maybe she’ll die on impact.
But before she can hit the ground, familiar arms encase her. Sasuke threads Hinata’s thighs around his waist and supports her back with both arms as he launches them away from the ground.
They land on a rooftop and Hinata is more than surprised to find herself looking into the familiar eyes of Sasuke. He quickly sets her down and grabs her chin gently in his hand, assessing her for any injuries.
“Are you alright, Hinata?” He asks. Neither of them thought their reunion would be like this. Sasuke thought when he saw her, he’d finally be able to tell her how he felt. Hinata thought that she’d be able to hold him tightly and tell him how much she missed him. But instead, Hinata’s cheeks are heavy with tears.
“H-Hanabi. They took my sister.” She cries with her hands shakily squeezing his forearms. Sasuke frowns as he takes in the woman before him. She wears pajamas, and her silky hair is in an updo on the top of her head. This was a surprise attack, no doubt. But why?
They both turn as a man floats in front of them, completely cloaked in white. His eyes are closed, and his silver hair is flawless against his forehead. Hinata’s Byakugan is no longer activated, but she doesn’t need to see that he's responsible. Sasuke automatically steps in front of her, sweeping her behind him with his Sharingan activated.
“Who are you? Where’s my sister?” Hinata says harshly.
“I am Toneri. And I have come for you, Hinata Hyuga. The next time I see you, you’ll be mine.” He says calmly. Hinata and Sasuke both send a wave of fire for him at the same time, but by the time it reaches him, he’s already gone. Hinata wants to collapse in on herself, but she needs to remain calm. They wouldn’t have taken Hanabi alive if they didn’t need her. She must trust that her sister’s okay.
Sasuke watches a powerful comet fall directly behind the village. The impact sends the very building they’re standing on shaking, and he reaches an arm out to support Hinata.
“We need to find Hanabi.” She tells him as she grabs his hand determinedly. Sasuke knows that her act is out of desperation, not affection, but he still grows warm.
“And we will. But first, there’s something you need to see.”