History is Written by the Victors
Sakura, Shikamaru and Temari sat around a table to discuss what they had learned. They had divided what they had learned into categories. They had discussed the difference in chakra and how many demons resembled animal in their dimension to blend in when they came here.
"We should start with the history." At the other's nods, Sakura continued. "So Bijuu entered known history quite some time ago. Eventually seals were made to keep them from attacking. They-"
"That's not quite true." They turned to see Yuuki. She was standing behind them. Actually she had been listening for some time. "Seal were created by the bijuu for two reasons. The first was as a friend. It allowed them to experience this world and in return the person gained greater power and life. The other was in revenge, demons fighting each other captured them in humans." Sakura frowned.
"I did read that but it was in a D book. A is generally what one marks the best books." Yuuki chuckled.
"I did that on purpose. I marked D and A not for the alphabet but for Demonica and Ashi. The one's with D are far more accurate and unbiased. Anyway, eventually humans began to use the seals on their own and the bijuu with a few exceptions won't kill if they can help it. Besides they have the luxury to bide their time. They live for freakin ever." They nodded as they listened. It seemed their fortune to have arrived while Yuuki was in the temple. Shikamaru, who had noticed her standing there for some time, spoke next.
"Since you seem to know so much could you correct any other errors?" She looked started before she smiled and pulled up a chair.
"As you wish. First, earlier, demons don't resemble our animals, its the other way around. Our animals are descended from them. They didn't really attack humans as much as they played pranks. The younger ones didn't know how fragile humans were so sometimes they were a little dangerous to us. They are taught from a very young age to respect all life and only kill when nescessary. Although they have their criminals as we do, their society as a whole follows this philosophy."
Neji, Hinata and Ten Ten made good time as they arrived at the appointed spot several hours early. Ten Ten sat on the bank of a nearby river as Neji and Hintata practiced.
Hinata sighed as she watched her cousin struggle with the water. He was trying, but that was part of the problem. Unlike regular jutsu, this particular thing was as natural as breathing to a user, it had to be. It is the same as drawing a circle, the slower and more meticulous you do it, the worse it looks. Finally she reached out to his wrists.
"Ano, Neji-ni-kun, please stop for a moment." Neji looked at her slightly annoyed. She kept stopping him. He was sure he was close, he just needed more time between these stops.
"Hinata-sama?" She was looking at the water in concern before she looked at him.
"Maybe we should stop for a few minutes and eat something?" She hoped the time would slow him down some and she was trying to figure out a way to tell him what she felt from the water. This is where she prefered her way of communication with Naruto.
"Hinata-sama, I can continue. You may take a break if you are tired." Hinata looked at him before shaking her head.
"I think we both need a quick break." Her voice was quiet but still determined. Neji looked at her, seriously annoyed. He knew he could continue longer.
"I do not need a break! I'm not tired by such a short workout, Hinata-sama." His stress on the word I wasn't lost on either girl. Ten Ten barely stifled her gasp as she looked at Hinata, expecting tears or shame. Hinata, on the other hand was starting to become annoyed herself. Both at her cousins words and tone and at her own in-ability to articulate the correct method. At his words, though, she looked at him with a hard gaze that she had adopted near her father recently, though he never actually saw it. She had had enough of her family's idea that she was worthless and weak.
"I'm not the one snapping at my cousin." Her quiet voice stilled the clearing. Neji froze as his words hit him and he realized what he had actually said. He spun towards his cousin, slightly frantically.
"Hinata-sama, I-" Her hand appeared in front of his face to stop his sentence as she frowned.
"Neji do you remember yesterday morning, when you asked me to teach you?" Neji gulped slightly. He didn't want to loose his cousin, not as a friend, not as a teacher, not as family. Slowly he nodded to her question. She looked at him a moment, then gave him a shove.
It wasn't a hard shove, just enough to overbalance him and force him to fall backwards. Instinctively, he thrust chakra between himself and the water and landed on the surface of the water in disgust and confusion. It took incredible concentration to switch into using the water to hold him up as opposed to his own chakra and he could go about a fourth of the way. Now he would have to start over. He looked at Hinata to try and figure a reason. His eyes widened as she looked at him then fell backwards herself.
Immediately the water rose around her and cradled her gently. She sat and looked at Neji.
"You are still using your chakra to control the water. You must stop." Her face was firm and determined. Neji looked at her with new eyes as he saw the girl Naruto had brought to their village, the one that would take over the Hyuuga family someday, he saw his true cousin. Hinata sighed and closed her eyes. She sank into the water slightly before opening them again. She looked over at Ten Ten.
"Ten Ten, please come here a moment." Ten Ten looked at her in question and rose. She looked at the water skeptically before stepping onto it, trusting Hinata to keep her up. Hinata whispered in her ear a moment. Ten Ten thought about it a moment before nodding. Hinata motioned her to follow.
"Neji-ni-kun, we will return in a moment." They walked downt eh river as Neji sat in the river, looking confused. He didn't know what he was doing wrong. He felt the water and could feel his chakra and Hinata's chakra interspersed thoroughly. He sighed as he tried to integrate with it again when he looked up to see that Ten Ten had returned. She was standing in front of him waiting.
"Ten Ten? What's going on? Where's Hinata?" Ten Ten smiled slightly.
"She'll be back in a moment. She and I have an idea." Ten Ten smiled but Neji didn't see it as a tree behind her began to fall towards her. With his chakra locked in the water, he couldn't jump to her. He yelled to her earning a confused look. With a great wrench, he pulled himself free of the water and wrapped his arms around her. Except she wasn't there.
"That worked well Hinata." He looked to the side to see Ten Ten standing there watching. Hinata walked up next to her. She smiled sadly.
"Gomen Neji-ni-kun. It was all I could think of, you weren't understanding." Neji looked at her in confusion. She gestured to the clearing which was now soaked. "You were still tied to the water and it reacted to your desperation. When you wrapped your arms around Ten Ten, the water did the same. When you mix your chakra with water it reacts to your wants and needs, not to your commands." Neji looked at her in amazement.
"So it really is pointless to be able to make it circle?" Hinata smiled slightly.
"Not entirely, it is good to be able to control how the water interprets your needs, but the need for it to circle was overpowered by your frustration and your need to be strong. Instead you churned the water." Neji looked at her in confusion.
"If the water was so chaotic, how were we standing on it?" Hinata looked at him startled.
"Because the water has much more of my chakra then yours and I needed it to be constant." Neji looked at his cousin in surprise. That meant that she had been using twice if not three times as much chakra as he. Hinata smiled as she helped the water back into the river and settled on it.
"Now that we've taken a break, lets continue, unless you're too tired?" Neji stood and breathed a moment before looking at his very composed cousin. He bowed to her.
"Gomen, Hinata-sensei. I am very tired and I believe it is time to rest." Hinata smiled and Neji saw her eyes finally soften.
Yuuki was still being grilled after dinner had come and gone.
"Mates? That's an interesting topic. Demons are more instinctive than we are. Their chakra forms bonds with their mates and family long before thye even realize it. While they do still seek pleasure with other demons, their mate is the only on they seek offspring. Mates are different to them. A mate is a person that truly understands each other and trusts each other. A truly mated pair is quite rare. More often the two are partners turned into lovers." She halted to take a drink, ignoring the wide stares. Sakura found her voice first.
"What if they want to be mates?" Yuuki looked at her sadly.
"It doesn't work. They either are or aren't, there isn't an in between. You need to understand that mates, to a demon, is not the only bond, simply the only that involves offspring. They also form familial bonds. Same idea without the offspring side."
"So in effect demons form bonds with any whose important enough to them? Yuuki looked thoughtful.
"Not quite, the bond and trust must be mutual, equal and deep." She looked at the a few minutes as they assimilated this information. Once she had given them what she deemed enough time, she spoke again, "You mentioned Bijuu yesterday. Why them and not demons in general?" They looked at each other. Finally Temari spoke, since Shukaku wasn't much of a secret.
"My brother is Jinchuuriki." Yuuki eyed the other two but withheld any opinion.
"The Bijuu are different." At their puzzled looks, she continued, "They aren't just the strongest, though Nine-tails tends to be. They have specific jobs to do." They were watching her advidly.
"Just as we have monks and Hokage and sannin, demons have position of different importance. The Bijuu are responsible for the balance in the dimensions. When a new Bijuu is appointed, the appointment must ratified by most of the other Bijuu. Each tailed beast has a quality they represent. If any demons wants to seek quidance in this quality, they must find, and convince, the appropiate tailed beast to help."
"What are the qualities?" Yuuki thought as she ticked them off with her fingers with Seiryu's help.
"Well, Shukaku is the current Ichibi, has been as long as our recorded history, and he is in charge of wisdom. His element is wind. Then Genbu of earth has been the Nibi forever and a day. He is in chrage of knowledge. Isonade of the water has been the Sanbi for a couple centuries and is in charge of suffering. I believe Suzaku, the fire pheonix, is the Yonbi, also been around since the dinosaurs and she's in charge of fun or partying. That one doesn't always seem to fit the legends. Mui of the water is the most controversial bijuu in our records. She has quite the history. You should look it up in The Water Hawk, it is generally accepted tht Mui is the topic of this story. She has power over all elements to some extent as the Gobi and is in charge of harmony and balance. Seiryu of the ice is the current Rokubi, that has changes twice over the last several centuries, and she is in charge of grace and motion. Byaka disappeared from the radar 15 odd years ago, but she was of wind and in charge of strategy. Orochi of earth is the Hachibi right now. That is the position that changes the most so it might have changes in the last 50 years or so. He stands for conquerer and is constantly being overthrown. He doesn't control earth, that is simply his base element, his real element is souls of the dead. Youko of fire is kyuubi and the most powerful. He stands for rulers, just, loyal and true. They all symbolize the forces in our world and theirs. There isn't a lightening user right now but Orochi replaced one so they'll cycle back in eventually."
They three shinobi nodded. Yuuki stood and stretched.
"I hate to say this since you guys were the first people I've ever seen to have an honest interest, but I have to scat. Listen, you two are from Konoha, right?" They nodded. "Go to their library and ask for books written by the author Neko no Shichi. She wrote a lot about demons and it is one of the most unbiased views you can find. Ciao." She waved to them and poofed away from the very stunned chunnin. Sakura, Temari and Shikamaru looked at each other and continued to discuss what Yuuki told them. They had accepted that people, helpful people, were sometimes bizarre. Before they left they reviewed some other books ont he subject and found some more interesting facts.
The next day they agreed to spread this knowledge among the people they trusted both in Suna and Konoha. Temari waved as she took off for home. Shikamaru looked after her a moment before joining Sakura in discussing how to explain everything to their friends and how it all applied to Naruto.
They had found their messenger around lunch. It had taken nearly all day to explain to the messenger that they were, in fact, from Konoha to the scrawnly little man. By the end of it they weren't able to go far for the night. They walked the path along the cliff, looking for a camping spot for the night.
Shikamaru looked at the stars from his roof when Asuma popped in.
"How'd it go?" Shikamaru looked at the man he most respected.
"Hn" Asuma smiled.
"Good. In case you did't know, Hinata, Neji and Ten Ten are out of the village for the next couple of days. I happen to know that the two days after they are supposed to return all of you chunnins have off. Good night." Shikamaru looked thoughtfully at the stars for another few moments before he heard his sensei's voice. "Are you going to day dream about that Suna kunoichi's body all night?"
Shikamaru grimaced Troublesome Still, he thought carefully as he looked at the stars, she definitely was a cunning person. Maybe they could play shogi sometime.
Neji dived for Ten Ten. The man had come out of nowhere. He was after the scroll they had to deliver. Neji rolled Ten Ten out of the way as he threw a log towards the two chunnin. Hinata distracted him by leaping on his back. He was a mountain of a man but not one for strategy. in fact, the only consistant strategy was to throw things at his opponents. Hinata plunged her kunai into his chest, or at least the part she could reach. The man reached back and grabbed her and threw her into her teammates. Their combined weight and her momentum sent them flying over the ledge. Oh dear! Hinata silently agreed with Mui when she heard the hawk, Not Good!
As they had fallen, Neji had kept his wits enough to shove the girls in the direction of the rapidly passing cliffside. Ten Ten got out her kunai on a rope and frown as she was still too far away to use it. That man had been very strong to push them this far over the ledge. Hinata was frantically trying to find a way to help both Ten Ten and Neji. Feeling Mui become very nervous, she had an idea.
Spinning, she gripped Ten Ten's arm, pulling her closer. Then she shoved with all her strength with her feet. This sent Ten Ten towards the cliffside and Hinata hurtling out into air, where her cousin was falling. Hinata reached out and grabbed Neji's wrist. Neji looked at her in surprise as she pulled him closer to her. She had taken out a piece of rope as she had shot towards him. Pulling his arms around her she wrapped the rope around his wrists, preventing him from letting go, which she was sure he would out of surprise more than anything else.
"Hinata-sama, What-?" Hinata held up a finger for quiet. She smiled at him.
"Hang on tight" She reached within herself. She wasn't worried about herself. They were falling towards a lake. The water, once they were close enough, would spring up and cup her, but while she could breath underwater for a short time thanks to Mui, Neji couldn't. Mui, I'm sorry. I can't loose him! She felt Mui's understanding and agreement. As she forced herself into a state of mind for this task, a memory nudged to the surface. She allowed the memory to take her with it, not realizing that she was speaking aloud.
Neji was trying to figure out what his cousin was doing. She had caught up to him somehow and he couldn't release her to send her towards the cliff where he saw Ten Ten hanging, having finally gotten her rope around a boulder. She was rapidly descending to get to her teammates when they hit ground. He looked back at Hinata in fright when she began to speak. Actually it was more like a chant but whatever it was, with every word her chakra grew exponentially as her voice got deeper and richer.
"I call forth fifth of the bijuu
Elementalist Gobi of unity."
She was screaming as she ran in the fire. all the doors she knew of were cut off. Turning a corner she ran into her cousin who was panting. The four-year old grabbed her hand and they raced away from the smoke. She cried out when she stubbed her toe on a piece of broken wood but they kept running. They turned into an abandoned room. She shoved her cousin under the table as the ceiling began to collapse. He pulled her under before she was crushed. She felt a piece of wood hit her hard on the back before her cousin grabbed her. He held her close in fright as they coughed.
"From Darkness I pull Thee
From Death I bring Thee
From Dimensions I find Thee
From Life I call Thee
From Light I beg Thee"
She looked up as she heard her name screamed. Her mother was near. Crying, she screamed back. She was scared and wanted her Okaa-san and Otou-san. Her cousin was coughing hard. She wrapped her shirt around his mouth, still wet from her initial dunk. She had been taught to soak herself and cover her mouth in the case of a fire. She looked up to see her mother reach her.
"Hina-chan! Neji-chan!" Okaa-san pulled them close. Above them they heard the ceiling creak. The doorway was already blocked. Okaa-san looked up in fear, then at the two children. Okaa-san looked at them. "Hina-chan, do you remember the water finding trick?" She nodded quickly. She always learned everything her Okaa-san taught her. "Find water, dear! Find it!" Her Okaa-san's urgent voice sent her chakra out to locate the familiar calmness water brought. She pointed at the floor near them.
"Okaa-san, it there." Okaa-san smiled then winced as she felt the fire behind her. Closing her eyes she began a chant that Hinata knew she would remember somehow for the rest of her life.
"For Faith do I scream
For Peace do I kneel
For Hope do I crawl
For Passion do I shatter
For Life do I surrender"
The water burst from the floor in the shape of a great bird. It covered the three Hyuuga as the fire raged around them. She cried as she saw her Okaa-san screaming in pain. Her cousin tried to get her to calm down even though he looked as upset as she did. She let him hold her as she watched her Okaa-san looked at her eyes. Their eyes connected as her Okaa-san's hand reached out to her cheek.
"My daughter. My nephew. I will not loose either of you!" Her Okaa-san's voice became stronger as she poured more and more water into their shield. When, at last, the fire died down, her Okaa-san collapsed on her and her cousin. She was crying as she screamed.
"Okaa-san! Otou-san! Otou-san, Onegai!" They were found a few moments later by her father and her uncle. Both men clutched their child into their arms as med-nin from the Hyuuga looked over her Okaa-san.
It was some time before her Okaa-san was able to play with water again.
"By the bonds of passion
I reach you!
Through the chains of man
I pull you!"
Neji looked on in amazement as a distant memory was brought to mind. A large difference was that up here, there was no water.
"Hinata-sama!"
"I offer my soul to thee
as a home
I give my blood to thee
as a tool
I share my life with thee
as a kin"
Ten looked over to see them plummeting towards earth and doing practically nothing about. She hurried off the cliff and down to the ground. Once there she raced towards them.
"Thus I pull from beyond the seal
From my body be free
Gobi, MUI!"
Neji looked on in horror as his cousin let out a full throated scream that sent chills through his entire body. Her back arched as her eyes scrunched in pain. Neji tried to get his hands free to no avail. His cousin's arms came out eagle-spread and her eyes opened in release. In a rush of blue chakra, a giant bird that Neji had seen once when he was young, soared over them. In a splash of red, Hinata grew feathers and wings. Looking down at her cousin, Neji saw that her eyes were lavender with large endless pupils. She wasn't Hinata. Leaning closer, she opened her wings and banked their rapid descent.
Ten Ten stood in awe. The amount of chakra that had just hovered over the Hyuuga in the air was larger than she had ever felt. It surpassed Naruto's when he had fed chakra to Neji just under year ago. She watched as Hinata grew red wings and glide towards the ground gently. Shaking herself she ran towards their landing point.
Neji and Hinata gently set down, Hinata slicing the rope around Neji's wrists when they were a foot or so off the ground. He noticed her talons as he landed and got his bearings.
"Hinata-sama!?" She turned to him.
"Hyuuga Neji-" Hinata swooned slightly as she spoke. "So weak. She knew this would happen. I must...go..." Neji walked towards her slowly. She stumbled away form him, towards the lake she had seen close by. Neji was quicker. He grabbed her wrist.
"Wait, Hinata-sama." She shrieked and spun out of his grip. Mui was currently the one he was talking to, though he didn't know that. She was exhausted and vulnerable. It made her scared and she already distrusted any male. She dashed out of his hands and towards the water. She would be safe there. Her instinctive side had started to take over, she was barely holding it back. She couldn't afford to stay and fight. Hinata had lost too much blood. Once in the water, her chakra would rejuvenate and she could begin to heal Hinata. Shoving that much chakra through the seal had severly injured them both.
Neji watched in panic as his cousin raced for the lake in tears. He dashed after her to be brought up short when she dived underwater. Looking down at his hand, he saw it covered in blood he looked back across the lake in genuine fear. He dove into the lake, ignoring his own fatigue.
He searched until Ten Ten pulled him out of the water. He couldn't find his cousin anywhere. Ten Ten was in tears when she pulled him out of the water to the beach.
"Neji! Neji, please! Neji stop, you have to stop! Neji!" She held him as he shivered in the cool night air that had fallen as they had hit ground. He looked at the lake that had swallowed his cousin. He didn't know what to do. He sat there letting Ten Ten hold him and allowed himself to do something he had never done before, believe everything had to work out.
Hinata opened her eyes. Mui, where are we? She looked around at the cave. Looking down she saw that her arms were wrapped in shreds of her coat. Under a rock in that lake. I have water bringing air down here for the moment. When you feel up to it I'll give you the memory of what just happened Neji? Ten Ten? Both fine and on the beach above us. Hinata nodded and closed her eyes to relax her shaking limbs. She then told Mui she was ready for the memories of their fall. As she processed what happened, as well as inspecting her injuries, she spoke with Mui.
You know he wasn't going to hurt us. Mui sighed as she answered softly.
I know, I was vulnerable and frightened. I'm ready to trust him, and to some extent Ten Ten.
Good, because I doubt they're going to ignore this. Let me check on them. Hinata activated her Byakugan and searched for her teammates. They were around a fire on the shore. She sighed. Then movement caught her eye. That mammoth of a man wasn't dead! She quickly told Mui they were going and dived into the water. Dear we have little chakra and no physical energy to speak of, this will be difficult.
I didn't save him to loose them now. She felt Mui's agreement. Besides I don't need quantity, just control She smiled as she emerged from the water as Neji and Ten Ten noticed their visitor. They didn't move fast enough and got trapped under a large log that was probably the trunk of a tree from up the mountain. With it in front of them and a tree behind them, they couldn't move. Hinata dashed across the water, shouting, getting the man's attention. He looked at her as she stood panting on the water's surface.
Neji felt his heart freeze when he saw his cousin. He hadn't been paying any attention, they were lucky Ten Ten had set up traps or they would have never even known what had hit them. Hinata was standing on the water and she looked about to faint. He could see blood still dripping from her arms and back. The man snarled at her as she took her favorite stance and performed her Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō.
Hinata saw him snarl at her as she started. Her control was perfect, even with her depleted energy. She glared at him as he snickered at her.
"You missed me, little girl." She smiled as her vision tunneled.
"That s'okay." She saw him turn to see Ten Ten leap at him with her weapons and Neji leaped over him as the the log splintered. She had aimed at the log, cutting it until it was small enough they could get free. She smiled as she fainted towards the shallow water. Neji dashed towards her, leaving the man to Ten Ten. He heard Hinata as he caught his cousin. "Neji..."
"Hinata-chan, over here." Hinata ran over to her father.
"Otou-san?" She saw her parents on the porch. "Otou-san, I learned something new!" Her father smiled.
"Alright, let me see." Hinata smiled at them as she called water from the pond. It swirled in her hand a moment before it held its shape of a bird.
"It's a hawk like the one that protected us in the fire last month. I can see it in Okaa-san with my Byakugan." Both her parents looked at her. Se smiled and waited to see what they thought. Fianlly her father responded.
"Very good, Otome." HInata let go of the water at her father's voice. It was different. Her mother reached forward.
"Hina-chan, will you stay with Okaa-san tonight?" Hinata looked at her mother in confusion. She nodded.
She hopped on her mother's bed that night. Her mother held her close.
"Hina-chan, you must never speak of what I do tonight." Hinata looked at her mother.
"Like a secret?" Her mother nodded. Hinata smiled and nodded. Her mother gently removed her shirt and wrote a seal on her left chest. They snuggled all night. Her mother did that for weeks.
Hinata was running. Her mother was bringing her a baby sister. She ran intot he room to be scooped up by her father.
"Hinata, you know better than to run. Come we must take you to see Kione-sensei. You remember him?" Hinata nodded. She had the same doctor as Okaa-san. They were in an examination room. Kione stood off to one side reading a scroll. He looked at Hinata when she entered.
"Hinata-chan I need to draw on you chest, is that okay?" Hinata nodded uncertainly. Everyone was acting weird.
"Then can I see Okaa-san?" He nodded and dipped his brush in ink. He drew a new seal on Hinata's left chest exactly where her mother had all those nights. When he was done he nodded to her father.
"Now Hinata-sama, you cannot rub this, alright." She nodded and asked to see her mother again. Her father carried her their. Before they enter her father stood her on a table so they were eye level.
"Hinata, you must never, never tell anyone about the seal on your chest. Do you understand?" Hinata nodded.
"Its like a secret too?" Her father nodded. "Why are there so many secrets now?" Her father sighed.
"Because grown-ups need to have lots of secrets." Hinata pouted.
"I don't want to be a grown-up though, Otou-san." Her father looked at her steely.
"You have to be now." She gulped and nodded. Her father set her on the ground and led her into the room where her Okaa-san was panting. WHan her mother saw her, she reached for her daughter. Hinata held her hand as her mother groaned in pain. Hinata was barely aware of what her father and Kione were talking about.
"We have to make the transfer!"
"I won't give up on my wife!"
"Hiashi-sama the child's chakra has separated, we cannot save your wife! We must make the transfer! You know the tradition!" Kione placed a hand on Hinata and on her mother. Hinata looked up at him as she felt a rush of chakra like a splash of water. She felt her mother all around her. She looked at her mother happily, to see her mother's blank eyes staring back at her.
"Okaa-san? Okaa-san! OKAA-SAN!"
Hinata shot up panting. Gentle hands reached to steady her. Looking at Ten Ten, she relaxed slightly. She hadn't had that dream in years, and never that focused on her seal. She leaned against Ten Ten's calm voice and slowed her breathing.
Jiraiya looked at his student, who was still unconscious. He hoped whatever was happening would pass soon.
-Several hours ago-
Naruto looked around the clearing. It looked very familiar but Jiraiya had sworn they hadn't been here yet. He looked around as Takamaru returned and devoured his meal. Suddenly Takamaru screeched and dove into a bush. Jiraiya and Naruto rushed over when they heard very human yelling. Naruto pulled the man out of the bush. The man scrambled to get away but Jiraiya just sat on him. He started to cry pathetically.
"I'm sorry. I don't have it anymore. Please don't kill me! I-I-I-I lost it. Please!" Naruto growled.
"Whoa there, hold up. We don't know you. Who wants to kill you?" The man seemed to calm some, though he still twitched at every sound in the bushes.
"A mountian man. He was supposed to get the scroll back. But I already gave it to the Konoha shinobi. He's after them now, But if he doesn't find them, he might come after me again!" Naruto was about to grab him and shake him for more information when he was hit by it.
The force of such a huge demon chakra covered the land. Both travelers shuddered as the man quirmed away from Jiraiya and ran. Jiraiya's attention was dragged back to Naruto as the blonde summoned Kyuubi's chakra then used it to summon the demon himself.
When Kyuubi appeared, he began to pace vicuosly, whimpering and growling all the way. As if this wasn't confusing enough. Jiraiya spun to look at his student as Naruto released a piercing scream. Both he and Kyuubi reached for the blonde as he balled into fetal position, whimpering.
"What is wrong with him?" Jiraiya looked at Kyuubi. Naruto had started summoning the demon for short periods of time nearly four months ago, much to Jiraiya's complete surprise and slight horror. After they sat and talked for a while, though, Jiraiya had to accept Kyuubi has someone who cared about Naruto at least. Kyuubi could be summoned for a short time, but it was very exhausting for the demon, if not Naruto, so it wasn't done very often. Jiraiya tolerated and respected the demon for Naruto's sake, but he had a hard time forgiving him for his former student's sake.
"While summoned, I am unaware of his thoughts. Kit?" Kyuubi nuzzled Naruto, concerned. Eventually he curled up around the quivering blonde in an effort to make the boy feel safe. Soon, Naruto fell asleep, still whimpering Hinata's name.
-End Flashback-
Jiraiya sighed. Kyuubi had disappeared over an hour ago, his time running out, without explaining why he had been summoned in the first place, though Jiraiya good guess it had something to do with that surge of demonic chakra. Takamaru had taken up Kyuubi job of comforting Naruto, thought he ird nudged his way under an arm and preened Naruto instead of surrounded him, the size difference and all. Jiraiya looked at the stars. He had certainly gotten more than he bargined for when he took on his apprentices, both past and present.
Hinata looked down at her arms to see them bandaged as Ten Ten handed her some water. She could see her cousin over by the fire. Turning to Ten Ten.
"Arigato, Ten Ten. Ano, I have a request to make." Ten Ten tilted her head in question. "I need to explain this to Neji. It involves our family and..." Ten Ten smiled.
"It's alright. I can wait until your ready if you ever are. Just remember you are important to me as my friend, not just as Neji's cousin. I'll get him and leave you two alone. I'll prepare a light dinner for you." Hinata smiled tiredly in gratitude and Ten Ten went towards Neji. A few minutes later Neji came over with some tea for Hinata.
"Hinata-sama?" Hinata sighed then took a deep breath.
"Neji, what I'm about to tell you is a secret you cannot repeat. It is as old and powerful as our family, and nearly as difficult to bear." Neji looked at his cousin's serious face. He hadn't missed the fact that she hadn't called him cousin or brother (ni-kun). He knelt at attention and looked at her, completely serious.
Hinata explained what Mui had to her when they had met about Hitomi and the birth of the Byakugan. Neji sat through it, taking it in. Then she started to explain current events.
"The seal became a cage. Mui couldn't see out and the host never even knew she was there. Until my mother. Something happened to the seal and Mui had limited communication with Okaa-san. When the seal was placed on me, it was the original seal again, so again she was shut in. Then when Kieshi hit me there two months ago, it reset the seal into an earlier form. I can now speak with Mui. She has been assisting me to expand on what Okaa-san taught me when I was young. The council and the head are the only ones supposed to know about Mui." Neji breathed as he thought about his all.
"So our Byakugan is the result of imprisoning Mui?" Hinata shook her head.
"Despite what our council believes, Mui's continued presence isn't required for our Byakugan. It doesn't even strengthen that of her host. It does keep it from breeding out though. Our main family gains demonic chakra the longer there is a host in the bloodline, that is what causes all kekkei genkai." Neji understood that their families council were a bunch of pig-headed idiots. He looked at his cousin as she drank her tea.
"She was scared of me?" Hinata smiled slightly.
"Sort of. She came to the Hyuuga to hide from her male mate and then our male leaders imprisoned her and sentenced their female heads to an early death. She isn't feeling too happy towards males as of present time. I've been trying to get her to relax enough to tell you, today simply forced the decision." Neji looked at her sharply.
"What exactly did you do today? Why are you bleeding?" Hinata looked at her hands sadly.
"I forced her chakra through the seal." At Neji's questioning sound she continued. "Mui could escape this seal easy. So could Kyuubi-sama, or any of them, except Ichibi-sama in Gaara-san. They would just have to live with the consequences of killing their hosts." Neji's panicked looked drew her gaze as she smiled sadly. "Yes, Kitsune-san is still seal because he won't kill Naruto, the same with Mui. They care more for our lives then our own family." She looked up at the stars. "Demons really are amazing. I know Shikamaru was doing research with Sakura. I hope they share what they find. We really don't give them any credit." She sighed and resumed explaining today.
"Since her seal is so restrictive, to force her chakra through it takes all of my energy and some of hers, which is why you met her earlier. Also, I'm only bleeding because it happened in the air. If I had been on the ground, I would have used water from underground. My blood can be controlled like water can, easier in fact because it is already mixed with my chakra. I used it like Naruto uses Kitsune-san's tails. Because of the restraint though I can't pull out her real chakra, just a small part of it so we used what we could. The chant was made with the seal to allow the host to protect their family with Mui should the need ever arise. It allows us to give our life for our family and insure that they will be safe. Mui is the only reason I'm alive right now after having lost so much blood. She thinks they'll take several months to heal fully, though there shouldn't be any scars." Neji gulped softly as he learned he could have lost his cousin tonight. He could still loose her to this seal. He hated his family council. He hated them.
"Neji" He looked at her. "Are you okay with this?" He started before he realized that while he had asked questions, he hadn't told her a reaction.
"Okay with it? No, I'm not okay with it!" Neji wasn't prone to outbursts but he though this deserved an exception. Hinata cringed away, thinking he was referring to her being Jinchuuriki. Neji knelt closer and pulled her into a hug. "I'm not okay with loosing you to our council and our family's stupidity." He whispered into her hair as he held her close.
Hinata squeaked as she was suddenly pulled into his hug. She could feel his desperation. She smiled sadly as she hugged back.
"Is there anything we can do? Hinata-sama?" Neji murmured as he felt his heart clench as he tried to figure something out. Never in his life had he wanted fight destiny as much as he did now. Hinata tucked her head on his chest.
"At the moment, no. When Naruto returns, I will try to replicate his seal on myself and break the one I currently have." Neji nodded. Hinata pulled away slightly. "Also, Itoko, Naruto isn't to know yet." Neji looked at her, confused.
"Don't you two share minds?" Hinata chuckled as she shook her head.
"Only what we wish to. We respect each other's privacy. I will tell him when Mui's ready for Kitsune-san to know." Neji nodded and felt Hinata shiver.
"If there is no other life changing revelations, lets move you to the fire where you'll be warmer." Hinata smiled and nodded. She protested slightly when Neji picked her up but allowed him to set her at the fire. She smiled at Ten Ten as she handed her some food. Sighing she felt Mui rumble happily as she settled down for a nap. Well done, Hina-chan
Hinata smiled as she leaned into her cousin's protective hold.
In the end
it isn't the years of her life
its the life in her years