A strange new life

It was all a giant farce. I wasn’t sure why people were letting this happen.

Crushed were my hopes of connecting with my sister; the gift I had prepared heavy in my pocket. I was sad for a lot of different reasons. I wanted a cute little sister to play dress-up doll with. No, that was silly. I was sad because Hiashi was spreading lies about me to the clan. What else could it be?

I hadn’t had any contact with their clan for years. Where was all this hatred and animosity coming from, if not from Hiashi?

Hanabi was a good fighter: fast, agile, and strong for her age. But she was seven. What did the Academy even teach at this age? Exercises disguised as children’s games?

It was like she was moving in slow motion. I raised a hand, blocking her arm and preventing the kunai from stabbing my ribs. She used the momentum to spin, trying to trip me. I took a step back and out of her reach.

My sister threw the kunai at my face, drew another, and ran toward me. All the while, her Byakugan followed my every movement.

I deflected the weapon toward the ceiling, where it stuck. Anyone here was a shinobi, but I didn’t want to risk hurting Ino because of a badly deflected weapon.

The attack and defense repeated a few more times. Each time Hanabi missed, she got angrier. She threw her current kunai at me, and I deflected it again.

She dashed closer, hands burning with blueish chakra. The gathered audience murmured. A few gasped.

Hanabi struck, each blow aimed at a tenketsu. She wasn’t as precise as I knew others were, which made sense. She was only seven. Even this amount of proficiency was already in the genius category.

I coated my hands in chakra and blocked or deflected her attacks. Our exchange continued for a few more moments before she stopped a few feet away, breathing heavily, her glare still aimed at me.

“Fight me, monster!” she demanded.

“Why?”

She ground her teeth. “You walk around wearing my sister’s face and ask why?”

Was this their problem with me, that I wasn’t Hinata?

Hanabi ran at me. Her attacks were wild, uncoordinated. She punched — “Give,” — she tried to kick my face — “me,” — pushed chakra on her hands, they flared with blue light. She went for vitals — “my sister!”

I still had no idea what Hiashi’s goal was for letting this happen, but I wasn’t happy. I caught both her fists. Around me, people tensed, ready to intervene. I opened my mouth, almost said something I would’ve regretted. Maybe this was Hiashi’s plan all along. Shake me enough, so I said something I shouldn’t. Or maybe they thought I was going to hurt Hanabi, like I did with Neji. That would have been bad in so many ways.

A feeling I couldn’t control and had no answer for bubbled in my chest, hot, painful, and ugly. My eyes felt puffy and my throat full, but I wasn’t going to cry in front of a crowd. I refused.

“I’m sorry,” I said finally.

Threads exploded from me, wrapping around Hanabi, tying her up. There was movement around, but when I didn’t do anything besides piloting Hanabi’s body toward the crowd, people calmed down.

All the while, my sister yelled and snarled.

I delivered her into Mom’s arms. I didn’t look at her face. I couldn’t. I hated it all. I turned to Hiashi.

“Satisfied?”

Neji stepped forward and into the fighting ring.

“Fight me properly,” he accused.

I sighed. I was exhausted.

Neji took a position opposite me, the usual gentle fist stance. I considered what to do. I didn’t want to fight anymore. I wanted to be done with this whole thing. I shouldn’t have ever come here. A damn white eye wasn’t worth the suffering. I wanted to go home, bake something, hang out with Ino. Even felt a bit longing for Karin’s annoying pranks.

“This time, you won’t take me by surprise,” he said.

I nodded. “Just a moment, please,” I said, turning toward Ino and waving her closer.

The blonde approached while I unfastened my scrolls, shuriken, and tools, stacking them into Ino’s waiting arms. She gave me a curious look, but didn’t comment. Once I had finished, she returned to Shisui’s side, carrying my stuff.

“I don’t know what they’ve told you, Neji,” I said, turning toward him. “I don’t regret attacking you, even if I think I went overboard.” Gritted teeth were my response. “You can’t blame me. I had just been tortured by Orochimaru a few days prior. What did you expect to happen when you came at me with killing intent?”

More murmurs rose around us. Fuck the peanut gallery.

“Is there any way we can settle this another way?”

Neji didn’t say anything. He kept his stance.

Hiashi announced the start of a new bout.

Unlike last time, Neji didn’t wait. He lunged, aiming to end it in a single strike. I wasn’t confident enough in my taijutsu to engage Neji in a fistfight; that was too dangerous, even if his movements felt slow to me. I flickered back, and at the same time, four clones appeared. They dashed outward, forming a perimeter around us.

Neji stopped, still looking at me, but I’m sure he was also observing the clones.

“Clones won’t work on me this time,” he said, prepared to fight five of me.

I nodded. “I know.”

My clones crouched, placed their hands on the ground. Black chakra lines spread, completing the jutsu. The transparent barrier sprang to life. I disabled my weight seals at the same time the Weight Trap barrier activated. Neji and I were at the center. He hadn’t considered I’d use a barrier formation with me still inside.

I didn’t want to kill or hurt Neji. It was just about four times the weight I reckon Rock Lee lugged around in each leg. Not even worth mentioning.

Neji buckled, his face reddening, then collapsed. He groaned, trying to move, to breathe, but couldn’t.

The strain on me wasn’t nil, but really, it wasn’t that bad. Should I increase my weights again? I shook my head, not the time. “You train with Gai and Rock Lee and can’t handle the increased weight?”

When it was clear Neji couldn’t deal with the barrier, I undid it, dispersed my clones. He tried. Oh, he tried. He struggled, flared his chakra, tried to get up.

I turned to Ino, who was eyeing me with clear accusation.

“You could have won against Naruto.”

I blinked. A bit of whiplash trying to understand what she meant, then I sighed. I walked to her and nodded. My failure in saving the Third Hokage stabbed me. “Sorry,” I said, unsure why I was apologizing. “I had other things in mind. I’ll tell you later tonight?”

Ino’s narrowed eyes softened into something more thoughtful. She nodded, helping me strap my tools again.

Behind me, Neji groaned and forced himself up. His breath was haggard. “You haven’t won,” he coughed out.

I looked over my shoulder. “It’s going to hurt tomorrow, Neji. Take a long hot bath, circulate your chakra through your body. Ask the clan’s acupuncture masters to help you relax your muscles,” I said and turned around to Hiashi. “Can we talk about why you called me here instead of all these power plays?” I sighed again, already regretting everything. “Can’t you just leave me alone?”

Hiashi didn’t seem happy with my request or even inclined to acquiesce. Thankfully, and finally, Shisui intervened.

“Isn’t this enough, Hiashi? You haven’t called her here to test her battle capabilities.”

Hiashi turned to the Hokage and looked at everyone around him. He moved his hand. His gesture was sharp and commanding. The branch family and most elders bowed toward him and the Hokage and then left.

A few elders helped Neji walk, even if he seemed unwilling to go. Mom delivered Hanabi to an older woman which I vaguely remembered. Soon after, it was only Hiashi, Hizashi, Mom, Shisui, Ino, and me inside the enormous dojo.

Hiashi’s eyes were on mom. I wasn’t the best at cold reading people, but he looked angry. Mom squared her shoulders in response. He turned back to me after a few long moments. 

“I’m willing to overlook your acts against the clan, and welcome you back,” Hiashi said. As if it were an afterthought, he added, “Give you the eye back. Support you against the council.”

I tilted my head. I couldn’t really understand his reasoning. A strange pressure settled in my chest: anger, hurt, something else I couldn’t name.

“Why would I want that?”

“We are the strongest clan in Konoha,” Hiashi said as if that explained everything.

I locked my body, tried my best to not roll my eyes. That boast might have been true in the original timeline with the Uchiha’s clan gone, but here? I don’t think Itachi was as strong as in the original story; he might not even have awakened his mangekyo yet, given Shisui was still alive, but Shisui was still alive. No way the Hyuga had a chance against the Uchiha.

I glanced at the new Hokage, gauging his reaction. His face was still calm. I thought about the Uchiha’s clan offer, almost blurted ‘denied’ out loud. 

“And what are the conditions?” Joining back the Hyuga would be a pain, but it was something I was somewhat willing, if only to end this whole mess.

“You’ll not aim for the heir position,” he said. Behind him, I saw Hizashi give an almost imperceptible nod. “And you’ll accept a seal that will prevent the Byakugan from being stolen again.”

Did he think I didn’t know about the cursed Hyuga seal? How its real purpose was to control the branch family. I had been too young at the time to be told about that, but I knew what it was: slavery. I’d submit my whole life to them with no choice whatsoever. So much for even considering the offer.

“And if I refuse?”

There was a moment of tense silence.

Hiashi’s voice was a dangerous whisper. “You don’t want us as your enemies.”

I looked around, remembering things from my childhood before the kidnapping. Was I the real Hinata, or did I just have her memories? I didn’t know.

I pointed at a nick in one of the wooden pillars. “I remember that,” I said after a while. “I was tired of training taijutsu and wanted to train something else. Throwing shuriken.” The silence lasted a moment longer. “You were very disappointed with me for ‘wasting’ my time with toys instead of practicing the gentle fist.”

I looked around at all the familiar, nostalgic sights.

“I wasn’t even three; you were always disappointed with me.”

A growl from Hiashi interrupted my musings. “You’re not her. Stop pretending.” His face was a mask of anger and sorrow.